Stewart Brand, at the first hackers conference in 1984, famously said: On the one hand information wants to be expensive, because it’s so valuable. The right information in the right place just changes your life. On the other hand, information wants to be free, because the cost of getting it out is getting lower and […]
2009
Posted inGeneral
Eskom, we need answers
By Mohamed Fayaz Khan The fact that the electricity industry is a shambles is well-documented, understood and often ridiculed. The current price of electricity is not sustainably viable and significant capital is required to expand our base-load generating capacity to ensure that we do not again experience energy interruptions. The present situation was primarily a […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Battle lines drawn ahead of ANC, Cosatu and SACP summit…
Having established itself as the de facto leader and dictator to the ruling ANC-led tripartite alliance, Cosatu is battling to come to terms with the reality that it will not always have its way in the broad church that is the ANC. With the ANC being the only ruling party in the world to house […]
Posted inGeneral
The Southern Kings: Where to now?
Over the course of today, most if not all South African rugby fans would have heard the news that the Southern Kings did not win the right to be the 15th franchise in the expanded Super 15 competition, set to kick off in 2011. To say that this news is surprising would be the same […]
Posted inBusiness
An ordinary, decent company — right!
Most of us ordinary, reasonably decent people have difficulty wrapping our minds around the legal notion of a company being a “person” in the same way we are. People are people and companies are, well, just, y’know, companies. People have feelings and morals. Companies don’t. It never was that simple and it never will be. […]
Posted inLifestyle
Disorganised by my ‘organisation’
In his book, The Black Swan, The Impact of the Highly Improbable, Nassim Nicholas Taleb furthers the argument (he introduced in Fooled By Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets) that in life there are rare events, normally outliers, with impacts that are decisive and often irreversible. Such events happen […]
Posted inNews/Politics
How can Old Mutual defend the indefensible?
Old Mutual says its investments are dictated by profit and not political considerations. The insurance giant was reacting to a call to shed its investment in the Zimbabwean company that prints the Mugabe government’s propaganda mouthpiece, The Herald newspaper. “Our investments are made for the benefit of our policyholders, meant to meet needs and expectations […]
Posted inBusiness
If kids can grasp it, why can’t bankers?
There is a difference between what is legal and what is right. Parents work hard on getting their kids to understand this and fortunately for society, they mostly succeed. Big business doesn’t get it, though. For most corporates what is legal is moral, finish en klaar. In South Africa entire industries were gleefully built around […]
Posted inGeneral
The link between the Berlin Wall and 2010 World Cup
This week marked the 20th anniversary of the unification of Germany, an event that symbolises some extraordinary parallels between the hosts of the 2006 and 2010 editions of the World Cup. When Germany and South Africa slugged it out for the rights to host the tournament in 2006, they both used two of the most […]
Posted inLifestyle
Movember, moustaches and other manly things
Finally, a good excuse to act like a man that doesn’t involve getting shouted at for muddying my clothes and breaking my collar bone. Raise awareness this Movember by growing your own tash! It’s for The Cancer Association of South Africa!
Posted inMedia
Why SA is the 10th largest Twitter user
The other day I found out that South Africa is the 10th largest Twitter user on the planet. 10th! That’s pretty damn cool. The US is by far the largest in terms of users right now, but we are right up there with the big boys, like the UK and Sweden, and ahead of many […]
Posted inGeneral
Appalling SA embassy services bedevil SA workers abroad
Here’s the scenario: you are working in Shanghai and your SA passport is about to expire in a few months. Good, responsible citizen that you are, and not wishing to have trouble with the Chinese authorities when renewing your work visa, you duly go to the SA consulate in Shanghai. Bureaucratic procedures combined with the […]