German Minister disses George Bush

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[Nairobi, Kenya]
WELL, I came to this cyber cafe to download some web apps like WordPress along with some other goodies. It also gives me a chance to download my emails in Mac Mail. One particular email caught my attention. It’s from a ZD Net discussion I’m part of so I followed a link to a related article: Germany uses n-word to describe American policies.


Bush fire…
I give full props to the intelligent German populace who really know how to sniff out a useless politician compared to other countries. No wonder Germany is on the cutting edge in terms of good government and environmental policies. Anyhow, one particular minister was quite blunt about his impression of US president George Bush:

The harsh words from Germany’s Environmental Minister came after a meeting in Europe on reducing CO2 emissions. The American President presented his views there. Here’s some of what the German minister said, “”Bush’s Neanderthal speech…showed not leadership but losership. We are glad that there are also other voices in the United States.”

Shrewd comments…
One viewer really got my attention here. He was sooo on the ball, and I’d like to share his views with you. Take a peek at this:

STOP WHINING!!!
We expect the government to do far too much for us these days. We run around with our hands out looking for breaks and complain about an energy crisis and food shortages and demand the goverment to do somthing and bail us out.

THEY CAN’T HELP.

If you’re so hell bent on carbon footprints and global warming turn off your computer right now, sell your car, and city condo, buy a few acres somwhere build a shelter, grow and hunt your own food during summer and try to survive the winter. If you are against big oil stop driving your car get a bike, etc. Change yourself!!!
too many people are too concerned with what other people are doing these days. Do you not have anything better to do with your life than complain about me burning tires, lol, and too many “environmentalist” expect everyone to change, but fail to take the step for themselves. Stop complaining, Unless you’re driving an electric car, have solar panels on your roof, etc. thats all you are doing and nobody like whiners.

I do not advocate “environmentalism” it’s a crock of S*** considering the biggest names are generally the worst offenders. It’s politics and they want you to send them your $$$ so they strike up a cause and push it so you’ll buy in. Just another place for the Gov’t to claim to have spent your tax dollars… {source}

Hey, no arguments here. What about you? Most of you already know my solution to saving the planet. I’m telling you, this solution is easy to implement, and will empower citizens in a self sufficient manner. What is this so-called solution?

Hemp Farming in Africa: A Billion Dollar Industry?

Spitting Cobra on the Loose

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[Ongata Rongai, Kenya]
GREETINGS FROM a really cool area just outside of Nairobi. Without a doubt, the Ongata Rongai and neighboring Kitengela areas have an amazing buzz between them. Everywhere you look, flats and houses are going up. And why not? Land is el cheapo here, and you’re not that far away from Nairobi, Ngong, or Karen. Oh, did you see that smooth tarmaced road heading from Bomas all the way into Ongata Rongai town? Wow, that’s what I call smooth sailing.

The new Tuskys super market is super kool and it’s stocked with everything under the sun. Plus, Barclays, KCB, and Equity banks have set up branches in this thriving town. Again, Ongata Rongai should definitely be on your list if you want to get away from the city sprawl of Nairobi that’s on the cheap. I wouldn’t think twice about moving here. I see BIG opportunities for entrepreneurs here to open up cyber cafes, bars/restaurants, retail outlets among other possibilities. And this area feels safe as hell thanks to the new police station nearby.

Oh, a cobra…
So my good pal Pippa lives up here with her son and 2 dogs (Shenzi & Mtokutu). When I saw her last week in Karen, she told me that she had to rush Mtokutu to the vet because she got sprayed by the venom of a spitting cobra that “hangs out” in a particular bushy area of the back yard. Yikes! I’m sure you’ll understand why I was a little hessitant to drop by for a visit, right? :-) What’s more annoying is that no one has seen the damn snake, but there’s a general understanding that a cobra visits the back yard once in a while.


Anyhow, I saw Mtokutu and she had some green ointment in her left eye to prevent further damage. Unfortunately, these 2 dogs don’t really understand the danger of its slippery neighbour. This sort of freaked Pippa out, and her good friend Dennis Matthews (a snake guru/catcher) from Kitengela told her to call him if anyone spots the “king” of the backyard.

Cobra ahoy…
Now check this out. My pal David dropped by to visit me and show me the plans for a golf course his peeps are planning on developing. We’re chatting out in the back yard and low and behold, we see this brownish-greyish cobra sloowly slide right on by us about 8 feet away and into the bush everyone suspects is one of its many homes. It’s like the cobra said “Hey guys, just ignore me…continue with your meeting…I’m just sliding by into this lovely bush you got in this yard. Carry on!”

I looked at David and said “Aah, so that’s the cobra I’ve been hearing about.” I then ran into the house to notify Pippa and also to make sure the 2 dogs were not outside. In no time, Dennis Matthews and his kids came by for a “snake outing.” This was going to be my first time watching some dude capture a 4 1/2 feet cobra.

Hide & seek…
So Dennis puts on his glasses – for obvious reasons. His 11 year old son also got in on the action as father and son proceeded to search the bush for the cobra. After a while, everyone was getting a little antsy and wondering if the cobra probably slid away some where else. Then Dennis’ son and Justin had a bright idea. They started to throw rocks into the bush like fire bombs. This definitely did the trick. Our slippery visitor was flushed out, and decided to head in the opposite direction away from all the falling debris. Smart fella. In the open grass, Dennis snared it before it got away. His son assisted and eventually it was placed in a bag.

Goodbye Mr. Cobra…
After a nice chat, Dennis and his entourage got into a land rover with the snake. He’s going to release it far away from this area so that it won’t ever come come back again. Well, hopefully. He said that cobras were territorial and there’s no chance of another cobra coming by for a visit. I hope so.

All in all, it was quite a afternoon. David’s spontaneous visit was quite a revealation. If he didn’t show up, we would not have had that meeting in the back yard so no one would know that the cobra had returned for a temporary visit. All I can say is “good riddance.” By the way, Pippa is thinking of getting a pet mongoose from the KSPCA to hang out in the back yard.

Related links:

Insane Microsoft patents

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[Nairobi, Kenya]
THIS IS crazy! How on earth did the US Patents Office issue Microsoft with a patent for “page up” and “page down” functionality? What are they smoking over there? Most importantly, what qualifications does one need to work for this particular US government department? :-)


Been there, done that…
Surely these peeps must know that page up and page down functionality has been in existence for a looong time. Right? Just check the original IBM PC back in the late-70s/early-80s to see my point. And didn’t Wang Laboratories have page up and page down in their original word processors 30 years ago.


Great forum comment…
This dude name rossasaurus in the above ZD Net Talkback said it best:

Patently Absurd
Maybe they should patent a system for demonstrating computer failure by displaying a predominantly blue screen with little else upon it and no response from any interactive input; and while they’re at it, maybe they should Trademark the term “Blue Screen of Death” :)

Ha ha ha. I couldn’t agree more. Yo, Mr. Ballmer, why don’t you request a patent on your infamous BSOD? After all, it’s a “100% original” Microsoft invention. :-)

Zain on the EDGE of Ngong

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[Ngong, Kenya]
WELL, I’M here in Ngong blogging from my room using Mrs. C’s Huawei E220 HSDPA USB modem. I told her to buy this instead of Safaricom‘s package because I truly believe Celtel (oops, I mean Zain) has the superior data network. Heck, I don’t give a sh!t about voice! Just show me the data pipe baby. :-) By the way, I’m not the biggest fan of telecom companies. Just take a peek at these 2 posts I wrote in 2006 to know why:

Zain: the better option?
As a matter of fact, Zain is simply the better option when it comes to voice too. Safaricom subscribers are stooopid for paying KSh 10/minute when they can buy a Zain SIM and get unlimited daytime (6a – 6p) calls for KSh 99. That’s obscenely cheap folks. But it gets better. After 6pm and weekends, you only pay KSh 3/minute. And don’t forget that Zain has a tariff where you list the 3 Zain numbers that you call the most, and you only pay KSh 4/minute forever. Is this the same elitist Celtel (er Zain) that was charging ridiculous rates not too long ago? Oh my, how times have changed – for the better.

So, why are Safaricom prepaid subscribers not jumping ship in greater numbers? It absolutely boggles the mind that I have to keep my bloody Safaricom SIM in my celly after 6pm just so that my idiot friends can call me. In a sense, they’re inconveniencing me by not using the “better option” after 6pm and on weekends. How selfish of them, eh? :-)

Zain not 3G yet…
Anyhow, Zain has not rolled out their 3G network offering yet to compete with Safaricom’s [HotSpot] data offering. But then again, can Safaricom beat Zain’s unlimited postpaid data package of KShs 2995 per month? Nope. Unlimited is not in their vocabulary – yet. Someone at Zain customer care did inform me that 3G is coming “soon.” I’ve heard that one before, and I don’t really care because it’ll probably be a while before them (or Safaricom) bring HSDPA data services to Ngong. Again, I don’t give a damn about voice. I can do all of that on the Information Super Highway – and a lot more. Yacking is for idiots who have money to waste.

One thing though…I read somewhere that Safaricom’s HSDPA download rates were fast as hell in areas such as Westlands, Upper Hill and CDB. Some Kenyan blogger mentioned speeds hovering around 1 Megabit/sec when he’s surfin’ in Westlands. Well, I’ll believe it when I see it. Heck, if that’s true, I’ll pack my things and relocate to Westlands. Nah, Ngong’s quiet and I can actually think out here. :-)

Getting EDGEy…
Anyhow, over the past few days, I’ve been playing around with this Huawei modem on Mac OS X and I’m quite impressed with the ease that it installed. I’m still shocked because hardly anyone makes hardware that installs on a Mac since everyone’s hooked on virus-prone Windows. Way to go Huawei! I’m now a bigger fan of your products.
So, how does Zain’s network perform here in Ngong? Remember, this town is about a 40 minute drive by car from the Nairobi’s downtown Central Business District. On certain occasions, I’m sure you can do it in about 25 to 30 minutes. Yeah, at 2am in the morning! :-)
Well, as you can see in the pic above, I was able to download at a top rate of 10.4 KB/s while topping out at a respectable 18 KB/s. Hey, remember I’m in Ngong – not Westlands or snobby Upper Hill.

My advice to Safaricom & Zain
I urge you 2 to focus on bringing affordable, reliable broadband data services to the rural communities because it’ll spur on economic development faster than any other government initiative. I know it’s hard to resist the lucrative markets like Upper Hill, Wetlands, CBD, Kilimani, Lavington, Runda, Karen, Muthaiga et al, but think about the impact you’ll have on the country. You 2 have the power to quickly change a lot of things in this country – for the better.

Cheap access to the Internet means that more people can connect, share ideas and try out new things. And let’s face it, you 2 have the infrastructure and know-how to do it.

Telkom Kenya, WTF?!?
By the way, I really don’t know what the hell the brain trust at Telkom Wireless are smoking. How on earth can they charge KSh 3 per minute for their CDMA data services when Safaricom and Zain are charging by the megabyte? Telkom, you havent a clue what the hell you’re doing, do you? What a disgrace you are to Kenya. How could you let so many people down? What were you thinking? Where’s your EV-DO service to match the 3G/HSDPA offerings of your rivals? I have lost all faith in you, Telkom. Luckily, you have the government to back up your uncompetitive behind. Do us all a favour, and just go to hell.

Ngong, a hidden treasure?
Lastly, I just have to say that it’s lovely up here, and the view of Ngong Hills from the back yard or from my good pal’s (Robert Ouko – former 72′ Olympic 800m Gold Medalist) flat is absolutely breath taking. And it’s so quiet in these parts…no noisy traffic disrupting your thoughts and everyone in this particular area (Kerarapon) is so friendly. Heck, we have monthly residents meetings for this 4 sq-km area that’s situated in Ngong, and the police attends them too. So everybody knows their neighbour and crime here is like a tiny blip compared to all the crap that’s going on in Karen and Nairobi.

Also, Kerarapon boasts its own natural springs that’s managed by the Kerarapon Water Commission where Mr. Ouko was the outgoing Secretary. He did a fabulous job by the way. Hence water rates are ridiculously cheap at KSh 2 per gallon. Yet Karen is like an 8 minute car (or matatu) ride if you need to go to Nakumatt or do banking at Karen Crossroads Mall.

Honestly, I see a bright future for Ngong – especially Kerarapon. Lots of peeps are moving from places like Runda, Lavington and Karen since the price is right. Heck the late, former Roads Minister (Kipkalya Kones) just recently purchased property on Kerarapon Drive where his wife now resides. I’m sure he would’ve seen that the main road was paved in a jiffy.

By the way, land only goes for about 800K to 1.2M per acre here. And the land that borders Karen goes for about 3M per acre. Now that’s what I call a sweet deal. Contrast that to Karen where land on average goes for about Ksh 13 Million per acre. I’ve seen plots there going for KSh 16M. No thanks! Once more development takes place by the 17th drive of Kerarapon, then the council will probably allow that bypass road to connect from Karen making travel to other Nairobi suburbs quicker than ever.

My goals while living in this area are:

  1. Assist the community in getting the main road for Kerarapon Drive paved using applied techniques based on affordable, reliable termite technology for long-lasting roads. This alone will spur on more development. I’m to present this solution at the upcoming residents meeting in a few days.

  2. Implement a “community” wireless mesh broadband project in Kerarapon that will attract more development in terms of companies relocating here and better access for the public schools here.
  3. Develop a strategy with association members for a street light initiative (like Esther Passaris’ Adopt a Light campaign) so that Kerarapon Drive has affordable lighting throughout the night. This will give the residents here that community piece of mind and spur on more development.

Peace.

——————
Related links:

How to install WordPress on Mac OS X

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[Nairobi, Kenya]
WELL, I’M about to take the WordPress plunge folks. I’ll have to take Expression Engine for a spin later on because I still believe it’s waaay more powerful since it’s based on the amazing (and free) CodeIgniter PHP framework. By the way, WordPress (WP) is a content management system (CMS) that allows you to easily create powerful blogs and websites – all from your web browser. It’s been downloaded millions of times over, and has a passionate (almost fanatical) following.

Freebies everywhere
Most amazingly, WP has tons of FREE themes that you can use to make your site look professional as hell. I’m not sh!tting you folks! Some of the web’s best designers create free themes for WP because they want to help it gain world domination. In addition, they’re tons of free plugins that you can add to your WP install that’ll make it jump through hoops, fly to the moon, cook your dinner and make your website or blog do some amazing tricks. Good lords, I sound like a WordPress whore already. Gees, I’m sooo pathetic!

See you on the Net
In short, say goodbye to expensive web developers folks!! The web and open source software are a lethal one two punch when it comes to this sort of thing. Ditto for Linux, the powerful BSD Unix variants (FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD), Python, KDE, Zope, Plone, Drupal, Eclipse, TrixBox, Mozilla Firefox, OpenOffice, PostgreSQL, MySQL, FirebirdSQL, TinyERP, Care2X, OrangeHRM, SQL-Ledger ERP, ERP5, and a ton of other free software of exceptionally high quality. This is why I love the Internet, and why I’m such an Internet whore. Knowledge is power folks, and TV – aka the idiot box – just doesn’t do it for me. Sorry Hollywood.

Suffice to say, my days over here at Blogger are numbered. Then again, who knows? Google has billions of dollars in the bank and I’m sure they’ll improve things – eventually. However, I’m tired of seeing so many beautiful WordPress sites created by peeps who are way less techie than me. Heck, most of them can’t even write a program that prints “HELLO” on the screen. Enough is enough! I want in! :-)

Installing on Mac OS X
Most of you already know that I’ve ditched Windows in the same manner that every hardliner Republican cronie has ditched president George “lame duck” Bush. :-) Anyhow, if you want to install WP on OS X, then peek this link: Installing WordPress on Mac OS X Tiger. Personally, I prefer to use XAMPP for Mac OS X by Apache Friends as my LAMP stack on OS X instead of using the built in Apache server or configuring anything. Screw that! Besides, XAMPP ships with the latest PHP 5.x build since PHP 4.x is sooo passe.

On the other hand, you’re free to use this Google search string to get even better help results: Installing WordPress on OS X.

Happy virus-free Mac computing! :-)

Where is the 64bit Flash Player?

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[Nairobi, Kenya]
WELL, IT looks like 64-bit computing is starting to catch on over in the Windows camp with 64-bit version of Windows Vista picking up steam. The problem that’s annoying the sh!t out of everyone is the super slooow release of a 64-bit Flash player from Macromedia (er Adobe). Looks like peeps have to use 32-bit Internet Explorer on 64-bit Vista whenever they’re surfing pages with Flash content. That sucks!! I urge you folks to peek this very interesting Tech forum over at ZDNet.


So, have any of you gravitated to 64-bit computing yet? You do know you can get 64-bit versions of Linux and FreeBSD for free, right? :-)

Apple bytes into 64-bit computing…
Thank goodness the current version of Mac OS/X (aka Leopard) is fully 64-bit. And why shouldn’t it be? After all, it’s based on the rock solid BSD Unix and Mach architecture that’s legendary in research circles. Anyhow, I’m more interested in 64-bit open source server products like MySQL, PostgreSQL, FirebirdSQL, TrixBox, Exim, Postfix et al. Since you have more addressing memory in a 64-bit operating system, programmers have the ability to create some truly POWERFUL software applications that will usher in a new era of computing. Apps dealing with encryption, sound, graphics, video, or querying large data sets will fly through the roof. This is the exciting part. Here’s the kind of power Mac OS/X programmers are gonna have when developing native 64-bit apps using xcode 3.0:

  • 64-bit addressing of up to 16 exabytes of virtual memory and 4 terabytes of physical memory
  • Full 64-bit arithmetic
  • 64-bit development tools
  • 64-bit performance monitoring tools
  • Seamless deployment
  • LP64 data model
  • Common source base support

Ah yes, I’m so glad to say goodbye to Windows. Looks like some sweet computing times are ahead in the Apple Mac realm. Heck, just look at all of these smashing hits: iPod, iTunes, iMac, OS/X, iBook, MacBook, and now iPhone 3G. Apple is indeed on a roll, and now she’s got more cash to do more and better things since the big kahuna (CEO Steve Jobs) returned to save the company from disaster a few years ago. Besides, Jobs’ credentials are waaay more impressive than Bill Gates.

Cheers!

Are you IT Management material?

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[Nairobi, Kenya]
CONCLUSION
So, are YOU management material? What makes you think so? Do you want to be a manager out of passion or for some other purely ego-driven motive? I don’t think I’d have any problems in a mangerial role because I understand how to communicate with people in an honest straightforward manner when push comes to shove. Most importantly, I’m confident in myself and my abilities. In other words, I’d be able to focus on the VISION and OBJECTIVES thingy as opposed to worrying about who’s trying to move ahead of me up the corporate ladder and other silly games like that. One other important thing. If I’m the manager responsible for hiring, I think my good sense of character judgement would help me to eliminate a lot of potentially bad apples during the interview sessions. It’s amazing how many flunkies get through the cracks to the detriment of the team and, ultimately, the company.

Introduction
I’ve been an avid reader of Ziff Davis publications like PC Magazine, PC World, BYTE, and PC Computing ever since I was in high school (grade 13). You see, I completed a 1 year Cooperative Education placement in Accounting & Computers at Computing Devices Company (CDC) located in Canada’s Silicon Valley North. That’s the name we use for the National Capital region that’s made up primarily of Ottawa, Nepean, Gloucester, Orleans, and Kanata. It’s here that great companies like Cognos, Nortel, Newbridge Networks, Corel, Mitel, Norpak, Simtran, QNX, Lumonics, JDS Uniphase and a ton of others came to life.

Anyhow, CDC is now part of the massive General Dynamics military industrial complex. Aah, now I’m starting to understand the significance of all those “special projects” that were going on in the Anti Submarine Warfare department headed by Ken Charter back then. lol. Heck, I think those “Cold War” subs go for like $2 BILLION these days. Hmmn, can they at least drill for oil or do something else that’s useful? Good lords, no wonder the US has a $9.5+ TRILLION national debt…and climbing!!! :-)

The good ole’ days…
Back then, I’d work in the mornings between 8:30a and 11:45, and attend classes in the afternoon. Too bad Ontario high schools now go up to grade 12. I believe that extra year of classes adds maturity in a student that’s lacking these days. How the hell does a 17 or 18 year old know what the heck they want to do on campus? Grade 13 back then, essentially, was equivalent to first year at most colleges and universities around the world…and it was FREE. Oh well, I feel sorry for peeps like my little brother who could probably use the extra year.

Thanks for managing me…
Anyhow, I started to get a warm and fuzzy after reading this ZDNet blog post: Signs you might not be IT management material. Why? Because I thought of old managers I worked for and realize that I was lucky as hell to have been “managed” by the right “managers” so to speak. Who knows, the wrong managers may have convinced me to pursue a different career altogether – like heading back to Barbados and working for my dad’s construction and transportation businesses. And I know he’d make a crappy manager because he didn’t have any people skills whatsoever.

Luckily, my 2 bosses (Claire Laliberte and Pierre Bertrand) at CDC were very flexible, caring and pointed me in the right direction most of the time. Thanks to them sending me in the computer lab to do all those Lotus 1-2-3 tutorials, I began to realize my true potential in the IT field. In no time, I was a spreadsheet guru, able to crank out sophisticated worksheets utilizing all of Lotus 1-2-3′s power. I vividly remember salivating at the prospect of getting my hands on the King Jaguar or Baler spreadsheet compilers for creating stand alone spreadsheet applications without the need for the customer owning 1-2-3, Quattro Pro or any of the other competitors.

Another great experience took place when I became a freelance temp worker out of high school. I remember my old boss, Wayne Parker, at Bell Canada’s Corporate Engineering (Planning & Standards Research division) department. He was a laid back techie who gave me tons of resources to crank out those massive macro-based Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheets for the Transmission Quality Survey for the 416, 905, 613, 705, 416, 819 and 514 Ontario/Quebec area codes. My output (lots of graphs) was used by senior management to get a big picture on Bell’s telephone line infrastructure and where to begin the roll out of fibre optic cabling.

I fondly remember the time when I commandeered a room of about 10 computers and printers to simultaneously print graphs from all my data analysis. We’re talking spreadsheets with about 10,000 rows here folks! Heck, everyone in that department was so kool – except for that one crappy senior manager who has long since retired, or (gasp!) worse. Here’s a big shout out to Mr. Parker and his family – wherever they are. Oh, and to Lubna Qureshi (aka LJQ) who was a brainy electrical engineer passionate in antennae design, but “that” crappy manager didn’t even realize it. And how can I forget Estelle, the secretary. What a sweetheart. I do hope she’s enjoying her retirement.

Once again, I was fortunate to have encountered great managers at Northern Telecom (now Nortel) for that awesome summer student job where I created a large Mac FileMaker database of all hardware assets (computers, network IDs, serial #s, printers, etc.). This was at their massive Corkstown Road facility in Nepean. One interesting note: I met this kool dude name Manabu Kato who was an exchange student from Japan. His interest back then was Artificial Intelligence. After his summer gig, he left for California and then back to the Far East. I wonder what he’s up to these days! Hmmn, let’s try http://www.google.com/search?q=Manabu+Kato. Well whatever he’s up to, I’m sure he’s a smashing success.

I also want to thank Clay Grandy (CEO/President of AGO Industries in London, Ontario) for being a no-nonsense straight up manager while I was a summer student at his company. He knew his company’s products better than any body. Not once did he rest on his laurels. Heck, he’d even dip his feet in IT and once did his own tech support on all his PC equipment (even setting up and managing an office LAN) before he got too busy. You see folks, here’s a manager that leads by doing. Point noted Clay! By the way, Clay had a super sexy metallic silver corvette back then. Lucky for me, he’d be headed in my direction on my way home. Fast times indeed! :-)

Lastly, I have to give major props to Lindsay Phillips (and Nancy Bartlett) at the Bank of Montreal’s swanky Institute For Learning in the Applied Technology department. He’s the one who drove 2 hours down the Highway 401 to UWO to recruit me for my 16 month Computer Science industrial internship. This forced me to relocate to the amazing city of Toronto.

In fact, this act got me to explore Toronto’s amazing night life which is second to none. Here, I found my passion for Electronic Dance Music (House, Tribal, Acid Techno, Dark Progressive House, Tech Trance, Funky House) at spots like System Sound Bar, The Guvernment, Kool Haus, Life, Film Lounge, The Comfort Zone and lots of big party events by sponsors like Bensons & Hedges, Smirnoff, Heineken among others. Talented DJs like DJ Myka, Kenny Glasgow, Mark Oliver, Goldfinger, DJ Addy, Dekoze, Jelo, Joee Cons et al continue to inspire me with their delicious sounds that are out of this world. Let’s just say that my life has never been the same after discovering the EDM scene. Stay tuned for DJ Sinister to the max folks. That’s my next major hobby in a year or 2.

Anyhow, Lindsay was one tough manager in the sense that he didn’t put up with crap. Yet he gave me a lot of freedom as well as provided me with lots of good advice when I first started out. He was forward thinking by allowing me to go on that Windows 2000/SQL Server 7 training workshop with Executrain. He also trusted me enough by giving me full responsibility to mentor 2 high school internship students. Personally, he didn’t like the “corporate bureaucracy bullshit” that much so I’d say he was a very hands-off manager. One other thing…he taught me never to accept crappy products and services from IT vendors. Is this why I’m super critical of companies when they provide crappy service these days? Perhaps. Who knows? Well, I’m sure Lindsay’s retired on some island by now. I recall he loved to travel.

Inspire me…
I guess what I’m trying to say by highlighting my most memorable managers is this: A great manager inspires you to want to perform for them and yourself too. They give your work a purpose. Now, I’m pretty good at inspiring myself, but I’m a little different from a lot of people based on my upbringing in 3 different countries mostly as an only child being raised between my mother, aunts, step mother, grand parents, and dad. However, I truly believe that the mark of a good manager in this present era is one based on his/her ability to inspire the drones (er workers/employees/associates). Times have changed. Employees are no longer loyal to any company. Mobility can be a costly bitch for a company that’s turned over its staff to the wrong manager.

Food for thought…
In the above blog post discussion, a web surfer named Jeff Foxworthy highlights a funny but slightly true observation about IT managers. Perhaps some of you future managers here in Africa can learn from this.

You might not be IT management material…..
If you’re not monetizing your synergies.
If you’re not delegating the architecting.
If you think DNS stands for Doesn’t Know S—.
If your employees whisper about routing around the damage, but stop talking as you approach.
If you forgot to send out the memo about the TPS coversheets.

Downgrade a Toshiba Satellite A205 laptop from Vista to XP

3

[Nairobi, Kenya]
GOOD LORDS, what an agonizing experience I’ve been going through over the past day or so. In a nutshell, my good friend, “Mrs. C.” in Karen, just purchased an el cheapo (KShs 36,999) Toshiba A205-5800 laptop from DaveTech Kenya with crappy Windows Vista Basic on it for her business. Yuck! Now, it’s not a bad system (1.8GHz Celeron, 1gb RAM, 120gb hard drive, WIFI b/g, 15″ screen, DVD-RW etc.) at all – for the price. My only gripe: Why did DaveTech give “Mrs. C” a North American power plug with this machine? Oh well…I don’t want to know the truth.

King Dave is in da house…
By the way, Dave seems to be eating up the competition alive down here when it comes to getting really great deals on new/used laptops and desktops. I’m sure his hardware competitors in the bustling downtown Jamiia Plaza are happy as hell that he moved his overcrowded (and always jam-packed) shop to the Twiga towers, which is about a 4 minute walk from them. Heck, I’ve lost track of how many store locations this dude has. I certainly wouldn’t waste my time competing with his ridiculously low prices if I were a newcomer. Advantage: The Kenyan consumer.

Mac addicts, reveal yourselves…
After becoming a Mac OS/X convert over the past 3 months or so, I find it painfully agonizing to even fathom tinkering with a Windoze (er Windows) machine. Ya know, after a while, using a Mac (iBook, MacBook, iMac) with OS/X becomes almost like a cleansing ritual. You realize just how fuc#ed up you were for ever getting into bed with Windoze…almost to the point of being ashamed for wasting so much precious computing time (money?) tracking down drivers, bug fixes, doing general registry maintenance, viruses, worms, trojan horses, and what not. Please, somebody bitch slap me for putting up with this sh!t. Damn, I feel sooo used and abused by Micro$oft (the $ sign in the name highlights just how bloody wealthy Microsoft is) and its hardware cronies.

Serenity now…
Anyhow, without having to reinvent the wheel and explain the entire process, let me just say that the reason you can’t install XP on a Toshiba A200 series laptop (or any modern PC) is simply because XP can’t see the SATA hard drive. SATA is just a better, faster, modern implementation of the ATA hard drive reference standard. Hence XP Setup gives you that “Yo dude…I don’t see a fuc#ing hard drive. Just where did you plan to install me? Please quit and leave me alone…as#hole” message. Well, it might as well have said that. :-) But don’t despair folks, my trusty search companion (Google) was more than willing to help me sort out my problem of ditching Vista for XP.

Get the goods here…
Without further adieu, here are the links you should browse:

Final thoughts…
Please don’t ever let your friends (perhaps your enemies) use Windows Vista Basic on a damn Celeron (a Core 2 Duo is okay) computer. You’ll find your machine will run a lot faster (and more reliably) because it’s not stuck with all of Vista’s alleged improvements. Micro$oft, you guys really screwed up on this one. And shame on Toshiba for making it so difficult to track down the XP drivers for their A200 series laptop. It’s as if M$ put a gun to their heads in a Tokyo boardroom and threatened to pull the trigger if they gave customers the opportunity to ditch awful Vista. I’m loving my Mac OS/X computing even more now. Why? Because Windoze users (like I once was) are suckers for cheap computing. Always remember this: “You get what you pay for” and “Time is money.” Right?

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Related links:

OS X or Windows Vista?

5

[Nairobi, Kenya]
SO, IS Windows Vista better than Mac OS X? This is one of the most hotly discussed topics in cyber space. Quite frankly, I’ve just become a Mac convert after scoring an iBook G4 (1 GHz PowerPC G4 chip, 640 MB DDR RAM, OS X 10.4.11) of a friend. In short, I’m hooked on OS X, and ya know what? “I AIN’T GOING BACK…TO WINDOWS. NEVER!!!!” Yep, you heard me folks! MaxTheITpro is now a 2-timer who’s cheated on Windows to start a long lasting love affair with Apple’s deliciously sexy line of Mac laptops, desktops and software (OS X, Mail, iLife).

It’s the little things…
Why did I break up with Windows? Well, she just didn’t pay any attention to me. For instance, I’m tired of catching all of her STDs (System Transmitted Diseases) when we’re together. Also, she has this insecure desire to be continually updated with the latest (bug) fixes in order to make me (and her) feel safe and secure about our “relationship.” There are times we’d be “together” and then she’d flip out on me, and get all blue in the face. Sometimes I’d insert my stick (USB) when we go on dates at the cyber cafe, and she’d give me a damn virus even though she’s supposed to have protection – considering she’s been around the block (Windows 95/98/ME/SE/XP) for so long now. You call that love? :-)

In short, she was just a fussy gal that everybody wanted to take for a ride simply because she’s good at “playing games” and performing other unique hard/soft-ware tricks that no one else had an answer for. Plus, she was much cheaper to take home on dates compared to that red hot Apple gal. But I’ve learnt my lesson: You get what you pay for. :-)

Viruses be gone…
All joking aside, I just can’t overemphasize to you all how “LIBERATING” (in more ways than one) it feels to go to a cyber cafe, connect my iBook to the network and not have to bloody worry about viruses. Heck, I’ve always been nervous as hell whenever I insert my USB stick into one of those sleazy Windows PCs at the cyber cafe, and then take it home to my “innocent” desktop PC. I’ve lost count of how many times that damn autorun file has started up upon connecting my USB stick to the home PC. Then, it proceeds to load a nasty virus, worm or trojan horse on my machine. You can see it just by hitting CTRL-ALT-DEL and peeking your process list.

Remember those annoying AdobeR.exe entries? Well, no more worries folks! What’s good about OS X is the fact that it’s based on the rock-solid BSD Unix architecture that goes waaaay back to the 1970s at that great American institution of higher learning: The University of California – Berkeley. Oh, BSD stands for Berkeley Software Distribution.

Mac die hards, reveal yourselves…
Ya know, I’ve read a lot of reviews on a wide range of topics since I became an Internet whore around 1993. Never in this period have I read a review that’s as moving as this one. This dude’s passionate beliefs about Mac computing is truly moving. He’s sold me. See for yourself!

It took awhile for me to understand this article…then it hit me. You can’t write an article about why Vista is better than Mac without your tongue planted firmly in your cheek! Congratulations – you had me going for a bit :-)

The essence of the article is that Microsoft makes broken software intentionally – a blatantly ludicrous concept. It is broken, that is for sure. It is broken because they don’t know how to do it right, don’t want to take the time to do it right, have such powerful marketing that they don’t need to bother…but certainly not because it is better that way. Nobody is customizing Windows XP or vista because it is easier with all the broken parts. They customize it in a huge, costly and never ending effort to compensate for it’s flaws – not to celebrate them. In the Windows World, the word “customize” is a euphemism for “fix.” They do it because they have to.

With the Mac, which just works right out of the box perfectly, there is nothing you need to fix, or “customize” for most people (some gamers and scientific apps aside). Anything you can do on XP/Vista to actually customize usability you can not only do easier on a Mac, but now you can do almost identically with VIsta, because they knock off the Mac OS. But why even bother – the Mac works just fine as is for most people and is easy to learn.

Microsoft has been knocking off the Mac’s usability features for years, and never more “transparently” so than now with the coming of Vista. The real customizations users need aren’t in the user interface anyway – they’re in the hardware – more memory, bigger hard disk,faster graphics – and these days the Mac can keep up with anyone there. A Mac APPEARS less customizable to XP/Vista users only because it doesn’t need to be fixed or customized, but they need a justification to “believe” in. Like many mindless fanatics, so called “believers,” it is a blind act of faith not founded in facts.

That also applies to the more software argument. Other than some very technical, scientific or business apps or some games, most users will never need anything that is not available, and working better, on the Mac. You don’t even need Parallels to switch to Windows, unless it just makes you feel better or saves you the cost of replacing some software you already have. I do audio & video editing, photography and retouching, Powerpoint, flow charts, web development, office apps, you name it – all on the Mac. And there are some things I do now on a Mac and never could do on a PC.

And then there is the experience of FREEDOM the Mac gives you, freedom to get your work done without worrying, freedom from hours every day fighting off viruses and malware, freedom to just love and enjoy your computing experience. There is no price for that, it is quite literally invaluable. So there goes your cheaper PC argument. If you value your time, your “cheap” PC is far more expensive than the highest priced Mac, far too expensive to even be in the running. At minimum wage, a PC user is probably spending over $1,000 a year as a premium or service charge – for the time they spend servicing their own PC. Bill Gates made his billions stepping over the dead bodies of million sof Windows users. Businesses that bought PC’s because they seemed cheaper have been spending untold billions on computer support, repair and maintenance. In terms of total cost of ownership, productivity, reliability and every other measure, Microsoft has stifled industry, crippled innovation and reduced productivity. In the long run, there is never anything really gained by using something cheap and low quality to substitute for a quality, well made and effective product. The short term gains are illusions.

Since its inception, Apple has been reinventing every market paradigm it touched, inspiring innovation and creating new opportunities. The Apple II virtually invented the modern personal computer. The Mac, inspired perhaps by Xerox, reinvented computing. The Laserwriter reinvented publishing and typesetting, with help from Pagemaker. The Newton, though not successful at the time, was a vision of the future of PDA’s and smart phones ultimately leading to the iPhone, which successful or not will reinvent the cell phone for everyone. The iPod reinvented the MP3 player and turned the music industry on its ear. The Intel Mac is just such an opportunity.

What has Microsoft given us – incremental improvements in an operating system that was and still is a bad knock off of the Mac/Xerox concept? Crushing innovation and competition to the point they were investigated by the Justice Dept.? An OS so full of holes that it can never be secure (perhaps intentionally- ever wonder what happened to the vigorous pursuit of MS by the Justice Dept., and why they suddenly didn’t feel a need to keep pushing the industry for a “back door” into all computers in the name of national security?). Office apps that basically just copied, bought out or scavenged, and destroyed other existing products that were actually less bloated and better in some ways? The Xbox? Well, ok, I’ll give them that one.

I have a Powerbook G5, which I will keep another few years since I have learned to love life without anything from Microsoft (I love using open source software). I wouldn’t exchange even this slightly older Mac for the latest high-end Vista notebook … though I would consider donations of a new MacBook :-)

What about you? Are you now convinced that Mac computing is the greatest thing since sliced bread, Barrack Obama, Bal en Blanc, The Winter Music Conference, The World Electronic Music Festival, and House Music? I knew you’d see things my way. :-)

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Related links:

Solutions to 10 Annoying Microsoft Word features

Reply

[Nairobi, Kenya]
AS THE undisputed Internet whore of the world, I’m used to browsing interesting websites loaded with tons of handy information. Today, I’m gonna introduce you to a site that’s one of my many “secret weapons” of knowledge deep inside cyber space. Folks, please say hello to TechRepublic.

Word: the bitchy, fussy processor…
I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I’m using Word, I feel as though I’m on a hot date with the ultimate tease who won’t do my bidding. :-) If you feel the same way, perhaps this blog post will come in handy. It came in my trusty GMail inbox courtesy of a free ZDNet email subscription. No doubt this text got my attention:


Conclusion
I know for a fact that tons of people here in East Africa are using Word to create various types of , um, documents. Hopefully these tips, courtesy of Jody Gilbert, will go a long way in helping them tame that unpredictable wild beast hiding behind that pretty graphical user interface. :-)

Peacies.

PS–> If you have problems with the above link, try this: http://blogs.techrepublic.com/msoffice/?p=183

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