Thus Spaketh Idd Salim

Hello, we are Google! Who are you?

Well, blame my exclusive ownage of the words ‘idd salim‘ on google, my rich CV and list of systems done and out there, or just plainly the references I have, but a week after my 28th Birthday, google came calling…

Their main point of reference was my Xing Profile.

Alot of my facebook, gmail, symbiotic, redtape, Qz and PLG buddies have requested me to blog about the google Interview process. What they require. How to prepare.. yaddayadda.

I could not refuse. Who am I to refuse?

Their initial point of contact was an email below:

Hi Idd,

SRE are an elite group of circa 350 engineers in Google. This is obviously a very small group of the overall organization.
Technically this team consists of both Systems Admins and Software Developers.

Sys Admins are expert Linux admins with kernel level hacking experience. They also tend to have exceptional scripting experience and some networking knowledge. Developer tend to come from a C++, Python, C or Java background with exceptional Design and algorithms and data structures experience.

The team has a large number of industry leaders and industry technical pioneers especially in the area of Linux and Python.

SRE work on all of the major internal and external Google systems. Gmail, Search, Maps, Earth etc etc
They are responsible for the Scalability, Reliability and Efficiency of all of the systems from both a software and hardware perspective.
This is not an operations team (we have one of them!) but rather an internal consultancy type group.

The job specs are below:

http://www.google.ie/intl/en/jobs/dublin/swe/software-engineer-google-com-eu-headquarters/index.html

http://www.google.ie/intl/en/jobs/dublin/engops/opsit/unix-system-applications-administrator-google-com-eu-headquarters/index.html

We have these roles available in Dublin, London, Zurich, US and Sydney.

If you are interested, send me back your updated CV and we can arrange a time to discuss

Kind Regards,

I sent them my CV and then Google sent me a self-evaluation test:

Hi Idd,

Thanks for your reply and the updated Resume.

Can you complete the skills assessment below as accurately as possible and return it to me.

Self Evaluation Guide:

10          = you literally have written a book
7,8,9      = expert, go-to person on this technology
5,6         = solid daily working knowledge. Highly proficient.
3,4         = comfortable working with this, have to check manual on
some things.
1, 2        = have worked with it previously but either not much, or rusty
—————————————————————————

TCP/IP  Networking (OSI stack, DNS, etc.)(  )
Unix/Linux System Administration tasks(  )
Unix/Linux internals(  )
Algorithms & Data Structures(  )
SQL and / or Database administration(  )
C(  )
C++(  )
Java(  )
Perl(  )
Shell Scripting (sh, bash, ksk, csh)(  )
Python(  )

Whats days and times this week would be suitable for us to discuss.
I would like to call you and discuss your Resume, give you more information regarding the roles that we have available and also ask you a number of technical questions.

Kind Regards,

I responded as honestly as I could. We set a date to a week later via email for a phone interview. So I spent a week brushing up on my skills on things like as Trees, Calculus I and II, Algebra V, Discreet maths, Big-O, Data Structures, Algorithms and the full unoma shebang.

And so, the big day came. Google was to call at 5pm. I was the young Salim again. I now could speak-out the code to do a heap-sort, merge-sort, Dijkstra’s Algorithm, TSP, Graphs etc, in C and Java.

At 5:07pm. Google Calls. The callers accent was somewhat faster than I could decipher, but after a verbal interview on what languages I know, about systems and databases, started.  The following some of the few questions I can remember:

1. How many bytes are there in a MAC Address?
2. Explain the 3 way HTTP TCP handshake.
3. Explain, in detail, the sticky bit flag on Unix directories.

Not surprisingly, this is all I can remember as I blog this. As I give them space to get back to me (not holding my breath of-course), the hassle continues.

Benefits from this exercise

After the Google contact forced be to revisit things that I had completely ignored or postponed like the books of Knuth, the Dijkstra’s algorithm, B+Trees… It made me a better optimizer. I now look at my YU and Orange projects with optimism as the systems will perform better. Ramadhan period locks me indoors and I can only improve.

Google job or no Google job, I am now a better coder, thanks to the contact.

Wazi, back to Dijkstra!

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The fibre is here. Actually it was here, the NO-fibre camp cut it, it was restored by the YES-fibre team etc… etc… And the beat goes on. I was adviced not to blog today and I am pissed off by some idiotic fellas I had an unfortunate fate of entering into a business deal with (details withheld as Google will index them). No Wonder I am slowly contemplating employment (*seriously*). BUT, the mind-boggling nature of the potential for Google  in today’s East Africa (Read: Kenya) is colossal and I hate going to bed with something colossal in my pan… errr…. my chest. So I have to get it out.

The greed to do everything, anything and everyone hard and deep has Seen Safaricom tap into only 1/10th of its population with the Internet service. Self-consoling marketers will argue that most of the Devices in Kenya are NOT Internet-ready, but you just need to  see the crazy figures on the net about device-ids of FB Pokers from Kenya and EA to see that this can’t be further from the sad truth.

Sovaya is a Local Internet company that had/has the ability to deliver this solution. Why they are not doing it City-wide is as complex as writing the Dijkstra’s Algorithm PoC code in VB, but that is where we are.

This opens up space for a serious, big, bold and service-before-profit, no-nonsense company like Google to come and show the local players (read: jokers) how it is done.

Serious and Afforfable Wifi for Business and Home use

This model would have the following (direct and indirect) benefits to google:

• Massive Direct sales for the Nexus One .
• New radio-station trivia and social experiments based on GeoCaching.
• Development of MANY and SENSIBLE Android apps for the local market – Believe me, Kenyans CAN code like crazy!
• Unprecedented Experiences like LBA, LBS, Localization based on Wifi Tower ID and GPS Location powered by GoogleMaps.
• GoogleCheckOut would oust/complement Mpesa as it would be agnostic. If Google were to get to bed with Saf, then EVERYONE would be on Mpesa. Else, Everyone, would be on GcO standalone.
• Helping local artists, farmers and small-scale vendors by leveraging platforms like KeleleMobile, MaduQa, SMSoko etc to help then sell digital content to the Masses without seeing the MNOs eat over 60% of their per-sale profits.

Google has a chance to be the darling of 120m people and has that market Space open for the Nexus and other GoogleApps.

Back to Code.

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Well, yesterday, as always, I was just hacking some network that a certain client had authorized me to do medium-risk penetration testing on and I got an SMS. ‘new email from google’.

Normally, I have configured my SMS deamons powered by www.tumasms.com to only alert me (via sms) on emails from Mike of Zim, Mbugua, Zunguka Home, Server FAM and Disk Monitors and My wifey (only if the email contains keywords like emergency, baby, hospital and sick). Of course, this list changes every week. But somehow, my metaheuristics code deemed the google email as *important*.

So I switched windows and read the email and BAM! It was an enquiry from google as to whether Idd Salim would be interested to work for them, giving me a choice of Dublin, London or Zurich as my residence.

The dilemma

Alot of my friends, ‘students’, mentors and twitter followers see me as a classic case of a hustler who hopefully can prove that a Kenyan Enterprenuer can come from NOTHING to SOMETHING via code. We don’t have the funding of the facebooks of this world, so our best brains always turn into code-for-food gurus who hustle to pay for server bills, rather that sit and code! Most ‘investors’ we meet are just talkers, jokers, greedy, vultures, old-school or a combination of the 5.

I always advice people on how they should never give up on their cause and that I will personally do my CSR to make sure their code is more profitable, e.g. via APIs like for TumaSMS and pay.Zunguka and advice.

“Google has big tits like Pam and as hot as Hale Berry. When she turns her head your side, you BETTER be ready to embrace the chance with open arms and open legs. This is a once in a lifetime chance.”, Said Jack, My Accountant. “Respond positively to Google’s email.” He said.

“You need to move a step up, Salim. At the current state, you are better off getting a serious permanent job because this Kenyan Hassle Bull*#@t has no fruits. You could have been VERY FAR right now were it not for this self-employment crap. It does not work in Kenya. Not unless the government does something to support the BEST coders. You have the brains, but as long as you have to worry about rent and milk every month, then you will not exploit your full potential!”, Adviced Buju, angrily.

I am confused.

Back to code!

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One API to rule them all...

Great day today for Kenyan coders. Ok, let us say, EastAfrican Community coders, for political correctness. I don’t even know how to break this news, so I will just do it my plain no-beating-around-her-bushes method. No, the Octopus has not predicted that Safaricom, MTN and Zain will start supporting local innovations. No. The octopus would rather die than err. To err is to human; not to octopus.So, the hustle continues.

As a CSR, being  head of a team of very gifted coders at Symbiotic, I had committed to head the Pay.Zunguka Gateway and API development team and see to it that the Pay.Zunguka API was out before Mid May 2010. But one thing did not lead to another, and we had to inevitable delay the launch.

Well, here it is now. The API. The EuberAPI. One API to rule them all.

Download the API NOW!!

So first things first. What is an API, you would ask? Huh? You are having a larf if you expect me to answer that!! The API has been developed in PHP, jQuery and MySQL and the documentation provided with it makes it totally idiot-proof. Anyone and everyone can use the API and start earning from their hustle, Immediately! All transactions from Mpesa/Zap/yuCash will hit your system, via the API in 5 seconds. Anyone who can copy-paste, can use the API.

Safaricom have indirectly played ball this time round, so flawless end-to-end mPesa support is the first feature of the API. I hope this will not make them Mad. My QA team is still testing the ZAP and yuCash modules, but jump to it. Play with the fully working mPesa support and share your thought on the approach, the model, the logic and the illogic.

If you are a ‘BIG’ fish (read a big corporate with a lot of sensitive transactions) and don’t want to use our API as a payment aggregator, we can license the actual product. This would apply to guys like DSTV and KPLC. So instead of waiting for 48 hours for the transactions to hit their backend system, we can guarantee KPLC customers that their bills paid via Mpesa/Zap/yuCash will be reflected in their account within 5-7 seconds. Cute huh!

Like all my friends will tell you (real friends, not facebook jokers), I believe in seeing, showing and action. Si mdomo mob. So dive right into it! Visit http://pay.zunguka.com/ NOW and have a blast !!

Wazi.

-Salim, Idd

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One API to rule them all

Code-Named Gandalf

Symbiotic Developer Labs will soon chip in its 2 bytes in the coding social social responsibility. Safaricom/Zain has NOT released or shown any signs of being in willingness or position to release any developer tools to enable the 17 real coding geniuses in Kenya, the thousand of wannabes and the tens of thousands of VB programmers monetize ANY of their systems.

Understandably, they are here to make money on voice and data. They don’t care about your pesky little ideas. Unless they are called ‘Mpesa’ and not yet patented. Ahem!

Currently, the only way to automate Mpesa/Zap is to use a Modem with the Mpesa SIM card then do some satanic message parsing. No more!!

As the head of the coding department in SMC, I have taken this personally and, unless the finger of god or the eye of the nebula intervenes, we will be releasing a PUBLIC API for Mpesa/Zap paybill.

The API will be available for public download and SMC will just be the aggregator. All settlemennts will be real-time. Yes. real-time. No 48-hour waits. {I still can’t understand some of these things! Ati 48 hours!!}

What about those who cant code

Of course, we cant all be coders, can we? If you are one of the millions of people who cant code, or ‘Ulikuwaga mnoma sana kitambo sana maJava na maC++ but umesahau’, then we also have good news for you. You will be able to open an online shop running off the ZungukaPay gateway and you will be able to monetize your content, time and skills.

We have one mission in mind

To enable ANYONE be able to monetize their content and abilities. To enable that sculptor from Machakos to be able to sell his curios online DIRECTLY to the buyer and realize maximum profits. Not via a proxy, getting short-changed. To enable that guy in Stall 25 Imenti house be able to sell his pirated DVDs online and get real-time payment.

As a user, your money will always be floating around Mpesa/Zap/PayPal/GC/WP… So far, no bank is willing to work with us because we are too small a company, but I am sure someone sane will soon wake up and smell the digital coffee.

Errr… Back to code.

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