Fasmicro (the parent company of tekedia) stocks the biggest electronics and embedded systems parts/components in Nigeria. Just visit the Fasmicro Sales Network and get what you need for your research, project or hobby. It is very simply with clean carts, good pricing, etc.
They have stocks in the following categories:
Today, Flock Browser went .gone. This was one of those dreamers that wanted to challenge Google or perhaps Microsoft on browser. Unfortunately, they crashed. Now, they are recommending Google Chrome and Firefox. I think Chrome capability will make them to not become a viable alternative in the industry. They made the right decision and left.
This is from Wikipedia :
Flock was a web browser that specialized in providing social networking and Web 2.0 facilities built into its user interface. Earlier versions of Flock used the Gecko HTML rendering engine by Mozilla. Version 2.6.2, released in July 2010, was the last version based on Mozilla Starting with version 3, Flock is based on Chromium and so uses the WebKit rendering engine. Flock is available as a free download, and supports Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X platforms (previously also Linux).
Support for Flock was discontinued in April 2011.“Official End of Support Notice”.
Their final words….
Support for Flock browsers will be discontinued as of April 26th, 2011. We would like to thank our loyal users around the world for their support, and we encourage the Flock community to migrate in the coming weeks to one of the recommended web browsers listed below.
Our Recommendations
Since no further security updates will be provided to keep you safe on the web, we encourage all Flock users to upgrade to one of the two browsers listed below. Both are based on the same reliable technologies as Flock, and both are being actively maintained and improved. Also, each of the following browsers has a broad selection of add-ons and extensions to customize and extend their capabilities.
Two points:
PayPal founder (and billionaire) Peter Thiel is offering grants to 20 students under the age of 20, luring them to leave school and become entrepreneurs. He thinks that getting teenagers to start thinking big early will help them become innovators. Rather than take on education debt, Thiel wants these kids to get $100,000 from a mogul and start a business.
In a Bloomberg Businessweek ranking of CEOs of S&P 500 companies, those without college degrees tied with University of California system graduates as running the most businesses. Last month, Stephen Greer asked Does an Entrepreneur Need an MBA? He showed that while an MBA may not provide all the ingredients to become a successful entrepreneur, it does equip entrepreneurs with the skills that can make them more effective. Yet, Mr. Greer was discussing those who have obtained, at least, undergraduate degrees since such are usually required for admissions into most MBA programs.
But what if the entrepreneurs are not even college graduates? What is the chance that a kid that leaves school because of $100,000 will succeed as an entrepreneur? And if he fails, what will Mr. Thiel do for him? For every Mark Zuckerberg, there are countless dropouts who have failed.
Some dropouts become legends and create industries. Is the current model of education relevant to these entrepreneurs? Our doctors and lawyers cannot afford to be dropouts, but many entrepreneurs have excelled by doing just that. If some dropouts excelled without college degrees, why must a kid entrepreneur pass through college and get rewarded with an average debt of $250,000?
Mr. Greer says you can’t “teach someone to really enjoy taking risks.” That does not mean entrepreneurs do not need education; under most circumstances, lack of education hurts. Of college dropouts who become successful at a young age, many do so in technology, an area that rewards such entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurial opportunities in finance, medicine, banking, law and most others areas have structures that allow for much less risks. For budding entrepreneurs who want to work in those areas, staying in school opens more opportunities.
As a college student in Nigeria, many of my classmates left school to start businesses thinking they would become moguls before the rest of us completed college. None succeeded. The ones who completed college and got into entrepreneurship are doing much better. They are the ones whose companies are now entering into joint partnerships with multinational companies. Their confidence and better vision in the market helps them scale and pick opportunities. Those without education cannot play in that level. The educated ones can get travel documents to most Western nations; these governments discriminate on educational status when approving visas. There seems to be no single reason where dropping out of school has helped. Yes, I know, you may not expect future Microsofts and Facebooks from Nigeria, but even in the U.S., I know for sure: thousands of kids have been destroyed by the illusion that leaving school is a recipe for successful entrepreneurism. They have failed to see school as a risk worth taking. Their degree should be their first product, on which they can build many more.
By Ndubuisi Ekekwe, originally published in Harvard Business Review, as Does an Entrepreneur Need a College Degree?
Experts in Fasmicro have believed that ICT is a great technology. However, it is just a consuming technology. What drives ICT is unknown to many and that is microelectronics. Africa to get to the next level, must upgrade into the upstream of technology. Microelectronics is that. ICT is great but it is a downstream sector.
Experts in Fasmicro have developed a comprehensive roadmap to help any government in Africa to develop and deploy microelectronics center and institutes. That is the prosperity and that is Africa 2.o.
—from the proposal—
– Microelectronics Training and Research Institute – a Center of Excellence-—
The purpose of this proposal is to improve the quality and relevance, efficiency and equity in science and technology teaching and learning opportunities in African universities. We propose new institutes, Microelectronics Training and Research Institute (MTRI), and Microelectronics labs, at selected African universities towards realizing these objectives and meeting the skills requirements in Africa’s evolving and dynamic information and communication technology (ICT) sector. These institutes will educate and train students (and other citizens) in the exciting field of microelectronics, and its applications to agriculture, biology, manufacturing, telecommunications, information systems and foster opportunities not only for the acquisition of new knowledge, but also the production and application of new knowledge. A new sub-program on microelectronics would be established within the schools’ masters and doctorate programs in engineering while strengthening the undergraduate engineering programs. Also, certificate and diploma programs on microelectronics will be offered to the public. Enormous efforts would be made to attract small and medium enterprise to send their employees to attend the programs. Our program will provide broad-based innovative trainings, which would enhance the quality of their business processes and systems. All the schools must be required to have Business Incubation & Technology Transfer Unit (BITTU) with vibrant academic-industry relationships. We believe in models that move ideas from labs to markets. Fasmicro has the capacity to help develop and structure a modern BITTU through our networks.
What is microelectronics?
The term microelectronics describes a group of technologies that integrate multiple devices into a small physical area. Often these devices are made from semiconductors with a process called photolithography. Several components are available in microelectronic scale such as transistors, capacitors, inductors, resistors, diodes, insulators and conductors. The microelectronics can be divided to its subfields which in turn are connected to other micro related fields. These subfields are micro electromechanical systems (MEMS),
nanoelectronics, optoelectronics and single electron devices (SED). Integrated circuits and microchips are typical microelectronic devices, which can be found in computers and mobile phones. Microelectronics can be also found for example in medical devices, toys and automobiles. Its industry, the semiconductor industry, is considered one of the most pervasive in modern history and continues to shape global commerce and industry. These MTRI programs will provide educational opportunities for students and public interested
in the emerging and interdisciplinary areas of neuromorphics, MEMS, telecommunication circuits and systems, information systems, controls, etc. There would be cross-disciplinary efforts and partnerships between African universities and international academic partners. African experts in Diasporas will be called upon to assist the local schools to help develop their programs to educate the students at international standards. Fasmicro has networks of African experts across the globe which can help African institutions get started.
MTRI program is consistent with NEPAD vision of helping African nations to develop capacity in science and technology. In the next decade, courtesy of many National visioning projects from Africa to Kenya along with the explosive growth of our telecommunications sector, Africa will have enormous needs for microelectronics engineers to move up the ladder in the technology
pyramid by leading the design and development of some of the electronics systems and tools that are used in Africa. Fasmicro is of the opinion that now is the time to start training the students towards building a sustainable, organically grown microelectronics industry which will help improve our KEI.
The proposed program will help many African schools that already have the missions of providing technical education and training in technical and scientific areas which are critical to their respective economies. It is consistent with their research and teaching visions. Our proposed program has great potential to become a continental model not just for microelectronics programs but in other scientific fields because it brings together a cutting edge combination of local schools and foreign academic partners. They share and network on courses, laboratories, pioneer research programs and involve a global network of their respective school alumni who are in top global institutions. This program will promote the acquisition of new knowledge and the production and application of new knowledge in classrooms and laboratories, and produce highly trained and skilled graduates well qualified to move into academic, industrial or federal research positions.
Many engineering programs in African schools will surely have a high priority on establishing the proposed institute or labs considering the level of interests they have shown on this area. This is demonstrated by the extent to which education in microelectronics related fields is already taking place in the classrooms across campus. Despite lack of facilities for practical education, the theoretical aspect is well taught across many African universities.
This proposal mirrors similar initiatives which have been used by MOSIS (USA), CMC Microsystems (Canada), Europractice (Europe) – all programs supported by their respective governments or agencies towards practical oriented training and learning on microelectronics, especially at the students’ level. Through MOSIS, many US students have experienced the complete life-cycle of microelectronics design and development. Over the years, these initiatives have enabled the different nations to train and develop more relevant practically oriented students for the industries. Central to our proposal is the development of a world class training
and research environment (a Center of Excellence) across Africa in partnerships with leading top international universities.
From Fasmicro MTRI Document. Cost, plans, courses, time frames and every aspect of executing this proposal is included there
Kenyan graduates are supporting companies in US and Europe who used to go to India but have found a cheaper alternative in Africa. KenCall is the company behind this and they got quality to prove it. Awards keep coming and Africa is just starting.
This year KenCall received the Highest Commendation Award at the Call Centre Focus European Awards. This is following its win last year as Best Non-European Centre. The award was given for KenCall’s high levels of client satisfaction, professionalism, innovation within the call centre sphere and impressive success in a relatively new outsourcing market.
Providing clients with world class operations, KenCall focuses on developing high skilled employees with an in-depth understanding of client business, products and services. Its quality assurance processes and intensive training ensures its services meet and exceed client expectations. Its detailed documentation illustrating every procedure within KenCall ensures we can provide consistent and reliable procedures and deliver exceptional customer interactions every time.
It sounds great that graduates in Kenya can do this. It means training overcomes all challenges. Hope West Africa can do this and let the outsourcing competition begins. India, we are coming after your jobs.