February 2010 - skunkworks - Skunkworks Site

Sony DSL T90 MKM Camera
by tonniemacharia＠gmail.com 04 Feb '10

04 Feb '10

Hi Folks, Does any one know where l can find a screen for this camera model Sony DSL T90 MKM? Mine cracked

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Kenyan wannabe hacker caught up in Google row
by Steve Muchai 04 Feb '10

04 Feb '10

Interesting: http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/-/539444/854958/-/t2ckws/-/index.html I'm sure he's a skunk. Can the wannabe hacker please stand up? BR, S -- Sent from my socks®

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Skunkworks B(usiness) Execution List
by Murigi Muraya 04 Feb '10

04 Feb '10

Am sure we will have 100K to buy a simple Server by mid March 2010. Since the current Skunkworks list is filled with the 'eat for free' Kenyan mentality, a new Skunkworks (B)usiness Execution list should only include tech (interested) people with business cents to commit to increase the likelihood of high quality Tech Business Development discussions. It should focus issues such as Project Management and Team Building pieces such as: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001320.html Cultivate Teams, Not Ideas<http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001320.html> January 25, 2010 How much is a good idea worth? According to Derek Sivers, not much<http://sivers.org/multiply>: It's so funny when I hear people being so protective of ideas. (People who want me to sign an NDA to tell me the simplest idea.) To me, *ideas are worth nothing unless executed*. They are just a multiplier. Execution is worth millions. To make a business, you need to multiply the two. The most brilliant idea, with no execution, is worth $20. The most brilliant idea takes great execution to be worth $20,000,000. That's why I don't want to hear people's ideas. I'm not interested until I see their execution. I was reminded of Mr. Sivers article when this email<http://groups.google.com/group/barcampla/browse_thread/thread/4b4091eaf6fb6…>made the rounds earlier this month: I feel that this story is important to tell you because Kickstarter.com copied us. I tried for 4 years to get people to take Fundable seriously, traveling across the country, even giving a presentation to FBFund, Facebook's fund to stimulate development of new apps. It was a series of rejections for 4 years. I really felt that I presented myself professionally in every business situation and I dressed appropriately and practiced my presentations. That was not enough. The idiots wanted us to show them charts with massive profits and widespread public acceptance so that they didn't have to take any risks. All it took was 5 super-connected people at Kickstarter (especially Andy Baio) to take a concept we worked hard to refine, tweak it with Amazon Payments, and then take credit. You could say that that's capitalism, but I still think you should acknowledge people that you take inspiration from. I do. I owe the concept of Fundable to many things, including living in cooperative student housing and studying Political Science at Michigan. Rational choice theory, tragedy of the commons, and collective action are a few political science concepts that are relevant to Fundable. Yes, Fundable had some technical and customer service problems. That's because we had no money to revise it. I had plans to scrap the entire CMS and start from scratch with a new design. We were just so burned out that motivation was hard to come by. What was the point if we weren't making enough money to live on after 4 years? The disconnect between idea and execution here is so vast it's hard to understand why the author himself can't see it. I wouldn't call ideas *worthless*, per se, but it's clear that ideas alone are a hollow sort of currency. Success is rarely determined by the quality of your ideas. But it *is* frequently determined by the quality of your execution. So instead of worrying about whether the Next Big Idea you're all working on is sufficiently brilliant, *worry about how well you're executing.* The criticism that all you need is "super-connected people" to be successful was also leveled at Stack Overflow. In an email to me last year, Andy Baio -- ironically, the very person being cited in the email -- said: I very much enjoyed the Hacker News conversation about cloning the site in a weekend <http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001284.html>. My favorite comments were from the people that believe Stack Overflow is only successful because of the Cult of Atwood & Spolsky. Amazing. I don't care how internet famous you are; *nobody* gets a pass on execution. Sure, you may have a few more eyeballs at the beginning, but if you don't build something useful, the world will eventually just shrug its collective shoulders and move along to more useful things. One of my all time favorite software quotes is from Wil Shipley<http://daringfireball.net/2007/08/c4_1_in_a_nut>: This is all your app is: a collection of tiny details. *In software development, execution is staying on top of all the tiny details that make up your app.* If you're not constantly obsessing over every aspect of your application, relentlessly polishing and improving every little part of it -- no matter how trivial -- you're not executing. At least, not well. And unless you work alone, which is a rarity these days, your ability to stay on top of the collection of tiny details that makes up your app will hinge entirely on whether or not you can build a great team. They are the building block of any successful endeavor. This talk by Ed Catmull<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Catmull>is almost exclusively focused on how Pixar learned, through trial and error, to build teams that can *execute*. [image: Ed Catmull talk at Stanford]<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2h2lvhzMDc> It's a fascinating talk, full of some great insights, and you should watch the whole thing <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2h2lvhzMDc>. In it, Mr. Catmull amplifies Mr. Sivers' sentiment: If you give a good idea to a mediocre group, they'll screw it up. *If you give a mediocre idea to a good group, they'll fix it.* Or they'll throw it away and come up with something else. Execution isn't merely a multiplier. It's far more powerful. How your team executes has the power to transform your idea from gold into lead, or from lead into gold. That's why, when building Stack Overflow, I was so fortunate to not only work with Joel Spolsky<http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001101.html>, but also to cherry-pick two of the best developers I had ever worked with in my previous jobs and drag them along with me. Kicking and screaming if necessary. If I had to point to *the one thing that made our project successful*, it was not the idea behind it, our internet fame, the tools we chose, or the funding we had (precious little, for the record). It was our team. The value of my advice is debatable. But you would do well to heed the advice of Mr. Sivers and Mr. Catmull. If you want to be successful, stop worrying about the great ideas, and concentrate on cultivating great teams. [advertisement] JIRA 4<http://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/?s_kwcid=codinghorror&utm_source=cod…>- Simplify issue tracking for everyone involved. Get started<http://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/?s_kwcid=codinghorror&utm_source=cod…>from $10 for 10 users. Posted by Jeff Atwood

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Re: [Skunkworks] Kenyan wannabe hacker caught up in Google row
by Peter Osotsi 04 Feb '10

04 Feb '10

Brian, Can they engage me in my free time, it seems my hacking skills have improved considerably in the last couple of months, instead of offending, they could do with my token knowledge ... <?my thoughts> Peter ~~~~~~~ Re: [Skunkworks] Kenyan wannabe hacker caught up in Google row Friends, Friends, Please don't be too quick to dismiss such a story. I have personally worked with both our local law enforcement and "white guys/men in black" on similar cases in the past. Actually you would be surprised at the amount of attempted/successful hacking, online fraud, read "cybercrime" that goes on within our borders. Let us not live in denial. Brian Don't wait for success; hunt it down like there's no tomorrow.

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Re: [Skunkworks] Kenyan wannabe hacker caught up in Google row
by Peter Osotsi 04 Feb '10

04 Feb '10

Brian, Can they engage me in my free time, it seems my hacking skills have improved considerably in the last couple of months, instead of offending, they could do with my token knowledge ... <?my thoughts> Peter ~~~~~~~ Re: [Skunkworks] Kenyan wannabe hacker caught up in Google row Friends, Friends, Please don't be too quick to dismiss such a story. I have personally worked with both our local law enforcement and "white guys/men in black" on similar cases in the past. Actually you would be surprised at the amount of attempted/successful hacking, online fraud, read "cybercrime" that goes on within our borders. Let us not live in denial. Brian Don't wait for success; hunt it down like there's no tomorrow.

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Hackers steal millions in Carbon Credits
by Brian Munyao Longwe 04 Feb '10

04 Feb '10

Interesting read: http://bit.ly/cOTGyK Amazing how the simple, social engineering approach allowed these guys to gain over $4 milllion

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Skunkworks Meeting Announcement, Nokia Research, Networked Systems, Tuesday 9th February 2010
by Phares Kariuki 04 Feb '10

04 Feb '10

There will be a Skunkworks meeting on Tuesday 9th February 2010. The speaker will be Johnathan Ledlie of Nokia Research http://research.nokia.com/people/jonathan_ledlie/index.html and will cover Networked Systems and anything else that may be of interest to the Skunkworks community. Meeting starts at 6.00 pm. Teleposta Tower's 4th Floor. Multimedia University. Thanks. -- With Regards, Phares Kariuki | T: +254 734 810 802 | E: pkariuki(a)gmail.com | Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares |

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ANNOUNCEMENT: ESET discontinues ESET NOD32 Antivirus 2.7
by Alvin Jason Ochieng 04 Feb '10

04 Feb '10

FROM ESET.............................FYI ESET has decided to discontinue the obsolete version 2.7 of ESET NOD32 Antivirus. We recommend all users of this version to take advantage of the free upgrade to the current ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4, which offers significantly improved protection. ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 supports the following platforms: Microsoft Windows 7 / Vista / XP / 2000 Microsoft Windows NT4.0 SP6 (works only with V4.2 with limited functionality) Summary of key dates: February 1, 2010 - Version 2.7 product is removed from ESET web sites, including product pages and e-Store February 1, 2012 - Signature updates for 2.7 products are stopped - Installation packages are removed from ESET web sites - Technical support is no longer provided If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us at partners(a)eset.co.ke ESET Partner Team ALVIN

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ID Card printing software
by Simon Mbuthia 04 Feb '10

04 Feb '10

Hey guys, I'm looking for a FOSS application that can be used to print employee/visitor identity cards. Could there be someone on the list who would know of an application that's preferably compatible with Datacard's Preface ID software? Me. -- Be kind to your dentist - he has fillings too...

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Storing Data Tapes Offsite
by James Kagwe 04 Feb '10

04 Feb '10

Morning, Is anyone aware of an organization that can offer a service for storing data tapes offsite for those companies which cannot make local arrangements. regards, James -- ï¿½ï¿½à¡±ï¿½

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