FORTUNA FAVET FORTIBUS

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Dominus vobiscum.

TECHNOLOGY AND TERRORISM: ARE WE BEING NAIVE?

Technology and Terrorism: Are we being too naive?

FROM : Read/WriteWeb, c/o FeedBurner, 549 W Randolph, Chicago IL USA 60661

Posted: 03 Jun 2007 12:44 AM GMT-06:00

There is an old truism - we can not stop progress. The truism has been used to justify investments in technologies that could potentially not only harm people but wipe out the entire planet. While we cannot stop the progress, we still should think carefully about the consequences of the technologies that we invent. Particularly because since September 11, 2001, we are all wondering when will the next terrorist attack occur.

Today we learned of yet another plot. This time, the target was the JFK international airport in New York. Luckily this attack was prevented and three out of the four terrorists are already in custody. But during the report, CNN revealed a curious fact - terrorists have used Google Earth to get access to aerial views of airport facilities. Obviously it would be ridiculous to argue that tools like Google Earth should not be built because terrorists might use them. Yet, after hearing this on CNN one cannot help but wonder: what other seemingly innocent software technologies are we building that can be used to harm us?

Google Earth - cool or dangerous?
Perhaps the next few images and paragraphs will be even more shocking than the fact that terrorists use Google Earth. Firstly, when you go to the Google Earth web site, here is the picture that explains what this tool is good for:

You do not need to be an FBI agent to figure out what gave the terrorists the idea to use this tool, right? And just to be absolutely sure, when you install the tool, the default address that it suggests you visit is: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue - the White House! Note also the cursor in the form of cross-hair, below:

To be fair, the animation is very cool. I flew from the White House back to my house and the rendering is quite stunning. But at the same time I could not help but remember when recently a sales person, who was trying to sell me solar energy equipment, used Google Earth to locate my house. That was not a comfortable feeling. There is something about Google Earth that makes us very defenseless. Perhaps it is just our perception and whoever would want to get the map would get it anyway, but nevertheless it is not a comfortable feeling watching a cross-hair zoom into the White House or my house.

Can Social Networks be exploited?
Networks are incredibly powerful things. Long before the rise of social networks, scientists used the mathematics of networks to study many natural and man-made dynamics, including terrorists. It is no secret that modern day terrorist organizations form intricate networks. Unlike a lot of other networks, these are very sparse, with isolated cells working without direct supervision of terrorist leaders. What is remarkable about these and other networks is the structure, because by understanding the structure and the way that it evolves, it is possible to infer a lot about a network.
So let's look at the rising social networks. Certainly they are harmless, right? Well, things are not so clear cut. Just like we are using LinkedIn to establish business connections, terrorists might use it to figure out who is connected to whom. When you search for a person, LinkedIn tells you how you are connected to them. What can be exploited is the fact that if you are just one degree away from someone, you know who they know. This information can be used to reconstruct a subset of the network. Granted this is not easy to do, but it is possible.

Is photosharing safe?
The recent explosion in photosharing and image search engines allows us to look up peoples pictures. While this has been an uplifting phenomenon, there is again a room for misuse. We can only hope that secret CIA agents and their kids have not uploaded too much on Flickr (kids are the hard ones to control!).
The problem is that photos contain an enormous amount of information. Obviously, they reveal what we look like, but they also often show our friends and family. Remember that the first season of 24 was all about Jack Bauer trying to save his family. Unfortunately even the almighty Jack had only partial success back then.

Conclusion
Clearly the technologies that we are developing can be used in a bad way by the "evil doers". But this is really nothing new, and as we said in the beginning of this post - technological progress is unstoppable. So why do we need to think about these things? Simply because it is always better to pause and think about the implications, than blindly rush through things. Just because something is cool does not mean that it is not dangerous. And beyond cool, we can be just a bit more careful. Does Google Earth need to have the White House address by default? Probably not. And it is not even that cool anyway.

Obviously this is a debatable topic, so please jump in with your comments on what web technologies you think are dangerous and how we should be thinking about information and terrorism as we are developing them.

FOR BARRY ON YOUR GRADUATION TODAY

Barry!

Dad would have been so proud of his youngest one! many many congratulations! I know this is the start of a number of qualifications to come, may God guide you.

I wish I was there, but I do hope you will share some of the pictures with us.

Congratulations Barry, you have made us proud.

BK

HANNIBAL ALEXANDER SIDIG

• The North African warrior from Carthage that almost conquered Rome.
• For 16 years he was never defeated by any Roman army.
• Finally conquered by the Roman army under Scipio whose Roman army of 20,000 men was outnumbered by Hannibals 50,000 man army.
• Scipio had studied Hannibal so well that at the battle of Zama, had effectively anticipated every move that Hannibal took, especially his first charge with his under-trained 80 elephant, that were either all killed or run away trampling Hannibals army in their wake.
• Hannibal however was never captured as he fled the battle scene and was only tracked down by the Romans after 19 years to a Turkish coastal town, he committed suicide before the Romans captured him.
• The facts of Hannibal’s life, triumphs and his last battle teach us serious lessons in life, in business, a lot can be inferred from it, the need to study carefully your competitors/adversaries weaknesses and strengths , the need for strategic partnerships, the requirement to finish what you start, that size doesn’t always mean strength, that memories of empires once beaten may be long (once beaten-twice shy), that sometimes indirect approaches to solving problems work best and a lot more, try reading good History accounts of the life of Hannibal, these will be worth your time,
• The North African warrior that almost captured Rome, but for that march into the weakened Rome that he did not take. Hannibal.
• I wish however Hannibals own account of his life was not destroyed by Scipio's burning of the only handwritten record. Why is it that most of the History we read is always written by the victors of the battle? it does explain the bias, in a not so similar way reminds me of the 'kudzabwela wina' that John Chilembwe is supposed to have said before he died, was that for real or ...factored into the original fabric?

USING THE NET: SEARCH ENGINES

ReadWriteWeb writes

"Search Engine Optimizer (SEO) Charles S. Knight has compiled a list of the top 100 alternative search engines. The list includes Artificial Intelligence systems, Clustering engines, Recommendation Search engines, Metasearch, and many more hidden gems of search. People use four main search engines for 99.99% of their searches: Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and Ask.com (in that order). But Knight has discovered, via his work as an SEO, that in the other .01% lies a vast multitude of the most innovative and creative search engines around."

LATEST ON OBAMA......

YAHOO NEWS
2 hours, 41 minutes ago

The Nation -- The new line on Barack Obama is that the senator from Illinois is not running his race for the Democratic presidential nod "by the book."
Translation: He is not touching the traditional bases, talking to the old warhorses and doing what is generally done to secure the support of the early caucus and primary state voters who have historically identified the nominee.

That's an appealing strategy, and it may even be a wise one in a campaign season that will see an unprecedented frontloading of the process. Perhaps Obama can run poorly in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina and still survive to win in big-ticket states such as California, New Jersey and Texas when the February 5, 2008, "Super-Duper Tuesday" voting takes place.
Then again, by the time February 5 rolls around, Obama might look like damaged goods. It is not unheard of to lose an early contest here or there, but it is rare indeed to lose them all and then win the nomination.

And, right now, it is looking like Obama might lose all the early contests. His candidacy's appeal appears to be fading in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina -- three key "starting-gate states" for the 2008 Democratic race.

In Iowa, the first caucus state, a new American Research Group [ARG] polls show New York Senator Hillary Clinton with 31 percent, former North Carolina Senator John Edwards with 25 percent and Obama with just 11. That barely puts the Illinois senator ahead of New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson at 8 percent. In New Hampshire, the first primary state, the new ARG poll has Clinton at 34 percent, Edwards at 18 percent, Obama at 15 percent and Richardson at 9 percent. In South Carolina, the second primary state, according to ARG, it's Clinton 34 percent, Edwards 30 percent, Obama 18 percent, and everyone else -- including Richardson -- under 2 percent.

Those numbers are very good news for Clinton, who has garnered better and better poll numbers in key states since the last Democratic debate. They are encouraging for Edwards, who despite personal and campaign stumbles is still very much in the game. And they offer at least a measure of hope for Richardson that he really is breaking out of the bottom tier.
For Obama, the numbers are certainly not the death knell. But they ought to make him think about whether he might want to get a copy of "the book" and at least consider going by it a little more in the early states. It would be a mistake for the senator -- who has come a long way by breaking rules and pushing envelopes -- to bend entirely to the conventional wisdom. But he has to recognize that losing all the early contests could sap his campaign of the momentum it will need when the race goes national in early February.
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Malawi-CIA Factbook 28/05/2007

Background:
Established in 1891, the British protectorate of Nyasaland became the independent nation of Malawi in 1964. After three decades of one-party rule under President Hastings Kamuzu BANDA the country held multiparty elections in 1994, under a provisional constitution which came into full effect the following year. Current President Bingu wa MUTHARIKA, elected in May 2004 after a failed attempt by the previous president to amend the constitution to permit another term, struggled to assert his authority against his predecessor, culminating in MUTHARIKA quitting the political party on whose ticket he was elected into office. MUTHARIKA subsequently started his own party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and has continued with a halting anti-corruption campaign against abuses carried out under the previous regime. Increasing corruption, population growth, increasing pressure on agricultural lands, and the spread of HIV/AIDS pose major problems for the country.

Economy - overview:
Landlocked Malawi ranks among the world's least developed countries. The economy is predominately agricultural, with about 85% of the population living in rural areas. Agriculture accounts for about one-third of GDP and four-fifths of export revenues. The performance of the tobacco sector is key to short-term growth as tobacco accounts for more than half of exports. The economy depends on substantial inflows of economic assistance from the IMF, the World Bank, and individual donor nations. In 2006, Malawi was approved for relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) program. The government faces many challenges, including developing a market economy, improving educational facilities, facing up to environmental problems, dealing with the rapidly growing problem of HIV/AIDS, and satisfying foreign donors that fiscal discipline is being tightened. In 2005, President MUTHARIKA championed an anticorruption campaign. Since 2005 President MUTHARIKA'S government has exhibited improved financial discipline under the guidance of Finance Minister Goodall GONDWE


Disputes - international:
disputes with Tanzania over the boundary in Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi) and the meandering Songwe River remain dormant


Population:
13,603,181 note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2007 est.)

Windows Shortcuts

Windows Shortcutssource: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/moredone/compshortcuts.mspx

Useful Shortcuts:

Start + M: Minimizes all open windows
Start + Shift + M: Maximizes All Windows
Start + E: Runs Windows Explorer
Start + R: Open the RUN Dialog Box
Start + F: Open the Search Results Dialog box
Start + CTRL + F: Opens the Search Results-Computer dialog Box (if the computer is connected to a network)
Start + Pause (Break): Opens the System Properties Dialog BoxWindows System Key

Combinations:

F1: HelpCTRL + ESC: Open Start menu
ALT + TAB: Switch between open programs
ALT + F4: Quit program
SHIFT + DELETE: Delete item permanently

Windows Program Key Combinations:

CTRL + C: Copy
CTRL + X: Cut
CTRL + V: Paste
CTRL + Z: Undo
CTRL + B: Bold
CTRL + U: Underline
CTRL + I: Italic

Combinations for Shell Objects:

SHIFT + right click: Displays a shortcut menu containing alternative commands
SHIFT + double click: Runs the alternate default command (the second item on the menu)
ALT + double click: Displays properties
SHIFT + DELETE: Deletes an item immediately without placing it in the Recycle Bin

General Keyboard-Only Commands:

F1: Starts Windows Help
F10: Activates menu bar options
SHIFT + F10: Opens a shortcut menu for the selected item (this is the same as right-clicking an object
CTRL + ESC: Opens the Start menu (use the ARROW keys to select an item)
CTRL + ESC or ESC: Selects the Start button (press TAB to select the taskbar, or press SHIFT+F10 for a context menu)
ALT + DOWN ARROW: Opens a drop-down list box
ALT + TAB: Switch to another running program (hold down the ALT key and then press the TAB key to view the task-switching window)
SHIFT: Press and hold down the SHIFT key while you insert a CD-ROM to bypass the automatic-run feature

A SMATTERING OF LONDON

Why Movies about africa require white saviours

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Tarzan's children: Why movies about Africa require white saviors.

Tracing the history of the 'White folks to the rescue!' genre, from Tarzan to 'Blood Diamond.'
By Joe Queenan, JOE QUEENAN writes frequently for Barron's, the New York Times Book Review and the Guardian.
January 14, 2007

THE RELEASE OF Edward Zwick's majestic "Blood Diamond" is a bittersweet moment for film buffs, bringing to an end the stunning "Just Let Bwana Do It!" series that began with "The Interpreter" and "The Constant Gardener." In each of these movies, beleaguered black folks marooned in forlorn, blood-drenched African nations get to see justice done because of the heroic efforts of some truly fabulous white people."White Folks to the Rescue!" is a glorious tradition that stretches back at least as far as the Tarzan movies, in which a selfless Caucasian — for mysterious self-actualization reasons — has taken up residence in the bowels of the primeval forest and repeatedly ensures that truth and justice prevail in sub-Saharan Africa, something the local black community has been unable to effectuate. In all these films, the underlying theme is the same: If you're black and you're poor, and your nation is torn by horrendous strife, and your neighbors are dropping like flies, there's no reason to get down in the dumps because sooner or later the Great White Hope will come through for you. Which, of course, is exactly the way things happen in real life.

For those unfamiliar with recent film history, a recap may be in order. In "The Interpreter," Nicole Kidman plays a perky United Nations translator who is one of the few white people on the planet who can speak the esoteric southwestern Africa tribal dialect of Koo. (Angelina Jolie and Madonna, not appearing in the movie, almost certainly speak Koo, as do Bono and Martin Sheen.) Overhearing a sinister plot against the evil but freely elected black president of her country, Kidman puts her nose to the grindstone and does a pretty classy job of bailing out the millions of hapless black people from her native land who also speak Koo but never land jobs at the United Nations. Message: White folks care.

In "The Constant Gardener," the fetching Rachel Weisz plays a selfless political activist who is butchered because of her opposition to drug companies that use hapless black Africans as guinea pigs. Things look really bad when she is murdered early in the film because "Just Let Bwana Do It!" movies usually only carry that one good white person on the roster, but luckily Ralph Fiennes, a truly swell British chap, has been held in reserve, and he gallantly steps in to fill the breach. At the end of the motion picture, after Fiennes has laid down his own life for his fellow hapless black man, the rogue Big Pharma merchants of death are brought to justice, their nefarious henchmen in her majesty's government are disgraced and the black citizens of the country can once again tip their hat to the superb white fellow who has sacrificed everything for their well-being. "Blood Diamond," the final entry in the series, offers up the most ingenious plot twist of all. This time, hapless black victims of genocidal warfare inflicted by their fellow, somewhat less hapless black men receive succor from a genuinely unexpected source: a murderous, racist Rhodesian mercenary and diamond smuggler (Leonardo DiCaprio) who spends most of the film acting like a murderous, racist Rhodesian mercenary and diamond smuggler. Armed with an accent powerful enough to alter the course of the mighty Zambesi, DiCaprio finally realizes that diamonds are not forever, that there are some things more important in life than locating a precious stone worth eighty hundred million trillion billion dollars, and that you have to give back. Once again, good triumphs over evil, satanic diamond merchants are trundled off to the hoosegow and hapless black Africans can breathe a whole lot easier thanks to the ministrations of a "White Man Who Cares."

Film scholars and ethnic statisticians feverishly dispute the roots of the "Just Let Bwana Do It!" series. Some say that the "Pasty-Faced African Messiah" tradition is a subset of the American "Three Cheers for Whitey!" genre that has long thrived on these shores. Following their logic, there is a direct line from Gregory Peck's heroic Atticus Finch in "To Kill a Mockingbird" to Gene Hackman's "Racist FBI Agent With a Heart of Gold" in "Mississippi Burning," and the tradition has continued in recent years with films as varied as "A Time to Kill" (white lawyer goes to bat for poor Southern blacks) "Finding Forrester" (curmudgeonly old white academic teaches the meaning of life to hapless black teen protege) and "Glory Road" (white coach with great hair leads all-black basketball squad to the NCAA championship over horrible white coach hamstrung by absurd facial prosthetic). Nor can we overlook "A Change of Habit," in which Elvis Presley played a "Doctor with a Conscience" who practices medicine in the inner city. If there were ever a movie that tapped into the theme of "Three Cheers for White Folks!" this was it. Elvis, of course, was reputed to have once said that the only thing black people could do for him was to "buy my records." What he really meant was: "The only thing black people can do for me is to take three aspirins and call me in the morning."

Personally, I am not so sure that the "Bwana" films have a homegrown American pedigree. To my mind, the series has its roots in 1951's "Cry, the Beloved Country" (mean old white South African guy builds new church for poor old black minister whose thuggish son killed the mean old white guy's truly fantabulous son). The tradition can also be seen in "The Ghost and the Darkness," in which Val Kilmer (great white hunter) and Michael Douglas (not-so-great white hunter) go gunning for a pair of marauding lions that have eaten half the population of the Sudan. Again, the underlying theme comes through loud and clear: If things are looking black, just sit tight and wait for the white folks to show up. Sooner or later, Val Kilmer will get those lions in his sights. It might take a while — the lions apparently ate about 150 Africans — but it will eventually happen. Just be patient. Whatever the case, I for one am sorry to see this string of movies come to an end. Hopefully, as with such beloved, long-running series as "Star Wars," "The Godfather," "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Jeepers Creepers," the producers of these magnificent films about Africa can be persuaded to put together a few more movies to lift the hearts of black people everywhere. I personally would love to see a movie about a washed-up South Philadelphia Italian American heavyweight fast approaching 60 who flies to Nairobi just to help a hapless black African champion roughly half his age prove his mettle by facing the ultimate challenge: Going the distance with a washed-up South Philadelphia Italian American heavyweight fast approaching 60 who probably stands about 5 feet 8. But maybe that would seem too farfetched.

OF INSURANCE JARGON

Insurance being a technical occupation by virtue of the basic contracts created between Insurer and the Insured has a wealth of technical terms that the ordinary person/ 'person on the Clapham omnibus' would term as confusing and unnecessary 'jargon', brought about to confuse the insured and used to repudiate (oops! that's another one! turn down/disown/decline) insurance claims.

As an asides but in fact the EU and the UK in particular have recognised the technical nature and uniqueness of the insurance contract by exempting Insurance contracts from The UNFAIR CONTRACT TERMS ACT of 1977 and having a separate and distinct section under FINANCIAL SERVICES AUTHORITY as empowered by the FSMA 2002 which mentions the ICOB (Insurance Conduct of Business) as the regulatory domain of Insurers.

I happen to be on both sides of the rail here (Insurer and Insured) and not to take it on the chin as as an Insurer would want to explain two terms that have come to mind being 'VIS MAJOR' famously known as 'ACTS of GOD' and the term 'THIRD PARTY'.

ACTS of GOD/'Vis major'

From a layman's point of view, this has been promulgated by the masses (unfortunately from an uninformed point of view) as being an excuse by Insurers to repudiate claims by inserting it in their policies as an exception. Actually the confusion comes from the 20th Century tort of Negligence which is insurable but within its legal context has a number of defences such as 'vis major', whereby a claimant can not claim from the 'alleged tortfeasor' on injury, damage or loss that they have suffered as a result of an unforeseeable natural occurrence not within the control of the alleged tortfeasor.

Insurers cover sudden, unforeseeable and unintended losses but on some policies, a case in point being the Sub-Saharan Africa Fire named peril policy exclude perils like Earthquake, Tsunami, Bushfire (ha ha ha!) etceteras for one reason or another but mostly for historical purposes (such as adopted policy wordings left behind by original insurers from the UK that specifically excluded these items), in practice whilst most of these items are not originally included in the Fire 'named peril' policy they can be included on a 'buy-back' basis (on payment of additional premium) to make the cover applicable more comprehensive, that is you can add 'earthquake', 'riot and strike', 'malicious damage', 'sprinkler damage', etceteras cover to your basic Fire insurance cover.

The key is to use knowledgeable insurers and intermediaries (brokers), knowledge in insurance is not by virtue of company registration or to be judged by the quality of a suit the insurer/broker is wearing, it is by acquired knowledge by examination and experience, so to protect our hard earned property/assets it is recommended and advisable to used qualified insurers/brokers who would advise expertly prior to cover inception, during the cover period and when a loss has occurred. Using professionals also entitles the layman with the legal capacity and tool to sue the so called expert for Professional Negligence (breach of duty of care- Negligence Tort) if they advise you erroneously or omit to advise you effectively and you on reliance of their professional advice and as a direct consequence thereof suffer a loss which can be measured in financial terms.

THIRD PARTY

Why a third party? simple this one although not always obvious, the insurance contract has two parties; the Insured (1st Party) and the Insurer (2nd Party), the Insured may be more that one individual/firm but jointly insured therefore still one party.

The Insurance Contract is not to be confused with the tripartite relationship of the Insurer, the Intermediary and the Insured.

As far as the Insurance contract is concerned therefore, any party other than those legally privy to the contract that would want to benefit upon it or from it are a Third Party.

Happy Birthday Son

Frank you turn 8 today, thats awesome son! Daddys proud of you and loves you very much!

THE CAMERA PHONE INVENTOR

May 21, 2007

The chilling sounds of gunfire on the Virginia Tech campus. The hateful taunts from Saddam Hussein's execution.
Those videos, shot with mobile phone cameras and seen by millions, are just a couple of recent examples of the power now at the fingertips of the masses.
Even the man widely credited with inventing the camera phone in 1997 is awed by the cultural revolution he helped launch.
"It's had a massive impact because it's just so convenient," said Philippe Kahn, a tech industry maverick whose other pioneering efforts include the founding of software maker Borland, an early Microsoft competitor.
"There's always a way to capture memories and share it," he said. "You go to a restaurant, and there's a birthday and suddenly everyone is getting their camera phones out. It's amazing."
If Kahn feels a bit like a proud father when he sees people holding up their mobile phones to snap pictures, there is good reason: He jury-rigged the first camera phone while his wife was in labour with their daughter.
"We were going to have a baby and I wanted to share the pictures with family and friends," Kahn said, "and there was no easy way to do it."
So as he sat in a maternity ward, he wrote a crude program on his laptop and sent an assistant to a RadioShack store to get a soldering iron, capacitors and other supplies to wire his digital camera to his mobile phone. When Sophie was born, he sent her photo over a cellular connection to acquaintances around the globe.
A decade later, 41 per cent of American households own a camera phone "and you can hardly find a phone without a camera anymore," said Michael Cai, an industry analyst at Parks Associates.
Market researcher Gartner Inc. predicts that about 589 million mobile phones will be sold with cameras in 2007, increasing to more than 1 billion worldwide by 2010.
Mix in the internet's vast reach and the growth of the YouTube generation, and the ubiquitous gadget's influence only deepens and gets more complicated. So much so that the watchful eyes on all of us may no longer just be those of Big Brother.
"For the past decade, we've been under surveillance under these big black and white cameras on buildings and at 7-Eleven stores. But the candid camera is wielded by individuals now," said Fred Turner, an assistant professor of communications at Stanford University who specialises in digital media and culture.
The contraption Kahn assembled in a Santa Cruz labour-and-delivery room in 1997 has evolved into a pocket-friendly phenomenon that has empowered both citizen journalists and personal paparazzi.

It has prompted lawsuits - a student sued campus police at the University of California Los Angeles for alleged excessive force after officers were caught on cell-phone video using a stun gun during his arrest; and been a catalyst for change - a government inquiry into police practices ensued in Malaysia after a cell-phone video revealed a woman detainee being forced to do squats while naked.
On another scale, parents use mobile phone slideshows - not wallet photos - to show off pictures of their children, while adolescents document their rites of passage with mobile phone cameras and instantly share the images.
One of the recipients of Kahn's seminal photo email was veteran technology consultant Andy Seybold, who recalled being "blown away" by the picture.
"The fact that it got sent wirelessly on the networks those days - that was an amazing feat," Seybold said.
Kahn's makeshift photo-communications system formed the basis for a new company, LightSurf Technologies, which he later sold to VeriSign. LightSurf built "PictureMail" software and worked with mobile phone makers to integrate the wireless photo technology.
Sharp was the first to sell a commercial mobile phone with a camera in Japan in 2000. Camera phones didn't debut in the US until 2002, Kahn said.
Though Kahn's work revolved around transmitting only digital still photographs - video-related developments were created by others in the imaging and chip industries - his groundbreaking implementation of the instant-sharing via a mobile phone planted a seed.
"He facilitated people putting cameras in a phone, and he proved that you can take a photo and send it to someone with a mobile phone," Seybold said.
Kahn, 55, is well aware of how the camera phone has since been put to negative uses: sneaky shots up women's skirts, or the violent trend of "happy slapping" in Europe where youths provoke a fight or assault, capture the incident on camera and then spread the images on the web or between mobile phones.
But he likes to focus on the technology's benefits. It's been a handy tool that has led to vindication for victims or validation for vigilantes.
As Kahn heard the smattering of stories in recent years about assailants scared off by a camera phone or criminals who were nabbed later because their faces or their license plates were captured on the gadget, he said, "I started feeling it was better than carrying a gun."
And though he found the camera-phone video of the former Iraqi dictator's execution disturbing, Kahn said the gadget helped "get the truth out." The unofficial footage surreptitiously taken by a guard was vastly different from the government-issued version and revealed a chaotic scene with angry exchanges depicting the ongoing problems between the nation's factions.
Kahn also thinks the evolution of the camera phone has only just begun.
He wouldn't discuss details of his newest startup, Fullpower Technologies, which is in stealth mode working on the "convergence of life sciences and wireless," according to its website.
But, Kahn said, it will, among other things, "help make camera phones better."
AP

INTERESTING SWAHILI WORDS

Its been a while, in the meanwhile left Dar es Salaam, through the Libyan desert, Mediterenean sea into Europe, the UK to be precise, ushered into the 'health lounge' proved I had no TB (!!!*???) and was allowed entry through Heathrow, the London welcome as usual- a well of dark suited people in Terminal 4 on a Friday evening after the baggage claim, clambered into the underground train to Cockfosters and found a travel lodge in Hammersmith after a short ride on the black london cab with a very friendly Brit. Into Leicester for 2 weeks courtesy of Carol and Brian, 2 very kind and generous home folk who gave me a roof and a soft place to lie on, I am forever grateful, there are some kindnesses you can never repay....... but the Swahili language lives on in me and the following were of interest:

Machinga- means vendors in Tanzania but not in a derogatory manner. Would our Machinga district be named after vendors who Arab slave traders from Zanzibar encountered on their way to Mangochi where they briefly settled and introduced Islam?

Nywele- human head hair in Swahili, well back home the likeness is oh God! something else.

Viatu- shoes, we call them nsapato in Chichewa, obviously from the same roots- Arabic!

Ugali- nsima in chichewa but ugali in Mangochi, again straight off the east african arabs.

Kaka- Brother in swahili, same in the Nkhotakotalese! again came with the arab influence of the slave trade era, refer to Jumbe who had his slave fort in Nkhotakota.

Malaika- well I had sung along to the Mirriam Makeba song for so long but have only known recently that Malaika means angel, 'Malaika, nakupenda malaika' means 'my angel, I love you my angel'.

Ngozi- skin, not accident!

Ulimi- tongue, not farming!

Barua- letter or kalata or what some age in Malawi calls 'chibarua'.

Kupinga- to oppose.

and the rest you can guess try macho (maso), ndege (ndege), njia (njira), usivute sigara (usasute fodya), Kingereza (chingelezi), Mkate (Buledi), Mchuzi (nsuzi), vumbi (fumbi), kaputula (kabudula), kidonda (chironda), jua (dzuwa), kisonono (!?..), maji (madzi), mdomo (mlomo), Tumbo (mimba as in stomach), jino (dzino), Ua (lua), Misumari (misomali), mbwa (galu, imbwa), fisi, nyoka, kuku, nyimbo and the similarities go on............we share ancestry......definitely!

MAMA AFRIKA/ SWEET MOTHER/ HOUSEWIVES

I don't know about you but when twice I have been at my wits end and there was just no solution I could find, I found myself in 'autopilot' mode and my vehicle drove me right to the steps of my mothers place, and I did not have to say anything and somehow my mother just knew I was out of sorts! .......and lo behold! when I left the spring in my step was back and I was ready to take on the whole world again.

That's how big mothers are, to you and me, right from carrying you prior to your first suck of air through your nostrils, through your lack of care of where you emit your digestive by-products, 'goo-goo-goo' months, nappies, first walk, blatant ignorance and the list goes on..... mothers are always there (and most fathers...) and all the while still gathering firewood, preparing the food, heating the water, guiding your prayers, helping you with the homework, keeping their husbands happy and the list goes on.....

In a nutshell our lady folk have carried Africa for a long time, without discounting the contribution of the menfolk, 'Mama, mai, amayi, wamama, ama, ma' we have worked you to the ground, as part of the menfolk we have collectively taken you for granted, we have taken credit for your ideas, we have inhibited your dreams by deliberately forcing you to conform to a mediocre medieval existence, and all through this you have trudged on, making and carrying life as delegated by the creator, ensuring continuity of the all important life through the children, I feel for you. I see you carrying loads on your head every day, taking the little ones to hospital, struggling to cross the road in your old age, trying to hold on to the beauty of your youth to ensure your mans attention does not wane, selling your ware beside the road, waking up early every day, pressing your husbands best shirts, I see you...we see you....

My toast today therefore is 'To you our mothers, and to a better life for you forever and ever'

OF TRIBALISM AND RACISM.

No one chooses to be born, we are just brought into this world blinking, kicking, wailing and hungry like crazy!!!

It’s amazing how annoying and disturbing being on the receiving end of tribalism/racism can be, one initially goes numb before reacting. Why? Because tribalism/racism is meaningless, small, stupid and one naturally is bereft of a sensible response!

I must confess I have not always had sincere feelings towards Malawians of Indian origin, or Asians of Indian origin (help me out here!), anyway you get the drift, because I feel they look down upon local people (lets make as much money out of these people attitude before they know all we did was import these cheap shoes from China but price them on the Italian model), hoard goods, underpay and ill treat the Malawian employee, with statements like ‘ngati ntchito siufuna, basi tilemba wina’ or ‘dziko wanu, ndalama wathu’ being rather common, and there is no effort on their part to integrate! Well, give or take a few who have unofficially taken up indigenous Malawian women, but as they say you could count the fingers of one hand and not complete them all of how may unions they are between the two- They’ll play with indigenous Malawian women but wont let their own indulge, let alone be seen! with an indigenous Malawian man......... ****?!*!!*!?! Generally in the few countries I have travelled to in Africa these attitudes have created general animosity and resentment from the local populace. It is these issues that simmer continuously (slowly coming to a boil) under the surface that eventually ‘blow up’ – I hope they will be addressed in due course before such calamitous scenarios or are exploited as per the Idi Amin era.

I mean, you could try and convince me that that’s not racism proper on their part but I am standing firm on this one, call it racism or separation or ‘live and let live’ but it is all semantics, there are quite a few grains of racism in the general attitude of Asian settlers towards the darker population. It could be comfortable for them because of the Caste system which has been practised for centuries in India or because they is need to protect their cultural values and way of life, but from the other end of the rail track it does not always seem that way.

In time I have come to realise that my view that all people of Indian origin are racists was too general and in itself racist as well, despite the large number of them enjoying, wallowing or partaking in these sordid, unbecoming, cowardly and unwelcome practices there are a few that are well meaning and some that have overcome their ignorance.

The issue however remains that all racism/tribalism is borne out of ignorance and fear (they’ll take our land, our women, our way of life, our money, clog our welfare system…etc.), for neither the perpetrator nor the victim had a hand in their birth, tribe or skin colour, so tell me, from what premise can one perceive or infer superiority or inferiority therefore? Ignorance, Intolerance, smallness...

In most cases Racism/tribalism is practised by the type that is in the majority, the deviation in that perception is that of racism in Africa which is normally practised by the minority…….

Lets just work and walk the earth humans! and appreciate our beautiful diversity.

Frank and his boys/ 'Bon Voyage'

AFRICAN VILLAGE TOOTHBRUSH

This folks is a tooth brush, straight off a branch, the fibres clean effectively and amazingly u do not need toothpaste, that is in case u are wondering what we used for dental hygiene prior to our introduction to the current toothbrushes.....

MIKUMI NATIONAL PARK