Jaw dropping inventions

This Prnav Mistry guy demos in simple language that sci-fi is no longer sci-fi but the inevitable reality.

Integrating MySQL with R, the statistical package

For the better part this morning I have been trying to get MySQL working with R. I was able to download and install RMySQL but getting it to load was a nightmare. Every time I ran library(RMySQL) it always gave me the error:

Loading required package: DBI
Error in if (utils::file_test("-d", MySQLhome)) break :
argument is of length zero
Error : .onLoad failed in 'loadNamespace' for 'RMySQL'
Error: package/namespace load failed for 'RMySQL'

I am running R on a WinXP SP2, MySQL v5.0.51 and R v2.10. The problem that I came to figure out was that R was trying to connect to the wrong version of MySQL. Typing

readRegistry("SOFTWARE\\MySQL AB", hive="HLM", maxdepth=2)

to see the versions of MySQL's in the registry gave:

QL Connector/ODBC 3.51`
$`MySQL Connector/ODBC 3.51`$Version
[1] "3.51.27"


$`MySQL Server 5.0`
$`MySQL Server 5.0`$Location
[1] "C:\\Program Files\\MySQL\\MySQL Server 5.0\\"

$`MySQL Server 5.0`$Version
[1] "5.0.51a"

This basically means that there are 2 instances of MySQL in the registry, ie MySQL v3.51 and v.5.0.51. Gotcha, this is the problem:

When connecting to MySQL R usually uses the first instance of MySQL found in the registry. In my case it was trying to connect to MySQL v3.51.

The problem is solved by removing this instance from the registry.
Go to

Start->Run

Type in regedit

Navigate to HKLM(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE)->Software->MySQL Server 5.0.

Click on the folder with the unwanted MySQL and delete it.

Now try again to load RMySQL and BINGO you are done, or so I hope!!!

MoFaya, They call it slum, we call it home

So finally the musical, MoFaya landed in Kenya, after its huge debut in LA, wonder why they thought of taking it to NY first yet it is Kenyan. Anyway that aside it was long since I attended a play and when I heard about MoFaya, I thought maybe I should check it out despite thinking that it would be a flop, but again I thought its Eric Wainaina!



MoFaya Rocks!! Actually thats an understatement, it blows all thats to be blown away! Its a masterpiece. The combination of Eric Wainaina, John Sibi Okumu, Valerie Kimani, Atemi Oyungu aka Chizi, Mumbi Kaigwa who are among the who is who in Kenya arts scene brings some of the best of what Kenya has to offer in terms of plays.

So much has been said about the post election violence and the poor being taken for a ride, but nothing has been put on stage as musical, as satirical, as funny and as sobering as MoFaya. Right from the intro by Chizi, the music led by Eric Wainaina and Valerie Kimani and the prowess of the actors, the musical grips the viewer by the balls and keeps him glued to his seat. It takes the viewer through the Kenyan experience in a short 2 hours, from the common man trying to make a living by exploiting the water shortage situation, to the waheshimiwas with their grand corruption plans, from the ambitious young man with a college degree and a hot gal, to the home thug who's always contended with being the "kanda ya moko" of the mheshimiwa. In its own satirical, funny and sobering message one cant help but just realise how we are all like each other, trying to make living, only others are straight while others will bend and break all laws to man just to get the extra shilling.

One constant thought at the back of my mind that I cant shrug off is why this masterpiece cant be taken to the slums, where people cant clearly see through the lines, yet it is based on the life in the slum. After all these successful runs, it would hurt a bit to at least enlighten the slum dwellers who need this information the most.

An album in my archives: Come away with me - Norah Jones

Its rare to find an album that you will listen to without choosing some songs that you really like, and when you find it, it is a keeper. Such is Norah Jones's Come away with me.


With her sweet melodies, soothing voice and careful arrangement of songs, the album will rocks you to sleep though it may be 10 in the morning. Songs like 'Come away with me', 'Dont know why', 'Nightingale', 'Seven years' and others are just a sneak preview why Norah amassed six grammy awards in 2002.

Track listing:

1. Don't Know Why


2. Seven Years


3. Cold, Cold Heart


4. Feelin' the Same Way


5. Come Away with Me


6. Shoot the Moon


7. Turn Me On


8. Lonestar


9. I've Got to See You Again


10. Painter Song


11. One Flight Down


12. Nightingale


13. The Long Day Is Over


14. The Nearness of You

And thats why I call it a classic.

Nipo Natambulika

The 5th national census is here with. will you stand up and be counted? will you answer the most controversial question - which is your tribe? do you believe that the tribe statistics will be put in proper use or will it be used to divide us and be used as a bargaining chip?

Bewary of Google

In law there are clauses against mono policies, in real life we tend to feel exploited when buying something from a company with monopoly as we dont have the opportunity of knowing what other companies/people will ask for the same goods or services. In web, we have another coming up monopoly.

How many google products do you use? gmail, blogger, google maps, adsense, Google News, you tube, picasa, etc. The list is endless. The fact that google tends to give priority to items on its shelf when searching using google kinds of highlights the biased results of google's search engines.

Should we be worried about this? Most of us use this services for free hence answer will be no, but when you think about your search results being biased based on what is on google's shelves instead of what is on the whole world wide web you wont be so sure of your answer. When you add the monetary value that google receives on each search and on each time you are directed to a website or a product by google, matters get complicated. Since most of us are addicted to google and googling has become an everyday practice, we close one eye to this fact and enjoy the services while it lasts.

Fast forward to year 2030..... Will google be still standing, or will it be like Microsoft, being faced by numerous scandals while its products slowly becoming irrelevant??

The fact that I am blogging about this on one of the google services just shows how integrated we are with google.

We are a failed state

For all those leaders who worry that Kenya will be labelled as a failed state, worry no more. We are officially a failed state. The only honorable thing that you un-honorable waheshimiwas is either to provide some god-damned leadership or just step down.

If some of you have the audacity of saying that people living in the forest should not be evicted, or start giving conditions for leaving the forest, you just cant stoop lower than that. There is massive water and electricity rationing, people are dying of hunger, rivers are drying up and some of your just cant seem to get it.

Its just a pity that we are an educated nation being led by blind leaders.