It’s interesting how a technological experience is not the same in different places around the world. The same app used in one city may be used very differently in another city. I found this out while in Kampala in February this year.
Continue reading “Ubering in Kampala”Author Archives: Pat Kayongo
Does This App Come In isiXhosa?
Many moons ago, I saw a tweet of someone posting a screenshot from their computer. The words on the application that was in the screenshot was not in English, but appeared to be in some Eastern European language. And then it struck me: there are some folk in this world who never see English. Not in their street signs. Not in their books. Not in their apps. Not in their computers. Nowhere. So I wanted to see how close to this I could get.
Continue reading “Does This App Come In isiXhosa?”On Data Breaches
It’s becoming more and more common. Another company has suffered a data breach. Two weeks ago from the time of writing it was Dischem. Not too long ago, it was TransUnion. And Nedbank. There have been questions raised on social media commonly asking “why is this becoming more common?”. I have thoughts on this.
Continue reading “On Data Breaches”On Agility
Earlier this year, Kauai, the healthy food restaurant, released a new mobile app. I’m a regular user of the Kauai app, because I purchase their subscriptions, a sweet deal where one can get smoothies for 30 days for only R399.
Continue reading “On Agility”On Digitisation, Obscurity and the Tyranny of the Quantitative
Every business needs to be digital. Maybe.
Continue reading “On Digitisation, Obscurity and the Tyranny of the Quantitative”On Bank Zero
I want Bank Zero to succeed. I really do. But I have some concerns.
Continue reading “On Bank Zero”The Outside World
“Can I go play?”, Senzo asks his mother after changing from his school uniform.
“First, have you finished eating your lunch?” his mother asks. “Yes, I have, and put the plate in the sink. So can I go play?”
“Ok, you can go. But be back by 5”
Continue reading “The Outside World”A house on a hill
I once took a picture of a house on a hill A house on a hill A house on a hill With a red roof and a wooden door Bright green grass Like the pictures kids draw
I longed to go back to the house on the hill The house on the hill The house on the hill To remember the trees and flowers The feelings I felt In a more naïve hour
At my bedside sat the house on the hill The house on the hill The house on the hill As a door my daydreams could enter through So that somehow older beliefs Could be magically renewed
In today’s paper I saw the house on the hill The house on the hill The house on the hill Reconstructed and transformed Unrecognizable from The nostalgic world my memories had formed
All that’s left is my picture of the house on the hill The house on the hill The house on the hill Held together by my heart’s frame My mind’s filter And the day’s shame
Columbia
* According to Wikipedia “Columbia is the female national personification of the United States.”
Within the extra-fortified walls of yet another Broadacres townhouse estate, Columbia rides her merchant bicycle, selling her wares. She gives the impenetrable security guard her usual friendly universal smile, as he escorts her in, interrogating her, seemingly knowledgeably, on her state of affairs.
Continue reading “Columbia”On Asset Management
There is the biblical narrative of Yossef, a man sold into slavery by his brothers, eventually finding himself as a prisoner in Egypt. As time goes by, the monarch of Egypt, the Pharaoh, has a perplexing dream, and is unable to understand its meaning. After hearing the dream, Yossef helps the king understand that a time of plenty and abundance is expected within his realm of authority, proceeded by a time of famine and drought. The recommendation of Yossef in light of this foretelling was to store up in the time of plenty, so that there will be sustenance in the time of lack.
Continue reading “On Asset Management”