Thabo Mbeki has thrown a spanner into the Bafana Bafana works by suggesting that the national team change its name. “Boys, boys” just ain’t good enough for a national side. (Perhaps it’s time that somebody pointed out that the players themselves ain’t good enough for a national side. Ouch!) It’s not the first time the […]
2007
Posted inLifestyle
Gods with stethoscopes
So I’m walking into a hospital recently when an interesting sign catches my eye: “Designated smoking area”. Nothing out of the ordinary there; I see signs like these everywhere. But of course this is a hospital, a place in which there are rooms filled with people breathing through holes in their necks because their lungs […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media
A very blind date
No, luckily not something involving me, but rather a horrible live-on-air incident that happened on a show called Blind Date in the UK in 1997. We all know the format: a guy or girl chooses a partner for a blind date by listening to the responses of three “invisible” hopefuls. In Blind Date, the losers, […]
Posted inTech
Is it the end of the line for the PC already?
An interesting article by an AP reporter talks about the decline in PC sales in Japan. It comes just a few days after a debate with some friends found us mulling over the same issue. My idea that the life of the PC was limited and that the computer as we know it was on […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Info Scandal II
It’s a peaceful and sunny Sunday morning, but the morning news is once again troubling. The president’s men are, reportedly, hoping to buy Johnnic Communications, publisher of the Sunday Times. All of it.
Posted inTech
Our nuclear future
Nuclear energy is the best option currently available for base load energy generation. Nuclear technology has advanced in leaps and bounds since the last disastrous meltdown in the Eighties and we are on the verge of experiencing the wonders of modular nuclear reactors, PBMR. It is small, efficient, generates little waste and above all, is […]
Posted inGeneral
The pitfalls of Fisher’s concept of racism
Circumstances prevented an earlier response to Ryland Fisher’s recent piece on racism — drawn from his book, Race. I am happy that he urges us to join in a conversation about race, a topic whose relevance has not diminished in post-apartheid South Africa, judging from media reports and articles. The major problem with his work […]
Posted inMedia
Brands make their mark on Facebook
Over the last few months we have seen a bunch of brands jumping onto the Facebook bandwagon. Trying to take advantage of the trend and engage the youngsters on Facebook — demographics are becoming more diverse — the most recent to see it backfire was Walmart. My opinion on why Walmart failed, besides all of […]
Posted inTech
OpenSocial gets off to a hacking great start
Google’s OpenSocial was launched amid great expectation last week, with virtual groupies waiting for the doors to open. While I wasn’t among those pitching their tents, so to speak, outside Google’s OpenSocial landing page, once I had come across the fact that it open for business, I thought I’d check it out. OpenSocial holds much […]
Posted inGeneral
The rise and rise of cellphone connectivity
According to Jan Chipchase, principle researcher for Nokia, there will be three billion people connected on cellphones by the end of 2007. That is a fair chunk out of the approximately 6,3-billion people inhabiting the Earth. He also anticipates that within another two years, a further billion people will be connected. Wow. That puts a […]
Posted inTech
The rise and rise of cellphone connectivity
According to Jan Chipchase, principle researcher for Nokia, there will be three billion people connected on cellphones by the end of 2007. That is a fair chunk out of the approximately 6,3-billion people inhabiting the Earth. He also anticipates that within another two years, a further billion people will be connected. Wow. That puts a […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Mini-budget, mighty implications and the wooden spoon
I once heard Trevor Manuel say: “Let me take out my wooden spoon and stir.” Finally, I realised where his staff learned to use the phrase. Imitation is, after all, the highest form of flattery. It usually means that someone in the National Treasury is going to raise a controversial issue, with all the confidence […]