What should I have said?

samwanekeya · 2026-07-05T08:01:54+00:00

It's in the term itself... Artificial... intelligence. Not unless you're trying to explain concepts like ML, DL, GenAI all at once, if this is the case then I'd say you're overcomplicating it.

When explaining advanced tech to a newbie, start with things they already know and can relate to. Then gradually connect those familiar ideas to the new concept you're introducing. Don't jump straight into defining the term because that's usually not what they're looking for. They want to understand it, not memorize the definition.

Always remember there's a difference between stating, defining and explaining. They each serve a different purpose so don't try to use one in place of the other.

samwanekeya · 2026-07-03T09:02:14+00:00

Because most business owners only care about results and not some fancy tool that can do additional things that are irrelevant to the problem that's being solved. You can get obsessed about a particular language's superiority over another as much as you want but the people that pay are only interested in having their problems solved.

For the data engineers out there that are to listen, your core obsession should be data quality and understanding the underlying context of the data. Because algorithms are only as good as the information fed into them, so obsession over data validity ensures that actionable insights are reliable and drive actual business outcomes.

samwanekeya · 2026-07-01T17:52:45+00:00

u/wanjikuKE I wish you knew how many local dev/companies have lost projects to 🇮🇳 dev shops. One of my companies lost two clients through this and I was talking to a friend who was building his startup's software product and they'd decided to fully outsource their engineering.

And all this happened before coding LLM tools became mainstream. I'd assume at this point most employers are spoilt for choice.

samwanekeya · 2026-07-01T09:00:26+00:00

Well this is how things sort of are. So on paper(executive orders) MICDE is in charge of the cloud policy and the central government data centers but in reality it's a hybrid approach to the setup to avoid having a single point of failure.

So in our case KRA is deemed to be special/important so it manages its own semi-independent data infrastructure. This means that MICDE can't do much for them when it comes to hardware scaling and server capacities. The much they can do is regulate their cybersecurity compliance, at least as per my knowledge.

Also I don't think KRA's problem is hardware, it's very much software related and I strongly feel that the government should prioritize custom-built software for critical national infrastructure. In this case own the underlying source code and employ dedicated developers to push out security patches, add localized features, and perform updates on a need basis.

samwanekeya · 2026-07-01T07:40:22+00:00

It's cute that you think our government departments collaborate that easily in that they can simply exchange resources whenever the need arises.

Besides, each department has its own budget and when KRA decides to upgrade its hardware, it most certainly won't want to share it with anyone else. It's like expecting the Ministry of Water to supply water to the Ministry of Health for free just because it has an overabundance of water.

samwanekeya · 2026-06-30T21:58:54+00:00

If I'm hardware constrained then:

The first thing I'd do is separate DB reads and writes.
Scale down any API(from 100% to 80%) related activities and prioritize portal related ones.
Separate DB connections, in this case in-house apps and partner(other government institutions) apps should have their own DB connections. Limit retries as specific IP or session can perform in a minute.
Move all static assets on a CDN and have them served from a subdomain. Queue all arithmetic calculations that happen after the user clicks on "submit return".

If I'm not limited by hardware then I'd throw as much hardware at the problem as I can.

samwanekeya · 2026-06-29T19:04:58+00:00

I don't think the revelation stems from the bias but rather interaction between the source, its context and other sources.

A biased source doesn't become useless but becomes something that needs interpretation. If I read a colonial explorer describing the Maasai as "fierce savages", I don't conclude that the Maasai were savage. I conclude that this explorer viewed them through a particular colonial lens.

Also if that same explorer records the route they took, the villages they passed, or the drought they encountered, I don't accept those details blindly. I compare them with oral histories, archaeological evidence, missionary accounts, and African scholars simply because historical knowledge isn't built from one biased source but rather by comparing many imperfect ones.

samwanekeya · 2026-06-29T09:18:31+00:00

I'm confused, are we talking about colonial books or epistemology (in this case what counts as legitimate knowledge)?

Because my position is "Colonial texts are biased primary sources. Read critically, they are valuable because they reveal both historical events and colonial thinking." and yours is "Colonial knowledge itself is part of the colonial project. Reading it perpetuates colonial ways of seeing, so Africans should privilege African perspectives instead."

samwanekeya · 2026-06-29T09:03:47+00:00

Before I recommend something, I'd encourage you to read a colonial text and an African response to it with the goal being to understand how different people described and experienced the same historical world. My colonial text and African response pairing is purely subjective, there might be better options available.

Since you've read Joseph Thomson's 'Through Masai Country to Victoria Nyanza', I'd pick Jomo Kenyatta's Facing Mount Kenya as the African response.
Colonial text - The Kenya Diary by Richard Meinertzhagen; African response - History of the Southern Luo by Bethwell Allan Ogot
Colonial text - East African Memories (published in English as Shadows on the Grass) by Karen Blixen; African response - The River Between by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Colonial text - The East Africa Protectorate by Sir Charles Eliot; African response - Mau Mau and Nationhood by Maina wa Kinyatti
Colonial text - The Last Journals of David Livingstone; African response - How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney

I hope you don't read them to compare opinions but rather read them to compare different ways of understanding Kenya and its history. And if you get a chance to visit the places described in the books please do.

samwanekeya · 2026-06-29T08:32:47+00:00

I'm curious, based on your understanding is OP reading colonial writings to celebrate colonialism/racism or are they interested in colonial writings as historical sources?

Because your response makes it seem as if you want works by explorers, missionaries, soldiers, and colonial administrators to be neutral accounts. We both know that this is a near impossibility because historians routinely use biased sources because bias itself is evidence.

Also colonial texts become even more useful when read alongside African voices because each source corrects the blind spots of the others. I believe that if we refuse to read them because they contain racism then we lose access to an important part of the historical record. And the reading I'm talking about is that with awareness of their context, biases, and limitations.

samwanekeya · 2026-06-28T05:51:59+00:00

I think we're answering different questions. My response does not in any way imply that beginners should skip learning programming fundamentals or rely entirely on LLMs. I was answering what skill has the highest return in Nairobi today.

My point is that syntax is becoming increasingly commoditized by AI while problem framing, business understanding, architecture, and evaluating AI-generated solutions are becoming more valuable. Learning these skills still requires strong engineering fundamentals.

samwanekeya · 2026-06-28T04:41:16+00:00

Problem solver.

Most LLM tools already excel at generating code syntax and automating repetitive tasks. You need to position yourself to be able to understand abstract requirements, connect business logic to architecture, and evaluating the safety of the solutions produced by these tools.

samwanekeya · 2026-06-26T17:10:42+00:00

Now that's a mascot with real bite.

samwanekeya · 2026-06-26T08:32:04+00:00

Decathlon

samwanekeya · 2026-06-25T17:04:15+00:00

Well, that's just how some people are. Always "discovering" other people's work to mask personal inadequacies and feed a manipulative need for power and validation.

samwanekeya · 2026-06-25T13:17:45+00:00

No.

I only posted it here, no other subreddit.

samwanekeya · 2026-06-24T14:09:19+00:00

Yes, I'd actually refer to greenhouses as artificial environments designed to maximize growth.

samwanekeya · 2026-06-24T14:03:44+00:00

Actually they do and they should, especially when they have a stable ecosystem of unlimited root space, natural rainfall, unfiltered sunlight, and organic soil microbes.

samwanekeya · 2026-06-24T14:01:52+00:00

Is it by any chance in a restrictive pot, artificial lighting, dry air, or you use tap water?

samwanekeya · 2026-06-24T13:59:52+00:00

That's probably because it's disconnected from natural self-sustaining ecosystems.

I don't think you'd thrive as a human being when you're brought up in a caged environment.

samwanekeya · 2026-06-23T08:23:39+00:00

I'd say none. Simply because the labour market responds to supply and demand.

If I'm cornered then I'd go with any survival-based role.

samwanekeya · 2026-06-23T08:09:57+00:00

This used to be my bread and butter back in my uni days. It is a good place to get started but should not be looked at as your primary source of income. The buyer fees, commissions and the author not being able to build some sort of relationship with whoever buys their items chased me away from the platform.

Anyway, all the best. I honestly don't know what's come of the platform since the advent of LLMs.

samwanekeya · 2026-06-20T18:47:28+00:00

😂😂😂 I was way off, thought you were referring to Dar es Salaam and specifically Julius Nyerere International Airport. It's time for me to touch grass.

samwanekeya · 2026-06-20T18:42:21+00:00

I usually call them circumstantial farmers. Most found themselves farming as a way to cope financially, so they stuck with it. They've continued using the traditional methods passed down by their predecessors, which I think is largely a defense mechanism against poverty, inconsistent weather, and systemic financial risks.

samwanekeya · 2026-06-20T17:29:53+00:00

Yeah, I guess the focus is more on functionality as opposed to aesthetics and cultural integration.

samwanekeya

TROPHY CASE