Namibia – Page 4 – Benjamin Neuhoff's Page

Open source user acceptance field trial: Edubuntu at the Outapi and Okahao library

by BenUncategorized October 5, 2011No Comments

Open source solutions at schools and within the administration are a mine field since the Namibian Government shut down SchoolNet a few years ago. Their legacy can still be found at many schools where surprisingly some of the OpenLab installations (Linux Terminal Server running on common Desktop PCs + old machines with 64 or 128MB …

lunch break stories: Namibian summer vs. Ben – 0:1

by BenUncategorized October 3, 2011October 7, 2011One Comment

Usually 35°C up in the North in the afternoon. Becoming a couch potato would be so easy. Since I’ve been in the North I am trying to avoid that and found several activities to stay in shape. One and a half hour exercise at the Yap gym in Ongwediva on Friday. 30min swimming at Bennies …

Windhoek here we have been again: ICT summit 2011

by BenUncategorized September 21, 2011September 21, 2011No Comments

My second time at the biggest event for the country’s ICT industry. Thanks to the informal communication channel among the Directorates and Regional Councils which is developing quite well not just technical personal from the 4-O-Region attended the summit this year: Kavango, Hardap and Karas came also aboard. This is the good news. The bad …

Ongwediva Trade Fair 2011

by BenUncategorized September 5, 2011September 5, 2011No Comments

Last year I missed it: the Ongwediva Trade Fair, the biggest event in the North during the whole year. When you virtually crawl on the road between Oshakati and Ongwediva and the traffic accident rate rises as visitors blow in from the capital and the South you know it’s on. Besides the informations booths of …

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The gifts you have to order

by BenUncategorized September 3, 2011No Comments

Our 22 HP computer school labs. I had them mentioned in ‘Nicht für diese Welt’ in Outapi Times issue #2. Maintenance is done by Netts in Windhoek – in theory. Last month Victor finished to put our own Win2K3 image on all of the servers in the Omusati Region. The Labs are equipped with a …

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lunch break stories: Caltex – here they come…

by BenUncategorized September 1, 2011No Comments

For months little progress at the construction site of the third gas station in Outapi which will be operated by Caltex (unfortunately no Engen = no Wimpy = no decent coffee). During the last weeks things have changed: construction goes on even after 5.p.m which says a lot. I was told by the lead worker …

patience pays off: Linked(in) Outapi

by BenUncategorized August 31, 2011August 31, 2011No Comments

Despite the availability of Internet access which has become quite ubiquitous in the country email as an communication channel for official (government) business is virtually not seen yet. A society simply needs time (and not just two or three years as some members of the Namibian Parliament wish for) to get used to the media. …

(E-)business the Namibian way

by BenUncategorized August 24, 2011August 25, 2011No Comments

Last weekend a tooth which had been treated in January in Munich started to hurt. It became immediately clear that the only real choice would be Windhoek as the best treatment you can get in the 4-O-Region is a Cuban Doctor. Not a good idea having the former Soviet Union dental care standard in mind. …

the kind of gifts you want

by BenUncategorized August 17, 2011No Comments

For the last months making copies at the regional office had become playing the lottery: the machine indicated everything (paper jam, paper tray not detected, system error XY) but ‘yes-I-am-ready-to-make-you-a-copy’. Two weeks ago the ICT department’s new toy a Kyoceramita TASKalfa 300i arrived. Not just a copy machine – a multi function printer (MFP). I …

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lunch break stories: running out of gas

by BenUncategorized August 16, 2011August 16, 2011No Comments

You’ll get used to that the filling stations in Outapi are sometimes out of gas for up to 24 hours especially around payday. Friday I ran out of gas for my kitchen stove. Not a big deal. Usually you can exchange the empty bottle with a new one at my favorite Indian supermarket or a …