23:21
As I reported earlier that things were looking dim for Nyaga Stockbrokers... well, they are down & out...
I am not sure what the NSE hoped to achieve by pumping a mere KShs 100mn of investors' money into Nyaga but...
I expect the license to be auctioned but the amount will not be enough to cover Nyaga's losses - estimated at 800mn - and this will be interesting...
Solid Securities has sold 55% (or more) to NIC Bank...
Discount is hunting for a partner...
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23:11
Bitter Herbs
» Kenya Imagine According to the local and international media, Kenyans have heaved a sigh of relief. Crisis averted. Our leaders have been pictured smiling, their concerns ameliorated. They will not lose power. At least not yet. It is as though we have discovered a taste for what plagued us.
Read more from Keguro Macharia here. -
Analyse this: The National Accord and Reconciliation Bill, 2008
» Kenya Imagine I have been able to see the Bill in the form that was released after the 28th February. This bill in its present format will be a constitutional headache to get through Parliament. More than that, there are fundamental issues in it that raise the possibility of it being rendered illegal by the High Court due to its inconsistency with the current constitution.
Read Kamale T's analysis here. -
Kenya's crisis talks continue - four documents
» Kenya Imagine Published here are four documents from the continuing mediation effort aimed at getting longer term solutions to the Kenyan crisis. Constitutional Review.
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19:10
Afritwit
» Kikuyumoja's realm How many African twitterdudes & -dudettes are there on Twitter?
Am asking because of my friends on facebook who feel like being spammed with “JKE is twittering:…” messages on their feed pages. I’ve received at least two “what is this twittering business”-questions so far and then try to explain it.
Funny thing is I only started updating my (bilingual) twitter status on a regular basis when I managed to set it up on my Nokia N95 (via fring, twibble and via ordinary sms). Needless to say that it only really makes sense if you have a smartphone with multitasking functionality to have it running in the background, connected to a network (if you’re using your phone to twitter) or don’t mind receiving status updates via sms all the time (which obviously quickly drains the battery and is just stupid).
As for desktop applications, I’ve started using twhirl and quite like it. Twhirl requires an installation of Adobe Air, but once it’s set up, this litte app is just sweet.
So who’s on twitter of you gals & guys (except for the usual suspects :-)?
EDIT: just when I posted this, the following video went public:
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Karottenstreifen
» Kikuyumoja's realm Ich hab nen neuen Gemüseschäler und der schneidet so großzügig ab, dass ich eben die Resthitze der Pfanne dazu benutzt habe, um Längsstreifen einer geschälten (!) Karotte in der Pfanne anzubraten. Statt das jetzt nur ordinär italienisch zu würzen, könnte man die Streifen ja eigentlich vorher auch noch in eine Wasser/Ei-Mehl-Curry Mischung tauchen und dann lecker anbraten.
So Gemüsegratins mit den Resten ausm Gemüsefach kleingehackt und in ner Auflaufform überbacken sind sowieso viel zu unterbewertet. Allein - ich hab zZt keinen Ofen, nicht mal ne Mikrowelle.
(filed under: a) microblogging, hat aber nicht in den twitterfeed gepasst und b) wofür hab ich nen Blog? :-)
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16:10
Kobia Strikes Again: AfricanTees
» White African I’m beginning to think that this David Kobia fellow lives life on a caffeine drip, he must never sleep to be this productive. Okay, first two months of this year have seen: Ushahidi, IHaveNoTribe, and normal client work for Kobia Interactive. Today I just found out about his newest project, AfricanTees, a website where you can buy cool Kenya designed t-shirts.
From the name, you can tell that Kobia’s ambitions are to grow this outside of just the Kenyan market (thus the name “AfricanTees”, not “KenyanTees”). That’s a good idea, and it’s scalable. You see, he’s using a third party for actual manufacturing, printing and distribution of the shirts, so all he needs to worry about is designs.
The big question
The question I asked myself when I saw this site though was: Why has no one else done this who actually lives in Africa? (Kobia lives in the US).After all, it seems like an easy, low barrier to entry model that could be done by good designers anywhere on the continent with access to a computer. Also, the margins are low, but very acceptable to people living in areas with lower costs of living.
I have two thoughts on that, though I’d love to hear yours.
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First, the eternal thorn in my digital Africa thoughts: payment. It’s difficult to buy anything like this from Africa, much less receive payment for it electronically. (I could blather on about this infinitum, but I’ll spare you for now. Just know that it irks me to know end and this is where it started and went here.)
Second, it requires both design skill and web knowledge. I can think of many friends in Kenya and Sudan who are excellent artists, but don’t know how to translate that to a digital canvas. Those that do are usually busy enough doing their own web design work, so they don’t bother with a t-shirt shop online.
Some thoughts for AfricanTees
I had a chat with David after he sent me the link to AfricanTees, and had a couple of ideas immediately. First and foremost is the need for him to grow a community around this new site. There are a lot of great designers from Africa, and there are even more people with a good idea for an African t-shirt.What about taking a page from the Threadless book and creating a way for people to submit ideas or designs? Everyone could then vote ideas up and down, comment and chat up what they like and don’t like. Go ahead a prizing system around the top designs and foster creative growth and community.
Another quick thought would be to really tap into the communities that are already out there for African diaspora and Africans still on the continent. There’s a little bit of marketing in that, but an even greater pent up capacity of creativity looking for an outlet. Let the community owners make an affiliate cut, and let the top design submitters get a free shirt and maybe even a cut of future sales.
Okay, just because I can’t stop, I’m going to give one more idea. Why not create sub-niche’s… Why not a “Kenyan Schools” section so you can proudly display your alma mater’s emblem? Why not an “African Web” section so I can buy an Amagama or MamaMikes shirt?
must. stop. writing. about. this.
[Update: Steve made a good point. When speaking of Kenyan T-shirts, I should have mentioned Jamhuri Wear, who have some of the best designs around.]
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11:14
Breaking News: Mungiki Attacks Were Planned at State House
» You Missed This Reports have just emerged that Mungiki-led violence following last year's disputed elections were state-sanctioned. Well allow me to spoil the present party mood. These reports are categorical that Mungiki-led violence were planned and authorized from the heart of power-STATE HOUSE.
Predictably, Alfred Mutua already has all his limbs in his mouth is denial. In his characteristic self the goofing Mutua has told BBC that neither the President nor any government functionary would meet the Mungiki in darkness or otherwise. But history contracts that very proclamation, or doesn't it?
This damning report claims that meetings were hosted at the official residence of the president between the banned Mungiki militia and senior government figures. The singular aim it claims was to hire them as a defence force in the Rift Valley to protect the Kikuyu community.
According to BBC investigation a Mungiki member in hiding after receiving death threats revealed that three senior leaders of the sect were summoned to State House and singularly assigned the task of defending the Kikuyu in Rift Valley.
Ours is fast-paced politics complete with very destructive antics. The Mungiki ruse is no passing cloud. Add one plus one and you get today's demonstration by demanding Mungiki followers demanding release from jail of their leader Maina Njenga. Whether it is sour grapes or one party not honouring his side of the bargain will emerge very soon. So there comes the first wart in the festivities which Mutua has unwittingly dismissed as preposterous. -
The Mad Rush To Have Everybody In Government
» You Missed This Kalonzo And Mungatana Squirm At The Writing On The Wall
Kumekucha theme song dedicated to all Kumekuchans. Click here and ENJOY!!!
Kalonzo Musyoka and one Danston Mungatana are putting up a brave face but the writing is already on the wall, both gentleman are about to be shoved into political oblivion and when the new republic emerges, there will no longer be room for their brand of old style heckler politics.
Apparently the 50/50 sharing between PNU and ODM extends to parastatals and ambassadorial appointments and that must have a lot of people very worried and lacking in sleep at night.
It is already apparent that the slots have suddenly shrunk for PNU supporters so much so that there is talk now of having a colossal cabinet of at least 36, so as to squeeze in at least 18 ministers apiece (rather than just 16). Do the math and put some faces next to the names and you’ll suddenly realize that 18 cabinet positions are extremely few. There is no way they can go round PNU, Narc-Kenya and ODM-Kenya. It is safe to assume that most of the posts will remain within PNU and other affiliate parties will be extremely lucky to get even one. Based on this assumption it will be difficult for Kalonzo “sent hecklers to the funeral of a female colleague’s mother” Musyoka to retain the vice presidency.
But the LSK (Law Society of Kenya) chairman Kong’o Omogeni and the EALS (East African Law Society) President Tom Ojienda had a very clear message for Hon Musyoka yesterday. They told him that the current PNU and ODM agreement over rides any prior covenants that may have been made and Musyoka should take up the leadership of the opposition as the official leader of the opposition.
The lawyers, in a telephone interview with one of the dailies emphasized that a structured opposition was needed and the idea of having everybody in government should be discouraged. The lawyers further advised that those amending the constitution should put a clause allowing parties with less than 30 MPs to...
Read more
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10:09
Midweek Madness
» My part of the world....... Don't you just love it when you have all sorts of interesting stories passing through your mind and all sorts of fun things but as soon as you sit in front of the monitor it all dries up? That's me now. I was listening to the greatest hits of Babyface and my, you had to admit it; that man had talent. I think he was among the last of an era. The time when people were talented and used to write love songs and not these mindless baby making songs we hear now. Case in point, Jagged Edge; those boys have made the same album several times. The most ironic thing is that they have a cd called....Baby Makin' Project!
I was reading this story and with the amount of times I have heard the excuse of video editing used by people to deny being caught in the act I think I would be able to buy my own video editing studio. If you were busted trying to lay and egg, you were busted; own up! I was also reading this story, and all I can say is that it was inevitable. Foreigners come to Africa start businesses and treat their employees like crap with the local Authority's blessings, I'm not calling for anarchy but I think one day Kenyans should rise up like that to the Indians who treat their workers in Industrial Area like slaves. Yes we know it but since it doesn't affect us directly, we all turn a blind eye. When the US came into the peace talks, President Kibaki and his cohorts were screaming about sovereignty, how can you when you foreigners come into the country and do as they please, Arturs anyone? Anyway Iet me stop ranting....
There is some stuff that adds no value to the world at all. Case in point, Flavour of Love 3. I think one season was more than enough. I do hope that that crap is never show on Kenyan tv! Speaking of Kenyan things, I love Kenyan radio! Capital is the only Kenyan station of note that streams online so I tune in like every other day. So on Nini's late night show she was having her break ups to make ups where she calls couples on the rocks and tries to help them iron out their issues after reading their letters or texts. So now there was this dude who was trying to pull what I affectionately refer to as the fast fade, well he wasn't fast enough if the chic caught on. In my case I use it when I have started vibing and things aren't flowing, so I fade away bit by bit. The contact tapers off till nuthin'. Anyway in this case the mama told Nini how her boyfriend hasn't seen her for some time, nor has called her and he doesn't answer her calls. So now when Nini calls him and puts him on the spot, he gives some weak excuse of jobo and how things have changed between them and how he wants to get round to it; so she tells him point blank to stop being a pussy and call her. Now that was funny! I miss Kenyan radio......
I'm sure some of your fans of the many sitcoms and dramas that are churned out are aware that there was a Writer's Strike that recently ended, so in lieu of the regular programming studios opted for reality shows since their writers aren't in the union (yes reality tv has writers, you didn't think all that stuff that happens and the editing didn't have a story board to it?). Anyway one small observation is that the more women you have on the show; the more drama you will have while on the other hand the more men you have on a show; the less drama. I'll give 2 examples, compare Bad Girl's Club or Real World to Contender Asia or The Ultimate Fighter. It's like women live to fight, bicker and back stab!
Anyway I guess I've said enough today.
ps: I don't have nude Nini Wacera pics, I'm tired of people googling for that and for some reason or other my blog pops up. But now the sad is that by typing those words, this post is going to show up in the search. I can't win can I?
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7:41 Happy Birthday Babes!
» My Life is...Mochalicious! “If God is the DJ, then Life is the dance floor; Love is the rhythm, and You are the music.” Anonymous Happy Birthday Babes! I hope you have a wonderful day!
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6:07
Archer asked for “STAMINA”
» Me I LOve NAirobi REgardless - MILONARE Archer asked for “Six Things About Milo IN A tag”
I usually hate rules so I won’t post them or tag anyone else.
I’d rather bring up stuff that happened in 2007-2008. So here are my six “Me I Ps”:
Me I:
PIMP (Peed In My Pants)
This was the highlight of the year. It started out early on a Friday at around 3pm at the Boardroom aka Mwendas. By the time I was done there (1am) I’d have been giving a Bia Bora truck compe in terms of product content were it not for several pit stops to the little boys room for big men. Still had time/energy for an extra 2 hours in westi before hitting the sack. So I got up to the ever effective alarm signals from the unmentionables demanding audience with sanitation facilities. Having slumbered in the sitting room, I had to make my way to the bedroom and in the process lost all sense of direction and balance. I was quickly brought back to my senses by the impact of my eye-brow and nose against the edge of the bedroom door. Working in close tandem, the various parts of my body managed to signal massive pain to my brain, organize for a sharp intake of breath and release three drops in quick succession reminiscent of the tommy-guns of WWII. Needless to say the drops weren’t tears, sweat or blood.
PINT (Perennially have an INTerest in mwendas)
See PIMP above. I’ve been labeled furniture at Mwenda’s, I’m asked to book guys seats and tables, I receive texts and calls on a loose Monday afte asking if I’m at the Boardroom. What do I say? That’s the place for me except on Wednesdays from 9pm when I religiously report to Galileo’s for Kidum, the BodaBoda band and their dancing lady of the Madum-dums (Mawetetes – Naks 08). It’s changed my drinking habits from 15 on Fri and 24 on Sat to 2 daily (then 15 and 24 on … LOOOOOOL)
PLAY (PLease myself very eAsilY)
I’ve been described as one to enjoy cheap thrills and juicy stories. I am also known to take matters into my own hands aka a hands-on person. I love my fun and would rather have more, than less, things that make me happy cos the things that please those that are hard to please, please me too. Hope you get me please…
PLAN (Probably Lost A really Nice girl)
Could be cause I’m stubborn, proud or simply just a nyangau. Then again, in looking out for number one people often encounter others that are also doing the same. The best-laid ones of mice and men…
POSE (POssibly Should Engage myself more)
Been bumming for two years. I started school again 3 weeks ago and start work mid this month. Given my experience I guess I can unleash a training seminar called “Bum-boocha”, “Oh bummer” or even “Bum-baNet” and teach the people how to do it in style. Nubian Queen, can I use your avatar as my logo??? LOL!
PROD (PReviously OrganizeD wild parties)
Yep, and didn’t my friends love me for it (hence the PIMP). BYOB and I supply the venue, extras and music. There’s something about a party that mimics the male to female ratio of the country that adds extra taste to liquor and heightens enjoyment. Hmmm, there are times I’ve enjoyed so much that an extra “w” was added to the word to make it enjwoyment or better still mwenjwoyos…Those were the times I’d wish I was me and have the extra pleasure of remembering that I was!!!
Ok Archer, I'm done...
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5:20
The Secret In Nairobi
» Cock And Bull The website states:
The Secret reveals the most powerful law in the universe. The knowledge of this law has run like a golden thread through the lives and the teachings of all the prophets, seers, sages and saviors in the world’s history, and through the lives of all truly great men and women. All that they have ever accomplished or attained has been done in full accordance with this most powerful law.
Without exception, every human being has the ability to transform any weakness or suffering into strength, power, perfect peace, health, and abundance.
Rhonda Byrne’s discovery of The Secret began with a glimpse of the truth through a 100 year old book. She went back through centuries, tracing and uncovering a common truth that lay at the core of the most powerful philosophies, teachings and religions in the world.
What Rhonda discovered is now captured in The Secret, a film that has been viewed by millions around the world. The Secret has also been released as an audio-book and printed book with more than six million copies in print.
The Secret explains with simplicity the law that is governing all lives, and offers the knowledge of how to create - intentionally and effortlessly - a joyful life. This is the secret to everything - the secret to unlimited happiness, love, health and prosperity.
This is the secret to life.
When I first read about The Secret, I was eager to watch the movie and looked for it all over Nairobi without success. And then one day, I just came across it being sold at a small stall next to a staircase that goes towards the basement of Embassy House opposite Sheria House along Harambee Avenue.
At the very least, watching this movie will stimulate your mind to take a different look at your current circumstances and the way you have lived life so far.
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5:14
Quick Hits: Mar 5
» Kenyan Pundit - Bankelele has a great write-up of this years first Skunkworks meeting held at the Google offices in Kenya. For more about Skunkworks, click here. There’s 3 points that resonate with me in Bankelele’s write-up: 1. The fear of sharing content online - or really just sharing information in Kenya. From [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Quick Hits: Mar 5", url: "http://www.kenyanpundit.com/?p=467" });
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5:08
Vote for Ushahidi in the Netsquared Mashup Challenge
» Mentalacrobatics The last two months have been eye opening not just for me but for all Kenyans and all friends of Kenya. I have been shocked by some of the nonsensical narrow minded views that swept through the country, and it has to be said, through the blogs. Undoubtedly some friendships will never be the same again as people could not help but show their true colours.
However, the blessing of being so involved in the response to the post election crisis that engulfed Kenya is that for all the nonsensical, narrow minded views that I encountered, for every person I came across who was hell bent on stirring up hate, I would find ten people who would do anything to pull the country back from the brink.
Patriots would put careers on the line, friendships on the line, family relationships on the live and others even put their lives on the line to stand up and be counted as an agent for peace not for division. While some bloggers would announce that they could never take someone from another tribe home to their parents, other Kenyans were busy organising a media event where couples with each partner from a different tribe would publicly declare that they will not be part of any nonsense which insisted they leave their partners to show their loyalty to tribe.
Apart from the personal relationships another trend which warmed my heart was that professionals would rise up and find ways through which they could utilise their professional services to help save the country. A group of writers gathered and formed the Concerned Kenyan Writers coalition which aims to use writing skills to humanise the crisis, the techie community such as Skunkworks offered technical IT and ICT support to the relief efforts, the legal fraternity came up with similar initiatives, the top musicians and producers in the country got into the studios, journalists as well. Bloggers usually wear more than one hat and in each of the other groups mentioned above you will find bloggers.
Some initiatives are blog driven, they were born in blogs and grew in the blogs, were lead by bloggers and publicised by blogs. They are blogger lead and blogger dominated. One such project which I am honoured to work on is the Ushahidi project which was born out of Kenyan Pundit thinking out loud on her blog and Hash hearing those voices and running with them. The site was born on the blogs and brought in to existence by David Kobia, a guy who has been a huge supporter of Kenyan blogs and bloggers, in JUST TWO DAYS. I am yet to hear of another project that launched so successfully, that proved to be so ground breaking that was launched in such a short period of time. Kenyans across the globe showing what can happen with cooperation and commitment.
Ushahidi is the Kiswahili word for witness.
From Hash
Ushahidi.com is a tool for people who witness acts of violence in Kenya in these post-election times. You can report the incident that you have seen, and it will appear on a map-based view for others to see.So what’s Ushahidi.com about… (for those who don’t know Kiswahili, ushahidi is the Swahili word for witness). The website was mainly set up to document incidents of violence, lotting etc. during the crisis (and soon to follow - information about ways to help on a micro-level). The website is still very much a work in progress and will be updated as we go along.
We believe that the number of deaths being reported by the government, police, and media is grossly underreported. We also don’t think we have a true picture of what is really going on - reports that all have us have heard from family and friends in affected areas suggests that things are much worse than what we have heard in the media.
We want to continue mapping not only the violence, but also the ‘doves’ or peace efforts happening in Kenya. The last two months have been traumatic to our collective psyche, and we would like to be well equipped to continue this important project. While we will not hide from the trauma of the events; we want make Ushahidi even more relevant to other countries in Africa.
Since the launch of ushahidi the support from within the blogging community and from the main stream media as well, has been phenomenal. I have lost count of the number of radio and print interviews that have come my way because of interest in the project. Now Ushahidi needs your help again. Ushahidi has been entered in to the $100,000 Netsquared Mashup Challenge for further development. This is big in very many ways. It helps secure the future of the project and it helps secure the independence of the project, it allows the project to grow beyond Kenya, it give the opportunity for a powerful and increasingly necessary tool to achieve its potential.Please show your support for Ushahidi by voting for the project on Netsquared you have to register to vote, registration takes less time than it took you to read this sentence and voting takes even shorter. Help us to drive this project forward. Please read and link Hash’s post on the Ushahidi NetSquared challenge and remember to VOTE!
© Mentalacrobatics for Mentalacrobatics, 2008. | Permalink | 9 comments
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2:49
‘OK’ Certified
» Cock And Bull The only man that villagers knew who worked in a big Mzungu (White Man) Hotel in Nairobi came from 2 ridges away from my rural home. The man was the uncle to one of the friends that I grew up with. Apart from being envious of my friend for having such a well placed uncle, I also enjoyed the privilege of getting to shake the hand of the great man whenever he turned up while I was visiting my friend’s house.
Many years later – about 2 years ago – I visited that particular Hotel in town for the first time for a cup of coffee with friends. Just before we left, I decided to visit the bathroom. And I cannot exactly describe the feeling that overcame me when I looked into the big mirror and saw the reflection of my friend’s uncle tiredly leaning on the wooden handle of a mop taking a break from his chores of cleaning the bathroom floor. He was wearing a brown uniform with a cute beige collar and shiny buttons. None of us had changed very much physically and we instantly recognized each other. We politely enquired about one another’s welfare over the years, and exchanged information about our respective families’ wellbeing. When I came out of the restroom, I was surprised to realize that I was embarrassed at having broken the larger-than-life myth that my friend’s uncle’s job at the hotel carried in the village over all the years I have known him.
A few months later, I was to look at the hotel from a distance and think about all those times I hear someone say, “I know a guy who works there!”, and realized that people mostly do that to elevate their own status in the eyes of their friends. And so the next time I want to impress someone, I will not gleefully point at the hotel and say; “I know a guy who works there…he is the guy who cleans the loos and is from my village!” How does that sound? And yet, ever since I have known him, I can attest that the man is a Loving husband who travels upcountry every weekend to be with his wife, and an excellent father who works very hard to put his children through school and afford a comfortable life for them. I also remember his interest in our school work, encouraging us to work hard and pass all our exams with flying colors. And yet if allowed, one afternoon of finding him at his work station will take away the vision of a great man and replace it with one of an old tired one leaning heavily on a wooden handle of a mop.
It is this knowledge of a person for who he or she truly is and embracing them in Love and acceptance that means something to them. Everyone has an area in their life that has always been less than glamorous, perhaps that even needs to be carefully concealed lest it pops up and surprised everyone else. You and I yearn – sometimes even demand – to be understood and to be assured that despite all our known and unknown foibles, we are alright. I am sure you know what comfort there is in the assurance that even though you might not measure up to all the standards that society expects you to conform to, there are still people who consider you OK in their eyes.
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2:48
Skunkworks: Nairobi March 4
» bankelele A Skunkworks (blog) meeting yesterday was hosted by (7 month old) Google Kenya, and it was attended by an interesting mix of engineers, webhosts, designers, admins, bloggers and rivals of Google, - who all listened as Google employees explained their aps and maps.
some scribbled notes
- There’s an ongoing Google East Africa competition for students to develop gadgets for Google (closes March 17)
- They are mapping the country with Google map’s – started with Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and Nakuru, with a Kenyan team, doing the mapping work, using the tools. Ideally the next step will be for maps to stream into local yellow pages
- Safaricom have the largest customer base of any kind in Kenya – 8 million strong – and so Google partnered with them to give all their subscribers free e-mail. Many people’s introduction was and still remains, accessing an email account.
- Ushaidi was cited as an examples of enhanced use of a Google platform
- Google in Africa for the long term, with an altruistic motive of sharing local content & information – and currently get less than 1% of revenue from Africa. They helped NTV set up a Youtube platform that has been a big success in terms of Kenyans abroad now able to watch local news online. They monetize in three ways - videoads, adsense, search box advertising. Kenya/Africa needs to get more local content up. Already some local web sites are making good money off adsense that is enough to sustain their online operations.
- Hot point #1 was bandwidth; or the performance of connectivity, service providers and other operators. They are known in the industry for short-changing consumers who are not wary and in the face of a regulator (CCK) who does not seem to care. There was a call for users to take the initiative, to test bandwidth speeds, and identify those with superior speeds and those who were short-changing consumers (a model from Australia called Whirlpool to test broadband was mentioned as a model that could be used to do this)
- Hot point # 2 was the lack of investment in infrastructure/or the wrong kind of investment. Examples: There are 4 ethernet cables in Nairobi, but no cooperation between providers. Government is building data centers, but with no servers there. Local loops are not benefiting end users. It would be nice of government required new building developers to also install connectivity in buildings
- Other challenges with local advertising – does it work? Yahoo never advertised in Kenya; yet have more e-mail accounts through word of mouth. Google is working with universities to give them free e-mail as a way of building a long term relationship. There’s also a move to alert local advertising companies to the presnce of local site to advertise on.
There were many other conversations but they were drowned out by sounds of mouths slurping pizza slices and mshikaki’s.
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2:01
Spotlight Artists - Nneka & Ayo
» Kenyanpoet Spotlight Artists - Nneka & Ayo
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1:36
Honour yourself
» Cock And Bull “I’d gone through life believing in the strength and competence of others; never in my own. Now, dazzled, I discovered that my capacities were real. It was like finding a fortune in the lining of an old coat.”
- Joan Mills
Take a moment to stop and think about what you give to the people and life around you. Don’t think about what you’re not doing right. Look instead at all you do that is a blessing.
Many of us continually beat ourselves up for not doing or being enough. But imagine for a moment that you are great just as you are. Feel the relief this brings! Now open to the possibility that this is not a daydream. It’s true! Believe it!
“People become really quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do things. When they believe in themselves they have the first secret of success.”
- Norman Vincent Peale
“We cannot rise higher than our thought of ourselves.”
- Orison Swett Marden
From The Inner Journey e-newsletter
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1:33
Little Meets Big
» Cock And Bull “If a pickpocket meets a Holy Man, he will see only his pockets.”
- Hari Dass
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1:13
Voters pick Clinton in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island; McCain
» Marian's Blog Hillary Clinton has won Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island Democratic primaries. And if folks want to talk about total numbers of delegates picked by the voters, why doesn't the will of Democratic voters in Florida and Michigan count? Granted Barack...
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Kumekucha Kweli Plus Statement On Comments Moderation
» You Missed This Kumekucha theme song dedicated to all Kumekuchans. Click here and ENJOY!!!
Recently, during the most serious crisis Kenya has ever faced in her history, we repeatedly said here that only divine intervention would save Kenya. That is exactly what seems to have happened.
Yesterday ODM leader and Prime Minister designate Raila Odinga and President Mwai Kibaki were openly smiling for the cameras during a brief interruption of their long cordial meeting at Harambee house. All the tension and plastic smiles seem to have disappeared. This is nothing short of a genuine miracle (wacha ile fake ya wiper). Whatever it is that is going on here it is good for Kenya and the long suffering people of Kenya.
As you read this, Mvita MP and prominent member of the ODM pentagon, Hon Najib Balala is part of a government team to a major tourism fair in Germany. The team left Kenya last night (Kenyan time). Other members of the team include Foreign affairs minister Moses Wetangula and another ODMer, MP for Sotik, Lorna Laboso. Clearly both sides have started working together, even before their gentleman’s agreement becomes law.
In fact the whole crisis has turned out to be a blessing in disguise because we now have the perfect opportunity to not only seal all the loop holes that resulted in the macabre events of last December, but we will also get a brand new constitution as well. Not to mention the proposed truth and reconciliation commission that we have begged for here in Kumekucha for a very long time indeed. Surely things couldn’t be better.
This is a historic moment when we have the chance to correct the mistakes of the past.
Ironically there are many similarities between the birth of the first republic way back in 1963 and the birth of this the second republic that is about to take place right before our very eyes in the next fortnight or so. One similarity is the office of the Prime Minister. It is the desire of the vast majority of the people of Kenya that Kenya’s second prime minister be sworn in at Uhuru Park. If this happens then whatever he says in his acceptance speech will be very important to me and those Kenyans who understand. It has always bothered me a great deal that Kenya’s first Prime Minister Mzee Jomo Kenyatta on a similar occasion in 1963 said in his speech; “Today is the happiest day of my life.” Those words were to prove prophetic because the main beneficiary of that day was the man who uttered those words and indeed his family who today own land the size of a whole Nyanza province. History records that the people who witnessed that historic event and were wildly cheering that day ended up being worse off than they were under the colonial government.
It would be nice if the second prime minister were to usher in the second republic with words about that being the happiest day in the life of ordinary, long suffering Kenyans. Some people don’t think words mean very much, least of all coming from the mouth of a politician. But alas, I beg to differ.
Finally I would like to concur with those who have pointed out here that Kenyans in the diasporas had a huge role to play in this great victory that is about to dawn for Kenya. I take off my hat to you gallant Kenyans. Contrary to what many ordinary folks here believe, our brothers and sisters out there in foreign lands live under some very difficult circumstances. Yet many of them went out of their way to spend hours online sending petitions, leaving comments in blogs and sites like Kumekucha and so many other little things which made a huge difference.
It is only right that the new government (the first in the second republic, which will be the people’s republic) honors and rewards this group of Kenyans. The way to do this is to speedily pass the dual citizenship law that will allow Kenyans to legally hold more than one nationality. I personally believe that this is a move which will have a huge impact on the development of our beloved motherland and in the weeks and months to come, I will personally be pushing for the inclusion of this amendment in whatever new constitution is tabled.
Statement on Moderation from Kumekucha
I have been bombarded by requests to lift comment moderation in this blog. Older readers of this blog will know that being the people’s blog I usually speedily assent to most requests.
However there is a serious problem here. We have some people out there whose sole mission in life is to mess up things at Kumekucha. Over the last couple of months various tactics have been used including the shameless cloning of this blog. The latest tactic is to stage manage a bitter exchange of words between a Ms Brinner and the Okellos in a bid to infuriate both parties as well as the terms and conditions of decency that are in place for the running of this blog site.
Some of you have suggested that I wait to delete hate comments later. I have done this in the past and the least amount of time it has taken for me to clean up the site is 2 long hours. Obviously this is unacceptable as I will have no time left to make any posts or to do the many other things that keep your favorite blog going.
I am exploring other options but in the meantime I appeal for patience from all of you as I continue to moderate comments. Admittedly, this is also time consuming but takes far less time than deleting the comments later.
For the love of the motherland.
Kumekucha.
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