Should you ever wonder what the intellectual capacity of social-networking contributors and participants would be, then consider this. A picture of an anteater garnered 2 345 diggs, or votes, and 172 comments, within a matter of 23 hours and 24 minutes. In other words, the groundswell of opinion towards a picture of an anteater with a […]
Tech
Posted inLifestyle, Tech
How expensive is it to stay connected?
I certainly enjoy being connected to the Internet and digital world, but as my bills poured in at the end of the month, I started wondering just how much this is costing me. Here is a (very approximate) breakdown: 3G modem, 1 Gig , R350 3G modem, 2 Gig, R550 Cellphone contract, R500 Blackberry subscription, […]
Posted inTech
My love-hate relationship with technology
I have noticed a life cycle with my enthusiasm for any new piece of technology: At first I love it Then I love it some more, and start hooking up other people with it Then I begin to notice the bugs, which I try to ignore because the technology is so cool Then the bugs […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media, Tech
How to make lottery world history (and get free beers)
I just love lotteries. What I especially love about them is that you don’t even have to enter them any more. You just win them! I won four only this morning. I won lotteries in Spain (again!), France (my third), Egypt and Norway. Even if I had won only three since waking up, I would […]
Posted inTech
Science for sustainability!
I confess that gadgets in sci-fi and ‘spy vs. spy’ movies have always intrigued me. You have to admit that some of these ‘inventions’ are quite novel and innovative, and play quite an important element to the success of the movie. It is difficult not to marvel at the idea of being beamed from one […]
Posted inLifestyle, Tech
Is piracy immoral?
In a time when the latest album or movie is available, for free, to anyone, from your desktop, where is the incentive to hand over money for the identical item? Is it a moral imperative? And what is the moral issue? The line that we’re constantly being fed by the copyright folks is simple: piracy […]
Posted inLifestyle, Tech
How children’s rights are violated on Facebook
When a 14-year-old Johannesburg schoolgirl’s Facebook account was “broken into” and abusive messages and material sent to friends and family, she was deeply traumatised. But at least, she imagined, Facebook would assist in tracking down the perpetrators. It was not to be. Facebook is easily able to fend off spurious complaints about wasting productive time, […]
Posted inTech
Fun toys or maybe the next big technology thing
Watching what my younger daughter gets up to in geekland is always interesting. She is one of the early adopters of digital technology. Thanks to her, I have been a Twitter member since January 2007, months after she had joined, of course, and had a page on Facebook before most other old-timers. An iPhone made […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media, Tech
Would you like your own personal paparazzi?
You can have it! For a fee. I’ve written about Springwise (www.springwise.com) before, one of my favourite websites for innovative ideas. It sends out a newsletter each week with the hottest business spottings from around the world. Sometimes the ideas are smart (getting teenagers to teach adults how to use cellphones), sometimes they’re silly (getting […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media, Tech
And the winner is …
… East Coast Radio! No, not entirely. But they did sweep a good three or four categories (including best new blog, the one for which I was nominated! Sob!) and I’m guessing there’s going to be a backlash of bitter blog posts this morning. It’s not 100% fair, I suppose, when you can ask all […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics, Tech
Africa’s big blogging bang
New statistics show that the big bang of blogging activity that began in South Africa in 2007 has been echoed by the emergence of blogging as a high-profile phenomenon in the rest of Africa. The April-July tipping point in social media in South Africa, chronicled in this blog, also appeared to be the period during […]
Posted inLifestyle, Tech
The blogging Oscars
To be honest, when I first heard that the SA Blog Awards had a ceremony, I wanted to go mainly to see what bloggers look like. I blog, yes, but I don’t think I’m a Blogger (with a capital B). I don’t know about widgets and page views, and I don’t have ads and rankings. […]