On Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 8:23 AM, Eva Kimathi <evakimathi@gmail.com> wrote:

I had a glimpse of what the developers in Kenya have done and I was amazed!!

@Eva, please provide more about developer apps done locally. I too would like to be amazed. Rgds.

gone fishing! On Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 4:49 PM, Josiah Mugambi <jmugambi@gmail.com> wrote:

Talking about a 'techies get together culture in Kenya' anyone up to organizing a

- A general Barcamp Kenya 2010 - A dev con 2010 - anything else... 2010 (apart from the world cup)

regards,

-- Josiah Mugambi Ogden Nash <http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/o/ogden_nash.html> - "The trouble with a kitten is that when it grows up, it's always a cat."

On Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 4:40 PM, aki <aki275@googlemail.com> wrote:

...

On Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 8:23 AM, Eva Kimathi <evakimathi@gmail.com>wrote:

...

I had a glimpse of what the developers in Kenya have done and I was amazed!!

@Eva, please provide more about developer apps done locally. I too would like to be amazed.

Rgds.

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On Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 5:04 PM, Eva Kimathi <evakimathi@gmail.com> wrote:

gone fishing!

@Eva, lol! with the piracy events in the indian ocean, I hear fish stock levels have risen steeply so as such is no too difficult or time consuming. Maybe you meant " I outta here "?

@Josiah, @Kennedy, @Peter, @Murigi BarCamp 2010 seems a good idea. I second it @Josiah and others who patiently and commitedly organized the last bar camp, Pls share the modalities so we can try to set a date, venue, sponsorship etc. Rgds.

Regarding the events nailing down possible dates, then venues would be the place to start. For Barcamp2010 - I think sometimes in the first quarter of the year For Devcamp2010/DevCon - 2nd quarter maybe? I've set up http://barcamp.pbworks.com/BarCampNairobi2010 for Barcamp2010 planning purposes.. -- Josiah Mugambi Joan Crawford<http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/joan_crawford.html> - "I, Joan Crawford, I believe in the dollar. Everything I earn, I spend." On Tue, Dec 1, 2009 at 8:33 AM, Eva Kimathi <evakimathi@gmail.com> wrote:

@Aki> They are all around you! I think the most impressive I've seen have been in in campus....students have great ideas. Innovation is the inspiration!!! Kenya is fast becoming a BPO for IT, there's the project KPLC had for prepaid elec bills, theres the various cellphone apps...a friend of mine is in the process of developing an app that is meant to enable students check the courses they are registered for and add on others as they wish...I tested out yesterday and apart from a few kinks its good to go! So, yes, Kenyan developers exist who code on standards that can match and beat int'l standards!

On Tue, Dec 1, 2009 at 8:09 AM, aki <aki275@googlemail.com> wrote:

...

@Josiah, @Kennedy, @Peter, @Murigi BarCamp 2010 seems a good idea. I second it

@Josiah and others who patiently and commitedly organized the last bar camp, Pls share the modalities so we can try to set a date, venue, sponsorship etc.

Rgds.

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On Tue, Dec 1, 2009 at 8:51 AM, Josiah Mugambi <jmugambi@gmail.com> wrote:

Regarding the events nailing down possible dates, then venues would be the place to start.

For Barcamp2010 - I think sometimes in the first quarter of the year For Devcamp2010/DevCon - 2nd quarter maybe?

I've set up http://barcamp.pbworks.com/BarCampNairobi2010 for Barcamp2010 planning purposes..

Josiah, This is good. Will get back to you about the first quarter event. Will make sure the 2nd quarter DevCon gets very strong support from the Kenya MSDN Interop if we do not do much (co-sponsor) in February (March is unlikely - VS 2010 launch). Will make sure a Feb 2010 e-gov focused event we do does not conflict with the BarCamp 2010 to make sure we can participate (even if we do not co-sponsor). DevCon will be fully open to LAMP/Java/Google Apps as it will be to Win Azure & .Net.

On Tue, Dec 1, 2009 at 10:36 AM, Eva Kimathi <evakimathi@gmail.com> wrote:

@ Aki>Well, we have the JJ people for one, and then one of the skunkers shared a link with me that I hope he doesnot mind if i go public with... verviant.com we also have STL, if you have heard of e-horizon, then they are the developers. These offer solutions to internal and external companies and institutions that probably do not have the capacity to do so,which provides the companies a tool that will facilitate their business processes.

(i dont know much but i suspect KENCALL also do the same?)

I really like the Barcamp Idea!

@Eva, they are a handful and you can count them. :-) I share the BarCamp and DevCon idea which I believe will be the 2 major tech events of 2010 coming from the tech community. @Josiah, @Phares and @All others: Can these help with co-sponserships. - KICTB - MUC kenya- Kenya Bureau of Standards - KDN - Riyaz who has been lately silent on the list. ? ( Wananchi )- Rahim ? ( apple ) - Aki ( some non tech costs if within budget ) - Murigi ( as mailed earlier ) - Crystal and Remote Internet project? - Anyone else whom I may have missed out on ( sorry ) Anyone, please go ahead and let us try make the 2 events successful for others. POWER to the TECH COMMUNITY IN KENYA!! :-)) Rgds.

On Tue, Dec 1, 2009 at 4:36 PM, Murigi Muraya <mmskunkworks@gmail.com>wrote:

...

Many of us Africans have a major inferiority complex. How does it manifest? In thinking and treating non African individuals, organizations and enterprises better than we do our own.

Can you imagine someone who grew up hearing nothing good about Africa thinking an African is worth it? They even wonder why the African is trying to impress them so hard when they can tell that African cannot even do anything good for their fellow African. You yuppies, out there, do not let down Kenya like many of us already have. This is your country so Build it Up!

@Murigi, I'm sure you know the industry better than many and so share certain views but let us avoid looking down at ourselves. I think the main problem is lack of general direction and I'm convinced that this is something that can be changed over time. Your efforts to highlight the issues are well appreciated and key too. Things cannot change overnight but as many know events such as Bar Camp/DevCon bring together developers and others. Events are quite important to the Kenyan tech calendar, I hope there will be progress towards the 2 next year. Moving on, I think there others who may consider mine or your contributes to threads as Dev bashing or offensive and to be fair to them, they did not create the problems. To me the problems go back to learning centres etc which are responsible for the production line errors. I spent sometime researching Kenyan Devs who are online and the feedback I got back from the results is quite confusing. For some reason, SMS based programming seems to be driving programmers. As an example, I followed Jessica ( Strathmore ) contributes and also found it surprising that recently the Elephant foundation used SMS based technology to track an elephant. This technology was not developed locally so kind of confusing what really is going on. There is much emphasis on SMS based apps. In short, those in the industry need to start sharing the skills in demand over say eg a 3 year period. The Govt and private sector need to do projections of what the market needs. Is it C sharp, java, php, sql etc skills that are in short supply? Without these, there can be no basis on what the future of Kenyan software industry can do and everyone can continue with whatever the market trends are. And we are back to the assembly line. The SMS programming apps industry grew from what stats? Why is there focus on it? And now the focus is on payment gateways, so again market driven. Direction is being driven by short term gains and the dream and pressure to capture, dominate the market. No one to blame for this, look at Safcom and the computer industry. Market leaders are setting monopolistic trends, those trends will rub off down the line as it becomes survival. Its a very complicated subject but I hope small gains made by everyone's efforts will go in the right direction. :-) Rgds.

Sam, That link is broken. James Muendo Leerick Office & Tech Supplies P.O Box 28016 - 00200 Nairobi,Kenya. Phone: + 254 725 567 508 gtalk: timrick Skype: tim.rick -----Original Message----- From: skunkworks-bounces@lists.my.co.ke [mailto:skunkworks-bounces@lists.my.co.ke] On Behalf Of Samuel Waithaka Sent: 02 December 2009 09:59 To: Skunkworks Forum Subject: Re: [Skunkworks] 'Techies Getting Together' Culture in Kenya Been following this thread and must commend Murigi and the contributors on the barcamp idea. I can only look forward... This is a fact, that we've not learnt how to come together, and I have personally suffered as a result, together with several pals... This was a lesson for me and we've since started a more collaborated, project oriented concept. We started out on Facebook (http://groups.to/techiepreneur) but will step up our activities (http://techieprenuer.com) I believe most Skunks will find this quite relevant. On Tue, Dec 1, 2009 at 8:23 AM, aki <aki275@googlemail.com> wrote:

On Tue, Dec 1, 2009 at 4:36 PM, Murigi Muraya <mmskunkworks@gmail.com> wrote:

...

...

Many of us Africans have a major inferiority complex. How does it manifest? In thinking and treating non African individuals,

organizations

...

...

and enterprises better than we do our own.

Can you imagine someone who grew up hearing nothing good about Africa thinking an African is worth it? They even wonder why the African is trying to impress them so hard when they can tell that African cannot even do anything good for their fellow African. You yuppies, out there, do not let down Kenya like many of us already have. This is your country so Build it Up!

@Murigi, I'm sure you know the industry better than many and so share certain views but let us avoid looking down at ourselves. I think the main problem is lack of general direction and I'm convinced that this is something that can be changed over time. Your efforts to highlight the issues are well appreciated and key too. Things cannot change overnight but as many know events such as Bar Camp/DevCon bring together developers and others. Events are quite important to the Kenyan tech calendar, I hope there will be progress towards the 2 next year.

Moving on, I think there others who may consider mine or your contributes to threads as Dev bashing or offensive and to be fair to them, they did not create the problems. To me the problems go back to learning centres etc which are responsible for the production line errors.

I spent sometime researching Kenyan Devs who are online and the feedback I got back from the results is quite confusing. For some reason, SMS based programming seems to be driving programmers. As an example, I followed Jessica ( Strathmore ) contributes and also found it surprising that recently the Elephant foundation used SMS based technology to track an elephant. This technology was not developed locally so kind of confusing what really is going on. There is much emphasis on SMS based apps. In short, those in the industry need to start sharing the skills in demand over say eg a 3 year period. The Govt and private sector need to do projections of what the market needs. Is it C sharp, java, php, sql etc skills that are in short supply? Without these, there can be no basis on what the future of Kenyan software industry can do and everyone can continue with whatever the market trends are. And we are back to the assembly line. The SMS programming apps industry grew from what stats? Why is there focus on it? And now the focus is on payment gateways, so again market driven. Direction is being driven by short term gains and the dream and pressure to capture, dominate the market. No one to blame for this, look at Safcom and the computer industry. Market leaders are setting monopolistic trends, those trends will rub off down the line as it becomes survival.

Its a very complicated subject but I hope small gains made by everyone's efforts will go in the right direction. :-)

Rgds.

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-- Samuel Waithaka Techiepreneur | http://groups.to/techiepreneur http://www.linkedin.com/in/waithaka http://twitter.com/samwaithaka _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ 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

I realize the redirect is a bit confusing. Here is the actual Facebook url: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=info&gid=147822316636 Thanks. On Tue, Dec 1, 2009 at 7:20 PM, Eva Kimathi <evakimathi@gmail.com> wrote:

the Facebook one works!

On Wed, Dec 2, 2009 at 10:16 AM, James Muendo <timrick@gmail.com> wrote:

...

Sam,

That link is broken.

James Muendo Leerick Office & Tech Supplies P.O Box 28016 - 00200 Nairobi,Kenya.

Phone: + 254 725 567 508 gtalk: timrick Skype: tim.rick

-----Original Message----- From: skunkworks-bounces@lists.my.co.ke [mailto:skunkworks-bounces@lists.my.co.ke] On Behalf Of Samuel Waithaka Sent: 02 December 2009 09:59 To: Skunkworks Forum Subject: Re: [Skunkworks] 'Techies Getting Together' Culture in Kenya

Been following this thread and must commend Murigi and the contributors on the barcamp idea. I can only look forward...

This is a fact, that we've not learnt how to come together, and I have personally suffered as a result, together with several pals...

This was a lesson for me and we've since started a more collaborated, project oriented concept.

We started out on Facebook (http://groups.to/techiepreneur) but will step up our activities (http://techieprenuer.com)

I believe most Skunks will find this quite relevant.

On Tue, Dec 1, 2009 at 8:23 AM, aki <aki275@googlemail.com> wrote:

...

On Tue, Dec 1, 2009 at 4:36 PM, Murigi Muraya <mmskunkworks@gmail.com> wrote:

...

...

Many of us Africans have a major inferiority complex. How does it manifest? In thinking and treating non African individuals,

organizations

...

...

...

and enterprises better than we do our own.

Can you imagine someone who grew up hearing nothing good about Africa thinking an African is worth it? They even wonder why the African is trying to impress them so hard when they can tell that African cannot even do anything good for their fellow African. You yuppies, out there, do not let down Kenya like many of us already have. This is your country so Build it Up!

@Murigi, I'm sure you know the industry better than many and so share certain views but let us avoid looking down at ourselves. I think the main problem is lack of general direction and I'm convinced that this is something that can be changed over time. Your efforts to highlight the issues are well appreciated and key too. Things cannot change overnight but as many know events such as Bar Camp/DevCon bring together developers and others. Events are quite important to the Kenyan tech calendar, I hope there will be progress towards the 2 next year.

Moving on, I think there others who may consider mine or your contributes to threads as Dev bashing or offensive and to be fair to them, they did not create the problems. To me the problems go back to learning centres etc which are responsible for the production line errors.

I spent sometime researching Kenyan Devs who are online and the feedback I got back from the results is quite confusing. For some reason, SMS based programming seems to be driving programmers. As an example, I followed Jessica ( Strathmore ) contributes and also found it surprising that recently the Elephant foundation used SMS based technology to track an elephant. This technology was not developed locally so kind of confusing what really is going on. There is much emphasis on SMS based apps. In short, those in the industry need to start sharing the skills in demand over say eg a 3 year period. The Govt and private sector need to do projections of what the market needs. Is it C sharp, java, php, sql etc skills that are in short supply? Without these, there can be no basis on what the future of Kenyan software industry can do and everyone can continue with whatever the market trends are. And we are back to the assembly line. The SMS programming apps industry grew from what stats? Why is there focus on it? And now the focus is on payment gateways, so again market driven. Direction is being driven by short term gains and the dream and pressure to capture, dominate the market. No one to blame for this, look at Safcom and the computer industry. Market leaders are setting monopolistic trends, those trends will rub off down the line as it becomes survival.

Its a very complicated subject but I hope small gains made by everyone's efforts will go in the right direction. :-)

Rgds.

_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ 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

-- Samuel Waithaka Techiepreneur | http://groups.to/techiepreneur http://www.linkedin.com/in/waithaka http://twitter.com/samwaithaka _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ 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

_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ 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

_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ 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

-- Samuel Waithaka Techiepreneur | http://groups.to/techiepreneur http://www.linkedin.com/in/waithaka http://twitter.com/samwaithaka

Hi, very much interested with these developments. Possible avenues for support and growth to young and upcoming entrepreneurs is SITT (Strathmore Innovation Technology transfer program ) which focuses on the commercialization of IT based initiatives/ideas. For further info see attachment. Deadline Dec 16. From: skunkworks-bounces@lists.my.co.ke [mailto:skunkworks-bounces@lists.my.co.ke] On Behalf Of aki Sent: Tuesday, December 01, 2009 9:57 AM To: Skunkworks Forum Subject: Re: [Skunkworks] 'Techies Getting Together' Culture in Kenya On Tue, Dec 1, 2009 at 8:33 AM, Eva Kimathi <evakimathi@gmail.com<mailto:evakimathi@gmail.com>> wrote: @Aki> They are all around you! I think the most impressive I've seen have been in in campus....students have great ideas. Innovation is the inspiration!!! Kenya is fast becoming a BPO for IT, there's the project KPLC had for prepaid elec bills, theres the various cellphone apps...a friend of mine is in the process of developing an app that is meant to enable students check the courses they are registered for and add on others as they wish...I tested out yesterday and apart from a few kinks its good to go! So, yes, Kenyan developers exist who code on standards that can match and beat int'l standards! @Eva, agreed and btw I ain't against any local coders, developers etc just that I see us lacking in many areas and the shortcuts people take, while there is so much that people can achieve. Pls share some examples of how we are becoming a BPO for IT and then we can dissect it for further analysis. Asante. :-) __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4576 (20091105) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4576 (20091105) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com ________________________________ Strathmore University provides all-round education in an atmosphere of freedom and responsibility. This email and any files transmitted with it are intended solely for use by the recipient(s) to whom it is addressed and may contain confidential information. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender immediately and permanently delete this email and/or any files attached to it from your computer. Please note that any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Strathmore University. The University accepts no liability whatsoever for any loss or damages incurred, or suffered, resulting, or arising, from the use of this email and/or its attachments. The University warrants neither the integrity of the e-mail nor its freedom from errors, viruses, interception or any other form of interference. …………………………………………………………………. Website: www.strathmore.edu