I am immensely sad at the violence taking place in our country right now. Many of the responses too have left me saddened. When what’s needed is help, all round, so much poison has come up. Much of the response has simply been blame, spoken or written in anger, without any compassion for those involved.… Continue reading Blame alone is not enough to address the violence.
Migration to WordPress
I’ve moved my blog software from b2evolution to WordPress. Now if for some malign reason this post got Slashdotted/Dug (and please let me install the caching plugins before being so cruel, oh yes, and the Google ads!), let’s circumvent the inevitable comment storm. Hoorah, good for you, WordPress is much better because blah blah! What?… Continue reading Migration to WordPress
The South African Wikimedia communities
My South African Wikimedia communities submission has been accepted by the Wikimania 2008 Program Committee, so I’ll be presenting it at the conference in Alexandria later this year. So how are those communities doing since my last update? Not particularly well… Progress is slow, and there’s a proposal to close the Xhosa Wikipedia as well… Continue reading The South African Wikimedia communities
The limits we place on ourselves
We’re placing limit on ourselves all the time, in so many different ways. Socially, financially, intellectually. Someone may not approach a beautiful woman because they feel intimidated. They’re judging themselves, feeling unworthy. Someone may not ask their boss for an increase because they judge it as too much, again, they feel unworthy. Someone may not… Continue reading The limits we place on ourselves
Garullous Grape at Greens
Monday night saw the seventh of the Geek Dinners, Garullous Grape. It headed north for the first time, and was held at Greens in Plattekloof. The food was fantastic, and Perdeberg saved the day for the drunkards wine connoisseurs by coming through with a wine sponsorship at the last minute. Geek ingenuity was amptly demonstrated… Continue reading Garullous Grape at Greens
Standard Bank and the Chinese crackdown
I signed a petition asking the Chinese government to respect human rights in China. A friend, who I forwarded it to, responded with something we can do a little closer to home. The ICBC, a majority state-owned institution, is now a 20% shareholder in Standard Bank. As he says, This means that everyone who banks… Continue reading Standard Bank and the Chinese crackdown
Coming of age for the 27 dinner
I’ve just come back from 27-21 (link should be active soon), the (sort of) 21st 27 dinner and it was an event fit for a 21st party, and certainly a lot better than my 21st party. The secret to its success was that there was much more time for chatting to people than normal. This… Continue reading Coming of age for the 27 dinner
The decolonization of cyberspace – on film?
Does anyone have any suggestions for locations for shooting a documentary on the following themes: the “decolonization of cyberspace” African language Wikipedias, online/wikipedia activism I haven’t been able to come up with anything particularly exciting, and the shooting, by a Dutch company, is in 2 weeks!
WASA launches
I was pleased to see the launch of the Website Association of South Africa (WASA). Currently, the only credible option for publishers is the Online Publishers Association (OPA), and their fees mean that only large media companies can justifiably participate. They’ve faced deserved hostility in this regard, as effectively they’ve shut the door to small… Continue reading WASA launches
A Mediocre Mind
I have always been drawn to Taoist thought. The pathless path, the path of effortlessness, has always had a certain appeal (especially when I’ve tended to do the opposite). Authors such as Ursula Le Guin and David Zindell attracted me for this reason, and I practice tai chi, based on Taoist principles. The Tao Chi… Continue reading A Mediocre Mind