This challenge is focusing on the following categories:

1. Agriculture
2. Health Financial Inclusion
3. Education Entertainment
4. Games and Media
5. Utilities
6. Transport and Infrastructure
7. Public Safety and Security

What’s interesting about this challenge is that there will be an incubation period after the submission, where the challengers will be equipped with entrepreneurial skills.

Important Dates:

Launch: 09/05/2013
Submission Closure: 28/06/2013
Hack-a-thon: 27th to 28th July 2013
Incubation Start Date: 12/08/2013
Incubation Ends: 25/10/2013
Final Event- Award Ceremony: 01/11/2013

The grand prize winner will walk away with Ksh 1,500,000 with the runner up taking Ksh 1,000,000. Category winners will take Ksh 200,000 each.

Check it out and Register today!

If you need any clarification Please contact the AppWiz team via innovation@safaricom.co.ke

Image from web

This post is late, my 25th birthday was actually last month but it’s not easy to find time to come up with a ‘deep’ post such as the one I did on my 24th when I felt inspired. I think I might have been going through a heartbreak (he he), and such things often inspire writers.

For my 23rd, I actually had some sort of party, thanks to my friends. We had just finished campus and were suffering from leavers’ blues so we went back to our hangout in Juja: Senate Hotel and had a swimming kind of day. It was kinda special because I was turning 23 on the 23rd!

At 22, I wrote my life story in brief.

For my 21st birthday, I reviewed a Chinese Nokla N95.

Nokla N95 v Nokia N95

And earlier on, I had a teenage blog.

Well, that’s been my trip down memory lane.

Memory lane looks like this in my mind..

I have been blogging for 6 years now! When I look back down memory lane, I’m proud of myself. I think I turned out alright, and I’m on the right path towards whichever goals I wish to achieve.

My 24th year was certainly the most life changing. I was traveling, working, partying, studying, discovering and enjoying my pregnancy (the kicks are wonderful, and even in my next life I’ll want to be a woman so I can be pregnant at least once).

Here’s to my 25th year! And to motherhood!

The bloggers of Kenya (BAKE) awards where held this past Saturday May 4th at the Southern Sun Mayfair. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it, my son is only one month old! However, another blogger @pitzevans was there and this is his guest post. Many thanks Pitz!

I remember many things in this day of days, at least in the blogworld, but none linger so poignantly than the taste of fried chicken availed in plenty by the good people of Southern Sun. The tasty flesh melted in my mouth, teasing my taste buds, exciting my appetite and quenching the butterflies in my tummy as we waited for the organizers to announce the winners. The food, dear reader, was a lovely highlight and one can only hope that next year’s cook sticks to such generosity. But this post is not about food, neigh, it shall not feature in next year’s awards in the food category. This post is a reminisce, though a brief one, of the bake awards gala that went down at the Southern Sun last Saturday.

I sauntered into the resort at 6pm sharp, needless to say I was looking sharp, and to call the hall’s decor sharp would be an injustice to the organizers since the ambience was, for lack of better words, on point. True to the Kenyan adage, African timers, the hall was virtually empty when I took my seat strategically at the back after having my photo taken.

the setting

But the invited guests trooped in small groups and shortly before 7pm the event kicked off. It would be needless perhaps to point out that the patrons were all elegantly dressed and to quote one tweep, “this was not one of those ratchet events.” The Emcee for the day was one Larry Madowo and in his characteristic fashion, mostly unsuccessfully, he tried to keep the audience in stitches as his abundant reservoir of humor proved inadequate.

Larry the MC

The awards went, hopefully, to the most deserving blogs. Let me single out Bikozulu for finally winning the creative blog’s category; in my humble opinion, the award was long overdue. After all, high school is the platform most bloggers use not only as a learning platform but a pedestal to gauge their learning curve. I met the guy after the gala, introduced myself and after his graceful prompting; we toasted to creativity and the loneliness that haunts great writers everywhere. As our glasses clashed in a moment of kindred appreciation, one realizes that great or small; most writers are united by a singular and profound destiny. I also had the pleasure to interact with other winners like SokoAnalyst and RockeScientist.

The awards were presented by various people, some representing the sponsors and others fellow bloggers of some renown. Two bloggers in particular stood out, AKenyanGal and Kenyanpoet, very distinguished ladies these two are. But another artist, Elpoet, stole the show with his rhymes and the two pieces he performed were received with applause by the guests. The first award was presented by the outgoing chairman of the ICT board, Mr. Kokubo who offered an inspiring speech on the growth of blogging and the kind of influential platform it’s likely to become if well harnessed.

The event came to an end slightly after 9pm and it proved the opportune time for guests to network and catch up, such camaraderie aided by some smooth Irish whiskey; Biko I’m not pointing fingers here. Lastly, special mention to Savvykenya who gave up her slot so I can attend and I am eternally grateful to Jeremy for choosing this opportune moment in time to grace our mortal world. One can’t help but hope, on a lighter note, that Jeremy gets a sister same time next year. All in all, it was a great event and one can’t help look forward to next year’s gala.

For more photos, check out BAKE on facebook

And the winners were:

1.Best Business Blog
Sokodirectory.com

2.Best Political Blog
057siasa.blogspot.com

3.Best Sport Blog
Superfoota.com

4.Best Technology Blog
Techmoran.com

5.Best Topical Blog
Thinkm-pesa.com

6.Best Travel Blog
Kenyatalii.com

7.Best Corporate Blog
Letsgotravelkenya.blogspot.com

8.Best Creative Writing Blog
Bikozulu.co.ke

9.Best Entertainment/Agricultural Blog
Niaje.com

10.Best Environmental/Agricultural Blog
Rockescientis.blogspot.com

11.Best fashion Blog
Nanciemwai.com

12.Best Food Blog
Pikachakula.com

13.Best new Blog
Kenyaweddings.co.ke

14.Best Photography Blog
Mutuamatheka.com

15.Kenyan Blog of the Year
Niaje.com

The Samsung Galaxy S4: Life’s Companion

Here’s some of the features what I look forward to:

Size

I’m currently using a Note II and it’s a massive device. While the S4 is big, it’s significantly smaller than the Note II and befitting a lady techie *points to self*

Samsung S4 V Note II. Image from www.onlinegadgetstore.com

The screen size is of the highest clarity (441 ppi pixel density), the smallest screen in the world with the biggest density. It’s slimmer and lighter than Samsung Galaxy S3. On that note, check out my review of the S3 and Note II.

Dual-Camera

It would be great to be able to take photos with the front and back camera at the same time. Usefulness of this feature? Well, the camera-(wo)man is no longer left out of the picture! No need for strangers (who might run away with the phone) to take pictures so that all of you can be captured in that moment.

The rear camera is 13MP, an improvement from the S3′s 8MP.

However, it’s more of a superimposition on top of the picture of the people you’re taking. I never said this was perfect.

Air View/ Air Gesture

Controlling the phone without having to touch it is a new feature I would like to try out. You can operate the screen by hovering a finger over it. I guess this is useful when you’re eating (chicken) with your hands and need to answer your phone or perhaps reply a text (I’m stretching it here). However, if the finger doing the hovering is dripping with soup, perhaps you better wait till you’re done eating.

Memory, Processor and Connections

With the S4 I know I never have to worry about my storage getting full, it can pack a few series and some movies, even the 16GB version. (I’ll make it my external hard disk now that one of my brothers decided to privatize mine). In fact, you can expand the memory with a card of up to 64GB although I haven’t seen those being sold anywhere. I use a 4GB memory card. The processing power it posses is suitable for any game with intense graphics, that’s really the only way it will ever be used to full capacity. It has the full range of connections: 4G, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC (for example what Google Beba card uses) etc etc.

These are just a few among the numerous features that the S4 packs, running the Android 4.2 OS. For a comprehensive review of everything, check out techradar.

In Kenya, the phone will probably retail for around Ksh 65,000. However, you can pre-order it before the launch on 7th for Ksh 56,999 from Airtel but it looks like its sold out on Safaricom’s pre-order! So I’m not the only one eager to lay my hands on the device.

So given a chance, would you own one?

S III Mini White

The thing about Samsung is that they have a phone for every niche. From a basic mulika mwizi to the top notch Samsung Galaxy S III to the phablet Samsung Galaxy Note II. The later two gadgets are intimidating in size, and I’m currently using a Note II. I can’t carry it in my hand, and doesn’t fit into most of my pockets, and typing with one hand is a tough balancing act. If you are looking for all the specifications of an S III but in a smaller size, then the S3-mini is what I recommend.

Unveiling the Samsung Galaxy S III Mini

The Samsung S III Mini is a thing of beauty. It fits perfectly into your palm and retains the same curved corners design as the Galaxy S III. In the pricing range, it’s a mid-priced phone going for about Ksh 38,000 and is available in Samsung dealer shops, and at Nakumatt, Tusksys and Safaricom shops.

Here are the key features of the S III Mini:

• Size: Thin, Sleek, fits easily in pocket and in your hand
• Dual-core 1GHz chipset and a 4-inch WVGA resolution screen, although these are much less than what’s in the S III, you will hardly notice the difference in performance. The difference in resolution is noticeable though
• Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean operating system
• 5MP rear camera with flash, and a VGA front camera.

I decided to give this phone to my mum who has been using a basic internet phone, in this digital age it is essential for everyone to have a smartphone. So far it’s been a quick adjustment to the Android echo system although we are yet to hit optimal utilization. So far her most useful apps include Gmail- no need to log into a computer to check emails, just use the phone app! The ability to tether or use the phone as a wi-fi hotspot is much welcome, modems get misplaced plus topping them up now and then is an issue. Buying bundles on your phone is much easier and more flexible. Now she has internet on demand on her laptop, something quite useful as she teaches some classes online. There is also the torch app that turns the camera’s flash on as a torch, very handy now that it is raining and power goes off as soon as there is a hint of rain.

Let’s not forget the camera which she uses mostly to take pictures of her grandson I must admit there are many things that smartphone users take for granted. Read my post on how to make the most of your droid (Android device).

For those looking for a stylish phone, but don’t want a massive screen, a massive weight or a massive price tag, the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini should be your choice.

For a detailed review, check out this review on engadget.

One of the questions on the tip of everyone’s tongue (or edge of the keyboard in this case) after they say congratulations, is how the labour experience was. Labour is said to be as painful as breaking x number of bones? It is probably the most painful experience a woman will ever go through, except it’s pain whose result is often the greatest joy the said woman will ever experience. Talk of opposites! One of my goals this year, that I can tick off that list, was to give birth naturally without screaming. So did I scream? Well, yes and no!

Labour is a process and TV exaggerates. Pushing is the easiest part of a natural labour process not the hardest, like they make it seem on TV. There is no powerful contraction or a rush of waters that sends everyone into a panic and then 5 minutes later the woman is being told to puuush, push dammit as she sweats and screams. Then she pushes out a perfectly beautiful clean and open eyed angel. What happens is, a woman will get contractions – labour pains – that come and go, but as time progresses they become more painful and closer together. The labour process can last anything between 2 hours and 18 hours. Without going in too deep, by the time contractions are 2 minutes apart and lasting for about 1 and half minutes each, where one contraction ‘melts’ into the next, the baby will almost be here. Pushing the baby is relatively painless compared to the contractions at the end stages of the process.

TV dea of the giving birth process

Anyway, during the labour process, the woman and baby are of course closely monitored and doctors intervene at various stages to save both lives in case of any issues. That’s what happened in my case. My water broke (I think if you understand nothing of this post, you can always Google the labour process!) early Saturday the 30th of March. However, labour (pain) was absent, and after checking myself into hospital spent the day waiting for the pain while under monitoring by the medical staff. By 5pm labour had not set in so they decided to induce me. Induction is artificial starting of labour, and within minutes I started to feel the pain. It was bearable at first, but became increasingly worse. Three hours later, on checking the fetal heart rate it was too high, and nothing was able to bring it down meaning the baby was in distress and my body wasn’t ready to push it would take a while longer. When they mentioned an emergency CS to save the baby, my only question was where do I sign?

In the last 30 minutes of that three hour labour, I felt PAIN. It’s not something anyone can describe you have to feel it to know it. Different women experience labour differently, but an induced labour is more painful (because you’re basically forcing things) than a natural labour. If I had proceeded to the very end resulting in a normal birth, I think I would have been screaming my head off. But as it were, at the stage I was in, I didn’t scream but yes I groaned, shed a few tears as I was being wheeled into the theater.

I’ve never been admitted in a hospital before, let alone undergone any surgery. The whole thing felt like a horror movie as you lie on a stretcher and are wheeled to the theater in a green corridor with a white ceiling. In the theater, you lie under the glare of lights as you are surrounded by masked figures. At this point I was still having contractions because of the induction and my chief concern was the anesthetist. I wanted out. You have the option of having local anesthesia where you can chat with the doctors as they do the operation and watch your baby being lifted out of you, or general where you are out. I was too emotional at that time I just needed out, the last thing I remember was the anesthetist injecting the drug into the IV line on my arm and saying “this is the anaesthesia..”

When I woke up, I was alone in the theater with a nurse. I was in pain because the anesthesia had worn off, but the first thing I asked for was my baby. I was told he was taken to the nursery and would be brought later. I was injected with a painkiller which took all of 10-15 minutes to work, and later wheeled to my ward where I slept off. When I woke up for the second time that Saturday night (well it was Sunday, around 3am), my baby had been brought and was sleeping peacefully in his cot. I looked at him and fell in love for the rest of my life! My mother, my aunt and best friend Phyllis spent the night in the hospital and were the first to look at him as he was being taken to the nursery. And now later in my ward he was there so tiny and perfect and sleeping so peacefully.

The next three days were spent in the hospital recovering – both emotionally and physically. Giving birth, whether natural or by CS, is an emotionally intensive experience that can only be equated with the very opposite, death. Giving forth life is such a powerful and joyful feeling, but you’ll be emotionally drained and looking at the baby and wondering if all that was in here (rubs belly at this point). I was glad to be finally discharged 3 days later and now I’m home enjoying motherhood and all the joys it will bring.

Whatever the labour experience, the important thing is that you get your baby safely and anything you undergo, though you may never forget, is totally worth it.

Here we are at one week old Little Jeremy and I. Still can’t believe I’m so blessed with a son. My son.

Little Jeremy and I

Now the remaining 2013 goals include turning 25 (later this month), graduating (late June, everything is on track), saving (proving to be quite hard) and working with Divas4tech.

The nominees for the Kenyan blog awards have been selected by a BAKE esteemed panel of judges from the submissions received from the public. Voting is now live on www.bloggers.or.ke/voting and will close on midnight on the 1st of May 2013.

The winners will be announced at a gala event to be held on the evening of the 4th of May 2013 at the Southern Sun Hotel in Westlands.

Please head to the www.bloggers.or.ke/voting and vote for your favorite blog!

And if you’re asking no, I’m not in the list of nominated blogs because I work too closely with the bloggers association of Kenya and it would be a conflict of interest

1. Best Business Blog

http://kariobangi.wordpress.com

http://www.sokodirectory.com

http://fenesi.com

2. Best Corporate Blog

http://pambaboma.com

http://blog.batakenya.com

http://letsgotravelkenya.blogspot.com

3. Best Creative Writing Blog

http://www.bikozulu.co.ke

http://mwendethedreamer.wordpress.com

http://crazynairobian.com

4. Best Entertainment/Lifestyle Blog

http://niaje.com

http://hoodjunction.wordpress.com/

http://knoxnation.com/blog

5. Best Enviromental/Agricultural Blog

http://rockescientist.blogspot.com

http://emmiekio.blogspot.com

http://yagrein.blogspot.com/

6. Best Fashion Blog

http://nanciemwai.com

http://www.thisisess.com/

http://ksmithdiaries.blogspot.com

7. Best Food Blog

http://pikachakula.com

http://yummy.co.ke

http://www.pendolamama.co.ke

8. Best New Blog

http://kenyanmom.com

http://www.kenyaweddings.co.ke/blog

http://eafricaenergy.blogspot.com

9. Best Photography Blog

http://mutuamatheka.com/blog

http://mwarv.click.co.ke

http://stevekitots.wordpress.com

10. Best Political Blog

http://kenopalo.com

http://057siasa.blogspot.com

http://oleshitemi.wordpress.com

11. Best Sports Blog

http://superfoota.com

http://katamiwrites.wordpress.com

http://www.michezoafrika.com

12. Best Technology Blog

http://emmanuelchenze.com

http://techmoran.com

http://tommakau.com

13. Best Topical Blog

http://mummytales.com/

http://actors.co.ke

http://www.thinkm-pesa.com

14. Best Travel Blog

http://kenyatalii.com

http://www.enchanted-landscapes.com/el_travelogue/

http://outwetembea.wordpress.com/

15. Kenyan Blog of The Year

http://megaprojects.co.ke

http://niaje.com

http://therarechamp.wordpress.com

http://www.bankelele.co.ke

P.S.

Sorry I’ve not had time to make all the above links but if you have a good browser it should recognize the link when you highlight the text. The list above should also make for some interesting reading in case you have been looking for Kenyan blogs to read online.

Happy Voting! If you are a Kenyan and lined up to vote on 4th of March patiently, take a few seconds to read the blogs nominated and then vote for your choice www.bloggers.or.ke/voting

Sorry I have not been posting more often.

Between school, work (wrapping up on both before I take leave) and an impending baby (any time now), there’s hardly any time left to blog.

Wish me well as we countdown to the birth of my first child, a son called Jeremy.

Image from http://123freevectors.com/black-baby/

If you are wondering why Jeremy, he’s named after my late grandfather.

You may also want to read my 2013 goals.

In the meantime, the Tusker Premier League has started and my team, AFC Leopards, is off to a shaky start! However, better to start this way and finish on top, than the other way round like it was last year (season).

I hope the political situation in the country resolves itself *buries head in sand*

P.S.

Just got a hold of a Samsung Galaxy Music Duos with a blue cover. Such a beautiful gadget, hope to review it soon. If you’re looking for a budget smartphone with dual-SIM capability, well.. get some music in your life as well with this phone.

Image from http://price-specifications.com/

Someone joked that Samsung has more Galaxies than the Universe. Perhaps it’s true!

Queueing to vote at the just ended elections. Image from nation.co.ke

The post is by Gathara from this blog

At the end of my first term in high school, I watched a screening of Steven Spielberg’s Poltergeist, the tale of an ordinary family unknowingly living in a house built over a graveyard without the bother of moving the bodies. Of course, this doesn’t go down well with the spirits who make their displeasure unknown by slowing torturing the family into madness. In one of the scenes, a man stares in horror at the mirror as fingers tear away at his reflection’s decomposing face till it falls into the bathroom sink. Needless to say, I have never looked at bathroom mirrors in quite the same way since.

Last week, it was Kenya’s turn to look into the mirror. Elections provide opportunities for national self-examination and renewal, for the country to take a long, hard look at itself, assess it achievements, reorient its priorities. However, like I have done too many times since I watched that movie, we chose to turn away, afraid of what we might see.

Fear can make people do strange things.

We had already normalized the abnormal, making it seem perfectly acceptable to have two ICC-indicted politicians on the ballot. At the first presidential debate, moderator Linus Kaikai had been more concerned with how Uhuru Kenyatta would “govern if elected president and at the same time attend trial as a crimes against humanity subject” and not whether he should be running at all. Any suggestion of consequences for Uhuru’s and William Ruto’s candidature had been rebuffed with allegations of neo-colonialism, interference and an implied racism. People who had spent their adult lives fighting for Kenyans’ justice and human rights were vilified as Western stooges for the imperialistic West for suggesting that the duo should first clear their names before running for the highest office in the land.

As the elections approached we were assailed with unceasing calls for peace and appeals to a nationalism we knew to be to all too elusive. We voted and celebrated our patience and patriotism, brandishing purple fingers as medals for enduring the long queues. And we heaved a collective sigh of relief when it was all over. We afterwards wore our devotion to Kenya on our sleeves and on our Facebook pages and Twitter icons even as we were presented with the evidence of our parochial and tribal voting patterns which fulfilled Mutahi Ngunyi’s now prophetic Tyranny of Numbers.

By now, a compact had developed between the media and the public. Kenya would have a peaceful and credible poll no matter what. The narrative would be propagated by a few privileged voices and it would countenance no challenge. The media would sooth our dangerous passions with 24-hour entertainment shows masquerading as election coverage. We would laugh the uncomfortable laughs, and plead and pray that politicians would not awaken the monster we recognised in each other. Let sleeping ogres lie, seemed to be the national motto. Meanwhile, those who could stocked up on canned food and filled up the fridges and stayed away from work. As food prices quadrupled we desperately clung to the belief that all would be well if we kept our end of the bargain and didn’t ask uncomfortable questions.

When nearly all the measures the IEBC deployed to ensure transparency during the election failed, this was not allowed to intrude into the reverie. Instead the media continued to put on a show and we applauded them for it. Uncomfortable moments were photoshopped out of the familial picture. Foreign correspondents who dared to question our commitment to peace were publicly humiliated and had their integrity impugned. I played my part in this. When the New York Times dared to suggest that if Raila Odinga contested the outcome “many fear [it] could lead to the…violence that erupted in 2007 court challenge,” it didn’t take long for the reactions to come. “Foreign press haven’t given up [on the possibility of violence],” I tweeted. Others quickly joined in, some suggesting that the writer was stuck in 2007.

However, if we are honest, it is us who were stuck in the narratives born of the last five years. It was not, as suggested by the NYT in a later piece, a renewed self confidence that drove us. Quite the opposite. It was a fear, a terror, a recognition that we were not as mature as we were claiming to be; that underneath our veneer of civility lay an unspeakable horror just waiting to break out and devour our children. We were afraid to look into the mirror lest our face fall in the sink.

It is said that truth is the first casualty of war. In this case the war was internal, hidden from all prying eyes. Who cares about the veracity of the poll result? So what if not all votes were counted? We had peace. “The peace lobotomy,” one tweet called it. “Disconnect brain, don’t ask questions, don’t criticize. Just nod quietly.”

Yet we should care. Our terror and the frantic attempts to mask it were a terrible indictment. As another tweet put it, it “reveals how hollow the transformation wrought by the new constitution.” Instead of being a moment for national introspection, the election had become something to be endured. The IEBC was expected to provide a quick fix to help us through it but was never meant to expose the deeper malady of fear, violence and mistrust which we have spent five years trying to paper over with our constitutions and coalitions and MoUs and codes of conduct. The fact is we do not believe the words in those documents, the narratives inscribed on paper but not in our hearts. And this is why we do not care whether an election springing from them documents is itself a credible exercise.

What maturity is this that trembles at the first sign of disagreement or challenge? What peace lives in the perpetual shadow of a self-annihilating violence?

Cowards die many times before their deaths and we have been granted a new lease of life. However, if we carry on as we have done over the last five years, if we continue to lack the courage to exhume the bodies and clean out the foundations of our nationhood, we shouldn’t be surprised if in 2017 we are still terrified by the monsters under the house.