I was on the verge of getting ADSL from Telkom, (given that it seems to be the only vaguely cheap method locally of having 24/7 Internet). Then, thanks to this local site which tells you a lot of informative and useful things that Telkom aren’t speaking about in their glossy handouts, I’ve changed my mind. Go read the very useful information available, especially in the forum, where there’s a huge amount of information and expert analysis that Telkom doesn’t want you to know, at the excellent site known as My ADSL.
Given that Telkom wants you to pay R680 per month for the privilege of downloading only 3 gigs a month (in the UK they’re debating limiting customers to 1 gig a DAY), as well as arrogantly suggesting that ADSL users should be happy only surfing local sites when the monthly ‘cap’ is reached, a site seemingly made for Telkom is Customers Suck.
Read this article titled A Game Of Monopoly. Here’s an article from 1998, looking at the fantasy which Telkom used to justify its monopoly — A South African Dilemma. Then read this PBS report which came out before the Government used the law, its tame COSATU stooges and bogus ‘historical inequalities’ concerns to let Telkom carry on raping the consumer — Expanding Horizons.
Read this hopeful and optimistic report from three years back, and then ask yourself what happened. The report is titled End of Telkom Monopoly Good for Economy.
I’m sick of this government profiteering and blocking any competition to Telkom, based on fraudulent and bogus ‘requirements’. Telkom provides a substandard and massively overpriced service which is screwing up our economy and preventing us from taking our rightful place in the global online community.
Why pay over R800 rand a month (ADSL + phone rental) for something that costs $30 in the US? Telkom wants to maintain its annual billion rand profit. Telkom must die and be thrown on the scrapheap of history. (The whining from Unions about their members losing their jobs as a reason for maintaining this stupidity isn’t valid. You don’t keep using horses when cars are available, no matter how sorry you feel for the horses.) And watching the recent French kissing and mutual admiration between Unions and Government tells me that local unions are now co-opted, ineffective, manipulated and merely the lapdogs of the capitalists-disguised-as-Comrades in this current government. Go support My ADSL, sign up and spread the word.
Well, shiver me timbers and baste my puddings, that be a heated rant says I, arrrr. There comes a time in every anarchists life, when the urge to wear an eye-patch and a stuffed parrot on the shoulder, and clutch a bottle of rum becomes overwhelming. If this happens to you, then luckily there are sites to help you achieve the surreal silliness required and Talk Like A Pirate.
Being a longtime fan of the Japanese art form known as Manga, and specifically the sleazy subsections of Manga known as Hentai (roughly translated it means ‘pervert’), I thought it was time to introduce you to a whole new world of online cartoons that’re delightfully perverse and read by millions. These links, needless to say, are adults only please, and if you have some weird phobia’s about nudity — stay away. Here’s a thoroughly censored look, complete with commentary, at Volume One of The Bondage Fairies. (If you want more, do a search on ‘Bondage Fairies’, but remember that this’ll take you into the lurid and painful world of porn popup advertising and fake sites, in your quest for uncensored BF images..). For fairies of another kind, you might want to put on a gas mask and have tissues ready at The Stool Fairies.
On to more useful things, and you’ve heard of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, right? However, I bet you may not have heard of the equally vital and important Toilets Of Babylon.
In case you’re concerned that this column is all about utterly useless and often weird sites and information, let me be the first to put your mind at rest and point you towards Mothers Against Boomerangs. Alternatively, if you have some curiosity that hasn’t yet been beaten or peer-pressured out of you, and you have some time to kill, go stare bemusedly at some online multimedia at How Everyday Things Are Made.
One of the truly coolest and funny online satire magazines (seeing as the real magazine isn’t available locally) is The Onion. With a dry intelligent sense of humor, it concocts fake stories and headlines that cut through the crap of reality in a way that’s breathtaking. One of my favourite fake headlines at the moment is “U.S. Invades Non-Oil-Rich Nation To Dispel Criticism”. Go be ready to spend happy hours at The Onion. Have a look at their fake history page while you’re there. Note the ‘Malcolm X: I also have a dream’ article.
What do bibles, dagga, leeches and inflatable sex dolls have in common? Give up? Okay. They’re all items that someone thought would be useful to sell from vending machines. Go take a look at the full scary list of Items Sold In Vending Machines.
All hell is breaking loose online as the US moves towards online computerized voting. Why? Simply put, come the next US elections, even though I’m no expert, I’d be able to access the equipment doing the vote counting in real-time, and alter it as I please. A company by the name of Diebold has the franchise for the voting software and their internal memo’s leaked out, showing the massive security holes inherent. Diebold Memos. The company has launched major legal lawsuits to shut down sites carrying the memos and examples of their software — instead of fixing the problem. Read Inside A US Vote Counting Program. Then read Diebold Voting Software.
After the last election when George W Bush (despite not receiving the majority of votes) was given the presidency illegally, it’s alarming to say the least to discover potentially how easily it’s going to be for anyone to steal future US elections. Read How To Hack An Election .
More required reading about this nasty brave new world that’s sliding into view, can be found at A Very American Coup.
Gear change: Remember those naughty people known as The Taliban? They were the ones that, despite 15 of the 911 hijackers coming from Saudi Arabia, prompted Bush to decide that Afghanistan and the Taliban were in need of US firepower. Well, for those of you who’d like a taste of reality, some documents have just been declassified showing how the US created and supported the Taliban in the first place. Go download The Taliban File.
Side note: If anyone knows of a decent 24/7 net service alternative in the Johannesburg region, let me know and I’ll pass the info on to readers.
Finally, as the mad dictator of Zimbabwe continues his orgy of rampant fascism and the deafening silence from the ANC in this regard becomes more and more embarrassing to anyone with a brain, read this latest newsletter detailing what life is like to our North. I’m putting a link to a mirror of the latest letter from Cathy Buckle, as suspiciously, at the time of writing her own site appeared to be gone. Try the Newsletter and the original site page. Main Site.
Until the next time, if ADSL PR assassins don’t get me.