My day at work (Oh well, part of it)

Well, being an “artsy-tech” person (meaning I love arts and technology so much), the idea of attending the ‘AMH Conversations’ event did not seem really appealing to me especially when I knew it had something to do with Finance, business and  or the economy.

As part of my job though, I had to be there, doing the live tweeting and everything a person who works in the company’s ‘Online Office’ has to do.

I had to be at the Celebration Centre by 730 am, so we could start at 8 am. When my alarm went off at 530, I groaned...Daaamn; I did not want to wake up. But I had to, or I was going to be late.

On my way to the ‘Centre’, I envisaged a room full of serious men in dark business suits having serious talks and throwing in words like GDP, Economic Boom, Fiscal Deficit, Syndicated loans and all the other words I learnt from my Reuters Financial Reporting course. I groaned again.

I told myself I was going to stick out in the whole serious looking crowd (had tried to put on some formal wear there, black through-out, to blend in).

Stepping into the lobby, I saw people by the balcony, sipping their teas, waiting for the event to start. I skipped the tea part (even though I so love coffee and would have grabbed a cup to jerk me out of my semi-trance) and went straight into the auditorium.

People trickled into the room and in less than 40 minutes, it was full (yes, with dark-suited people) but not as intimidating and serious as I had feared.

ZIFm Stereo’s Supa Mandiwanzira was the moderator, and I say he really knows how to break the ice, with witty banter.

Minutes into the event, I realised it was not that bad, infact it was interesting (I had feared I was going to doze in the event).

Charles Robertson’s (lead author of The Fastest Billion) presentation caught everybody’s attention and the examples he gave were those I could relate to. Big words were probably thrown around there, but I totally understood it all.

Summing it all, in layman’s terms, he was saying Africa has so much potential for growth and that governments had to make their countries investor friendly etc…

Questions were asked and responses were given and the hour went by, I would say, rather too quickly. I wanted the event to go on and on now, but hey the whole idea was to KISS (KeepItShotandSimple).

My letter from Miss Gaddafi

I just laughed when I opened my Gmail spam box to find a message from ‘Aisha Gaddafi’. Now I am not going to say a lot in this post, I am just going to let Miss Gaddafi do the talking.

Good Day,

Am Aisha  Gaddafi  daughter  of late Colonel Gaddafi the Libyan leader. I am contacting you to assist me in removing the sum of sixty five million USA dollars being deposited with a security company in UAE Dubai.

The funds was deposited with a security company in my name and as a matter of fact me, my only son and the entire family of my father in-law were trapped in a bunker here in Tripoli I manage to sneak out with my son with the help of a security guard on duty that faithful day, i manage to crossed the border and I am presently into hiding in Senegal without any other means of communication unless my laptop hoping to arrange for my traveling out possible to Europe to safe guard my life because I know that the regime of my father in-law has collapse after his death Please for your kind assistance I will offer you 30% of the total sum, all the legal documentation concerning the deposit are with me, I will only write power of attorney making you the new beneficiary of the deposit so that the security company can release the consignment to you.

Bear in mind that the funds was deposited with the security firm as household effect, therefore they do not know the real content, so you are going to collect the consignment as house effect from the security company whereas only you and me know the real content.

Once you successfully collect the consignment from the security company you will send me with some money so that I can arrange for my traveling where we can meet ourselves for disbursement.

May Allah grant you the heart to assist me and my only son in this our trial period, please never you abandon me with my son just because we are Arabs, but I want to assure you that I am of a clean heart that was brought up under western
education.

Get back with your details so that we can proceed without delay because l am here without help from no one. I look forward hearing from you.

Best Regards,
Aisha Gaddafi

Fraudsters pleeeease, do I look that dull, huh, huh , huh?

And then we are all Keeking!!

In the past couple of days, my twitter TL has been ablaze with tweets about Keek and it seemed like everyone was in some kind of frenzy over this.

Not to be left behind, I decided to jump onto the Keek band wagon. I signed up but did not put up anything yet. I had to observe how it was all going down.

Watching some ‘Keeks’, scales fell off my eyes. The person some represented on Twitter was the opposite of who they were on Keek (some avis really lie).

Some Keeks were downright amusing though; I would play them over and over again; bursting into laughter and everyone in the office giving me surprised looks like   'I love it when they call me big poppa'  , 'For those people telling me to go to sleep...liff me eeeeelone', ANNOUNCEMENT:CHIZIVISO, Introducing, the "Gorilla Dance" to name just a few.

Some Keekers had really nice voices, which Twitter sadly did not bring to light, some seemed to have warmer personalities than the ones they portrayed on Twitter (Or is it clever play- acting for the camera?)

“So what really is this Keek and how different is it from the other social media platforms?” That is the question I asked myself.

Google and Techy guys I talked  did not disappoint with the answers and here is what I got from my ‘research’:

Keek, founded by Isaac Raichyk, is a free online social networking service that enables users to upload video status updates, which are called "keeks".

The word "Keek" comes from Middle English and means a look, especially a quick one.

Keek Inc. which is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and has around 30 employees launched in early 2011 to "create a social network that was more authentic and personal.”

Keek has been described as "the Twitter for video", "Instagram of video" and a "micro version of YouTube".
The Keek BlackBerry app is compatible with BlackBerry 10 smartphones whilst the Keek Android app is compatible with various Android devices including smartphones and tablets.

The current version of the Keek iPhone app is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch running iOS 4.3 or later.

I am yet to upload my own Keek yet, I am still having loads of fun watching yours!

How much do artists benefit from HIFA?

There have been concerns over the criteria used to select artists who perform during the Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA) and how these artists would then benefit from the whole festival.

These concerns were raised by journalists during the second HIFA press Conference held on Tuesday, March 05, 2013 at Rainbow Towers, Harare.

“What criteria are you using to select these artists, as we have seen that there have been recycling of artists who perform during HIFA whilst some artists fail to make it in?” asked Anthony Mutambira, a film-maker.

Responding to this question, Tafadzwa Simba, HIFA’s Head of Media and Community Liaison said that they chose artists who presented good quality art work and who were professional.

“Some artists are even recommended to perform again at HIFA by their peers”, said Simba.

Another journalist went on to state that even though it was apparent that HIFA and its supporters benefited from the festival, it was not really clear how artists benefitted from the festival.

Responding to this, Executive Director of HIFA, Maria Wilson said HIFA was not an agent for artists but a platform for them to showcase their talent.

“We give artists a platform to showcase their talent without paying anything,” said Wilson.

“This is a festival where we gorge ourselves with good things…it is not always about money.”

HIFA 2013 which runs under the theme What’s Next… kicks off on the 30th of April and will run till the 5th of May 2013.

Clippings.me goes mobile

Clippings.me, the world's largest journalism portfolio site, with writers from Wall Street Journal, BBC, Financial Times, Huffington Post, La Stampa and more has launched a major upgrade to make all writers’ profiles look as great on mobile as they do everywhere else.

 
This makes the site the first journalism portfolio service to offer a full mobile experience for users and visitors, with beautiful full-width images and a design optimized for smaller devices.

In his mail, Clippings.me founder Nicholas Holmes said they had added minor tweaks to profiles including a new option to upload an image of oneself and clearer fonts throughout the site.

“We need your help in deciding what should go into our forthcoming clippings.me PRO package, which will be available for a low monthly fee.” read part of the mail.

“Simply click one of the options below to tell us what you'd consider buying from clippings.me - and as a reward, there's a fantastic guide to social media branding for journalists waiting on the next page.”

Miriam Makeba's birthday commemorated in Google doodle

Google celebrates the 81st birthday of Grammy Award-winning South African singer and civil rights activist Miriam 'Mama Africa' Makeba with a Google Doodle.

Born Zenzile Miriam Makeba in Johannesburg on 4 March 1932, she was the first South African artist to popularize African music in the U.S. and around the world and is the first African to be honoured with her own Google doodle.

In 1963 she testified about apartheid before the United Nations, as a result the South African government revoked her citizenship and right of return.

She stayed in the U.S. , marrying Stokely Carmichael, a Black Panther leader.

She is best known for the song "Pata Pata", first recorded in 1957 and released in the U.S. in 1967.

Makeba returned to world fame when she performed with Paul Simon on the Graceland tour. Finally in the late 1980's she returned to her homeland as a free South African.

She died of a heart attack on November9, 2008 after performing in a concert in Italy.

The Google Doodle is an artistic version of the Google logo and represents events like holidays and anniversaries.