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Kikuyumoja's realm
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18:14
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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Although - or maybe because - I diligently clean my HP nx8220 laptop on a regular basis (sometimes even with Isopropyl acohol), the rubber on my laptop’s touchpad today went into early retirement.
Nothing to worry about, but then… you know there are some things in life that have a 1a priority - and my machine here apparently has that status.
A quick search on eBay revealed no luck in finding the right spare part - and it’s a pity because I recently had another HP nx8220 here where I exchanged some parts with my current machine and somehow missed to change the touchpad as well. Stupid.
So what do you do if spare parts aren’t available and things keep on bugging you? Right - fix it in a jua kali way:
Now where would I be without my Leatherman Wave? Ahh….priceless.
Removed the touchpad from the laptop, opened it, cleaned it, swapped buttons (!), removed the rubber “hole” and reassembled it. Quick fix, took me 15 minutes. Not as pretty as a used & cleaned touchpad from The Bay, but works fine and once I’ll get around a decent spare part, I can still exchange it.
Now, I really have to think about limiting my daily usage to avoid any further damage. Can’t be that I’ve already ruined a keyboard and now this touchpad within a timeframe of almost 2 years. HP Compaq built quality? HP = huge problems, high price. But still the best laptop I’ve ever used. Except for my landlord’s ThinkPad X41 of course. :-)
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10:32
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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A short tweet by fellow blogger Sascha Lobo brought me to smava.de and to the question if smava could also work in a country like Kenya?
In other words: do we have to leave this interesting market to the big players only - who are good at targeting Kenyans abroad (~ trips from StanChan & Equity Bank CoKE to the UK & USA etc.)?
(The German) smava.de is similar to zopa.com - a “social lending” platform, much like kiva.org but targeted at everyone - unlike kiva that “lets you lend to a specific entrepreneur in the developing world, empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty”.
So I was wondering: could zopa/smava also work in Kenya? As far as I’ve understood it so far, kiva is targeted at entrepreneurs in such areas where banks are far away and these kind of microcredits a good opportunity to obtain a loan to an otherwise non-existent alternative.
But what about zopa and smava that clearly depend on providing a risk assesment aka credit rating? Do we have such external rating services in Kenya for private customers?
Ati, I am not the mbeca guy here, but maybe you are and know much more about the prevailing conditions in the credit industry. In any case, please feel free to leave your comment below. Thx! :-)
As for me, I was just thinking about how the provision of such an online platform could help pull back assets from abroad in a much easier and probably also much more interesting way as you get to choose where to invest + won’t have to pay your bank for this. Is it really that simple?
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21:48
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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What’s this?
Blog material.
No, seriously - what you see here is my broken Tusker polo shirt.
Bought this One-Way XXL shirt sometime in 2006 and after only 4 months in use, the collar suddendly fell apart. Obviously, there’s something to the one-way name that didn’t quite appear to me when I coughed up the mbeca for this Tusker goodie. Also, “XXL” is meant to be read: “this shaat will shrink once you hand-wash (!) it at 30°C”.
A tailor in Embu even tried to fix it the other day but it just wouldn’t work. Apparently, the collar went into early retirement.
I am the polo shirt guy. That’s why you’ll hardly ever see me in t-shirts. BarCamp Nairobi shirt? Africantees.com? Naaa….no polo shirt (no collar), no deal with JKE.
Actually, I just bought this polo shirt because of the TUSKER logo, but then: I wouldn’t mind if there was “JKE” on it instead, as long as it comes in a good quality. Something that will stay in shape after washing (and mind you, I am not using any dryer), won’t expand like those many Made-in-Bangladesh clothes as found @ H&M & Zara and that’s still affordable.
What’s the best shirt then? I hate to admit it, but I quite like these Ralph Lauren classic polo shirts because - if original - they’ll just be as solid as Barbour wax jackets.
The other day I decided to get a used (ati, I am cheap..) RL polo shirt from eBay and…well…
…baaad idea. What you see above are two RL polo shirts in size XL. The turquoise one is my old one, the black one on top is the “new” used one from eBay. Can you see the difference? Atiriiri…how am I supposed to cover my Tusker belly with such a short shaat?
So, because I know I am not the only one out here with peculiar dressing habits, let me ask you: is there any brand out there you can recommend? Any polo shirts that will just remain in shape after the 20th washing and that come without any stupid logos or brandings? I know you folks from the USA will laugh about this, but there seems to be a difference between the clothes you can buy in Europe and those you’ll get in the US. Even if they are all made in some low cost countries.
@Bwana Kobia: polo shaats @Africantees and I’m your next customer! :-)
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21:09
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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I’ve attended the IFAT 2008 today - the “15th International Trade Fair for Water - Sewage - Refuse - Recycling”. There’s an IFAT in China and one in Munich, Germany. I had already attended the last IFAT in 2005 and was once again invited to Munich this time around, with my focus being set on low-budget solutions.
As you may already know, I am active in the field of sustainable sanitation and consequently tried to spot those solutions that go beyond the typical high-tech gadgets one would expect to (and will) find on such an international trade fair. The IFAT really is THE fair for all technical solutions with 2.560 exhibitors and 120.000 visitors from all over the world. Think of waste collection, recycling machines, complete sewage treatment plants with all their pumps, screening plants and technical state of the start guidelines. In short: if you’re into environmental engineering, this is your fair.
I was still a bit dissappointed though to find almost the same products I had come across in 2005 and, obviously, most of them being from the high-tech range. In other words: high-tech = $$ (€€), but not necessarily sustainable.
For example, most sewage treatment plants still produce lots of sludge that needs to be processed, i.e. dried, composted or incinerated. To my mind, such a procedure is far from following any sustainable concept. The only sustainability to that is that it provides a secured income to those companies active in the sale of treatment options. The utilisation of sewage sludge on the other hand is still discussed on local levels though, which each federal state (in Germany) having his own perception of what *should* be done with it and how the law should be adjusted to provide a legal framework aka the pressure on the industry to act accordingly. A ticking time bomb, I think. But anyways, politics are an evil game and there sure are lots of different interests at stake here.
Another example could be the availibilty of various sorting machines used in recycling different fractions of plastics, glass, metalls and so on. Nice. But will they also allow an upcycling of products? What they won’t tell you, is that most recycled materials only provide enough quality for a downcycling process. Or take the refuse incinerators. You mean we should burn all *waste* to generate thermal energy? Is that sustainable in any way? Again, there’s a huge industry behind this - and they will make sure that this technology will always be sold.
Well, instead of elaborating any further criticism, lemme switch to the interesting part and show you some mixed visuals I had captured on the IFAT 2008:
One crazy exhibitor put up this masive ice block on their stand. It lasted from Monday to Friday (5-9 May) to melt approx. 20cm on each side. An impressive way to attract visitors…
The battery recycling booth. As mentioned earlier, I am dreaming about an Africa-wide battery recyling system which would help us remove ticking time bombs from your local shamba. Let’s face it: most ppl (world-wide) just dispose of their empty batteries in the next takataka site. Would you want to have leaking batteries sitting next to your sukuma plants? Well - this scenario is still the norm, and ppl can’t be blamed for it because a) they were previously used to organic waste (maize combs, goat bones, etc.) and b) were given toxic products. Batteries are harmful to the environment! So as long as they aren’t produced of environmentally friendly materials, we will need to collect them and, if possible, try to recycle them. Problem is: Only the contained nickel will be of interest and already is a commodity with limited availibility. Hence any battery recycling system would have to be big enough to cover a critical mass and also require the support of future generations who are well sensitized to this matter.
The Stiftung Gemeinsames Rücknahmesystem Batterien (GRS) is a foundation for the recycling of batteries and financed by all manufacturers of batteries in Germany. Again, there are those batteries for sale in Europe (and Kenya, for instance) which were made in China. Those Asian manufacturers never paid their contribution to this foundation, but an up-coming law will change this in future where those who put any batteries on the market will have to pay a levy. Good.
One of those HUUUUGE self-propelled compost turning machines.
Nice little colour-coded plastic containers used for the separation of household waste fractions, made by an Italian company. Those grey coloured versions are already in use in an Italien city - adjusted to the colour of the pavement so that they aren’t that obvious (in regard to the Italien waste collection system which is different from the German, also due to climatic differences). Liked those very much and thought that these sizes would prolly sell quite well if sold through IKEA (hint, hint). Customers in Europe want this (really!) to sort their household waste.
A dinousaur made out of old printed circuit boards and other electrical materials. Obviously, this company is into the E-Waste business.
The Talking litterbin! Took this pic for fellow blogger Afromusing :-)
The product manager of this company - OTTO - the biggest and best known manufacturer of public waste collection systems (see picture below with a wall full of this well-known black 2-wheel container almost every private household in Germany owns) told me that a customer had the idea of fixing solar panels on top of this litterbin and putting a motion sensor inside so that it actually talks to you (e.g. “thank you, have a nice day”, etc. - adjustable). Well, I think that is a very smart and simple idea. Imagine this version in Kenya! Yani, it would “walk away” within a matter of 2 days, sindiyo? ;-(
Still, the idea of combining (simple, polylithic) solar cells with approved litterbin systems is smart. I like it.
Talking of this well-known “Großmülltonne”, there was this 30 year old, used 2-wheel container on display. Silke volunteered to jump in on the picture as both were “born” in 1976 (this container is as old as she is and it is STILL in good condition). Impressive.
Yeah - that’s an old VW Golf II on top of this Hammel Primary Shredder.
Silke then told me: “Hey, you just took that pic because of that *girl* in front of the machine.”
Being the nerd I am, I only then realized her sitting there and consequently told Silke: “Hmm…ati, it’s true, there’s this beautiful blonde vamp in front of the machine. What a waste. This sure is one machine that will attract any man just because it crushes cars. We like demolition. But it’s an interesting sight. Lemme blog this.”
So here you go.
I actually combed through all stalls at IFAT to find this interesting piece of “furniture” I had already seen way back in 2005. That’s a 4-wheeled metal container normally used for collecting waste - turned into a comfy sofa. Smart!
My new friend Keith from seepex.com. Keith is a Sales Manager from the US who doesn’t speak German, but he sure had an interesting product. See these two stator pumps? The one on the right side is the conventional product, the one on the left is the newly improved version coming with a 4-piece cover that may be dissassembled within 6 minutes. The old one within 20 minutes. If you’ve ever worked with such pumps, you will know the pain such a system will give you. With the new rubber housing, the exchange of parts on this pump is such an easy game.
Keith gave me a ring spanner to test it myself and hey - I had lot’s of fun dissassembling and reassembling it within the given timeframe. This inconspiciuous improvement will be LOVED by many many frustrated fundis out there….now that’s what I call a Smart Stator Pump.
Eventually, “our” little jua kali model of a Urine Diversion Dehydration Toilet (UDDT) on display at the booth of newly founded German Water Partnership (GWP). Imagine the faces of these guys from GWP when we turned up with our improvised UDDT - a …..*ahem*….low-budget? solution on display in a smaller scale, because these approaches may not be a guarantee for huge revenues, but they sure close the nutrient loop and provide an efficient use of waste streams (faeces, urine, greywater). This is a model for sustainable sanitation. And besides, such toilets are already in use all over the world (the model above was prepared by students from The Philippines, for instance) and provide sanitational facilities to those areas where ppl just can’t afford access to conventional sanitation systems. And that’s about 2,4 billion people out there who are still lacking access to a decent toilet.
Ok, enough for the day. Hope these pictures could provide you with some insight into the world of evironmental gadgets, even though I believe the real technical solutions are still to be developed and will hopefully provide much more sustainability than what’s currently for sale. As long as low-budget / DIY solutions are still considered to be somewhat “inappropriate” for “developed” countries, we’ll prolly continue running sites like Afrigadget because that’s where technology meets people’s needs. There will probably always be a market for each niche, but let me be honest: the World’s environmental issues won’t be solved by high-tech machines ONLY, but by smarter products and brothers and sisters who will actively walk their talk on environmental protection and start with cleaning their own backyard.
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9:31
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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The German weekly magazine Der Spiegel today published an interesting list (compiled by Deutsche Umwelthilfe e.V.) of cars driven on behalf of German Federal Ministers - indicating the consumption [in l / 100km] and the carbon dioxide emissions (original PDF, 0,2 MB).
The list isn’t complete as some Ministries refused to provide information on this (due to “security” reasons), but nevertheless - it shows that there’s still a lot of change needed to shift the issue of saving the environment from a pure discussion level to an action level.
On the other hand though, the best solution would be a no-emission-car or one whose emissions aren’t harmful to the environment (~ in a McDonough/Braungart/C2C-way). Well, dream on…
(+ compare this with the cars driven by GoK officials….*sigh*)
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19:25
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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Maybe it’s just me and my way of looking for the core information on websites that goes beyond the usual marketing blabla - but could it be true that there have been various Kenyan websites coming up lately that actually do NOT have any serious content? Or at least not much more than what the webdesigner had initially put up online and has since been waiting for a content update (to be published online)?
Where are those content editors out there? Do I smell a job opportunity out there for young folks? Ppl who will help companies and organisations to edit their message for online publishing?
Am asking because I sometimes come across such websites where I think: aah, ok, these guys just had some extra funds and wanted to be online for no apparent reason and actually haven’t thought about what to put online. Makes me think of Ayittey and the leaking bowl…
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17:39
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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Ah, wieder so ne verlogene Scheisse…oder vielleicht bin ich auch einfach nur zu anspruchsvoll, als dass mir der Sinn einer solch öffentlichen Mobilmachung nicht bewusst werden will.
…Hier findest du die neuesten Informationen über Strategien, Musik und Kleidung der Neonazis.
Aufm Studivz läuft zZt so ne Werbung gegen Nazis, was ja auch politisch korrekt ist und sicherlich wunderbar ankommt. Wenn der Sinn des Studivz darin besteht, so vielen aussagekräftigen oder gerne auch sinnlosen Gruppen beizutreten, die dann in ihrer Gesamtheit ein mehr oder weniger genaues Bild bzw Image eines *Profils* wiedergeben sollen, dann erfüllt diese Gruppe sicherlich auch ihren Zweck. Nebenbei wird so die Plattform “sauber” gehalten.
Für mich befremdlich wirken solche Aktionen allerdings hinsichtlich des Feindbildes - als dass ich da zu wenige Idioten erkennen mag. Es mag ja sein, dass in meinem kleinen Mikrokosmos zu wenige Neonazis auftauchen um der Gesellschaft jetzt kollektiv den Stempel aufzudrücken, aber ich wundere mich immer noch. Ja, ich wundere mich.
Mein österreichischer Vermieter würde jetzt sagen: “Wissens, die Deutschen…naaa…die sind so faschistisch. Also die Anderen auch, aber die Deutschen die rufen im Radio an um ne Radarkontrolle zu melden, und wundern sich dann wenn ein Kind doootgfahrn wiard. Ich find die sollten dafür ins Gfäängnis kommn.”
Hmm. Vielleicht nicht unbedingt das beste Beispiel, jedoch: bei solchen Aktionen, die dann nur einen *click-of-a-button* entfernt sind, springen viele auf den fahrenden (Image-)Zug, aber bei anderen Dingen, die ein selbstständiges, eigenverantwortliches und mutiges Handeln beinhalten, wird oft der Schwanz eingezogen. Das ist so eine falsche Genauigkeit für mich.
Bei einem so klar ausdefinierten Feinbild vermag es ein Leichtes sein, “Mut” oder Gruppenzugehörigkeit zu beweisen. Die für mich offene Frage: wieso gibt es so eine Werbung nicht für Zivilcourage, sozialen Einsatz für die Gesellschaft oder einen neuen Generationenvertrag?
Oder anders gefragt: was hat die leidvolle DuBistDeutschland-Kampagne von vor drei (?) Jahren eigentlich gebracht?
Fickt die Nazis, es gibt ganz andere Probleme heutzutage. Macht dafür mal Gruppen, werdet aktiv und mischt Euch ein. Hab ich auch gemacht und es hat mir nur geholfen in the long run.
Von den guten, den sozial engagierten Menschen, gibt es meiner Meinung nach immer noch viel zu wenige. Siehe Demos, siehe Freiwilige Helfer, siehe Umweltaktivisten, siehe Bildung unserer Kinder, und so weiter. Statt diese Ideale (es muss ja nicht gleich Altruismus sein) als Vorbild zu nehmen, werden Feindbilder ausgemacht und gruppendynamisch ausgegrenzt. So schafft man sich eine abgefuckte Gesellschaftsform.
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12:42
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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….und nicht anders stellen sie sich bei payback also die Chinesen vor.
Ich behaupte an dieser Stelle einfach mal, dass heutige, europäische Verbraucher mit der Zeichnung im Screenshot eine Parallele zu ihrem Chinabild [Schiinahh, Kiinahh] erkennen - und es auch ganz wunderbar zu den bewegten Bildern im Poparchiv im McChopstick-Stil zuordnen können. Ist das jetzt gut oder schlecht?
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22:45
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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I am bit late on new stuff, but how could I miss this?
[via] <– yo! blingbling…
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15:24
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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Harr…maybe some of you like it as much as I do + can somehow relate to it.
Track #05 “Wouldn’t It Be Nice To Have A Finger Of Fudge?”
(Cadbury’s Fudge jingle / Ad from the 70’s/ 80’s)
(The Beach Boys ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’)
..mixed by Mark Vidler // Go Home Productions:
I haven’t a clue if non UK residents know what a Cadbury’s Fudge is, or even know the song that accompanied the Ad and was prominent over here in the 70’s and 80’s.
Anyway it works well enough with The Beach Boys. A complete accident this one.
Just scanning YouTube for ‘commercials from the seventies’ in the early hours one night (as you do) and stumbled across ‘the fudge’. It’s pretty much acapella and I was after a mid-way break in the running order of the album…perfect.
‘Pet Sounds’ was near to hand…the rest is history.
[via]
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15:10
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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…und was für welchen.
Jeera Rice, von priya. Schmeckt genauso fad und ölig wie es auf dem Teller aussschaut. Ich bevorzuge ja klebrigen Reis dem locker luftigem, aber dieses ölige Gemansche war dann doch zu viel Pappkram. Außerdem: mit den 30 Kreuzkümmelsamen, 2 Blättern und so bekomm ich das auch noch selber (besser) hin.
So etwas weiß man jedoch nicht, wenn man im Asia Shop vorm Regal steht und es einen für 1,39 EUR anlächelt und zuflüstert: “try me, jke”.
Kam, sah und probierte.
Der Milchreis vom Penny schmeckt auch zu sehr nach Wasser und Milchpulver. Und überhaupt, diese pasteurisierte Milch. Ein Verbrechen…
Palada Payasam, noch so ne Ready-To-Eat Pampe, die sich ebenfalls hübsch auf dem V&B Geschirr meiner Vermieter ausbreitet. Eine Art Milchreis mit Zimt, Safran und weichgekochten Cashewnuts. Auch hier gilt: gut zu wissen, aber nächstes Mal mache ich es lieber selber. Schmeckt dann wenigstens.
Das Schöne am indischen Essen ist, dass es oft leicht zu kochende Gerichte sind. Das Schlechte (und irgendwie typische) daran ist, dass die Zutaten oft interessanter als das eigentliche Endergebnis sind.
Und außerdem: ich kenne mehr Asiaten, die auf Fertigessen oder zumindest Natriumglutamatdurchtränkte Speisen stehen, als selber am Herd die Kelle zu schwingen. Find ich irgendwie bißchen enttäuschend.
[UPDATE] : Die Sarah schreibt mir grad:
>>Ich weiß nicht, ob Du Dir dessen nicht bewusst bist oder warst, aber das Wort [Endergebnis] wird eher negativ belastet, in unseren Breiten. Denn das wurde, genauso wie “Endziel” bei der Judenverfolgung sehr oft verwandt, genauso wie die Parole: “Jetzt geht’s los…”.<<
Interessant! In der Tat hatte ich beim Texten einen kurzen Moment gezögert, da es mir seltsam vorkam. In Ermangelung eines brauchbaren Synonyms habe ich es dann trotzdem ausgewählt. Weniger weil es mich an irgendwelche NS-Verbrechen oder Sprache erinnerte (in der Schule hat man uns damals verboten, BRD zu sagen, weil das zu sehr nach DDR klingen würde), sondern weil es für mich so ein Pleonasmus ist: Endergebnis. Ist am Ende nicht immer ein Ergebnis zu erwarten?
Als ich die e-mail zu dem Thema sah, dachte ich erst ich hätte Kritik an meiner Verallgemeinerung zum Essen zu erwarten (”das Schöne, das Schlechte, das Typische” - schreibt man das eigentlich groß?).
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10:17
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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Note to myself: never change a running system!
I really have to keep on telling myself not to verschlimmbessern any approved system. Just because a modification is possible, the “hack” often isn’t better.
Case in point: When I recently *upgraded* the original silver cover on my Nokia N95-1 to a black Made-in-China cover, I also switched to a new (and fake) camera lens cover - which apparently comes with a very low-quality plastic lens. The original lens cover isn’t that much better, but it still is. Guess it comes with a polarization filter. So today I’ve switched back to the old lens cover et voilá, macro mode has improved to the old sharpness. Sweet!
macro mode with fake lens cover:
macro mode with original lens cover:
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11:10
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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There’s this story going round that the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) tapped an Afghan Ministry - which stirred up some dust on their work. The issue came into limelight when journalist of the SPIEGEL realized that they were also being monitored due to conversations they had with an Afghan Minister in the past.
Now, I am not the person to deliver any facts or details on this particular story, but I really have to wonder about some fellow Germans who apparently think that there’s anything wrong about this procedure…Well, is it?
I leave it to you to decide if an Intelligence Agency (responsible for foreign affairs) *should* use all available technical facilities to monitor all electronic communication. Obviously, this also is a a) a political decision and b) if *they* think it’s appropriate, they will do it - with or without a political or legal mandate.
What really worries me though is this new law in Germany that gives so much more power into the wrong hands and which enables them to monitor all electronic (communication) data within the country.
Only ~ 30.000 ppl out of ~ 80 Million registered with a lawyer in Berlin to impeach the Government on their behalf on this issue. I am one of them. We all HAD the chance of taking the Government to court on this stupid and dangerous law, but only a relatively few took the opportunity of doing so. Main excuse: “I don’t have anything to hide..”. As IF that was reason enough to accept this law without regarding the personal consequences this really implies. I did have some nasty conversations - even with relatives - on this issue and it always appeared to me that they never really wanted to understand the impact this will have on everyone of us in future. Ppl just dont’t want to understand it.
Oh, terrorism? “Terror(ism) is what they do to us”.
My colleague Chris also blogged on this in English earlier this year in a very comprehensive article.
Now, according to this article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), all e-mail traffic of the named Afghan Ministry is said to be done via Yahoo!.
And this is exactly where I thought: WHAT THE….why-o-why are they still using Yahoo!?????
Take Afghanistan and replace that word with any other country. ANY! I am sure there are hundreds or thousands of potential victims out there (including me) who haven’t yet really protected their online activities or who don’t even know about how to engage protective measurements.
We do have a Federal Office in Germany - the Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik - that provides directives and trainings on how to secure your online activities. Only, they are not being applied in this particular case, because if they were serious on this, they could have told the Afghan Ministry to stop using Yahoo! & other free (unsecured) webmailers. And politicians often aren’t the ones who think in IT-security terms. Hell, who does? So if they don’t know, it’s easier to spy on them. Simple as that. Besides, everyone knows that everyone is spying on everyone.
Case in point: I’ve seen many many fellow ppl working in the Government of Kenya who were using free webmailers. If you were interested in monitoring them, just wouldn’t need advanced equipment. And with the Government having access to GSM monitoring equipment, even cellular phones aren’t fully protected.
I believe there’s no 100% secure concept out there to protect you from any tapping or DDoS, so it’s up to you to decide what and to which extent you want to communicate online.
Another analogy to Kenya:
Six of the 20 Afghan cabinet ministers had spent part of their lives in Germany and spoke German, the newspaper said. Farhang holds a doctorate from the University of Cologne and taught at the University of Bochum before returning home. (source)
As long as there are interests and investments at stake, there will always be a monitoring of other parties, governments or just indivduals. With or without a political mandate, with or without any moral obligations and regardless of any “good relationships” with deployed politicians. Raila of course knows this, but hey: as long as the GoK keeps on buying Mercedes and strucks some maintenance deals for the fleet - why worry?
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20:30
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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13:06
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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ALL those years of trying to get my (how do I say this delicately?) “non-internet-nerd”-friends online and/or joining alumni websites (also since I had created a website for my former school in 1997 and had seen some alumni sites coming and going since then) — and then FACEBOOK comes along and all those long lost “friends” from “back in the days” are suddenly unearthing from their Mid20s-college-university -freedom-chaos -sabbatical to reunite on this evil online network.
WTF, really.
“OH, so what have you been up to during all those years?” - “Well, I have been online since then, waiting for you ******** ********* joining this online world and now the dumbest social network of all (besides of MySpace) with its walled garden policies and overrated hype eventually gives you reason enough to jump on the bandwagon?”.
filed under: I am cool & u r not. sigh.
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19:25
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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I’ve upgraded the WXGA screen on my HP nx8220 to a much brighter WSXGA+ display. In other words: from a 1280×800 pixel resolution to a stunning 1680×1050px.
As a consequence of this, my blog now looks like this:
before:
after:
I’ve added a black 2px frame to the screenshots so highlight the actual difference in sizes. I am still undecided if this was a good move - am currently working with a 120dpi font instead of the usual 96dpi under WinXP - but then: it gives me the freedom to actually just rescale the screen to a much lower resolution whenever needed.
Unfortunately, each TFT screen only works best at a certain screen resolution, so this one being the 1680×1050px one, I will have to leave it at this high resolution for a serious “screen impression”. 1280×800px have been fine with me though, and I think it makes more sense to add another, 2nd screen (via a docking station) to move messengers & utilities to the side.
The upgrade came in handy as I had the opportunity to strip down a used & broken machine and use all the good parts on my own machine (especially an almost new keyboard, which is awesome).
Also, I am wondering if this will improve any webdesign projects / photo editing I am doing on my machine. Despite of the improved screen resolution, the brightness of all colours is just great. But then - all content appears to be very very small…
[update:] Ok, there you go….switching back to 1280×800px and downgrading to the previous 1,86 GHz CPU (instead of a 2,13 GHz) did the job for me. No more headaches from focussing my eyes on small details on the screen + no more fan noise coming from an over aggressive fan. The weekend is saved…
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15:04
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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Got me a new toy - a “Battery Powered Cordless Soldering Iron” from Weller:
The tip has a diameter of 0,4mm and the packaging says it reaches up to 480°C on the tip, but well….most of these little tips are just hot for a second and then the next second the heat has already dropped by 20°C…
I’ve used it on the motherboard of an HP laptop - these coils next to the Southbridge chip (big bottom chip with that sticker on top) needed some resoldering and I really hope that they were the cause for the malfunctioning of this motherboard - otherwise…sijui.
The three AA-batteries inside the Cordless Soldering Iron won’t last for ages, but this little gadget sure helps to fix a few dots on the board and also it wasn’t that expensive so I’m not really as disappointed as I was afraid to be.
Once I can afford it, I will buy this! :-)
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10:52
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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Female frogs apparently have the most tender and juicy tighs.
Muahahahahaha….. as seen @my new fav Asian (Food) Shop. Packet of frogs’ legs sells for EUR 9,50. The Chinese chashier told me they’re delicious…
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20:14
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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Disclaimer: Not a real post for now, but I’ll post it anyways…just a lose collection of thoughts (so that I don’t have to keep on repeating myself on this topic).
Obed, my colleague from Zambia, founded an NGO some years ago. Today he told me that his NGO actually requires a website.
At this point, most people will just hire someone who takes care of this and prolly lose some US$ down the road. Also, once the website is up and running, it doesn’t really imply that things are perfect. What he’ll then need is someone who does the site maintenance (admin) and who prepares all online content (content editor).
In order to get your NGO online, you will need:
a) a domain name
The shorter, the better; maybe best .org for an NGO; domain names are relatively cheap; if you have a CreditCard (!) or a PayPal account payments may be easier & cheaper (this CC thing really IS an issue!)
b) webhosting
1GB webspace, 1MySQL database, 1 FTP account, etc. = simple packages will do for most requirements; webhosting often includes one *free* .com domain name; there are some free webhosting sites that do / do not display advertisment (which you may not be able to control); user/server ratio often isn’t visible (= how many users/domain packages actually share one server? = perfomance index), service hotline?; backup = you are responsible for your own backups, especially with cheap webhosting packages; depending on your financial situation, you can manage to obtain all of this for *free* or pay a monthly fee. There are hundreds of providers/resellers out there + websites that give an overview of what customers are reporting on the actual quality of the provided service.
c) the right *software*
WordPress :-)
WordPress.org if you want to install a WordPress blog on your server and customize it, or Wordpress.com if those standard templates on WordPress.com are ok with you. WordPress, a blog “software”, instead of an advanced Content Management System (CMS) because it will be easier to manage & often just does the job. WordPress.org comes with a HUGE community and many free templates that can be further modified.
Any other blog software will certainly also do, however, it just helps to illustrate the fact that this publishing platform is sufficient for most websites (see d)).
d) an idea of what to put online
Most crucial point. Who will be in charge of the online content? What do you want to put online? How many static pages? What kind of pictures? The person in charge of online content will probably also need to rescale pictures and trim them for online usage (lower dpi resolution), no need for 2-3 MB pictures that directly come from a digital camera. Apply a licence to your works (=> CreativeCommons) so that ppl will know how do deal with your (!) online content. Create a document and define what you want to publish online and how you want to interlink it - in short, create a concept. This will help everyone involved to see what the target is.
etc.
Bottom-line: getting YOUR page and YOUR mission online isn’t a matter of experts anymore. What you will need to figure out is how much money you want to spend on this, how the site should appear (layout) and who will be in charge.
I am mentioning all these *basic* facts (to most readers - I assume that most of you are running your own blog?) because it’s just SOOOOO often that you see a brother from somewhere who’s doing a wonderful job within his organisation, but is totally overwhelmed by the (relatively simple) job of creating a decent website that draws a clean line between horrible MS-Frontpage or MS-Office documents (converted into HTML/XML) and a smooth little website based on a sweet WordPress *simple-CMS* package.
Also, you’re not alone on this. Pls feel free to visit Kabissa.org to connect with others and discuss on how to promote your works online.
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10:48
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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…it is an informal settlement, not an illegal.
We had approached the mayor with a detailed baseline study of all problems, sorted to their priority and asked him for help. He replied that “it’s an illegal settlement”. - “No”, I then replied, “it is not, it’s just informal. Sir, you always use this explanation as an excuse, yet when it comes to the elections, you go to these piipoll in the informal settlement and ask for the votes”.
We then collected money in the community and registered the settlement so that progress isn’t stopped by such bureaucratic hurdles.
- my colleague Obed Kawange from Zambia on his work back home
It’s always nice to see how piipoll react when you show them this video. :-)
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19:22
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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Zattoo (Inet live stream) vs. ProgDVB (DVB-T client), delay of 1-2 seconds…
Wer es braucht und so wie ich kein reguläres Fernsehempfangsgerät hat, wer seinen in ca. 40 cm Entfernung liegenden DVB-T USB Empfänger aus Bequemlichkeit nicht einstecken möchte weil da die Senderwahl jedes Mal einige Sekunden in Anspruch nimmt, oder wer auch einfach nur seinen supi Breitbandanschluss ausnutzen möchte, der kann sich jetzt bei Zattoo endlich auch deutsche Sender übers Internet anschauen.
Letztens habe ich das ja heimlich am Arbeitsplatz ausprobiert, ging natürlich nicht da Port gesperrt, aber trotzdem: läuft wohl auch vom USB Stick. Empfangstechnisch je nach Inetanbindung, Inettraffic und Senderwahl unterschiedliche Qualität, geringe Verzögerungen und Bild/Ton-Qualität (für mein Verständnis) gut.
Bei Zattoo ist die Senderauswahl wohl IP bezogen, d.h., in Kenia wird man hiermit sicherlich keine deutschen Sender empfangen können - wäre aber mal interessant zu testen. Harry, hol schon mal die DSL scratch card… :-)
Neben Zattoo als Internet-TV-clients gibts natürlich noch AnyTV, Joost und das neue Livestation. Oh, sehe gerade dass die aus ihrer Beta Alpha raus sind. Na fein. Ach ja, “streaming video” gibt es ja schon seit einer Ewigkeit, siehe auch Winamp & Shoutcast. Jedoch alles nicht so hübsch verpackt wie in den o.g. Oberflächen & nicht in ähnlicher (P2P) Übertragungstechnik. Erst recht nicht *live* und mit deutschsprachigen Inhalten.
Für mich als alten Funkfreund ist das alles nicht so doll - Antenne basteln und aufm Dach rumtoben fand ich da früher irgendwie spannender. Vor allem: erinnert sich jemand noch an die UMTS vs. WiFi Debatte? Mit UMTS hat es ja ewig gedauert - bis es zwischenzeitlich von freien, lokalen WLANs in der Praxis überholt wurde. Bei Handies gibt es ja zZt auch diese DVB-H Diskussion, also TV Empfang übers Handy, allerdings gibt es schon für die S60 Handyplattform (zB Nokia N95 & Co.) “live streaming” übers Mobilfunknetz. Sicher, live streaming verursacht immer noch einen hohen Datenverkehr = Kosten, aber irgendwann wird es auch bezahlbare und richtige Datenflatrates für den Mobilfunk geben.
Zattoo ist jetzt also in der neuen Beta 3.10 erschienen und mit einem richtig fetten Angebot an lokalen Sendern durchaus interessant.
Irgendwann werden sie uns fürs Fernsehen bezahlen, da bin ich mir sicher. Bis dahin genieße ich noch die Unabhängigkeit von diesem Zwang & der Hardware im Zimmer und schaue bei Bedarf trotzdem gerne mal kurz rein. Und dafür ist Zattoo ideal…
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14:04
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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Buying ready-made food is a bit strange to me, especially as it comes packed within multiple layers of paper, plastic and aluminum foil, but….
UDON nudoools actually look like tapeworms..
…being able to create a tasty UDON soup, enriched with fresh carrots, seaweed and tofu, in just 10 minutes is unbeataboool!
I really dig these Indian ready-2-eat food packages. They are nice for those moments when you don’t want to cook for one person (+ I can’t cook stuff in small portions, so when I prepare aloo mutter or chana masala it will always last for at least two hungry eaters). One of these MTR package costs EUR 1,80 - which of course is somewhere in between of what you pay for the same dish in India and in an Indian restaurant abroad.
@Kang-Ping: can you see that bag of red bean paste? Sweet & lovely!
This was supposed to be my first post from Kubuntu 7.10 + Konqueror and later on Firefox browser, but something went wrong + my WordPress 2.5 installation has tendencies of behaving like Rucy Kibaki, especially the media upload script will prolly need a user rights correction (i guess - or is there a bug?).
The best way to ruin your sato afternoon is by installing Kubuntu 7.10 and figuring out why the packet manager is behaving like Jeff Koinange after being asked the meaning of Perestroika on Omo-Pick-A-Box.
Well, that’s what weekends are made for, right?
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18:32
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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My colleague #rob is in Palestine during this week and sent me this pic today.
Robert is from Berlin and used to stupid walls.
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16:42
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative - yeah, “nice” - but let’s look at reality and at what we can / what we’ve already done in the past: inheriting a used, older computer to a member of the extended family - I call it the One Laptop Per Family initiative :-)
Be it in Europe, Africa or the US - in most cases we (we as in “the computer guys”) aren’t always around so what we’ll often do is giving them a Windows XP machine with basic software - hoping that they’ll be responsible enough not to click on any strange e-mail attachments. But then, malware may even enter a healthy system through swapable media drives, such as USB flash memory sticks. With a growing popularity of these memory drives, a system is quickly infected and delays productivity or even renders it useless. But what can we do instead?
A year ago, I gave my old desktop computer to my mum and left her with that WinXP installation. She was a complete computer newbie back then and I knew that she would also attend some computer training courses where they would teach her how to write an MS Office Word document, handle MS Excel or even just write an email, using MS Outlook (Express).
Knowing that I wouldn’t be able to help her when I am not around, I initially had some doubts about this setup and asked myself if I shouldnt have gone for a Linux distro instead - also since she was completely new to computers. Why Linux? Well, it’s much more secure and I wouldnt have to worry about any malware infecting the system.
Earlier last week, I’d paid her a visit and repaired the computer - reinstalling Windows XP because I didn’t have enough time teaching her how to use Linux (Ubuntu/Freespire with an XPDE desktop ) instead and setting it up to work with all external devices.
And this is exactely where the problem is: what kind of operating system (OS) would / will / have YOU installed on those machines you’ve left with your loved ones? Yes?
Zakayo @ work in his office (hey, you’ve just been blogged, dude :-)
Take my colleague Abdoulaye, for instance. He stays in Paris, France, works as a consultant in Frankfurt during the week and made the tragic mistake of buying a desktop-laptop three years ago. “Desktop-laptop”? Well, it’s an Asus Z8100 which comes with the same parts as a desktop computer, including the battery-eating cpu, a very loud fan, a horrible battery life and heavy weight. You wouldnt want to carry this machine around with you. Alas, this is exactly what he has done in the past. So we are in the process of getting him a better machine @ smaller size and made up plans how to set up his Asus Z8100 for use with his parents in (The) Senegal .
So there you are: an older computer at your hands that will be given to the extended family back home and the quest for a better operating system which *just* works.
With (a french version of) WinXP, we’ll sure find enough guys back home who’ll provide assistance in case of emergency and it will also be possible to connect a mobile phone to the computer (= inet access) with PC Suites that are available online from Nokia, Sony Ericsson and so on.
But then - there SURE will be someone unintentionally infecting the machine with malware and/or or things happening that will quickly kill productivity on this machine. The alternative?
The alternative could be a free and open (alternative) operating system - such as Ubuntu - but it lacks this out-of-box-experience to support a mobile phone and/or provide instant internet access. Also, it will be harder to find some local assistance in case of problems.
You see, there are currently many different Linux distros out there that all do a nice job of providing an interesting alternative - but which one of them provides this out-of-the-box-experience so that any average dude or dudette out there may just download a fresh copy, burn it to a CD, take an older computer, install it and give it to his/her family back home?
Something that will automatically setup a mobile phone to the machine (given that mobile phones / GPRS modems often are the only reliable way of accessing the inet in rural or peri-urban areas - provided that the area is covered with a wireless/gsm network); something that will automatically support most common desktop printers; something that will just work and provide a maximum connectivity and security even during power failures (no unstable file systems, that is).
This is why I think that initiatives like Ubuntu and or the general promotion of Free Open Source Software (FOSS) are much more important than giving out dedicated hardware to users because it’s the software that makes the difference, not hardware. And yes, the OLPC initiative is also nice + my understanding is that it was also developed to create some reverse-engineering spirit with the kids. But then - it’s still an investment whereby we - as end users - could just as well hand out normal hardware with an alternative OS. Think of your old laptop from 1999 and a copy of Edubuntu …
So…if YOU know of any free and open operating system that provides this flexibility and “Luser” -compatibility, pls feel free to drop a comment here so that we can all benefit. Thank you! :-)
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17:36
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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I’ve dropped an email to the IT dept. today, suggesting to them the use of Linux Live CDs for conferences.
Why? Well, what’s the scenario?
During an average conference, many different users from different backgrounds approach the guy handling the beamer with their usb flash memory stick. Unfortunately, their USB flash sticks are often infected with malware that may reproduce itself on the host system and consequently infect other usb sticks. Malware scanners in use may also not be that effective and often only fight the symptoms, not their actual causes. Hence, an infected base station is the ideal breeding place for malware.
Using a Live CD based on a Linux distro instead may prevent all this danger as such an alternative operating system isnt affected by such malware. Consequently, if used in the correct way, the simple spreading of malware through automatic infections is limited to a possible minimum.
It’s such a relatively simple method to prevent further infections so I am wondering: why isn’t this a standard procedure in a M$-Windows-dominated IT environment?
(@Apple users: *cough* *cough*….well…u know….*sigh* :-)
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18:19
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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It’s COLORWARS2008 on twitter, so please come and join (the) Afriteam!
“Ati?! Corraarrwaaas?” - “Atiriiri…..” - “..but why should I join this team?” - Well, because a) why not? and b) let’s show them some *pamoja spirit* and what we‘re capable of. 2008 will be just another great opportunity for the Afrisphere.
p.s.: you won’t need an iPhone for twitter, not even a phone, just 2 minutes to register @twitter and join the @afriteam. Very simpooool.
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15:51
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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Wenn man länger ohne Backofen oder gar Mikrowelle lebt, lernt man wieder richtig kochen. Nicht dass ich ein großer Freund von Tiefkühlkost bin (soll ja auch nicht ganz so schlimm sein) - aber ein überbackener Auflauf ab und zu wäre auch nicht schlecht.
Im Inet und diversen Kochbüchern gibt es sicherlich gute Rezepte, wie man auch nur mit einer Heizplatte und zwei Töpfen gut was zaubern kann, allerdings bin ich in letzter Zeit den asiatischen Gerichten verfallen, die ja überwiegend im WoK zubereitet werde. Einen (von diesen guten, günstigen, mit Teflon ausgeschlagenen und stabiler Bodenplatte versehenen IKEA) Wok habe ich zwar auch grad nicht, dafür allerdings einen stabilen Kochtopf.
Eigentlich sollte ich hier auch viel mehr übers Essen Kochen bloggen.
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22:27
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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…by (the benchmarking tool) HD Tune, telling me that almost all of my USB flash memory sticks aren’t bootabooool.
Well, apparently they are indeed able to supply any recent computer with a fresh copy of e.g. gOS - a new OS based on Ubuntu 7.10 + featuring lots of Google web apps.
Just plug it in and start your computer with the latest release of [put your favourite OS here] - for inspirations, check out pendrivelinux.com
Reasons for bragging about it this way is that I am still amazed at this tiny 2GB microSD card inside the USB reader (see yellow arrow) and that it actually provides my machine with a very sexy-looking OS within a maximum of 20seconds boot-up time. And all of this at the size of a fingernail! (<== no, not those nails that have at one time been very popular with guys from Nyeri…)
Again, the provision of WinXP rescue kits, portable apps or even complete OS on a USB flash memors stick may just be the right extra income for IT students. Given that not everyone has his own machine, a USB flash drive may just substitute that need for virtual desktops.
Maybe one day we’ll only see ppl using terminal-like stations where all private data is stored on a USB flash stick if not remote on a central server?
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19:00
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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…wird mit dem Schlagstock auf das Ziel eingeschlagen.
Wie beim Tennis.
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13:02
From: Kikuyumoja's realm
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Life’s little pleasures….an upgrade from a 2GB microSD card to an 8GB micro SDHC - Secure Digital High Capacity memory card.
Please note the tiny card reader (about 1″ long) which will be attached to my keychain. This way, exchange of data will be much easier and faster and I can still u | |
