General

I intended to submit a commentary in response to Macca’s* reply to my original post, but I need to provide greater clarity on my own (very personal) position with regards the English language as a technical communicative function — as opposed to a socio-historical phenomenon. Let me say, first, that the point I made about […]

Robert Mugabe Hi, I’m Bob, I am in my late middle ages, which is exactly how I run my country, like the Late Middle Ages. A great famine followed by a bubonic plague-like population reduction. But enough about history, let’s talk about me. As I’m being forced to enter into power sharing I figured that […]

Mybroadband reports on how the ratio of mobile broadband in the UK has exceeded that of even Wifi: “Point Topic’s recent survey of mobile broadband users shows that the UK mobile phone companies have managed to grow their market share to 47% of users accessing the internet away from home or work. This compares to […]

After eight years of the theatre of the absurd ordinary South Africans generally welcomed Kgalema Motlanthe’s address to the nation as a breath of sanity. After the denialism, delusions and paranoia of the Mbeki era, simple commonsense and goodwill has rarely sounded so good. But while we count our blessings, a note of caution should […]

In honour of Google’s 10th birthday, the company has released their oldest available search index to the public. You can search on it and it will provide results based on 2001 data. It is very interesting to note the differences in the results that show up on the pages and how much change there has […]

The late advertising guru, David Ogilvy, is well-known for saying “advertising is the most fun you can have with your clothes on”. Maybe true, but not quite so in the blogging world. I often sit at five am in my birthday suit and create a blog or two and trawl through my commentaries, reply if […]

Recent events in South Africa have resurrected the age-old question of democracy. What is it? What does it mean to say, ever so glibly, that democracy is ‘the rule of the people’? Putting it that way does not necessarily mean ‘the rule of the people by the people’, but could easily reflect a docile kind […]

The latest Human Science Research Council survey reveals that white South Africans are worried about the success of the 2010 World Cup. However, the survey also indicates “this by no means implies that they care less about hosting the mega event”. Furthermore, “at least 95% of white South Africans have consistently perceived there to be […]

http://www.thefa.com/TheFA/Respect/ Football used to be a simple affair. Eleven fit young men from around the way would go down to the park on weekends and square off against another collective from another locale. The game would be played in high spirits and with goodwill all round, the ref would be a quiet authority on the […]

I love Twitter. But I’m starting to fall very much out of love with some of the tweets that pop up in my stream. Yes, obviously, Twitter offers us a quicker, less formal, real-time version of email. And yes, it’s gone way beyond its original plan to publish everyone’s answer to “what are you doing?” […]

At least these guys are consistent in their inconsistency. Last week Arsenal did the hard bit and beat Bolton away, looking the business as their slick passing game beat the Bolton bruisers. Liverpool had drifted and drawn at home to Stoke. And Manchester City had thrilled all and sundry against a hapless Portsmouth. Fast forward […]

After seeing the decidedly deluxe and off-beat design of the Google Zurich office that has made the rounds of the internet, it is vaguely disappointing to see this blog post about Google South Africa’s sales office. Google Zurich reeks of money and Euro-hip design which seems entirely appropriate for Google in Switzerland. Schedule a meeting […]