Monday 23 June 2008

Barcamp Re-cap



Wow!

That's the first word that comes to my mind about Barcamp Nairobi '08 which was held on 21st June. The turn out was great, sessions interesting, and lots of interesting discussions as well.

It is also worth noting that the Permanent Secretary for information made an appearance towards the end. He said that some policy changes will have to be made based on what he had there. We hope this means that the policy makers in Kenya will now work together with the tech community for development. Of course we will continue keeping them on their toes.

Thanks goes out to the organisers and those who attended for making it such a great day. Looking forward to the next one!

Safari Sevens

This Sunday for the first time Ever I managed to make my way to the Rugby Football Union of East Africa grounds on Ngong road for Kenya's premier rugby event the Tusker Safari sevens. Lets just say I discovered what I've been missing all this years. It was a great day weather was fine unlike the previous day which had been freezing cold.

Almost immediately after I came in I witnessed our own Kenyan boys beat the world champions Fiji in the quarter finals on their way to the title. There was a really big crowd and it looks like soon we'll need arugby stadium to cater for all those fans. Also in attendance were the Prime minister and his deputy who was presenting the trophies.

Here are some pics (note:taken from a phone hence the quality) of the goings on.
Kenya vs Fiji at the quarters
Some of us at the 'Russia' stand


The dying minutes of the final- Kenya vs Emerging Springboks
Yet another shot from the finals

All in all it capped a fantastic weekend which began with the hugely successful Barcamp on Saturday. Now it's back to work after my week off...

Saturday 21 June 2008

Live at the Barcamp

Setting things up

An the games began


and continued
Chilling out in the google room.

Friday 13 June 2008

Le Barcamp c'est back!

Barcamp Nairobi 08


When: Saturday, June 21
Time: 10am - 5pm (of course, this goes later, and I would stick around for any evening fun and conversation...)
Where: Jacaranda Hotel - (website) - (Google Map)
[UPDATE: venue was officially changed to the Jacaranda Hotel in Westlands, sorry for any confusion. We will NOT be meeting at the 680 any longer.]

Barcamp Nairobi '08 is an unconference made up of of technical professionals, Internet enthusiasts, bloggers, designers and other clever people in the Nairobi area who wish to share and learn in an open environment.

Attendees don't just watch a set list of speakers. They give their own talks. Podcasting. Web standards. Microformats. Gum stick computers. Physical security. Robotics. Evolutionary algorithms. It can be anything. This event is not just for stuffy developer types - one of the best barcamp presentations ever given was about sandwiches. Barcamp is what you make of it.

Groan of the week: The Finance minister made a sin-tax error in his budget speech!

Wednesday 4 June 2008

PRICE WARS: EPISODE II - The Empire strikes Back

War!
A lot is afoot in the galaxy, the war is beginning to gather pace. Thegreen empire is doing well, trade is at an all time high and profitsare unprecendented. This time the empire is kind enough to 'reward'it's subjects for their loyalty. Free calls all night from 9 to 6 onlyafter paying the required tribute no less. The masses get excited andresort to their peculiar habits and the network soon gets clogged.

Meanwhile on the other side the members of the red alliance continueenjoying the congestion free network. However there is a sense thatthe green empire could yet have some more tricks up their sleeves...