DrukNet Finally Corrects Broadband Pricing

Two months ago we wrote about DrukNet's awkward pricing of the new broadband packages (See The Updated Broadband Packages: Strange Pricing). As a response to our complaints, DrukNet have now fixed the issue. They have increased the data quota of the Office package from 12 GB to 16 GB, and the Enterprise package from 24 GB to 27 GB. The cost per GB is now cheaper for the more expensive packages.

According to a story in the Kuensel,

Druknet general manager, Tshering Norbu, said that the latest revisions were in response to customer feedback. “We had to revise the data quota allotment of the packages after customers’ request to incentivise higher packages more than the lower packages, by providing the former at lower tariff in terms of cost per MB,” he said. (Kuensel, Further drop in internet package prices, July 19, 2013).

We are glad to see that the issue is now resolved.

Package Name	Recharge Amount	Data Quota	Cost per GB (rounded)
Home	399.00	4 GB	Nu 100
Office	1499.00	16 GB	Nu 94
Enterprise	2499.00	27 GB	Nu 93

Left and Right (K2 #67)

Question of the Week 
My son is left-handed. Is there a special mouse for left-handed people?
— A mother from Bumthang

Answer
Various surveys show that about 10% of the world population is left-handed. If the same percentage holds for Bhutan (and that needs to be verified), then there are more than half a lakh left-handed people in Bhutan. That’s a lot!

Living a left-handed life can be challenging: Have you ever tried using ordinary scissors - the ones designed for right-handed people - with your left-hand? It’s not easy! What about playing the guitar? Switch your guitar to the other hand, and suddenly the strings are in the reverse order. There are even special pencil-sharpeners for the left-handed.

Luckily, there is no need for a special mouse for left-handed people. There are two buttons on the mouse. The primary button, which is usually the left button, is used for clicking items and selecting them, as well as for dragging-and-dropping items. Right-handed people use the index finger to operate this button. The other button is called the secondary button, and is usually the right button on the mouse. The secondary button opens a menu of various operations you can perform on the item you clicked on, for example, renaming a file.

To set an ordinary mouse for left-handed users, the primary and secondary buttons need to be switched, so that the primary button can be operated with the index finger of the left hand. First, open the Control Panel. Next, click on the Mouse icon (if you cannot find the Mouse icon, you are probably in the Category view - just switch to the Icon view first) . Under the Buttons tab, select the “Switch primary and secondary buttons”. The buttons are now switched!

Are you using your laptop’s touchpad? The touchpad can be difficult and frustrating to operate. Here’s a better option: get a small USB mouse, connect it to your laptop, and use it instead of the touchpad. If you use your laptop for long hours, it will reduce the stress on your eyes as well as your hand.

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Readers are encouraged to submit technology-related questions to boaz@thimphutech.com

Facebook Woes (K2 #66)

Question of the Week
Someone posted inappropriate contents on my Facebook wall. How do I get rid of it?
— M.B.M., Thimphu

Answer
Getting rid of a nasty post made by a “friend” on your Facebook timeline (previously called the wall) is easy. First, go to your timeline and find the offensive post. Move your mouse over the post, and a small icon which looks like a pencil will show up at the top-right area of the post. Click on that pencil, and select “Delete”. You’re done. If you get many of these posts which you need to delete, here’s one solution: there’s a simple setting for banning your friends from posting on your timeline. First, click on the gear icon at the top-right area of the screen. Select “Account settings”. Next, on the column on the left side, click on “Timeline and Tagging”. Look for the option “Who can post on your timeline?”, and change the setting from “Friends” to “Only Me”. You won’t have to worry about unwanted posts on your timeline. The downside: no one will be able post “happy birthday” posts on your timeline...

Question of the Week 
I noticed that people are posting a special message on Facebook that protects their privacy. How does it work?
— Norbu, Thimphu

Answer
This “privacy” post (see image) has been circulating on Facebook for a few years, in one form or the other. The message uses fancy legal talk, such as “The violation of privacy can be punished by law (UCC 1-308 - 1 1 308-103 and the Rome Statute)” and other such blabbering, which convinces many innocent users to keep spreading the message by posting it on their own timeline. However, this is a bogus message; nothing you post on Facebook can change your privacy agreement with Facebook. As we have heard in the news recently, any material you post on Facebook can be potentially shared with the government of the USA. The only way to protect your privacy on Facebook? Keep private information to yourself and never post it online.

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Readers are encouraged to submit technology-related questions to boaz@thimphutech.com

Home Sweet Home (K2 #65)

Question of the Week 
I noticed that DrukNet has new prepaid broadband plans. Which one should I choose?
— Pem D., Thimphu

Answer
The cost of Internet access in Bhutan keeps dropping, and the speed keeps increasing. The net effect: Consumers are getting more for their money. Let’s take a short walk down memory lane: five years ago the cheapest monthly broadband package, called “DSL-1000”, was priced at a Nu 1000 and included a meager 0.5 GB of data at a crawling speed of 0.25 Mbps. With today’s cheapest package (the “Home” at Nu 400) we get eight times the amount of data (4 GB) and a maximum download speed of 2 Mbps. Not bad, but we’re still behind other countries. According to the NetIndex’s Household Download Index, Bhutan ranks #179 out of 184 countries, so there’s still room for improvement. However, compared to just a few years ago, this is a major upgrade.

DrukNet offers both prepaid and postpaid plans. The postpaid packages are substantially more expensive compared to the prepaid ones, so avoid them if you can. Let’s focus on the prepaid plans. There are currently three prepaid packages: Home, Office, and Enterprise. All of them offer the same speed (up to 2 Mbps) and the same expiration period (30 days). The only difference between the three plans is their cost and the amount of included data. As seen in the table, the Home package offers the best rate at only Nu 100 per GB. The other two packages (Office and Enterprise) are more expensive, and I couldn't find any good reason to use them. With the expensive packages you pay more per GB. In addition, you are also at risk of wasting a lot of money if you forget to recharge before expiration.

If you are a heavy broadband user and are thinking of recharging using an expensive package to save multiple trips to the BT office, here’s a better alternative. Just ask the BT representative to recharge multiple times using the Home package. For example, if you need 12 GB, simply ask to recharge using the Home package (400 Nu), but three times in a row. You will end up paying only Nu 1200 for 12 GB. This is Nu 300 cheaper than recharging with the 12 GB Office package.

Why does DrukNet offer the Office and Enterprise packages? If you find out, please let me know.

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Readers are encouraged to submit technology-related questions to boaz@thimphutech.com

Driving from Thimphu to Paro on the Bumthang-Ura Highway

Google seems to be updating its maps in Bhutan, and this results in some awkward information being displayed. For example, the highway stretch from Thimphu to Paro is sometimes labeled "Bumthang-Ura Hwy". Farms roads are designated as "fam Rd". And if you look carefully, you'll find some other interesting issues...

Perhaps its time to switch to Waze, the popular navigation app? Oops, Google just bought them for $1.03 billion...

Sleep on it (K2 #64)

Question of the Week
When I turn off my Windows laptop, I noticed options for Sleep and Hibernate. What is the difference between the two?
— Nawang S., Motithang

Answer
Dear Nawang,

Shut down, sleep, hibernate... Let’s try and sort things out. We’ll start with the most familiar option: Shut down. When you shut down your laptop, all your applications close, and then the laptop turns off. In this “off” state, the laptop uses no power, so the battery can keep for days. When it’s time to use the laptop again and you power on the laptop, Windows restarts (which can take a minute or two – or five) and then you need to re-launch your applications, like MS Word or your Internet browser.

Now let’s talk about sleep. In sleep mode the computer starts dreaming. OK, just kidding. In sleep mode (previously known as Standby), the screen and other power-hungry parts such as the hard disk are turned off, but the computer’s memory — where the running applications are kept — is still powered. This allows the computer to wake up very quickly – usually in a matter of seconds – and snap back to where you left it off, applications and all. In sleep mode, the computer uses little power but it still slowly drains the battery. If you are not using your computer for a few hours, or if the laptop is plugged into power, this is usually a good choice.

Finally: Hibernation. Somewhat like hibernating bears (but not all of them – sloth bears do not hibernate!), this is similar to a deep sleep. Hibernating the computer and waking up from hibernation takes longer than putting it to sleep and waking it from sleep, but when it wakes up, eventually it restores to where you left off. Why use hibernation? Under hibernate mode, the battery can keep for days. Here’s how it works: When you hibernate your computer, the content of the memory – where the running applications are kept – is first saved to the hard disk, and then the computer shuts down, so the laptop uses no power. When you turn the computer on, it restores the memory back from the hard disk. This is why waking up from hibernation takes longer than waking up from sleep. Hibernate mode is useful if you know your computer will be disconnected from power for a day or more, but you still want to kick off exactly where you left off.

The proper way to shut down
If you pull out the power cord or otherwise turn off the power while Windows is still running, this may result in corrupted files and other unexpected trouble. It is best to first shut down Windows, then turn off the power to the computer.

A Quick Quiz for Kuensel Readers

This inforgraphic was published in today's Kuensel (TV’s stand-alone influence on society).

Look at the bottom chart (Impact of TV on children), and answer the following question:

If one person equals 2%, and two people equal 4%, how many people equal 38%?