The Apprentice: South African and US versions compared

The South African series of The Apprentice finished on Thursday. I don’t want much TV, but managed to become engrossed in both the American and South African versions. I was struck by the differences between the two shows. When the American version finished, I was disappointed to hear Tokyo Sexwale would be doing a South… Continue reading The Apprentice: South African and US versions compared

The IE legacy of the day

My HTML exploration probably peaked in the days of Netscape 4 and IE 4, so I’ve been left with many bad habits from those grim days when standards were little more than a twinkle in the eye (as opposed to now, where to most they’re still little more than a wailing infant). All programmers have… Continue reading The IE legacy of the day

The installation challenge – Windows vs Open Source operating systems

I enjoy reading the weekly newsletter by my old IOL colleague Philip Devine, the editor of Business Report online. Today’s was entitled Computing the cost of doing business (the full text is available at getopenlab.com, not sure about the legalities of them posting the whole thing online, but that’s another story). Phil has some nice… Continue reading The installation challenge – Windows vs Open Source operating systems

3G unusable

I don’t know too many people who’ve tried 3G, but I’d heard nothing good – everyone claims the line dropped frequently. Now I’ve seen it in ‘action’ (Vodacom’s offering that is). Both in Observatory, Cape Town, and Forest Town/Rosebank, Jhb, it seems 3G is a major disappointment. Lost connections 100 times a day is no… Continue reading 3G unusable

Nostalgia II: World War I

Perhaps the title is a little misleading, as I didn’t actually fight in World War I, nor do I feel any nostalgia towards the event. But my grandfather was involved in the war, and seeing as yesterday’s post seemed to expect a sequel… I never knew my grandfather that well. He came to live with… Continue reading Nostalgia II: World War I

Nostalgia I: Pinelands

Today was my mother’s birthday. I had a bit of time before the party started, so I decided to drive around Pinelands, where she lives and where I grew up, and see how things have changed in the years since I lived there. The suburb of Pinelands is somewhat of a joke in some circles… Continue reading Nostalgia I: Pinelands