I was about to write a scathing piece about rich environmentalists named in an editorial about a proposed gold mine in a poor town in Romania, when a Ghanaian teacher wrote, in essence, a far more eloquent rebuttal.
2007
Posted inTech
When privacy no longer counts
I read a couple of stories in the past few days that seemingly have no connection, but that collectively demonstrate how the world we live in has changed. Article #1: Intelligence magazine reports on a new security system that is being put in place in airports in the United States. The system pre-vets travellers and […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Tackling racism and sexism
As I read an article about the alleged racist remarks made by Badih Chaaban, a controversial Cape Town city councillor, I thought to myself: I have heard worse in Mitchells Plain and Hanover Park. Chaaban had apparently called mayor Helen Zille a “f***ing b**ch”, Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille a “coloured k****r” and said […]
Posted inBusiness
No interest in VC funding
South African entrepreneurs are obviously loaded. How else can you explain the fact that the next First Tuesday, which was meant to be a “panel discussion to determine the state of VC funding in South Africa, what funders are looking for and how you can go about gaining access to the funds available” has been […]
Posted inSport
The truth will set your fee
I owe a big thank you to South Africa’s cricket administrators. You see, they have set me straight. I had, for a long time, laboured under the misapprehension that the truth is a good thing. But apparently this is not so.
Posted inNews/Politics
Tarnishing Mandela’s name
One of the most disturbing aspects of how South Africans perceive Nelson Mandela and his role in bringing democracy to this country is the way he is crassly misinterpreted, leading to the serious blemishing of his legacy. It does not matter whether this is done deliberately, unwittingly or merely as a result of deep naivety. […]
Posted inMedia, Tech
Blogger’s block
Immediately after I was approached to join Thought Leader, I was overwhelmed with an inner excitement that somehow left my fingers shaking at the same time. My immediate conclusion, before my profile was launched, was that I finally had a neutral place to lay down my thoughts and ideas indefinitely, where the information I squeezed […]
Posted inBusiness, Tech
Managing your identity
People through the ages have always had a requirement to prove in a credible and trustworthy manner that they are indeed who they say they are. Given the power that comes with a person authenticating their identity, it follows naturally that the art of identity fraud has become prevalent in areas where a lot of […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Counter-media: Alive in Baghdad
A group of American and Iraqi reporters has launched a blog, website and YouTube video channel called Alive in Baghdad that “formed to counter the sound-bite-driven, ‘live from’ news model”. The videos on YouTube, predictably, have inspired a lot of comments. The interesting aspect of this project, and many others like it, is its counter-media […]
Posted inTech
Are web development companies still the best place for web advice?
I doubt that I am completely wrong when I say web development companies in South Africa have missed the Web 2.0 boat and are watching us steam away as we break out the caviar on deck. Can someone please show me where this caviar is exactly, when I’m done writing this? Caviar or not, there […]
Posted inGeneral
BEE company to feed Kruger visitors to animals
“BEE company wins 10-year contract to feed Kruger visitors: “A black economic empowerment group has been given a multimillion-rand contract to run all restaurants in the Kruger National Park, in Mpumalanga. The group has signed a lucrative 10-year contract with the South African National Parks to operate the Kruger’s 12 restaurants.” — UPI The reporter […]
Posted inTech
How to write a hit blog post (based on real Amatomu data)
Analysing Amatomu data from the past 2 months reveals some interesting — and not so interesting — trends in what makes a blog post a hit. Ok, here goes. Thanks to Vincent Maher’s (of Amatomu) kindly SQL queries, I have the most-used links on Amatomu over the past few months in front of me. While […]