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research and ICTs

Posted by Vicki Scholtz | 15 Nov, 2005
It's officially cheaper - and probably faster - to fly to Hong Kong and download 100GB of data than to do it from here. Which is something most of us at UCT will readily identify with - it's often faster to run around the passages using good old fashioned TekkieNet than to rely on the Mailman listservs. And most people will tell you that they get better bandwidth from dial-up at home than from inside UCT.

Which is why the incoming Deputy Dean:IT in this august Faculty plans to fly to the UK with a bag full of blank CDs to download and copy the large quantity of PDFs needed for his research. Doing it from within UCT just isn't viable.

I spent much of yesterday trying to download files from my GMail inbox - 5MB in size, on average. Yes, it was "research-related" - legitimate, completely above board. The fact that they'd been sent to my GMail account rather than UCT was, well, they'd not been delivered by late morning (having been mailed early morning) and the sender dispaired of them ever arriving and sent them to GMail instead. (The first couple have since arrived. Today.) But while I could see them sitting in my inbox on GMail, I couldn't do anything with them - trying to download them timed out each time, until I got home and fell back on good ol' dial-up.

A previous attempt, involving ever-greater numbers of ever-smaller bits of split files, eventually led to a near nervous breakdown and the mailing of the files to me on CD. First class mail from the UK costs more, perhaps, for the sender, than email, but at least it gets here in a usable format. No wonder academics from foreign climes continue to arrive here expecting lions in the streets...


This entry was posted on 15 November, 2005 15:24 and filed under General .

12 comments & 0 Trackbacks of "research and ICTs"

  1. The infrastructural problems are made so much worse by some intangibles. The fundamental flaw, in the ICTS design at this institution seems to be that ICTS people seem to think that the university exist because of ICTS.
    I have had several conversations with people who pull their hair out the fact that they get 5MB limit on emails sent. 150 MB mail server space. Students at other institutions get more than academics at UCT.

    Posted by Cracker 10 Sep 2007, 19:44

  2. I think I will start a cyber-tourism business. I'll fly to Honkong and do your downloads for you.
    I have a few friends who live in the US and fly here to have their teeth fixed. Then they also get to see their friends over here.
    A friend who thought the idea of flying to another country to have dental work done was rediculous so he started the process in Portland, Orgegan. He needed a few things done. Two crowns a filling and general "clean" The bill: 10 000 USD

    Posted by Hein 10 Sep 2007, 19:44

  3. What puzzles me is why there are no academics fighting this fight. ICT people, in general, have no idea about academia. This is true of the ppl who run Telkom and our local ICTS.
    The conflict between academia and IT needs exploring

    Posted by James 10 Sep 2007, 19:44

  4. I must add, sadly, that all the reports I've heard about the proposed NRen, have shown that even when academics do get involved in these discussions, they tend to be narrowly focused on ideas of "science" as that which happens north-of-Jammie Steps. Will an NRen actually address the research needs for high-speed video-streaming, required by increasing numbers of Humanities disciplilnes, for example, or downloading MP3s, or even bandwidth-intensive online ethnography? Currently, much of this kind of activity is assumed by default to be "recreational", and squeezed, if not explicitly blocked, on campus.

    Which doesn't stop anyone getting beaten over the head for not producing adequate quantities of subsidy-generating research output.

    Posted by thwarted researcher 10 Sep 2007, 19:44

  5. The people north of Jamie steps use their research monies to find clever ways to circumvent the limitations of the system. Many in the scientific community use things like Linux. We dont have the time to wait of ICTS to catch up to the world. We have real research to do. I feel sorry for people who are visiting for short periods only, since it takes a little while to figure out how to bypass the system

    Posted by Scientist 10 Sep 2007, 19:44

  6. Oh come on! You cannot be serious! Gice us at ICTS a break

    Posted by ICTSer 10 Sep 2007, 19:44

  7. Isn't this supposed to be about Telkom, NOT ICTS?

    Posted by Another ICTSer 10 Sep 2007, 19:44

  8. isn't it a shame that our brightest and best are dedicating their intellectual energy to beating the system, instead of producing research? Isn't it a shame they have to?

    Posted by Deadly Serious 10 Sep 2007, 19:44

  9. Intersting, I mean the whole idea of scientist having to spend time "making the system work" What are people being paid for then?

    Posted by Joe Slomo 10 Sep 2007, 19:44

  10. I have heard people talking about going to Hong Kong to downlaod data - seriously.
    I enquired some more. Where are the data that you want to download? Just make sure its not on a server in Stellenboch or Onderstepoort.

    Posted by Do_homework_first 10 Sep 2007, 19:44

  11. I'd rather go to Hong Kong than Stellenbosch or Onderstepoort. All you need worry about in Hong Kong is bird flu...

    Posted by discerning tourist 10 Sep 2007, 19:44

  12. What about Asian Flu?

    Posted by Dr Dr 10 Sep 2007, 19:44