I was 13 when I spent my entire 3 week school vacation learning how to program my Sinclear ZX81 computer. Days and nights disappeared in for loops, variable assignments, gotos and the paraphernalia that makes up the BASIC programming language. The machine had 1 Kb of memory (that's 0.0001 Megabyte or precisely 1024 letters). No hard disk. No stiffy drive. No data storage of any kind.
When you switched the machine off, everything in it's memory would be gone.
You could "record" the data to a portable tape recorder: the computer would send weak sound signals to the microphone input on the tape recorder and record the data "song"...that could sometimes, if you were lucky, be played back to the computer to reconstruct the program you spent 10 hours writing. A program that made a letter move randomly around the screen. Or print the first 100 prime numbers. Or make random beeping sounds.
It was fantastic. A cybernetic enchanted forest. Building digital tree houses, fortresses and fantastical machines. An ever changing, moving and re-configuring puzzle. A land filled with dragon bugs. I was the dragon slayer. Ruler supreme in my digital kingdom.
But my kingdom had very hard, very definite borders. It was finite. In the extreme. The 1Kb memory limit defined the character of the computer. It dictated the kind of program you would write on the device.
Fast forward two and a half decades and my cell phone is hundreds of times more powerful than my ZX81:
Today, for a few thousand rand, you can buy computers with 2Gb of ram (that's 2 MILLION times more memory than the ZX81) and the ability to quickly save and retrieve programs and data...but somehow one still feels the limits. In the speed at which the programs load. The fact that your hard disk is slowly filling up with photos, music, programs and data.
You can feel the finite limits of the machine. You may not be painfully aware of them, but you can feel it. Like gravity. You know it's there, so you try not to jump from the roof in your batman suit.
Until one day when you plug your finite computer into the internet.
It's like opening your refrigerator door and seeing Antarctica on the other side. It's not infinite, but it is damn close. So large and complex it might as well be. You will never be able to fit it into your mind.
And it is growing. By the second. Expanding at an exponential rate. In size. In the amount of information it contains. In the number of people connected to it.
Today, with this computer in front of you, plugged in to the internet, you have access to an near infinite supply of knowledge, facts, processing power and data storage.
The internet is not a "thing". Or a computer. It is as real as smoke rising from a fire. It seems insubstantial, but yet it is real.
Pretty soon the internet will squeeze out all other networks: the phone network will stop to exist, as will TV networks. Control networks for traffic lights, alarm systems, air conditioning, trains, electricity supply - everything will be moved onto the internet.
Your cell phone will become your personal internet connection. Your always on, always with you jack into the digital world. Through it you will stay in contact with friends, consume goods and services, read news, listen watch radio and tv streams, make and receive payments, vote.
Scary? No, not really. Contrary to what Hollywood would want you believe, the internet is not a thing. It is not capable of motive, ambition, malice, greed any other emotion.
Take the current world wide telephone network: Does anyone worry about the phones taking over the world? No. How stupid would that be?
It sure did change the world though.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Un-voodoo'ing internet access via your cell phone
In a previous post about cell phones, dentures and public swimming pools, I talked about how pervasive technology became. Everybody has a cell phone and they take it everywhere.
Thing is, internet access via cell phones are still a bit voodoo to many users - so that is what this post about: un-voodoo'ing internet access via your cell phone.
The first thing to mention is that most "old" cell phones were built for voice communications only. Few if any of these phones had the ability to display web pages. Of course, back then, there were no such thing as 3G (the 3rd generation, high speed data capable cell networks) so an internet connection would require a dial up modem-like connection to the internet...and you'd be charged per second for the time you stay connected...and to add insult to injury: your connection speed would be in the order of 36 Kbps per second. (The slowest ADSL line you can install today is about 384 Kbps).
Connecting to the internet with a cell phone was s-l-o-w and very expensive.
The advent of GPRS and 3G changed all that. Without going into the technicalities, both GPRS and 3G enable cell phones to make a digital connection to the internet at high speed...and...best of all...you only pay for the data you transfer: not for the time you stay connected.
So, staying online all the time is not only feasible, it is also practical and affordable. For instance, I use a data contract from MTN which costs about R 80.00 per month for 100Mb data. More than enough to handle my mobile email needs and the occasional web search to cheat on an argument at a braai.
Email Protocols
Most of the newer (- 2 year old) cell phones have email (POP3 and SMTP) built in - contrary to what some ISPs and cell phone providers will make you want to believe. A recent radio ad advertised that with this ISP you could send and receive email with your cell phone.
Like this ISP exclusively provide the service!
Fact is, provided you can connect to the internet using your phone (depends on your cell provider and phone model) and your phone supports the standard email protocols, then you can send and receive email - the ISP does not even know that you are using a cell phone. Their ad is half true...you do need an ISP...but it can be any ISP. They offer no special advantage or technology.
As they say: half a truth is often a whole lie...and Telkom did not make little green apples.
WAP
Initially cell phones had very little computing power on board, so it was difficult and slow to interpret HTML (web) pages. Besides the interpretation, the phone screens were microscopic...and black and white.
In those days (when Table mountain was a mole hill), one had to build a web page specifically for cell phones. The standard for these pages (and protocol) was "WAP", or Wireless Access Protocol.
Basically the WAP protocol was a set of rules that required simplified (small) pages with 5 or so links, no colour, no graphics, no fonts and nothing other than 1960's style plain old text.
Fast forward four years or so, and all new ("smart") phones come quipped with larger, color screens able to support graphics, fonts, animation, sound, etc. A veritable computer with a phone strapped on. Now virtually all new phones can display normal web pages - the only practical limitation being the size of the phone's screen.
The term "WAP" is still used to generically refer to web access using a cell phone - even though, strictly speaking, the WAP protocol itself is not a technical requirement for smart phones.
Configure your phone to connect to the internet
Your phone will be GPRS / 3G / WAP compatible if you received it within a week or so after Jan van Riebeeck landed in the Cape. If not, consider an upgrade...or smoke signals.
Remember that all cell phone carriers (ie Cell C, MTN and Vodacom) will charge for data you transfer: anything from R 0.50 to R 3.00 per MB, so make sure you have a data package that suits your requirements and budget before you make use of the data (internet) services.
To set up your phone for internet (web) access dial the following:
Vodacom: *111#
MTN: *123*1#
Cell C: 140
In each case select "WAP" when asked.
Cool sites
Here are some nifty and useful sites you should bookmark on your cell phone.
SA Weather: http://dev2.weathersa.co.za/mobile.asp
This url will probably change in future, but for now it gives a 7 day forecast for most cities in South Africa. Extremely effective when used to covertly check the weather, then, at a braai, look up at the night sky, frown, lick your finger, stick it in the air and announce: "I think it's going to rain next week"...
Google mobile: http://mobile.google.co.za
The world's information at your fingertips...
Fring: Http://www.fring.com
Free software enables you to send and receive instant messages on your phone from MSN, GTALK, ICQ and others. Your boss (or wife) will never even know you are not at your desk.
News24: http://m.news24.com
When you are bored on the train, or...uhm...on the throne.
Online banking: Just about all banks have sites designed for mobile access.
Standard bank: http://sbcell.co.za
FNB: http://fnb.mobi
ABSA: http://ib.absa.co.za
Nedbank: http://nedbankmobile.co.za
Facebook: http://m.facebook.com
The village square of the 21'st century.
Thing is, internet access via cell phones are still a bit voodoo to many users - so that is what this post about: un-voodoo'ing internet access via your cell phone.
The first thing to mention is that most "old" cell phones were built for voice communications only. Few if any of these phones had the ability to display web pages. Of course, back then, there were no such thing as 3G (the 3rd generation, high speed data capable cell networks) so an internet connection would require a dial up modem-like connection to the internet...and you'd be charged per second for the time you stay connected...and to add insult to injury: your connection speed would be in the order of 36 Kbps per second. (The slowest ADSL line you can install today is about 384 Kbps).
Connecting to the internet with a cell phone was s-l-o-w and very expensive.
The advent of GPRS and 3G changed all that. Without going into the technicalities, both GPRS and 3G enable cell phones to make a digital connection to the internet at high speed...and...best of all...you only pay for the data you transfer: not for the time you stay connected.
So, staying online all the time is not only feasible, it is also practical and affordable. For instance, I use a data contract from MTN which costs about R 80.00 per month for 100Mb data. More than enough to handle my mobile email needs and the occasional web search to cheat on an argument at a braai.
Email Protocols
Most of the newer (- 2 year old) cell phones have email (POP3 and SMTP) built in - contrary to what some ISPs and cell phone providers will make you want to believe. A recent radio ad advertised that with this ISP you could send and receive email with your cell phone.
Like this ISP exclusively provide the service!
Fact is, provided you can connect to the internet using your phone (depends on your cell provider and phone model) and your phone supports the standard email protocols, then you can send and receive email - the ISP does not even know that you are using a cell phone. Their ad is half true...you do need an ISP...but it can be any ISP. They offer no special advantage or technology.
As they say: half a truth is often a whole lie...and Telkom did not make little green apples.
WAP
Initially cell phones had very little computing power on board, so it was difficult and slow to interpret HTML (web) pages. Besides the interpretation, the phone screens were microscopic...and black and white.
In those days (when Table mountain was a mole hill), one had to build a web page specifically for cell phones. The standard for these pages (and protocol) was "WAP", or Wireless Access Protocol.
Basically the WAP protocol was a set of rules that required simplified (small) pages with 5 or so links, no colour, no graphics, no fonts and nothing other than 1960's style plain old text.
Fast forward four years or so, and all new ("smart") phones come quipped with larger, color screens able to support graphics, fonts, animation, sound, etc. A veritable computer with a phone strapped on. Now virtually all new phones can display normal web pages - the only practical limitation being the size of the phone's screen.
The term "WAP" is still used to generically refer to web access using a cell phone - even though, strictly speaking, the WAP protocol itself is not a technical requirement for smart phones.
Configure your phone to connect to the internet
Your phone will be GPRS / 3G / WAP compatible if you received it within a week or so after Jan van Riebeeck landed in the Cape. If not, consider an upgrade...or smoke signals.
Remember that all cell phone carriers (ie Cell C, MTN and Vodacom) will charge for data you transfer: anything from R 0.50 to R 3.00 per MB, so make sure you have a data package that suits your requirements and budget before you make use of the data (internet) services.
To set up your phone for internet (web) access dial the following:
Vodacom: *111#
MTN: *123*1#
Cell C: 140
In each case select "WAP" when asked.
Cool sites
Here are some nifty and useful sites you should bookmark on your cell phone.
SA Weather: http://dev2.weathersa.co.za/mobile.asp
This url will probably change in future, but for now it gives a 7 day forecast for most cities in South Africa. Extremely effective when used to covertly check the weather, then, at a braai, look up at the night sky, frown, lick your finger, stick it in the air and announce: "I think it's going to rain next week"...
Google mobile: http://mobile.google.co.za
The world's information at your fingertips...
Fring: Http://www.fring.com
Free software enables you to send and receive instant messages on your phone from MSN, GTALK, ICQ and others. Your boss (or wife) will never even know you are not at your desk.
News24: http://m.news24.com
When you are bored on the train, or...uhm...on the throne.
Online banking: Just about all banks have sites designed for mobile access.
Standard bank: http://sbcell.co.za
FNB: http://fnb.mobi
ABSA: http://ib.absa.co.za
Nedbank: http://nedbankmobile.co.za
Facebook: http://m.facebook.com
The village square of the 21'st century.
Friday, May 8, 2009
5 things to watch out for when you register a domain name
If you don't own your organization's domain name you can be abused, threatened, ridiculed, defrauded, blackmailed and worse....anything up to (but excluding) alien abduction and anal probes.
I do mean to scare you. It's so simple to register your domain name, it's just silly not to. The cost and effort is minimal. The risk of loosing your domain name to an abusive 3rd party is absolutely not worth taking. Unless alien abductions are your thing.
Here is a list of 5 things to watch out for when you register your domain name:
1. Make sure you are registered as the owner.
Some ISPs register new domain names with themselves as the owner. This means that you (the client) do not own that domain name...the ISP does. Of course you can lodge a domain name dispute and pay R 10 000 or go to court to get the name returned you, but a better bet would be to use a reputable ISP who protects your rights from the beginning, right?
And don't think this only happens with ISPs ran by 14 year olds from their dad's garage. Unfortunately not. Many large ISPs in South Africa still register domain names with themselves as the owner.
Probably not with an intent to defraud, but rather just bad systems and procedures. The effect on you remains the same: you don't own your own domain name until the official domain name registrar says so.
2. Pick a reputable, stable ISP.
Rather obvious don't you think? If you pick the lowest price ISP you can find, you will get what you pay for...plus possibly loose your domain when the ISP goes bankrupt or disappears...your domain name and all.
Pick an ISP who has been around for a while, who will probably stay around for a while and, most importantly, an ISP that has a (good) reputation to protect.
There is a reason they have a good reputation and a motive to make sure it stays that way.
3. Register variations of your domain name
When you register your name, make sure you register alternate spellings too. No sense in owning my-domain.co.za and not mydomain.co.za. If at all possible register the .com for your domain name in addition to the .co.za, for instance, register cozahost.com in addition to cozahost.co.za.
Many times a friendly Asian fellow will alert you to the fact that some dishonest miscreant in the far east is about to register your domain with the .cn (China) extension and do unspeakable and disgusting things to it. The friendly gentleman will offer to help you register the name before the villain does. Tell him he can have it. There are hundreds of domain extensions (eg: co.za, com.au, co.uk, etc, etc) and it is neither necessary nor practical to register them all...unless you are or are planning to do business in that country.
And besides, you know the .cn name "warning" is a spam scam, right?
We at Cozahost have systems that will automatically keep an eye on your .co.za and .com equivalents. If you have one and the other is available, we will let you know.
4. Don't make it too long
If your business name is Sipho's early morning gardening services, don't register that as a domain name. It's too long, and you probably do not refer to your business like that. If you and everyone else calls you Sipho's service, then that's the name to register. The rule of thumb is to register the domain name for your "brand" - the name commonly used to refer to your business.
5. Protect your products too
In addition to registering your company's domain name, also register domain names for your products - if they are "branded". For instance, if you are selling a product called "wacky widget", then you better own that domain name.
Reputable hosting companies will allow you to register domain names that can be used as "aliases" for your primary domain - at very little cost. This means that cozahost.co.za and cozahost.com will seem to be the same thing, ie the one is an alias of the other.
Remember that a domain name registration costs only a couple of Rands per year. It's silly not to take a few easy steps to protect your intellectual property on the internet.
Check if your domain name is available to register here...
I do mean to scare you. It's so simple to register your domain name, it's just silly not to. The cost and effort is minimal. The risk of loosing your domain name to an abusive 3rd party is absolutely not worth taking. Unless alien abductions are your thing.
Here is a list of 5 things to watch out for when you register your domain name:
1. Make sure you are registered as the owner.
Some ISPs register new domain names with themselves as the owner. This means that you (the client) do not own that domain name...the ISP does. Of course you can lodge a domain name dispute and pay R 10 000 or go to court to get the name returned you, but a better bet would be to use a reputable ISP who protects your rights from the beginning, right?
And don't think this only happens with ISPs ran by 14 year olds from their dad's garage. Unfortunately not. Many large ISPs in South Africa still register domain names with themselves as the owner.
Probably not with an intent to defraud, but rather just bad systems and procedures. The effect on you remains the same: you don't own your own domain name until the official domain name registrar says so.
2. Pick a reputable, stable ISP.
Rather obvious don't you think? If you pick the lowest price ISP you can find, you will get what you pay for...plus possibly loose your domain when the ISP goes bankrupt or disappears...your domain name and all.
Pick an ISP who has been around for a while, who will probably stay around for a while and, most importantly, an ISP that has a (good) reputation to protect.
There is a reason they have a good reputation and a motive to make sure it stays that way.
3. Register variations of your domain name
When you register your name, make sure you register alternate spellings too. No sense in owning my-domain.co.za and not mydomain.co.za. If at all possible register the .com for your domain name in addition to the .co.za, for instance, register cozahost.com in addition to cozahost.co.za.
Many times a friendly Asian fellow will alert you to the fact that some dishonest miscreant in the far east is about to register your domain with the .cn (China) extension and do unspeakable and disgusting things to it. The friendly gentleman will offer to help you register the name before the villain does. Tell him he can have it. There are hundreds of domain extensions (eg: co.za, com.au, co.uk, etc, etc) and it is neither necessary nor practical to register them all...unless you are or are planning to do business in that country.
And besides, you know the .cn name "warning" is a spam scam, right?
We at Cozahost have systems that will automatically keep an eye on your .co.za and .com equivalents. If you have one and the other is available, we will let you know.
4. Don't make it too long
If your business name is Sipho's early morning gardening services, don't register that as a domain name. It's too long, and you probably do not refer to your business like that. If you and everyone else calls you Sipho's service, then that's the name to register. The rule of thumb is to register the domain name for your "brand" - the name commonly used to refer to your business.
5. Protect your products too
In addition to registering your company's domain name, also register domain names for your products - if they are "branded". For instance, if you are selling a product called "wacky widget", then you better own that domain name.
Reputable hosting companies will allow you to register domain names that can be used as "aliases" for your primary domain - at very little cost. This means that cozahost.co.za and cozahost.com will seem to be the same thing, ie the one is an alias of the other.
Remember that a domain name registration costs only a couple of Rands per year. It's silly not to take a few easy steps to protect your intellectual property on the internet.
Check if your domain name is available to register here...
The true unsung hero of the internet.
How many phone numbers do you know? Off-hand I mean - in your head?
Not a lot I'll bet. Most people rely on their personal phone books on their cell phones, computers or paper.
I don't even remember my own cell number most of the times...and that's not (just) because I hate phone calls.
I don't try to remember my own phone number (or anyone else's for that matter) because I have a theory that my memory can only hold x bits of information. The space (very limited in my case) must therefore be put to good use. Why remember something you can look up quickly?
Ms Shirely
A patently obvious truth I think, but no matter how hard I tried I could never convince
Ms Shirley (my grade 3 teacher) of this. She refused to believe that memorizing multiplication tables was dangerous to my mental health. After all, why did god invent people who invented calculators if we are not supposed to use them? Her response to my argument was a quick smack to the side of the head. Every time.
(The good old bad days when corporal punishment was encouraged and dispensed with enthusiastic vigor.)
Now, in my (middle) age, I have proof that my theory is correct: the stuff I put in my memory either falls out, or pushes something else out. The bucket is full. And the multiplication tables are not even in yet.
Nowadays I try to only use my memory for important, life and limb preserving tidbits: those little do's and don'ts in a marriage that keeps your wife from lacing your morning coffee with fast acting laxative before that big meeting.
So. You and I don't know a lot of phone numbers. We rely on your phone books. We phone a "Sipho" or "Koos" or "Julius"...we never dial actual phone numbers even though the phone number is an absolute requirement. For all intents and purposes phone numbers became invisible.
Computer numbers
Did you know the same thing holds true for the internet? Every single computer in the network (including the one you are using now) has its own number...much like a telephone number...on the internet it is called an IP number. ("IP" stands for Internet Protocol).
To "talk" to any computer on the internet (to get a web page or send email or download information) you MUST first know that computer's IP number - much like a telephone number is required to reach another party.
Like a phone number, an IP number is also structured in a specific way. It looks like this: 196.25.192.86 - also known as www.cozahost.com.
The point of today's post is the fact that 196.25.192.86 = www.cozahost.com, and you did not even know. How did this magic happen?
The answer lies in the Domain Name System. The true unsung hero of the internet.
DNS
The Domain Name System (DNS) is like a gigantic, global, invisible phone book for the internet. When you type www.cozahost.com into your web browser, your computer asks the closest DNS server who is responsible for .com domain names. Having received an answer, it asks the .com server who is responsible for cozahost.com. When that answer arrives, the cozahost.com server is asked what the ip number is for www.cozahost.com...and the reply is saved by your computer for 8 to 12 hours, so that it does not have to ask the same question over and over again.
Then, IP number in memory, your browser politely taps 196.25.192.86 on the shoulder and asks for the home page.
If you don't have a domain name, you cannot have a web site at (for instance) www.cozahost.com. neither can you have an email address at, say, me @ cozahost. You must register (own) a domain name in order to publish services on it.
Register domain name
To register your own domain name is quick, simple and cost effective, but herein lies the problem: domain names are registered on a first-come first-served basis. Think for a second: what if your business is called cozahost.com, but you don't own that domain name? What if your grade 3 teacher registered that domain name and insist you learn your tables before she gives it back to you?
Sure, you can sue her if you have intellectual rights to the trading name, but that can cost you many thousands of rands and long delays while you suffer intense ridicule at every braai you are stupid enough to attend. And worse can get worser: your ex can register the domain name and publish an open letter explaining in great length and exquisite detail why you are the sorriest excuse of a sub-parasitic life form that ever slithered out of a parasite's behind.
If you don't own your organization's domain name you can be abused, threatened, ridiculed, defrauded, blackmailed and worse....anything up to (but excluding) alien abduction and anal probes.
I do mean to scare you. It's so simple to register your domain name, it's just silly not to. The cost and effort is minimal. The risk of loosing your domain name to an abusive 3rd party is absolutely not worth taking. Unless alien abductions are your thing.
To register a domain name is dead simple.
Go to our web site at http://www.cozahost.com/name/ to check if your domain name is registered or available, and follow the instructions.
Of course, you can register your domain name with any ISP of your choice, as long as you watch out for the common pitfalls. (For a list of 5 things to watch out for when you register your domain name, see the blog post here...)
Not a lot I'll bet. Most people rely on their personal phone books on their cell phones, computers or paper.
I don't even remember my own cell number most of the times...and that's not (just) because I hate phone calls.
I don't try to remember my own phone number (or anyone else's for that matter) because I have a theory that my memory can only hold x bits of information. The space (very limited in my case) must therefore be put to good use. Why remember something you can look up quickly?
Ms Shirely
A patently obvious truth I think, but no matter how hard I tried I could never convince
Ms Shirley (my grade 3 teacher) of this. She refused to believe that memorizing multiplication tables was dangerous to my mental health. After all, why did god invent people who invented calculators if we are not supposed to use them? Her response to my argument was a quick smack to the side of the head. Every time.
(The good old bad days when corporal punishment was encouraged and dispensed with enthusiastic vigor.)
Now, in my (middle) age, I have proof that my theory is correct: the stuff I put in my memory either falls out, or pushes something else out. The bucket is full. And the multiplication tables are not even in yet.
Nowadays I try to only use my memory for important, life and limb preserving tidbits: those little do's and don'ts in a marriage that keeps your wife from lacing your morning coffee with fast acting laxative before that big meeting.
So. You and I don't know a lot of phone numbers. We rely on your phone books. We phone a "Sipho" or "Koos" or "Julius"...we never dial actual phone numbers even though the phone number is an absolute requirement. For all intents and purposes phone numbers became invisible.
Computer numbers
Did you know the same thing holds true for the internet? Every single computer in the network (including the one you are using now) has its own number...much like a telephone number...on the internet it is called an IP number. ("IP" stands for Internet Protocol).
To "talk" to any computer on the internet (to get a web page or send email or download information) you MUST first know that computer's IP number - much like a telephone number is required to reach another party.
Like a phone number, an IP number is also structured in a specific way. It looks like this: 196.25.192.86 - also known as www.cozahost.com.
The point of today's post is the fact that 196.25.192.86 = www.cozahost.com, and you did not even know. How did this magic happen?
The answer lies in the Domain Name System. The true unsung hero of the internet.
DNS
The Domain Name System (DNS) is like a gigantic, global, invisible phone book for the internet. When you type www.cozahost.com into your web browser, your computer asks the closest DNS server who is responsible for .com domain names. Having received an answer, it asks the .com server who is responsible for cozahost.com. When that answer arrives, the cozahost.com server is asked what the ip number is for www.cozahost.com...and the reply is saved by your computer for 8 to 12 hours, so that it does not have to ask the same question over and over again.
Then, IP number in memory, your browser politely taps 196.25.192.86 on the shoulder and asks for the home page.
If you don't have a domain name, you cannot have a web site at (for instance) www.cozahost.com. neither can you have an email address at, say, me @ cozahost. You must register (own) a domain name in order to publish services on it.
Register domain name
To register your own domain name is quick, simple and cost effective, but herein lies the problem: domain names are registered on a first-come first-served basis. Think for a second: what if your business is called cozahost.com, but you don't own that domain name? What if your grade 3 teacher registered that domain name and insist you learn your tables before she gives it back to you?
Sure, you can sue her if you have intellectual rights to the trading name, but that can cost you many thousands of rands and long delays while you suffer intense ridicule at every braai you are stupid enough to attend. And worse can get worser: your ex can register the domain name and publish an open letter explaining in great length and exquisite detail why you are the sorriest excuse of a sub-parasitic life form that ever slithered out of a parasite's behind.
If you don't own your organization's domain name you can be abused, threatened, ridiculed, defrauded, blackmailed and worse....anything up to (but excluding) alien abduction and anal probes.
I do mean to scare you. It's so simple to register your domain name, it's just silly not to. The cost and effort is minimal. The risk of loosing your domain name to an abusive 3rd party is absolutely not worth taking. Unless alien abductions are your thing.
To register a domain name is dead simple.
Go to our web site at http://www.cozahost.com/name/ to check if your domain name is registered or available, and follow the instructions.
Of course, you can register your domain name with any ISP of your choice, as long as you watch out for the common pitfalls. (For a list of 5 things to watch out for when you register your domain name, see the blog post here...)
Friday, April 17, 2009
Cell phones, dentures, public swimming pools and the Internet
We are a connected nation - despite the spectacular failure of the Government's policy of "managed liberalization".
For many years Telkom was allowed to starve South Africans of bandwidth. 1 Gb of capacity in South Africa costs about R 50.00, as opposed to about R 2.00 in the USA. The CITY of Luxemburg has about the same amount of internet capacity as the entire South African nation.
Insane.
And yet, despite this, in a population of about 49 million people, 42 million own cell phones.
I was reminded of this "connectedness" again while I was camping last weekend: I met a gentleman who mentioned offhandedly that his friend could not join us as he was searching for his cell phone and dentures. Apparently he lost them in the public swimming pool the previous night.
When one arranges the worlds "cell phone", "dentures" and "public swimming pool" in the same sentence, it is par for the course that "brandy and coke" and "gratuitous inebriation" are implied. Not that I am a stranger to idjit braais. On the contrary, but the funny thing was that no-one batted an eye about the story. Cell phones are more common than dentures - even in camp sites and public swimming pools.
Who could have predicted pot bellied, balding, topless guys with a brandy and coke in one hand, tongs in the other and dentures (mostly) in the mouth will have a cell phone stuck in the elastic of their black PT pants while discussing the Bulls vs. the Sharks and lovingly turning the wors?
The image seems to be the antithesis of technology and yet it is not. Communications technology is so interlinked with our everyday lives, we swim (and drink) with it.
The internet too is about to become as integrated into our lives as cell phones already are. In fact, cell phones will loose significance in all ways other than the fact that it is a method to link to the internet. A Tsunami of abundant and cheap bandwidth is about to hit our shores...and it will change the way we use the internet - just as sure as cell phones and dentures don't float.
Africa (and specifically South Africa) is currently connected the the rest of the world via the SAT3/SAFE cable systems running up the west coast of Africa to land in Portugal and Spain and east directly to India and Malaysia. The cable has a capacity of 120 Gbit/s west and 130Gbit/s east.
It replaces the SAT2 cable commissioned in 1993 which has 0.5 Gb capacity.
To make "capacity" easier to understand: "capacity" means the amount of data that can be transmitted in a given time (speed or bandwidth) - typically measured as Gigabits per second. To give you an idea of relative speeds - to download a 4Gb DVD movie over the SAT2 cable would take about 64 seconds.
To download that same DVD via the SAT3 cable would take about 0.26 seconds or you could download approximately 4 DVDs every second.
In Jun/July 2009 the new SEACOM cable is expected to give live - connecting at 1 310 Gbit/s. It will download your DVD in 0.024 seconds....faster than you can blink your eye. In fact, you can download 40 complete DVDs every second.
By early 2010, WACS (West Africa Cable System) will run from Cape Town to the UK and touch land in several African countries in between. Capacity is expected to be around 3 891 Gbit/s. That is about 122 DVDs per second.
Then comes EASSY toward the end of 2010 with another 1 310 Gbit/s capacity - in theory. Political wrangling amongst the member countries and Telkom (a major stakeholder) have delayed implementation by at least a year.
So, from a current international capacity of 120 Gbit/s on the SAT3 cable, we will upgrade to a total of 6 631 by end 2010 - if all current projects complete. That is a 55 times more international bandwidth than we have now...enough to download 207 DVDs per second...or transmit about 140 000 digital TV channels at the same time.
On a national level, local companies are spending 1.4 billion rand to build a 5 000km fibre optic network in South Africa - independent of the Telkom infrastructure - to be ready for the 2010 soccer world cup.
All new long distance cables are "fibre optic". They contain very thin strands of a special glass fibre which conducts light instead of electricity as were the case in conventional cable systems. The really cool thing about the new cables are that they do not suffer from the same physical limitations as electrical cables:
You can only jam so much electricity into an electric cable before it melts. Problems like resistance, interference and capacitance severely limit the capacity of these cables. Not to mention the fact that, in South Africa, no multi million rand copper cable is a match for our nocturnal informal copper recycling entrepreneurs.
Not so with fiber cables: Since fiber cables work on light pulses (immune to electrical problems) the cables can be upgraded to faster speeds several times before they become saturated. This means that the cables being installed today, will serve us for many years to come and that the bandwidth being added to South Africa today, will be here long after the world cup is done. (These cables yield plastic (or glass) when burnt and are therefore not "recyclable")
I wonder how a South Africa would look where 42 million people have cheap and fast internet access via their cell phones?
For many years Telkom was allowed to starve South Africans of bandwidth. 1 Gb of capacity in South Africa costs about R 50.00, as opposed to about R 2.00 in the USA. The CITY of Luxemburg has about the same amount of internet capacity as the entire South African nation.
Insane.
And yet, despite this, in a population of about 49 million people, 42 million own cell phones.
I was reminded of this "connectedness" again while I was camping last weekend: I met a gentleman who mentioned offhandedly that his friend could not join us as he was searching for his cell phone and dentures. Apparently he lost them in the public swimming pool the previous night.
When one arranges the worlds "cell phone", "dentures" and "public swimming pool" in the same sentence, it is par for the course that "brandy and coke" and "gratuitous inebriation" are implied. Not that I am a stranger to idjit braais. On the contrary, but the funny thing was that no-one batted an eye about the story. Cell phones are more common than dentures - even in camp sites and public swimming pools.
Who could have predicted pot bellied, balding, topless guys with a brandy and coke in one hand, tongs in the other and dentures (mostly) in the mouth will have a cell phone stuck in the elastic of their black PT pants while discussing the Bulls vs. the Sharks and lovingly turning the wors?
The image seems to be the antithesis of technology and yet it is not. Communications technology is so interlinked with our everyday lives, we swim (and drink) with it.
The internet too is about to become as integrated into our lives as cell phones already are. In fact, cell phones will loose significance in all ways other than the fact that it is a method to link to the internet. A Tsunami of abundant and cheap bandwidth is about to hit our shores...and it will change the way we use the internet - just as sure as cell phones and dentures don't float.
Africa (and specifically South Africa) is currently connected the the rest of the world via the SAT3/SAFE cable systems running up the west coast of Africa to land in Portugal and Spain and east directly to India and Malaysia. The cable has a capacity of 120 Gbit/s west and 130Gbit/s east.
It replaces the SAT2 cable commissioned in 1993 which has 0.5 Gb capacity.
To make "capacity" easier to understand: "capacity" means the amount of data that can be transmitted in a given time (speed or bandwidth) - typically measured as Gigabits per second. To give you an idea of relative speeds - to download a 4Gb DVD movie over the SAT2 cable would take about 64 seconds.
To download that same DVD via the SAT3 cable would take about 0.26 seconds or you could download approximately 4 DVDs every second.
In Jun/July 2009 the new SEACOM cable is expected to give live - connecting at 1 310 Gbit/s. It will download your DVD in 0.024 seconds....faster than you can blink your eye. In fact, you can download 40 complete DVDs every second.
By early 2010, WACS (West Africa Cable System) will run from Cape Town to the UK and touch land in several African countries in between. Capacity is expected to be around 3 891 Gbit/s. That is about 122 DVDs per second.
Then comes EASSY toward the end of 2010 with another 1 310 Gbit/s capacity - in theory. Political wrangling amongst the member countries and Telkom (a major stakeholder) have delayed implementation by at least a year.
So, from a current international capacity of 120 Gbit/s on the SAT3 cable, we will upgrade to a total of 6 631 by end 2010 - if all current projects complete. That is a 55 times more international bandwidth than we have now...enough to download 207 DVDs per second...or transmit about 140 000 digital TV channels at the same time.
On a national level, local companies are spending 1.4 billion rand to build a 5 000km fibre optic network in South Africa - independent of the Telkom infrastructure - to be ready for the 2010 soccer world cup.
All new long distance cables are "fibre optic". They contain very thin strands of a special glass fibre which conducts light instead of electricity as were the case in conventional cable systems. The really cool thing about the new cables are that they do not suffer from the same physical limitations as electrical cables:
You can only jam so much electricity into an electric cable before it melts. Problems like resistance, interference and capacitance severely limit the capacity of these cables. Not to mention the fact that, in South Africa, no multi million rand copper cable is a match for our nocturnal informal copper recycling entrepreneurs.
Not so with fiber cables: Since fiber cables work on light pulses (immune to electrical problems) the cables can be upgraded to faster speeds several times before they become saturated. This means that the cables being installed today, will serve us for many years to come and that the bandwidth being added to South Africa today, will be here long after the world cup is done. (These cables yield plastic (or glass) when burnt and are therefore not "recyclable")
I wonder how a South Africa would look where 42 million people have cheap and fast internet access via their cell phones?
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