It’s three days until the elections (well, it was when I started, now it’s one day…), and there’s still no Green Party to vote for, so, to help out, here’s my detailed analysis of every party to help make your decision. Voting ranks slightly below picking up a cigarette stompie (cigarette butts for those from… Continue reading ivotela i-?
Category: Fire (Social)
2014 World Press Freedom Index – small improvement for South Africa amidst a general worldwide decline
The latest World Press Freedom Index is out. While the news worldwide is generally negative, with all regions except for Asia showing a deterioration, South Africa improved markedly from its place in 2013, jumping 11 positions from 52nd to 42nd. Before you hammer me on my maths, this counts as 11 due to the inclusion… Continue reading 2014 World Press Freedom Index – small improvement for South Africa amidst a general worldwide decline
Female participation in chess around the world
I came across a post today by Fanou Lefebvrea, a young French woman writing and drawing about her experiences of sexism and abuse as a female chess player. She addressed the post to Magnus Carlsen, the newly crowned Norwegian chess world champion. It’s a sad story, and as I was reading it, I began questioning… Continue reading Female participation in chess around the world
Trust and asking
When I was young, I would find it very difficult to ask anyone for help. I remember many stalemates with my father, where I would stubbornly not ask, and he would stubbornly not offer. A university job cold soliciting advertising for the student newspaper helped immensely! Not asking for help is a meanness of spirit,… Continue reading Trust and asking
South Africa’s first electric car
I keep telling my son that by the time he can drive, cars won’t be the destructive beasts farting all over our planet they are now, but will run on clean electricity, and you’ll be able to stand behind one breathing clean air. The first part of the puzzle is being put in place with… Continue reading South Africa’s first electric car
South Africa slumps in the 2013 World Press Freedom Index.
The 2013 World Press Freedom Index came out recently, and sadly, South Africa has slid alarmingly since I last blogged about it in 2007, and even more so when compared with its peak rating in 2003. Note that a lower score is better. Year Score Ranking 2013 24.56 (-12.56) 52 (-10) 2012 12 (0) 42… Continue reading South Africa slumps in the 2013 World Press Freedom Index.
US election news you may not have heard about
Listening to the US presidential candidates talking about who is more supportive of coal, or who will be tougher on foreign affairs, it can be easy to believe nothing will change, or that voting makes little difference. But there were real choices on offer, and 2012 saw many firsts. Here’s my summary of some of… Continue reading US election news you may not have heard about
April 2012 African language Wikipedia update
It’s been about five months since I last looked in detail at the South African language Wikipedias, and there’s been significant progress in three of the languages. South African Language Wikipedias Language 1/10/2007 30/5/2010 19/11/2011 13/4/2012 Afrikaans 8374 15260 20042 22115 Northern Sotho** 0 540* 557 566 Tswana 40 103 240 490 Zulu 107 195… Continue reading April 2012 African language Wikipedia update
SOPA and moving from GoDaddy
Late last year I moved most of my domains that I was hosting with GoDaddy to a new registrar, and the rest will follow closer to expiry. For those who don’t know, in October, Lamar Smith, a US congressman, introduced a bill called the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). The bill is a hideous monstrosity… Continue reading SOPA and moving from GoDaddy
Orgasmic Meditation
This week Nicole Daedone gave a talk at TEDx San Francisco on orgasmic meditation (embedded below). Orgasmic Meditation existed on the fringes of San Francisco society until 2009, when an article in the New York Times shone the spotlight on her retreat centre. It received further widespread attention through Tim Ferris’s book, The 4-Hour Body.… Continue reading Orgasmic Meditation