Aston Martin vs. ... well you won't believe it.

Here's an amusing video.

Facebook fatigue' kicks in as people tire of social networks

I've been saying this a while (but not online). Social Network engagement is down -- the new economy darling has jumped the shark. The average length of time users spend on all of the top three sites is on the slide. Bebo, MySpace and Facebook all took double-digit percentage hits in the last months of 2007.

MP's killing sparks Kenyan unrest

Things in Kenya are going from bad to worse. Overnight, at least four people have died after mobs torched houses in a slum in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. Yesterday an opposition MP, Mugabe Were, was killed outside his house nearby. Raila Odinga pointed the finger at the government: "We suspect a foul hand of our adversaries in this".

Meanwhile, towns in the Rift Valley are witnessing fresh inter-ethnic fighting.

Gary and Drew in Zambia

Drew and Gary are currently in Zambia working at the Kondwa project. They are making periodic posts to a blog specific to the trip.

Fed slashes rates in shock move

The US Fed has cut interest rates to 3.5%, a shock three-quarters of a percentage point reduction. This was an emergency move, used for the first time since 2001 after stock markets tumbled from Hong Kong to London and the U.S. economy showed increasing signs that it's headed into a recession.

However, despite the attempt tostave off a US recession, the move failed to calm investors, with shares continuing sharp falls as Wall Street opened for trading today. This recession is already called the worst downturn of the post-war era.

Violence in Kenya on Day 2 of Protests

The Guardian is reporting scenes of great violence in Nairobi and Kisumu on this the second day of planned protests against the government.

Raila has accused the police of turning the streets into "killing fields of the innocent".

Safari Photos

I've now posted a subset of the photos from our recent trip to Kenya. These photos include a limited set of pictures from the old town of Mombasa as well as pictures from our safari in the Maasai Mara. Chnida has our photos from Watamu.



The other set of photos I have is from the extended Nairobi leg of our trip. As it turns out, these photos are mostly of Lake Naivasha in the Rift Valley (an hour drive from Nairobi).

Return of Violence in Kisumu

Reading reports of violence in Kisumu today - specifically that the police in Kisumu have fired at protesters during the rally against the disputed presidential election results. Reports are that three people have been killed in Nairobi and Kisumu. Hope Amanda is OK as she was on last report still in the city.

The New York Times is reporting that American diplomats in Kenya have done their own analysis of poll results and concluded that the election was so flawed it was impossible to tell who really won.

My XO has arrived!

Without fanfare or notice, my XO laptop from the OLPC program arrived yesterday!

Friction in Kenyan Parliament -- will it spill out to the streets?

Parliament in Kenya has met for the first time since disputed elections, amid continuing tension between the government and the opposition.

It was the first time Mr Odinga and Mr Kibaki had been in the same room since the 27 December election. More than 600 people were killed in unrest that followed.

About 250,000 people also fled or were driven from their homes in a country once seen as a beacon of relative stability in East Africa.

In an effort to step up pressure on Kibaki, Odinga called for three days of protests across the country to start tomorrow, in defiance of a government ban on demonstrations.

Plans for a similar protests earlier this month were postponed after demonstrators were dispersed using water cannons, teargas and gun shots.

George MacDonald Fraser

A favourite author of mine -- George MacDonald Fraser -- passed away on the 2nd. He was the creator of the Flashman Papers. However it was his semi-autobiographical series of short stories based on his experiences in the Gordon Highlanders in North Africa and Scotland soon after World War II that I most enjoyed. I'd recommend "The General Danced at Dawn" to everyone.

Returned from Kenya!

We're back from Kenya! I have many hundreds of photos to work through, but here's a quick first taste from the safari portion of the trip...