I’m enjoying reading Collapse by Jared Diamond, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised to learn a lot more than I expected, and gain some interesting new perspectives on a number of situations. The book paints a picture of the collapse or success of a number of historical societies, such as Easter Island, the Anasazi, Maya, the… Continue reading Collapse – Rwanda and Australia
Ah, the joys of FNB business banking
One of the worst insults you can give me is to tell me I sound like Tony Leon. However, sometimes all I want to do is stand on a bench and whine about everything. Let’s sketch a scenario. A business opens an FNB business cheque account. Everyone think’s it’s great – the interface is simple… Continue reading Ah, the joys of FNB business banking
DCI wrap
I had a fantastic time at the DCI conference. I’ve been frustrated in my aim to post regular, up-to-the-minute updates by the lack of bandwidth at the conference, the fact that the ‘open-till-late’ internet cafe was closed at 3pm, and the cheeky R45 for 30 minutes rate at the hotel, where I get to plug… Continue reading DCI wrap
Digital Citizens Indaba – Day 1
Day 1 of the DCI has been great. Some of the delegates attended the Highway Africa conference as well, which ran until the previous day, and the feeling towards that conference seems to have been ambivalence (at best). Lots of corporate speak, and not as much content as they’d have hoped. A classic rant about… Continue reading Digital Citizens Indaba – Day 1
a city imagined
How wonderful to read a city imagined, a collection of 19 pieces by different writers who live or have spent a significant part of their lives in Cape Town. It’s edited by Stephen Watson, who, regardless of whether you agree with his views on plagiarism, or like his writing, has done a fantastic job in… Continue reading a city imagined
What if it’s a girl
Watching today’s rugby test between South Africa and Australia, there was a certain irony in an ad that ran during a break. It was for a Ford bakkie, and features a proud dad-to-be making the Fords do all sorts of tough bakkie-like things to build a rugby field, presumably as a gift for his soon-to-be-born… Continue reading What if it’s a girl
The P in LAMP is booming in Cape Town
The P in LAMP can stand for PHP, Python or Perl, and it’s good to know that this week sees the launch of a PHP user group, as well as a Python user group in Cape Town. The acronym CTPUG is already in dispute! The PHP meeting is Thursday 7 September, at 18h30 (more info),… Continue reading The P in LAMP is booming in Cape Town
How to win R10 million
Invite me to your party Ply me with red wine Provide a fireplace (preferably unlit) for me to sit Ask me for the winning numbers I went to a party on Friday night. As is fairly usual in these situations, I had a fair bit of red wine (Lindhorst Merlot, 2003 for those who may… Continue reading How to win R10 million
But is it art?
I had to laugh yesterday morning when I noticed that my car had been, no, not stolen, but tagged with graffiti. I really would have hoped for something a little more, er, creative, but I’ll have to make do with the illegible scrawl gifted to me.
Digital Citizen Indaba
I’ve been invited to speak at the Digital Citizen Indaba, to be held on September 14 and 15 in Grahamstown. The conference topics sound quite exciting, and I was even more excited to see the draft speakers list today. The speakers include: – Ethan Zuckerman (Global Voices, USA) – Alaa Abd El Fattah (Blogger &… Continue reading Digital Citizen Indaba