Noulakaz

The blog of Avinash, Christina, Anya and Kyan Meetoo.

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100% is better than 15%

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I just purchased a new wireless router: a TP-LINK AC1750 Archer C7.

I have flashed OpenWRT, a Linux distribution, on it and now the sky is the limit. For example, I have managed to get 100% of something I’m currently paying for instead of the 15% I normally get. The steps I followed are:

  • To make sure all DNS requests for that specific website go to TVUnblock, I added a few lines to /etc/dnsmasq.conf as explained here (but, of course, using the DNS servers of TVUnblock)
  • To make sure my Chromecast queries the TVUnblock DNS instead of the Google DNS servers, I added two iptables lines to /etc/firewall.user as explained here.
  • Finally, to make sure that TVUnblock does not block me, I use this cron script to notify them whenever my dynamic IP changes.

Thanks to everyone involved ;-)

An update: this does not work anymore. I am back to 15%… for the time being at least.

Flickr is a social network of people who like photography

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I started using Flickr to share my photos more than then years ago.

Flickr has brought me a lot of joy as, 11 years after, I have uploaded 16,165 photos which have been viewed 1,463,578 times in all (for an average of more than 90 views per photo which is not bad). Most of the viewers are members of my extended family and I thank them for that, even though only a few of them leave comments (most probably because they do not have an account on Flickr).

Yesterday, while browsing the Flickr website, I stumbled upon Flickr groups and this sentence caught my attention: “Flickr groups are a great way to share photos, post comments, and hold discussions around a common theme.” Of course, I knew that Flickr was a great social network for photographers but, up to now, I had neglected that part. So, I subscribed to some groups which I felt were interesting, both because of the quality of photo submissions but, first and foremost, because of the community of photographers participating and their level of interaction. Here are the groups I have subscribed to:

  • Canon DSLR User Group (because I have a Canon EOS 60D camera)
  • The Portrait Group (because most of my photos are portraits of family members, especially my wife, Christina, and my two kids, Anya and Kyan)
  • Nature (because I live in Mauritius!)
  • Landscape (same as above — because I live in Mauritius!)
  • B&W (because of the inherent beauty of black and white photos)
  • Macro (because this is something I would like to be able to do)
  • Strobist (because I would like to perfect my off-camera flash technique)
  • Night Images (because cameras have great high ISO performance now)

My intention is, initially, to visit those groups regularly in order to understand how they work, then start submitting some of my photos to them so that other photographers can offer constructive criticism. My intention is do discover like-minded people, talk with them, learn from them and, ultimately, become a better photographer.

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We have 15% of Netflix in Mauritius

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According to uNoGS (the unofficial Netflix online Global Search), the country with the largest selection of videos, movies and series is, of course, the USA:

Rank Country Videos % Videos Movies % Movies Series % Series % Total
1 United States of America 5,680 100% 4,566 100% 1,114 100% 100.0%
2 Martinique 4,586 81% 3,779 83% 807 72% 78.6%
3 Guadeloupe 4,581 81% 3,774 83% 807 72% 78.6%
4 French Guiana 4,553 80% 3,747 82% 806 72% 78.2%
5 Aruba 4,227 74% 3,461 76% 766 69% 73.0%
6 Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba 4,175 74% 3,411 75% 764 69% 72.3%
7 Sint Maarten (Dutch part) 4,156 73% 3,398 74% 758 68% 71.9%
8 Curaçao 4,155 73% 3,397 74% 758 68% 71.9%
9 Anguilla 3,640 64% 2,951 65% 689 62% 63.5%
10 Montserrat 3,640 64% 2,951 65% 689 62% 63.5%

The next nine regions, which are mostly in Central and South America, also have a very good selection of videos, movies and series. Most probably, they are not the same as the ones in the US but rather more Spanish or French oriented.

Mauritius is ranked 136th:

Rank Country Videos % Videos Movies % Movies Series % Series % Total
131 Croatia 797 14% 583 13% 214 19% 15.3%
132 Czech Republic 798 14% 585 13% 213 19% 15.3%
133 Hungary 798 14% 585 13% 213 19% 15.3%
134 Romania 796 14% 582 13% 214 19% 15.3%
135 Estonia 797 14% 585 13% 212 19% 15.3%
136 Mauritius 757 13% 523 11% 234 21% 15.3%
137 Azerbaijan 797 14% 588 13% 209 19% 15.2%
138 Portugal 770 14% 549 12% 221 20% 15.1%
139 Bhutan 775 14% 560 12% 215 19% 15.1%
140 Timor-Leste 771 14% 558 12% 213 19% 15.0%
141 India 769 14% 558 12% 211 19% 14.9%

In Mauritius, we currently have access to 757 videos (13% of what is available in the USA), 523 movies (11% of what an American can watch) and 234 series (21% of what is viewable in the US). On average, Mauritians have 15% of Netflix.

The reason, of course, is that a number of copyright holders (those who own rights to the videos, movies and series) do not want these to be viewed in Mauritius. It’s a legal issue instead of a technical one.

Is Netflix worth it in Mauritius?

For HD content, Netflix costs $9.99 per month which is approximately Rs 360 per month. That’s not very expensive. But we only have 15% of Netflix compared to an American. Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that Netflix decides to make all its content available in Mauritius but with a proportionally increased price. In that case, Netflix would hypothetically cost us Rs 2,400 which is bloody expensive.

So… is Netflix worth it? It’s up to you to decide. Personally, I have not yet made up my mind.

What about you?