Gilbert says..

Smart Trolleys

2013-10-05T08:58:00.000-07:00

Nowadays supermarkets have become bigger. This means they sell more products and in high volumes. The result is long queues and overworked cashiers. The reason for long queues especially during peak shopping times is that each product has to be scanned for the price at the counter.

What if the trolleys could be made smarter rather than just be used for ferrying items. For instance instead of using ordinary barcodes to store product and price information, they could use RFID tags that would transmit the same information to a limited distance say a 1 meter radius.

The trolley is then fitted with a receiver that has a small display. Each time an item is added or removed from the trolley the receiver updates the total price of items in the trolley. This would result in customers arriving at the till already knowing how much they are paying.

This eliminates the need to scan all the items as is the current case so that cashiers will now just verify the price indicated on the trolley, receive money and issue a receipt. The overall result is a fast moving queue and satisfied customers.

The downside is that the trolleys have to be monitored and repaired if they break down. They may also introduce the possibility of fraud or loss of revenue if they malfunction. RFID tags also happen to be a little expensive but given the volume of items in any supermarket economies of scale can be applied to mass produce tags that will only be used once. What’s more the technology can be extended to activities such as stock taking etc.

That said we have to evolve don’t we?

Linux On Android

2013-08-25T23:38:00.001-07:00

Did you know that you can run Linux on your phone? With a terminal similar to putty maybe now admins can do their daily tasks from the phone/tablet as if they were seated at their computers.

Just go to http://kevinboone.net/kbox.html and download the app: Term-debug.apk because you won’t find it on Google Play Store. Copy it to your phone via Bluetooth or USB and install. Launch and voila! Most of the Linux commands can run..

The next device: smart watch

2013-07-09T23:50:00.000-07:00

If there is a device I would like to have next, its the smart watch. Its a very convenient way to interact with the phone in your pocket. I cant imagine how many times my phone vibrates and then after rushing to get it out I find an SMS from AIRTEL telling me that I can now subscribe to SKIZA tunes!

People who have phones with 5"+ size screens can feel me. When you have a phone that big it is always a pain to take it out only to discover a silly notification.

Salient features:

Messaging
Calendar
Social - twitter etc
Music player
Clock
10 meters range
color LED screen

Cons:

You have to charge via USB
Costs $250
Not compatible with all smart phones

Becoming Self-made

2013-04-13T09:29:00.005-07:00

The visionary Brian Tracy found that the following concepts and qualities ultimately lead to the person doing them to become a self-made millionaire regardless of who they were.

Cause and Effect

There is no causeless effect. That everything happens for a reason. If you can think of a desired effect, then you can find someone who started off without that effect, did something and ended up with that result. So you go and do what they did and you end up with the same effect. Success leaves tracks. If you get into those tracks and follow them you will end up where they are.

Nothing works the first time

Most people give up before they try. Once they fail they move to someday. Someday I am going to save money, someday I will do this and that. Whatever it is you are attempting will work after a few attempts that ensure you fully understand what it is that works and what doesn’t.

The person you need to become

The most important thing is not to become a millionaire, it’s to become the person you have to become to become a millionaire. To achieve something you have never achieved before you have to become someone you have never been before.

Qualities

Fact about these qualities is if you have them your success is virtually guaranteed. If you don’t have them they are learnable and lead to you becoming a vastly better person.

#1 Dream big dreams.

If your life could be perfect in the next five years what would it be? Dream list is a good way to start. You pick up a piece of paper and let your imagination run. 500 goals might be a reasonable number. It might just happen that you set off the law of attraction. You attract people, circumstances, resources, ideas etc. that move you towards the goals and move the goals towards you.

#2. Do what you love to do.

Find out what you like to do and find a way of making a living out of it. Something you love to do gives you energy, motivates you..probably what you meant to do since you were young.

#3. Commit to excellence.

All people who are successful are into what they do. At the top 10% of your field is where the money is. Everybody who’s doing well didn’t start there. And it takes 5-7 years to get there. What’s worse the 5 years are going to pass anyway.

#4. Develop your unique talents and abilities.

We are all designed to do something well and derive great satisfaction from it. Look back in your life, what has been responsible for the most success in your life up to now?

#5. See yourself as self-employed.

You see yourself as in charge of your own life. No one is coming to the rescue and you are entirely responsible. Everybody is self employed. Even if someone signs your pay check everything that happens there affects you and you are responsible.

#6. Develop a clear sense of direction.

That is you need to become immensely goal oriented because you can’t hit a target that you can’t see. Decide exactly what it is that you want and write down a plan to achieve it. Then determine the price you are going to pay and then resolve to pay that price. The truth is that you have to pay the price in full and you have to pay it in advance.

#7. Refuse to consider the possibility of failure.

The fear of failure is the biggest obstacle to success. 9/10 things that we try fail. But it makes you smarter. All you need to reckon is that it’s not failure but feedback. After long you make less mistakes. Failure is only an opportunity to begin intelligently again. Always look into failure for something good and you will always find it.

#8. Dedicate yourself to life-long learning.

Personal professional development is what takes you from rags to riches. Knowledge and skill really are the key (Peter Drucker). (Steven covey) says that your knowledge base has a half life of 2 years. Read in your field 30 to 60 minutes each day. That is books written by the best in your field. Take all the possible courses that you can. The expert talking to you for several hours has been at it for thousands more.

#9. Develop a workaholic mentality.

In this competition you’ve got to work harder, smarter and better than the rest. The 40 hours a week gets you survival. How many hours over the 40^th really counts. Average for millionaires is 59 hours.

#10. Get around the right people.

Your reference group is the people you habitually associate with at work, home, social circles etc. You absorb the behaviors, the attitudes, the styles e.t.c of the people you associate with most of the time.

#11. Be prepared to climb from peak to peak.

All of life is peaks and lows. What is important is the general direction of your trend.

#12. Develop resilience and bounce back.

Since most things are not going to work you’ve got to learn to bounce back. So bounce don’t break. It’s better to mentally prepare for the downs before they happen.

#13. Become an unshakable optimist.

Think and talk about what you want most of the time. Constantly feed your mind about great ideas. Try out more things which dramatically increases the likelihood that you are going to try out more right things at the right time. And always persist.

#14. Develop courage and persistence.

Two types of courage. First is the courage to begin or launch even if there is no guarantees of success. If all obstacles must be removed nothing will ever get done. If you just leap the net will appear. The other courage is that to endure.

#15. Self-descipline.

This is the ability to force yourself to do what you know you should. Persistance and discipline are tied together. Full video >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxt4uPFPZP8&feature=youtu.be

One for All

2013-03-30T08:19:00.001-07:00

I have always thought that having a tablet, camera and phone is a nice thing though too much at the same time. Whenever you are on the go having these three devices is always a joy. However issues of charging, WIFI and juggling them always gets in the way of enjoyment. That is why you need to lose some of them.

Wouldn’t it be easier to throw away the three devices and get one that does all those functions at once while saving you from the issues. This is a big smartphone, the likes of Galaxy Note II and HTC Butterfly. How? You may want to ask. The typical tablet has a 7” screen and runs “Android”. It can take pictures and allow you to surf.

A camera on the other hand is expressly for pictures and video with some allowing you to share through WIFI. So it’s like a tablet with a different form factor less some functionality. Then you have a phone in your pocket that calls and sends text but also repeats the WIFI, photo and video story.

So why not eliminate the camera whose functions also appear in the tablet (good camera) and phone (not so good camera). With the camera gone, you are now contending a device with a large screen (tablet) that can’t call unless it’s Skype and Whatsapp or connect to a GSM network (It can’t also fit in your pocket unless you are Goliath) with a device with a small screen but can do all the rest (camera, call, surf).

So get a phone with the largest screen possible say 5,5”. But now price jumps out to kick you in the stomach. The good thing is that now that you’ve thrown out the tablet ( ̴USD300) and the camera ( ̴USD180) you are left with a tidy sum to get a big smartphone ( ̴USD450). The final nail in this coffin is that you don’t always need a camera or tablet on you but a phone is ubiquitous. Tell me I don’t make sense.

Not Anonymous anymore

2013-01-04T05:54:00.000-08:00

Isn’t it annoying when you have a number in your phone that you don’t know who it belongs to? Maybe it’s in a text message or in the call log. You can simply pick up the phone and call to ask who it is..or what if there was a service to do that for you without soliciting from the other end?

Now that all people who have SIM cards are registered with their mobile service providers wouldn’t it make more sense to get value from this titanic database if there was a service to link a number with a name/location?

So how would the service work? Maybe it would be a simple query where you send the number via SMS to a short code and you get a response. Or use a USSD code to interact with a user through a menu to answer a few questions and then get a response through SMS.

However such a service would receive criticism due to the question of how do you maintain customer information confidentiality? This to me is the interesting bit. Either we create a program to read phone logs [missed and received] or messages [received] and we limit searches to only those numbers retrieved from the mentioned sources (logs and messages) as they are unsolicited.

The other would be for the service provider to query a person’s phone records to determine first whether the number in question indeed exists in the received calls/messages, then give an appropriate response. What do you think?

the curse of invention

2012-11-19T04:49:00.000-08:00

There is nothing as rewarding as inventing something new. The feeling is unparalleled. However, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. A lot of innovators do not reap the rewards of their invention and it usually happens that it goes to some oaf with no clue what it takes to dream.

Whenever I get a eureka moment it is always followed by a sad feeling knowing the hurdles that bedevil fruition of an idea. If the bug of invention bites you there is no turning back. You are infected with a disease characterized constant thinking about solving problems or doing things differently.

Dying poor is a road well-traveled. You can read up on people like Michelangelo, Charles Goodyear or Thomas Edison; the list is endless. Often, it is the person who has the money to commercialize the invention, who becomes rich. The point of this conversation? If you consider yourself anywhere near creating new things then you must bear the burden of knowing you are holding the cow by the horns whilst someone else milks her. That you will dream and create but it is someone else who will laugh all the way to the bank.

Yet you must not stop because that is the way the cookie crumbles. Best you can do is look for a worthwhile outlet like write and tell the whole world your bright ideas before you actually implement them. It’s the means of putting your name on a product regardless of who pockets the money and also to keep you sane.

Laptops that run forever

2012-08-06T00:55:00.000-07:00

Most laptops are limited as to how long they can keep charge. This makes them pretty much useless on planes, train or long bus rides or in areas with no electricity. Some tech companies such as Samsung have gone forward to harness solar. Unfortunately this is limited only to netbooks and they can't run all night long.

Having seen people using bicycle dynamos to charge phones, I have always wondered whether the same concept can be applied to laptops. The idea is this: All laptops have at least one fan for cooling the CPU. If this fan is used to turn a dynamo of sorts it can result in generation of a current. Given the fan moves a very high speed compared to a bicycle wheel, we assume that a reasonable current will be generated.

The generated current can then be channeled to recharge the battery. This will mean that the laptop battery will start charging as soon as the fan starts rotating which is immediately the power button is pressed. The assumption is that the amount generated somehow surpasses or equals the amount being drained from the battery to run the laptop.

If the above is possible this could mean walking around without chargers since there is no need for charging and consequently lower or no power bills due to laptop usage. Extending this model to other machines with fans such as desktops which have as many as four or more fans could mean having desktops that have a battery and that don't need external power to run. What about server machines with more fans and consume tons of power. Maybe even the UPS could be part of this setup.

The only time one would need charging is if the dynamo circuit becomes damaged or the battery itself deteriorates badly. Another downside is how the dynamo will fit in such a constrained space especially for laptops. Or maybe I just like dreaming..

Fail and Unlearn

2012-03-07T03:43:00.000-08:00

The first time you meet an investor or hear them speak you might just be shocked to hear them say that your startup needs to fail, and fail fast. The cliché that 90% of all startups will not see the end of two years cannot be over emphasized. Failure is not necessarily a bad thing as long we learn from our mistakes (and others’) and move on swiftly.

Of all the ideas you think of and implement most will fail but will add some knowledge so that future ideas will stand a better chance. Here is where unlearning what you think or assume is true (when its not) comes in. Assumption is the mother of all blunders including yours. When a few facts are overlooked then you will keep failing until you realize what it is you don’t understand and either fix it or throw in the towel.

For example the first apple imac computers looked terrible and were a complete failure. Nobody hardly remembers that when they are fiddling with a macbook or ipad. The inventor kept on failing, quitting and going back. I personally remember once seeing three imacs (like the one in pic 2) one red, one blue and another yellow and thinking how stupid those things looked to me then. It’s now a fact that apple goods sell like hot cakes and Mr. failure is gloating from somewhere beyond the grave.

1984 1998 2009

So the idea here is that when you fail you need to unlearn what you think is true and get some new education. Actually when I think about being an entrepreneur I see myself as a restless monkey with a loaded gun waiting to blast off opportunities. It’s time to fail, unlearn and relearn (and write shorter blog posts..).

Investment 101

2012-02-02T22:12:00.000-08:00

In a previous article 7 cures for a lean purse was a map to wealth. Cure 3 says to multiply thy gold. But how? The answer is invest, invest, invest. So said the Chinese: if you have two loaves of bread sell one and with the monies buy hyacinths for your soul.

Most saving people go to work and have little or no room for side business. A nice way to save and accrue interests at the same time is the money market fund. A money market fund is generally a savings account that earns a much higher interest than a conventional bank account.

With Kenyan Banks offering savings accounts with 2% interest growing your money shall remain a pipe dream. Money market funds on the other side fetch interests as high as 21% believe or not. I even fantasized of getting a humongous loan at 16% from the idiotic banks and saving it in a money market fund at 21%. The logic for that fantasy is this. Assuming banks will nowadays beat a path to your door to offer you a loan on the slightest indication that you have a stable job, show up at a bank and order them to give you a loan.

Let’s pretend they have handed you Kshs. 2 milli at 16% interest p.a. At the end of the repayment period you should pretend to hand back Ksh. 2,320,000. If you immediately throw this cash into a money market fund that accrues interest at 21% p.a you will get an interest of 100k + each year assuming the interest is compund. The only backlash is if you must start repaying the loan back immediately.

Disclaimer: If you follow advice from this post and you end up in jail or loose property, it shall be at your own peril and I shall not accept liability for any damage caused. However if it works out share the knowledge and also feel to invite me to the after party.

The next question at this point might be where to get money market funds in Kenya and which is the best. When I first stumbled on money market funds I only knew one, and it was offering an interest of 6.5% p.a. then. At the moment of writing this post I had discovered over 20 and they all offer different products so it’s up to you to launch an inquiry into the most suitable. Below is a list from a respectable local newspaper dated Wednesday February 1, 2012.Given today is Friday February 3,2012 the information is up to date so it’s a good point to begin. You can also download the complete pdf file.

UNIT TRUSTS DAILY YIELD EFFECTIVE ANNUAL RATE

Africa Alliance Kenya Shilling Fund                       11.85%                                             12.5%

Old Mutual Money Market Fund                            12.17%                                            12.87%

British-American Money Market fund                   12.45%                                             13.26%

Stanbic Money market Fund                                 12.75%                                            13.52%

CBA Market Fund                                                   11.69%                                             12.40%

CIC Money Market Fund                                        15.83%                                             17.03%

Amana Money Market Fund                                    21.09%                                              22.5%

Suntra Money market Fund                                  11.48%                                            12.17%

Zimele Money Market Fund                                   9.0%                                                9.31%

ICEA Money Market Fund 10.96% 11.58%

A few advantages of this investment vehicle are that you can always withdraw your money, keep up with progress online and generate e-statements. It also has a guarantee unlike the stock markets where stocks fluctuate wildly.

Stocks are also affected by non-issues and may plummet to hell just because a board member of the company was allegedly spotted breezing into Motel Kabu Kabu with a string of kele keles in his wake.

Driving traffic to your blog

2012-01-30T00:02:00.000-08:00

Most people nowadays have a blog where they simply express themselves, bitch about daily issues or offer w4r3z for download. However, it’s pointless if nobody knows how to get to your blog.

After struggling to get my blog in the results, I thought why not point the N00B's in the right direction without having them know all the technical stuff. We’ll start with the easy tasks and then gradually move on to more involving ones.

Set your blog as homepage

Attempt to set your blog as the home page on as many computers that have access to the Internet as possible. For instance each time you visit a cyber café, make sure you make your blog the home page so that each next person that uses the computer gets to see your blog first before they embark on their business. Just don’t get caught by the cyber café assistant.

I also found telling people by word of mouth is also effective in getting people to visit your site. In addition people that you tell also have other networks they are connected to. This means that you can access very many people by just telling a single person.

Spamming

Send all your email contacts the URL to your blog and hope they will follow and hear what you have to say. You may also join mailing lists that connect you to thousands of people without the need to know their emails. A good place to start is to spam back all those people who fill up the spam folder in your email.

In addition create an email signature with your website along telephone number, title and/or disclaimer.

Leverage social media

After each post to your blog you can announce it on your LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook status and get more people to follow the links and land on your blog. If they like what you blog about, they will explore and comment. This has a big impact since links from the highly ranked sites to yours will improve your page rank resulting in your site moving a little bit higher in results.

Furthermore, update your profile to show your blog address so that people who view your profile and want to know more about you can also see you have a blog and visit it in order to pique your mind. Still on social media, Follow buttons and options to subscribe by email or feed can help retain followers who want to follow your posts.

Commenting on websites with your signature

Often you may read articles on the web and leave you comments. You may append your blog URL after your comment and maybe even your twitter handle to get new people to check out your blog. If the sites rank higher than your blog, it might improve your page rank if people follow the links.

For example if your blog is about Technology, frequent comments (with a backlink to your site) on articles in Technology sites such as TechCrunch may lead a considerable number of visitors to your humble website.

Submit your URL to all major Search Engines

Don’t wait for search engines to discover your site. If your site is getting a lot of visitors already you need not lift a finger. However if that’s not the case you need to manually submit the URL to your blog. Just type “submitting a website to search engines” in the Google search box and explore.

Webmaster tools

Sign up for webmaster tools. They are free and help you discover interesting statistics about your site. The point is to know where the most traffic from your site comes from and optimize for these visitors. Both Google and Bing offer these tools. You just sign in with your Google or Windows Live ID and follow instructions.

If you find you enjoy using webmaster tools especially from Google, you can go on and try Google Analytics and Google Adsense. If you can get the crowds to visit your blog then you can also get them to earn you revenue every time someone clicks on advertisements on the blog.

7 cures for a lean purse

2011-11-21T02:01:00.000-08:00

Time and again we hear Bruno Mars on radio wallowing or stumble on him goofing off on TV. However, he brings out an important wish; to become wealthy. The rules for acquiring, retaining and building wealth are simple, universal and unchanging.

The fun part is there is no prerequisite and believe or not it’s not a secret. But then again we’ve read lots of tales in fat tomes about getting rich. The truth is always simple. Following are the seven remedies for your broke ass.

cure 1: start thy purse to fattening

A part of what you earn is yours to keep. It’s recommended to save AT LEAST a tenth of whatever you earn. Thy purse will start to fatten at once and its increasing weight will feel good in thy hand and bring satisfaction to thy soul.

cure 2: control thy expenditures

A budget is a good place to start. One may write down all their expenses then mark those that are necessary and additional ones that are possible on the remaining 9/10 of earnings and forget the rest. A strange truth is that expenses will always grow to equal your earning unless you make an effort to prevent that from happening, the so called hedonic treadmill.

cure 3: make thy gold multiply

Now that your purse is fattening and you have nipped your expenses in the bud you might continue saving forever with no end in sight. I mean, what do you earn you miserable peasant? Who are you? Okay let’s continue. Identify a profitable investment that will guarantee returns and then keep ploughing back profits. You will soon find out the power of compounding.

cure 4: guard thy treasures from loss

Once in a while there will be temptations to invest heavily in plausible projects. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. The first instinct should always be security for your capital. Is it redeemable from this so called perfect opportunity and if so will it rake in reasonable dividends? Here is where you seek EXPERT ADVICE. It is usually free. Don’t ask your barber about treasury bonds because they know zilch about it.

cure 5: make of thy dwelling a profitable investment

Chances are that you don’t own the house you live in while this is a perfect opportunity for enterprise. By the time you arrive at this step it may be quite easy to borrow a loan to construct/buy your own house since you can demonstrate a clean bill of financial health.

The logic for borrowing for construction is that now you can repay loans with rent money (which you would have paid anyway) and the debt reduces after each installment leaving you with valuable property at the end of it all. Hope you don’t live near an airport.

cure 6: insure a future income

You will undoubtedly grow old but still need comfort. Since old tongues love to wag, let’s hope you will have something to wag about. Many ways exist such as owning properties to pension schemes whatever works for you.

cure 7: increase thy ability to earn

Finally you must cultivate your power to acquire skills, knowledge and wisdom to remain relevant and get rewarded richly in whatever it is you do.

Its time I started writing this blog from a rustic villa atop white sands with an excellent view of the blue ocean. Having smelt the cheese, I’m sure you want a bite. Here’s the whole of it: The Richest Man in Babylon

Smart Points for Charity

2011-09-01T04:26:00.001-07:00

Many people always try their best to help the orphans, destitute and needy through charity. However most of us do it once in a while as it is not always easy or even possible to be there most of the times. Take an example of the recent Kenyans for Kenyans initiative. Successful as is was, it will only help for this specific hunger period and a major contribution to its success is the fact that easy accessible channels were available and very many people threw in something however small. What if there was a more permanent way to give continuously without feeling any pressure on any of the parties involved?

A big problem in helping is finding the right channel to give. Sometimes even if there exists a channel to give, one may not have enough to make an impact by themselves. Consider the scenario below.

Whenever one goes to a supermarket especially the big chains, they are usually asked whether they have a smart card if they make a reasonably big purchase so that they gain loyalty points for shopping. In many cases it is such that whatever you are buying is quite small and so it is not practical to swipe your card, assuming you have one. Many people do not also have these cards though free, or they may have forgotten yet this scenario is an excellent opportunity to give.

Picture this. If there was a card for a particular let’s say children’s home that was attached to a particular supermarket branch. Let’s christen the home “Watoto Children’s Home” and the supermarket “Bidhaa Moto Moto Supermarket” for illustration purposes. So there is an agreement between Bidhaa Moto Moto Supermarket and Watoto Children’s home such that any time a customer doesn’t have a smart card or they have forgotten theirs the Watoto card is swiped instead or a smart point account at Bidhaa for Watoto is credited since there is more than one cashier so you need more than one card in order to capture every possible point. At the end of each month or a reasonable period, Watoto may purchase stuff they need from Bidhaa Moto Moto Supermarket using the collected points just as you would when redeeming your points.

To the customers this will become their contribution to charity however small. Moreover, a customer who is aware of this arrangement may once in a while forfeit taking the points for themselves and contribute them to Watoto if they feel the need to give. To Watoto Children’s Home which is attached to a branch of Bidhaa Supermarket or supermarket chain, this would mean another source of much-needed income to secure basic needs. Why then would Bidhaa Supermarket agree to this idea you would now be asking? This is an excellent opportunity to practice CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) for Bidhaa Supermarket and also assist where limited or no methods for assistance existed before. It will also complement the coin collection tins at the cashiers into which you may or may not throw in those 3 shillings you got for change and instead took a sweet and 2 Mr. Berries.

What’s more the population is at breaking point and these people have to purchase at supermarkets and new malls are coming up everywhere you look. What if the idea becomes successful at one supermarket? I am sure we would all enjoy the domino effect as all the others followed suit. So if you are affiliated with a children’s home or similar and believe in possibilities why not take up this idea as your own and approach an appropriate supermarket.

Any views, criticism, more ideas, initiatives or comments are welcome to further refine this idea and help make it reality if turns out to be sound.

Solve any Sudoku puzzle

2011-07-18T02:20:00.000-07:00

Sudoku has become quite popular and addictive for those with enough time to waste. However a good number of people give up whenever they reach a place where no more clues seem to be forthcoming or resort to trial and error methods such as using a pencil and guesswork so that it’s easy to backtrack if they make a mistake.

However, using a few simple observations, you will find a hard time coming across a Sudoku you can’t solve confidently without guessing. Before we embark let us review a few fundamentals or steps.

· Always look out for the numbers with a large frequency and try to begin by filling those ones out.

· After filling in a number always check how the new entrant affects the row, column or cube (a cluster of 9 cells) it appears in. This may be followed by trying to fill out the remaining numbers in the affected row/column/cube.

After you reach the point where it seems impossible to continue without guesswork you may try to apply the following tricks. They supply new numbers which may impossible to fill using normal rules.

1. Look for cubes/rows/columns with 3 empty slots remaining given that each has nine slots. In fig. 1 the cube highlighted in yellow has three slots remaining.

The number remaining in that cube are 1, 7 and 8. The slot marked X can only be 8 since there is 1 and 7 in column 2 already.

Another example has been supplied to reinforce the idea. In fig.2 the yellow cube has 3 remaining slots. Try and find out which number goes to the slot marked with an x. answer: 9. Numbers 5, 6 and 9 are remaining. 5 and 6 appear in column 7 leaving 9 as the number to go into slot x.

Another unrelated case in fig. 2 shows this situation in a row setting rather than cube. The 8^th row has 3 empty cells remaining (to be filled with 4, 6 or 9). Numbers 6 and 9 already appear on column 7 leaving the slot marked by z to be filled with 4.

1. Another trick is to assume that some numbers can only go into certain cells without the need to know exactly which ones. In fig. 3 number 1 in the 9^th row/last row ensures that number 1 in the cube highlighted with blue can only appear in either slot marked by z.

With that in mind, the slot marked x in the yellow cube can be safely filled with a 1. You either see it or you don’t. In another example as shown in fig. 4 the 2 appearing in column 1 row 8 ensures that a 2 can only appear in the slots marked z in the cube highlighted by blue.

After applying either one of these observations it might pay off to revert to the normal rules until the next dead end. Enjoy.

Laptop Theft

2011-05-17T01:48:00.000-07:00

Everyone now has a laptop. That's very good and commendable but how safe is it? Laptop theft is now with us, here, breathing slowly and waiting for us to sleep on the ball then rear is ugly head. Since we do not know who the thief is and when they will strike the best we can do is to try and clip their wings.

So how do we go about it. First let us review the two typical theft scenarios. One is opportunistic theft where some random person stumbles on an opportunity. Maybe you just decided to take a call round the corner and left your computer unmanned for a moment and when you get back voila! The second scenario is where the "thief" does know who you are and has plans for you so they are just lurking somewhere in wings waiting to strike.

There are many solutions lying around including insurance. But it is very likely you do not want to pay premiums just because you suspect. You might as well save up for a second machine! The most practical option in sight is a physical security cable akin to those seen in computer shops. This is a lightweight metal cable no more than a meter long and coated with a rubber tube. It has a metal lock that goes into the security slot in laptops, projectors or even gaming consoles. On the other end is a small loop that hangs onto an immoveable heavy object such as a fixed table.

So what if the thief comes along with some cable cutter or tears out the cable. First it is suspicious to walk around with cable cutters, second yanking out the cable may lead to serious damage which is not very wise assuming the motive is to sell the stolen equipment. But what if it is for malice? Like a competitor attempting to scuttle the launch of a new innovation or simply the Gestapo looking for God knows what. Having said that, let's turn to software.

Enough software exists that claims to track stolen equipment. The truth is it is hard to choose. The most appealing came in the name of "Prey". This is open source and free and relies on the assumption that the robber might decide not to format the stolen device or sanitize the hard disk and then go on to access the internet. The software enlists support for over 500 devices including phones, sings about the location details and even takes a photo (if webcam present) of the new owner happily Facebooking away. Heaven have mercy if the face is that of your old time very good Christian pal. Google will tell you more.

Funding for your business ideas

2011-01-30T07:19:00.000-08:00

Starting a business is often a challenge for most people. At a recent conference where several startups were presenting their ideas to a remarkable panel in order to obtain funding, the following concepts came out clearly. First you have to come up with a feasible idea which must seem to be profitable. Next is the mountain that drives everybody crazy; capital. Finally you have to implement your idea since it will not materialize by itself. Just like starting a fire you might have lots of fuel and be full of air but you still need a flame to have a blast.

But before setting foot into the murky waters you must find out who your customers or target audience is. Collect all the statistics you can on your market since it’s always good to have the numbers on your fingers especially when making a presentation or a pitch to potential investors. Again there is always the issue of how your target customers will know of your product or service. Several marketing methods came out such as using social media e.g. Facebook or Twitter, face-to-face contact, posters, newspapers or even spamming (Sending information or URL links for your site to all the email addresses you can lay your hands on). The last method may irk some people but they will get the message anyway.

Another issue is how you will launch your product/service. Some products may be free during the pilot period followed by subscription if the initial customers liked what you had to offer. For example a dating site may let potentials send each other gifts and flirts before hitting them with a subscription fee once the “love ” starts running deep. On the same breath you must know how your business is going to rake in money. Some of the revenue streams out there include premium SMS messages, recruitment/joining fees and transaction fees especially for online businesses.

A business may also decide to advertise on their site with advertisers paying for their listings either per month or CPC (cost per click) i.e. they pay for every click on their advertisement. One fact that came out strongly was that a good business adds value i.e. customers should enjoy a new service that wasn’t there and is worth their money or the service was already there but it has added or unique features that drive customers to choose yours over others.

If your business relies on software you must check whether the software already exists and justify why building your own is better than buying say COTS (Commercial off the shelf software). Customization of other software especially Open Source software (Software that has a free License and can be altered and redistributed without copyright constraints) is also another option here. Assuming you are pitching your business you must give sufficient reasons that demonstrate your need for funding i.e. expansion to new markets, marketing, creating new products/services etc.

Finally, you must have exit strategies handy. An exit strategy is simply what you intend to do with your company once it becomes too large and powerful for a few individuals or when you encounter unfavorable conditions. Strategies include acquisition by new players, listing on the stock exchange or you can refuse with it until you die. In reality many startups don’t make it that far and it’s always good to “see” the progress of your business a number of years into the future especially if your main business activity ceases to be profitable. This ensures sustainability. Also getting your idea out there is always a good thing since you may get new perspectives and improve the idea or even catch the attention of an angel investor. Some people might argue that their idea may be stolen and choose to develop in stealth mode but the truth is for every idea you conceive there are hundreds of other people toying around with something similar.

Resetting your windows XP password

2011-01-13T04:13:00.001-08:00

My goodness! You are still using Windows XP. My Oh my, and you have lost your password! Good grief! You must be making this stuff up. Sit back, relax, for there is no need for alarm since you don’t have to lose your data or get locked out. You don’t even need to have funny sounding tools to get back inside. All you need is your Windows XP installation CD and you are good to go. This method, however, works only for standalone computers and not those on a domain.

The first step is to put the CD in the tray and shut down your locked pc (Make sure you write the key on the CD elsewhere before putting it in). Reboot and wait for the prompt "press any key to boot from CD" Do exactly that then wait for the setup to copy files. Meanwhile just stare shamelessly at the blue screen. After some time the setup screen will appear. Choose to install Windows now.

Select F8 to accept the terms and conditions. Next is a screen with all the copies of windows you have installed. Move the Up and Down arrow keys to select your XP installation. If you only have one it is already selected. Press R to repair which will take another several minutes. You will be prompted to reboot or the system will reboot automatically after 15 seconds. Ignore the "press any key to boot from CD" prompt this time and let installation resume. The Installing windows screen will appear. This is our much awaited security hole. Keep your eyes on the lower left hand side of the screen and when you see the "Installing Devices" progress bar press SHIFT+F10.

A command prompt window materializes from nowhere with its characteristic black background and a blinking cursor. At this point you can start grinning as you type NUSRMGR.CPL and press Enter. Voila!! The user accounts dialog appears and you can remove your old password or create a new one for all the accounts on that computer. If you choose to create a new one you can also (optional) type "control userpasswords2" at the command prompt without the quotes to logon without entering your new password.

When you are satisfied with the changes you have made you can now close the windows and continue with the Repair. Have your key in hand. After the Repair you are now back in. All settings and programs should remain intact. However one side effect may decide to manifest i.e. the appearance may not be optimal in which case you just change the screen resolution or reinstall display drivers tasks equivalent to throwing stones at a monkey.

Remain anonymous online

2010-10-17T07:57:00.000-07:00

Hurray! to all this cheap internet frenzy. You can now start living on the Internet. For those using dial up connections like modems, gone are the days when you had to take measures such as bookmarking regularly visited sites or disabling images in your browser to reduce browsing and downloaded content to preserve your hard earned money since you are charged per MB.

Hurray! to SIM card registration meaning all those scumbags plotting nefarious schemes to threaten and blackmail you or ask for impossible ransoms from unknown numbers are now gone. Wait a minute, yes, the privacy is gone too! Anyone with a "reason" to invade your privacy and enough "clout" real or perceived can now breeze in at your ISP (Internet Service Provider), henchmen in tow and inquire on your online behaviors then draw conclusions or use the information in other dangerous ways. Worse still it might be the chap at the server with all the rights, the one who always looks very distinguished in a suede jacket never mind it's to protect them from the biting cold in the server room/closet. Were it not an office environment, it may as well be a jungle jacket.

And why might anyone want to spy on you? Oh, the reasons are countless. It might be your competitors wanting to mitigate your rising onslaught in the market or you may have affiliates from the green-eyed tribe who don't want you attempting anything that might lead to your prosperity. "No we can't have that, can we?" they are always muttering to themselves and to each other. You might also be trying to access non-approved content without being found out by the IT team. The reasons are infinite.

The easiest way to remain anonymous online is to employ the use of anonymous proxies or the ssh protocol which requires some installation of this and that. But if you don't have the time or know how to do ssh, anonymous proxies will suffice. An anonymous proxy is a server which scrambles or garbles whatever you browse including search strings, your location and computer name or IP address so that the history you leave behind is not human readable and cannot be deduced in reasonable time rendering any monitoring activities akin to chasing the wind. And who are you to forbid the wind from blowing? The king of France is rumored to have attempted this feat in the days of yore. How it eventually went down is not clear but we can make a good guess. There are many free proxy servers for your indulgence out there and some good examples include hidemyass.com, nuip.net and so on you get it.

While such tactics may not protect you forever, it is a good start in frustrating the efforts of hostile parties and give you ample time to make good your endeavors before the "shit" hits the proverbial fan.

A printing solution worth a try

2010-10-03T22:27:00.000-07:00

So you want to start a printing business? Better yet you want to upgrade your old printer to a newer one that is more efficient. If there is the slightest thought about cost efficiency in your imagination, there is one solution you might want to consider. The Epson printer.

Epson!! Isn't that one reserved for the rich and shameless? It was, but that was long time ago. All technological devices have their cons and for printers it is the fact that ink is more expensive than even the printer itself! You may acquire a printer for as little as KSh. 2500 or as much as KSh. 20,000 but that is not the main issue.

Refilling cartridges or replacing them is the worst nightmare cost-wise. Even in the prestigious offices employees almost always have second thoughts before they dare print anything and then have to approach the printer gingerly in case the boss ambushes them midway and unleashes a tirade.

Epson cartridges are generally not refillable and cost about Ksh. 2400 each and there might be four to six of them in your printer depending on the model as shown in figure 1. Each catridge holds about 10ml of ink and doesn't even last that long no matter how careful you are. The drill is similar for almost all other printer brands.

Figure 2

Figure 1

However, all these costs are needless. Almost all Epson printers can now be fitted with a device popular known as CISS which is an acronym for Continous Ink Supply System shown in figure 2. The bad news is that device is not shipped with the printer and has to be fitted separately. It follows that you will cough about Ksh. 4500 give or take a few redds for it and then your pain is over for good.

The good news is that the device will cut your printing costs by a substantial amount that you will even feel the burden lifting off your shoulders or more practically your printing budget will approach nil save for paper. In addition, the cost of the CISS is less than two cartridges and comes full of ink equivalent to many more cartridges. On the adverts they say costs will decrease by 98%. Hell as far as I am concerned they can put down 110% but I guess they have to maintain plausibility.

Anyway I am not here to pitch for Epson but to point you in the right direction lest you spend 400 years in the desert looking for the elixir of life while it is just under your nose the whole time. Since not all printers are supported it would be wise to do some research before indulging.

After acquiring the printer and CISS (the CISS is usually installed where it is sold for a small fee like Ksh. 150) you are good to go. You will also be given free maintenance support on how to maintain everything yourself as compared to those technicians who will charge you an arm and a leg for some triviality. The ink that supplied initially in the CISS usually lasts for several months regardless of your printing behaviors. Each time the printer blinks red to show there is no ink in the catridges you just need to unplug for 30 seconds and plug back in and pap! all lights green. You can find more info about maintenance Here. Even though the advice pertains to a specific model it is usable on all others.

As the saying goes, it is not yet over until the fat lady sings. If ink in the reservoirs of the CISS is very low you just buy another 100ml of the required ink for about Ksh. 250 and refill the reservoir. Enjoy your printing.

Cracking the HUAWEI modem

2010-09-21T04:21:00.000-07:00

Are you tired of depending on one mobile provider to handle your browsing? Are you reluctant to fork out some cash so that your HUAWEI modem can be unlocked? Look no further. Cracking your modem free is as easy as winking, provided you have the right tools.

The first step is to locate the IMEI number of your device which is boldly typed on its backside. Second step is to click Here and enter the 15 digit number into the input box at the center of the page (you can't surely miss it!). Enter the security code and hit the calculator button.

Voila! There is the unlock code in red together with some other numbers which are nice to look at and also make the exercise feel very techy. We are halfway done having ran our quarry to the ground, now we go in for the kill.

Click Here to acquire the tools. Download the zip file and extract. Find CardLock_UnLock.exe and ignore the rest of the files (Their purpose is to do what we have already accomplished so far). Put a SIM card other than Safaricom in your modem i.e. the SIM card should not be the native SIM. Insert your modem and wait for the program to launch. The input pin dialog comes up. Click ignore then file >> exit. Double click CardLock_Unlock.exe and enter the unlock code you obtained. Click Unlock.

You are now done and can insert any SIM card. Below are typical Internet settings that you may need.

Go to Tools >> options >> Profile management >

1. SAFARICOM (Default)

Click 'new'
Profile name: Safaricom
click 'static'
APN: safaricom
Access No. *99#
click 'save'

2. YU

Click 'new'
Profile name: YU
click 'static'
APN: internet

Access No. *99#
click 'save'

3. ORANGE

Click 'new'
Profile name: Orange Edge
click 'static'
APN: bew.orange.co.ke
Access number *99***1#
click 'save'

4. AIRTEL

click 'new'
Profile name: Airtel
click 'static'
APN: ke.celtel.com
Access No. *99#
click 'save'

As for the data offers, we are again spoilt for choice. Sample the updated bundles from their sites:

Airtel

Orange

Safaricom