Without meaning to sound rude, you should probably have watched Star Wars by now. I’d hasten to add the Alien quadrilogy, Predator and 2001: A Space Odyssey to that list as well – but those are the obvious ones.
Today’s Stuff to Watch will focus on the geekiest of geeky films. These are films that your average tech lovin’ computer whiz should love – and they’re not all dystopian sci-fi movies either.

Office Space (1999)

One of the funniest films of the decade, Office Space is a must-see if you spend much of your day in a cubicle (work, not toilets) filing away reports and fighting the office photocopier. This film is for anyone who has ever worked a soulless office job, reluctantly given up weekends to a boss they hate or those with a fondness for staplers. Everything from the plot to the humour to the hip hop soundtrack is perfect. It was funny in 1999 and it will still be very funny (and probably more relevant than ever) in 2029.

Cube (1997)

I’m currently waiting till I forget enough of Cube to watch and really enjoy it again. Cube is one of those movies that takes the viewer on quite a journey without actually changing location all that much. The film kicks off with seven complete strangers meeting for the first time inside a giant cube. The cube is a labyrinth containing thousands of rooms, some seemingly harmless and others full of deadly traps. And so begins a roller coaster ride of a movie that maintains the perfect balance of hope and dejection all the way to the bitter end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dYirAi6TSYI

WarGames (1983)

In 1983, home computing had really started to take off and at the same time computer-related films and television shows started to enjoy mainstream success. Arguably one of the finest “hacker” films to date, WarGames is a must-watch for any geek. When David, a lowly hacker, gains access to a government computer he is asked a question – “do you want to play a game?”. What David doesn’t realise is that the answer he provides has the power to shape history and destroy the planet – 80s style. I found the full version of this movie floating around on YouTube, which is the second video below (with the first being the trailer).

Blade Runner (1982)

Blade Runner is easily one of the most celebrated sci-fi films of all time, and there’s a very good reason for that. Directed by Ridley Scott and starring (a young-ish) Harrison Ford, our protagonist – a blade runner – must hunt down and kill 4 replicants who have returned to earth after attacking a ship in space. Blade Runner isn’t just a special film for the plot and direction but also the beautiful cyberpunk setting and the fact that there is so much happening over the two-hour runtime that you’ll probably want to watch it a dozen times to get all you can from it.

THX 1138 (1971)

Quite possibly George Lucas’ best film (yeah I went there), THX 1138 is a dystopian tale of love in an authoritarian world run by robots and CCTV. I really must add that if you can, try to find the original 1979 cut rather than the one that Lucas released a few years ago.
The reason? Well the latest DVD release has been defaced with thoroughly unnecessary CGI which really detracts from the gritty atmosphere generated in the original. Why oh why must Lucas continue to ruin his own films and franchises I will never know, but you have been warned!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dns4zUKfskg

Dark City (1998)

In a city that never sees sunlight, one man starts to question his past, his memories and his very existence. As citizens go about their daily lives, unbeknownst to them a sinister event is taking place each night. The city is controlled, shaped and designed by mysterious beings with incredible telekinetic abilities. But when something goes wrong behind the scenes, John Murdoch can suddenly see the world for what it is – but can he convince others?

Moon (2009)

Moon is a beautifully constructed piece of cinema with gorgeous cinematography and the perfect soundtrack to boot. More importantly, it’s a film that is not over-reliant on CGI or convoluted back story and it features Kevin Spacey playing the role of a computerized robotic arm. In the not-so-distant future man’s energy demands have been satiated thanks to Lunar Industries and their operations on the moon. Earth is now completely reliant on helium-3, a clean energy source that must be harvested on the moon. The film tells the tale of Sam, the only human stationed on the base, as he approaches the end of his three-year contract.

They Live (1988)

What better way to finish off a geeky list of films with a John Carpenter classic? There’s a wealth of Carpenter films to choose from – The Thing & Escape from New York are two that spring to mind – but I think I enjoyed They Live more than I did the others. The plot is fairly simple – man finds sunglasses that reveal a terrifying secret about the world he is living in. The rest is your average John Carpenter action-cum-sci-fi flick, with the usual lashings of Carpenter’s self-composed 80’s keyboard score. Marvelous.

Conclusion: These are only my personal picks, and you’ve probably got your own favorites. If you think I’m wrong, that I’ve missed an absolute blinder or you’ve got a better list to share then please add your thoughts in the comments section below and help your fellow movie fans out!

Do you love these films? Do you have any other recommendations? Enlighten us all in the comments, below!

Zalego, a top mobile application development training institution in Kenya has announced that developers have just five days to apply for the Tecno App Challenge 2014.

The firm, working in partnership with Tecno, an Android smartphone manufacturer, said the deadline for developers to apply to the challenge have until 31st of January,  2014 to submit their apps.  The two firms aim to use the challenge to identify talent, and potential future partners and employees.

According to Eric Mutuku, Zalego founder,“I believe we have a lot of creative and innovative developers who have amazing solutions for different industry verticals. I urge developers to not keep these creative applications in their laptops but to let the world know about their solutions. I am calling on all mobile application developers to participate in this challenges it’s one of the best ways for potential investors and strategic partners to know you exist. For those who will not make it for this 2013 challenge, we have the 2014 challenge on the way”

The challenge was announced in July 31, 2013, and several developers have already submitted their apps.  Winning apps will be announced and awarded on 31st May, 2014 and the top app will take home KSh. 300,000, while the first runners up KSh. 200,000 and the second runners up KSh. 150,000.  All winners will take home a Tecno smartphone.

App submissions made as a team will have to select a team representative, who if the team wins,  will be responsible with receiving the prize and ensuring distribution of the same to all team members. Team members must also agree on a mode of payment.

Apps can be submitted to info@zalego.com for further directives. If a team or a developer has more than one app, he or she can submit them in separate emails.

Important Dates
(1) App Challenge announced on 2013 July 31
(2) Submit deadline: 2014 Jan 31
(3) Award: 2014 May 31

Prizes
1. Platinum Kshs 300,000+ 1 Tecno smart phone
2. Gold Kshs 200,000+ 1 Tecno smart phone
3. Silver Kshs 150,000+ 1 Tecno smart phone

The GSMA has joined Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) to identify policy and regulatory barriers to Internet access and affordability and collaborate on plans to address these issues globally.

Joining A4AI will help the organizations tackle the challenge of mobile broadband penetration in Africa and other less-developed countries which have penetration rates of mobile subscribers as low as 20 per cent (Ethiopia), 28 per cent(India) and 30 per cent (Pakistan) according to GSMA Intelligence.

“There is an urgent need for affordable smartphones, the rapid, economically viable deployment of wireless broadband infrastructure in rural areas and the promotion of digital literacy to help connect the unconnected in underserved communities around the world,” said Anne Bouverot, Director General, GSMA.

Launched in October 2013, A4AI’s main mission is to make broadband access to all and at affordable prizes, less than five per cent of average monthly income. A4AI thus seeks to create the conditions for open, competitive and innovative broadband markets via policy and regulatory reform through a combination of advocacy, research and knowledge-sharing at global, regional and national levels.

Sonia Jorge, Executive Director of the Alliance for Affordable Internet added: “Despite recent falls in prices, mobile broadband remains prohibitively expensive in most developing countries. A4AI’s recent affordability report highlighted that for those living on less than US $2 a day, mobile broadband costs in excess of 20 per cent of monthly incomes in many countries, and skyrockets to as much as 48 per cent of income in Colombia, and 35 per cent in Zambia.

“A4AI is tackling the regulatory and policy barriers that keep prices artificially high. Working with the GSMA and its members to lower cost structures and develop innovative delivery approaches will be a significant boost to our efforts. We must drive broadband prices down rapidly to enable billions more – particularly women and under-served rural communities – to access the life-changing potential of the Internet.”

GSMA is not new to A4AI. Before the Alliance’s launch, GSMA helped it shape its principles and policy positions. A4AI is made up of Ericsson, Facebook, Google, Intel, the Internet Society, Microsoft, the Omidyar Network, Alcatel-Lucent, the Association for Progressive Communications, Cisco, the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation, Research ICT Africa, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), USAID and Yahoo!

These organizations plan to start work in Ghana and Nigeria in the first quarter of 2014.

The Internet of Everything (IoE) could generate $4.6 Trillion in value for public sector organizations over the next decade, according to a new study released by Cisco.

The report claims that the IoE can help governments create value by saving money, improving employee productivity, generating new revenue (without raising taxes) and enhancing citizen benefits.  

IoE is the networked connection of people, process, data and things, and the increased value that occurs as “everything” joins the network. Several technology transitions – including the Internet of Things, increased mobility, the emergence of cloud computing, and the growing importance of big data, among others – are combining to enable IoE.

The study says that with IoE in the next 10 years;

• Smart buildings could generate $100B by lowering operating costs by reducing energy consumption through the integration of HVAC and other systems.

• Gas monitoring could generate $69B by reducing meter-reading costs and increasing the accuracy of readings for citizens and municipal utility agencies.

• Smart parking could create $41B by providing real-time visibility into the availability of parking spaces across a city. Residents can identify and reserve the closest available space, traffic wardens can identify non-compliant usage, and municipalities can introduce demand-based pricing.

• Water management could generate $39B by connecting the household water meter over an IP network to provide remote information on use and status.

• Road pricing could create $18 Billion in new revenues by implementing automatic payments as vehicles enter busy zones of cities, improving traffic conditions and raising revenues.

“With more of the world’s population moving into urban centers daily, cities must become more flexible and responsive to citizen needs, while making the most of public resources,” said Wim Elfrink, Cisco’s EVP of industry solutions and chief globalization officer.

The governments also have their share of good times with IoE, this is how;

• State agencies could claim $677 Billion in value by applying IoE solutions to processes like bridge maintenance, offender transport, chronic disease management, connected learning and wildfire suppression.    

• Non-defense federal agencies could capture $462 Billion through IoE solutions improving disaster response, fleet management, cyber security and many other areas.

• Defense forces globally can improve the effectiveness of military missions by four-fold through secure connection and information sharing among soldiers, bases, vehicles and battlefield assets. Improved connections among defense forces globally could generate $1.5 Trillion in value and measurably enhance solider safety. 

“Public-sector leaders are under tremendous pressure to bridge the gap between rising citizen expectations and shrinking resources,” said Martin McPhee, Cisco’s SVP for Consulting Services. Public sector leaders should act now to identify major IoE opportunities in their agencies, and begin by reimagining what is possible in an IoE world.”

By Aneesh Reddy, Co-Founder and CEO, Capillary Technologies

Any business looking to scale needs business processes. Good business processes take your company to the next level by automating functions that previously required management in the form of human capital.

And in case you haven’t noticed, human capital can get expensive.

Fortunately for you, the right tools can help you avoid and reduce those costs. One of your first core business processes to put in place is your sales process. A company is only a company if it has customers and once you have enough customers, the key to growth becomes how you maximise your revenue potential.

The best tool to manage that growth is a CRM. And the very best kind of CRM is one that incorporates not only the standard tracking elements of any sales cycle, but also social media activity and other key variables of customer experience. We call these CRMs – CX CRMs. CX CRMs add texture to your sales strategy by enhancing intelligence to improve communication and drive returns.

Here are five ways CX CRMS optimise sales for profit.

#1: They track every channel.
Just as a good sales rep leaves no stone unturned, CX CRMs leave no customer untapped. Nearly one third of consumers use three or more channels to purchase. And by overwhelming margins (75%), consumers prefer the path of “online to in-store” over any other omni-channel routes to purchase.  Whether your customers prefer to use mobile, email or social media as a potential point of sale, CX CRMs address every necessary customer touch point to land the highest possible number of sales. They consider and predict the channels that customers want to use and match those channels with the perfect offer.

#2: They make rewards programs easy.
Customers love rewards. But often times, retail-based rewards systems are confined by the need for physical tracking rather than easy, electronic systems. With CX CRMs, it’s easy to track every purchase a customer makes. No more rumpled punch cards handed out upon first purchase before getting lost in the back of a wallet or bottom of a purse. Instead, customers are propelled to buy without the hassle, and pleasantly surprised when they earn something for free.

CX CRMs make retail forms and cards obsolete so you can show your savvy and keep customers happy.

#3: They empower in-store employees.
Clienteling allows employees to pull up individual customers and utilise a variety of tools, such as in-store tablets, to improve profitability, productivity and sales. Armed with in-depth intelligence about past customer behaviour, from purchase to interaction, employees stand much better odds of maximising the value of every person who walks into the store and rings the register.

Don’t just incentivise your employees; provide them the power of clienteling so they stay one step ahead of the sale. Your bottom line will thank you.

 #4: They leverage the instant offer.
It would be nice if customers could tell you directly what would appeal to them before you made your offer. Unfortunately, that’s not how it works. Instead, your store is tasked with creating something eye-catching and sales-worthy based on past data alone. Seems a little like rolling the dice, right?

Good news: it doesn’t have to be. CX CRMs have a knack for knowing what kind of offer will appeal to what kind of customer and when to use instant offers to make the sale. They are, bar none, the easiest, most effective way to deliver instant, actionable offers to customers in the form of relevant, useful coupons. And since 8% of instant offers are redeemed the day they are sent out, the impact is highly measurable and tangible for any business owner or decision maker.

It’s like reading your customers’ minds!

#5: They target with awesome precision.
 Customer demographics are a retailer’s best friend.  Breaking your customers into clusters yields better results because it allows you to account for thousands of factors, such as gender, age, date of purchase, frequency, income, purchase size, etc., changing your approach for the better on a customer-by-customer basis. Proper analytics can yield 2-5X the return of standard CRMs, even for smaller retailers. Of course, that kind of return is nothing to sneeze at, no matter how large the company is.

South Africa’s BI and analytics specialist BITanium has launched a series of statistics and data mining courses in a move to help enterprises maximise their returns on analytical tools.

The courses will be delivered at BITanium’s training facility in Woodmead, Johannesburg, as well as at customers’ premises and selected venues Cape Town.  Course material can be customised in line with organisations needs. BITanium plan to expand on their range of courses during the year.

According to Dr Tracy Dunbar, Director of BITanium, BITanium has noted a growing need in business to extract insights from the data available.

“With data as the new competitive advantage, enterprises are looking to maximise their returns on analytics tools and achieve value from their data. However, little training has been available in South Africa to date, to assist people of all levels to use their data effectively.”

Nadine Shenker, Director of BITanium, adds that even graduates with statistical qualifications tend to have focused on the theories behind analytics at university – rather than the practical application. “We are also seeing businesses investing heavily in data mining and analytics tools, but not realising the full ROI from them. It’s much like investing in a luxury car without having a driver’s license – you cannot optimise the value of the tools without knowing how to use them,” she says.

Amid growing demand for data scientists and analytics support and training, BITanium has launched a series of training courses for business and IT, aimed at enhancing their understanding of analytics and delivering practical insights into the use of analytics tools in enterprise. The interactive courses, running over one to three days, are presented by experts in their field and focus on the real world application of analytical techniques.

“Currently, the training available starts with a basic introduction– covering the basics of data definitions, data analysis and presentation of results – for business people who have never engaged with statistics,” says Dr Dunbar. “Courses are also available covering advanced data mining techniques, research methodologies, and the optimal use of specific tools such as IBM SPSS. The training serves as a first step towards gaining IBM toolset certification.”

The BITanium statistics and data mining courses are ideally suited to:

·         Business and department managers who need to extract value from data

·         Analysts in the public and private sector

·         Researchers

·         Marketers

·         Actuaries, statisticians and data scientists

·         Underwriters

·         Fraud and credit risk professionals.

For more information, visit http://www.bitanium.co.za/training-courses or contact  training@bitanium.co.za

Pay-TV operator multi choice has partnered with Equity bank in a bid to offer set box financing to Kenyans ahead of analogue-digital migration.

The move by the Multiplatform pay television operator will enable millions of Kenyans meet the analogue switch off date by easily purchasing leading technology infrastructure, that offers the latest television innovation at an affordable subscriber cost for both DSTV and Go-TV.

“This timely financing partnership will ensure Kenyans are able to enjoy the benefits of digital entertainment from our brands with financial ease,” said Multichoice Kenya General Manager Danny Mucira.

Interested equity customers will go through normal credit vetting where this is anticipated to take a short time before an individual lands their device of choice.

Equity bank also provides subscribers with a pay platform at retail outlets through EAZZY 247 mobile banking completing the convenient package for consumers.

“We are delighted with this partnership as we seek to facilitate the acquisition of decoders,” noted Equity bank’s Chief Operating Officer, Julius Kipng’etich.

By Dr. Peregrino Brimah of ENDS.ng [Every Nigerian Do Something]
Follow him @EveryNigerian

Welcome to 2014. While many of us in developing nations are embroiled in trivial and non sequitur ethnic, religious and political/governance battles, there is a new and most powerful ‘race’ that is slowly but steadily conquering the world and promising to deprive us of what we yet have today, and the job security we aspire for.

Knowing that most criminality and terror is rooted in competition for opportunity, land and the pursuit of happiness, I dare say we are lucky… that we have not yet been allowed to advance, thanks to our frictions, and as such do not yet critically experience this most serious and unavoidable new competitive threat to humanity. We can barely cope with human-human competition, talk less the machine revolution.

The job loss in America, as much as it is blamed on simple and rather comforting explanations like, increased global competitiveness, exporting jobs, inept administrative policies and the like; is highly attributable to this new ‘race’ of monsters.

It is the machines; the blessing of advancing technology, creating a race of gadgets that are surely and steadily replacing jobs, primarily in the ‘developed’ world and eventually everywhere.

This December, the CEO of Amazon, the world’s biggest online store, Jeff Bezos revealed the companies “Prime Air” drone project which intends to deliver light weight packages to customers within 30 minutes of clicking ‘buy now.’ 80% of Amazon orders are lightweight; this translates to almost 80% replacement of human low skill deliveryman labor.

UPS, the world’s largest package delivery company is also researching the utility of drone technology to deliver packages. All these are in the test phase and are expected to fully roll out within the next 4 years.

Already in the biggest stores like Wal-Mart, machines have been replacing most human checkout kiosks/tills. And the thing about these automatic checkout points is their humanness. They, unlike simple computers of the past, interact in conversation style with the customer. The machines say, ‘welcome,’ ‘please scan your item;’ ‘please put it in the bag.’ And wish you off with a friendly bye-bye, ‘thanks for shopping with us.’

By the end of 2014, there will be 430,000 self-checkout points in Wal-Mart stores around the United States. That is almost half a million jobs lost in the US. It takes only one attendant to supervise up to six checkout lanes.

The same trend has been occurring in BJ’s, CVS, M&S and practically all major retail stores worldwide. This equals millions of every day staff who are being laid off by a better ‘race,’ the race of machines. US president Barack Obama can simply not catch-up with this rate of job replacement by machines that are cheap to operate, do not require health-care, do not complain, are always punctual and are purchased only once for a fraction of the yearly wage of a human, and work continuously, no pain, no lunch-break, no monthly cycle, no pregnancy, no picking-up kids, no leave; requiring only occasional visits by technicians.

But it gets even worse—for us mortals, that is.

It’s not only low skill labor that is at risk of replacement by machines, but practically all types of professions, bar none.

Our years of interactions through machines, like the computer-internet, our cell phones, and all other devices, has provided an invaluable pool of information about human interaction that is being mined and researched on by Google, faceBook and other central corporations.

Do not think you are so unique, or your reasoning is peculiar to human beings and not replaceable with machines. Ever spoke to an automated machine on the phone before? Think about how these have advanced over the years, also reducing several phone desk staff with single automated responders which interact with you and try their best to resolve your problem before finally transferring you to a live agent. As time goes on, these automatic telephone responders are being developed to handle more and more in conversation style with customers.

I must interject, at this time, that the only thing we (man) have up on machines is a soul. But that’s a whole other conversation.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt is excited about the possibilities and what he is achieving with quantum computing. He is on a mission to develop technologies to replace virtually all human endeavors. He projects practically all careers will be replaceable in 4-9 years.

It’s rather quite simple. Introduce a quantum calculating computer to a physician setting. First load it with all the medical text book information; then allow it to digest 1,000,000 typical doctor patient interactions, with questions and doctor prescriptions. The result will be a computer that can replace a physician.

You think this is extreme? Well, it has already been developed. Did you watch the Jeopardy-bot, IBM’s Watson, “cognitive computer,” which was able to defeat the world’s smartest competitor in the tough verbal question show? Indiana University researchers demonstrated that a new computer program was 42% better than doctors at both diagnosing and treating health conditions. And the machines ‘charge’ one third what human doctors charge for the same service. Start thinking of the “Doctor App” on your Android or iPhone soon, which will replace 90% of clinic visits.

We are talking about AI (Artificial Intelligence); which is in its final stages of development. These AI machines can replace almost every job. Computers that can think, and perhaps think better than you, in addition to having a 1000xs better retentive memory capacity. Today these machines are being introduced not yet to replace doctors, but to complement them and reduce their work load.

The Robo-Doctor kiosk which has been introduced at Wal-Mart locations in America is a health-care screening machine which interacts with patients and asks relevant questions, gathering standard health-care information that physicians, nurses or other health-care staff usually retrieve, including height and vision tests and then giving basic health-care advice and recommending specialist care. It starts with these, and then with the rate of advancement of technology, before we know it, thousands of health-care professional jobs will be replaced.

And if medical jobs are at risk, then what field is safe? Engineering? AI’s can produce hundreds of technical designs and fixes per second. It will all depend on the software and upgrades you can afford to purchase from AI developers like Google; developed thanks to the invaluable information our simple interactions on the internet, like ‘liking’ beautiful buildings, cars and clothes, to engineers actual designs uploaded into computer clouds, provide.

And they make sense. Why hire six Engineers, when you can hire two and purchase an AI that churns out 100s of models per minute?

The challenge of the machines is extremely wide. You only have to imagine and do a quick search to see what field still promises job security. Bank tellers have been replaced with automated cash machines. Mechanized farming allows 4 farmers to replace 400. Even Taxi drivers and chauffeur services are not safe as driver-less cars are in full development and being tested by major companies.

What of our emotional engagements? When you send a text to a loved one, what is your guarantee that the response you got from their phone was thought of and sent by them? What if and when our phones have software that recognizes our patterns and can be put on autopilot when we sleep for instance or are busy, to respond with our usual chat pattern with old and new acquaintances, possibly screening them for us and only forwarding those that they ‘think’ might strike our interest or have emergency needs, to us to continue the chat?

The world is changing. In Africa, things may not yet have developed or advanced to this level, but we do share the risks and need to take advantage of the opportunities. At this time, where we do not face such job replacement by computers, African nations should have a job boom. Rather there already is a critical shortage, with great percentages of our youth, unemployed, while technology for chaos is advancing likewise and readily available. This is a serious problem that must be critically analyzed, because when the machine ‘race’ joins our present bloody competition and erodes more jobs in Africa as it has already in much of Europe, what will be the outcome in terms of jobless terror?

For those of us who work or seek careers abroad, one must consider long-term job security when selecting a profession. You just cannot go wrong with computers and entertainment. Unfortunately I can’t say the same for marketing, manufacturing, and even professional careers like medicine, law and engineering. In your career field, you want to make yourself indispensable. Someone, a researcher or computer skilled programmer/developer who will still be employed till the tail end of the machine race replacement era.

Google’s Eric Schmidt in a recent Zeitgeist meeting excitedly described social robots in the development phase. Robots he is anxious to send in his stead to public functions (in the “dangerous night”), that will be able to interact; smile, talk and think just like him, and then come home to plug into a system and upload their engagements of the night for his perusal the next day.

These changes are projected in the next four years. There are so many things to think about.