Categories
Computing Web

State of the Internet

State of The Internet

Cool stats in this short interweb summary.

Categories
Computing Entertainment Web

Command & Conquer Freeware Downloads

https://i0.wp.com/www.commandandconquer.com/sites/all/themes/cnc/locale/en/images/classic/masthead.jpg?w=580

In anticipation of the up and coming Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight, the previous releases in the series, Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, Tiberian Dawn, and Red Alert are now all available for download for FREE from EA Games. Major bonus if you never had the bucks or the PC capability to run them previously. Get your retro-war on now!

My only concern now is the use of the word “Twilight” in the new game’s title. Let’s hope Yuri is not a glittering vamp this time round.

Categories
Freedom Technology Web

The Big Broadband Battle Begins

Partial map of the Internet based on the Janua...
Image via Wikipedia

I can hardly contain my excitement: R145 for 5GB! Kick ASS! Competition in the broadband market? Cheaper prices? I think I just peed my pants.

I’m just posting it straight here: (source)

Afrihost set to shake up ADSL market with R 29.00 per GB ADSL service

Local hosting company Afrihost has released the proverbial cat among the pigeons with its R 29.00 per GB ADSL offering.  The company today announced that it has cut the price of its ADSL data bundles from R 57 per GB to R 29 per GB.

Afrihost’s 1 GB data bundle now costs R 29.00 per month while the company’s 2 GB, 3 GB and 5 GB ADSL data bundle pricing has been reduced to R 58, R 87 and R 145 respectively.  Data top-ups have fallen to R29 per GB and their prepaid data lowered to R49 per GB.

The ADSL bandwidth is provisioned over the Internet Solutions backbone and all accounts come standard with email accounts and webmail access.  The accounts are month-to-month contracts with no long term lock-ins.

“With our new offer we wanted to make as BIG a splash as possible and give the most value to our clients – so after much debating and calculating we decided to go as low as we can go,” explains Afrihost CEO Gian Visser.

Afrihost made it clear that it is a limited offer aimed at early adopters.  “Remember we can’t guarantee that we will offer this R29.00 deal forever – but what we can guarantee you is that if you are quick enough and signup in time then your price of R29 per GB will be locked in for whatever package you bought,” Visser said.

Existing Afrihost ADSL clients may be happy to hear that their subscription price has also been changed to R 29.00 per GB.

Thank you Afrihost. Much love. Let us hope others follow where you have led the way.

Categories
Technology Web

The Grid Apps for iPhone and Android

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Image by movirtu via Flickr

While MTN’s social networking endeavours seem to amount to simply making more Africans text each other more, Vodacom actually seems to be embracing mobile social media with their “The Grid” location-based social network. It boasts a number of features, and is probably worth trying out – some pretty good stuff is being/has been rolled out, including Facebook and Twitter integration, a mapping solution for driving directions (!!) and an Instant Messaging feature. Even better, they haven’t locked the service into a single network provider – The Grid works the same no matter which network operator you’re using (apparently). And now that they’ve developed a The Grid application for the JesusPhone as well as the Android platform, the barrier of entry to joining The Grid is much much lower, so presumably more of your social circle will be using the platform.

Now all Vodacom has to do is make mobile data dirt cheap.

Personally I haven’t registered yet for a few reasons:
1) I hate Java apps but I love Nokia – there’s no native Symbian client, and Java kills battery life.
2) The niggling privacy issue where you can be tracked by a local company that is subject to South African law corruption.
3) DATA IS TOO EXPENSIVE STILL!

Anyway, enough of my bitching, here’s the latest press release:

Vodacom’s The Grid, South Africa¹s first location-based mobile social
network, today launched iPhone and Android applications, allowing these
users to see their friends on local street maps, chat to them via instant
messaging and upload or view geo-tagged content.

This new Grid iPhone application combines the iPhone¹s GPS functionality and
Vodacom¹s location based (LBS) technology to display a user¹s approximate
position on a map. Maps on the Grid are populated by user-generated content
(text, images and videos) that are geo-tagged to a specific location. In
addition users are notified when their friends log onto the Grid and are
shown their position on a map to make it easy and simple to meet up.

The Grid iPhone application is available for free download on the Apple
iPhone App store.

Android application

In addition a Grid application for Android, a mobile software platform
initially developed by Google using the Linux operating system, has also
been made available. Aside from having access to Grid functionality such as
instant messaging, map browsing and media sharing, the Android application
allows users to share photos and videos straight from their cellphone¹s
camera.

The Grid Android application is available for free download on OpenMarket,
Android’s online application store as well as on The Grid website,
http://www.thegrid.co.za.

Integration with other social networks

The latest Grid application releases, follow Grid integration with other
social networks Twitter and Facebook. Grid users can now automatically
update their Twitter and Facebook statuses from the Grid’s mobile
application or website, with the added benefit of their location being
tagged e.g. ‘Mark is in the mood for a coffee (near Bryanston)’.

Says Shameel Joosub, Managing Director, Vodacom South Africa: “The
opportunities offered by location-based technology is starting to have a
lasting impact on people’s lives. We’re making it easy to make use of the
Grid on new handsets and also by integrating existing social networks,
adding a whole new dimension to the way people communicate.”

For further information visit www.thegrid.co.za

Categories
politics Rants Security Technology Web

FIFA World Cup Durban Site Cookie Fail

Apparently the 2010 Durban FIFA World Cup site cost 6.5 million bucks to develop. Yeah. R6.5 million. R 6 500 000. I’m making that a tax deduction on my IRP5 next year.

I asked for more details, but only time will tell if they release that info.

Anyway, according to their Privacy Policy the site does not use cookies. Firefox has something else to say about that.

Durban 2010 Website does make use of cookies.
Durban 2010 Website does make use of cookies.

It doesn’t really matter, but it adds to the general feeling of incompetence coming from Adapt-IT, the site “developers”.