Radio 2000 anti-playlist Petition Started

It seems that I am not the only one who has noticed that the Radio 2000 rise and rock show has started losing it's 'rock' roots.

Steven Haywood has started a petition against this move @ PetitionOnline.com. It reads :

To: Radio 2000

Radio 2000 management have imposed a playlist on the Ray White morning show (Rise and Rock show).
Previously, this show was a haven for all those rock fans to whom no other radio station caters. Now they play the likes of Amy Winehouse (!!!!)

Please, Radio 2000, leave the commercial nonsense to the other stations.

We the undersigned respectfully request removal of the playlist restrictions and a return to the good old days.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

If you feel as strongly as he does sign the petition by clicking here.

Win a trip for 2 to Mauritius

Travelstart.co.za is offering a relaxing holiday for to in Mauritius for the lucky winners of their current competition. Prize includes

2 Return tickets in Economy class on BA Comair from Johannesburg to Mauritius

7 Nights at Beachcomber's 4* Resort Le Mauricia, inclusive of return airport transfers, all breakfasts and dinners, welcome cocktail, entertainment and land and water sports as per brochure.
Not bad for a simple competition.

Click on the banner above and enter, it's worth a go.

Giraffes use their heads!

SA - Most Foul?

Maybe it was the result of our first really warm summer's day, perhaps the coffee I had just had, maybe even the fact that I was sharing the room with two Aussies, but last night I felt my body temperature rising as 'Murder most foul' began.

The problem was that I had my guard up from the very start. Knowing the enormity of the problem that was the 'focus' of this documentary and knowing that like the demographics of the country it effects members of the black population exponentially more than whites, a documentary produced by a white ex-South African and narrated by the same, Anthony Sher, focusing on the death of white South African 'Brett Goldin,' I couldn't help myself feeling that this was no more than a bitter portrayal of what South Africa has become now that the Atlantic Seaboard is no longer the exclusive playground of the local Jewish community.
Add to that inherent pride I have in my motherland I could not stop the blood from boiling.

But as the movie continued, I had to force myself to take a step back and digest what was been presented. Perhaps we in South Africa are too accepting of the situation. I found myself embarrassed and glad that the visitors from Australia had decided to have an early night and did not stay to watch. And as I realised that, it became clear. This is something we need to address ... soon ... sad.

'Murder most foul' as a documentary produced by Jon Blair and narrated by Sir Anthony Sher that looks at the high murder and violent crime rate in South Africa and Cape Town in particular. It's world premier was on MNet last night.

For more info click here.

What you never knew about South African Heritage

Happy Heritage Day!!

1. FROM CHINESE TO FRENCH - EVERYONE IN THE WORLD IS SOUTH AFRICAN: All the worlds people are “twice South African” because it was here that mans descendants and modern man both evolved

2. THE FIRST EVIDENCE OF LIFE ON EARTH — YES — FROM SA: In eastern South Africa, scientists have found traces of blue-green algae dating back 3 500 million years. This is some of the earliest evidence of life on Earth.

3. METEORS HIT PRETORIA 220 000 YEARS AGO!: 220 000 years ago a meteorite struck South Africa, forming the Tswaing Crater northwest of Pretoria. This is one of the most accessible and best-preserved meteorite impact craters in the world.

4. IF ALIENS LANDED THEY WOULD BE THE PROPERTY OF THE STATE! According to the National Heritage Resources Act, all meteorites are considered protected property of the nation and there are rules regarding what can be done with them. Interestingly, because a meteorite is defined as “any naturally-occurring object of extraterrestrial origin”, this means that if an alien landed in SA he/she/it would become the property of the State. Should an alien arrive and find that SA did not suit its disposition, it would not need a passport to leave but it would have to acquire an export permit from the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA).

5. SA HAS THE WORLD’S OLDEST REMAINS: The oldest remains of modern humans were found in Klasies River Cave in the Eastern Cape. They are well over 100 000 years old.

6. SOUTH AFRICA HAS OVER 2000 SHIPWRECKS: There are more than 2 000 shipwrecks, dating back at least 500 years, off the SA coast and more than one, including the Waratah, simply vanished without a trace.

7. TRANCE WAS HERE OVER 25 000 YEARS AGO: Trance is nothing new to South Africa. In fact, bushman cave paintings in the Drakensburg are thought to be the work of Shamans operating in a ‘trance’ state. Some of these are up to 25 000 years old.

8. THE SAYING "WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST" COMES FROM SA: The practice of “women and children first” originated off the coast of Hermanus when the British ship, the Birkenhead, sank in 1852. Of the approximately 600 people on board, all 200 women and children survived. Unfortunately, almost 400 men went down with the ship.

9. SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE: Detailed documentation from travelers and researchers in the Cape in the 1600s shows that more than 350 years later the traditional “maatjieshut” residence of Namaqualand is still being built in precisely the same manner and proportions as those of the KhoeKhoe people of the past.

10. SOUTH AFRICA THINKS AHEAD OF THE WORLD: South Africa is one of the first countries in the world to formally protect places associated with “Living Heritage” that is based on stories passed down from generation to generation by for e.g. Grandmothers telling children stories about the places in which they live. One of the first projects in South Africa that looked at how we can protect such sites took place in Dukuza (formerly Stanger) in KwaZulu-Natal. The town was the site of King Shaka’s royal residence and interviews with old people in the community revealed an amazing store of information passed down over nearly 180 years concerning things like from which spring the royal water was drawn, where the King swam, under which trees particular events and councils occurred.

11. THREE MILLION!: South Africa’s history and pre-history goes back more than three million years.

12. KAROO BOASTS THE BEST DINOSAUR FOSSILS: The Karoo region is home to some of the best fossils of early dinosaurs.

[Source : South African Heritage Resource Agency]

My Cape Town Photo

One of my favourite blogs I make sure I visit regularly is the excellent Cape Town Daily Photo. I love the way I get to see my city through the lens of KerryAnne & Paul.

I thought I would add my photo of my city. This time of the year, as I come over the mountain on my way to work in mornings and the weather conditions are just right the scene below is what greats me. The fog rolls in from False Bay over the 'valley' we call the Cape Flats. From our viewpoint it almost feels like you are somehow suspended in the air.

One of the many beautiful vistas on this magnificent part of the world.

Looking for forward to the weekend ... & Braaiday

Sharing the love between South Africa's internet video servers, Zoopy & MyVideo as we look forward to celebrating SA Braai Day on Monday.













Related post : SA Braai Day (Video) [27 July 2007]

For more information on SA Braai Day click here.

Digg.com goes down

I am a very very regular user of Digg.com. It's a place where latest news stories and blog posts are submitted and 'Dugg' with the most popular raising to to the top.
The Digg effect can send so much traffic to a site that it can cause the hosting server to literally crash, something that has become known as the 'Digg Effect.'

It amazes me that such a massive site can have 'down time.' One would imagine that they have server farms all over the world that would allow for contingency plans should there either be a problem or upgrades be implemented.

The graphic on the left only started appearing about 30mins after I first started trying to access the site, which says to me that this was not planned. Let's hope that this is now the result of something sinister.

The 25th anniversary of the Smiley

Twenty five (and two days) years ago Scott Fahlman 'invented' the smiley, :-) something that has become well and truly entrenched in popular culture. According to various sources here's the actually bulletin board (remember those) post that saw the birth of the smiley.

17-Sep-82 10:58 Neil Swartz at CMU-750R Elevator posts Maybe we should adopt a convention of putting a star (*) in the subject field of any notice which is to be taken as a joke.

17-Sep-82 14:59 Joseph Ginder at CMU-10A (*%) I believe that the joke character should be % rather than *.

17-Sep-82 15:15 Anthony Stentz at CMU-780G (*%) How about using * for good jokes and % for bad jokes? We could even use *% for jokes that are so bad, they're funny.

17-Sep-82 17:40 Keith Wright at CMU-10A *%&#$ Jokes! No, no, no! Surely everyone will agree that "&" is the funniest character on the keyboard. It looks funny (like a jolly fat man in convulsions of laughter). It sounds funny (say it loud and fast three times). I just know if I could get my nose into the vacuum of the CRT it would even smell funny!

17-Sep-82 17:42 Leonard Hamey at CMU-10A {#} (previously *) ...I think that the joke character should be the sequence {#} because it looks like two lips with teeth showing between them. This is the expected result if someone actually laughs their head off...

19-Sep-82 11:44 Scott E Fahlman :-) From: Scott E Fahlman I propose that the following character sequence for joke markers: :-) Read it sideways. Actually, it is probably more economical to mark things that are NOT jokes, given current trends. For this, use :-(

It is thought that a guy called Kevin Mackenzie may have first used -) to denote 'tongue in cheek' as early as 1979 but as far as I have been able to ascertain, this is unsubstantiated.

Since then even Eishman has succumbed and used the smiley way too many times and various derivatives have evolved :

:D  (Smiling)
=)  (Smiling)
;]  (Winking)
:]  (Neutral Expression)
:/  (Partial half smile)
:(  (Frowning)
:'( (Crying)
:-) (Smiley with nose)
:o  (Talking)
<:o) (party smile) :p  (Poking his tongue out)

(for a more comprehensive list click here)

Keep up with 2010 Stadia Construction

Pick and Shovels is great blog with a simple mission.
To keep tabs of the construction of the various 2010 stadia. Readers are invited to send in their pictures and the result is a pictorial view of the progress of these massive projects.

With all the controversy surrounding most, if not all, the stadia this makes for interesting viewing and is well worth a regular visit.

Can Web 2.0 be used to enhance productivity?

The debate has been raging for some time now. Can the 'tools' available from the Web 2.0 movement be efficiently utilised in business?
I am of the opinion that to often the debate is inspired by those desperate to keep these tools from being blocked by the corporate firewalls. Recently though, I came across an interesting presentation at myPlick that adds a new perspective in a succinct and convincing manner.



Perhaps there is value in the applications outlined in this presentation, however the temptation to use these tools for personal communications is way to high. Ways to control the utilisation would need to be found.
I look forward to watching how the corporates adapt as they realise to potential and find ways of uses it, without losing their employees to "over socialisation."

Be careful where you sleep!

Sticky tape & booze ... not a good combination!

Beware, do not watch if you, for any reason, will be sleeping in shared accomodation with your buddies, any time soon.

Eish!! podcast jingle

My good friend who blogs and podcasts as 'Bristol Saffa' took the time to record a jingle for Eish!!

Thanks Bud!!

Feel free to download and share.


Links : Voice of Bristol Podcast / Bristol Soapbox

Our own Chuck Norris?

Ok, it's not qute Friday, but's it's been quite a hectic week and there is an equally hectic weekend in store for me. So a bit of humour on a Thursday can't be a bad thing?

Here's the question. What the hell pushed this guy over the top? (See the projected image on the wall)

CycleTour entries to close soon

Those of you wishing to take part in next years PicknPay/Argus cycletour, better move fast. The date has been set for 9 March 2008 and entries are limited to the first 35000.
While this may sound like a lot, entries opened midday on the 1st September and as of today (11 September) they had filled close to 90% of the available spots, you can do the math.
There has been a little controversy on the cumulative cost of the tour this time round. But anyone who has taken part in this event will know that there is very little that compares to it ... and the obligatory massage afterwards.

If you are even thinking about maybe doing it, perhaps. Do yourself a favour , click here and enter. You will not regret it ... your bum might, and probably you legs, but it will all be worth it.

Related post : The Cycletour

One Day Remains Live

On the 3rd of April I reported one how Cape Town band 'One Day Remains' burst onto the international new media scene, before they even played a live gig!

Now there is a chance to see them do just that, play live. If you are in Cape Town on the 30th September, make sure you make your way down to the Waterfront this will be a free concert. Get the word out!
For more info, click on the image below :

The Bobs - no SA nominations?

On Friday White African asked the question Where are the African Blogs? He was referring to the fact that at the time he could not find any African blogs nominated for The Bobs (Best of the Blogs) a major blog awards initiative currently on the go. I thought I would brings this closer to home and ask why no South African nominations? Actually, this is not totally true. I did a check and I see that Rouvanne van den Berg's "Peak People : An inside look" has garnered a nomination, good stuff.

I decided that I would add to the rather small list and nominate a blog from South Africa. Making the decision to only nominate one I have struggled to figure out which one it will be. I realised that a massively high percentage of blogs I read emanate from South Africa. I very rarely find the need (and the time) to venture out into the international blogosphere.
So this must mean that there are many quality blogs around, the SA Blog Awards and 50 top SA blogs campaign attest to this as well.
... but still the map on the front page of The BOBs awards site has this massive empty space on the African continent and South Africa in particular, making the lack of nominations from this part of the world glaringly and depressingly obvious.

So here's what's required to submit a nomination taken from The Bobs website :

Requirements for the BOBs and the Blogopedia Weblogs, podcasts and videoblogs from around the world can take part in the Deutsche Welle's Best of the Blogs Awards and be listed in the Blogopedia as long as they are produced in one of the contest's 10 official languages (Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Persian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish). Though any and all blogs and 'casts are invited to join the competition, the BOBs will put a special emphasis on Weblogs, podcasts and videocasts that use a journalist's tools of reporting and analysis. Anyone can submit suggestions Whether you blog, pod or videocast yourself or just like to read, hear and see what others are doing, absolutely everyone is invited to suggest blogs to the contest. There is, of course, one exception to what can be entered into the contest: Jury members own blogs, podcasts and videocasts are prohibited from entry in the contest, though they can be listed in the Blogopedia. You can suggest as many blogs / podcasts / videocasts to the contest and Blogopedia as you would like. Simply send us an e-mail if you would like to have your work removed from the BOBs, or Blogopedia.

So let's get the SA Blogosphere onto the map, literally. Submissions will be accepted until the 30th September.

RWC - Electronic Scoreboard

Thanks Faan for sending me this nifty spreadsheet. It's a great way to keep up with the schedule as well as the possible permutations once we start getting into the serious end of the group stages.

Feel free to download be clicking here.

Press Release - International Rugby Board (IRB) Rugby World Cup 2007

Press Release
International Rugby Board (IRB) Rugby World Cup 2007

Following complaints to the IRB about the All Blacks being allowed to motivate themselves by performing the ‘Haka’ before their games, other nations were asked to suggest pre-match rituals of their own. The IRB Rugby World Cup 2007 Organizing Committee has now agreed
to the following pre-match displays:

1) The England team will chat about the weather, wave hankies in the air and attach bells to their ankles before moaning about how they invented the game and gave it to the world, but no one appreciates them.
2) The Scotland team will chant “You lookin’ at me Jimmy?” before each of them smash a bottle of beer over their opponents’ heads.
3) The Ireland team will split into two, with the Southern half performing a Riverdance, while the Northerners march the Traditional route from their dressing room to the pitch, via their opponents dressing room.
4) Unfortunately the Committee was unable to accept the Welsh proposal to form a choir and sing Tom Jones’ “It’s Not Unusual”.
5) Argentina will unexpectedly invade a small part of opposition territory, claim it as their own “Las In-Goals-Areas” and have to be forcibly removed by the match stewards.
6) Two members of the South African team will claim to be more important than the other 13 whom they will imprison between the posts. These two will then go about selecting the best parts of the pitch to settle on and claim that they have been there for centuries.
7) The Americans will not attend until almost full time. In future years they will amend the records to show that they were in fact the most important team in the tournament and Hollywood will make a blockbuster fi lm called ‘Saving Flanker Ryan’.
8) Five of the Canadian team will sing La Marseillaise and hold the rest of the team to ransom.
9) The Italian team will arrive in Armani gear, sexually harass the female offi cials and then prepare pasta dishes, which they will flog to the crowd for a fortune.
10) The Japanese will shock fans buy demonstrating how to capture a whale for scientifi c research buy harpooning an opposition prop.
11) The French won’t have a pre-match display and will simply hide in fear in the dressing room for the whole match.
12) The Australians will have a BBQ on their side of the fi eld and invite the opposition over before the game. The food and alcohol will be in abundance and by the start of the game no-one will remember what they came to the stadium for. After some streaking, the singing of dirty songs and the occasional chunder everyone will go home thoroughly convinced it was a bloody
good night.
13) Samoa will prepare a huge feast in the middle of the pitch by digging a large hole and fi lling it with burning embers. They invite the opposition over by saying, “We’d like to have you for dinner”. It’s only when the opposition get to the pit that they realize there is no meat and that they are the dinner!

Hopefully, with these policies now in place, further problems is this area of the game should cease to exists.

Regards,

Syd Miller
IRB Chairman
THE INTERNATIONAL RUGBY BOARD
Huguenot House 35-38 St Stephen’s Green Dublin 2 Ireland
Tel: 00 353 1 240 9200 • FAX: 00 353 1 240 9201

Thanks Mike!!!

Time for new memories

Before the first ball is kicked or tackle made in anger, let's pause, remember 1995 and hope for a new memory to emerge from this year's Rugby World Cup.
Have a good weekend ... oh, and ladies click here.

Zapiro , you boykie

Speed kills - ( Inspired by moronic video)

Friday is supposed to be a fun day @ Eish!! But while scouring the net for something to entertain you this weekend I found a video on MyVideo that made me decide to bring forward a post I was busy formulating for next week.

We lost two prominent football stars earlier this week. Yesterday it was confirmed that Black Leopards Football Club fullback, Fernando Matola was the driver of the car who's occupants were found burnt beyond recognition after the car veered off the road and hit a tree. The other occupants were his wife and two children. This follows news of the death of Sundowns star Gift Leremi died in a car accident in Johannesburg on Monday.

In both cases it appears as if there were no other parties were involved. Fairly or unfairly the assumption is made, certainly by myself, that speed had to be involved. Its a national epidemic that shows no sign of abating. 'African time' clearly does not transfer well to the road.

We have a two-fold problem in South Africa, which stems from the fact that we have such diverse economic poles. The formal economy has been booming for sometime now, and the prevalence of high end motor vehicle attest to this. These cars cost way in excess of half a million rands and are capable of speeds more than double the national road speed limit.
Now combine this with the 'other economy' which lives on or below the bread line. Still requiring means to get to and from work or leisure destinations these individuals drive or are driven in vehicles that are not worth the scrap metal value and cannot go much faster than the minimum speed limit without loosing further value as body parts are left on the road. This cocktail of speed, lack of speed and the inability of either to stop effectively is a lethal one.

On my local mountain pass in one week we had three major accidents. None of which involved more than one vehicle. Again pointing to speeding(or more accurately the sudden lack of speed) and/or the inability to control the chunk of metal used for transportation.

Clearly we have a massive problem, that needs to be solved by :
a) getting the unroadworthy vehicles off the road (this will cause politicians and city officials to become unpopular with their constituents so is very unlikely this will happen)
b) visible policing (this requires the metro police to be motivated enough to work a full day, so too is unlikely to happen, after all fixed speed cameras require much less effort to maintain)
c) more effective speed limitation mechanism (in my opinion this should be speed limiters been mandatory in all cars ... what the chances?)
d) a more effective public transportation (we can only dream)
e) A change in the collective attitude of all SA drivers.

It's the final point that I think, in light of this week's loss of two soccer stars, we have a chance to begin making a difference. I would like to see SAFA, the Premier League, Sundowns & Black Leopards take the lead start a responsible driving campaign of some sort. Let's try and make something positive of a horrible week!

Finally, the moronic video I mentioned. While watching consider the fact the this moron was holding his (sorry that's the assumption, it seems like a male thing to do) cellphone while accelerating!

Pop back later for something a whole lot lighter.

Finally the iPod for me!!

Stuff the iPhone, it seems Eishman has finally found the iPod for him, can't wait for it to arrive!!

Please send vibes to Mrs Eishman, maybe it will arrive on our shores in time for Christmas!!!!!

What am I talking about? See the full story on the newly launched iPod range @ engadget, fully illustrated commentary style.

[Update : I ran a quick poll of the local accredited Apple suppliers and while no-one is able or willing to speculate on the pricing it seems pretty certain we could be seeing the new iPods on our shores towards the end of October. So if you are like me and ready to add this to your gadget warchest your have some time to start saving ... or finding ways of getting ad revenue from your blog site ;-)]

Sick of junk mail in your postbox?

I was reading this post @ Insights and Rants :BarclayCard Breaks the Law, and was reminded that it is possible and actually very easy to prevent your mailbox (the one at the end of your driveway not the one on your pc unfortunately) from getting clogged up with junk mail and that telephone from ringing at the most inopportune moments.

The DMA (Direct Marketing Association) maintains a database of all those individuals that have elected not to receive addressed junk mail or cold calls called the DCM (Don't Contact Me) list. Before I provide with the link let me quote the warning provided on their website :
'Before you register however...
You should reflect on the fact that registering may well prevent you from receiving information which you would really like to have - thereby cutting you off from relevant and worthwhile opportunities. For example charities use telemarketing as an economical way to raise awareness and much needed support.'

Nice try guys!

Click here to get of those irrating lists now or call : (011) 577-2780.

[Update : Those of you in the UK can do the same @ MPS Online. Thanks Colin.]

Watch SA channel swimmer live - Today

Local 'boy' Andy Pfaff is attempting to swim the English channel ... today.
He left Dover @ 4:21am this morning, and at the time of posting was over half way (26km). Why anyone would want to spent so much time on that cold water beats me, but all power to Andy. It's not his first attempt and last year's ordeal will make success so much sweeter this time around.

Click over to his site for regular updates or go to SportsTrack and 'watch' his progress real time.

[Update : 7:26pm - Shot Andy!!]

What makes you proudly South African? (Chance to win)

I came across this article @ www.southafrica.info which reported on the results of a survey conducted by The World Values Survey. It shows that those who proclaim themselves as proud to be South African has risen to 96%.

That got me thinking. If I had been surveyed, I would have responded in the positive to the question 'Are you proudly South African?' But what is it that I am proud about?

Is it the strength of our diversity? Is it the beauty and the variety of the South African landscape? Is it the achievement of democracy, against all odds?

Sure, all of the above are valid reasons to be a proud South African. But all that has been said and written about ad nauseam over the past 13 years. To me, I am proud of the potential I see and experience in my country. As the generations emerge free from the shackles of the conservative, debilitating past, with no baggage, I see that diversity becoming a catalyst for innovation in all spheres. The arts, technology, the environment & and even industry. South Africa has the potential to become a world leader.

What makes you 'Proudly South African?'
If you stay in Cape Town I have two tickets for the Cape Town Winex Wine Festival @ the Cape Town International Convention Centre to give away.
Send a mail or comment on what makes you Proudly South African TODAY [Midnight - 5 Sept 07] and the one Eishman chooses as the best submission will get them hand delivered tomorrow as the event is opens today and runs until Friday.

Sorry, all those non-Capetonians, feel free to add your voice though, it would be great to hear your reasons for being Proudly South African.

Did you read this post too late to enter? Make sure that this does not happen again. Subscribe below and every new post @ Eish!! will be sent directly to your Inbox.

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Time to Convert

From DIY to cooking, technology to gardening, you name it, there is always the need to convert stuff.
The world was supposed to have switched to metric, but the reality is that there will always be remnants of other measurement systems around.

www.online-unit-converter.com
is giving away a little piece of software that will assist you when you find yourself pondering over how many centimeters in a foot or how fast your yacht is travelling when you were 'cruising' at 10 knots in the bay. Not to mention when the commentators start talking about the 22 yard line at the RWC!
There is an exhaustive list of different units of measurement, I am pretty sure you will find any conversion requirement you might have. (If not there is a link you can submit further suggestions on the website)

Download here : You never know when you might need this little beauty!