Thus Spaketh Idd Salim

4 BabySteps

Banx suggested that I stick to being a tech blogger and a gadgets reviewer for the next 3 months until watu watulie. Moving on swiftly.

Well, @smutinda and @mbuguanjihia represented Kenya in the just-concluded DEMO launchpad event – www.demo.com. I was privileged to get an exclusive on what happened and who won what and why. It was a success story. Letting everyone out there know that there are real coders and thinkers in Africa, contrary to common belief.

This was an awakening.

Shimba ranked highly in their category and was behind a solution from Stanford with their MedAfrica product. The Stanford team, with funding from Eric Schmidt and the best tools (more about this later), had made a gadget that you attach to your back and it gives you a slight electric vibrations when you sit in a bad posture. It helps you sit better and protect your backbone. [Read More here]

MedAfrica was something different altogether. Given the sad fact that there are ONLY 7, 000 doctors tasked with serving 40, 000, 000 Kenyans, MedAfrica uses the fact that there already 10M mobile users in Kenya to create eDoctors. MedAfrica would cut the Doctor:Patient ratio from1:5714 to 1:4.  Here is the presentation.

The 4 lessons.

Lesson 1: Relevance Matters

Ofcourse, In being from a First-world country, this was a difficult sale. With all the online services like my MyPhysician and the rest, it was difficult to explain how so man people could not have access to basic human right like medicare. So, MedAfrica tanked in this initial round. Luckily, not winning the DEMO accolades did not amount to total failure.

Lesson 2: Funding Matters

I can’t talk enough about this. Linet always frowns at me when I talk about this. We always seem to have a “Develop your solution, generate interest and the funding will come” VS “Give me the funding and I will give you the BEST solution” debate. I never seem to be able to explain the later, a mantra I subscribe to.

Seed capital is all developers ask for. Not Millions and Millions. Google would never have been afloat without the US$100,000 funding from Andy Bechtolsheim [Read More Here]. Facebook would not have kicked off without the first investment of US$500,000 in June 2004 from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel [Read More Here]. I could go on the WHOLE day.

But then again, we are in Africa and funding/seed capital is a pipe-dream.

So cometh the challenge to the Universities and the Government.

Lesson 3: Government Matters

In the US, all Universities offering Computer Science have funding available for the MOST promising students. Government subsidizes and offers security for loans to IT initiatives from Government Banks. Need KSHS 5M to do a project, no problem. Your University and the Government just needs 20% shares of your company, and you will get the loan tomorrow. Try that in Kenya.

Our old-money-old-ideas mental setup, colonial-thinking and defensive business models make this impossible.

So, the innovators and thinkers are still REQUIRED and EXPECTED to fend for themselves. Think about your product, then think about the money to make the product a revenue-generating solution. Once you start making money, KRA and KAC will be sent over to see ‘how’ you make all this money. Then the ‘investors’ will come. When you don’t need them.

People who invested millions in FB and Google, ventures that had NO revenue potential or defined streams, right now are smiling all the way to the Keyboard to refresh their profits screens. There are no risk-takers here. Yet.

Lesson 4: Name Matters

Think of the power in a Name. UoN is know for Riots. Harvard is known for Excellence. Most people would still rather partner/invest in a C student from Harvard, than an A student from UoN. [If the GradeNazis would allow my use of Kenyan Grades for Harvard]. Until maturity comes to our students to elevate our name in such a manner that the very mention of UoN, Strath, JKUAT or CUEA would put a smile on investors and partners, the prejudice will remain.

Also, what we learn or are perceived to learn matters. It makes me sad that we are still teaching PHP, CSS and Javascript in Campus, 4th year. I will not belabour this point.

Kids need to leverage the Fibre and use the 4MB Ngwati links to learn things that blow the socks off investors. Talk QR Codes, NFC, e/m Payments, Cloud, Anything. Si Css.

Back to code

Wazi.

You are as backward as you think.

God! I hate sleep. Sleep must be from from Satan. I look at my rolex and the time is right. It is 2011 in Kenya. 1981 in Uganda and 2013 in the US. Yes, biatch! We are catching up in a year or 2.

Who in their right mind would want to sleep, while there is so much to do. So much to code. So much to learn everyday. So much to invent. So many solutions to create for human problems. So many peers to impress with your coding prowess. So many haters to prove wrong. So many doubters to show off to with your new Kompressor. Fully paid for. In Cash.

In some disciplines like Medicine, Law, Agriculture or Martial Arts, you will always be at a disadvantage if you were studying in Africa. The best doctors, lawyers etc rarely come from Africa. Lazima uende majuu ndio ukuwe mnoma. This is because these disciplines depend on structures, infrastructure, the people and finances to get the best equipment etc. One more than the other.

The same sad and colonial thinking and bench-marking used to be applied to IT until 2010. But as we get bigger and more wise, all this goes out of the window. A Kenyan Techie/Coder has THE SAME platform to leverage their knowledge like the best coders from US/K and China and Russia. This is the beauty of the Internet. Such is the beauty of being a techie. Java ni Java. MB ni MB.

Chep, A friend of a close friend of mine, just went back to the US a few weeks ago. It took her 11 days to get connected to the Internet. It takes Zuku 35 Minutes to hook up a new subscriber to SuperFast home Internet. It takes Safaricom 56 seconds to get you on Mobile Internet. Like Marie asks, “Who is in the 3rd World now?”.

An Internet connection that used to cost KSHS 56, 200 2 years ago, and was only available for Corporates now costs KSHS 2, 000 per month and is available in my bedroom. True 4mBps Internet.

We have no excuse not to be as good as if not better than our coding counter-parts out there. Even in Mars.  In the US, they develop products to serve a need for people with full stomachs. In Africa, we have REAL needs that can be solved using technology. Life or death systems. Hence we have more appeal. More opportunities to express and impress. It is no wonder tech-events gets flooded by all these people from US and Europe coming to ‘listen to’ our ideas. We have the BEST ideas.

And so the challengeth cometh in:

Kenya right now is in exactly the same position South Africa was in 2002. Mobile data and Internet matured then, in SA. Finally, we have it all. Samsung bringing in phones that make the Ideos look like a Probox. Internet connections in Kenya Faster and Better than Even South Africa. What more would you ask for?

As a tech community, we have all we have ever wanted now. It is time we rose up to the challenge.

This is the model that I am sharing with anyone who cares to ask me what the next step should be:

1. Understand the Key Concepts of Programming. Understand Software Design. Don’t learn any language yet.
2. Decide to learn a real mature CORE language. [Java, C++, Python or Erlang].
3. Decide on a space. Mobile Apps? Web Apps? Desktop (cringe!!)
4. Understand the language to the bone. Not just to finish a project. In fact don’t have a project in mind. Just Know the language.
5. Understand Optimization, Concurrency, Data Structures.
6. Then now pick a project.
7. Identify like-minded people and delegate tasks.
8. Make a difference.

Let us make sure the NEXT BIG THING comes from Kenya. Apart from Mpesa and Ushahidi, there is really nothing KENYAN to talk about. Infact, there are some claims that Mpesa is Voda and Ushahidi is Harvard. So the ball is in our court.

Back to code…

Wazi.

Yeah. He said it.

I remember the day I had a talk with Michael Joseph at iHub and expressed my views as to how Safaricom was shooting itself on the foot by locking out the Kenyan developers from USSD access and giving it to only some politically collect correct PRSPs.

I pointed out to the utter cringe of those around that these companies DON’T have developers who have the knowledge, skills, experience or drive to develop the apps that Safcom would get value from.

This Redtape prevents SafCom from exploiting some hidden revenue streams.

After the meeting with MJ, I met Kamal of SquadDigital and we discussed the fine line between speaking ones mind and being politically correct. Alot of people would not have the balls to blog what I talk about. And yet it affects ALL OF US.

And this is exactly why I feel alone most times. I seem to be the only one who can say Safaricom SUCKS balls when they do, and Safaricom is the best, when the act good. Everyone else seems to have this stupid and retarded belief that one day, Safaricom / Google / NSE / GoK / Samsung etc will give them a project. A job. A deal. And they don’t what to have it said that they once blogged negatively.

And, so, they best remain on the good side. The pussy side.

Such are the pussy bloggers. Ball-less people.

And thence cometh my challenge to all of you/us.

I think it is time Kenyan bloggers grew some balls. Talk about the issues that REALLY affect us. If we want news, we will go to Nation. If we want to know what new service safaricom has launched, we will go to Safaricom.com. Blog about REAL issues. You are techies.

Tell the world about how Vulnerable to Hacking the Online Banking Systems developed by Craft-Silicon are and how they are exposing Kenyan Banks to CyberCrime. And maybe some good software will finally be written. [I have proof for this, in-case you think I am just hating.]. Tell the world about how hackers can’t wait for the new NSE system to launch. And maybe we can have locally sourced software. At last.

Blogging on one side is what makes your blogs lack content and traction. Always copy-pasting things that we ALL already know from other websites etc. Be real. For real.

Back to Code…

Wazi

Kenyans will believe ANYTHING!

So, yesterday after coding from 9am to 10PM, I was just chilling and billing while waiting for the killing as I continue my money-machining.

I decided to watch a comedy as a warm-down. I slotted Michael McIntyre Wembley DVD and as i laughed my glutes off,  I logged to on 2go as went to the Nairobi chat room.

Normally, there are over 40+ chatters heres. Only 13 guys were there in this night. Strange. “Ohh well, they must be on the Kenya room”, I thought. I adjusted my crouch and switched to the Kenya room. 10 people in Kenya room!

Hmmmn… Why are people offline today? I wondered. Could they all have finally got hook-ups and were on “Masaa ya Kubambwa na kushikwashikwa’? All at once?

I was feeling social and all chatty. Living in a big house all by myself can be a very lonely ordeal sometimes. So I decided to call someone, whisper sweet nothings to her, then sleep. I checked my airtime on my Zain Line, and it took 2 SMSes for my credit balance to be sent to me. Too many zeros. #LotsaMoney!

My friend picked up the call. Real FEAR in her voice. ‘Salim, is that you?’, She asked. ‘No, it is the gay oogambooga boogie man from Timbuktu!’, I answered in my indian-patel-robot voice. (am very good in voices. Indian, Somali, Kamba, Alien and Robot). Clang!! She hang up! This hot mamsilla never hangs up on Salim. She knows my number and my swagger. So, I called again. She did not pick up. I sent her a sweet SMS and called. She asked me to check out Facebook.

I checked Facebook and was confused. Then I called her and I was enlightened.

“There are these guys who are calling people and if you pick up the calls, you DIE IMMEDIATELY!”, She said. “10 people have died in Ukambani already. They are also using SMS texts to kill people. The phonecalls come from a number ending with 999 or 98 and the number shows as RED on your phone. Even the MulikaMwizi black-and-greed phones phones show the numbers in red. The SMS text is yellow/purple/green on all phones.”

I scrolled through some Facebook posts and was dumbfounded by what I saw.

“Someone on Campo just received such a call!”, one stated, “It is all over Easy FM news. The INSTANT death is caused by radiation.”.

Well, I can send an SMS to your phone that will restart the phone, send an SMS that will self-destruct on a set amount of time, etc.. but COME ON!!

I decided to call random numbers. Just for the kicks. It amazed me how many people had their phones off out of the utter fear of Kifo Pap! My Guys friends (especially the gay ones) and chics either never answered the phone, or answered with real, tangible FEAR reeking out of their breath.

My Gawd! What next? The midnight nipple-nibbler phenomenon? Where a strange man appears in your bedroom in the middle of the night and starts nibbling (well I know people who will relish this), and the only way to top him is to SMS ‘noNibble’ to 6090?

Grow up people! Read a book.

Back to code.