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22:59 Aïssa
» kaasa I’ve been loving Aïssa Maïga for years and think she’s so stunning and so classy in addition to being such a brilliant actress. Just wanted to share her whole bit in the movie ‘Paris Je T’aime’ with you. It’s the whole bit and there’s English subtitles. I loved this series of short ‘movies’ when it came out [...]
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20:11
FarmVille ni…
» Kikuyumoja's realm Story by KBW correspondent
Publication date: Aug 25th, 2009
FarmVille is a new Kenyan game on Facebook where you can grab land, excel in overgrazing farmland and overstocking sheep & cattle, buy luxurious decorations and spend the rest of the time idling with a sundowner in your hand.
A report by the KenyaTimes recently revealed that most employees in Nairobi CBD are spending their lunch break in front of computers, playing FarmVille. FarmVille is said to have 9 million users worldwide, a quarter of Kenya’s current population.
A personal computer, commonly referred to as an IBM-compatible device, is a machine often see in offices, hidden under a dust cover. The first personal computer was brought to Kenya by an US-American bible translator family in 1979.
One employee of Kenya Paraffin, Lanterns and Candles (KPLC) who wants to remain anonymous, told us that Kenya currently experiences a power rationing program due to an excessive use of Facebook.
Facebook is a very successful website on the internet (mtandao wa intaneti), often used as a dating site and for subversive political and digital activism. The website includes a microblogging service called “status update” which has recently substituted the blooming Kenyan blogosphere.
Another popular microblogging service called “Twitter” (ndege kelele) has meanwhile been condemned by the Government Spokesperson Dr. Alfred E. Neuman who said that “it can not send SMS” to him. In a related matter, Dr. Alfred recently anounced that those without telephone network should sms him directly so that he can forward the matter to the relevant ministry in charge of terrorcommunications.
A delegation of Kenyan MPs, who is currently touring the United States, recently wrote a letter to the Office of the President, asking for a national holiday to celebrate FarmVille Day. This, as they explained in their open letter, will also help those urban citizens who have in the past failed to secure their own upcountry shamba due to lack of funds and competition in their extended family networks.
A group of young Kenyan writers also published an open letter, claiming that FarmVille actually comes from the United States of America and was introduced to Kenyans by visiting UN interns and PeaceCorps youth who used their daily allowances to access the internet from remote villages. This, as they claim, is “clearly evident as there is no mobile version of FarmVille”.
A group of talented programmers from JKUAT is meanwhile working on a mobile version of FarmVille. The project is financed by Sufericom.
In other news, a Mr. Kamau from Muranga’a was today injured in a battle with Mr. Ezekiel Oluoch, an official from the National Bureau of Statistics who had approached Mr. Kamau for Kenya’s fifth national census. In a heated debate, Mr. Kamau refused to state the actual number of his lifestock.
The fifth Kenya National Census is an inititiative by the GoK to allocate farm land on FarmVille according to family size and fixed assets. In an unexpected move, the World Bank and outgoing ambassadors recently called for a country wide introduction of FarmVille so that no Kenyan will have to suffer from malnutrition in future.
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20:04
The Best of Social Media Comments on Kenyan Census
» All about Africa and specifically Kenya There were a lot to be said about the current ongoing census and I took time to sample the best comments made by Kenyans both in Facebook and Twitter about the census. Here are some of the most interesting ones: Facebook Status news Feed: Ronnie Osumba: siko! Sitambuliki! Maybe i really don’t matter in vision 2030. Ken Soy [...]
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15:00
Working Nation's Holiday to Count Tribes
» You Missed This News update
The 2009 census exercise has kicked off to a storm when enumerators incited President Kibaki's foul mood when they asked him about the actual size of his family. The head of state was not amused especially when asked to specify his spouse/s. Heads will definitely roll at the bureau of statistics.
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Working Nation Takes Holiday to Count Tensed Tribes
It is census time and Kenyan style a holiday has been declared for this historic exercise. But while knowledge of demographics and all its varianst are important for national planning, do we have to resort to many holidays for our working nation?
This will be the fifth census for Kenya since 1969. Just like all other institutions and activities we inherited from the colonialist, we have not KENYANIZED our census apart from counting native faces. The 10-yearly exercise has simplye been reduced to a national ritual.
Before apologists fall over themselves throwing epithets in defense of thoughtlessness they better try a honest reflection. We don't have to operate like robots to answer to the 10 year timetable in counting deeply divided tribes.
Typical Moi took it to extreme levels by creating non-existent subtribes for pure political expediency among perceived oppositionists. On the other hand he came up with mega-tribes to boost political supremacy. Just ask yourselves what is common among the Pokots or Turkans with the Nandis apart from being Nilotes.
The whole census exercie leaves you with the gut feeling that it is just another conduit for the politically correct to draw some more blood from prey Kenya. The country is so divided and tensed, counting tribes would be the last agenda on any leader worth his name.
But hey, this is Kenya owned and patented by political scoundrels. We are so unique we heal when tensed by being reminded that we are different.Kumekucha
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14:15
Don't run..
» stranded in me So it's not wise to run away from the pain...don't I know that but that's all I want to do....run.... if I didn't have projects I'm working on I'd move to another country and start afresh.
A place where there are no memories. Is there a place far enough since the memories I carry are in my heart. Since it's broken why don
t the memories fall out and disapear?
Auuuuuuwwwwwiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii it hurts man!! Especially at nigt when everything else has calmed down, no crisis at work or avoiding rowdy matatus, just me and my heartache, pain like no other it's not physical yet it encompasses every bit of me.
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12:33
SEACOM is here but we are still unsatisfied
» REBECCA WANJIKU'S BLOG It is a month since the SEACOM cable went live.
The cable company had promised how the cable was going to make bandwidth cheaper but when pinned down to explain how exactly the cost would come down, SEACOM executives rebuffed "uninformed" consumers asking them to ask their ISPs about connectivity and costs. It is ironical that a company hypes up issues and when pinned down, it points to another party.
But what SEACOM did not tell Kenyans who may not understand the tier system was that when the cable goes live, SEACOM would be the big boy at the highest level, interacting with the public data operators and big telcos and not the ordinary kenyans with limited technology knowledge.
What SEACOM did not tell us was that they are investors who are out to recoup their investments and did not care about incessant questions directed at the wrong party- after all, it is my ISP that provides the last mile solution and not SEACOM.
That is why even if the costs have not exactly come down, you can not question SEACOM because they are not involved in how you put your food on the table, whether the ISP overcharges you or does not deliver what is promised, there is nothing you can do.
Yes, KDN and Access Kenya have taken time to say how the bandwidth has come down. KDN Butterfly allegedly dropped by 90 percent and Access Kenya doubled subscribers bandwidth at the same cost. This is good news, if only you are in areas where you can access butterfly or are within the Access Kenya network.
For many people who are in diaspora, this blog post may seem unfair given that SEACOM and the others have touted this as a new era for Kenyan internet users, but on the ground, the situation is different- try using the GPRS or 3G service offered by GSM companies, its slow and where it works, its fast and you pay through the nose because the costs are still high.
You may not understand why people are bitter about the providers yet Michael Joseph, the chair of TEAMS has already indicated that the costs are not coming down soon. But that is not the story we were hearing for the last two years; they were all saying how bandwidth will come down to $ 400 per MB.
This is not a problem of the the common people who may not understand technological jargon and all that other garbage that is camouflaged as working for the consumer but in essence does not, it is a concern for techies too.
Last week there was a bitter discussion on most Kenyan technology and policy mailing list, with people wondering whether the Bitange Ndemo, Permanent Secretary in the ministry of Information and Communication should be compelled to resign after it became clear that the cost and quality of connectivity was not improving.
You could tell from the discussions that these comments were by people who had endured bitter disappointment by Kenyan providers. They argued that the reductions were mainly targeted for the Media, that is likely to report anything without actually testing.
There was another group that argued that you can not blame the PS for the failing of the private sector and that the cables are home, where it was promised and that the issues of cost were merely details.
One thing that you can not dispute is that the Skunkworks mailing list, which had the most discussions is the best testbed; after all, it is composed mainly of techies, the guys who will tell you whether the bandwidth quality and cost has changed to the better.
So, when the techies say they are not happy with the status of the connectivity, who can dispute? The manager who does not know the difference between the bits and bytes per second?
For the Kenyans in diaspora, enjoying the best connectivity out there, you can continue saying how it has all improved but listen to the guys who actually man the pipes and are expected to make sure the connectivity is uninterrupted.
For the interested choir members, you can continue singing how the cost of bandwidth has come down, but ask the purported beneficiaries whether the benefits are accessible to a few or to all,
Ends
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11:28
Berlin World Athletics- Kenya's Performance
» SportsKenya
First things first! Congratulations to those who won Kenya's gold medals. Special mention to the middle and long distance ladies for breaking Ethiopia's stronghold on the these distances.
Secondly, I guess the Germans are finally waking up and warming up our hearts with their hosting sports events. They have shown us what technology, hospitality and efficiency can do to sport. Who can't remember the warmth of the mascot when the German discuss thrower won his event and they ran the breadth of the track at one point being carried on the back?
Berlino does the Lightning Strikes with Bolt
Bragging rights in order? We missed the medal count by 2 bronze medals. OK, we may have missed the events which we thought we would win medals in but all the same, our analysis was 85% on point. We will continue making these observations for major events based on season news,historical info and current happenings.
Athletics Kenya needs to work on our team strategy which at some points seemed to be non-existent ( look at the 1500m men and the 5000m too). They may have done a good job reducing the number of Grand Prix events our athletes loving running in.
Our tactical approach also needs serious honing, seems the ladies are picking something our gentlemen are missing.
What happened to the short races especially the 400m? We used to challenge even in the relay and was waiting for this action yesterday only to see our fellow African brothers seriously humiliated.
Looking forward to the African Athletics Championships in Nairobi next year ! Till then Wiedersehen & Karibu Sana ! -
Berlin World Athletics- Kenya's Performance
» SportsKenya
First things first! Congratulations to those who won Kenya's gold medals. Special mention to the middle and long distance ladies for breaking Ethiopia's stronghold on the these distances.
Secondly, I guess the Germans are finally waking up and warming up our hearts with their hosting sports events. They have shown us what technology, hospitality and efficiency can do to sport. Who can't remember the warmth of the mascot when the German discuss thrower won his event and they ran the breadth of the track at one point being carried on the back?
Berlino does the Lightning Strikes with Bolt
Bragging rights in order? We missed the medal count by 2 bronze medals. OK, we may have missed the events which we thought we would win medals in but all the same, our analysis was 85% on point. We will continue making these observations for major events based on season news,historical info and current happenings.
Athletics Kenya needs to work on our team strategy which at some points seemed to be non-existent ( look at the 1500m men and the 5000m too). They may have done a good job reducing the number of Grand Prix events our athletes loving running in.
Our tactical approach also needs serious honing, seems the ladies are picking something our gentlemen are missing.
What happened to the short races especially the 400m? We used to challenge even in the relay and was waiting for this action yesterday only to see our fellow African brothers seriously humiliated.
Looking forward to the African Athletics Championships in Nairobi next year ! Till then Wiedersehen & Karibu Sana !
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10:20
Elimo Njau celebrates 77th Birthday at Paa ya Paa Art Gallery
» Kenyanpoet On Saturday, Phillda Njau(Mama as we fondly call her) invited me to Paa ya Paa for the Elimo Njau's Birthday on Sunday(Yesterday).
I cannot begin to describe what an honor it was to be among the few invited guests for yesterday's launch at the residence in Kiambu's Ridgeways Estate.Their daughter, Phillipa is around and it was a wonderful opportunity to meet her and her son.
Grand Master called me shortly after(still on Saturday) to confirm if I was going. He had also been invited.
The Birthday lunch was to start at 2pm. We got there at half past and I could believe it when I saw Margaretta Wa Gacheru who is around carrying out a research study on East African Art and Culture for her Doctoral dissertation at the Loyola Univarsity in Chicago had preceeded us.
Needless to say, I was smitten to be in her presence. ( I want to be like her when I grow up) She is an inspiration in reviewing works by African Visual artists and sometimes when I write reviews and compare them to hers, I feel like I am doing a great diservice to Kenyan Artists.
Elimo Njau(Baba) was turning 77 years old. We sang to him in English and even in Kisii.Grand Master read out a poem on Paa ya Paa which capped the afternoon into great words.I got to peform '10th Daughter of Gikuyu and Mumbi(only wish I had prepared something more personal)
There was plenty of food for everyone, lots of herbal tea, most of which is grown by Elimo. The cake was made from Zucchini, chocolate and many other ingredients I could not pick. It was pure bliss to the tongue.
I got to talk to Margaretta about this blog and she was quite fascinated by it. Watch this space as I might just be publishing her reviews on various Kenyan Visual artists here.
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10:05
Cloud Computing in Kenya is still next to Impossible
» All about Africa and specifically Kenya Recently going through my blog archive I came across a post I had written last year about the cloud computing and the way to go for Kenyan coders and companies, coincidentally the same day my friend Miring’u Wainaina drew my attention to an article written by Andrew Limo in Daily Nation After computer, comes the [...]
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6:10
PLEASE DO NOT INVEST IN MUTUAL FUNDS!!
» Kenyantykoon's Blog Yes, against my better judgment, I am telling you what not to do with your money. Read on and see why I am saying this. If you own a mutual fund, you will most likely retire with less cash than if you had put your initial investment in a boring investment like an index fund There is [...]
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5:27
Semenya’s case – an ugly show of gender prejudice
» Black Looks Julius K Kaggwa, Ugandan intersex activist comments on Caster Semenya I have been following the story of Semenya and the controversy that has arisen from her outstanding achievement at the world games simply because her athletic ability and appearance are too masculine for her to be a woman. One of the greatly disturbing details is the [...]
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5:05
Kenya: Going Home Early Today To Be Counted
» Mauri Yambo It's national census day in Kenya today. And I'm going home early to be counted. Me and my family. We will answer all the questions: including the vexed one of ethnic background -- still called tribe in official circles here.
We are all proud of our ethnic diversity, I believe -- even as we try to build a larger country, Kenya. We shouldn't be afraid of what the politicians might do with the numbers that come up. They cannot do any worse than they already have. And I suspect some are pertified of the figures that will come out -- as petrified as they were ten years ago (and, even more so, twenty years ago). Remember, the census figures of 1999 were never fully released. The 1989 figures were doctored, as many people in the know claimed to know. And whose respective dockets were those then, pray tell? Hypocrisy -- hypocrisy -- is the name of the game for the politicians. But it shouldn't appear to be sonfor ordinary citizens, or for the leaderships of our civil society. Hypocrisy and contradition. The 2009 figures might not be fully released either -- till after the 2012 elections.
I can think of several ways in which the new census numbers that will come will represent an opportunity we can creatively leverage for a stronger, more prosperous, more assertive, more changeful Kenya; a Kenya more attuned to and more ready for critical mass of all sorts. For one, the new numbers are certain to sharpen the equity debate across the country -- and that will be a good thing. Emergent changes in the social structure will be more sharply in focus. There will be new narratives about the nation's changing use of technology, about its innovativeness, about its world of work -- and, mor broadly, about changes in its culture. Much more will be known about the evolution of our physical, technical and intellectual assets at the household level, across different strata or segments of our changing social structure. A clearer picture should emerge about the distribution of absolute and relative poverty across the country. And likewise about the consumerist middle class.
In one of this morning's daily papers it was boldly estimated that we Kenyans now number 40 million. So be it! A watershed of sorts this. Worth taking a note of. And I can't deny I was abstractly sort of pleased by the numbers [rpc.technorati.com]
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3:31
Kenya Cup - Week 10
» Rugby in Kenya Kenya Cup - Week 10
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1:30
How Serious are You?
» Storymoja Good writing allows the writer to be taken seriously, and being taken seriously is always important in communicating ideas. If a person’s writing is awkward and clumsy, readers get the mistaken notion the person is that way, too. (”Seriously” doesn’t have to mean “serious” though, so you shouldn’t feel compelled to make things sound [...]
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1:29
A Kenyan Designer and Tailor with the FLAP Bag
» AfriGadget This is part of an ongoing series of posts on the FLAP bag project, a collaborative effort by Timbuk2, Portable Light and Pop!Tech. We at AfriGadget are helping to field-test these bags that have solar power and lighting on them, and get interviews of the individuals using them.
Jericho Market is a small market tucked away behind the industrial area in Nairobi, Kenya – near to Buruburu. It’s where you can find a lot of artisans who work on cloth-based projects, from clothes to bags and everything in between. I took off with David Ngigi, a local videographer friend of mine, to see who we could find. I brought two of the unstitched bags, two Portable Light kits and one completed bag as a sample.
The first person we spent time with was Joseph Muteti, a soft-spoken, 18-year veteran of the tailor trade in Nairobi. He specializes in making school bags for children and messenger-type bags. His bags are generally sturdy, with an added flair of embroidery to set them off for his customers.
Next up was Stephen Omollo, an energetic young designer who works on textiles ranging from shirts to bags. Style and usability are both important to Stephen, and his primary desire is to create items that people are proud to wear.
Interestingly, both Stephen and Joseph thought the bags were too large. Stephen wanted to cut in half, and Joseph by about a third.
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0:01
Sheng Word Of The Week: sixteen-A
» The African Accent sixteen-A / 16-A
-nounin the African accent: sik-steen – ei
who used this first? : Central Business District, Nairobi
when was it first used?: Late 2000’s
definition in English: Evidence/ proof of innocence/ alibi
synonyms: noneUsage examples:
Uskii munde alinibamba kwa Betty. Ka 16-A ka-mine kaliraruliwa niaje!?
My girlfriend caught me at Betty's house. My alibi became worthless.
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