Web site follow up
Broadcast date: 14 June 2004
Hello good morning, and how do you do? This is Cybersurf – a weekly window where the web matters. I am your Cyberhost, Steven Lang.
Today’s edition of Cybersurf is dedicated to following up on issues, and if there are details you miss – never fear – I will put this entire script and a few extra details on my personal blog – I’ll give you the address in about three minutes.
Last week, I reviewed the airports company site and noted the difficulty in finding information on how to get to airports.
A few listeners phoned or wrote e-mails, echoing my frustration on how to get to the airport, yet others came up with some suggestions on how to overcome this problem.
Several people mentioned the names of companies that offer a door-to-airport service in Johannesburg. I’ll put contact details on the site. None of them appeared to have their own web sites yet prices varied very little – from R230 to R250.
It seems like a practical solution – albeit somewhat expensive. If you spend say one thousand rand on an air ticket – you would have to pay an additional R500 to get to the airport and back – and that is not even considering the cost of transport at the other side.
Perhaps the Gautrain service could alleviate the problem.
However, the most innovative solution was sent to me by Edward Little. He told me about an enterprise called Eljada Airport Parking – I hope I pronounced that correctly. The owner of this company will meet you at the airport, take your car and then store it on his own property. When you return, he washes the car and meets your flight.
Edward says this is the cheapest and most satisfactory solution.
Now let’s look at some photographs – but not just any old digital pix slapped up on the ‘Net.
Fullhouse Internet Imaging – is a proudly South African company offering very different types of digital images. It has aerial photography; 360x360° imaging; 3D modelling, and others - what this means is that a picture efictively puts you inside a room and then, by using arrows on the screen, you can turn around – it makes you feel like you are in the room and slowly turning around.
To top it off, you can also move the camera up and down – so you have left and right controls as well as up and down arrows
Another product available on the site is three D imaging. The example I liked best was of an Aquaquad ski-boat. It rotates so that you can have an idea of how it looks from various angles. This technique is frequently used by car manufacturers
You can find the site at fullhouse.co.za and it is worth going to the site even if just to play around with the demo pictures.
Before we close Cybersurf for today, one of our listeners, Kevin Kelly, wrote in to tell us about the difficulty of buying things over the Internet through eBay. He encountered insurmountable problems while trying to buy a DVD from someone in Brazil because the Post Office takes too long to transfer payments – he asks is there is a safe way for South Africans to buy at an online auction. More on this issue nin a later Cybersurf.
Before we wrap up today’s program, I will be putting this script online at the following address – www.stevenlang.blogspot.com – here it goes again – www.stevenlang.blogspot.com – that’s it from me till next Monday, Keep on surfing.
Additional information
From Edward Little:
There is an excellent airport parking service service run by Neels Ferreira. You phone and let him know the flight number and the time at which you will arrive at the airport and he meets you at the appropriate terminal and takes away your car. He parks your car on his premises where it is washed and dusted ready to meet you on your return. If you have let him know the flight number he will be there to meet you. I prefer to give him a ring on the cell-phone once I have cleared Immigration, which generally gives him sufficient time to be outside by the time I get there.
The enterprise is known as ELJADA Airport Parking and he can be contacted at (011) 979 4300 or by cell-phone at 083 729 8011 or 083 457 4923.
I have been using him for years and find it to be an excellent service as well as being the cheapest alternative by far.
Kindest regards,
Edward Little
=================
From Carlo Polla:
There is a company called Airport Link that charges R230 to pick you up anywhere in Johannesburg and will take you to the airport.
14 June 2004
7 June 2004
Airport Company of South Africa - Airports.co.za
Broadcast date: 7 June 04
Hello, Good morning and welcome to Cybersurf – your weekly window on the world wide web. I am your cyberhost – Steven Lang.
It is official policy on Cybersurf to look at good web sites, we try to feature the best of the web – there is no point at reviewing bad web sites – what a waste of time.
But every once in a while it becomes necessary to vent my frustrations and point out what not to do on a web site. Today is one of those ocassions.
Several weeks ago, I had to make a week long trip out of the country – and I thought – how should I get to the airport?
To get a taxi costs about 300 rand there and another 300 rand when I return – ridiculously expensive! To drive there and park at the airport for a week will end up costing about the same.
As usual, when I have a problem I seek answers on the web. So I easily found the Airports company of South Africa at airports.co.za – no problem there!
The front page gives one no clue about how I could get to the airport. There is about that offers information on flights and one that says:
ACSA airports
And since I wanted to go to an ACSA airport – I thought, let’s try this one.
At the next screen, I clicked on Johannesburg International Airport.
On the first page of Johannesburg International Airport – JIA to those in the know – I was shown a long list of services you can find at the airport –
These services include:
• a chapel;
• prayer facilities for Islamic passengers;
• a conference facility
• a 45-room transit hotel;
• an emergency medical facility
• a baggage storage facility;
• a media conference room
• a five star luxury hotel on the doorstep of the airport terminals.
• Internet access
Very impressive -
But still – nothing on how to get to the airport.
So I found a navigation bar that must surely have some info on how to get to the airport.
Nope not yet – but there is a button that says – Passenger services
I clicked on that – and I found that
In the medical clinic they have
• Obesity clinics
• Botox treatments
• Dentists
• Optician
• Gynaecologist
But still nothing on how to actually get there – so that I could make use of all these essential services.
I am very persistent – so I clicked on anything and everything on the airports.co.za site
I used the search facility and found out that there was a company that offered shuttle services to Durban airport and one that offered a similar service to Cape Town airport. In neither case was there an indication of where you could catch the shuttles.
Eventually I found a phone number of a company that claimed to have a shuttle service to Johannesburg airport.
I dialled the number and sudddenly I was in a Telkom like phone queue
Please be patient – your are third in line. To cut a very long, and consumately tedious story down – I was transferred three times put on hold three more times and eventually a woman sounded totally stunned that I should want to go to the airport. She was so flabberghasted, she said she would have to phone me back.
She never did – of course – and my gracious wide drove me to the airport.
Airports.co.za – put some useful information onto your site.
Apologies for the whinge, but it really had to be said. Thanks for listening and tune in again next week, when I promise to be in a better mood.
Broadcast date: 7 June 04
Hello, Good morning and welcome to Cybersurf – your weekly window on the world wide web. I am your cyberhost – Steven Lang.
It is official policy on Cybersurf to look at good web sites, we try to feature the best of the web – there is no point at reviewing bad web sites – what a waste of time.
But every once in a while it becomes necessary to vent my frustrations and point out what not to do on a web site. Today is one of those ocassions.
Several weeks ago, I had to make a week long trip out of the country – and I thought – how should I get to the airport?
To get a taxi costs about 300 rand there and another 300 rand when I return – ridiculously expensive! To drive there and park at the airport for a week will end up costing about the same.
As usual, when I have a problem I seek answers on the web. So I easily found the Airports company of South Africa at airports.co.za – no problem there!
The front page gives one no clue about how I could get to the airport. There is about that offers information on flights and one that says:
ACSA airports
And since I wanted to go to an ACSA airport – I thought, let’s try this one.
At the next screen, I clicked on Johannesburg International Airport.
On the first page of Johannesburg International Airport – JIA to those in the know – I was shown a long list of services you can find at the airport –
These services include:
• a chapel;
• prayer facilities for Islamic passengers;
• a conference facility
• a 45-room transit hotel;
• an emergency medical facility
• a baggage storage facility;
• a media conference room
• a five star luxury hotel on the doorstep of the airport terminals.
• Internet access
Very impressive -
But still – nothing on how to get to the airport.
So I found a navigation bar that must surely have some info on how to get to the airport.
Nope not yet – but there is a button that says – Passenger services
I clicked on that – and I found that
In the medical clinic they have
• Obesity clinics
• Botox treatments
• Dentists
• Optician
• Gynaecologist
But still nothing on how to actually get there – so that I could make use of all these essential services.
I am very persistent – so I clicked on anything and everything on the airports.co.za site
I used the search facility and found out that there was a company that offered shuttle services to Durban airport and one that offered a similar service to Cape Town airport. In neither case was there an indication of where you could catch the shuttles.
Eventually I found a phone number of a company that claimed to have a shuttle service to Johannesburg airport.
I dialled the number and sudddenly I was in a Telkom like phone queue
Please be patient – your are third in line. To cut a very long, and consumately tedious story down – I was transferred three times put on hold three more times and eventually a woman sounded totally stunned that I should want to go to the airport. She was so flabberghasted, she said she would have to phone me back.
She never did – of course – and my gracious wide drove me to the airport.
Airports.co.za – put some useful information onto your site.
Apologies for the whinge, but it really had to be said. Thanks for listening and tune in again next week, when I promise to be in a better mood.
31 May 2004
Shaya Technologies
May 31, 2004
Hello, Hiya and welcome to Cybersurf, your weekly window on the world wide web. I am your friendly cyberhost, Steven Lang.
If you know anything at all about the Internet, you will know that security is a really big issue these days. Vandals, script kiddies and criminals are using the Internet to destroy web sites, servers and PCs. Personally I think they should all spend a long time behind bars.
However, the increasing problems created by these criminals, has been very good news – in some respects – for the Internet security company. We are going to speak to one such company in a few moments, but first I would liie to remind listeners what a patch is.
A patch is a piece of software, usually created and distributed by a major software company that has discovered a fault with a program that they originally sold you. The send you the patch to fix their mistakes, or holes in the software.
The problem with these patches, is they are not always compatible with the rest of your system, and sometimes there are so many of them that you really have to keep on your toes to have the latest patches installed.
Ian Melamed of Shaya technologies, says his company offers a security system that protects your network and is easy to update:
IN: The security system . . . .
OUT: . . . . period of six months.
DUR: 2’15”
Thank-you Ian Melamed, principal cosultant of Shaya Technologies, a South African Empowerment company that is leading the way in Internet Security. To find out more about the company and how it operates, click along to shaya.co.za
Before we go, I’d like to draw your attention to the new Numsa website at numsa.org.za – the design is great – it’s quick, intuitive and attractive – but it probably could be updated more often. Maybe they’re still getting all their material in place – will have a closer look at that site soon.
So with that quick comment, we wrap up Cybersurf for today. Thanks for listening and do make sure that you tune in against next Monday for more Cybersurf.
May 31, 2004
Hello, Hiya and welcome to Cybersurf, your weekly window on the world wide web. I am your friendly cyberhost, Steven Lang.
If you know anything at all about the Internet, you will know that security is a really big issue these days. Vandals, script kiddies and criminals are using the Internet to destroy web sites, servers and PCs. Personally I think they should all spend a long time behind bars.
However, the increasing problems created by these criminals, has been very good news – in some respects – for the Internet security company. We are going to speak to one such company in a few moments, but first I would liie to remind listeners what a patch is.
A patch is a piece of software, usually created and distributed by a major software company that has discovered a fault with a program that they originally sold you. The send you the patch to fix their mistakes, or holes in the software.
The problem with these patches, is they are not always compatible with the rest of your system, and sometimes there are so many of them that you really have to keep on your toes to have the latest patches installed.
Ian Melamed of Shaya technologies, says his company offers a security system that protects your network and is easy to update:
IN: The security system . . . .
OUT: . . . . period of six months.
DUR: 2’15”
Thank-you Ian Melamed, principal cosultant of Shaya Technologies, a South African Empowerment company that is leading the way in Internet Security. To find out more about the company and how it operates, click along to shaya.co.za
Before we go, I’d like to draw your attention to the new Numsa website at numsa.org.za – the design is great – it’s quick, intuitive and attractive – but it probably could be updated more often. Maybe they’re still getting all their material in place – will have a closer look at that site soon.
So with that quick comment, we wrap up Cybersurf for today. Thanks for listening and do make sure that you tune in against next Monday for more Cybersurf.
10 May 2004
ITU Telecom Africa 2004
10 May 2004
Hello, howzit, SABAR AL GIR and welcome to Cybersurf, a weekly window on the wonderful world of the Web. I am your Cyberhost, Steven Lang – freshly returned from Cairo, Egypt where I attended the Telecom Africa 2004 exhibition and forum.
The two pronged event was excellent – the exhibition, with more than double the number of exhibitors of the previous Telecoms Africa in Johannesburg in 2001, was well laid out, spacious and efficient.
The Forum - with a theme entitled “Advantage Africa” – had its ups and its downs. There were some panel discussions - such as the one on Voice over IP – or how to use the Internet to make cheap overseas phones calls; and the workshop on business models that were really well managed and informative – while others were dominated by pompous, windbags who just like hearing themselves drone on.
Telecom Africa 2004 was also a steep learning curve in acronyms – like which is better: CDMA or GSM? And is CDMA really two and a half G, or is it 3G? Other quick issues sure to confuse – what is fixed wire? What do you call it when fixed line calls make use of GSM; and what about cellphone callls that are routed through a fixed line back-bone?
No – I am not making up all this techno jargon just to show off – these were real issues debated in the forum and in the corridors of the exhibition.
One of the highlights of the Egyptian stand was a large scale model of what they call – the Smart Village – this massive office park which is still under construction, is fully serviced with the latest optic fibre technology and appears to be aimed at setting up a silicon valley alongside the Nile – or perhaps the idea is to follow in the development footsteps of Hyderabad in India.
Included in the “smart” infrastructure is a high speed network for data, voice and video transmission; VPN connect; Voip capability and data centre; cable TV and video conferencing centre; uninterrupted power supply and standby generators
There are many other advantages to setting up in the Smart Village – but in my view the killer app – the one that would really make businesses move to the village is a ten year moratorium on taxes!!!
Only ten percent of the area of the park is open to contruction – this means that just under ninety percent of it will be developed as parklands. Microsoft, Alcatel and others are already there – and so is the ministry of communications – but in my view the one critical element missing from the Smart Village – is the element that would really make it Smart and is the same factor that powers Silicon Valley and Hyderabad - that is a University.
The Smart Village would have been so much more convincing if there had been a University in centre that could churn out computer scientists with serious degrees in programming and computer science.
Nevetheless, it is a constructive plan that fits in with the rest of Egypt’s drive to become the ICT centre for the Middle East and Africa. In some respects it is already ahead of South Africa and with broadband costing less than half the price charged by our local Telkom – we could be relegated into second place very quickly unless our ministry of communications gets an attitude makeover.
That’s all we the time we have for Telecom Africa 2004 in Cairo. Be sure to join me again next Monday for more Cybersurf.
10 May 2004
Hello, howzit, SABAR AL GIR and welcome to Cybersurf, a weekly window on the wonderful world of the Web. I am your Cyberhost, Steven Lang – freshly returned from Cairo, Egypt where I attended the Telecom Africa 2004 exhibition and forum.
The two pronged event was excellent – the exhibition, with more than double the number of exhibitors of the previous Telecoms Africa in Johannesburg in 2001, was well laid out, spacious and efficient.
The Forum - with a theme entitled “Advantage Africa” – had its ups and its downs. There were some panel discussions - such as the one on Voice over IP – or how to use the Internet to make cheap overseas phones calls; and the workshop on business models that were really well managed and informative – while others were dominated by pompous, windbags who just like hearing themselves drone on.
Telecom Africa 2004 was also a steep learning curve in acronyms – like which is better: CDMA or GSM? And is CDMA really two and a half G, or is it 3G? Other quick issues sure to confuse – what is fixed wire? What do you call it when fixed line calls make use of GSM; and what about cellphone callls that are routed through a fixed line back-bone?
No – I am not making up all this techno jargon just to show off – these were real issues debated in the forum and in the corridors of the exhibition.
One of the highlights of the Egyptian stand was a large scale model of what they call – the Smart Village – this massive office park which is still under construction, is fully serviced with the latest optic fibre technology and appears to be aimed at setting up a silicon valley alongside the Nile – or perhaps the idea is to follow in the development footsteps of Hyderabad in India.
Included in the “smart” infrastructure is a high speed network for data, voice and video transmission; VPN connect; Voip capability and data centre; cable TV and video conferencing centre; uninterrupted power supply and standby generators
There are many other advantages to setting up in the Smart Village – but in my view the killer app – the one that would really make businesses move to the village is a ten year moratorium on taxes!!!
Only ten percent of the area of the park is open to contruction – this means that just under ninety percent of it will be developed as parklands. Microsoft, Alcatel and others are already there – and so is the ministry of communications – but in my view the one critical element missing from the Smart Village – is the element that would really make it Smart and is the same factor that powers Silicon Valley and Hyderabad - that is a University.
The Smart Village would have been so much more convincing if there had been a University in centre that could churn out computer scientists with serious degrees in programming and computer science.
Nevetheless, it is a constructive plan that fits in with the rest of Egypt’s drive to become the ICT centre for the Middle East and Africa. In some respects it is already ahead of South Africa and with broadband costing less than half the price charged by our local Telkom – we could be relegated into second place very quickly unless our ministry of communications gets an attitude makeover.
That’s all we the time we have for Telecom Africa 2004 in Cairo. Be sure to join me again next Monday for more Cybersurf.
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