50 x 50x 50 Number Two

This one is delayed thanks to the black out last night. Number 2 of 50 with the 50mm. Here I was trying to test the low light limits with iso 12800 f/1.8 and 1/10. It looks black and white but I was using the bright moon last night for all the light

50 x 50 x 50 Number One

Happy new year everybody! hope you've missed me :)

I am back! This time bearing photos. I have been a photo enthusiast for a while and after a long time finally got that DSLR which I wanted so I can go deeper into photography. TO get the hang of things I'll be posting 50 photos in 50 days using a 50mm lens. The 50mm allows a lot of flexibility in terms of aperture and will playing around with it. So to start it off here is a Njanuary themed pic - Every shilling counts!

f/8 1/200 Used built-in flash with a piece of white paper as a DIY diffuser

So You are a pilot?

Invariably when meeting somebody for the first time the question "What do you do?" comes up. The real meaning being what do you do for a living, to pay the bills and sadly that ends up most of the time being a definition of who you are. Generally not taking into account that most people were alive for at least twenty years before embarking on their careers and of course there are other things we do like eat, sleep etc... Having been out of employment for a while I dislike this question as there is more to who we are than our formal employment. That said let me get to the thrust of this post- see what I did there? Which is a little bit of a primer or FAQ if you will of my current profession. Ever since time immemorial man has been enchanted buy flight wishing to be free as the birds  something attested by the tragic tale of Icarus and finally realised when science caught up with our dreams. In our country we are not to many so once one introduces themselves as one some common questions with some assumptions frequently come up. Here we go...

So you're a pilot- which airline?

Not all pilots work for airlines. Some are students, others have a private licence for recreational purposes and then there are those with a commercial licence who are still looking for work which is very common. For those fortunate enough to be employed there are many places one could be for instance a flight instructor which is a common route for building hours, military, a charter pilot . A lot of those who work in General Aviation work in charters for business, tours, humanitarian work, surveying, carrying miraa(khat) etc and those are not formal airlines. At Wilson airport in Nairobi this is most likely what you will find as there are only a couple of airlines based there. Also there are those who are simply building hours in the bush without pay.

If one happens to answer the previous on in the affirmative what comes up next is- Which routes?

Another assumption made is that we fly a certain set of routes but that is not exactly how it works. There are many different models of aircraft and one needs a specific qualification to fly each which is termed a rating. The size and capabilities of the aircraft you fly then determine which routes you do. In a scheduled airline with more than one aircraft type there is an entry fleet usually the lightest aircraft which does short routes and as one gains experience they move on to bigger ones and fly further. So a better question  to ask is "which aircraft do you fly? "

Another one- Since you use autopilot you just sit there, right?

Naturally it is assumed that the autopilot does all the work and pilots just sit there drinking coffee and flirting with the air hostesses. That picture is not accurate. Granted the autopilot greatly reduces the workload but it is still the human in charge. The human is the one who programs it and ensures that the instructions entered are followed. The pilot tells it when to turn, climb and at what speed. Also the pilot has to keep a check on the aircraft systems to make sure they are performing as required and also make changes as dictated by the external environment or instructions by air traffic control. In any case the reason people are there is for when things do not go as expected and that is the focus of pilot training and the numerous emergency drills that are done and evaluated at frequent intervals. So in essence the presence of the autopilot does not mean zero work.

You must get a lot of girls right? Pilots are players

This is an assumption. Anybody can be a player whether you are Pilot, doctor, teacher or sell sweets along Uhuru Highway. Getting a Commercial pilot licence does not automatically give one game. You wither had it before or you didn't. Then again it all boils down to one's character.

There ends my brief FAQ which I hope has answered some basic questions and common misconceptions about flying. The comments section is open for more ...

2014

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was a great year where I achieved much and where I had some really scary moments but I'm thankful to have got through it. Thankful for the lessons, the friends and the experience in general.

Had to do an obligatory post as 2014 was empty on the log. Happy 2015 everybody!

The Force of Gravity

Been a while since I did one of these but this time it's worth it. Every once in a while I watch a movie that makes me want to blog a review and this is one of them. I hadn't got much plot details about it but knowing the main stars I decided to give it a try. Was expecting some science fiction movie but was surprised to find that it was almost real life- there have been some scientific inconsistencies brought up but I won't dwell on those.

I think the most striking thing about this movie is the use of 3D technology, the visuals are stunning especially the opening sequence and other bits and pieces like where a nut flies almost to you face. I really wonder how they made it.

Technical bits aside the acting was pretty good too and I found it interesting how some shots were from the protagonist's point of view and you could almost feel what the were feeling. The scenario was reminiscent of Tom Hanks in Castaway but this time in space and Sandra Bullock and George Clooney did a good job of it. Found the suspense to be another good feature of the film and all the things going wrong adding to it.

Without adding too many plot details I tell you to check it out- preferably in 3D to get the full experience. Happy watching and tell me what you think!

The Barcamp is back!

When: Saturday, August 24

Time: 8a.m to 8 p.m (of course, this goes later, and I would stick around for any evening fun and conversation...)

Where: iHub, Nailab and mlab, Bishop Magua Centre, Ngong Road

Barcamp Nairobi 2013 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.

The theme for Barcamp Nairobi 2013 is “The Next 50“. We aim to get the conversation going on where tech in Kenya will be in the next 50 years. As Kenya celebrates 50 years of independence this year, we have the unique and enviable opportunity to dream and contemplate what the next 50 years should look like and what role technology will play. As thinkers, technologists in various sectors, and citizens of this country we can begin the process of visualizing the future and shaping it. Challenges such as access to healthcare, quality and equitable education, food security have their answers in technology and the possibilities are endless. There will come a time in the next 50 years when these issues will be non-issues so to speak. What will that future look like? What technologies will be pervasive? How will people interact and how will lives be affected and improved?

Come to Barcamp Nairobi 2013. Let us begin the conservation.

To sign up go here. Everybody including volunteers needs to sign up.

Also check out the wiki here for more information and to see what topics people will be talking about!

If you're wondering what this whole concept is about check out the Wikipedia entry 

A Conversation on Tribe

Over the holiday season I had an interesting conversation. I had gone to my ancestral home in Meru for a funeral and ran into an unlikely acquaintance so we sat next to each other and got talking. On that day a lot was happening on the Kenyan political scene as that was when Musalia Mudavadi was dumped by the Jubilee coalition and so the conversation as is common in this season drifted towards politics.

He said something interesting along the lines that there should be some basic requirements to register as a voter. Not necessarily educational ones but that a basic grasp of issues is a prerequisite, perhaps a couple of questions to find out. For instance he gave an example of how he asked people in his home area which is Vihiga who they will vote for. An answer he got was “Mudavadi mtu wetu na kama si yeye Raila kwa sababu anatoka hapa karibu” (Mudavadi because he's our man and if not him Raila because he's from nearby”) That is the kind of answer that got him thinking of such drastic requirements for registration. I am pretty certain that is the same kind of answer you would get if you asked in other home areas of presidential candidates. He went on to say that we in Nairobi are exposed and can think of other political questions which are being asked by the so called progressive candidates but the rank and file Kenyan is still in the tribal mode of thinking. So we can sing as many songs about Peter Kenneth or Martha Karua but the reality on the ground is people don't even know who he is.

As we continued talking we went deeper into the tribal question. He is of mixed parentage – Luhya and Giriama so he was exposed to ethnic diversity at a young age. He is also married to a woman from Meru adding more to the mix. However others are not as opened up. He talked of the kind of conversations people have in the rural areas which are ethnically homogeneous. Some people for instance in Western would say “Kikuyus are like this and that” and when you ask whether they know any they say they don't. Then the question would be where they got such and idea then the answer would be “ I heard my father say it. “ So a person grows up having a certain idea in their head about people from another area based not on interaction but prejudice handed down from their parents. The same can be said the other way around about a Kikuyu in Central being asked about Luhyas. These ideas come to the fore a lot during the common inter-ethnic marriages of our day and of course in politics. I've mentioned these closed conversations before in this post. It's sad that we are programming our children with prejudice like that. For some of us who grew up in the city interaction with other communities from a young age was the order of the day and we never really made a distinction.

However somewhere along the way we start looking down on others we grew up with for example on the practice of circumcision for boys after completing primary school. We start thinking we are men and the others are boys and that kind of thing but it's just a cultural practice. Kenya is a diverse country within itself and instead of using that as a strength in the even more diverse global marketplace we are concentrating on petty differences which looking at it critically really don't amount to much. For me the real matters of concern in the coming election is not where somebody was born or where their parents were but how the government will be better in providing services first and in creating an environment for empowerment of every citizen. As we go along there will be differences but we can look beyond amorphous concepts like tribe and look into others that really determine our welfare. We did not choose where to be born and can not change that fact but it needn't be an impediment to free thinking and self determination and freedom of choice.

There is this habit of the media to lump Kenyans into groups and talk of Luhya vote, Kalenjin vote, Kikuyu vote etc. I call that out as load of tripe ( pun intended) as I doubt there is no individual called Luhya or Kikuyu. We have millions of people with millions of individual votes and this grouping and labeling is an insult to the intelligence and uniqueness of each of us. In the end the one with the most individual votes cast will win. I know it will take a while for our country to evolve socially but really the idea of my people should be replaced with the idea of me and what matters to me!

In other news... Happy new year everybody!