FortySouth

Urban Surveillance in Nairobi

Shadrack Laanoi — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 03:21:40 +0000

Last November, the Metro Development Ministry launched the Nairobi Integrated Urban Surveillance System (IUSS) project. I've only recently taken a look at the RFP to get an idea of the solution's design requirements and expectations. It's a great start but falls short in one key area which I'll touch on below. First a little about the project. The idea is to add visual presence to Nairobi's streets for safety and security purposes - particularly the crime prone areas - and to make traffic flow management smarter. The deployment will be carried out in (at least) two phases - the first involves design and implementation of a Video Surveillance solution and a Traffic Management solution, while the second adds on more "intelligence" to the platform through Facial Recognition and License Plate Recognition.

Using Gmail to filter Craigslist scammers

Shadrack Laanoi — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 23:49:39 +0000

Recently I put up a couple of ads on Craigslist for items I had for sale. Almost instantly, some responses hit my inbox with one-liners such as this gem: So I’m excited, someone is interested. It would only be momentary though: Bummer. Rather verbose email sans a single mention of the couch I had for [...]

In Kenya, Mobile Data is King

Shadrack Laanoi — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 16:23:47 +0000

In fact, about 99% of all (actual) internet subscribers in the country get online via GPRS/EDGE and 3G on their mobile devices: The distribution is lop-sided with the vast majority of these users being Safaricom subscribers, although it should be noted they did have a 7 year lead on the other mobile service providers to [...]

Bing Is Now Google

Shadrack Laanoi — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 00:38:07 +0000

So after a sting operation by Google over several months, Bing was outed as having copied their search results. As a regular Joe User of Google’s search engine, I find the spat mildly amusing and perhaps a kink in Bing’s armor. The evidence against them was rather compelling and they certainly didn’t deny it (snooping [...]

Obama, Liberals and the Tax Deal

Shadrack Laanoi — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 09:28:47 +0000

Liberals are furious about the Tax Deal that Obama cut with the Republicans. Republicans are signaling consent for the deal should it be brought to a vote in both Houses of Congress. The House Democratic caucus vowed to defy the President and not even consider bringing the matter to a vote on the House floor [...]

Pandaladder: instant-search for jobs in Kenya

Shadrack Laanoi — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 07:10:40 +0000

Well, we’ve had YouTube instant, twitter instant and the grand papa of them all – Google instant. You know instant job search was well on its way! Loading dynamic content on the fly is not a new concept but has only recently found fame probably not so much for the rapid speed with which search [...]

Working while on an F-1 Student Visa

Shadrack Laanoi — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:48:11 +0000

For the vast majority of people looking to come study in the US, unless you have plenty of money to spare or a full-ride scholarship locked-in, the foremost question is: will I be able to study and work at the same time, possibly paying for my tuition and upkeep? Unlike some of the other popular [...]

Startup Visa Bill Introduced in U.S. Senate

Shadrack Laanoi — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:23:21 +0000

Last year I read an interesting essay (Founders Visa) by Paul Graham that suggested a new visa class be created for technology startup founders. Evidence has shown that a significant number of successful technology companies in the U.S. were founded by immigrants and so a more elegant system needs to be designed to not only [...]

Old Spice Ad: A Creative Win, Man

Shadrack Laanoi — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 04:46:54 +0000

Every once in a while an ad hits the tubes that just has this intangible sense of genius. Debuting during Super Bowl XLIV (Who Dat!), the 30 second Old Spice spot is curiously captivating, its unraveling totally unexpected and Isaiah Mustafa’s delivery is right on the money. The great thing about it is that the [...]

The CCK and Mitigating Mobile Phone Theft

Shadrack Laanoi — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 02:14:27 +0000

When most people are “relieved” of their phones, unconsciously or under duress, at least one of three things generally happen following: (1) you count your losses, sigh and dust off an old phone; (2) you call your provider and block your phone with a vengeance, or (3) outwit, outcall and outlast with Ujanja. Option 1 [...]