Category: kikuism

Tools & Toys

I recently got into refurbishing die-cast toy cars, just for the fun of it and because I have a passion for these older toys.

Siku 1022

VW Beetle 1300, Siku 1022 (stripped colour)

There’s a German manufacturer of these toys by the name of SIKU who used to make brilliant toy cars in the 1960s and 1970s at the 1:50 to 1:55 scale (among others). I guess that almost every kid in Germany used to play with these cars during this period. What makes these Siku cars different from the competition is that they come with richer details and also doors that would open – something you would also find with Matchbox (UK), Majorette (FR) or Corgi (UK) toy cars, but not to that extent. Other reasons for the success of Siku cars may be that they were the predominant manufacturer on the German market back then, or that Siku cars were often given to children on longer Lufthansa flights. Ah well, the good old times when luxury was still an act of generosity.  Continue reading “Tools & Toys”

12/12/12

Today’s blog post is dedicated to my bro Turbodave who keeps on pushing me back to my blog and shares his Bday with Jamhuri Day.  Die besten Wünsche zum Geburtstag, lieber Dave! And a Happy Jamhuri Day to everyone!

Zur gemütlichen Ecke

Dave keeps on pushing me back to my blog(s) for a good reason, because my blogging mojo is still around and has maybe only been diverted to other microblogging sites like FB, G+, Twitter & Co.. Avid readers may even remember The Nonist’s “What everyone should know about blog depression” publication (PDF). I like to refer to this publication once in a while because blogging is an up and down affair. And with today’s competition from the microblogging side as well as the decreased attention span of many readers (I, for one, often save interesting stuff via Pocket because of tl;dr), it seriously needs to be asked if your readers still want to go through longer texts. Maybe not. Maybe if you are publishing interesting stuff. Maybe only if you are one of those SEO maniacs who construct their (equally boring) content around SEO structures. Continue reading “12/12/12”

Kikuyumoja – 7th Blog Anniversary

This blog turns 7 by the end of this month – and after 1,041 posts and 3,474 approved comments to this date, some inevitable moments of blog depression as well as numerous glorious times, and I’d just like to say THANK YOU to all of you out there!

To celebrate this blog anniversary, I’ve made this little drawing for you:

Oh, and I’ve also updated the blog template to a responsive, mobile-first and Retina-display optimized version which may at first be a bit unusual with its huge (web)font and maximum white space. But it will also look great on mobile devices without any additional plugins (WP-Touch still activated though).

We’ve come a long way with WordPress during all these years and I actually owe them a lot, including a few paid and unpaid jobs that I got thanks to WordPress. Big up to everyone at WordPress.org!

To all other bloggers, writers, commentators, Facebookers, GPlusers, Twitteritos and Tumblebloggers out there: please keep on publishing your own unique content and let’s celebrate diversity online. The internet probably is one of the greatest developments ever, has already influenced so many lives and is a direct mirror of what we do, and sometimes don’t do. Sharing what’s on your mind is also very much appreciated on my side and one of the driving forces that kept this blog going over the years. Also, I am more than glad that fellow blogger Mzeecedric kicked me to starting my own blog back in 2005 (probably after trolling his as a commentator). Asante sana, mate!

Everyone, thanks again for stopping by. Cheers!

Best of Kiambogo Tapes

I recently shared this wonderful link to an Instructable hack via Facebook, aptly titled “Cassette Tape Business Card Holder” – which prompted another German-Kenyan friend of mine to share her beloved Kamaru (.KE), Florence Wangari (.KE) and Amity Meria (.BF) tapes with me – so that I would turn them into cool business card holders.

Prior to the introduction of mp3 in the early 1990s, I considered my tape/cassette collection large. But most of these were just copies and/or recordings from the radio (that’s what we did back in the days). So I lacked cool covers. Lea, the friend with the cool tapes, obviously doesn’t like Florence Wangari’s Gospel and knew she’d be in for a cool mod:

“Start with a cool tape, like these.  And no, don’t be horrified that this “museum piece” Apple data tape is being destroyed–no one ever saw it when it sat in a drawer!”

..writes the creator of this instructable. And there’s one more thing I’d like to add: the best covers for this mod are those made out of softer plastic. I am not really sure about the materials used on these cassettes, but I guess it’s PE for the softer and PP for the (cheaper) transparent ones. Anyways, if you’re planing to do this, try what works best for you. And make sure your business card will fit! My current one is from Moo.com and doesn’t fit as good as the white one of my Indian flat mate:

The tapes are well preserved, btw! @Lea: you’ll find them included in the envelope :-)

Just where would I be without my Leatherman?

N.B.: the ruler on the backside = reason why I love moo.com. You won’t keep the business card of some regular dude in your pocket. But when it comes with a cm/in ruler, a simple piece of paper may have some added value.

“Kikuyu Folks Songs” – how epic is that?

Adults only!

Homo faber

“What took you so long?”, you may ask.

And I will only be able to reply: “I don’t know. I don’t know what took me so long until I finally coughed up 20 EUR and bought a set of fine Torx screwdrivers.”

jke-tools

“Wiha PicoFinish 267 P“, a set of Torx No. 4,5,6,7,8,9 and some other (older) Wiha and Gebra screwdrivers (1) that made me switch from the Chinese crap as pictured above (2).

The Chinese alternative aka short & black Torx screwdrivers…well, they work and for the occassional repair job they are just fine (I’ve been using mine since ~ 2001; I have a lot of these cheap Torx No. 5, 6, 7), BUT! these Wiha screwdrivers are just so much more comfortable and also FIT the screws without any quality issues. Working with good tools just pays off – I could name endless occasions when I killed a screw just because of bad tools. Stupid me! And it’s just 20 EUR. Sure, a lot of money for srewdrivers that I already had. It’s just after buying a Phillips-head screwdriver from Wiha for another project when I realized that I’d been wasting my life with bad tools so far.

Another reason for this blog post are the pair of tweezers as pictured above (3). It’s just amazing how much you can fix with these tweezers. Just the other day I read about a gourmet chef who cooks with a pair of tweezers (!) and I can only assure you that it makes a lot of sense. But also anyone trying to fix Apple products needs such tweezers. They are just as indispensable as the plastic opening tools (4).

eggbotlicious

“Do you have a nice vector logo for me?”, Simon asked me via Twitter today. Not knowing what to expect and since I missed this particular tweet earlier today due to still missing push notifications on Android, I failed to answer in time. But Simon just picked the Kikuyumoja-Tusker logo from my site, converted it into a vector image via Inkscape, distorted it to fit on an egg and switched on his latest toy: an Egg-Bot.

P1030755

What’s the Eggbot?
The Eggbot is an open-source art robot that can draw on spherical or egg-shaped objects…(…). [more]

This certainly has to be the GREATEST Easter present – ever. I am so lost for words, dear Simon. Asante sana!