Could the browser wars of the late 1990s web be upon us again? Then it was Netscape versus Internet Explorer, but now with the launch of Chrome it’s more than just two browsers pitted against each other. Google’s new entry in Chrome is certain to raise the temperature again. Internet Explorer has enjoyed dominance for […]
Matthew Buckland
Matthew Buckland is the former GM of the Mail & Guardian Online and co-founder of award-winning blog aggregator amatomu.com and editorial blog Thought Leader. He has worked in the online medium all his working life literally from its inception in South Africa. He was one of the first new media graduates out of Rhodes University and has previously worked for iafrica.com, Carte Blanche (Interactive), Johncom (e-media) and the BBC Online (beeb.com) in the UK. He is a computer fundi and has had one since the age of 7 (ZX Spectrum 48k), where he spent most of his time creating computer games in BASIC. He has spoken around the world on online media issues, including New York, Germany, Kenya and London.
Posted inGeneral
Pledge to download Firefox on June 17
Firefox is a brilliant browser. It’s also fast. I discarded Internet Explorer (IE) about two years ago. It wasn’t an ideological decision, I wasn’t trying to make a point… it’s just that Firefox is a better browser. I still have IE7 on my laptop, but use it only for testing purposes. I find it slow […]
Posted inGeneral
The new, cheaper and faster iPhone 2.0, with 3G and GPS
So now we know. The speculation is over. I was listening to the Apple WWDC event’s iPhone announcements lastnight live on ustream, following the excellent live blogging on Engadget and keeping up with the lively micro-blogging commentary. The announcement everyone was waiting for took ages to come, but it eventually arrived to rapturous applause and […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Elections 2.0: New media and democracy
The internet has a critical role to play in democracies. Likewise, it will play an important role in the country’s upcoming national elections. This is now being recognised by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), which for the first time had “new media” on the agenda at its national media conference in Pretoria — a high-level […]
Posted inGeneral
The web 2.0 password crisis
Users increasingly need to create accounts with logins and passwords on the sites they visit these days. This is because the web today is no longer a place just for brochure sites, but is increasingly a place for online applications and services like email, instant messaging, banking, social networking… you name it. In the world […]
Posted inGeneral
The 15 startup commandments
It’s still startup frenzy on the web (2.0) these days. If you haven’t read this before — here are the 15 startup commandments — a good read for those doing startup web companies. The author is Mark Fletcher (www.startupping.com), founder of Bloglines.com. The commandments 1. Your idea isn’t new. Pick an idea — at least […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Name changes: ‘Cost argument’ is nonsense
I’ve often thought that many name change critics approach the debate with a certain intellectual dishonesty. Most of the time I hear that South Africa should not change a name of a city, road, river or geographic region because of the “cost” involved. Critics will usually juxtapose the cost of the name change with how […]
Posted inMedia
Google News shoots for source
The official Google news blog has alerted us about a new feature on Google News that will help readers “quickly and easily” find original stories from news publishers. This should be interesting to watch, particularly in the local context where the vast majority of content on South Africa’s major mainstream news sites is replicated from […]
Posted inMedia, Tech
Facebook, the Web 2.0 killer
The existence of Facebook, the smash-hit social-networking site, may unwittingly kill off a host of other Web 2.0 start-ups. This is mainly because of Facebook’s inclusive and all-encompassing nature. The site appears to be blogging (lite), Twittering (short blogging), multiplayer gaming (simple games), dating, social networking, online photo management and even emailing all in one. […]
Posted inMedia
Manto, the multimedia story
The Sunday Times story surrounding our embattled health minister has been a good example of integrated journalism. The newspaper broke the big story, yet the online presence went further than just plonking a repeat of the story on the web. Nowadays, media companies are publishing source material and the original supporting documentation of their stories […]
Posted inTech
Google of the universe
So Google is not satisfied with world domination, but wants to rule the universe too. Hey, even space shuttles need search engines. Ok, at a stretch. So it transpires that the new version of Google Earth now comes with sky imagery or a “virtual telescope”, as Google calls it. As the official Google Earth blog […]
Posted inMedia
But John Robbie a Sunday Times Mampara?
I was surprised to see Talk Radio 702 morning presenter John Robbie named the