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Wednesday, February 20, 2013

SMS Coin - An alternative way of monetizing your website

I have been running a free classified's website in Uganda (Tag Sale Uganda) for over two years and recently i was looking for a way of monetizing the service. It's almost impossible to monetize such as service in a country like Uganda. Am talking about payment solutions that are easy to integrate and will be generally acceptable by your clients. I know about mobile money payment platforms but i didn't want to go in that directions because of the bureaucracies involved and also because the mobile money API is not readily available for third party integration (if it is, you have to hustle and wait in the Que)! So is there any other simple and quick way to monetize such a small online service in a country like Uganda where PAYPAL and the likes is a "no go" zone? (Yes, get it from me, PayPal is not an option here, unless your target market is the "few elite"!).
Today am happy to have landed on "SMS Coin", surely the person who developed such a solution must have been thinking about me :-), A perfect solution to monetize online content and websites in countries where the biggest population is still ignorant about internet based payments.
Monetize your online service with SMS Coin
 I will without hesitation proceed to integrate this seemingly nice alternative payment gateway and will be back to tell you about the fruits, if i reap any :-).
If you were looking for a similar solution, have fun.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Develop and Deploy USSD based solutions for GSM in one day

I remember the hustle i went through when i attempted to develop a USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) based solution for GSM. Am from Uganda and we have 5 telecom operators (MTN, UTL, Warid, Airtel (formerly Zain) and Orange, and may be another one will join before i even finish writing this small sticky note!). So i went to one operator to discuss the requirements and procedures i have to go through before i can successfully deliver my first solution, they handed me a list of all the bureaucracies and i was even too lazy to read the list. then you have to do the same for 4 more operators. this was simply defeating and my dream of launching my first USSD application almost flew out the window until i landed on these Guys "Global USSD".
Global USSD - A platform for easy service development and a go-between point for MNOs and service providers
Ideally, these guys solve all the bureaucracies and you have nothing to blame apart from your creativity. They created a universal platform for all USSD developers to quickly develop and deploy their applications without going through the pain of paperwork (sign here, sign there!).
And oh yes, you can actually deploy a USSD solution in one day, how cool is that?
 This sticky note was to tell you that something like this is possible, will be back with a more technical post once am done launching my first USSD application.

You might also be interested in:

1. Mobicents' Open Source USSD gateway
2. Vumi - Conversation Engine; delivery of SMS, start menu and chat messages.
3. Eyeline.Mobi  

Have fun :-)

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Prepare a bootable USB flash disk - Sticky Note

When i want to create a bootable Live USB drive for Ubuntu, Fedora, and other Linux distributions without burning a CD, i use UNetbootin.
Download UNetbootin here.
create a bootable usb for linux distributions
 Another handy tool in my tool box :-)

Split a large file into smaller files - sticky note

When i want to split a large file into smaller files which i can easily upload to my cloud storage or send by email, i use "HJ-Split".
Then i use the same software to recombine the files back into the original file.
Split a large file and recombine it later
A very handy tool :-)
Click here for the download link and their official website.

And when i want to crack 802.11 WEP and WPA-PSK keys

Yet another sticky note about cracking 802.11 WEP and WPA-PSK keys.
i use "Aircrack-ng".
cracking 802.11 WEP and WPA-PSK keys
 Here is the download link and their official website.
Have fun.