Daily Links - 11/06/2004

• Lots of information on hunger strikes
• Testing pens - although some of the models in the article may be unfamiliar, it's still a useful article, and it demonstrates that a good writer can make even a boring subject -like pens (or aeroplane travel)-interesting
• A quick guide to securing your PC
• Introduction to RSS [via scripting news]
• Another example of how some governments undermine the rule of law when given the opportunity

More links to follow...

Peppadew

Some time back, I tasted a strange pepper-like fruit, which was bought by a female relative. After some Googling, I discovered that it was called the Peppadew (sorry...the "Piquanté Pepper" ). I have since bought Peppadew sauce, although to be honest, I've only consumed half the bottle....I prefer stronger condiments, like Nandos sauce.

Still, the fact that the Peppadew brand is South African, and the way the fruit was discovered, make it an interesting product...

Traffic safety warning

If you are ever driving on the R55 going towards Sandton, be extremely careful near the robots at the entrance to Olivenhoutbosch (a newish township southwest of Pretoria). Drivers coming from Midrand, turning right into Olivenhoutbosch have developed the terrible habit of crossing the solid line and driving facing oncoming southbound traffic in the right-hand lane. The first time I saw this, it was a minibus taxi that did it. Now it seems that private cars are doing the same thing. If you don't stick to the posted 80km/h speed limit on that stretch of road, you may find yourself in a head-on collision, since you won't have time to avoid the morons who do this.

Daily links - 10/06/2004

• Why very realistic computer animations of people don't work
• More about the topic, and why older games remain popular by the same author
• Something from the archives about Reagan
• A detailed description of problems with an inflight entertainment system that is suspected of crashing a Swissair jet [see this site also for more links]
• Andrew Black of Southern Cross on why he's opposed to Britain's participation in the EU

Daily links - 09/06/2004

• In Search of the First Language [via languagehat]
• I really don't understand why people are still allowed to travel in the backs of trucks and bakkies
• Why did the Iraqi chicken cross the road?
• Cold snap expected to worsen
• A frustrated war nerd explains what he'd do with 200 million dollars [via Sailer]
• Richard at Way South on affirmative action
• Another South African map site
• Is Bush cracking up? [via Sailer again]
• The shortage of American refineries
• Schoolchildren keep getting killed by cars on a stretch of KZN road
• Ethnic clashes at informal settlement (in South Africa)

Incidentally, this is the 100th post on this weblog.

Petals Around the Rose

Here's a nice brainteaser called Petals Around the Rose. It took me a few spins to solve it while playing on the simulator, although I was on the right track from the start...in my opinion, the game would have been more fun if the first rule ("the name is significant") was left unstated.

[via Foreign Dispatches]

Update: Simulator link fixed

Daily links - 08/06/2004

• Enron traders caught on tape joking about helping to cause California's electricity crisis (including shutting down power stations to drive up prices). Part two. [via anil's daily links]
• A look at a government land auction in Nevada

Road numbering again

As promised in an earlier post, here are some more sites that can help one in navigating around South Africa.

• I just discovered this very detailed travel portal, which includes route numbers and descriptions
• Brabys maps, detailed maps of South Africa, right down to street level

Selective memory

Natal Fever discusses the muted South African reaction to the D-Day commemorations. [via Southern Cross]

The Sunday Times did have a full-page article on D-Day.

To be fair to those who have ignored the event, there is also an argument that D-Day is overrated [previously linked to here].

Immigration from South Asia

Anecdotal evidence suggests that increasing numbers of South Asian immigrants are coming to South Africa. Apparently, a significant proportion of the population of Indian townships [areas formerly set aside for South African "Indians"] is made up of recent immigrants from South Asia, although there are also stories about these immigrants setting up house in traditionally black areas (lacking apartheid-era hangups about race, they are said to assimilate rapidly).

The implications, particularly in fields like IT, should be obvious.