Thinking Different

BACK in the day when I still dreamed of being an engineer, we learnt a new term in one Physics lesson that would re-appear more than anyone wished in our subsequent tests and exams.

Resonance.

It’s not easy to explain: the tendency of a system to oscillate at a greater amplitude at some frequencies than at others. At such resonating frequencies (am told that’s the technical name), even small periodic driving forces can produce large amplitude oscillations, because the system stores vibrational energy. It probably won’t make much sense.

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This picture was taken 2 years later. I guess I had styled up a lot!

I have been thinking about all the things we used to go through as kids: back in the 20th Century. From the time I first put on shoes – some red plastic pair we used to call Katootamuriro – to the fairly grown-up man (sic) that left enrolled at Kabale Primary School, over 20miles away from my home village, and family for that matter.

In that paragraph alone, I’ve made reference to more than 3 stories: hmm, I could write a book!

Inspired by Google’s multi-million move to digitize archives of legendary icon Nelson Mandela, I’m also making a decision to write down stories from my life. Because in the years to come, most of what we went through as kids will tend close and closer to fiction. To kickstart this initiative, here’s the first time I travelled in a car. Read more…

This image appears in the

For most of the blogs I’ve posted here thus far, I’ve always been inspired by one major event – for lack of a better word.

But today is one of those days when I am compelled to write, but with no clue what I should write about. So for the better part of my afternoon, I did the unnoticeable, like changing my blog home URL – and name, actually. From The Idiosyncratic Notion to Thinking Different.

The two virtually mean the same thing, in my view. But the latter is inspired by – you guessed it; Steve Jobs (R.I.P). I’ll get to that later.

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Ever wondered what happens to your online accounts when you die? Over the last few years, Facebook’s been the bearer of the bad news of the death of a few friends of mine. It is always a moment of shock when the time between the news friend’s passing on and the last status update is just a few hours.

For accounts like mine with a lot of content shared per day, I always ask myself: what will happen when I go? Read more…

Electronic conversations: How many gadgets are here?

Yesterday I joined my good friends and Twitter buddies, Boaz Shani, Javie Ssozi, Maureen Agena, Ruth Aine, Evelyn Namara, Patricia Twino, Daniel Stern, Darlyne Komukama and Collins Mugume on one of those long overdue road trips to Masindi District in Western Uganda. The stated objective was to attend the Villages In Action, 2012 conference, but for each of the members of Friday’s Delegation from Kampala, I got the sense that there is some other motivation to traveling this far to one of the remotest villages in country – but I’ll get back to that later.

Villages in Action is an initiative of TMS Ruge‘s Project Diaspora, birthed when his team decided to “change perceptions about the poor” by building a platform on which their voices can be heard. Accoring to their website, it was set up in sharp contrast to conventional gatherings to review the progress of the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals), in which high profile attendees, including heads of states, celebrities and other bureaucrats wine and dine, without the representation of the poor themselves.

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After 3 months, very few feel needed by their country

The TV commercial features a few pieces of what looks like pineapple being “dropped” on a not-so-ordinary plate, with a number of children’s hands waiting. Appearing to bring out the element of lack (of enough food), one of the hands is depicted to have been about to “pick nothing” from the plate.

But the estimated cost of the plate, and the mat on which it is placed have no relationship with those expected in areas worst hit by hunger – or lack of enough food. Read more…