Reasons Why Techies Get it Hard Outside Nairobi

Kenyans have been bragging of late how it is a force to reckon with in tech in Africa. VCs, Bloggers, Researchers, Tech Evangelists and others with interests in tech have touted the country as a must watch in the industry. The truth is that you cannot talk of serious use of tech, social media and web 2.0 in a manner which can easily be documented outside Nairobi. So while travelling to various parts of Kenya, we have tried to ask why the techies are getting it hard to even make the various counties tech communities active.

Mombasa tied and we documented the first serious trial. Kisumu is just in its initial stages of even calling the first tech community meetup in Nairobi. The main champions in Kisumu are just tech enthusiasts working with Safaricom, KDN and other telcos operating from the lakeside town.

Anyway, these are the reasons why we think that the techies are getting it hard outside Nairobi.

1. Connectivity
Getting a serious internet connection for mobile computing is a serious problem. Only Safaricom has a connection which is fast enough and can be used many towns in Kenya to have a serious social media or web 2.0 experience. The problem is that you will have to part with an arm and leg to get to benefit from the service. The amount charged for home internet is also very very expensive. It is not affordable to spend more than Ksh 15,000 outside Nairobi on internet connection while the return on investment is not something which can be talked about.

2. Community There is no tech community to talk about outside Nairobi, Kenya. There are talks of various county chapters trying to come together but none have seen the county communities become a reality. Forming such communities in Kenya is a real problem because of the division in our midst. There will always be some suspicion on the intention of the conveners. Also it is easy to organise the communities through a virtual platform. Regionally focused mailing lists or web platforms are non-existent.

3. Government Support 
As much as the Kenya ICT Board would like us to believe that they are working hard, I believe that they are not. Some have given it the name ICT Board of Nairobi. Whenever they have tried to organise meetings in Mombasa or Naivasha, it is always to ferry the Nairobi group of politically correct people to the areas for some paid holidays and now for engagement and spreading of the ICT tentacles. You will have to be a very close friend of Paul Kukubo to ever get any sponsorship of an event you are trying to do outside Nairobi. Even Nairobi itself they choose areas in which they can have the engagement. Craft Silicon showed them that even slums accept the ICT evangelism. Kenya ICT Board will not hold any meeting in Buruburu, South B, Umoja, Zimmerman or even Kenyatta University.

4. Corporates Headquartered in Nairobi
According to Moses of MOSCOM Kisumu, the fact that you have corporates headquartered in Nairobi and none regionally, it is always automatic that most decisions are made in Nairobi and so the major communities will always want to be close to the decision makers. Some of the ICT companies should spread away from Nairobi though it doesn’t look possible considering the fact that a new Tech City is also being built in Nairobi.

5. Exposure
Most graduates in ICT, Computer Science or informatics who works outside Nairobi are so scattered that they rarely get together. Moses again thinks that most of these techies rely on very primitive technologies to update themselves and so are not current enough. Some just practise what they learnt in the classroom while in the leisure time they would rather drink in their locals, farm or just sit around with the family.

We need more tech communities outside Nairobi and Microsoft, Intel and HP is doing great in spreading tech in schools outside Nairobi. They have more programs which you will not hear much of because they don’t brag much about them on mailing lists and fora. But these companies have supplied computers, built tech classrooms and even distributed software to schools in Kenya. Kenya ICT Board should stop being a members only club. Get to the counties and stop lazying in Nairobi thinking you are working hard. Work harder.

What do you think of the tech communities outside Nairobi? You have a reason why they don’t grow? Leave your comment below.
Originally by Roberalai

Yu Telkom Kenya News and more

yu partners with Uchumi Supermarkets



yu, the mobile phone brand of Essar Telecom Kenya Limited has partnered with Uchumi Supermarkets to provide convenience and easy accessibility of the yuCash money transfer service to its consumers. This means that consumers can now pay for their goods and make other transactions using yuCash from any Uchumi outlet, country-wide.
The partnership allows Uchumi Supermarkets to carry out yuCash registrations and cash in cash out transactions in all their outlets.
While speaking at the launch ceremony, yu’s Country Manager Atul Chaturvedi said, “We are pleased to partner with Uchumi Supermarkets, Kenya’s second largest retail chain. The partnership will give our consumers’ convenience and easy accessibility to their monies from any of the Uchumi Supermarkets 7 days a week. yu will continue to engage in more partnerships with various organisations as we strive to provide more value added services to our consumers”.
yuCash money transfer service is much differentiated than other services offered in the market as it is accessible to any mobile subscriber on any network. A consumer is accessible to free history check for up to 30.
 
IN OTHER NEWS.

YU in partnership with Equity Bank


yu (Essar Kenya) has entered into partnership with Equity Bank to launch a card-less ATM withdrawal service targeted at yuCash users to access their funds at any Equity Bank ATM country-wide.yuCash customers can now enjoy access to their funds without necessarily going to yuCash outlets to make withdrawals.
yuCash clients will be required to initiate the withdrawal transaction from their phones upon which they get an authorization code that they can use at any of over 550 Equity Bank ATMs without the need for an ATM card or ownership of an Equity Bank account.
yuCash money transfer service is accessible to any mobile subscriber on any network. A yuCash user enjoys a free history check of up to 30 transactions.yuCash recently partnered with Uchumi Supermarkets which allows the chain store to carry out yuCash registrations and cash in cash out transactions in all their outlets.
 
YU sues KDN
Yu (Essar Kenya) has sued a data network provider (Kenya Data Network) for threatening to switch off its connectivity over Sh80 million debt dispute. Essar pleaded with Nairobi Commercial Court to prevent KDN from switching it off arguing that such an action will render thousands of Kenyans without communication services.
Yu, through its lawyer Julius Kemboy, says that KDN has threatened to terminate its services because of the dispute over billings and other alleged breaches. Yu has succeeded in getting a court injunction against KDN barring it from switching off transmission connectivity or interfering with Essars use of all other facilities and infrastructure until July 5, when the case will be heard with all parties present.
The order was issued by Commercial Court judge Muga Apondi also restrains any KDN employee from terminating or breaching obligations under the Masters Services agreement dated April 9, 2009. KDN was contracted by Essar Kenya (yu) to provide it with its capacity bandwidth through its fibre infrastructure as well as supply, install, and commission base stations.

Technology Clues to Uncovering a Cheating Spouse

There have been many high-profile divorce cases and scandals that came to light through damning evidence generated by or stored on personal tech devices.
Of course, infidelity is not limited to celebrities, sports stars and politicians. According to a report in the New York Times in 2008, the General Social Survey conducted by the University of Chicago shows that 10 percent of spouses—12 percent of men and 7 percent of women—admit to having cheated just within the past year.
Anyone dubious of their spouse's faithfulness should be aware that the technology gadgets they use every day may harbor information on what they’ve been up to. Before crawling through their personal information, we advise consulting an attorney to ensure any electronic-eavesdropping or hacking laws aren't violated—if things get ugly, you don’t want that hanging over your head. And, of course, be prepared to deal with the fallout should your spouse catch you snooping. It goes without saying that following these tips demonstrates a breach of trust between married partners, something that should not be undertaken lightly.

The 10 tech clues to infidelity:

1. Look at the incoming and outgoing calls on your spouse's cell phone.
Are there numerous calls to numbers you don’t recognize, especially at odd hours of the day or night? You can often deterine who owns a particular landline number simply by entering the number into Google search.
2. Check your spouse's cell phone's address book for names you don’t recognize.
Chances are your spouse won’t take the risk of entering the full name of the person he or she is cheating with, so look for numbers that are identified merely with initials or a first name.
3. Check the text messages and email on your spouse's cell phone.
Text messages and emails are the modern means of sending love letters, and your spouse may have kept them on their phone for ongoing enjoyment.
4. Check your spouse's voicemail messages.
Perhaps your spouse chose to save a couple of the steamy ones for later playback.
5. Look for a second cell phone or SIM card.
If your spouse is clever, he or she will be using a second cell phone—or just a second SIM card—-for communicating with their lover. Your spouse may also have been smart enough to purchase a pre-paid phone or SIM, so nothing will appear on your credit-card bills. However, people slip up occasionally. If your spouse calls you from a cell phone number you don’t recognize, that may be cause for suspicion. Try calling the other number when your spouse is home and see how they react. If you happen to find an extra SIM card, stick it in a phone and see what phone numbers are stored on it.
6. Check your spouse’s computer for any incriminating email messages.
Be sure to check the "deleted items" or "trash" folder. People frequently let their discarded emails linger for weeks before they're permanently erased. It’s also possible that your spouse may have a special email address you don’t know about for “private” communications.
7. Check your spouse's computer's browser history.
Is your spouse planning a business trip to Cleveland while browsing hotels in Las Vegas? This is where the browser history can help you out.
Also, the browser history may reveal whether they're visiting email sites (e.g., Gmail, Hotmail) where you might not have known they had an account. Did you get an email from them using the “wrong” email account? If you don’t know your spouse’s login info, most browsers give you the option of storing usernames and passwords, and it’s possible their information was saved.
8. Go online to check your spouse’s frequent- flier account.
Did they purchase an extra ticket with miles? Or are there frequent-flier miles for a trip to Las Vegas when they were supposed to be in Cleveland? It’s amazing that people are dumb enough to try to get miles when they are supposed to be covering their tracks—but they are. You may be able to log in to your spouse's account online if their login info is stored in the browser or password bank, otherwise check their email for their monthly statement.
9. Go online to check your spouse's toll pass history.
If you use E-ZPass or another toll payment system in your cars, check the online statement. Is there unusual activity showing your spouse driving on the New Jersey Turnpike when they’re supposed to be at work in Westchester?
10. Check the previous destinations in your spouse’s navigation system.
Practically every automotive nav system, both built-in and portable, has a list of previous destinations. If the No-Tell Motel is on there and your spouse doesn’t work in the hospitality business, that’s a sign something may be up.

Originally written by Suzanne Kantra