How Technology Has Revolutionized Money-Making in Africa

There is no topic that interests me more than the topic of making money and narrowing it down even further there is no specific subject in the process of making money that jazzes me more than the use of widely available technology. And I am not talking hi-tech here. I just mean simple technology like the cell phone, email and stuff like that.

Why does this interest me so much? Because I believe there are huge opportunities to make tons of cash from business for those who make use of technology to do things that were previously impossible to do. This article explains all that in very simple language and I actually give you practical experiences from my very own life.

I started out in the very low tech basic traditional business of printing. I used to make some very good cash printing letter heads, business cards etc for various clients large and small. Then computers came and turned the whole industry upside down. The computer made the office paperless and thus in need of much less stationary. Clients who required 5000 letterheads now tool 500 for the whole year and just communicated using email and even sms messages. To make matters worse computers and cell phones invaded the market at about the same time that easy accessible loans came so almost everybody who got a loan in Nairobi bought a printing press. The result was that we ended up having too many printing machines around at a time when the market for printing jobs was shrinking rapidly. To cut a long story short I got into serious financial problems and I was auctioned and lost all my furniture and electronics in the house and everything in the office (including ironically a computer I hadn't even finished paying for).

Then one day an old friend organized for me to get a pretty lucrative printing job from a client in South Sudan. He client sent me the artwork from Juba as an attachment to an email. And then he wired me the cash. When I was done with the job I took it to Wilson Airport where it was flown out. I ended up with some pretty good money that gave me a little respite from the considerable financial pressure I was going through at the time. I sat down and reviewed the role of technology in enabling me to serve a client who was so far away without leaving Nairobi. I asked myself questions like "Could I get more clients in South Sudan while I was in Nairobi? That way I would not be bogged down by the crowded and yet shrinking market for offset printing in Nairobi.

My mind quickly zeroed in on technology as a tool to help me make money in an increasingly hostile business environment. I have never looked back since.

To cut to the chase I ended up getting a very good job in Dar-es-salaam Tanzania where I am currently based. When I went there for the first time I was naïve and I thought I would hit that under-developed market with all kinds of products and services and become a millionaire overnight. But alas, it was never to be. I was quickly brought back to reality when even my Tanzanian employers ran into serious problems trying to get me a work permit to work in that country.

To be honest I lost quite a bit of money trusting locals to act as my front as I tried all kinds of businesses which failed one after the other. My wife got really upset about my continued "investments" into cash draining failures and pointed out that the cash I had lost would have been enough to buy a big prime plot in Athi River or Kitengela. It really angered me when she said this. Especially because it was true.

Then it dawned on me that I did not need to struggle in the Tanzanian market which I didn't know very well when I could use technology to do business in Kenya while I was still employed in Tanzania. It was not smooth sailing to what I have today but finally I got to setup something that works like a charm.

I have two businesses that do extremely well. I sell cars in Nairobi and Mombasa as a middleman. I advertise my cars using the noticeboards at Sarit Centre in Nairobi and another one at Nakumatt in Mombasa. I do my colour poster for the cars on my PC at home and then I used to print out the posters and physically send them via Akamba bus from Dar all the way to Nairobi and Mombasa where they would be picked up and put up at the respective notice boards for me to start receiving enquiries. The whole exercise would cost me about 4,000 bob. But these days technology has made it even easier and much cheaper. I use a new blog site where I hire somebody in Nairobi and another in Mombasa to receive my posters as a pdf attachment in their email. They then print them out and put them up at Sarit Centre and Nakumatt Nyali respectively. I pay them only Kshs 100 shillings each for this simple errand. I do this through the site which means that they don't get paid until they have accomplished the task successfully. I usually send them the cash via Mpesa to the innovatively simple site. I use this guy in Dar who travels with buses every other day to Mombasa and back and I give him the cash in Tanzania shillings and he deposits Mpesa in Kenya shillings and sends the cash to the recipient when he is in Kenya. To confirm that the work is done, I simply call a friend in Westlands and ask him to go for lunch at Sarit Centre and check if they see my poster. I do a similar thing with the Mombasa poster. I could easily use the same site to hire somebody else at 100 bob to go and check and confirm that the posters have been out up, but I guess I want to save 100. The cell phone advertised is my personal one (which works in Tanzania) When clients call I tell them as much as I can about the car and then direct them where to view it. I work with about 3 different major car importers in Mombasa. When they buy the car the sellers simply deposit the funds in my KCB (Kenya Commercial Bank account) and I can then access the funds via an ATM in Dar-es-salaam. Whenever my contacts get new cars in Mombasa they post them to their websites and I simply download them from there and create my sales poster. Simple but it works.

I still have my very well paying job and at the same time my side business brings in an average of Kshs 500, 000 every month.

You get the drift? Now you know why I am so interested in discussing technology and how to use it to make money through a small simple business. Remember that you can do virtually any kind of business as the absentee owner because technology now enables you "to be there" without actually physically being there.

Sit down today and try and figure out how to use technology to make money.

Coach Lusweti runs a daily online training programme that helps people gain skills to use opportunities made available by technology.

5th Grade Science Project - Simple Science Projects That Wow the Crowd

5th grade science project ideas can be a little more complex than the previous grades as the children are at the age where they can do the majority of the experiment on their own, with guidance from their teacher or parents. It should still be a fairly straight forward project mind you, and one that they're quite interested in because if they pick a topic they don't really care for they're going to get bored and it will show in their work.

An example of a 5th grade science project ideas is to see if people have the same sense of smell, which can be accomplished by having two people stand at separate ends of a room while you stand in the middle, and open a few different thinks such as vinegar and lemon oil, and see which person smells it first. Have them record the times they first smell the fragrance so you can see if they differ.

Another project idea is to see if food that's cooked in the microwave cools at the same rate as food cooked in the oven, to do this all you need to do is cook the foods to the same temperature, then place a thermometer in each one and see which cools down the fastest. A few more ideas are which brand of batteries last the longest, or does the color of a light affect how well it cuts through the fog? There are many, many ideas of projects for 5th graders, it's all a matter of finding something the child is interested in.

For more 5th grade science project ideas and step-by-step instructions, visit www.easy-kids-science-experiments.com Be sure to check out the site for tons of simple science projects elementary science experiments, middle school, and high school science.

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Technological Advancements Have Changed Lifestyles

The world is changing very rapidly and now it is hard to keep up with the pace of life. All the technological advancements are made to help man keep up with the increasing pace of life. There are two major questions to ask. Has increasing pace of life caused technology to grow or has growth in technology increased the pace of life?

Different people have different prospective on this so I am not discussing it for now. No matter what is the right answer, the reality is that our life style has changed dramatically over a period of time. The concepts which seem to be impossible a few years ago are now realities. Who had imagined for a 3D TV five years ago but now it is reality and is available worldwide. Turning an idea into reality is very easy now days. That is why more and more technological advancements are taking place every year. These advancements also show the potential of human mind.

Technological advancements have changed our life style, now technology is involved in every aspect of our life; it has made our life easy and comfortable. Technology has made communication very easy, has removed the distances and made world a global village. The world we used to know five years ago is totally different today.

Whenever a new technology is introduced, in the beginning people hesitate to adopt it but after some time it becomes necessity of life, there are many examples of such technologies like cell phone, television, computer etc.

Why these advancements have been made? The conscious of man and the passion to know one's ability and talent has enabled man to make enormous technological advancements. These advancements have also enabled man to know more about his own self and surroundings. Man is now discovering the universe.

As more and more advancement is being made, we are abandoning our old ways and adopting new lifestyles. The major changes which technology has made to our lifestyle are related to work place, sports and entertainment. Workplaces are now equipped with computers and other automated machines to help workers better perform daily tasks. Sporting activities have reduced to some extent especially among young generation because they are now more interested in video games as compared to outdoor games.

Young generation prefer video games because now video games are more adventurous and full of action and suspense. The devices like Kinect and PlayStation have made video games more fun for the young generation. This growth has caused many criticisms to these video games as well. But now these companies are making devices to keep physical movements achievable while playing video games, thus causing permanent threat to traditional sports in young generation.

Technology has also changed our shopping style as well, a decade ago we use to hesitate while making a purchase online but now most of the shopping is done online because of convenience. People are more aware of different products, their quality and prices because of online shopping websites.

The world is now online and there is only one thing to ask and that is "NEXT IS WHAT?"

School Science Projects - 4 Secrets to Success

Headed for the science fair? You're going to want to consider science projects that will not only be fun and interesting but will impress the judges as well. At first it might seem like a tall order, but the science fair is a great chance for you to gain new knowledge about almost anything you can imagine. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to win the fair, it just takes planning, some creativity, and a little work. Follow these four simple tips and yours will be one of the science projects that will wow friends and judges alike!

1. Get interested!-This is the most important thing you can do to make this a fun and successful project. Forget those projects from school, this one is your own and can be about anything you choose. Think about what you like to do and how you could learn more about it through the scientific method. Start by stating the question you want your study to answer.

For example, if you're interested in planes you might research which shape of wing creates the most lift. Or, study your friends and family by researching how they react to a set of different musical styles or running a blind taste test.

Is the outdoors where you love to be? Get outside and run an experiment in the garden or at the local park!

Whatever it is you enjoy that makes you curious is sure to make a great science project, all you have to do is ask the right question.

2. Keep it simple-Being creative is important, but the best scientists know how to ask direct questions which lead to useful results. You don't want to ask too broad a question and end up with an incomplete project on the day of the fair. Suppose you want to work with food since you love to cook. A study to find out which is the best type of dessert is going to be way too much to handle, there are just too many out there and everyone has their own favorite. A better question would be "How does wrapping an object in foil affect cooking time?"

A simpler topic will be easier to present at the fair, you should always be as clear as possible about your research methods and findings. Anyone who comes to see your project should be able to understand and enjoy it. Presenting your project is as important as doing the study, so be prepared to show what you discovered. Finally, make sure that the topic is an appropriate one by checking with an adult before getting started.

3. Do your own work - The more of the project you do yourself the more you will learn and can use again in the future. Sure, there may be certain aspects of building the display where someone good a using power tools can help out. Maybe you and a friend can team up to collect some data; cases like these are not cheating and are fine. What is important is that you are part of every step of the process and follow through with your original idea.

Avoid cutting and pasting information from the internet or from books, doing this is illegal and anyone is allowed to place information online. The judges will ask questions about your project on the day of the fair. If you haven't done your own work you may not be able to tell them about your project, how do you think that would look?

4. Don't wait till the last minute - If you do, you're only cheating yourself. Good science projects require careful planning and more than one try to really learn all you can. Remember, a good experiment can be done over any number of times with nearly the same results, that's how a scientist can be sure of what he discovers!

Give yourself a number of weeks to put together your project and aim to have it ready for presentation a few days before the fair. These extra days are for taking care of little things you may not have thought of or just had no idea could happen. Once your project is ready, you can use the remaining extra time to practice presenting it.

For a step-by-step guide to easily creating a really awesome science project, download a FREE copy of Easy Steps to Award-Winning Science Fair Projects right now.

CLIP - Colegio Luso Internacional Do Porto - An Educational Project

In an interview with Time magazine, Peter Drucker, one of America's foremost management theorists, when asked "What kind of a century are we in, then?" responded: "In this 21st century world of dynamic political change, the significant thing is that we are in a post-business society. Business is still very important, and greed is as universal as ever; but the values of people are no longer business values, they are professional values. Most people are no longer part of the business society; they are part of the knowledge society.

The greatest changes in our society are going to be in education." When the journalist later suggested whether the world of the 21st century would be characterized by the competition among the three great trading blocks --Europe, North America, and Asia --Drucker answered: "Yes, and the activities of three big trading blocks will have political consequences. I think we are already in the midst of this, and the pattern is not going to be fair trade or protectionism but reciprocity." When asked: "Do you think we and our institutions are ready to cope with what you call "new realities"? Drucker affirmed: "Many are still stuck in the world of 1960. What we face now is totally new and dynamic -and we are quite unprepared for it."

These statements from a man calloused in the world of business reveal a reality of the present characterized by dynamic change on all fronts, by the power conferred by the possession of information and knowledge, by the primacy of education in that context of profound alterations, by relationships among persons, institutions, and peoples based on the concept of reciprocity. with determination Europe searches for the attenuation of centuries old divisions; the nations of the Pacific, led by Japan, try to find a common understanding which may grant them a more condign place in the international forum; the Sultanates of Islam search desperately for a more cohesive and forceful expression of their influence in today's world.

The progress attained in the technology of communications has made the international system of borders almost irrelevant. The quest for new markets has given birth to supra-national economic colossuses, capable of exerting a deep influence in the lives of peoples and nations. The rending of the iron curtain seems to have stolen the last visible and palpable barrier from a world forced to accept more and more, with less and less understanding. This vertigo of political and technological change has fostered a constant movement not only of people, but mostly of ideas and of information.

Knowledge of things and events has been made instantaneous, the volume of information has been suffocating, our capacity for absorption tested to its limits. Peoples and cultures, which some years ago could have been known only through the power of the imagination, visit us daily in our living rooms, so that, what was foreign, exotic, adventurous, has become common place. The need for a new private international school in the Oporto area is self evident. At the end of the twentieth century we are witnesses to an accelerating trend towards cultural globalization and a growing need for unhindered mobility for professionals and their families. In particular, the internationalization of northern Portugal due to the country's present EU membership status has created new educational needs for both local foreign children.
This need could be adequately answered by a high quality school, from the primary through university entry level, with English as the base language and the British educational system as the model. The educational program of this school would permit full equivalency throughout all forms with the Portuguese educational system and other international schools and universities. CLIP - Cologio Luso-Internacional do Porto is designed to achieve the following goals:

1 - To offer a student - centered, thoroughly modern, academically challenging, and internationally focused program of studies;

2 - To offer Portuguese students the opportunity to acquire an international education that will prepare them for attendance of both local and foreign universities;

3 - To provide foreign students with the opportunity to continue their education in a sequential, comfortable fashion;

4 - To offer students of Portuguese parents, who have attended schools in other countries, a proper process of school reintegration;

These objectives could be implemented by the following instruments: - A curriculum based on current British secondary programs, allowing pupils to s it for G.C.E. (General Certificate of Education), G.C.S.E. (General Certificate of Secondary Education), I. G .C.S. E. (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) at O - Level, but complemented with studies of Portuguese language, history and social studies, granting equivalence to the Portuguese secondary education forms 9 and 10; - A higher education access curriculum based on and in accordance with the LB. (International Baccalaureate, Geneve, Switzerland) curriculum, which is currently accepted by most universities across the world, and is also equivalent to form 12 of the Portuguese secondary educational system.

CLIP will furthermore develop its activities around seven basic educational principles:

* Academic Excellence: The attainment or the highest academic standards through a stringent and fully integrated curriculum that stresses individual excellence and group achievement;

* Learning how to learn; the content or the various disciplines is developing at such a rate that makes an encyclopedic approach to education quite unviable. By focalizing on how to learn, our aim is to prepare students for a lifetime of learning and personal development;

* Cooperative Learning: The instructional program of CLIP is based on the premise that students can and should learn from each other, and that they must shoulder the greatest responsibility for their education;

* Diversity and Cross-Cultural Education: The underlying concept of International Education is a learning process that positions the study of the diverse expressions of human life at the core of its program of studies;

* Individual Needs and Concerns: The program focuses on the needs and differences of each individual student. The central programmatic focus in this regard is a Teacher Advisor Program coordinated by a Guidance Counselor;

* Participatory Decision-making: The governance of CLIP is based on a democratic model for decision making as articulated in its Charter. CLIP recognizes the preeminent role of parents teacher and students in the educational process;

School Trips to Geneva: A Great City of Science

Educators contemplating school trips for their science students have a wealth of options available, as valuable science lessons can be taken from almost anywhere; but choosing a destination with a reputation for scientific leadership and innovation can certainly help. Geneva is one such destination, with its exciting natural surroundings, fascinating range of museums and the jewel in its crown - the legendary CERN. For those thinking of organising a trip to this eye-opening city, here are just some of the great educational attractions that await.

Science History Museum

The Musee d'Histoire des Sciences is a great starting point for science students visiting Geneva on their school trips. Suitable for all ages and covering a wide array of scientific subjects, it is bound to contain something of interest to every year group and curriculum focus, as well as helping students to understand the value of scientific history and the fact that science is an ever-developing field. Situated in an attractive park by Lake Geneva, its collections range from some of the first batteries ever made to astronomical instruments, allowing visitors to trace the evolution of several different sciences. For those studying French, this is also an excellent opportunity for cross-curricular learning, with new vocabulary to learn in abundance.

CERN

CERN - or the European Organisation for Nuclear Research - is one of the reasons that Geneva is a destination like no other for science-based school trips. Founded in the 1950s, when it was known as the 'Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nucliaire' (hence the acronym CERN), it has become one of the world's most important and iconic research organisations. For budding young scientists, few things could be more inspirational than a visit to the site of the biggest particle physics lab in the world, home to the famous Large Hadron Collider. In true scientific spirit, its public exhibits are all geared towards helping visitors expand their knowledge and curiosity, with displays on the institution's history and the world of particle physics, as well as a programme of fascinating special exhibits.

Chamonix

Another feature that makes Geneva such a great destination for school trips, in any subject, is its multicultural atmosphere and access to France and Italy, which widens the potential for learning about different countries, languages, and land features. One especially good day trip that can be done for science students is Chamonix in France. With its proximity to Mont Blanc, it is a fantastic opportunity to see one of Europe's most awe-inspiring forces of nature up close: the Mer de Glace, a massive and beautiful glacier that flows from the mountain into the Chamonix valley. Also offering great curriculum links with geography, this is the perfect place to investigate glacier formation, the effects of glaciers on their surroundings, and the possibilities they provide for green energy.

8 Factors to Consider Before Buying Educational Toys

1.Age
Every age comes with a right toy. When yours is a toddler (12 to 36 months of age), you will have a choice of the usual kinds - stuffed toys, puzzles, balls, blocks, and toys with audio/enhanced visual features. If your child is older, there are more toys at range - electronic gadgets, coloring books, and more challenging puzzles. In general, toys have an age indicator on its packaging.

2.Level of Thinking
Although toddlers are usually at a common thought of level, we cannot say that there will be children with a more advanced level of thinking. You must compliment your child's level of thinking with the toys of choice. This way, his physical, emotional, and mental skills will be honed and integrated with the educational toys.

3.Safety
Every parent is always after the safety of his/her child. Usually, toys come with a warning, as to the packaging it comes in. Any child likes to put things in his/her mouth, so make sure you keep hazardous objects such as plastic away from your child.

4.Gender
It is common for us to not give our sons dolls and our daughters toy guns. Toys usually have a gender indicator. One wants to give his/her child the proper concept of sexual category to avoid gender confusion in the future.

5.Price
If we can get a certain toy at a cheaper price, but with the same function with one that is more expensive, we will usually purchase the former. Do not invest in very expensive toys, especially if your child's stage is at a rapid state of change - there is a possibility he will lose interest in the toys in very little time.

6.Quality
Although we want to opt for a lower-priced toy, what about the quality? You must be able to weigh the two. We are used to the notion that quality comes with a price, and that is right. Our responsibility, as always, is to be practical.

7.Accessibility
Get the toys with ease. If the toys come with a warranty, and you acquired them from another country or state, you will have a problem. Try to keep the toys at a reachable level.

8. Nature of Toy
When you purchase an educational toy, are you confident that it will indeed suit your child - that it is educational in a non-violent way? If your child insists on playing with something didactic but has negative effects on your child's intellectual and emotional behavior, you must stick to your judgment and try to look for alternatives - toys that will provide your child with education at a positively safe level.

Once you have thought these factors through, you will be able to choose the right educational toys for your child. It is imperative that you listen to what your child needs, weighing that with his wants, but never forgetting to add in, as a caring and responsible parent, on what you think is best.