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• January 13, 2009
• 19:21

  the LED phone hack

   » ‎ Kikuyumoja's realm

  Tags:  imagineering  

  The following post is dedicated to Samuel & Juliana - both connoisseurs of mobile phones that come with an integrated flashlight (such as the Nokia 1208).

  An integrated LED flashlight? What’s the big deal?

  Well, if you happen to live in a country with frequent power failures and favour all-in-one devices, an integrated flashlight comes in handy for those moments when it’s too windy or otherwise inappropriate to use a lighter as a source of light. Dedicated LED-based flashlights are nice and proven - I have mine on the keychain - got it free from Globetrotter.de some years ago.

  

  Sure, you could even use the brigtly illuminated screen on your phone to satisfy any quick needs for a source of light, but it just isn’t the same comfort and also isn’t right on one single spot. There btw is a fancy app for the iPhone which provides a blank white screen to substitute a flash (says @mzeecedric). Quite a ROFL-factor but more like a gimmick. Other recent Nokias with S60 and LED-flash for photography can be modified on the hardware side, e.g. cutting a wire on the printed circuit flex cable. Those “flash lights” weren’t made for constant illumination needs, hence it’s highly recommended not to do that.

  I’d been thinking about a DIY alternative for a phone that could be realized by any average phone fundi out there and consequently didn’t want to come up with any SMD-type solution that would probably do a much better job, but instead come up with a simple hack that - most importantly - may be reversed to preserve any warranty on the phone.

  The actual need for this project arose late last night after Samuel’s tweet on how he misses the flashlight. Besides, I had urgent work to finish so I needed an external incentive to push me through the evening until I could eventually put my hands on this “hack”.

  The players:

  

  an older Nokia 6230 I rescued from eBay some time ago (my 6230i walked away in a Were-sense…). Here you can already see the thin back cover which can be replaced anytime and is thus perfectly made for hacks.

  

  an old LED with batteries from a dead lighter

  So let’s start with….
  

  1. the cheap solution :-)

  

  A quick ‘n’ dirty solution that will just do the job.

  Not very sustainable though. Which gets us to…

  2. the slightly better option

  Many Nokia phones come with an exchangable cover, so it’s obvious to make use of the plastic cover which can be exchanged any time. And since there isn’t much space for a bigger battery, we’ll also use the phone’s own battery. After all, it’s based on LithiumIon technology which means relatively high energy density.

  The LED is in blue colour, but basically any stronger LED will do the job. Your fundi may be able to resuce one from the usual e-waste found in popular places. I am also not using any resistor or any other passive & active parts to keep it really simple. All we need to do is to sacrifice the back cover for this hack (coz the LED has to go somewhere) and get a direct connection to the battery.

  So I’d asked myself:

  1. Where do I put the LED?
  2. Will I need a switch to activate it?
  3. How will I manage to connect it to the battery, given the narrow space in between the cover and the battery?

  To worsen the situation even more, I currently do not have access to my usual tools, but then again, that’s the challenge after all - trying to find a decent solution under limited conditions. All I currently have are scissors, my Leatherman Wave, a (really!) cheap voltmeter and a monsterous 30W soldering iron. My Gadgetimoja-toolbox is somewhere else on this planet…

  Trying to find a short piece of relatively thin wire turned out to be the hardest part - I have lots of that stuff at home - but where is it when you need it??

  So I did what everyone does in such situations: improvise - and take it from somewhere else. In other words: look for another electronical device and see if you can “borrow” some 10cm of wire from that.

  

  Pole sana, dear electrical thermometer. It’s friggin cold outside anyways so at least I’ve provided you with a few indoor minutes. And thx for the cable!

  Improvising also means that you do things by trial & error and try to avoid any hardware modifications by simulating the scenario in your head. Will this work? Where will I put the LED? Can it still fit? And what about that damn switch??

  

  It works!

  I’d made good experience with “drilling” decent holes into plastic (mis)using a cheap soldering iron in the past, so I just continued “drilling” a hole (don’t try this at home, kids) using this method. Just make sure you actually clean the iron afterwards and while it’s still hot.

  

  

  

  As you can see from the pictures above, the cables are just loosely joined with the wonderful battery dock on the phone so that you can remove them any time. The LED is rather big but “somehow” fits onto the edge of the back cover. Also, the cable is still too thick and the back cover will not close the way it is supposed to (also because my phone….ahem…let’s say: had already survived a few other “operations” in the past + remember I’d previously aquired it in an awful condition from eBay).

  A “switch” is also missing but this was just version 0.1 to show it’s doable to pimp an ordinary phone into a flashlight phone. It’s a jua kali hack for prototyping, I’d say.

  Do you have any ideas for a switch? How would you design it? Maybe integrate it on the side? And is it locally available (= keep it cheap and simple)?

  

  The activated LED with the back cover just put on top.

  I will try to organise two more back covers so that I can play around and see what else is possible. Ideally, I’d like to see someone else from Nairobi pick this up (if not already done - sijui if this already exists in Nbo these days?) and modify it into a commercial add-on for wanainchii. After all, phones with flashlights just rock and should imho be on any phone out there. This solution here won’t jeopardize the gadget itself - and such a plastic back cover is cheap, especially this one (with a Vodafone branding, yuck!).

• 17:28

  A fixture

   » ‎ Black Looks
  The shady figure there Hopping from one foot The other can’t wait A fix or something? There’s a shadow there Barring the doorway ‘Sorry mate!’ he said. ‘I’m not your mate!’ Lead weight of words. Albion is dingy dark A frozen gauze of fog The shadow disappeared. Consa haunt dealer’s den The time night itself Smoking reef in the path ‘You alright?’ said a sleeper The next thing the possy No home [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "A fixture", url: "http://www.blacklooks.org/2009/01/_a_fixture.html" });

• 16:59

  Doing Brisk Business With Carcass Kenya

   » ‎ You Missed This
  Kenya’s ruling class is taking our legendary entrepreneurial skills to new levels as the Kenyan population prove to be the handiest goods of trade. You can browse the preface to this FRAUD thriller as the IDPs are turned into a lucrative cash cow by industrious minds.
  
  But the ultimate prize goes to those with unadulterated DNA aboard MV Triton Petroleum Company destined to ECONOMIC NIRVANA. Poor ex KPL and KTB bosses! They were so mesmerized with the amount landing on their laps oblivious of the MEGA deals transacted over their heads. The energy ministry is headed by an experienced hand steeled by the Anglo Leasing fame.
  
  Why chase shadows when the kingpin at the heart of the whole scandal has DNA traceable to State House? Creating smokescreens to buy time and mask challenges are our national pastimes. The Kenyan-like elaborate conspiracy by KPC, Triton and Ministry of Energy top officials makes laughable the so-called plastic search for Triton chief Yagnesh Devani and KPC ex-Operations Manager Peter Mecha.
  
  If you thought the era of genocide in disguise where chalk was shamelessly sold as chlorine belonged to last millennium think again. The kings and princesses of FRAUD have the exclusive access to the national till and they will RAPE cow Kenya till the last drop of blood.
  
  Martha Karua’s noise at the thieves will only leave her face splashed with vomit from the gluttons. Her thin-veiled political tantrums amounts to too little too late efforts redeem her face after being the public and intellectual face of the same scoundrels early last year. The Swahili saying malipo ni hapa hapa has been materialized so speedily.
  
  Kenyans must be the most resilient and tolerant people this side of the planet. How else would you explain being led by a ZOMBIE whose modus operandi is total contempt and sickening insensitivity? Make no mistake. These vultures will circle prey Kenya secure in the knowledge that their educated tribesmen and accomplishes will rush to their defence spewing exotic village vitriol.
  
  Our national mantra must be anchored on the premise that if carpenters live on making coffins why not expand the business to kill the living. Well, the small and average-mined Kenyans can continue complaining about scarce unga, oblivious of the truth that they can as well survive on cake which their political masters stock in plenty for their dogs.
  
  Exotic vitriol
  No amount of brinkmanship and grandstanding can purchase moral authority. Everybody is in greedily exploiting any available opportunity/position feathering their nests with the mindset of security in numbers. The boss is nude and will never dare point a finger lest he is paraded in his birthday suit.
  
  The feeling is mutual when a president trivializes national challenges with unforgivable remarks that taunts his voters to fight if they so wish. That version of contempt manifests itself here aplenty when schooled villagers abroad deride other Kenyans' concerns as whining instead of seizing the opportunity to join the looters.
  
  Well, the time of reckoning is nigh and no DNA will be safe from the wrath of marauding Kenyans when the shit hits the fan fuelled by food riots. The upper echelon of the shameless looters may escape but the reprieve will be temporary as proved by Mobutu’s fate. Nothing lasts forever and very soon the scoundrels will dutifully earn their collective wages of national sin against fellow Kenyans.

• 12:00

  Born at the crossroads I am my parents dream

   » ‎ Black Looks
  In part of a BBC World Service series of writers letters to Barack Obama, Aminata Forna Aminatta Forna, author of “The Devil that Danced on the Water” and Ancestor’s Stones, responds to the coming Presidency of Barack Obama. The programme is part of the BBC World Service Strand series of “Open letters and [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Born at the crossroads I am my parents dream", url: "http://www.blacklooks.org/2009/01/born_at_the_crossroads_i_am_my_parents_dream.html" });

• 10:05

  Weekly Citizen's take on KPC-Triton scam

   » ‎ Rants, Raves & Reviews

  Tags:  Review  

  This is copied from what the comments section by Anon in an earlier post. I have NOT researched the information provided but it sounds interesting. I have edited unrelated/extraneous content to shorten the post without removing/deleting any information related to the KPC-Triton scam. The entire comment can be referenced in the earlier blog posts' comment section.
  A local newspaper in Kenya has named the Prime Minister Raila Odinga as being a key player to what the weekly termed as mega oil scandal involving millions of shillings.
  The article incriminating Raila Odinga and his family in suspect oil deal, which also involved a cartel of wealthy Asian wheeler dealer appeared in the latest issue of the Nairobi ’s publication, the WEEKLY CITIZEN, which is one of the mushrooming alternative press, commonly called “Gutter Press”. The paper is credited for its in-depth investigative report, making it a lethal weapons to the politicians.

  In a page one leading article the articles says.” Towards the end of 2008, Kenyans were forced to grapple with an unreliable supply of fuel and artificial rise in its pricing.”
On more than one occasion, the Managing Director of the National Oil Pipeline Mr George Okungu gave a widely televised interviews to reassure Kenyans that there was no fuel shortage or crisis as such in the country. But between December 28 and 29th,December 2008 most filling stations upcountry had no fuel to supply to the motorists. Workers returning from Holiday, particularly those travelling from Western Kenya back to the City got briefly stranded in Kisumu and other towns.
  During the same period, a medium sized oil firm called Triton Limited, which is run by Mr Yagnes Devani and Mr Pankaj Somaia was reported to have allegedly rendered legally bankrupt, suddenly appeared in the oil trading scene.
The duo, according to CITIZEN’’s article have their roots in the lakeside Kenyan City of Kisumu and it is in Chemelil area within the Nyanza sugar belt, where the first few Triton Limited outlets were set up. What was most intriguing is that in-spite of its definite inability to source and service the largest oil order in the country, Triton Ltd, is alleged to have secured the government tender to purchase national oil supplies for a six month quota through the alleged intervention of the Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who is said to have personal and family interests in the oil industry as a major player.

  Triton Ltd beat all other seasonal firms such as OilLibya{formerly Mobil} and Shell/BP.
Yagness Devani is the brother to the late Harish Devani who owned the multimillion complex, Simmers Plaza in in a Nairobi suburbs of Westlands, but alleged to have committed suicide a couples of years ago after swindling those close to former President Daniel Arap Moi billions of shillings in tenders scams supplies at the Kenyan Ports Authority {KPA}and Kenya Power and Lighting Company {KPLC}
.

  “Indeed Triton Ltd had no capacity, to deliver on such a huge consignment of oil to the nation, but immediately after securing the government tender set upon sub-contracting the same to its rivals companies at a profit without any actual direct importation,”

  In addition, Triton Ltd, according to the report was that oil suppliers refused to give in to the Triton’s sordid machinations, and this is what caused the brief artificial fuel shortage in Kenyan, which in turn raised the fuel prices even much higher. To compound the saga, Afri Global Ltd, a firm belonging to Raila Odinga’s elder brother Dr. Oburu Oginga MP who is the Finance Assistant Minister and which is run by Dr. Oginga’s son a pint sized fellow called Elijah Abonyo Oburu was one of the key beneficiaries.

  After this scam Elijah Oburu had since bought a brand new show room Mercedez Benz limousine 350 valued at colossal amount of Kshs 24 million which he now drives around Kisumu City.

  Another firm, African Oils Ltd, which belong to the Prime Minister’s son Fidel Castro Raila Odinga was also occasioned adequate favor to profiteer from the scandal, charged the paper article.
And not to be out done was the Prime Minister himself with his company Bakri Ltd, operated by one Mr. Mike Njeru who joined the lists of compliant firms that allegedly benefited from the tender pool sharing and in turn sold the same to the highest bidder!.
Raila Odinga’s younger sister Adhiambo is the managing director of the Petro Plus firm that has been involved in bulk oil sales in the high seas, a host received from Nigeria thanks to the closeness of the Prime Minister with the former ruler Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo. Libya and Southern Sudan government as donations to finance democratic pursuits in Kenya .
So entrenched is the Odinga family interests in the oil industry the players advise that it is practically impossible to do serious oil business in Kenya without roping in a family member.
At the centre of the scheme, says the paper, is Pankaj Somaia, a wheeler-dealer in the Moi regime era and alleged wanted in various countries for questioning on an array of criminal activities.”
In any oil sale scheme of the magnitude, Triton Ltd dabbed in the returns, kick-backs included run into hundreds of million of shillings.” the report says.

  It is widely rumoured that Devani heavily funded last year’s 2007 general campaign for ODM team an that those who benefited by Devani earl this year were only return ing a favor.
“Indeed the grapevine has it that some senior Ministers in the grand coalition cabinet drive vehicles donated by Devani early this year. It is also an open secret that two MPs have been on Devani’s payroll ostensibly so that they extend favors for their benefactors as and when needed.” adds the paper.
Meanwhile Citizen reported that Mr. Devani himself is said to be holed up in some undisclosed destination abroad, but he keep in constant touch with the Prime Minister through one called Collins Odhiambo [formerly of Citi Bank}, and up to fortnight ago Triton Ltd, commercial director.”
Mr Odhiambo is said to be in big panic since Triton Ltd, went burst and placed under the official receivers as in the case with an array of high placed personalities in the government.
Another employee who took cover only before the take-over of Triton Ltd, is a Mr Kioko who was in charge of the firm’s operations at the KPA in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa .
Immigration Minister Gerald Otieno Kajwang’ who has also been a regular visitor in Devani’s office is together with his personal assistant{PA} is said to be working day and night to cover up five senior employees of Asian extractions who were irregularly employed by Triton Ltd over the last 10 months.

• 7:58

  Regulator reassures depositors

   » ‎ bankelele

  Tags:  triton  

  Titanic Triton
  The Central Bank of Kenya has issued a statement to reassure depositors at some banks that have had some panicked customers want to withdraw and safeguard their funds at their banks which they believe may be exposed to the Triton fraud and fall – which CBK says is less than 0.002% of the banking sector. Read more

• 4:32

  Most Corrupt VP Ever Wants To Live In State House As Ruto Sells Out

   » ‎ You Missed This
  
  Prof George "coughing VW" Saitoti: This man is very determined to be your next president
  
  It has not surprised political analysts that Internal security minister George Saitoti has finally come out in the open and declared his interest in the presidency.
  
  But what Kenyans need to ask themselves are two simple questions. Who is George Saitoti and can he make a president, let alone lead Kenyans to the promised land we all yearn for?
  
  It is no secret that Saitoti used to drive a beat up VW that would cough uncontrollably at the most inconvenient times on the highways and sometimes traffic policemen would be too surprised to arrest him. His 500 bob cheques would regularly bounce at his bank then, opposite the Hilton Hotel. The mathematics professor was picked up in that state in the 80s and made Finance minister. His climb was meteoric and within no time George Saitoti became an immensely wealthy man. So much so that he is now able to finance a presidential campaign almost effortlessly. So where did his money come from?
  
  ----------------------------------------
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  The truth is that if there was a contest to single out the most corrupt Kenyan who has ever been Vice President, then there would be no contest. Saitoti would win hands down. Apart from the Goldenberg saga which the topology professor has tried very hard to distance himself from, Saitoti built a reputation with many would-be foreign investors as the man who used to send an aide to openly ask for cash handouts and bribes. I have two witnesses who have sworn affidavits and have even named the professor's favourite errand boy in this “business.” That is the man who wants to be your president.
  
  The other question one needs to ask themselves is why Moi overlooked him and went for Uhuru Kenyatta instead in 2002. Some people claim that the excessive greed Moi saw in Saitoti would have meant disaster for Kenya. Oh well, that is neither here nor there because Moi himself also proved quite greedy towards the end of his tenure. But shall we say that is what Moi thought of him?
  
  A fascinating aside here is that it seems that the alliances for 2012 (or whenever it is that we will go to the polls) are taking shape in earnest. One of the people Saitoti no doubt inspired in terms of ways of making overnight wealth by stealing public funds, is William Ruto. The Agriculture minister has been having some fascinating night meetings in his constituency in recent times. I am told Ruto had a large meeting in Eldoret over the weekend with all councillors (or strategic ones) in Rift valley including Maasai, Kalenjin, Samburu etc. At the meeting he referred to Raila as 'that bull without a herd.' Apparently the meeting was at Ruto's house. Then they were all given Kshs 5,000 each (impeccable sources tell me). They all stayed the night in hotels in Eldoret, all paid for by their host. Ruto is also said to have told the councillors that Raila was no longer marketable. And that they should make this the year of the IDPs and take all IDPs as their brothers.

• 2:26

  Canopic Jar 22

   » ‎ Black Looks
  Canopic Jar is an online literary journal published on an ad hoc basis by Phil Rice and Rethabile Masilo. The name Canopic Jar was thought up on a night over a few beers by founders Phil” Merrill and Rice who explains the name as ….. A loose definition for a Canopic Jar is that [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Canopic Jar 22", url: "http://www.blacklooks.org/2009/01/canopic_jar_22.html" });

• 1:02

  Facebook: The Mystery of the Missing Kenyans

   » ‎ What An African Woman Thinks
  Here’s something interesting that’s happened over three weeks. On December 14th, 2008, there were apparently just over 139,000 active users from Kenya on Facebook. By January 9th, 2009, that number had dropped by ten thousand to just over 129,000 Kenyans.
  
  I tried to surf around but couldn’t get to the bottom of these statistics. Do they mean, for example that 10,000 Kenyans have deleted their profiles from Facebook or that they haven’t used their accounts within a specific period of time? (The latter of which would make me a potential missing person.)
  
  Does this say something about the growing popularity of Zuqka.com? Or not? For what it’s worth, it made me go over to Zuqka.com to find out what’s happening in those parts. I came away with a question mark. Which is equal to, I’m old. So not feeling it. Plus, I couldn’t tell, really, whether it was drawing away the Kenyans or not because there were no statistics and I didn't enjoy navigating it. But it’s new and it’s still in Beta so I ought to cut it some slack. I will, I have.
  
  I’m still curious about those 10,000 Kenyans who were and are no longer active facebook users.
  
  Do they know something I don’t know?
  
  Somebody spill already.It's my window, but I don't own the view.
• 0:13

  The Future is Here:Consumer Genetics

   » ‎ What An African Woman Thinks
  You know how I’m all over the place and nowhere in particular with this blog?
  
  Here I go again, off on another tangent: Personal Genomics.
  
  I read an article on the New York Times day before last about the mainstreaming of Personal Genomics. Apparently, we are now officially in the age of ‘consumer genetics.’ Or, as the MIT technology review calls it, ‘commodity genomics.’
  
  At first thought, the navel-gazer in me was totally fascinated. I have always been obsessed with knowing and understanding myself. I have a bookshelf that can attest to this, should you happen to be of the Thomas family and go by the first name Doubting. I think this obsession is the first born child of the control freak in me. The worst feeling in the world is the helplessness of not being in control of your circumstances, no? The more I know, the more in control I feel. (note: I feel, as opposed to, I am)
  
  I digress. Forgive. We were talking about personal genomics.
  
  For about 400 dollars, you can get a sample of ‘traits, disease risks and ancestry data from 23andMe.’ Or so reports the New York Times. As in they decode the abilities and the temperaments ‘written into’ your DNA.
  
  And for a much pricier circa 100,000 US dollars, you can get a complete sequence and analysis of your genome from Knome. I ask myself how consumer or commodity is 100,000 US dollars, really? Then I remember that business school lesson about niche markets and targeting and positioning and I shrug. Whatever.
  
  So, as the 23andMe tagline proclaims, genetics just got personal.
  
  But, now that the possibility of genotyping is within reasonable reach, am I even interested? It sounds so final, like it locks me finally into a particular way of being and stamps out all possibility. Could I live with knowing myself that well?
  
  What if I don’t like what I learn? What if I learn that I’m not cut out to live a long life, for example. Then what? I know ten or twenty years from now new parents will probably receive their babies’ birth certificates with a personal genomics report attached or included.
  
  Still, here and now, I quite enjoy a reasonable dose of blissful ignorance: knowing for example, that there’s the very real possibility that I could die tomorrow, but continuing to believe that I’ll live to be a ripe old 120.
  
  Sigh. I’m interested, and then I’m not.
  
  Personal Genomics open us up to a parade of scientific achievement and a pandora’s box all at once, no? Who’s going to have access to this information and how will they use it? Will this pave the way for institutionalised, genetic-based discrimination? (I understand most US states have already drafted genetic non-discrimination laws to pre-empt this). And on. And forth.
  
  The cat may be dead, but curiosity is still alive. I went over to 23andMe and created an account and found that I could peer into the records of Greg and Lilly Mendel. Greg Mendel is also, by huge coincidence, the name of the Augustinian monk who is credited with being the father of modern genetics. He was born in 1822 so I’m guessing this is not that Mendel and this is not really a Mendel.
  
  But it's a real family.
  
  Follow this link if you can, to a sample of one of the reports available, the trait report, to give you an idea of what you’d be likely to get back if you took the genome test.
  
  One feature that I found quite fascinating was Ancestry Painting which traces the ancestry of the chromosomes of indivuals from around the world ‘one segment at a time.’ I’m not going to try to explain that because I’m not sure I have all the clues that make a solitary piece. Suffice it to say that some people seem to have a varied gene pool, others a very homogenous one.
  
  I came away with the distinct impression that North America is really the genetic melting pot of the world. There are exceptions dotted all over the globe, of course, but I speak in the main.
  
  And, according to 23andMe, I really am living where it all began. In East Africa.
  
  

  The ancestry of every human alive today begins in eastern Africa. There, nearly 200,000 years ago, our species evolved. For the next 150,000 years or so, these early humans would remain within the confines of Africa, gradually separating into distinct populations. Then, sometime between 45 and 60,000 years ago, one of these populations made the giant leap out of Africa.

  
  Maybe we should rebrand and rename our part of the world Eden. (Insert tourist dollar signs in both eyes.)
  
  

  It's my window, but I don't own the view.