What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a currency and you should think of it as a protocol, just like “HTTP”. Bitcoin was introduced in 2009 by an anonymous developer using the pseudonym “Satoshi Nakamoto”. He has since moved on to other projects, leaving this technology for the open source community; for us to enjoy and benefit from!

Currency

Currency has two things in common: something of real value (like gold) and a centralized government to control it. Bitcoin is decentralised and digital; it’s basic unit of currency is mined from code just like gold is mined from the ground.

Bitcoin economy is monitored by peer-to-peer Internet protocol; it is an encrypted string of data or hash which signify a unit of currency. All transactions are tracked by this P2P network as well. It is this collaborative digital capital brought about by the P2P network that gives Bitcoin its value.

Miners and clients

The Bitcoin comprises of a Bitcoin chain of blocks that all participants, both miners and clients, have a copy off. Just like a large “accounting ledger”, miners will check each block for uniqueness by brute force comparison to make sure no coin is reproduced or double spent and in the process verify and confirm all transactions.

Miners will perform this by solving a puzzle and the miner who solves it first will be rewarded with Bitcoins. There is a limited number of Bitcoins (21 Million), no more will be generated, therefore preventing inflation just like gold. Bitcoins are “kept” inside a wallet which can be on-line, on desktop computers, or mobile devices and even on paper – not linked to the network, which is the safest form.

New users

Whenever a new user starts up the Bitcoin client, it generates a new Bitcoin address that is initially associated with zero Bitcoins. A user’s private keys are stored locally in a file; losing or erasing the file means that all Bitcoins associated with the addresses inside are effectively lost.

Sending Bitcoins from one address to another is done by publishing a transaction to the network, listing both the source and destination address along with the amount.

How do I get Bitcoins?

You can buy Bitcoins at Bitcoin Exchanges. A detailed list can be found here. You can also find local people that would be willing to sell you Bitcoins. Here is a site that can get you connected to someone based in your current location.

What can you buy with Bitcoins?

Well, a bunch of stuff. Here’s an eBay-like store, but there are plenty of other locations where you can spend your Bitcoins on just about anything.

More information

If you want to know even more about Bitcoin, make sure to check this page.

The post An Introduction to Bitcoin appeared first on Curacao Connected - Internet, social media and tech related news.

New packages and speeds

Free upgrade

The good news here is that new customers can get the prices listed above by signing a 1-year contract instead of being roped into a 2-year agreement like before. As for the free upgrade, the UTS website says the following…

EDIT: I’ve been told that the upgrades will start getting rolled out April 15th, so we’ll have to keep an eye on that.

Sign Up

If you’re not an existing customer and you wish to sign up with UTS, just click the button below.

The post UTS Introduces New Broadband Speeds appeared first on Curacao Connected - Internet, social media and tech related news.

Users started reporting their problems in this thread and it was quickly clear that it didn’t have to with a particular type of device or the provider – UTS, Flow and Digicel users were all reporting that the Play Store was not accessible.

At the time when these issues started, I had just purchased a new Samsung Galaxy phone in the Netherlands. The Play Store obviously worked while in Europe and when I arrived on Curacao 10 days later, Google Play was working without any problems.

My Galaxy Tab however was a different story. Play Store was not available on the tablet, but I could open the marketplace from the web browser on my laptop, which was weird to say the least. A quick poll on Facebook showed that the device and the provider really didn’t matter, but an answer or solution was still miles away.

What could be causing this problem?

Speculation started to go around that Google blocked Curacao and that it has to do with our move from “Netherlands Antilles” to “independent country” Curacao. The fact that some Sint Maarten residents were also experiencing the same problem made this theory sound pretty plausible.

Then, a few days ago, UTS head man and Android user Paul de Geus chimed in with thoughts. In an interview with the Amigoe, De Geus said the following…

So according to UTS, we don’t have rights to access the apps. Google however says otherwise….

If we’re to believe Google, it doesn’t have anything to do with rights or being blocked or blacklisted, but it’s just…complicated…

That’s great and all, but how can I access Google Play again?

Various users were starting to get around the issue by using Proxy servers and VPN connections. I mean, we have to do something while Google tries to figure this thing out, right?

ProxMate

ProxMate was emailed to me by various users and it works like a charm. Just start by visiting the site and downloading and installing the Firefox or Chrome add-on.

Once the add-on has been installed and activated, you should see a highlighted ProxyMate icon  in your list of add-ons.

You should be able to access the Play Store now from your browser.

If the app you are looking for is compatible with your Android device (and available for Curacao), you can click the “Install” button and the app will automatically be downloaded and installed on your device, granted that it’s synched with your Google account.

Hotspot Shield VPN for Android

If you want to be able to access the app market from your Android device, you can also install Hotspot Shield VPN for Android. This will also allow you to download apps that regularly may not be available for residents of Curacao.

Make sure that you change your settings to allow installation of non-Market applications, or else the app will not install.

You can now review the app permissions and install the VPN.

Once the VPN app has been installed, you can click “Start protection” to start the service.

You should be connected to the VPN within a few seconds. If you are getting errors, make sure to check if your device is set to allow VPN connections.

With the VPN app running, you can now access the Google Play Store.

Once you accept the terms, you will be ready to go!

More feedback

Let us know if you have another way to get around the restrictions or if you experience issues with ProxMate or Hotspot Shield. The more information we can gather, the better.

Update

Reader Francis reports that he’s being redirected to Google Jamaica (google.com.jm) on his Digicel device and that the Play Store is working for him without any proxies or VPNs. No such luck for me on the UTS network….

The post Accessing The Google Play Store While on Curacao appeared first on Curacao Connected - Internet, social media and tech related news.

eZone was the first to send out an email regarding the split and subsequent merger with Complete Cargo.

A bit later, Nieuwe Post let everyone know that from now on they’re working with Puntomio.com.

At the time of these emails, it wasn’t entirely clear yet as to why the companies split up, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out that eZone was not happy with Nieuwe Post. They clearly confirmed it today with this post on Facebook, calling out Nieuwe Post for not having correct policies or systems in place to allow efficient package flow…

So, what’s next?

Well, I guess that you’ll have to start by deciding if you want to trust your packages to Nieuwe Post and PuntoMio, or to eZone and Complete Cargo. eZone did not waste any time and immediately went on the offensive, promising better and more efficient service…

Will the prices change?

Complete Cargo’s website doesn’t have any pricing information and while PuntoMio does, you can’t select Curacao from the country list on their rate calculator page. We’ve reached out to both companies and will share any pricing information as soon as they provide it.

So, if I stay with eZone, I’ll have to go to the airport every time for my package?

Yes, every order as of February 15th will be handled by Complete Cargo and will have to be picked up at the SwissPort building at the airport. You should receive an email with your invoice, telling you that your package has arrived and that it can be picked up.

If the drive to the airport is a deal breaker for you, just hold on tight. eZone says that a downtown pick-up location will be opening soon and that Complete Cargo will be offering delivery service.

I still have so many questions…

Well, the best thing is to contact both companies directly if you still have questions about the new services or any package that may still be in transit.

Contact Nieuwe Post N.V.
Call (+5999) 4331365/ 1380/ 1372/ 1310 or send an email to customerservice@npostna.com.

Contact Complete Cargo Curacao
Call (+5999) 869-6214 or send an email to ezone@complete.cw.

The post eZone and Nieuwe Post Go Their Separate Ways appeared first on Curacao Connected - Internet, social media and tech related news.

On Tuesday Columbus proudly announced the addition of Dr. John C. Malone as a new equity share holder in the company. Dr. Malone is Chairman of Liberty Media Corporation, as well as Chairman of Liberty Interactive Corporation. Dr. Malone is also the Chairman of the Board of Liberty Global, Inc., the world’s second largest cable MSO.

According to his Wiki page, Dr. Malone is also the largest individual private landowner in the United States, owning 2,100,000 acres (8,500 km2) of land, most of which is in Maine. I don’t know why I decided to drop this little nugget in here, but I did….

What does this mean for Columbus and Flow on the long run? Well, Columbus is looking at more financial flexibility, which could mean good news for us Flow clients on Curacao.

Below you can download the Columbus Inc. press release that was sent out regarding Dr. Malone’s investment.

- Columbus Inc. press release Dr. John C. Malone (.pdf)

The post John Malone Buys Into Columbus International appeared first on Curacao Connected - Internet, social media and tech related news.

Below you can see a recap of what has changed starting January 23rd, 2013…

Adjustment from six to four Residential Broadband packages

Flow previously offered six residential broadband package options, with download speeds of 2, 5, 15, 25, 50 and 100 Mbps. Customers can now choose between four packages, specifically 2, 5, 30 and 100 Mbps down. The 2 and 5 Mbps packages remain unchanged.

Free Upgrades

Customers with the 15 or 25 Mbps packages will be upgraded to 30 Mbps, while customers with the 50 Mbps package will be upgraded to 100 Mbps at no extra charge.

Price Reductions

Customers subscribed to the 100mbps and the 25Mbps packages will receive a discount in their monthly subscription fees.

Fastest Upload Speeds

Flow also increased its upload speeds for the new 30 and 100 Mbps packages, boosting them to 10 Mbps and 15 Mbps respectively.

The new packages for residential clients (single and double play) are now as follows…

Upgrading To A New Package

As you have understood by now, customers that currently have a 15, 25, 50 or 100 Mbps connection are eligible for an upgrade. To upgrade to the adjusted speeds and prices, you will have to visit the Flow office and sign for your new package. That’s basically it.

Business Broadband

If you’re a business client, there’s no need to fret however. These packages have been updated as well, but have not received the specific details yet. This post will get updated as soon as the numbers become available.

Downloads

Below you can download Flow’s official press release, the January 2013 brochure, the new package list and the upgrade instructions.

- Flow press release (.docx)
- Flow January 2013 brochure (.pdf)
- Flow new packages (.pdf)
- Flow upgrade instructions (.docx)

Sign Up

If you’re not an existing customer and you wish to sign up with Flow, just click the button below.

The post The New Flow Curacao Residential Packages and Prices appeared first on Curacao Connected - Internet, social media and tech related news.

eZone: “Your package has arrived Dave. Please drop by and pick it up tomorrow.”

Dave: “You mean I get to sit and wait for a few hours while I watch your employees awkwardly and inefficiently stumble through this painstakingly frustrating process? And they might even be rude to me if I catch them on a bad day?”

eZone: “Yes, that pretty much sums it up…”

Dave: “Sweet. MOAR EZONE PLEEZZZ.” *

* I have never said that

Reader Christopher shares these same frustrations and he’s been venting for a while now. The eZone service has never been that great to begin with, but Christopher has noted a steady decline since September of last year. He has stood in line with 100+ people in front of him, he has wasted hours while waiting for a package and now he has had enough.

Here’s what he posted today on the eZone Facebook page…

Please read that highlighted sentence again. They asked him to remove a complaint from their Facebook page, because they have given him good service in the past.

Hey Nieuwe Post, FUCK YOU. That’s not how it works. You should give good service every single fucking time and when you mess up, you should man up and accept responsibility. That’s one of the reasons why you have a Facebook page. To listen to your customers. To get constructive criticism. TO IMPROVE YOUR WRETCHED SERVICE.

Well, these are the same people who thought that you can copy/paste a shopping cart url link and still see its contents on a different (not-logged-in-on-that-same-account) computer. A service that according to their newsletter type email and Facebook page was available, but that turned out not to be available at the time of publication after all.

* sigh *

Excuse me while I go light myself on fire now…

The post eZone Curacao Continues To Do eZone Curacao Things appeared first on Curacao Connected - Internet, social media and tech related news.

UTS customer Ingrid was planning on switching to a different provider, where  she’d be paying 60 guilders less every month for broadband Internet service. Ingrid’s contract was expiring – she only had two weeks left on her deal – so she decided to go ahead and sign up with the other provider.

Ingrid didn’t see any problem with this, because she assumed that she could just walk into UTS and cancel her service based on her expiring contract – something that you could do at any other reasonable company. Sadly, if you’ve ever had to deal with UTS, you’ll know that this is much easier said than done.

After a number of trips to UTS, Ingrid was told that her contract was extended two months earlier. This so-called ‘stilzwijgend verlengen’ is not allowed in Holland or the U.S. anymore, but it’s basically what’s keeping UTS alive. I’ve written about opting out of your UTS contract a few years back and it looks like we haven’t made any progress in this area at all.

Ingrid was stumped and offered to pay two months of “service costs” to get out of the contract, but UTS did not bite. The only way for her to get out of her contract, was to get someone else to take over the contract.

Please re-read that sentence and let the ridiculousness sink in. In the meantime, here’s a gif of a cat acting like a dick.

Ingrid asked if UTS would help find someone who would be willing to take over her contract – you know, like any new customer – but the answer was no. According to UTS, she either has to pay for an entire year, or find someone herself that is willing to take over her contract.

You can imagine that Ingrid is not in the mood to sit at UTS’ office and ask people if they want to sign up and “take over” her contract. That’s why she posted her story (and phone number) online, in the hopes of finding someone who may be looking to sign up at UTS to take over her contract at a reduced price.

Her phone number is 517-4006, so feel free to call if you can help. Like mentioned in the article above, this could be a good deal for anyone who is living in an area where Flow or TRES are not active yet and who is in need of broadband service.

Yes sir, UTS’ lead in the “Fail Race” looks to be insurmountable…

Ah well, here’s a cat doing some weird shit…

The post Please Help This Poor Woman Escape The Clutches of UTS appeared first on Curacao Connected - Internet, social media and tech related news.

Our malware issues have been taken care off and even though this happened almost two months ago, it’s still worth mentioning, if only as a cautionary tale.

The Backstory

Ricardo is a Chippie user who is accustomed to spending Naf. 100 a month on calls. There are months were that amount will drop to Naf. 60 or go up to Naf. 185, but those are major outliers.You can imagine then how surprised he was when he racked up Naf. 350 in call costs during the 4 weeks of November, while basically following his usual calling pattern (no long distance calls, etc.)

After blowing through Naf. 50 of credit in just three days, Ricardo decided to do a little test. He looked at the Chippie rates mentioned on uts.cw and decided to compare those numbers to the rates he was getting while calling.

Here are the rates that are listed on UTS’ website…

Ricardo made various calls during the day, going from Chippie to fixed numbers, Chippie to Chippie and Chippie to other operators.  After checking his balance after every call and doing the math, he found that the rate was varying between Naf. 60 and Naf. 2,90 per minute. As you can see in the table above, rates shouldn’t be nowhere near Naf. 2,90 when making a call to a local Chippie number.

The Fallout

Ricardo told his story to Antilliaans Dagblad, who in turn called UTS looking for some sort of explanation. UTS wanted to talk to Ricardo and said that they would look into the matter. A few days later he got a call from Mrs. Haseth (PR department), who confirmed a technical glitch, apologised profusely and promised that Ricardo would get his money back. The next day, Ricardo got Naf. 350 credited onto his phone, which somehow pleasantly surprises me.

Ricardo asked whether the other people who were duped by this error would also get their money back, to which UTS replied that he was the only one who came forth with actual data. In other words, you snooze, you lose. Well played UTS, well played.

Ricardo is keeping an eye on the UTS ticker and will update us again should the rates mysteriously start to spike. That said, if you have the feeling that your are blowing through credit faster than usual, start collecting the data and get in touch with UTS as fast as possible. And of course, let us know about it so that we can warn others again as well…

The post UTS Still Leads The “Fail” Race appeared first on Curacao Connected - Internet, social media and tech related news.

Every article followed the same pattern:

- Tell the story of some horrible customer service experience
- Make childish jokes involving fecal matter and/or genitalia
- End the article by begging the companies involved to improve their service

Fast forward three years and I find myself, sadly, penning the same vitriol. The tipping point came yesterday, when another trip to Ennia ended in frustration and even more waste of time. I’ll save you the long and depressing story by just highlighting the lowlights (see what I did there?).

- We moved 5 months ago, but our mail was still being sent to our old address. This despite the address change being communicated 4 times (on the phone and in person).
- We received a signed letter, mentioning a discount on our 2013 insurance plan. Turns out that the letter contained a typo, which means that instead of a discount, we’re actually going to be paying more in 2013.
- We requested to start paying our bill monthly instead of quarterly. It’s been two weeks and no one can tell us what our monthly price is going to be.
- Combine the above mentioned points with the fact that phone calls are not returned and that I’ve lost more than 3 hours while sitting and waiting at the service department during the past weeks…and you may understand what I mean.

I ended up venting on Facebook and asking others what their worst customer service experience has been here on Curacao. The answers started to come in quickly, with repeat offenders like UTS, Scarlet and TDS immediately being mentioned.

Listen Up

Now, before I post some of my worst moments and those shared with us on Facebook, let me just remind companies (and company employees) who may read this (and get their panties in a bunch) of a few facts.

We are clients. We are paying you hard earned money for a certain product or service. We (usually) have other options, so you shouldn’t consider yourself God’s gift to mankind. As soon as our money is going into your cash register, we are entitled to friendly service and a smile. You should show us that you care about us and our well being because we are paying you to do so.

In short, wake the fuck up and provide decent service. It’s not impossible (see the United States, Europe, the Middle East, every other country or region in the world).

The Worst Service I Have Gotten On Curacao

Besides this Ennia debacle, I have experienced plenty of other unbelievable things here on Curacao. Just go through the archives and you’ll find plenty of gems, especially from my friends at UTS. That said, let’s recap some of the finer moments that I have been unfortunate to live through.

UTS

I was one of the first to sign up for UTS’ 3G service back in 2008. Sadly, the modem kept “blue screening” my laptop. A call to the customer service center was useless, as the lady did not even know that they were offering 3G service.

A technician got mad at me for making him wait “too long” outside. The man did not honk or call. He just stood outside and expected me to magically sense that he was waiting outside. Let’s also ignore the fact that UTS made me wait almost two months for this appointment.

I once went months without Internet because I moved and my request was filed as “completed”, without any technician passing by.

The first time I paid my bill online, I followed the instructions provided by UTS and mentioned by phone number in the payment details.This is wrong. You should use your contract number. This resulted in my pay never being delivered and me being shut off. They still charged me the extra Naf. 25 to reconnect me.

TDS

We decided to ditch TDS a number of years ago. We asked for our deposit and were told that management has to hold a meeting to decide when we can get it back. Wrap your head around that for a second…

Aqualectra

Everyone gets frustrated when they lose power, especially when it happens numerous times in a week and especially when rates keep going up. I wrote an article that was supposed to get Aqualectra to wake up and do a better job with regard to social media and communications. Instead of accepting the criticism and learning from their mistakes, they replied with this…

Aqualectra: It’s like being kicked in the face

Digicel

Digicel approached me right before they launched their new 4G service. I was going to get a chance to thoroughly test it and write an exclusive article here on Curacao Connected. I had to be fair, but also honest in my writing. “If the service is bad, let us know” I was told.

I mentioned in my review that the speeds were disappointing and showed some speed test results. Digicel did not take kind to this and told me that this was not really what they were hoping for. Communication stopped, the modem stopped working (while I still had 3 weeks of usage left) and I did not get an invitation to the launch party anymore.

Digicel: Where everyone acts like 3 year olds…

eZone Curacao

Do you enjoy waiting for hours, getting shitty treatment and not getting your stuff on time? Well, eZone is the company for you! If you’ve ever had your items bonded, you’ll know what I mean.

Ed. note: It has actually gotten worse…if that’s even possible.

Kia Motors

We picked out a new car and told Kia we’d pick it up as soon as all the paperwork was done. Somehow, another salesman sold the car and no one bothered to tell me. When we arrived to pick up the car, the salesman kept lying as to where the car was. He gave us the runaround for almost two weeks, before finally caving and admitting that the car was sold to someone else. We had to settle for another car, as the one we wanted was the last in stock…

Tapirama

Not going to waste many words here. Let me just say that I’d rather brush my teeth with a porcupine than ever enter that place again…

What Others Had To Say

Here’s what others had to say when asked about their worst customer experience on Curacao..

Where Do We Go From Here?

Will these rants lead to better service on Curacao? I don’t know, I’m just hoping for steady improvement . The key is to keep posting, sharing and commenting. Those in charge are reading along and they shit their pants once things start to hit too close to home.

Have any bad experiences you wish to share? Let us know in the comments section, via Facebook or email.

The post Yes, Service On Curacao Still Sucks appeared first on Curacao Connected - Internet, social media and tech related news.