RICA routed by adroit relative

In Afrikaans as RICA uitoorlê deur kranige familielid op Sake24 beskikbaar.

South Africa's rather draconian Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act (RICA) has been proving a thorn in the flesh of legal foreign visitors to our fair shores, who obviously have some difficulty in providing the requisite proof of address in the country (utility bill etc. in the purchaser's name) when activating a local SIM card for use during their visit. To my delight, one of my relatives who is visiting from the desert republic of Namibia managed to have a SIM card for a network that shall not be named fully activated at a retail establishment which shall remain anonymous for now in the week before Christmas. He simply presented his Namibian passport and recited a local address!

Having undergone several RICA registrations myself, I am note entirely surprised since I have not seen any of the assistants doing the registration do any serious checking of the proof of address (and mine consisted only of a routine statement from my residential complex) and I have not seen them keep a copy of the proof presented. There is therefore, in practice, no paper trail at all. It does not seem infeasible to use a colour printer to produce a duplicate Telkom or municipal bill using a fictional address and use this in conjunction with, say, a Somali passport to purchase and activate as many SIM cards as one likes but even that appears not to be necessary.

Mr Zolisa Masiza, regulatory head at MTN, pointed out on Shine2010.co.za in October that foreign visitors for the major 2010 sports event

“will be required to provide their full names, surname, original passport document and residential address in their home country to a RICA officer or agent”

and

“will have to notify MTN if the card is handed over to someone else, and registration will then happen all over again.”

Furthermore, according to Masiza, who should know, having been a Councillor at the regulator ICASA and in the regulatory division of Telkom as well over the past three years, the

“obligation is on the foreign visitor to destroy their SIM card once they have left the country.”

No doubt, he is technically correct, but I don't see the soccer fans complying in droves. Besides, how many municipal bills in Ukrainian will MTN be able to process?

Update (2010-01-03): Just search a bittorrent site or other disreputable source for “ID template” and you'll find everything you need to “roll your own” RICA documentation.

Eskom's “power” pool

Three weeks ago, I attended a conference at the conference and training centre of Eskom, South Africa's government-run power utility, in smart-ish Midrand, near Pretoria. This is quite a large complex, with free-ranging antelope, where Eskom has advanced training facilities and accommodation for conference delegates and trainees. The picture below, shows the pool next to the conference centre restaurants. The gate giving access to the area was unlocked.



Since the government has classified me as a “non-African”, I am slightly less embarrassed than before when foreigners see something like this but it is still irksome because of the sheer waste. Could it be that none of the strapping working-class trainees of Eskom like to cool in summer off by doing a few laps? Or, that there are no trainees at all?

Quod vide

Google Maps image of the conference centre (the pool still had water then, although it was apparently in winter)
SA electricity costs are far too steep - analyst (Wiseman Khuzwayo in Business Report) http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=552&fArticleId=5254124

Die onbepaalde lidwoord op Facebook (ʼn, UTF-16: 0x0149)

Die gewoonte van lomp woordverwerkers uit Redmond om die Afrikaanse onbepaalde lidwoord tot die foutiewe en lelike misbaksel ‘n te omvorm, is 'n hinderlike deel van 'n mens se alledaagse leeservaring. Op Nuus24.com kan 'n mens vanoggend sommer drie variante van die lidwoord ('n, ‘n asook ’n) heel naby aan mekaar sien.

Ou Afrikaanse tikmasjiene het blykbaar 'n aparte sleutel gehad vir die lidwoord en die moderne Unicode-standaard vir die voorstelling van karakters op rekenaars bevat dan ook 'n enkele simbool vir die Afrikaanse onbepaalde lidwoord, die ʼn. Laasgenoemde is 'n enkele karakter, soos die Griekse λ, en nie twee opeenvolgende karakters, soos die bogenoemde drie van News24, nie en het die UTF-16-kode 0x0149. Die gebruik van ʼn (0x0149) sou die misvormde lidwoord kon uitskakel en word, tot my matige verbasing, wel deur Facebook gebruik.

Die Kanadese veeltalige sleutelborduitleg ondersteun dan ook dié karakter deur dit as AltGr-N (die regterkantste Alt-sleutel word ingehou onderwyl N gedruk word) beskikbaar te maak. Die maklikste manier om die misvormde lidwoord uit te skakel, is egter om die woordverwerker se autokorrigeer-opsies heeltemal af te skakel. Indien dít te moeilik is vir mense wat in Afrikaans skryf, wat van die Kanadese sleutelborduitleg?


Verwysings

Using AutoCorrect http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Documentation/OOoAuthors_User_Manual/Writer_Guide/Using_AutoCorrect (vir OpenOffice)
Turn on or off AutoCorrect options http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/hp051894301033.aspx (vir MS-Word)

Notice to accompany offline archive files

My personal archives (documents, photographs, e-mail etc.) now comprise three DL discs and I want to place a few copies with friends and family and had been wondering how to properly indemnify them and protect myself. The solution I chose was to wrap it all up in a huge file which is weakly encrypted. This means that if one of the discs is popped into a computer, you won't immediately be able to open anything. In addition, I included the following notice on each discs and on the inside and outside of the envelope in which I seal the discs. Perhaps I am overly cautious, but I think that we should start thinking about our digital legacy!

Personal Archive ‒ Important Notice

The discs, files and/or other media contained herein (and their content) are the personal property of the undersigned and may not be opened, used or accessed in any other way other than those expressly authorised in writing by the undersigned or the executor of his/her deceased estate.

Persoonlike argief ‒ belangrike kennisgewing

Die skywe, lêers en/of ander media hierby ingesluit (en die inhoud daarvan) is die privaateiendom van die ondertekende en mag nie oogemaak, gebruik of andersins toeganklik gemaak word nie, behalwe waar uitdruklik skriftelike toestemming gegee is deur die ondertekende of die eksekuteur van sy/haar bestorwe boedel.

NAME & DATE

I am releasing the notice into the public domain, so please feel free to copy and use it if you'd like!

Van Bulgarye, met liefde – kaarte vir die selfoon

Ek het hierdie week toeval tot by die nuttige maps.webgate.bg genavigeer. Dít is 'n webblad wat vir selfone ontwerp is en deur die webblaaier van die selfoon toeganklik is. 'n Mens kan daarop per adres soek en dan 'n mooi klein kaart van Google Maps ontvang. Die afbeelding hier onder wys die resultaat van 'n soektog vir die pseudo-adres „Benedictus Kok Street Bloemfontein” op my rekenaar. Dit lyk dieselfde op my selfoon en sou my baie gehelp het in Bloemfontein verlede week, toe ek by die verkeerde sterrewag opgedaag het vir 'n skemerkelkie!

Dit werk ook 100% in Afrikaans en 'n soektog vir „Benedictus Kokstraat Bloemfontein” gee die regte plek maar „Benedictus Kok Straat Bloemfontein” wel nie. Hulle weet blykbaar van Afrikaans se los- en vasskryf in Sofia!