Wikipedia Academy – the video

Frank has uploaded a well-edited video of our experiences at the Wikipedia Academy at CIDA. It includes snippets of Jimmy Wales’ and Ndesanjo Macha’s talks, some shots of an overly hairy dude with a ponytail, as well as footage of us stuck in the infamous lifts. Related articles Afrikaans Wikipedia meetup First Wikipedia Academy in… Continue reading Wikipedia Academy – the video

Plastic vs Bioplastic

At the Co-op, we’re having a fascinating debate on whether to use plastic for packaging dry goods we supply, such as rice and quinoa, or bioplastic. The bioplastic is controversial, as there are no bioplastic sources that we know of that are guaranteed to be free of GMO’s. I’m glad we’re discussing it, trying to… Continue reading Plastic vs Bioplastic

Afrikaans Wikipedia meetup

The iCommons offices today played host to an Afrikaans Wikipedia meetup, as part of Wikipedia Week. Attending were international guests Jimmy Wales, Ndesanjo Macha and Frank Schulenburg, as well as a number of Afrikaans Wikipedians and Afrikaans press. Laurens, one of the prime contributers to the Afrikaans Wikipedia, gave a short presentation, followed by an… Continue reading Afrikaans Wikipedia meetup

Wikipedia Week

I’m in Johannesburg right now for Wikipedia Week, which is aimed at developing Wikipedia Academies into a regular community-building activity in South Africa, and then further beyond into sub-Saharan Africa. It’s organised by iCommons, the Wikimedia Foundation, and Wikipedia Germany. I’ve kindly been invited to assist with the process. The first event, and the first… Continue reading Wikipedia Week

Why is anybody still considering nuclear?

The renewable energy world is incredibly dynamic right now. Almost every day I read of new innovations (today it was inflatable solar arrays), plummeting costs (solar is dropping 3-5% a year), and increasing rollouts. But still more nuclear power stations are being conceptualised, and even attracting some support. Why is nuclear still attracting support? Nuclear… Continue reading Why is anybody still considering nuclear?

Press Freedom under attack

The latest Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index has been released, and it makes for grimmer reading than usual. As blogs increase in importance, bloggers are increasingly being targeted, with 26 imprisoned from September 2006 to September 2007. South Africa continues to slip, reaching its lowest ever rating. From it’s high of 3.33 in… Continue reading Press Freedom under attack

Happy food

My son, not yet four, was invited to a party at McDonalds recently. Now McDonalds as a brand for me sits about as low as you can go. Rainforest destruction? Yep. Extremely unhealthy food? Oh yes. General environmental havoc? Of course. Exploitative working conditions? Goes without saying. Unethical advertising. Yup. So why would someone actually… Continue reading Happy food