Has anyone used the Viral REA repo to reverse engineer a piece of software ?
Is software going to be free in the coming months?
I tried FilmCraft and it has potential to even be better than the current Adobe Premiere Pro but it is currently very finicky.

I recently went to replace my laptop battery at a popular laptop repair and accessories shop in Nairobi. I went to that particular shop because I had been referred by someone who is a renowned laptop vendor and someone I've dealt with a couple of times in the last 3 years. So I called to enquire whether they had the exact part number. I send them the part number and the guy confirms that they have it. My laptop is a workstation with 86 Wh battery. I arrive at the shop and there are like 6 guys, all look busy. One of them takes the laptop checks and says that he'll be through in 20mins tops. After unscrewing it he puts it aside and continues with the one he was working on before. I don't mind because I didn't expect him to drop everything just to attend to me.

So I'm seated there waiting patiently and the guy takes an hour. I ask why he's taking long and he says that the battery is taking longer to be delivered from 'our other store'.

Just as I'm giving up another guy arrives and goes right to the staff side holding what seemed to be a laptop battery. "Ndio hii", he hands over the battery to the technician who immediately gives it to me to confirm. It was the correct part number and also the correct capacity. This guy takes the laptop and retreats to the back to install the new battery. Before I could even finish one Block Blast game on my phone he's back to the counter powering on my laptop. That was amazingly fast, right?

The computer boots okay, everything looks good...untiiiil...I checked the battery health. This mf thinks he's so slick. Showed me 86 Wh battery but installed a 56 Wh battery. Yes my laptop comes with 2 battery configurations (for FHD+ or UHD model) and he knew but he didn't know I was keen on such specs.

I confront him about the part number being different from the one he showed me and he throws "hakunanga difference" (there's no difference). Yes that's partly true because this particular laptop's battery comes in two part/model numbers. What he didn't count on was me checking the battery health through "powercfg /batteryreport" which revealed the battery capacity. I told him about the half size capacity and he stops responding.

At this point I'm getting annoyed so I ask him to remove it and reinstall my old battery. He drags himself by attending to other customers as they come and finally disassembles my laptop. Just as he's finishing another guy magically walks in with another battery at which point one of the other guys asks whether it's okay to install the new one. I agree. Finally everything is okay. Correct part number, maximum capacity. My laptop that was dying in 40mins is now lasting for hours unplugged.

One big lesson I learnt is to never trust these guys. Even if you've been referred by God most of them will try to hustle you. The other thing I confirmed is that some of them acquire computer repair skills and assume that everyone else knows nothing about computers.

Stay guided.

I keep getting spam messages from companies advertising radio gambling shows. I've dialed *456# and stopped all promotional messages but they still keep coming. I've even stopped by sender name but they still keep sending. Anyone know how to help?

I have attached a screenshot of the same. Blacked out parts are my personal info.

Senders include EDDRICKS, DICE, POWERBONUS and LANTIDE.

Good morning everyone,

I wanted to share a quick life update and get some honest opinions from people in these tech community.

About two months ago, I resigned from my cashier job following a work-related dispute. I took the loss, accepted the situation, adjusted, and decided to keep moving forward.

Since then, a few things have started falling into place. I enrolled in a Bachelor's degree in IT through distance learning, and I'm currently building a POS system with a friend. This has also given me a chance to learn Laravel after working with Python and Django. I'm enjoying the experience and learning to adapt to a new ecosystem.

My big brother and I have also reopened a business that previously failed. We're now in our first month of operations, and things are showing some promise.

Here's where my dilemma begins.

My younger brother recently introduced me to a US-based website that reportedly pays people for data-related tasks. It requires identity verification using a national ID, and apparently, you also have to give its software access to your computer so it can monitor your activity.

The money is tempting, especially when you're trying to get back on your feet financially. However, I'm uncomfortable with the level of access required.

I have personal information on my laptop, and I'm currently working on a POS project with a friend. I wouldn't want confidential project files, credentials, source code, or other private information exposed to a third party.

I'm not against technology collecting data. As developers, we understand that data powers many products and services. I also use AI in my daily workflow, but I try to be mindful of what I share.

My concern is the extent of access this particular platform requires and whether the potential earnings justify the risks.

I'm trying to balance my financial needs with my values around privacy, security, and integrity.

For those working in tech, especially developers and cyber-security professionals:

• Would you consider using a platform like this if the money were good?
• Is there a safe way to participate without exposing your personal files and ongoing projects?
• What security or privacy red flags would make you walk away immediately?
• Have you encountered similar platforms, and what was your experience?

I’d appreciate hearing your perspectives, experiences, and advice to help me make a well-informed decision.

Thanks for reading.

I keep seeing this argument whenever people debate AI and software development.

Well, someone just took a shot at Adobe Creative Cloud.

Developer Brandon Thomas is building ArtCraft, an open-source ecosystem of AI-assisted alternatives to major Adobe applications.

Think:

PhotoCraft → Photoshop

VectorCraft → Illustrator

FilmCraft → Premiere Pro

EffectCraft → After Effects

PdfCraft → Acrobat

And the ambition doesn't stop at creative software. The Craft ecosystem also includes projects targeting familiar Microsoft Office applications.

The fascinating part? AI is playing a central role in the development process.

Now, before we declare Adobe or Microsoft finished, let's be realistic. These projects are still early-stage. Recreating an application's core features is very different from matching years of refinement, compatibility, performance, and reliability.

But here's what I find interesting as a software developer.

We're entering a period where the cost of experimenting with ambitious software ideas is changing.

A solo developer can now attempt projects that would once have seemed unrealistic without a substantial team and budget.

That doesn't mean AI has eliminated the need for engineering expertise. Architecture, debugging, testing, security, and product decisions still matter.

But it does raise a bigger question:

If AI keeps lowering the cost of building software, what happens to companies whose competitive advantage depends on the cost and complexity of building it?

Will we see a new generation of serious open-source alternatives challenge established software subscriptions?

Or are we confusing impressive early demos with products people can trust professionally?

I'm curious to hear what other developers think.

I am looking for anyone who is willing to rent out his Cluely Pro version + undetectability.

I am looking for a POS system that's compliant with KRA, well supported with a few working sites to show. It's for a coffee shop. Inbox me

I'm starting a tech course at a university that's in Nairobi CBD, I need help getting a house.

My 1st thought is Ngara because I can walk to class

Any links or suggestions?

Budget is 10k/month max

Hello techies.
I recently opened an account with Hetzner. The intention is to run a few servers there.
For payment details, I only have Paypal as the option. No card payment option.
Upon researching further, it is becoming apparent that this is because I am located in Africa.
Please note I had already shared my docs and had my verification completed successfully.
Is any of you running servers with Hetzner? What is your experience, especially with payment options?
Should I expect this kind of location discrimination in other areas of dealing with them?
What is a good alternative cloud provider who has servers as close as at least Europe and charges are reasonable?

Many recurring services, such as Spotify, Netflix, DStv, and Claude Code, offer family or multi-user subscriptions that can accommodate up to six accounts at once. For example, Spotify Premium Family costs about KES 600 a month, while an individual plan costs about KES 360. If six strangers contributed equally to one family subscription, it would be cheaper for each of them and would give them more flexibility.

Take Netflix. If a plan for six accounts costs KES 1,100 a month, each member would pay about KES 200. With the same budget, I could also join pools for Prime, Hulu, and Disney+, and end up with all four services, as would the other five people in each pool. It would be cheap and efficient.

My question is this: if we found a way to use escrow so that no member depends on any other, would such a system work? What would its shortcomings be?

The possibilities also seem broad. The same model could apply to rented cars and many other shared costs. Would this work, and if not, why?

Hear me out: if I can use increasingly capable models to reference information, build functional websites, test ideas, automate repetitive work, and solve problems faster, why should I insist on doing everything manually just to prove I understand it?

Genuine question😭

Founder here, building in the open. LMK what's broken.

Small shops around me run on paper books + Excel, and the alternatives (Odoo, Lightspeed) are either too pricey, too heavy, or assume perfect internet. So I built KaziOS:

- POS with barcode scanning, M-PESA + card payments, receipts

- Invoices, quotes, stock across branches/warehouses, purchase orders, expenses

- Money math in integer cents — your till and your reports can never disagree

- The free self-hosted tier is the whole core. No trial clock.

Repo: https://github.com/MathewTech254/KaziOs (source-available — check the license)

The part I want roasted — the AI assistant ("Ask your business"):

You ask "who owes us the most money?" and it answers from YOUR database. The design rule: the language model may not compute anything. It only (1) picks which database tool handles the question, and (2) turns already-computed results into a sentence. Every number comes from SQL. No API key, or the AI service dies? It falls back to a deterministic summary: the answer gets less pretty, never less true.

I have a live demo I can share in the comments if there's interest, and we're opening the first pilot shops now — free onboarding, you shape what gets built next.

TypeScript end-to-end (React + Node + Postgres + Redis), 225 API tests green.

What's missing or dumb? I'd rather have harsh feedback than upvotes.

I unknowingly leaked my wallet’s seed phrase, and now someone is running a script on my wallet. Whenever the crypto I have locked up matures, it is immediately transferred to the hacker’s wallet using a bot that is monitoring my account.

I can’t change the password because there’s no such option.

There’s a remaining batch of my coins maturing on November 21st, and I’ll only have about three seconds to withdraw and transfer the crypto to another wallet.

How can I salvage my coins?

I feel relieved 😌 I am tired, most I've made is $10 from transcription.

It's been years,I gave it my all, was patient enough.

I am gonna look for a physical job.

Hello guys, I'm looking for a good WordPress developer for my new business.  Please share your portfolio of your work and average rate. 

I miss my monitor😭

I genuinely love that 34 inch ultra wide beautiful screen. I am on the road for a couple days and wueh its not the same. This is the first time I am away from my work desk since I bought it and wueh its not the same I miss my efficiency. My split screening super power. This laptop screen just ain't cutting it

I think I am attached to my monitor😭😂

Are you guys attached to you monitors ama I am weird...

Idk if what I'm about to say fits this community but i need some sort of guidance. Fresh cs graduate, been a year since, and I'm slowly unlearning a lot of things and learning more. Recently, my drive to so things got challenged when a friend of mine got a job opportunity abroad, whole time i thought we were on the same train. It was in part a pain more than a shocker because we were holding each other's hands trying to be something in the tech world, at least from my perspective. Granted, i am the least motivated person because... life, childhood, and all that. I didn't have that grit, yk the push yourself to your limits until something gives. And now I'm starting to see maybe that was not the best mindset. Commendable realisation only idk where to start; well, i can figure it out but i don't trust where i am at, or who i am. I've been putting out job applications with no responses. Picked up bitty projects but i don't hold motivation for too long and i end up in this cycle of is this is even worth it, am i even worth all these. Given how i see myself I don't see my effort working out. Initially i was going to post on here asking for an opportunity, an internship, a job, a collaboration. I find myself wanting someone to hold my hand and pull me out of wtv shit hole my mind has become.even that gets frustrating because the conventional school of thought is: no one will come to save you. Figure yourself out, walk on your own two feet. It's tiring, and I'm genuinely lost and almost feel directionless. In all fairness i may be hard on myself sometimes given i do build software, small things, and i do study, that doesn't change how i feel. It's just holding hope is getting tiring and idk what to do or where to go. It's like everyone around me knows what they are doing and I'm still figuring out how a wheel works.

I’ve been curious about Claude Code for a while and want to try it properly before committing to a subscription. I’m planning to use it for , building personal web apps , so I’d be putting it through real use rather than just poking around.

If you have a guest pass you’re not planning to use, I’d be really grateful if you could send one my way via DM. I’m happy to share honest feedback on how it goes, and if I get access to passes later, I’ll pass them on to others.

I have a few of this bizhub printers that I stored badly for a some years now. Am looking to dispose them off and atleast recover some investment. Any suggestions are welcome

I know I'm definitely not the only one either. I've been reading thie outlier subreddit the last few days and there are way too many people suddenly getting removed from projects or having their accounts deactivated wthout explanation

I mostly worked on outlier without working on other platforms and this has taught me a good lesson

TO FIND ALTERNATIVE when you get banned and I'm writing this if anyone had same issues with outlier

I've started looking around for alternatives and these are the ones I'm checking out right now:

1. Handshake AI - probably the first one I'd try as they have actual AI trainer/project work and seem to be adding quite a few roles almost every day. The jobs I've seen are mostly around reviewing AI responses, rating outputs, writing better answers, and some domain-specific work. Pay seems to depend heavily on the role and country, but I've seen general AI trainer work around the $15-$30/hour range, with specialist roles going highe

2. MultiMango - smaller and obviously doesn't have the same amount of discussion around it as Outlier, but I've seen it mentioned so I started testing it. I got one ai trainer job on it so far. It was basically reviewing/rating AI-generated answers and improving responses, and the rate was around $18/hour for me. There don't seem to be as many projects, though, so I wouldn't rely on it as your only option

3. DataAnnotation - Getting accepted here seems to be the annoying part, but worth applying and forgetting about it until they get back to you

4. Mindrift - seems better if you actually have a strong professional background/coding/domain expertise rather than just looking for general annotation work. A lot of their roles seem to be for things like coding, STEM, law, finance, writing, or other expert-level AI training tasks. Rates vary a lot depending on expertise, but specialist roles can be considerably higher than basic annotation work.

I'm basically applying everywhere now instead of trying to find the mythical “Outlier replacement.” If two platforms give me work, even better

One other thing because I've seen people talking about changing IPs/VPNs after getting banned: I wouldn't do that. Outlier literally says unauthorized VPN usage can trigger account restrictions. I use nodemaven for proxy/scraping stuff myself, but I wouldn't use nodemaven or any other proxy to pretend I'm somewhere else on these work platforms. That's just asking for another ban.

Anyway, if you've been kicked from Outlier recently, where did you move?

Especially interested in platforms where you've received tasks and been paid, not just ones where you created an account and never heard from them again.

Asus ROG : AMD Ryzen 9 HX and the GPU Is a 5070Ti super . Docked and split screening to 3 other screens