Feeling it

This, dear friends, describes well many of my encounters with other parts of government, and sometimes with people in my own organisation too. The mind does indeed shut down sometimes. The urge to cry, and then strangle, is also common.

What's the answer?!!!

 

Thursday wakeup

Seven foods experts won't eat. Looks like your tomato aversion isn't completely irrational Kez. Although some of the experts are clearly biased given their jobs. Although although, the New Yorker has something similar.

And if you weren't sure you should remove every last bit of info from your Facespace account, or even better shut it down, read this: You may be more public than you think. Another win for Kezza.

Will I shut mine? For now I've removed just about everything and turned all the 'who can see this' setting to 'friends only'. When I get home I wanna use this tool to see what is still viewable.

Yes yes, I hear you say, the big picture is that Google, and probably Microsoft and the US and Chinese governments too, know so much about me already that it makes no difference. In ten years' time today's definition of privacy will be considered quaint. Nevertheless, irrational knee-jerks are only human.

Getting ready for World Cup

Rainbow Vuvuzela

Me playing squash

A guy in our team is an Apple fanboy. Last night he 'filmed' my match on his Ah-Fone. You can watch the last game here, if you really want to.

To set the scene, I cruised the first, had no idea what was going on in the second and third, snuck the fourth, and then really got lucky in the 5th. Team lost overall, but jassis ek was gepomped met daardie wen.

I'm sure you've all seen the stories by now

But in case you didn't, Frederick van Zyl Slabbert passed away last Friday. One of SA's greatest public intellectuals? Gotta be close. Sheena Duncan of the Black Sash also passed on recently. Must admit I knew very little about her.

This article on these two people, written by an American for a 'hip' South African news service, is actually quite good.

What reality are you talking about?

If you live in Jozi this will probably amuse, and dismay... I can't believe Amos kept answering the questions.

this is really beautiful and my cousin's work...

www.foundphotographs.com/#

Trapped in the Closet

Have you guys all seen this?! Apparently I am behind the times a little so maybe you have all already seen and commented.
This is possibly the most bizarre thing I have ever seen - It is hilarious! and equal parts weird and completely confusing. What is the point? Was it meant to be a joke?
Wiki suggests otherwise

Golf

The worlds worst spectator sport. Really, who gives a shit?

What's the difference between a million and a billion?

So while our local bourse was asleep last night, the global stock markets were in turmoil. Evidently the course of this sudden 10% fall in the Dow (which had people momentarily thinking that we had finally reached the second great depression) was that someone at Citibank erroneously put in a sale order for a billion Procter and Gambles instead of a million. Eish!



Now these days a lot of trading is automated. Particularly on big levered trades, the broker can program a stoploss into a computer which basically gets the computer to sell if the price falls to far (so as to limit losses). This little trade managed to breach those stop loss levels, compounding the sell off.

And then you also get lots of clever people looking at straight lines on the Dow graph. They saw the jagged blue line cross their straight red line and used all their scientific intuition to sell the whole market.

It's because of the quality of these great minds that the equities industry pays such inflated salaries.

National Service

So... Lindiwe is proposing National Service again... but it will be voluntary. Am I being stupid, but isn't that the current system?
“We would like to have a period in which we take your children and give them a bit of discipline."
But it will be voluntary?
I am confused (easy to do I know)

And as an aside.... I am surprised none of you boys have raised the big news of the day and highlighted the murder of Lolly Jackson yet