hertenberger.co.za

For the first time, a local WordPress gathering will be held in Cape Town on Saturday, August 23.

For all South African bloggers, WordCamp SA 2008 is a great opportunity to meet like-minded individuals and gain access to some tips and tricks. For those wondering whether the buzz about Internet publishing is justified, a visit to WordCamp SA would also be beneficial.

Registrations for the event have opened, so sign up here. The venue is The Wild Fig in Observatory, Cape Town.

I’d like to see you there!

Zimbabwe has a new president, and yes, you guessed it, good old Bob beat all odds and won his election. In an absolutely fantastic show of African optimization, Bob has successfully tested and perfected a fast, easy cycle of vote to election. Considering the three months it took them the last time to try and determine a winner in an election of two candidates, the new and improved one-candidate vote had results available in less than 24 hours! Even by African standards, an improvement of many 1000% is absolutely impressive. It may even find new takers in other parts of the continent where pesky opposition parties are able to ruin the prestige of a dictator running a country for many years. Why, even Bob‘s buddy Thabo may have a go at this, considering how impressed he seems to be with the whole affair.

President Evil has done it. Let’s trust in the people of Zimbabwe and the few sane nations left in the world (ours excluded) to get this idiot into that asylum room already reserved for him.

Visit Zimbabwe Democracy Now.

Today, as the population of our neighbouring country, Zimbabwe, goes to the polls to choose from a selection of one in a run-off election that was to provide a better alternative, I urge you to consider the dire situation those innocent civilians are facing.

Mugabe is a dictator, plain and simple. He is the prime example of what African leadership is: a collection of demented half-wits, intent on garnering cash and power no matter what the cost. The fact that the innocent populace suffers, economic damage is done to the country in question and that the region as a whole suffers due to the actions of one man is of little consequence. Democracy in Zimbabwe has been suffering for a while now. Today, it is officially dead.

President Evil will live to oppress and pillage – with no action and assistance coming from anywhere else, the people in Zimbabwe are at his mercy. May he be shown as much mercy as he provides when his time comes…

Visit Zimbabwe Democracy Now.

Apparently. Not sure why that tag line has been selected by the South African Tourism association. I’m sure it is possible. Just not entirely on track with what it is that’s supposed to be possible. Get rid of crime? Retain skills? Supply electricity? Love thy neighbour? All possible, I’m sure. Let’s get on with it would have had my vote.

Maybe, they are referring to the recent integration of a ZA layer for Google Earth.

That’s not only possible, it’s been done! The latest version of Google Earth is 4.3 and has a few notable features added to it:

• photo-realistic buildings from cities around the world
• dawn to dusk views with the Sunlight feature
• swoop navigation from outer space to street-level

Once installed, get the South African Layer in the form of a standard KML file.

The information is intended for tourists and provides information on the 2010 venues.

Click on an item to gain access to a photograph, further information or Wikipedia entry. Then, create an itinerary or book a hotel room.

It’s a great resource. I hope that we’ll have 3D models of our cities integrated soon, too. It’s possible, you know…

Being the wired being I am, I am unable to pass up the opportunity to register for an online service. I am generally also aware that my ID number should be unique. At least that’s my expectation.

Thus, I was surprised and somewhat shocked to discover that the entry of my ID number during my registration for personal services on the DStv site returned multiple hits.

Ten hits, to be precise.

So: if my ID number is unique, surely only my name should be returned. If this is a data entry error, then the chances of generating ten copies of the same error are slight. How many monkeys are randomly hitting keyboards to enter subscriber details at Multichoice? If this is an error in the SQL engine or the logic of the registration procedure then how on earth does its search algorithm work. No logic I can come up with would explain this one.

All in all, this is a privacy issue and a certain indication of garbage in the chute…

Not today. But I thought you may want to run past your local comic books store on Saturday, 3 May to see what all the fuss is about.

More than likely, the offer sounds better than it really is. I wouldn’t expect a bunch of #1′s or comics with a first appearance of such-and-such. Probably an attempt by the comics industry to try and extricate itself from the pit it finds itself in: digital publishing and P2P are threats, I guess. See a list of the comics that will be given away here. Wonder above wonder, find a participating outlet near you

There’s something for everyone, I guess. From Jughead to the Transformers and X-Men to Neotopia. As they say in the classics: never look a gift horse in the mouth…

A conflubberation of the Matrix, Transformers and the sense of connection, NeoConnect Prime is how Neotel has decided to brand its first consumer offering. It’s supposed to compete head-on with those of iBurst, Telkom, MTN and Vodacom.

The good news is that the all-inclusive price of ZAR 599 per month will buy the following:

• 2.4 Mbps Internet connection
• 10GB cap on monthly Internet usage bandwidth

As someone forced to use wireless technologies due to location, this is already a good deal better than what I have on iBurst. For about ZAR 100 more, I could have a 10GB cap instead of 3.5GB. The CDMA connection also provides better transfer rates. The service is based on CDMA 2000 technology which is very similar to 3G/HSDPA. It is slower than HSDPA, though.

There is is apparently no activation fee.

The following items are extraneous for my purposes, but nonetheless included in the monthly charge:

• 1000 free on-net voice minutes
• 50 free on-net SMS’s

Unless everyone I know also selects Neotel, it’s unlikely I’ll make any use calls or SMS‘s. In any case, I’d be happy to pay a bit more for better and faster connectivity, never mind the added bonus of a higher cap.

The device worries me most of all (the photo is filched from here)

It looks like a phone. That’s the problem. I’m guessing, this thing has little other than a USB connector to connect it to a single workstation. I’m guessing and have little other detail. If that’s the case, there’s no way I’d be able to power the house with the Interweb – I want to connect the source to my hub and not have to rely on a shared system for access to the Internet. I hope Neotel will provide alternative devices to consumers.

There’s some more information regarding the phone device here. My suspicions are confirmed: the device is USB only and, even worse, you can’t surf and call at the same time.

The service should be available sometime in May. I’m keen to wait and see whether there’ll be a change to the proposed monthly charges and whether an Ethernet-cabled device will appear. Of course, the area of coverage might be an important factor too…

Users of Garmin GPS devices will be pleased to hear that the new mapset is available for purchase. The GARMAP Africa Series 2008 DVD retails for ZAR 99 and looks more like the top 100 hits of Madonna than a boring map set package The silver DVD box is quite eye-catching and cannot be reproduced online.

Of course, the purchase price of the DVD is simply to provide access to the map sets. If you intend upgrading or purchasing one or more of them, additional cash will have to be exchanged. The entire installation procedure takes place whilst the GPS unit is connected and an Internet connection is required. There is little chance of installing the map sets to multiple GPS receivers…

The following map sets are provided:

• Southern Africa Streetmaps, March Edition
• Southern Africa Streetmaps, DEM, March Edition
• Southern Africa Streetmaps, Topo & Rec, March Edition
• South Africa Waterways, March Edition
• Nigeria Streetmaps, Topo & Rec Version 2
• East Africa Street Maps Version 1
• Indian Ocean Islands Streetmaps Version 1: Mauritius

It seems that owners of Southern Africa Streetmaps Version 1.5 are able to upgrade without charge. At least that was my experience. Good thing too, since all we really want is access to the updated street names!

A note to drivers on the Cape Town highway. This sign

above the bus lane indicates that ordinary traffic is not supposed to be present in that lane between the hours of 05:30 and 09:00. After 09:00, or on weekends, you are welcome to drive at a reckless, breakneck speed to attempt to pass traffic traveling at or under the prescribed speed limit. I know most of you don’t wear a timepiece, so install a sundial on your bonnet, m’kay?