Cozahost Newsletter Archive

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Spring is in the air! :-) Windows XP service pack 2 is released and the SNO is about to be granted a license. Looks like the winter is almost over on more than one front.

That is almost all over now. The sun shines longer every day and the flowers on the west coast are starting to bloom. Life's a peach.

I hope the long winter of computer viruses, worms and spammers is also drawing to a close. In this case spring comes in the guise of the new Service Pack 2 for Windows XP released earlier this month. We now have a glimmer of hope - and a little ray of warm cozy security in this internet winter. We will talk about that a bit later on.

The other winter is called Telkom. For many years we South Africans have been overpaying for telephone calls and internet connections. After the utility "privatized", it made 4 Billion Rands in profit last year - and then raised tariffs and announced that it will cut it's workforce by 4000 people. Back at the ranch we are still paying up to 10 times more for internet access than in developed countries. :(

No budding wild flowers in the Telkom winter yet, but it is definitely getting warmer. The communications minister announced that she will license the SNO (Second National Operator) on the 17th of September. More about how important this is for South Africans further on in this newsletter.

More important than either service pack 2 or the SNO license, is the sweet memory of the Springboks winning the tri-nations. Against the Australians. How can life be sweeter?! :-) Let's pat ourselves on the back for that beautiful victory. Granted most of us did not play in the match, but we did damage our vocal cords in solidarity. :-)
 

Back in middle July we discussed the Windows XP service Pack 2 in this newsletter, and we explained why it is an absolutely essential upgrade for windows XP users to secure their computers against the ever increasing onslaught of viruses, worms and other dirty tricks. (For a refresher, the July newsletter is available online here.)

In essence, the service pack updates several low-level functions in windows XP and makes your computer much more secure and less susceptible to attack. Amongst other things it includes a brand new firewall, automatic updater (for new patches to the operating system) and a more secure internet explorer. All very good news indeed.

The service pack was released in mid August, but we did not want to recommend you install it before we made sure that it will cause as little disruption as Microsoft promised.

We upgraded several machines and not one had a problem. Not even a small hiccup.

What surprised me after I upgraded a few machines is how few of the changes were visible. A bit of an anti-climax if you ask me. There are very few visible clues that the operating system underwent major changes. Everything looks and and feels exactly the same. On the other hand (as Naas would say) this is probably a good thing. :-)

No smoke from the hard disk, no burning smell from the monitor. (I checked and sniffed). The keyboard still works and the mouse still moves the pointer. No data leaking into a gooey puddle behind your computer. Nothing to upset the wife. So far so good.

If you think that spring went to my head and I threw all the usual paranoid precautions overboard before installing the service pack - you'd be wrong. Paranoid is my middle name - I am allergic to smoking computers.

Before I installed the service pack, I made sure that I could perform an exorcism if my computer grew horns and a pointy tail after installing the service pack - so I performed a full backup of my computer.

I suggest you do the same before upgrading your computer. Chances are 99.9% that it will be unnecessary and the upgrade will work smooth as silk, but remember what that guy said about the Titanic? If your computer is important to you - trust no one: least of all yourself. Take the necessary precautions: make sure you fasten your belt before you start jumping on the trampoline...there really are programmers out to get you. ;-)

After you installed the upgrade, the first thing you should do is to check that your own web site still works correctly. Remember that Internet Explorer was made much more secure by the Service pack and things that worked before may not anymore.

IE is now very paranoid. Even the smallest hint that a web site is trying to do something untoward with your computer, and it will stop it dead in it's tracks.

The problem is that your web site might be perfectly peace loving and safe, but unless IE agrees, some features on your site will stop working. I don't know about you, but I prefer my computer to be as paranoid as a cat at a pre-primary play school. (For more info on making sure your web site works with XP Service Pack 2, see this Microsoft article)

And that brings us to the final issue. How to get hold of service pack 2.

You can download the service pack from the internet, but that will take several hours as the service pack is more than 80Mb in size. Your other alternatives are to get a CD from work, contact Microsoft directly, beg a friend to help, or get a CD from Cozahost if all else fails.

(We will make you a CD and send it to you with overnight mail for R 75.00 (Excluding VAT, including media, postage and packaging) if you live in South Africa, but remember that the upgrade is free - you only need to buy a CD from us if you have no other way to download or get it from a local supplier / friend. (To buy a CD from Cozahost, please use your credit card here before 15 September 2004))

The service pack makes your computer much more secure. This ensures that far fewer viruses will be able to penetrate it's defenses and that is good news for everyone on the internet.

PLEASE be a responsible citizen on the internet - secure your computer by installing the service pack and ask all your friends and contacts to do the same.

To be fair, Telkom is not the only party to blame. The government, and the minister of communication shares at least half of the blame for taking more than 10 years to dismantle a government monopoly dating back to pre-apartheid times.

Fortunately spring is in the air, and change is coming!

The minister of communications announced that she will be granting the operator license for the Second National Operator on 17 September 2004. The SNO is a consortium consisting of Nexus, Transtel, Esi-Tel, Communitel, Two Consortium and a new company called Sepco - who will control the board.

Transtel and Esi-Tel (the communications arms of Transnet and Eskom respectively) will hold a 30% stake in the new organization.

Lets hope that this time the license is actually granted, because the minister made similar promises in the past.

For you and me there will be little immediate benefit after the license is granted. It will take the SNO many months to set up it's infrastructure (billing, sales, etc), so it's unlikely that we will have a choice of service provider during this year or even the first half of next year. The SNO is likely to go after high value clients first: large corporate and ISPs. Toward the end of 2006 we may see products and services aimed at small business and home users - but don't hold your breath.

Remember that a duopoly is only slightly better than a monopoly and the SNO will in all probability avoid a price war with Telkom - a war it can only loose.

I think that there will be one significant and immediate change however:

Telkom now knows that the writing is on the wall, and the gravy train is about to depart. I would think that they will try to cement their dominant position as much as possible by offering long term contracts to existing clients at reduced cost, followed by heavy marketing spending. Whether or not Telkom can convince you to stay with them is open for debate - you'll be the judge.

To be sure, the winter is not over, but spring is definitely in the air.

With access to affordable internet connections the business landscape in South Africa is poised to change dramatically.

Cheaper internet access means that millions of new South African internet users will get connected. (In the USA approximately 75% of households have an internet connection)

More South African internet users means more consumers searching the net for products and services. More consumers mean more (and higher quality) web sites, more choice for consumers and more competition for internet entrepreneurs.

Think about what it would mean for your business if one million new consumers connect to the South African internet next year.

The opportunities. The threats.

Telkom, SNO and goverment's role is not just about politics. It is about to affect all our lives directly.
 

Here are some quick links to CozaHost services and products:

Great truths that little children have learnt

1) No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats.
2) When your Mom is mad at your Dad, don't let her brush your hair.
3) If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person.
4) Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato.
5) You can't trust dogs to watch your food.
6) Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.
7) Never hold a Dust-Buster and a cat at the same time.
8) You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
9) Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.
10) The best place to be when you're sad is Grandpa's lap.
 

Thanks for reading this newsletter and we hope you enjoyed it! Please contact us if you have comments, suggestions or questions - we would love to hear from you!

Wishing you happy, safe and productive computing - till next time.