I’m catching up on the blog, but I’ll have to do it in pieces. Here’s some tech stuff I’ve been working on over the past couple of weeks.

This shot worked it's way into my Kenyan No-Tech Hacking talk. This is a pile of papers sitting in a corner after I crossed through Nairobi customs at the airport.

This shot worked it’s way into my Kenyan No-Tech Hacking talk. This is a pile of papers sitting in a corner after I crossed through Nairobi customs at the airport.

 

A closer shot revels thousands of pages of travel documents, passport and traveller information and more. I could have taken the papers as easily as I took the picture. But I didn't think it would leave a good impression my first time to Nairobi.

A closer shot revels thousands of pages of travel documents, passport and traveller information and more. I could have taken the papers as easily as I took the picture. But I didn’t think it would leave a good impression my first time to Nairobi.

 

This shoulder-surfing session took place in a very prominant Kenyan government building. This shot also appeared in my Kenyan No-Tech hacking talk. There's so much info in (the full-size version of) this picture.

This shoulder-surfing session took place in a very prominant Kenyan government building. This shot also appeared in my Kenyan No-Tech hacking talk. There’s so much info in (the full-size version of) this picture.

 

Some papers hanging out of a desk in the same government building. These shots were all taken from the reception area. I could have some real fun in Africa.

Some papers hanging out of a desk in the same government building. These shots were all taken from the reception area. I could have some real fun in Africa.

 

We worked on an nComputing setup for the Uganda Baptist Seminary.

We worked on an nComputing setup for the Uganda Baptist Seminary.

 

Here's a good shot of the driveway...

Here’s a good shot of the driveway…

 

... and the seminary grounds. What a beutiful place.

… and the seminary grounds. What a beutiful place.

 

Paul was a volunteer working with UBS. Not only did he mule some cradlepoints over for us, but he also lent a hand with the nComputing setup. Really nice guy, and sharp tehnically, too. He works for AT&T back home.

Paul was a volunteer working with UBS. Not only did he mule some cradlepoints over for us, but he also lent a hand with the nComputing setup. Really nice guy, and sharp tehnically, too. He works for AT&T back home.

 

Here's Paul running some cables. He crimped a tom of cable for us.

Here’s Paul running some cables. He crimped a tom of cable for us.

 

Here I am either praying for or installing the cradlepoint.

Here I am either praying for or installing the cradlepoint.

 

Here's a shot of wht the UBS Internet setup looked like before...

Here’s a shot of wht the UBS Internet setup looked like before…

 

And here's what it looks like now. Not only is it pretty but their speeds are about ten times faster. We'll see how they like it.

And here’s what it looks like now. Not only is it pretty but their speeds are about ten times faster. We’ll see how they like it.

 

Here's two of the nComputing stations...

Here’s two of the nComputing stations…

 

and three more sitting alongside the server. This nComputing stuff is saving charities a ton of money in Uganda, slashing their hardware and maintenance costs in half.

and three more sitting alongside the server. This nComputing stuff is saving charities a ton of money in Uganda, slashing their hardware and maintenance costs in half.

 

A friend of mine had an accident with her Mac's magsafe connector. Normally, there's a good deal of solder magic that will fix a slipped magsafe connector, but not in this case. The board was snapped clean in half. I don't have the feintest idea how I would fix this.

A friend of mine had an accident with her Mac’s magsafe connector. Normally, there’s a good deal of solder magic that will fix a slipped magsafe connector, but not in this case. The board was snapped clean in half. I don’t have the feintest idea how I would fix this.

 

I'm also doing a bit of light data recovery. Shops in town are bringing us the hard drives they consider long-gone. Right now, we're doing pretty light recovery, but thanks to Paraben and EnCse, we might be getting some better gear. If we do, we'll have a niche in the market here, and we'll be able to make some money and also help out the locals with cases. Right now the police capacity for this work is practically non-existent.

I’m also doing a bit of light data recovery. Shops in town are bringing us the hard drives they consider long-gone. Right now, we’re doing pretty light recovery, but thanks to Paraben and EnCse, we might be getting some better gear. If we do, we’ll have a niche in the market here, and we’ll be able to make some money and also help out the locals with cases. Right now the police capacity for this work is practically non-existent.

 

I also got to work on an original iMac. This G3 was soo cool to play around with. It ran really well considering it's age, but the owner wanted OSX installed on it.

I also got to work on an original iMac. This G3 was soo cool to play around with. It ran really well considering it’s age, but the owner wanted OSX installed on it.

 

It was a real hassle. First, I had to upgrade 9.2.1 to 9.2.2, then apply a new firmware. After that, the DVD OSX installers wouldn't boot (?) so luckily I had an older copy of Tiger on CD's, which the G3 seemed to like. I still can't get beyond Tiger though. I have no idea why, but the machine doesn't boot from DVD, even though it reads them just fine. There's no way I could have done this without decent bandwidth (at The Keep) and those CD's. I really need Mac software. If you've got any, drop me a line. We're doing a lot more Mac work. I charged 60,000/= for this job (about $30) which is fairly expensive, but no one else in town would have been able to pull this off. And yes, that's about a week's salary for an HFC employee, so it was worth the few hours I spent.

It was a real hassle. First, I had to upgrade 9.2.1 to 9.2.2, then apply a new firmware. After that, the DVD OSX installers wouldn’t boot (?) so luckily I had an older copy of Tiger on CD’s, which the G3 seemed to like. I still can’t get beyond Tiger though. I have no idea why, but the machine doesn’t boot from DVD, even though it reads them just fine. There’s no way I could have done this without decent bandwidth (at The Keep) and those CD’s. I really need Mac software. If you’ve got any, drop me a line. We’re doing a lot more Mac work. I charged 60,000/= for this job (about $30) which is fairly expensive, but no one else in town would have been able to pull this off. And yes, that’s about a week’s salary for an HFC employee, so it was worth the few hours I spent.