Denial of service
Today is a public holiday, Waisak, which celebrates Buddha's Day of Enlightenment. Not being Buddhist, I seek other forms of enlightenment but my ISP, Indosat, is denying me access to my spam. It's also denying me the ability to send e-mails. Presumably they're doing some kind of 'servicing', but I can't find out because no-one is answering the customer service phone. Ah yes, it's a public holiday.
Accessing the Internet here in Indonesia is frustrating. For all the nearly 1 million Internet users here, service is appalling. There is only one cable broadband provider, Kabelvision - which I won't honour with a link, and the speed of up and downloading is no better than with a phone modem as it generally depends on how many subscribers are online at any one time.
I occasionally wonder how come cyber criminals here manage to stay online long enough to get credit card details to use fraudulently. At least our local criminals are not reported to have tried to extort money using
'distributed denial of service' attacks instead of threats of violence.
For all my surfing, I use Telkom who are generally reliable except for their
financial irregularities. They've brought in a
Soeharto connection to sort out their woes.
These are the log-on details for all those with Indonesian ISP problems wishing to have a spare connection:
User Name: telkomnet@instan
Password: telkom
Telephone: 080989999
It was good to see Sidney Jones on TV last night being given support. It's quite possible that this has been a major blunder on the part of the government and the forces behind it which dictate decisions. Word on the street is that she will be allowed to stay, though I've yet to see this confirmed. So I've given the International Crisis Group a permanent link to the right. With the
pre-election crackdown on NGOs, it would appear that the forces of
reformasi are seen as a real threat.
The current
British travel advisory is just one example of that perception. Given that the
EU doesn't see the need for dire warnings, one must wonder about hidden agendas. Alternatively, one could think that paranoia is felt by those who deserve it, such as
Mugabe in Zimbabwe.
Back in the real world, I've received an invitation to a reception for Queen Liz's official birthday next week. Pity I'll be working.
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