February 2010 - KICTANet

Re: [kictanet] ICT TV Station
by S.Murigi Muraya 24 Feb '10

24 Feb '10

Now, will Skunkworks rise up to the Challenge? Tech skills they have. -----Original Message----- From: robert yawe <robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk> Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 11:29 To: murigi.muraya(a)gmail.com Cc: kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT TV Station Dear Mr. Aguyo, A history A few months ago I proposed that Dr. Ndemo give us a presentation on the Malili ICT Park so that we would be in the picture of what was going on. Because I knew many would not have been able to attend we it was proposed that the session be recorded, and as there are members on this list who are not resident locally the recording should be digitised and posted online. As a result of this proposal Skunkworks indicated that they would be able to set up an IPTV "station" and what they needed was a server to install onto. The Present To be able to assist them in putting up the "station" I and a few philanthropic Kenyan's have offered to finance the purchase of the server for the Skunkworks group as an R&D project and to test the local technical skill levels on the same. I hope this clears the fog. Regards Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 Kenya Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696 From: Sam Aguyo <saguyo(a)yahoo.com> To: robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk Cc: kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke Sent: Wed, 24 February, 2010 8:50:06 Subject: ICT TV Station Scene One Robert says: I would like to offer 20,000/- towards the IPTV server and Hairy Harry has also agreed to contribute 20,000/- towards the same, please send us details on the project. If there are any organisations or individuals out there who feel philanthropic enough, jionyeshe. Evelyn can we get some rack space for this little box? <This indicates that Bob and Harry are contributing 20k each to be used to set up an IPTV station> Scene two Robert says: Once the prototype is tested we shall then move to the next level of commercialization at which point we shall look into the most appropriate hardware. Please note that this is a knee jack reaction as a resolved of the fiasco that was Dr. Ndemo's presentation recording. Murigi Muraya says: <Skunkworks have been raising funds for a mail server that could also be used as a media or video conferencing server also if enough funds are raised to get a good server.> Robert says: So please lets move forward with the initial test I am interested in the IPTV component so the server is to be used solely for that purpose. Now i do not understand this new venture. Sam

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ICT Park Presentation - . . . free lunch
by robert yawe 24 Feb '10

24 Feb '10

Hi, I believe my cooling out session is over for instigating for Dr. Ndemo to give is a presentation and my failing to attend Being an astute planner I had taken into account the possibility of not being able to attend the session which is why I proposed that this historic presentation for recorded for posterity and to use against Dr. Ndemo if he ever decided to run for higher office. My suggestion that we contribute a token amount, 500/-, towards the hosting was short down and a free model was adopted all because of our entitlement mentality and over reliance on donors. This resulted in those who did not make it to the session miss the opportunity to listen to what was articulated as the "free" recording seems to have come to naught. There is a saying that goes "there is nothing like a free lunch", I hope the next time we shall avoid the free model. Regards Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 Kenya Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696

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Re: [kictanet] Nairobi ICANN workshop on (domain) Redelagation
by Walubengo J 24 Feb '10

24 Feb '10

This could be a nice one to attend...considering the cloudy domain issues prevailing on several East African country code top level domains (ccTLDs)... Check out at: http://nbo.icann.org/node/8902 walu.

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FW: Fablab visit: Tomorrow, 24th Feb 2010 at 10:00am
by Esther Wanjau 24 Feb '10

24 Feb '10

Dear All, I am writing to inform you that the University of Nairobi Fablab Visit will be on Wednesday 24th February, 2010 at 10:00am headed by PS Information,Dr. Bitange Ndemo. Kindly meet up with Mr. John Musasia [0722391607, jmusasia(a)information.go.ke ], Ms. Gladys Gathera [0720409318, ggathera(a)information.go.ke ] and Nicholas Awiti 0721793605 from the Ministry of Information and Communications at the Gate of the Engineering section on Harry Thuku Rd of University Way (immediately after Central Police Station gate). Prof. Kamau, University of Nairobi's Engineering School has successfully reverse engineered the converter box for digital TV and will be demonstrating it with his students and also take you on a tour of the facility. Regards Esther Wanjau Senior Assistant Director/Information Ministry of Information and Communications Tel: +254 20 2251152/2250517 Cell: +254 722 867361 email: esther.wanjau(a)information.go.ke website: www.information.go.ke

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Re: [kictanet] FW: Fablab visit: Tomorrow, 24th Feb 2010 at 10:00am
by charles nduati 24 Feb '10

24 Feb '10

hi esther, thanks for the invite. I will attend chares nduati On Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:29 EET Esther Wanjau wrote: > >Dear All, > >I am writing to inform you that the University of Nairobi Fablab Visit will be on Wednesday 24th February, 2010 at 10:00am headed by PS Information,Dr. Bitange Ndemo. > > >Kindly meet up with Mr. John Musasia [0722391607, jmusasia(a)information.go.ke ], Ms. Gladys Gathera [0720409318, ggathera(a)information.go.ke ] and Nicholas Awiti 0721793605 from the Ministry of Information and Communications at the Gate of the Engineering section on Harry Thuku Rd of University Way (immediately after Central Police Station gate). > >Prof. Kamau, University of Nairobi's Engineering School has successfully reverse engineered the converter box for digital TV and will be demonstrating it with his students and also take you on a tour of the facility. > > >Regards > > > >Esther Wanjau >Senior Assistant Director/Information >Ministry of Information and Communications >Tel: +254 20 2251152/2250517 >Cell: +254 722 867361 >email: esther.wanjau(a)information.go.ke >website: www.information.go.ke > > > > >

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Technology & Civic Duty
by Rad! 23 Feb '10

23 Feb '10

Friends, colleagues, countrymen, Visit the following link http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_man_on_your_phone_3_government_app… see how technology can be leveraged to not only help government carry out its responsibilities, but also involve the citizens in the same. It is a sad state of affairs that the watchman column on the Nation appears to be the de facto forum for citizens to post their complaints and local government to reply. The ICT Board might want to think of starting and running a program to encourage ICT in government not just from the government end but from the governed end as well

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1995 article on why the Internet won't work!
by Agosta Liko 23 Feb '10

23 Feb '10

http://www.newsweek.com/id/106554 The Internet? Bah! Hype alert: Why cyberspace isn't, and will never be, nirvana By Clifford Stoll | NEWSWEEK >From the magazine issue dated Feb 27, 1995 After two decades online, I'm perplexed. It's not that I haven't had a gas of a good time on the Internet. I've met great people and even caught a hacker or two. But today, I'm uneasy about this most trendy and oversold community. Visionaries see a future of telecommuting workers, interactive libraries and multimedia classrooms. They speak of electronic town meetings and virtual communities. Commerce and business will shift from offices and malls to networks and modems. And the freedom of digital networks will make government more democratic. Baloney. Do our computer pundits lack all common sense? The truth in no online database will replace your daily newspaper, no CD-ROM can take the place of a competent teacher and no computer network will change the way government works. Consider today's online world. The Usenet, a worldwide bulletin board, allows anyone to post messages across the nation. Your word gets out, leapfrogging editors and publishers. Every voice can be heard cheaply and instantly. The result? Every voice is heard. The cacophany more closely resembles citizens band radio, complete with handles, harrasment, and anonymous threats. When most everyone shouts, few listen. How about electronic publishing? Try reading a book on disc. At best, it's an unpleasant chore: the myopic glow of a clunky computer replaces the friendly pages of a book. And you can't tote that laptop to the beach. Yet Nicholas Negroponte, director of the MIT Media Lab, predicts that we'll soon buy books and newspapers straight over the Intenet. Uh, sure. What the Internet hucksters won't tell you is tht the Internet is one big ocean of unedited data, without any pretense of completeness. Lacking editors, reviewers or critics, the Internet has become a wasteland of unfiltered data. You don't know what to ignore and what's worth reading. Logged onto the World Wide Web, I hunt for the date of the Battle of Trafalgar. Hundreds of files show up, and it takes 15 minutes to unravel them--one's a biography written by an eighth grader, the second is a computer game that doesn't work and the third is an image of a London monument. None answers my question, and my search is periodically interrupted by messages like, "Too many connectios, try again later." Won't the Internet be useful in governing? Internet addicts clamor for government reports. But when Andy Spano ran for county executive in Westchester County, N.Y., he put every press release and position paper onto a bulletin board. In that affluent county, with plenty of computer companies, how many voters logged in? Fewer than 30. Not a good omen. Point and click: Then there are those pushing computers into schools. We're told that multimedia will make schoolwork easy and fun. Students will happily learn from animated characters while taught by expertly tailored software.Who needs teachers when you've got computer-aided education? Bah. These expensive toys are difficult to use in classrooms and require extensive teacher training. Sure, kids love videogames--but think of your own experience: can you recall even one educational filmstrip of decades past? I'll bet you remember the two or three great teachers who made a difference in your life. Then there's cyberbusiness. We're promised instant catalog shopping--just point and click for great deals. We'll order airline tickets over the network, make restaurant reservations and negotiate sales contracts. Stores will become obselete. So how come my local mall does more business in an afternoon than the entire Internet handles in a month? Even if there were a trustworthy way to send money over the Internet--which there isn't--the network is missing a most essential ingredient of capitalism: salespeople. What's missing from this electronic wonderland? Human contact. Discount the fawning techno-burble about virtual communities. Computers and networks isolate us from one another. A network chat line is a limp substitute for meeting friends over coffee. No interactive multimedia display comes close to the excitement of a live concert. And who'd prefer cybersex to the real thing? While the Internet beckons brightly, seductively flashing an icon of knowledge-as-power, this nonplace lures us to surrender our time on earth. A poor substitute it is, this virtual reality where frustration is legion and where--in the holy names of Education and Progress--important aspects of human interactions are relentlessly devalued. STOLL is the author of "Silicon Snake Oil--Second Thoughts on the Information Highway," to be published by Doubleday in April.

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Fw: Request for Practical attachment
by Catherine Adeya 23 Feb '10

23 Feb '10

----- Forwarded Message ---- From: Catherine Adeya <elizaslider(a)yahoo.com> To: elizaslider(a)yahoo.com Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Thu, February 18, 2010 2:33:17 PM Subject: [kictanet] Request for Practical attachment Listers, I owe it to my old university to help with the request attached. Apparently so many students are suffering as they cannot get practical attachment places when so many of us benefited (although 20+ years ago) by being able to apply theory to practice. Kindly anyone who can assist, get in touch with the HOD whose email is below. You can cc me if need be. Best Regards, Nyaki ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Dept. of Information Tech. <hodit(a)mu.ac.ke> Date: Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 2:08 PM Subject: Practical attachment Dear Catherine, Please find attached, Best regards Dr. David Gichoya Head, Department of Information Technology School of Information Sciences Moi University _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: elizaslider(a)yahoo.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/elizaslider%40yahoo.com

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Pesa Pal, Skunkworks Meetup, Today!, from 6pm, Teleposta Towers, 6th Floor
by Phares Kariuki 23 Feb '10

23 Feb '10

PesaPal - Skunkworks Session Hi guys, the team from PesaPal is going to meet skunkworks on Feb 23rd from 6pm. They will cover PesaPal and a. introduce team members to the community b. explain PesaPal's roadmap c. set the stage for feedback from the community. d. educate the community on how to integrate PesaPal for their clients e. build linkages with the skunkworks community for future developments and improvement Speakers Onesmus Kagwanja - PesaPal Chief Technology Officer Will speak about the ecosystem Paul Mungai - PesaPal Chief Software Engineer Will speak about the architecture, design decisions and integration options Benson Njonjo - PesaPal - Head of Open Source Integration Will speak about CMS integration, challenges, vision Mark Mwongela - Managing Director {Verviant} Will speak about how to work with buyers {companies}, how to sell e commerce Agosta Liko - Founder General Vision, Opportunities for techies, how we work together to sambaza this epayment thing Thanks -- With Regards, Phares Kariuki | T: +254 734 810 802 | E: pkariuki(a)gmail.com | Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares |

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[Fwd: [At-Large] Apply for ICANN leadership positions (Nominating Committee)]
by alice 22 Feb '10

22 Feb '10

Hi all, So here's a chance for our region to begin to influence ICANN processes. best alice ----------------------------- Hi, The Nominating Committee is accepting applications, the closing date is April 2, 2010. Positions to be filled this year: * Three members of the Board of Directors of ICANN * Two At Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) representatives (one each from the European and North American regions) * One member of the Council of the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) * One member of the Council of the Country-Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) Successful applicants will take their seats at the conclusion of the 2010 AGM, (5-10 December, Latin America.) For information on how to apply or to recommend someone, see <http://nomcom.icann.org/> Adam _______________________________________________ At-Large mailing list At-Large(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org http://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/at-large_atlarge-lists.ican… At-Large Official Site: http://atlarge.icann.org

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