Tshuutheni Emvula

A Look at Mutlipath TCP

Multipath Router is an example of a device in development that uses the mutlipath TCP.

Multipath TCP is is an effort towards enabling the simultaneous use of several IP-addresses/interfaces by a modification of the TCP protocol that presents a regular TCP interface to applications, while in fact spreading data across several subflows. Benefits of this include better resource utilization, better throughput and smoother reaction to failures. This means, for example, that your mobile device which up to now would utilize each of its connection methods (3g, 4g, Wi Fi) in isolation could potentially use each connection simultaneously making full use of multipath TCP’s intelligent load balancing algorithms to ensure the most stable and efficient connection.

This has big implications for the retail broadband/mobile market as now devices could be developed that manage to link all of the currently isolated methods of internet access and give customers a vastly more reliable, faster and efficient internet connection than current TCP methods.It was developed by Sébastien Barré in 2009 and has now seen adoption by major companies such as Apple in small but interesting ways.

What could this mean for Africa?: Continue reading “A Look at Mutlipath TCP”

Polytechnic of Namibia make electronic voting history

In keeping with its reputation as a progressive entity that recognises the value of technology in delivering a superior student experience, the Polytechnic of Namibia recently scored another technological first. At the end of September, the institution elected its Students Representative Council (SRC) members by means of electronic voting, thanks to a Mobi Election System developed by Adapt IT.

According to the outgoing SRC Secretary General, Kyllikkie Hamutumwa the fact that the election was done this year using electronic means is very exciting for the institution. She suggests that this is a milestone for the Polytechnic, one which comfortably falls in line with its transformation into the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST). Continue reading “Polytechnic of Namibia make electronic voting history”

Namibian government amends regulations to give entrepreneurs access to venture capital

THE Namibian Government is injecting huge stimulus into the Namibian economy in order to accelerate the growth of local enterprises. The recent promulgation of the amended Regulation 28 and 29 of the Pension Funds Act has the potential to unlock capital and channel its flow towards entrepreneurial businesses.Amended Regulation 28, which limits the extent to which retirement funds can invest in specific asset categories, stipulates that of the 35% compulsory investment in Namibian assets, the exposure in dual listed shares is required to reduce to 10% over the next 4 years. Amended Regulation 29 requires Pension and Provident Funds to invest a minimum of 1,75% of total assets under management in unlisted investments by 2017. This could lead to a massive boost for entrepreneurship in Namibia, as the availability of capital for private enterprises will surge and the Namibian Stock Exchange could see a gradual increase in listing activity of local companies.Nothing ventured, nothing gained

Continue reading “Namibian government amends regulations to give entrepreneurs access to venture capital”

Gamma astronomy in Namibia

Namibia would normally not be mentioned in the same breath as astronomy. Few are aware that one of the world most powerful telescope networks exists in Namibia. The H.E.S.S. is a system of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes that investigates cosmic gamma rays in the energy range from 10s of GeV to 10s of TeV. The name H.E.S.S. stands for High Energy Stereoscopic System, and is also intended to pay homage to Victor Hess , who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1936 for his discovery of cosmic radiation. The instrument allows scientists to explore gamma-ray sources with intensities at a level of a few thousandths of the flux of the Crab nebula (the brightest steady source of gamma rays in the sky). H.E.S.S. is located in Namibia, near the Gamsberg mountain, an area well known for its excellent optical quality. Continue reading “Gamma astronomy in Namibia”

African inventor makes a functioning 3D printer from scrap!

Kodjo Afate Gnikou has imagination, talent and ambition. Using rails and belts from old scanners, the case of a discarded desktop computer and even bits of a diskette drive, he has created what is believed to be the first 3D printer made from e-waste. It has taken him several months to put together his experimental device. Lifting designs off a computer, the 3D printer produces physical objects. He shows us by “printing” a small round container.

And it doesn’t stop there – the 33-year old says he believes this model is only the prototype for something much larger. His aim is to one day transport e-waste to Mars to create homes for mankind. Continue reading “African inventor makes a functioning 3D printer from scrap!”

AfricaOnline Namibia rolls out satellite internet

Powered by the SES geostationery satellite network that reaches 99% of the globe, AfricaOnline’s NawaSat is aiming to become the most affordable satellite internet solution available in Namibia.

Continue reading “AfricaOnline Namibia rolls out satellite internet”

Scientists create self assembling robot

In 2011, when an MIT senior named John Romanishin proposed a new design for modular robots to his robotics professor, Daniela Rus, she said, “That can’t be done.”

Two years later, Rus showed her colleague Hod Lipson, a robotics researcher at Cornell University, a video of prototype robots, based on Romanishin’s design, in action. “That can’t be done,” Lipson said. Continue reading “Scientists create self assembling robot”

A Focus on PAY Namibia – Education and Sport

Background

The Physically Active Youth (P.A.Y.) programme is an innovative, creative and a highly committed community−based project in Katutura, the northern township of Namibia’s capital Windhoek. The programme is unique in so far as it emphatically maintains the young person as its raison d’être: We engage the youth on their terms and in their context, in a country where 68% of the total population is youth. The programme was founded in 2003 through the initiative of Dr Donovan Dominic Zealan and Marie Jeanne Ndimbira who saw sports as an integral part of the general education process that not only supports knowledge acquisition but enables the youth to maintain a healthy lifestyle and to function effectively in a society. Continue reading “A Focus on PAY Namibia – Education and Sport”