September 2009 - skunkworks

Internet connection on a bus, wow!
by Solomon Mburu 22 Sep '09

22 Sep '09

I was just wondering how innovative our Smart Bus could get, if they borrowed a leaf from Rwanda. I'm sure everybody would wait for a ride, no matter the cost! Check this BBC's link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8266576.stm -- Solomon Mburu P.O. Box 19343 - 00202 Nairobi Cell: (+254-0) 735 431041 Man is a gregarious animal and enjoys agreement as cows will graze all the same way to the side of a hill! AND It is better to die in dignity than in the ignomity of ambiguous generosity! blog: http://desires-and-dreams.blogspot.com

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NOD32 resellers in Kenya
by Simon Mbuthia 22 Sep '09

22 Sep '09

Hey guys, Anybody know of any shop? Me. -- שִׁמְעוֹן

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Re: [Skunkworks] [ke-internetusers] Re: Let's build an Electronic Payment Solution!
by wesley kirinya 22 Sep '09

22 Sep '09

I know of 2 companies in that sort of business from Ghana. DreamOval, whose product is called iWallet. I've had the opportunity to work with one of their managers, Henry, and he's briefed me about their product. The other company is BSL. It seems to be founded by a Kenyan lady and a Ghanian AKA the 'Bill Gates of Ghana'. However from a lengthy article posted yesterday by a Skunker, it seems their operations are targeted at African merchants who want to sell to the diaspora. o_O! --- On Sun, 9/20/09, Wire James <lunghabo(a)linuxsolutions.co.ug> wrote: From: Wire James <lunghabo(a)linuxsolutions.co.ug> Subject: Re: [ke-internetusers] Re: [Skunkworks] Let's build an Electronic Payment Solution! To: "wesley kirinya" <kiriinya2000(a)yahoo.com> Cc: "ke-users" <ke-internetusers(a)bdix.net> Date: Sunday, September 20, 2009, 7:13 AM Wesley and others I know of a fully developed system being used in Ghana and developed by locals there. Would you want to re-invent the wheel or is collaboration something you want to give a chance? I could link you guys up. Wire On Sat, 2009-09-19 at 07:38 -0700, wesley kirinya wrote: Hey, I'm still around. Yahoo seems to delay delivery of my emails, may be I should move to gmail... I'm aware of 2 companies that are building such a solution and 1 company that has already built it, and a group of developers from Coast who are planning on building it. I think it will be important to meet them and see what they have (in terms of the requirements I've listed below), what the revenue share structure is and any other important info. Below are my contributions: Problem definition: Refer to first email on this thread: Requirements: 1. Intergration in as many platforms as possible, but most important platforms for a start: Web browser, Mobile, PC/Mac Apps. 2. Open API for developers. 3. Secure: Secure trasmission of data, security of the client data, security of the server infrastructure (hardware and software). 4. Simple, predictable steps for client to make transactions. Simple registration. 5. Common look and feel of the payment UI across platforms in order to build confidence about the system in clients. E.g. a common logo. 6. Registered entity that takes responsibility of the system, customer support, ... 7. System should handle refunds or transaction rollbacks. 8. System should handle client sessions robustly. If client session is terminated, store data, and remind client when client does the next transaction. This seems simple at first but might not be so e.g: If client was subsribing for a service on mobile then battery died or something happened that caused client to go offline, then if client logged into web to use the payment system for a different product then client should be aware of the terminated mobile transaction. 9. Audit system to, among other things, keep track of un-used Serial numbers and the vendor with the serial numbers. 10. Regular back-up system and a sound disaster recovery plan. O_O --- On Thu, 9/17/09, Solomon Mburu <solo.mburu(a)gmail.com> wrote: From: Solomon Mburu <solo.mburu(a)gmail.com> Subject: Re: [Skunkworks] Let's build an Electronic Payment Solution! To: "Skunkworks forum" <skunkworks(a)lists.my.co.ke> Date: Thursday, September 17, 2009, 9:51 PM Although I've been silent on this one, I support Rad's unreservedly and go by his opinion. Then we will know who to make the PM etc!!! My little views 2009/9/17 Rad! <conradakunga(a)gmail.com> Hold your horses ladies and gentlemen. I think it is premature to start talking about coding and source forge and it is pretty clear everyone has not understood the problem differently! What about problem definition? Analysis? Functionality? Design? On Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 4:29 PM, Dennis Kioko <dmbuvi(a)gmail.com> wrote: > i suggest we use source forge. what happened to wesley? has he been kidnapped? > > On 17/09/2009, Clement Ongera <cnongera(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> Suppose we start by having a plan:, Today we start by suggesting what >> it will be called(I propose pesaKe). then Chartflow 18th Feb(Watu >> wajitolee), Database Design:-20th(Watu Wajitolee) then next month we >> can start scripting, etc, etc... I believe skunkworks(Is there a >> structure like sourceforge in place for apps?) and/or sourceforge can >> host us. >> Any Takers? _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks(a)lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks Other services @ http://my.co.ke Other lists ------------- Announce: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce Science: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science kazi: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general -- Solomon Mburu P.O. Box 19343 - 00202 Nairobi Cell: (+254-0) 735 431041 Man is a gregarious animal and enjoys agreement as cows will graze all the same way to the side of a hill! AND It is better to die in dignity than in the ignomity of ambiguous generosity! blog: http://desires-and-dreams.blogspot.com -----Inline Attachment Follows----- _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks(a)lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks Other services @ http://my.co.ke Other lists ------------- Announce: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce Science: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science kazi: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ ke-internetusers mailing list ke-internetusers(a)bdix.net http://www.bdix.net/mailman/listinfo/ke-internetusers -- ********************* Wire Lunghabo James Linux Solutions Blog: http://www.computerworld.co.ug/blogs/wire-james => Share One Computer among 10 users working simultaneously <= => Reduce computer electricity bills by 60% <= => Lower your expenses on computer servicing by 50% <= => Significantly Reduce IT support costs <= **** Contact Linux Solutions today for the ideal solution **** "For Exceptional Services, Innovative and High quality Products" Office: +256-312-278767 Cell: +256-712-726609

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Who R the Leading Payroll Solution Providers?
by muskiv 22 Sep '09

22 Sep '09

Skunkers, Some advice please, who are the leaders in the Payroll systems Development / deployment space in this market? [in both Public & private sector] I need to get in touch with a few urgently. Thanks CM

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Serious indexing in my server(fedora)
by I. Ati 22 Sep '09

22 Sep '09

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PHP Pear Problem
by Brian Ngure 22 Sep '09

22 Sep '09

Hi, To any PHP/Pear gurus. I am getting the following error in PHP5. Anyone know how to resolve? Non-static method Mail::factory() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context The method factory is static as noted here: http://pear.php.net/manual/en/package.mail.mail.factory.php. This code works fine in PHP4. -- Regards, Brian Ngure

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Re: [Skunkworks] [kictanet] Fwd: Do commercial web portals andsitesfall into Content Service Provider category?
by aki 22 Sep '09

22 Sep '09

Dear Bw Ndemo, I'd like to share some information, though a bit lengthy. One of the greatest challenges facing many sectors and including our tech sector is that Innovation may not come from big companies or multi-nationals. Mostly they will always follow the tried and tested ideas, technologies and systems that create return revenues. And so much of innovation will never make it to any end users which is quite unfortunate. But there is a hope of changing this. Innovation or innovative methods to generate interest lives with much smaller entities who spend quite of their time towards improving and testing systems, ideas or technologies. There are many of us have been doing this for a long time but innovations is not a guaranteed system of over night success but rather a process of development which can take years. And this is where big businesses can come in and take the ideas or innovations into bigger deployments. This is what Kenya needs. And we should create an enviroment through less stricter policies and licensing regulations for smaller entities to develop, test and distribute so that investors or other interested parties can see the show case of what can be achieved. I'd like to list an example, though there are many : Voice Over IP Today we have so many skype users and all voice traffic and rates are paid to directly to some foreign nation. About few years ago I had thought of developing a local server using the asterisk open source server that would allow voice sip handsets and even chat software to allow for calls. The system included a billing system that provided itemised call billing analysis that would be mailed to the end user on a monthly basis. I tested the server for many months and was confident it was the way to go. I had now completed my tech part of R & D and was now ready with a system. - Skype has no termination into any network in kenya. I worked on the same. - Skype has a software that allows chat and international calls. I worked on a software available that would easily allow calls and in future have the capability for video conferencing over the same hardware. - All Skype calls have to be paid to them, internationaly. I worked on keep the calls billed at local rates and paid locally. - Skype was bandwidth intensive and critical. I worked on G729 encoder that consumes just about 8kbps over any internet link. - My system offered IVR message facility. When I went to the CCK website to see how to go about setting my deployment and check the details of the voip criteria , it became clear that I was now in an industry that was way way beyond and out of my reach. I shelved the entire system and program and moved onto other tech things. Today, when I see skype users make calls etc, I wonder. They all depend on international servers while kenya is loosing out on revenue. So how can we think of competing against the likes of skype? The R & D is there, the technology is there to produce something local. But treating Software As a Service in the likes of a telco or service provider category killed all local innovation. And not that telcos nor providers have been stopped by anyone, they have the licenses, the ability and the financial might. Its just that they may have started now, something the small sector would have been able to offer a few years ago. I hope that smaller entities will be given a break through an informal sector approach which in the long run will produce results for many. I'm sure it will benefit thousands in the ICT sector who are innovative and adaptive to kenyans needs. The answer to cheaper internet access also lies here. My amatuer thots. Asante sana. Rgds. On Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 3:09 PM, <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> wrote: > Solomon, > Over regulation is bad. It curtails innovation. My prayer is to have as > many Kenyans online as possible. This can only be achieved by developing > relevant content. I want to know for example the origin of the names > Mwangi, Omolo, Ndemo etc. Only local people can do this. Genealogical > data will occupy us online more than anything. We therefore need a local > wikipedia. > > Once local corporations realize that five million of us are online, digital > adverts would follow. It is estimated that more than 60 percent of adverts > would be online. In other words it is up to us to create content that will > take most our people online. > > On pricing of Broadband, I will do anything within the law to ensure it is > affordable -- that is below 200 dollars a MB. Let us allow competition to > drive it down. Teams was ready for service on Sept. 15 and I gues some > operators are waiting to see who takes a plunge with attractive offers. > Whichever way someone will bolt out. > > Once again, let us not always put the law in front. If you break it in the > process of innovation, we all shall understand and possibly make something. > Let us emulate the Brits with their Common Law. Use common sense, always > have good intetions and embrace great moral standards. > > Ndemo. > Sent from my BlackBerry® > > -----Original Message----- > From: Solomon Mburu <solo.mburu(a)gmail.com> > Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:09:00 > To: <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions<kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke>; > <kictanet-bounces+bitange=jambo.co.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Subject: Re: [kictanet] Fwd: [Skunkworks] Do commercial web portals and > sitesfall into Content Service Provider category? > > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > This message was sent to: bitange(a)jambo.co.ke > Unsubscribe or change your options at > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/bitange%40jambo.co.ke > > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > This message was sent to: aki275(a)googlemail.com > Unsubscribe or change your options at > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/aki275%40googlemail.com >

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INTERNSHIP
by paul musee 22 Sep '09

22 Sep '09

Hi guys Internships available at www.kenic.or.ke regards

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Android on G2
by David Kiania | Asentric Consulting Ltd 22 Sep '09

22 Sep '09

I recently got a G2 phone and I am loving the experience, I am able to ssh from my fone ping and determine latencies and of late use an app called My Tracks found at the Android Market Place. Find attached the KML file of my journey back home on Tuesday evening. I honestly think Android is the future. How many other Android users are out there? I am soo not thinking about IPHONE!! Kiania -- [Asentric Consulting Ltd] If a man has in himself the soul of a slave will he not become one no matter what his birth .... -Richest Man in Babylon

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INTERNSHIPS
by paul musee 22 Sep '09

22 Sep '09

Hi Guys, There is an opening for intership at www.kenic.or.ke Cheers

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