Athlone towers coming down

The Athlone Towers came down today. For those watching, it was mostly a disappointment. The towers were blown up 4 minutes early, catching most unawares, backs turned, or video cameras still bagged. eTV’s footage consisted of a surprised presenter and a hurried jump to a disappearing cloud of smoke. The Zoopy servers failed under the… Continue reading Athlone towers coming down

Northern Sotho Wikipedia needs help

Northern Sotho is the only official South African language without an active Wikipedia. The project sits in the incubator, where it interestingly has far more articles than all other SA languages bar English and Afrikaans (540 vs Swati on 187). Mohau Monaledi has been driving the project, and has contributed 1310 edits, more than everyone… Continue reading Northern Sotho Wikipedia needs help

Wikimedia South Africa workshop

This weekend a number of us held a workshop at Wits University to discuss forming a South African chapter of the Wikimedia Foundation – the non-profit foundation supporting projects such as Wikipedia and Wiktionary. For those interested in the details, the Wikimedia South Africa meta page has more, and you can also join the mailing… Continue reading Wikimedia South Africa workshop

Cruel to be kind?

A Facebook friend shared an animation from RSA Comment entitled First as Tragedy, Then as Farce. Go watch it first. By Slavoj Zizek, the renowned critical theorist, the critique was interesting and largely accurate. How we buy a Starbucks coffee as redemption in the consumerist act, for example. However, I was struck by a comment… Continue reading Cruel to be kind?