Brushed by a hurricane

Thursday and Friday (16th and 17th) gave us in Guyana a light touch of hurricane weather with episodes of heavy rain and unusually strong thunderstorms. The weekend saw only some more heavy showers. We are glad Hurricane Dean came no closer.

Stabroek News article on domain names

A very useful article in the Sunday business section by Patrick van Beek has drawn attention to the value of using .gy domain names for business purposes.
He says:

I think that empowering Guyanese individuals and firms with the ability to use .gy domain names should have widespread benefits. Firstly it creates a visible indicator to the rest of the world of Guyana's existence. Every email sent with a .gy extension puts Guyana on the map. It also sends the signal that Guyana is embracing information communications technology and that we are partaking in the knowledge economy.

Some further clarification is also useful:
1. Non-commercial domains are currently available at G$2400 per year from DevNet (previously SDNP, who also do hosting)
2. The Registry (at the University) currently charges G$5000 per year according to their web site.
3. Make sure YOU own the domain NOT the person who does your web site. You need to be the 'Administrative contact'. Otherwise you may lose control of your web site. This has happened...

Note: I am currently working at DevNet... :) but the facts are accurate.

Links
The Stabroek News article
GY Domain Name Registry
DevNet

LANIC visits Guyana

LACNIC (the Internet Address Registry for Latin American and Caribbean) paid a visit to Guyana recently (early August and, yes, this post is late...) in the person of Mr German Valdez who is the Policy and External Relations Manager. It was his first visit here and he was basically getting to know the local internet stakeholders.
DevNet organised a meeting at short notice for interested persons on Friday 3rd August. Attendance was low but some useful and rather technical discussion took place (IXPx, IPv6 etc).

Credit for our trees

The carbon credit schemes are designed to give a financial incentive to encourage forests, funded by those producing carbon dioxide emissions. Strangely and illogically the incentives currently are only for reducing deforestation or for reforestation. No incentives for keeping forests standing...
This is a burning issues for many in Guyana - no pun intended(?). May be we should cut down our forests so we can get credit for replanting... but that would be a foolish, unethical and short-sighted path.
A recent study high-lights this issue and calls for action. Guyana along with 10 others countries are singled out as HFLD countries - High Forest cover, Low Deforestation rate.
Some quotes:

Since current proposals would award carbon credits to countries based on their reductions of emissions from a recent historical reference rate, HFLD countries could be left with little potential for RED credits. Nor would they have the potential for reforestation credits...

Preventive credits are an important part of a realistic approach to quickly minimize carbon releases from loss of some of the world's most biologically important forests. Globally indexed reference emission rates for HFLD countries should be part of any international framework for reducing global carbon emissions from deforestation.

Links
Stabroek News - report
EurekAlert - report
PLoS Biology - the original article

The real problem - unsustainable lifestyles

This item from the BBC again really gets to the point:

Focusing on the need to reduce CO2 emissions has reduced the problem to one of carbon dioxide rather than on the unsustainable ways we live.
Is it not time to recognise that climate change is yet another symptom of our unsustainable lifestyles, which must now become the focus our efforts?

This issues was raised on this blog before see here. The concept we need here is moderation... how long will it be before we accept it?