The Vim Views & Versions - Blogs of a MIghTy African

I asked some friends to name their  top 5 songs  ever, from  Tanzania . My Tanzanian alter-ego,  Hamis Ambwene Massawe , also contributed, thanks to all he has learnt around  Museke . I also asked  Google  Gemini & other AI bots. You know AI is my friend these days right? I also contributed my top 5. My first time in  Tanzania   was in 2012, thanks to my work at  Google . Prior to that, I had been learning about Tanzanian music from my  Bongo friends  at  MIT  and then later at  Stanford . When I visited Dar Es Salaam, I hanged out with a lot of top musicians there, thanks to Museke. I had the kind of experiences in Bongo land that would make you say "Bingo". I miss Tanzania dearly! I wanted to do a list of top 5, but there are too many songs. So I have aggregated  11 , to represent  Tanzania  in the World Cup of  #MusicWeDeyFeel .  The starting eleven . Drop your opinions, props, sug...

Today of all days, I am missing Tanzania . Because 12 years ago around this time, I was in Bongo land. I really loved being there. Hamis Ambwene Massawe too. Ndio. Before I ever visited Tanzania, I knew a lot about Alikiba . I had seen him perform in Oakland, Califorinia while I was still at Stanford . Before that day which I met my second girlfriend - Titi (She's Nigerian, not Tanzanian)  - I knew a lot of Alikiba songs. And it is not just because of Museke . I liked music made by  I hope you would love his craft more after reading this blog post.  I am sure you know Kiswahili is the official language of Tanzania. Hapana? Kabisa? I learnt how to speak Swahili from some East African friends . I took 2 Swahili classes while at Stanford, which is the period I really started loving more music from Bongo. Bonga Flava has many flavours. Ali Saleh Kiba has his own flavour. Alikiba was such a pleasant guy when I met him. He likes to sing about love songs. Titi was right...

It's a glaring fact that African women are not as much involved in the tech space as much as their male counterparts. In this #VimTechList , I'd like to recognize some African women who are doing a lot to drum up interest in technology locally and elsewhere on the continent. They are developers, content creators, and thought leaders. These are a few I know about. Let me say I am disappointed in myself that there's no one in this list from Lusophone Africa. I need that Angola trip. Anyway, on to the people who must be celebrated. Tech Needs Girls in Africa. And it's just because we want more women at tech events in Africa. We need to embrace & create more technological solutions on the continent. We need influential women across the board. Here are the bubbling  +Ory Okolloh s,  +Estelle Akofio-Sowah s, and  +Nnenna Nwakanma s. Doris Anson-Yevu - Ghana : I've known  +Doris Anson-Yevu  for a long time, I am not sure I remember where and how I met her. Sh...

Can't wait till Christmas. Can wait to see the year move a little slower so I achieve a lot more in 2013 though. But when the holiday season does come, here are a number of ways you can send and say holiday greetings :-) Bronya o! Afe hyia pa o! #MerryChristmas in #Akan #Twi . — Mighty African (@mightyafrican) December 25, 2012 Ni ti yum palli! #MerryChristmas in #Dagbani . #Ghana — Mighty African (@mightyafrican) December 25, 2012 Blonya fe dzorgbenyuie na mi! Blonya fedzorgbenui! #MerryChristmas in #Ewe . #Ghana — Mighty African (@mightyafrican) December 25, 2012 Afi o afi! Afi aya ni e ba nina wɔ! #MerryChristmas in #Ga . #Ghana — Mighty African (@mightyafrican) December 25, 2012 "Heri ya Krismasi" "Krismasi Njema!" #MerryChristmas in #Swahili . #Kenya #Tanzania #Uganda — Mighty African (@mightyafrican) December 25, 2012 "Khisimusi Lomuhle". #MerryChristmas in #Zulu and #Siswati . #Mzansi #SouthAfrica #Swa...

OMG! It works. Do something cool today. Find the meaning of words by simply sending SMS or Chat using your Mobile Phone or Gtalk. I just sent good to the English to Swahili number and had a number of translations sent to me. Next time, I want to impress my East African friends and Swahili speaking confidantes, I'll text all I want to say to the number and 'show off'. You can do the same for Twi/Fante/Akuapem and Yoruba too. :-) This is brought to you by the lovely people at Kasahorow and Fienipa . Via Chat Send invitation to chat with any of the email addresses associated with a particular language listed below. Receive live response to any word or words requested. Via SMS Send text to the phone numbers of any language of your choice listed below to get a dictionary translation sent back to you. English to Swahili fienipa4en2sw@bot.im (Google Talk) +1 713 487-6941 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +1 713 487-6941 end_of_the_skype_highlighting (...

While I look for some great new Ghanaian movies to be recommended so I watch, I've been wondering what some of the other awesome African movies out there. I found a few when I bumped into this link about one Yvonne Cherry winning Best Actress @ the 2010 ZIFF Awards . ZIFF stands for Zanzibar International Film Festival Awards. Here are a few movies I want to check out and if anyone has access to them, buy them for me. First off, we start with Mzansi. Themba is a South African movie with the tag line - A boy called Hope. Filmed on location against the stunning rural landscapes of the Eastern Cape, Themba tells the story of a local boy who triumphs against adversity and proves that with talent and determination dreams can come true. Themba depicts the triumph of the human spirit and how belief in oneself and ones talent is tantamount to never giving up. Themba goes behind the pin-up posters of soccer stars and shows us what really makes for a hero. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22N...