Abou Koné: writing
Essays, deep dives, and field notes by Abou Koné, across Medium, Substack, dev.to, and the abou-kone.com archive.
Latest posts
I Built a Personality Test for Vibe Coding
Over the past year, I’ve shipped features and entire applications using Cursor, Claude Code, and Codex.
My Review of AI Coding IDEs: Real-World Impressions
Part I (Cursor, Codex and Claude) I have been using AI coding tools for about a year now, my first experience was with Cline, and then when Cursor came out it ended up winning me over with the completely AI integrated ex…
How procrastinating helped me ship a new AI assisted writing platform
Writing with Muse Mode ak Musa and how it can help you (write) too Where do I start? There are many things that went on to get us to what I want to talk about today so I guess I’ll start from the beginning.
Coding with AI: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Multimodal AI Agent You know that feeling when you’re the head of engineering, leading a team so small it could fit in a phone booth? That was me a few weeks ago, diving headfirst into Pacify’s infrastructure challenges.
Thoughts and Lessons From Interviewing For An Engineering Leadership Role in Late 2024
The Zoom Show Since the latest Tech Recession hit in 2022, we’ve all heard of the periodic layoffs happening for companies in an industry that we had come to believe was layoff-proof.
Angular Testability: Dealing with Selenium or Protractor timeouts
Running automated integration tests is a crucial element for any serious CI/CD pipeline and within our company, our QA uses Selenium for that purpose. Angular offers Protractor for that purpose, but to each artisan his tool, our Angular apps are just part of a suite that include non Angular apps and it’s easier for the team to test them all using Selenium.
A day in the life: how a frontend developer solves a “simple” bug
I have been working lately with junior front end developers, as well as mentoring aspiring developers and one of the questions that they ask me is how to become a better/senior developer. That’s a question that is hard for me to answer quantitatively but the one quality that I know about senior developers is their […]
Autoplaying inline videos on iPhone iOS 10 using Angular
Starting with iOS 10, Safari on mobile (iPhone and iPad) started allowing developers to autoplay videos inline provided the video you are trying to play meets certain conditions. Before that, your video would not auto play inline, and when it would play, it would play full screen only. These changes were in place to prevent […]
Integrating OpenCV.js with an Angular application
OpenCV (Open Source Computer Vision Library) is an open source computer vision and machine learning software library. It was originally written in C++ and has since been ported to most other major languages and platforms and most recently, with the boost provided by Web Assembly, it has finally crossed into the Javascript world. OpenCV.js is […]
Going Mobile: Wrapping an existing web application in Cordova/Phonegap
Going Mobile: Wrapping an existing web application in Cordova/Phonegap There are many choices to build mobile applications, from native to the growing popularity of hybrid development, with everything in between. In all of these cases, as a developer you would be writing a brand new mobile application from scratch with the ultimate goal of deploying […]
Understanding the developer ecosystem in West Africa Part II
Disclaimer: This is an opinion based on my experience, observations and interactions in the developer ecosystem in West Africa, more specifically Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire. In my previous post I talked in general terms about some of the issues affecting the developer ecosystem in West Africa with a promise to dwell more into the details in a subsequent […]
Understanding the developer ecosystem in West Africa Part I
Disclaimer: I don’t pretend to give scientific result based on accurate polling or any kind of scientific method (outside of observation). This is just a summary of my observations so treat it as what it is meant to, an opinion based on my interactions and experience. Furthermore as my experience extends to Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire […]
Discussing Coders4Africa and its Cote d’Ivoire chapter opening
10 Tips for Designing Mobile APIs
10 Tips for Designing Mobile APIs – http://pulse.me/s/jVMoD
African tech startups raise $1 million in crowdfunding effort
African tech startups raise $1 million in crowdfunding effort – http://pulse.me/s/jLEmh
African YouTube use grows 90 per cent
African YouTube use grows 90 per cent – http://pulse.me/s/jzrg1
Interview: The man behind Nigeria’s answer to the iPad
Interview: The man behind Nigeria’s answer to the iPad – http://pulse.me/s/jyYBr
Africa on the Rise
Africa on the Rise – http://pulse.me/s/fYemS
Africa Gathering 2012 – The Wrap-Up
Africa Gathering 2012 was held this year at the ICC Auditorium on the campus of Georgetown University and was hosted by the African Society of Georgetown. . The lineup was excellent as always but unfortunately due to the impact of Hurricane Sandy, some of the speakers could not make it to the podium physically but […]
Africa Gathering 2013 in Washington DC
It’s back in DC this year for the 2013 edition and it’s an event you don’t want to miss if you are interested in keeping up with what’s hot and relevant about the emerging Africa; I am talking about Africa Gathering 2013. I will be there for sure, to cover the event, just as I […]
African Tech News Tidbits – Week of August 12th 2012
As usual don’t forget to check out the podcast of the African Tech Weekly over at Coders4Africa Radio. We are now available on iTunes and soon in the Zune store. If you are doing something interesting in technology in Africa and you want the world to know about it, reach out! What is Google’s game […]
African Tech News Tidbits – Week of August 5th 2012
Here are your tidbits for this week.Enjoy! VC4Africa does a feature on Maliyo Games, an interesting company based in Nigeria who produces games based on the “representation of the everyday lives and experiences of Africans”. I am curious to see how it turns out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jILq099kbgk A good write up on what VCs are for all […]
African Tech News Tidbits – Week of July 29th 2012
So what’s new in African Tech News? A bunch of interesting tidbits as usual. But before that, I need you to take some time and head over to Start Some Good and support the 30 Coders Campaign we are currently running to sponsor the training of 33 African software developers. Also don’t forget to tune […]
African Tech News Tidbits – Week of July 22nd 2012
Welcome back to another edition! Don’t forget that we still need your help with training the next batch of African Software Engineers. And in Sunday’s African Tech Weekly, we will be interviewing Raindolf Owusu, creator of the Anansi Operating System, the first African Operating System. My story of the week: . Raindolf Owusu is a […]
African Tech News Tidbits – Week of July 15th 2012
On this week’s African Tech Weekly show we will be discussing the exciting new Coders4Africa social campaign aimed at training 30 African programmers from September to December 2012, following a ‘real life project training model’, 30 African coders will create 5 mobile and web solutions that will impact their communities. Please participate and help make […]
African Tech News Tidbits: Week of July 8th 2012
The sister program to the African Tech News Tidbits is now live. The African Tech Weekly on Coders4Africa Radio will, as previously announced be broadcast every Sunday at 1:00PM East/17:00GMT from Koun Fayah Koun Studios in Laurel MD. We feature the movers and shakers of the African Tech world, those you have heard about and […]
African Tech News Tidbits – Week of June 28th 2012
As some of you may already know, last week’s edition of the Coders4Africa Radio show was cancelled due to a quite ironic power outage at the studio in Maryland but everything is back on track so make sure to tune in this Sunday July 1st at 1:00PM Eastern, 17:00 GMT for the show, hosted by […]
African Tech News Tidbits: Week of June 20th 2012
This week’s African tech news are again full of interesting tidbits. Don’t forget to join me on Sunday June 24th for the first edition of Technofrique on Coders4Africa Radio. I will be presenting the Coders4Africa founding team as well as some of the members from around the continent. Ghana: TopApps is an innovative applications exhibition […]
African Tech News Tidbits – Week of June 13th 2012
Here are your African Tech News Tidbits for this week. You can follow them on Twitter using #atntidbits and you will soon find them in Audio version on the Coders4AfricaRadio show starting June 24th 2012. Ghana’s MEST Incubator is a program to watch. In this TechCrunch article, we learn about how “MEST is the worlds […]
The first people using your product are an amazing breed
The first people using your product are an amazing breed – http://pulse.me/s/a8S0l
The African Tech News Tidbits Week of June 7th
How are we all doing? Here are your ATN Tidbits for this week. By the way, I hope to count you as one of our listeners in my new weekly radio show at Coders4Africa Radio starting June 24th 2012. We will be discussing of course your weekly ATN Tidbits, discovering Coders4Africa and getting to know […]
African Tech News Tidbits: Week of May 30th
It’s been a month since the last iteration so there is a lot to go over. Let’s not then waste time: This right here is absolutely cool, straight: Teaching algorithms through kente cloth: a case for Culturally-Situated Educational Software Upcoming in December 2012 in Cote d’Ivoire, The WHUB: It’s a yearly conference and exhibition hosted […]
The top 5 startup trends in Africa
From VC4Africa, an interesting look at the top 5 startup trends in Africa – http://pulse.me/s/9GHO5
Africa developing its first supercomputer outside South Africa
Africa developing its first supercomputer outside South Africa – http://feeds.arstechnica.com/~r/arstechnica/index/~3/1AzBcz59CMw/
Ernst & Young’s West Africa Entrepreneur Awards opens for local Ghanaians entrepreneurs | Business
http://business.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/201205/87173.php
The Africa Tech News Tidbits: Week of April 25th
Here is what has been happening in the world of African Tech this week: An interview with Jason Njoku, founder of IrokoTV, known as the “netflix of Africa”. Some good insight in a young business that makes sense because the demand is there on it. On the challenges of growth in Africa, this particular nugget […]
African Tech News Tidbits: Week of April 17th
A lot happening and since my schedule cleared up a bit, let’s do a quick round of what’s been happening in the world of AfricaTech. First, this is a must read by Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo, titled “Will Europe Underdevelop Africa Again?“, on the inequities of the new Economic Partnership Agreements or EPAs being negotiated […]
Kenyan startups: As real businesses or social impact projects?
In an interesting reflection, Dinfin Mulupi over at HowWeMadeItInAfrica brings up a worry from investors in Kenya that the emphasis on social impact technology is distracting entrepreneurs from building real tech businesses. That’s a good question to ask I believe, and legitimate from an investor point of view. As argued by Nikolai Barnwell of 88mph, […]
African Tech News Tidbits: Week of April 10th
Back for another session of ATNT, and I got some good reads for you. This week the topics covered include disruptive technology in an African context, startups raising funds, hackathons, and a robbery/kidnapping victime saved by Twitter, yes you can believe it! The always-on-point Will Mutua at AfricanBrains gives us an excellent take on the […]
Social Entrepreneurship: Make a difference
In a guest post at Venture Beat, David Gorodyansky, CEO of AnchorFree, which makes Hotspot Shield, a privacy shield for internet users around the world dicusses examples of entrepreneurs around the US that founded startup whose primary mission was effecting social good as opposed to purely commercial ventures. Gorodyansky argues that: It’s time we took […]
Africa Tech News Tidbits: Week of March 25th
Here we are back again. Another round of African Tech news you might have missed over the past couple of weeks: Forbes has an interview with Magatte Wade, a young senegalese woman who successfully started and ran a $30M business, Adina World Beverages before starting anew with a new venture, Tiossan. If you ever had […]
A list of West African brilliant startups?
Memeburn just compiled a list of 30 African startups and it’s an inspiration to see the list of business models and technologies at play. The startup scene in Africa is definitely picking up, and ideas come from all over the continent. Of course South Africa and Kenya are well represented, as well as Nigeria (TruSpot), […]
Africa Tech News Tidbits, Week of March 5
Back at it, after taking a little break due to a busy work schedule, let’s see what’s been happening in African Tech: In Cameroon, a young entrepreneur just released the Cardiopad, a medical tablet designed to help with remote diagnosis of heart problems. Saya Mobile in Ghana has released a messaging competitor to WhatsApp called […]
Cardiopad: A Cameroonian Medical Tablet
Arthur Zang is a 24 year old Cameroonian who just came up with the country’s first medical tablet, the CardioPad, which is aimed at helping diagnose heart patients. Zang explains that the tablet will help “enable remote medical exams and the transfer of those results without the patients travelling to the city where the heart […]
E-Learning Africa 2012 to happen in Benin
Tech Event of note on the continent: eLearning Africa is the continent’s largest gathering of high-level policy makers, decision makers and practitioners from education,business and government. It is the key networking event for developing eLearning capacities in Africa. eLearning Africa 2012 will take place from 23rd to 25th May in Cotonou, Benin, which has a […]
Lessons in unsuccessful African startup creation
In a blog entry, developer Pascal Ehitie Aito from Nigeria shares some insight in the best ways not to create a successful startup. It is funny and definitely makes sense. Highlights: When developing your startup idea, ask yourself, “is what I am creating a solution to a NEED or a WANT?” According to the Nigerian […]
African Tech Tidbits: Week of February 13th 2012
It’s the middle of the week, I’ve been busy with life and wanted to post a few articles but never got time, so decided to start a new, hopefully weekly series of articles aggregating articles that I find interesting related to Africa and Tech. So for this week: Over at Forbes, a list of the […]
E-Book: App Design help for design-averse developers from Afriapps
Afriapps developer Andrew Mugoya is back at it again with a new book offering some designing help to app developers. Titled “Help! I am a developer with no clue about design”, the book aims to help developers integrate minimal design elements to make their apps acceptable not only to the Afriapps app store but also […]
Website design rules for the African market
Will Mutua at Afrinnovator writes an interesting article on how to design websites for the African market and supports it with some facts on the ground. Looking at the examples of the most successful websites in Kenya and Nigeria, Will comes down with the following nuggets when it comes to designing for the African market: […]