Tuesday, August 31, 2004

Administrative notice

Looming full-time employment (and a significant daily commute) mean that blogging could become less frequent.

Sunday, August 29, 2004

XP SP2 free CD

If, like me, you are stuck on a dial-up connection, and need to get a copy of Windows XP Service Pack 2, you can order it on a free CD from Microsoft.

Handball

I have been intrigued by team handball ever since I watched it on TV (I think it was during the All Africa Games held in Johannesburg).

More information, and the Wikipedia article.

Saturday, August 28, 2004

eBucks password

I have a valid eBucks pin. However the eBucks website requires a password. I've been battling to figure out how to get from my pin to my password. I'm probably missing something obvious, but this is driving me crazy. If anyone knows, please email me, and I'll post the solution here.

Friday, August 27, 2004

Daily Links - 27/08/2004

Wednesday, August 25, 2004

Daily Links - 25/08/2004

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

Pressure question answered

Colin at the corner office, has answered my question about the effects of altitude and air pressure on the transporting of goods:
To answer GP's question: it is a transport issue. My aunt's sister and her hubby did a stint a few years ago as truck drivers in the USA. Transporting packets of potato chips (crisps) from California to elsewhere can be a problem: if trucks take the mountain passes to get inland, the packets explode at high altitude, due to the much lower atmospheric air pressure. If I remember their story correctly, potato chips have to be transported around some of the mountain ranges, so's to keep the chip packets intact.
(more)

Daily Links - 24/08/2004

Monday, August 23, 2004

Daily Links - 23/08/2004

Saturday, August 21, 2004

The memory game

Via PZ Myers, a profile of Elizabeth Loftus, a research psychologist who has done much to debunk 'repressed memory syndrome'.

Weekend Links - 21/08/2004

I' m working on a project proposal, so blogging will be light for the next few days.

Friday, August 20, 2004

Rubberneckers

On Wednesday, a petrol tanker crashed into a bridge on the R21 airport road (northbound) near the Olifantsfontein offramp.

I drove past on Friday afternoon, and traffic was slow near the scene of the accident, so that the amateur civil engineers who drove past could inspect the damage to the bridge for themselves. Idiots.

Thursday, August 19, 2004

Tshwane and Ekurhuleni

If you are unfamiliar with the names check out the following pages that list the towns that constitute these huge municipalities:

Traffic jams [inane ramblings 2]

I noticed that the SAfm traffic report today had information about three big Gauteng municipalities (Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni), Durban and Cape Town.

It got me wondering...are there rush-hour traffic jams in Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth, East London and Pietermartizburg?

Daily Link 19/08/2004

South African Inventions [via Way South]

There appears to be some controversy about who actually invented the dolos. See this.

Wednesday, August 18, 2004

Daily Links - 18/08/2004

Tuesday, August 17, 2004

Daily Links - 17/08/2004

Monday, August 16, 2004

Daily Links - 16/08/2004

Psychology dropouts

  • They think that UML is a programming language.
  • They think that "JAVA" is an acronym.
  • They think trigonometry is taught as a separate subject at university.

Scary how little employment agencies that "specialize in IT" really know.

Friday, August 13, 2004

Random observations

The Simpsons episode where Homer got a chat show and spoke about inane stuff inspired this post.

  1. I have noticed that when I go down to the coast, my half-used shampoo bottle (I use Johnson's Baby Shampoo) is crushed. When I open the lid, it pops back into shape. Presumably, this has something to do with altitude and air pressure differences between the coast and Gauteng. It could also have to do with my poor packing technique, but I doubt it. Do manufacturers have to take this into account when transporting goods? I shall do research and post feedback to this blog.
  2. There are few things more annoying than having car hooters or emergency sirens in radio commercials. There was also the Wheatus song, Teenage Dirtbag, that included the sound of a car accident - very distracting when driving. Another annoyance is doorbells on television.

Daily Links - 13/08/2004

Wednesday, August 11, 2004

Commentary

Commentary.co.za has lots of new content, which I am catching up with now.

Darfur

Col Lounsbury has a detailed analysis of the situation in Darfur.

Tuesday, August 10, 2004

Daily Links - 10/08/2004

Monday, August 09, 2004

Back

The traffic back from Durban was hectic.

Friday, August 06, 2004

Away

Back next week.

Thursday, August 05, 2004

Daily Links - 05/08/2004

Monday, August 02, 2004