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Janina und Patricia berichten von den aktuellen Ereignissen zum Thema Vogelgrippe in den USA. Eine ATM (ask the moms) Frage aus der Community zum Thema Kinder und Handys wird auch beantwortet. Ab wann haben Eure Kinder ein Smartphone bekommen und habt ihr Euch auch erstmal für ein Feature Phone entschieden?
Faz anos que o smartphone domina o mercado. Mas ele não é o único tipo de celular disponível. Em meio à explosão de modelos cada vez mais avançados, uma parcela do público ainda busca pelo básico.São aparelhos que fogem da lógica dos smartphones que tomam tanto de nosso tempo, e buscam reproduzir uma experiência anterior às telas sensíveis ao toque e às lojas de aplicativos. Ou seja: celulares burros, ou dumbphones.No episódio de hoje, conversamos sobre esse curioso segmento. Quem é o público? Dá para viver sem um smartphone hoje em dia? E quais são as estratégias possíveis para diminuir o tempo gasto no celular? Para acompanhar essa conversa, dá o play e vem com a gente! ParticipantesThiago MobilonJosué de Oliveira Ana MarquesLaura Canal Thássius VelosoHT SolutionsUma boa infraestrutura de TI é essencial para a sua empresa crescer. Pensando nisso, hoje a gente traz um recado da HT Solutions, que tem 17 anos de experiência oferecendo soluções de tecnologia para o seu negócio.Com a HT Solutions, você conta com equipamentos de ponta, indo dos notebooks à estrutura de Data Center, além de ter acesso a serviços de instalação, configuração customizada e suporte técnico.A HT Solutions tem parceria com líderes globais, como HP, HPE, Dell e Google. Tudo para você impulsionar a produtividade e a eficiência do seu negócio.Então visite o site htsolutions.com.br e descubra como levar a sua empresa ao próximo nível com tecnologia de ponta! Mande seu recadoGrupos da Caixa Postal do Tecnocast: Telegram: t.me/caixapostaltecnocast WhatsApp: tbnet.me/caixapostaltecnocast Você pode mandar comentários (inclusive em áudio, vai que você aparece no Tecnocast?), dúvidas, críticas e sugestões. Participe!Se preferir, você pode se comunicar conosco pela Comunidade e através do e-mail tecnocast@tecnoblog.net.Entre também nos Canais do TB no WhatsApp Canal do Tecnoblog Canal do Achados do TB CréditosProdução: Josué de OliveiraEdição e sonorização: Ariel LiborioArte da capa: Vitor Pádua
About a year ago I was joined by Rockman Cosmo and Naoya Shinota to discuss their efforts in preserving Japanese feature phone games. Since so much time had passed I wanted to bring them back on the show to talk about how their efforts are going, the progress they made in a year and what their goals going forward are. I had a wonderful time catching up with them and I can't thank them enough for setting aside more of their time to share what's been going on in their corner of the preservation community. Follow Rockman Cosmo on Twitter @RockmanCosmo Follow Naoya Shinota on Twitter @NaoyaShinota Check out Rockman's recent article over on Hit Save! https://hitsave.org/the-state-of-japanese-feature-phone-preservation-in-2023/ End Song: The Prelude Artist: Rifti Beats Album: Chocobo & Chillhttps://gamechops.com/chocobo/ Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/ Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod
Game preservationist Naoya Shinota joins the pod to talk about the Final Fantasy VII Feature Phone games! A significant part of the FFVII mythos is locked to these unique Japanese mobile titles, and we explore their importance and how people are trying to preserve them. Plus, I dive into the e-Reader levels for Super Mario Bros. 3 and final thoughts on Fire Emblem Engage! Follow our guest here: Twitter: https://twitter.com/NaoyaShinota (0:00) - Intro Feature (1:35) - Final Fantasy VII feature phone games w/ Naoya Shinota Games (28:22) - Super Mario Bros. 3 e-Reader levels (35:11) - Fire Emblem Engage final thoughts News (46:14) - Pokemon Presents 2023 (52:06) - New Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi game announced (53:17) - This Week in Tokyo (53:27) - Closing Social media: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TokyoGameLife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tokyogamelife/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tokyogamelife Website: https://tokyogamelife.com/ Like and subscribe on your favorite podcast app! Send questions and suggestions to: tokyogamelife@gmail.com
How do you archive Japan's unique feature phone games when so many—like Capcom's many Mega Man titles—are bound to dead overseas networks? Preservationists RockmanCosmo and Naoya Shinota talk all about it. Retronauts is made possible by listener support through Patreon! Support the show to enjoy ad-free early access, better audio quality, and great exclusive content. Learn more at http://www.patreon.com/retronauts
Game preservationist RockmanCosmo joins the pod to chat about the Rockman Feature Phone Preservation Project. We chat about the history of Japan's unique feature phone gaming era, why some games from big franchises like Mega Man can be lost forever, and what people are doing to preserve these titles for future generations. And get ready to dye your hair two colors as I share thoughts on Fire Emblem Engage, plus the news including my visit to indie games event Tokyo Game Dungeon! Follow our guest on social media: Twitter: https://twitter.com/RockmanCosmo Website: https://rockmancosmo.weebly.com/ (0:00) - Intro Feature (1:15) - Rockman Feature Phone Preservation Project w/ RockmanCosmo Games (30:22) - Fire Emblem Engage News (44:35) - Tokyo Game Dungeon 2023 (47:22) - Dokapon Kingdom Connect (48:12) - Yggdra Union coming to Steam and the west (49:00) - Baten Kaitos remake rumor (50:15) - Surugaya Akiba's huge stock of new Nintendo games (51:06) - Japanese Gaming Phrase of the Week (グラボ gurabo) (51:36) - Japanese Tweet of the Week: https://twitter.com/tyomateee/status/1617122804557844482 (51:59) - Closing Social media: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TokyoGameLife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tokyogamelife/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tokyogamelife Website: https://tokyogamelife.com/ Like and subscribe on your favorite podcast app! Send questions and suggestions to: tokyogamelife@gmail.com
This episode of Still Loading dives into a little known aspect of video games called feature phone gaming. Feature phones were cell phones in Japan that had a lot of exclusive games and content from some of your favorite franchises such as Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy! I'm joined by game preservationists Rockman Cosmo and Naoya Shinota to discuss this area of gaming and what they are doing to preserve this near dead era of gaming. This is an episode you will NOT want to miss. Follow RockmanCosmo and Naoya Shinota on Twitter! End Song: Fanfare Artist: Mykah Album: Triple Triad https://gamechops.com/triple-triad/ Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/ Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod Want to buy some Still Loading merch? https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast
Welcome to Nepal Now, the podcast where we explore new ideas and innovations to move the country forward. My name is Marty Logan. Thank you for joining me today a in my noisy neighbourhood. It feels like it's construction season in this part of Kathmandu – but on with the show as they say!Like what seems to be a growing number of Nepalis, Rumee Singh always had an itch to return home and use her abilities to improve her own country. She went overseas to finish her education and then scored a “cushy” job in the corporate world in New York, but when a year-long stint in Dubai ended, she and her Nepali husband chose to return east instead of west. The move paid off. Her work has been recognized with an investment from something called the UNICEF Innovation Fund, which puts money into development solutions based on blockchain technology. (Don't worry – Rumee and I describe blockchain in simple terms in our chat coming up).Rumee's innovation, Rahat (‘relief' in Nepali) is a digital payment system for humanitarian emergencies, such as following natural disasters like flooding. It's a way to get money, or even goods, to affected people using mobile phones. Rahat's advantage is that every transaction is tracked and because it uses blockchain, anyone anywhere can go online and see all those dealings — creating a huge barrier to corruption. It's simple, but also complicated in some ways, explains Rumee. For example, not everyone post-disaster has access to a phone, so those people might actually receive physical cards that they can exchange for money or goods. Another wrinkle is that even people who do have phones don't always know how to use them — even for simple things like receiving a text message — so Rahat has to do digital literacy sessions in some areas. But overall, results from early tests have been positive and now Rahat is doing a pilot project with the UNICEF country office here. If all goes well, Rumee thinks that her innovation could succeed beyond Nepal, especially because Rahat is based on blockchain, which is borderless. She encourages her countrywomen and men overseas who are considering a move home to take the plunge. It can be frustrating, she says, but it's also cheaper to set up a business, the talent pool is deep, and it's familiar territory. If you have any thoughts about this episode, or ideas for future ones, let me know. My email is marty@martylogan.net. ResourcesRahatUNICEF Innovation FundNepal Now social linksFacebookInstagramTwitterLinkedInThanks as always to Nikunja Nepal for advice and inspiration.Music: amaretto needs ice ... by urmymuse (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/urmymuse/57996 Ft: ApoxodeStay in touch on:Instagram Twitter LinkedIn
Welcome to Nepal Now, the podcast where we explore new ideas and innovations to move the country forward. My name is Marty Logan. Thank you for joining me today a in my noisy neighbourhood. It feels like it's construction season in this part of Kathmandu – but on with the show as they say!Like what seems to be a growing number of Nepalis, Rumee Singh always had an itch to return home and use her abilities to improve her own country. She went overseas to finish her education and then scored a “cushy” job in the corporate world in New York, but when a year-long stint in Dubai ended, she and her Nepali husband chose to return east instead of west. The move paid off. Her work has been recognized with an investment from something called the UNICEF Innovation Fund, which puts money into development solutions based on blockchain technology. (Don't worry – Rumee and I describe blockchain in simple terms in our chat coming up).Rumee's innovation, Rahat (‘relief' in Nepali) is a digital payment system for humanitarian emergencies, such as following natural disasters like flooding. It's a way to get money, or even goods, to affected people using mobile phones. Rahat's advantage is that every transaction is tracked and because it uses blockchain, anyone anywhere can go online and see all those dealings — creating a huge barrier to corruption. It's simple, but also complicated in some ways, explains Rumee. For example, not everyone post-disaster has access to a phone, so those people might actually receive physical cards that they can exchange for money or goods. Another wrinkle is that even people who do have phones don't always know how to use them — even for simple things like receiving a text message — so Rahat has to do digital literacy sessions in some areas. But overall, results from early tests have been positive and now Rahat is doing a pilot project with the UNICEF country office here. If all goes well, Rumee thinks that her innovation could succeed beyond Nepal, especially because Rahat is based on blockchain, which is borderless. She encourages her countrywomen and men overseas who are considering a move home to take the plunge. It can be frustrating, she says, but it's also cheaper to set up a business, the talent pool is deep, and it's familiar territory. If you have any thoughts about this episode, or ideas for future ones, let me know. My email is marty@martylogan.net. ResourcesRahatUNICEF Innovation FundNepal Now social linksFacebookInstagramTwitterLinkedInThanks as always to Nikunja Nepal for advice and inspiration.Music: amaretto needs ice ... by urmymuse (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/urmymuse/57996 Ft: ApoxodeStay in touch on:Instagram Twitter LinkedIn
Witajcie, to kolejny ale kompletnie inny odcinek The Grengolada niż zwykle. Pojechaliśmy na berlińskie targi IFA 2022, gdzie oddaliśmy się przyjemności zwiedzania wszystkich interesujących stoisk z gadżetami, które mają mniejszy lub większy sens. Zapraszamy Was do wysłuchania tego specjalnego odcinka, w którym poza Sebastianem i Danielem, jest Gustaw i Marcin.
I'm joined by returning guest, Kgothatso, to chat about his latest project, Machankura: Bitcoin and Lightning wallets operating on the USSD rail.Follow Kgothatso on Twitter: @440UrPpMachankura: https://8333.mobi/Join the Satstacker Beta: https://satstacker.bitvice.io/Bitvice: Self Custody Simplified - www.bitvice.ioBy the Horns:Subscribe to our channels and get notified as soon as a new podcast is released!By The Horns is a Bitcoin podcast about South Africa. You can follow our discussions on YouTube or via our podcast on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts. or Podcasting 2.0 platforms like Breez Wallet.DisclaimerWe do not provide tax, legal, financial or accounting advice. The material discussed and views expressed on this podcast is intended to be for information purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal, financial or accounting advice. You should consult your own tax, legal, financial or accounting advice advisors before engaging in any transaction.
Recap of the Apple event that occurred last week, suggestions on duplex scanners, is the TicWatch a good smartwatch, transferring data from a feature phone, cyberwarfare in modern times, issues receiving text messages on Straight Talk, and why a computer may be freezing during startup. Plus, conversations with Sam Abuelsamid and Rod Pyle! Daylight Savings Time... yay. Apple Event Recap. Duplex scanner suggestions. Sam Abuelsamid and the Volkswagen ID Buzz Smartwatch suggestions: is the TicWatch a good choice? Transferring data from a feature phone to a smartphone. Budget smartphone suggestions. Cyberwarfare in today's times. The Cat S22 Flip phone: a great feature phone suggestion. Ways to protect yourself when using an Android phone. Ways to download online videos & bubbles forming on a MacBook laptop screen? Unable to receive text messages on Straight Talk's services. Rod Pyle and fangirling over Q. Plus, some space news. Computer freezing on startup. Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Sam Abuelsamid and Rod Pyle Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Show notes and links for this episode are available at: https://twit.tv/shows/the-tech-guy/episodes/1876 Download or subscribe to this show at: https://twit.tv/shows/the-tech-guy
Recap of the Apple event that occurred last week, suggestions on duplex scanners, is the TicWatch a good smartwatch, transferring data from a feature phone, cyberwarfare in modern times, issues receiving text messages on Straight Talk, and why a computer may be freezing during startup. Plus, conversations with Sam Abuelsamid and Rod Pyle! Daylight Savings Time... yay. Apple Event Recap. Duplex scanner suggestions. Sam Abuelsamid and the Volkswagen ID Buzz Smartwatch suggestions: is the TicWatch a good choice? Transferring data from a feature phone to a smartphone. Budget smartphone suggestions. Cyberwarfare in today's times. The Cat S22 Flip phone: a great feature phone suggestion. Ways to protect yourself when using an Android phone. Ways to download online videos & bubbles forming on a MacBook laptop screen? Unable to receive text messages on Straight Talk's services. Rod Pyle and fangirling over Q. Plus, some space news. Computer freezing on startup. Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Sam Abuelsamid and Rod Pyle Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Show notes and links for this episode are available at: https://twit.tv/shows/the-tech-guy/episodes/1876 Download or subscribe to this show at: https://twit.tv/shows/all-twittv-shows
Recap of the Apple event that occurred last week, suggestions on duplex scanners, is the TicWatch a good smartwatch, transferring data from a feature phone, cyberwarfare in modern times, issues receiving text messages on Straight Talk, and why a computer may be freezing during startup. Plus, conversations with Sam Abuelsamid and Rod Pyle! Daylight Savings Time... yay. Apple Event Recap. Duplex scanner suggestions. Sam Abuelsamid and the Volkswagen ID Buzz Smartwatch suggestions: is the TicWatch a good choice? Transferring data from a feature phone to a smartphone. Budget smartphone suggestions. Cyberwarfare in today's times. The Cat S22 Flip phone: a great feature phone suggestion. Ways to protect yourself when using an Android phone. Ways to download online videos & bubbles forming on a MacBook laptop screen? Unable to receive text messages on Straight Talk's services. Rod Pyle and fangirling over Q. Plus, some space news. Computer freezing on startup. Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Sam Abuelsamid and Rod Pyle Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Show notes and links for this episode are available at: https://twit.tv/shows/the-tech-guy/episodes/1876 Download or subscribe to this show at: https://twit.tv/shows/radio-leo
Recap of the Apple event that occurred last week, suggestions on duplex scanners, is the TicWatch a good smartwatch, transferring data from a feature phone, cyberwarfare in modern times, issues receiving text messages on Straight Talk, and why a computer may be freezing during startup. Plus, conversations with Sam Abuelsamid and Rod Pyle! Daylight Savings Time... yay. Apple Event Recap. Duplex scanner suggestions. Sam Abuelsamid and the Volkswagen ID Buzz Smartwatch suggestions: is the TicWatch a good choice? Transferring data from a feature phone to a smartphone. Budget smartphone suggestions. Cyberwarfare in today's times. The Cat S22 Flip phone: a great feature phone suggestion. Ways to protect yourself when using an Android phone. Ways to download online videos & bubbles forming on a MacBook laptop screen? Unable to receive text messages on Straight Talk's services. Rod Pyle and fangirling over Q. Plus, some space news. Computer freezing on startup. Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Sam Abuelsamid and Rod Pyle Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Show notes and links for this episode are available at: https://twit.tv/shows/the-tech-guy/episodes/1876 Download or subscribe to this show at: https://twit.tv/shows/the-tech-guy
Recap of the Apple event that occurred last week, suggestions on duplex scanners, is the TicWatch a good smartwatch, transferring data from a feature phone, cyberwarfare in modern times, issues receiving text messages on Straight Talk, and why a computer may be freezing during startup. Plus, conversations with Sam Abuelsamid and Rod Pyle! Daylight Savings Time... yay. Apple Event Recap. Duplex scanner suggestions. Sam Abuelsamid and the Volkswagen ID Buzz Smartwatch suggestions: is the TicWatch a good choice? Transferring data from a feature phone to a smartphone. Budget smartphone suggestions. Cyberwarfare in today's times. The Cat S22 Flip phone: a great feature phone suggestion. Ways to protect yourself when using an Android phone. Ways to download online videos & bubbles forming on a MacBook laptop screen? Unable to receive text messages on Straight Talk's services. Rod Pyle and fangirling over Q. Plus, some space news. Computer freezing on startup. Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Sam Abuelsamid and Rod Pyle Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Show notes and links for this episode are available at: https://twit.tv/shows/the-tech-guy/episodes/1876 Download or subscribe to this show at: https://twit.tv/shows/all-twittv-shows Sponsors: Ziprecruiter.com/techguy twit.cachefly.com
Jagran HiTech: Your weekly Tech and Auto News podcast Podcast
Jagran Hi Tech : 1. Windows 11 के साथ Infinix के नए लैपटॉप्स भारत में लॉन्च 2. एशिया का सबसे बड़ा मेटा ऑफिस भारत में खुला 3. भारतीय भाषाओं को बढ़ावा देने के लिए CIIL और Koo App ने मिलाया हाथ 4. Feature Phone यूजर्स जल्द कर पाएंगे UPI पेमेंट 5. HP ने लॉन्च किया बड़ी स्क्रीन वाला धमाकेदार Laptop See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Solid releases from GNOME and Firefox, bad news for custom Android ROM users, and a new container distro from Amazon. Plus Mozilla and KaiOS team up to bring the modern web to feature phones, and the surprising way Microsoft is shipping a Linux kernel.
Mozilla and KaiOS join forces to bring a modern browser engine to the feature phone platform, GCC 9.3 has arrived with mitigations for Intel's LVI vulnerability, and Nextcloud's latest numbers show healthy growth and continued profitability.
Smartphones are everywhere and are essential in our day to day lives and our business. James has decided to take a step away from his smartphone and experiment with a few feature phones. He walks us through his journey of trying to find a decent feature phone in the US, what the experience is like, and if he can survive on just a few built in apps. Follow Us Frank: Twitter, Blog, GitHub James: Twitter, Blog, GitHub Merge Conflict: Twitter, Facebook, Website, Chat on Discord Music : Amethyst Seer - Citrine by Adventureface ⭐⭐ Review Us (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/merge-conflict/id1133064277?mt=2&ls=1) ⭐⭐ Machine transcription available on http://mergeconflict.fm
Smartphones are everywhere and are essential in our day to day lives and our business. James has decided to take a step away from his smartphone and experiment with a few feature phones. He walks us through his journey of trying to find a decent feature phone in the US, what the experience is like, and if he can survive on just a few built in apps. Follow Us Frank: Twitter, Blog, GitHub James: Twitter, Blog, GitHub Merge Conflict: Twitter, Facebook, Website, Chat on Discord Music : Amethyst Seer - Citrine by Adventureface ⭐⭐ Review Us (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/merge-conflict/id1133064277?mt=2&ls=1) ⭐⭐ Machine transcription available on http://mergeconflict.fm
Mariko Kosaka さんをゲストに迎えて、7pay, 二段階認証、KaiOS, アクセシビリティ、npm, Chrome, Ravelry などについて話しました。 Show Notes 7payのパスワード再設定に脆弱性、運営元が対策 Frank Abagnale: "Catch Me If You Can" | Talks at Google Clipper かんたんログイン Introducing PROXX KaiOS Build Fast and Smooth Web Apps from Feature Phone to Desktop Web標準でつくるガラケーサイト accesskey An Introduction to the Reduced Motion Media Query Nice People Matter? NPM may stand for Not Politely Managed Statement from npm The economics of open source by C J Silverio JavaScript's Journey to the Edge by Ashley Williams Building Up the Electron Project Web Capabilities (Fugu) Launching Features - The Chromium Projects Toasts GoogleChrome/OriginTrials Kim Kardashian West drops Kimono brand name My Kimono is Not Your Couture Learning and Unlearning: an interview with Emi Ito on cultural appropriation Ravelry bans Trump support Twitter clarifies special rules for tweets by world leaders like Trump Why some Asian accents swap Ls and Rs in English
Elvis was "just a village boy from Nigeria who had nothing but a dream and a Nokia J2ME feature phone." Today, he's a 19 year old Android developer who has worked on over 50 apps and currently works for an MIT startup. This is his story. Written by Elvis Chidera: https://twitter.com/elvisnchidera Read by Quincy Larson: https://twitter.com/ossia Original article: https://fcc.im/2Bwp50Y Learn to code for free at: https://www.freecodecamp.org Intro music by Vangough: https://fcc.im/2APOG02 Transcript: In 2012, I was just a village boy from Nigeria who had nothing but a dream and a Nokia feature (J2ME) phone. Today, I’m a 19 year old Android developer who has worked on over 50 apps and currently works for an MIT startup. My name is Elvis Chidera and this is my story. My journey began with my curiosity about how to build a website. Growing up, I spent a lot of time online as I loved downloading games and reading Society Of Robots. I would save for weeks to buy a 10 MB internet bundle for 100 Naira ($0.28), and back in 2012, that could last for a month. When learning to code, I took the first and simple step of doing a Google search about how to build a website. I got millions of results. Not knowing where to start, I clicked on the first link I saw, which was from W3CSchools. The article explained that I need to learn some languages (HTML and CSS) to be able to build a website. I checked some other resources to confirm that I actually needed to learn these things. Then I started the W3CSchools HTML and CSS course. Each day after school I would head over to the website to study. Initially, the code examples and explanations didn’t make much sense to me. But I kept studying regardless. I referred to various tutorials when I was stuck. This helped me view the problems I encountered from many different angles. When I was younger, I struggled with my reading and writing skills in school. I was only able to get better at them through continuous practice. So I already had this model in my head: if I continue to practice — no matter how long it takes — I will ultimately be able to understand these programming languages. A few months of intensive learning got me acquainted with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. While I was still learning, a friend showed me the movie “The Social Network.” And after watching it, I was super motivated to build the next big thing. Thank you, Hollywood. I had a eureka moment a few days later. The idea was to build a better version of Facebook. At that time, you couldn’t see your Facebook friends that were online. Also, Facebook was built to connect with people you already knew in real life. So that was my billion dollar startup idea: build a social network with all the features Facebook didn’t have. Mark Zuckerberg - I’m coming for you - or so I thought. I spent the next few months building a better social network by adding any feature I could even think of using. I was naively confident that I was going to win. After completing the project, I did what anybody without an advertising budget would do. I spammed the internet for days and days. After several days of marketing, reality slapped me hard in the face. I only got 200 users, which I had to keep begging to come back to the site. I was depressed! A few months of hard work spent in vain. This taught me two important lessons the hard way: I needed to recognize the cold start AKA chicken and egg problem that new platforms face early on. I was building something I thought people needed. But I ended up building just another feature factory. While it’s okay to be motivated by a project, you also need to know when you’re headed down a dead end. I spent a few more months trying to see if I could get more people on my site, but retention numbers kept dancing toward 0%, and I eventually gave up on the project. But I was motivated by the motto of Lewis in Meet the Robinsons, “Keep moving forward.” Seeking inspiration for my next project, I reflected on the needs of my local community. This time around, I wanted to build something that people actually needed and are willing to pay for. I came up with an idea to make text messages cheaper and easier to send to multiple people at a time. This was more like Whatsapp backed by SMS. After speaking to different people about it, I decided this was the next thing to do. I named the project Xmx Me. It was going to be a J2ME app. This meant I had to learn Java. Looking back in time, I have to admit that it was the biggest challenge I’d yet encountered. I had to read some tutorials several times to fully understand them. After completing a few Java courses, I was ready for work. Relentlessly typing one line of code after another, I carefully built the backend with PHP, the frontend with HTML and CSS, and the mobile app with J2ME. The app was coming to life. But here’s the thing — I didn’t own a laptop. I was building out all of these pieces of my app on my J2ME feature phone. Wait. What? You read that right. I wrote my code on a Nokia 2690 How I built my production apps on a feature phone At this point in my life, I had never actually programmed on a laptop. I simply couldn’t afford one. My parents wanted to help me. But it was difficult for them because they had to choose between paying my school fees (and other necessities) versus buying me a laptop. I hadn’t used a laptop before, and my only interaction with computers was at cyber cafes. I remember watching some videos about how to use a computer (left click, drag, drop, and other basic stuff) and then walking into a cyber cafe to practice them. I was lucky that a relative had gifted me a feature phone (The Nokia 2690). This phone changed my life. It’s what I used to develop Xmx Me, my failed social network, and several other projects. With nothing but a phone and the will to succeed, hour after hour I typed my code on that tiny keyboard. I was lucky again to have found an app that allowed me to compile my J2ME projects. Yes, building a J2ME app on a J2ME phone is possible. The SDK was resource hungry, so my battery often died. I would carry on, writing out all my code on paper and try to review it for any syntax errors. I don’t think I’ll fail any Java whiteboard coding tests after having done this for so long. :) Launching my group SMS app After several months, I had the product ready. I was able to convince someone I met on an internet forum to help me pay for the website hosting and the bulk SMS service for a limited number of SMS units. The app launch went well — at least better than my first project. We got some local press, and one of Kenya’s top blogs even wrote about the app. We grew organically to about 5,000 users. We were in business. And we were getting transactions a couple of times a day. With no prior experience running a business, I made some huge mistakes, some of which were: There was no easy way to charge users in Nigeria. Not everybody has a debit card. So I allowed people to pay using their mobile phone credit. The problem here was, there was no official way to convert this credit into money. I had to sell to vendors, who bought it back at a ridiculously low rates. There was little to no accounting. I was losing money and I didn’t know about it. I didn’t factor in some overhead costs. There were several missing pieces. I was considering selling the App to buy a laptop. Not knowing what to do, I went online to beg. Yes, I was that shameless and hungry. It didn’t turn out well. Somebody accused of being a scammer, which I eventually resolved. Again, I was inexperienced and I handled the situation poorly. After borrowing money multiple times to keep the business running, I decided to throw in the towel. Looking back, I think this was a bad decision. With a little more learning and experience, I would have been able to make things better. Maybe I didn’t see any future in an SMS app. Well, I released a throwback app recently, and many of the users still use it and love it. Lessons I learned along the way I realized that if I was going to be able to afford a computer anytime soon, I would need to work hard for it. So I began saving all the money I could. I cut my daily expenses and lived as simple a life as possible. I asked my relatives for help. I even sold some personal belongings to raise money for the laptop. Still, it wasn’t enough. Determined to achieve my goal, I took on a freelance job of building a website so I could earn the remaining sum. How do you use a feature phone to build a website designed for PC users? Simple: have a Facebook friend who you disturb every night to view your website on his computer and give you feedback. It was cheaper than going to a cyber cafe repeatedly. I also made heavy use of Ideone which allowed me to run my PHP scripts to see if they work before uploading them. Well, I finally was able to get that laptop. I can still remember the feeling of joy I had. That smell of plastic when you unbox a brand new cheap computer. I could now work on any project I wanted without feeling restricted because of my phone. Since J2ME devices were slowly dying out, I eventually switched to building for the Android platform. My Java skills were still relevant there. I just needed to learn some platform-specific things. The next year in 2015, after high school, I decided to start working to support my family. So I began freelancing. I was always active in local forums and groups, looking for people who wanted help with building an Android app. Because I didn’t have a good portfolio, I would build apps for some people before they even paid, without any guarantee that I’d be paid. I was stung by this approach several times, but it allowed me to build a good enough portfolio. I would like to share something I wish I knew while I was freelancing: Don’t spread yourself too thin. Taking up too many responsibilities is not good for your health, your family, or the clients. I worked with several clients from different parts of Nigeria who loved my work. I eventually got a full-time job in Lagos, Nigeria after working with a client remotely. Then, while going through my news feed, I saw a job advert for an Android developer position at Dot Learn. I looked them up and realized they are an MIT startup working in an education technology field that I was passionate about, and in a market I understood. They had a unique idea: to solve the problem of access to online education by making educational videos that are extremely data-light — as low as 1MB for every hour of video. This was almost unbelievable, and I knew it was key to making education very accessible to a lot of people. I am very passionate about revolutionizing education in Africa. In fact, I have already built a free (ad-supported) exam prep app called PrepUp that has over 30,000+ installs and was one of the finalists at the West Africa Mobile Awards in 2016. So I wanted to be part of what Dot Learn was building. So I went through the developer job requirements and I felt I had a chance. But impostor syndrome didn’t want me to be great. For days I had conflicting thoughts. Should I apply or not? Then I realized one thing: I had nothing to lose. The worst that could happen would be that I got rejected. But I wouldn’t die. So, I went ahead and applied. Fingers crossed, I started re-watching several of the videos I had downloaded from MIT OCW. I also spent some nights watching some coding interview solution videos. In the past, I had mostly been hired based on my strong portfolio and previous job experience, but I didn’t want to be caught off guard if they gave me a coding interview. Well, long story short: after lots of preparation, answering some difficult questions, a phone interview, and some coding projects, I was accepted. I couldn’t believe it. I was ecstatic. Looking back at it, this was one of my best decisions. Working at Dotlearn, I have had exponential growth in my career and have met with lots of awesome people from MIT, Harvard, and other great places. From attending big events like the Techcrunch Battlefield (I ended up missing my flight) to realizing I could rap, it’s been a fun and exciting experience so far.
In 2012, Elvis Chidera wrote his first app on a Nokia feature (J2ME) phone. He wrote the Java App ON the phone (literally writing the Java code with T9 text on a numeric keypad.) Today, he's an Android developer at dotlearn.io who has worked on over 50 apps and currently works for an MIT startup. He chats with Scott about the Nigerian mobile market, how feature phones work, and where Android is headed.
While we talk about the smartphone industry quite a lot on this podcast, we don’t mention feature phones nearly as much. We decided to change that on this episode, as games editor Rishi Alwani and podcast deputy Aditya Shenoy join host Pranay Parab to see why the feature phone industry continues to remain a big part of people’s lives.
Lightning versus USB-C, the return of the Feature Phone, space tourism, and unlimited wireless data.
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Mobile device researcher and expert PPK joins Jen Simmons to explain the mobile device landscape. What will we do trying to make websites for all these phones?
What can we learn from the capabilities of mobile phones to change the web as we know it? How are we in a rut when it comes to thinking about the web, because we are coming from the desktop? Mobile web strategist and author Jason Grigsby joins Jen Simmons to discuss mobile phones on the web, old design patterns, new possibilities and more, including site performance and web television.