This was the year of big data. In the last two to three years we have accumulated more data than ever before[1]. This provides both a challenge and an opportunity for companies, and the ones who get it right fastest are going to lead the pack. There are three trends related to this growth in […]
General
Posted inGeneral
Times are a-changing for Test cricket
I have read and listened with great worry over the last two months at the threat which Test cricket is perceivably under — made even more flamboyant by a media contingent keen to increase the content in their publications, on the Twitter pages and on their radio shows. I do see some level of threat […]
Posted inGeneral, Lifestyle
Durex: ‘Let copulation thrive!’
It’s just more embarrassing to watch oral sex on the big screen because it is just that much more in your face. The sexy Hollywood actor slid down the gorgeous Hollywood actress’s quivering body towards her you know what. Courteously — or rather in line with movie ratings — the camera did not pan across […]
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E-commerce that suits you and converts customers
SA e-business is on the up and up. MasterCard’s recent survey of online shopping habits shows that 51% of connected South Africans shop online — 75% of them in the last three months. With these encouraging findings in mind, businesses know they have to start carving out an e-commerce strategy. Unfortunately, there is no magic […]
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2011: The year social went mobile
The most significant communication trend to emerge in 2011 was mobility, which is beginning to drive major changes in the way the global economy operates. There are other important developments emerging that demand attention, however my best bet is it that mobility will remain a dominant force in 2012. Mobile social media Social media has […]
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Not The Mac Maharaj News
While going through the Sunday papers it became clear to me that the media are under immense pressure to stay within the bounds of South African law. Not only is a Protection of State Information Bill on its way but the National Prosecuting Authority Act and even the case law prohibiting the naming of litigants […]
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The fundamental contradiction in society — conventional vs critical thinking
I wonder if it has always been the case that there is a fundamental tension in society, or societies, between a kind of conventional, mainstream opinion (what the ancient Greek philosophers derogatorily called “doxa”), on the one hand, and a countervailing, critical thread of thinking, on the other. Moreover, in addition to this tension, there […]
Posted inGeneral, Lifestyle
Why can’t successful women get hitched?
Not long ago I found myself chilling at the Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton with a group of super-successful African male professionals. They were four, middle-aged gentlemen wearing designer labels with their posh cars parked in the underground lot. We had just decided to get together to play catch-up because we had increasingly become aware […]
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An open letter to President Goodluck Jonathan
By Gbenga Sesan Dear Mr President Thank you for your continued efforts towards improving Nigeria. Though I have my opinion on the impact of your efforts that is not the purpose of this letter. Sir, as a citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, whose daily duty is to work with young Nigerians and ask […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Malema sowed the seeds of Mugabeism
In SA, as in most of Africa, a struggle of epic proportions has been raging between the “haves” and “have-nots”, this in a world where we are told no-one owes anyone anything. It is a dangerous world because the “haves” have much and are few and the “have-nots” lack much and are plentiful. It has […]
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I am an apartheid beneficiary. I am not proud of it
Background: Last Sunday I published a letter in the Afrikaans Sunday paper Rapport addressing one Dr Marie Heese. Heese had written a scathing attack of my colleague Prof Pierre de Vos’s views on the so-called T-option language policy at Stellenbosch University. De Vos’s commentary was sparked by a motion by a doctoral candidate in law […]
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Untangle corporate mobility – BYOD
The mobile revolution is well under way, but it comes with problems of its own, including picking among the growing range of options on which to reach colleagues. The answer? Ask your employees to bring their own device. Join the mobile revolution Office mobility is on the up and up. As the world population hit […]