TechTing.net has recently had the opportunity of sitting down to chat with Ms. Bernadette Lewis, Secretary General of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU). This was my first time meeting her, so there was a bit of apprehension at the prospect of conducting an interview with her. It turned out that my fears were unfounded as she happened to be a very welcoming and accommodating host and was the master of her domain. An interview full of fluff and low on substance this is not. The following is  a summary of what was discussed.

The CTU was established in 1989 by heads of Caribbean governments to be the policy institution for telecommunications development in the region. It is an organ of CARICOM. At the time, governments in the region realized that telecommunications would have a significant role to play in the development of the individual nations and of the region as a whole. Some of the primary activities of the CTU were:

1. To assist in policy formulation for the telecom sector
2. To help in the mitigation of interference challenges within the region between countries on the use of radio frequency spectrum
3. To educate and to help build capacity in telecommunications within the region.

Ms. Bernadette Lewis - Secretary General

Because of the intergovernmental nature and their work in policy generation, the CTU has not had much exposure to the man on the street. This would explain why myself and just about every other professional that I know had not been aware of the CTU until recently. The CTU does recognize that the whole telecommunications industry has changed since the inception of the CTU in 1989. The world has changed fundamentally and radically in a fairly short time due to the convergence of information technologies and communication technologies into what we now know as ICT (Information and Communication Technology). The CTU is funded  by it’s member states as well as through donor funding from it’s strategic partners.

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The Cloud may strike you as a fairly new buzzword, but the truth is that the cloud has been around for many years. Even more surprising to you may be the realization that you have been using the cloud for a very long time without having been aware of it.

The Cloud – What is it?

The Cloud refers to the storage and processing of data and application on servers or computers which reside on the internet and not on servers which are in the same geographical location as the user. These servers can be located any where in the world, and it is this dispersed nature that leads to it being described as a “cloud”; your data is up and out there… somewhere. The cloud is quite distinct from the traditional computing paradigm of local processing and storage; YOUR stuff on YOUR computer.

For the sake of completeness, here is the American National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) specific definition:

“Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.”

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2011 may go down as The Year of the Tablet. Every major electronics manufacturer and their corporate mother will be releasing some form of tablet form factor portable device. Some will win, and some will lose, but the real loser will be the netbook. The netbook is a class of computer that I love to hate. Netbooks are underpowered and provide a less than ideal value proposition. The tiny keyboards are a total mess to type on and the reliance on the trackpad/mouse for navigation is less than perfect. Netbooks sold (and sold well) for a number of reasons:

• They were considerably cheaper than full blown laptops, with pricing around the US$300 mark.
• They had just about enough processing power to handle basic tasks like Facebooking and Skyping.
• They had pretty good battery life.
• They are light.
• They were considerably cheaper than full blown laptops, with pricing around the US$300 mark.

My main objection to netbooks was that I simply could not see their value proposition. For a couple hundred dollars more, you could have a REAL notebook computer, with a REAL keyboard and a REAL screen that didn’t require you to squint while you scanned your Facebook news feed. I advised many against the purchase of netbooks; “wait a couple months and save the extra money for a real thing,” I’d tell them. Thankfully, they were all obedient and were not among the many that told me harrowing tales of netbook buyer’s remorse.

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International roaming is expensive. We know this. Some of us, present company included, know this all too well. Surely, there must be a way to maintain a decent level of communication with your home country while travelling abroad without having to resort to selling off your car to cover your roaming bill. Let’s find out how.

Basic Telephony

If your needs are simple, an ultra-basic pre-paid mobile phone is for you. By basic, you qualify if all you need to do while abroad is to make and receive local voice calls. If you are considering just purchasing a SIM card to use in your own (presumably unlocked) phone, think again. In the US, for example, with T-Mobile, a SIM card alone will set you back US$25. However, you can purchase a basic cell-phone, with a SIM card and a few “free” minutes for $20.

It is important to consider which network the majority of the people you will be calling within the visiting country. This is important as most providers allow unlimited calling to others on the same network, depending on the pre-paid plan chosen. As an example, both AT&T and T-Mobile offer pre-paid packages which cost US$1 a day (if the phone is used on that day at all; no charge is incurred if the phone is not used) and allow you to make unlimited calls to parties on the same network (eg. AT&T to AT&T). Calls to other networks are charged on a per-minute basis.

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This tutorial will show you how to update the BlackBerry OS on your phone. Please note that there is ABSOLUTELY NO REQUIREMENT for you to attempt this if your phone is functioning as it should. Also please note that neither the author nor techting.net accept any responsibility in the event that your phone is bricked or damaged in any way while following this guide. However, an OS upgrade can be beneficial in terms of new features. You can find a list of features new t0 OS 5.0 here.

Here is a list of BlackBerry phones which may be worthwhile to upgrade:

• Curve 8300, 8310, 8320 – Shipped with OS 4.2 and can be upgraded to 4.5
• Curve 8520, 8900 – Shipped with OS 4.6 and can be upgraded to 5.0
• Bold 9000 – Shipped with OS 4.6 and can be upgraded to 5.0
• Storm 9500, 9530 – Shipped with OS 4.7 and can be upgraded to 5.0
• Others not listed

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TechTing.net is looking for regular writers for the site. If you’ve got an opinion and have been looking for a place to be heard, then we might be a fit.

Writers are free to contribute as often as their schedules permit; daily, weekly, it’s up to you. Articles would be expected to be in some way technology related, but barely relevant oddball topics would be welcomed; just run the idea by us first. Previous blogging experience is not necessary.

Some Not So Random Bullet Points

• The ability to constructively handle negative criticism in the comments to your work. It WILL happen.
• A good command of the English language will be helpful.
• Full Article length is 800 words.
• News Story posts should be as long as, um, necessary.
• Fact checking for your articles is necessary.
• The ability to break down complicated ideas into easy to consume, bite-sized chunks goes with the territory.
• Copy and pasting of articles from other site wholesale will not be accepted; blogging is a journalistic grey area as it its, so lets not make it worse.
• Where quotations are use, source attribution would be expected and required.

A special invitation goes out to hobbyists that are working on any special projects. Take pictures, write up an article, and gain some a little notoriety.

Find out how to apply after the jump.

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