Trinbago Techie

Breeze had a swanky launch party for their new liquid laundry detergent. They invited a bunch of local tiktokers. This received some criticism from some digital marketing folks but I thought it was a good idea. Comments like they don't understand influencer marketing, this is the wrong crowd and they should have done this and that. I was glad to see the influencers treated to this soiree and the red carpet being rolled out. I enjoyed the coverage I saw on tiktok and it made me want to try this new product. This had me thinking about thinking outside the box. What is the origin of this term? In the 60s and 70s management consulting firms used the 9 dots puzzle to demonstrate lateral thinking. Link all 9 dots using four straight lines or fewer, without lifting the pen and without tracing the same line more than once. The diagram below shows the solution and you can see how the term "thinking outside the box" came about. Thinking outside the box is to think differently, unco

My last blog post was my 100th blog post on this new blog space. It has been 2 years here. I have been a tech blogger for more than 10 years and a blogger for approaching 20 years. It has been an enriching journey. I do it for me. I do it for those that care. I do it for those that need it. I do it for those that appreciate. Sometimes I go through my archives. Memories of times past. Memories of the good times. To be here writing this and you reading this, means that we had to overcome all the hurdles so far. We are more than capable of succeeding at life into the future. So much to be thankful for. Today is a holiday in Trinidad and Tobago. It is Eid and marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. A month of fasting, reflecting, blessings and forgiveness. Let us forgive ourselves and others. Let us better ourselves and others. Let us travel the right path. The good path. Let us journey with purpose. This month I turn 42 years old. I am wiser and stronger. I have plenty experience in t

We like to complain in Trinidad and Tobago. Seems to me like there is plenty more complaining than us finding and sharing solutions. Is our education system producing problem solvers? I have a background in tech and coding and I think everyone should learn to code. Steve Jobs has been quoted as saying, "Everyone in this country should learn to program a computer, because it teaches you to think." Employers often look for problem solvers. I was once asked, "What's the best bit of advice you received since entering the world of IT?" My response was, something I came across on twitter, Dr Tariq Khokar advises developers to make something that people will miss if it went away. This was in his Caribbean Developer 2012 webinar. Chances are that if we are creating solutions then those solutions will be missed if they went away. When I think about what I am doing with this local tech blog, I ask myself, what problem is my blog solving? There is a need for local content.

What is a coder? A coder writes instructions (or code) for the computer to follow in a language it can understand. Programmer, developer and software engineer are also terms that are used. I use those terms to mean the same thing but there are articles you can Google for that spells out the differences. My journey as a coder began in secondary school. I started with pseudocode then Basic, Pascal and Visual Basic. I got a perfect score in my CXC SBA and was getting good grades in my computing classes at St. Mary's College. We were fortunate to have a decent computer lab. I recognised the power of tech to make the world a better place and I was having fun and this motivated me to choose tech and coding as a career path. If you want to become a coder you have to start asking yourself some questions. What are your goals in life? Can becoming a coder help you achieve those goals? Think about finding your ikigai which for me is doing what I love and making a difference. I think everyone

Sometimes we see a great photograph and the first question we ask is, what camera did you use? We might think that to take great photographs we need a fancy camera. The latest and greatest. I want to say that this is not true. A good camera helps but the main thing and most of the times is the effort and skills of the photographer. Many good photogs spend plenty time and effort honing their skills. We practice often and practice better. Filters, lenses, dslr and flash can help but nothing beats the effort of the photograher. The best camera is the one you have. Make the best of what you have. If all that you have is your smartphone camera then make the best of that. Mobile phones have really made photography accessible to the masses. Good photogs are knowledgeable about lighting, angle, framing, bokeh, composition, dynamic range, exposure, aperture, shutter speed, dept of field, rule of thirds and golden hour among other things. I get much joy from photography. For me it about creating

How would you describe the tech space in Jamaica? Technology in Jamaica is at an all time high. The pandemic accelerated the digital plans for most companies and for the government. Tell us about the Jamaica Computer Society? Tell us about the Jamaica Technology & Digital Alliance? In 2021 the Jamaica Computer Society, which has been the leading technology advocacy organization in Jamaica for over 47 years, joined with the Jamaica Information Technology and Services Alliance to become the Jamaica Technology and Digital Alliance. The JTDA’s vision is Our Vision is to enable people and businesses by providing access, influence, and empowerment through technology. We bring together the stakeholders in technology to collaborate, learn, and grow. What technology improvements are needed in Jamaica? Technology continues to reshape every aspect of our lives in Jamaica. To support the growth of technology in Jamaica there needs to be a combination of robust, modern govern policies that bala

Country Representative for Trinidad and Tobago, Carina Cockburn How would you describe the tech space in Trinidad and Tobago? Trinidad and Tobago is in position 46 out of 65 in the Annual Report of the Broadband Development Index (IDBA) ranking that includes Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. When we focus on the Latin America and the Caribbean region, it is in position 10 out of 26.  Furthermore, the penetration rate of fixed broadband services is 24.33%, whereas the penetration rate of mobile services is 48.92%, far from the average of the OECD countries which is 34.8% for fixed broadband and 127.3% for mobile.  You can find a report from Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) here . As a result, businesses, entrepreneurs and government actors operating in the tech space are aiming for improvements and looking forward to the opportunities offered for expansion, greater efficiency and improved service delivery.  In what relates to the use of digita