The Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society will be having a pizzalime on Wednesday January 9th, 2008 from 6pm to 9pm at Pizza Hut, Roxy Roundabout.
Come join us as we eat and chat about various computing related topics including TTCS planning for 2008. Hardware from the past two meetings should make an appearance.
Contribution of $30 towards refreshments is expected. Copies of the TTCS OSSWIN CD are available for $40TT.
See you there!
More details about the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC) planning to become a broadband internet provider in an article in Thursday January 3rd, 2008 Newsday newspaper :
…Carol Balkaran, Tariff Analyst at the Regulated Industries Commission (RIC) said TTEC plans to deploy the service utilising a Broadband over Power Line (BPL) Technology Platform which also has regulatory implications for RIC [Regulated Industries Commission] and TATT [Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago].
“BPL is a technology that offers exciting possibilities for TTEC. It can provide a host of internal benefits that can improve the performance of the service provider. If the service is to be offered commercially then it can possibly enhance the competitiveness of the broadband market in Trinidad and Tobago, “ Balkaran said.
BPL, also called Power Line Communications or PLC combines the technological principles of radio, wireless networking, and modems to send data over power lines at speeds equivalent to those of Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) and cable.
The Federal Communica-tions Commission (FCC) of the US defines two types of BPL. Access BPL deliver high speed Internet and other broadband services over utilities medium voltage (1000-40000 volts) power lines to homes and businesses and In-house BPL which facilitates the implementation of home networks.
In terms of regulatory implications, Balkaran identified three issues that are likely to be of major concern in Trinidad and Tobago. These were technical, cost and revenue allocation as well as cross subsidy issues and Pole Attachment and Open Access, including safety issues.”
Read the rest of the Newsday article : “Spotlights broadband internet service”. Also see the Wikipedia article on BPL.
An online calendar of TTCS meetings/activities can be found at http://www.ttcsweb.org/calendar/. It also shows the public holidays in Trinidad and Tobago.
The TTCS first meeting for 2008 : TTCS pizzalime, January 9th, 2008 at Pizza Hut, Roxy Roundabout.
Since the Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society (TTCS) has access to a OLPC laptop, I’ve been tinkering with it, updating the firmware and the operating system image file. It has been shown at a TTCS meeting and you can see photos of the OLPC in action in Trinidad at the TTCS meeting.
Until December 31st, 2007, one can get the OLPC under the Give One Get One program . However, when I tried to order one online, I encountered the same problem as CFR : you’re required to create a Paypal account and the online web form is meant for US and Canada donors.
Luckily, I did something yesterday that I should have done earlier : Read the OLPC Give One Get One FAQ . And behold :
“If I live outside of the US or Canada, may I participate in Give One Get One?
Yes, but only if you provide a shipping address within the US or Canada. To participate, please call 1-949-608-2865. International calling charges will apply.”
So, I called today (December 31st, 2007), gave my credit card and my P.O Box address in Florida and placed an order. It will be useful to have two OLPCs at TTCS meetings to demonstrate the mesh capability of the OLPC laptops. The official OLPC wiki also has lots of information ,both news and technical details about the OLPC.
Season Greetings from the management of the Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society!
The TTCS OSSWIN CD v1.84 is available for download at Filefront. Other download mirrors will be updated soon.
Changes from v1.83
Re-coded the installers for Kobo Deluxe v0.51 (which was released December 27th, 2007) and VirtualDub using NSIS and improved on the installers by using the actual program icons for the program shortcuts in the Windows’ Start Menu. Seemingly small detail, but it is the small details that can detract from using a program.
The TTCS OSSWIN CD v1.83 is available for download at Filefront. Other download mirrors (thank you all!) will be updated soon.
Changes from v1.82
OpenOffice.org v2.3.1 has been released. With a new version of Mozilla Firefox v2.0.11 released just last week, look for version 1.83 of the TTCS OSSWIN CD in time for the weekend.
The Software Freedom Day (SFD) Competition 2007 results have been announced by the Software Freedom Day organisation and the Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society’s entry for SFD 2007 received a “highly commended” award from the Software Freedom Day organisation!
From http://www.icann.org/minutes/prelim-report-20nov07.htm :
Redelegation of ccTLD for .BB ( Barbados)
Kim Davies advised by way of background for new Board members that the board is regularly asked to approve redelegations of ccTLDs and in more recent times there has been at least one per Board meeting for consideration. IANA Staff prepares a report that provides a recommendation to the Board. The report is considered confidential but
on approval by the Board a version of the report is made public on the website. Some portions of the analysis of the request for redelegation are not made public.The redelegation application for .BB ( Barbados) meets all of the necessary criteria. The current operator supports the transfer as does the Government, who is the proposed operator. There is limited support from the local Internet community; however, Staff have visited Barbados and discussed matters locally. Staff also met with the proposed operators at ICANN’s San Juan meeting. Currently the nameservers do not meet the technical test; however, these will be made more robust, and Staff recommends the redelegation be approved.
IANA will review nameservers performance to ensure compliance if the Board approves the request.
Steve Goldstein moved, and Demi Getschko seconded the following resolution:
Whereas, the .BB top-level domain is the designated country-code for Barbados.
Whereas, ICANN has received a request for redelegation of .BB to the Government of Barbados Ministry of Economic Affairs and Development’s Telecommunications Unit.
Whereas, ICANN has reviewed the request, and has determined that the proposed redelegation would be in the best interest of the local and global Internet communities.
It is hereby resolved (___), that the proposed redelegation of the .BB domain to the Government of Barbados Ministry of Economic Affairs and Development’s Telecommunications Unit is approved.
A voice vote was taken of all Board Members present and all Board Members present approved the motion unanimously by a vote of 13 to 0.
Even more updated street maps of Trinidad on Google Maps since October 17, 2007. There is now street data for nearly the western side of Trinidad and the original locations mentioned in the October 17th, 2007 blog post have more street details added.
See for yourself. Check out the Google Maps of :
The street data for Google is provided by Lead Dog Consulting which also has a webpage where you can view street maps of Trinidad AND Tobago
