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23:21
Kenya Bank Rankings
» bankelele Kenya Bank Rankings
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17:57
The Stolen Elections That Never Was
» You Missed This Judge Kriegler has given his verdict: last years elections were not stolen, period. The good retired South African Judge couldn’t wait to have his report. He has tagged the stolen elections claim as a mischievous creation of the civil society. Those hailing Kriegler even add the fact that he is WHITE for good measure of assurance while those vilifying him have fallen to the time-tested Kenyan political parlance of money has been poured for a predicted report.
And with that singular sharp verdict from Kriegler, Kenyans have been found guilty of living a collective political lie in the last eight months. By extension Judge Kriegler is calling Koffi Annan who gave him the job bluff. Poor Annan is therefore guilty as charged for presiding over a dispute that never was. Know what? Kriegler has earned his money and must move on to other more important phases of his twilight life.
While Kriegler and his team traces the genesis of the flawed polls to INCOMPETENT ECK spiced with an uneven political playing field, the honourable Judge conveniently fails to see the CAUSE-EFFECT phenomenon staring him in the face begging to be busted. But again you need to be a lawyer schooled in clever antic of subjectivity and obtuse magnification of smokescreens at the expense of the wider picture to decipher the ‘seasoned’ legal mind of one ex-appellate Judge Kriegler.
In one sweeping conclusion, Kriegler blames partisanship orchestrated by incumbency and its surrogates and with the same wave of the hand he closes his eyes at the correlation. Well, association may not necessarily be causation, but once you remove the bias and confounders then all you have relating the response with the underlying factors is CAUSE unless you are playing statistics with chance. Poor witness testing before Kriegler become cannon fodder for vilification and not even polite, respectful reminders from
Effect no cause
The law must surely be an ass. Consequently practitioners of the legal profession must be ass riders. While governance by law is what distinguishes human beings from beasts of the wild, ones ears are often assaulted by lawyers presentations that is mostly trivia clothed as technicalities. Most cases are dismissed off hand on the same technicalities oblivious of their weights, beneficial or catastrophic. No wonder the legal cartel fashions itself as the exclusive club of LEARNED FRIENDS.
Please don’t bore me with the pedagogical origins which only succeeds in inflating personal egos. The woods are too thick and finding our way out won’t be an easy task. We are back at the beginning where we started it all. Can some smart Kenyan please propose the next catchy/appropriate commission before Cockar returns the known verdict ACTED WITHIN HIS POWERS?. No probe fatigue please!
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14:42
Quilombo Country
» Black Looks For those of you living in New York you may wish to catch this film…. Quilombo Country,” a documentary film shot in digital video, provides a portrait of rural communities in Brazil that were either founded by runaway slaves or begun from abandoned plantations. This type of community is known as a quilombo, from an Angolan [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Quilombo Country", url: "http://www.blacklooks.org/2008/08/quilombo_country.html" }); -
On being transgender
» Black Looks My name is Mia Nikasimo. As a volunteer for Changing Attitudes at the Lambeth Conference I found myself in an opportune position to reflect from a translesbian (i.e. a transsexual woman who identifies as a lesbian not to be confused with above or beyond “lesbians,” or a transgender man) standpoint on the Anglican Communion and [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "On being transgender", url: "http://www.blacklooks.org/2008/08/on_being_transgender.html" });
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12:44
understanding user interfaces, part 1
» Kikuyumoja's realm As much as I dislike rants on this blog, there’s nothing worse about local public transport in the Rhein-Main area (Frankfurt am Main et al) than this ticket machine in use at all metro stations:
Even though the menu is available in different languages, obtaining a valid ticket is really complicated for those who do not know how to operate it.
- for tickets within the City area of Frankfurt am Main, just press the “Einzelfahrt Frankfurt” button which is the 7th (red) button on the left column.
- for tickets to destinations outside of the City area, one has to choose it from the list on the left (note: not all are listed!), type in the corresponding 4-digit number and choose “Einzelfahrt” (first red button on the left column marked with an adult icon/pictogram).
As you can see from the picture, the machine also accepts banknotes, chip cards and certain mobiles. Pls also note the already mentioned coin-scratch-area to the right of the coin slot which - for some reasons - is ALWAYS on the same spot with all machines.
RMV apparently knows how bad their machines are - which is why they’ve published a detailed explanation online.
What I dislike about these machines:
Why make it complicated if it can be done way easier instead? Just put a coloured map of destinations on the left and assign 4-5 buttons on the column to the right that correspond to the coloured destinations.
Why do they offer the (rather primitive, no-touch-) screen in five different languages (German, English, French, Italian, Spanish and Turkish) if the rest of the machine is kept in German only?
If they’re already using pictograms for language symbols and age groups, why can’t they extend this to the overall interface?
Too many buttons are confusing! After all, you just want customers to obtain a valid ticket. 4-5 buttons are enough!
Do not offer too many steps during the ticket-selection-process. Instead, use something like this:
- Destination?: Where do you want to go? 1-5 price groups, not more!
- Discount?: Adult or child (~ discounted tariff for disabled, elderly, students, children, etc.)?
- Payment?: Insert money (bank notes, coins, chip cards, mobile RFID chips, etc.)
- Done!
Sometimes I just wish I was working in automation engineering (instead of in the field of ecological sanitation systems) and could approach the RMV with a simple upgrade proposal for a better user interface on their ticket vending machines. And this although I am not even an Apple user :-) and since there are others out there who are real professionals for keeping things really simple. Much like the upcoming elections in the US, anything is better and will be an improvement to the existing system. Right now the purchase of tickets through these machines is more complicated for most customers than programming your VCR.
Also, if I was into automation engineering and had to deliver a diploma thesis, I’d cover this subject.
p.s.: The red little sticker next to the mirrored image of yours truly & “Wählen Sie bitte Ihr Fahrziel” actually indicates when it was cleaned (!) for the last time.
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Does Barack Obama’s Skin Colour Matter, Really?
» You Missed This My answer to the above question is that it really does. Well, this is so if the reactions and comments of an American citizen on BBC, sometime this week, are anything to go by.
He said that Americans are not foolish and are, therefore, not going to elect a black man as their president. “Etiquette alone dictates that we don’t allow a black man to move into a house which is itself called the White House,” He said, quite forcefully.
He distastefully went on to say: “If Barack Obama had a White wife, Americans would have tolerated him. But there is no way Americans will have a black woman masquerading in their White House!”
If this one American (white American, I presume) voices the prejudices of millions others out there, then Barack should brace himself for “an extremely tight and asphyxiating” fight for the White House.
But Barack sounded his answer to anyone who might try to use such tactics (such as using his “skin colour” to sway the voters) when he made his exemplary speech during the Democratic National Convention.
He said:
“If you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.”
My two cents: Please guys, look not at the colour of the skin but at the content of character (among so many other things – competence, effective promise-delivering strategies etc).
Check out some Snapshots of Michelle Obama’s Speech this Week.
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7:45
5 Great African Blogs for BlogDay 2008
» White African 
Recently Merlin Mann wrote an outstanding post on what makes a good blog, and why they’re so rare. I’d suggest everyone read it, especially if you’re trying to figure out how to be a better blogger. Having said that, in honor of BlogDay 2008, here are 5 Africa-focused blogs that I think are interesting. Keep in mind, I’m particularly interested in African tech so that’s why they lean in that direction…
Nairobi Notes
I initially found out about Nairobi Notes through her Twitter updates (@nairobinotes) - they were interesting, funny and timely, which eventully led me to her blog.
Startup Africa
First off, I love their name - I’m just not sure how they got that amazing URL… How was it not taken? Anyway, Startup Africa does an excellent job of providing news on events, websites and startups in Africa, with a particularly good focus on South Africa.
TechMasai
Another new favorite of mine in the African web tech scene is TechMasai. They profile new African websites and services, often with some opinionated commentary which I like.
Mootbox
Short, interesting, and tends to be Nigeria-focused. In Omodudu’s own words, it’s about, “business, Micro-finance, Social Entrepreneurship, Small business development and other assorted randomness.” Follow Oz on Twitter too @Osize.
Jackfruity
I could just tell you that I like this blog because of it’s design - I’ve always salivated over Rebekah’s site design(s). However, she writes really cool and interesting stuff about Uganda, Sudan and humanitarian issues too. Keep her in your feed.That’s all for this year!
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5:34 Hurricane Gustav: Evacuation Priority
» Marian's Blog We're tracking Hurricane Gustav which many say could be worse than Hurricane Katrina almost exactly three years ago. New Orleans is now under a mandatory evacuation order, this time around providing bus transport for its residents without cars. Gustav has...
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4:05
Entrepreneurship - Summarised
» Rants, Raves & Reviews
Credit to Maishinski. Check the link above for the original source...
Our guys back home have mob talent - but they simply don't know how to make money from it! So they get frustrated and throw stones at the police (blame government) or each other (blame other communities)... :-)
Many of us in Diaspora have experienced intense global competition - and as a result, we have gained useful knowledge that we can share with our fellow Kenyans to help make them successful as entrepreneurs or employees.
We have our part to play in Vision 2030, and we may even realize its objectives in 2020 if we can get as many Kenyans as possible to be successful and self sufficient.
Lesson 1: Know your talent & develop it. Have some general knowledge about your area of specialization - but be EXTREMELY good at one thing (e.g. Database Tuning / Financial Analysis / Applications Programming etc). Dont try to be an expert in everything - just the one thing you enjoy the most.
Lesson 2: Believe that you control your own destiny. Don't expect handouts from governments, politicians etc. Be a go-getter. Get one good suit; get appointments with potential business contacts; discuss our product/service with them and land some deals.
Lesson 3: Market yourself. Whats your unique selling proposition? Why should someone pay you for your talent? The answer to that is the value of your talent. Dont do what "river-road businesses" do (i.e. At XYZ enterprises river-road, we specialize in everything, cleaning, building, painting, computers, typing, ironing, babysitting etc) - no one believes them!
Lesson 4: Know some basic business:
-ACCOUNTING; Break even points, cash flow statements, balance sheets, P&L.
-LAW; contracts, sale of goods, forms of businesses, licensing;
- MANAGEMENT strategy making (five forces/value chain etc); HR issues etc
- SELLING, ADVERTISING and MARKETING - and the difference between the three!
- ENTREPRENEURSHIP - how to start and run your own business..
Lesson 5: Read. Read. Read. Read. You dont have to go to college to learn accounts, management, entrepreneurship, etc. Cultivate a reading habit.
Lesson 6: Stay curent. Go online once a week and visit Bloomberg, FT, Investopedia, Bdafrica. Approx 20 mins - 20bob. Reasonable cost/week to stay on top.
Lesson 7: Be CONSTANTLY on the lookout for new ideas or opportunities that can be turned into money makers. For example if in the budget they talk about ICT villages in upcountry - see whether that's something you can do. If the minister announces that Matatus will be parked outside CBD - consider a coffee shop near the station. If CBD is to be a pedestrian city in future, think of possible tourism opportunities and start working on proposals... if Fibre optic is coming, think of online sales, remote software contracts, shareware, value added services, IT consulting, BPO etc etc.
Lesson 8: Protect your intellectual property. Never give out source code for free. Never publish your invention/discovery without getting a patent first. Share your business - not your IP. IP is too valuable!!!!
Lesson 9: Don't give up. Read about successful business people. They all have failed in their initial effort. The only thing is they failed smartly - and learned from their failures. Failing smartly is about planning for eventuality of failure so you can minimize its financial impact! Always test your business idea at a small scale first. If it's an area you don't know about, volunteer to work for a future competitor for low salary so you can learn the nuances of the business and survival tricks before you start your own...
Lesson 10: Watch the Apprentice Season 1 (Donald Trump): You will learn that its easy to get rich legitimately. If you really want something you will get it. The episode where the guys made $1,000 selling lemonade really stumped me! The simplest of businesses brought in Ksh 67,000/= in ONE DAY!!! Why? Because the candidates put their ALL; they put their best efforts to win. No handouts from IMF, CDF or YDF - just plain simple brains and hard work.
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