Because I try to build things, and also because there are very smart people online, I occasionally get tagged on very interesting topics on social media. Happened a few days ago when someone asked what if we had an app that notified people where and when fuel is available. Zimbabweans spend a lot of time queuing for petrol, hundreds of thousands of hours lost in…
Learning Design
I used to think design skills and creativity were things a person either had or did not have. People, I imagined, were born good designers or not. And I thought myself unfortunate to be born a bad designer. I was wrong. Making websites has taught me that there are many basic design principles that can be learnt. I’ve started reading books on design to get…
The All New Kindle Paperwhite
I just collected my All New Kindle Paperwhite. Weird name I know but who cares. The device looks almost like my old Kindle but there are many new and better features. I am still setting it up and will only fully get the feel of it after a couple of days. I have promised the guys over at TechZim a review and that should be…
A currency that is not
A few days ago in his Monetary Policy Statement the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe gave us a new currency, albeit with much protestation that it’s not really a currency. Indeed prior to the Monetary Policy government officials had been quick and vehement in their denial of a new currency. But we eventually got a new currency, called RTGS Dollars, whatever that means….
Weekly Read 2: The Armchair Economist
This week I’m reading Steven E. Landsburg’s The Armchair Economist. I’ll also pick up a fiction book when I find a suitable one. Have a great week everyone.
Dark Times for Zimbabwe
The first two months of 2019 have been terrible for Zimbabwe. In January the security forces went on a spree of rape, murder, abductions , illegal detentions and mindless brutality. We lost perhaps our biggest musical icon. February has not given us respite. Dozens of miners are trapped, likely dead, in mine shafts. The government’s response is too little, way too late. And today…
A Look into the Future: Artificial Intelligence Generates Fake Faces and It’s Creepy
If you go on This Person Does Not Exist you’ll see an image of a stranger, perhaps one you might meet some day, and each time you refresh another stranger comes up. Nothing remarkable, you might conclude. You’d be very wrong. There’s everything remarkable about those pictures: Each and everyone of them is fake, they are not pictures of “strangers”, rather, they are pictures of…
What I’m Reading This Week (Non Fiction)
This week I’m reading Marie Kondo’s The Life Changing Habit of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. It’s a book about…..tidying up, of course. But, seriously, that’s what it is – a book about becoming tidier, more organized and less cluttered. The book is very popular and has even been made into a Netflix show. I’ve meant to read the book for…
Zimbabwe on the brink?
Seems my country is once again on the brink of economic collapse. The massive increase in fuel prices announced last night by Emerson Mnangagwa may turn out to be the Sarajevo moment for something momentous. By increasing the price of fuel by a factor of over two, government set the stage for further price hikes on goods that are already priced out of reach for…
Inspired by Seth
Seth BlogGodin’s blog, called, unsurprisingly, Seth’s Blog is one of the best on the web. The style is captivating and the posts are short enough to impart wisdom without being tedious. Most impressive is how he is able to do this consistently, almost every day. He’s a genius. One of my goals is to one day be half as smart. And as consistent. I’m inspired…