General

Many of us were shocked on Sunday last when we turned the front page of the Afrikaans Sunday paper Rapport, to see the horrific image on page two of the Yemeni poet, Walid Mohamed Ahmed al-Ramisi, who had his tongue cut off as a result of his criticisms of the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) — the opposition coalition in […]

As the print publishing industry fades and digital platforms flourish, market consolidation is the order of the day, with creative agencies scrambling to acquire digital skills. But it is a slippery acquisition target — the software development fraternity is itself growing and mutating, with complex and differentiated skill sets evolving around social, mobile and online […]

Last week World Wide Worx released its online retail report which showed that online retail is growing by about 30% every year and will grow by about 40% in 2011 according to industry expectations. I’ve had a chance to see the full report as I am doing some work for a client in the industry […]

The memories of the genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia Herzegovina in the mid-nineties must never be extinguished from our hearts. The reason why the ending of one was successful, and the failure to end the other is the darkest page in post-war US foreign policy, is banally simple. Bosnia stirred the conscience of the West, […]

Nokia is looking to position itself strategically for smartphone growth in SA. It’s signed an agreement with Microsoft to get the Windows operating system onto Nokia handsets and smartphones, like the N8, available on some seriously cheap contracts. Having just got an N8 on contract, some things about Nokia’s strategy started to fall into place […]

A discourse analysis of utterances by members of the ANC yields interesting results. By discourse analysis here I mean an analysis of linguistic practices through a focus on the link between linguistic meaning and the power relations such linguistic practices serve. First, the ANC’s persistence in defending their right to sing the liberation song containing […]

Telcos are under tremendous pressure to reduce costs, while at the same time improving the experience of customers. Trying to achieve this requires a thorough review of supporting IT systems’ operational support systems/business support systems (OSS/BSS) and a drive to automate service-delivery processes. This is where the modern telco’s competitive advantage lies. It certainly doesn’t […]

Crruuncch! It was like crashing against a concrete pillar. The Dutchman, erm, Afrikaner kid shrugged me off and ran towards the school rugby field touchline, the crowds roaring. I lay on the spiky grass, dazed from my attempt to tackle that big bastard. I was thirteen then and to this day I swear blind it […]

Week 14 of the 2011 Super 15 is fast approaching, and with only a few weeks left till the “finals series” (feels like a bastardised PR word to me) the chaff is being separated from the wheat. The Brumbies are now certain to be the running punch line for this season, considering their own coach […]

How dare I attribute the blame for the continuation of hate crimes against lesbians in South Africa to religion? The Bible preaches love and prohibits murder. How can I make the sweeping statement that religion is complicit in the perpetration of hate crimes? And my personal favourite: how can a law professor use this blog […]

The history of politics, or of political struggle and political change, can at least partly be understood in light of the tension between two of the three constituent concepts comprising the battle cry of the French Revolution, triggered by the storming of the Bastille in 1789: “Liberty, equality, fraternity!” There is an irreducible tension between […]

The Cold War between 1947 and 1991 was fought on ideological grounds. The imperial West sought to establish its dominance in world affairs to the defeat of the Soviet Union and its allies. In the aftermath of WWII, communist ideology had gained unprecedented popularity and was spreading across Europe. The US and Britain were terrified […]