I learned to play two new abstract games in 2024. The first was shogi, Japanese chess. Perhaps that’ll be the subject of another post. The second is Tak. Tak was inspired by a novel by Patrik Rothfuss. A few years later, a game designer contacted the author and they collaborated to create the game in… Continue reading A game of Tak
October 2024 African language Wikipedia update
Image from Wikimedia Commons African Language Wikipedias I’m at the 2024 Wiki Indaba, and it’s been inspiring to see the progress in the African Wikimedia space. I was at the very first Wiki Indaba, back in 2014, and the event has grown dramatically, with many first-time attendees. This has encouraged me to update my ‘annual’… Continue reading October 2024 African language Wikipedia update
An encounter with an Uber driver
It was the 1st of February, the night of the Imagine Dragons concert in Cape Town, with heavy traffic and multiple road closures. I was due to catch the late-night KLM flight. Giving myself ample time, I took a while to find an e-hailing vehicle, eventually giving up on Bolt, my normal first choice, and… Continue reading An encounter with an Uber driver
South Africa in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index
The mood in South Africa is more gloomy than usual, so it’s pleasant that the 2023 World Press Freedom Index provides some good news. South Africa’s ranking has improved markedly from last time I wrote about it, in those distant pre-COVID days of 2019, when South Africa had dropped 3 places in the rankings to… Continue reading South Africa in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index
From Asergo to Gandi in six days
I’ve been hosting my server with a Danish company, Asergo, since 2006. Back then they were called Easyspeedy. It hasn’t all been plain sailing, but things got much better over time, and in particular since they rebranded from Easyspeedy to Asergo in 2017, it’s been a fairly flawless experience. There were some customer service issues… Continue reading From Asergo to Gandi in six days
South African language Wikipedias – Wikimania 2022 update
It’s Wikimania 2022 and, being a hybrid event, Cape Town hosted its own get-together. I took the opportunity to take a long overdue look at the state of the South African language Wikipedias. I include all eleven official languages, with the exception of English. Afrikaans 104,335 (95,700 on 18 January 2021) articles 190 (210) active… Continue reading South African language Wikipedias – Wikimania 2022 update
Adrenaline
My usual week is pretty relaxed, perhaps a tennis ball flying at my nether regions being the event most responsible for any surge in adrenaline. This week upped the ante a little. 1) Driving to Blouberg along Koeberg Road, I see a cat haring across the oncoming traffic. There’s an island between the two directions… Continue reading Adrenaline
South African language Wikipedias 20th birthday review
I was asked to do a presentation at a Wikipedia 20th birthday party hosted by Wikimedia South Africa, which unfortunately I can’t make, but I still took the opportunity to look in a little more detail at the state of the South African language Wikipedias. I include all eleven official languages, with the exception of… Continue reading South African language Wikipedias 20th birthday review
RIP Dawn
Dawn Pilatowicz died last night. Dawn was one of the most inspirational people I’ve met. Warm, generous, kind-hearted, wise. I first met Dawn through our involvement in the Talent Exchange, a Local Exchange Trading System (LETS) that started here in Cape Town. She lived with polymyositis, a muscle-wasting disease. Her power was in a remarkable… Continue reading RIP Dawn
November 2020 African language Wikipedia update
My last look at the state of the African Wikipedias was in March 2019, so the time is nigh to have a long-overdue look at whats changed since. (Thanks to this tweet from today for forcing me to use “nigh” in a sentence. May as well have asked me not to think of blue). As… Continue reading November 2020 African language Wikipedia update