Friday, August 12, 2011

First Post and ....and...a little more

My people.
Welcome to my neck of the woods.....recently carved out as you can see.
This article is my own way of testing to see if the "Publish Post" button on blogger really works and if you are reading this then i guess it does.
I really do hope that i have the discipline going forward to keep this blog as interesting and as lively as I have always hoped it would be.
The intention is that this blog will chronicle my experiences as I embark on a quest (yes, thats right ...quest) to ensure that the internet becomes part of the everyday lives of people in this part of the world (Africa) by interacting and collaborating with the people who shoulder a large chunk of the responsibility for making it work (software engineers, IT entrepreneurs and you).
It promises to be an interesting experience and while not even i can tell you how it will end (if at all it will end), I can tell you that one of the goals of this quest will be to bring the Geek to the front page of the national newspapers in countries across Africa for all the right reasons.
So who is the Geek you might ask?
Well...

  • If you have ever forgone a date with a beautiful lady or dashing guy for the opportunity to watch a movie called "defrag.exe" on your computer...then you are the Geek
  • If you think Sheryl Sandberg is hotter than Beyonce....then you are the Geek
  • If you think James Gosling is hotter than Brad Pitt.....then there is big  'G' on your forehead
  • If you think "War of the Worlds" is a movie about the battle between Facebook, Google Plus and Twitter for the souls of the internet user.....step right up and collect your freshly endorsed Geek ID card

Given the current state of things in Africa you can say that its a  bold and perhaps impossible quest but hey.... that's what they told me about 20 years ago when i said i was going to marry Tina Turner and it didn't stop me ( I am still working on it). I feel its a quest that is well worth embarking on if nothing else for the fun we (that's also right...WE) intend to have on the way.
I will be embarking on this quest in the company of giants or shall I say with a giant company in the internet space. In a matter of days I will be joining the Developer Relations Outreach Team at Google.  I am indeed humbled by the opportunity given me to make a difference with regards to a goal that is dear to my heart. As the developer outreach manager i will be interacting and collaborating with developers and software entrepreneurs  (both experienced and newbie) from across Nigeria and Africa on how best to create value using the Internet.
I would like to use this opportunity to thank the staff and management of Parkway Projects Limited a company currently doing amazing things in the African Electronic Banking/Payments space with purely home grown software for three wonderful years in which I never stopped learning as well as the members of the Lagos GTUG (and indeed all GTUGs ) for all their support so far.
This is just the beginning.

So next  time you see me wearing a shirt with a 'G' on it...it could stand for.....Geek [gotcha!!!....:-) ]
Its quest time! (2.00am in the morning....yawn!)
Lets go there!




2 comments:

  1. If you are reading this post instead of watching Manchester United beat Liverpool.....

    ReplyDelete