There’s a zen koan I’m fond (perhaps a little too fond) of quoting, which goes something like: A zen master holds up two white chess pawns, and asks whether they’re the same or different. If you answer the same, you’re wrong, and get hit with the zen master’s stick, and if you answer different, you’re… Continue reading American elections 2006 – the same or different?
The Death of PW
Perspective is powerful phenomonen, which is why being aware enough to choose your perspective is powerful. I was reminded of that this week reading the responses to PW Botha’s death. Some of these include: The life and times of PW Botha – IOL Flags fly at half mast, but let the truth be told: A… Continue reading The Death of PW
A short and sweet (whisper it) review of Kubuntu 6.06.1
I installed Kubuntu 6.06.1 LTS (Dapper) on an old 2001 PC today. The machine used to be my primary desktop, running Windows 98, became a spare about 2 years ago after I got a laptop, running Mandriva LE 2005. It gave up the ghost from a combination of losing a power supply in the Cape… Continue reading A short and sweet (whisper it) review of Kubuntu 6.06.1
IE7: The demise of a bane?
There’s a bane infesting the internet. OK, there’re many. But the bane I’m considering here is one that I find highly irritating. It’s number 9 on Jakob Nielsen’s all-time Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design. Born of the need to control, a vain attempt to keep readers on a site when they actually want to… Continue reading IE7: The demise of a bane?
Upgrade to b2evolution 1.8.2
I’ve upgraded my blog software to b2evolution 1.8.2 (Serenity), from 0.9.1 (Dawn). Featurewise it looks a reasonable improvement so far, as you’d expect with the version jump. The whole project looks quite healthy, with the documentation now in much better shape than before, two new releases in quite quick succession, and a much better plugin… Continue reading Upgrade to b2evolution 1.8.2
Gregarius plugin: Feed Filter Regular Expression
Rory McKinley has written a useful Gregarius plugin, Feed Filter Regular Expression. Gregarius is a great little PHP application, simple to use, well-documented, and with a helpful, active community. It’s an RSS/RDF/ATOM feed aggregator. I use it to aggregate and export feeds, as well as create a page for myself containing all the feeds I’m… Continue reading Gregarius plugin: Feed Filter Regular Expression
Give me the good news
The latest issue of Organic Bytes came with the usual doom and gloom headlines – Scary Chocolate, Climate Chaos, Bird Flu & more…. But amidst it all there were some highlights, signs of that utopian healthier world in the making I’m hoping to bequeath to my great great (great?) grandchildren. India has halted all field… Continue reading Give me the good news
Collapse – Rwanda and Australia
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