logic

I have a job interview tomorrow. I mean today. But as has been happening for the last two weeks, out of no apparent reason, I found myself awake at 2 in the morning. Attempts to get back to sleep are always in vain.
When I find myself awake I try to do puzzles in my head so that I get tired enough to sleep. Today what must have started out as a puzzle has turned into a full blown post.
Here goes. What if computers had emotions? Like if you pressed the wrong key repeatedly or you hit the monitor or you spill your juice onto the keyboard, it refuses to work until you do something it considered apologetic. But computers can't have emotions can they? Not like you and me. They are logical. I suspect that this is due to their coding. For computers it's either 1 or 0. Could therefore emotions be contained in the infinite numbers between 0 and 1? Is this how we humans think and thus is this how computers should 'think' in order for them to rule the world?
Let's take examples. How do you decide that you love one person and not the other assuming them both having the same physical attributes? You ask yourself a series of questions; is this person the best candidate for procreation? Can he take care of his offspring to ensure the survival of his species? Can he protect me from aggresors? Basically that's what you're subconsciously thinking but this is all wrapped up in nice little neurotransmitters that make you feel good whenever the answer is yes. So I dare say that like a computer you break down a problem into it's most basic questions which can be answered using yes or no. 1 or 0.
Is there a God? The most logical minds will tell you no, that there is no God. The basic question would be has anything been reported that is unexplainable by physics? But this question is biased because it is constrained by how much of our physical world we know and how much is known. But adherents will tell you, yes there is a God. Faith. There is no logical explanation (yet) of why they feel that something supernatural is working around us. Is it psychological? Our need to try to explain the unexplainable, hope that there is something that doesn't follow the laws of physics. And that this entity has human emotions, character and face.  Thus it follows that faith is logical. And we're back to being the same as computers. Only that we are programmed (by God?) to eat, mate (and get offspring) and to survive for as long as possible.
I think that the reason why the computer doesn't have emotions is because we haven't programmed it complexly enough. We haven't put in enough basic questions and most important of all given it reason to do anything on its own ie neurotransmitters and structures that 'feel good' when it does something. In fact this might be the most important element; motivation to act.
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In other news what would happen if we stopped using a base of ten in everything. Like 2 multiplied by 5 would be equal to 13 when you use a base of 7. Is it even called a base?
PS:Much love cardiac mellitus.

Starting an Agrovet

I will share with you the experiences that I had when I got this crazy idea to start an agroveterinary shop in Kenya. Before starting a business you have to think of the financial, legal and environmental (business) conditions that you will have to fulfill. Disclaimer: This is not legal advice.

What's in a name?

You have to come up with a unique name for your business and ensure that it is not already taken.

This is done at sheria house. You write a letter to the registrar of companies asking him to search his files in order to find out if the name you wish to register is available. If it is available you then have it registered. Its a process that takes at least 10 days and sets you back 800 shillings.

It is however important to note that specialised businesses like veterinary ones require that you attach proof that you are qualified and licensed to conduct them. Well and good! You are feeling proud of yourself now that you can think of an original name and have it registered.

Where's my money bitch!

A good business must have a bank account. So next you go to your favorite bank in the whole wide world and open an account for your agrovet. Here you'll need that business registration certificate that you are so proud of and photocopies of your scarlet letter (I mean your ID) and a few shillings. The amount of money depends on your bank.

Death and taxes

The government must have its cut. If your business is a sole proprietorship then all you need to have is your personal PIN number. If you don't have this rush over to the super fast (hehe) KRA website and get it. While there you can also muse over the fact that if you expect your business to make over 5 million shillings a year, then you’ll need to apply for a VAT number. But of course your wonderful business is going to make more than five million shillings, right?

Kanjow!

Well if you don't want to be closing your shop everytime that you hear council inspectors are in your area then you have to apply for a license from your county council. This will you set you back at least 5000 shillings. It can be much more depending on where you want to set up shop. I am not talking about Kiambu. Of course in their infinite wisdom the expiry date for all councils licenses is 31st December and you have to pay the full amount of charges whether you register in January 1st or on December 1st.

Location Location Location.

You have to find a premises to conduct your affairs (this means to sell your stuff in proper English).  You have to put a lot of hamsters on this, peddling away like crazy in your head. Do your research,know what competition you have, the size of the market, visibility and other business terms that you may want to know the meaning of. In most premises you'll be asked for rent, a few months rent deposit, electricity deposit, water deposit, oil deposits and many other kinds of deposits, some illegal in Mombasa. Some tips for you; make sure the premises is of permanent nature, has adequate sanitary facilities, has water, well ventilated, is large enough and has a good waste disposal system. You'll find out why later.

Quacks everywhere!

Do you plan to use your veterinary knowledge to make some money? Then boom! In comes the veterinary surgeons and veterinary paraprofessionals act of 2011. You have to be registered with the Kenya veterinary  Board. For a veterinary surgeon this will take you back about 7000 shillings (association and board fees). In addition if you are planning for your shop to be the base for an ambulatory service then add another 5000 shillings inspection fee. “What will the inspectors be looking for?” asks the kid at the front of the class. Well check this out (http://kenyavetboard.org/index.php/standards-for-ambulatory-services).

Feed me!

Do you plan to sell animal feeds and plant feeds (fertilizers)? Then boom! The fertilizers and animal food stuffs act Cap 345.  No money that you have to pay here but ensure that your products are in accordance with this act.

Tick toc

Do you plan on selling pest control products like acaricides? BOOM! In comes Cap 346 laws of Kenya. Your premises must be inspected and licensed by the Pest Control Products Board. This will set you back 1000 shillings. “What will they look for?" the same kid asks. Well find out here (http://www.kenyalaw.org:8181/exist/kenyalex/sublegview.xql?subleg=CAP.%20346

You don’t know Jack

Do you plan to sell seeds and magic beans? Small boom without exclamation mark. Cap 326, the plant protection act. You have to be licensed by the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service. This will set you back 500 shillings.

“Please?” “No!” “Pleeease?” “No!”

We come to the biggest issue. Do you plan on selling veterinary medicines in your agrovet?  Hiroshima type boom! You can't. All medicines are regulated by cap 244, the pharmacy pharmacy something something act of God knows when.

In short, to be registered as a pharmacist you have to have a bachelors degree in pharmacy. To open up a retail pharmacy you have to be a registered pharmacist. To sell veterinary drugs you have to be a a licensed retailer. This law allows veterinary surgeons to dispense or supply drugs only in the course of veterinary treatment. The clincher is that, even though the pharmacy and poisons board is the one mandated to regulate veterinary pharmacies (read agrovet) they haven't come up with the regulations yet.

But as I write this the veterinary medicines regulations (of the VSVP act) are awaiting signature by the cabinet drawer. I mean the cabinet secretary. These are a bit more friendly to the veterinary surgeons (whew, that was close).

And there you have it. All that I know.

Next I'll blog about how to make round and soft chapatti.

See you!

For a more serious version of this article complete with speculative tone, citation and bibliography, press 1 now.

Boom and associated exclamation marks are the property of TruthBomb inc. A subsidiary of Alkaeda networks.

Conspiracy Theory Number 1: They don't want us to prosper!

Over the next few years I am going to share with you some of my crazy paranoid thinking in the form of conspiracy theories.

I theorize that there are government units whose sole job is to keep the poor poor and the rich rich. These gate men control who makes it to the higher society, which country becomes rich and who prospers.

Proof of concept:
Imagine this; that every one and every nation had an equal chance to prosper, to become rich, to become powerful, to become a superpower. Would it happen? Would everyone and every nation be successful? Of course! Every nation and every individual has either one or both of two things: brains and opportunity  at some point in their lifetime. And a big percent of them go for it.

So imagine that every one had an equal chance to prosper and they did. We would have many super powers, countless rich nations, numerous successful people. We would have very few poor manipulable people who have no hope. So say good bye to making people do what they want so that you can give them scraps from your table. Say good bye to a labor force that doesn't demand for better working conditions, say good bye to control.

Control
You have to keep the poor poor or make them poorer. You have to remove opportunities from their pathways in life. And you have to ensure that any thought by the intelligent ends up no where.

How do you do this. Simple, create a group that will drive this agenda in secret or entrench this kind of thinking into those you control. With enough intelligence and information you can control what nations and individuals do. You can remove all opportunities from their path, make them loose hope. You can make any trial they make end up in failure. You can make people fight each other, create incurable diseases, influence leaders to make wrong decisions or install the wrong kind of leaders. All these and more are in your arsenal.

Hypothesis
Rich nations have special groups to make sure poorer nations never prosper.

Individual nations have special groups to ensure that certain people or families never make it to power.

Fear

Time for my occasional rantings on life A.K.A blogging. Fear runs the world. From the smallest of personal decisions like what to wear today to momentous decisions affecting countries and regions.

Self protection is one of the outcomes of fear. In this the individual percieves that he/she has a weakness, something wrong with him. He/she thinks that he is not clever enough, beautiful enough, tall enough and that everyone around him/her notices this. And thus out of fear of their weakness being exposed they attack and lash out at people. These kind of people are the hardest to get along with. Beneath it all they are just people ruled by the fear that they are not good enough.

Hiding is another outcome of fear. These kind of people abhor being noticed. They hide within the crowd, never wanting to stand out. They hate being put on the spot or being asked to be responsible for something. Underneath it all is a deep fear that they are not good enough, that their  ideas have already been thought of. They do their things in secret, at night when there is no one to see them fail.

Fear causes paralysis. Have you ever woken up in the middle of the darkest of nights and been sure that someone was in the house? Did you feel fear coursing through your body and when you tried to wake up you couldn't and no matter how hard you tried you couldn't scream? And then you woke up to realize that it had only been a dream? Some people live that every day. Fear paralysis them whenever they are faced with big decisions. On the surface it may seem that they are buying time while in reality they are terrified.

Fear causes malleability. A person with fear is always looking for safety. And thus will do anything that they are told by a person who they consider to represent safety. Governments know this, terrorists know this, the church knows this and your father knows this. So they create things for you to fear so that they can control you for their own selfish needs. The one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear-the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants above everything else is safety (Henry Louis Mencken).

So how do you conquer fear? Face your fear, understand your fear, seek truth when you are told lies, know and appreciate yourself. All this so that you'll never find yourself blogging about fear..

Some further reading http://www.quotegarden.com/fear.html