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Re: [kictanet] Orange/Telkom slash internet costs by 40pc
by John Walubengo 16 Feb '09

16 Feb '09

I am indeed watching the Orange space with their new internet tariff offerings. Whereas Safcom&Zain are charging per downloaded MB (data-centric charges), Orange_TKL throws in a totally new dimension i.e. non-data based tariff which time-based. That is per minute billing irrespective of your data volumes. I think things are going to start heating up even before the fiber lands...reminds me of the original mobile tariff battles that were between the 'per minute' visa viz 'per second' billing models. I can only say - let the games begin and may the best team win. walu. --- On Fri, 2/13/09, Alex Gakuru <gakuru(a)gmail.com> wrote: > From: Alex Gakuru <gakuru(a)gmail.com> > Subject: [ke-internetusers] Orange/Telkom slash internet costs by 40pc > To: "ke-users" <ke-internetusers(a)bdix.net> > Date: Friday, February 13, 2009, 10:50 AM > A thank you to Orange/Telkom for solving three problems, > while making money:- > > 1) lowering communications costs for consumers( ICT > Consumer > Association of Kenya opposes all tariffs increases, > welcomes all > reductions) > > 2) addressing longstanding "office-hours-only" > internet problem > (attached Kenya Internet Exchange Point "graph 3" > proves it). > > 3) Universal Access-all of Kenya's internet is/has been > 80 per cent > only used in "affluent" Nairobi (CCK Internet > Market Study) > > Alex > ------excerpt-- > [Daily Nation] > Orange slashes its internet access fees > EVANS NYABIAGE > February 12 2009 > > It will now be cheaper to use the internet after Telkom > Kenya slashed > its access fees through the Orange network by 40 per cent. > > The new rates mean that one can browse for Sh1 per minute. > > "With equipment cost of Sh3,500 for the plug-and-play > modem and > browsing charges for Sh1 per minute during off peak hours > (7pm-7am), > universally affordable internet access for Kenyans in rural > and urban > areas is now a reality," said Telkom Kenya head of > marketing and > strategy Jean-Michel Chanut. > > The revamped internet service is a pay-as-you-go one that > comes with a > modem, a data-enabled RUIM card (Removable User Identity > Module), Sh50 > bonus airtime on activation and a step-by-step set-up > guide. > > Subscribers will be able to top-up upon purchase of Telkom > prepaid and > VoIP top up cards. > > A government move in the 2008/2009 budget to scrap import > tax on > telecom equipment such as mobile phones and those required > for putting > up base stations, has resulted in cut-throat competition in > the > industry. > > <http://www.nation.co.ke/business/news/-/1006/529474/-/j2b57fz/-/> > _______________________________________________ > ke-internetusers mailing list > ke-internetusers(a)bdix.net > http://www.bdix.net/mailman/listinfo/ke-internetusers

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Microsoft Collaborates With Industry to Disrupt Conficker Worm
by alice 13 Feb '09

13 Feb '09

http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-2-12feb09-en.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Microsoft Collaborates With Industry to Disrupt Conficker Worm 12 February 2009 Today, Microsoft announced a partnership with technology industry leaders and academia to implement a coordinated, global response to the Conficker (aka Downadup) worm. Together with security researchers, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), and operators within the Domain Name System, Microsoft coordinated a response designed to disable domains targeted by Conficker. Microsoft also announced a $250,000 reward for information that results in the arrest and conviction of those responsible for illegally launching the Conficker malicious code on the Internet. "As part of Microsoft's ongoing security efforts, we constantly look for ways to use a diverse set of tools and develop methodologies to protect our customers," said George Stathakopoulos, general manager of the Trustworthy Computing Group at Microsoft. "By combining our expertise with that of the broader community we can expand the boundaries of defense to better protect people worldwide." As cyberthreats have rapidly evolved, a greater level of industry coordination and new tactics for communication and threat mitigation are required. To optimize the multiple initiatives being employed across the security industry and within academia, Microsoft helped unify these broad efforts to implement a community-based defense to disrupt the spread of Conficker. Along with Microsoft, organizations involved in this collaborative effort include ICANN, NeuStar, VeriSign, CNNIC, Afilias, Public Internet Registry, Global Domains International Inc., M1D Global, AOL, Symantec, F-Secure, ISC, researchers from Georgia Tech, the Shadowserver Foundation, Arbor Networks and Support Intelligence. "The best way to defeat potential botnets like Conficker/Downadup is by the security and Domain Name System communities working together," said Greg Rattray, chief Internet security advisor at ICANN. "ICANN represents a community that's all about coordinating those kinds of efforts to keep the Internet globally secure and stable." "Microsoft's approach combines technology innovation and effective cross-sector partnerships to help protect people from cybercriminals," Stathakopoulos said. "We hope these efforts help to contain the threat posed by Conficker, as well as hold those who illegally launch malware accountable." More information about how to protect yourself from Conficker can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/conficker. Customers interested in learning more about staying safe online can visit http://www.microsoft.com/protect. Microsoft's reward offer stems from the company's recognition that the Conficker worm is a criminal attack. Microsoft wants to help the authorities catch the criminals responsible for it. Residents of any country are eligible for the reward, according to the laws of that country, because Internet viruses affect the Internet community worldwide. Individuals with information about the Conficker worm should contact their international law enforcement agencies. *About ICANN: * ICANN is responsible for the global coordination of the Internet's system of unique identifiers like domain names (like .org, .museum and country codes like .uk) and the addresses used in a variety of Internet protocols that help computers reach each other over the Internet. Careful management of these resources is vital to the Internet's operation, so ICANN's global stakeholders meet regularly to develop policies that ensure the Internet's ongoing security and stability. ICANN is an internationally organized, public benefit non-profit company. For more information please visit: www.icann.org <http://www.icann.org/>. *Media Contacts: * ICANN: press(a)icann.org <mailto:press@icann.org> International: Andrew Robertson Edelman (London) Phone: +44 7921 588 770 Email: andrew.robertson(a)edelman.com <mailto:andrew.robertson@edelman.com> _______________________________________________ AfrICANN mailing list AfrICANN(a)afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/africann

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New Health-Related Blogging Campaign Starts February 14th: Please Join Us!
by Janet Feldman 13 Feb '09

13 Feb '09

Dear All, I'm posting this info here (below) because we have a number of Kenyan and African project partners in Global Voices and Rising Voices, including the youth development nonprofit REPACTED (www.repacted.org) and our chat moderators, Serina Kalande and Daudi Were. We have found some highly valuable Kenyan blogs about HIV/AIDS, and would love to find more such blogs and bloggers in Kenya and Africa. Please be in touch with any information or interest in this project! Thanks and best blogging wishes, Janet Dear Friends, This Valentine's Day (February 14), Global Voices--a leading participatory media news room for voices from the developing world--will be launching a campaign called "Teach Someone You Love to Blog or Micro-Blog." Please participate in this exciting project by following the simple steps on this post: http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/02/11/on-valentines-teach-someone-you-lo… Global Voices and its outreach arm, Rising Voices, are at the forefront of citizen-journalism activities related to issues such as health, development, and ICTs. This "teach-in" marks the start of a series of health-related activities specifically focusing on HIV/AIDS. A "Blogging Positively Guide," now in the works, will provide valuable advice on how to blog to address HIV/AIDS issues. We are looking for help to create the Guide and/or to give feedback, so those interested in or already blogging about the pandemic are encouraged to participate. People living with or affected by HIV/AIDS are especially encouraged to become involved. A global interactive map--with entries about HIV/AIDS-related blogs and bloggers who write on that theme--is being created, and we hope you will send information to add to our growing list! A "Blogging Positively" chat, intended as an ongoing discussion about blogging to address HIV/AIDS, is scheduled for February 27, 2009 at the following times: 9 a.m. New York, 2 p.m. London, 5 p.m. Nairobi. This chat will build on the insights shared during the highly successful World AIDS Day chat, held on December 3, 2008. The chat will be held at www.worknets.org/chat. There may be several chatrooms available for different languages. Login using your name and elect the room you want to join by clicking "enter." Once in the room, select a font color on the left side of the screen, then join the chat. For more information, visit the Rising Voices website and join the Blogging Positively forum. To contact someone involved in the Blogging Positively project, email Janet Feldman (Blogging Positively Guide Coordinator), Juhie Bhatia (Global Voices Public Health Editor), Solana Larsen (Global Voices Managing Editor). To contact the chat moderators, write to Serina Kalande (serina.kalande(a)gmail.com) and/or Daudi Were (daudi.were(a)gmail.com)

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Recruitment for ICANN Leadership Positions: 2009 Nominating Committee]
by alice 13 Feb '09

13 Feb '09

http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-12feb09-en.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Recruitment for ICANN Leadership Positions: 2009 Nominating Committee 12 February 2009 The 2009 Nominating Committee began its work in November 2008 following the ICANN Annual Meeting in Cairo, Egypt, and is actively seeking qualified candidates for the following key positions within ICANN: * Three members of the ICANN Board of Directors * Three members of the At Large Advisory Committee (for the African, Asia/Australia/Pacific, and Latin American regions) * Two members of the Council of the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) * One member of the Council of the Country-Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) * Those selected by the Nom Com will take their seats at the end of the 2009 ICANN Annual Meeting, 30 October 2009 in Seoul, Korea. * The Nom Com will be conducting a workshop and other outreach activities during the At Large Summit and the ICANN meeting in Mexico City (28 February - 6 March 2009), see http://mex.icann.org/ for more information. The people selected by the Nominating Committee will have a unique opportunity to work with accomplished colleagues from around the globe, address intriguing technical coordination problems and related policy development challenges with diverse functional, cultural, and geographic dimensions, and gain valuable insights and experience from working across these boundaries of knowledge, responsibility and perspective. Information on applying is available at http://nomcom.icann.org/. Prospective candidates are invited to submit their Statements of Interest to the Nominating Committee by 15 April 2009 23:59 UTC. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Sign up for ICANN's Monthly Magazine <http://www.icann.org/magazine/>* _______________________________________________ AfrICANN mailing list AfrICANN(a)afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/africann

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Re: [kictanet] [PubSoft] Obama, free software and open standards
by Gakuru Alex 13 Feb '09

13 Feb '09

What of GoK? Alex > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: S. Kritikos > Date: Fri, Feb 13, 2009 at 12:08 AM > Subject: [PubSoft] Obama, free software and open standards > To: PubSoft Mailing List <pubsoft(a)elists.isoc.org> > > > > Folks, a couple of short articles: > > Calls for open source government > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7841486.stm > > Short article on Linux Mag - Jan 21: "Co-founder and former CEO of > SunMicrosystems, Scott McNealy revealed to the BBC this week that > he had been tapped by the Obama administration to write a paper > on the benefits to the government of using open source." > > Additional links on the new admin: > > President Obama: Good for Open Source? > http://www.linux-mag.com/cache/7232/1.html > > sk > > _______________________________________________ > PubSoft(a)elists.isoc.org > http://elists.isoc.org/mailman/listinfo/pubsoft >

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Fwd: Press Release ::: WSYA ::: Final Call for Registration
by Gakiria 12 Feb '09

12 Feb '09

Dear All, Kindly circulate to your networks. Regards Andrew Gakiria KeLC ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Angelika Spraider <spraider(a)icnm.net> Date: Wed, Feb 11, 2009 at 4:14 PM Subject: Press Release ::: WSYA ::: Final Call for Registration To: undisclosed-recipients Dear Friends of the WSA Youth Award, The World Summit Youth Award's deadline for entries, February 28th, 2009, is approaching. Web and mobile pioneers addressing the UN Millennium Development Goals are invited to participate in the global competition. So far there 450 projects have been submitted - let's make it at least a 500! Therefore, I would like to ask you to distribute information within your network and to your local media as soon as possible. Thank you very much for your help in this matter. Best regards, Angelika & the WSYA Team -- Angelika Spraider World Summit Award ICNM - International Center for New Media Moosstrasse 43a 5020 Salzburg Austria Tel: +43 662 63 04 08-32 Fax: +43 662 63 04 08-22 www.icnm.net * www.wsis-award.org * www.youthaward.org ----------------------------------------------------------- ZVR-Zahl 361 985 748 Please consider the environment before printing this email! -- Gakiria Andrew Coordinator Kenya eLearning Centre Nairobi, KENYA

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Re: [kictanet] Hacked password list offers security insights
by James Kagwe 11 Feb '09

11 Feb '09

When you consider the way these passwords are usually stored (sometimes on simple MSAcces databases or other databases without encrypting the password field) by the website designers on some of these websites. I agree it is very wise not to put serious passwords on such websites as they do not serve their purpose anyway. I personally use very weak passwords on such websites too. Let them hack an e-banking website then rewrite the story. The statistics will make more sense then. ________________________________ From: kictanet-bounces+jkagwe=kippra.or.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+jkagwe=kippra.or.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of Odhiambo Washington Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 8:19 AM To: James Kagwe Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: Re: [kictanet] Hacked password list offers security insights On Tue, Feb 10, 2009 at 1:27 AM, Evans Kahuthu <ekahuthu(a)comtechltd.co.ke> wrote: Recently a niche programming-oriented website called phpbb.com had its user database hacked into and the passwords for 20,000 members stolen. The hacker who broke in then posted the account info and passwords online for the world to see. And while this is really bad news for those 20,000 unlucky souls, it offers an instructive lesson on password security <http://www.darkreading.com/blog/archives/2009/02/phpbb_password.html> for the rest of us. InformationWeek analyzed the hacked password list and found a number of interesting trends in the data, primarily revolving around the fact that most people do exactly what they've been told not to do since passwords were first invented. Author/analyst Robert Graham has tons of analysis on offer. I'm ordering my favorite/most enlightening data points from the piece here, starting with the most interesting. On thing to remember: These passwords are from a group of people interested in computer programming, so if anyone should know better, it's these guys. > The most popular password (3.03% of the 20,000) was "123456." It's also generally considered the most common password used today <http://www.whatsmypass.com/?p=415> . > 4 percent used some variant of the word "password." Seriously, people, there's no excuse for this one. "password" was the 2nd most popular password used, also in keeping with historical trends. > 16 percent of passwords were a person's first name. No word on if it was their first name, but someone's. Joshua is the most commonly used first-name password, a likely reference to the movie WarGames. > Patterns abound. In addition to "123456," other pattens like "12345, "qwerty," and "abc123" were common, comprising 14 percent of the passwords used. > 35 percent of passwords were six characters long. 0.34 percent were only one character long. > For reasons no one can explain, "dragon," "master," and "killer" all crack the top 20 passwords. (On the top 500 password list linked above, "dragon" is #7.) > One thing Graham doesn't discuss is that phpbb.com is really just a message board, and many users may simply have not cared about the security of their passwords here (unlike, say, with a bank account). In other words, they may very well have intentionally chosen something simplistic here to avoid re-using a password they save for an important login, just in case this site got hacked. Which, it turns out, it did. I could go on, but Graham's post has way more detail than I can digest here and it's easy-reading too. Worth a close look for any citizen of the web. Personally, I believe noone really cares about the strength (or lack of) the passwords they use on community sites. To start with, there is a stage in the registration process into such sites (or Bulletin Boards if you may call them) which warns you NOT TO USE any of your sensitive passwords that you use elsewhere. Given that noone really stores any sensitive material on such sites it's not uncommon to simply use 123456 (because the registration system insists on your password having at least six characters) or something like "letmein". I don't believe it was "really bad news for the 20,000 unlucky souls" at all. Rather, the lesson to be learn here, IMHO, is by those souls deploying systems that are accessible to the hostile Internet to take seriously security considerations for those systems. -- Best regards, Odhiambo WASHINGTON, Nairobi,KE +254733744121/+254722743223 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ "The only time a woman really succeeds in changing a man is when he is a baby." - Natalie Wood

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Church service Late Dr Juma
by Andrew Limo 11 Feb '09

11 Feb '09

Dear all, There will be a funeral service 10am tommorow Thurs 12th at St Paul Chapel, Nairobi, for our late brother Dr Juma Okech (ICT Secretary, Directorate of e-Government). Thank you all for your prayers and support. Andrew

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BungeSMS com added you as a connection on Plaxo
by BungeSMS com 10 Feb '09

10 Feb '09

Hi Policy, BungeSMS com wants to add you as a connection on Plaxo. To accept this connection request, go to: http://www.plaxo.com/invite?i=59901184&k=1839213572&l=en&src=email&et=1&est… Thanks! The Plaxo team More than 20 million people use Plaxo to keep in touch with the people they care about. Don't want to receive emails from Plaxo any more? Go to: http://www.plaxo.com/stop?src=email&et=1&est=nolevels&etv=nnic1b2&el=en&ema…

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Obama and Cybersecurity
by alice 10 Feb '09

10 Feb '09

FYI http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/09/AR200902090… best alice

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