Vantsoft: Smart Solutions to Nairobi's Traffic Menace

Vantsoft: Smart Solutions to Nairobi's Traffic Menace: It’s been quite a while since I wrote last. The blog had gathered some dust here and a couple cobwebs there, but I have since cleaned...

Android over windows OS? well..Your choice

 so last month I happened to get caught up in the tag of war currently brewing between the major mobile OS developers in the technological world. Instead of getting into the boring trifles of my predicament by beating around the bush, heres what actually happened.

I happened to meet my 'murio' in town for our usual Friday chitty chat over a glass of my favorite drink. As usual the 'kalocal' was filled with some intoxicated fellas eager to take advantage of the long weekend well associated with the marking of Kenya's 51^st Madaraka celebrations which well colluded with their paydays! Drinks were free flowing from all quarters and in no time, you could easily note the enduring excitement that got incremental with every visit from the barmaids. Some teens even got up to their feet to shake a leg with their skimpily dressed hotties to the bumping beats of Konshen's hit 'bumper' as the dj carried them away. Anyway I don't know how fast it happened but in no time, I was equally intoxicated if my change of tone and excitement was anything to go by. I really cant tell how I got home, but luckily I found myself in bed the next morning; unhurt! However, to my complete dismay, my phone was nowhere to be seen. After entirely and exhaustively ransacking the whole house, I ended up admitting to having lost my phone under some unclear circumstances.

To say the least, am sure this is a common phenomenon most Kenyan men face during their nights our or rather during their friday drinking binges only to find themselves without their valuable gadgets the following morning. Back to my story, I urgently faced with the dire need to make some phone calls with the sole question “kwani jana kuliendaje?” I needed to purchase a new handset-ASAP.

To save myself the trouble of the obvious bargain 'kelele' associated with most street phone vendors of Nairobi, I headed straight to Safaricom shop as thats where I was sure to get the best deal deal in terms of cost and quality. Well, at least thats what comforted me. My visit there turned to be my biggest nightmare as it soon occurred to me I even had not decided on the type of handset I really wanted. I was simply spoilt of choice as I stood along the displays wondering what I really wanted. To get this straight, am not an impulse buyer so its not like I expected to just walk into the shop, pick the nearest handset, pay for it and then walk out a happy fella. thats not something unheard of either, as some years back, one could easily walk to the phone vendors of Nairobi, purchase the currently trending touchscreen ( remember the introduction Google idios smart phones?) and walk out a very contented customer.

For my case, the choice had to be made between the numerous android based handsets and those using the windows OS. I simply had no idea of the existing differences between all these terminologies so I guess you understand my predicament. To cut my story short, I ended up purchasing the galaxy franchise; not because it was the best alternative at the time...but because I felt thats what I needed!   

Want to know how I ended up making this distinct decision in a spur of a minute to come up with the final decision? Read the part 2 of my amazing tragedy where I will bring to light the different mobile operating systems currently engaged in a war of superiority to capture the ever changing Kenyan market, in layman's terms!

LOOSING THE FIGHT? CONDOM USE IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
Sub Saharan Africa  is the region with the world's highest rates of HIV infections and other sexually transmitted infections also known as STIs. However, the irony of it all is that condom use among people here is rare according to numerous scholarly research based in the area. Governments spend millions of dollars every year in the fight against the disease. However, decades later after discovery of the first case of the infection there hasn’t been success in containing the overall spread. HIV/AIDS still remains a major cause of death among the population.
The big question right now among the numerous governments and organizations is, are we losing the war against HIV/AIDS? Are the mitigation measures in place effective in combating the scourge?
In a report  published by UNaids in September last year, the organization expressed concerns over the few  usage of condoms by people in several African countries, notably those in the sub-Saharan region, yet there's evidence of rise in number of people having multiple sex partners.
The report, clearly states that while there is substantial indicators of good progress made on meeting the 2015 target in terms of halving transmission of the virus, ending of child infections and ensuring availability of medicine, not much has been achieved towards reducing infections among drug users.
It also noted a 34% decrease in the number of new infections in sub-Saharan Africa, recorded between the year 2001 and 2012, but was disappointed with the region still accounting for 70%  of the estimated 2.3 million new infections globally. This makes many pose the question over condom use. what influences people to use condoms as a preventive measure?
It's hard to pinpoint the overall factors that influence the use of both the female and the male condoms in the population. However, it's evident that condom use in sub-Saharan Africa  involves some complex social and interpersonal dynamics, coupled with structural and cultural conditions exerting some influence through framing social cognitions and setting boundaries on autonomy that make the apparently irrational choice of eschewing condoms a rational decision.
Factors of consideration include the influences of poverty, relationship with parents, peers and also those with partners. Its seemingly sad that at that this age and time, there are people who still can't afford the price of a condom pack! In Kenya, Isiolo district made headlines  some months ago over residents resulting to recycling of condoms by hanging them outside to dry!
Surprised? well, don't be. That's not all. Other generally accepted factors include: limited, insufficient or even total absence of information especially among the rural people and among homosexuals, gender norms set out by the society, beliefs and attitudes about HIV and the dynamics of gendered power (the women empowerment thing).
The influence of all these factors have coincidentally been proven to work against condom use among a very large proportion of the population.  This has further been worsened by the position of the church, especially the catholic church concerning the issue of condom use in curbing the spread of HIV/AIDS. The catholic church is inevitably the largest private provider of healthcare to HIV patients in the world. in the year 2010, the then head of the church, pope Benedict characterized  and described the use of condom as being "unreal" and "it not being a moral solution" to the spread of HIV/AIDS, but potentially "a first step" in the direction of moralization and responsibility when used with the" intention of reducing the risk of infection".
This controversial position of the catholic church has greatly brought out issues over its collaboration with other aid organizations including USAID in the provision of AIDS care and education. However, on the positive side, research results this year are showing  a positive trend in condom use among single women in several African countries; and increase in acceptance and usage of condoms among university students  and resistance to succumbing to the dominant gender-power dynamics. Right now, student hostels have condom dispensers permanently installed  to boost usage among peers.
The war isn't over yet brother, brace on!

I FEAR...

"I fear for our lost generation.Everything around me is turning into something completely new,things ad never thought would exist!Lollipops turn into cigarettes. The innocent ones turn into sluts. Homework goes in the trash. Mobile phones are being used in class. Detention becomes suspension. Soda becomes vodka. Bikes become cars. Kisses turn into sex. Remember when getting high meant swinging on the playground? When protection meant wearing a helmet? When the worst things you could get from boys were cooties? Dad’s shoulders were the highest place on earth and mum was your hero? Your worst enemies were your siblings. Race issues were about who ran the fastest. War was only a card game. And the only drug you knew was cough medicine. When wearing a skirt didn’t make you a slut. The most pain you felt was when you skinned your knees, and goodbyes only meant until tomorrow? And we couldn’t wait to grow up?".wot changed all this??
still, i fear!!!1

Must I Choose?

I am torn, conflicted
between one who is beside me
and one that should be,
I cannot decide.

She is my anchor,
speaks the words that comfort my heart.
The other teases me, a fun loving heart
they both make a perfect woman.

But I must decide.
Must I choose?
She bats her eyes and I die,
the other winks and my knees give way.

   
Must I choose?
She makes my heart faint with longing,
The other cherishes me beyond what I can imagine,
they both fill my heart with joy.

If I part with her, I will die.
If the other leaves me, my soul will be robbed of light.
Must I decide?
They both are the perfect woman.

this life i live...

My life has become a brittle bouquet
Of dead red roses in rapid decay
And all that I thought one day I could be
Is now but a part of lost history.

I look to the East and yearn for the West,
Confusion conceals the best of my quest.
Lost to the ages and rages of time,
Dreams of destruction destroy my sublime.

Life's haunting refrain just leaves me with pain,
I see only loss while looking for gain.
Shattered and battered from reckless crusades,
While searching for truth but truth always fades.

Bitter and broken my life out of hand,
Darkness descending as I make a stand.
I once was an eagle, flying up high,
But I lost my wings and then lost the sky.

Born with great gifts to both give and receive,
And when I was young, my youth did believe,
But then I became a pawn in the game
Of pleasure and pain, both buried in shame.

Disease of the mind I carried at birth,
A bipolar life would measure my worth.
Paternal genetics, a father's first gift;
Our two brains afflicted predicted the rift.

A childhood erratic emphatic with fears
Where highs and lows would flow with salted tears.
All chance of normal family stripped bare;
No blood on blood can love or dare to share.

Illusion with confusion then to war
As wasted-worn tore through my inner core.
With hope I leave those years of fear behind
For now the time has come to heal the mind

So it can make each day forever free,
Immersed in verse with life's sweet poetry;
This man who loves his sacred family
Is part of the bark that beautifies the tree.

poverty..

A rich Dad took his son to a village to show him “Poverty”

After the trip he asked his son about poverty.

Son replied:
We have one dog, they have many.....
We have a small pool, they have a Long River....
We have light, they have stars....
We have small piece of land, they have large field....
We have food; they grow food for themselves and for others

Dad was speechless....

Then boy said:
Thanks Dad for showing how poor we are....
__________________________

______
Life is all about
How we see and accept things....!

 

                                                              ________ Author Unknown

My Guardian Angel Knows

My Guardian Angel Knows,

How much it will has cost me to love her,

My insightful, spontaneous, sensual friend

Our friendship blossomed into a perilous love affair,

How much it will cost me to follow my desires,

To drift to sleep wrapped in her  arms

While the moon rises across the star lit sky.

How much it will cost me to satisfy my need,

To wake up beside her warm body,

Before the world intervenes,

How much it will cost me if I enjoy,

Snuggling and making love with her

Sharing a crazy passion I had forgotten existed.

How much it will cost me to put my family obligations aside

So I can walk with her, our heads together,

Weaving our dreams into one, building a new life.

How much it will cost if I keep taking these risks,

Do I just walk away from this phenomenal woman?

How much it will cost to love and be loved,

Yes, only my guardian angel knows and she's not saying!

wtf?

the future of safcom users..lol

I think Safaricom ought to change some of these messages they send to you after you perform a service request (checking credit, topping up, blah blah blah) and the voice notifications. This is because I realized if you load your phone with a thousand bob worth of credit, once finished, it will tell you the same thing as the guy who topped up with twenty bob.

For those who never load their phone but insist on checking their balance (like the 0.87 balance grows overnight) it should reply with a message like, "We are fed up with you checking credit everyday yet you don't top-up! Uza simu ununue credit!"

Now for those who always have credit lakini most of it comes from Sambaza Donations, the credit balance reply should be something like, "The credit balance (which you didn't buy by the way so we wont say Your Credit balance...) is XX shillings. You last topped up this phone with YOUR OWN MONEY last year in September."

For those people who beep even when they have credit, the message should be something like, "Your credit balance is Ksh 0.00. Why u ask? Because even if we tell you that you have a million bob, you'll beep your friend, wait for him to call, and then tell him YOU WON A MILLION BOB WORTH OF CREDIT!"

The rest of the paying subscribers can continue receiving the normal messages with a few exceptions.

If you buy a Bamba twenty, make two phone calls and send two texts, then you decide to check if you still have credit, the message should be something like, "Wacha mchezo! Unadhani credit ya mbao inaweza kuwa imebaki kweli? Two phone calls, two texts... You do the math DAMBASS!"

To topping-up. For those perennial bamba fifty fans, the topping up return message from 141 should be, "Same" And if they top up like five sok, they should get a message like, "Our system is acting up today! Imagine it assumes u loaded 500 bob. We have adjusted though. Must have been a zero error!"

And finally, after staying for a few weeks without topping up, irrespective of the amount you top up, Safaricom should just use one message. It should be something short, precise and to the point. Like, "Finally!" unless you are from Kibera of course which would mean they would have to reply with, "Umechoka kurusha mawe?" ..
                                                                                   CRAZY NAIROBIAN yawa...

Life's Highs...

1. Laughing hysterically
2. Dancing your heart out
3. Star gazing
4. Shopping
5. Going to the beach
6. Listening to the rain
7. Ice-cream on a hot day
8. Feeling wanted
9. Getting that warm, fuzzy feeling when you think about the one you love
10. Receiving text messages
11. Personal jokes
12. Compliments
13. Late night phone calls
14. Christmas
15. Hugs
16. Kisses
17. Knowing someone misses you
18. Knowing someone is thinking of you
19. Good dreams
20. Skipping school for a day
21. Lying on the grass starring into the sky
22.Jumping into a warm bed on a cold night
23. Seeing your guys/girls name on your mobile when it ring
24. Your first kiss
25. Talking for hours about absolutely nothing
26.Receiving presents
28.Giving presents 29. Birthdays
30. Air conditioning when it's hot
31. Being full of energy
32. Seeing your boyfriend/girlfriend
33. Watching someone do something stupid, and them thinking no one saw
34. Nice smelling perfume/cologne/deodorant
35.Turning on the radio to hear that your favorite song is being played
36.  Running into an old friend
37. Strolling along the pier at night
38.Finding 50 bob on the ground when you are broke.
39. Being home alone
40. Reading a good magazine or inspiring book.
41. Sun baking
42. Sleeping in
43.Watching the sun come up
44. Seeing a shooting star
45. Waking up to find the person you love in your arms
46. Weekends
47. Holidays..esp school holidays
48. Jumping on a trampoline
49. Sitting in front on the fire on a cold evening watching the stars
50. Smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies
51. Singing into your hairbrush in your room
52. Bubble baths
53. Turning up your stereo as loud as it will go
54. Being so happy that it makes you cry
55. Finally completing something you started a long time ago
56. Achieving a long time goal
57. Warm nights
58. the smile of your proud parents
58. chatting through the night with your best friend
59. owning something of great importance to your life
60. Falling in love...

we all wanna  feel high... 

''Eleven Hints for Life"

1. It hurts to love someone and not be loved in return.
But what is more painful is to love someone and never
find the courage to let that person know how you feel.

2. A sad thing in life is when you meet someone who
means a lot to you, only to find out in the end that it was
never meant to be and you just have to let go.

3. The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a
porch swing with, never say a word, and then walk away
feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.

4. It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose
it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been
missing until it arrives.
 
5. It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone, an
hour to like someone, and a day to love someone-but it
takes a lifetime to forget someone..

6. Don't go for looks, they can deceive. Don't go for wealth,
even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you
smile because it takes only a smile to make a dark day
seem bright.

7. Dream what you want to dream, go where you want to go,
be what you want to be. Because you have only one life and
one chance to do all the things you want to do.

8. Always put yourself in the other's shoes. If you feel that it
hurts you, it probably hurts the person too.

9. A careless word may kindle strife. A cruel word may wreck
a life. A timely word may level stress. But a loving word may
heal and bless.

10. The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best
of everything they just make the most of everything that comes
along their way.

11. Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss, ends with
a tear. When you were born, you were crying and everyone
around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die,
you're the one smiling and everyone around you is crying. 

Life treats you according to how you live it..I have been trying to get answers for the many questions in my head,but now i know why am so lonely....MAYBE its time....

Pain of Loving You...

                                                                        

Where am I going with your love?
Where am I walking, when I've already found the light?
Why am I walking away from the light
Its getting darker and darker
And the roads are twisting and turning
Blinded by the curve;
I knock myself on the sideways;
My soul shatters;
I pick up the pieces-
A puzzle so hard to put together...

The pain of loving you....,
The pain of broken soul cease
as the calf pain builds...., I keep running....
How far will i run? I don't know
How far have I come? I don't know
But you are the flowing river...
And its rude to interrupt the flow...
i thought its better if i let you know,

My thoughts running with you
My prayers showering happiness over you
Protect through your astounding endeavors
That made me fall for you in the first place..
And now am the one to endure this pain,
and it is killing me...

Life Gift..

                             
Life is what it is you know,after all
a trouble, a bother, a great falderol.
A wonder, a gift, something so fine,
a heartache so wondrous, a link through our time;
a joy and a pleasure, a weekness, our strength,
a road to be taken, a lesson at length.

So when it is over and we go our way
there's something behind us that's left and will stay.
A memory brilliant. a foggy remind,
a look at a loved one. a chance to be kind;
a warning, a story, a benefit gold
when all of the missive our lives will unfold

Bankelele: Queues make you think

Bankelele: Queues make you think: "This week, I spent a crazy morning at another queue, this time at the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) trying to pay a monthly tax. When I ar..."

25 BEAUTIFUL AND UPLIFTING PHRASES

 


 


 


 



 



 



 


 In God we trust

One nation under God        

Well Enough to Smile?

A standard poem with no real meaning. . 
Excitement fills my body well,
When I know good things are swell,
Freedom is a valued word,
Saving us from hell.
People say "hope is gone"
But I say that's not so,
Hope and freedom is one song,
So let me sing it so.

I'll judge you not
For loving your life
I'll judge you
When you are wrong.
I've to say these things sometimes
It's how I'm kept from harm.
I trust your sight
I trust your thought
And now I must trust myself.

HARD life,.....al survive......

My life has become a brittle bouquet
Of dead red roses in rapid decay
And all that I thought one day I could be
Is now but a part of lost history.

I look to the East and yearn for the West,
Confusion conceals the best of my quest.
Lost to the ages and rages of time,
Dreams of destruction destroy my sublime.

Life's haunting refrain just leaves me with pain,
I see only loss while looking for gain.
Shattered and battered from reckless crusades,
While searching for truth but truth always fades.

Bitter and broken my life out of hand,
Darkness descending as I make a stand.
I once was an eagle, flying up high,
But I lost my wings and then lost the sky.

Born with great gifts to both give and receive,
And when I was young, my youth did believe,
But then I became a pawn in the game
Of pleasure and pain, both buried in shame.

Disease of the mind I carried at birth,
A bipolar life would measure my worth.
Paternal genetics, a father's first gift;
Our two brains afflicted predicted the rift.

A childhood erratic emphatic with fears
Where highs and lows would flow with salted tears.
All chance of normal family stripped bare;
No blood on blood can love or dare to share.

Illusion with confusion then to war
As wasted-worn tore through my inner core.
With hope I leave those years of fear behind
For now the time has come to heal the mind

So it can make each day forever free,
Immersed in verse with life's sweet poetry;
This man who loves his sacred family
Is part of the bark that beautifies the tree.

Pages of My Journal: While I Was Away; Of Lessons Learned

Pages of My Journal: While I Was Away; Of Lessons Learned: " ..."

Realise your dream partnership

Realise your dream partnership

God's opinion that the world should go on

God's opinion that the world should go on