A day out with a Radio & Television Technician!

Happy mid-month to you all.

Yes! The silence was due to increased work load on my desk and more sites to monitor. During the past week my home theater system got a fault. I sat down all sad with no clue on where I would take it for repair. I have the warranty cards but the thought of transporting it back to Kampala just made my hope for my darling to recover fade the more.

Two days after the half death of my darling home theater system as I walked out of my apartment, I bumped into my neighbor. "I miss the ABBA music that I have been waking to up these days what happened?" she asked. "My system got a fault and I don't know where to take it for repair" I sadly replied. She quickly told me about a technician around the trading center who repair all kinds of electronics. "This guy is the one who fixes all my gadgets once they are faulty." she emphasized.

I went back inside the house and packed my system ready to go to the techinician. She helped me with her car so I could transport it easily to the place. With her directions to the place I got there. There I was all panting to get my system into this guy's kafunda. "Officer nakwakyiira(Officer you are welcome)" he said.

After presenting him with my faulty system I started to look around his workshop. I saw a range of devices from flash disks to flat irons. etc the list is endless. In this town, this technician repairs computers, mobile phones, radios, sub-hoofer systems, DVD players, flat irons, keyboards, motorcycle wiring systems, plus many other things I could not even easily identify.

After seeing all this, my question was, How on earth is this guys able to have knowledge to get all these devices fixed?. I was so worried for my device. I decided to cancel all my plans and see how this guy would fix my system. 

One, he looked so unsettled attending to several things at once, opening all sorts devices and fixing spares with so much energy. My heart started to pump faster, I was so worried it would be the last time to see my darling. "Officer, I don't want to waste much of your time, please leave me with your contact I will call you when your system is fixed." He humbly suggested. I said I would not leave until my device is repaired.

He did repair it. I it was clear he was not sure of the fault but it got fixed. 

Me: What is the Fee? I asked as I packed it again. 

Techinician: 55,000/= only.

Me: For what expenses?

Technician: Your system is big sir it took alot of my space here.

Me: I told him I will only give 20,000/= for your service after all you did not install any spare. Did you?

Techician: You can give me want sir but that is I my fee.

I paid and left but I really want to know which technical school trains students to be experts in fixing all these devices or else this technician is just conning people of their small savings me inclusive.

Til next time.!!!

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Zipping and Unzipping: How could I have known?

Today 11:33am, I was reading from Collins D. Mugume's blog and I remembered something that I need to share. Like earlier mentioned by Albert Mucunguzi in one of his blogs, the year 1999 was a year most of us got to know that some of the things actually existed and were of some interest.

That year in Ntare School I think Computers had just been brought to the school and some of us really wanted to have a feel of the TV and deck(VCR) like devices which displayed somethings we did not understand. I hope  the use of the word we will be accepted by all who get the matter in this story. Am talking to you Albert!

Albert Mucunguzi, Josh Twin, Timothy Matsiko, Matthew Rubatsimbira, Samson(residing in Africa House), Davis Arinaitwe, Sam Kacungira, Osbert Twikirize, Micheal Babigumira and Patrick Amwiine were some of the few common figures in that tiny room. I remember we would crowd at the entrance of that room but Albert and Josh had the best skills of being inside first even if they were at the back of the group crowded at the 1 meter wide entrance. Their struggles are evident today, one of the young ICT Entrepreneurs that we have in Uganda today. Well done Ms Mwebaza Winfred you did a job.

So, One day(It must have been a Saturday) I sat down to use one of the computers. I clicked, clicked and clicked in an effort to explore and see any interesting thing I could find. I right-clicked on a  folder and saw an option "Zip Folder".

Please take note of the word "ZIP". On seeing zip, I was trying to relate that zip with the zipper on our jackets. Ha ha ha ha!!! I went ahead and selected the option, off it went zipping the folder. It must have been a big folder coz it showed a slow progress of zipping and in the due course, Ms Mwebaza appeared. She took time to see what was going on the screen."Who has done that?" she asked. All eyes went my in my direction.

"Do you know what you are doing?"

"What is Zipping?"

"Do you understand what you are doing?"

No answer was given to any of those questions. The worse was yet to come. She asked me get up and ordered me out of the Computer Room. I was red carded. "I should never see you here anymore" she emphasized as I marched out.

From that time I learnt that it was not good to just click anything without learning what it could do. The expulsion from the Computer Room created a lapse in my interaction with computer.

One year down the road, during my form four vacation I attended a computer class and the first question I asked was the meaning of zipping. I got the explanation. The tutor also advised me to always read and use the help section of any application that I would ever use. The following week I did not go back for computer class. I have learnt almost all the computer I know through reading tutorials and help sections of applications.

Surprisingly, I was in University for 3years but there is no single tutor or lecturer who ever stood to advise us to use the help sections. Maureen Agena is witness to this. The tutors for some programming courses may be advised to use tutorials.

My question is! Are the help sections of applications relevant to usage of an application or not necessary to most us who love clicking to see what will happen. "Kuteera Omukishaka kureeba ekiraarugemu"

See you all after the Cranes Win!!!!

We Gooo We Go!!!

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Radio Stations! Are they doing any better?

Okay!!.

So how has everyone been? Am back after some bit of silence. I took time to read all my fellow IT geeks' posts and blogs especially Albert Mucunguzi, Maureen Agena, Josh Twin, Stone Atwine, Simon Kaheru, Evelyn Namara to mention but a few. I like your posts Evelyn by the way especially the Tweets. *wink*

Straight to our topic today, Radio Stations. Are they doing any better? I woke up this morning, unusual time (3am) and for the first time in around 12months my bed room had radios station sounds escalating from there. Tuned into a radio station(name reserved), there was great music being played. The DJ really took his time to keep the Insomniacs awake but to my shock there were people calling in to say hello to there friends and loved ones and then there was this one which made me laugh my head off "Nindamusya n'omukyaara wangye owunyin' aha" literally meaning "Am also saying hello to my wife who is just next to me". For some reason I wondered, did this man call only to say hello to someone next to him? Okay! Let's call that too much Love.

Time check 6:30am, Announcements started. The anchor read, read and read lots of announcements but most of them were death announcements, performing last funeral rights, thanking people who were there for them when they lost their dear one plus others in that line. To my dismay, there was no announcement that may be announced that today is for example a market day in a certain place, traders in cereal will be at a certain collecting center so whoever has cereal could move there and sell off his or her harvest. After the announcements, they played a song by Eminem ft Lil Wayne - No Love then, an advert of Eddie Kenzo being in the area over the weekend killed my ears with a shout from the other end, "Abaaaaannntu be Mmbararaaaaaaaaaaa kye mwaasaba embaazzi kibuyag' asudde. Anti tubaletedde Eddie Kenzo ......blah blah" meaning "People of Mbrarara, your prayers have been answered. We are bringing you an Eddie Kenzo concert... "

I thought these radio stations in the rural areas are set up to target the interests of the audiences that they serve. How was my Grand mother supposed to get the lyrics of No Love? Playing rare music was not bad but my point here is, are the many radio stations in Uganda addressing the interests of the community? These radios are not only supposed to be there to broadcast Walk to Work Demos, Kayunga riots etc but also address the key issues that will make the rural person earn some income not an Eddie Kenzo concert that will make him spend even more on watching someone who is singing lyrics that we do not understand. Stamina, Super Power, My Miss .....zig gigigig gid gid.....!!!!

Access to Radio, one of the easiest ICT tool to-date has been made so cheap that even the cheapest mobile phone has radio so my thinking is that access to media tools is no longer a problem. The remaining task remains to disseminate the relevant information to the rural people to improve their livelihoods.

So, who should make sure that the relevant information is passed on to the rural people? Is it Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) or Uganda Broadcasting Council (UBC)?

That is not to be answered by me. Am just a digital native putting out what I see and where I feel there is a gap.

Uganda today has the biggest number of radio stations in Africa. More radio stations than even in South Africa but I do not see them doing the best of what they are supposed to do in improving the livelihoods of  our people.  I think they are concentrating more on accumulating revenue and remitting to URA in form of Tax the money that is not being accounted for. If they have decided to be so business minded and putting aside the emphasis on service delivery then let us see medicine delivered to the health centers or the call rates being reduced further or even the cost of kerosene at that. Tax paid should may be translated to that and not buying a 2010 model Land cruiser for my MP who gave me a packet of salt to find his way to parliament. Mis-allocation of resources is what am talking about here.

2011 years down road after Christ, the information is more than enough, Communication channels & means are so present and for the Technology, I would say  it is appropriate. The question is where are we failing?

Til next time, I will see you on the next post.

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