#southafrica

danie10@squeet.me

Uncapped Internet at R99pm on a meshed network for South African low-income communities

Two low-income homes with four satellite receiving dishes on top for entertainment services. A man is standing on the roof of one home, and affixing a white dome to the top of a pole that is mounted on the side of the home.
Maintaining cabled infrastructure in many informal areas is a nightmare (costly to deploy, dangerous, and sometimes damaged/stolen) so a meshed network does really solve this type of challenge, where each core node relays off the next one, to cover a wide area. In the example given in the linked article, a third of a township thatā€™s home to an estimated 80 000 people is served.

Combining this with a commercial model where the core node hoster is earning 15% of the monthly cost from the surrounding leaf nodes, it is a real win-win.

Itā€™s no coincidence, either, that this type of meshed network is proving popular, as we have seen active decentralisation along identical lines with social media, and also with the Meshtastic unlicensed radio that I featured a week or two back.

This type of approach is perfect where a high-cost service can be shared in a cost-effective way across a community who wouldnā€™t otherwise be able to afford such a service on their own.

See https://techcentral.co.za/internet-revolution-in-olievenhoutbosch/241698/
#Blog, #meshnetworks, #southafrica, #technology

danie10@squeet.me

Three Meshtastic nodes are active in Cape Town for off-grid communications during disasters or just to meet your neighbours

A green and black plastic box that is a little larger than a thumb. It has a small OLED display on the front saying "meshtastic.org". Protruding from the top is a short stubby black antenna, and on the right is a USB power cable.
Myself and two other ham radio operators have established 3 Meshtastic nodes that will operate 24/7 to help build out more connectivity across Cape Town.

We are using license-free 868 MHz radios, so anyone can buy these cheap (ish) devices and get connected. The more nodes we have, the better the connectivity gets across the whole city. These radios will keep messaging going regardless of whether there is Internet or not. So, if we hit Stage 8+ load shedding and cell towers and Internet starts to go down, this messaging network will still work.

This means that citizens can message for assistance needed, and this can be relayed to City or Provincial Disaster Risk Management. Or in cases of loss of communications during a disaster we can also send out messages to everyone on the network as to where water tankers will be deployed etc.

Apart from the public channel (which is much like CB radioā€™s Channel 19) anyone can also create their own private channels (with passwords) to stay in contact with groups of friends or family. The connections between all radio nodes are encrypted with AES256 encryption, so private messages will stay private even though they bounce across 3 or more other radio nodes to reach the recipient.

You have a phone, so all that is needed is the free Meshtastic app, and a Meshtastic compatible radio device. This is probably bad timing, as right now there is a global shortage of Meshtastic radio devices. The massive global uptake has also made this situation even worse. But the point of preparing for disasters, is to do that well before a disaster strikes.

Iā€™ve documented a lot of my lessons learnt, as well as given some context to the situation in South Africa for this service at the linked web page below.

See https://gadgeteer.co.za/hamradio/meshtastic-in-south-africa/
#Blog, #capetown, #Meshtastic, #offgrid, #southafrica, #technology

faab64@diasp.org

#ICJ declines new protections for #Rafah despite ā€˜perilous situationā€™ in city

The International Court of Justice on Friday declined #SouthAfricaā€™s request to introduce additional safeguards for Palestinians ahead of Israelā€™s planned offensive in the southern city of Rafah, where an estimated 1.4 million Palestinians are seeking #refuge from Israeli bombardment.

In its response to a Feb. 12 request from South Africa, the ICJ said the ā€œperilous situationā€ in Rafah required Israel to abide by its previous ruling last month, which included taking ā€œall measures within its powerā€ to prevent the crime of #genocide and to allow more aid into Gaza.

The situation in Rafah is becoming increasingly dire, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its most recent update, with people ā€œdesperate, hungry, and terrifiedā€ ahead of the expected attack. #OCHA said that the number of aid trucks allowed to enter the #Gaza Strip had declined over the past week, with only 20 entering on Thursday, a sharp decline from the average of 133 per day from Feb. 2 to Feb. 8.

The United States and other nations ā€” including Israelā€™s most vital allies ā€” have publicly opposed the military campaign in Rafah, though Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin #Netanyahu remains adamant about it.

https://archive.ph/eR8dz

#SaveGaza #StopIsrael #SaveTheChildren
#palestine #Israel #Occupation #Apartheid #Politics #PeaceNow #StopTheWar #CeasefireNow

faab64@diasp.org

#Biden administration is looking for ways to punish South Africa for pushing Genocide case against Israel.

The #GenocideJoe not only supporting this rogue nation, protecting it by vetoes, arming it with 1000s of tons of weapons, financing it with billions of dollars, bombing #Yemen for disrupting the #Genocide, he now going after South Africa for trying to stop the ongoing genocide.

I'm sure the liberal Americans are loving their "not Trump" maniac president and will come up with excuses to justify even this outrageous act.

#SouthAfrica #Genocide #ICJ #Polotics #Gaza #Netanyahu

danie10@squeet.me

South African Rooibos featured in popular survival action role-playing game Enshrouded

Computer game screen showing a character facing a green bush. A tall cliff stands in the background, amd there is yellow grass surrounding everything.
Although difficult to come by in the game, the Rooibos shrub is found in the Nomad Highlands region and looks like it would in spring when itā€™s in full bloom, covered in tiny yellow flowers.

The Council said one possible reason Keen Games incorporated Rooibos into their game was likely due to its growing popularity in Germany and Europe at large.

Interesting how games mimic real world trends, and of course gaming itself is a massive industry.

Seeing that Rooibos actually grows in the Cederberg environment of the Western Cape in South Africa, Iā€™m just wondering if this region in the game in then supposed to be South Africa?

See https://mybroadband.co.za/news/gaming/524736-south-african-rooibos-featured-in-hit-game.html
#Blog, #gaming, #rooibos, #southafrica, #technology

danie10@squeet.me

Goodbye Eskom ā€” R1 billion deal to bring fastest off-grid car chargers to South Africa

Two electric vehicles standing next to a charger unit. Part of a building wall can be seen with a sign saying "charge" on it.
Zero Carbon Charge has signed a R1-billion memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Shanghai Magic Power and Greencore Energy Solutions to build integrated supercharging systems for the 120 charging stations it is currently rolling out in South Africa.

The companyā€™s first electric charging station, on the N12 between Klerksdorp and Wolmaranstad, is set to be completed by June 2024.

The map shows a pretty good spread of these chargers across the country. Not only is this good for the Eskom situation (allowing faster adoption of EVs in South Africa) but it is also very important for any disasters when not only EVs must be recharged, but also other critical infrastructure.

Right now, in South Africa there was a freak storm across the Karoo a few days ago, and all grid power for those areas is off for nearly two weeks. Masses of diesel is being used to run generators, and the diesel has to be brought in over long distances. I can see these types of charging stations also providing a vital role for this scenario in future.

See https://mybroadband.co.za/news/energy/524140-goodbye-eskom-r1-billion-deal-to-bring-fastest-off-grid-car-chargers-to-south-africa.html
#Blog, #environment, #EV, #southafrica, #technology

faab64@diasp.org

This is just unbelievable. Nothing screams CORRUPTION than this woman getting a promotion after her outrageous denial of every points of South Africa's genocide accusation case against Israel, including the one demanding free and safe passage of humanitarian aid to Gaza

I'm really upset, but not surprised. The iron grip of pro Israeli politicians and states is nothing new, but ever since October 7, it has become openly obvious that the apartheid regime of Israel is untouchable and very few politicians in the world dare to openly challenge them, even after they openly and proudly documented their war crimes and genocidal plans.

#ICJ #Corruption #Israel #SouthAfrica #Genocide #Gaza #Politics #Africa #Europe #Inhumanity