Gambian Tech

FINDIT.gm - Groundbreaking Website Launches in The Gambia

2011-08-23T10:26:00.000+00:00

FINDIT.gm - Groundbreaking Website Launches in The Gambia

PRWeb – Mon, Jul 4, 2011

Something huge is happening in the tiny West African country of The Gambia. With a population of about 1.7 million people and a land area of approximately 4,007 square miles, Gambia is the smallest continental African country. However, its size has not stopped Gambian trailblazers from making a huge impact on technology. In fact, New Century, LTD, Gambia’s newest ICT consulting firm, which also provides endless business support services, has launched a revolutionary new website, http://www.FINDIT.gm; And it has been the talk of the country, with almost 1 million hits since its launching merely two weeks ago.

Kotu, The Gambia (PRWEB) July 04, 2011

FINDIT.gm is The Gambia’s answer to Google.com, Yahoo.com, Facebook.com, Careerbuilder.com and Yellowpages.com – all in one place. The concept behind FINDIT.gm is to create one central online location for all things Gambian. It offers a business directory that will feature each and every business located in the Gambia, making it easier for Gambians and tourists to find products and services they need. Each business listing is complete with photographs, directions, contact information and much more. In an effort to connect Gambian employers with job seekers, FINDIT.gm offers an employment classified page called JOB CENTER, wherein businesses can list job vacancies and browse CV’s of potential employees. Job seekers can also search job vacancies and upload their CV’s for employers to review. There is also a social networking component, called JOKOR, which means “connect”, in the most widely spoken native language of Wolof. JOKOR is directed toward Gambians within the country and those in the Diaspora who wish to connect in their own way online. In addition, businesses can use the JOKOR to communicate with the public, share files with their staff members in and outside the office. Just for fun, there is also a page on FINDIT.gm called PAPARAZZI, which displays photographs taken at all the major events that occur in The Gambia. Partygoers and event attendees can simply visit the site to see photos of themselves and their friends.

In addition to providing all of these useful and fun features, FINDIT.gm is leading the effort to place The Gambia on an equal technological platform as larger countries. It is worth mentioning that the website is well built and easy to navigate. FINDIT.gm was designed and built in The Gambia, by New Century’s own web developers. The Directors of New Century, who are all born and raised in The Gambia, were educated in the U.S. and the U.K. However, they each chose to return to The Gambia to use their knowledge and expertise to introduce innovative technological ideas in their home country. The President of New Century, Mr. Ahmed Tijan Jallow, had this to say about the concept behind the development of FINDIT.gm, “In order for a country to progress socially and economically in this era of information technology, they need to embrace new innovative ideas, such as FINDIT.gm. Nowadays, internet marketing is the best marketing tool that businesses have at their disposal because they can maximize their exposure for a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing strategies. By integrating other useful and entertaining features, such as job classifieds and social networking with the marketing tool we’ve created the perfect platform for Gambian businesses to be seen. As you can see, we’re very excited about FINDIT.gm and hope that it will become a useful part of daily life in the Gambia.”

The creation of FINDIT.gm marks a monumental achievement for The Gambia, proving that the small country is ready to compete on an equal technological platform as its larger counterparts.

To experience all that the website has to offer, visit http://www.findit.gm today.

K. Faal
New Century LTD
2203830300

Sites showing the new release:

Yahoo news

prweb.com

http://www.topix.com/world/the-gambia/2011/07/findit-gm-groundbreaking-website-launches-in-the-gambia

http://www.americanbankingnews.com/2011/07/04/findit-gm-groundbreaking-website-launches-in-the-gambia/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AmericanBankingNews+%28American+Banking+News%29

Virtual desktop for Windows

2010-11-23T16:45:00.000+00:00

Dexpot is a feature rich desktop manager for Windows. You can setup Dexpot to simply enable extra workspaces—up to 20 total workspaces—just to have a little extra space to spread out your work. If you delve into the more advanced features you can set up rules for where applications will end up when launched and customize each virtual desktop to have its own wallpaper and resolution. Dexpot has multiple ways of navigating your virtual desktops including keyboard shortcuts, a small thumbnail catalog of your active desktops, and a full screen Exposé-like preview of all desktops.
Download Dexpot

Turn your Windows 7 Internet Connection to a WiFi HotSpot

2010-11-12T22:08:00.001+00:00

So now that you've all probably made the move to Windows 7, here is a trick that can convert your Windows 7 internet connection into a WiFi hotspot..

Connectify is a new software that is build specially for Windows 7. It is designed for both Windows 32 bits and 64 bits which can take any windows internet connection and share it wirelessly without any other software.

So basically you can take your Windows 7 and make it a wi-fi hotspot and share your internet connetion with your friends, relatives or co-workers or your mobile devices.

Connectify is in Beta and can be used to connect any number of mobile devices to your windows internet connection. Pretty cool uh..

Entrepreneur Brings the Internet, Health and Hope to The Gambia

2010-08-12T12:29:00.000+00:00

Source America.gov

Washington — A youth who grew up in The Gambia, a sliver of a country in West Africa, left home at age 16, a few months after his mother died, to study in Great Britain, and came back six years later with a degree in electrical engineering and a dream to enable his young compatriots to acquire higher education without having to leave home.

“Going to college meant that I had to grow up real fast,” Papa Yusupha Njie said. “The loss actually motivated me, and I never looked back. I made sure that I left the United Kingdom with excellent grades and honors degrees in electrical engineering and management.”

Njie’s academic credentials enabled him to land a secure, comfortable job as head of the information technology unit of the National Water and Electricity Company after his return to The Gambia. He stayed two years in that job. By 2000, he no longer could repress his entrepreneurial and humanitarian ambitions. He sold his car, persuaded several friends to lend him money and convinced a banker to grant him an overdraft allowance of $2,500. “Venture capital is unheard of in our part of the world,” Njie said.

Njie used the money he borrowed to open a cybercafé.

“People were shocked when I left my job,” he said. “There was no guarantee that I would succeed. There were other players in the market with deeper pockets. The norm was for people to work at one place till retirement with a salary guaranteed, company car, a good retirement package and other benefits.”

Njie used his cybercafé as an Internet training center for youths, holding intensive camps in the summer, when students were on break. “We had passion. We felt we knew a few things about technology that could make a difference in people’s lives,” Njie said.

The café’s camps ran four to six weeks and trained young people in Web design and hosting, printing, and computer repair and maintenance. Young people learned to use search engines to find schools, scholarships and, of course, friends. The cybercafé, in addition, provided a place to educate young people about the danger of HIV/AIDS. “We produced and filmed the first HIV/AIDS documentary on The Gambia, which was broadcast on national television,” Njie said.

Through the cybercafé, Njie launched Unique Solutions, a full-service information and communications technology company. Unique Solutions is building a wireless network that extends throughout The Gambia. For his efforts, Njie was named Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2006 by The Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry and two years later was nominated as Business Man of the Year 2008. He will come to Washington April 26 to be a delegate to the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship.

Njie’s vision for Unique Solutions is for it to become the first private Internet service provider that extends to every rural and urban area in the country. He feels that his decision to pursue the life of an entrepreneur in his homeland was the right one.

“Coming back home, I am one of a chosen few who have the opportunity to share my skills and knowledge with my community, and the entrepreneur in me tells me that, yes, I can make money doing it,” he said.

Jailbreakme

2010-08-12T11:02:00.000+00:00

iOS hackers have released jailbreakme.com, a browser-based jailbreak utility for the Apple iPhone 4, 3GS, and 3G when running iOS 4 or 4.0.1. The jailbreak is reminiscent of one of the original jailbreaks for the original iPhone.

In addition to the above devices the jailbreak is compatible with an iPad running iOS 3.2 and 3.2.1 and an iPod touch 3G running iOS 4.0.

This jailbreak is simple to use, but before you start just be sure to sync and backup your device before hand. After you’ve verified a successful sync and backup browse to http://jailbreakme.com from Safari on your iOS based device to jailbreak it

Apple however are quick to respond to this latest so called threat to their IOS, so they've just release IOS 4.02. This update patches the PDF exploit which is used by JailbreakMe to jailbreak all iOS devices on iOS 4.0.1. If you want to keep your jailbreak and unlock, you better not update to this latest firmware now or you will be out of luck for long. Incase you have decided not to update, make sure you use PDF Loading Warner app which will make your web browsing safe. Of course if you care about security of your iPhone, then you can go ahead and update to the latest firmware from iTunes.

To update to iOS 4.0.2 for iPhone, and iOS 3.2.2 for iPad, all you need to do is to connect your iPhone/iPod touch/iPad with your computer via USB and start iTunes. You should now see a message as shown below. Simply click on “Download and Install” button to get on to the new firmware.

"Free The i-devices!!"

The Future of Broadband in the Gambia

2010-07-16T11:09:00.000+00:00

The Gambia has just licenced a new Operator in the GSM industry, Globacom. Glo is a Nigerian telecommunication company who is also the sole owner of the GLO-1 submarine communications cable system running along the west coast of Africa between Nigeria and the UK with a 2.5Tbps ultimate capacity. The 9,800km cable stretches from the UK across West Africa and has landing points in Nigeria, London and Lisbon, connecting 17 countries to the rest of the world.

The licence will allow Globacom to land this gigantic trans-Atlantic submarine cable, Glo 1, in the Gambia with opportunities to extend the infrastructure to neighboring countries as well. It also gives the company the right to carry traffic for major operators, the government and wholesale customers in Gambia.
Most people are asking, with a population of 1.7 million, what do we need 5 GSM operators for? Well I believe these GSM companies did their maths and saw the benefits of being in the Gambia even if we don’t. For instance, Glo’s aim is to be the biggest and best telecom operator in Africa, it has licences in six other countries Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Benin Republic and Cote d’Ivoire. They are still pursuing 10 more licences around the sub region. They started operations in Nigeria in August, 2003, and in Benin in June 2008 and recently concluded plans to roll out services in Ghana.

African nations suffer from resource gap between urban and rural areas, low levels of education, the brain drain of educated citizens to wealthier regions of the world, and limited road, air, and rail transport networks. Furthermore, the business climate is risky due to small markets, non transparent systems of governance, time-consuming business procedures.
I believe Modern communications systems would alleviate many of these problems. It is clear from the Forum on Telecom/ ICT Regulation and Partnership in Africa (FTRA) meeting I attended last week at Kairaba hotel that most African nations and their investors and multi-lateral partners are racing to connect nations, towns, and people to broadband and mobile telephony as a means to stimulate economic prosperity and drastically increase human and social capital. (More details on the FTRA meeting will be posted later)

It was announce at the meeting that there will be five more fiber cables arriving in Africa, some operational by the second quarter of 2012. the latest addition is the ACE (Africa Coast to Europe) submarine communications cable which is a planned cable system along the west coast of Africa between France and South Africa. This will be the first international submarine cable to land in Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, The Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Mauritania, Namibia, Sao Tome and Principe and Sierra Leone. Other countries benefiting from the ACE project include Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, France, Gabon, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Portugal, Senegal, South Africa and Spain (Tenerife). This cable has an overall potential capacity of 5.12 Tb/s, and will support the new 40 Gb/s technology from day one.
We are all optimistic that the cable will bring about lower cost of broadband services and abundant bandwidth to drive businesses for the next 25 years. You’ll notice I mention The Gambia from the list of countries getting a Landing point from the ACE cable. We are making a bold move in signing up for another landing point which will end our dependency to Sonatel of Senegal for international bandwidth. Unfortunately the status quo in the Gambia remains the same, or looks like its not going to change, as Gamtel is put forth to run and manage the landing station meaning every other ISP and Operator will go to them for bandwidth. This will only see us having a lot of bandwidth availability but little or no changes in the current broadband prices.
The Gambia’s Gamtel have also announced plans to upgrade the existing fiber network in the south bank of the Gambia to a next generation network (NGN) and run a new NGN fiber network in the Northern part of the Gambia of about 800km. This project will cost about $l8million. The North bank of The Gambia will be soon for the first time, be accessing telecommunication services through a fiber network.
According to Katim Touray, the current Managing Director and CEO of GAMTEL's Board and management, The NGN project is designed to provide the security and contingencies required to minimise the undesirable effect of Service outages due to fiber cuts mostly due to road works. Upon the completion of this project, the two main switches in Banjul and Serrekunda which were installed in the early 90s will be replaced with IP-based switches enabling the provisioning of new and enhanced services to Gamtel customers.
I believe that this is an opportunity for the Gambia to liberalise the Broadband industry, which will encourage competition and promote innovative services. Ghana is an example of an African country that liberalised the monopoly on their broadband service; Ghana is a beneficiary of at least four submarine cables, which brought about cheap access to broadband services for high rates of bandwidths.
This is an area where our Public Utilities and Regulatory Authority (PURA) could step in and advocate for an open market that promotes competition and infrastructure sharing.

Broadband Access In the Gambia

2010-07-08T10:15:00.003+00:00

Although definitions of broadband vary, it is generally associated with “high-speed Internet access” via communication networks that allow for large amounts of information to be transmitted, quickly and often concurrently.
Broadband thereby gives users access to a wide range of resources, products and services that can enhance their business and/or social activities in significant ways.

West Africa gets access to broadband facilities mainly through the SAT3/WASC fiber cable. The SAT3/WASC cable runs from Sesimbra, Portugal – Passes through Senegal, Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Angola and ends at Melkbosstrand, South Africa.
The Current Capacity of the SAT3 bandwidth is around 120Gbps, plans are underway to increase this capacity to 340Gbps.

The Gambia, like many West African countries, gets its bandwidth from Sonatel of Senegal. Senegal has developed one of Africa’s most extensive and modern telecommunications infrastructures. Sonatel was one of the first African countries to introduce ADSL broadband service in 2003 which has almost completely replaced dial-up as the Internet access method of choice. The country has been a successful reseller of international bandwidth from its SAT-3/WASC landing station to other countries and will be able to expand this business with the new international fiber links, the first of which has already reached its shores.

The national bandwidth for the Gambia was 64 Mbps until it was upgraded around April 2010 to STM1 capacity (Synchronous Transport Module level-1, which has a bit rate of 155.52 Mbit/s)

The Gambia has a relatively well developed national backbone network. The introduction of wireless systems by three other ISP’s is beginning to accelerate developments. Gamtel has a monopoly on international bandwidth; the bandwidth they get from Sonatel is resold to local ISP’s in the country at a very high price who in turn resell this bandwidth to businesses and home users.

There are plans in the near future to have direct access to the new submarine fiber cable system; hopefully this will dramatically lower the cost of internet bandwidth in the country which is currently at an all-time high due to our dependency to Sonatel of. A home connection of 128kbps internet connection cost about $300 for equipment and installation and a recurring cost of about $30 per month.

It’s worth mentioning that a new Telecommunications/ICT Bill is expected to create a regulatory environment under which more competition will be introduced to more sectors of the telecommunications market. In view of convergence, the new law will be technology-neutral, which will also liberalise the use of VoIP Internet telephony.

The fact that there is only one fiber path from Senegal to the Gambia (Where all internet traffic passes through for the whole country) and from past experience with fiber cuts, which have disrupted services on more than one occasion, Gamtel and its Senegalese counterpart Sonatel are now extending their fiber links from Dakar through Kaolack, Karang, Barra, Banjul, Serrekunda, Yundum, Brikama to Seleti in Casamance to terminate on Sonatel's fiber network. The new infrastructure will provide an alternative route to the fiber link between Basse in Gambia and Velingara in Senegal, which was implemented in 1996. This will also eliminating the serious problem of disruption to bilateral international traffic whenever the older fiber is cut.

The Gambia is the smallest African nation, but we obviously have big plans for fiber and are making a wise and proper investment in the future of our country.

Ever wondered how a Cell phone call works?

2010-05-05T21:42:00.000+00:00

Here is a detailed look at how cell phone calls actually work.

Via: Cell Phones

Encrypt your USB flash drives

2010-05-02T16:20:00.000+00:00

USB Safeguard is a portable program that encrypts files on your flash drive in case you lose it. It also stores your email or phone number or shreds files in case you lose it.

Just download the program and drag it to your flash drive. Launch it from there, and USB Safeguard will prompt you to create a password. Once you do, you can choose to encrypt your entire USB drive or specific files up to 2GB in size—which you can drag and drop into the interface. The app also features several options for what to do with your data if someone tries to access your files unsuccessfully. These actions include leaving the files alone, shredding the data, and more.

The app also has a virtual keyboard available for a little extra security when you're using an untrusted machine. You can also set an email or phone number using the app in case you lose your USB stick

USB Safeguard is freeware for Windows only.

RTGS coming soon in the Gambia

2010-04-15T15:35:00.002+00:00

For the developing economies of Africa, the main benefit of an RTGS system is the reduction of settlement risk by ensuring finality of payment. A sound payment system leads to confidence in the system and improved business conditions, with the aim of attracting foreign investment. Payments that usually take several days to settle will only take less than a minute with the RTGS system.

Since the creation of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) in 1994 which is a group of eight West African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo and Guinea-Bissau), which share a common currency, the "CFA Franc". The English speaking countries of West Africa came together and form the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) which consists of five countries - Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. WAMZ expects to launch a common currency, named "Eco", by 2015.

Large-value transfer systems supporting the interbank markets are the main arteries of a nation’s payment and financial system. They provide the ultimate settlement vehicle for important cross-border markets in multiple currencies, and are key infrastructural requirements for implementing a single monetary policy. They permit monetary policy impulses to be transferred quickly and widely throughout the union.
In a bid to launch a strong and stable Monetary Union, West African Monetary Institute (WAMI) in collaboration with the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) member countries on July 3, 2008, secured a grant of US$23 million from the African Development Fund (ADF) for the modernization of the payment systems in The Gambia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. This is not only to bring them to the same level as those in Ghana and Nigeria in order to facilitate the harmonization of the payment systems in all the five member countries, but also to develop an integrated payments system in the WAMZ for the implementation of a single monetary policy and cross-border funds transfer.

In collaboration with the commercial banks, the Central Bank of Ghana and Nigeria has set up a national switch to promote the usage of Electronic purse and network ATMs among the banks. The Gambia will follow suit hopefully by the end of the year 2010.
The contract for the implementation of The Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system for the Gambia has been won by Unique Solutions and implementation of the project will start later this year. Unique Solutions is an IT Solution company that have just launched a groundbreaking Broadband Internet and Data services via a robust network infrastructure using the latest Motorola Broadband Wireless Technology. The network coverage is from Banjul all the way to Basse, which makes them the fist providers to bring internet and data connectivity to the rural areas meeting the Gambia’s universal service objectives in ensuring people in the hinterland have access to cheap and life changing technology in their daily lives.

Live From The Gambia: Independence Day

2010-04-15T14:20:00.000+00:00

Live From The Gambia: Independence Day

3G arrives in the Gambia

2009-04-28T12:52:00.004+00:00

There is a new mobile phone company coming to the Gambia called Qcell. It is the 4th GSM mobile phone service provider to join the likes of Africell, Comium and Gamcel.

It was issued with a licence on the 14th August, 2008 by the Gambia's department of communication and IT to be an operator for multi-media 3G mobile telephone services .

The company is owned by a Gambian named Mr. Muhammed Jah who also owns the QuantumNet Group.

Website www.qcell.gm

Show Hidden Files and Folders not working?

2009-04-28T09:55:00.005+00:00

Sometimes due to a virus on you windows machine, the show hidden files and folder radio option refuses to work no matter how many times you select it.

There is a couple of tricks you can use to resolve this issue, both require you to make changes on your registry so please use extreme caution.

Method 1:

Go to registry editor by running regedit in the run box.
Go to this key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

In the right hand area, double click hidden and change the value to 1.

Now you’re all set to go. Check it in your tools menu if the changes have taken effect.

Method 2: (By Random Hajile)

1. Click “Start” -> “Run…” (or press Windows key + R)
2. Type “regedit” and click “Ok”.
3. Find the key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
Advanced\Folder\Hidden\SHOWALL
4. Look at the “CheckedValue” key… This should be a DWORD key. If it isn’t, delete the key.
5. Create a new key called “CheckedValue” as a DWORD (hexadecimal) with a value of 1.
6. The “Show hidden files & folders” check box should now work normally.

Enjoy!

How to choose a Web Designer/developer

2009-03-16T15:42:00.002+00:00

Choosing an individual or company to design and develop you companys website can be tricky, Follow these few basic steps to increase your odds of hiring a creative, technically savvy, and cost-effective designer.

1. Assess your needs. You can hire contractors to create, implement and maintain your site. If your site will serve only as an online brochure, consider outsourcing the creation and implementation, while handling future maintenance - like fixing broken links - in-house. Be realistic about your own goals and growth plans so you know whether to hire a long-term or a short-term contractor.

2. Research each candidate's work. It's essential that you research a Web developer's work so you can evaluate their potential. Once you've found a few developers you like - through recommendations, Web directories or competitors' sites - evaluate their online portfolios and fees. A site doesn't have to be flashy to do its job, but you must appreciate the developer's design sense. Also, consider hiring a firm familiar with your particular industry.

3. Evaluate their services. Decide if the developer meets your needs. If you want to sell your products online, look for proven e-commerce experience. If you're considering a one-person firm, does the developer have the skills necessary to create everything you need? On the other hand, will you get lost in the shuffle at a larger firm with lots of other clients? Determine what extras the firms offer, such as copywriting, marketing, and other services.

4. Meet face-to-face. Your Web design firm, whether a one-person shop or a multinational company, is going to present your Web persona to the world. You must be able to work collaboratively. Ask yourself these questions and rely on your gut reaction:

Do they listen to my needs?
Do they explain issues in ways I can understand?
Do they know my industry?
Do they share my vision for the site?

5. Check references. Browsing a company's work is helpful, but you also want to know how they work. A Web design firm can be the most creative in the world, but if it never finishes your site, it won't do you much good. Call past clients and ask if the design firm:

Adhered to deadlines
Met their requests
Was responsive to suggestions and questions
Fixed problems promptly
Worked within the original budget

6. Think ahead. Over the past year, hundreds of Web design firms of all sizes have merged, cut back their operations, or simply closed. Although it's impossible to know for sure whether or not a firm will be around in the future, you have a right to ask questions if you expect to build a long-term relationship. You should also ask whether a design firm will accept payment in stages or whether they'll demand most of their payment up front. Firms that aren't willing to link payment to their own ability to deliver might not be worth the risk you'll take to deal with them.

Slow Internet with Leopard

2009-01-21T14:25:00.003+00:00

After upgrading to Leopard, plenty of Mac OS X users have complained of “slow internet” when browsing the web, yet Windows PCs or Macs with Tiger (10.4) on the same network are much faster.

A domain name lookup or DNS lookup is done every time you visit a web page, say “apple.com”, as you’re actually visiting “17.149.160.49″. A DNS Resolver on your computer sends a request to a DNS Server that handles this lookup or translation from names (easy to remember) to numbers (hard to remember). Once your browser has this numerical IP address it can start loading the web pages at that server location.

With Leopard, a major change occurred in DNS lookups. Any program in Leopard that can use version 6 IP addresses will send out a new type of DNS lookup request - the SRV Record. In Tiger and previous OS X versions, DNS lookups were A record requests.

SRV records are fairly new, provide more information than A records, but have terrible support in terms of hardware (your router or cable modem) and DNS servers that answer with SRV information. For every SRV request that Leopard sends it must wait for a valid reply. If the request fails, Leopard must try again. If it fails again, Leopard will finally ask for an A record. This is one reason why Mac users are experiencing slow Internet on new Macs with Leopard or after upgrading to Leopard from Tiger.

Solutions

Add DNS servers to current Network Configuration

This is the quickest & easiest way to use new DNS servers, which is to simply add them to the DNS tab found in System Preferences => Network => Advanced => click on DNS tab.

Click on the + sign at the bottom left hand corner near IPv6 or IPv6 addresses and type in the addresses of the DNS servers you wish, in reverse priority order. (Recommended: OpenDNS servers at 208.67.220.220 and 208.67.222.222). I.e. the server that you want to use first, enter it last. Afterwards, click Ok. Then in the Network pane, click Apply to make your changes active. If you’re using an AirPort wireless connection, wait a few moments for the connection to be re-established

Or You Could

Disable IPV6 DNS lookup

Firefox and Camino by default do DNS lookups using IPv6 addresses by default, reverting to IPv4 if that fails. This can be a problem when the router that we are using to connect to the Internet doesn’t work with IPv6 DNS requests properly, if at all.

To disable IPv6 DNS lookups in Firefox and Camino, type the following into the browser address bar:
about:config
If you see a large “Be Careful” warning, simply click on “I understand and I wish to continue”. Next, you will see a long list of Preference Name, Status, Type and Value columns. Above all that is a bar in which you can filter which preferences to view. In the Filter bar type: ipv6

To change the value for this preference simply double-click the name “network.dns.disableIPv6″. The value you want is “true”, which means that IPv6 DNS requests are disabled. If this value is already “true”, don’t double-click this preference.

To make the preference change active, close the browser and Quit Firefox completely (Apple Key + Q), then restart Firefox. You may have to repeat this Quitting and Restarting to have the change take effect.

After making this change, Firefox (or Camino if that’s what you’re using) will use IPv4 only when performing DNS requests.

Improve your connection speed

2008-11-14T11:27:00.001+00:00

If you have a broadband connection on a windows XP machine. If you are using applications that are QoS aware or running a server, this is one way to hug some bandwidth, not useful if you’re not. You could improve your connection speed by adjusting a few settings on your machine. Note this tip I’m about to show you does not work with windows XP Home.

Quality of Service packet scheduler or QoS is a method of network bandwidth management that monitor the packets to and from your machine and depending on the importance of the packet give it higher bandwidth or lower bandwidth.

- Make sure you're logged on as actually "Administrator". Do not log on with any account that just has administrator privileges.

- Start > Run > type gpedit.msc (not available in home version).

- Expand the Local Computer Policy branch.

- Expand the Administrative Templates branch.

- Expand the Network branch.

- Highlight the "QoS Packet Scheduler" in left window.

- In right window double click the "limit reservable bandwidth" setting.

- On setting tab check the ENABLED item.

- Where it says "Bandwidth limit %" change it to read 0 (ZERO).

- Close gpedit.msc.

Some systems will require you to reboot before it takes effect. Others don’t, the effect is immediate

Disabling the User Account Control (UAC) feature on my Windows Vista

2008-11-10T11:08:00.000+00:00

Although UAC clearly improves the security on Windows Vista, under some scenarios you might want to disable. Some home users might be tempted to disable UAC because of the additional mouse clicking it brings into their system, however I recommend not to do so, it’s put there for a reason, try to get used to it instead.

If you really have to though, there are four ways of doing it, Using the MSCONFIG feature which is the easiest and fastest way to do it, using regedit (I don’t recommend messing with your registry files unless you know what you’re doing), using the control panel and also by using group policy especially if the machine is on a network.

I’m going to give the steps for disabling UAC in vista using the MSCONFIG feature

Using MSCONFIG

Launch MSCONFIG by from the Run menu.
Click on the Tools tab. Scroll down till you find "Disable UAC”. Click on that line.

Press the Launch button.
A CMD window will open. When the command is done, you can close the window.
Close MSCONFIG. You need to reboot the computer for changes to apply.

You can always re-enable the UAC feature by selecting the "Enable UAC" line and then clicking on the Launch button.

windows 7? After the failure of Visa!

2008-10-28T16:50:00.000+00:00

After the massive failure of windows vista, Microsoft has announced that they are working on Windows 7, and new operating system. Vista was rejected by individuals and businesses alike, and Microsoft know that they crewed up big time on it and windows 7 is an opportunity for Microsoft to breath life in windows.

Lets have a look at some (we’ll be here all week if we were to list all the problems) of the problems with vista:

Speed:

Vista was just plain slow, a lot slower than XP, even if you run XP on the same spec machine as vista with all the graphics turned off on vista, it’ll still be slower. Apparently this is due to the ridiculously large amount of code within vista and not the graphics, a whopping 50 million lines of code, I mean c’mon…even todays ultra fast multi core processors can’t over come that.

Compatibility:

One of the things that killed Vista in my opinion is that Microsoft spent so much effort trying to make it more secure with User Access Control (UAC) that it broke a lot of software in the process. The problem is that not much of the software has been rewritten and the UAC approach has not worked because users get so many dialog boxes that they just blindly click OK until all of them go away, not to mention how annoying they can be, i mean if i open network connection, i don’t need the OS asking me if i really want to open it or not, just open the damn thing. They definitely need to work on this security and compatibility issue if they want windows 7 to succeed, security is good, but too much of it just makes you product unusable.

Version release:

How many version of vista are there, its hard to keep track anymore. There were primarily two versions of XP, Home and Professional Edition, that number doubled with Vista. There was Home basic, Home premium, Business and Ultimate. I miss those days when there was just one version of windows release, life was so simple... I bet when it was release support technicians were most pissed off about having to support 4 different versions of the same operating system. I really do hope they have just one version of windows 7, which makes it easier to support, easier to purchase and easier to understand. Just like the new name suggest “windows 7” lets also make the OS simple enough. Go back to basics Microsoft!

A Word of Advice:

The old way of building and packaging operating systems in shrink-wrapped boxes that are released every few years is just not fast enough or nimble enough to meet the demands to today’s Internet-driven computing environment. It’s also counterproductive for an OS maker because you end up competing against yourself, the way XP and Vista are now competing against each other.

There’s only one Windows, and it has merely evolved over time. That’s the message Microsoft needs to drive home by making Windows 7 the last shrink-wrapped version of the OS. From here on out, Microsoft should simply make Windows a constantly evolving platform with new features and functionality enhancements added several times a year through Windows Update.

Let’s face it; the OS is not as flashy as it once was. It’s also not nearly as relevant as it was a decade ago. The Web browser is gradually usurping its position as the most important application platform, as has long been predicted.

Choosing an ISP in the Gambia

2008-10-28T14:38:00.001+00:00

Choosing an Internet Service Provider can be a difficult decision in he Gambia, especially when you have only four options (i.e Gamtel, Quantumnet, Netpage and Unique Solutions. There are a lot of factors involved that can and should influence your decision. But not always do you think of all those factors, just to find out that after you made a choice, there is something that you don't like about the new ISP. Or you might not be aware of all the choices you have. This tutorial should help you make a more educated decision about what ISP to choose.

First of all, let's make a check list of all the things that you should take into consideration:

Speed

How fast do you need your Internet access to be? What access speed can the ISP provide? Is it consistent?
This information you can get directly from the ISP. Bear in mind that in the Gambia, all ISP’s get their internet bandwidth from Gamtel. The difference in the service you receive from any of the above ISP’s is the way in which they manage the bandwidth that they have and the delivery system they use to get the connection to your home or place of business.

Reliability

How reliable is the service? Are they always available or do they have frequent down times?
This information is a little harder to get since the ISP naturally does not want to admit that they have frequent problems. For this question you should turn directly to users of the ISP. Ask people that use this provider about their experience, either in person or in Newsgroups online.

Price

How expensive is the service? Do they have a plan for unlimited access for one monthly fee? How much is it and how does it compare to other ISPs? Its worth mentioning that you should not make your decision based solely on the cheapest ISP, as the saying goes you pay for what you get. Some are more expensive than others for very good reasons, but at the same time some are just plain rip offs.

Other Fees

Are there any other charges, such as a one-time setup fee, Survey fee, Installation fees, etc?

Other Perks

Besides the Internet access, what else is included in the plan? Do you get free e-mail accounts and if so how many? Do you get free web spaces so you can create your own little home page? If so, how much, 5MB, 10MB?

24/7 Tech Support

Do they have Tech Support? If so, when are they available? Just Monday through Friday, 9-5? Or 24 hours, seven days a week? And how can you reach support? By fax, e-mail, phone?

Bandwidth-to-user ratio

The most important question you should be asking is how much bandwidth does the ISP have from Gamtel and how many people are sharing that bandwith? Example, If you have an ISP who bought 4MB of Bandwith from Gamtel and have 200 clients on 256kbps each sharing that bandwidth, you can expect extreme slow speeds and poor connections if you sign up with that ISP.

A good guide is something like 2MB to about 40 clients on anything over is too high and you should stay away from it.

This list covers just the most important questions you should find answers for before making a decision. Since this is a lot of data, I suggest creating a spreadsheet to document this for each ISP that you consider to give you a nice overview.

Just remember: You are buying service and you want to get the best value for your money. You want to be able to commit for a long time to avoid the hassle of switching ISPs every few months. If you just invest a few hours of research, be critical, analyze your options, you can find what you need. Also, ask for different payment plans. Some ISPs offer a lower rate if you pay quarterly, semi-annually, or annually. Don't waste your money on bad Internet service. Go out there and find the ISP that serves you best.