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English Geschichte Internet

The Zulu and Boer wars of South Africa

C’est la vie.

E: Unfortunately, I ran out of EAHP business cards. So what I have to do while at http://durban47.icann.org in Durban, South Africa, is giving away Redvers Consulting Ltd business cards with my name on them. I hope that is fine with you. Redvers is a name related to South Africa, anyway, if I remember correctly what you once told me.

D: Actually I’m quite happy that you’re handing out Redvers business cards at ICANN events – just helps to get the Redvers company name in front of more IT people. Yes, the British general, Redvers Buller was quite a popular British general in the Zulu and Boer wars in South Africa. You might want to bear in mind that although he was popular among the British, he may not be so popular with any Zulu or Dutch people you may meet.

E: Well I was talking to a very nice IT guy of Zulu origin last night, at the Gala Dinner. Since I didn’t realize all this background, perhaps giving a Redvers business card to him at the end of our half-hour conversation killed it all.

🙁

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Bildung English Internet Tanzania Transport & Verkehr

African Communications and Economics

This is an observation on the economic side of accessing the internet while in Africa.

option a) Use your existing European SIM card. Don’t bother to learn about local telephone or IP providers. In my case, this means using T-Mobile. They charge me 0.79 Euro (plus VAT) for every 50 kBytes of 3G internet access, post-paid with my monthly T-Mobile subscription. So this means if I download 20 Megs, it is very easy for me to do it. I just have to pay 316 Euro.

I tried this option when at Nairobi airport, on July 7th, for a few minutes. Yesterday, I also talked to a guy from The Netherlands, staying at the same hotel as I am, in Durban, South Africa, and he is paying a similar price.

option b) Go to a local shop in Tanzania, or Zambia, or South Africa, and buy a local SIM card for wireless access with a local telecoms company. This is pre-paid, so you simply pay upfront.

Tigo Tanzania

So this means:

T-Mobile (Roaming) 20 Megs € 316 total cost
Tanzania (Zantel) 100 Megs @ 10,000 Tshs € 5 total cost
Zambia (Airtel) 50 Megs @ 20 Kwacha € 3 total cost
South Africa (Vodacom) 100 Megs @ 100 Rand € 6 total cost

Any questions, anyone? Call me now in South Africa using my local number +27-796-746409 (same one that I am using for internet access).

Also have a look at §138 Abs.2 BGB (German Civil Code).

Kategorien
English Internet Tanzania Transport & Verkehr

On the „road“ to ICANN47 Durban

… getting closer to Durban all the time. We did 1,860 kms at an average speed of 31 km/h. Dar es salaam to Kapiri Mposhi. Friday, July 12th to Monday, July 15th.

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Felix, Louis and Conor. Spent 60 hours with them. I miss them already.


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First view on entering Zambia on Sunday morning. Sweet memories. I suddenly felt as if I had never left Cologne, Germany.

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Internet Jura Tanzania

Tansania in der Tagesschau

Etwa einmal alle 10 Jahre gibt es ein Bild aus Tansania in den deutschen Hauptnachrichtensendungen, Tagesschau und Tagesthemen. Doch dank NSA und PRISM ist es gestern endlich mal wieder so weit gewesen. Obama ist unwichtig, den sieht man andauernd. Auch die „Datenspionageaffäre“ find ich nebensächlich. Interessant dagegen das Staatswappen von Tansania, hier unten im Bild!

Obama in Tansania
Obama in Tansania
Kategorien
English Humor Internet Webseiten

The Internet is about Communication

To me, the fascinating thing about the internet is that it helps me to communicate. That’s why I am using emails, Twitter, XING, LinkedIn, Facebook, Yahoogroups, Flickr, the like. And yes, this blog, too …

There is one kind of communication that has become a little overlooked in recent years. (I am not talking about ordinary, non-digital, face-to-face communication. I like that, too).

dinnerout

I am talking about text messaging, also called SMS by some. Sometimes, text messages are a great way to communicate. Forget about smart phones. Forget about WhatsApp. I am talking about a plain old text message, 160 characters, nothing else. It goes directly to a person’s mobile phone, it is clear, concise and will even work on your grandmother’s mobile phone which hasn’t had a software update for 20 years, and never will have one.

One of the pioneers of this kind of communication is Reiner. Three cheers to www.rusch-hour.com
Hip, Hip, Hurray!

einstein

Kategorien
English Ethik Internet Jura

NSA and PRISM

The recent NSA story from the US, involving data retention and sniffing, reminds me of the „Network Revolution“ book I want to pick up from David in Dar. So that’s another reason for coming to Dar in July, to catch up on recent developments regarding the NSA and PRISM.

Jacques Vallee

The book’s title is „The Network Revolution – Confessions of a Computer Scientist“, by Jacques Vallee, from 1982. So it was written more than 30 years ago, but it is definitely a must-read for President Obama, and anyone else interested in the PRISM story of June, 2013.

Kategorien
Internet Transport & Verkehr

Shareconomy im Auto in Köln

Seit Urgroßmutters Zeiten nutze ich CarSharing, bisher immer bei etablierten Anbietern wie der Freiburger Auto Gemeinschaft, oder Flinkster, oder Cambio. Fand das immer toll.

Jetzt hab ich letzte Woche erstmals DriveNow getestet und das ist zwar viel teurer als bei einem klassischen Car-Sharing-Anbieter. Und sie haben BMWs und Minis, und ich würde mich eigentlich, so dachte ich, nie freiwillig in ein bayrisches Auto setzen.

Aber hey – CarSharing mit DriveNow ist einfach cool. In Köln, Düsseldorf, oder in Berlin.

Kategorien
Google Internet Jura Webseiten

Kekse

Eine seltsame Modeerscheinung aus England ist jetzt über den Ärmelkanal zu uns rübergeschwappt. Fast alle Webseiten in Großbritannien fragen seit einiger Zeit, ob sie „Cookies“ setzen dürfen. Nun hat Google.de damit auch in Deutschland angefangen.

Liebe Leute, eigentlich solltet Ihr Eure Zeit lieber den ECHTEN Gefahren im Internet widmen. Schon mal was gehört von Spam, Phishing, Malware, Identitätsdiebstahl, oder dem faktischen Suchmaschinenmonopol von Google?

Cookies gehören definitiv *nicht* zu diesen großen Gefahren. Wer sich mit Cookies beschäftigt, stiehlt den Leuten nur die Zeit, wenn man gleichzeitig die wirklich wichtigen Themen im Zusammenhang mit der Entwicklung des Internet ignoriert.

Kategorien
English Google Internet Jura Webseiten

Cookies

A strange new fad from the UK now arrived in Germany. All the websites in the UK started asking if it is „OK to set cookies“. Now google.de are doing this in Germany, too.

Guys, don’t you think it would be high time to start addressing the REAL threats on the internet? Like spam, phishing, malware, identity theft, the monopoly of Google.

Cookies are *not* part of this threat. It is simply stealing people’s time to care about cookies, if you at the same time ignore the *serious* issues facing us on the internet.

Kategorien
Internet

Mozilla Thunderbird

Hab dieser Tage mal den neuen Thunderbird Mail Client installiert. Leider funktioniert der Abruf von Mails damit per Surfstick nicht, d.h. ich kann unterwegs Nachrichten weiterhin nur per Webmail senden und abrufen.

Keine Ahung, wieso die Telekom das nicht zulässt. Es kann doch wohl nicht am Datenvolumen liegen?