A new study, reported on yesterday by the M&G, looks at the nature of violent crime in South Africa. Although the report attributes our high levels of violence to a number of factors, the core problem being a “subculture of violence and criminality”, it seems to have missed what I would argue is the most […]
2010
Posted inLifestyle
Beggars in shopping malls — facing our guilt
By Suntosh Pillay Beggars confront us every day. What do you do when a person arrives, looking pitifully desperate, begging for a handout? Perhaps we’ve developed routine methods of response: quickly search our pockets and flick a rand; shrug sympathetically; squirm uneasily in the car looking to our side compartments, or, perhaps because suffering has […]
Posted inLifestyle, Tech
Twitter movie cuts to core of nerd psyche
Hot on the heels of the movie about how Facebook started comes 140 characters or less — the movie about how Twitter started. This is only the second successful production in the social networking genre surpassing straight-to-DVD offerings You’re in MySpace and Dude, where’s my MXit. In keeping with the title, director David Fincher used […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Things have changed since 1957
The Sexual Offences Act of 1957 is old, outdated and has been amended. Preliminary findings of a research project presented at the National Working Group on Sexual Offences this week show that the police are blissfully and dangerously unaware of their new roles in relation to the Sexual Offences Act 32 of 2007. The new […]
Posted inGeneral
Nokia N8 review
I so badly wanted to like this phone. In my world, Nokia just hasn’t cracked it since the E71. That phone rocked my world. Nothing has since, and it seems that until Symbian has been rudely shoved aside, this situation will remain. Here’s a quick hit summary of the Nokia N8, with my fairly simple […]
Posted inGeneral
The smart money is on Australia for 2011
The rugby world is slowly edging to its Holy Grail, one which only appears every four years. Plans are concocted, armies assembled and opponents vanquished in the four-year dash for the Rugby World Cup, a tournament which forms the primordial soup of international rugby. The Tri-Nations, Six Nations, Super 12/14/15 and Heineken Cup are all […]
Posted inGeneral
Why can’t more men be like me?
I stare at the messy kitchen used by seven people where we live here in Auckland and see the challenge. Long ago I learned to see domestic work as a form of meditation. It can also be an exercise in gratitude. As I pick up rubbish and put it into the large garbage bag I […]
Posted inLifestyle
Can women parallel park?
Cape Town has the mountain. But Joburg has parking. Ja, ja, scenic splendour and all that, but do not underestimate the significance of the fact that living in Joburg generally does not require the ability to parallel park. Sure, there are suburbs like Greenside and Parkhurst (why is there never parking in Parkhurst?) where parallel […]
Posted inGeneral
The threat to democracy
The other day a colleague asked me to present a proposal for him at a meeting because I supposedly was an “expert at democracy”. I demurred in the face of this description, but afterwards thought that I should have pointed out to him that the notion of an “expert in democracy” is a contradiction in […]
Posted inNews/Politics
No safe spaces any more
A woman was allegedly raped while working in a hospital. A young girl was allegedly gang-raped and filmed on school property during school hours. Women, girls and boys are raped on their walks to public transport, to their jobs and schools. Men are assaulted walking to and from work, are mugged and beaten. There are […]
Posted inGeneral
Textspeak is here to stay, like it or not
People are quick to blame SMS language or “textspeak” for a rise in incorrect spelling and grammar among children and adults alike. It is also seen by parents and teachers as a barrier keeping children from learning English properly, contributing to the degradation in the English language. However, people are failing to see the opportunities […]
Posted inSport
Why are Rugby League players so dumb?
I know it is not right to judge sportsmen by their intellect, or their ability to string a sentence together. You’d never do the reverse to an astrophysicist. You’d never say: Einstein, genius, but awful ball skills. That would be stupid. But with all that said, one would like to hope that our sports heroes […]