OLPC comes up with stable Linux build
The One Laptop Per Child program reported today that after 303 builds, it finally has a satisfactory version of its Red Hat Linux-based Sugar operating system that is considered stable, according to OLPC president for software and content Walter Bender.

"After a final few bugs that had hidden in corners were driven into the light, we issued Stable Build 303 along with Q2B76 firmware this week," Bender said in his weekly email report.

Highlights of this stable build, according to Bender, include:
A working mesh network
An updated Web browser that scales on the high-resolution screen, making for an improved web experience
Gnash, the FOSS Flash player (still somewhat unstable), is pre-installed; Adobe's Flash 9 is also known to work but is not packaged or installed as part of the build
A touch-pad driver fix for jumping cursor: The touch pad should be more usable, and the tablet is enabled on B2 systems
Boot time has improved due to a scheduler fix
The Cambridge, Mass.-based project says it shipped about 2,500 test laptops to eight nations last month. Earlier this month, OLPC shipped 100 machines to children in a Nigerian test school, Bender said.

The experiment was a prelude to mass production of the kid-friendly, lime-green and white laptops scheduled to begin in July, when 5 million are scheduled to be built, according to Taiwanese laptop maker Quanta.

State educators in Brazil, Uruguay, Libya, Rwanda, Pakistan, Thailand, and possibly Ethiopia and the West Bank received the first of the machines in February's pilot prior to a wider rollout to Indonesia and a handful of other countries, according to the project.

Background on the project

OLPC aims to distribute -- free of charge -- millions of low-cost, self-powered, low-cost Linux laptops to needy children around the world, with governments making the purchases. The original cost target for the OLPC laptops was $100, but that number has drifted upward slightly, over the past year or so, to about $150.

The idea behind the OLPC laptop is to provide children with the opportunity to learn about learning itself -- to explore, experiment and express themselves, an OLPC spokesperson said. The laptops will be distributed in schools.

Key features of the OLPC laptop include a 7.5-inch 1200 x%

Labels: OPLC, Pakistan, Wireless

- posted @ Thursday, March 22, 2007

 
Censor off?
The PTA seems to have un-censored this site at this moment in time. Is this related to the illegal house arrest of the Chief Justice of Pakistan?

Labels: censorship, gorement, Pakistan

- posted @ Tuesday, March 13, 2007

 
Postpaid competition
Postpaid competition is hotting up. Warid claims to have the largest postpaid client base. Ufone and now Telenor have all started to push their postpaid products with heavy advertising.

Now I get a call from a 0300 number asking for  me by name. It was a sales guy from Mobilink offering me an Indigo (their postpaid brand) account with no security deposit or setup charges.  Just wanted 3 months worth of bills and a copy of the NIC.

He didn't know my address, just my name and phone number.

Number Portability is going to be fun!

Labels: GSM, mobile, Pakistan

- posted @ Tuesday, February 20, 2007

 
PTA in idiot mode, again
This is an email from Atif Mumtaz.

--------------------------------------------

Asalam Alekum,

I wanted to share a recent harrowing experience that my company is going through in Pakistan. First a bit of a background.

I co-founded an internet Startup company, called Cogilent Solutions ( www.cogilent.com), in Islamabad, which runs a very successful job portal in the country called ( BrightSpyre ). Among our innovations, we were one of the first companies in the world to launch an integrated Voice Resume system based on VoIP technologies. And our solution is being used by companies like TRG and others to hire quality talent for their call centers in Pakistan.

On Tuesday Dec 4, Pakistan time, around noon, FIA (Federal Investigation Authority) and PTA (Pak Telecom Authority) walked into our offices, seized all our servers, mobiles and everything on the pretext that we are using it for illegal VoIP termination. They also locked up our current CEO, Faisal Chohan behind bars. Even when we explained to them that we are not doing call terminations, and only develop creative solutions for call centers to use, they would not listen.

Now, we are a small internet startup company based out of Software Technology Park, Islamabad. Nor do we have any connections with any major government or military establishments. We have no interest in call termination or anything of that sort. We are focused on BrightSpyre and bringing software revenue into the country through US based projects. Taking away all our servers means, we cannot deliver on those projects and locking up our CEO without any notices and warnings is also not a good step.

We request PASHA to officially look into the matter and help us resolve this crisis. Especially, the immediate release of our CEO, Faisal Chohan.

Regards,
Atif Mumtaz


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Reuters Digital Vision Fellow
Stanford University
Tele-Healthcare Initiative
www.tele-healthcare.org
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Labels: gorement, hero, idiots, Pakistan

- posted @ Wednesday, December 13, 2006