- KICTANet - KICTANet

FW: I want to work for Google...
by James Kagwe 10 Aug '08

10 Aug '08

Sorry for breaking the rules, but just wondering if this is true ________________________________ We already knew that working for Google had certain advantages, but, believe me, this giant of the search motor takes the welfare of its employees seriously .. as shown by this decompression (stress) capsule that is impermeable to sound and light ... <http://www.letemps.ch/template/galerie.asp?imageindex=3&NLartID=12372> Moving around: A slide allows quick access from different floors ... There are also poles available ... they are similar to the ones used in fire stations. <http://www.letemps.ch/template/galerie.asp?imageindex=4&NLartID=12372> Food. Employees can eat all they want from a vast choice of food and drink. <http://www.letemps.ch/template/galerie.asp?imageindex=5&NLartID=12372> Work Station: Each employee has at least two large screens. There are 4-6 'Zooglers' per office. <http://www.letemps.ch/template/galerie.asp?imageindex=6&NLartID=12372> INOVATION: Large boards are available just about everywhere because 'ideas don't always come when seated in the office' says one of Googles managers. <http://www.letemps.ch/template/galerie.asp?imageindex=7&NLartID=12372> LEISURE. Pool tables, video games etc. are available in many areas. <http://www.letemps.ch/template/galerie.asp?imageindex=8&NLartID=12372> Communication... On each floor, there are private cabin areas where employees can attend to personal affairs. <http://www.letemps.ch/template/galerie.asp?imageindex=9&NLartID=12372> Technical Support: Problem with your computer ? No problem ... Bring it to this area where drinks are available while it is being fixed ... <http://www.letemps.ch/template/galerie.asp?imageindex=10&NLartID=12372> \ Health: Professional masseurs (eusses) available. <http://www.letemps.ch/template/galerie.asp?imageindex=11&NLartID=12372> REST ... This room provides massage chairs that you control ... while you view relaxing aquariums ... Ambiance ... There are many books in this library ... even some about programming !! My questions are ... when do they work? How much do they pay to work there? And where do I send my application? . ________________________________ ________________________________ Get news, entertainment and everything you care about at Live.com. Check it out! <http://www.live.com/getstarted.aspx%20>

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High Fuel Prices
by Brian Munyao Longwe 10 Aug '08

10 Aug '08

I'm wondering, Today another article in the Business Daily about high fuel prices (pg 4) ... this is the 3rd or 4th time that they have used a picture that indeed show a Total petrol station price display with a high price, but for some reason is seriously dominated by Florida (F1) ... what prices is the writer/photographer really complaining about? Brian

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[Fwd: [At-Large] Updates to New gTLD Program Implementation and auctioning model.]
by alice 09 Aug '08

09 Aug '08

http://icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-08aug08-en.htm ICANN has published a paper from its contractor PowerAuctions LLC, regarding the use of auctions to award new TLD strings in case of contention. http://icann.org/en/topics/economic-case-auctions-08aug08-en.pdf I think it would be important that the At Large speaks up. The model proposed in the document is a purely capitalistic one. It is based on the assumption that all gTLDs are created to make as much money as possible. Smaller, community based TLDs seem quite difficult to launch in such context. The mere possibility of auctions will actually generate contention on some strings. The little guys wishing to establish a not-for-profit TLD will be outplayed by the wealthy ones. A public forum has been established at http://forum.icann.org/lists/auction-consultation/. Comments to auction-consultation(a)icann.org before 8 September 2008. -- Patrick Vande Walle _______________________________________________ At-Large mailing list At-Large(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org http://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/at-large_atlarge-lists.ican… At-Large Official Site: http://atlarge.icann.org

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internet governance, domaining, domain disputes, DNS security and more internet related news
by alice 09 Aug '08

09 Aug '08

********************** GOVERNANCE ********************** 1. Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the EU Global Online Freedom Act EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM: More and more authoritarian states as Belarus, Burma, the People's Republic of China, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam censor the internet by blocking websites and filtering search results and intimidate internet users through 'cyber police' and obliged registration. As this constitutes a clear violation of human rights under article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, EU action needs to be undertaken, especially since European companies are cooperating with authoritarian governments to restrict the access of citizens to the provision of Internet and information society services. http://www.julesmaaten.eu/_uploads/EU%20GOFA.htm 2. Major U.S. Internet companies agree on a code of conduct for operating in repressive countries It's been a journey longer than the meandering, months-long trip the Olympic torch is taking to Friday's opening ceremonies in Beijing. But Google, Yahoo and Microsoft said today that they were close to finishing a voluntary code of conduct for doing business in China and other countries that censor the Internet -- a project they started in January 2007. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2008/08/major-internet.html 3. Internet firms agree to 'code of conduct' in China Just days before the Olympic torch will reach Beijing, Internet leaders Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft say they are close to an agreement on a code of conduct for doing business in China and other countries that censor the Internet. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10007122-38.html 4. Internet Companies Agree On China Code Of Conduct U.S. technology giants Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo, in talks with other Internet companies and human-rights groups, have reached an agreement on a voluntary code of conduct for activities in China and other restrictive countries, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKBNG13395520080805 http://in.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idINIndia-34833420080805 http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/policy/showArticle.jhtm?articl… 5. Vint Cerf calls for Internet speed limits Internet papa Vint Cerf said broadband speed limits rather than broadband data caps would be more useful in managing congested networks. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10007079-93.html 6. Cerf totes consumer SLAs Father of the internet and Google's chief internet evangelist, Vint Cerf has waded into the debate about how broadband carriers should manage network congestion, suggesting, in effect, data rate service level agreements (SLAs) for consumers. http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2223299/cerf-totes-consumer-slas 7. Cerf's call for simple pricing: Net Neutrality all over again Vint Cerf, one of the co-inventors of the underlying technology that makes the Web work, now Google's Internet evangelist, has issued a call for throughput-based pricing by ISPs. This in response to the Comcast ruling by the FCC, which fined the cable carrier for capping bandwidth used by customers if they exceed what the company considers reasonable use—Comcast has called their approach, which can cap the number of bits a user sends per month "consumption-based pricing." http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ratcliffe/?p=358 8. Questioning the Coming US Internet Clog One of the nation's top authorities on global Internet traffic growth says his latest data show no reason to fear network capacity shortages, as traffic growth may even be slightly decelerating. http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/110/31939 ********************** DOMAIN NAMES ********************** ********************** - ICANN ********************** 9. .ORG & NCUC Joint Letter to ICANN on Internationalized Domain Names by PIR Recently we teamed up with the Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC) to express our concern to ICANN that the rights and needs of end-users are taken into account in the discussion of Internationalized Domain Names (IDN). http://www.circleid.com/posts/88710_org_ncuc_internationalized_domain_names/ 10. Can ICANN Manage the DNS Root Zone by Itself? "No!" Says US Department of Commerce In a recent letter, the US Department of Commerce NTIA strongly denied being engaged in discussions about a "root zone transition" from VeriSign to ICANN. The community, ICANN President Strategic Committee (PSC), and perhaps ICANN and IANA staff are suddenly informed that no transition of root zone management is going to occur. http://www.circleid.com/posts/88712_icann_manage_dns_root_zone/ 11. ICANN to raise awareness of domain name system vulnerability [sub req'd] http://telecom.paper.nl/news/article.aspx?id=225475 ********************** - ccTLD & gTLD NEWS ********************** 12. Grant boost for .cym domain bid A £20,000 grant to secure a "dot cym" internet address for Wales is to be given by the assembly government. Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones said the money was to support the DotCYM campaign for a Welsh version of the .com or co.uk endings. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/7543956.stm 13. Bid for .cym for Welsh websites WELSH companies should have the right to use .cym as well as .com on their websites, Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones said yesterday. http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2008/08/07/bid-for-cym-for-wel… 14. More options for Welsh identity on the net The campaign to allow Welsh companies to use the .cym suffix in their web addresses is almost as old as the internet itself, so it's pleasing to see this decent idea finally take its first steps off the drawing board. http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2008/08/07/more-options-for-we… 15. Assembly cash for dotCYM campaign DEPUTY First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones will today announce Assembly Government funding to campaign for "full internet status for Wales". http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2008/08/06/assembly-cash-f… 16. Wales applying for its own domain name The Welsh deputy first minister is backing a campaign for a Welsh internet domain name. http://www.publicservice.co.uk/news_story.asp?id=6704 17. DotCym campaign wins £20k grant Wales The Welsh Assembly is to donate £20,000 to support the campaign to secure the "dot cym" internet address for Wales. http://www.webuser.co.uk/news/news.php?id=265029 18. N.Korea Likely to Provide Internet Service from 2009 It seems likely that North Korea will finally join the worldwide web and provide Internet service from next year. Kim Sang-myung, the chief of the North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity, a group of former North Korean professionals, at a symposium in the National Assembly on Wednesday said, "According to the Internet Access Roadmap it launched in 2002, North Korea will begin providing Internet service for special agencies and authorized individuals as early as next year." ... It has also recently finished necessary consultations with ICANN for the Internet service in North Korea. In this situation, North Korea can begin providing Internet service any time provided equipment for server and Internet-based relay systems is supplied, Kim said. http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200808/200808070011.html 19. 100,000 .me Domain Names Now Registered The .ME Registry announced today it has registered more than 100,000 domain names. This milestone comes a little more than two weeks after opening for live, real-time registrations by the general public and less than four months after opening its doors. http://www.nic.me/index.php?page=12&news=94 20. .ME Domain Crosses 100,000 Milestone New personalized domain .ME is the hot new destination for Web addresses. The milestone comes a little more than two weeks after opening for live, real-time registrations by the general public and less than four months after opening its doors. http://www.webhostdir.com/news/showNews.aspx?ID=27076 ********************** - DNS SECURITY ********************** 21. Net address bug worse than feared A recently found flaw in the internet's addressing system is worse than first feared, says the man who found it. Dan Kaminsky made his comments when speaking publicly for the first time about his discovery at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7546557.stm 22. Kaminsky: Many ways to attack with DNS [IDG] There were 6 a.m. calls from Finnish certificate authorities and also some pretty harsh words from his peers in the security community, even an accidentally leaked Black Hat presentation, but after managing the response to one of the most highly publicized Internet flaws in recent memory, Dan Kaminsky said Wednesday that he'd do it all over again. http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/08/06/Kaminsky_Many_ways_to_attack_with… http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/080608-kaminsky-many-ways-to-attack.h… http://www.itworld.com/networking/54104/kaminsky-many-ways-attack-dns 23. Kaminsky: DNS Vulnerability Will Affect Email, Internal Systems, Too After almost a month of holding back, security researcher Dan Kaminsky took off the gloves and delivered the full impact of his newly discovered Domain Name Server vulnerability to an audience of more than 2,000 security experts here. http://www.darkreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=161009 24. Kaminsky reveals 'many ways' to attack with DNS [IDG] Dan Kaminsky has revealed more details about the DNS flaw, and has said that he would do it all over again, despite receiving some harsh words from his peers in the security community. http://www.techworld.com/news/index.cfm?NewsID=102315 25. Dan Kaminsky Reveals DNS Flaw At Black Hat At the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday, attendees occupied every available seat and most of the floor space to hear security researcher Dan Kaminsky finally explain the Domain Name System (DNS) vulnerability that has been the talk of the Internet security community since early July. http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/vulnerabilities/showArticle.jh… 26. IOActive's Kaminsky Warns: DNS Danger Still Exists IOActive's Dan Kaminsky discovered a DNS vulnerability in July, and the attack code was released weeks later. At his Black Hat speech, Kaminsky warned that patching the DNS vulnerability is urgent. Though Kaminsky said 85 percent of Fortune 500 firms have patched their networks to fix the DNS vulnerability, too many users are still unprotected. http://www.toptechnews.com/news/Kaminsky--DNS-Danger-Still-Exists/story.xht… http://www.cio-today.com/news/Kaminsky--DNS-Danger-Still-Exists/story.xhtml… http://www.newsfactor.com/news/Kaminsky--DNS-Danger-Still-Exists/story.xhtm… 27. Kaminsky Details DNS Flaw at Black Hat Talk Roughly 85 percent of Fortune 500 companies have patched their networks to fix a security flaw that lets cyber criminals redirect visitors to counterfeit or malicious Web sites, but Internet users still remain at grave risk due to the large number of infrastructure providers that have not yet addressed the issue, a prominent security researcher warned today. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2008/08/kaminsky_details_dns_f… 28. Email gets hit by major web security flaw [AP] A newly discovered flaw in the internet's core infrastructure not only permits hackers to force people to visit websites they didn't want to, it also allows them to intercept email messages, the researcher who discovered the bug said. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=55&objectid=10525801 http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/biztech/08/06/internet.security.ap/ http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2008-08-07-internet-flaw… 29. Giant cyberspace security hole getting fixed, slowly [AP] A giant vulnerability in the internet's design is allowing criminals to silently redirect traffic to websites under their control. The problem is being fixed, but its extent remains unknown and many people are still at risk. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=1501832&objectid=10525623 http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/08/06/1217702102160.html http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/08/06/1217702102160.html 30. Kaminsky reveals details and extent of DNS flaw Security researcher Dan Kaminsky has given details of a fundamental flaw in the Domain Name System, and the extent of the vulnerability. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39458177,00.htm http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10009827-83.html 31. Day 30: Kaminsky DNS Bug Disclosure In a highly anticipated presentation, Internet security researcher Dan Kaminsky today gave details of the much talked about Domain Name System (DNS) vulnerability issue which has been intensely covered since it was publicly announced a month ago on Jul 8th. http://www.circleid.com/posts/88670_kaminsky_dns_bug_disclosure/ 32. Kaminsky (finally) reveals gaping hole in internet Black Hat After a four-week orgy of speculation, recrimination and warnings, Dan Kaminsky's domain-name system vulnerability has finally gone public. And boy, are we glad the net's overlords paid attention. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/06/kaminsky_black_hat/ 33. Beijing Braces for Olympic Cyber-War - Can the world's most futuristic data center protect the Olympics' storage? With the world's eyes firmly focused on Beijing, officials and IT staff are bracing themselves for a flood of cyber-attacks when the Olympic Games begin later this week. http://www.darkreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=160642 34. Giant online security hole getting fixed, slowly [AP] A giant vulnerability in the Internet's design is allowing criminals to silently redirect traffic to Web sites under their control. The problem is being fixed, but its extent remains unknown and many people are still at risk. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/05/AR200808050… 35. Russian Gang Hijacking PCs in Vast Scheme A criminal gang is using software tools normally reserved for computer network administrators to infect thousands of PCs in corporate and government networks with programs that steal passwords and other information, a security researcher has found. http://nytimes.com/2008/08/06/technology/06hack.html 36. DHS: Networking security worth the money [IDG] When it comes to investing in computer security, the U.S. federal government could get a good return on investment by shoring up its networking protocols, according to the man who's been hired to coordinate computer security between federal agencies. http://www.itworld.com/security/54122/dhs-networking-security-worth-money http://www.pcworld.com/article/149554/2008/08/.html 37. New US cyber defense coordinator hints at plans [AP] One of the United States' biggest challenges in securing government computers from foreign attacks isn't necessarily technical. The country first needs to figure out how much those networks are worth and how much the U.S. should spend on protecting them, the new Homeland Security official in charge of that effort said Thursday. http://news.smh.com.au/technology/new-us-cyber-defense-coordinator-hints-at… http://news.theage.com.au/technology/new-us-cyber-defense-coordinator-hints… ********************** - DOMAIN DISPUTES ********************** 38. Retailers Beware – Recent Losses In Domain Name Decisions [reg req'd] Retailers and brands in the retail sector have recently been hit with a string of losses under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Procedure ("UDRP"), which was designed to offer brand owners a quick and relatively inexpensive way of resolving domain name disputes. http://mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=64400 39. us: State Fund Insurance Nailed for Reverse Domain Name Hijacking State Fund Mutual Insurance, a company providing workers' compensation insurance in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and South Dakota, has been found guilty of reverse domain name hijacking in its attempt to snag SFM.com. http://domainnamewire.com/2008/08/07/state-fund-insurance-nailed-for-revers… 40. us: SureWest critic will change Web site's address The Sacramento computer programmer and SureWest Communications shareholder who started a Web site critical of the Roseville company's move to drop its quarterly dividend plans to change the domain address. http://www.sacbee.com/102/story/1140527.html ********************** - IPv4/IPv6 ********************** 41. DISA certifies Red Hat OS for IPv6 The Defense Information Systems Agency has certified the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) operating system as being ready for swapping Internet Protocol version 6 packets with other Defense Department servers, Red Hat announced this week. http://www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/46832-1.html ********************** - MISCELLANEOUS ********************** 42. New publication on Domain Name Law A new international Handbook on Domain Name Law has been published. The "Handbuch des Domainrechts" is an updated German version of the international Handbook "Domain Name Law and Practice"which was published by Oxford University Press in 2005. It was edited and written by leading experts in the fields of domain name dispute resolution and trade mark law from around the world. http://www.domainnews.com/en/general/new-publication-on-domain-name-law.html 43. VeriSign shares fall after 2nd-quarter report [AP] VeriSign Inc.'s shares fell Thursday after the Internet infrastructure company reported a wider second-quarter loss as it absorbed the costs of a major reorganization. http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/08/07/ap5301246.html 44. VeriSign Reports Second Quarter 2008 Results [news release] VeriSign, Inc. ... reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2008. VeriSign reported revenue of $303 million for the second quarter of 2008. On a GAAP basis, VeriSign reported a net loss of $68 million and a net loss per share of $0.35. These GAAP results reflect a $92 million non-cash impairment charge on certain long-lived assets and assets held for sale. Also recorded were restructuring charges of $98 million in continuing and discontinued operations. ... VeriSign Naming Services ended the quarter with approximately 87.3 million active domain names in the adjusted zone for .com and .net, representing a 3% increase over Q1 2008 and 20% increase year over year. In June, VeriSign announced additional infrastructure deployments in Europe with new sites in France and Belgium to fortify its Internet infrastructure as part of Project Titan. http://www.verisign.com/static/043991.pdf 45. VeriSign's Losses Widen VeriSign reported higher losses in the second quarter in part because of restructuring-related charges. The company posted net loss of $68 million, or 35 cents a share, that included a $92 million non-cash impairment charge and restructuring charges of $98 million. That compares with a net loss of $4.7 million, or 2 cents a share the year before. http://www.thestreet.com/s/verisigns-losses-widen/newsanalysis/technology-u… 46. VeriSign reports $68 million loss [Bloomberg] VeriSign, the biggest operator of computers that direct Internet traffic, reported a $68 million loss and projected sales that missed some estimates as growth in the number of Web sites slowed. http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_10124679 47. VeriSign Reports 2Q Losses VeriSign has reported a net loss of $68 million or $0.35 per share for the second quarter, despite ending the quarter with approximately 87.3 million active domain names, a 3 percent increase over Q1 and a 20 percent increase year over year. http://www.thewhir.com/marketwatch/080708_VeriSign_Reports_2Q_Losses.cfm 48. Register.com Gives Out Free Domain Names Register.com is giving away domain names , 1 per company. There appears to be no-strings-attached to the promotion. This isn't an affiliate link either . . . probably should be eh ? Click here to get a free domain name. http://www.domainnamenews.com/registrars/registercom-gives-out-free-domain-… 49. Registries Must Lobby GoDaddy for Success - GoDaddy 's power in domain registration cannot be ignored. Here's a tip to any registries for new domains coming online in the next couple years: before you create your marketing strategy and invest in infrastructure, go cozy up with your new pal Bob Parsons at GoDaddy. http://domainnamewire.com/2008/08/05/registries-must-lobby-godaddy-for-succ… 50. The Dutch Cable SIP Exchange Project, XConnect Global Networks and Nokia Siemens Networks Successfully Test Intelligent Network (C7) and ENUM Integration in Cable Telephony Peering Project [news release] The Dutch Cable SIP Exchange project (SIPX), an initiative of the Dutch cable industry, successfully tested interoperability between its peering system, which is provided by XConnect Global Networks, Ltd., and the Nokia Siemens Networks hiQ VoIP platform used in many of its participant networks. http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2008/08/06/3587978.htm ********************** - DOMAINING & AFTERMARKET ********************** 51. Google offers deeper look into searches Google is giving everyone a chance to peek deeper into its database of search requests and discover the things that preoccupy individuals and, in aggregate, entire cities, regions or nations, at any one time. http://iht.com/articles/2008/08/06/business/adco.php 52. New Google tool aims to provide more insight into online searches Google Inc. yesterday rolled out a new tool that it said can help marketing and advertising users better analyze Internet search patterns, while also adding new tools such as a "heat map" for graphically displaying search volumes and other data. http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&article… 53. T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Down Under to Donate Profits to ICA; Discount Pass Expires Soon T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Down Under is happening on the Gold Coast, Australia, with Fabulous.com (Dark Blue Sea Ltd) and T.R.A.F.F.I.C. partnering to host the premiere event being held from November 18 to 20, to be held at the Sheraton Mirage Resort, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. http://technewsreview.com.au/article.php?article=5584 http://www.domainpulse.com/2008/08/05/traffic-down-under-to-donate-profits-… 54. Domain Roundtable Goes to Washington Next conference will be held in Washington D.C. June 2009. http://domainnamewire.com/2008/08/05/domain-roundtable-goes-to-washington/ 55. au: Domain name sales dip no surprise The number of internet domain names being bought and sold has dropped off in just the second month since a rule change that allowed them to be openly trading was introduced. http://smartcompany.com.au/Free-Articles/The-Briefing/20080805-Domain-name-… 56. Domain Trading Post takes over as Australia's largest .au aftermarket Australia's newest domain name aftermarket trading website, Domain Trading Post has quickly taken over as the premier marketplace for trading secondary .com.au domain names. http://www.domaininformer.com/news/press/080804DomainTradingPost.html 57. OD.com Sells for $220,000 The domain name OD.com has sold for $220,000 at Sedo , according to the "recent sales" section of the site. http://domainnamewire.com/2008/08/07/odcom-sells-for-220000/ 58. New York TRAFFIC Auction - Open call for Domains Aftermarket logoWe are pleased to announce the launch of the first phase of Aftermarket.com. This first phase is a dual online & offline auction system using the new platform of DomainTools created specifically for the Aftermarket.com. http://blog.domaintools.com/2008/08/new-york-traffic-auction-open-call-for-…

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First African Broadcast, Film and Convergence Conference, Kenyatta Centre, Nairobi, September 23-25, 2008
by alice 08 Aug '08

08 Aug '08

*First African Broadcast, Film and Convergence Conference, Kenyatta Centre, Nairobi */September 23-25, 2008/ The first African, Broadcast, Film and Convergence Conference will take place at the Kenyatta Centre in Nairobi, 23-25 September 2008. It will bring together senior broadcasting executives, producers, advertising agency executives, regulators and policy-makers to discuss the challenges faced by the industry over the next five years. Speakers lined up include: David Waweru, MD, KBC; David Maingi, CEO, Kenya Film Commission; Khalik Sherriff, COO, e.TV; Ian Fernandes, MD, Nation TV’s Digital Division; Toyin Subair, CEO, Hi-TV; Richard Bell, African Telecoms, Media and Technology Fund; Redeemer Kwame, Ghana Telecom on its IP-TV service with Indian partner WiseNet; lawyer Claudia Rinke on international rights issues; Angelo Kinyua, Big Ideas Entertainment; Kenyan producer Thump Campbell; UK’s Lucy Scher, Script Factory; Ronnie Andrews, GTV; Jeremy Nathan, DV8; Lenny Nganga, Saracen Media; Joe Otin, Steadman Group; James Boyd McFie, Business School, Strathmore University; John Sarpong, Africast; Joe Mucheru, Google; and many, many more. For further information, contact AITEC on +254(0)20-212-1028. The full conference programme is available at www.aitecafrica.com <http://lists.balancingact-africa.com/t/2131/235533/32/0/>

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The Captain on Payment Gateway!!
by Bill Kagai 08 Aug '08

08 Aug '08

I have seen in today's Nation - Back Page - Among the targets the Captain set for Ministries include:: 1. The Ministry of Information will provide a payment gateway and harmonise the E-transaction Bill with the Banking Act. [sic] We do have a solution under beta testing jointly with Commercial Bank of Africa which uses MPESA as one of the transaction avenues, whilst CBA acts as the settlement institution. I know PayPal is also testing another system. Could we perhaps plan to brainstorm and set the necessary benchmarks before these products are put in the market to coincide with submarine cables landing?? As usual, I look for leadership and inspiration from our champion - Bw. Bitange Ndemo. You can test the solution by g360 Ltd at: http://www.mobilepay.i360microsystems.com/shop.php

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Ministry to support young entrepreneurs
by Mike Theuri 08 Aug '08

08 Aug '08

http://www.eastandard.net/business/InsidePage.php?id=1143991935&cid=14& Ministry to support young entrepreneurs Published on 08/08/2008 By Kenneth Kwama The Ministry of Trade is working to create a policy to relax procurement rules to make it easier for young entrepreneurs to tender for Government jobs. "Some of the rules like those that require people to have been in business for more than 10 years before being considered for Government tenders are unfair to young entrepreneurs and should be reviewed," said Mr Omingo Magara, Assistant Minister for Trade. Magara spoke during the unveiling of the Global Entrepreneurship Week, which is set to take place from November 17-23. The concept is aimed at supporting young entrepreneurs who want to do business. The event will take place in more than 60 countries. In Kenya, it will be co-ordinated by the Sacoma Centre for business enterprises, which says it hopes to create 10,000 new jobs for the youth by the end of the one-week event. "We are working with partners who are willing to support the youth in various ways like training, mentorship and start up capital. In the end, we hope this will enable young people to create their own businesses and employ people," said Ms Peres Ochieng', CEO of Sacoma. Youth Participation The organisers expect thousands of youths from different districts to participate. Chris Spavin, the International Campaigns executive for the programme, lauded the idea as revolutionary to help the youth in developing countries take charge of their own destinies. "It aims to inspire a movement of people and stakeholders to celebrate and engage in enterprising ideas and make them happen," said Spavin. The idea was first mooted in the UK, with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown acting as patron of one of the founder organisations. Magara said his ministry would provide the infrastructure necessary to support the initiative and also work on new policy to make the business environment friendlier to the youth. He cited the many procedures required by procurement rules saying they were hostile to young entrepreneurs. He said some jobs like construction of feeder roads in rural areas could be given to the youth without necessarily going through the tendering process. Other events lined up for the week include business ideas competition and campaigns for new policies geared at improving business environment for young people.

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computers and problems.
by wesley kiriinya 07 Aug '08

07 Aug '08

So I'm writing this up as something to provoke some thought in our IT minds as we go about innovating and creating policies in IT. I believe it would be fair to say that computers don't solve our problems, rather they make the solutions more efficient and/or convinient. Many people believe that computers and similar gadgets solve their problems. Companies that create computers and marketers have used this idea to sell their products to the less IT knowlegable population. Because of various lies and half truths the ideas of the original creator of a product are never communicated therefore one finds people with different understandings of the same technology and what it does. Although this has existed for a long time it's only coming out clealy in the IT field because of its fast changing nature. Within one year what one knows about a technology can change as more about the technology is revealed. Looking at what computers do, they are machines that run software, and software is just a bunch of instructions that manipulate hardware. A piece of software seems to solve a problem to the un-knowlegable IT user but to the originator/creator the solution was already created even before it was implemented in software ( otherwise what would the software be doing? Reminding you about your problems? ) and it is from this perspective that I believe computers can be viewed because by doing it the other way round one ends up with managers who buy tonnes of computer equipment and software thinking their company woes will suddenly come to an end ( It's easier to ask God for a miracle! ). The problems need to be defined and solutions created in the ordinary way, leaving out the machines. Then let the machines do what they do best, crunch numbers faster and transmit data faster than humans. Comments and criticisms most welcome. Regards. 8~)

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Is it necessary to legislate IT Professionalism under an Act of Parliament?
by kathae＠cskonline.org 07 Aug '08

07 Aug '08

visit www.cskonline.org and make a vote on whether its necessary to legislate IT Professionalism under an Act of Parliament? Your vote counts in ensuring high standards of professionalism would be mantained in this country >From Peter Ndonga, System administrator (Computer Society Of Kenya). +254724326360

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FW: Early cell phone termination fees illegal
by Edith Adera 06 Aug '08

06 Aug '08

What is the rule in Kenya? Celtel (read Zain) seems to have this rule as well? Whats in place here to protect consumers? Edith Adera _____ From: Gideon Christian [mailto:gchristian@idrc.ca] Sent: 01 August 2008 16:39 To: ICT4D-Futures Workspace Subject: Early cell phone termination fees illegal California judge rules early cell phone termination fees illegal http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/99655 In one of the most significant legal rulings in the tech industry this year, a Superior Court judge in California has ruled that the practice of charging <http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_10039461?source=most_viewed> consumers a fee for ending their cell phone contract early is illegal and violates state law. The preliminary, tentative judgment orders Sprint Nextel to pay customers $18.2 million in reimbursements and, more importantly, orders Sprint to stop trying to collect another $54.7 million from California customers (some 2 million customers total) who have canceled their contracts but refused or failed to pay the termination fee. While an appeal is inevitable, the ruling could have massive fallout throughout the industry. Without the threat of levying early termination fees, the cellular carriers lose the power that's enabled them to lock customers into contracts for multiple years at a time. And while those contracts can be heinously long, they also let the carriers offer cell phone hardware at reduced (subsidized) prices. AT&T's two-year contract is the only reason the iPhone 3G costs $199. If subsidies vanish, what happens to hardware lock-in? Could an era of expensive, but unlocked, hardware be just around the corner? It's highly probable. Of course, the carriers aren't going to take this lying down. Early termination fees are seen as critical to business, so carriers are expected to look for ways to reclassify the fees (such as by calling them "rates," part of the arcane set of laws that covers the telecommunications industry). The industry is also pushing for the federal government to step in and claim oversight over the early termination fee issue, which would invalidate any state ruling. The FCC is generally more tolerant of such fees, though Chairman Kevin Martin has proposed a plan whereby the fees are decreased the closer you are to the end of your contract. The FCC may also buy the argument that, since carriers are nationally based (and consumers can use their phones anywhere in the country), that a single policy should apply across the nation, rather than creating a patchwork of legislation that could lead to confusion and chaos caused by having 50 different policies. Is the early termination fee dead? Not yet, but it's looking a little haggard. Gideon Christian, LL.M Research Intern/Stagiaire Int`l Development Research Centre (IDRC) Centre de Recherches pour le Développement International (CRDI) 150 Kent Str Ottawa, ON, K1P 0B2 Canada Tel/Tél:+1-613-236-6163 ext 2063 Cell:cellulaire: +1-613-265-1300 Fax/Téléc: +1-613-238-7230 Email/Courriel: gchristian(a)idrc.ca www.idrc.ca / www.crdi.ca Dgroups is a joint initiative of Bellanet, DFID, Hivos, ICA, ICCO, IICD, OneWorld, UNAIDS and World Bank --- You are currently subscribed to ict4d-futures as: eadera(a)idrc.or.ke To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-ict4d-futures-75952T(a)dgroups.idrc.ca

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[Fwd: [governance] Call For Papers Country Domain Governance 2008 (CDG'08)]
by alice 05 Aug '08

05 Aug '08

Call For Papers CDG'08 International Symposium on Country Domain Governance 2008 (CDG'08) <http://www.cdg08.org> November 20-22, Nagaoka University of Technology, Niigata, Japan. CDG'08 will address all aspects of research related to domain name governance and linguistic diversity of the Internet. The symposium is being held to celebrate the International Year of Languages. Scope The symposium provides a forum for engineers and scientists in academia, industry and government to present their latest research findings on issues relating to domain name governance, Internet governance and linguistic diversity of the Internet. Topics of particular interest include, but are not limited to: * CDG issues on Accessibility, Openness, Security, Diversity, and Open-content * TLD or ccTLD Surveys * Basic Political Economy of Identifiers and CDG * Internet Name and Address Spaces * Analytical Framework of CDG * Property Rights Conflicts * ICANN and Global Regulatory Regime * Global Rights to Internet Domain Names * Languages on Internet * Encoding Issues Paper Submission and Manuscript Preparation Accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedings. Provide an abstract of 800-1000 words describing the main research questions to be addressed by the paper and include five to ten appropriate keywords. The full paper should be up to six pages in A4 format written in English. This page limit includes figures, tables and references. Include a curriculum vitae (not more than one page) of the main submitting author, the technical area(s) most relevant to the paper, the names and affiliations of all contributing authors, and the corresponding author's e-mail address. All text (main text, and references) should be 11 point font. Accepted final camera-ready articles for the proceedings should follow the format specified here <http://mirevicast.medien.fh-duesseldorf.de/hc2007/format>. If possible, please use the provided LaTeX template <http://mirevicast.medien.fh-duesseldorf.de/hc2007/file_download/1>. Full papers are preferable for the review process. Important dates Submission Deadline: August 31st, 2008 for an extended abstract or a full paper in final draft. Notification of Acceptance: September 30th, 2008 Final Manuscript: October 22nd, 2008 Symposium: November 20th - 22nd, 2008 About the Venue Nagaoka University of Technology, Niigata, Japan <http://kansei.nagaokaut.ac.jp/CDG08/venue.html>. Nagaoka is located in Niigata Prefecture, from Tokyo the journey by Shinkansen takes about 90 minutes. CDG'08 will be held in conjunction with * 11th International Conference on Humans and Computers (HC'2008) <http://www.hc2008.org/> * 2nd International Conference on Kansei Engineering and Affective Systems (KEAS'08) <http://www.keas08.org/> Sponsored by * Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) * CDG Committee of the Nagaoka University of Technology * MAAYA (World Network for Linguistic Diversity) * The Human and Computer Committee of the Nagaoka University of Technology, Japan, (HC'2008) * International University of Japan * Concordia University College of Alberta (Canada) * Center for Global Communications (Japan) * Niigata International Convention Bureau For more information about the symposium or call for papers, please contact <cdg08(a)kjs.nagaokaut.ac.jp> About the Country Domain Governance Project The Country Domain Governance (CDG) project, hosted by the Department of Management & Information Systems Science, Nagaoka University of Technology, is an international collaboration mapping the matrix of roles and responsibilities that should be undertaken by various stakeholders in order to maintain the well-being of the Internet. CDG is sponsored by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Research Institute of Science and Technology for Society (RISTEX). The JST RISTEX programme aims to improve our understanding of governance in the ubiquitous information society. It is oriented to social technology (technology and society) and includes broad programmes examining social vulnerabilities such as security and privacy and the pervasive use of ICTs, and the challenges of use and growth of the Internet. END ____________________________________________________________ You received this message as a subscriber on the list: governance(a)lists.cpsr.org To be removed from the list, send any message to: governance-unsubscribe(a)lists.cpsr.org For all list information and functions, see: http://lists.cpsr.org/lists/info/governance

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(no subject)
by Jose Wambua 05 Aug '08

05 Aug '08

-- Joseph Wambua Success Consultant Mobile: +254 0710 514107 www.Xtraincome.successuniversity.com/slim

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ICT Investment Opportunities in Kenya
by alice 05 Aug '08

05 Aug '08

http://www.aganoconsulting.com/businessnews/archives/24 ICT Investment Opportunities in Kenya The following are concluding remarks from a report titled ICT Investment Opportunities in East Africa Country Specific Market Analysis Kenya of October 2004 authored by Tina James Trigrammic, SA), Kimmo Kartano (Independent Consultant) Finland) and Tim Mutinda (Technology Consulting, Kenya). The remarks capture the essence of the findings and suggestions to the future. “The ICT sector in Kenya is small but with its skilled lCT labor force and recent changes in the government’s approaches to liberalization, some promising opportunities are likely to emerge in the short term. “Investments are predominantly in the telecommunications sector as funding requirements in the IT software and services sectors will require smaller investments in the region of USD50 000 – 300 000. The creation of venture capital funding is needed to address this gap in the market and will need to take addressed if the potential of this component of the ICT sector is to be unleashed.”

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CONFERENCE ON COMPUTERS AND GAMES 2008
by waudo siganga 05 Aug '08

05 Aug '08

The International Federation for Information Processing (www.IFIP.org)has organized the Conference on Computers and Games 2008 (http://www.cs.unimaas.nl/cg2008/) in Beijing just after the Olympics, 29th Sept-Oct 1. Could be of interest to techies, developers, AI Enthusiasts. Come and mix with the best developers in the world. Learn how they write sophisticated computer games and more. Learn how you can market your own creations internationally. Waudo People make a plan work, a plan alone seldom makes people work (Confucius).

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Re: [kictanet] New DG
by Catherine Adeya 05 Aug '08

05 Aug '08

Walu, Your suggestion for 3.5 is good though I think it should simply be 'How to organize Associations for Effective Managment with the Government. Unless I heard wrong, KTN Sunrise news this morning announced Mr Charles Kinyanjui Njoroge as the new CCK DG. Nyaki ----- Original Message ---- From: John Walubengo <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> To: elizaslider(a)yahoo.com Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Monday, July 21, 2008 2:31:33 PM Subject: Re: [kictanet] Forum Agenda - Lets focus Harry, Indeed it would be a public forum - but to what extend has the message gone outside Nairobi given that most listservers have subscribers in NRB? Maybe there's need to have the traditional notice in the print media. As for the Agenda proposed and copied below, 1. Forum Objectives 2. Association presentations 3. General Discussion 4. Way forward I would add - 3.5. How to Organise the different Associations for effective engagement with Govt. walu. nb: meanwhile, unconfirmed reports from my moles indicate that a new DG for CCK has been unveiled. Anybody with such a copy?

21 41

Muzzling Expression, Maiming and Killing
by Shem Ochuodho 05 Aug '08

05 Aug '08

Did I see a posting in this space talking of: 'gagging the media, threatening, maiming or killing'? Last night we had a 30-minute harrowing ordeal. Suspected thieves broke into our compound, tried to break into our house but were repelled by a combination of good neighbours, police and security guards. I would want to treat it as a normal insecurity incidence, unrelated to the concerns above that have been flying in this space. It is interesting, however, why pick on our house, amidst (and in between) several! At another level, there are a host of fundamental things that we have to address as a nation if we have to avoid being a failed state, and one of them is insecurity. Of the nearly 40 Africa's capital cities I have had the privilege to stay in, Kigali is probably the safest. In fact, contrary to the outside perception of the genocide, insecurity, etc, Kigali could well be one of the safest cities on earth. Addis isn't any much worse! If Nairobi/Kenya is to reclaim its glory, security has to be restored, along with the other fundamental 'go wrongs'. I pray that no one else - both on and off these lists - go through that kind of trauma. Best rgrds, Shem

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Internet and ......beijing ticket scam - is this governed at all?].......
by alice 04 Aug '08

04 Aug '08

Dear all An interesting discussion (see below from the global internet governance list)on the security of the internet a major scam site called www.beijingticketing.com many have lost money and it still appears on google searches. It does brings to fore issues of trust for us in Kenya. With state of the art broadband coming soon to the room next to you, I wonder about the level of trust/confidence people have on the internet/computers/mobile phones? this will be an issue when it comes to widespread acceptance of all the ICT initiatives we are about to roll out when TEAMS comes. If Kenyans do not feel confident about using the internet for example, will it affect adoption of e-transactions and indeed e-government applications and what can we do to ensure people understand cybercrime and privacy/security? best alice -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: [governance] beijing ticket scam - is this governed at all? Date: Sun, 03 Aug 2008 13:20:55 -0700 From: Jeffrey A. Williams <jwkckid1(a)ix.netcom.com> Reply-To: governance(a)lists.cpsr.org,"Jeffrey A. Williams" <jwkckid1(a)ix.netcom.com> Organization: IDNS and Spokesman for INEGroup To: governance(a)lists.cpsr.org, Ian Peter <ian.peter(a)ianpeter.com> CC: GAC Rep <ssene(a)ntia.doc.gov>, DOC/NTIA ICANN Rep <aheineman(a)ntia.doc.gov> References: <08b901c8f60f$9a70df90$8b00a8c0@IAN> Ian and all, No information at all here. But you might want to send in a complaint to DOC/NTIA as the the particulars that you have. Ian Peter wrote: > Some time about March this year a major scam site called > www.beijingticketing.com > > was apparently first exposed as fraudulent but not too many people > took any notice Today it is all over the news as many people have > purchased fake Olympic tickets and lost their money. > > But what surprises me is that, a good 8 hours after major news stories > about the site, it is still operating as I write this message. And it > still appears in Google search results. > > Very interested in analysis of why this is so when it is a known major > fraud site that has victims in many countries. Is there any mechanism > to stop major international scams? Or is it just a matter of waiting > until everyone else wakes up? Apparently there is a court case > in California today to close down the site? Is this because the > registry or the registrar is located in the USA? > > An interesting case study for the workshop on transboundary issues! > Very interested in more information if anyone has it. > > Ian Peter > > Ian Peter and Associates Pty Ltd > > PO Box 10670 Adelaide StBrisbane 4000 > > Australia > > Tel (+614) 1966 7772 or (+612) 6687 0773 > > www.ianpeter.com > > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > ____________________________________________________________ > You received this message as a subscriber on the list: > governance(a)lists.cpsr.org > To be removed from the list, send any message to: > governance-unsubscribe(a)lists.cpsr.org > > For all list information and functions, see: > http://lists.cpsr.org/lists/info/governance > Regards, Spokesman for INEGroup LLA. - (Over 281k members/stakeholders strong!) "Obedience of the law is the greatest freedom" - Abraham Lincoln "Credit should go with the performance of duty and not with what is very often the accident of glory" - Theodore Roosevelt "If the probability be called P; the injury, L; and the burden, B; liability depends upon whether B is less than L multiplied by P: i.e., whether B is less than PL." United States v. Carroll Towing (159 F.2d 169 [2d Cir. 1947] =============================================================== Updated 1/26/04 CSO/DIR. Internet Network Eng. SR. Eng. Network data security IDNS. div. of Information Network Eng. INEG. INC. ABA member in good standing member ID 01257402 E-Mail jwkckid1(a)ix.netcom.com My Phone: 214-244-4827 ____________________________________________________________ You received this message as a subscriber on the list: governance(a)lists.cpsr.org To be removed from the list, send any message to: governance-unsubscribe(a)lists.cpsr.org For all list information and functions, see: http://lists.cpsr.org/lists/info/governance

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ISPs and Bandwidth
by wesley kiriinya 04 Aug '08

04 Aug '08

Hey, I was wondering whether it's possible for ISPs to be forced under a law (which can be enacted if one doesn't exist) to host applications on their servers that clients can use to check how much bandwidth the client is recieving. I believe it's very unfortunate when ISPs say they are giving a client x bandwidth but the client is experiencing far much less. Isn't that stealing? Bottom line is that the clients need some assurance as to what they are paying for. o_O?

4 4

Mailing List problems: Bouncing/Unsubscription Issue
by Brian Munyao Longwe 04 Aug '08

04 Aug '08

Dear all, Please note that for what seems to be the past 72 hours the KICTANET mailing list server has been experiencing problems that have led it to trigger a feature that automatically unsubscribes mailing list members. Without going into too much detail, the listserv is hosted by a local ISP who has provided a couple of "outgoing" servers that it relays mail through. One of these has had issues and been illegitimately bouncing back messages to the KICTANET server. If you receive a message asking you to confirm your subscription by clicking on a link, please do while you are online and your normal subscription will continue. We apologise for these technical issues and are working with the ISP in question to have them resolved as soon as possible. Best regards, Brian Munyao Longwe Chair, KICTANET

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Re: [kictanet] ISPs and Bandwidth: CCK Problem
by James Kagwe 04 Aug '08

04 Aug '08

This problem of sharing bandwidth is especially worse in buildings using a common infrastructure e.g. WIMAX or fiber. There is no QOS with almost all these providers and during peak hours all the users experience terrible slow down. The providers will mostly woo you by telling you of possibilities of getting even higher bandwidth than you're paying for when traffic is low, but this only happens in the evenings and over the weekends. Internet is however critical to a business during working hours when real business is transacted and real work done. I think it's only good policies and proper enforcement methods that can help us out in this one. But even worse is the way the SLA's for the provisioning of internet are done. Th common practice is where the ISP's does the document while the customer / consumer just sign it. I think there is need for this practice and role to be reversed so that the consumer does the SLA and ensures there are means to measure whether the ISP is keeping to their part of the bargain and what to do when in violation of the agreement. Otherwise for now they have been having their cake and eating it at the same time, as they are the players and also set the rules of the game. CCK can do this, but there's a need for greater technical capacity to enforce it. Regards ________________________________ 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 wesley kiriinya Sent: Friday, August 01, 2008 1:07 PM To: James Kagwe Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: Re: [kictanet] ISPs and Bandwidth: CCK Problem I should also add that we should accept that the said bandwidth will not always be constant, but a certain acceptable margin should be guaranteed. For example someone signing up for 512 may not receive less than about 400. For some businesses where bandwidth is critical then a smaller variance may apply. I've also heard that the 512 (or whichever amount of bandwidth) can be shared. As long as a client is aware of sharing and s/he knows the net bandwidth they should recieve and the variance to expect, and the client goes ahead and signs the contract then no problem. All in all it's a serious issue that leads to a lot of losses when employees can't work because net is down or too slow. If there was a sturdy on this I wouldn't be surprised if the economy is loosing lots(billions) of money. Also consider companies that are afraid to come into the country because of this bandwidth issue. Regards. --- On Fri, 8/1/08, waudo siganga <emailsignet(a)mailcan.com> wrote: From: waudo siganga <emailsignet(a)mailcan.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] ISPs and Bandwidth: CCK Problem To: kiriinya2000(a)yahoo.com Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Friday, August 1, 2008, 12:44 PM Wesley - Your concern is an important one, especially for consumers. I agree with what Mhseshimiwa Rege said yesterday that CCK needs to take more seriously its obligations of ensuring service providers and operators meet obligatory service levels. I do not think that ISPs or other operators/service providers can police themselves. A service like Telkom's ADSL is another example that Kenyans are willing to live with extreme complacency. This service takes to another level what was taught at University that data communications are "bursty", Sometimes you will be lucky to get a few "bursts" in an hour. Two weeks ago our office even lost the ADSL service for about 5 days and yet we are paying a fixed charge of 9,188/= per month. CCK needs to move beyond issuing licences and do its duty under law to ensure that the licensees are meeting the Service levels. This is the only way consumers (who are often ignorant of what to expect) can be protected. Waudo On Wed, 30 Jul 2008 07:17:47 -0700 (PDT), "wesley kiriinya" <kiriinya2000(a)yahoo.com> said: Hey, I was wondering whether it's possible for ISPs to be forced under a law (which can be enacted if one doesn't exist) to host applications on their servers that clients can use to check how much bandwidth the client is recieving. I believe it's very unfortunate when ISPs say they are giving a client x bandwidth but the client is experiencing far much less. Isn't that stealing? Bottom line is that the clients need some assurance as to what they are paying for. o_O? People make a plan work, a plan alone seldom makes people work (Confucius).

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U.S. Intends to Remain in Full Control of Internet Root Zone and more
by alice 03 Aug '08

03 Aug '08

1. US: We Will Not Give Up Oversight Of Internet Domain Name Root Zone The Bush administration has no intention of giving up United States oversight role of the management of the central root zone of the internet domain name system (DNS), the essential database storing information on how to reach domain names on the global internet. http://ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=1185 2. U.S. Intends to Remain in Full Control of Internet Root Zone, Says Letter from NTIA In a letter sent by bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to ICANN, the department has made it clear that despite recent discussions in Paris meetings, the U.S. department intends to remain in full authority over the Internet root zone. http://www.circleid.com/posts/87315_us_in_control_of_internet_root_zone/ 3. Public Comments: Improving Institutional Confidence in ICANN Dear Chairman Dengate-Thrush: On June 16, 2008, the ICANN posted for public comment a series of interrelated documents prepared by the President's Strategy Committee (PSC) regarding improving institutional confidence in ICANN. The Department of Commerce (Department) takes this opportunity as a member of the community and ICANN's partner in the Joint Project Agreement (JPA) to offers its views on such an important topic. http://www.ntia.doc.gov/comments/2008/ICANN_080730.html 4. Egypt / ICANN meeting [news release] The Government of Egypt has the honor to host, in Cairo, the next ICANN meeting, from 2 to 7 November 2008, at InterContinental CityStars Hotel. The ICANN meeting was previously hosted in Cairo in March 2000, by the Egyptian Ministry of Communications, the Cabinet Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) and the Internet Society of Egypt. http://appablog.wordpress.com/2008/07/29/egypt-icann-meeting-2/ 5. ICANN To Offload Domains from De-Accredited Registrar When RegisterFly lost its ICANN accreditation, GoDaddy swooped in to take over the registration of RegisterFly clients' domain names. It was a nice pickup for GoDaddy of nearly 1 million domain names. http://domainnamewire.com/2008/07/31/icann-to-offload-domains-from-de-accre… ********************** - ccTLD & gTLD NEWS ********************** 6. Olympic organisers agree to China blocking 'sensitive' internet sites Olympic organisers 'regret' agreement to restrictions but China claims censorship will not affect reporting of Beijing 2008 ... Chinese officials said the censorship would not hamper journalists in their job of reporting the Games. A BOCOG spokesman Sun Weide said that the plan had always been to provide "sufficient" Internet access for foreign reporters. Sites run by the Falun Gong religious sect remain inaccessible, as do most with the word Tibet in their internet address. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4431162.ece 7. Personalize your domain using .ME The .ME Registry officially opened for live, real-time registrations and was met with huge international demand. .ME after .com, .biz, .eduis spreading around the world with more than 50,000 new domain names with the first "live" name registered being: yusu.me. http://www.ciol.com/Developer/Enterprise-Tools/News-Reports/Personalize-you… 8. Barack Obama Goes .Mobi United States Presidential candidate Barack Obama is leveraging the mobile web to get his message out. His campaign is using ObamaMobile.mobi. And unlike most popular .mobi domain names, it actually resolves to a .mobi domain rather than just forwarding to a mobile version of a .com we site. http://domainnamewire.com/2008/07/29/barack-obama-goes-mobi/ 9. Dot-na Doman Remains Hot Potato THE controversy surrounding Namibia's Internet domain name (.na) is not likely to die down soon, given the recent formation of a new Ministry of Information and Communication Technology. http://www.namibian.com.na/2008/July/national/081AFB7980.html http://allafrica.com/stories/200807310688.html 10. InternetNZ selects web advocate board members InternetNZ has appointed four members to its executive board, formed earlier this year as part of a structural review of the society in order to act as an advocate for internet users. http://www.itbrief.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2464&Ite… 11. The WashBiz Guest Blog: A Day At .ORG Welcome to Day 2 of our little experiment in guest blogging, something we hope captures a small slice of Washington at work. All this week we plan to run posts from Adam Palmer, policy counsel for .ORG, the Public Interest Registry based in Reston. Adam works on policy issues dealing with Internet governance, cyber security, and e-commerce. Today, he talks about what one actually does at .org. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/washbizblog/2008/07/the_washbiz_guest_blog_a… 12. UCC abandons attempt to control Uganda domain name The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) says it is not interested in taking over control of the Uganda country code, .ug. The country code is registered to and controlled by Charles Musisi, an Internet entrepreneur who has managed Uganda domain names over the past 12 years. http://www.independent.co.ug/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=736&… 13. Number of domains in the UZ zone exceeds 7,000 The number of domains registered in the .UZ zone exceeded 7,000 as of 25 July, the administration of the .UZ domain zone said. According to the statistics, the number has grown by about 22% from 5,766 since the beginning of the year. http://www.turkishweekly.net/news.php?id=58005 ********************** - DNS SECURITY ********************** 14. DNS patches cause problems, developers admit Patches released earlier this month to quash a critical bug in the DNS (Domain Name System) have slowed servers running BIND (Berkeley Internet Name Domain), the Internet's most popular DNS software, and crippled some systems versions of Windows Server. http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&article… http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/07/29/DNS_patches_cause_problems_develo… http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/scrt/EA56EA85FA872164CC257496000F71E7 15. Apple skewered over missing DNS patch Apple has come under fire for failing to patch the critical Domain Name System (DNS) flaw which prompted a (rest of) industry wide response earlier this month. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/29/apple_dns_patch_mia/ 16. With Security at Risk, a Push to Patch the Web Since a secret emergency meeting of computer security experts at Microsoft's headquarters in March, Dan Kaminsky has been urging companies around the world to fix a potentially dangerous flaw in the basic plumbing of the Internet. http://nytimes.com/2008/07/30/technology/30flaw.html http://iht.com/articles/2008/07/30/technology/30flaw.php 17. Hackers start DNS attacks, researcher says Hackers are now actively exploiting a critical flaw in the Domain Name System, but they're not using any of the already known exploits, said a researcher who crafted the first attack code to go public. http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&article… 18. Internet providers in Vietnam battle DNS flaw Local internet service providers (ISPs) say they are taking action to overcome a serious flaw inherent in the Domain Name System (DNS) that could allow an attacker to re-direct unwilling web users to dangerous sites. http://english.vietnamnet.vn/tech/2008/07/796258/ ********************** - MISCELLANEOUS ********************** 19. Asia Pacific Internet Community to descend on Christchurch - NZ to host APNIC 26 [news release] Next month, InternetNZ (the Internet Society of New Zealand Inc) and the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC) will jointly host APNIC 26, one of the most important meetings in 2008 for the local Internet community. http://www.internetnz.net.nz/media/2008/apnicevent 20. InternetNZ appoints Executive Board members [news release] InternetNZ (the Internet Society of New Zealand Inc) is pleased to announce it has appointed Peter Dengate-Thrush, June McCabe, Miki Szikszai, and Judy Speight as members of its recently-established Executive Board. http://www.internetnz.net.nz/media/2008/execboard 21. InternetNZ launches Liz Dengate Thrush Foundation [news release] InternetNZ (the Internet Society of New Zealand Inc) is pleased to announce the launch of an Internet entrepreneurship foundation established in memory of Liz Dengate Thrush, a former Councillor of the Society. http://www.internetnz.net.nz/media/2008/ldtf 22. Barack Obama Goes .Mobi United States Presidential candidate Barack Obama is leveraging the mobile web to get his message out. His campaign is using ObamaMobile.mobi. And unlike most popular .mobi domain names, it actually resolves to a .mobi domain rather than just forwarding to a mobile version of a .com we site. http://domainnamewire.com/2008/07/29/barack-obama-goes-mobi/ 23. Why We'll Never Replace SMTP by John Levine John Levine An acquaintance asked whether there's been any progress in the oft-rumored project to come up with a more secure replacement for SMTP. Answer: No. Truly, spam isn't a technical problem, it's a social one. If we could figure out some way to make mail recipient networks and hosts willing to shun known bad actors, even at the cost of losing some real mail for a while until the bad actors cave, it would make vastly more difference than any possible technical changes. http://www.circleid.com/posts/replacing_smtp/ 24. Emirates airline website plummets offline in A380 excitement Dubai's government-owned airline, Emirates, forgot to renew its domain name this week, sending its website crashing offline on the same day it was trumpeting delivery of its first Airbus A380 superjumbo. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/31/emirates_domain_loss/ ********************** - DOMAINING & AFTERMARKET ********************** 25. Find an Undervalued Asset. Fix It Up. Flip It. (Now It's Web Sites, Not Houses) Dave Hermansen did not own a bird or a cage when he bought bird-cage.com, an online store, for $1,800 three years ago. He simply saw a Web site that was "very, very poorly done," and begged the owners to sell it to him. He then redesigned the site, added advertising and drove up traffic. Last December, he sold it for $173,000. http://nytimes.com/2008/07/29/technology/29flip.html 26. Matt Bentley Leaving Sedo Sedo Chief Strategy Officer Matt Bentley is leaving the company, Sedo announced today. The move is effective the end of this month. http://domainnamewire.com/2008/07/29/matt-bentley-leaving-sedo/ 27. Imminent Domaining: The domain name market is a hot investment opportunity for entrepreneurs. One hundred domains. Sounds like a good, round, impressive number. And 100 felt like a lot for Howard Hoffman, who began snapping up domains like HealthWater.com and SportsWater.com to help redirect web surfers to his bottled water company's site, taking advantage of what's called "type-in traffic," when users just enter words or a guessed-at domain into the browser address bar. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25932453/ 28. Moniker/Snapnames accidentally sell the wrong domain Imagine the following scenario: A registrant owns a .NET version of your .COM domain and decides to list it with SnapNames. However he mistypes the domain by entering the .COM version in the spreadsheet he sends to his account manager. http://www.domainnamenews.com/registrars/monikersnapnames-accidentally-sell… 29. Crash Course Guide to Domain Name Appraisals Ever looked for new domains to buy in auctions, pending delete, or expired? I'm sure all of us have some difficulty appraising the value of domains. The process is both easy and hard at the same time, especially when considering the long term value and not necessarily the present value. Grabbing a domain name now that holds a potential-value in the future is a real-niche and requires some strategy. Though the remaining names market and especially the gTLDs (Generic Top Level Domain Extensions, e.g. .COM/.NET/.ORG) is saturated and sometimes impossible to get a nice ones but there are some techniques to grab excellent and superior names using some technique we had successfully put on trial and lead us successfully to acquire many domains such as EVERNET.com and PreLanding.com. In this article, I will be highlighting some quick techniques to evaluate domains for the present or near-future resale value. http://www.dotsauce.com/2008/07/31/domain-name-appraisals/ 30. Google makes 6 Figure Offer for KNOL.com For a vacuum cleaner reseller from Dordrecht in the Netherlands, Europe, this week may very well be the time of their life!. The family Knol have been the owner of the domain name knol.com for many years and it looks like Google is interested in purchasing the domain! Google has reportedly offered "a sum of five zeros." http://www.domainnews.com/en/general/google-makes-a-5-figure-offer-for-knol… ********************** - NON-ENGLISH NEWS ********************** 31. Österreicher lieben heimische Domains "Die .com-Ära ist vorbei – wir leben in einem Zeitalter des lokalen Internets, wo regionale Anker immer wichtiger werden", bringt nic.at-Geschäftsführer Richard Wein das Hauptergebnis der Domain-Studie 2008 auf den Punkt. Die im Mai vom Meinungsforschungsinstitut Marketagent durchgeführte Befragung der webaktiven Bevölkerung in Östereich zeigt: ".at" ist im Vormarsch und mit Abstand am beliebtesten bei heimischen Internetnutzern. http://www.computerwelt.at/detailArticle.asp?a=116636&n=5 32. DNS-Lücke in Mac OS X weiter ungepatcht Drei Wochen nach Bekanntwerden der Sicherheitslücke im Domain Name System (DNS) hat Apple bisher noch kein Update für Mac OS X veröffentlicht. "Apple nutzt den populären BIND-DNS-Server des Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) für Mac OS X Server. Obwohl der BIND-Server zu den ersten Anwendungen gehört, für die ein Update zur Verfügung stand, hat Apple die korrigierte Version noch nicht für Mac OS X Server freigegeben", kritisiert der Sicherheitsforscher Rich Mogull in einem Blogeintrag. http://www.zdnet.de/security/news/0,39029460,39194237,00.htm 33. Online-Reisen im Schatten der Typosquatter Reisen werden mittlerweile sehr gerne online gebucht. Netnames, Spezialist für Domainnamen-Management, warnt in diesem Zusammenhang: Schon ein unbedachter Tippfehler in der Internetadresse und Kunden laufen Gefahr, in die Fänge so genannter Typosquatter zu geraten. "Beim Tippen der Domainnamen schleicht sich, egal, ob aus Unwissenheit oder durch die allgemeine Vorurlaubshektik, so mancher Fehler ein. Wollen Reiseanbieter, die das Internet als Vertriebskanal nutzen, potenzielle Kunden nicht verlieren und sich vor Online-Betrügern schützen, gibt es ein einfaches Rezept: Sie können dafür sorgen, dass selbst die nicht ganz korrekte Schreibweise der URL zum richtigen Ziel führt", rät Bernd Beiser, Geschäftsführer der Netnames nicht gänzlich uneigennützig. Unternehmen sollten sich daher auch Domainnamen sichern, die gängige Tippfehler oder Buchstabendreher enthalten. http://www.computerwelt.at/detailArticle.asp?a=116615&n=4 34. Olympisches Komitee akzeptiert Internetzensur in China Kürzlich sprach IOC-Präsident Rogge noch von einem "unzensierten Zugang zum Internet" zu den Spielen in Peking. Ein leeres Versprechen, denn die Zensur geht weiter, auch für die chinesischen DW-WORLD-Seiten. ... Um beispielsweise einen Zugriff auf die Seiten www.dw-world.de/chinese unmöglich zu machen, wird unter anderem verhindert, dass Browser-Eingaben wie www.dw-world.de/chinese mit einem sogenannten Domain Name Server (DNS) in die technisch notwendige Zieladresse in Form einer IP-Adresse (194.55.30.46) übersetzt werden. Gleichzeitig wird der Zugriff auf diese Server-Adressen blockiert, so dass Internet-Anwender auch mit der direkten Eingabe der IP-Adresse nicht zum Ziel kommen. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,3524889,00.html 35. Wie China unliebsame Websites blockiert Was den Journalisten im Pressezentrum der Olympischen Spiele in Peking widerfährt, ist im Rest des Landes Alltag: In der Volksrepublik China - mit Ausnahme von Hongkong und Macao - gibt es keinen freien Zugang zum Internet, unliebsame Inhalte lassen die Machthaber blockieren. ... Will man eine Adresse wie «amnesty.org» mit dem Browser aufrufen, muss dieser Name erst in eine für Computer verwendbare, eindeutige Nummernkombination übersetzt werden - die IP-Adresse. Diese Aufgabe erledigen Domain Name Server, welche die Internet Provider betreiben. Die Unternehmen können mit Filtern verhindern, dass die Datenbanken die IP-Adressen regimekritischer Portale ausliefern. http://www.ov-online.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=129170&It… http://www.rhein-main.net/sixcms/detail.php/rmn01.c.5014507.de/v2_rmn_sport… http://www.digitalfernsehen.de/news/news_381044.html 36. Internet-Tippfehler können schnell teuer werden Der britische Domainspezialist Netnames ist ein Unternehmen, das sich auf die Fahne geschrieben hat, Firmenidentitäten und Marken vor Domainmissbrauch zu schützen. http://www.channelpartner.de/knowledgecenter/security/263772/index.html 37. Ist der Provider sicher? [DPA] Auf eine besonders tückische Sicherheitslücke bei der Internetnutzung macht das Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik (BSI) in Bonn aufmerksam. Die Lücke besteht im sogenannten Domain Name System (DNS) und betrifft daher potenziell alle Nutzer. http://www.pcwelt.de/start/sicherheit/sicherheitsluecken/news/173581/expert… http://www.n-tv.de/Erst_Update_dann_Virus_Ist_der_Provider_sicher/310720080… 38. Sicherheitslücke: Das Virus kommt per Update Auf eine tückische Sicherheitslücke bei der Internetnutzung macht das Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik (BSI) in Bonn aufmerksam. Die Lücke besteht im sogenannten Domain Name System (DNS) und betrifft daher potenziell alle Nutzer. http://www.volksstimme.de/vsm/magazin/digital/digital_news/?&em_cnt=1118023 39. UDRP : la Czech Arbitration Court veut lancer un projet pilote La Czech Arbitration Court (CAC), accréditée comme institution de règlement depuis le 23 janvier 2008, a saisi l'ICANN d'une requête visant à lui permettre d'expérimenter un projet pilote. http://domainesinfo.fr/actualite/1598/udrp-la-czech-arbitration-court-veut-… 40. Express.com : transfert judiciaire d'un nom "hijacké" Après avoir perdu le contrôle du nom de domaine express.com dans des conditions relativement mystérieuses, une société américaine en obtient le transfert devant le juge californien. http://domainesinfo.fr/actualite/1590/express-com-transfert-judiciaire-d-un… 41. Perfectionnement du DRS de Nominet L'institution de règlement des litiges relatifs au .UK a procédé à un ajustement du DRS, faisant de cette procédure un modèle du genre. http://domainesinfo.fr/actualite/1600/perfectionnement-de-la-drs-nominet.php 42. Internet: i domini del registro italiano sono milione e mezzo I domini internet del registro italiano (.it) hanno superato il milione e mezzo con un picco massimo diregistrazioni nel maggio scorso. Si rafforza così la posizione della rete "made in Italy", che conquista così ilquinto posto in Europa ed ilsettimo nel mondo. http://www.nove.firenze.it/vediarticolo.asp?id=a8.07.30.13.56 43. Argentina: Nombres de dominio internacionalizados. Resolución 616/2008. Resolución 616/2008 - REGISTRACION DE NOMBRES DE DOMINIO EN INTERNET. Incorpóranse caracteres multilingües pertenecientes al idioma español y portugués, para la registración de nombres de dominio de Nivel Superior Argentina (.AR). http://www.leandrotoscano.com/2008/07/argentina-nombres-de-dominio.html 44. Aprueban los caracteres en español para dominios web El Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores aprobó los signos en castellano y portugués en la registración de los nombres de dominio de internet de la Argentina. http://www.derf.com.ar/despachos.asp?cod_des=213889&ID_Seccion=21 45. Encuentro LACNIC-CARIBE, se realizó en Curazao, 21-22 de Julio/2008 Más de 70 participantes provenientes de más de 15 países de la región de América Latina y el Caribe se reunieron los 21 y 22 de Julio en Curazao (Antillas Neerlandesas) en el encuentro LACNIC-CARIBE. El encuentro fue seguido por el 4to Foro de Gobernanza de Internet en el Caribe organizado por la Unión de Telecomunicaciones del Caribe (CTU) y contó con el apoyo de la Oficina de Telecomunicaciones y Correo (Bureau of Telecommunication and Post) de Curazao. http://www.latinoamericann.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=articl… 46. Incorporan caracteres multilingües a dominios de internet El Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Comercio Internacional y Culto incorporó los caracteres multilingües de los idiomas español y portugués en la registración de los nombres de dominio de internet de Argentina, según publica hoy el Boletín Oficial. http://www.lacapital.com.ar/contenidos/2008/07/31/noticia_0018.html http://www.territoriodigital.com/nota.aspx?c=2778576382109578 http://ar.news.yahoo.com/s/31072008/40/n-argentina-incorporan-caracteres-mu… 47. Story in Vietnamese on DNS http://vn.news.yahoo.com/vne/20080730/ttc-p-a-viet-nam-a-khac-phuc-uoc-60-w… _______________________________________________ AfrICANN mailing list AfrICANN(a)afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/africann

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Cloud computing - moving the country ahead
by wesley kiriinya 01 Aug '08

01 Aug '08

Good Furahi-day Gentlmen & Ladies, I believe the govenment, parastatals, related agencies and private organizations like financial institutions e.g. CMA, should consider cloud computing as a way to move Kenya ahead. Why? I will answer that briefly with some examples. 1. Any organization (e.g. NGOs) who wants to transact with govenment can link with their Web Service applications. A Web Service application is a piece of software that runs on a server. It encapsulates the business rules of an organization and it is specialized in performing a particular function. More than one Web Service application can be used to create an entire business process. Institutions have rules and services that they provide and sometimes it's not really their interest to act on those rules i.e. they can create rules meant to be followed by other institutions/organizations, these are good candidates for Web Service applications. For example the ministry of immigration can host a Web Service application that simply maintains the records of people in Kenya, and any other institution (e.g. banks) that wants access to this information knows where the official place for getting the information is. Therefore software running in the bank meant should link with the Web Service application from the immigration department to obtain people's records. This point is very summarized. I would encourage you to open your mind and think of the possibilities. One of the basic ideas here is Separation of Concerns i.e. do what you are meant to do and do it well! 2. It is independent of the platform on which the Web services/cloud computing is taking place. 3. There is great investment in the local fibre connection and in the next few years it seems network connection will be very good. 4. Business for data centers. 5. It is local content! 6. It is cheaper to build and maintain. One barrier might be whether the current software systems bought (by government) can be easily configured to work in a cloud computing environment, i.e. having the software run as web services. If these systems were done locally (apart from the obvious gains of employment, utilizing the country's knowlegable workforce, encouraging research in higher education institutions, etc) adjusting them to new technology is convinient and the client buying the software is bound to Kenyan law and not the laws of the country where the software originated. Another advantage of going local is that foreign companies that charge expensively for their software might be reluctant to adjust the software to work with technology that is cheaper for the client and in this case Web Services are probably cheaper as refactoring (changing) the software is less complex because the components are loosely coupled. This is a big topic and I should probably write a proper/formal paper on this but due to time I cannot, though if anyone manages to write one have the courtesy to credit me (if u got the idea from this email). Regards. 8~)

1 0

Cloud computing - moving the country ahead
by wesley kiriinya 01 Aug '08

01 Aug '08

Good Furahi-day Gentlmen & Ladies, I believe the govenment, parastatals, related agencies and private organizations like financial institutions e.g. CMA, should consider cloud computing as a way to move Kenya ahead. Why? I will answer that briefly with some examples. 1. Any organization (e.g. NGOs) who wants to transact with govenment can link with their Web Service applications. A Web Service application is a piece of software that runs on a server. It encapsulates the business rules of an organization and it is specialized in performing a particular function. More than one Web Service application can be used to create an entire business process. Institutions have rules and services that they provide and sometimes it's not really their interest to act on those rules i.e. they can create rules meant to be followed by other institutions/organizations, these are good candidates for Web Service applications. For example the ministry of immigration can host a Web Service application that simply maintains the records of people in Kenya, and any other institution (e.g. banks) that wants access to this information knows where the official place for getting the information is. Therefore software running in the bank meant should link with the Web Service application from the immigration department to obtain people's records. This point is very summarized. I would encourage you to open your mind and think of the possibilities. One of the basic ideas here is Separation of Concerns i.e. do what you are meant to do and do it well! 2. It is independent of the platform on which the Web services/cloud computing is taking place. 3. There is great investment in the local fibre connection and in the next few years it seems network connection will be very good. 4. Business for data centers. 5. It is local content! 6. It is cheaper to build and maintain. One barrier might be whether the current software systems bought (by government) can be easily configured to work in a cloud computing environment, i.e. having the software run as web services. If these systems were done locally (apart from the obvious gains of employment, utilizing the country's knowlegable workforce, encouraging research in higher education institutions, etc) adjusting them to new technology is convinient and the client buying the software is bound to Kenyan law and not the laws of the country where the software originated. Another advantage of going local is that foreign companies that charge expensively for their software might be reluctant to adjust the software to work with technology that is cheaper for the client and in this case Web Services are probably cheaper as refactoring (changing) the software is less complex because the components are loosely coupled. This is a big topic and I should probably write a proper/formal paper on this but due to time I cannot, though if anyone manages to write one have the courtesy to credit me (if u got the idea from this email). Regards. 8~)

1 0

Fwd: NSE @ Week 31
by Bill Kagai 01 Aug '08

01 Aug '08

MediaCorp (c) Empowering Investors** *Global Overview* MediaCorp last week finalised an agreement setting ground for establishment of MediaCorp [UG] Ltd which will now be housed on Plot3, Pan Africa House along Kimathi Avenue in Kampala. This will help us serve our Uganda Clients better and also provide Kenyan investors with better intelligence on the Uganda financial market. MediaCorp [TZ] and MediaCorp Dubai Offices will also be operational by December 2008. Dubai is increasingly becoming the *financial hub closest to Nairobi *and quickly overtaking Johannesburg's relevance more so, due to easier requirements for visa processing and larger capital base supporting the emerging new economy in East Africa. MediaCorp in collaboration with our partner in Dubai will soon be releasing new indices to gauge investment coming from Asia/Middle East into East Africa. As Africa continues to privatise national assets in line with *structural policies of the Bretton Woods institutions*, the mortgage crisis in America which has hit banks severely *prompts new thinking on how effective this strategy really is*. In an election year, the U.S. Congress approved a massive housing market rescue bill on Saturday, offering emergency financing to mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and setting up a USD 300-billion fund to help hundreds of thousands of troubled homeowners. Though this eases but not ends the crisis, it does prove how critical Government involvement is in sensitive facets of the economy. Private finance in mortgages has simply been withdrawn, and *the bill seeks to empower Treasury/Government to buy shares into these companies should they run into trouble*. In other words, Nationalisation has gripped America through the back door and serves as a lesson to African Governments in a hurry to release national assets to private companies who will quickly fold in when signs of economic distress become visible. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac problems can easily be compared to Rift Valley Railways which is clearly on its deathbed should the Government fail to intervene. Running the port and railway as one unit could be the solution East Africa should be pursuing. Globally, stocks behaved badly. The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 1.1 percent and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX slipped 0.2 percent. In contrast, the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.2 percent. Britain's blue-chip FTSE index ended 0.2 percent lower on Friday, as banking and insurance stocks fell on a gloomy economic outlook, outweighing gains in commodities and retail sector shares. In Hong Kong and Tokyo, stocks fell by 2% though both markets reported the best weekly gains in 3 months. *Local Highlights* Nothing much to write home about in the local market. Turnover this week declined to Kshs.2.3bn from the previous week's Kshs.5.6bn. The number of shares traded stood at 228M against 231M posted the previous week. The NSE 20-share index was down 1.24% during the week to close at 4963.46 points. The NSE All share index shaved-off a total of 0.23 points during the week to stand at 105.71. *Dividends Update* BAT • 1st & Final Dividend: 4.50/= • Payment: 5-Sep-08 Olympia • Dividend: 0.20/= • Payment: 11-Aug-08 • Books closed: 23-Jul-08 Centum • 1st & Final Dividend: 0.45/= • Books close: 7-Aug-08 • Payment: 16-Oct-08 Kapchorua • 1st & Final Dividend: 0.50/= • Books close: 25-Jul-08 Williamson Tea • 1st & Final Dividend: 0.50/= • Books close: 25-Jul-08 Kenya Airways • 1st & Final Dividend: 1.75/= • Payment: 24-Oct-08 Agriculture sector traded 187,000 shares, which accounted for 0.08% of the week's traded volume. Sasini was the most heavily traded counter in this sector, with 142,000 shares changing hands at between shs.12.80 and shs.14.00. Rea-vipingo unchanged at shs.18.70 moved 41,000 shares. Commercials had 209M shares traded, which accounted for 91.95% of the week's traded volume. Safaricom Ltd was the week's biggest mover with 204M shares dealt at between shs.6.20 and shs.6.95. CMC Holdings eased fifteen cents to close the week at shs.19.85 on a volume of 2.8M shares. Financials had 9.8M shares traded and represented 4.29% of the week's volume. Equity Bank down 0.32% to shs.307.00 moved 879,000 shares despite Kshs 3 Billion in profit for H1. KCB actively moved 3.5M shares at between shs.29.50 and shs.31.00. Centum Investment down 4.81% to shs.24.75 moved 1.6M shares. Industrial sector had 8.1M shares, which accounted for 3.59% of the week's volume. KenGen moved 3M shares during the week and closed at shs.24.50. Mumias Sugar moved 3M shares at between shs.11.00 and shs.12.00. Alternative Investment Segment moved 209,000 shares, which accounted for less than 1% of the week's traded volume. Express Ltd down 0.51% to shs.19.40 sold 200,000 shares. *NSE Highlights* * * * * *18th July* *21st July* *22nd July* *23rd July* *24th July* *25th July* *Price Change * *Price Change * *Shares Traded Last Week* *Total Shares Issued* *Agricultural* *Code* *Unilever Tea* *UNLV* 45.00 45.00 45.00 0.00 0.00% - 48,875,000 *Kakuzi* *KAKZ* 34.50 40.00 39.75 35.00 35.00 0.50 1.45% 3,800 19,599,999 *Rea Vipingo* *RVPL* 18.70 19.80 19.40 18.75 18.75 18.70 0.00 0.00% 41,764 60,000,000 *Sasini* *STCL* 13.55 13.75 13.00 13.05 13.15 13.45 -0.10 -0.74% 142,150 228,055,500 * * * * *Commercial & Services* * * *Access Kenya Group* *AKGL* 34.25 35.50 35.50 32.50 34.75 33.00 -1.25 -3.65% 1,531,783 199,885,578 *Car & Gen* *CAGR* 52.50 50.00 51.00 50.50 51.00 -1.50 -2.86% 3,622 22,279,616 *CMC* *CMCH* 20.00 21.00 20.50 19.95 20.50 19.85 -0.15 -0.75% 2,854,852 582,709,440 *Hutchings Biemer* *HUBM* 20.25 20.25 0.00 0.00% - 360,000 *Kenya Airways Ltd* *KAIR* 48.50 49.00 48.50 47.75 48.75 47.50 -1.00 -2.06% 295,409 461,615,484 *Marshalls*** *MSHL* 30.00 30.00 30.00 30.00 30.00 0.00 0.00% 1,000 14,393,106 *Nation Media Group.* *NATN* 333.00 345.00 346.00 338.00 344.00 339.00 6.00 1.80% 64,589 71,305,260 *Safaricom* *SCOM* 6.20 6.30 6.90 6.45 6.95 6.35 0.15 2.42% 204,880,376 40,000,000,000 *Scangroup Ltd* *SCGP* 31.00 32.00 32.25 30.75 32.00 30.50 -0.50 -1.61% 301,324 160,000,000 *Standard Group Ltd * *STDG* 57.50 59.00 59.50 60.50 56.50 -1.00 -1.74% 12,961 73,275,029 *TPS Eastern Africa (Serena) Ltd* *TPEA* 69.00 69.00 68.50 67.50 69.50 68.50 -0.50 -0.72% 30,486 105,864,742 *Uchumi Supermarkets* *UCHM* 14.50 14.50 0.00 0.00% - 180,000,000 * * * * *Financial* * * *Barclays Bank* *BARC* 68.50 69.00 68.50 68.50 68.00 67.00 -1.50 -2.19% 442,420 1,357,884,000 *CFC Bank* *CFCB* 109.00 115.00 115.00 110.00 111.00 108.00 -1.00 -0.92% 32,599 273,684,211 *Diamond Trust* *DTBK* 94.50 95.00 95.00 94.00 95.00 94.50 0.00 0.00% 99,084 163,037,108 *Equity Bank Ltd* *EQTY* 308.00 306.00 307.00 302.00 307.00 307.00 -1.00 -0.32% 879,717 362,209,905 *Housing Finance* *HFCK* 30.00 32.25 30.50 28.75 28.50 28.75 -1.25 -4.17% 1,274,218 115,000,000 *Centum Limited* *CENT* 26.00 26.50 26.75 25.00 26.00 24.75 -1.25 -4.81% 1,642,000 549,951,880 *Jubilee Holdings Ltd* *JBLH* 181.00 185.00 185.00 177.00 185.00 179.00 -2.00 -1.10% 26,250 45,000,000 *KCB* *KCBL* 30.50 30.25 30.00 30.00 31.00 30.00 -0.50 -1.64% 3,524,598 *Kenya** Re* *KERE* 15.95 16.25 16.00 15.70 16.00 15.75 -0.20 -1.25% 1,239,485 600,000,000 *National Bank* *NBKL* 65.00 61.00 60.50 63.00 61.50 63.50 -1.50 -2.31% 398,706 200,000,000 *National Industrial Credit* *NICB* 58.00 58.50 58.00 56.00 57.50 56.00 -2.00 -3.45% 188,523 296,692,383 *Pan Africa Insurance Holdings Ltd* *PAIH* 73.00 70.00 70.00 70.00 70.00 -3.00 -4.11% 6,200 48,000,000 *Standard Chartered Bank* *SCBL* 202.00 204.00 205.00 200.00 208.00 201.00 -1.00 -0.50% 46,204 271,967,810 * * * * *Industrial & Allied* * * *Athi River Mining Ltd* *ARML* 113.00 105.00 106.00 112.00 108.00 112.00 -1.00 -0.88% 62,801 94,000,000 *BOC (K)* *BOCK* 160.00 160.00 0.00 0.00% - 19,525,446 *Bamburi* *BMBR* 195.00 195.00 192.00 192.00 192.00 190.00 -5.00 -2.56% 5,570 362,959,275 *British American Tobacco* *BATK* 158.00 164.00 161.00 160.00 161.00 159.00 1.00 0.63% 15,087 100,000,000 *Carbacid* *CARB* 137.00 137.00 0.00 0.00% - 11,326,755 *Crown Berger * *CRBG* 38.75 40.00 39.25 38.00 38.75 38.00 -0.75 -1.94% 31,400 23,727,000 *E.A.Cables* *EACL* 38.75 40.25 40.00 38.25 39.50 37.00 -1.75 -4.52% 172,983 202,500,000 *E.A.Portland* *EAPC* 115.00 110.00 108.00 -7.00 -6.09% 400 90,000,000 *E.A.Breweries* *EABL* 194.00 191.00 192.00 194.00 197.00 194.00 0.00 0.00% 393,464 790,774,356 *Eveready East Africa Ltd* *EEAL* 5.10 5.50 5.75 5.10 5.50 5.40 0.30 5.88% 199,650 210,000,000 *Kenol* *KOCL* 90.00 92.50 90.50 89.50 92.50 91.00 1.00 1.11% 670,257 147,176,120 *K.Pow.& L.* *KPLC* 203.00 206.00 201.00 198.00 201.00 191.00 -12.00 -5.91% 142,410 79,128,000 *KenGen* *KEGN* 24.00 23.50 23.25 23.50 23.25 24.50 0.50 2.08% 3,013,895 2,198,361,456 *Mumias* *MSCL* 11.65 12.15 11.95 11.65 11.55 11.20 -0.45 -3.86% 3,004,576 1,530,000,000 *Olympia** Capital Holdings* *OCHL* 15.20 15.20 15.35 14.95 15.10 14.55 -0.65 -4.28% 71,780 40,000,000 *Sameer Africa Ltd* *SAMR* 9.00 9.60 9.50 8.95 9.50 9.10 0.10 1.11% 218,859 278,342,393 *Total* *TOTL* 32.50 30.25 30.00 32.00 29.75 31.75 -0.75 -2.31% 149,600 175,064,706 *Unga* *UNGA* 12.60 13.45 12.65 12.60 12.75 12.45 -0.15 -1.19% 45,354 63,090,728 * * * * *Alternative Investment Market Sector (AIMS)* *A.Baumann* *ABCL* 11.10 11.10 0.00 0.00% - 3,840,066 *City Trust * *CITL* 135.00 148.00 150.00 133.00 -2.00 -1.48% 2,200 5,207,558 *Eaagads* *EAGD* 37.00 35.00 -2.00 -5.41% 4,800 8,039,250 *Express * *EXPK* 19.50 19.55 19.05 19.40 19.40 19.40 -0.10 -0.51% 200,306 35,403,790 *Williamson Tea* *WTKL* 73.00 73.00 73.00 75.00 2.00 2.74% 2,000 8,756,320 *Kapchorua* *KTCL* 75.00 78.00 80.00 78.00 75.00 0.00 0.00% - 3,912,000 *K.Orchads* *KEOL* 3.00 3.00 0.00 0.00% - 12,868,124 *Limuru Tea* *LTCL* 338.00 338.00 0.00 0.00% - 600,000 * * Bildad Kagai MD - MediaCorp Limited Nairobi Stock Exchange Authorised Information Vendor Suite B2, Tetu Apartments, State House Avenue P. O. Box 20311 - 00200 Nairobi, Kenya Tel. 254 20 272 8332 Fax. Rendered Obsolete S - 1°17'13.8" E - 36°48'22.7" --- www.mediacorp.co.ke

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cocktail @6pm KICC
by Rebecca Wanjiku 31 Jul '08

31 Jul '08

The cocktail starts at 6pm, Ndemo, Njoroge (new DG), and Waweru (former DG) will be present Tel. 254 720 318 925 blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/

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