Thoughts from Tomi

Notice of Revocation of Independence

2012-01-19T16:45:00.001Z

MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2012

In light of recent events and the numerous requests received, Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, local governments and wards hitherto known as Nigeria. Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, local governments and wards including Lagos and excepting Borno, which she does not fancy. Your new prime minister (The rt. hon. David Cameron, MP for the 97.85% of you who have until now been unaware that there is a world outside your borders) will appoint a minister for Nigeria without the need for further elections. The House of Assembly and the Senate will be disbanded.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary. Then look up "embarrassed". Check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it. Generally, you should raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. Look up "vocabulary". Using the same twenty seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "ooo" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. Look up "interspersed".
There is no such thing as "Pigeon English". We will let NTA know on your behalf.
You should learn to distinguish the English and American accents. It really isn't that hard.
Nollywood will henceforth be required to have English actors as bosses in all of their movies.
You should relearn your original national anthem, "God Save The Queen", but only after fully carrying out task 1. We would not want you to get confused and give up half way through.
You should declare war on Cameroon and France, using black magic if they give you any merde. The 98.85% of you who were not aware that there is a world outside your borders should count yourselves lucky. The Ghanaians have never been the bad guys. "Merde" is French for "shit".
October 1^st is no longer a public holiday. June 12^th will be a new national holiday, but only in England. It will be called "Indecisive Day".
Arrest IBB and OBJ for treason
All members of this British Crown Dependency will be required to take six weeks annual vacation and observe statutory tea breaks.
Driving on the left is now compulsory - recall all cars to effect the change immediately.
Report to our Consulate General in Lagos - N Lugard - for your new passport and job allocation.
Have Genevieve Nnaji report to Prince Andrews Bedchamber.
Add the Royal insignia to the top of the Abuja Monument - and the Queens Christmas speeches to the Tafawa Balewa Square.
Learn at least the first 4 lines of "God Save The Queen"
All national law-enforcement will de-arm and surrender all weapons to the Queens Colony Constabulary and assume operating control under the direction of the Lord High Constable of The Nigerian Colony.
The American Armed Forces will be reorganized and renamed as Her Majesty's Royal Guard.

Tax collectors from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all revenues due (backdated to October 1^st 1960).

A Challenge to Nigerian Leadership

2012-01-10T08:39:00.001Z

I have watched and listened as my dear country Nigeria in the last few days has erupted with anger in reaction to the the fully justifiable if ill-timed removal of the government subsidy on petrol. Listening to the Finance Minister on BBC yesterday an otherwise erudite and quite forthright individual, I could not help but think of how cocooned she and her colleagues seem to be from the realities of conversations I have been privileged to participate in with common Nigerians on the matters at hand.

The subsidy removal is just a red flag that has let loose the bull of mistrust, disappointment, disdain and anger Nigerians feel towards our politicians and Governments due to the excesses as seen by people. The good news is that in my opinion, the situation is still redeemable and easily so. The first thing that must be done is that the peoples trust must be regained even without removing the subsidy which we all know had become the banner child of the country's corruption. It will not be easy but here are my "10 Challenges" for doing so:
I HEREBY CHALLENGE MR PRESIDENT, THE GOVERNORS, THE SENATE, FEDERAL AND STATE HOUSES OF ASSEMBLY TO EMPATHIZE WITH OTHER NIGERIANS BY:

Enacting a law that makes proven theft of public funds a crime with a minimum sentence of 20 Years
Removing the immunity laws at both State and Federal levels
Selling the Presidential Fleet and travelling business class by commercial airlines to do the business of Government
Pegging the Presidential, Vice Presidential and Senatorial salaries not to exceed $250,000 per annum
Replacing the Presidential Villa with a moderate 6-10 Bedroom House
Pegging all Presidential (and Vice-Presidential) expenses including security, transport, furnishings, meals etc to no more than $1,000,000 per month
Pegging Federal and State House of Assembly Salaries to the same level as that of Civil Servants
Other than the President (3) the VP (2) and the Head of Senate (2) not allowing any Government official more than one Official vehicle
Removing entitlement to foreign medical treatment for all elected office holders, Government employees and political appointees
Removing the “Office” of the first lady from Federal, State & Local Governments

Fortunately, Pa Chris Kolade already has been appointed to lead the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme Board to appropriately manage the proceeds from subsidy savings. The question is whether or not the Country's leadership is brave enough to lead this way or would they rather rule as are currently perceived to do....

How not to overspend on your project!

2011-12-01T16:15:00.001Z

As a project manager the first way to ensure you do not overspend is to get all our assumptions checked by the stakeholder’s right from the onset of the project. This may involve a meeting to discuss details and then getting them to sign off your initiation document. The initiation document must be detailed and contain unambiguous and quantified requirements for the project. The earlier you do this the less money it will cost the project in terms of time and materials.

Often the easy way of accomplishing this is to get the stakeholders to clearly define their requirements either in a scoping session, meeting or document.The more clearly the requirements are defined the better. As the project manager you can verify the cost of labour and materials needed based on this information and share back with the stakeholders for their “approval”. As long as stakeholders have approved the expected outcome, assumptions and other requirements-related information, you can be more assured that your focus on detailed planning and delivery has a better chance to succeed!

I must emphasize here that Project costs are not defined solely in monetary amounts. Start by including actual amounts from pro-forma invoices and quotations, with shipping, taxes, and fees applicable for all consultants, contractors, equipment, properties, software, hardware, connectivity and consumables purchases that must be made for the project. Pro-rate costs of using pre-existing resources and materials such as buildings and automobiles. While planning, it is important that as a Project manager you develop realistic Plans with estimates that are as close as possible to the known values. Using historical information from similar projects carried out in the past to assist in the estimation process is best practice that should not be overlooked.

After identifying, estimating and verifying all project related costs, as a good PM you should consider the impact of risks on the project and develop a risk budget to cover risk management and mitigation activities. Start by identifying project scope, schedule and resource risks then assign a percentage to each risk factor reflecting how much it may affect some or all of the project. Once completed, allocate appropriate cost estimates to each of the risk related activities. The risk budget is the total of all the costs of these activities in financial terms multiplied by the assigned risk percentage of each cost.
Equally important in the financial planning of the project is the inclusion of a change budget which covers additional expenses that might be incurred by changes that are expected in the project.

It is critically important, that you involve the project team members in the budget planning and estimation process ensuring that all items in the WBS are costed and adequately budgeted for. As a rule, a project budget should always be labeled as an estimate, until it is finalised and approved by the sponsor and/or funding executive or committee as the case may be. This single step helps to ensure expectations can be appropriately managed and miscommunication prevented during the project.

Some projects defy human control and at times even with the best laid plans and availability of resources, completion of the project to time and budget cannot be guaranteed. There are however two activities project managers can carry out continuously during the project to help ensure the project stand a fighting chance of being completed to budget:

Monitor Expenses Closely and Regularly: This means keeping track of all project expenditure in comparison with the value created by the spending. You might want to consider using the well tried and tested Earned Value Technique for monitoring costs making sure that corrective action is immediately taken in the case of any cost overrun.
Control the Costs: The fastest way project managers lose control of project costs is through scope creep - "more time, better quality, additional resources". Preventing this can be achieved by making sure all stakeholders are aware of and adhere to a Change Control process for the project.

Regardless of how close you come to reality, any project sponsor will be much happier if your project comes in below budget than over it. It's your duty as project manager, no matter the project, to take a serious interest in the project spend/burn rate, and to continually report progress versus budget to the sponsor and funding source no matter how unwelcome the news might be. The advantage such reporting in addition to carrying the key stakeholders along is that it makes it easier to recover when the project goes off the spending track.

By following the simple guidelines I've suggested in this blog and applying some common sense, you can be assured that as a PM, you, your project team and stakeholders will enjoy the benefits of a well-budgeted project that is unlikely to overspend.

Why Budget?

2011-11-29T19:30:00.001Z

All project managers are familiar with the three constraints on which the success of every project is rested. This tripod includes: scope, time and budget. All these elements are interrelated and each must be managed effectively. All must be managed together if the project, and the project manager, is to deliver the project objectives to all stakeholders.

My next few blogs will focus on the third of the constraints; the budget. A budget is a baseline used to determine whether the project is on track. While It’s is generally agreed that human wants are limitless but the means (funds) to satisfy them are limited, we discover that in many projects, much more than should be spent actually gets spent on the project. Many large companies and government often take their eyes off the budget and the control of same during the course of a project which has the resulting implication of project failure with some of such project abandoned midway due to lack of funds given the budget over shoot or executed at such rates that its value to the stakeholders is now defeated.

The way a project budget is put together goes a long way in influencing the implementation of the project. Indeed, the process of preparing a project budget is an opportunity for all internal stakeholders, to contribute to the overall project plan and ensure that all possible project costs are accounted for. The project budget also finds great use as a financial reporting tool for the project manager and helps provide a monitoring hold throughout the life cycle of the project.

Cloud-Powered Facial Recognition Is Redefining Anonymity

2011-10-02T22:06:00.000+01:00

A redefinition of what we the human race consider the words "anonymous", "private" and "personal" to mean is becoming mandatory as "....cloud-based facial recognition services rely on finding publicly available pictures of you online, whether it's a profile image for social networks like Facebook and Google Plus or from something more official from a company website or a college athletic portrait...while...the process of matching a casual snapshot with a person's online identity takes less than a minute".

Cloud-Powered Facial Recognition Is Terrifying - Jared Keller - Technology - The Atlantic

Wanted Dead - WIMAX! Price - US$1 Billion

2011-09-17T07:39:00.002+01:00

Last year (2010) the Indian Government’s Department of Telecom (DoT) conducted a wireless broadband airwaves (BWA) auction which ended in June reaping it a windfall of US$8.23 billion. It was widely reported at the time that US chip giant Qualcomm shelled out over $1bn (Rs 4.9bn) for license in Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala one of the largest investments it has ever made outside the US.

According to Qualcomm, it applied for a prerequisite ISP licence through locally incorporated entities that are fully owned subsidiaries of Qualcomm Incorporated who explicitly stated in their August applications that they are Qualcomm Inc nominees. Bharti Airtel was all set to buy Qualcomm’s India broadband wireless licenses for US$ 1.2 bn as Qualcomm had always expressed interest in selling its licenses (more on that later), saying it believed Bharti’s move to acquire the licenses would keep any potential new competitor out of India.

A senior official from India’s DoT has however said that the company did not apply for and acquire licences within three months of the wireless broadband airwaves (BWA) auction, saying that although the auctions ended in June, Qualcomm did not apply for permits until December concluding that “this was beyond the validity period for applying and acquiring the relevant licence” according to telecoms.com

Qualcomm could lose its over $1bn and wireless broadband service permits if the Indian DoT which informed Qualcomm of the situation last week maintains that the application for licences was invalid and cancels Qualcomm’s permits.

Qualcomm has been quick to respond saying that the DoT on reviewing the applications had asked its four subsidiaries to submit proof of being Qualcomm’s nominees, which is what Qualcomm Inc responded to in December subsequent to which the DoT’s licensing unit has been in communication with the companies about issuing the license. It added that Qualcomm and the four subsidiaries, have written to DoT and met with its officials subsequently on a number of occasions requesting expedition of their licensing process. It seems that the DoT’s view if it is to accept the validity of Qualcomm’s application at all is that only one license instead of four should be granted an interpretation of the rules that Qualcomm has been quick to accept in the interest of expediting its licensing process.

What I find very interesting is the reason Qualcomm is putting itself through this labyrinth of spectrum and services licensing in India. That is the fact that Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs admitted last year that the company's spectrum purchase was a deliberate bid to block the progress of WiMAX technology in India, to favour LTE. “I really believe that [the BWA] spectrum was all headed for WiMAX,” he said at the time. “Our big bet is on LTE and we wanted to make sure that there was a place for LTE in India. We were concerned that if both of those bands had gone to WiMAX it would have helped to reinvigorate that ecosystem.”

Qualcomm had initially said it would hold the licensed spectrum for two years to demonstrate the viability of TD-LTE its alternative to WIMAX technology but then decided to sell immediately with the condition the buyers only use its own technology across the country. The Wimax Forum, the industry body that oversees certification of WIMAX equipment cried "sabotage" then but neither the Indian Government nor the industry at large seemed to care.

...and so WIMAX died...long live LTE!

If you buzz and don't succeed..

2011-07-13T20:40:00.001+01:00

I am writing this blog because I have just spent the last few days playing with Google's latest attempt at social networking G+ and I am definitely NOT leaving Facebook.

I signed up for Google plus courtesy of a friend who was already on it. Google first forced me to merge (or alter or whatever it did) my two different gmail accounts personal and private into one (duh) before I could get on as a bona fide G+ user. I found that a few of my contacts were already on but on closer inspection discovered it was the usual bleeding edge of technology users.

I then tried the "Move YOUR Facebook Albums to Picasa and share it with your Circle" application which is now a Chrome extension (meant downloading Chrome) which promptly deposited ALL my Facebook pictures into Picassa folders but guess what - I now have to tag them all over again AND caption them too. With more than 200 photographs captioned over the years - I don't think I will bother.

Circles - this is supposed to be the new real deal that will wow us to leaving Facebook in droves. Well I got news for you - I really don't need to bucket information out to my groups this way thanks. Besides I have over 1,000 contacts and don't really want the pain of separating them one at a time yet again - Outlook already does that for me.

There's Home which is basically the same as FB's where you get a stream of status updates, comments and content from anyone you've allowed to shoot you stuff. (see the screenshot below)

Then there's photo's (read Picassa), Profile where all my stuff can be accessed by moi and the infamous Circles which allows you to group your contacts.

Anyway to cut the story short - there's way too much non-intuitive new stuff to do and I can't help feeling Google is abusing my personal data the way it presents my profile and setting. I will therefore wait to see what others say but my vote on G+ for now is a thanks but no thanks - lets see if critical mass changes my mind.
TD

BE A SOURCE OF ENCOURAGEMENT

2011-05-14T10:06:00.003+01:00

"Most of us have no idea how much other people's emotions, self-esteem and hopes are influenced by what we say. Paul said, 'Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus... have been a wonderful encouragement to me.' If you've never heard of them, it's because most encouragers hate being the centre of attention. They're happy to work in a supporting role. But without them very little would get done.

The opposite of giving encouragement is spreading discouragement, and Paul says, 'Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up... that it may benefit those who listen' (Ephesians 4:29 NIV). Jesus said, '...[You'll] give account... by your words you will be justified, and... condemned' (Matthew 12:36-37 NKJV). What you say can never be taken back, and it'll be used as evidence for or against you one day.

Dr Thomas Blackaby points out, 'Words... can leave scars for a lifetime, and many people will never forget some of the things you've said to them, both good things, such as words of encouragement, and bad things, such as criticism and rebuke... Make the best possible use of words so they bring blessings on others.'

So, are your words encouraging? Can it be said that there's '...nothing crooked or perverse... in them' (Proverbs 8:8 NKJV)?

Ask God to 'Set a guard... over [your] mouth...' (Psalm 141:3 NKJV) so whatever you say glorifies Him and lifts others up", ..........

Courtesy of UCB through Tunde Arogunmati, 14th May 2011

"What is the Nigerian dream?" and "Who was or will be the dreamer?"

2011-03-27T00:04:00.000Z

To answer this question I did some thinking and it hit me that Nigeria's founding fathers of which my old man was one actually did have a dream! It was encapsulated in the country's original National Anthem (1960-1978) which I have paraphrased into the following prayer:

"Oh God of all creation grant this request that we build Nigeria our own dear native land into a nation where though tribe and tongue differ each generation stands in brotherhood to hand on to its children a sovereign Motherland where no man is oppressed"

Let me explain my thinking using some of the key words in the Anthem that leap to mind:

God: Not of the one or the other but of ALL

Request: A plea for the future - it does not yet exist but is a continuing exercise

Nigeria our own: Ownership and a clear sense of belonging

Build a Nation: Develop an identity that resonates with individual nationals

Though...(we)...Differ: In spite of our differences or because of our similarities (even if its just the fact that we are co-located in the same geography on the planet)

Tribe: We have an innumerable collection of groups of human beings with various cultures

Tongue: We are rich with different languages and forms of self-expression

Brotherhood: Collective harmony not exclusive excellence

Hand on to our children: Transitional ownership; succession and future focus

Sovereign: Independent and self-governing without need for unwelcome external influences

Motherland: A land of ancestors, natives and their successors

No man oppressed: Equality under the rule of law

I honestly believe that this is the unfulfilled dream Nigerians have all been unconsciously striving to bring to life and are getting frustrated that its seeds have been killed along the way and are not being resown nor grown.

I welcome all thoughts.

TD

STARTED ANALOG, WENT DIGITAL, GOING INTERNET

2010-08-05T17:11:00.000+01:00

"The rapidly evolving world of mobile technology that arguably started with the operator assisted Mobile Telephone System (MTS) in North America in 1946 has now blossomed in to the multi-billion dollar industry which according to the ITU had by the end of 2009 an estimated 4.6 billion mobile cellular subscriptions, corresponding to 67 per 100 inhabitants globally. With the imminent arrival of the next generation of this technology known as 4G which uses the same principles as the internet these numbers are set to increase. This is the first in a series of blogs where I take a critical look at it this aspect of our Information Technology world" TD, July 2010

The Mobile Services Proposition => Messaging, Networking, Gaming & Marketing,

In our increasingly time-pressured world, the ability to work selectively has become critical for productivity and work-life balance. As work itself migrates from somewhere to go to something to do wherever you are, mobile technology is taking center stage across the world with devices that offer users a lot more than making and receiving calls. With a new breed of smartphones now starting to make waves as they jockey for market share, the technology is revolutionizing business activities in advertising, marketing, sales and even government services in its wake.

Blackberry

The arrival of mobile tools such as the Blackberry, Windows Mobile, iPhone, Android phones and the like, entertainment and business activities on the go is fast becoming the norm. Chatting with friends, listening to music, taking photographs, booking tickets, placing orders, making payments and even watching movies now happens wherever you can get a signal. Mobile and other digital technologies and contextually relevant content are increasingly being integrated into personalized services that create unique and compelling user experiences. For example parents can now keep track of their children using solutions such as Zentracker and Google Latitude which lets you see where your friends are right now on your phone, computer, or both. With Zentracker, a parent only needs to send an SMS to their child’s phone to be told exactly where the child is.

Adding fuel to this raging fire of mobile smartphones use is the uptake of social networking tools such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter that are now in the process of introducing location based services (LBS) which will bring the real world to the mobile Internet by making it possible for users (even when not in motion) to see people and services around them and connect to them instantly. So for example with Ovi by Nokia in partnership with Facebook, instant ‘lifecasting’ of content from phones is now possible allowing people to publish their location, status updates etc. directly to Facebook from their handset wherever they are.

iPhone

In developing countries such as my home country of Nigeria, use of mobile phone text messaging, cameras and email in government and other institutional activities is beginning to play an important role in helping eradicate corruption by improving transparency of politicians and public officials. This is because mobile technology has created personalized journalism where individuals actively collect, report, analyze and publish news. All that's needed is a nearby network tower; a GPRS enabled phone and some airtime credit.

Marketers’ worldwide are increasingly coming to the realization that they can enhance consumer brand equity via the targeted precision and customized experience that mobile as a platform affords over other media. 2009 figures for global mobile marketing and advertising revenues range from $1.4 to $7.5 billion with all analysts expecting the numbers to double within the next five years.

Smartphone

Add to all of this the fact that according to people like David Dalka, increasing penetration of mobile technology has been found to significantly contribute to economic growth especially in developing countries and you begin to understand the optimism that is underpinning its use.

Buzzing, Twittering, Connecting and Facebook – Social Networks Gather Pace!

2010-04-03T15:57:00.003+01:00

Google recently launched Buzz which some see as an attempt to feature in the global social network scene currently dominated by Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and a host of others. That’s prompted the debate some have been having about the pace social networks are gathering in their relevance to our increasingly digital lives. A survey released this January by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that more than one-third of all Americans now have profiles on social-networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, up from just 8 percent in 2005. And it’s not primarily children or teenagers either: The average LinkedIn user is 40 years old; most Twitter users are now 35 and older; and people from 35 to 54 now represent the biggest group of users on Facebook. You can bet that except for some slight cultural and regional skews, the numbers globally are not too far off from the American profile.

Given what may be an impending social networks battle, it’s worth taking a quick look at these social networks and the niche areas each seems to have carved for itself prior to the recent arrival of Buzz. With more than 400 million users, Facebook is the 600 pound Gorilla that is by far the world’s largest social network; Twitter by contrast has only 18 million or so. As of February this year, LinkedIn had more than 60 million registered users, spanning more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. Google’s Gmail’s (the Buzz platform) monthly users numbered around 146 million as of July last year when it was upgraded from beta status.

Facebook is a great way to reconnect with old friends, stay in touch with colleagues and can be useful for getting the word out for building a community around new ideas and business ventures. Twitter is a micro-blogging site that lets you send out 140-character messages called “tweets” to a network of people who have opted to “follow” you, as well as to follow the updates of anyone in your network. People use Twitter to send short bits of useful information, such as business tips or links to interesting articles, to help build their visibility and make new contacts. Linkedin allows registered users to maintain a list of contact details of people they know and trust in business. The people in the list are called Connections. Users can invite anyone (whether a site user or not) to become a connection. So far, reminiscent of Microsoft’s initial attempt at internet dominance, Google has failed to penetrate the social network space as its original stab Orkut only really took off in Brazil and India and its second attempt Wave was seen to be too abstract to get any traction. Buzz is the latest answer designed to undermine Twitter and Facebook by leveraging its Gmail user base.

If you aren’t using social-media sites to interact with remote friends, glean new ideas or tap into career and business opportunities you are missing a trick. The access you get to people via Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and now Buzz is just not available any other way. If you are serious about gaining advantage in the digital world, social networks are no longer optional. LinkedIn for example profiles more than 360,000 businesses and organizations which can be used to gather invaluable intelligence on job openings and opportunities. Twitter offers an opportunity to provide followers with messages that are truly useful (or at least entertaining), so that they’re of value to them. The generally accepted wisdom is that social-network sites can become a time trap, so you need to plan the time you invest in them each week. However when used properly, social networking is one of today’s most cost-effective ways of building professional reputations, finding job opportunities and staying up-to-date with the latest industry news.

Bottom-line, social networking is all about quickly finding people! Especially that wonderful group of people who just might help you succeed in whatever it is you are aiming for.

Ignore Your Performance Evaluation

2010-03-17T09:33:00.000Z

I thought I would share two different stories to bring this statement to life for my mentees. In my previous role with a FTSE 100 retailing organisation, once a year, all employees’ performance were “evaluated” by their line managers based on their role within the organisation. Rob was a new graduate intake whose line manager was Joan a long term employee who had worked her way up from the shop floor and become stuck in middle management. Rob’s role involved a lot of technical details which were beyond Joan’s grasp unlike other areas which she supervised. She had however over the years at the expense of other subordinates working in the area developed a checklist of activities which she used as a system for conducting her evaluations to measure performance. Rob, the new kid on the block decided to apply some of his newly acquired skills from university to the outdated technical activities he was asked to perform in an effort to impress his employers. He managed to produce improved outcomes from his activities in significantly less time than his predecessors and even created documentation of his new approach to getting the job done. Joan’s system however was based on ticking activities conducted and showed Rob only performing 40% of the ones she had on her list with her having no way of identifying that the ones not performed were no longer necessary with Robs new approach. When performance evaluation time came along, Rob was surprised by his “below average” rating by Joan who told him “not to sweat it” and just make sure he did better at the job he was given by making sure he carried out “all” his activities. Rob’s efforts to share his new approach with Joan proved futile. Last year, Robs Company which he started five years ago was contracted by the very same retailer to outsource the Department which conducts the operations that still includes Joan as a supervisor. Had Rob not chosen to ignore the performance evaluation, he would probably still have been in the Department reporting to her and trying to adhere to the activities list. Today, she is now one of his employees.

Aisha was a girl from Senegal who had managed to graduate magna cum laude in Computer Science and Engineering from MIT. She came to work for us when I was heading the Strategy unit of a Software Engineering organisation. She was put into a team headed by David an Irish guy who had learnt his programming skills working at different computer companies in the UK. During her first year with us which was 2000 and the top of the dot com boom, Aisha like all of David’s engineers was rated 5 which meant “top of her game” as the company’s share price sky rocketed to well above $100 and the two founders who owned majority of the shares in the company became “billionaires”. Aisha based on her performance evaluation was of the opinion that her approach to programming which resulted in long delivery times than was necessary was totally acceptable and the norm. No one including myself bothered to really review the staff evaluations even though we prided ourselves on developing our people. Within a year though the story changed dramatically as the dot com bubble burst and the market began to crash around us with the commensurate loss in share price. As the market situation change we as executives looked inward at capacity and how to get leaner and more efficient. As the performance evaluation period drew close, we informed our managers including David that the results of their evaluation would be reviewed by the Executive team. The same individuals who had been rated 4s and 5s just 12 months before were now rated 2s and 3s with Aisha’s evaluation reflecting “cultural challenges” by David. During the review, it came to light that for the two years Aisha had been in the company, no one had informed her that her code (the programs she wrote) were the least efficient produced and always required rewrites by other programmers. This was due to communications difficulties between herself and David who confessed he could not understand anything she said. Unaware of her deficiencies and the subsequent evaluation, when Aisha was called to be told she was being made redundant as part of the restructure exercise, she thought she was being called to be given a raise. If she had ignored the previous evaluation and conducted her own assessment as a basis of self-development, no doubt she would have improved her situation before the axe fell on her.

Let the Tablets Roll In!

2010-01-12T23:08:00.008Z

In my 2009 year-end transition blog, I said that one of the three technology expectations I have for 2010 is slimline touchscreen tablet PCs starting to creep into corporate and educational use of technology.

OLPC leads low cost computing hardware design

This expectation was prompted by my view that OLPC is leading the design direction for low cost netbooks (aka mini notebooks or ultraportables). This is a PC market segment that it arguably created with its introduction of the XO-1 for developing countries in 2007 which then led to most computer hardware manufacturers developing their own low-cost netbooks for the consumer market. The trailblazing XO-1 which was listed by the New York Times as one of "The Decade's Best Design" included innovations such as a waterproof keyboard, sun readable screen, built-in WiFi webcam and microphone.

A year later in 2008, OLPC showed off prototype for a futuristic looking XOXO (aka XO-2) which was set to raise the bar for the low cost laptop market as it was designed to be three things in one:

An eBook reader that can be read outdoors,
a laptop with a touchscreen keyboard
and a dual-screen collaboration tool!

The book-like prototype (or series of nonworking design models) with two touch-sensitive tablets separated by a central hinge was a a hybrid laptop cum tablet which unlike the XO-1, did not make it to production due to cost.

In December 2009, OLPC announced the XO-3 which some have called "A Crazy-Thin Tablet OLPC for Just $75" because the aim is to make the XO-3 tablet PC highly durable, all plastic, waterproof, half the thickness of an iPhone and use less than a watt of power, despite an 8-gigaherz processor and all at an unprecedented price of $75. While the XO-3 is not due until 2012, I believe its sneak preview and the fact that having learnt from the previous two iterations OLPC plans to open the architecture of the device to allow any other PC maker to take over the project that is pressuring the industry to make the cheaper, more education-focused PCs that OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte wants to see.

It may be Apples first...

Anticipation that Apple will launch a Tablet early in 2010 started from rumours that became expecations when the Financial Times reported on its blog that Apple has rented a stage at a venue in San Francisco and will make a "major product announcement" on January 26. Although Apple has never acknowledged that a device exists, guessing games continue to emerge trying to figure out the device’s specs and determining its actual name which according to Mashable.com could be iGuide, iSlate or iSomething all of which Apple has rights to. As for the specs, Analysts have said the tablet will most likely be a touch-screen device that resembles a larger iPhone or iPod touch, and could cost anywhere from $500 to $1,000 technically taking it out of the low-cost computing market.

Microsoft the fast follower?

Taking the keyboard of a laptop leaving only a touch-screen device leaves you with the latest industry buzz-worthy category: the slate. (I say slate and tablet are synonymous!).Microsoft and HP teamed up to announce a "Slate PC" at this years Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The aim of the device which is expected to go on sale later this year is to bridge the gap between laptops and smartphones .
During his keynote address at CES, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer demonstrated the machine in front of an audience of over 3,500 press, bloggers, analysts and industry peers. He also showed off two other tablet computers - one made by Archos and the other by Pegatron Corp.

Expect others to follow!
The IdeaPad U1 Hybrid from Lenovo gives users both a laptop and a tablet in one. When the screen and keyboard base are attached the computers works as laptop but when you detach the HD screen, that portion becomes a tablet. The Lenovo IdeaPad U1 hybrid notebook will be available in June.

Transition to 2010

2009-12-27T15:19:00.016Z

As we trudge through the final days of what has been anything but an uneventful year and start to look ahead in anticipation of an uplifting 2010, I want to reflect a bit on bits and pieces happening in the world of technology.

What we've had till now!

We are starting to have quite an interesting time since a lot of things we grew up with are fast becoming outdated and getting past there "best by" dates. My friends at The Huffington Post list voice phone calling, newspaper classified ads, dial-up internet, encyclopedias, compact discs (CDs), land-line phones, film (and film cameras), yellow pages & address books, catalogs, fax machines, wires (as in cabling etc) and hand written letters as things that became

obsolete this decade due to the rapid adoption (mostly in the developed world I might say) of innovations from text messaging and email to wikipedia, mobile phones, music downloads and of course digital cameras.

The guys at Mashable reckon that the real-time web matured in 2009 and will only get bigger and more essential in 2010. Twitter’s domination of the space has meant that a lot of the new real-time services out there are not as visible even though some of them are serving millions of people already. To help give some idea of what to expect in 2010, they give a roundup of what they consider the five most exciting general applications of the concept in 2009, and give examples of each:

Real-Time Results from Google
Aggregating News As It Happens from PubSubHubbub
Real-Time Social from Facebook + FriendFeed
Real-Time on the Go from Cuil and BNO News
Collaboration Without Delay from Google Wave

A YouTube video suggesting that face recognition cameras installed in HP laptops cannot detect black faces has had over one million views and caused HP to take the matter of their so called Racist computers serious enough to investigate with their partners.

The rising fortunes of Cloud Computing over the past few years has Gartner predicting that "The market for cloud products and services to increase from $46.4 billion to $150.1 billion in 2013". Even though many of us have heard of it, but only a few actually understand what it is and, fewer still how it can benefit them, Mark Anderson of BusinessWeek predicts a big remote-computing service disaster (read Cloud) for 2010

What's coming in 2010?

Last year I talked about my three favorite expectations for 2009. Next year the three I quite like that seem to be on the cards are:

Pedestrian Detection for Cars - Volvo has actually devised a system to prevent pedestrian accidents from taking place and it will be available in a matter of months
Slimline OLPC or the Apple Tablet? - either way expect to see slimline touchscreen tablet PCs starting to creep into corporate and education technology use.
V-Phone - Verizon will be selling a two-way video-conferencing phone called the VPhone by Saygus which CNet say may outshine its brother, the Droid, and its rival, the iPhone.

What we really want?

In case you think we have it all or you've seen it all, there so much more to come its unbelievable. Fortunately for you and I, we have

Mary Bellis tracking Future Technology while a Layperson's View of Future Technology and Society is revealed in The Art of the Possible.

Here's wishing you a fulfilling 2010!

Ode to heritage...

2009-11-13T21:16:00.002Z

Out with the old...

2009-06-27T19:15:00.003+01:00

As we conclude the first half of what I had anticipated would be a year of transition, since according to CNN, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also forecast that the world economy will not recover until 2010, it is becoming increasingly obvious to me that times they are a changing for sure!

In January, Toyot a surpassed General Motors to become the world's largest automaker confirming the establishment of Japanese cars as global mainstream products and consigning the "made in japan" as a low-quality signal to the dust bowls of history. Next stop - South Korean quality.

In January we also saw Barack Obama become the first African American President of what is arguably mans most successful attempt at self organisation as a nation. This brought to an end the old expectation that a White Anglo-Saxton man would always be the next "most powerful man in the world" as a matter of course. Next stop - Madam President!

During the first "rectangle February" since 1998 the number of unique Internet users reached one billion while the number of worldwide connections to cellular networks reached four billion making person to person communications by phone (voice/text) and email as normal a part of life on the planet as turning on the lights. This effectively brought to an end the era of calling places (home, office, club etc) to get a person (mum, the boss, a friend); now we (mostly) call, text or email people directly! Next stop - iReport goes mainstream.

In the same month, Slumdog Millionaire the story of Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who gets arrested just when he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Director. This single event made history of the viewpoint that only Hollywood can make blockbusters of critical acclaim. Next stop - Bollywood introduces Nollywood to Hollywood.

March to my mind did not bring any really noteworthy transition events but millions of people worldwide did recognize Earth Hour by deactivating unnecessary lighting showing an increasing sensitivity towards the planet by its human inhabitants. Next Stop - "What's your carbon footprint?" as cocktail conversation.

In April McKinsey & Co in their presentation “Clearing the Air on Cloud Computing” started a computer industry wide debate that highlighted the beginning of the end of ownership of Data Centres by companies not in the computing industry pretty much like only airlines own commercial planes. While cloud computing is not yet commercially sensible for a lot of companies, its emergence through the likes of Amazon and Google marks the end of an era of ICT infrastructure ownership by non computer companies. Next Stop - "Pay as you use" computing services.

In the same month, the Swine influenza outbreak hits with Mexico reporting 159 deaths and 2,500 suspected cases, the United States suffering its first death from it and the World Health Organization raising its Pandemic Alert Level to five. With the Pandemic Alert Level now at six as air travel made containment impossible, we can dispense with the ancient view of health (or other human factor issues) being contained within national borders. Next Stop - Global health insurance for all

Last month, after over a decade of computer aided warfare in most notably Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States Department of Defense announced the creation of a computer-security military command raising the use (and security) of computers to the highest possible levels in the military. Just like the use of tanks, automatic weapons and the the atomic bomb changed conventional warfare for good so now has the computer with ICBMs, robots, drones and other military uses. Next Stop - Computer to Computer warfare (and I don't mean just viruses)!

May also saw the formal announcement by Microsoft of July 2009 as the release to manufacturing date for its Windows 7 operating system (formerly codenamed Blackcomb and Vienna) for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs and media center PCs. This will bring to an end support for the widely acclaimed Windows XP operating system and (hopefully) removal of its worst ever operating system Windows Vista. According to a performance test by ZDNet, Windows 7 Beta has beaten both Windows XP and Vista in several key areas, including boot and shut down time, working with files and loading documents; other areas, including PC Pro benchmarks for typical office activities and video-editing, remain identical to Vista and slower than XP. Next Stop - Multi-touch PCs!

This month of June 2009 saw the departure of two of my childhood entertainment idols on a single day.

The lesser known of the two Farrah Fawcet popped into my life when she appeared as Jill Munroe in the TV series Charlie's Angels in late seventies. She was one of the three (alongside Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith) sexy female private investigators (Angels) working for Townsend Associates, a detective agency run by "Charlie" a reclusive multi-millionaire whom the women had never met . At that time she was married to the then so billed Bionic 6-million dollar man Lee Majors and used a double barreled (Fawcett-Majors) surname. Her distinctive hairstyle was emulated by millions of young American women and her poster sales broke records, making her an international sex symbol in the 1970s and 1980s. I will miss that sunny smile!

The other is the eternal King of Pop, Michael Jackson whose music and dance I grew up on. Each song brings its own memory of a club or restaurant in a particular city including Billy Jean (Phase 2,
Lagos)... Beat It (Moonlighter, Miami)...Thriller (After 5, New
Brunswick)...ABC (Batakoto, Lagos)....Off the Wall (Thursdays, London),
Rock with You (Studio 54, New York), Ben (Yesmina, Ibadan). Like my sister said, thank God we have didgital files that last forever.....so long childhood. RIP Farrah & Michael

2009 is about waiting for 2010

2008-12-27T02:32:00.005Z

The global economic crisis has brought so much into sharp relief that it looks like just about everyone is looking to 2010 and writing off 2009 before it even begins. That is because 2010 is when the economic crisis is predicted to end and a lot of other things are also supposed to happen including the year kicking of with the longest lasting Annular Eclipse of the 21st century; the Winter Olympics in Vancouver; World Cup in South Africa; The Commonwealth Games in Delhi; Nigeria turns 50 (had to get the home country in!); Census will be held in the USA, Japan and Russia; the Space Shuttle program will be retired as the International Space Station is completed and NASA kicks off Project Constellation; UK, Austria, Malta, Spain and Germany will cease analog TV broadcasts as the rise and rise of the digital world marches on with Microsoft stopping support for Windows 2000.

In his book The Road Ahead Bill Gates said, “We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next 10.” Keeping this in mind, it seems for me near impossible other than the swearing-in of Barrack Obama as the first African-American President of the United States and the first flight of the SpaceX Dragon commercial manned orbital spacecraft to get excited about the arrival of 2009.

Here are three things I hope do become mainstream in 2009 to make for an interesting year:

1. HPs Personal Smart Stuff Technology are dot-size stickers embedded with radio frequency identification (RFID) chips that can store and transmit data wirelessly. Coupled with RFID readers that tie in with your home wireless network the stickers go onto your MP3 player, keys, clothes, laptop and your home computer then tracks each item based on instructions you've given it about them. So if you leave home without something you had told your computer not to let you do, it would send a message to your mobile phone saying for example that your jacket is out of the house but your iPod is still home - smart or what?

2. Subscription robots. In an essay in the journal Science [subscription required], robotics expert Noel Sharkey notes that an estimated 5.5 million professional and personal service robots (a category that doesn’t include industrial robots) were sold in 2008, and says sales are likely to reach 11.5 million by 2011. Think of Sony's AIBO (Artificial Intelligence roBOt, homonymous with "pal" in Japanese) robot dog, with speech recognition, a wireless broadband Internet connection and your credit card. Babysitting robots are already on the market: They make conversation, recognize faces and keep track of kids. A "toy" for your kid that can download and deliver content and services from the Net. Pay a monthly fee and the bot will teach your child French naming things around them in French and responding only to commands in that language or subscribe to a bedtime-story service, and the bot will read your child a different book every night. This could also be a good companion for, say, your aging mother, along with a service that makes the bot follow her around, singing like Elvis. There are also the Secom ‘My Spoon’ automatic feeding robot, the Sanyo electric bathtub robot that automatically washes and rinses, and the Mitsubishi Wakamura robot for monitoring, delivering messages, and reminding about medicine.

3. Personal theater. Now that the iPhone 3G has blown the mobile world wide open, I hope Motorola will accelerate their phone that includes a micro-projector that could show downloaded high-definition movies on any flat surface, whether a wall or the back of a tray table on an airliner. With noise-canceling surround-sound headphones available to deliver theaterlike sound, here comes personal theater. Pass the popcorn please.

The Audacity to Hope for a neo-Nigeria

2008-11-06T23:10:00.004Z

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said "Every great and commanding moment in the annals of the world is the triumph of some enthusiasm".

Certainly the election of Barack Obama as the 44th and first African American President of the United States is historical. Yes he has and will likely continue to initiate changes in that country and possibly the world, as obviously his being the leader of the most powerful nation on earth, at the very least, symbolises this.

We however need to lower our unrealistically high expectations of Barack Obama as an individual because he will be working within a system that has innumerable challenges some obvious and many subtle. If he can focus, as he has pledged to do, on American education then he will be laying the seeds for Americas continued prosperity and future survival. He certainly brings to leadership in the USA a level of constructive intellect, creativity, goodwill and energy that has been missing for quite some time.

We need to recognise that the fruits of our African realities today were planted years ago in the 50’s and 60's when Martin Luther King, Malcom X, Haile Sallase, Kwame Nkrumah, Nelson Mandela, Patrick Lumumba, Jomo Kenyatta and others were sowing the seeds of the futures of their countries.

Barak Obama was born during these struggles; civil-rights in America, anti-apartheid in South Africa and independence in colonial Africa. Mandela was first to define the possibility of African ascendancy in the magnanimity with which he managed his jail to Presidency in South Africa.

MLKs dream of Americans not being judged by the color of skin but by the content of character has eventually become flesh in the person of Barrack Obama. As someone mused, Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King could walk; Martin walked so Barack Obama could run. Obama ran so children of African Americans can fly.

No doubt Barack Obama has joined Nelson Mandela in becoming through personal achievement a personification of those hopes and aspirations nurtured in all of African origin to be fully accepted as human beings in our own right equal to any other on the planet with the attendant entitlement to freedom, dignity and fairness.

The question posed to Nigeria and Nigerians by the Obama/America and Mandela/South Africa experiences is whether it is possible to ever realise the dream of our founding fathers encapsulated in some key parts of the country's original National Anthem "God of all creation grant this request; that we build a sovereign Motherland where though tribes and tongues differ we stand in brotherhood to hand on to our children a nation where no man is oppressed.”

So what are the elements of the ideals in this dream as I see it?
•God: not of the one or the other but of ALL
•Request: A plea for what does not yet exist but can be
•Build: Develop an identity that resonates with individual nationals
•Sovereign: Independent and self-governing without need for external influences
•Motherland: A land of ancestors, natives and their successors
•Though...(we)...Differ: In spite of our differences or because of our similarities (even if its just the fact that we are co-located in the same geography on the planet)
•Tribes: innumerable collection of groups of people with similar cultures
•Tongues: rich with different languages and forms of self-expression
•Brotherhood: Collective harmony not exclusive excellence
•Hand…to…children: Transitional ownership with focus on succession
•Nation: politically organized under a single government
•No man is oppressed: All equal under the rule of law

I think that this is the unfulfilled dream Nigerians have all been unconsciously striving to bring to life and are getting frustrated that its original seeds have been killed without new ones being sown. Even today the seeds for tomorrow I see our leaders planting are troubling to say the least. So most Nigerians like me are still waiting on a leader who can tap into the collective psyche of all Nigerians and inspire our people to greater heights for the benefit and advancement of all. The inequity in availability of opportunities, rights and justice prevalent in the country, the shameful levels of corruption however are perplexing obstacles bedevilling the arrival of a Nigerian Obama to help fulfil the dreams of the founding fathers of the country.

So what are we to do especially when we recognise that globalisation today means that Nigeria’s competition is no longer just Togo or Ghana or Cameroon but South Korea, Malaysia, Sweden, Ukraine and others and the factors limiting our ability to compete are our people, their education and the opportunities they enable us to create? Well as the ancient Chinese proverb says, “If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people.”

We should therefore begin by starting to educate our people immediately and leveraging new tools such as computers, televisions, telephones and the internet to deliver education to people at all stages and levels of learning regardless of background, age, sex, physical and mental characteristics, creed, tribe, religion, status, income or any other social features.
Such education must aim to re-create Nigeria as a country where
•Any child of humble means can be empowered to attend the best University on the continent.
•Any Nigerian can be empowered to rise to top levels in the political sphere where they can realistically aspire to greatness in Africa.
•The political structures will provide all capable of industry with the opportunity to articulate, express and explore their ideas.
•All in the electorate can be exposed to and can receive the message of someone who is neither like them nor from their ethno-cultural group.

The price and hurdles for getting to this neo-Nigeria are still very high and June 12th is a salutary reminder that there is still some way to go. We must however remain hopeful that it is potentially possible for this to happen and continue to work towards achieving the dream.

That is why the Obama victory is bitter sweet; because while as African brothers we rejoice with him that "YES THEY CAN", it is sad that apparently in Nigeria, NO WE WON'T at least not yet. Not that we cannot, but we won't have the opportunity to; at least I don’t believe it’s likely in this generation. Why? Well will Nigerian leaders really learn from the Obama experience? Unlikely. Will they try to "ape" him? Probably. Will they change their ways and the country's circumstances for the better as a result? Doubtful. While, I remain convinced that Nigeria CAN and MUST change for the better, realistically I expect it will be later rather than sooner.

To change for the better means we must invest in creating knowledge using all the information, tools, infrastructure, processes, methods and attitudes required to succeed. As a people of the so called developing world, and assuming that the generation to which I and maybe you belong, have “missed the boat” of realising the Nigerian dream, it is still our duty to make this investment for the sake of our children and those generations yet unborn who will define our posterity.

So as we congratulate those like JFK, MLK, LBJ and others for creating the opportunity, Mr. President elect for winning, and the American people for making what we consider the appropriate choice, we can only watch with the audacity to hope that we are ourselves working towards the day when we and our children, can do likewise.

Akwaaba Accra

2008-09-15T16:59:00.007+01:00

Having managed to survive Nairobi, Abuja and Lagos in the last few years, its Accra for me now. Those of you who have lived in Accra all your lives may not notice how cosmopolitan the city is and how it seems to be ahead of the others I just mentioned in different things I personally like to see in African cities. What are they?

I almost find it a pleasure wading through the slow but moving traffic in the morning to get on the highway to my offices in Tema - sounds weird? Try Lagos same time any day any direction and you'll get my drift.

All the food from restaurants to roadside hawkers (I mean like the roasted plantains, corn etc) alike is tasty, full of flavour and sometimes spicy just like I like it - sounds odd? Try Nairobi.

While its well ordered, there is just enough hustle and bustle to make you feel you're in a city (yes I have been to Osu) that's alive and kicking not one that empties out to almost desolation on weekends (like lovely Abuja).

I'm so looking forward to new associates and friends alike and can't wait to get into the vibes that make up the soul of this great West African city which is saying Akwaaba to me.

Redefining Presence

2008-07-27T15:31:00.003+01:00

I have spent the last few weeks buzzing around different countries for different things and am coming round to think that our presence (As in "here") and how we think about it is subtly being reshaped by technology. Last Saturday, I was participating in an online video conference with people from different countries scattered across the globe just before hopping on a plane for another country and this Saturday I was attending a wedding that attracted people from different countries across the globe to a Church over a hundred miles away from my home to which I drove.

It occurred to me that our presence to participate and communicate in events and activities with other human beings on the globe has continued to evolve as the telephone became a commonplace tool, commercial air flight redefined travel and the rise of access to digital networks (voice and data) with increasingly rich media capabilities have all reshaped the nature of human relationships in no small measure.

We seem to be heading in a direction where as we become more environmentally conscious thanks to increasing evidence of global warming, food shortages, rising energy prices and perennial human strife of one form or the other on the global stage technology will continue to be called on to play an increasingly wider role in its support of ALL human communications.

In the first instance, what will happen is that predetermined communications that can be structured and does not require physical co-location will be abstracted and systematically programmed. Think of this as the automated use of a project reporting tool doing status reports that would include photos or videos of current activities as evidence of status integrated with costs incurred during the period. As long as activities are on schedule and costs to budget, communication from the project would find its way to the appropriate people. Should any exceptions exist or clarification be required, the message (i.e. rich media report) would be used to trigger communication with the required parties wherever they may be.

As this form of communication becomes accepted as the norm for any type of regular events designed to monitor or update human activities, and we will start to rely on the savings generated from reduced travel, meeting time etc the nature of event participation itself will come under question. Up till now, it has been the odd head of state, superstar or chief executive who could not be at an event that is "telepresent" at large gatherings, this will increasingly become the norm especially as the technology tools improve and become commoditized. Our conference for example used Skype and Justin.TV both accessible to the common man (oh well maybe of the geeky persuasion) today.

What I think I'm saying is that ultimately, we are heading to a time when technology will become standard proxy (i.e. presence) for our reactions to predetermined event activities while the emergence of richer and richer media (e.g. holographs et al) will enable remote participation (i.e. telepresence) in distance events in ways that are just starting to begin.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Whose intellectual property is it anyway?

2008-06-30T00:43:00.001+01:00

I am in the process of negotiating a contract for a new engagement and one of the aspects is of course Intellectual Property. For the first time I am having a long hard look at what this actually means only because I am half way through writing my book. The intellectual property one creates when in gainful employment during working hours using the employers facilities rightfully and beyond doubt belongs to the employer. The question I am grappling with is who owns what is created while in employment but not during working hours using your own facilities if it is based on exposure to the employers environment but driven by previous experience?

I know the answers are out there somewhere and I will find it in due course as I have four siblings (two sisters and two brothers) who are "learned friends" as my late father who himself was a QC would say. In addition I have a whole slew of attorney friends a couple of which I think specialize in IP law so watch this space.

Why is it important any way? Well I have spent a fair bit of time defining, shaping, guiding and directing eGovernment, technology in education and software deployment especially in Africa. So surprise, surprise I am writing a book on exactly that. Now I have to continue working in that space what's the deal on the new stuff I come up with? If you've read this far and wonder what the answer is check the tagline of this blog "contemplation; reflection" is what musing means....

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Getting back to geekdom

2008-06-26T16:30:00.002+01:00

I have recently been listening to a lot of podcasts from CNET, TWIT and others only to realise I miss the tech world badly. I have therefore resolved to return to type and immerse myself back into the world from whence I came. I downloaded Firefox 3 only to discover the joys of Flock and its amazing built in tool kits. There is no doubt in my mind (Chunka Moi where are you?) now that the Internet Browser is the killer app we were all waiting for in the 90s. I am now looking forward to unraveling some of the mysteries (to me that is) of the open source world ove the coming months and make no apologies for self expression.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Pushing the Envelope

2008-06-08T19:11:00.004+01:00

With the announcement last month of XOXO (aka XO2) Nicholas and the OLPC team have again raised the bar for the low cost laptop market which he helped create. When delivered, the $75 laptop will sure make Alan Kayes 1968 invention of a dynabook future finally come true. I am not even sure we should be talking about the XO2 as a laptop anyway because it is actually designed to be three things in one:

The XO2 is an eBook reader that can be read outdoors..............

.....its a laptop with a touchscreen keyboard..............
.......and its a dual-screen collaboration tool!

For an industry that did not exist when Kofi Anan launched Nicholas prototype XO at WSIS in 2005 it sure has grown up fast. Today, the low cost laptop players targeting the next one billion users for which the XO2 design has set direction include but are definetly not limited to:

The trailblazing XO1 laptop by OLPC even with all its innovation such as the sun readable screen, built-in WiFi webcam and microphone is now been seen as pretty much old hat.

Unlike its predecessor, the 7inch screen Asus EeePC 900 is a mini notebook whose price tag has taken it away from the sub $300 requirement for qualifying as low cost.

Intels 2Go classmate PC which comes from CTL retains the ruggedness of its predecessor and is now sporting a webcam and a decent battery life though some say it smacks of a cut-down laptop.

I quite liked the multi-coloured $200 Elonex One laptop with the keyboard that snaps off to leave just the screen for use as a tablet PC and a mouse device to the rear of the screen to operate it while it is a tablet.

The Everest Cloud laptop is described as a UMPC ( Ultra Mobile Portable Computer) that tries to compete with other UMPC´s that are already on the market and does so credibly to an extent.

HP’s new 2133 Mini-Note PC is its attempt to jump on the bandwagon of aiming for the educational market.

Speaking Freely

2008-06-06T09:58:00.003+01:00

"SpinVox is the new amazing tool that I have just discovered. It allows me to actually phone in my blog just like a journalist would want to do. I think it is an excellent tool. What I have just done is to recorded this particular message to test SpinVox."

spoken through SpinVox

Getting the right attention

2008-05-17T10:56:00.010+01:00

Last July the big deal at OLPC was Intel joining the Board only for disagreements to cause an exit early this year after barely six months just as Lancor a Nigerian Keyboard makers $20 million patent infringment lawsuit against OLPC was starting to cause problems with its injunction against activities in Nigeria and Mary Lou Jepsen the founding CTO was moving on to start her own company Pixel Qi.

Since then Microsoft has joined OLPC to firmly take over the Operating System driving seat (dual boot or not) causing the exit of the President of Software and Content for the project, Walter Bender, who stepped down in disagreement with the move.

What this has made clear is that within 12 months "Win" has replaced "tel" in an OLPC laptop cocktail that established global momentum without either - go figure.

The implied strategy from where I sit has been to create enough noise about the missed opportunity (i.e. low-cost computing) to get the attention of the deep pocketed players in the market so they do something about it.

This will make sense for OLPC though only if it goes all the way and also gives the XO hardware development to the establishement (HP, Dell, Sony, Lenovo, Toshiba.....take your pick) after leading the way with the XO2 design being announced next week. That way it will get traction quicker by not needing to focus on the corporate political diversions that continually occur in the for-profit world. It can then focus on become the "learning education" innovation hub for AMD, NewsCorp, Microsoft, Google, RedHat, whoever the hardware guys are and others in the technology in education as a social responsibility or for profit group.

Why? because "OLPC is not, at heart, a technology program, nor is the XO a product in any conventional sense of the word. OLPC is a non-profit organization providing a means to an end—an end that sees children in even the most remote regions of the globe being given the opportunity to tap into their own potential, to be exposed to a whole world of ideas, and to contribute to a more productive and saner world community."