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Zimuse
by Dennis Kioko 29 Jan '10

29 Jan '10

"Meanwhile Eset is warning<http://www.eset.eu/press-computer-worldwide-targetted-by-MBR-Worm> of a new worm called Zimuse, which overwrites the master boot record on infected systems. BitDefender has also issued a warning about Zimuse, but claims that it destroys hard drives using malicious code. What is unanimously agreed is it does not do so immediately upon infecting a system but, depending on the variant, 20 or 40 days later by rendering the system unbootable. It is usually possible, however, to repair the system by using a repair CD to restore the MBR, allowing a normal Windows installation to once more boot. Zimuse is being spread via infected USB sticks and via the web as a downloadable IQ test. Eset believes that the malware was originally targeted at members of a Slovakian bikers' club. Most initial reports on the spread of the worm came from Slovakia, but this has now been overtaken by the USA, followed by Slovenia, Thailand, Spain, Italy and the Czech Republic. Eset has provided a tool for removing the malware, but this is only useful before the MBR has been overwritten." http://www.h-online.com/security/news/item/Scareware-becomes-ransomware-aga… I can't wait for the drama when this hits here. I was even contemplating placing the file in my "movies" folder -- with Regards: Why you should not mind your own business, Find out at: http://gramware.blogspot.com

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iHUB sponserships : a question?
by aki 29 Jan '10

29 Jan '10

Will it be possible for individuals and the rest to sponser the initiative on an annual basis? What would be the costs of using iHUB logo with 3 different levels of sponsers eg bronze, silver, gold? So that sponser logos can be displayed inside iHUB facility and also the sponser can use eg iHUB " Bronze Sponser " on their websites etc while the sponser will have knowledge that the amounts went into training/facility access for upcoming talents. Maybe I'm asking too much, too early but better now than never. ( catchup on this thread late next week ) Rgds. -- "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." - Henry Ford

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Yum install mod_rewrite
by Dennis Kioko 29 Jan '10

29 Jan '10

I have tried installing mod_rewrite on Fedora 12 several times, unsuccesfully, via yum. I even regenerated my cache via yum makecahe, but nothing :~ [root@desktop Download]# yum install mod_rewrite Loaded plugins: fastestmirror, presto, refresh-packagekit Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile * fedora: fedora.mirror.ac.za * rpmfusion-free: download1.rpmfusion.org * rpmfusion-free-updates: download1.rpmfusion.org * rpmfusion-nonfree: download1.rpmfusion.org * rpmfusion-nonfree-updates: download1.rpmfusion.org * russianfedora-fixes: ftp.us.unixeria.com * russianfedora-fixes-updates: ftp.us.unixeria.com * russianfedora-free: ftp.us.unixeria.com * russianfedora-free-updates: ftp.us.unixeria.com * russianfedora-nonfree: ftp.us.unixeria.com * russianfedora-nonfree-updates: ftp.us.unixeria.com * updates: ultra.linux.cz Setting up Install Process No package mod_rewrite available. Nothing to do Anything am missing? It worked 2 days ago, now it won't -- with Regards: Why you should not mind your own business, Find out at: http://gramware.blogspot.com

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The end of OpenSource as we know it?
by Al Kags 29 Jan '10

29 Jan '10

It occurs to me (after a spell of burying my head in some sand) that Oracle has bought Sun Microsystems (who in turn had bought MySQL). I have several issues in my head that are struggling to find words: 1) that Jonathan Schwatz, my favorite CEO blogger, is moving on (this is just that sentimental clinging - "don't go!") but more importantly 2) this buy-out may signify the end of Open Source as we know it. What is Kenya's position on the matter? I imagine that this has been discussed in the technology policy circles? Al Kags ----------------------- Author, Living Memories. “IF THERE IS SUCH A THING AS Kenya, these stories belong to us all, just as the pictures in Kenya Burning document the trauma of a nation during the post-election violence. The age of history written by white males is well and truly over.” - Star Columnist, Betty Caplan in the East African Weekly Newspaper. http://living.alkags.com

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Govt Investment & Local Involvement in ICT Parks
by Murigi Muraya 29 Jan '10

29 Jan '10

Day before yesterday, I talked with a US based Data Center (DC) engineer and realized even more why Government must take the lead on ICT Park Investment / Development. This particular engineer mentioned their DC is housed in a USD 60 Million (KShs 4.6B) Bullet Proof and Earthquake Resistant Premises. This is just the DC Premises not their DC Equipment. The engines of their Generators are the size of large (possibly 18 wheeler) trucks. These not so cheap Generators can run their DC for up to 2 weeks before needing to be re-fuelled again. They are charged like 1 million dollars for 1 hour of down time. If 1/3 of their State economy relies on this particular DC (as is the case) for electronic transaction integrity & resilience this is quite understandable. At PS Ndemo's recent (Jan 21, 2010) briefing (of KICTANET) about the Mailil ICT Park, Brian Longwe stated that a Mega DC uses more power than is available for all of Downtown Nairobi = the CBD. The same was mentioned by the US Based DC engineer even before I got the chance to ask him. Mailili will have a dam (and hopefully other energy sources) to generate enough power for such DC's to be located in it. 8 per cent of the park will be reserved for / should be utilized by software developers / for software development. Most of the space will probably be taken up by BPO / Call Centers. Anyways, there was much said including why the IFC is being used to get this ICT Park (feasibility study & other things) done. We locals had better learn how to privately finance & do these parks for ourselves ASAP. It is like how the first banks in Kenya were done and run by colonials (= foreigners who do consider us worth associating with as equals or capable of learning) until local bankers learned how to be more relevant within our socio-economic context. If only Foreign Private Investors finance & build ICT Parks, we (Kenyans) will NOT be included in the planning & design of these parks. Even if we are offered ownership (shares) in some ICT Parks as some Foreign Investors will do to (rightfully) exit with good Returns on their Investments, we will still require foreigners (likely to paid more than locals would be) to manage our ICT Parks for us if the GoK / MoIC does not involve us now. Foreigners should remain here to make sure their Data (Centers) are secure on Kenyan soil not to manage our ICT Parks. Is the GoK not strategically obliged to involve us locals in spreading the same all over Kenya as part of Vision 2030?

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KIXP in Coastal Region
by Shake Righa 29 Jan '10

29 Jan '10

Isnt it time that we had an IXP in Mombasa, with most ISP's having dropped capacity in the region and originating some of their blocks there? Regards, Shake

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Google's MapReduce patent: what does it mean for Hadoop?
by saidimu apale 29 Jan '10

29 Jan '10

A nuanced discussion of software patents, this time one filed by (and granted to) Google. http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2010/01/googles-mapreduce-patent-wh… Hadoop is the open-source implementation of the MapReduce algorithms. I have mixed feelings on this one: - on one hand, "map" and "reduce" are as old as "divide" and "conquer" strategies in computer science. No one should be able to patent this. - on the other hand, Google's 2004 paper on MapReduce was a seminal event that unleashed the map-reduce pattern on a scale not seen before and enabled many open-source implementations (Hadoop being the most prominent). Saidi

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Re: [Skunkworks] SAP/Systems Audit Professional
by Joshua Mwendwa 29 Jan '10

29 Jan '10

On Thu, Jan 28, 2010 at 10:42 AM, Joshua Mwendwa <jtmwendwa(a)gmail.com>wrote: > *Pls give out a email that works!!!!!!!!!!* > > > On Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 11:20 PM, Joshua Mwendwa <jtmwendwa(a)gmail.com>wrote: > >> >> >> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >> From: Philip Musyoki <pmusyoki(a)gmail.com> >> Date: Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 7:13 PM >> Subject: Re: [Skunkworks] SAP/Systems Audit Professional >> To: Skunkworks Forum <skunkworks(a)lists.my.co.ke> >> >> >> Why do people always have to take the glory out of the good old day? >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Skunkworks mailing list >> Skunkworks(a)lists.my.co.ke >> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >> ------------ >> Skunkworks Server donations spreadsheet >> >> http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AopdHkqSqKL-dHlQVTMxU1VBdU1BSWJxdy1… >> ------------ >> Skunkworks Rules >> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >> ------------ >> 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 >> >> >

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OTRS
by James Kagwe 29 Jan '10

29 Jan '10

Morning all, For sometime I've tried to configure OTRS to work with Microsoft exchange (receive and send emails), and have failed. Whoever has done it before please advice. -- ï¿½ï¿½à¡±ï¿½

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ADVERT : Graphic Designers
by Jeroen Krabbé 29 Jan '10

29 Jan '10

Beste Skunks n Skunkettes, Am looking for young graphic designers who shall work on a part time basis. They need to be able to visualize clients needs in regards to websites. Knowledge of CSS is an added advantage Please send CV's and brief portfolios to my email Regards Jereon

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How unique, and trackable, is your browser?
by saidimu apale 29 Jan '10

29 Jan '10

The good folks at EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) have a cool research project on digital privacy: Is your browser configuration rare or unique? If so, web sites may be able > to track you, even if you limit or disable cookies. Panopticlick <http://panopticlick.eff.org/> tests your browser to see how > unique it is based on the information it will share with sites it visits. > Click below and you will be given a uniqueness score, letting you see how > easily identifiable you might be as you surf the web. Reminds me of a question asked in a presentation in a conference on computing and its tremendous impact on human life: - Can we recognize fundamental patterns of human behavior from raw *digital traces <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_traces>*? (Jon Kleinberg video at http://bit.ly/7dbuXm) Kleinberg describes an experiment they conducted using geo-tagged images from Flickr: they placed those images on a blank digital canvas, using latlong as co-ordinates on the canvas. A million or so images later, the images traced a map of the US (complete with canonical images for famous landmarks). All this without human intervention in placement, or annotation, of the maps. Very very very cool. I think the companies that will set themselves apart are the ones who harness the power of all these "human sensors" (passive crowdsourcing<http://www.mobilebehavior.com/2009/11/05/trend-stealth-crowdsourcing/> ). Why ask someone an explicit question if their body language, and related signals, says it all? Saidi

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Webcast: Media Piracy in Emerging Economies
by saidimu apale 29 Jan '10

29 Jan '10

The Berkman Center for Internet and Society (Harvard Univ.) has a webcast coming up next Tuesday. Given the discussions on this list surrounding piracy in Kenya, it will be interesting to see empirical data from similar developing countries. Highly recommended. Saidi PS There are other great videos on their site, Kenya's own Calestous (sp?) Juma also has a presentation there. *Tuesday, February 2, 12:30 pm * *Berkman Center, 23 Everett Street, second floor * *RSVP required for those attending in person (rsvp(a)cyber.law.harvard.edu) * *This event will be webcast live at 12:30 pm ET and archived on our site > shortly after. * * * Joe Karaganis will discuss findings from a forthcoming six-country study of > media piracy, including work on Russia, India, Brazil, Mexico, and South > Africa. The study provides a rare empirical look at the organization of > piracy and enforcement in developing countries, and explores the > transformation of both as the optical disk economy give way to digital > distribution.

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Business Opportunity!!!
by Lucas benz 28 Jan '10

28 Jan '10

We have been contracted by a firm in United Kingdom to get *spaces on website* of various businesses- *Not *ones dealing in *pornographic, illegal * business but Normal licensed businesses in various sectors: Farming,I.T, Banking, Agriculture, Printing…. You name it. We will get a script and will place on each website – one or two words . Not taking any space – with the link. Immediately the link is created, we will send notice to our Principals in UK who will pay *USD 10 dollars (Or Kshs 800/=) per link per annum* We only need a sign off from the website owners that they will not intentionally or accidentally remove the link once they get the pay. If you are interested to participate in the program. Please write for forms at mail address:-

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What do you do if the below were to happen.
by Job Muriuki 28 Jan '10

28 Jan '10

Is it possible for mpesa/zap/yucash agents to reverse transactions without your consent?

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KENIC KENYA ANYONE?
by Alvin Jason Ochieng 28 Jan '10

28 Jan '10

Anyone from Kenic on this forum? I do hope you find this information helpful. Should you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us Alvin Ochieng Corporate Account Manager Greenline Technology Limited IT Hardware and Software Solutions 2nd Floor, Odyssey Plaza, Mukoma Road. Email :info@greenline.co.ke +254 20 651755 / 552086 +254 20 2405225 / 2429743 +254 20 559841 +254 722-219938/733-610758 Mon-Fri (8-5pm) Print only when necessary

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hp dv6000 battery
by Peter Muchemi 28 Jan '10

28 Jan '10

My DV6000 is just a desktop that looks like a laptop. Tried several battery replacements and none seems to work. Anyone with a reliable battery that can last at least 2 hours when new? How Much? -- Regards http://www.software.co.ke ------------------------------------------------------------------

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Business Opportunity!!!-sample of script
by Lucas benz 28 Jan '10

28 Jan '10

For those worried about the security of their websites, below is an example of the script you will be required to insert: <a href="http://www.oursponsorwebsite.com<http://www.oursponsorwebsite.com/images/468an.gif>"><img src="http://www.oursponsorwebsite.com/images/468an.gif"></a> The website owner will be responsible for inserting the link.

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Business Opportunity!! - Simpler explanation
by Lucas benz 28 Jan '10

28 Jan '10

If you have a website and need to make some cash out of it, you will tell us the website we look at it and determine if it is favourable i.e no pornography or illegal businesses. Then we will identify where we would like you (website owner) to put our catch word(s) -one or two and link the word to our sponsors. You will be required to leave the links for a period of one year from the date you are paid. Just that and we will pay you Kshs. 800 per link per year. For those wondering what the catch is: there is none- just genuine web marketing strategy. We will not ask you for access to your website or anything all we need is you insert the link we send as is and you receive your payment within 72 hrs.

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Online Selling in Kenya - uzanunua.com
by julianne anyim 28 Jan '10

28 Jan '10

Hello Skunks, Maybe you have discussed this before, sorry if am taking you back but does anyone know about http://www.uzanunua.com/? Does it actually work? Best Regards, Julie. _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Free, trusted and rich email service. https://signup.live.com/signup.aspx?id=60969

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HP 550 Keyboard
by Charles Mwangi 28 Jan '10

28 Jan '10

Anyone knows where i can get a keyboard for a HP 550 laptop? There was an accidental coffee spillage and the next thing i know, severals keys "asdf, shift, enter etc are not working" If there is anyone in the list who repairs keyboards or knows someone who does, will be very grateful otherwise direct me where i can buy a new one. Thanks.

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Meeting Announcement, iHub Discussion, 2nd February 2010
by Phares Kariuki 28 Jan '10

28 Jan '10

There will be a Skunkworks Meetup on the 2nd of February 2010. This will be the first meeting this year, and it's an honor that we will be discussing iHub, Nairobi's new Tech Innovation Hub... http://whiteafrican.com/2010/01/25/ihub-nairobis-tech-innovation-hub-is-here The meeting will be coordinated by Erik Hersman, who is a co-founder at Ushahidi (www.ushahidi.com) who is also behind the concept of iHub. Meeting starts at 6pm, Teleposta Tower's, 4th Floor, Multimedia University... Profound gratitude to Multimedia University, who have hosted the Skunkworks meetings for the last year and have been more than gracious hosts over the period.

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Here's the *real* iPad (courtesy of MadTV)
by saidimu apale 28 Jan '10

28 Jan '10

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-ipad-is-such-a-bad-product-name-madtv-wa… The iPod-ad video-style is hilarious! Saidi

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8 to 8, couldnt resist taking a jab
by Mbugua Njihia 28 Jan '10

28 Jan '10

...do you use the iPad? ...yes i do...how often?....ummmmhh 8 to 8! #whataname#always

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Interesting can't facebook
by George Njoroge 28 Jan '10

28 Jan '10

Hi skunks I dont know if anyone has experienced this but all my browsers suddenly refused to connect to facebook. Note that all other comps in the office can connect, I have tried different ISP's same thing. Its baffling me, any ideas ? Regards -- Conservatism is the adherence to the old tried against the new untried.

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L-Root serving Signed Data
by Michuki Mwangi 28 Jan '10

28 Jan '10

Mich:~ michuki$ dig @l.root-servers.net ke +dnssec ; <<>> DiG 9.4.3-P3 <<>> @l.root-servers.net ke +dnssec ; (1 server found) ;; global options: printcmd ;; Got answer: ;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 28440 ;; flags: qr rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 5, ADDITIONAL: 6 ;; WARNING: recursion requested but not available ;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION: ; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 4096 ;; QUESTION SECTION: ;ke. IN A ;; AUTHORITY SECTION: ke. 172800 IN NS ns.anycast.kenic.or.ke. ke. 172800 IN NS ns1.coza.net.za. ke. 172800 IN NS mzizi.kenic.or.ke. ke. 86400 IN NSEC kg. NS RRSIG NSEC ke. 86400 IN RRSIG NSEC 8 1 86400 20100203080000 20100127070000 23763 . lbG0ydYHXbtUfZqyGqK6A7ABPgv5/2PF/fV3x8tH3sxQvsgcSbJdi812 tE018KMRFZ3Mgz4zI2300LeLOVbEbcQtO/H45X/IsvUdvd5lw4aTH9No P0MIM/I2E0TNRGb7IIhObmjqjIidOFV0Mw5HV3E4OXfiice/3p+oueD4 P4c= ;; ADDITIONAL SECTION: ns.anycast.kenic.or.ke. 172800 IN A 204.61.216.7 ns1.coza.net.za. 172800 IN A 66.135.62.20 mzizi.kenic.or.ke. 172800 IN A 196.1.4.130 mzizi.kenic.or.ke. 172800 IN A 198.32.67.9 ns.anycast.kenic.or.ke. 172800 IN AAAA 2001:500:14:6007:ad::1 ;; Query time: 317 msec ;; SERVER: 199.7.83.42#53(199.7.83.42) ;; WHEN: Thu Jan 28 12:56:39 2010 ;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 391 Mich:~ michuki$ So which ISP will be the first to provide DNS validation services ? Regards, Michuki.

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