tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242320312012-01-31T19:25:27.903+12:00Commentary, news, views and general rambling by Rajnesh D. Singh. The content in this Blog do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Organisation(s) the author works for or is involved with. Use of this site is subject to the Site Disclaimer at the bottom of this page.Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.comBlogger851100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-30242489391413881862010-02-22T21:29:00.001+13:002010-02-22T21:36:00.565+13:00

The first India vs South Africa ODI came down to 1 run: http://www.cricinfo.com/indvrsa2010/content/story/449406.html Yes, the SA batsmen had a gallant whack at the end, but yet again India nearly faltered. SA's 74 runs required from 43 balls looked like India had it in the bag. Then the bowling disintegrated (I don't know how else to describe it). Sreesanth and Nehra both being hit for 4s and

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-49870718721101081372010-01-21T02:42:00.004+13:002010-01-21T03:04:27.592+13:00

Earlier this week, I received a SMS on my mobile phone telling me: Thank your star! Your mobile number have won 1Million USD in FIFA 2010 GAME OF LIFE PROMO; for claims e-mail fifaclaims@w.cn or call +447-024-036-835 The originating number showed up as: +2347056318188 This had me intrigued. I have been lucky enough to win many many wonderful prizes over the years where the very considerate

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-80230435621988857052010-01-08T00:21:00.002+13:002010-01-08T00:35:26.184+13:00

This is an interesting development: http://www.globalinnovationcommons.org/ If this takes hold and works in the way it should, the possibilities and opportunities are (nearly) limitless... From the site: What would happen if you were given over $2 trillion? That's right, if someone walked up to you and gave you $2 trillion. That could never happen, right? In fact, that is exactly what has

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-36783411524056918732009-12-30T19:22:00.002+13:002010-01-08T00:35:01.306+13:00

An interesting bit of news as we end the year: http://telecom.questexmediagroup.com/t/966346/19452595/59291/0/ From the article above: After 21 years, the code that has kept the world's GSM networks safe from interception has been broken. According to a 28 year old German cryptographer Karsten Nohl, speaking at a hacker conference in Berlin the Chaos Communication Congress, the encryption code

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-25706291719069594142009-12-16T18:03:00.001+13:002009-12-16T18:03:56.446+13:00

I have been having a bit of an adventure finding a suitable (freeware) SIP client (softphone) for my Mac.Its not as easy as on Linux, or Windows for that matter.X-Lite is there, but it only supports one SIP account - I have several - so its useless for me.I found 2 others that may do the job - SIP Communicator http://www.sip-communicator.org/and Blink http://icanblink.com/SIP Communicator has

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-65785209588694632362009-12-16T17:33:00.001+13:002009-12-16T17:33:43.364+13:00

I recently bought myself a Mac.....I had one 20 years ago, and the world is certainly a different place in technicolour!The Mac I had in those days had a monochrome display :)One thing I must say is that the Mac really is built for usability. (Nearly) everything just works on my MacBook Pro. I also have a Windows Notebook (Vista, sigh!) and another running Linux (Ubuntu). The Vista notebook is

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-39366476453096631192009-12-12T18:00:00.001+13:002009-12-12T18:00:25.298+13:00

Although I attended both IGF 2008 and 2009, I did not have time to blog about them. Here are links to the ISOC blogs on IGF 2008 (Hyderabad, India) and IGF 2009 (Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt) which give some coverage on the sessions and events:IGF 2008: http://isoc.org/wp/igf2009/IGF 2009: http://isoc.org/wp/igf2008/

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-52964255895434731362009-12-12T17:34:00.002+13:002009-12-12T17:37:17.871+13:00

Its been nearly 2 years since I posted regularly on this blog. Various things have kept me away, however, I hope to post with some regularity from now on......at least that's the thought :)

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-68002167917689958322007-12-17T19:57:00.000+12:002007-12-30T20:15:36.674+12:00

This past week, I attended GK3 organised by the Global Knowledge Partnership in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.The conference was held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre which is an outstanding conference venue, surrounded by a range of hotels within walking distance.The conference itself was a somewhat eclectic mix of people covering civil society, private sector, public sector, social entrepreneurs

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-28704653314717982442007-11-15T19:50:00.000+12:002007-12-30T19:52:09.793+12:00

Much was said and debated at this session, and what was said covered a diverse range of issues. One observation: (as one would expect in a multi-stakeholder environment) different groups push different issues from technical to non-technical to social responsibility to policy to something somewhere in-between (and outside!).Talking to some IGF delegates who were “rookies” and some with

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-56340581625540757052007-11-15T19:49:00.000+12:002007-12-30T19:50:42.280+12:00

This year ISOC was highly visible at IGF (and yes I am happy!). In the “Village Square” ISOC had the premium booth and was pretty much the first thing anyone entering the section saw. The 11 ISOC Ambassadors were given lanyards (good one Kevin) to hold their security IDs and this meant we stood out with our white lanyards with ISOC logos blazing on them. As far as I know, the ISOC Ambassador

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-63781117075472248022007-11-15T19:48:00.000+12:002007-12-30T19:49:43.033+12:00

I was a Panellist for this session on Day 3. When I was first approached to be on this panel, I had some idea of the background surrounding the issue, but only when I read through some of the literature provided by the organisers did I get a real appreciation of how grave the issue is, indeed it is potentially a disaster waiting to happen. When we add the attempts to get the next 1 billion online

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-23305521546888984022007-11-14T19:46:00.000+12:002007-12-30T19:47:51.522+12:00

I was on the panel for this workshop and though, in my opinion, the theme of the workshop was quite clear, the discussions that ensued got fragmented into a discussion on the old ICANN debate. Of course some do say that the Critical Internet Resources theme is a veil for the old ICANN debate. My final comment on the panel was “The Internet is a dynamic beast and Organisations and debates must

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-41688779310839882082007-11-14T19:44:00.000+12:002007-12-30T19:46:36.666+12:00

I was involved in the organisation of this workshop and it turned out to be a rather good session, though we had some logistics problems in the beginning with Videos that did not start playing and microphones that did not work.The session started with a presentation by Janna Anderson from Imagining the Internet on a survey they carried out at IGF Athens and it was interesting to hear comments

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-47182875650510122972007-11-12T19:40:00.000+12:002007-12-30T19:43:38.285+12:00

The dates have been announced by the Indian Delegation as 8th to 11th December in New Delhi, India, and the five themes from this year will continue.Update: Venue for IGF 2008 is going to be the Taj Palace Hotel

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-59958548295154820592007-11-12T19:39:00.000+12:002007-12-30T19:40:53.338+12:00

We just heard from John Klensin, where he gave a brief overview of Internet development, and emphasised that the problems today are not necessarily all new - they have existed in one form or another for some time. He also stated that multi-lingual content on the Internet has existed for a while (with Japanese Kanji in use since the 1980s), and that criminal elements tend to use technology more

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-34688981540982961552007-11-12T19:36:00.000+12:002007-12-30T19:38:55.414+12:00

IGF Rio has kicked off!The usual roll call of guest speakers is ticking along. In the opening session, there was some reference to the old ICANN/DNS Adminstration story, but it was good to see some of the guest speakers picking up on this, and re-stating what the focus of IGF should be, and highlighting that all present should expend their energy on the more pressing global issues such as getting

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-87811361874081753102007-05-29T02:23:00.000+12:002007-06-11T02:30:15.424+12:00

I have recently been a "victim" of the domain name tasting "scam". A domain name (.COM) which is somewhat related to me (which was owned by someone else) expired and as I knew from whois (which is another debate on its own) that the expiry date was coming up, I kept a watch on when it would become available so I could register it. To cut a long story short, it took me nearly 6 weeks to get the

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-91255795250853168722007-04-20T15:28:00.000+12:002007-04-20T15:34:29.963+12:00

I needed to install a new server, and having thus far run Mandriva on my servers, I stick with it, Mandriva 2007 in this instance. During the install process I get all excited when I see a big splash saying easy to use great system and network backup software free in this edition for upto 50GB of data. I install the server OS, wrestle with upgrades and dependencies for my other applications,

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-90865096503068320512007-03-07T17:50:00.000+12:002007-04-20T15:43:14.930+12:00

Unfortunately I did not have much time to look around Bali. Took a walk to the markets just outside the resort complex (Nusa Dua) and did a bit of a lightning trip to Kuta before catching my plane back. People are generally very friendly and courteous.The shopping is great, and in the markets a bit of determined bargaining will work wonders to the price. Balinese craftsmanship is exlempary and I

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-19627583818531550042007-03-03T17:48:00.000+12:002007-04-20T15:40:32.996+12:00

Well not quite like the Red Gum song, but somewhat close.I had to organise somewhat of a last minute dash to Bali. After much discussion (over a considerable length of time), there was light at the end of the tunnel with the establishment of APRALO Asia Pacific Regional At Large Organisation, part of ICANN's At Large Advisory Committee. We hoped to sign off on the MOU and Operating Principles and

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-34325971037984327252007-01-05T18:41:00.000+12:002007-01-08T00:48:56.615+12:00

The new year is well and truly here. It was back to work today and straight into the deep end.So what does 2007 hold? Well, when the Chinese New Year rolls around in a couple of weeks or so, it will be the year of the Pig (and I understand the Fire Pig). As I understand it, based on this, it should be a"fireworks year" with prosperity highlighted, amongst other things.In the technology world, and

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-60305945041631687282007-01-01T17:06:00.000+12:002007-04-20T15:44:23.807+12:00

2006 is over and done with and it has been an interesting year in all respects. I was going to do a recap.............but here is a picture instead. This is what sunset looked like at the Coral Coast in Fiji just before it started dipping over the horizon. Best wishes for the new year!

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-11845365732513672772006-12-18T12:44:00.000+12:002007-04-20T15:39:30.157+12:00

This past week, with my usual round of messages enticing me to visit the cheapest pharmacies online, seeking my assistance to transfer squillions of dollars (in unmarked USD 1.00 bills I hope), the hottest stockmarket tips, offers to give me a PhD because of my outstanding work experience, guaranteed results in increasing the size of certain parts of my anatomy and the usual slate of tech news

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-40704488483008823542006-11-03T19:54:00.000+12:002006-11-17T19:55:47.249+12:00

Well IGF 2006 is over and done with. It has been an interesting week. My impressions? Well for the most part (a consensus agreed to by just about everyone I talked to) IGF has been the same people saying the same thing all over again, except in a different city. A lot of the same old agenda's were being pushed by the same bunch of people. Perhaps what is needed is some fresh blood and some new

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-84222287575862851872006-11-02T19:53:00.000+12:002006-11-17T19:54:22.899+12:00

This morning was the Chair's round-up session for workshops. Some of the Chair's pretty much lost the plot and went into long drawn out rhetoric reading reports. I kept mine short and simple, highlighting the need to keep things practical, and consideration been given to the needs of remote communities at future IGFs, which includes communities in mountainous regions and other similar disparate

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1162367897958969432006-11-01T19:53:00.000+12:002006-11-17T19:57:52.291+12:00

I am sitting in the Wednesday Summing Up session which reviews yesterday's workshops and discussions. Vint Cerf intervened and suggested that the event has been titled wrong - it should perhaps be the Internet Facilitation Forum, not the Internet Governance Forum. This is an interesting suggestion. Indeed much of what is being discussed here is indeed more "facilitation" then "governance",

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-17953529734883602642006-11-01T19:52:00.000+12:002006-11-18T16:54:05.930+12:00

The PICISOC organised workshop was on Wednesday afternoon. Having done the workshop round over the past 2 days I was a bit worried that we may have limited numbers in attendance. However I was pleasantly surprised to get the headcount. A peak of around 80 attendees which makes it one of the better attended ones (some I went to organised by some "big names" had less than 10 in attendance).We had a

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-84774841121214834832006-11-01T19:45:00.000+12:002006-11-17T19:48:13.774+12:00

Tuesday was the start of the workshops at IGF with the ISOC/GIPI one first off the block. There was a fairly large and diverse line-up of speakers, and all pretty much spoke on different issues. I spoke on "Access Challenges in the Pacific". Slides from my presentation are available here.The Workshop was well attended. The unfortunate bit is that there are upto 4 concurrent sessions running,

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1162367598929692252006-11-01T19:44:00.000+12:002006-11-17T19:58:59.564+12:00

Sitting in on a Workshop titled "Content Regulation and Access" it was worrying to note that some were suggesting that "NGN" is the solution, as it can be "controlled" as and if necessary. In an earlier post I said that for all real intents and purposes, the Internet is the NGN. And "content control" is already available - be it denying freedom of expression (which is already being used by many)

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-61189868547217401132006-11-01T19:41:00.000+12:002006-11-17T19:44:42.017+12:00

My regular updates from IGF have been dealt a severe blow. Submissions using Blogspot's email engine has had the sh--s, so I have to resort to manual submissions, and with the generally unstable network at IGF this is getting hard. I will have to bulk upload later I guess.....apologies in advance to those looking for regular updates.

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1162367027771839032006-10-31T19:38:00.000+12:002006-11-17T19:59:53.783+12:00

Here's a thought doing the rounds amongst some bloggers: make the wireless so bad that bloggers can't post till well after the event.........I (along with I suspect hundreds of others) am absolutely frustrated by the network access, so much so that I decided to not even bother connecting for much of today...

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1162202851058314812006-10-30T22:06:00.000+12:002006-10-30T22:07:31.073+12:00

Having organised some conferences in the past, what I see at IGF Athens is total disorganisation. At least the simple things like getting an information pack should be easy enough to organise. So what we had were scores of people walking around aimlessly like headless chooks. The excuse that its a large conference to organise just does not hold water. There are some basic things that need to

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1162200924390961262006-10-30T21:34:00.000+12:002006-10-30T21:35:24.413+12:00

Well its some 1 hour past the scheduled opening and we are still waiting.I also understand there are some 600 people who will not be able to enter the room for the opening because it can seat only 800 and you need a magic pass to enter.....and some participants are more equal than others from my limited understanding.......as I type this, I glance at some of the themes: Access, Openness....

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1162202968514511432006-10-29T22:08:00.000+12:002006-10-30T22:09:28.513+12:00

Well made it to Athens in one piece, and so did my luggage, which I checked-in from Fiji to Athens. Managed to find the cleverly hidden IGF desk at the Airport and after waiting for another hour or so, got bundled into a bus to the Hotel. Check-in was relatively painless and the sleep much needed. Next morning (29th) off to Divani Appollon, the conference venue. Got an ID card and that's about it

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1162201148112199552006-10-27T21:38:00.000+12:002006-10-30T21:39:08.113+12:00

Left home at 5am Friday, expecting to reach Athens some 50 hours later on Sunday via Seoul, Korea and Frankfurt, Germany. The things we do for the Internet ;)

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1161581277222153132006-10-23T17:27:00.000+12:002006-10-23T18:01:57.986+12:00

This past week I read, with utter disbelief, that the Government of Iran has decided to limit Internet access speed to 128kbps (apparently higher speeds are available only if filtered). In an era when everyone (well I guess not exactly everyone now) is moving towards greater Internet availability, there are some who are quite happy to stifle this. Its also quite interesting that this has come

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1161581213246076382006-10-21T17:25:00.000+12:002006-10-23T17:27:23.713+12:00

I am off to Greece at the end of the coming week for what some of us are (fondly?!) calling "The Big Fat Greek Meeting". Mere mortals call this the Internet Governance Forum or IGF Athens 2006. This is an outcome of the WSIS process and it will be interesting to see how effective this will be (as opposed to being just another a talk-shop). Some say this will be history in the making, I for one,

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1160369848487309872006-10-08T16:38:00.000+12:002007-04-20T15:41:58.542+12:00

The buzz word in the telco world and elsewhere at the moment is NGN - Next (New) Generation Networks. Just about every telco meeting has this somewhere in the agenda and like robots most who attend agree that is the way of the future and they will adopt and must work towards it, blah blah blah blah.STOP! What is NGN? You really want to know? Its the Internet - plain and simple. All NGN is dreamt

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1159963926157089522006-10-05T00:08:00.000+12:002007-04-20T15:41:24.154+12:00

Well we launched the Pacific Islands Chapter of the IPv6 Forum this week.The IPv6 Forum promotes the adoption and deployment of IPv6 and its ensuing benefits on a global scale. For a while now, folks in the Pacific Islands have talked about IPv6, but no one has really taken any steps towards doing much. Asking if someone intends to deploy IPv6 is perhaps not enough.In my opinion what was required

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1159963654425359882006-09-24T00:03:00.000+12:002007-04-20T15:42:23.307+12:00

I got a new notebook PC recently and had to make some hard decisions on which Linux distro to use (I dual boot with Windows and Linux). I have been through a couple of distros over the years including Red Hat, Lindows (I liked that name!), Mandrake, Fedora, before settling on SuSE for my desktop (I currently use Mandrake on servers). I intended to use Mandrake on the new notebook to match my

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1156991883772438732006-08-31T14:34:00.000+12:002006-08-31T14:38:03.773+12:00

This morning I went to a video conference at SPC themed around communications access for remote/rural areas. Jimmie Rodgers, SPC Director-General, spoke about many things, and once again, as he did during PacINET 2006 in Samoa, he highlighted the sometimes lack of political will and real leadership in the Pacific. He also made a strong statement on telecom monopolies and regulation in the Pacific

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1156991658400474402006-08-30T23:31:00.000+12:002007-04-20T15:44:44.369+12:00

The only thing consistent about taxi fares in Apia is their inconsistency - wildly varying rates from point A to point B. On the night we left, We booked a taxi to take us to the Airport. Earlier in the week I had asked one of the taxi vans I used how much it was to go to the Airport from the hotel. He told me $52 and I took his card. I tried calling him several times during the day of departure

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1156991121413874842006-08-28T22:24:00.000+12:002006-08-31T14:25:21.413+12:00

Today I did a bit of shopping with my better half in town and then spent the afternoon at CSL talking about VoIP and other technologies the company I work for is engaged in selling. It was a bit of a change from the past week to get into commerical mode again.....the evening was dinner at a Japanese restaurant accompanied by the last couple of bottles of Vailima, the local brew and then off to

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1156991063601892132006-08-26T23:22:00.000+12:002006-08-31T14:24:23.603+12:00

I started off this morning's session with Wolf on GIS and then handed over to Franck to chair the rest of the day as I had to catch up on some work and spend some time with some of the delegates who wanted to talk with me privately. There were FOSS and WIT workshops before lunch, where it appears we now have a FOSS SIG as well. I am a bit concerned with the WIT SIG as they seem to have lost the

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1156990925989267992006-08-26T05:18:00.000+12:002006-08-31T14:22:06.003+12:00

The morning started off with a bang on a contentious issue for most telecom carriers and governments in the Pacific - VoIP. Franck demonstrated Asterisk and the lessons they at SOPAC learnt from replacing their traditional PBX with a full IP based one. I followed with a brief on VoIP and explained VoIP and how they are applied in traditional environments. Naturally this included issues which

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1156652402683371592006-08-24T23:12:00.000+12:002006-08-27T16:27:52.740+12:00

Today began with the sad announcement that Keith Davidson's (InternetNZ) father had passed away so Keith had to return to NZ. Our thoughts are with Keith and his family.As Keith was supposed to be first up today, I had to put in something else to fill his slot. My victim was John Crain, CTO, ICANN. I asked John to come to PacINET quite late - a last minute thing and kudos to him for making the

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1156649910846474702006-08-23T23:35:00.000+12:002006-08-27T15:38:30.850+12:00

Vint and Miss Samoa made the headlines and front page of this morning's newspaper :)During a breakfast meeting, Vint and I continued where we left off last night and then headed off to the conference venue which today was at the National University of Samoa. Today was the big show and tell day. The Prime Minister of Samoa led the introduction of Vint who then presented his keynote on the state of

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1156649731445497632006-08-23T03:32:00.000+12:002006-08-27T15:35:31.446+12:00

Vint Cerf was accorded VIP status by the Samoan Government. This also meant he got a VIP car and a security escort, which was interesting. As well as priority access on and off the plane and access to the VIP lounge, etc. etc. As his "chaperone" and sidekick during his stay I was also offered the same priviledges which I found quite amusing. I and the welcome party (which happened to include Miss

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1156649529015321672006-08-22T15:29:00.000+12:002006-08-27T15:44:09.150+12:00

Yesterday evening's CROP-ICT meeting was perhaps the best attended in recent times. There is some talk about the direction this should take. Currently it is policy only. What I think it needs is some teeth to bite. The evening function was good with many merrily indulging in the local brew, and the obligatory unco-ordinated dancing (or attempts to dance), yours truly included. I also made the

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1156649350483777272006-08-22T03:27:00.000+12:002006-08-27T15:29:10.496+12:00

One really neat little thing organised by the local OrgCom was the presence of a mobile bank. A van (outfitted with a teller booth, etc.) would drive up during breaks and delegates could take care of their banking needs (e.g. currency exchange, etc.) and this worked really well. Great initiative by the OrgCom and the bank involved.

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1156210436031903792006-08-21T13:31:00.000+12:002006-08-22T13:33:56.043+12:00

We kicked off PacINET 2006 this morning. It was interesting to hear from the Prime Minister of Samoa on his thoughts on the need and use of ICT. In an interesting chat with him during the morning break, I found out that he initially saw the potential of and pushed Internet way back in 1995, which would make him one of the pioneers of Internet in the Pacific. John Budden gave an update on the

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1156144629181536202006-08-20T19:16:00.000+12:002006-08-21T19:17:09.180+12:00

There was a mini-invasion of the conference venue this evening when around 20 of us showed up for preparatory work (and others to have a chat and catch up). The webcast is being engineered now and looks like it will work well (at least we hope it does!).All looks well for PacINET 2006 and we have the Prime Minister of Samoa launching PacINET 2006 tommorrow morning. Let's see how PacINET 2006

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1156144527723715692006-08-19T19:14:00.000+12:002007-04-20T15:47:13.800+12:00

Well we made it to Samoa......and first impression of Apia is that is clean....in fact very very clean and general consensus amongst some of us is that its likely the cleanest town/city in the Pacific.....We spent the afternoon going over the logistics and preparations with the local OrgCom followed by a visit to the venue at the SamoaTel offices. The main room is a bit small - I would have liked

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1156144228294901882006-08-16T19:07:00.000+12:002006-08-21T19:13:47.560+12:00

I am off to Samoa this weekend. Its PacINET time again......with Samoa as the host. It is going to be the largest PacINET ever with several Workshops running and 30-odd speakers. More information on PacINET 2006 available hereIts a terrible flight to get to Samoa. Leave Suva at 4pm, get to Nadi around 7:30pm, and attempt to kill hours for the 145am departure.....oh well.....the things we do and

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1155726774865148772006-08-04T23:09:00.000+12:002006-08-16T23:12:54.886+12:00

The other thing I see quite often now is the use of broadband to deliver (live) news feeds by some of the traditional networks. The quality is so-so with a fair bit of pixelation, but still acceptable by my reckoning......of course an interesting bit of information would be the amount of money these networks are saving by using the Internet to deliver an outdoor broadcast feed. I would imagine

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1153653002959564212006-07-23T23:08:00.000+12:002006-07-23T23:10:02.980+12:00

As I (along with most of the world I suspect) sit transfixed on events unfolding in the Middle East and the probable certainity that Israel will enter Lebanon again, a new trend in news and current affairs journalism is becoming very apparent. Time and again during news and feature bulletins, news networks are emphasising "for the latest log on to our website at.....". I typically watch BBC

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1152590249656387462006-07-09T15:57:00.000+12:002006-07-23T23:13:12.213+12:00

It appears that a new method of phising is beginning to appear on the horizon, and chances are, likely to explode in the coming months.Internet users are a bit more wary these days of clicking embedded links in emails so these scamming scounderels are beginning to use phone numbers (typically obtained via a VoIP service provider) to provide a level of comfortability for potential victims. Users

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1151630393295431622006-06-24T13:19:00.000+12:002006-07-01T03:49:38.340+12:00

Well now that GAID has been launched, what next for GAID? Too early to say yet, but I hope it does not take forever to get things going. I had an interesting conversation with Sarbuland Khan, Executive Co-ordinator of GAID, where he assured that GAID would not be a "talk-shop" and there would be sure and steady progress. I admire him for saying this and look forward to delivery of what has been

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1151562846601983432006-06-22T23:34:00.000+12:002006-06-29T18:37:42.216+12:00

I am homeward bound early tommorrow morning. Malaysia has been interesting. The biryani (rice and spices cooked with meat with Indian - Hyderabad - origins) is absolutely fabulous here. If you are shopping, the range of knock-offs is huge, and if they don't have it, they will get it within a day. I went to one of the more popular markets one evening and was accosted by gangs of young men flogging

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1151558546302862762006-06-22T17:22:00.000+12:002006-06-29T17:24:41.933+12:00

Day 3 was spent on a visit around Putrajaya as well a visit to the MSC Innovation Centre, where we found out that Malaysia was now into the animation game as well. Apparently the recent animated feature "Saladin" was done in Malaysia. There was a demonstration of various multimedia technology as well a presentation on why someone should relocate to facilities within MSC. There were a list of

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1151555949409201622006-06-20T16:39:00.000+12:002006-06-29T16:56:23.530+12:00

Day 2 of GAID 2006 was dedicated to a couple of workshops. These were:- Common multi-stakeholder frameworks for developing effective policies and sustainable partnerships for mainstreaming ICT in Health- Common multi-stakeholder frameworks for developing effective policies and sustainable partnerships for mainstreaming ICT in Education- Common multi-stakeholder frameworks for developing effective

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1151388540208747822006-06-20T02:09:00.000+12:002006-06-27T18:23:10.880+12:00

The Panel Discussion was themed "National ICT Strategies For Achieving The MDGs" and featured panellists from around the world including Peter Bruck of the World Summit Award, Kim Hak-Su, Executive Secretary, UN/ESCAP, Ali Abbasov, Minister of Communications and Information Technologies, Azerbaijan, Anne Cobb, President, VISA International CEMEA, Dato Lee Yee Cheong, Co-Chair of Task Force on STI

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1151384593474438312006-06-19T23:56:00.000+12:002006-06-27T18:24:14.376+12:00

Today was the Opening Session which included a series of the usual mandatory speeches, a panel discussion and the official launch of GAID by the Malaysian PM which was intertwined with a multimedia spin verifying his identity on a projection screen and initiating the launch - something like pressing the nuke switch in a movie. From the PM's speech, it is interesting to note that Malaysia has

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1151381922587516162006-06-18T22:18:00.000+12:002007-04-20T15:48:27.946+12:00

Since this morning was (somewhat) free I decided to explore the location a bit. Putrajaya was created (or perhaps I should say is being created, as works are still in progress) as an administrative city (with the aim of being a paperless government - real e-government) located within Malaysia's much touted MSC (Multimedia Super Corridor), and apparently will become the new capital city in due

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1151379426946243712006-06-17T23:59:00.000+12:002006-06-27T15:42:37.846+12:00

So I arrived in Kuala Lumpur earlier tonight (my first visit to Malaysia) and was quite amused by the attention I received. Off the plane, and as I was heading towards the train that connects the 2 buildings that make up KLIA (KL International Airport), I see someone waving a GAID sign up and down so I figured I should go up to him. He seemed to know who I was and escorted me on to the train. He

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1151377578533465602006-06-11T15:06:00.000+12:002006-06-27T15:18:45.400+12:00

After being repeatedly asked to attend the inaugural UN GAID (Global Alliance for ICT and Development) meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, I have finally decided to attend.........I am always somewhat skeptical by such meetings, which more often than not amount to a talk-shop........but then I am just a humble cynic at best.......more from KL next week.In case you are wondering what is GAID, from

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1149944794886523432006-06-11T01:06:00.000+12:002006-06-11T01:20:13.266+12:00

Well, it appears Mr Negroponte has a new prototype of his laptop, and with some refinement. And its looking pretty darned good.Ever since his project hit the mainstream media, there has been a level of buzz in the Pacific about how good it would be to give this out to kids here. What most don't realise is that it is an economy of scale issue. I understand that a Government must commit to purchase

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1147492384905809292006-05-13T15:00:00.000+12:002006-05-19T23:14:59.706+12:00

Well the ICANN Board has finally voted and denied the setting up of the triple-x domain space. For now, anyway.ICM has spent the last 6 years or so in pursuit of this domain space, but after various recent objections, including by ICANN's Government Advisory Council (GAC), the US Government and some members of the adult entertainment industry, the ICANN Board voted 9-5 against the proposal.

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1147317844010758582006-05-11T15:24:00.000+12:002006-05-11T15:29:47.756+12:00

I occasionally get asked what is the maximum possible distance of a Wireless LAN (or WiFi if you prefer) link.Apparently 124.9 miles (thats 201 km!) and without using amplifiers at that.This is apparently the current world record.How was it done?1x 12' dish antenna and 1x 10' dish antenna fed from 300mW PCMCIA WLAN cards and using home brew feeds. From their website:"The record was set from Mt.

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1146377844378096082006-04-30T18:17:00.000+12:002006-04-30T19:53:05.366+12:00

Well there is a lot of apparent confusion on the definition of Broadband......what speed qualifies as Broadband?I frequently get asked this question.The most important thing to keep in mind is that today Broadband, at best, is a relative term. In technical terms (as applicable to communications theory), broadband is a signal which carries a wide range of frequencies. In this sense multiple signal

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1145777375681426522006-04-23T19:29:00.000+12:002006-04-23T22:01:10.840+12:00

Yes, yes, I know what you are thinking. Thank you............some have asked me where my cartoon came from. The caricature is from the good folks at ICANNWIKIThe artwork is by Rhoda Grossman and she has done some interesting stuff....have a look at her page........as far as I know most of the stuff on icannwiki is also by her.If you want yours done, create a page on icannwiki.org and upload a

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1145775789685057392006-04-16T19:03:00.000+12:002006-04-23T19:25:19.486+12:00

Well ICANN Wellington is over and done with and lets see what comes up in the coming months. Of interest is how Dot Triple-X will evolve and the introduction of Internationalised Domain Names. It will also be interesting to see how much more a role GAC will play in ICANN deliberations.....ICANN Wellington was generally very well organised. The nightly ICANN Bar was definite hit as was the Welcome

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1144117045833387072006-03-31T19:17:00.000+12:002006-04-04T14:30:35.260+12:00

There were 2 events of note taking place today. The first was the ICANN Board Meeting to pass/consider various motions/procedures. This was held in the morning. Items of note from this were that there was no vote on the Triple-X issue. The GAC issued a communique which basically brought up various issues to consider and I assume this will now be researched and re-presented to the Board for a

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1143770640598667712006-03-30T14:04:00.000+12:002006-03-31T14:04:53.233+12:00

Well, the Forum has spoken.....I guess I was expecting a bit too much interms of what was going to be implemented,but I guess I always want most things to happen yesterday..........Most of the declaration is the usual "we will do......" (and whether itactually happens or not and at what level can and isdebatable). Of the items in focus for the first year are a couple ofinteresting ones, including

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1143693182654120762006-03-29T16:33:00.000+12:002006-03-30T16:46:22.330+12:00

Today was the continuation of the Forum Meeting and most of it for all intents and purposes was spenton mundane fixes to the what was going to be in the outcomes paper. To quote my good friend Dev Nadkarnifrom Islands Business magazine "Clauses were continuously refined and redrafted".The ICANN Public Forum was also running and I spent my time running between this and the Forum meeting.The

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1143522805670448192006-03-28T17:13:00.000+12:002006-03-28T17:13:25.700+12:00

I spent today at the Forum Communications Meeting which is running concurrent to ICANN.At ICANN itself today were sessions on ccNSO, GAC, and a bunch of workshops. The GAC session with the ICANNBoard last evening was so-so, but at least I did not doze off. The China internet issue was explained by Vint - the gist ofwhich is that no, China has not created an independent internet with TLDs. Other

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1143431121821963362006-03-27T15:45:00.000+12:002006-03-27T15:45:21.853+12:00

Well, we made it to Wellington OK yesterday afternoon. A fine day greeted us in, which I am told is unusual.We were also able to attend the ICANN Bar last night, which was a good place to interact with other delegates.I was also quite impressed with the efficiency of the registration process at the conference. I guess experience can build efficiency!This morning saw the welcome ceremony with Vint

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1143088450100230542006-03-23T16:25:00.000+12:002006-03-23T16:34:10.100+12:00

I am off to New Zealand this weekend to attend ICANN Wellington and what is amounting to a plethora of meetings to attend.....I am hoping to be able to blog my attendance daily, but looking at all that I have to attend, this is looking a bit unlikely.......but let's see how often I can post.So far, on the meetings to attend list are ICANN itself, APRALO, ISOC, Forum ICT Ministerial Meeting,

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1143087888666155102006-03-17T16:15:00.000+12:002006-03-23T16:51:09.643+12:00

We have had some issues with the PICISOC website which meant I couldn't blog for a while :(So I decided that it was time to find a more "permanent" home for Singh-a-Blog, so here we are at Blogger.com........truth be told there are issues with this home as well, but more related to hosting platform issues which are being fixed :)So a new home, and hopefully better access speeds and plus it will

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1143087292458472842006-02-10T16:14:00.000+12:002006-03-23T16:14:52.476+12:00

When I arrived in India (Delhi) in the 2nd week of January one of the first things I saw as I drove out of the Airport was a billboard advising Mobile Phone Plans. For some RS 1499 (about USD 35) I could get a pre-paid mobile service with some call credits included, which I suppose was not too bad.A couple of days later (and I assume in an attempt to get market share in what is a very competitive

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1143084339025936632006-01-25T15:24:00.000+12:002006-03-23T15:51:51.856+12:00

I trust the start of the new year finds you in good shape and looking forward to a bright year ahead.I normally do an Asia trip once a year and this year I took this a bit early - in January-February rather than the usual February-March. As I travelled through Australia and on towards Hong Kong, I did the usual Wi-Fi scan at each stop to see what was out there. Needless to say, I picked up

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1143084220315787142005-12-26T15:22:00.000+12:002006-03-23T15:54:00.676+12:00

In the past week or so Google announced it had bought 5% of AOL. This is another in a somewhat long stream of acquisitions and investments (Outride, Applied Semantics, Blogger, Picasa, Answers.com, Keyhole, Tivo, Monster to name a few).Google's acquisitions are not just limited to companies, however. It has also been steadily building its human resources over the past couple of years. Vint Cerf,

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1143078360945882052005-12-03T13:42:00.000+12:002006-03-23T15:49:30.430+12:00

I have been a bit slow in my blogging endeavour.....other issues have side-tracked me.Well, WSIS Tunisia 2005 is over and done with. Amid the stabbing, beating and stalking and surveillance of journalists (maybe the next WSIS-like event should be in Baghdad or Kandahar?), a lot of hot air blew through and in the end everyone claims a win on the Internet Governance issue. Net result is ICANN

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24232031.post-1142575003502488302005-10-17T17:38:00.000+12:002006-03-23T15:49:05.216+12:00

Bula and welcome to Singh-a-Blog!This is where I will ramble on all sorts of stuff. All views, opinions, commentary, etc. etc. are my own and do not necessarily represent PICISOC and/or the Organisation(s) I work for.Now that I have the disclaimer out of the way......its ramble time!OK, so PacINET 2005 is over and done with. Many trials and tribulations, issues high and low in getting it up and

Rajnesh D. Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07949455245891074242noreply@blogger.com0