The downside of being a Mzungu in dowtown Nairobi, equipped with a digital camera, is that you look like a stupid tourist.
The advantage of looking like a stupid tourist in downtown Nairobi is that you can hide under that image and take various snapshots…
@Kimendero of democracy: welcome to the Blogosphere! Welcome to the rest of the world where freedom of expression is a valued human right :-)
Bibi TFT eventually arrived and has sent Mama CRT into aaaarrry (early) retirement :-)
videre 1.0
(left) Gericom CT1997PF 19″ CRT, 130 Watts power consumption (!), 5w/5w standby/active-off, 20.2kgs, really BIG, too dark for image editing (even with Gamma corrections, etc.), TCO’99…
videre 2.0
Yakumo 17 XPT 17″ TFT, 8ms, 500:1 contrast, speakers (lol), 4.0 kgs, 48w, 2w/2w standby/active-off, 3 years pick-up guarantee, TCO’03, EUR 139,- ….
And the most important reason for the change: my EYES! What a blessing now….
Speaking of Dan and his artworks that inspired me and many others out there, I just had a quick stroll through his early journals and came across this:
The (Karengata) Chronicle / Nairobi, Saturday, October 12, 1985 / Price 3/50 (!)
An article by Nick Russel from 1985 – eternalised in Dan’s sketchbook.
Nick, editor & publisher of the Karen & Langata Chronicle since 21 years, recently commented on the Nairobi lowdown story and nowadays runs an online edition of the Chronicle.
@Nick: have you ever thought about installing a free blogging software such as the WordPress release on your webspace and maybe even joining the ever-growing Kenyan blogosphere?
The basic idea behind using a blogging tool is that it a) makes it easier to publish content on the internet, b) interact with your readers and c) you won’t need any IT guru in the background to fix the layout of your pages. Sijui about your webspace deals, but WordPress (as a start) is free of charge and just requires a MySQL database in the background. An alternative solution are the free, “ready-to-run” blogging services like wordpress.com or blogger.com as used by many other bloggers throughout the world. Another advantage is that you can easily switch the website’s layout by using (style) templates (again, free) or even adjust it to look like a newspaper (instead of a diary). This, I think, is easier to maintain and better than any pure content management system (cms) that otherwise requires lots of adjustments and technicooool knowledge. Hope this helps! :-)
…aggggrobatics, so here’s my reply:
dim ruuuls:
1. When communicating with other Exilkenyaners, I make frequent use of words like “aterere….., oh? i see…, kweli?, sasa?, aca!, whereby, supposed to, particulaaaar” etc. and automaticarrry adjust my pronouciaaaation in a way that I say simppoooooolll (instead of simple) or prrobarrry (probably).
You got to show peeepooooll where you’ve grown up.
2. I LOVE repairing stuff. The best thing I’ve ever repaired were diving goggles where the rubber broke – and I’d managed to fix it by using some thin fishing line and a cheap needle. As far as I am informed, those goggles are still in use (ama, Mathias?).
I know this is a common habit among other geeks, and I partly blame it on MacGyver & Co…
3. As a geek-growing-up, I used to be very interested in amateur radio and have been a member of The Amateur Radio Society of Kenya (ARSK) and the Deutsche Amateur Radio Club (DARC). I never managed to obtain a licence for a call-sign though as the internet with its various other technological challenges came in between. Maybe later…
The only licence I managed to get was a firearms licence for a simpooool air rifle way back in Kenya from the Firearms Department. I’ve never seen a Kenyan office THAT well organized. Kudos to those guys!
However, I would never again spend money on weapons. Except for my Leatherman Wave, of course :-)
4. The first CD I bought in my life was INXS “Welcome To Wherever You Are“, released in 1993. The first record was a single by OPUS “Life is Life”, sometime in 1986 or so. Ngoma ni maisha! (=> listening to music AND making my own music!)
5. I keep a diary in form of sketchbooks. Something that has been inspired by the late Dan Eldon. After going through various boxes of souvenirs from all the places I’ve been to and nice letters I’ve received in the past, I figured Dan’s way to be the most perfect solution to arrange all this stuff. All virtual stuff that I want to share with the world goes into my blog, the rest into my sketchbooks.
6. I bought this these books in Kenya to scratch Rrrucy’s back polish up my (non-existent) knowledge of the Gikuyu language:
And this one to take me there…. (knowledgii muuiiiuuruuuu)
(~ now you know what the Zungu in Mzungu stands for! :-)
Next victims of the tagging biashara shall be Anja, Cedric, Steve, Adrian, Wambui , Astrid, Carina, Edith, Christoph and Kui! :-)
…so what do you do in between the games?
Ok, I was a bit borred and thought about a small modification I wanted to do with this awful sunbubudiu (sunscreen?). After all, Germany’s Gerolsteiner Brunnen GmbH & Co. KG never paid me for this free advertisment on my car so something needed to be done about it. I *urgently* needed to pimp my sunbubudiu! :-)
My alternative choices included the following Kangas, Kikois:
“WATU KWA AMANI”….ehhrr…well, a bit too big + strange, ama?
Well…I am crazy, yes, but not THAT crazy… LOL…. :-)
Perfect! A blue Kikoy from Kenya I received some years ago from Christine (5Z4LL).
I just love this colour! There are indeed so many purposes for a Kikoi and the next thing I’ll do with this material is to refurbish the interior of an old ’88 Suzuki Samurai…can’t wait for that, argh! (you hear me, Mbuzimoja?)
Glue glue glue….
Finished! :-)
Today was a good day.
I was stuck in an unusual traffic jam (hey, this place is quite rural) which made me miss out watching the opening game to the WorldCup but I managed to follow the game on the radio. You know, Juergen Klinsmann (coach of the German team) came in as a blessing way back in 1994 as it helped me to explain the proper pronunciation of my first name to local wanainchii [Jooo-ghan? Yiiiuuurrrgen]. Let’s see how far they’ll make it this time – I understand the Gaamaaan team still needs some improvement on defence, but compared to the 2002 team, I still think there’s some improvement. Or as Klinsmann put it: “Eminem puts it right…if you had one shot, or one opportunity….would you capture it or just let it slip?”. But then – I’m not such a Mzalendo to support the German team just because we share the same passport. What I’d like to see is a) good football with lots of emotions, fair play and action as well as b) Germany being a good, friendly, accomodating host to the games and it’s visitors. As for the rest: I am with this fellow blogger…
Today was a good day because I eventually figured out what kind of notebook computer I shall save my money on. Purchase is planed for July/August this year, but still, knowing that there are a lot of interesting notebook models out there on the market, I needed to spend some time online searching for the perfect deal PLUS visiting shops and putting my hands on those machines.
The internet reveals a lot of information and customer blabla but it doesn’t give you the feeling, the actual touch, the haptic which is needed if you’re seriously buying a notebook. Ok, maybe if you go for those (older) IBM Thinkpads you’ll never need to worry about things like quality or the keyboard but I’ll won’t be able to afford those ones (sorry Steve), and the new Lenovo N100 series hasn’t yet convinced me. Also, for the same reason I could never settle for a DELL notebook as there’s no chance to actually see them in action (here in Germany) except for what they show online. I wonder how u decided for one nevertheless, Mzeecedric?
So I drove to this electronics supermarket and enjoyed the time ALONE in the shop – knowing that about 98% of the population would be spending the evening at home, heating their jiko for some nyama choma and preparing for the games…
After about one hour of a very detailed and fussy examination of the various notebook models they had on display (removing the battery, turning the notebooks up and down, checking the display and hinges, overall quality, keyboard + size of keys, etc.), the supermarket’s security guy approached me and told me NOT to dismantle anything but instead that I should be asking those (bored) salespersons around who’d be willing to assist me… (MEDIA MARKT, are you listening? Hello? I am was a potential customer…pffffff).
So the point is: I eventually settled for this machine – an ACER Aspire 5672 WLMi with the following specs:
Other interesting models included in my search (so far) where: Acer Aspire 5652, Asus A6J/V series, Fujitsu-Siemens Pi 1536, HP nx6110, nx6230, nx8220, HP Pavillion dv5165, Samsung x20 series, Toshiba M50 series and the Lenovo N100 series.
The advantage with the 5762 is that it includes Bluetooth and a webcam (which can be turned 220° so you can actually take a video of the environment!) among a variety of interfaces that are normally only offered on more expensive notebooks.
However, customers of this relatively new model reported a loud dvd drive + weak battery run time but I think that’s only once you use the pre-installed WinXP with all those redundant little “extra tools” that will run in the background and take up RAM + battery power. Hence my only concern is the slot-in DVD drive which is too prone to dust but I’m sure it can be cleaned (while in Nairobi, I was desperately searching for Isopropyl alcohol which was said to be available – normally – but “just not this time”. Well, surgeon’s alcohol also works if you can live with that smell….).
Well, today was a good day because I not only managed to free my brain off this burning desire to settle on a certain notebook (you don’t have to be a Gadgetfreak to understand that feeling – just think of shoes and handbags and you might get the picture :-), but I also eventually realized that I am somehow stupid.
You know, one of my criteria aka “must haves” on a notebook (hey, coughing up 1.300,- EUR requires some wise decisions) included a big ENTER key. The last time I bought a notebook was in 1999 – and back then I just bought it (also an ACER, btw) because of that big ENTER key. Ok – that was one of the reasons…
So today I realized that – contrary to what is visible on that international product image from ACER – the German QWERTZ layout of the keyboard actually includes such a big ENTER key – YEAH! Which goes to show once again that the information online isn’t accurate enough and still requires some detailed inspections in shops.
Aterere…now I’ve made up my mind on this machine and unless YOU come up with another interesting, affordable (max 1.300,- EUR) alternative/suggestion, I’ll stick to this machine and make it become my main computer in future.
Btw, this is the sticker I had planned for the back cover. Customization – here you go!
Enjoy :-)
(my 5 minutes draft…)
AOB (edit): TOGO, are you N U T S??? There’s this once-every-4-years-chance to play for your country and all these guys can do is talk about money….what a shame!
I was looking for a car holder / handsfree unit for use with mobile phones in a car. Something were you can put your mobile into once you enter the car to either have it placed somewhere near the radio or get it recharged. These rather passive holders aren’t necessarily specific to a certain phone model but instead just work with many phones. In short: a “mobile phone holder”. Just like a cup-holder, but for mobiles.
The booming telecommunications business with major cashcows like Safaricom attracted a lot of vendors in Nairobi who have specialized in mobile phone parts. While some are experts even in phone repairs (as pictured – using a hot air station to desolder the SMD pcbs and reflashing & unlocking the phone’s firmware using these long caboooools), others are just vendors who basically have no idea about technology and just think in terms of mbeca.
Many of the old shops on Moi Avenue & Co have been turned into dukas / small stalls – sometimes containing up to 30 stalls in one big house and the owners are often owning 5-6 of these stalls.
The sheer amount of shops selling the same mobile phone parts and maybe only differing in their pricing makes you think that there’s no business due to high competition, but nevertheless we were told some shops on the front row sell about 3-5 phones per day on average, leaving a profit of Kshs. 8.000/= per vendor – which is a lot for secondary school leavers with no further education. University Students also work there (I can already picture me renting one of these stalls for repairing phones & Co. :-).
Coming back to my phone holder – I asked almost ALL of these vendors for the desired nini but they never had it EXCEPT for ONE vendor on Biashara Street – who btw also had a neat solution for double SIM card adapters. Since his phone holder included a jua kali a.k.a. 1998-styled handsfree unit which we don’t need (only the holder), there was nothing else but building my own mobile phone holder for use in a Suzuki Jimny (Samurai).
(pls try to ignore the temporary white adhesive tape – which btw also makes the whole construction to be pothole-proof…)
“Look for solutions, not problems” (Dan Eldon)
The sun eventually decided to start (the) spring season (in May!) and blessed us with this kind of weather today:
Which reminded me of a solar panel my mzee bought for me way back in 1989. Back in those days, there was a shop on solar and other alternative energies next to his place of work – so whenever I visited him @work, I spent hours in this shop admiring all these “new” technologies.
My father, knowing that I would one day end up doing something fundi-styled, put his hands deep into his pocket and coughed up this really high-tech (=> 1989!) monocrystaline solar panel for me which delivers 8V and a current of 165mA.
And yes, children LOVE “solar models” :-)
