Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society

Category: blog

  • TTCS OSSWIN CD v1.97 released

    TTCS OSSWIN CD v1.97 released

    The TTCS OSSWIN CD v1.97, a collection of over 100 Free/Open Source software for Windows is available for download.

    TTCS OSSWIN CD v1.97

    • Date created : December 23rd, 2008
    • File name : ttcs_osswin_cd_v1.97.iso
    • File size : 690 MB (724,363,264 bytes)
    • MD5 checksum : cc6005d61b83b214d6d22e2f9a492ab7 / cc6005d6 1b83b214 d6d22e2f 9a492ab7
    • SHA-1 : d03e25a4 f8fa4790 1ed55996 e1b2291e b32d2ea6
    • SHA-256 : 9cd7e94c c8f8bf3a 58b8a710 7cc06f7b b8b8aafb 2bd3fd38 7507789a a0100d38

    Changes from v1.96

    • updated : Abiword, 7-zip, Wikidpad, Tux Typing 2, TuxMath, Portable Puzzle Collection, GIMP, Blender, Mozilla Firefox, Filezilla, HTTrack Website Copier, Miranda IM, XAMPP Lite, VideoLAN, VirtualDub, InfraRecorder, Virtual Magnifying Glass, Truecrypt

    Currently available at  Filefront mirror with other download mirrors to have it soon.

  • Trinidad Guardian website redesign

    Trinidad Guardian website redesign

    The Trinidad Guardian is testing a redesign of its website at http://guardian.co.tt/new/. A few quick obversavations :

    • about time, the Guardian website was looking dated.
    • The new site is using the Drupal Content Management System.
    • No RSS feeds? Perhaps that isn’t ready yet
    • A view of the HTML source of the page reveals a LOT of divs being used.
  • Ministry of Public Administration consultation on the management of .tt ccTLD on Wednesday December 17th – what are your thoughts for .tt?

    Ministry of Public Administration consultation on the management of .tt ccTLD on Wednesday December 17th – what are your thoughts for .tt?

    The Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society has been invited by the Ministry of Public Administration (MPA) to  a consultation on the .tt country code Top Level Domain policy this Wednesday.

    From the text of the invitation :

    “The .tt ccTLD is the country code top level domain for Trinidad and Tobago. A country code top level domain is an Internet top-level domain, generally used or reserved for a country or a dependent territory. ccTLD identifiers are two letters long, and currently all two-letter top-level domains are ccTLDs. Creation and delegation of ccTLDs is performed by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), and generally corresponds to the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes maintained by the United Nations.

    In some countries they are very popular (.de is the most popular, second only to .com in number of registrations), less so in others. Some countries use the ccTLD as a revenue generator (.tv) while others use it as a national resource and for country branding (.uk, .au). In general, .tt is little known either inside or outside the country, and there has been little interest among most of the local Internet stakeholders in its use or policies.

    The Trinidad and Tobago government has been working on a process to develop a plan for local policy development for the Trinidad and Tobago ccTLD – .tt. It has been run for many years by the ttNIC (a local company), but the time has come to have a national consensus multi-stakeholder policy for the local management of this Internet resource, and an inclusive and transparent consultative process to get there.

    The key objective of this consultation is to get the views of Internet stakeholders on the major policy issues that inform the management of the .tt ccTLD. Other objectives of this consultation include:

    • To present models for ccTLD management
    • To discuss guidelines and best practices for ccTLD management
    • To discuss potential for re-delegation of the .tt ccTLD from the current administrator (TTNIC)
    • To identify prioritised actions, processes and indicative schedules for developing the .tt ccTLD as a national resource”

    There have been many posts on this to the TTCS discussion mailing list (scroll to the bottom of the page for the responses). Your thoughts?

  • TATT publishes list of approved telecom equipement for Trinidad and Tobago

    TATT publishes list of approved telecom equipement for Trinidad and Tobago

    The Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT) has published in November 2008 a 12 page list of telecommunications equipment that has been approved and certified for use in Trinidad and Tobago (PDF ; 124K).

    Unsurprisingly, most common computer telecommunication equipment from bluetooth devices to wi-fi routers are “CLASS” licensed with no fees for use.

  • BBC Music Magazine classical music tracks from emusic for free download

    BBC Music Magazine classical music tracks from emusic for free download

    BBC Music Magazine has 13 classical music tracks in MP3 format as a free download from emusic.com.

  • CBS 60 Minutes on e-waste from the US to China

    CBS 60 Minutes on e-waste from the US to China

    The CBS TV program 60 Minutes TV reports on the problem of electronic waste in the United States being illegally exported to places like Guiyu, a town in southern China.

    Read the article here : http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/06/60minutes/main4579229.shtml

    Watch the video here : http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4586903n

    It is (or definitely will be) a problem in Trinidad and Tobago given our growing use of computers and cell phones. What happens to our e-waste in Trinidad and Tobago?

    (Hat Tip : Boing Boing Gadgets )

  • Steelpan featured in Wii Music

    Steelpan featured in Wii Music

    Nintendo Wii Music for the Nintendo Wii will be available at Amazon.com on October 23rd, 2008. Available in Japan last month, part of the advertising was the variety of instruments available.

    Instrument # 29 : the steelpan! (30 second youtube video)

    The steelpan is also featured in the video trailer/ad for Wii Music on Amazon.com (1 minute and 5 seconds in). Nintendo has probably done more to popularise the steelpan, using it in Super Mario World (youtube video : 32 seconds in) for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in the early 1990’s.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLLwd1hO38c

  • Adobe Flash Player 10, Java 6 Update 10 and Silverlight 2 available

    Adobe Flash Player 10, Java 6 Update 10 and Silverlight 2 available

    There have been several updates to popular plugins recently :

  • Computers for communities launched

    Computers for communities launched

    Not much was heard about the Computers for Communities announced by the (then) Ministry of Public Administration and Information (MPAI) last year. See

    for more background information. However, the project has now been launched according to a Newsday newspaper article dated Thursday, October 2 2008 :

    PUBLIC Administration Minister Kennedy Swaratsingh has urged further collaboration between private and public sector entities to ensure citizens have access to computers in the near future.

    He was speaking at the launch of the Computers for Communities programme at the Hilton recently. The programme is a pilot project done by the Ministry and the Commonwealth Secretariat. The project is part of a Commonwealth initiative called the Connects Programme and will eventually affect the entire region.

    Microsoft Corporation has agreed to assist the initiative by providing knowledge and experience regarding the implementation of the first refurbishment centre. Swaratsingh, at the launch, commended Microsoft’s participation in the project.

    “Computers for Communities, as it is being called, primarily seeks to develop and implement a national and sustainable system for collecting, upgrading and repairing used computer equipment for distribution to communities across Trinidad and Tobago,” a release issued by the ministry stated.

    Read rest of Newsday article.

  • Trial for Trinidadian charged for turning off computer set for November 11, 2008

    Trial for Trinidadian charged for turning off computer set for November 11, 2008

    An update to the Trinidadian charged for turning off the computer as spotted in the Newsday newspaper dated September 20 2008 :

    A TRIAL date was set yesterday by a Port-of-Spain Magistrate, hearing the case of a former employee of the Land Registry Division, who is accused of tampering with a company computer.

    Avinash Bahadoor was told by Magistrate Cheron Raphael, presiding in the Third Court, that the trial will start on November 11, at 10.30 am. Bahadoor is charged with causing a computer to temporarily cease functioning and interfering with the lawful use of a computer sometime in August 2006. He was formally charged by PC Matthews on May 11, 2007.

    Sushma Goopiesingh is Bahadoor’s counsel, while Randall Hector is prosecuting. Three witnesses are expected to testify against Bahadoor when the trial commences.

    The wording “causing a computer to temporarily cease functioning and interfering with the lawful use of a computer” is from the Computer Misuse Act, which would make this case the third time someone was charged in Trinidad and Tobago under this act.