Minus nul vir Omaha, sê Wikipedia
Die klimaatstatistieke op Wikipedia bly vir my lekker vermaak. Ek het só byvoorbeeld geleer dat Bogotá (die Afrikaanse inskrywing is tans net 'n dop) baie lekkerder moet wees as wat 'n mens eintlik sou dink. Soos dit nou maar gaan, beland ek nou-die-aand op die inskrywing vir Omaha, vermoedelik via The Onion, waar 'n gruwelike omskakelingsfout op die oog val.
In die bronkode word die temperature in grade Fahrenheit gegee, en Wikipedia gebruik duidelik twee of drie lyne kode om dit na Celsius om te skakel. Dié algoritme toets blykbaar eers of die oorsponklike temperatuur in Celsius negatief gaan wees al dan nie, bepaal die teken van die antwoord, en skakel dan die heelgetalgedeelte om. Aangesien negatiewe temperature in Fahrenheit min voorkom, gaan dié probleem vir omskakeling van Celsius na Fahrenheit nie veel voorkom nie. Die korrekte benadering is natuurlik om die Fahrenheit-temperatuur eers na 'n afgeronde Celsius-waarde om te skakel en dan die teken van die heelgetalgedeelte te skei. Wiskundig gestel, die funksie sgn(x) wat die waarde -1; 0 of 1 aanneem, kommuteer nie met die funksie round(x) wat x afrond tot die naaste heelgetal, nie.
Aucklandse prokureur Tim McBride merk met reg op dat die Nieu-Seelandse polisie se nuut verworwe magte om, met 'n hofbevel, in te luister op alle elektroniese kommunikasie, vergelyk kan word met die installasie van afluisterapparatuur in iedere huis, kantoor, kroeg, koffiewinkel en op elke straathoek. 'n Artikel in die Sunday Star Times beweer dat wetgewing in dié verband op die aandrang van die Amerikaanse FBI implementeer word, hoewel die VSA-grondwet 'n dergelike ingryping in die VSA onmoontlik maak, soos ek dit verstaan.
Die installasie van 'n enorme afluister-infrastruktuur hou, volgens die Kiwi-polisie, geen gevaar in vir dié wat onskuldig is nie. Let op die slenter in dié stelling, wat algemeen gebruik word om owerheidsvergrype te regverdig. Daar word 'n skuldig/onskuldig-tweespalt gespek vóór 'n verhoor plaasgevind het. Hoe weet ons dan wie „onskuldig” is? Wel, dit is natuurlike diegene wat nie deur die polisie afgeluister word nie. Droom hulle van swart laarse?
NZ's cyber spies win new powers (NICKY HAGER - Sunday Star Times) http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3203448/NZs-cyber-spies-win-new-powers
RICA routed by adroit relative
In Afrikaans as RICA uitoorlê deur kranige familielid op Sake24 beskikbaar.
South Africa's rather draconian Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act (RICA) has been proving a thorn in the flesh of legal foreign visitors to our fair shores, who obviously have some difficulty in providing the requisite proof of address in the country (utility bill etc. in the purchaser's name) when activating a local SIM card for use during their visit. To my delight, one of my relatives who is visiting from the desert republic of Namibia managed to have a SIM card for a network that shall not be named fully activated at a retail establishment which shall remain anonymous for now in the week before Christmas. He simply presented his Namibian passport and recited a local address!
Having undergone several RICA registrations myself, I am note entirely surprised since I have not seen any of the assistants doing the registration do any serious checking of the proof of address (and mine consisted only of a routine statement from my residential complex) and I have not seen them keep a copy of the proof presented. There is therefore, in practice, no paper trail at all. It does not seem infeasible to use a colour printer to produce a duplicate Telkom or municipal bill using a fictional address and use this in conjunction with, say, a Somali passport to purchase and activate as many SIM cards as one likes but even that appears not to be necessary.
Mr Zolisa Masiza, regulatory head at MTN, pointed out on Shine2010.co.za in October that foreign visitors for the major 2010 sports event
“will be required to provide their full names, surname, original passport document and residential address in their home country to a RICA officer or agent”
“will have to notify MTN if the card is handed over to someone else, and registration will then happen all over again.”
Furthermore, according to Masiza, who should know, having been a Councillor at the regulator ICASA and in the regulatory division of Telkom as well over the past three years, the
“obligation is on the foreign visitor to destroy their SIM card once they have left the country.”
No doubt, he is technically correct, but I don't see the soccer fans complying in droves. Besides, how many municipal bills in Ukrainian will MTN be able to process?
Update (2010-01-03): Just search a bittorrent site or other disreputable source for “ID template” and you'll find everything you need to “roll your own” RICA documentation.