Two major shifts have occurred in the Facebook regional rankings that may point to the shape of things to come in social networking. Canada leaped ahead of the United Kingdom in the past two weeks, while Australia finally stormed past Norway. South Africa, meanwhile, achieved the quarter-million mark on September 8, but is warily eyeing […]
2007
Posted inSport
The importance of national anthems in sports
The stunner pulled by the Pumas last Friday with their victory over France in the World Cup opener was a history-making moment for Argentinian rugby. The local press and supporters have been talking about it non-stop since, ahead of today’s game with Georgia. There was, however, another event at the match, aside from the win […]
Posted inSport
FIA open letter to McLaren drivers
The president of the FIA, Max Mosley, made public a letter he sent to the three McLaren drivers who may be caught up in the Stepneygate scandal. Ferrari recently announced that they have discovered new evidence believed to be emails between McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa and reigning world champion Fernando Alonso. The […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Report back: Iraq
It’s amazing how people see things so differently. To me, my girlfriend is the most beautiful, sensitive and caring woman in the world, yet to my wife … And so it proved with the report given by the United States ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, and General David Petraeus to the congressional joint hearing of […]
Posted inGeneral
So, how does President Mbeki measure up against his predecessors?
Human beings are a funny lot. Because I’ve written a few satirical opinion pieces that were published (plus I’m a Thought Leader, tee hee hee) I have had the “social commentator” tag attached to me a few times. That means that, all of a sudden, people want me to “comment” on things. This past Saturday […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Is the democratic honeymoon over?
I’m increasingly feeling that 2007 will be remembered as a seminal year in South African post-apartheid politics. It is shaping up to be a watershed year. I recently discussed the African National Congress’s 2007 as an annus horribilis, but it’s wider than the party. I think 2007 will go down as the year that South […]
Posted inGeneral
Careful how you play the media
Much has been said in the media, blogosphere and the world in general about the case of the disappearance of little Madeleine McCann. What has been the most interesting of the entire case has been the part the media and the public have played in the entire saga. When the initial story hit the news […]
Posted inMedia
Careful how you play the media
Much has been said in the media, blogosphere and the world in general about the case of the disappearance of little Madeleine McCann. What has been the most interesting of the entire case has been the part the media and the public have played in the entire saga. When the initial story hit the news […]
Posted inMedia, Tech
Technology qualifications not meeting needs of SA web
My colleague and fellow Thought Leader contributor Vinny Lingham and I recently spent some time together discussing what we believe is the next wave of innovation on the web, post the social-networking drivers of Web 2.0. We believe that the world is poised for a dramatic increase in demand for niche, concise, on-demand skills training. […]
Posted inLifestyle
Barry Manilow: Secret weapon against crime
I came across this report that tells how police in the United Kingdom have borrowed from their Australian counterparts an ingenious method of managing loitering youths. To fight the growing problem of pimply teenagers gathering in public places with their trousers around their knees, iPods embedded in their waxy ears, composing badly spelled SMSs and […]
Posted inSport
It has begun!
So the World Cup is up and running. Man, there was a lot of rugby at the weekend. So let’s start at the beginning. After all the hoo-ha about the media boycotting coverage of the tournament, everything ran smoothly, thanks to an eleventh-hour deal where the stringent restrictions on the use of images online were […]
Posted inMedia, Tech
Money, money, money
Contrary to popular belief, there is money to be made on the internet. The Mail & Guardian Online has become a profitable part of the M&G empire with advertising revenues increasing by 60% in the past year. M&G Online publisher Matt Buckland told the Digital Citizen Indaba in Grahamstown on Sunday that advertising has not […]