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19 de março poor internetI own and run an ISP - Intdev Internet Technologies - and the internet has changed significantly over the last 10 years of me running this business. the principles have, however, remained much the same, a web server is a web server, pop is pop, smtp still is mail (though they've added tls, dns-bl, and a few other features). the underlying technologies, however, have not changed: we've moved from NT4, Windows 2000, Windows 2003, and from dial-up to ISDN to DSL to 3G to WiMax. Unfortunately, even though we've kept up with technology acronyms, we've not been able to get ahead of the curve. Tonight, I had planned to join the "Zuora Subscription Billing in Action" webinar hosted by GoToMeeting. The download took 25 min for the Java applet, and the connection timed out prior to even allowing me to join the presentation. Scared that this might be my 802.11 wireless link, I checked the link speed from my firewall: fw-02:~# ping 168.210.2.2 PING 168.210.2.2 (168.210.2.2) 56(84) bytes of data. 64 bytes from 168.210.2.2: icmp_seq=1 ttl=60 time=290 ms 64 bytes from 168.210.2.2: icmp_seq=2 ttl=60 time=250 ms 64 bytes from 168.210.2.2: icmp_seq=3 ttl=60 time=417 ms 64 bytes from 168.210.2.2: icmp_seq=4 ttl=60 time=499 ms 64 bytes from 168.210.2.2: icmp_seq=5 ttl=60 time=613 ms 64 bytes from 168.210.2.2: icmp_seq=6 ttl=60 time=573 ms 64 bytes from 168.210.2.2: icmp_seq=7 ttl=60 time=462 ms 64 bytes from 168.210.2.2: icmp_seq=8 ttl=60 time=453 ms 64 bytes from 168.210.2.2: icmp_seq=9 ttl=60 time=550 ms --- 168.210.2.2 ping statistics --- 10 packets transmitted, 9 received, 9% packet loss, time 10014ms rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 250.661/456.898/613.454/115.711 ms Considering that 168.210.2.2 is our DSL providers DNS server, I'd would expect the conneciton to be sub 100ms. However, the line and intermediary IPCs obviously seem saturated: fw-02:~# traceroute 168.210.2.2 traceroute to 168.210.2.2 (168.210.2.2), 30 hops max, 40 byte packets 1 196.211.110.209 (196.211.110.209) 0.781 ms 0.685 ms 0.675 ms 2 196.211.228.153 (196.211.228.153) 290.090 ms 327.451 ms 336.304 ms Sigh, it is such a shame that there is such a lack of capacity planning and we miss out on even the most basic services such as webex.... 14 de março sick and tired....lately, damn crime has become a topic again.
Frist with Lina from Russia on her holiday in South Africa... We fly down to Cape Town to attend the J&B Met and her Canon IXUS Camera and $250 got stolen out of her handbag inside the Hospitality Tent. We then drive along the coast to Plettenberg Bay to stay at my dear friend Declan's house. We get there to find 5 windows shattered and the house cleaned out down to even the pillow cases. Two days later we pack, only to find that upon loading the car with out baggage my now-legacy 60 GIG iPod and a pair of sun glasses were stole from inside my lil MX-5. Driving up through the Transkei, a cop claims that doing 105 in an 80 zone would set me back R1000.00 with obvious intentions to merely settle for R300.00 cash. All during 4 days of a plain ol simple South African holiday in Jan.
The recent trip to Europe in Feb, a few new friends inquired about South Africa, in particular the crime.
Let me put it bluntly: if you are mid 20's and are able to count more people than fingers on one hand you personally knew (meaning directly ie 1 degree of separation) who have been shot and killed, you could consider your country dangerous. Juergen in a housebreaking, wife beaten, him shot and left to die in his own blood, house robbed and possessions stolen. Next, Mark's father shot while startled in house breaking with wife suffering a surface wound and forced to drive now-panicked criminal back to his informal settlement. Then, Estelles father who's sudden disappearance had him only identified 3 weeks later after was found dead in a field. More recently the father of a kid in my sisters class who was left to die on N14 highway after an ambush while assisting a friend with his broken down car (at least this story made the press at IOL). Then there was the school mate from the standard below mine, friend of Thomas and Sven, who put fatally wounder in the ambush at the shebeen in a township area.
Not last to mention my sisters gun point encounter when she was 14, my mothers 2 car jacking (also at gun point), the numerous burglaries on both our family house and at my fathers company building. I mean, for @*%@& sake. I'm from an average, South African background, higher educated with hopefully some life opportunity. Why should one entertain this? Putting it in a different light, if I know 500 people from the German community and 4 are dead, then I'd mildly conclude that there is some risk.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate this country, the beauty, the freedom, the opportunity. I can not complain about my post-apartheid upbringing, the exposure to culture and variety of situations, the opportunities to further myself, study, found and grow Intdev, etc etc. I appreciate the comfortable lifestyle of cheap rent, low cost of living (500ml draft beer at Bowls Club for USD1.00, a good quality restaurant meal for USD10.00), the ability to move and zap around in my Mazda MX-5, the proximity of living close to everything even in a 4.5mil people city....but I can not take the damn circumstances any more!
Another straw to add to this pile of scares was tonight when Heiko shocked us with his recent car jacking story. Not even 10 days ago, inside his electric fence, automated gate, alarm armed house covered in burglar bars in a good, decent suburb, he was held up by two guys at gunpoint. They asked for wallet, cell, car keys and even his wedding ring (this dear friend has only been married for 3 months and already been robbed of this precious token). While I think what saved him from a bullet was his calm, collected and cooperating nature (i mean, what do you do when they are armed!?!?) and thank whatever-higher-being-one-believes-in that they left him unharmed. Ok, so one of my best mates, known him for near 22 years, was best man for his wedding, recently married, starting his life ... and could-of-been dead?
Call me critical, but I wasn't born yesterday....after having seen 46 different countries and interacted with a variety of cultures, I've just lost faith in my own people. travels and sceneryok, have not posted for a while. lots has happened. last three months just flew by. to briefly update on December, spent time in Mozambique, Swaziland and Malawi. It was great, awesome places with really different cultures. People live in a different environment and business is done in a different way.
Unfortunately, Mozambique did not impress me at all and for everything it is made out to be, having for the first time ventured further north than just Ponte De Oura, I was not convinced. Lack of infrastructure, poor society, complete chaos, bribery (from first hand experience), lack of quality (yes, everywhere) - something that was more recently confirmed by my encounter with a new friend in Milano: she was born in Mozam yet her parents abandoned the fairytale life when civil war became a nuisance and they moved to Toronto - point being that in my own opinion, that country ain't going nowhere.
Swaziland has its own character. We were fabulously hosted by friends in their bed-and-breakfast, with breathtaking views onto Sibebe Rock. Obviously, being so close with locals shows you a more real side of the country, its politics, its helpless society... *sigh*
  Malawi was lovely. Peaceful, quiet, tranquil, beautiful. Sarah arranged the trip and we stayed at the perfect, humble Norman Carr Cottages by the lake. The company was great, the place was open and free, I really only have good things to say!! While I'll spare the arbitrary detail about this excursion, I will say that I highly recommend seeing the country, the laid back people, the never-ending lake... amazing.
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