How UWI can save money in a recession

I would like to use the kind services of this medium to, as it were, cast a Light on the University of the West Indies and the administration and its Students, who appear, despite their Degree, to still be un-Enlightened!

Students who, despite being aware that we are now in the midst of a recovery from the effects of the recession in the United States of America, still is plodding unwarily on as if none such event had occurred and all was as before as evidenced form their reaction and comments as stated in the article “'Not Credible'”, published Sunday March 28, 2010 by Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter, Gleaner Writer, The Sunday Gleaner

For albeit new and returning Students are now facing an increase in their tuition to alleviate the shortfall in the UWI’s Budget resulting in the Government of Jamaica having this grand educational institution support more of the cost of privilege of tertiary education, UWI is still visibly spending on edifices and unnecessary services and still not capitalizing on areas of revenue that are yet to be fully exploited.

This is by investing in technology that will future proof the University of the West Indies by making its operations more efficient and cost effective via a Social Partnership with the Private and Public Sector, both Local Corporate and FDI (Foreign Direct Investors) to fund the overall cost of tuition at the University of the West Indies and other Universities.

One of these unexploited revenue opportunities for the University to increase its revenues from Students is car parking. Currently on Campus, Students who are privileged enough to have their parents loan them a motor vehicle or those who have their own, can park on Campus completely for free.

Curiously, lecturers’ parking spots, albeit reserved and erroneous usage by unwary Students punishable by clamping and a JA$5000 fine (possibly increased along with tuition?), are paid for by the lecturers, as evident from their salary deductions noticeable on their pay stubs as well as the ‘M’ sticker affixed to the windscreen of their various modes of transport, as varied as the Faculties on Campus.

In the tuition fee breakdown, which can be viewed on the University of the West Indies website, it does not indicate where Students are paying for their parking spaces, or should one assume that this “parking fee” is bundle somewhere under one of the payments in the “Miscellaneous Fees and Charges Section” or an unseen addend to the Tuition (highly possible, as UWI has never explained the mathematics, despite however simple it may be, of how they calculate each year’s Tuition increase)?

If it is, as the case may certainly be, that I am getting blind in my old age, then it would be good that the University indicate where this charge is to Students for parking, otherwise it would mean that I am yet again correct.

It would seem that Students are living the life, driving and getting free parking with motor vehicles that may not necessarily belong to them, and thus the University of the West Indies can charge them a fee (how does JA$3000 per month sound?) to have the right and the privilege akin to that of a lecturer – not to mention the sticker – that would allow them to park on Campus any at all.

Many of these Students already flaunt Campus Security by parking in Lecturer’s parking spaces, but get billed later around exam time, forcing them to pay or be unable to sit exams. A similar deterrent strategy can also be employed to force compliance i.e. Students registering the vehicle they use to travel to the Campus, collect a sticker, preferably in bright yellow marked “S” for Students and be made to pay a monthly fee of JA$3000 (or higher) per month to park on Campus – with the usual clamping fee for parking in reserved spaces.

Thus payment becomes my next carrion victim. I am glad that the University of the West Indies has made strides and has now made it mandatory to have all Students use the NCB KeyCard Cash facility Campus wide, as this makes all transactions by Students with UWI cashless.

What troubles me is there are still transactions that are still being done via cash, despite the best efforts of the University, as overdue books payments at the Pure and Applied Sciences and Main Library, payments for broken chemistry lab equipment, payments for rental of lockers, and purchases from the various vendors allowed to operate on the University Campus are still being done in cash.

Efforts need to be made to not only have these sources of revenue cashless, as it will get Students more used to the eventual transition in Jamaica as the Government moves to close the money loop by making all financial transactions and business transactions cashless – and therefore more easily taxable.

I wish to also impart the fact that a time is coming worldwide when learning a language will be a must in order to get a job. Thus, I am hereby recommending to the Administration of the University of the West Indies that every UWI Students will be made to learn at least one foreign language (preferably Spanish) which will count towards their degree in much the same way FD10A and FD13A passes are a current must for graduation.

Getting employment at companies as well as pre-selection by companies that are run by multinationals should be tied to the successful completion and demonstration of fluency in the language chosen. These measures, once implemented, should improve the overall quality of Students coming out of the UWI so that they are not only employable outside of Jamaica in non-English speaking markets but also can work as translators, a job skill in itself which can earn the graduate additional revenue and may even be spun off into an alternate career path.

The usage of computers and the internet also needs to be more streamlined, with Students access to downloading, video and audio streaming websites and social networking websites and instant messaging applications capable of VoIP (Voice over IP) being blocked, as these site are responsible for clogging the network with traffic and exposing the delicate University ecosystem to viruses, previous attacks having crippled the Universities Network, especially as more and more Students have personal laptops and netbooks.

Additionally, Students accessing the networks on Campus should be given a download/upload cap per month of 3Gb in addition to logon times of one (1) hour per session, which should decrease to half (1/2) and hour once the person has exceeded this download cap for the month, so as to prevent persons from being able to abuse their access to the Campus Internet.

More use needs to be made of Open Source applications e.g. Ubuntu Operating system, Open Office, OURVLE, etc. to replace those applications for which the University needs a license to put on multiple computers, thereby lowering the University’s IT costs in the long run.

Students should only have the ability to use the IM and chat applications on OURVLE and access to websites pre-screened by the Guild of Students deemed important to learning and not able to allow Students to engage in downloading, video and audio streaming, social networking and instant messaging applications capable of VoIP (Voice over IP).

Computers also need to be put on a regular maintenance schedule, with computers campus wide being regularly defragged, virus scanned, software and files being backed up and files taking up space on hard drives being removed by teams of Students employed by the University on weekends.

If Students wish to download what the University of the West Indies does not allow, they need to purchase a 3G modem from Telecoms Providers LIME or CLARO or a Digicel WiMaX 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.16d) modem (when it becomes available), or better yet, a Netbook or Laptop from the aforementioned Telecoms Providers with the modem already embedded in the Laptop – and see how it feels to have to pay for your internet access, as most wireless internet access is capped.

Campus security, long being the bane of endless Students Union Elections, needs to be once and for all improved by the usage of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags being incorporated into the Student ID currently being used on Campus as well as the placement of IR (Infra Red) cameras all over the University and the improvement of lighting on every square inch of the Campus.

RFID would allow Campus security to track Students as they move across the Campus via RFID readers strategically placed at entry points to buildings all over campus, interconnected via the Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11f). RFID does not require the Students to visibly wear their Student ID and would help security to verify the location of Students in case of problems on campus.

Cameras would assist the Campus Security by altering the behavior of Students, who, more likely than not, often avoid being caught on camera and thus would refrain from activities deemed against Campus rules.

Lighting would also have the same effect, as lighting on the University of the West Indies is poor, allowing robberies and rapes to easily take place in regions of the Campus that have no lighting.

Improvements in only these three (3) aspects would allow for the physical security on campus to be reduced, making it possible to reduce the cost of security as electronic security systems are cheaper than armed guards and patrols.

The environment, especially actions that are seen as Green and good for its overall health, is now the big thing, and the University also needs to engage in an expanded Campus wide recycling program, recycling wastewater, Styrofoam, PET bottles, glass, paper, metal, etc. in a bid to earn revenue which can be given back to the Students to support not only activities on the various Halls of Residence.

This would drastically reducing the money Students have to fork out to pay for Hall shirts and other Hall related paraphernalia but also the off Campus Students as well with bursaries for Students who are having difficulty financing their way through University, as it was originally their waste that the UWI recycled for cash, with no special requirements, as everyone generates garbage on Campus that is recyclable.

All that needs to be done is to demonstrate genuine need and apply for the “mad money” that the University earned from the sale of the recyclable material, as most Students, are literally throwing away millions of dollars in recyclable garbage every month.

Books, especially those sold in the edifice known as the Campus Bookshop, which Students only visit to purchase pens, pencils, paper, notebooks and Digicel credit (all of which are cheaper off campus) should have long ago become obsolete on Campus, with books being instead being replaced by allowing Students to rent or buy Amazon Kindle, Sony eReader or the new Apple iPad eReader devices.

The University simply needs to approach Amazon CEO Bezos, Sony Ericsson or Apple and a Telecoms Provider to have the servers set up to allow for the eReader service of Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Apple to be accessible in Jamaica.

This would allow Students to purchase books via a facility set up by the University on the eReader company’s website, once it can be ascertained by the University of the West Indies that these software versions of the books are available on eReader company’s website for purchase.

As the books go straight to the device, copyright of the authors of the work are protected, as Students cannot remove the books as they are stored on the device. Best of all, it makes carrying books convenient.

To wit, transactions within the Administration should have already gone paperless via the implementation of appropriate software e.g. PeopleSoft, currently being used at LIME or SAP, currently being used by CLARO and begin the process of scanning documents into a database and backing them up on an offline Datacenter e.g. Digicel’s new Datacenter as is currently being done by the NCU (Northern Caribbean University)

With assistance from the Physics Department, the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica and the various generator contractors available island wide, the University of the West Indies can have their backup generator facility on Campus upgraded, so as to have all their generators operational whenever power goes away and switch the entire Campus to the usage of solar power and wind power for air conditioning, lighting and general power usage.

The installations would be mounted on the rooftops of the Campus buildings and the entire University would only revert to JPS Co electricity usage at night, thereby cutting the bill in half. Also, phone calls can also be routed over the Campus Intranet via VoIP for both on Campus and off Campus calling, with the installation of a soft switch PBX (Public Branch Exchange) Server by Avaya, similar to the system at ScotiaBank (Bank of Nova Scotia) significantly reducing the cost of Telecoms services used on Campus, as the University’s phone bill must be enormous.

Though the cost of these systems may seem huge, the correct partnerships with the private sector and FDI (Foreign Direct Investors) interested in investing in the University of the West Indies Infrastructure in exchange for research being done on their behalf for products and services that can be made profitable, will yield the funding and the public interest that would make this major initiative to save energy a success.

Digging wells on the campus, an idea proposed long ago to the University of the West Indies, must be revived, especially in the light of the recent water shortages on campus.

More of the degree programs being pursued on campus can be jointly hosted, such as the new Engineering Degree program on campus, which can be jointly hosted with that at the University of Technology, specifically in the area of Electronics and Telecoms Engineering. This is as RJR and CVM Communications Group are slated to go HDTV as per my blog article entitled “LIME TV and Broadcasting - Hunt for Red October”.

As such, their transmission network can be loaned, along with unused microwave antennae, radio equipment that are still functional but no longer used by the Telecoms Providers to allow UWI and UTECH Engineering Students to jointly build out their own network to do in the field testing to make them more well rounded Electronics and Telecoms Engineers.

Students must realize that these are very unique times and must seek to, via their various on campus student Unions, make linkages with the Private and Public Sector, both Local Corporate and FDI (Foreign Direct Investors) in order to secure funding both for University and as an after effect, the quality of their education, as this is how it is done in other foreign countries.

Tax dollars should not be wasted on giving the privileged few who are part of the 25% who achieve University matriculation status to benefit from taxpayer’s money, when most of these taxpayers themselves cannot afford to even go to University, much less have a roof over their heads when their own.

Taxpayer’ money should be funding and reforming the Secondary and Primary education system, as Tertiary Students are adults and as such more than capable of making their way through the world, either by seeking out foreign scholarships or taking advantage of entrepreneurial opportunities that abound.

Especially with the recent trending down of interest rate spreads and the upbeat mood among the business community who show a willingness to invest, so long as young tertiary level students have bright ideas to give their companies and organizations to maximize their profits and see them into a growth period during the Recession.

These measures can all be implemented under a Social Partnership between the University of the West Indies and the Private and Public Sector, both Local Corporate and FDI (Foreign Direct Investors) and result in not only a safer Campus, but one which will be able to operate at a higher level of efficiency and at lower costs.

This is with assistance from various partnerships with the Private and Public Sector, both Local Corporate and FDI (Foreign Direct Investors), as the Government of Jamaica should in no way have sympathy for University Student, most of who waste their time at the University.

The Government of Jamaica can also play its part by forcing the Private and Public Sector, both Local Corporate and FDI (Foreign Direct Investors) to invest in Tertiary Education via the provision of not only employment at the companies as part of their Undergraduate Degree Program.

It would also provide an avenue for funding research programs for Postgraduate Masters and PhD students, especially in the Pure and Applied Sciences, which has the highest concentration of PhD candidates and graduates as stated in the article “Record number of UWI PhD graduates in 2009 - Figures attributed to more stringent measures at the University”, published Friday January 29 2010 by Philip Hamilton, Gleaner Writer, The Jamaica Gleaner

This would be in exchange for tax breaks and tax holidays, as is the case in more developed Western Economies and Far East Economies such as the United States of America, Britain and Japan.

In addition, the links forged via the partnerships required to fund most of these ideas would enable UWI to finally step into the 21^st century, but this time including the Students, and not just the lecturers and their research, as showpieces for the Universities overall success.

Pass the Charter of Rights and Freedoms or Jamaican Music will be banned

It seems that “there has been a shift, a quantum shift” as stated by Broadcasting Commissions Executive Director Cordel Green in the article “‘Music and Lyrics’ assesses impact of ‘daggering’ ban”, published Sunday 21^st February 2010, Mel Cooke, The Jamaica Gleaner, apparent in the somber moods and the affirmative tones of support also of the guests on panel discussion appearing on the Broadcasters respective Television stations chaired by Ian Boyne.

The sanguine comments of Ce’cile, Dancehall artists are also rather telling, as Ce’cile further stated that “we [Dancehall Artiste] were seeing how much we could get away with” an indication of the unprofessional that existed among Dancehall Artiste up until last year in 2009.

Which made the comments of Broadcast Commission Chairman Dr. Hopeton Dunn who said that it “seems [the ban] to have been vindicated” and thus “we [Broadcast Commission] hold the view that in Jamaica we need to be right on regulation” seemed spot on and what everyone wanted to hear, including the learned John Public.

But despite the issues raised, such as the persistent problem of payola thus far partially solved by the introduction of playlists, there is a looming crisis in among the Dancehall fraternity which is also affecting the Reggae Music as well and that is the increasingly tough stance that countries are taking against the unprofessional in the music.

As stated in the article “Locked out - Jamaican acts finding it more and more difficult to get into some countries” , published Sunday, December 27, 2009, Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer, The Jamaica Gleaner a lot of these Dancehall Artiste are finding their livelihoods under threat due to their conduct in other foreign countries in which they perform, often:

1. Displaying tardiness in appearing at concerts
2. Working without proper work permits
3. Not paying the requisite fees on their salaries and using suspect monetary conversions to get money back to Jamaica without paying taxes and even worse
4. Performing Dancehall songs with sexually explicit and violent content

Thus disrupting otherwise harmonious societies, most of which have laws against hate music or music that incites violent behavior in its people.

Most of the Governments of these European Countries and even in the United States of America are now beginning to block or deny the entry work permits of Dancehall Artiste, opting to encourage their promoters via economics to favor cheaper local Dancehall and Reggae Artiste who already reside in the respective countries e.g. Gentleman, who is preferred Reggae Artiste of choice in Germany, in some cases resorting to what appears to be an attack on their lifestyles.

This was brought into sharp focus when Mark Myrie, otherwise knows by his nom de guerre as Buju Banton, was held by Federal Agents on charges of dealing in and attempting to smuggle cocaine as stated in the article “No an easy road - Buju Banton held for cocaine possession in the United States”, published Sunday, December 13, 2009, by Livern Barrett, The Jamaica Gleaner.

Dancehall Artiste are now under closer scrutiny from these countries (European countries and even in the United States of America) as the now traditional source of revenue upon many of them are dependent for survival is now under scrutiny.

Especially as the effects of the Recession in the United States of America is projected to worsen, due to overconfidence in the usage of debt to steer the American Economy out of  the economic slump via investment in the Services Sector and not enough production as echoed by Dennis Chung in the article “RISK OF A DOUBLE-DIP RECESSION?” published Friday, September 18, 2009, contributed by Dennis Chung, Business Observer.

The writing was long on the wall as such music luminaries and veteran music personalities such as Clyde McKenzie and Michael Barnett have all given their ten cents worth of criticism and continuous warning to those members of the music fraternity to clean up their act, so ebulliently expressed in the article “Clean up your act! Music personalities urge Corporate Jamaica, Media to help clean up Dancehall content”, published Sunday, December 27, 2009, by Roxroy McLean, Sunday Gleaner, The Jamaica Gleaner.

This despite support of the wayward Dancehall Artiste of the now agreed by consensus, vulgar Dancehall songs with sexually explicit and violent content, from misguided University of the West Indies Academia in the form of lecturers such as Dr. Donna Hope-Marquis.

This Lecturer continues to preach the idea from the pulpit of the lecture theatre that the sexually explicit and violent lyrics of Dancehall music do not have the “propensity to damage the psyche of our children", as she was quoted as saying in the article “On the Dancehall bandwagon - Local academics being blamed for falling standards”, published Sunday, December 27, 2009, Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter and her so-called “research” which she claims as proving that there is “no statistical correlation between youth consumption of Dancehall music and violence”.

Despite her research work having too small a sample size of only three hundred (300) persons to represent her target population, not covering every school in Jamaica, being myopic in her focusing on young people in the 15-24 year-olds in Kingston, St Andrew, St Catherine and Clarendon between June and August this year, a very short period of time for a study and not taking precautionary safeguards to ensure that the participants were in fact telling the truth and not merely viewing the questionnaires as a form of social control being imposed on them by adults.

The majority of well thinking Jamaicans outside of the privileged halls of the University of the West Indies most likely has ignored her research, citing the obvious “Gaza-Gully” conflict which contradicts her findings. In fact, it would seem to be more a form of “self-promotion” as stated by Mikey Barnett, veteran producer, also at the same Gleaner Editors' Forum, by foreign trained academia or “new PhD’s”, who on arriving in Jamaica, in a hurry to get known quickly, “support a cause that the grass-roots people in Jamaica, which are the majority, are associated with, and that was Dancehall music" to quote Mikey Bennett.

But the more recent news now comes straight from Senator Olivia Grange, Minister of Culture Youth and Sports, who read in everyone’s hearing at no more fitting a place than the 2010 International Reggae Conference at the University of the West Indies, Mona, her own report composed from the finding of a music producer fresh from MIDEM, the French equivalent of the Berlinalia Film Festival in Germany which is basically a repeat (as obviously as this article is cribbed from my previous writings!) of what our local music veterans have been saying for the past: unprofessional behavior of Dancehall Artiste is now beginning to not only affect Dancehall Artiste but also Reggae Artiste as well.

The report indicates that they [Dancehall Artiste] are being forced to operate more like business people when working in France and the rest of Europe, even to the point of being required to be members of a professional business organization, such as PSOJ (Private Sector Organization of Jamaica).

This is for the purposes of easier taxation of errant tax dodgers who perform and leave without paying fees and taxes to the Government of France as hinted in the article “Grange passes on bad MIDEM report – Little interest in Jamaican Music”, published Sunday 21^st February 2010, Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer, The Jamaica Gleaner.

France (and can I now finally say the rest of Europe?) and the French, who are known for their xenophobia and being rude, do no like listening to music that is too colloquial and incites violence against members of its society, most of whom are people who hold great sway in the Governments of these European countries due to their Societies being more “enlightened” as it relates to the rights and freedoms of its citizenry of any race, class, colour, creed, gender or sexual orientation.

Laws not yet enacted in the Jamaican Jurisprudence, as our Charter of Right and Freedoms is still being debated and have not yet been passed into law due to the supposedly “Christian” Church representatives, concerned about a law that they claim will “legalize homosexuality through the backdoor” as opposed to the Rights and Freedoms of all Citizens and being our “Brothers Keeper”.

This “raw meat” as Senator Olivia Grange Minister of Culture Youth and Sports refers to Dancehall music is not of the quality that Europeans or North Americans desire as no fire that the Pro-Vice Chancellor and Principal of UWI, Professor Gordon Shirley can bring will change that.

Even now, most Artiste are discovering that they are being banned even from other countries as the increasingly vocal Gay Right Lobby favour the local Reggae and Dancehall Artiste already resident in that country in a bid to try to keep out these rabble-roistering hate spewing people from Jamaica.

A country that does not respect the rights of homosexuals by virtue of its failure to enact the Charter of Right and Freedoms in its current form, a primal indication of the lack of respect that Jamaica shows by having signed Charters with the United Nations with the intent to enact such legislation but failing to follow through.

Perhaps its is time that the Music Industry begins to take a hard look at itself, as well as the Government of Jamaica at the reasons why the level of crime in Jamaica are so high, as in the eyes of foreigners, a country with such a high death rate yet no ongoing wars or conflict and such violent music with a muted middle class and no Charter of Right and Freedoms being bogged down in Parliament due to the narrow-mindedness of a few “Christians” is telling.

Perhaps the Dancehall Artistes and the Dancehall Music Fraternity in general must be glad for the Directives being enacted by the Broadcast Commission, as it has at least a positive action on the part of the Government of Jamaica to curb the performing of Dancehall songs with sexually explicit and violent content (perhaps the French notice this turn of events in our society as signs of coming change?) and in the process cut payola by playlist scrutiny by Radio Broadcast Managers.

An increased revenue windfall for Dancehall Artiste, when their foreign revenue streams are drying up and piracy is still rampant, albeit stiffer fines and strong action by the police, who suspect a link to the criminal underworld as strongly suggested in the article “BE WARNED! If you buy a pirated DVD, CD you can be arrested”, published Wednesday, August 26, 2009 by KARYL WALKER, Crime/Court co-ordinator walkerk@jamaicaobserver.com is beginning to have an effect.

Thus we are on the path of the straight and narrow, as not only will the local Music Industry be made more creative and thus saved.

But, if the recommendation of this report by Senator Olivia Grange, Minister of Culture Youth and Sports are adhered to, the end result will be:

1. Compliance to Taxation Laws in other countries as well as in Jamaica and hence more Tax Revenues for the Government of Jamaica
2. A more professionally run Music Industry that is on par with international standards as it relates to decency and promoting harmony (not to mention lyrics that are in creative English, which everyone understands!)
3. A clampdown and eventual focus on a solution to Digital Audio and Video Piracy in Jamaica via the introduction of a new secure music distribution platform (do I hear Digicel Wimax 4G Mobile IEEE 802.16d and Digicel’s DataCenter?)

But most importantly of all the implementation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in its current form, which will send a strong signal to the International Community that Jamaicans on a whole have respect for the Rights and Freedoms of its own people.

Irregardless of the Jamaican Citizens’ race, class, colour, creed, gender or sexual orientation – and is on the path towards acceptance in the Global Creative Space. 

70% of Kingston destroyed if earthquake hits due to Building Code delay

It now appears that according to JIE (Jamaica Institute of Engineers), if a magnitude 8.8 earthquake were to strike the Corporate Area, 70% of the buildings would be destroyed or demolished as stated in the article “Earthquake Fright” published Tuesday, March 2^nd 2010 by Patrick Forrester, The Jamaica Observer.

 

President Michele Bachelet of Chile called the catastrophic 8.8 magnitude earthquake and the subsequent tsunami to hit the Chilean coast “an emergency without parallel in Chile’s history” as stated in the article “Chile troops, police attack post-quake looters”, published Tuesday, March 2^nd 2010, The Jamaica Observer.

Looting in the streets is uncontrollable by the Chilean authorities and after a death toll of 723 with approximately 19 missing, numbers expected to rise, as one can almost taste the fear in the capital, Concepcion.

But that spine tingling feeling is beginning to be felt in the backs of many Jamaicans, particularly in Kingston.

This is not good.

Jamaica National Building Code is over 102 years old – Port Royal was the last major Earthquake

Before I launch into my usual tirade, especially as I was unaware of the fact that there was even a JIE (I am a contributor to the IEEE, for the record!), much less they had members, I am still confused why people still seem to focus on the capital city, as if that is where all of Jamaica lives.

Aside from this, my usual complaint, this bit of information has me worried – not to mention being thankful that do not live in Kingston. This disclosure, which was made at the Observer’s Weekly Monday Exchange meeting, was further made worse by yet another shocking and horrifying disclosure by Noel Dacosta.

Noel Dacosta, who is Chairman and member of the JIE Building Code Committee states that the current JS 217: Jamaica National Building Code is over 102 years old, only last being amended since 1908, which was after the earthquake in 1907 when Kingston was destroyed.

Amazingly, after that an attempt was made in 1983, or three (3) years before Hurricane Gilbert, to have the Building Code amended, but again was not completed, only ending up as a Policy Document.

But it gets interesting.

JIE updates the Building Code – Government yet to implement their recommendations

The JIE, to the tune of JA$260 million, undertook their own attempt at revising the Building Code in 2003 and ironically have actually completed it this year and placed it at the doorstep of Parliament, awaiting approval, just in time for the earthquake in Haiti, hence their offering of help to that Haitians.

Thus, ironically, if Haiti were to get this Building Code, their buildings would be at a more earthquake resistant and modern standard than ours in Jamaica! Granted the legal paperwork on the Building Code has not yet been completed, with the recent earthquakes since the start of the year.

One would have assumed that the Government of Jamaica would have moved with increased haste to have this new Building Code implemented. According to Noel Dacosta, the New National Building Code of Jamaica was a “gift” to the Government of Jamaica, as they had not been asked to do it.

The JIE was not only being forward thinking, but somewhat embracing a philosophy almost akin to Open Source in Information Technology. It does not help much either as he further comments that “it hasn’t even gone to Cabinet for a submission to be made”.

Ports and Airports would be destroyed in an Earthquake - Big One is coming soon

Aside from the Building Code, the learned John Public will make note of the fact that during this question and answer session, the JIE also pointed out that which was also obvious: the dismal state of our local infrastructure.

This is not much better than our Social and Economic situation as stated in the article “Earthquake Fright” published Tuesday, March 2^nd 2010 by Patrick Forrester, The Jamaica Observer.

Dr. Wayne Reid, an executive member of the JIE, pointed out that the current infrastructure that the Government of Jamaica is fixing is mostly ports and airports, which are mostly getting attention as they are gateways of international access and pressure is being placed on the Government of Jamaica to have these infrastructure fixed.

Thus John Public is left to wonder with all of this disorder and chaos in the Social, Economic and Infrastructure of Jamaica, what would we do if an earthquake were to strike, as it is already obvious that since the 1907 earthquake, we are 102 years overdue for the next Big One.

Debit Card Cloning and the Cashless Society

I read with much amusement the article “Thieves Clone Debit Cards”, published Thursday March 11, 2010, The Thursday Star  which reports a supposedly new phenomenon of Debit Card cloning.

This reminded me of a similar report earlier this year on Wednesday January 6^th 2010, when the Bank of Nova Scotia announced on radio that persons were soliciting the Card numbers and PIN (Personal Identification Numbers) of customers Debit and Credit Card accounts via a phishing scam i.e. fake website requesting personal information.

While this technique is nothing new, it is not the first time either, as Cable and Wireless (now LIME) used to put out advisories warning persons against giving out account information if they had received email of the type similar to what was described in the advisory.

I use the word “new” rather loosely, as over the years I have heard so many countless stories about Credit Card theft, cloning and skimming that it has become rather boring, especially as I have worked in the Telecoms Sector for such a long stretch and I am thus used to the fact that Cards with magnetic strips can be easily copied to any other Card with a magnetic strip.

The procedure is so simple for copying Credit Cards that is somewhat obvious: just copy the Card using a generic Card Reader, which you can purchase online, store the contents onto a computer and use the same Card Reader to copy back the contents onto a new Card with a magnetic strip, a process called cloning. This new Card does not have to be blank, a point to note, as it can be any Card, including the Digicel Card Top-Up facility and the software to do it come with the Card Reader. But what of Debit Card Theft?

Debit Card theft is not a new phenomenon either and has been around since the early 2000 in other countries, such as in Great Britain, where Debit Card theft is on the rise and usually associated with organized crime, which is most likely the case here. However despite the phenomenon now in Jamaica using pin hole cameras mounted in brackets inside of the ATM (Automated Teller Machines) and devices, called Card Skimmers, placed over the Card slot to read the information on the Debit Card in order to copy the Card, these are not in anyway new.

The defeat for this type of fraud is also very simple: don’t use ATM with anything protruding from the Card Reader slot and always shield your pin when entering it to transact business. What however is new is how easily the information can be recovered. One of the relatively new methods is the use of wireless cameras. In the past, the pin hole cameras used to made from old camera parts that were stripped down and powered by a 9 VDC battery and stored the information digitally for retrieval later by the Debit Card thieves, along with the Skimmer device that was placed on top of the Card Slot.

However this has proven risky as the chances of getting caught in a police sting operation have increased and now a new generation of more sophisticated Credit Card thieves have begun to use wireless means of retrieving the data. In this new method, the Credit Card thief has a camera that transmits on a NTSC standard television channel, which has a range of 100 feet. As such, the Credit Card thieves can sit comfortably some distance away, possibly in a car and using a laptop, record all the transmissions from the wireless camera. But it is the Skimmer that has really gotten sophisticated.

With a bit of electronic wizardry, the Skimmer is now designed to send a transmission to a receiver owned by the Debit Card thief! This is done by using a mini radio transmitter which is gutted and connected to the Skimmers electronic circuit board. The Skimmer, like the Card Reader, records the Debit Card information as a series of tones or frequencies, as the information stored on the Debit Card, believe it or not, is not encrypted. Thus, once the victim, who is called a mark, inserts their Debit Card and then pulls it out, the Skimmer then transmits these tones via a RF frequency to a receiver that records the tones.

Later the images from the wireless pinhole camera and the information transmitted by the wireless Skimmer are paired together and used to place the Skimmer’s information on the new Card with a magnetic strip, which is essentially is cloning. Thus, by making the Skimmer and the pinhole camera wireless, the Debit Card thief ensures anonymity, making it difficult to trace anything back to the Debit Card thief.

As time goes by, with the prevalence of data services on Telecoms Provider’s Networks, the Debit Card thieves may become even more sophisticated and begin using 2G data services such as GPRS (Global Packet Radio System) and EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) to transmit the skimmed Debit Card information and 3G or 4G data services to separately transmit the images from the mini camera. Already, I have seen mobile phone circuits reconnected just to do this, but this method too easily traces back to the Debit Card thief, so its prevalence may be short lived.

It seems Telecoms Providers may possibly be the Debit Card thief’s best friend in another way that most police may not have possibly foreseen but is so new that it has a new name: GSM snooping. This new method is now made possible thanks to the work of a German security expert Karsten Nohl indicated at a Hackers convention press conference in German that he had decrypted the A5/1 codebook, which uses a 64-bit encryption key, as stated in the article “Q&A: Researchers Karsten Nohl on Mobile eavesdropping”, published January 1, 2010 4:00 AM PST author Elinor Mills, InSecurity Complex – CNET.

For the layperson, this means that conversations on Telecoms Providers networks that still use the A5/1 codebook are not only interceptable but decodable. It is thus being hoped that local Telecoms companies have upgraded to the more secure A5/3 codebook, which Dr. Karsten Kohl, who holds a PhD in computer engineering from the University of Virginia, has yet to decrypt…….at least for now.

What Dr. Karsten Kohl research means is that for the first time, the almost 80 billion users in the world on the older GSM networks that have not yet gone 3G, which uses the stronger (and supposedly more secure A5/3 codebook), can have their conversations intercepted and reliably deciphered using off-the-shelf, easily available computer hardware. What is even worse, this information is now circulating on the Internet, as Dr. Karsten Kohl did this project with assistance from volunteers and developers from the Open Source community.

In practical terms, this means that not only is the knowledge of the process of how the codebook operates and is produced widely known, mobile conversations on older GSM networks still using A5/1 codebooks can now be easily decrypted. Decryption was possible years ago with the right gear, but this equipment was specialized and required security clearance and registration and was very expensive.

Thus with this breakthrough, thanks to the Open Source Community, GSM mobile conversations can no longer be considered private and confidential, as now embassies and politicians will soon realize that persons with laptops with the right gear can intercept their conversations as far as a kilometer away.

Thus the recent Bank of Nova Scotia advisory and now this recent article in the Thursday Star must now appear to be alarmist news, as most wireless POS (Point Of Sale) at Gas Stations and Convenience Stores island wide are on GSM networks, using the GPRS (Global Packet Radio System) and EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) to transmit data for each transaction involving Debit and Credit Cards accounts.

Thus, the layperson, armed with this information, is left to wonder where the real concern of the Bank of Nova Scotia should be focused: not the few hundred people, whose number admittedly are increasing, who do transactions online and often receive notifications via email and may mistake them as real when in fact they are part of a phishing scam, but the increasing thousands of people who are now using wireless POS (Point Of Sale) at Gas Stations and Convenience Stores island wide whose transactions are now interceptable and reliably decodable with equipment that is already easily available in Jamaica.

Eventually as Dr. Karsten Nohl and his Open Source team progress with their work, they will soon decrypt the formidable 128 bit A5/3 codebook, which is currently not in use on most GSM networks, inclusive of CLARO, Digicel and LIME and AT&T, which has so far resisting change to this new encryption schema due to it prohibitive costs as stated in the article “Cell phone codebook exposes security gaps”, published January 28, 2010 by Sami Lais, The Washington Technology, The Washington Post. Thus it seems a solution is required for both the usage of ATM Debit and Credit Cards as well as Wireless POS device usage.

So what is the solution? Already, it has been reported that RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) touted as the next secure means of transmitting you pin wirelessly between the Card and the ATM machine was showing promise, but even these systems have been compromised due to poor encryption schemas.

Perhaps by 2015, with improvements in the power systems and the electronics of these RFID tags, Debit Cards can be made safer by coercing people to do most of their financial transactions without cash, doing away with the idea of money having to be withdrawn from the banks forever, possibly even the Debit Card itself, making everyone instead to posses a Credit Card with a RDID tag.

Even cheaper would be an implantable RFID device in your wrist, eliminating the need to carry a Card altogether. In this future Cashless Society, which is very much possible as there have been calls by the BOJ (Bank of Jamaica) Governor for the immediate passing of a Credit Reporting Bill as stated in the article “Credit rating bureau needed quickly - Wynter”, published Friday January 22 2010, The  Daily Observer, by Alicia Roache, The Jamaica Observer to create a Credit Bureau which would result in the construction of a CBD (Credit Bureau Database).

This would be possibly using Digicel’s DataCenter as well as the recent passing of a Cyber Crime Bill, as stated in the article “Move to Tackle CyberCrime - Hacker got Golding”, published Sunday February 14, 2010 by Philip Hamilton, The Jamaica Gleaner. Increased Taxation and Financial Transaction Security by the introduction of a Cashless Society via these two Acts of law would allow the Government of Jamaica to literally modernize Jamaica overnight as we push towards 2030.

Daguerre: A permanent solution to Digital Music and Video Piracy in Jamaica

As this my first opinion piece, I have much to celebrate, as I usually write with lots of references to other previously printed articles. But after reading the article “BE WARNED! If you buy a pirated DVD, CD you can be arrested”, published Wednesday, August 26, 2009 by Karyl Walker, Crime/Court co-ordinator.

I am back on the straight and narrow of referenced articles, as this issue resonates very strongly with me, as Digital Music and Video Piracy has possible links to Narcotics Trafficking in Jamaica.

As we in Jamaica already have stringent fines under the Property Rights Act which can be enforced against persons who copy or purchase copyright material knowingly as well as for breaches of the Copyright Act.

There also seems to be the need for an IT based solution to the problem as well as a Social Partnership with the Music Industry and the Reggae and Dancehall Artiste, who like it or not must view their works as having greater importance and encourage people to purchase their intellectual property, be it Audio or Video.

It cannot be the case where Reggae and Dancehall Artiste spent so much of their financial capital to produce a body of works for promotional purposes only and intend to depend on touring to make up the bulk of their financial earnings.

This is especially as they are under pressure from Europe and the United States of America to clean up their act, as alluded to in the article “Locked out - Jamaican acts finding it more and more difficult to get into some countries” , published Sunday, December 27, 2009, Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer, The Jamaica Gleaner

When you hear about the music industry these days, there are often figures claiming that digital music downloads are up year-over-year by more than 25%, and now account for about 20% of overall music sales. Amazon, Nokia, MySpace and Apple are such initiatives.

But let's get the numbers straight.

Despite some bright spots, the vast majority of digital downloads are unauthorized and cost nothing. In fact, a recent report by IFPI, a body that promotes and “safeguards” digital music, says that in 2008 a whopping 95% of all music downloads were illegal.

Sure, IFPI has an interest in perhaps inflating that stat a bit, but judging from what I've seen out there, I'd say it's still a very high percentage

You've probably heard about how the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA are strongly encouraging ISPs to police Digital Music and Video Piracy and bring pirate Networks to their knees.

There's talk of throttling bandwidth and even more draconian measures, which a lot of consumers aren't too happy about. Now, I'm not saying anything new here. Plenty of pundits have said the Music Industry is broken.

The Music Industry is just trying to eke out the last bit of good revenue from a few star artists in a shattered business model that ultimately needs to be completely blown up. Some still buy it legally and a lot of so-called purists still buy CDs.

I'm not going to get into a full-blown discussion of what will turn dishonest downloaders into honest buyers. As many of you are already aware, moist folks don't think downloading music is stealing.

I've seen plenty of message-board posts from users saying that downloading free tunes isn't thievery, since it's just bits and bytes. Most customers wouldn't have paid for the thing anyway, so exposure to the artiste’s music benefits the Artiste in the long run. Similar sentiments that have been expressed by some of our local dancehall artiste

I have come up with a subscription model called Dageurre for Telecom Provider LIME as a means of marketing Reggae and Dancehall music to the Jamaican populace. It involves paying to download dancehall music (which is not on iTunes) on a monthly subscription basis.

Essentially, it would be a website, designed with software help from Microsoft that would allow only persons with a Telecom Provider LIME 3G modem that has been purchased on a special Unlimited Music and Video Download Plan to access the website and download Reggae and Dancehall Audio and Video that is indigenously Jamaican.

This is provided that the customers will submit to using the modem on ONLY one computer which they will register once visiting the website and all music and Audio downloading from other sites will be blocked.

The website is able to do this by having customer register themselves upon the purchase of a Telecom Provider LIME modem and requesting the Unlimited Music and Video Download Plan, with the modem (mobile, fixed line mobile, landline or wired /wireless modems) IMEI and SIM Cards (mobile, fixed line mobile, landline or wired /wireless modems) IMSI used to authenticate the customer and thus allow access to the website.

Thus, customers who do not have a Telecom Provider LIME modem or have a Telecom Provider LIME modem but who are not on the Unlimited Music and Video Download Plan would not be able to see the website and thus unable to access the website, as even if they had the IP address, as it would appear blocked on their browser.

This would make it a great secure Platform to be used by Reggae and Dancehall Artiste to sell their music, as only persons with Telecom Provider LIME modems who request the Unlimited Music and Video Download Plan would have access to this service, hence making retail of music cheaper and online.

The files downloaded would be in the WMA (Windows Media Audio) and WMV (Windows Media Video) secured format, with features enabled to prevent digital piracy. In addition, the website would classify customers into two (2) groups: Music Downloader and Retailers Downloader.

Music Downloader would be individuals who have an Unlimited Music and Video Download Plan but can only download a fixed amount of music and Videos per month. Retailers Downloader are merchants who are on a contract with Telecom Provider LIME with an Unlimited Music and Video Download Plans and thus are allowed to download music for resale to customers in the WMA or WMV format.

They would be allowed to burn music to CD for resale only in the protected WMA or WMV format, with their computers being monitored to allow Telecom Provider LIME to remotely audit their computers to see if they have breached this contract.

This would be it the music or Videos are in any other unprotected format or attempting to resell music in any other format than WMA or WMV format, with playback support from Microsoft and it Zune HD player. Thus it makes music Videos a source of revenue for Reggae and Dancehall Artiste.

As an additional plus, Telecom Provider LIME stores can also ink an exclusive deal with Microsoft to sell the Zune HD Music player in conjunction with Watt’s New after convincing the Music Industry to distribute their music only via this Platform and blocking the illegal download of their Digital Video and Audio Content by tracking initiated downloads.

This as a download has to specify source and destination and the contents of the file, thus doing away with the traditional distribution of music via CD (Compact Discs) and making Digital Video and Music Piracy very difficult, it not impossible.

As all Dancehall and Reggae music can only be downloaded via the Telecom Provider LIME 3G Modem on an Unlimited Music and Video Download Plan and played back only on a Zune HD player with software Platform support from Microsoft.

This model is also legal, as currently there are no laws that specifically request that the Music Industry distribute their music in a format that everyone can access, and as such are free to develop their own distribution models on any device or Platform that can guarantee them the ability to maintain their revenue models.

Despite the fact that this model will not prevent current pirated works from being circulated, it will deter the piracy of newly recorded or released works, be it Video or Audio, once this model is combined with a much stricter vigilance of purchase of copyright material under the purview of the Property Rights Act and the unauthorized copying of copyright material, be it Audio or Video under the purview of the Copyright Act.

This is an economically feasible venture as Apple iTunes does not sell dancehall, hence it is an opportunity to sell a wholly indigenous art form on a 3G Platform exclusively for Telecom Provider LIME customers only.

As Telecom Provider LIME already sponsors a lot of artists, hence Daguerre would be the ultimate branding synergy between the dancehall community, Telecom Provider LIME and its many loyal customers using the Telecom Provider LIME3G service. But what is the origin of the name of this suggested anti-piracy move?

The name “Dageurre” is derived from the name of the French inventor Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre (November 18, 1787 – July 10, 1851) was a French artist and chemist, recognized for his invention of the daguerreotype process of photography. Daguerre was born in Cormeilles-en- Parisis, Val-d'Oise, France.

Daguerre announced the latest perfection of the Daguerreotype, after years of experimentation, in 1839, with the French Academy of Sciences announcing the process on January 7 of that year.

Daguerre's patent was acquired by the French Government, and, on August 19, 1839, the French Government announced the invention was a gift “Free to the World”. Daguerre and Niépce's son obtained a pension from the Government in exchange for freely sharing the details of the process.

Daguerre died in Bry-sur-Marne, 12 km from Paris. A monument marks his grave there. Thus my idea for the web based service called “Daguerre” is symbolic of this Frenchman’s contribution to the world.

Like him, I freely give away my proposal that would help to develop a faster and more efficient way of selling music made by local Reggae and Dancehall Artiste accessible by retailers who have purchased a Telecom Provider LIME modem on the Music and Video Download Plan thus promoting the Telecom Provider LIME branded modem by offering this service that are exclusively for Telecom Provider LIME customers.

3-D anti- piracy to thwart Digital Music and Video Piracy

Technology seems to be finally catching up with the people who profit from copying the creative work of others, specifically speaking to Digital and Audio Piracy. In Jamaica, the article, “BE WARNED! If you buy a pirated DVD, CD you can be arrested”, published Wednesday, August 26, 2009 by KARYL WALKER, Crime/Court co-ordinator, The Jamaica Observer which tackles the issue resonates very strongly with me, as Digital Music and Video Piracy has possible links to Narcotics Trafficking in Jamaica.

As we in Jamaica already have stringent fines under the Property Rights Act which can be enforced against persons who copy or purchase Copyright material knowingly as well as for breaches of the Copyright Act.

I have long advocated the use of an IT based anti-piracy Technology solution combined with more strongly enforced legislation as once a new IT based anti-piracy Technology is combined with a much stricter vigilance of purchase of Copyright material under the purview of the Property Rights Act .

IT based strategies against unauthorized copying of Copyright material, be it Audio or Video under the purview of the Copyright Act, should work to not only deter would be pirates, but make the copying and distribution of Copyright Digital Music and Video impossible, if not very difficult.

I once also suggested online that DRM (Digital Right Management) software on computers would have worked, but apparently after the many problems with rootkits installed in computers that in some cases deleted legitimately downloaded files and made CD-RW/DVD-RW players and software unable to work, Apple Inc removed DRM from their music downloads and urged everyone in a letter to the industry to do the same.

EMI agreed, Microsoft followed suit on their Zune player music distribution platform as stated in the article “Microsoft will sell DRM-free Songs”, published Fri Apr 6, 2007 4:00 PM ET by Elizabeth Montalbano, IDG News Service, PC World.

Everyone forgot about pursuing IT based anti-piracy solutions to deal with piracy, instead focusing on models that would allow record producers to continue making money from the diminishing Digital Music and Video by creating a following for a particular music player and distribution platform.

I have already suggested an idea involving the distribution of music on a single Telecoms Provider Network that is currently unpopular with the John Public via specifically tailored Music and Video Download Plans that allow for Digital Music and Video downloading from a website set up specifically to distribute music and Video only to registered users.

Essentially the same thing as Microsoft Zune and Apple’s IPod iTunes platforms as per my blog article entitled “Daguerre: A Permanent solution to Digital Music and Video Piracy in Jamaica”.

This is great for downloaded Digital Music and Video but still does not solve the problem for Digital Video viewed on DVD and Blu-Ray players (yes, HD lost!), which are still being heavily pirated and downloaded, evident to anyone walking through May Pen, Clarendon in the late afternoon.

But as usual, it seems that the consumers love for a particular type of movie may have given inspiration to this latest anti-piracy attempt, which I predict will thwart the DVD and Blu-Ray pirates: 3-D.

Director James Cameron blockbuster Avatar (2009), a 3-D flick that currently holds the record as earning the most at the box office, surpassing his previous Oscar film Titanic (1997) for which he won Best Picture and Best Director Oscars.

He captured hearts at the Oscars after being nominated for nine (9) Oscars against his ex-wife director Katherine Bigelow’s film, Hurt Locker (2008), only to lose out to her as she ended up winning Best Picture and Best Director Oscars.

But while the razzmatazz of the red carpet and the surprise of the Oscars had Yahoo! OMG people scoping out the list of the who’s who and who they wore to the Oscars, (Miley Cyrus and Steve Jobs at the Oscars! OMG!!) a bit of a buzz was created by a movie that Johnny Depp of recent Iron Man (2008) fame starred in, which of course was Alice in Wonderland (2010).

It shares kinship and honorable mention to Avatar (2009) as not only has it surpassed that previous 3-D film’s (yes it is a 3-D flick!) opening weekend box-office record with a total of US$116.3 million as stated in the article “'Alice' opens with US$116.3 million, a 3-D record”,  published  March 7, 2010, By JAKE COYLE AP Entertainment Writer, Associated Press, ABC News despite the negative critic reviews (there’s no business like show business!).

But it also demonstrates a trend that seems to be slowly catching on since 2008: 3-D films are here to stay.

In the United States of America and Canada alone, four thousand (4000) movie theatres were fitted with 3-D capability and that number seems to be set to rise, enveloping the audience in a viewing experience that can only be enjoyed at the theatre, once the movie is a good one with a good storyline and adept usage of the 3-D to tell a story as opposed to dazzling the audience with this rare and pricey special effect.

Which would explain the Oscar nod and the record breaking earnings to a movie that is both CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) as well as 3-D, a compliment extended to both Avatar (2009) and Alice in Wonderland (2010) – higher ticket prices not withstanding.

And that is where the obvious connection should be made in your mind: people will pay to see 3-D movies and uniquely, you have to wear special glasses to get the full viewing pleasure.

Samsung and Panasonic, Japanese electronics giants who are totally unrelated to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, may be able to bring the 3-D experience into your home, following their revelation that not only have they developed 3-D Flat Screen Television sets, but they are to debut them this week as stated by the article “Samsung, Panasonic start selling 3-D TV's this week”, published Tue March 9 2010, 11:04 am ET, By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer, Yahoo! News, AP.

They must have been seeing the trend for 3-D viewing growing in their home country Japan, especially with the phenomenal successes of Avatar (2009) and previous films of its ilk from 2008 up until now. It seems that they have decided to invest in the Technology, and by thus doing so may have created a means by which DVD’s and Blu-Ray‘s can be protected from would be pirates.

This is because these 3-D movies can only be viewed using special glasses, making it pointless to copy and distribute, as the viewing experience will be blurry and painful on the eyes, not to mention a splitting headache with all those out-of-place colors onscreen.

But even if persons who illegally copied these 3-D rendered DVD and Blu-Ray Discs and got a set of those glasses in use circa 1950’s until now, they would be unable to view the feature length film content, as the 3-D Technology used in the Television sets requires special glasses to be purchased specific to the Television sets to be worn that are specific to each type of movie.

Possibly having to be programmed to recognize legitimate codes transmitted by the Television set that must match with those in the glasses, enabling viewing, somewhat reminiscent of the movie Mission: Impossible (1996) in which the character Ethan Hawke, played by Tom Cruise, put on a pair of glasses which had a mini camera built.

This is the same idea, except that instead of a camera, it has a transmitter to communicate to the Television set, which would explains the articles reference to the batteries in the glasses needing to be recharged frequently for them to work.

In other words, if they do not have these special glasses, they will be unable to watch the 3-D content and it will appear very blurry without them, making it pointless to copy these DVD or Blu-Rays.

Sony also has plans to roll out their 3-D Television sets in June 2010AD and broadcaster ESPN plan to broadcast some of it FIFA World Cup 2010 in 3-D on a new channel specifically for 3-D content, set to debut in June. Possibly Telecom Provider Digicel’s rollout of DigiTV will include the sale of these special Television sets as a means of protecting their broadcasted content.

With Apple planning to debut their Wi-Fi flavored Apple iPad in the USA on April 3^rd 2010 as webcast on “The Apple Byte”, webcast Friday March 5^th 2010, presented by Brian Tong, CNET News and confirmed by Daniel Ionescu in the article “Apple Rolls out TV Ad for iPad”, published Monday March 8^th 2010, by Daniel Ionescu, PC World, Yahoo! News,. Tablets in general will give Broadcasting a major boost.

The impending launch of Digicel’s WiMax 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.16d) slated to launch at the end of the second quarter of 2010 as stated in the article “Digicel to offer mini Laptops with 4G service next year”, published Friday September 4, 2009, The Jamaica Gleaner.

ZTE Corp of China as their build out partner of their new WiMaX 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.16d) Network as stated in the article “Digicel signs ZTE as 4G Mobile WiMaX internet partner”, published Sunday, September 27, 2009, The Jamaica Observer hangs in the air as per my blog article entitled “Digicel and WiMaX - Great Expectations Part 1”.

Telecom Provider Digicel also plans a foray into broadcasting in the form of DigiTV in Jamaica, already successfully launched in Vanatu, Tonga and other Polynesian islands also possibly to be launched a little before the launch of their WiMaX 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.16d) Network.

Possibly at the start of Rising Stars, as strongly hinted in the article “DigiTV launch in 2009 - Mobile Provider branches into TV”, published Friday November 14^th 2009 by Ross Sheil, The Jamaica Observer.

Telecom Provider LIME is launching a competitor to DigiTV, namely LIME TV, with exclusive all-island Wireless Subscriber Television license to rebroadcast Direct TV, the summer is looking to be very hot this year.

Even lawsuits are on the rise, with Apple now going actively after HTC of Taiwan as it relates to patent infringements with regards to its Apple iPhone as stated in the article “I Apple launching a patent war?”, published March 4, 2010 4:00 AM PST by Marguerite Reardon,  CNET News - Signal Strength.

Meanwhile, locally here in Jamaica, Telecom Provider CLARO is suing Telecom Provider Digicel with regards to already filed legal proceedings against Telecom Provider Digicel and a complaint to the FTC (Fair Trading Commission), alleging that the cross-Network calling rate contract into with Telecom Provider Digicel

Albeit legally binding, in light of the Privy Council ruling is now null and void, and can be claimed also to be an example of anti-competitive action on the part of Telecom Provider Digicel as my blog article entitled “CLARO vs Digicel - Cross-Network Flat Rate Calling and MNP Cometh”.

Mix in a little 3-D Television sets and Television sets offering VOIP (Voice over IP) service courtesy of Skype as stated in the article “Skype on TV: Will the videophone finally be reality?”, published March 2, 2010 4:00 AM PST by Erica Ogg CNET News - Circuit Breaker and you can start pulling up the lounge chairs, as obviously summer has a whole new view – and it is in 3-D!