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23:06 When come to M-Banking, banks find it hard to detach from M-Pesa
» All about Africa and specifically Kenya Mobile banking, powered by cell phones, has become a big success story in Kenya and the whole world now talk about it. But this has been basically the M-Pesa story and the banks trying to emulate the same have had very little success so far. Mobile banking utilizes technology which enable bank customers to use [...]
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20:13
My THAT...
» make mine a double espresso... I dream about you...
Everytime i touch myself, i think about you...
Your dark skin, your choleric nature...
I want you soooo bad...
From the l-word, i know you have a man, but i know i want you more than he does...
Feeling on your booty, in the toilet, at that club...
Fuck... You are so sexxxxy
I get it if your man hates me. I don't care... I WANT YOU!!!
YOU ARE THE DEFINITON OF SEX ON FIRE!!!
You know, coz i told you this before...
I just wanna hold you, and touch you, and squeeze on hour booty.
I WAS STRAIGHT BEFORE I MET YOU.
This ain't a fad or a missioN statement.
I want you... Now and forever.
Everything about you is sooooo sexy!
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15:07
Story of the Week – Dirt Road By Stephen Mwangi Ichungwa
» Storymoja Your votes are in and the story of the week is… Dirt Road by Stephen Mwangi Ichungwa Read it here Do you have any ideas about how to make your weekly reading more fun? Please send your suggestions to blogs@storymojaafrica.co.ke today. Join us here on Monday for the next batch of stories and be sure to [...]
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14:24
Branding Kenya
» johnkaranja.com 
Kikuyu Homestead 19th Century
Well what is perceived by the word brand? Probably you are wondering where I am going with this. Well some months or years ago we had Tusker Supermarket a local self help store. The perception and reception by the public it was viewed as one of the underground local stores and unconfirmed sources said it was going down at some point. With a string of stores around capital city and towns, the resulted to rebranding and sure enough it catapulted its revenue and image of the store rose high to the standard of the main stores like Nakumatt and the then Uchumi. The store just renamed its name to Tuskys and put some more definitive colours for outright identification.Back to our case Brand Kenya, well would argue Kenya has always been a brand on its own rather we needed rebranding. The whole strategy is amazing and yes under normal circumstances it would pass to be the best ideal way of selling Kenya to the Diaspora and attract tourist and investors. It’s viewed as an extension of progressing the main agenda of Vision 2030. Quoting the Information PS Mr. Ndemo he claimed politicians give guidelines they follow and if something fails its due to lack implementation by the likes of them the PS and so on. Is this really true to have such a claim when we do know that they are employed by the same politicians? May be sounding dumb but who is the boss and what if the boss grounds your plan? He was addressing attendees during the Brand Kenya launch claiming we should not blame politicians and that it was them to implement. Really tend to think he was wrong because for a fact it’s the politicians who have assumed the role of what goes and what does not. Look at the situation of the constitution review we haven’t begun and the already at it. Soon am guessing us going to be back to Orange and Bananas politics.
Anyway I think if the issue of Brand Kenya would lack the political goodwill we would be like playing musical beats without lyrics or having tuneless music but is still music. Look at it this way; yes we have Brand Kenya initiative but what about the underlining Kenyan issues that keep propping up? What are the strategies put forward to addressing them? Through this initiative we have TV programs and Lobbyist send out to sell Kenya in the positive light and uplift its image plus to ensure deviate from the bad publicity Kenya had received since last year. Looking at the programs well would look at them and agree that yes it would pull up some public information inspire others and so on but are the political class in together with us or are they to stick back and be the spoiled potatoes to spoil the rest. Think about it, w busy painting this beautiful picture of oneness, safety and beauty of the country few days later some politicians comes out accusing the other of political assassination. With these grounds lobbies a community against the other going all tribal. Another scenario is when public scandals and mismanagement is the order of the day of government what are the investors to think?
In my view Brand Kenya is supposed to have from inside outside rather than just trying to do patch up work on the extremely spoiling image of the great nation. This should be an initiative for a cross section of the whole country. Every persons to be involved I expected to see the president in the foreground of Brand Kenya the PM was supposed to be on the foreground too but what did we see at the launch PS and people from the department and yeah our very own image portrayer the media. The previous initiatives looked so empty and almost disappointing struggle for damage control. The likes of Vision 2030 and The Kenya We Want.
We should be Branding Kenya from within we put policies to run and sustain the country regardless of the situations. We should have good and practical food policies that guide the importations, exportation, supply, distribution and production of food. This would ensure we have food security. We should ensure safety and security of Kenyans and their properties is paramount to the governance of the country. We should ensure we have policies to ensure basic wants like water and housing have been addressed appropriately. Empty promises made by politicians make the issue of Brand Kenya as another attempt of PR waiting to fall since we see nothing to sustain its accomplishment.
Being optimistic as they say its our duty as the Kenyan citizen to speak well of the beautiful country. The initiative should be done on a serious note such that the given TV programs identified should address the issues rather than cover them and better yet bring the solutions but surely we need politicians to be answerable so am thinking there involvement in the discussion and forums would just help us identify which of these leaders are for real. We love this beautiful country Kenya God bless it as we try every way to stay above!!!
By Neville D. Nelson
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14:08
Blind will see :: Stem cell cornea regrowth
» johnkaranja.com -
13:19
Kenyan Wind farms: Why they could be another White elephant.
» johnkaranja.com 
Wind Farm
Hey guys, some Kenyan bloggers have done some background research on the Kenyan wind farm projects and there is some indication that the cost of the project has been doubled and is not going to be as effective as it sounds. Please follow the discussion here.
Consensus has been building for a Nuclear/ Geothermal power plant
Don’t invest in Wind Power. It’s too expensive, inefficient and undependable. The only way it survives in Europe and North America is through heavy governmental subsidies. Something that Kenya doesn’t have. Electric customers will end up paying two to three times for it when compared to other forms of generation. I read recently where a Wind Farm at Lake Turkana will provide 300 MW installed at a cost of over $800 million USD. This is about twice the cost of similar size “farms” in the US. I hope the contract includes transmission lines for the several hundred miles back to Nairobi. The 300MW is installed. You’ll be lucky to average 75MW or a 25% load factor. Spain has spent Billions (Euros, Pounds, Dollars…you name it) on wind power but it only provides about 12% of grid demand. What keeps Spain electrically afloat is their heavy investment in Natural Gas Combined Cycle (CC) plants that they began to construct at the same time as their investment in wind power. Spanish law requires the distributor, Red Electrica, to pay the wind power generator, 90% over the prevailing rate for conventional power…and to purchase all the wind power produced. Germany, also with a considerable wind power wattage, has determined that 50% of the time their wind machines only provide 11% or less of the grid’s demand. Observe the variability and undependability of wind power at online sites for Red Electrica at:https://demanda.ree.es/generacion_acumulada.html Keep in mind that Spain has over 16,000 MW installed of wind power. Eolica is wind and Resto. Reg. Esp. is what they call Special Regime and includes Co-Generation and Solar Power. Then go here:https://demanda.ree.es/demanda.html to observe the generation curve for each type of power source for the day. Click on the color coded pie chart for each type. Note for Resto.Reg.Esp. that the “hump” is the daily solar power output. For a comparison look at the Ireland daily wind power output here:http://www.eirgrid.com/operations/systemperformancedata/windgeneration/
Click through the Previous and Next Day choices to see the variability of the wind at one of the windiest countries on the planet. Ireland has about 1300MW wind power installed.
Spain utilizes its Hydro power for Peaking loads and to fill in the gaps when the wind isn’t blowing. CC is used for load following and some base load. Nuclear is baseload only along with Co-Generation.
If you looked at the Resto.Reg.Esp. and the hump you can see that solar is a good load follower up to mid-day. It’s not a waste (as I believe wind energy is) but it’s very expensive. Last year, Arizona State University conducted a study of the cost of various types of power sources and concluded that solar was approximately 3.5 to 4 times as expensive as either Nuclear or Coal. They didn’t compare it to wind power because wind power is not much of an option in the State of Arizona.
If solar is chosen then go with thermal. Photovoltaic is very expensive and upsets the grid too easily when clouds go over. With solar thermal there is a thermal inertia that smoothes the rise or fall in output.
In my opinion, there are three reasons why Spain has been able to incorporate so much wind power into their grid. 1) They have an abundant supply of Hydro power that can be dispatched with minutes, if not seconds, that can follow voltage changes caused by varying wind; 2) Their inclusion of CC plants (built about 24,000 MW since 2001) makes up for whatever Hydro can’t do and 3) They’ve installed one of the more sophisticated centralized grid control centers in the world that can control the outputs of their wind farms.
Natural Gas costs can only increase in the future as every country, every utility, and their aunt, tries to comply with some green agenda. Coal of course is cheapest but it certainly will not meet any carbon reduction goals. Some engineers have called Wind Power simply a variation on Natural Gas Power in that most of the time the utility will utilize CCs, similar to what Spain uses their Hydro power for.
My advice would be to go with as much Geothermal and Nuclear as you can get. Some of the newer reactors are designed for load following. Don’t spend vast amounts on wind or solar. Maybe the Europeans and North Americans can throw away money on expensive and inefficient sources but you can’t. Don’t try new schemes. Only go with the proven. Again, maybe China can afford to try new reactors and such, but you can’t. Go modular if you can and start small. If you need some load following or peaking don’t be afraid to install some CC plants. They might not be completely green but they’re better than oil or coal. And remember…while you’re agonizing over whether to buy that one CC plant because it produces a little CO2 the Chinese are constructing about one new coal plant a week!
My allocation would be:
25% Hydro (Use it only for load following and peaking)
10% CC
40% Nuclear
25% Geothermal (or as much as you can get to replace Nuclear)Plus…Keep some of your old oil plants ready because the reactors are down about once a year or two for refueling. About 30 days.
Good Luck!
Richard
Tucson, Arizona, USA
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12:30
Spacial awareness is divine
» STONE COLD HAVEN Train journeys can be as much of a pain as they are comical. There are indeed some strange characters who frequent this mode of transport, and perhaps I should include myself in this category. My M.O is straight forward – get comfortable, hook on the IPOD and resurface when the announcement for my station blasts over the tanoi. I don’t blame anyone for considering this anti-social, but my defence is that it’s probably the most normal thing to do considering I didn’t get on a train to meet people and chin wag the way to my destination.
Sometimes you just want some quiet and some private head space to contemplate stuff. Usually, it’s taxi drivers who can’t get the concept of leaving a passenger alone wanting to eagerly chat to you about everything from the weather to the problems that immigrants are bringing to the beloved British isles. Every once in a while though, you’re forced to become a third party to a telephone conversation on the train that let’s face it, you really don’t want to be part of.
I took my seat across the table from a “quietish” young woman who was busy reading some magazine or something. Even when the conductor approached us for tickets, she was very soft spoken when responding and asking about something or the other. The hits started rolling when her phone violently vibrated on the table and started ringing.
I don’t know what it was that ticked me off instantly. Maybe it was the fact that she left it there wringing for what seemed to be ages so that we could hear the hideous song that was her ring tone, or the fact that it was so loud, I’m sure you could hear it from outside even if the diesel powered train swept past you at 120 miles an hour.
“It’s for you”, I calmly suggested through gritted teeth.
“Oh! Shoot – I was looking for it” was the response.
Who was it who said the art of conversation was dead? Nobody told this girl.
Talk about a lack of spacial awareness and totally disregarding your surroundings. This girl just transformed into the world’s loudest gossip monger with a flip of that phone.
“C’mon C’mon. Spill it out”, she loudly blurted.
I thought the volume of the ring tone was bad, but this girl could talk for England and she wasn’t about to go shy on us.
“How was it”, followed with constant giggles of excitement only of the kind you would dare indulge when you’re alone. You could hear the groans and sighs from the other passengers in the cabin, as if willing each other for someone to wake up and slap the senses into this girl.
“So was it big?” she fearlessly asked before the middle aged woman sitting across from us decided enough was enough and respectfully reminded her that she wasn’t the only one on the train.
“Zip it luv”, was the curt and shameless response.
I was kind of pissed off with that response to tell you the truth. The lady didn’t deserve to be dismissed like that. But chatter box didn’t want to know. The giggles went on with the almost queued up remarks of “awesome”, “wow”, “your kidding me”….you know the drill.
I had one of them moments where I contemplated being arrested for assault because a combination of the girls voice, the nature of the conversation that was making everyone uncomfortable, and the volume of the conversation all conspired for me to consider sleeping in a police cell.
And she continued…“So what will you do, will you think about it?” “I don’t know, how big is it?”. “What are you going to do?”
I’d had enough by then, and before she could indulge further, I audibly interjected, “tell her to use lubrication, it makes it easier – nobody likes it too big”.
The whole cabin just cracked out in laughter. The girl was so embarrassed she picked her stuff up and moved right along probably to the next cabin.
Poetic justice I call it. The chap sitting opposite the lady who was earlier insulted for confronting the girl offered to buy me a drink.
The thing is though – she could have easily been talking about shoes or I don’t know, a bag of potatos? Who knows.Related Articles:
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7:57
Thank You for the Refferals.
» Still Proud to be Kenyan. Hi Good People. Today I have been blank. I have been actively looking for something to Blog about but I am running on empty. So I decided to look up some the stats and I was surprised to find the following to be the top referrers to my blog. Interesting stats. Thank you all for driving some traffic [...]
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5:54
PENNY STOCKS FOR THE SPECULATIVE INVESTOR
» Kenyantykoon's Blog The previous post was about some of the dynamics of speculative stock and i mentioned that penny stocks were an example of speculative stocks [By the way, i know i said that i would handle penny stocks yesterday but i got caught up couldnt find time to post] Basically a penny stock is a share that trades [...]
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5:41
KENYA CUP : MEAN MACHINE SET IMPALA IN THEIR SIGHTS
» Rugby in Kenya KENYA CUP : MEAN MACHINE SET IMPALA IN THEIR SIGHTS
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5:24
Love's False Promise
» Words Much Like Poetry of affection and passion I cast aside
it betrays me at every turn
the promise of bliss and soft embrace
false and aborted always
I shall then only seek to make my own way
abandoned by the bosom of companion comfort
I turn my loneliness to inspiration
upon a writ I pour a bled heart
my face set to a permanent frown
my words set to a rudeless firmness
my feelings shall lack sentimentality
as my mind takes on an unforgiving world
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4:02
Relevance of Kenyan Uni. syllabus…
» RIBA CAPITAL 
Just thot today I should deviate from my usual posts topics; Btw today is casual friday, normally the first friday of each September where you buy a sticker for R10 around Kes80 and all proceeds go to the disabled, and you get to dress in casual. Being a banker this is a big thing. lol
I graduated from Nairobi University, a few years back, when VB was the in thing thats before .Net and all other good things that followed. But ofcourse at UoN we didn’t study VB, well its was eventually introduced, but by then I had finished the unit and moved on. So I studied MS Dos.. and no I was not there in the 90’s or 80’s its post 2K(u can try figure my age range from this).. So I learnt MS Dos which of course I have never used. But my point is, Insead a top European MBA destination university is holding a global information session in Second Life..If you don’t know second life.. its a 3D virtual world, where you create your own avatar., and can shop, buy stuff, meet people.. etc.. here is the link. Ok.. lets assume secondlife is too far fetched for our local universities, because you also require decent bandwidth and a good computer to access.
Here in SA, there was a discussion with a music lecturer in Wits University and she was preparing a paper on AutoTunes. No, her motivation was not Jay Z’s song death of autotunes, but the fact that music is now turning very mechanical and no longer does it matter how well a musician can sing, since the voice can be digitally enhanced. This got me thinking.. I hope the syllabus at our Universities and schools has moved to include more than Nyatiti and Sukuti drums, yes they should be taught but we should also be relevant and teach what is current so that our graduates are relevant. Anyway, this was juts my 2 cents ..
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Weekend Games
» Rugby in Kenya Weekend Games
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1:16
Michael Jacksons Funeral & Burial
» A Nairobian's Perspective ! 
Pop Legend Michael Jackson has finally been laid to rest at Glendale Forest Lawn's Great Mausoleum in Los Angeles , 40 minutes ago in a private ceremony attended by some 200 guests. Michael Jackson funeral/burial service and interment began at 0300 GMT.
The family has kept the event low key by allowing only limited media coverage of the event which is a good thing. BBC News has a few photos of the event and a video coverage is in the offing.You can catch up n the video,photo links,story.. etc at this link.A great entertainer Michael Jackson has been laid to rest, his low key funeral is a good thing as now the family can be left to heal whereas us the living can take stock of what our life is like and what kind of legacy will we leave behind if we die. From dust to dust....
Michael Jacksons Funeral Link Video
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1:10
I’ll be back …
» The African Accent I am off to village in Quebec for the weekend. Fishing, swimming, hiking, canoeing, and eating some goat. Did I mention it is in wine country? I’ll be sure to take pictures. The camera and my IPod are the only electronics I will be carrying.
In the mean time, enjoy this is a throwback from 1978 when 10cc did an excursion into reggae.
