Next is Happening

Lines on a Clock in Chester Cathedral

When as a child, I laughed and wept,
Time crept.
When as a youth, I dreamt and talked,
Time walked.
When I became a full-grown man,
Time ran.
When older still I daily grew,
Time flew.
Soon I shall find on travelling on-
Time gone.
O Christ, wilt Thou have saved me then?
Amen.

Henry Twells (1823-1900)

Poem can be found in A Puffin Book of Verse (Puffin, 1953)

That is how I feel nowadays. We are already in the second quarter of the year. Am not doing too badly on my new year’s resolutions. Av started on some, some are yet to be done. My goal is to squeeze all of them in the first half of the year coz in the second half of the year there are just too many things to do,everybody is rushing to fulfill there plans and resolutions and funnily enough I may be part of that plan.

I was having second thoughts about coding but seems am back in it. Right in the eye of some Java ME code. I have some crazy deadline lakini as my good friend said ’2011 lazima’! There is soo much to do but I am also excited. This time I am stretching myself. I read this from another friend: “Attempt something large enough that failure is guaranteed…unless God steps in!”. And that is exactly the situation I am in. But I am surprisingly relaxed. I heard this TED talk by Elizabeth Gilbert the writer of Eat, Pray and Love. about the idea of Genius. Is some one really a genius or it’s a ‘spirit’ or ‘being’ that helps them achieve what they do. Well I do not agree wholly with the speaker but I do agree that many things I have achieved in this life have not been of my own strength. And that is why I look at God as my enabler, my genius. He enables me to do all this stuff that is considered great. That is the only way I see myself doing all the things ahead of me.

I kind of feel like Caleb in the Bible (ok not quite but you’ll get the point), he was 85 years old when the Israelites were entering the land of Canaan, the promised land. Now this land was promised to them by God but the catch was that they had to fight for it and drive off the people who were occupying the land (note to self: always read the fine print). Mind you those people were giants, remember the bunch of grapes that took two people to carry (and they were not Genetically modified), now that was their food. So anyways as people are discussing what land to take probably choosing the place of least resistance next to the river, and with the trees where they can rest in the shade, maybe even put a hammock. Caleb goes to Joshua (the leader at the time) and tells him ‘Give me the mountain’. Now the mountain is where those giants lived, moreover their cities were large and fortified. And Caleb tells Joshua that he is as strong today as he was when he first came to that land, kedo 45 years ago! But guess what we don’t remember the giants who occupied Hebron (ok apart from here) but we remember Caleb the son of Jephunneh (we even keep a record of his lineage) the one who took Hebron.

FYI I am starting a food blog, for recipes that take less than 30 mins to cook (for busy people), or stuff I’d like to try. Watch this space!

Filed under: food for thought

Computer Has a black Screen

So nowadays i have been coming to the office early, 7:30 or 8:00 a.m. I used to be the SI unit of lateness at the office. Of course the bosses come in after me but they do not count in this tally. So the driver has been coming late and he says that it’s because I come in early; I have passed it on to him…SMH. Also we have this factory-like machine that I do not like talking about. It records when you come in and come out…yeah I do not like it! Anyways on the first first days it did not work well when I used it and everyone thought I was the problem. Well nowadays it works well for me and it is bringing shidaz for another colleague of mine. And once again the driver says I have passed the problem to her. So anyways this same colleague’s laptop screen went black this afternoon and she called me to solve her problem.

After searching the net this is what I found that worked quite well I must say. So I had to share it.

1) UNPLUG THE LAPTOP
2) REMOVE THE BATTERY
3) HOLD DOWN THE POWER BUTTON FOR ABOUT 30 SECONDS TO 2 MINUTES
4) THEN PUT THE BATTERY BACK IN
5) START IT UP..

Imagine that simple. I got it from Kioskea.net
Other sites to look at in case the problem persists are here , here and here.

Filed under: Tech stuff

Enter the Researcher

This week I have been doing a research for my office on the user consumption trends in Nairobi. The areas we have been focusing on are Hurlingham, Mathare, Huruma, and Ngara. Interesting observations. I will try and be organised in my observations.

Hurlingham- To say that people here are snobs is…. mostly true. It may be by nature or by the circumstances around them. I mean it was very hard to get a resident to interview. Ok may be hard is not the word but scarey is more like it. They walk around with this ‘do not disturb’ sign in their gaze. This by far was the most challenging place. Then again most of them were at work, and we cannot go there in the evening…heh I do not even want to think of the repercussions of doing that. We were also supposed to interview the shopkeepers around here. Well they are also not very friendly. May be its something to do with the cleanish air they breathe.

Huruma and Mathare- by far the most interesting areas we have been to in the research. The number of ironies is baffling to a non resident. At first I was worried about my less than perfect Swahili and the fact that it was a new area for me. Well I must say I did pretty well all I needed to do was be comfortable in my skin. A weakness I found with myself as a techie is the tendency to refer to the interviewees as users and not residents. I didn’t really see that they were poor but that they just lacked resources. Sometimes I think the term poor has been equated to helplessness. But that is not what I saw there. I saw people who work for more than 12 hours a day trying to make a living. I saw people who hoped for a better tomorrow. Of course there were those who thought that by glorifying their state of lack I would give them money. It felt a little weird walking around in my Mr. Price top and my jeans that I found pretty expensive for my pocket at the time of buying. But what to do, I guess for me it was a chance to understand them for myself. Oh well there goes my intro, so many thoughts flying through my head, once I get them aligned or at least have them coming out in an understandable manner I will put them down here.

I am also a research assistant for a former lecturer of mine on the use of technology among casual labourers. Very interesting I tell you. I will keep you posted!

Filed under: Research

Isaiah 30 – in quietness and trust is your strength

1 “Woe to the obstinate children,”
declares the LORD,
“to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit,
heaping sin upon sin;
2 who go down to Egypt
without consulting me;
who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,
to Egypt’s shade for refuge.
3 But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame,
Egypt’s shade will bring you disgrace.
4 Though they have officials in Zoan
and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
5 everyone will be put to shame
because of a people useless to them,
who bring neither help nor advantage,
but only shame and disgrace.”
6 A prophecy concerning the animals of the Negev:

Through a land of hardship and distress,
of lions and lionesses,
of adders and darting snakes,
the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’ backs,
their treasures on the humps of camels,
to that unprofitable nation,
7 to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless.
Therefore I call her
Rahab the Do-Nothing.

8 Go now, write it on a tablet for them,
inscribe it on a scroll,
that for the days to come
it may be an everlasting witness.
9 For these are rebellious people, deceitful children,
children unwilling to listen to the LORD’s instruction.
10 They say to the seers,
“See no more visions!”
and to the prophets,
“Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things,
prophesy illusions.
11 Leave this way,
get off this path,
and stop confronting us
with the Holy One of Israel!”

12 Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says:

“Because you have rejected this message,
relied on oppression
and depended on deceit,
13 this sin will become for you
like a high wall, cracked and bulging,
that collapses suddenly, in an instant.
14 It will break in pieces like pottery,
shattered so mercilessly
that among its pieces not a fragment will be found
for taking coals from a hearth
or scooping water out of a cistern.”

15 This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:

“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it.
16 You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’
Therefore you will flee!
You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’
Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
17 A thousand will flee
at the threat of one;
at the threat of five
you will all flee away,
till you are left
like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,
like a banner on a hill.”

18 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you;
therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.
For the LORD is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!

19 People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” 22 Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, “Away with you!”

23 He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will graze in broad meadows. 24 The oxen and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder and mash, spread out with fork and shovel. 25 In the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall, streams of water will flow on every high mountain and every lofty hill. 26 The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the LORD binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted.

27 See, the Name of the LORD comes from afar,
with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke;
his lips are full of wrath,
and his tongue is a consuming fire.
28 His breath is like a rushing torrent,
rising up to the neck.
He shakes the nations in the sieve of destruction;
he places in the jaws of the peoples
a bit that leads them astray.
29 And you will sing
as on the night you celebrate a holy festival;
your hearts will rejoice
as when people playing pipes go up
to the mountain of the LORD,
to the Rock of Israel.
30 The LORD will cause people to hear his majestic voice
and will make them see his arm coming down
with raging anger and consuming fire,
with cloudburst, thunderstorm and hail.
31 The voice of the LORD will shatter Assyria;
with his rod he will strike them down.
32 Every stroke the LORD lays on them
with his punishing club
will be to the music of timbrels and harps,
as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm.
33 Topheth has long been prepared;
it has been made ready for the king.
Its fire pit has been made deep and wide,
with an abundance of fire and wood;
the breath of the LORD,
like a stream of burning sulfur,
sets it ablaze.

Filed under: Uncategorized

What Next?

So today I went for a developer interview, wow! So I know most people are into the ‘we can do it’ attitude but this is my blog and today I want to talk about my reality. So I have decided to be reading on Java and when I was told that the job is for a Java developer, to be honest I wasn’t very excited. They say the more you know, the more you know you don’t know and I knew that I did not know much! Anyways so I went ahead and submitted my unfinished Java program. At some point I had just thought that I should just pull out of the interview, but I mean who does that, you wait to be eliminated. So I kept on keeping on.

So the interview was in Crema, a new coffee bar in Nakumatt lifestyle, kind of like the google style interview. We went through my code line by line. Not an experience I am used to. I was asked how can I improve it, I was like you do one two three. Now at this point I was like from here on its all about attitude so I decided that I am going to learn and try and enjoy from this experience (happy thoughts, positive thoughts). Next was writing Java code on paper. I was given a problem and I was to write the code on paper. It was a factorial problem, at that point in time I could not remember how it was done so I just came up with a jua kali solution that worked! Heh! hii maisha ya jua kali nitawacha. I was then asked how I can improve it, I said what I thought, then he also told me what could be done. After that I was shown a piece of code and I was to pick out the errors. I just saw hashtables on the code and I thought, ‘those are the topics that are at the end of programming books that I don’t really read, busted!’ So there I went picking out problems in the code. After finding out that those were not the problems I decided to just get down right honest and ask what the problems are. So I was listed for many problems that are probably mentioned in the same programming book that I did not finish reading.

After that I was ready to leave the coffee house having learnt once again that I do not know….but I knew that! So for me the question was what next? Do i continue in this pursuit of excellence? For how long? They say it takes 10,000 hours of practice to make you an expert in any given field. Should I invest my 10,000 hours in coding? Is it worth it? These are the many questions I have been asking myself for a long time now. Where do I want to go in life? As I try to answer this question in relation to my professional work I also consider what I have in my hand. And that brings me back to code, but is that all I have? Many questions I have. This post was not meant to be an ‘I can do it’, ‘we can make it’, ‘yes we can’ post. In all honestly I am really tired of hearing those statements. It’s time for me to put action to those words and I am honestly not going to read another motivational book until I act on the last one I read.

Filed under: food for thought

Reflections with Michael Joseph

Michael Joseph had already arrived by 1:30. In time to mix with the wananchi. The meeting began with an introduction from Al Kags.

Michael Joseph retires from Safaricom in 10 days what does he have to say…

Safaricom was started in June 2000. The business plan was to have 400,000 mobile subscribers in 5 years; Safaricom was hoping to get 50% of those. They had inherited 17,000 unhappy customers, 9 cell sites in Nairobi. The staff consisted of five people from vodaphone and 55 people from Telkom. They only had 20 million dollars yet one switch cost 10 million dollars then. 10 years later they have 16 million subscribers. They grow by 500,000 customers a month. He says they are successful because they are innovative.

Some Lessons he learnt during his tenure:
Don’t surprise your customers- He once tried to surprise Kenyans with 200Ksh free airtime and what was resulted was a network outage that has never been forgotten.
No free calling times in Kenya, not yet anyways. They once had free calls from 9:00 p.m. but that used to cause network jams and thus it was suspended.

Successes
They have a dedicated team that looks for new ideas. In relation to their terms and conditions, they ask people to sign waivers because they receive so many ideas they may have had it before. Well I don’t know about this but really…but I guess you can do this when you can pay the piper.

Sambaza- This is a service that is used to transfer mobile airtime from one subscriber to another. It was actually used before in Egypt and Sudan.

M-Pesa was written using 2 million pounds. It was initially meant for the disbursement of microfinance loans. It was first tested in Thika. The technology sits in UK and Germany. The success of M-Pesa is due to the distribution network.

Here a few of the questions asked.
The best advice that you have ever gotten
As a leader you have to make decisions. He is a benevolent dictator, but he consults internally when he is not sure. There is no wisdom that comes with an office; you have to be the wisdom in the office.

What do you feel about social media?
He’s not a big fan of social media but he’s successor is. He no longer reads blogs because he reads terrible things on them (not this blog for sure). Sounds like he has a bone to pick with IT people: if it’s not the database administrator, then it’s the bloggers or social media guys. Thank God our future does not depend on him.

How energy efficient is Safaricom?
They have 60 sites that run on green energy only. This sites use wind power but they have generators that are used when there is no wind. They have building management systems, because it makes economic sense when conserving energy.

Role of government
Government should play an enabling role and not a repressive role. Currently they do not play that role. During post election violence the government wanted to shutdown the mobile network.

Leadership and Management lessons
You have to behave with absolute integrity
You have to lead from the front.
There is no substitute for hardwork.
Pretend or know what you are doing.

Interesting facts I learnt
The per second billing system was a decision they made despite the fact that they needed money at the time.
They had 24/7 free customer service because people would not read the handbooks or instructions. They even got calls from the rival’s subscribers.
The network was launched on 23rd then the next day the it collapsed due to congestion.
They didn’t have enough money to have core network…that explains all the congestion we had in Safaricom.
Hiyo story ya fibre optic cable:He says that it is expensive to make the fibre-optic cable work. They have four cables for redundancy. The government allows the Chinese contractors to cut the cable everyother day therefore their costs are actually increased due to the repair work that needs to be done. They maintain a satellite link for corporate customers since it is more reliable.

We (Akirachix) had an opportunity to take a photo with him.

Akirachix with Michael Joseph

Filed under: Akirachix, Meetings

Window shopping for a fridge online

I am surprised that none of the major supermarkets have a good online shopping experience. I mean consider this, I have an internet connection and not much time to go for window shopping. Wouldn’t it be good if I could do that from my desk when the boss is not looking or when there isn’t much work? So I was looking for the price of a fridge. I thought of going to best buy or google shopping to see the price then I thought the price must be different in Kenya. So I decided to shop on the biggest supermarkets in Kenya.

Nakumatt

Well at least the site is there! Looks like HTML. First, the slide show of the page is quite fast. Yaani I felt like telling the page pole pole. Second, you can’t really see the prices of the items. They are all in some tiny font that forces you to increase your screen resolution. If only their next page buttons could work so that I don’t have to wait for the slide show to come to the page I saw the fridge. The best thing they could add to this site is a search for products. Anyone looking for a job who can design a good online shopping site should go and visit Nakumatt. Please.

Uchumi

First their site is like so red. Am not a user interface guru but all that red is kind of hurting to the eyes. I click on kitchen appliances. Yey! They have a search. I type in fridge. I get a white page staring back at me. Great! Well it seems like Uchumi does not stock fridges because I cannot see it on the site. I mean even when you get a product on the site like a cooker all you get is a pretty image of the cooker. No price. I mean why am I on this site if there is no price? If I wanted to know the different makes I would probably go to a manufacturer website. The website looks like a joomla site, a step above the HTML site above but they have not taken time to utilize the power of joomla. And no you can’t shop online despite the shop online now button blinking on the header.

Tuskys
Well they don’t even have site. I couldn’t find it.

Naivas Supermarket

They seem to have a site. I don’t know if it is theirs. First impression: I am impressed, good use of joomla and best pictures I have seen so far. And it is pretty. Clearly this site is not complete but let’s sees how it goes. Looks like they know what they are doing.

Seems like I still need to go to the supermarket.

Filed under: just for fun

Our Deepest Fear

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

–poem by Marianne Williamson

Filed under: food for thought

The Strength of A Woman and Other People

Building Bridges Award Ceremony

On the 21st September the building bridges award ceremony was being held at the iHub Nairobi. Building bridges is a campaign to encourage, map and connect peace initiatives in Kenya.

Front row: winners of the individual category

The winner of the individual category was Jane Mweru Kamau from Kiambaa, Eldoret. Jane is the true picture of love that believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things. Jane was hiding out in the Kiambaa church during the post election violence that was right after the presidential announcement in 2007. She managed to escape when the church was set ablaze. She did not escape unhurt that night as she was stoned. She hid in the nearby toilet with some children.
After the incident the adults tried to find ways to heal and reconcile the past but she saw the children were neglected. They still fought as they had seen the adults fight and judged each other on the basis of tribe. She decided that she would start a school in her two bedroom mud house for the children aged 3-6 years old. The children are representative of the different tribes in the area and are taught to live together in harmony.

She is active in peace initiatives; and she attends public barazas and women meetings to talk about peace. Her involvement in peace activities has earned her enemies, her house has been demolished 3 times, and she has also been attacked by thugs on several occasions. Her 3 year old grandchild was recently raped; she thinks that her active role in peace building may be the cause of this. She is happy to keep up the peace initiatives.

Winner of the Community Based Organizations category was Amani Kibera. The main focus of Amani Kibera is improved youth community participation in peace building, conflict management and active non violence through sports, culture and education in Nairobi’s Kibera slum. Their community approach is through mentoring, exchange and direct intervention and networking.
For more information on the winners visit: http://www.buildingbridges.co.ke

Filed under: food for thought

Things I learnt at GKenya

There was also a panel session comprising of accomplished techies and local techprenuers. Our very own Linda Kamau Vice President of Akirachix and developer at Ushahidi was part of the panel, the only lady. We hope that through Akirachix and other similar forum we will have more ladies on the panel next year. The following are other people who were on the panel: Mbugua Njihia CEO at Symbiotic, Gilbert Kanjama CEO at Knowing, Russell Southwood Chief Executive of Balancing Act and Henry Addo developer at Ushahidi.

Key points that were highlighted during the panel session:

What should people study to launch a successful business?

Passion for internet and knowing how things work. Focus on interests-feed your passions. You need curiosity skeptism and passion. What’s good code if it can’t feed you?-Mbugua Njihia. We should be confident.

How do they choose ideas they work on?

Relevance.

If they can fix it, can they sell it? Then send it out to other developers to beat it out.

It should be something simple. It should be well tested.

How observant you are (M-Pesa was initially meant for people to repay loans to microfinance institutions).

Know the metrics. Have Intuition. Failure is the best teacher, learn something from it.

Try and solve a problem. Then try and make money.

How do you build a quality product with little money?

There are free and open source tools.

Have beta versions in order to get more feedback. Launch early.

Develop for the consumer and not for yourself.

Rapid deployment rapid feedback – Ushahidi.

Most valuable lesson you learnt?

You can never walk alone. Ushahidi employs crowdsourcing.

If it’s not known, it doesn’t exist.

Just do it, keep it simple and be observant.

Find ways of networking with likeminded people.

The more authentic, the more likely it is to be successful.

Create a community around your product. Engage them.

Filed under: Tech stuff