Since stopping eating meat, and even more so since having a son who we’ve agreed will follow a similar diet, I’ve been studying up on nutrition. And a good thing too, because if I’d relied upon some of the ‘experts’, I’d have been taking the advice of the clinic and force-feeding Dorje margarine in an… Continue reading Margarine and Meat Juice
Why I like Telkom
I have a soft spot for Telkom. Without them, I would never have mastered controlling my temper to the same degree. Who else could aggravate me to such an extent as South Africa’s favourite monopoly? I remember my first encounters with them. I had a room in a house in Observatory, with my own phone,… Continue reading Why I like Telkom
Being a good parent, the World of Birds and the horrors of Nedbank
On becoming a parent, I’m told, there are four things to do. Own a green card, giving access to all Cape Nature Conservation sites, such as Cape Point and Boulders, an Aquarium card, a Botanical Society card and a World of Birds card. I’m not doing too badly, scoring 75% as a parent, the aquarium… Continue reading Being a good parent, the World of Birds and the horrors of Nedbank
MySQL: Linux versus FreeBSD (and others)
Finally someone has done what I never got around to doing. Tony Bourke, in a Newsforge article, does some reasonably extensive benchmarking of MySQL on various OS’s. Of course there’ll be the endless analysis of the various setups (read the comments for some IQ-lowering fun), but at a glance Linux 2.6 wins out, with FreeBSD… Continue reading MySQL: Linux versus FreeBSD (and others)
SA Blog awards
Nominations are now open for the first SA Blog awards. I don’t know much about the organisers, besides an anonymous email there’re no contact details on their site (breaking rule 1 of website transparency), but it’s a good initiative nevertheless. My main interest will be in finding some more active local blogs – the lists… Continue reading SA Blog awards
IT Manager vacancy
The details of the soon-to-be vacant IT Manager position are available on the IOL site. It’s a fun environment to work in, under-resourced and challenging, but loads of opportunity to make a mark and get involved in one of the most exciting online environments in the country. So, sales pitch over, start sending those applications… Continue reading IT Manager vacancy
Cleaning up spam referers in b2evolution
Finally got around to cleaning the spam out my referer logs today. I’ve been impressed by how b2evolution handles spam comments, and how well-maintained the central blacklist is (you can probably count the spam comments I’ve had on one hand). Everyone else seems to be disabling anonymous comments, or disabling comments altogether, but so far… Continue reading Cleaning up spam referers in b2evolution
Enemy at the Gates
Just finished reading Enemy at the Gates, by William Craig. It’s about the World War II battle for Stalingrad (also made into a recent film, loosely-related, film). I seem to be enjoying grim histories at the moment, having recently finished the equally grim The Earth Shall Weep, about Native American history. The battle was one… Continue reading Enemy at the Gates
IOL looking for a new IT Manager
Yup, I’ve resigned from IOL. It’s been 5 great years, and it’s a sad time to go, as IOL is on the brink of what will hopefully be an excellent year, but it’s time to move on. Where to? Well, nowhere actually. I’ve been easing out of work for a while, working 3-days a week,… Continue reading IOL looking for a new IT Manager
Move to layerdtech
The move to layeredtech is finally complete, and was relatively painless. One thing IOL problems have taught me is to put downtime in perspective. The world doesn’t really end when there’s a glitch and 1000’s of people can’t read the news for a few minutes! So a few hours of the crowds being unable to… Continue reading Move to layerdtech