Hi Josiah, I questioned them or the 41% price drops but no positive answer. I usually get my gear from overseas when needed. But I asked the same question at Nakumatt TV section, should the prices not have dropped by 41%, no straight answer. So I refuse to buy anything for the next 12 months, they can stay with their old stocks. Most of these businesses need to come to IT ( 3-6% gp on gross turnover ) , they make too much money........

Ashok, ccd/cmos prices are changing every 2-4 weeks, even major vendors cannot keep fixed prices. And they normally drop them within 8 weeks. There is no reason why kenyan business they should not be doing so. After all, ICT goods become obsolete very quickly these days. But they are waiting for some ignorant person to go and buy a 2 year old camera model for 80K! This is exploitation at its worse. I think very soon our consumer awareness has to be heightened and we need to share say TOP 10 Tips in ICT before buying. Else, you get ripped off. Its ok when one has money to throw, its another case if its hard earned.... :-)

They should have electronic stores like "Buy More" and "Apple stores" for the common mwananchi. Where we have tech -sav vy guys explaining to an average consumer what they need in terms of what they can afford and functionality. And these stores should have true international retail prices. I have said time and again - kenyan businessmen go wrong on pricing - always waiting to see which fool will buy an 9k camera for 24k. They fool 1 guy, make 1 sale - and lose on much more turn over because someone feels justified that they flew all the way to Dubai and so prices should be x3 because the mwananchi will never get a chance to fly out and import one himself. And because they have buried their heads under the sand thinking the mwananchi does not have another option - and will never know the actual retail price... But what if the consumer somehow come to know - will they ever return to that shop that 'ripped' them off ? Why cant we concentrate on business models based on 'volume of sales' - and we will get a huge customer base and satisfied consumers will feel encouraged to buy upgrades or future models - because they are affordable. And with the advent of internet - electronic consumer shops had better watch out because, Before we buy: 1) google the exact price and compare prices across different shops and countries. Come up with an average and decide on your upper limit - factor in shipping 2) compare different features of a cheaper or more expensive models and note why they are better than what you want to buy [ i really hate that stupid phrase retail assistants throw at buyers "hii ni original" - that is a load of crap - why dont you tell me " its worth 80k it can shoot at 1 million frame per second at 480 by 640" or something...

I like the airlines duty free shops - one gets amazing electronic products at near international retail prices..

@ Aki I agree with the 5-15 % increase - because after all, we are this far from the manufacturer - but 3-4 times the price is what really bugs me.. I had to bargain for a sony camera [sony 7.2 megapix 9k at international prices] - from 24 k and finally settled at 17k - and the dude claimed that he had made a loss [ he had a smile on his face as he said so ].

On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 12:13 PM, Bernard Mwagiru <bmwagiru@gmail.com> wrote:

@Aki, Maybe someone heard you....Mark Levoy, Professor  of computer science at Stanford is developing an open source camera. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090903163953.htm Open source camera?

If you are a canon powershot user there is also an opensource firmware (CHDK) for these cameras which does many more things than the default firmware : http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK

hallo the bbc are coming to town see below ; We're very pleased to say that we will be coming to Kenya from 8-15th Sept to make a programme about the how the SEACOM cable will affect the country. We will be based in Nairobi but will be able to make short trips out to different regions. I'm emailing to see how your Leo noticeboard project is progressing? I'd be interested in hearing more about it, and possibly arranging a visit to see them. Also, are there any other hot topics in Kenya in the digital world that we should cover while we're there? Best Wishes, Michelle do find time to read through this article and would be glad if you be on the gap and help launch this initiative: THE COUNTRYSIDE IDEA THAT MAY CHANGE AFRICA FOR THE BETTER The idea of Leo network of notice boards came to me out of a problem I had on a half acre potato farm in rural Kenya. My healthy crop of potatoes was suddenly dying one after the other much to the puzzlement of our local Agriculture officer and me. A search on goggle for potato pests and diseases finally identified the problem-ants! They had infested the farm to suck the sap of the potato stems and finishing them of one after the other. The solution suggested was simple and environmentally friendly – sprinkle wood ash at the base of the stems. After a few days of this treatment the ants disappeared and I was able to harvest a bumper crop two months later. An unexpected bonus to this story was that I was able to sell my crop at a good price to a local restaurant in the nearby town of Eldoret. This customer came to me from the initial goggle search that had the contacts of the Kenya Potato growers Association who connected me to the customer. Going online also enabled me to get high quality seed potatoes and technical advice from the Kenya potato research station at K.A.R.I Tigoni. Intrigued by the unique way in which the internet and mobile phone had added value and knowledge to my enterprise I was challenged to share my experience with my fellow small scale farmers. They are much better than me at farming all they lack is a digital know-how. The question was how best to reach and interact with a farming community of 10,000 residents in an area of 50 km radius. The Leo network can be adapted to any rural community in Africa, China or Alabama U.S.A .in my rural community it is about is about making use of simple wooden notice boards put up in public places in market centers. The display information in A4 paper the boards will consist mostly of print outs of test messages, e-mails and local photos illustrations and articles all talking of local issues. Important to the success of this enterprise is the active participation of the community either by placing advertisements on the board or sending text messages that will be posted on the local board in printed out form some minutes later. More exciting is the opportunity to collect Data on a village level. The Leo board is a Trojan horse that introduces the common mwanainchi to the digital space It will provide space to track the large amounts of money (200 millon ksh for C.D.F) to village level as it will post regular updates of expenditure by politicians and government Every advert is as little as ten shillings enabling small business people to expand their business. Many people love this concept I have so far been unable to launch Leo and have the idea of constructing a prototype with the help of interested skunkers and others. A unit will cost ksh 14,000 .i am able to raise half of this thereafter it can be launched at my local market centre in soy road block near Eldoret possibly as the BBC digital planet team is in town Do join the leo networks group on face book to see my illustrations of a leo board known as a yellow junction T notice board thanks zack matere 0724599111

Geoff, Please create another thread. On Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 3:13 PM, Geoffrey Munga <jeffmunga@gmail.com> wrote:

*IT Security Administrator*

We are pleased to announce the following vacancy in the IT Security section within the Information Technology Division. In keeping with our current business needs, we are looking for a person who meets the criteria indicated below:

*IT SECURITY ADMINISTRATOR*

Reporting to the IT Systems Security Manager; the IT Security Administrator will be responsible for the day-to-day security of the Information Technology systems across the enterprise.

*Key Responsibilities*

- Enabling, ensuring availability and monitoring of external network perimeter security including firewalls, intruder detection systems and event logs. - Formulate, review and implement IT security policy including data encryption, transfer and back up policies. - Administration of Safaricom data centre, business systems, networks and application access controls. - Maintenance of auditable IT systems access records and user documentation. Conducts systems vulnerability assessments. - Ensuring all servers, PC workstations and portable computers have the latest updates of virus protection software. - To conduct user training and awareness on compliance to IT security. - Monitoring of Internet and electronic mail access. - Participate in periodic penetration testing and periodic system audits. - Participate in the evaluation and recommendation of new system and applications from an IT security perspective. - Manage security software licensing and compliance. - Implement Information Security Policies, standards, procedures & minimum baseline standards. - Liaise with internal & external auditors on implementation of information security audits - Develop, maintain and troubleshoot various system security systems including Content filters, firewalls, Antivirus, Network and Host IDS/IPS - Ensure regular updates for all new threats to all technologies implemented in Safaricom - Design and advice on security implementation for all new systems within the technical division. - Design network security in new & existing networks.

*Minimum Requirements*

- A degree in Computer Science or Information Technology from a recognized University. A postgraduate university qualification will be an added advantage. - Minimum of 3 years information security experience - Recognized Professional Security certification e.g. CISSP/SSCP/CISA/SCNP/SCNA/CEH - Must have advanced networking competencies and certification e.g. Cisco Certifications (CCNA/CCSP/CCNP), Checkpoint (CCSA/CCSE) etc… - Experience in the use of vulnerability assessments tools - Experience in Microsoft & Unix/Linux Operating Systems - Good understanding of information security technologies such as Firewalls, intrusion Detection systems and Host intrusion prevention systems, web & content filtering solutions - Excellent oral/ written communication and documentation skills. - Must be a team player with good interpersonal, communication and presentation skills - Must be highly committed, self motivated, confident, enthusiastic and have the ability to perform well under pressure. - Possess the ability to work in a team - Attention to detail and results oriented - Ability to meet strict deadlines.

If you feel that you are up to the challenge and posses the necessary qualification and experience please send your *resume and application letter indicating your experience and why you are the most suitable candidate for the role clearly quoting the job title to the address below. The deadline for application is 23rd August 2009.*

The Resourcing Manager Safaricom Ltd Nairobi *hr@safaricom.co.ke *

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