Isaac Hayes tribute

I received the news of death of Isaac Hayes with much sadness. I have been an ardent fan of his music for as long as I can remember.

His baritone voice while singing made the message in the song even more significant. I Stand Accused, One Woman, By the Time I Get to Phoenix and others are some of his evergreen songs.

He also featured in soundtracks of the Shaft movies, my younger-days craze. I own a couple of vinyl LPs, now I have even a bigger reason to preserve them as treasures to remember the great man by.

Bye bye Black Moses, you're gone but your song shall remain with us always.

Cuil search engine

I'm a news-hungry person, particularly IT developments. So when a juicy piece of news such as a new search engine out to challenge Google for top slot hit the wires, I wanted to be one of the firsts to get to know what's all about--some april fool thingy in july?

On scanning one of my several newsfeeds I read and probed deeper if there was any story in this. There was none. Not that it is a hoax, but more like a little kid of 4 telling his dad, "I'll whip you". My hands-on test of Cuil was, of course, my name. Pooof--it turned up several Kiswahili language news items containing the word "makundi" (meaning, groups). Way down there was only one site related to the search I had submitted. There were 4 tabs. Going to second ("Next") tab, more of the irrelevant fetches, plus (Ouch! How?) the same site listed on the first tab. When I enclosed the phrase "Daniel Makundi" in inverted commas, Cuil fetched only one result. I yawned. And for change tried Google for the phrase: The entire first tab had relevant results all the way, and it took much less time compared to the younger challenger.

I'm told the effort is being funded by a consortium that have put up tens of millions of dollars. Tough luck. I don't see much future of the Cuil, apart from gratification of google-haters: and there must be mighty few of those, 'cos Google isn't just a search engine, it is a pack of handy freebies (Desktop, Picasa, Earth, Sketchup, Docs etc etc.), it's so many other things.

I don't see much improvement in the next few days, and I can see plenty of unhelpful reviews on the blogospheres and news.

Zimbabwean dollar...

I'm told with this 50,000,000 dollar bill you can get a decent meal for two.
Wallets have gone out of fashion in Zimbabwe, instead they carry briefcases.

Morogoro visit

Earlier this month I attended some training in Morogoro.

The one-week event would begin on some Monday, so travelling from Dar wasn't a big deal. There are lots of buses, big and small. Particularly there are two companies which are fierce competitors--Aboud and Hood. Others include Islam and Saddiq, as well as numerous 26-seater minibuses.

I took Aboud for reason I always take Dar Express when I'm travelling northwards: If there is a breakdown, the company buses plying same route are sure to bring in support or even pick passengers that are in a hurry. The trip was uneventful.

Training would take place at Amabilis Conference Centre. This is a squeaky-clean new facility along Kilakala road that is also a Roman Catholic convent. It was so soothing staying at the facility with its nicely trimmed hedges, well attended lawns and hush-hush environment that makes one feel closer to heavens.

The little I could see of Moro town during late evenings, it's a lively little place. As in other towns, there were lots of pubs. Someone confided to me that most of those pubs belong to SUA lecturers. Internet cafes and stationery shops too. No comment there, no law broken, creating labour.

East Africa 2008/09 Budget Speeches

Tanzanian Minister for Finance and Economy, Hon Mkullo, on Thursday 12Jun08 at 4 pm matched into the parliament hall with the familiar black attache that contained the budget for the coming FY. Presently it was read out. Predictable, I'd say. With fuel prices having almost doubled since the last budget speech, there was no question of squeezing more tax out of petrol without causing major uproar, so it was let to stay.

Road licences too were reviewed downward, the former lady minister banished an average-income person from owning even a motorbike by the high annual fees.

I would have liked to hear a word from him about the amount of money expected to be recovered from multi-million dollar string of fraudish deals now under investigation, but nothing of sorts.

Web 2.0 casualty

Ringo sent somber announcement to its subscribers that it was closing shop. They even offered to pack one's photos for download if need be, as they would be gone when they discontinue their services at the end of june 08.

Ringo was a networks whereby membership grew through invitation, therefore large chunks of individuals who knew each other-friends, relatives and friends of friends.

While such well-meant endeavour ought to have grown from strength to strength, it is unfortunate it has come to this, and one of the best networks too. It was my top birthdays reminder and my connection to remote relatives whereby we kept in touch at least twice a day--during our individual birthdays. Anyways, it's been said good 'uns don't last (Anon).

Good people of Ringo, anytime you should consider resuming with the good job, you have an adoring supporter here!

Power corrupts: Tanzania

And all this in a country where an average person lives on a dollar a day, half the population have never set foot onto a motor vehicle...
During Sullivan Summit opening on 2 June 2008 in Arusha, Nigerian ex-president Obasanjo addressed this issue, encouraging governments to bring to law all leaders who have been involved in corrupt deals where evidence is.
Like a poorly organized play scene, the spokesperson of Kiwira Coal Mine--the center of the Mkapa bad record--recently issued a statement that ANBEN had withdrawn from TanPower partnership. This statement comes several weeks after the dung caught the fan that ANBEN, a business owned by Mkapa and wife registered while Mkapa was a sitting president.
Getting all this retirement package, yet trying to lump more weight on the backs of taxpayers through power purchase agreement (yet another of several in force today) amounts to cruelty.
Here it goes:

A retirement benefits package to dream of: Why Mkapa didn’t have to do business at Ikulu:

THISDAY REPORTER
Dar es Salaam
Friday, May 30 2008

FORMER President Benjamin Mkapa is already guaranteed a comfortable life after retirement, courtesy of taxpayers’ money, according to legislation that he himself assented to while at State House.

The current Political Service Retirement Benefits Act, passed by the National Assembly in 2000, spells out a generous package of retirement perks for the former president, including an annual pension granted monthly of a sum equal to 80 per cent of the salary of incumbent President Jakaya Kikwete.

On top of that, Mkapa also now gets a monthly maintenance allowance also equal to 80 per cent of Kikwete’s current salary.

Furthermore, after leaving public office, he was entitled to receive a gratuity of a sum equal to 50 per cent of the total sum received by himself as salaries during his entire ten-year tenure as head of state from 1995.

Mkapa also received a winding-up allowance of a sum equal to the amount that would be received as salary in 24 months by incumbent President Kikwete.

Apart from this financial windfall, the legislation also allows the ex-president to continue using diplomatic passports for himself and his wife, plus the use of the VIP lounge at all airports.

He was also given a health insurance policy that covers medical treatment within Tanzania, plus the services of two motor vehicles to be provided by the government, and two drivers.

Also included in Mkapa’s handsome retirement benefits package is a fully-furnished house of not less than four bedrooms, two of which shall be self-contained, with a furnished office and servants’ quarters.

The specific legislation also guarantees ’’all necessary security and other protection services to himself and his immediate family.’’

Courtesy of taxpayers’ money, the former president also gets one of each of the following: Personal assistant, personal secretary, office attendant, personal cook, laundry man, domestic servant, and gardener.

And if he is requested to travel outside Tanzania on official (Kikwete) government business, only first class travel is appropriate for Mkapa, with the state also obliged to foot travel expenses for his spouse and two assistants.

Overall, the perks listed in the legislation in question basically ensured that the ex-president would be well taken care of by the state for the rest of his life, after retirement in 2005.

But still, Mkapa stands accused of aggressively seeking to acquire even more personal wealth during his tenure as president, regardless of the huge pension cheque he knew he would receive after leaving public office.

Records show that the legislation in question was assented hardly a year after Mkapa and former first lady Anna Mkapa started their own private business company, ANBEM Limited, and operated it from within the Ikulu premises.

ANBEM Ltd dealings included obtaining loans totalling 750m/- from the National Bank of Commerce (NBC) and CRDB Bank, some of this money reportedly being used to buy a two-storey building in Dar es Salaam’s upmarket Sea View area, which has now been rented to Bank (M) Tanzania Limited.

It has also been established that Mkapa, while still president, joined forces in 2004 with his then energy and minerals minister, Daniel Yona, to form another private company, Tanpower Resources Limited, with various members of their immediate families.

Both Mkapa and Yona were then heavily involved in the privatization of the formerly state-owned Kiwira coal mine in Mbeya Region, ensuring that this lucrative national asset was cheaply sold to the Tanpower Resources company in 2005.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) Party, Prof. Ibrahim Lipumba, has joined the chorus of strong public criticism against Mkapa.

Speaking at a meeting of the Editors’ Forum in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Lipumba described Mkapa as a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

He charged that Mkapa who retired in 2005 was not the same man as the ’Mr Clean’ who entered State House for the first time in 1995.

The CUF leader said it was somewhat surprising to see Mkapa apparently grieving deeply the death of the Father of the Nation, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, in 1999 - the same year that he started his own private company at State House.

’’It would seem that immediately after Mwalimu’s death, Mkapa began abusing public office by conducting his private business affairs at State House,’’ said Lipumba.

He cited apparently corruption-tainted deals under the Mkapa administration as including the 70bn/- military radar transaction, and equally dubious purchases of military vehicles, helicopters and the presidential jet - all done through controversial middleman Shailesh Vithlani.

Various political commentators have roundly dismissed Mkapa’s weekend attempt to respond for the first time to the widespread allegations of corruption and abuse of office that have hounded him for a full year now, with the general consensus being that he failed completely to address the real issues at hand.

When South Africa became hell

On 10 May 2008, I spent better part of the day and all night at the O R Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, as a transit passenger while traveling from Windhoek headed for home, Dar-es-Salaam. Despite 20-plus hours of waiting many of us chose to stay inside the airport building, because getting out would require a visa which would cost USD 50. Besides one would need to take taxi and a hotel room, which shall all cost quite a bit. So the night passed and soon we woke up in a new day, a bit crampy after stretching out on thinly-padded airport seats.

Our plane, SAA 737-800 jet, was called and by 11 a.m. we were on our way. It's only when I watched the news that evening and subsequent days that I knew we'd been right there in the danger zone when black South Africans rose up in arms against their brothers who had come for jobs in what to them were greener pastures. The picture below seems to say it all.

Such ingratitude after what the rest of Africa did for freedom fighters until they attained their independence, logic lacks.

God bless us all.


Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Why Clinton can't be--shouldn't be--on Obama ticket

My back-to-back sequel post on US Elections Dems Campaigns. Odds are very much out of favour for Mama Clinton who trudges on, more to cause damage to her competitor than any hope of securing nomination.

But lust for White House she has. She lied her way down the campaign path, and last week she accidentally showed her hand (praise the Lord!) In there is hope against hope that something might happen to Barack Obama. Not merely a scandal but even a bolt of lightning. Otherwise what kind of slip of tongue referring to Robert Kennedy Assassination during democratic campaigning back in 1968?

What beats me is: for all prevailing logic, White House is the last place Mama Clinton would look forward to spending more years in. Is it happy memories? What!

I'd understand if it was Obama cliffhanging, whereby we'd dismiss it by the African blood in him, we see it with African leaders, don't we.

She is a respectable senator, and has a glittering past, but now she stands to tarnish the good track record she ever wrote with her deeds both as a practising lawyer, a First Lady and a high-profile Senator.

If Dems were to even persuade Obama to pick her as a running mate, the image of the beaten would hang around her all along--akin to going to bed with conqueror.

White House '09: Democrats struggle for nomination

Just like the rest of the world, and with media shrieking about it all over the place, I just can't help taking note and making my own, personal observations.

Firstly, I, being an African born and living in East Africa, cannot hide my joy--my heart is singing with joy that Barak Obama, our very own, is commanding such respect in America. And not fluking, too. It is not racism, but admiration and fratenity.

Secondly; I can't quite place this lady who has been campaigning for Dems nomination. Yeah, she did have some chance in the beginning, but by now (May 14 2008), she seems to just hang on with her teeth in a situation she hopes something will happen to Obama (such as a scandal or even a bolt of lightning--too bad, I don't see any of that happening). So determined she is even "lending her money into campaign"--how is the campaign going to pay her back? For the lady who claims ducking live bullets in Cossovo until caught in a lie with press video.

Thirdly, again Mrs Clinton beats me: She'd been in the White House for eight years. What experience she got there wasn't all that pleasant; what with her husband being impeached for an embarrasing reason! What now, if she were to get into the WH, with a retired hubby? Abolish interns altogether in the WH?

America needs Obama, Africa needs Obama, God bless Obamas and Clintons.

It's baad when a big man helps himself to national cake unlawfully in full view of subordinates

Sometime, say 3 years ago, my cousin's wife (a young lady with respectable job, private car, a couple of kids) came to me breathlessly telling me how I could get rich by enrolling in a certain scheme: you get a form, register and submit with money order of a certain amount, that is distributed to your predecessors up the chain.

"Lady," I said, "Don't you know that this is a pyramid scheme which is just another fraud?" I was remembering my days in Nigeria where I had swallowed line hook and sinker in that fatherland of scams.

"No, shem! This is different, The names of top shots like Mama X and Mama Y were some of the pioneers in this project" . She was calling it a project, Mama X and Mama Y were powerful persons in politics, and of high standing in society. Nevertheless, I just shook my head sadly telling her I can't see the future in the game, or logic of why I should get so much money without hard work.

Needless to say, the scheme did not run more than a week before it exploded into a lawsuit and the rich who had wanted to get richer quickly refunded those they had scammed so as to keep their names out, but some fingers were burnt alright.

There are two things here
1. Many persons look for any means of getting money for nothing - that explains several stories of bribe, pyramid games, going to witchdoctors, mushrooming churches that promise wealth to their followers (in the process licking their nickels) and the like.
2. Ordinary person feels it a justification if a leader--political, religious, doesn't matter--is in a thieving racket.

Which brings the point of corruption in high places. The latest news in Tanzania politics is that of one minister resigning after media revealed he was under investigation for corruption. He makes 4 the number of ministers who have bowed out in the space of 2 months. People are wondering aloud why the ministers who resigned in shame should continue being representatives of their constituencies, why they should continue holding positions in the ruling party and so forth.

(Footnote: The resignation took place on Sunday 20 April, the day when a politician-turned-gunman died peacefully pending verdict of his manslaughter case. )

Not long ago, there was Central Bank scam where millions of dollars were siphoned out of government coffers by bank officials colluding with outsiders who had set up fraudulent companies. Governor was fired.

Again, thanks to Internet, all frauds shall be exposed, so I can only see the ghost of Mwalimu Nyerere being functional, so much did the old man hate thieving politicians. Tanzanian Umma are very much behind the standings of Mwalimu, and it is Umma that shall cleanse the country of hypocrites who had thought themselves untouchable all along.
(WITCHCRAFT, NYERERE, FRAUD INVESTIGATION INTERNET have been subjects of my past posts)

Changing times, huh?

In today's Reuters news, there is an article that Vatican has released a list of further things considered sins. The list includes pollution!...

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/5608726.html

VATICAN CITY — In olden days, the deadly sins included lust, gluttony and greed. Now, the Catholic Church says pollution, mind-damaging drugs and genetic experiments are on its updated thou-shalt-not list. Also receiving fresh attention by the Vatican was social injustice, along the lines of the age-old maxim: "The rich get richer while the poor get poorer."

Bliss: Marc Anthony and Jen Lopez have twins!

Do you know? What a blessing! I'm sooo happy for the couple who have done so much for the World with their hits.


Jennifer Lopez gave birth to twins -- a boy and a girl -- early on Friday in a New York hospital, her manager said.

The 38-year-old, who is married to singer Marc Anthony, delivered her first children just after midnight in a Long Island hospital, manager Simon Fields told Reuters.

"They are healthy, happy and thrilled," Fields said of the new family.

The couple's 5.7 pound daughter was born first, followed by a 6.0 pound son. Both have yet to be named.

Lopez's efforts to have a child have filled tabloid pages in the past few years. Anthony, a 39-year-old salsa singer, has a daughter and two sons from two previous relationships.

Celebrity magazine People is reportedly offering upward of $6 million for the exclusive U.S. rights for the first photos of the babies, topping a reported $4 million the magazine paid for North American rights to pictures of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's baby daughter Shiloh.

New York-born Lopez, who has sold 17 million records worldwide and released six albums, married Anthony, who has sold more than 10 million records, in 2004. It is her third marriage.

The couple starred together last year in "El Cantante," a film about salsa legend Hector Lavoe.

Wao! I'll be damned! Fraud dividends pay off!

I glimpsed the last portion of the presentation of the "Richmond" Probe Committee by Dr Harrison Mwakyembe on National TV. Hair at the back of my neck kind of ruffled out of excitement. Was I dreaming? Naah. It was real.

The following day, Thursday 7th, I totted my little transistor radio so as to catch a word when the parliament would open next day. When I turned it a few minutes after nine, there was PM's voice alright. He spoke long and hard about all politicians being media fodder, only this time they decided to go for PM head, "a wish I'll grant", he said. Then rang out what people had wanted to hear--"I've given the President the letter to request my resignation". The parliament hall went wild with applaud. That may have been the loneliest hour for the whitehead tycoon who had a degree in theatre arts--something I got to discover a few hours after that short speech: I googled 'Edward Lowassa' on my cellphone, the first page was Wikipedia entry. Lo and behold, just some four hours after the heavy statement, some bonafide Tanzanian had already updated the Wiki entry appropriately about rise and fall of EL as Tz PM.

The parliament was then adjourned until 5 pm because of the gravity of what had just taken place. Two other ministers--Karamagi and Msabaha--would also announce their intentions to resign that evening.

Thursday 7th Feb 08 night a milestone was entered in the Tanzania history when President Jakaya Kikwete accepted the resignation letter submitted by Edward Lowassa and, as per Tanzanian Constitution, dissolved the Cabinet.

On Friday 8th during the 5 pm parliament session, a new name proposed to parliament for PM was announced--Mizengo Pinda. He had been a deputy Minister responsible for Local Government but also a seasoned civil servant having served under Father of Nation J.K. Nyerere and all other presidents that followed. According to him, he left civil service only when the constituents at his home district requested him to run for parliament, which he did and won, and was now in second term as MP.

As I'm writing this post we are without Cabinet (until tomorrow Monday 11 Feb anyways, but many a Tanzanian are welcoming the trend of things lately in the Phase Four government of Jakaya Kikwete. Pray, we, Tanzania, are the only country in the neighbourhood left with peace and tranquility--Kenya having discarded that status in the botched presidential elections at the end of last year.

Bye 2007 walcum 2008

At the time the year was coming ot a close, Tanzanians were keenly following the general elections in the neighbouring kenya, held on 29th. Things had started well enough, stations opening early on, some people queuing dutifully one hour before opening times. Voting took place during the day more or less without any alarming event. Stuff counted, returning officer filing in reports and all.

Early on the pattern started emerging with increasing clarity--the opposition were poised to win by landslide. So many famous politicians had lost their constituencies to the opposition.

Second day passed before the electoral commission made any announcement. And third. The delay started causing anxiety and suspicion: what is the eck up to? The world was soon to know, because the commission on sunday 31 dec 07 made an announcement that the incumbent has retained presidency.

The country then went bloody, houses torched, necks cut, tribal animosity always thinly veiled burst forth into a frenzy of crazed fighting. By the time things quietened down a bit after three days, more than 300 people were reported dead by news networks. As of now, there is a tense quiet as the opposing sides are holding on to terms that are insoluble.

And the world economy went on to indicate hard times ahead, what with oil hitting provebial USD 100 per barrel in the first week of the year.

South Africa's ANC Goes Topsy-Turvy

News from South Africa

The incumbent leader of the South Africa's ANC ruling Party has lost badly in the Party elections.

This is out of normal in Africa where the term "elections" is synonimous with "ruling party stealing the votes to win".

Jacom Zuma is also likely to win elections to become the next President of South Africa, taking over from the current president, Thabo Mbeki. News say the key posts in the Party were all taken by Zuma camp.

So far it is quiet, although there is a grumble about charges of corruption being brought up against Zuma. I think, though, the voters have decided, trying such thing will be regarded as hindrance of peoples' choice and cause mayhem in South Africa.

Kenyan elections are coming up in one week time, and are very intriguing too, with incumbent being threatened to be voted down.

Tiësto - Nominated for a Grammy!

This is one DJ I adore, so this news makes me happy: From the star's MySpace blog, to which I subscribe:


About Tiësto - Nominated for a Grammy!


Tiësto’s career is punctuated by landmark achievements – the first DJ in the world to sell out a solo stadium event for over 25,000 people 2 nights in a row, he scored a number one hit with his single Traffic, the first instrumental track to reach the top spot in his homeland of Holland in 23 years. His remix of Delerium featuring Sarah McLachlan’s Silence was the first house track ever broadcast on daytime radio in North America, (it became an international dancefloor anthem and also spent eight weeks in the UK top 10 chart).

He played live in front of billions of people during the Parade of the Athletes at the official opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Athens. But despite his meteoric success, Tiësto remains grounded about his achievements and clearly loves making and playing music above the accolades it brings. Born in Holland, Tiësto became a DJ because he “liked to share music with other people. When I was younger, I’d listen to a radio show called the Soul Show, and to Ben Liebrand’s mix radio program, where he would remix and cut up different tracks, and I just thought - I want to do this!” The productions came later, in 1995. “I really wanted to produce music that I could play in my sets, because it brings much more fulfilment to the process.

I bought some samplers, some computer programs, and just started working on it.” He makes it sound easy – indeed; he makes it look easy as 10 years down the line his productions consistently bother the charts and frequently reach number one around Europe. In 1997 Tiësto, along with Arny Bink, formed Black Hole Recordings, the label that launched the hugely acclaimed Magik, In Search Of Sunrise, and Nyana mix compilations. The label grew to such proportions that in 2001 Tiësto started a sub-label, Magik Muzik. “It’s the home of records of mine, or of people whose work I really believe in,” he enthuses. “Everything on Magik Muzik is what you’ll find in my sets, which makes it more of my own little project.” Some of the gems from Magik Muzik include 2001 anthem Flight 643 and his artist albums In My Memory, Just Be and Elements of Life. Though known primarily for his pioneering contributions to the trance scene, Tiësto’s style is now a mix of everything: “trance, house, techno - it’s the best of all that the dance world has to offer. In 1998, I was really a trance DJ, but now I’ve travelled round the world so much, different influences have seeped in and I play a bit of everything. I think the only way forward for DJs now is to play a diverse mix of sounds.” Indeed, his brand of trance was always pushing at the constraints of the genre anyway, featuring soaring vocals from the likes of Sarah McLachlan and Jes, spine-tingling breakdowns, and euphoric melodies at every end of the spectrum. The many high profile gigs and shows have now taken Tiësto away from exclusively playing clubs, and propelled him to become a mainstream artist. “Often at my shows now, half of the people are die-hard clubbers, but the other half are people who know me from the radio, or from more mainstream gigs,” he says. “It’s more like they’re going to a concert, so now I get a great mix of both worlds.” Describing the last few years as “a journey of defining moments,” (as well as the usual club successes, his shelves are groaning under the weight of numerous awards – TMF-Awards, MTV, Dutch DJ - and gold discs…) his favourites include the second night of the Tiësto In Concert show in Holland in 2004: “I was really aware of what was going on, the music was just right – a mix of all my big tunes and new track, everything just felt perfect that night.

I played for nine hours straight, and it was my favourite gig ever.” And, of course, he was chosen by the readers as the number one DJ in the world. “The first time it happened it was so amazing, I was overjoyed. The second and the third time were also fantastic, but the first time you’re on the cover of that magazine that is so respected by other DJs – it’s like winning an Oscar!” In May 2006 Tiësto decided to become the worldwide ambassador for Dance4Life, and to invest considerate amounts of his time and efforts to the one charity in which he could really find himself. Immediately the production of a Dance4Life anthem was discussed, which resulted in an a song with Faithless’ Maxi Jazz. Continuing to explore fresh avenues, knowing that the year 2007 is now in full swing, Tiësto is currently experimenting with new sounds in the studio, and writing more vocals himself. The most recent result of this new approach of course is his latest album ‘Elements of Life’, which sky rocketed to the highest positions in today’s charts. The album features the vocals of BT, who’s been working with Tiësto on previous occasions and hit the charts with ‘Break my Fall’; and Julie Thompson. “I’m not looking for any big collaboration right now, I’m more interested in a burgeoning talent – someone whose voice is good, and that really touches you. A voice should sound like an instrument to me. A good example is Christian Burns who is the singer on the hit single ‘In the Dark’; also a track from ‘Elements of Life’. I met him through MySpace; the actual proof that the internet is the medium of choice when it comes to musical developments and careers.” The concept behind his latest album also forms the basis for his current ‘Elements of Life World Tour’ which takes the DJ all over the globe. At the same time, the tour is of a size not before known in the dance scene. Since the four elements earth, water, air and fire are the unmistakeable necessities to build and maintain life on Earth, they had to be presented in all their greatness, which results in a stunning production that features state of the art special effects, moving water systems in sync with the music and high definition video screens. It requires three semi trucks to transport the equipment. The mere knowledge that Tiësto, as one DJ with two turntables, is entertaining audiences up to 25,000 people or more has silenced even the worst critic. But that his performances can compete with even the largest stadium concerts of the known world artists is something that the industry never held possible. The amounts of energy the DJ invests for the world tour have not kept him away from the one thing everybody was waiting for: the new ‘In Search of Sunrise 6’.

In between the mayhem of touring and insane flight schedules, Tiësto still found the time to deliver a double CD compilation for the highly successful series also known as ‘ISOS’. The live mix, made without electronic or computerized gadgets, is titled ‘Ibiza’ and for a reason: “I haven’t been in Ibiza for two years. The island is known for its large discotheques, the crazy parties, the best DJs and of course the party people”, he says. “Ibiza still is a magical place for me, with beautiful secret spots to discover and an atmosphere that can only be found there. So to make sure that I would capture the love and dedication I feel for the island, I actually returned to Ibiza for the proper inspiration.” He grins: “Now I know for sure that ‘ISOS 6’ earned it to be called ‘Ibiza’.” Knowing that Tiësto’s opportunities go beyond his own music, and the world tour, one might ask what will come up next. His answer is clear: “As I said earlier, the internet is the medium of choice for modern day music. I now host my own radio show called ‘Tiesto’s Club Life’, which is available as PodCast directly after it aired on radio. Through those blessings of the internet, fans can listen to me and the music I love whenever they feel like, wherever they feel like. And at the same time, radio stations all over the world broadcast the weekly shows within their own national programming. It’s just an fantastic idea knowing that my fans are now listening to the radio as I used to do when I was just a kid!“ One of the last things we haven’t mentioned is Tiësto’s work on the music of other artists. “I’m more open to doing remixes again. I like to hear a track and right away know what I want to do with it, what I can make different, and whether it’ll work for me in my sets – all my remixes have to be tried and tested.” His most recent remix, already featured in one of his ‘Club Life’ radio shows, was one of particular interest, he says. “The best producer in the world of the moment, Timbaland, approached me to do a remix of ‘Love Stoned’ by Justin Timberlake. That means a lot to me, you know? It actually shows that I’ve grown not only as a DJ, but also as a producer.”

Recently the DJ became one of the share holders of Cineac in Amsterdam. The club presents a combination of Chinese high cuisine, dance music and live-entertainment and can be considered a personal side project. “It was something I’m now able to do you know?, he says. “The fact that I could be into having my own club, realizing my own ideas about decoration and the music, meant enough to me to make sure I’d be a part of the Cineac from the very beginning. It’s so nice to do this next to the ‘business as usual’ for me as an artist. I want it to become the place to be in Amsterdam.” The future for Tiësto promises yet further success, both as the solo artist he’s become and the DJ we know him to be. “My new ‘Elements of Life’ album is doing well, ‘In Search of Sunrise 6’ has just been released and there will be more remixes, definitely,” he agrees, “but it’s hard to look too far into the future. Every couple of months it seems that something new, unexpected and exciting is happening!”

Here goes 2007

Personally I have only a dull recollection of the outgoing year: Tanzania was being run by a newly-elected phase four government that was, er, different. Early on, a star minister, Hon Migiro (Foreign Affairs) was taken on by no less than UN SG ki-Moon as his Deputy.

Petroleum price continued to climb, and is now perched at 1500 Shs per litre, too expensive for many persons. But as common say around bongo goes, if your tight shoe is pinching your toe, just grin and bear it, it's your personal problem--same here: we are still having many people full-tanking for long drives out of town just for fun. Some of these cars were fitted with music system (Bang and Olufsen? Boston Acoustics? All here) whose wattage could support a concert at a stadium.

Corruption and thieving stories by politicians and political had-beens started to be leaked into email and web forums and circulate lightning-fast around the web to reach Tanzanians far and near. With Internet being such an efficient means of communications, things shall never be the same again--not-so-good guys are exposed, caught in the act.

Wave of armed robbery (which reached crescendo just after phase 4 government entered into the scene) was largely quelled; and it was discovered, after all, that most kingpins were from neighbouring countries.

Some landscape changes observed during the year include multiplication of outdoor banners, mushrooming of open-yard car showrooms and inflow of low-key "investors".

Lopsided system of remuneration continued unchecked--two kids would graduate same day with identical results of the same subjects. When one of them would land a job (in government, no less) receiving salary of, say "x", the other would receive a salary of "4x", also a government employee. Reasons peddled by those who speak to media are interesting: The person who gets four times salary works at a place where he/she might accept bribe from customer. Sigh!

Chadema opposition party had a field day when its fireband MP was "admonished" for "lying" and received wholesome public sympathy.

Road accidents continued to claim their toll, and law enforcement officers seemed unable to do anything about it.

Obituary: our uncle Israel (brother of my mother) passed away aged about 77. He's survived by wife Lyimo (petite charming lady who seems forever young come rain or shine) and 8 kids.

Google is 9: A tribute

By Daniel Makundi
--
Time does fly: it's not that long ago when I
was telling my computer class that the
leading search engine is Alta Vista (at that
time with a strangely cumbersome url.
"altavista.digital.com"

In those days there were multiple popular search
engines, such as lycos, infoseek, dogpile,
metacrawler etc etc., the latter being crawlers
of search engines.

Then came a phenomenon, a search engine with
a strange name, google, whose logo was
coloured like child picturebook of letters.
The UI was straightforward, no-nonsense: just
a text box and a submit button and, yes, the
"I'm feeling lucky" button.

Google? what kind of name? Looking into a
dictionary there is "googly" describing a
cricket ball shot intended to take a surprise
trajectory (I wonder if the google inventors
did know that this would be exactly what
Google would do to competitors!). I read
somewhere that the name could be related to
the word "googol" which is a very large
number: 10000...000 where total number of
zeros is one hundred. Could they have known
that their company would sometime reach fantanstic
heights?

The speed of fetching results became
immediately noticeable with this search
engine. Web pundits were then remarking that
it didn't have that many websites crawled, so
yahoo and altavista would likely fetch more
relevant results.

Little did we know, then, that the Google was
conceived by Stanford PhD students Serge Brin
and Larry Page--I did come across this fact
much later when some kind soul posted an
article about Internet repository, digging
out personal webpages of that time's
students. There it was, talk about use of
eigenvectors (complex branch of math we
study in the second year at UDSM) in search
engine routines and stuff, to produce the fastest
search engine listing results with such well-sorted order
by relevance that you'd think the computers were
actually very intellingent. There were gizmos too, thrown
in without as much as a hype. Such as:
- /Did you mean so-and-so?/
or
- [translate this page]
or
- [view as html].

Then came gmail, a free webmail that had a
way of grouping messages into conversations.
That would grab a handful of attachments, zip
them and download a package onto your machine
pronto. They are the ones who brought about
the stampede of gigangic free email space when
they started offering a one gigabyte storage space.
Many people never believed for once such thing
could be realized. Now not only that it came
to be possible, but other free webmails have
copied the thing too. Walla! is offering 5
gigabyte, hotmail which was the first in and
biggest dissapointer with its 2 megabyte
limit, unzipped their space to also give a
gigabyte. Heck, Yahoo has recently said there
wouldn't be storage limit any longer--someone in this
world of queers is bound to throw a monkey
wrench into works by sending himself 10 giga
of stuff to test the system resilience--tch tch.

Google has so many goodies that have worked
so much for me that I wonder if Google are
not angels in disguise:
- Picasa is the best picture manager
- Google earth (travelling the globe like a
bird would soar among trees and getting as
much excitement)
- Google Desktop to fetch that obscure
document from deep crevices of the hard disk
pronto just like its web sibling
- Google Patents
- Google Print
- Googlepages
- YouTube
- Instant messenger within gmail
- etc.
Sometime not long ago Google decided to go
public in style--auctioning their shares.
Work, the idea did, and turned the founding partners
into overnight billionaires. And the shares kept
performing beyond any imagination in the market.
Serge and Larry are now in the Forbes top ten richest
billionaires, with clean-shaven jaw and not
an inch of fat. It's not at all difficult for
me to understand this--see my archive for a
post i made on GENIUSES.

And all this thanks to the non-intrusive ads.

Google even let me try some business by
placing adsense links on some of my pages and
blog. I haven't made money yet, but I only
have myself to blame for not making the
webpages more attractive.
As if all that good was not enough,

Google.org was established as a philantropic
side of Google: some projects have already
been funded for the good of mankind.
The latest we see in the news about Google
gig is that of offering millions of dollars
for private developer of vehicle to go to the
moon!

I do break down in cold sweat imagining (on behalf of
thousands who have got to make Google their
everyday part of life) what would happen if
Google shuts down? I do pray that day will
not come to pass. I wish all at Google good
health, long life and sustainability.

Professor Mbuya's sober talk

There is a large electronic discussion group called Tanzanet comprising mostly Tanzanians who are within and outside the country. Members come in all ages and carreers, from students to professors; from enterpreneurs to CEOs.

Most discussion that takes place there arise from Tanzania news items. I have taken liberty to post this Professor's reality message here for visitors to check reflect and forward...

********Beginning of paste****************

From: ...a@comcast.net
Reply-To: ...t@tanzanet.org
To: ...@tanzanet.org
Subject: [tanzanet] LOWASSA na KILIMO
Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2007 15:08:21 +0000

Mbona mahindi yanawaozea wakulima wa Songea?
Why should farmers produce if they cannot sell for a profit?

Foreign investors are NOT and will NOT be the silver bullet for the agricultural sector in Tanzania.
You heard it from me and you can quote me if you wish.

We have to address the basics of agricultural production (or any production).

1. Improve extension services
2. Secure markets (internal and external) for agricultural produce and products ...why produce if you can't sell?
3. Post-harvest processing and storage (preserve and store excess during peak (bumper) production to avoid spoilage aand waste)
4. Transportation infrastructure to reach the farmer and farms
5. Subsidy of farm inputs (fertilizers, pesticides) whenever appropriate
6. Mechanization and Irrigation

Tanzania need to encourage, support and protect small farmers from unfair competition from the "big sharks".
Would the farmers (80% or so of the population) be able to afford the food produced by the foreign investors?
And what would the small farmers do then? Go to Malawi?

Mimi nilianza kazi kama Bwana Shamba wa Tarafa kule Sikonge (Tabora) mwaka 1980.
Kwa wale wanaotoka Sikonge, nilikagua mashamba mengi sana ya tumbaku na mihogo kule Tutuo na Kiwele (karibu na Rukwa). Bila kusahau "kipigo" cha mbung'o (tse tse fly).
Baada ya kufanya kazi hiyo ya extension, vile vile nilifanya kazi kama Afisa Kilimo Utafiti katika Kituo cha Lyamungu.
Vile vile niliwahi kufundisha shule ya Sekondari kule Uru (Mwl. Mkuu alikuwa anaitwa Mr. Ndaskoi). Dada Selina unafahamu pale kwa Kisawio? Nilipita maeneo hayo sana.
Nimewahi kufanya utafiti na extension (Farming Systems Research) kule Colombia (Latin America) mwaka 1986 na mkazo ulikuwa wakulima wadogo wadogo (nilifika miji ya Cali, Medelin, Bogota, Pasto, Palmira na miji mingine midogo midogo). Wakati huo nilikuwa chini cha taasisi ya CIAT (Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical, i.e. Center for Tropical Agriculture).
Hapa Marekani tunashughulika na wakulima wadogo na wakubwa, at different levels of sophistication.
I have been in South Africa twice as a Consultant (Irrigation, Marketing and Post-harvest processing) on behalf on the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
I have served in may agricultural panels (State, National and International).

Why am I giving you all this personal information?
Because I think it is time someone (e.g. the government, politicians) take us (myself and other Tanzanian experts) seriously. I presume, at least we have something to offer, across disciplines and continents.

Kama ni utafiti tunaufahamu na tumeshafanya mwingi. tu
Kama ni extension tumefanya vile vile (kuanzia Sikone mpaka Colombia).
Kama ni kufundisha ...kazi hiyo tunaimanya vile vile (kuanzia Uru hadi Florida).
Otherwise the Americans wouldn't keep us around.
How come we cannot be heard at home?

Bongo tumekuwa mabingwa wa biashara ya maneno isiyokuwa na wanunuzi.

Wataalam tunao, lakini kwa sababu tunazozijua wenyewe, serikali inaamua kwenda kutafuta "wataalam" wa mvua kutoka Thailand.
Ati wamekuja kufanya utafiti! Utafiti wenyewe ni utafiti wa kunyunyiza "silver iodide" kwenye mawingu. (please read the literature on this subject).
Where was the Thai research proposal submitted for review?
Who was the highest and lowest bidder?
How were the local (Tanzania) experts involved?

Give me a break!

Now, let me be accused of wanting to be serious :-)

Have a nice weekend.

Mbuya
===================

-------------- Original message --------------
From: "Mwasa2" <....m@blueyonder.co.uk>

2007-09-15 08:36:15
By Lusekelo Philemon
The Prime Minister Edward Lowassa has underscored the need for collective efforts to promote the untapped opportunities in the agricultural sector.

Speaking at the Tanzania Investment Center (TIC) tenth anniversary`s climax in Dar es Salaam yesterday Lowassa said agriculture is one of the important sectors that need special attention.

`This sector still remains the important sector for the country`s socio-economic development hence more investments are highly needed for the country to register tangible success,` he said.

He said agriculture employs more than 80 per cent of the country`s total population, but there were minimal investments in the sector.

`More efforts are needed to ensure that serious investors come in the sector for vibrant returns,` he noted.

Lowassa urged TIC to collaborate with ministries, public institutions and key stakeholde rs to come up with viable strategies that would ensure there is an in crease of investors in the sector.

He said that there is no way we can get out of poverty without agriculture which is the engine for Tanzania?s economic prosperity.

The premier has also challenged TIC?s staff and management to work hard and ensure they seriously promote viable areas for the country`s economic development.

`Apart from today`s success, TIC needs to work hard to make sure that the center`s efforts contribute to the country?s economic growth,` he said.

The TIC Executive Director, Emmanuel Ole Naiko said during the ceremony that the center approved about 680 projects last year and expects to approve more in the near future.

Ole Naiko said: `Next year the centre is expected to approve about 800 projects. This is a good move to us.`

He said the centre has managed to reduce unnecessary delays for an investor to approve his/her projects.

`Currently, it takes only two weeks for the project to be approved by the centre. This is a good development for it as before that an investor spent more than three months,` he said.

He said the center is working hard to make sure that all potential investors come in the country and invest for the benefit of the entire Tanzanian population, and that friendly investment environment has made TIC to be one of the best centres in the world.

* SOURCE: Guardian


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