Monday, May 23, 2005
Futurex, Linux World and Phishing
Last week saw the successful conclusion of Futurex – the largest annual computer faire in the country. Already a well established event on the agenda, this time the expo was co-hosted together with Linux world, which upped the geek factor to new highs.
Futurex had more than its fair share of new gadgets, some of them showing how truly inventive South Africans can be. My favourite was the SimPILL, invented by Dr. David Green especially for people who need to take pills regularly at the same time everyday.
The SImPILL is a plastic container with a small GSM device attached to it. If you forget to take your medication and do not open the container at the correct time, it sends an SMS to your cellphone to remind you to take the pill – if you are really stubborn and still don’t take the pill, then it automatically sends a customised SMS to your caregiver – who could be a relative, or a nurse advising him or her that you still have to take that pill.
If after all of that, you still don’t respond, the bottle sends and SMS to a computer at the clinic – and then you’ll be in real trouble.
The Linux World expo was fantastic with lots of enthusiasts happy to explain why we should all convert to Linux – there was almost a missionary, evangelical zeal to the message. I like the idealism behind it all, and anything that can dilute the existing monopoly on operating systems has to be good – but I believe that Linux still has a way to go before it can compete for the market on desktops.
Last year, I installed the Fedora OS on my home computer and it drove me nuts. It must be a lot of fun for the professional geeks, but for us ordinary geek-wannabees – not yet.
However, the Openoffice suite of open source software is fully useable and getting better all the time. I regularly use Open Office one and it is OK – however, I am told that OpenOffice Two is on the verge of being launched onto the market. A colleague has tested the beta version and says it is a vast improvement. His company with a staff of over twenty – including a dozen or so programmers only uses the free open source office suite.
Quick change of direction now – this last week has seen a surge of fake e-mails pretending to represent local banks – and requesting customers to validate their banking details. The latest wave of fakes is good – they set up fraudulent web sites that very accurately mimic your regular bank – and we are talking about FNB, Standard and ABSA. Be very careful – do not respond to such unsolicited e-mails. If you have even the slightest doubt about such an e-mail – kill it.
When you do your online banking make sure that you type in the address yourself – do not click on a link that someone sends you.
Two good tips – when doing your online banking – make sure that the address is secure – you will see that it begins with https – and it is the “s” that is critical. Also make sure that you can see a closed padlock ion the bottom right hand side of you screen.
And before we wrap for today – be sure to look our for the Portfolio hearings this week on the Convergence Bill. The Bill has been the cause of much unhappiness between the private sector and the department of communications. According to ITweb, the latest version of the Bill does not take into account any of the submissions made by the public.
Look out – big bun-fight on the way – and to find out more about it – I will put some valuable links on the Cybersurf blog which is strategically located at Cybersurf.blogspot.com – one more time Cybersurf.blogspot.com
That’s it for today - thanks for listening and remember to keeeeep on surfing.
Relevant Links:
- Overview of South African telecommunications law, convergence and the Convergence Bill [B9-2005] Part 1: http://www.nicciferguson.com/journalentry.q?journalId=116
- ICASA - Legilsation: http://www.icasa.org.za/default.aspx?page=1003
- Department of Communications: http://www.doc.gov.za/main.htm
- FNB call centre: 0860 054 321
- Standard Bank: 0860 123 000
- ABSA: 0800 414 141
- Nedbank: 0860 115 060
