Category: Fire (Social)

Recently Fidel Castro has come out of his illness-related exile firing, with a swipe at US biofuel policies, describing it as the internationalisation of genocide. He’s right. Mass use of biofuels is a disastrous idea. Here’s a simple example. In the UK, 37.8 million tonnes of petroleum products are consumed each year. Their most productive… Continue reading Castro is right on biofuels

Legalised abortion reduces crime rates. It’s a statement bound to cause controversy, and probably the main reason the book Freakonomics, which I recently finished reading, is as well-known as it is. It caused a storm of reaction at the time, and an online search reveals hundreds of examples, mostly furiously emotional rants with not much… Continue reading Does abortion reduce the crime rate?

With the recent threats made against Kathy Sierra, and the resulting responses, I’ve been thinking about anonymity on the web. I’m not going to discuss technical issues, or legal issues – rather broad principles. There’s been a storm of response, outraged missives saying suggesting various fixes. One of the more common responses has been that… Continue reading Anonymity online – yes or no?

I finally got around to trying out the bottle of Taittinger champagne I bought through Cherrypicka. And it was great! Now normally I wouldn’t post something like this. It seems like an advert for Cherrypicka, and for Taittinger. But somehow Cherrypicka reminds me of the Talent Exchange. Supporting it feels good, that the benefits are… Continue reading Great experience with Cherrypicka

This is for anyone researching goji berries, in the hope they’ll come across this page, and not just accept the usual marketing page they come across. Goji berries are a great food. But they do not contain 500 times more Vitamin C than oranges, as is so often misleadingly claimed on marketing sites. Goji berries… Continue reading Goji berries and Vitamin C

I was interested to read a Greenpeace report that GMO maize may be toxic. Since maize is a staple diet in South Africa, especially for poor communities, it’s long been a concern that South Africa’s poor has been experimented on in this way, as in most countries, GMO foods are niche foods, not a staple.… Continue reading South Africa’s toxic staple diet, and the language of attack

Last week, MTN slashed their broadband prices. Some competitors responded quickly. Sentech quickly dropped their prices even further. Iburst’s response was disappointing, increasing their bandwidth allocation for contract customers only (which sorely peeved month to month customers), and adding data carryover. Meanwhile, Vodacom and Telkom were left as the odd ones out. Vodacom have put… Continue reading Vodacom comes out firing as the broadband pricewar hots up

The Ethical Co-op is considering trying out Cherrypicka as a form of marketing, and using this excuse, I decided to try it out as a customer. Cherrypicka allows companies to donate samples of their products. In exchange, Cherrypicka offers them marketing on the site. Customers visit the site, and can buy the samples at discounted… Continue reading Trying out Cherrypicka

I’m talking South Africa, but it sounds bad like you say, they eat what they can, it’s a thing that worries some developed communities, that’s a fact. This remarkable statement was made by Osvaldo Capellini, president of the Dairy Processors of Argentina. I follow a pro-GMO blog, just to keep up with the other side.… Continue reading SA happy to “eat what they can” – GMO producer

I attended the 27 dinner last night, and have to say it was disappointing. Swimgeek and Jacques Marneweck Marnewreck can tell you just how disappointing they found it. I have a sightly different perspective though. It wasn’t a geek dinner, and was never meant to be. The 27 dinner describes itself as a get-together for… Continue reading 27 dinner Cape Town off to rocky start