Round and round we go
OMF! I’ve never heard such shit in my life!
It really *is* a joke …
I did my little bit …
… for our democracy.
I voted yesterday, along with a few million other South Africans. ‘Twas the first time I’ve gone off to stand in the voting queue all by myself … felt a little strange. But I charged up my iPod before I left and spent the time listening to my current favourite album, Only By the Night (Kings of Leon). Forgot to take something to drink though, which wasn’t clever.
Apart from some loud turnip behind me talking for an entire hour on his phone, at the top of his bloody voice, it really wasn’t an unpleasant experience at all. And I even had a half decent view:
Gotta love our mowntain 🙂
So, I shuffled along with everyone else and eventually got to have my thumb inked and make my mark on the ballots:
It’s done. The votes are being counted as I write this. I’m not really optimistic about anything changing on the political front in our country. For the better that is.
If you want to follow the election results as they unfold, visit News24 for up-to-date coverage.
‘Cause gadgets are kiff
As you know by now, I’m a true gadget gal – a sucker for all things new and clever and I’m also a bit of a closet geek … shhhhhh, keep that to yourself please =)
So today I was jumping around the interwebs and came across something I’m really glad to have accidentally discovered and I thought I’d share it with you.
Nudjit is a site that publishes gadget reviews for South Africa.
Personally, I think that’s a fantastic angle and very helpful as so many gadget and tech sites and feeds that are anywhere close to being good simply don’t cater for us here on the Dark Continent.
“The site aims to inform, entertain, and alert South Africans about the gadgets that are available to us. Our gadget reviews don’t just highlight the technical aspects but will also judge how well they work, where one can get them, and if our local technology infrastructure can actually support these electronic toys.
The site offers detailed written reviews, quirky video posts, aggregated gadget news from all across Africa, user ratings, and hot links from popular gadget sites from around the world.”
Nudjit covers a wide range of topics and includes product info from all the top brands – as it applies to the South African consumer. Gotta love their tagline, can’t get more SA than that =)
The main gadget categories are:
- Audio/Visual
- Computing
- Gadget News
- Gaming
- Mobile
- Photography
- Software
- Stuff (GPS / Household)
Although the site looks like its fairly new, and some of the content is a weeny bit thin at this stage, I think it has huge potential and I’ll definitely be subscribing to their feed to follow all their latest gadget news. The latest post is by Justin Hartman, author of Chapter 7 of the new SA Blook and co-founder of Afrigator.com. He’s in Berlin at the moment, attending the “HP Connecting Your World Conference” and, as part of the journalist welcome pack, he was given a pre-release HP iPAQ 910c Business Messenger phone! Lucky bugger =) Anyway, you can scoot over to Nudgit and read his first impressions of the phone.
The site design is clean and the layout is beautifully simple – you just can’t get lost on it! That’s important for me – I don’t have time to navigate my way around complicated designs that are fencie just to show off the designers’ skills – nothing chases me away from a website faster than a nav system that tests my problem-solving skills. Nudjit isn’t one of those sites …
I enjoy that the reviews and comparisons are subjective and honestly written and because they offer more than just the bog-standard technical specs, they are both informative and entertaining. Site users can also leave comments and ask questions, which is a great interactive feature, and one that is quickly becoming the norm amongst succesful online businesses.
And I also happen to know that the chaps behind Nudjit are extremely knowledgeable and are greatly respected in the tech and web world so I am quite happy to trust their opinions.
Thanks guys, well done!
Support the SA Blook
SA Blook went live today! Please do what you do best – spread the word =)
Links to each author’s chapter can be found in the TOC below.
An extract taken from Darren Gorton’s “OutThink” blog:
“… a collaboration between South African bloggers with a strong belief in the future of our nation. Essentially, it is a book, originally published online and written by a diverse group of writers with strong views about our country and the reality South Africans find themselves living in.
There are countless books about South Africa’s history and how it developed, and there are bound to be many more. There is also an endless supply of daily news that reminds us about the real and difficult challenges that our country faces and has yet to overcome. While most South Africans understand and feel the pain of these challenges, we will never be able to move forward unless we lift our eyes to the horizon and step boldly forward, aiming to build a foundation for a better future for us all. This blook is about South Africa – a constructive look at our present, our future and the opportunities we have.
While this blook is admittedly an experiment in online writing, this fact should not detract from the importance of the topic at hand – something relevant to all South Africans. Every topic touched upon is intricately linked to South Africa’s present and future, and although we would not like to suggest that our present challenges are simply remedied by positive thinking, we hope to stimulate strong debate and new thinking around these topics. By doing so, the writers hope to contribute to a new perspective in this country, knowing that thinking is the precursor to action.”
Contents:
Introduction
1. The new South Africa – is it real?
2. Is SA rich or poor?
3. What the world thinks of South Africa and what our global opportunities are
4. The importance of each individual’s contribution collectively
5. SA Inc and the business of doing business in SA
6. The beauty and grandeur that surrounds us
7. The importance of technology in SA’s global emergence
8. Building brand South Africa
9. Making the most of SA’s creative talents and abilities
10. Innovate for a better South Africa
11. The role of the younger generation in SA, and what we need to do to support them
12. Connecting South Africa – Communities that transcend technology
13. We are African – the role of collaboration in South Africa’s growth
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Xenophobia: it’s under control
That’s the word from Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula today, after a meeting with the Xenophobia task team in Pretoria.
Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils said that just because the situation was under control did not mean sporadic attacks could not still take place.
I don’t know … under control? Who’s control? I’ve just come back from the Red Cross in Wynberg where they have now received news of nearly 500 more displaced foreigners that have arrived in Strandfontein after fleeing for their lives today. And to (skeptical) me, it sounds like Mr Kasrils is giving our leadership a handy loophole.
Now there is also talk about the reintegration of foreigners – how on earth can that be possible? What has changed? An apology and an invitation to return is just not enough, in my opinion. Some communities may accept this but I have a feeling that the large majority won’t.
While I dearly hope that things are indeed “under control” and that foreigners can now safely start returning to their homes, I have my doubts. I just don’t think these concepts are terribly realistic at this stage. I hope I’m wrong.