Web Africa Blog - Latest Comments

Re: What would you buy online?

Guest — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 18:22:33 -0000

Great blog Tim. I can't say I have ever bought and item of clothing online before but a puppy? I am a sucker for animals, please do share a pic with us.

I enjoy standing in the queues at pick n pay, I mean how else would I be able to sneak a chocolate bar or biltong into my trolley and eat it all myself before I get home? With regards to shopping in general; I love the social interaction of walking into a shopping centre and seeing real life people. Online all I tend to see is the same istock photo of Bob on 4 different ecommerce websites telling me he is ready to help. I feel bad for the guy, he must be really busy and so being the nice guy I am I go elsewhere.

I tend to do my research online first (such as looking for a new car) and once I have found my options I head off. I actually don't have an account with either of those 2 SA brands you mentioned but I do (said with shame) have a Kalahari.net account but that's only because I can spend my ebucks there. Some items do make sense, such as purchasing hosting (yes I am a client) or downloading music, movies and tv shows....from iTunes of course!

You just have to look at the case studies done on Groupon to see where the problem lies (and there is Bob again but this time he looks relaxed)

http://www.forbes.com/sites...

Until ecommerce websites (and their suppliers) change the way they sell their products and treat their customers I will continue with my trend of being social and enjoying live away from the online ecommerce world.

What next? Telling the kids we going on holiday to Disney Land and then leading them to the study for a virtual holiday? No frikken way!

Re: 10 amazing facts about the wonderful web

Sarah — Fri, 17 May 2013 10:32:47 -0000

Hi Nick, good question. I find it hard to understand myself
(being a non-sciencey person) but here's a complex explanation that you may be
able to get better than I do:

While the original DARPA net was built like a tank to survive a
thermonuclear holocaust , much post-modern net construction is utterly
gossamer, all air and microwaves. But those channels lead to boxes full of
integrated circuits bearing labels that specify how much power they can handle,
and solid state physics reveals what fraction of the silicon inside is abuzz
with electrons in motion , and how much sits idle. In short, you can do the
math.

A statistically rough ( one sigma) estimate might be 75-100
million servers @ ~350-550 watts each. Call it Forty Billion Watts or ~ 40 GW.
Silicon logic runs at three volts or so, and as the electron's mass is 9.1 x
ten to the minus 31 grams, an Ampere is some ten to the eighteenth electrons a
second, and the average chip runs at a Gigaherz , fairly straightforward
calculation reveals that some 50 grams of electrons in motion make up the
Internet.

Applying the unreasonable power of dimensional analysis to the
small tonnage of silicon involved yields much the same answer. The flip side of
Moore's Law is that as etched circuitry shrinks , the transistors within the
silicon pizzas chip foundries produce end up weighing next to nothing.
State-of-the-art 100 nanometer transistors run a million trillion to a ton . So
as of today, cyberspace weighs less than two ounces.

It's hard to be more exact ,since devices vary in speed, but to
get a handle on The Whole Web instead of just the suburbs we're wired to , try
tripling that figure-there are maybe ten times more mostly idle CPU chips in
PC's than servers, and fewer very busy ones in the world's comparative handful
of supercomputers .

Each person alive today has six watts of computational power at
the disposal of their twenty watt brain . Third Worlders have trouble accessing
claim their six watt share of the worlds computing horsepower , but wired
Americans or Japanese expend more energy on surfing than thinking.Yet the net
has more than electrons inside-- a lot of its wire and fiber optic
infrastructure is shared.. Some cables crackle with live TV bandwidth while
others slumber-- the mix of traffic is unpredictable , and cable trunks branch
like trees.

It is easy to put a tape measure to this shaggy creature's
backbone, but the length of its hairy nervous system is hard to guess at . It
may take a staggering four miles of copper wire to connect the average US home
to optical broadband . With copper at three dollars a pound , that 25 pound
wire to optical cable link makes ultratransparent glass fiber a staggering
bargain at ten times its weight in gold--it does the work of a billion times
its weight in copper. Its almost infinite bandwidth has pared the web down to
run impressively well on ten nanograms of electrons per netizen, a figure
optical computing may alter little , for it takes electrons to make photons.

Just as well- if the net ran on recycled light , it would be
weightless as an IP lawyer's word. As matters stand , it takes a lot of force
to horse those critical 50 grams of electrons around. This message was brought
to you by a few nanograms of electrons, but when rush hour users race their
silicon engines , fifty million horsepower is unleashed on the information
superhighway. But hold your horses- that power bill ain't hay, and silicon
foundries are devising ways to cut it down to size- a 68 watt server chip is in
the works.

But what
about quantum computation ? Though its future is dazzling , it may take a whie
to accelerate into it . Singularity fans need to think about delay s due to
restarting the clock on Moore's Law. (from here:http://adamant.typepad.com/sei....

This video
explains it a bit more clearly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... (although it's a bit outdated, because
people used to think that the internet weighed the same as a strawberry, and
now it's thought to weigh the same as a grain of sand).

Hope that
helps!

Re: 10 amazing facts about the wonderful web

Jeremy Wilkinson — Fri, 17 May 2013 10:32:45 -0000

What was the first website launched in South Africa?

Re: 10 amazing facts about the wonderful web

Sarah — Fri, 17 May 2013 05:29:06 -0000

Hi Nick, good question. I find it hard to understand myself (being a non-sciencey person) but here's a complex explanation that you may be able to get better than I do:

While the original DARPA net was built like a tank to survive a thermonuclear holocaust , much post-modern net construction is utterly gossamer, all air and microwaves. But those channels lead to boxes full of integrated circuits bearing labels that specify how much power they can handle, and solid state physics reveals what fraction of the silicon inside is abuzz with electrons in motion , and how much sits idle. In short, you can do the math.

A statistically rough ( one sigma) estimate might be 75-100 million servers @ ~350-550 watts each. Call it Forty Billion Watts or ~ 40 GW. Silicon logic runs at three volts or so, and as the electron's mass is 9.1 x ten to the minus 31 grams, an Ampere is some ten to the eighteenth electrons a second, and the average chip runs at a Gigaherz , fairly straightforward calculation reveals that some 50 grams of electrons in motion make up the Internet.

Applying the unreasonable power of dimensional analysis to the small tonnage of silicon involved yields much the same answer. The flip side of Moore's Law is that as etched circuitry shrinks , the transistors within the silicon pizzas chip foundries produce end up weighing next to nothing. State-of-the-art 100 nanometer transistors run a million trillion to a ton . So as of today, cyberspace weighs less than two ounces.

It's hard to be more exact ,since devices vary in speed, but to get a handle on The Whole Web instead of just the suburbs we're wired to , try tripling that figure-there are maybe ten times more mostly idle CPU chips in PC's than servers, and fewer very busy ones in the world's comparative handful of supercomputers .

Each person alive today has six watts of computational power at the disposal of their twenty watt brain . Third Worlders have trouble accessing claim their six watt share of the worlds computing horsepower , but wired Americans or Japanese expend more energy on surfing than thinking.Yet the net has more than electrons inside-- a lot of its wire and fiber optic infrastructure is shared.. Some cables crackle with live TV bandwidth while others slumber-- the mix of traffic is unpredictable , and cable trunks branch like trees.

It is easy to put a tape measure to this shaggy creature's backbone, but the length of its hairy nervous system is hard to guess at . It may take a staggering four miles of copper wire to connect the average US home to optical broadband . With copper at three dollars a pound , that 25 pound wire to optical cable link makes ultratransparent glass fiber a staggering bargain at ten times its weight in gold--it does the work of a billion times its weight in copper. Its almost infinite bandwidth has pared the web down to run impressively well on ten nanograms of electrons per netizen, a figure optical computing may alter little , for it takes electrons to make photons.

Just as well- if the net ran on recycled light , it would be weightless as an IP lawyer's word. As matters stand , it takes a lot of force to horse those critical 50 grams of electrons around. This message was brought to you by a few nanograms of electrons, but when rush hour users race their silicon engines , fifty million horsepower is unleashed on the information superhighway. But hold your horses- that power bill ain't hay, and silicon foundries are devising ways to cut it down to size- a 68 watt server chip is in the works.

But what about quantum computation ? Though its future is dazzling , it may take a whie to accelerate into it . Singularity fans need to think about delay s due to restarting the clock on Moore's Law. (from here: http://adamant.typepad.com/....

This video explains it a bit more clearly: http://www.youtube.com/watc... (although it's a bit outdated, because people used to think that the internet weighed the same as a strawberry, and now it's thought to weigh the same as a grain of sand).

Hope that helps!

Re: 10 amazing facts about the wonderful web

Sarah — Fri, 17 May 2013 04:45:58 -0000

Hi Nick, I find it pretty difficult to understand (being a non-sciencey person) but I did find this explanation which might help you: While the original DARPA net was built like a tank to survive a thermonuclear holocaust , much post-modern net construction is utterly gossamer, all air and microwaves. But those channels lead to boxes full of integrated circuits bearing labels that specify how much power they can handle, and solid state physics reveals what fraction of the silicon inside is abuzz with electrons in motion , and how much sits idle. In short, you can do the math.

A statistically rough ( one sigma) estimate might be 75-100 million servers @ ~350-550 watts each. Call it Forty Billion Watts or ~ 40 GW. Silicon logic runs at three volts or so, and as the electron's mass is 9.1 x ten to the minus 31 grams, an Ampere is some ten to the eighteenth electrons a second, and the average chip runs at a Gigaherz , fairly straightforward calculation reveals that some 50 grams of electrons in motion make up the Internet.

Applying the unreasonable power of dimensional analysis to the small tonnage of silicon involved yields much the same answer. The flip side of Moore's Law is that as etched circuitry shrinks , the transistors within the silicon pizzas chip foundries produce end up weighing next to nothing. State-of-the-art 100 nanometer transistors run a million trillion to a ton . So as of today, cyberspace weighs less than two ounces. (More info here: http://adamant.typepad.com/....

There's also this video: http://www.youtube.com/watc.... People used to think the internet weighed the same as a strawberry - now they think it's a grain of sand.

Hope that helps!

Re: 10 amazing facts about the wonderful web

Nick McCreath — Wed, 15 May 2013 09:04:38 -0000

Point number 2:The weight of all information on the Internet has been estimated at 0.2 millionths of an ounce, or the same weight as a grain of sand. Pretty mind-boggling, isn’ it?

Not sure if I understand that, mind explaining?

Re: How the internet works, simplified

me holdstock — Thu, 02 May 2013 06:03:14 -0000

yep, makes you wonder about the source. even that last graphic - that was not "the internet" in 1993, just one interface ... webafrica really should have stricter editorial checks

Re: South Africa’s top 10 most popular websites

Franco Van Vuuren — Thu, 02 May 2013 05:22:32 -0000

Shows you, South Africans need answers!! :)

Re: 9 iPhone apps to download

Sarah — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 06:40:20 -0000

Good suggestion! We'll also look at doing a post for Android apps too.

Re: How much data do you use?

Jeremy Wilkinson — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 05:49:15 -0000

sounds like you all set for the coming winter :-) everything you said ticks all my boxes except the sport one - I am basically paying DSTV so I can watch my beloved Sharks lose 3 games in a row!

Re: How much data do you use?

Jeremy Wilkinson — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 07:38:34 -0000

ouch thats a lot! Does it not get more expensive downloading paid games online? You pay Rxx to buy it and then basically pay more to download it (unless of course you are on uncapped which I would assume you are?).

Re: How much data do you use?

Jeremy Wilkinson — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 07:30:33 -0000

Hi Geoff. This was estimated with video. We ran a few tests ourselves and found that on average we used around 1.7MB per minute on skype (with video) and about 0.7MB without. What kind of usage have you seen?

Re: How much data do you use?

Geoff — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 06:16:34 -0000

An important distinction is whether the Skype call is with or without video. Which is it in this infogram?

Re: 9 iPhone apps to download

Iamnotalwaysright — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 04:49:09 -0000

Great list, just 1 problem....I dont have an iphone :-( Maybe an idea sometime is to do a list of the top Ipad ones?

Re: How much data do you use?

MG — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:52:41 -0000

You forgot the most important one! Buying and downloading a game from steam, 10 to 20 gig

Re: Last night’s outage – 17.4.2013

Paolo — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 10:16:57 -0000

I'm not just moaning - I actually had some points to make. Either someone in management will read what I've written or they won't. Take my advice or (as you're doing) leave it. Goodbye.

Re: Last night’s outage – 17.4.2013

WebafricaHelper — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 09:33:43 -0000

Hi Paolo, as per my reply to your forum posts our engineers are implementing measures like hosting external DNS servers, etc, to ensure that we don't have re-occurrence of this outage as we can fully comprehend the inconveniences caused by the issue and the negative impact it has had for all our customers.

We do not want another outage like this occur and I can assure you that we are working on ways to ensure stability of our Network.

Thank you for your feedback and patience with us during the outage.

Re: Last night’s outage – 17.4.2013

Paolo — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 08:42:32 -0000

As I've noted in your Noticeboard thread "Other - Datacenter - Outage" (which I can't link to in this blog without my post getting stuck in moderation): you failed to produce a proper incident report for your customers, despite several requests, forcing me to debate in a public forum what you could easily have answered when we asked for it privately.

What you call a 40 minute outage was longer for us: your network was dead to us for 90 minutes.

From what I can gather indirectly from your Support staff, the problem is that you don't use both of the power feeds at Teraco. If that's true, it's a shocking omission in your network planning, and one which you should be telling your customers that you're going to be fixing, instead of blaming the underlying power failure. How hard can it be to plug all your core network infrastructure into both power feeds? Do you need to buy some equipment with dual power supplies? Then at least tell us you're going to do so.

As CEO, perhaps this will mean more to you than someone on your Support staff: we buy bandwidth from you, and host our own equipment at Teraco with you (which all stayed up during the power failure). We often get the feeling that you apply ADSL standards to your network. The average ADSL customer doesn't expect much. But we expect the sort of standards that world class network providers maintain for servers that depend on them. Contacting your company with a problem, as we do from time to time, does not inspire that sort of confidence.

Re: Last night’s outage – 17.4.2013

WebafricaHelper — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 05:51:33 -0000

Thanks for the feedback Miles, we really appreciate it.

Re: Last night’s outage – 17.4.2013

Miles — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 05:26:27 -0000

You guys did well, Thanks for the feedback and thanks for getting it sorted out ASAP. Great ISP, keep it up :)

Re: WAJeff, signing out

038d017c — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 10:50:33 -0000

That's awesome Mr Rick!! Thanks so much, that comment means the world to me :D

Had a lot of fun working with you back in the day!

Re: WAJeff, signing out

Rick — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 09:06:30 -0000

I don't think i have ever seen anyone excel and making a mark or such an impression in a company like you did....
Watching how you went from Jeffery....to WAJeff...to Ru's brother Jeff...it was like watching you grow in greatness from nothing to hero in a few month.
And everyone knew your name for there was no luck in profession.

Yes, there was fun times, from Gaansbaai to Langebaan to even playing fooz in the gamez room..I have yet to beat you in that...

Cheers to you WAJeff....and best wishes to you and your new Journey...true happiness is!!!!!

Regards
DrZapps

Re: Our CEO on the network upgrade

Vic225 — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 07:28:25 -0000

I have to say that this move did not do me any good. I had very good latency on the previous backbone. On speedtest I had a ping of 22-26. Now since the move my ping has gone up to 40-50. When I enquired about this I was told my latency is in line for the linespeed and package I'm on and that latencies was now a bit higher on the new backbone. I must say I would rather pay the R40 or whatever I'm paying less now to have my latency back to where it was.

Re: VDSL is here!

Ignatius — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 04:52:34 -0000

VDSL... Sounds tasty

Re: Our CEO on the network upgrade

Leeanne — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 10:12:16 -0000

At 4pm clockwork, our asdl goes down, daily. We are on an uncapped, unshapped account, Webafrica has a different story everyday - your staff are refusing to talk to me - I need our internet up running now. This is crippling our business.