An analysis of the names on the lips of the chattering elite who inhabit Web 2.0, or at least the world of blogs, Facebook and user-generated content, shows that it is really a one-horse race: Jacob Zuma versus not Jacob Zuma. Tokyo Sexwale and Cyril Ramaphosa barely feature in the succession debate in blog content. […]
2007
Posted inGeneral
Abyss
As a specialised criminal attorney, nobody appreciates more the incredible job performed by not only the police, but also by other members of our criminal justice system. Theirs, in the main, is a thankless task performed by, primarily, professional people under very trying circumstances. The citizens of South Africa are deeply indebted to them — […]
Posted inBusiness, Media, Tech
eBay: How big can you go?
eBay is a notoriously dominant property in the online auction/marketplaces space, where the market value of an item is uncertain. The most significant element of this dominance is attributed to network effects in its marketplace business. In eBay’s business, the money side of the platform is the marketplace sellers and the subsidy side is the […]
Posted inBusiness
Back to basics (Economics 101)
The inspiration for this post came from the fact that I’m busy outsourcing software-development work to Russia now, given that I can’t find the skills locally. I often wonder how (and when!) South Africa will become globally competitive in the internet and software sectors — the reality is that we’re not, and probably won’t be […]
Posted inBusiness, Media, Tech
Google’s cash machine: How sustainable is it really?
Barriers to entry have typically been used by traditional offline players to deter entry into an industry. This has the effect of creating a business environment where healthy profits and sometimes even monopolistic (economic) profits are possible. In the online space, there are few of these barriers to entry, but there is something else that […]
Posted inGeneral
Thought Leader is a catalyst
My understanding is that this new online blogging site is not an elitist project but instead aims to engage with and draw into its conversations all readers of the paper and in fact more and more citizens of this country. This country urgently needs to develop many more strong, independent and critical thinkers, not only […]
Posted inBusiness, Media
‘The beatings will continue until morale improves’
It’s 5.24am on Saturday morning in the northern suburbs of Africa’s financial capital. I’ve just finished two hours re-editing a DVD for the big-screen display at the hottest party in town tonight. (Club Y at Carfax, Newtown, if you must know.) Now, there’s the obligatory wait for the video to render. (That’s geek speak for […]
Posted inSport
The global appeal of the Pumas
Marcelo Loffreda, Argentina’s rugby coach, was happy at mid-week. The main reason was, obviously, that the Pumas’ victory over Ireland on Sunday enabled his team to top their pool — with the best defensive record in the World Cup — and therefore face Scotland in the second round instead of the All Blacks. Loffreda was […]
Posted inNews/Politics
What’s in a name?
Grahamstown, the city which I call home, is in danger of losing its name. This has been in the pipeline for some time, but the whole thing flared up again when President Mbeki called Colonel John Graham, after whom the town is named, a butcher; and the excellent local newspaper Grocott’s Mail has been running […]
Posted inBusiness, Media, Tech
Beware the business blog: Seven ground rules
These guidelines for business blogs were written in early 2006, but still apply: 1. Blogs are forever — or at least their content can be captured and stored elsewhere, even after you change or update it, so don’t write anything you may wish you’d never said. South Africa has already had a few blog lawsuits […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Dear Robert Macdonald (and your boss) …
Robert Macdonald Spokesperson for the mayor of Cape Town, Helen Zille Dear Mr Macdonald I have taken note of your comment posted to my open letter to mayor Helen Zille. Thank you. I felt that, rather than replying via a comment, I should give you the honour of a fuller reply in the form of […]
Posted inLifestyle
Tea parties are no joke
Now, you might want to dismiss this as the ramblings of a 25-year-old woman who likes dressing up fancy and baking cakes a little too much, but hear me out. I had a tea party yesterday evening (in the balmy dusk air, under a tree, with two kinds of cake and homemade biscuits and sandwiches […]