Month: April 2005

Categories
Computing Humor

Enhancing Data Transfer Rates

When RFC1149 was originally published on April 1 1990, it seemed that the entry barrier to implementing this method of encapsulation was too high. But as always in technology, time has seen change and it took a mere 11 years for a working implementation of TCP IP over Avian Carriers to surface.

Now with the advent of higher speed technologies such as ADSL, experiments in optimisation have been conducted on this protocol. The result: Carrier Pigeon is FASTER than ADSL!

Further biological carrier experiments were conducted a year later, with the discovery that even snails are faster than ADSL. Now that is progress far superceding even the likes of Moore’s law, I believe.

Categories
Rants

Why no daylight savings in ZA?

According to about.com the US has significant enrgy savings through their implementation of daylight savings. I never thought of daylight savings as an energy saver, but it must be true. Here’s the excerpt:

How Does Daylight Savings Time Save Energy?
Theory has it that daylight savings time promotes energy conservation. According to the California Energy Commission, energy use and the demand for electricity for lighting homes is directly connected to bedtime. When people go to bed, they turn of lights, TVs and other appliances, which account for about 25 percent of America’s daily total use of electricity.

Studies done in the 1970s by the U.S. Department of Transportation show that America’s electricity usage is reduced by about one percent during each day that daylight savings time is in effect.

I’m definitely not the biggest fan of early rising, and daylight saving would throw me off for at least a week, but surely energy saving is a good enough reason to have daylight saving in South Africa?

Categories
Computing

SAIX.net a haven for 419ers

So according to the Spamhaus project, whose spam realtime blacklists I have just implemented, SAIX.net has at least five listings for hosting spam relays.

See them here.

I’m not going to bypass these blacklists for the sake of one or two adsl clients that use my mail servers, they must complain to Telkom. It is not my problem.

Good old Telkom hard at work again…

Categories
Computing

Business Day takes Telkom apart

On the back of a new study by Genesis Analytics, the Business Day has ripped Telkom’s pricing structure to shreds with the following articles: 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Finally, some of the excellent citizen journalism is taking root in traditional media.

Categories
Rants

Offline Car Googling

Due to the untimely demise of my Polo Playa, I have now unexpectedly found myself in the market for a new vehicle. As far as my research goes, the following are options at the top end of my price range (in no particular order):

Volkswagen Polo 1.6 Comfortline – R136 350


Problem here is that a new Polo is being launched in July


Citroen C2 VTS – R145 000


Renault Clio 1.4 Expression A/T 5-dr – R137 995
or Renault Clio 1.6 Dynamique 3-dr – R 139 995


Toyota RunX 140 RT – R137 879


Honda Jazz 1.4 i-DSI Manual – R132 500

As for Opel Corsa, well their website is useless. Minus one point for them.

So here’s my question: which one? Or should a aim for something cheaper and quicker to pay off? The comments section awaits your input…

I needed a stolen car like I need Windows on my PC.