A sixth African-language Wikipedia has reached the 1000 article milestone, with Wolof now sitting at 1068 articles. Two other African languages, Somali and Kabye, are also closing in on the milestone, both having moved quite quickly into the 800’s, passing the relatively stagnant Igbo and Kikongo. African Language Wikipedias Language 1/1/2007 3/8/2009 30/5/2010 Swahili 2980… Continue reading Wolof reaches 1000 Wikipedia articles
Category: Fire (Social)
Talking Heads
I attended Talking Heads this evening, part of the Infecting the City Festival, courtesy of 2 Couchsurfers who were staying with me, and were part of the festival. Billed as speed dating for the brain, the format sees you sit at a table for 20 minutes each with 4 different, hopefully interesting, people, from all… Continue reading Talking Heads
Swahili Wikipedia now the largest African-language Wikipedia
The Swahili Wikipedia has just passed the Afrikaans Wikipedia to become the largest African-language Wikipedia by number of articles. African Language Wikipedias – number of articles Language 1/1/2007 16/12/2008 3/8/2009 Swahili 2980 7807 12631 Afrikaans 6149 11285 12568 Yoruba 517 6246 6261 Amharic 742 3251 3333 Lingala 292 1074 1148 Full list of Wikipedias So… Continue reading Swahili Wikipedia now the largest African-language Wikipedia
Obstreperous Olive
I’ve just come back from Obstreperous Olive, the latest incarnation of the famous Geek Dinner. It was lots of fun again, with talks ranging from Fritjof Capra’s systems thinking, Umberto Eco’s Mouse or Rat essay on translation, Clean Code and whether to dump someone with clinical depression. That was just at my table. The actual… Continue reading Obstreperous Olive
Climate Change – am I a sheeple?
After a few of my recent Ethical Co-op newsletters referred to climate change, I wasn’t too surprised to get contacted by those who believe it’s all a hoax. Some emails were highly aggressive, others were friendlier, simply aiming to inform me that I’m mistaken. The most recent issue of Biophile magazine also had a feature… Continue reading Climate Change – am I a sheeple?
2009 elections analysis
As an election junkie, I’ve been watching the election results closely as they come in. There’ve been no real surprises, but a few interesting trends. I’m writing this post as the results are only partially in, but the trends seem clear. It’s likely that the parties with substantial rural support, such as the ANC and… Continue reading 2009 elections analysis
Fair Trade South Africa getting rooted
I’m pleased to see that Fair Trade South Africa, the South African division of Fair Trade, is getting more established. They began setting up locally last year, and this year aim to focus on implementation. In particular, we should start to see greater marketing of the Fair Trade label in South Africa, as well as… Continue reading Fair Trade South Africa getting rooted
Renewable energy feed-in tariffs approved
NERSA, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, has approved some quite generous renewable energy feed-in tariffs. In short, renewable energy feed-in tariffs mean that developers can invest in renewable energy, and sell excess energy back to the grid (Eskom) at a profit, a price more than it costs to generate, and guaranteed for a… Continue reading Renewable energy feed-in tariffs approved
Focusing on solutions – no more news
I realised this evening how to verbalise my own reasons for throwing newspapers in the dustbin, which I’ve struggled with before. At todays Facelook and Foodcook, two of the four speakers specifically advised not reading newspapers, and reasoned it in different ways. But an unconnected point one of them made sparked the connection. I’ve tried… Continue reading Focusing on solutions – no more news
Majestic Mandarin and Banking Anarchy
I enjoyed Majestic Mandarin, the March Geek Dinner. I’ve missed a couple, and it was good to go back after a lengthy gap. I particularly enjoyed the last two talks. Henk’s humorous “A brief history of modern banking”, covered familiar territory, though unfortunately I can’t find or remember the name of the well-known main source… Continue reading Majestic Mandarin and Banking Anarchy