Mike Eldon, one of Kenya’s leading management consultants, just had a collection of his writings published under the title 'Kenyans, Yes we can!'.
A good read, I must add but something under acknowledgements caught my eye.
"For quite some time now Nick has been pursuing his MBA, and so Ochieng Rapura and John Kamau have been my bosses at Nation Centre. They have been good to me too, including doing their best to hold back their sub editors from 'editing' (note the quote marks) my pieces."
A wee correction: Mr Eldon, it is not Rapura but Rapuro (a sub would have noticed that, haaaaaaa ha!).
Actually, sir, subs are your friends. Don't listen to your high ranking friends in media houses when they say that subs mess up your nice piece of writing. They lie; subs don't mess up any copy unless it really needs to be messed up. (Oh, and I get this feeling those friends of yours spend zillions of minutes in ‘management, planning and strategy’ meetings and get paid hundreds of thousands for that!).
Subs work so hard; they clean your copy of such silly things like typos, untruths, outrageous similes, insults, stupid thoughts, incoherent thoughts etc.
One of these days sir, take some time off your busy schedule and sub for just one day. Your life will never be the same. For that one day you will be annoyed, disgusted, outraged, enraged etc at what crap subs have to deal with day in day out and still get a paper out with decent, engaging stories and remain sane.
However, if you find your piece butchered, chances are:
1. It didn't make sense;
2. You kept going on and on about the same thing;
3. It was too long for the space allocated;
4. It was a load of crap despite how highsounding it was;
5. It deserved to be butchered.
(6. Maybe the sub thought you were full of yourself and decided to 'edit' you to size.)
But: I like your book and wish other columnists and talking heads would put their thoughts to paper too.
I will definitely enjoy reading your book.
I am just a sub who has to be held back from editing some great piece every now and then
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
$1.1 b for France to digitise its literary works
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/world/europe/15france.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=france&st=cse
France to Digitize Its Own Literary Works
By SCOTT SAYARE
Published: December 14, 2009
PARIS — President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged nearly $1.1 billion on Monday toward the computer scanning of French literary works, audiovisual archives and historical documents, an announcement that underscored his government’s desire to maintain control over France’s cultural heritage in an era of digitization.
The French National Library announced in August that it was engaged in discussions with Google over the digitization of its collections, part of a global effort by Google to digitize the world’s literary works. This provoked an uproar among French officials and the publishing community here, and the discussions were suspended.
“We won’t let ourselves be stripped of our heritage to the benefit of a big company, no matter how friendly, big or American it is,” Mr. Sarkozy said last week, apparently in a reference to Google.
The money pledged Monday will finance a public-private partnership that will digitize the nation’s cultural works, Mr. Sarkozy said. Yet that partnership might well involve Google.
“The question remains open,” said Bruno Racine, president of the National Library, in a telephone interview. He emphasized the “necessity of a partnership with the private sector” in order to secure the capital needed for vast digitization projects.
He put the cost of digitizing the National Library’s collections, which include over 14 million books and several million other documents, at more than $1.5 billion.
Those who opposed the National Library’s discussions with Google were concerned primarily with its “dominant place” in the digital market, he said, noting, “It’s not so much that it is a private company.”
The French culture minister, Frédéric Mitterrand, met last week with David C. Drummond, a senior vice president and chief legal officer at Google, to express his concerns about a potential collaboration with the company.
France has long regarded Google warily. In 2005, French and German leaders announced plans, since abandoned, to develop a multimedia search engine to be called Quaero — “I seek,” in Latin — seen by many as a direct challenge to the company. The French government has also urged the European Union to undertake its own book digitization project.
The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York is currently assessing the legality of Google’s global digitization plan. In a September submission to the court, the French Ministry of Culture wrote that the plan did not conform either to “intellectual property law or to competition law and constitutes a threat to cultural diversity.”
A modified version of Google’s settlement with groups representing book publishers and authors, submitted last month to the court, would restrict its book scanning to works published in the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada.
The $1.1 billion pledged by Mr. Sarkozy is part of a $51 billion stimulus package, announced Monday, aimed primarily at French universities, researchers, manufacturers and telecommunications companies. France will finance the investments largely through government borrowing, against the urgings of the European Union and the country’s own audit authority. France’s debt and deficit are currently at record levels.
France to Digitize Its Own Literary Works
By SCOTT SAYARE
Published: December 14, 2009
PARIS — President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged nearly $1.1 billion on Monday toward the computer scanning of French literary works, audiovisual archives and historical documents, an announcement that underscored his government’s desire to maintain control over France’s cultural heritage in an era of digitization.
The French National Library announced in August that it was engaged in discussions with Google over the digitization of its collections, part of a global effort by Google to digitize the world’s literary works. This provoked an uproar among French officials and the publishing community here, and the discussions were suspended.
“We won’t let ourselves be stripped of our heritage to the benefit of a big company, no matter how friendly, big or American it is,” Mr. Sarkozy said last week, apparently in a reference to Google.
The money pledged Monday will finance a public-private partnership that will digitize the nation’s cultural works, Mr. Sarkozy said. Yet that partnership might well involve Google.
“The question remains open,” said Bruno Racine, president of the National Library, in a telephone interview. He emphasized the “necessity of a partnership with the private sector” in order to secure the capital needed for vast digitization projects.
He put the cost of digitizing the National Library’s collections, which include over 14 million books and several million other documents, at more than $1.5 billion.
Those who opposed the National Library’s discussions with Google were concerned primarily with its “dominant place” in the digital market, he said, noting, “It’s not so much that it is a private company.”
The French culture minister, Frédéric Mitterrand, met last week with David C. Drummond, a senior vice president and chief legal officer at Google, to express his concerns about a potential collaboration with the company.
France has long regarded Google warily. In 2005, French and German leaders announced plans, since abandoned, to develop a multimedia search engine to be called Quaero — “I seek,” in Latin — seen by many as a direct challenge to the company. The French government has also urged the European Union to undertake its own book digitization project.
The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York is currently assessing the legality of Google’s global digitization plan. In a September submission to the court, the French Ministry of Culture wrote that the plan did not conform either to “intellectual property law or to competition law and constitutes a threat to cultural diversity.”
A modified version of Google’s settlement with groups representing book publishers and authors, submitted last month to the court, would restrict its book scanning to works published in the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada.
The $1.1 billion pledged by Mr. Sarkozy is part of a $51 billion stimulus package, announced Monday, aimed primarily at French universities, researchers, manufacturers and telecommunications companies. France will finance the investments largely through government borrowing, against the urgings of the European Union and the country’s own audit authority. France’s debt and deficit are currently at record levels.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Njenga Karume's adulation of Kenyatta, Kibaki and B.E Kipkorir's book launch
Njenga Karume, a man I admired for his supposed entrepreneurial spirit, launched his autobiography Beyond Expectations: From Charcoal to Gold yesterday.
The book, which was serialised in the Daily Nation for a couple of days, makes for a fine read though it shows Njenga Karume for what he truly is: An opportunistic entrepreneur whose best asset was his tribe and boy, didn't he use it to the full? Look at the distributorship with EABL, the GEMA links, huge properties at the Coast (hotels), the land in the Rift Valley ... this fella made it big.
A quick perusal at the book shows Njenga literally worshipping Jomo Kenyatta and Mwai Kibaki ...
Well...
Over to Macmillan Publishers, another book launch.
Here is part of the press release
"Former Kenyan Ambassador to Washington, Dr Benjamin E Kipkorir, has just written hard-hitting memoirs entitled, Descent from Cherang’any Hills: Memoirs of a Reluctant Academic. The book, published by Macmillan Kenya Publishers, will be launched tomorrow, Friday 11th December 2009 at the Lifestyle Mediastore, Westgate Shopping Centre, Westlands. The Guest of Honour will be the Hon. Kenneth Marende, EGH, MP, Speaker of the National Assembly. The occasion will be held from 6.00pm to 8.00 pm. Ambassador Kipkorir’s memoirs are a stunning account told in captivating literary language, gripping phrases and simple sentences mortised to astonishing tightness. It is a breathtaking study in genius and plain perspiration – an exhilarating look deep inside the life of a man who as a boy struggled hard just to survive but still beat great odds to scale the highest heights he possibly could. It is a story about what spawned and inspired, birthed and moulded him to pull himself from nowhere to become an icon. The memoirs are truly “Been there, done that, indeed!”
The book, which was serialised in the Daily Nation for a couple of days, makes for a fine read though it shows Njenga Karume for what he truly is: An opportunistic entrepreneur whose best asset was his tribe and boy, didn't he use it to the full? Look at the distributorship with EABL, the GEMA links, huge properties at the Coast (hotels), the land in the Rift Valley ... this fella made it big.
A quick perusal at the book shows Njenga literally worshipping Jomo Kenyatta and Mwai Kibaki ...
Well...
Over to Macmillan Publishers, another book launch.
Here is part of the press release
"Former Kenyan Ambassador to Washington, Dr Benjamin E Kipkorir, has just written hard-hitting memoirs entitled, Descent from Cherang’any Hills: Memoirs of a Reluctant Academic. The book, published by Macmillan Kenya Publishers, will be launched tomorrow, Friday 11th December 2009 at the Lifestyle Mediastore, Westgate Shopping Centre, Westlands. The Guest of Honour will be the Hon. Kenneth Marende, EGH, MP, Speaker of the National Assembly. The occasion will be held from 6.00pm to 8.00 pm. Ambassador Kipkorir’s memoirs are a stunning account told in captivating literary language, gripping phrases and simple sentences mortised to astonishing tightness. It is a breathtaking study in genius and plain perspiration – an exhilarating look deep inside the life of a man who as a boy struggled hard just to survive but still beat great odds to scale the highest heights he possibly could. It is a story about what spawned and inspired, birthed and moulded him to pull himself from nowhere to become an icon. The memoirs are truly “Been there, done that, indeed!”
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Do you know a book really well? here
If you know a book really well, back to back and can pick out the most importamt element and render them in a way that leaves one feeling they have read the book and you want to make or win some money, then this is your site...
http://www.bookdrum.com/tournament.html
Hurry and make some money...
http://www.bookdrum.com/tournament.html
Hurry and make some money...
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Descent from Cherang'any: Memoirs of a Reluctant Academic
Reading B.E Kipkorir's 'Descent from Cherang'any: Memoirs of a Reluctant Academic' has me psyched for the one about his tour of duty as an ambassador abroad:
'Kenya's foreign policy was shaped and interpreted by one man: the president himself, not the Foreign Minister (Kalonzo Musyoka) or the Permanent Secretary (Sally Kosgei)' (p. 436)
'The account of my ambassadorial appointment must, and will, be told. It is an account of promise, hope and despair; and of occasional triumph and numerous disappointments ... I am convinced that this part of my story, deserves its own pages unpolluted by references ...' (p.437)
That aside, B.E was indeed 'naive.' On p. 290 he talks of this bread he was offered to take to his wife. unknown to him, it was not loaf per se but a bribe of Ksh50,000/-! When his wife alerted him about the ''loaf,' a furious BEK had it prompty returned.
A nice read
'Kenya's foreign policy was shaped and interpreted by one man: the president himself, not the Foreign Minister (Kalonzo Musyoka) or the Permanent Secretary (Sally Kosgei)' (p. 436)
'The account of my ambassadorial appointment must, and will, be told. It is an account of promise, hope and despair; and of occasional triumph and numerous disappointments ... I am convinced that this part of my story, deserves its own pages unpolluted by references ...' (p.437)
That aside, B.E was indeed 'naive.' On p. 290 he talks of this bread he was offered to take to his wife. unknown to him, it was not loaf per se but a bribe of Ksh50,000/-! When his wife alerted him about the ''loaf,' a furious BEK had it prompty returned.
A nice read
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