Telkom ADSL speed upgrades… but you have to call to get it

Seems like the current Telkom ADSL speed increases don’t “just happen”… you need to call them to actually get the speed increase – well, that’s what I had to do.

Here are the steps that are involved:
1) Check whether you are in fact still at the old, slower speeds by using MyBroadBand’s speed test [use the “South African” option]: http://speedtest.mybroadband.co.za
2) Check that your line speed has been increased at the exchange http://www.telkom.co.za/checkadsl by entering your telephone number:
3) Then call 10210 (a toll free number if you are calling from a Telkom land line)
4) Navigate the voice menus to the DSL technical guys
5) Ask your friendly Telkom contact centre agent to increase your line speed – you will lose Internet connection and when it comes back you will have a faster connection to the Internet! :)
6) Check your speed again… much faster :) :
 
Thanks to Michal Mierzwa who commented on this article on MyBroadband: New Telkom ADSL speed upgrades start

The best turn-by-turn navigation app – no need to worry about the new iOS6 maps problems

There are a lot of people reporting problems with iOS6 maps – but I don’t understand why people even bother trying anything other than Waze. It is a free turn-by-turn navigation app BUT with more – much more - it also provides free real-time traffic updates from other Waze users and provides search results directly from Yelp, Bing, Google, Yellow Pages and Foursquare.
Waze uses your phone’s data connection for maps and real-time traffic updates.
Simply put, if you are navigating along a route and other Waze users are ahead of you, then the Waze servers are constantly fed their speed information which it uses to figure out the fastest route to your destination.  Your information is in turn used to route Waze users behind you!
So, you can see it’s a win-win situation where you are helped by others ahead of you, and you help people behind you.

There is a large user base in South Africa and I use it daily in Cape Town to great success!   :)

Download from the iStore here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/waze-social-gps-traffic-gas/id323229106?mt=8
Download from Google Play here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.waze 
or just browse with your mobile device to:  http://m.waze.com

iPad solution for cheaper calls than Telkom [Solved]

I recently replied to a question on the MyBroadBand forums. Ettiene69 asked: “Is there any VOIP App or service provider which I can use on my iPad, which IS ACTUALLY CHEAPER than normal Telkom or Cell Phone Rates?”

I provided this 3 step solution:
Step 1: Install the MobileVoip app (available for iPhone, iPad, iPod, Symbian, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Phone):  iStore link here: http://itunes.apple.com/app/mobilevoip/id362528311?mt=8
 
Step 2: Register and purchase 10 Euros of any Voip provider - for South Africa I recommend Rynga: http://www.rynga.com/calling-rates.html#letter-S
Rates comparison:
Rynga rate for South Africa (Landline)  FREE (for 120 days, then R0.31c per minute)  [Telkom rate is R0.57c per min]
Rynga rate for South Africa (Mobile)    R0.558 per minute [Telkom rate is R1.35 per min]
Telkom rates from here:  http://www.telkom.co.za/general/pricelist/automaticexchanges_worldcall.html
See Rynga’s rates list here: http://www.rynga.com/en/calling-rates.html

Step 3: Purchase data for your iPad - for low usage per month, I recommend CellC prepaid:
http://handytechtips.blogspot.com/2012/04/winner-of-no-contract-non-expiring-pre.html 

Remember to add the CellC data costs per minute to your total call cost comparison… Working on about 1MB per minute for a voice call – add CellC’s rate of 16c per minute to the call:

Rynga rate for South Africa (Landline) FREE+16c per minute (for 120 days, then 31c+16c=47c per minute) [Telkom rate is R0.57c per min]
Rynga rate for South Africa (Mobile) 56c+16c=72c per minute [Telkom rate is R1.35 per min]


So, with all 3 steps done you should be able to take your iPad anywhere in South Africa, start up the MobileVoip app and make calls cheaper than using Telkom and cell phone rates :) :)
At home or when within range of WiFi point, switch to WiFi and save even more. 

Let me know if it works for you.

Free SMS to MTN and 8ta in GMail: just enter a phone number and click Enter

Free SMS in Gmail - Send free SMSs directly from Gmail - just enter a phone number and click Enter.  SMS replies come right to your Gmail inbox.

See which mobile operators are supported.

Learn more




http://support.google.com/chat//bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=164876&rd=1 

What’s the cheapest way of calling Israeli cell phones from South Africa?

A reader asked this question so I did a bit of research: 
I would recommend using your computer (with mic and headset via your PC’s ADSL Internet connection) to dial out using software called: Rynga
See here for the rates: http://www.rynga.com/en/calling-rates.html#leti 

Calls to Israeli landlines are free for the 1^st 120 days after buying 10Euros of airtime – after the 120 days is up, it’s cheaper than using SkypeOut.
Israel  (Landline)         FREE for 120 days: then 0.21 ZAR cents per minute
Israel  (Mobile)           0.43 ZAR cents per minute.

VOIPbuster software is also an option, but they don’t offer free calls to Israel landlines:    
http://www.voipbuster.com/en/calling-rates.html#leti
Israel  (Landline)         0.12       ZAR cents per minute
Israel  (Mobile)            0.83       ZAR cents per minute

If you have Skype then you can use their SkypeOut service (more expensive than the above)
ie: call from your PC to Israeli cell phone:  http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/prices/payg-rates/?currency=ZAR#cc=IL
Destination:     Price:
Israel   ZAR 0.20 per minute
Israel - Mobile ZAR 1.15 per minute







You can also call from your cell phone (obviously more expensive than above using your PC:
This one you pay VAS (Value Added Service) call rates: http://www.3g.co.za/content/view/90/51






See here for other and more detailed info:
http://handytechtips.blogspot.com/2010/09/120-free-days-of-calls-to-major-cities.html
http://handytechtips.blogspot.com/2009/08/voipbuster-over-skypeout-verdict-read.html
 
Calling cards: http://handytechtips.blogspot.com/2010/01/cheap-international-calls-from-south.html 
http://handytechtips.blogspot.com/search?q=dect

Download South African postal codes list for free

I’ve seen various requests for the postal codes of South Africa (or zip codes) to be made available in a downloadable format but couldn’t find any available for free. 
There’s the official South African Post Office (SAPO) page that allows you to only search for the one you are looking for: Search by location name or by post code
As well as the listings on SouthAfrica.co.za

So, I decided to create my own and make it available to all for free download here: http://www.mediafire.com/file/201gi68niys161n/SapoPostalCodesSouthAfrica19Nov2011.xls

Did you know that there are 16,740 postal codes in South Africa?

Please post comments if you notice any errors or omissions.

Walkie Talkie on your phone: Push To Talk (PTT) using data channel on any network in South Africa

Use your BlackBerry or Android phone or PC to instantly talk to a group of users – just like using walkie talkie radios!  All of this for free (just pay for the bandwidth)!  I suppose you could call it a VOIP app, since the voice does get converted to IP packets – but what’s different with this app is that the voice gets transmitted to a group of people and it comes over their phones’ speakers – like an intercom system!

This app is available for download from here: http://loudtalks.com/download and best of all it’s FREE.  This allows public groups of up to 100 people – if you want to create private groups, then there’s the “Loudtalks Mesh or “Loudtalks Cloud” products. 

The Cloud product is free to try out for up to 10 users, then there’s payment options to go larger groups up to 1,000 people. 
In short, if you have your own server, then go for the Loudtalks Mesh option – else Loudtalks Cloud – which doesn’t require a server and is very quick to set up.
See here for a comparison:  http://loudtalks.com/compare_products

 

Some of the features of the app are:
Loudtalks conversations are nearly as fast as face-to-face and possibly the fastest way to communicate online.
With Loudtalks you can voice message two, three or even a hundred people simultaneously.
Re-play your conversations when you want from the voice history.
Unlike traditional VoIP applications you don't have to use a headset with Loudtalks.
Loudtalks works over WiFi and 3G, and can be used on GPRS and EDGE.
Touchscreen-friendly
Real-time, low latency
Public channels
Voice-activated transmission (VOX) support

Currently, the app is available for BlackBerry and Android phones as well as PC (Windows and Linux using Wine):
BlackBerry - point your phone to: http://loudtalks.com/bb Note: that it does not use BIS – so if you are not using WiFi, then you will pay for the bandwidth used.  Depending on your wireless provider and service plan using the app may cause data charges even if you have "unlimited email and browsing" BIS data plan.  The app uses 110kB per minute talking, and 20kB per hour when idle.  Regardless of your service plan you can always use the app on WiFi for free.
Android: http://market.android.com/details?id=com.loudtalks 
PC: http://loudtalks.com/download
iPhone: iOS version will be released later this year (2011)

How to get going?:
Install the app then create an account and username,
then add contacts – once approved,
then you can try talking by pressing the PTT button (for BlackBerry it’s the convenience button on the LHS of the phone; for Windows it is F7) – keep that button down to talk, and release it to listen.  

You can also create your own public channels that other people can search for and join.

I’ve tested the application with Vodacom in South Africa and has worked with WiFi and the Vodacom network on BlackBerry 9700 Bold and 8520 Curve.  
Users with 3G handsets should enable the WAP2SR in the Options->Connection menu – this will reduce the high battery consumption.

If you get stuck, here’s a FAQ for BlackBerry users: http://loudtalks.com/bb_faq

Let me know if you have managed to successfully use the app – and for what purpose.  I am going to suggest this for the local neighbourhood watch in my area.

Follow LoudTalks on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/loudtalks

Other similar apps that I’ve found are:
http://hipvoice.com/pricing Blackberry and other “rugged devices”, and not free
http://blabbelon.com Windows and iPhone
http://heytell.com Android and iPhone
http://voxer.com iPhone (soon Android)
http://www.itikl.com Android and iPhone (free)

Send free "messages" to BlackBerry phones – it works!

Send ‘Blackberry Pin Messages’ using The Internet: If you know someone’s BBM number then you can send messages to their phone for free by connecting to this web page:  http://www.web2pin.com/web2pinfree.aspx and filling in the details: your name, your reply address, their BBM number, subject and message.

It takes about 20 seconds for the message to go through.  All you need to know is their BBM PIN number.

It does not come through on BBM, but appears on their phone in an e-mail-like format.  It is called a ‘PIN message’. 

The "From Name" appears at the top of the sent message.

The sent message looks something like this:
Reply to: 'From Name' at ‘Reply Addr’
Then your message appears…

The message also has an advertisement for the Web2Pin.com web site ie: “A free service of Web2Pin.com  http://www.web2pin.com”

So, if you don’t have a BlackBerry phone and you can’t install WhatsApp, then you can still use your phone’s Internet browser and send a BBM message to your BB friends for free :) :)

Other related posts:
WhatsApp for Nokia Symbian phones is now available
What’s the cheapest cell phone to run WhatsApp on?
Calculator: How much data does WhatsApp use and what are the costs?

Giveaways of full versions of software for free

My first (and still favorite) giveaway site is http://www.giveawayoftheday.com where you get what it says: a free giveaway each day – you can download and install a full version of software for free.  So, what’s the catch?  Well, a small one – you need to install and activate on the day of the giveaway, and most giveaways are not for commercial use.  I have heard that people somehow crack the giveawayoftheday installer to keep it for future installations….  I love that site and have been using it for years

The reason for this article is to also list other sites that I have found and also use daily:
http://www.tipradar.com
http://www.brothergiveaway.com

http://www.twangoo.co.za   (for special offers in South Africa by Groupon)

http://dottech.org/category/freebies

Update your Blackberry Bold 9700 Vodafone Sat Nav GPS Navigator

I have been looking for a way to get better turn-by-turn GPS software on my Blackberry since I got it.  The Vodafone Sat Nav GPS Navigator software just doesn’t work as well as my old Nokia 6110 Navigator phone.  The main problem that I experienced was that when it’s in navigation mode, (in other words, when it is giving you directions) the voice prompts come slightly too late and I miss the turn… the screen does not allow a slightly more zoomed out view to see if this is the time to turn.

I even tried the Garmin product for 30 days, as well as their onboard version of their product: Garmap that’s offering a R200 discount (so you pay R399) but the discount voucher didn’t work – I even emailed them 7 (yes, seven) times – still not sorted out :(
 

My BB Bold 9700’s version was running Vodafone Sat Nav version 4.65.87 and I needed an upgrade.

 
I then came across Telmap site - Telmap is the Israeli company that produces Sat Nav software - Telmap 4.5 world edition is available on Blackberry AppWorld for $79.99

I found this great way for you to receive the Telmap5 navigation system for your mobile phone for free.
All you have to do is register for free at http://global.telmap.com/tugpcbeta to join the Telmap User Group.

Notes:
a) this will UNinstall the existing Vodafone Sat Nav software, and you DO need to reboot your phone after the installation.
b) Traffic info does not work in South Africa.
c) It is a 6.1MB download (I hope you are on BIS)
d) It is beta software – so make a backup of your entire phone using the Blackberry desktop software

TelMap info:
”
The Telmap User Group is a group of beta testers for Telmap5.  As a member of the User Group you will receive Telmap5 software for free and will be able to navigate everywhere we have geographic coverage including Europe, North America and more.  Feedback can be returned at any time using our feedback form, and every so often we will conduct an online or phone survey asking you to answer some specific questions about the product.
You should know that you must maintain your own data package, and that we may keep GPS logs of your navigations.

We are currently accepting new users with the following devices:
- Android devices (English, French and Hebrew)
- BlackBerry 9800 Torch (English, French and Hebrew)
- BlackBerry 9780, 9700, 9300 (English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Hebrew)
”

Here are the installation instructions:
1) Click on the “Register” button (at the bottom of the page) to join the Telmap User Group: http://global.telmap.com/tugpcbeta
(a download link and registration code will be emailed to you)
2) Open the email on your phone and click on the download link – a 6.1MB file will then start downloading and be installed on your phone.  My version is version 5.12.32.01 build 02.  Release notes are here: http://downloads.telmap.com/tug/doc/TUGReleaseNotes.htm
3) It will replace the old Vodafone Sat Nav version and will ask for phone permissions
4) Reboot your phone after the install is complete.


Feedback can be given using this form: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/193403/feedbacks-on-telmap-navigator-v5-0
(not for installation problems… rather use: tugadmin@telmap.com)
Telmap User Group Forum is here: http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewforum&f=137


Telmap5 offers:
- Full-featured in-car navigation with moving maps and sound instructions with street names
- Turn-by-turn pedestrian navigation with moving maps that follow your location and bread-crumbs for orientation
- Simple and easy one-line search for anything you need
- Widgets that let you personalize your experience for in-car navigation, pedestrian navigation and mapping
- Rich UI with animations, shadowing and graphic effects – all based on a map
- Weather information for any location
- Cell-ID positioning technology lets you use mapping and local search even when you are indoors with no GPS fix
- Tiled maps for quicker map download and smooth panning
- And much more…

Where to download VoipBusterMate and SkypeMate for USB phones

Following from my previous postings on cheap (and sometimes free) international calling using VOIP (Voice over Internet) and USB phone handsets, I was distressed to find that the http://yealink.net/skypemate/download  and www.skypemate.net download sites are getting fewer and fewer.  (The original location that my posts referred to are now no longer available to download the software)
So, I decided to make the downloads that I have on my local computers available here:
SkypeMate_4.0.2.2.zip
VoipBusterMate3.0.2.48.zip

I also see that some are available here too: http://www.usbphoneworld.com/fido.html

Previous posts that explain how to connect your DECT cordless telephone to make VOIP calls:
* My DECT cordless phone is now actually working with Skype and SkypeOut and VoipBuster and VOIP calls – cool, and so convenient!
* Hooray, I’ve found a way to use my cordless DECT phone to make Skype and SIP VoipBuster calls – Solved :)
* 120 free days of calls to major cities, then rates at cheaper than SkypeOut

Are you involved in Skype group chats that are distracting – then set a notification trigger based on your name

We use Skype extensively for inter-office communications and a colleague recently showed me how she could ignore the Skype group chats unless someone specifically typed her name (or other configured words).  This is very useful if you want to ignore chats unless your name or other topics come up. 

Here’s how it’s done:
1) Open a chat window (group chat or 1-on-1 chat)
2) Select the pull down menu: Conversation->Notification settings

3) Select the radio button “Notify me only if these words are mentioned” and type in some trigger words and phrases:

Hope this helps shield you from “noisy” group chats and you can get some work done.


BTW: there are some nice useful features under that “Conversation” pull down menu – why not try some out now
eg: Profile panel –> Set topic

Debug your web page for different versions of Internet Explorer with one (1) free program

How many times have you had to reproduce client problems on your web pages using a virtual machine or multiple PCs running different versions of Internet Explorer? 

You don't have to do that anymore.  Now you can debug your pages on multiple versions of IE on the same machine that you use for Web development or testing.

IETester for Windows Internet Explorer is a stand-alone (free) browser compatibility checker for Internet Explorer versions from 5.5 to 9.  It is a visual tool that makes it faster and easier to test your sites – it uses the rendering and javascript engines of IE9 preview, IE8, IE7 IE 6 and IE5.5 on Windows 7, Vista and XP, as well as the installed IE in the same process.  You can then navigate to the different pages and enter data as if you had installed the different versions of IE on your computer.

It’s free, but why not make a donation to support the project?  Donate now

 

And, look at their other product:  DebugBar:

• DOM Inspector: View DOM Tree and modify tags attributes and css attributes on the fly to test your page
• HTTP Inspector: View HTTP/S request to check cookies, GET and POST parameters, view server info
• Javascript Inspector and Javascript Console: View javascript functions for easier debugging, see Javascript and AJAX code
• HTML Validator: Validate HTML code to correct and optimize your code and html size of your page
• And many more features: See page cookies, get pixel colour on a page, make a page screenshot...

WhatsApp for Nokia Symbian phones is now available

Yes, the always-on chat app “WhatsApp Messenger” has just been (beta) released for Nokia phones (14 July 2010).  You can use it to chat (as in type messages, like Skype or GTalk) to other friends that have also installed it on their phones.  The program has had a great uptake from iPhone and Blackberry phone users… and now Nokia users can do the same. 
So, as long as you have the program installed on your phone you will be able to chat to others – just create a contact using their cell phone number.  This means no more SMSs locally and internationally.  All this for free – well, almost – WhatsApp costs $1.99 per year – BUT, this beta version is free for 90 days. 

Nokia phone requirements: Nokia S60 3rd or 5th edition Smartphone (those are phones that run Symbian operating system; N73 or newer phones) – if you don’t know what Symbian is, then your phone probably isn’t compatible.
See here for a list of Nokia cell phones and their Symbian versions: http://3lib.ukonline.co.uk/s60history.htm

Download the .sis file to your PC from here [796KB]: WhatsApp for Nokia phones then use Nokia’s PC Suite to install it onto your phone… else navigate to this URL using your phone’s browser: http://www.whatsapp.com/nokia/WhatsApp_2_0_0.sis.  Here’s their download page for more info.

It takes a while when installing... since it checks all your contacts cell numbers and checks if your contacts are already using WhatsApp... then you can connect with them.

I must warn you though that it keeps the Internet connection on your phone open all the time... but it doesn't send/receive data all the time... only once every 3 or so minutes (unless you are busy in a chat “conversation”). 
The beauty about this is that people can send you messages even when the program isn’t open – they appear like an SMS since the open Internet connection checks for messages every 3 or so minutes.  I have tested it and my battery life isn’t adversely affected.

Once it’s installed, it will ask you for your cell number so that others can find you by using your cell number.  No need to login or anything, it knows who you are.

Remember, it doesn’t connect to the Blackberry BB messenger service – BB users will also need to install the WhatsApp program and subscribe to the service, then use it to chat to their iPhone and Nokia friends.

Will it work on my wife’s phone? Well, to see if it’s compatible do a Google search with the phone’s model number eg: “Nokia E66” +specification
Pick one of the results and then search for “Symbian” in the page – if there’s a line like this: “Symbian OS 9.2, Series 60 v3.1 UI” then it IS compatible.  You need to look for “Series 60” v3 or v5.

What does it cost to send messages: It’s cheap… charged at data rates.  In South Africa, the unbundled data rates is about R2.00 per MB.  That’s 200c per million characters, which is 1c per 500 characters!  So, it’s as close to free as can be! 
You gotta be dumb to continue using SMSs are say R1 per local SMS for only 180 characters! (and R2 for international SMSs)

Currently Nokia users can only send text - transfer of images is only available to iPhone and Blackberry users – iPhone can also transfer audio and location.

Remember to change your status (using the Options menu) to "Available" - it looks more tech savvy than "Hey there! I'm using WhatsApp!"

“Always-on” means that there is always a “service” running on the phone – even when you’ve exited the messaging interface.  This service periodically checks the WhatsApp server for any messages for you  -if it finds one when the messaging interface is exited, then it pops up a notification on your phone like an incoming SMS.  Open up the “SMS” and it will open the WhatsApp messaging interface – all ready to read and reply.

I’ve always wondered why MXit and NimBuzz never really took off compared to Blackberry messenger (and probably now WhatsApp) – I think it’s the ‘Always on’ feature…


BTW: to all my loyal readers that have read the whole article: when I installed the beta version it said that it was licensed until July 2011 – whooppeeee 1 year free license for using the beta version.  Let me know if you also got a year.

Update on 28July2010: WhatsApp has been updated: version 2.0.0 has been updated to 2.0.6. Download from here: http://www.whatsapp.com/nokia/

Update on 01Sept2010: WhatsApp for Android beta is now available - use your Android browser to download from here: http://www.whatsapp.com/android/

Minimum requirements: Android OS 2.2 or above, Unlimited internet data plan

VoipRaider like VoipBuster, but there’s no Mate :(

Another great service with great PC-to-Phone (like Skype’s “SkypeOut”) calling rates is VoipRaider.  Now I’m looking for a VoipRaiderMate - like VoipBusterMate for use with a USB adapter so that I can make International calls using my DECT cordless phone as described here.


If you know of a location for downloading VoipRaiderMate then please add a comment or email me asap.

Or, perhaps there’s a way of making VoipBusterMate work with VoipRaider – they seem very similar!

Free online telephone directory for South Africa, and more…

The Phone Book is South Africa's most comprehensive listing of residential, business and government contact details in alphabetical order. 
The information is now also accessible online on http://phonebook.yellowpages.co.zaEnter the surname or business name, then (optionally) the city or suburb and then the results are displayed.  You can then search within the results to reduce the hits further:
Some businesses also have a ‘free call’ link which rings your phone and connects you to the business:
You can also share the number that you have found:
  
‘Save it’ to your address book, or FaceBook
’Share it’ allows you to SMS the details to your cell phone, or email it to yourself or others, or Instant Messenger it, or Blog it.

Downloads various toolbars and accelerators as well: http://www.yellowpages.co.za/downloads.jsp
*) Toolbars for Internet Explorer, Firefox.
*) Search Bars for Google Desktop, Windows Vista, Mac OS.
*) iGoogle module.
*) Accelerator: Yellow Pages IE8

Now, if everyone used this service then we wouldn’t need to print and deliver those unwieldy telephone directories to all corners of South Africa!

Other services from the web site is: http://maps.yellowpages.co.za/ to get maps and directions for South Africa.

Free WebHosting, what they don’t tell you

I’ve advertised the free web hosting service “Free web hosting. R0.00 per month with 2x MySQL DBs and php” on 000webhost.com and I’ve recently started using their free service.

 
The advertising offers: no banner ads, 250MB storage, 100 GB transfer bandwidth, php, 2x mySQL databases, no hidden costs, no restrictive terms, free addon domain, free site backups.
See here for comparison of free vs $4.84 per month offering: Compare plans.

BUT: here are some of the pains that I (and others on their forums) have experienced:
1) Installing Joomla using kickstart (from JoomlaPack) was impossible for me – I reached the file count limit (6,000 files) and the unzip process failed with no decent explanation. 
I even tried ftp’ing the files one by one, but of course that file count limit kicked in again!
2) The Fantastico installer for Joomla didn’t work :( – something about… try again later.
The solution was found on the forums: backup your entire site into a zip file (same file as JoomlaPack used), then use the 000webhost’s ‘site restore’ feature.  This then bypasses the file count limit.
3) Connecting to the MySQL database using a database tool like SqlYog does not work – in fact it’s disabled “due to security and server performance reasons” – as stated in the FAQ.  So, I’ll need to use the phpMyAdmin tool.
4) “Web site is under review” message – I don’t really want my web site to be down periodically (for 2 to 4 hours)!  This is a message that was posted while I was debugging a problem on my web site:
“
Website Under Review
You see this page, because the system administrator of 000webhost.com is currently checking this website for malicious content. This redirect will be removed once we will finish manually checking all files on this account. As far we check over 100 websites, it can take about 2-4 hours to complete. If you are the owner of this website, you will get email confirmation once it's done. If you are a visitor - please come back later.
www.000webhost.com is a free web hosting provider and all free hosting providers suffer from abusers. Around 5% of users signup here just to start hacking or phishing website or make other damage. So, in order to survive, we must monitor what our users are hosting.
We are sorry for any inconveniences, but checking all content manually, it is the only way to provide you with the most secure and reliable service. If you have found any illegal website on our network, you can report it here.
”
5) Are there any more surprises on their way??? Please comments - mmmm, and please don’t… please don’t give me the “You get what you pay for” whipping!  I know, I know ;)

Update on 15Jan2010:
The answer to point 5 above is yes, yes, yes… more surprises:
5) The wonderful and powerful JoomlaPack cannot do its magic of backing up the site… it seems because the backup file is larger than 2MB – I don’t remember seeing a file size limitation on their free services offered page, nor on their FAQ page… seems like these people are having similar problems too: 2MB maximum size of a file?
6) Ok, plan B: use 000webhost’s own backup tools in the control panel… BUT, after starting the backup I got an error:
”
Backup generation failed. Backups usually fail if your disk usage is more than 100MB or your MySQL database size is more than 50MB. Anyway, you can still download files by File Manager or FTP and export MySQL database by phpMyAdmin.
”
Any my usage was: (from the 000webhost ‘Account Information’):
”
Usage 107.5 / 1500.0 MB
Your current disk usage is 107 MB of 1500.0 MB.  You are currently using 7% of your disk space and still have 1392.5 MB left.  Disk usage is updated every 24 hours.
”
So, what’s the point of offering 1.5GB of disk space if you can only backup 100MB of it????  WTF!
Doesn’t this “100MB rule” conflict with their guarantees:
“
What are your guarantees?
4. All data is backed up at least once every 7 days (just like paid hosting companies do!) and stored on an offsite server. You're also free to back your data up from cPanel whenever you wish.
”

Oh, I suppose I shouldn’t worry since I “can still download files by File Manager or FTP and export MySQL database by phpMyAdmin.” 
Come on – be real… now it seems like I’m stuck and will need to either:
reduce the size to below 100MB OR live without backups OR upgrade to Silver plan OR ftp the files off 000webhost and find a non-free host service ($5.84 per month – if you pay monthly (incl. free domain registration and renewals = R44 – not bad… compared to other similar services for R100 pm). Risk free, money back guarantee.
Use coupon    2009off    or   WHTop   and get $2 off per month! – so now it’s down to $3.84 paying monthly = R44 monthly.

Send 5 free SMSs per day to any cellular network in South Africa

I just stumbled upon this free service that allows you to send 5 free SMSs (text messages) per day to any of the cellular networks in South Africa: Vodacom, MTN, CellC.  All you need to do is register (for free) and you also get a free email box and free fax-to-email service (free for the receiver, but the sender pays:  see here for more info: Don’t be fooled by this false advertising: “FREE fax to e-mail service”)


So, getting to the point: Register here for your free email account: http://www.webmail.co.za/default.aspx?link=profile_register

Then click on the “Send free SMS” banner advert or click here: http://www.webmail.co.za/default.aspx?link=freesms


  
While you are there – check out the fantastic competitions page!  Stand a chance to win all sorts of prizes for free: cars, holidays, TVs, furniture, laptops, iPhones, shopping vouchers, airline tickets, PS3, cars, and more at JustPlay:

To send free SMSs to International (and South African) cell phones: Send SMSs anywhere in the world for FREE! (OK, you pay less than 1c for the GPRS costs)

More full commercial software for free

I’ve found some more full free commercial software from ChipOnline the site is in German but get Google to translate: ChipOnlineEnglish

1) Everest Ultimate version 4.60 [8MB]: Benchmark your PC:  Everest Ultimate
2) Paragon Partition Manager 10 Personal Edition: Paragon Partition Manager 10 Ooops, the 25,000 licenses are all taken :(
3) Full Version: Radio Tracker 6 [1.4MB]: Radio Tracker 6
4) Ashampoo UnInstaller 2010 [12.9MB]: Ashampoo UnInstaller 2010
5) CrazyTalk 5 SE [139MB] funny animation tool that converts portraits into animated faces that accompany voice messages recorded via microphone with the appropriate facial expressions: CrazyTalk 5 SE
6) Full Version: TuneUp Utilities 2009: TuneUp Utilities 2009
7) Full: WashAndGo 2008 [22MB]: WashAndGo 2008
8) Full Version: converter for digital photo frames: Converter for digital photo frames
9) Free eBook Bundle: Office 2007 [25MB]: ebooks for Office 2007, Excel 2007, Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, PowerPoint 2007 to use a professional, Present like a pro with Microsoft PowerPoint 2007: eBook Bundle: Office 2007
10) Steganos Shredder 11 [17.5MB]: Delete files securely: Steganos Shredder 11 (Steganos has released the serial number: 8DBB-9E6D-28ED-BB69-5B23-8F89-2464-CD42)
11) PDFTiger [17MB]: Not worth downloading
12) CyberLink DVD Suite 7 Centra [946MB]:  CyberLink DVD Suite 7 Centra limited to 29,000 licenses

13 through to 24 will be released one by one, daily… follow CHIP_Download on Twitter to stay in touch with the free giveaways.

Update on 13Dec2009:
Here’s another treasure trove of free giveaways (in German): http://www.stern.de/digital/adventskalender-sternde-verschenkt-software-1526074.html

Full commercial software for free

I’ve found some more free commercial software available for a limited time:

Register Here and Receive the CD Key to Fully Install CyberLink YouCam 1 available from2009/11/19 to 2010/03/20:
http://www.cyberlink.com/prog/event/bundle/index.do?nEventId=2099

 
This is only used for CyberLink MediaShow 4 DE available from 2009/11/01 to 2010/03/31: http://www.cyberlink.com/prog/event/bundle/index.do?nEventId=2122


CyberLink PowerDirector available from 2009/09/30 to 2010/02/05: http://www.cyberlink.com/prog/event/bundle/index.do?nEventId=2101


CyberLink PowerDVD available from 2009/10/01 to 2009/11/30: http://www.cyberlink.com/prog/event/bundle/index.do?nEventId=2119 


Paragon Total Defrag 2010 free until 29Nov2009:  http://www.paragon-software.com/free/giveaway.html


Here’s another site that you would want to keep your eye on: http://dottech.org/category/freebies