Today use to be a very special day for many years. Today still is, only difference is some things and people have moved on. So would we; someday.
I dedicate today to all the great people I've known and are no more with us. May god bless them and keep them happy where ever they are. I'd smile when ever I'd think of them.
Bye.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Mobile broadband is something that is interesting and has a good future. I wonder if the ISP/MNO's will introduce affordable internet packages ?. I don't see why they should not, there is a good business case to this, and great benefits to the public.
Speeds between 384kbps to 7.2/14.4Mbps can be given over the GSM Network. Today Wataniya and Dhiraagu should be capable of providing such speeds anywhere Male'.
Maldives has a total population of 300,000 people I don't see a reason why good service cannot be provided. We do have a good demand for such services too. What we lack is a good regulator and political will to improve services.
The present internet service providers are going a great job in providing bad services to the individuals and getting the services is costly and hard. I think it's high time we changed this. I see 3G as the best opportunity to do so. My argument is MNO's can make money too; they just need to first give up on the old ways of thinking and try to be more service oriented. Government and the regulators has a key role to play here too; so far they have also successfully failed to do so. I hope this will change too.
It is critical that we get rid of the digital divide in this nation and change our views towards internet as a luxury. Internet should be made a basic human right. Everyone should have the means and the rights to access information and share information.
Friday, September 25, 2009
On the menu today is Climate "Change". Saving the World, passing an important message to the rest of the world. "We are sinking". Waves? Yes! Tsunami ? Maybe.. or Honda Waves. I am not so sure.
We Maldivians don't pollute. No sir, we don't (we never do). So our great president decides to have a little event to pass a very bold message to the rest of the world. "We are sinking". "Save us"; aham! or maybe "come visit us before we sink; stay in one of the five star resorts.. spend some money" ? .. Now I fully support this idea and the cause. (yet; some of my friends tell me our tourism minister sucks and he is not creative. I don't agree)
Besides the tourism ministry, the ministry of Islamic affairs has a plan too. That is if we are sinking we need to be prepared. This one calls to build an Arc much like the one like Noah's Ark. Now we know who will be on the priority list. I am sure Mr. Gasim Ibrahim will be among the top 10, for he has 4 wives (btw that is not my reasoning, it's by the Adaalath) .
.. and so the president decides to hold an underwater cabinet meeting. " In that event he and the country's ministers will sign a resolution calling for CO2 level to be reduced to below 350 ppm. And the President himself will deliver the resolution to governments at the UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen this December."
So what is my feeling toward this? I am happy and proud. Yes I am. If our politicians can go deep down to get the numbers down this is a good sign. I only hope this won't be the last time they would go to this level to get the "numbers" down. I am happy at least CO2 levels coming down to "ayfoara fashah".. It had to start somewhere be it CO2.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Can't be at two places at the same time, don't have that upgrade installed in me yet. So always the first priority is the paying job. I've got a project to be completed and rolled out in two months. Involves around 5 different vendors working together and seamless integration between all these vendors is a must. More of my responsibilities are on the project management side, so it's not so bad. However I think I am in for a lot of long and sleepless nights for the next 2 months.
In parallel the MOSS teams are busy with FLOSS projects (advocating) which is very much focused on to the Government of Maldives at this time. Main aim is to run a pilot project which will migrate an existing government office to OSS. This would help the government to decide if they would consider deploying OSS solutions government wide. Role of MOSS is to facilitate this and provide help where needed. The actual deployment would/should be done by NCIT or a commercial company(s) appointed by NCIT; who would provide the neede support. I think yet this is to be finalized. Hopefully for some interested local IT companies this might be a good opportunity. I would still say or my personnel view is in the long run NCIT or local Ministry staff should be trained on OSS and they should take over. Having commercial support is good to where needed. This needs to be discussed at a policy level and the best method will/should be adopted. I think the people who are involved right now are in the right direction and I wish them all the best. It's too bad I can't provide much support or be involved as I have other commitments.
Hopefully MOSS registration will be formal within the next few days and they will officially be operational as a formal NGO. We started off with MLUG and officially now going under the name MOSS with fresh blood and new faces. I think I am happy with the team who will be running the show and I have my confidence in them. Though I am not officially part of it, I would always be more than happy to help where I could; if and when needed. Best part is I know they are doing good and they have a good vision of what they need to do and achieve. It's their show now and hopefully they would work for the best interest of the community as always.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Yesterday registrations forms were submitted to register a NGO in the name of Maldivian Open Source Society (MOSS). This is a great step forward in the direction of promoting and advocating FLOSS in Maldives (officially).
Today we had a presentation on FLOSS and Cloud Computing at NCIT. The Minister of Civil Aviation and Communication was also present at this presentation. I think this was the first official such presentation of this nature. I am very happy with the support we got and the feedback.
I think this is a great start and a positive one. At the same time I realise this is just the start, there is a lot more to do and achieve.
Friday, June 12, 2009
It's been almost 10 years since I have been advocating Open Source Software (Mostly Linux). During this time, I've met many people who loved the idea and also people who never understood the concept or totally hated it. It took time but eventually I knew OSS is here to stay and will soon dominate the computing world.
The first time I openly expressed the idea of open source governance is back in 2007 on mvlinux.blogspot.com as one of the contributors to the blog. Since then the idea have been brought up many time and a lot recently. Today I don't think it's a "crazy" concept anymore. Even NCIT have proposed in it's proposed policy paper that they will look into OSS. This is a good step forward. However I feel not many in the government are ready for such a change/adaptation. Concepts like migrating the OS from Windows to Linux is a scary idea for some sysadmins who don't have much experience or only have exposure to Windows only. Even most of the technology vendors and IT firms don't have the knowledge for such adaptations. This does not mean we should step away from better alternatives just cos we don't have the confidence.
Advantages are many! First of all the cost factor. Even if we can use pirated copies of Windows today, this will come to an end sooner or later. IP laws are something that is expected to come soon. Paying close to USD 200 per computer with OS, Office Applications and Anti-Virus will become a BIG financial burden when this is multiplied in 1000's. This factor is expected to be the biggest driving factor for most to consider OSS in Maldives. Maybe not soon, but in the few years to come.
Other factors like the open nature of software will also be a driving factor. Examples like the current localization of Ubuntu to Dhivehi is happening due to the open nature of Linux. Alternatives like Linux are more secure, stable and flexible compared to the existing OS (Windows) in use. Slowly more people are getting to understand this and explore into alternatives. Today more and more nations and companies are migrating to such alternatives in the world, so it's just a matter of time before Maldives also will have to follow this path. Maybe the policy makers will waste money investing software in millions and give 100's of reasons NOT to migrate, but they would be proven wrong in time. This is my view.
The change should come from the policy level. Not by public pressure or media. This is the responsibility of the people who are assigned to make such choices. They need to be more open minded and responsible towards the greater good than submitting to fear and uncertainty. We may end up saving millions of USD and routing that money to our education, health care and much needed service if a right choice is made today. However I am not very hopeful for such a positive change today. The mindset needs to be changed of the policy makers, which again I don't think will happen soon. Sad part is we will again be left behind when the rest of the world steps ahead of us. We need a new generation of individuals with vision and a feeling of responsibility towards the nation and greater good of everyone for such change to happen. I don't expect this in the post 1st generation of Maumoon era... but it's a dream .. that will come true someday..
Linux has started to slowly influence the IT industry of Maldives too. Presently this is mostly or totally at the back ends. Examples like Island Aviation, Allied Insurance, Wataniya and Dhiraagu are some examples where Linux is deployed at various levels. Next level is the desktop.. I feel distributions like Ubuntu and OSS applications like OpenOffice will soon be adopted by Maldivians just like Firefox replaced IE.
Friday, May 22, 2009
1978 to 2008. 30 bloody long years we had. What is the result ? Living expenses sky high (No it did not happen after Nov 08). We slave all day and end of the month all the hard earned money is given to some people, if you won't call this slavery what else do you call this?. Who engineered this business model for the benefit of a few and survival of the elite? Any Tom Dick can tell you no one else is to be given credit for this except for Maumoon. Yes, this guy fucked us for almost 30 years and still does not want to give up.
If anyone is to blame and to be held responsible it's no one but Maumoon. A few may forget or many, I won't and will not forgive. There is no f*cking way I am accepting him back in. Only over my dead body.
They come and tell you what improved, what changed. Yeah! we today cry for the change and even fight to improve things why?. Did you guys ever wonder the reason for that?. That is today we have hope we want to fix things and have a better life. We did not shout out like this and ever had the expectations like this, when the dictator ruled over us. Today we do. Yes! we are not happy today. We are not happy cos this is not what we deserve to have, we could have a far better life and should not be suffering like this.
As humans we always have expectations, high hopes. After Mumoon this have reached to a very high level. We try to give opinions and have expectations. Which we did not from Maumoon. Which we would never have had from Maumoon. So friends when I complain and say I am not happy. I am right, but that does not mean I am telling I need Maumoon back. The day he comes in, that hope will die and I will never complain.
You show me Male' and tell me this is great. This is what Maumoon gave us. I tell you FUCK you. This is HELL!. So don't try to play your mind games on me you dick heads. Go plan how to rule over us and how to suck on the peoples blood like you have been for the past 30 years. That's all you can think of and are good at. Don't talk of democracy and a better future, does not sound good when it comes from you.
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