ThimphuTech.com

One Day in Bhutan

2012-02-28T16:42:00.000+06:00

I recently popped over to see "Giving Warmth", a photo exhibition organized by Azha Keza using space at the Nehru-Wangchuck Cultural Centre in Thimphu. Local photographers contributed their best photographs, prints went up for sale. The proceedings going to poor children. A good initiative.

While watching the exhibition, two thoughts came up. First, there is little or none of this kind of happenings and cultural exposure outside the capital. I felt that it is not fair for people in other Dzongkhags not to be able to enjoy the show. With today's technology, why not upload low-resolution images of all the photos online, perhaps to a Facebook album, where anyone with an internet connection will be able to (virtually) attend the exhibition?

The second thought was not new, but it got some enforcement after watching the photos. Yes, Bhutan has monks, prayer wheels and flags, smiling old people and chams - you know, the usual coffee-table book about Bhutan - but it is much more than that. Perhaps it's time to show some other aspects as well?

Thus, I suggest the "A Day in The Lift of Bhutan" project. It's not original - other countries and cities have used that concept before. However, as far as I know, this has not been tried in Bhutan yet. Here's how it goes. In a single day, during a 24-hour period, photographers will capture images that show all aspects of life in Bhutan. The best photographs will be selected, and will represent a snapshot of the country in a single day. For example, it can be a mother dressing her daughter to school, a Druk Air plan taking off, monks performing a house puja, an MP giving a speech at the parliament, kids enjoying an outdoor game, engineers monitoring a hydropower station, a farmer working his power-tiller, a busy classroom in a rural school, a local band playing at Mojo Park, locals enjoying momos in a hole-in-the-wall place, forest patrol on the outlook at the Royal Manas National Park. The possibilities are endless.

BBS 1, Currently Not a Free Public Service

2012-02-28T15:29:00.000+06:00

Bhutan Broadcasting Service has recently launched a new channel, BBS 2. The existing transmission towers are now broadcasting the second channel instead of the first one. If you have a television set with an antenna, you can receive BBS 2, but not BBS 1.

Speaking to BBS, they verified that currently the only way to watch BBS 1 is by having a cable subscription. This is supposed to change in the future, and both channels should be available over-the-air. Right now, however, BBS 1 is not free.

Chewing on Chugo

2012-02-27T13:57:00.000+06:00

From time to time I treat myself to a smoky piece of chugo, the rock-hard, long-lasting, protein-rich yak cheese from Haa. Little did I know that I was actually eating, well, there's no way around it: I was eating a dog treat...

Before...

It turns out that chugo (also known as chhurpi) is re-marketed in the West as - lo and behold - "Himalayan Dog Chew", and promoted as "an authentic type of cheese eaten by the people of the Himalayas." According to the advertising pitch, when I chew on chugo (or is it chew-go?) I am indulging in "hours of high quality eating entertainment". Woof, woof!

... and after

Given that three pieces of chugo-turned-dog-chew cost $49.95 (plus shipping, starting at $11.95), it's no surprise that Americans are spending more than $50 billion a year on pets. So the next time you are thinking of a gift to your pet-owning friends in the US, just send them a few pieces of chugo...

3G: From Theory to Practice

2012-02-24T17:10:00.000+06:00

About a year ago we wrote about the importance of a wide-coverage 3G network. Apparently, things are starting to change. According to recent news articles (Kuensel, Bhutan Today) coverage is about to increase, starting with Paro, Gelephu and Phuentsholing.

In an attempt to explain 3G to the public, Kuensel's February 20, 2012 "My Say" corner featured an article by Tshewang Yeshey from B-Mobile, trying to "provide a little insight on the subject" of 3G. Tshewang writes:

"3G speed is remarkably so high that you can download a whopping 500 page Word document in a blink of an eye or... an average size DVD movie within a minute or two"

First, a small technical correction. You cannot download an average size DVD movie in a minute or two. The bit-rate of a video DVDs runs around 8Mbps (mega-bits-per-second), which is faster than the maximum theoretical 3G speed of 7.2Mbps. It would take hours (even in Bhutanese time) to download such a file.

But more importantly: 3G is indeed much faster than 2G, and in theory should support video calls via Skype and similar services. It also has the important advantage of supporting voice and data simultaneously (with 2G, if you use data, you cannot use voice and vice versa).

However, the current 3G reality in Bhutan is not that rosy. First, 3G is currently only available in some locations in Thimphu. Second, even in Thimphu, the actual speed is much slower than eye-blink downloads, reasonable movie streaming or video calls. Although coverage is about to change, we are still worried about the speed. As long as the international capacity of Bhutan will not meet up with demand, the theoretical 3G speed will not manifest in practice.

The End of Broadband Recharge Cards

2012-02-24T15:48:00.004+06:00

A museum piece?

They were good while they lasted. But apparently Bhutan Telecom's broadband recharge cards are no longer available. These cards had the great advantage of saving a trip to the BT office for customers using the prepaid broadband option. I guess all good things eventually come to an end. Impermanence.

Distorted Display? (K2)

2012-01-21T13:30:00.000+06:00

Question of the Week
My friend and I have identical laptops but for some reason my laptop screen doesn't look as sharp as my friend's. Images are shown stretched and a bit blurred. Why is that?
-- Ms. Prem, Jaigaon

Answer
Dear Ms. Prem,

I've seen this on a lot of laptops in Bhutan (and elsewhere). Distorted display is usually the result of a missing or incorrectly configured display driver. A display driver is the piece of software that is responsible for managing the display. Each laptop model requires a specific display driver to control the screen.

Here are the Indian support websites for the most popular laptop models. On the website, you will often be able to download and install the display driver after entering the exact model name. Some websites (e.g., Lenovo) can auto-detect the laptop's model.

Dell dell.com/support/drivers/in/en/indhs1/DriversHome
Lenovo support.lenovo.com/en_IN/
Acer acer.co.in/ac/en/IN/content/drivers
HP www8.hp.com/in/en/support-drivers.html

If the correct driver is not installed, or is not set up properly - as is often the case with pirated versions of Windows - you will often not get the full benefits of your screen. Distorted display is not only a cosmetic issue but can strain your eyes and cause headaches.

Each screen is made out of pixels - tiny dots set up in a rectangular grid (you can often see these dots if you look at the screen really closely). The higher the screen's resolution, the more pixels the screen contains. If your screen's resolution is specified, for example, as 1280 by 800, then your screen has 800 rows of pixels and each of these rows has 1280 pixels. However,if the appropriate display driver is not installed, Windows will not be able to take advantage of the full resolution and a distorted or blurred image will appear.

The best place to find out information and drivers for your laptop is the manufacturer's website.

Tip
To check and fix the current resolution on a Windows XP machine, right-click on an empty area of the desktop, then select properties. In the Settings tab, check the "screen resolution". On Windows 7 machines, right-click on an empty area of the desktop, then select screen resolution.

Go to the manufacturer's home page, select the country (I usually select India or Thailand - depending on where the laptop was purchased), then look for a link called "support", "downloads and drivers", or something similar. Once you enter the laptop's exact model number (which is usually printed on the laptop's bottom cover), a link to the latest drivers - including the display driver - will be presented. Follow the instructions, which will typically involve downloading and installing the driver. Note that this is also the place to get drivers for your laptop's other hardware, such as sound card and wireless adapter.

Updating Windows 7 (K2)

2011-12-24T14:29:00.000+06:00

I am trying to use Windows Update but I keep getting the following error code: 80072EFE. I tried to solve the problem in different ways, such as running PC Cleaner and SystemCare 4, and even reinstalling Windows 7 (without formatting drive C). However, I keep getting the error. Can you kindly advise?

-- Tashi Dubjur, College of Science and Technology (CST)

Dear Tashi,

Operating systems such as Windows 7 are complex creatures, and the issue of the type that you encountered is quite common. I’ve also run into similarly annoying error messages. In my experience, the key to solving such problems is by searching online for solutions. Why? Well, there are millions of other Windows users around the world, and typically a few of them have already run into the same problem. Luckily, you are not alone! Other users will often share their solutions, usually in an online forum. You can find online discussions by typing the exact error message text into the Google search bar.

With all of this in mind, I've searched for your specific problem. I typed "error code 80072EFE" in the Google search bar, and got many relevant results. Try it! The top result was for a discussion that had more than one hundred posts. According to the discussion, many users found that a Kaspersky utility that removes a nasty virus was able to solve the problem. So read the discussions, see what solutions people have found, and try them out.

Website of the Week

Khan Academy (www.khanacademy.com)

Students have started their winter vacations, but that does not mean that learning must stop. About five years ago, Salman Khan, a young Bangladeshi-American with a gift for making the complicated appear simple, created and uploaded a few short video clips containing math tutorials to YouTube. His original motivation was to help his remotely-located cousins with maths. The videos became popular. Very popular. So popular, in fact, that eventually Khan left his job, founded “Khan Academy”, and the rest, as they say, is history. KhanAcademy.org now contains over 2700 short video clips covering math, physics, chemistry, history and more. Everything is free. Check it out and you’ll discover that there's more to the Internet than Facebook.

Readers are encouraged to submit technology-related questions to boaz@thimphutech.com

Who Updates Wikipedia? Part II (K2)

2011-11-26T23:29:00.000+06:00

Question of the Week (Cont'd)
I recently noticed that there's a new article in Wikipedia on the Royal Wedding, but it contains many errors. Who is responsible for these errors?
-- Sonam P., MoE

Dear Sonam,

In the last column I talked about Wikipedia and explained how errors find their way into articles. As promised, this week I describe how to update Wikipedia articles. But first, a refresher: Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.com) is one of the Internet's most popular websites. It is a fantastic, free, online encyclopedia with millions of articles. Wikipedia articles can be created, edited and updated by anyone with an Internet connection.

How to earn Wikipedia karma points
Articles related to Bhutan in Wikipedia are still scarce. Here's how you can help. Go to en.wikipedia.org, and look for the search bar near the top-right. Search for a topic on which you are knowledgeable. It can be your gewog's name, favourite Bhutanese film, local flora and fauna, your high school, your favorite member of parliament, etc. If an article about the topic does not exist, you can start one. If an article already exists, read it. There is a good chance that you can improve the article. Log into your account (or create an account if one does not exist), edit the article, preview and save. That's it! You have selfishly contributed to world knowledge.

Many visitors to Wikipedia are just "readers", that is, people who read articles. However, you can also write, edit and update articles. Suppose that you read a Wikipedia article and spot an error. You can easily fix it! Here's how: look for the "Edit" tab near the top-right area of the screen. Click on it, and you'll be taken to an online editor which contains the text of the article. Find the error, correct it, then click "Show preview", and if you like what you see - click "Save page". That's it. The entire world will now see the improved article! Once you edited an article, you officially become a "Wikipedian" - someone who writes and edits Wikipedia articles. There are almost 16 million Wikipedians around the world, including some in Bhutan.

Tip 1: I recommend opening a (free) account in Wikipedia before editing articles. To create an account, go to en.wikipedia.org and click on "Log in / create account" at the top-right of the page. Using a Wikipedia account improves your online privacy. If you edit an article without logging in, your IP address will be publicly displayed in the page's revision history. This means that you can be traced back. If you edit an article while logged in, only the username that you chose for your account will be displayed.

Tip 2: To learn more about editing articles, go to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Editing. For creating new articles, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creating_new_pages

Readers are encouraged to submit technology-related questions to boaz@thimphutech.com

The law of one-way adjustments

2011-11-17T12:42:00.001+06:00

When petrol prices go up, RSTA hikes the taxi fares. When petrol prices go down, taxi fares remain unchanged. Is there a scientific explanation for this phenomenon, or is it just one of nature's mysteries?

Today: information session on PhD-level studies @ ISB

2011-11-15T09:34:00.001+06:00

A quick reminder about tomorrow's open information session on the Fellow Programme in Management at the top-ranked Indian School of Business.

When & where: Wed, Nov 16 @ BCCI Hall, Thimphu (free event).
To reserve your seat: send your name and organization by SMS to 17583975 or email galit@rigsum-it.com.

Feel free to join and post on our Facebook event page.

Who Updates Wikipedia? Part I (K2)

2011-11-12T23:25:00.000+06:00

Question of the Week

I recently noticed that there's a new article in Wikipedia on the Royal Wedding, but it contains many errors. Who is responsible for these errors?
-- Sonam P., MoE

Dear Sonam,

Many Internet users in Bhutan are not familiar with Wikipedia, so this is a great opportunity to let readers know about a terrific online resource. Wikipedia - accessible at www.wikipedia.org - is an online encyclopedia. It contains millions of articles about every conceivable domain of human knowledge. The Wikipedia website is one of the most popular websites in the world, currently up there in the top 5, together with the more familiar Google, Yahoo!, Facebook and YouTube. Like Facebook, surfing Wikipedia can become addictive, but it is unlikely to be blocked at your office!

Wikipedia tips

Wikipedia is available in many languages. To access the English version, go directly to en.wikipedia.org. Use the search bar on the top right to find articles.
"Simple English" Wikipedia, written in basic English, is accessible at simple.wikipedia.org. It can be useful to school students or anyone struggling with English

Traditional printed encyclopedias, the most famous one being Encyclopedia Britannica, used to be housed in libraries, because they were too expensive for most people to have at home. At libraries, they populated long shelves, and required heavy-lifting. Wikipedia, on the other hand, is completely free and accessible from any Internet-connected computer. For the first time in history, people now have cheap and easy access to an incredible amount of knowledge and information.

While Encyclopedia Britannica was written by reputable experts, Wikipedia entries are written, edited and updated by anyone who wants to help. It is a collaborative effort by Internet volunteers. This means that information is usually very up-to-date. For example, a few minutes after Muammar Gaddafi was killed, the Wikipedia entry about him already contained his date of death: a volunteer edited this piece of information. But since anyone can update Wikipedia, it also means that information can be incorrect. This does not mean that there isn't plenty of useful and correct information on Wikipedia, but it does require critical reading.

As to Wikipedia's royal wedding article (http://goo.gl/FQqka), it was mostly created and updated by non-Bhutanese volunteer editors, many of whom lack the knowledge that Bhutanese have. For example, the royal wedding article currently designates Dasho Kinley Dorji as "Bhutan's Minister of Information", which is obviously wrong; he is the Secretary of MoIC. Of course, by the time your read this, someone might have already corrected this error. From my experience, there are many errors in other entries about Bhutan as well. In the next column I'll share some tips on editing Wikipedia articles. Until then, check out articles about Bhutan and see how many other mistakes you can find!

Readers are encouraged to submit technology-related questions to boaz@thimphutech.com

Spotted in Thimphu

2011-11-12T19:03:00.001+06:00

What's with the MoE Website?

2011-11-11T19:30:00.000+06:00

The official website of the Ministry of Education, www.education.gov.bt, is dead. And it's been dead for the last few weeks. We first tweeted about this a few days ago. My guess is that it went down about 3 or 4 weeks ago. That's a pretty long time for a website of that importance to be unavailable. In the online world, it's almost infinity. It's down for so long, in fact, that the website does not even come up in Google search results. Try looking for "ministry of education, bhutan" or any other query related to education in Bhutan. The ministry's official web site is just not there. It's gone.

For some reason, I could not find any information about this outage. There was no announcement before it went down. There was no announcement about an ongoing issue, or an estimated time of recovery. I could not find any information in the Kuensel, other newspapers or BBS; not on Twitter or Facebook; not in the official government portal (www.bhutan.gov.bt). DrukNet, the hosting company, did not provide any information as well.

If you are a parent, a student, a teacher, a researcher, or anyone interested in online information related the MoE, you're basically out of luck. According to a recently-started discussion on the new Kuensel forums, teachers in remote areas depend on the website for accessing materials. A user by the name of fuel wrote: "in the remote place education web site is must update the teachers".

My guess - and it's only a guess - is that some serious technical problem has occurred. Perhaps the website was hacked. Perhaps a hard disk crash occurred. If anyone has information about this painful outage, kindly illuminate us all.

Unemployment among Google Chrome users?

2011-11-10T18:15:00.000+06:00

Like many young people in Bhutan, one of my students who uses Google Chrome as her web browser is looking for a job. Google Chrome is my preferred web browser, as it is faster and more secure than other browsers. Hence, we have Chrome installed on our lab computers. Back to our story. The student went to MoLHR's website, and clicked on the "Job Vacancy" link. Here is what she saw:

No wonder unemployment is rising...

Obviously, the folks at MoLHR don't make it easy to read the job descriptions - unless you're a computer, that is! A quick check revealed that the information is provided as an XML RSS feed, which is a format used by special programs called RSS readers. It is not designed to be displayed using web browsers. Although the newer versions of Internet Explorer display this information in a more readable format, webmasters must check that their website is rendered properly by all major browsers.

New in Thimphu: bookshop, café

2011-11-08T16:59:00.000+06:00

While the landscape of bookstores in the West is drastically changing in the direction of going out of business, in Bhutan things are different, and bookshops seems to flourish. The tasteful Junction Bookstore (just below the main traffic) has become a favourite destination for books in the capital, and now, with the help of the Loden Foundation, a first-of-its-kind children's bookstore is opening:
Tashi's Children Bookshop, just below Karma's Coffee. The Facebook page is already up, with an ongoing discussion revolving around the shop logo. Hopefully the same level of attention to detail will be dedicated to the shop, the books, and the service. Thimphu has plenty clothes shops and shoe stores, so this is a fantastic addition to the retail landscape.

Another noteworthy business in town is Palden Roastery Cafe on Phendey Lam (near the old milk booth, opposite Bhutan International; see Google Map). Coffee, cakes, frozen yogurt, and an original food menu, including sushi. The decor is very clean. An inside room has a selection of cute fashion accessories. Free Wi-Fi is in the works. The small tables can sit only two. I personally would have loved a few armchairs/sofas for creating a more loungey, relaxed atmosphere. All in all, a welcomed addition to Thimphu's Food and Beverage scene.

Faster browsing coming soon

2011-11-08T11:26:00.000+06:00

According to an article in today's Kuensel (page 2), DrukNet will soon be using Google Global Cache (GGC), a service by Google that will speed up the download of Google content, including YouTube videos, in Bhutan (YouTube is owned by Google). This is altogether excellent news. The Kuensel article explains very clearly the idea behind the cache and the benefits it provides. The article, "DrukNet to host Google global cache", it still not avalable online, but I'll add a link to it if (and when) it appears in kuenselonline.com.

GGC is good news for Internet users in Bhutan. In addition to speeding up download of Google content, it will reduce the load on the international links. Not a magic potion for fixing broadband speeds in Bhutan, but certainly a step in the right direction.

Update: The article went online. Here's the link.

Where Should you Post Your Status?

2011-11-03T14:32:00.000+06:00

Need to decide where to post your updates? Use this flow chart.

Open Information Session on PhD-level Studies at the Indian School of Business

2011-11-03T10:29:00.000+06:00

The Rigsum Institute of IT & Management will be hosting an open information session regarding the Fellow Programme in Management studies (PhD-level) at the Indian School of Business (ISB) in Hyderabad. ISB is a world-class institution, ranked #13 in the 2011 Financial Times Global MBA Rankings.

Information will be provided about the study programme, admissions, scholarships and an academic research career. Holders of Masters degrees with an interest in management-related academic careers are invited to attend.

Venue & time: The open session will be held on November 16, from 4-6pm at BCCI Hall, Thimphu.
Cost: The event is FREE of charge.

Tea and snacks will be served.

Please RSVP at galit@rigsum-it.com.

This is NOT Thimphu TechPark's Website. However...

2011-11-02T21:35:00.000+06:00

Our blog's name is ThimphuTech. The newly inaugurated IT park on the capital's outskirts is Thimphu TechPark. I'm sure you see the resemblance. Thimphu TechPark is also variously spelled as Thimphu Tech Park, TTP, Thimphu Tek Park, Bhutan IT Park, and so on. Due to the similar names, when people search Google for the IT park, some of them end up here. If that happened to you, we're here to help. Here are a few external links about Bhutan's first IT park:

Official website: Thimphu TechPark

Recent articles in Kuensel, which had excellent coverage of the park's recent inauguration:

Kuensel, Oct 28, 2011: Inauguration on Tuesday, Nov 1: This despite the space that's going a-begging.
Kuensel, Nov 1, 2011: What IT will take: From feedback received, Bhutan still has some ways to go to attract FDI
Kuensel, Nov 2, 2011: "A bold step in Bhutan's IT vision": World Bank rep Mark LaPrairie went on to say it was a leap of faith that came with its own risks

A few months ago I wrote an article regarding the IT park in Kuensel's weekend magazine (K2) in response to a reader's question. You may find that relevant even today:

What's an IT Park? (K2)

A Week Later, Kuensel Online Still not Accessible

2011-11-02T20:55:00.002+06:00

We first reported about this issue a week ago: Internet users within Bhutan cannot access the website of Kuensel, Bhutan's national newspaper. Users outside of Bhutan have no problem at all. Surprisingly, a week has passed, and the issue is still not resolved, although we are told technicians are working on solving the problem.

In the meantime, Kuensel on their Facebook page recommend that you use a proxy server, such as www.anonymouse.org to access the website. It will be slow, but at least you can read the articles. Here's a direct link to the proxified version of Kuensel Online.

Upcoming Workshops

2011-10-31T10:01:00.000+06:00

We are glad to announce two upcoming workshops:

Build a Website (Using Google Sites)

Can you surf the Internet? Then you can also build websites. No computer degree necessary. In this 2-day, hands-on workshop you will create your own free website using Google Sites. Instructed by Mr. Boaz Shmueli, the workshop will take place on Nov 14-15, 2011, and is intended for small business owners, schools, tour operators, various organizations and anyone tired of chasing a webmaster...

Risk Analysis for Project Planning (Using Excel)

How can data be used for planning, decision making, and assessment? Learn basic and advanced Excel skills for risk analysis. A two-day workshop by Professor Galit Shmueli (USA) will take place on Nov 21-22, 2011. The workshop is intended for decision makers in the government, corporate and private sectors. Fee includes the book "Practical Risk Analysis for Project Planning".

For details and registration visit www.rigsum-it.com/workshops.

Web-Based Medical Diagnosis (K2)

2011-10-29T23:16:00.000+06:00

Question of the Week
My friend is having a bad cough and is afraid to go to the doctor. She checked on the Internet and saw that it might be lung cancer. I told her that you can’t trust medical information on the Internet. Am I right?
-- Chandra M., S/J

Dear Chandra,

More and more people are looking for health information online, in order to get quick answers, to avoid going to doctors, and for other reasons. While having access to health information can be helpful, you must be careful about self-diagnosis based on online information. It is easy to get carried away and suspect a dangerous or rare disease, especially when searching online. For example, searching for "headache" might bring up online articles about brain tumors. Some people become very anxious when looking up their symptoms online and are preoccupied about having a serious disease - this sounds like what your friend is experiencing. There is even a name for this online phenomena: cyber-chondria.

Previously, we didn't have access to all this excessive medical information. We didn't worry as much! Your friend's cough is more likely caused by the seasonal flu, especially in this time of the year. However, I am not a medical doctor and therefore this is again just one more opinion. To be sure, and to rid herself of the scary thoughts, she should check with a health professional. She can even print out the information that she found on the Internet and discuss it with the doctor.

A plethora of websites provide health and medical information. Some information is useful and reliable, but much of it is misleading, wrong, or even harmful. Remember that anyone can publish anything on the Internet; the fact that it's out there does not mean that it's credible or true. So when looking at a health-related website - or any other website - it is useful to check who runs the website, who pays for it, and for what purpose. Check out the "About us" or "About this site" section of the website.

Even if a health website is very popular, it might not have genuine intentions. Some websites - such as the popular WebMD - are sponsored by giant pharmaceutical companies and have a commercial agenda, so they will often steer users towards drugs or surgery, when in fact basic lifestyle solutions (diet, exercise, rest, etc.) are healthiest.

Here are three of my favourite websites for health-related information, which are considered trust-worthy:

MedlinePlus (nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus) is run by the US National Library of Medicine and provides useful reliable, and ad-free information about hundreds of health topics, including medical drugs, for consumers.

Mayo Clinic (mayoclinic.com/health-information), one of the best hospital systems in the world, runs a useful, balanced, and reliable website. The website also features a Symptom Checker.

CDC (www.cdc.gov), the website of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has excellent information on disease outbreaks, child vaccinations and travelers' health.

To summarize: While some websites are useful and educational, they are meant to complement - not replace - a doctor.

Readers are encouraged to submit technology-related questions to boaz@thimphutech.com

BBC's What's Your Number: A Brilliant Way to Collect Private Information

2011-10-28T21:34:00.001+06:00

BBC's webmaster

Nobody knows the world's exact population figures, but the United Nations decided - partly to raise awareness, partly as a publicity stunt - to arbitrarily pick October 31st, 2011 as the date when the number of people on earth will cross 7 billion. There's a lot of discussion about the 7B mark all over the place, so I'll leave that to the experts. What I wanted to talk about is BBC's What's Your Number application, launched just in time to coincide with the UN's announcement.
The idea is that you enter you birth date, country, and sex, and the application will provide you with a number - for example, 4,534,132,121 - which is an estimate of how many people were alive on the date of your birth, along with other statistics. Many people are playing around with this cool application, posting their "number" on Facebook or Twitter.

While this application is fun to play with, BBC has done a brilliant thing here: People from all over the world - tens or hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions - are voluntarily sharing private information with the website. The date-of-birth and sex, along with the user's IP address, is valuable information. And people are unlikely to fake the information here - they are dying to know their "number". So this information is most likely very accurate, and thus very valuable. The BBC is amassing a small treasure here. There a good reason to believe this information will be used by the BBC for their own commercial purpose, which might be annoying, but probably not harmful. However, if the information is shared with governments, or if there is a security breach and it's stolen - and this is not a rare event - and the data falls into the wrong hands, there's some chance that the information will be abused.

My recommendation: Be mindful. Think twice before sharing your personal information on the web.

Nu 100 Royal Wedding notes pop up on Ebay

2011-10-27T12:19:00.003+06:00

The special Nu 100 notes sold by the Royal Monetary Authority, which were printed especially for the Royal Wedding, have unsurprisingly popped up on E-bay.

Prices start at US$24.99 - about Nu 1250 - plus shipping.

According to Kuensel, two million commemorative Nu 100 notes were printed. The local price for the notes was Nu 500, or about US$10.

B-Mobile to Increase Capacity

2011-10-27T11:47:00.001+06:00

Changlimithang

B-Mobile subscribers are lately facing disconnects and other congestion-related issues, including complete loss of network signal. Although this is very apparent when the Bhutan-wide load is high, such as during the recent earthquake, we have noticed that these issues occur also during non-emergency times, although much less often.

But don't despair, as relief is coming: B-Mobile has announced that by the end of 2012, capacity will be doubled, which will allow more simultaneous calls. This is very good news.

I'm not sure, however, that this will solve a related issue that occurs when many users concentrate in a small area. For example, when tens of thousands of people congregate in Changlimithang stadium, the load on the local "base station" is increased dramatically. For this type of issue, increasing the total capacity is not enough.