Sunset in Cape Town

Yesterday, I was supporting our soccer team (Pep's) in Phillipi. This was the sunset over table mountain. Absolutely incredible. Somehow it was lost on a lot of the people, but my eyes are sometimes just focussed on the beauty surrounding me. It is in times like this that I feel most happy and serene.

Unfortunately my phone's camera isn't the best (maybe in September after my upgrade), but this is why I always wanted a nice camera on my phone.

Krabbel trouble

This is Afrikaans scrabble. I won it. :-) Writing "Staker" there on the right. A "staker" is someone who is participating in a strike.

The wonder of cellphones and the internet... You can immortalize your victories forever! Bwuahahahahaha!

Anyway, the game was very tight, because in the 1st round someone else played out with "Ysterman" (Ironman). So it is pretty hard to get back from the 50+ bonus scores.

Hope you all win your games... but not against me.

Google gets Green

I use google earth... but I *know* I will not enable this layer.

To me the really interesting part of this post was this comment by amg96:

You know what. I am pretty fed up with all of the down with humanity people. Every single one, especially Al Gore, is a hypocrite when it comes to minimizing your precious "Carbon Footprint." Why don't you all move into a forrest or desert island, protect it the best that you can, and leave the rest of us alone.

Yes, there happens to be a COROLLATION between global warming and CO2 levels. But the warming trend started before industrialization, and there have been warming and cooling cycles on the earth way before man was here. Want to know why??? Because the Earth's revolution around the sun oscillates closer and further every 200,000 years or so. Also the magnetic poles of the Earth also shift causing a thinning of the atmosphere during a shift which also leads to temporary warming.

What happened to all the chicken littles who cried, "Oh no, we're headed for another ice age in the eighties" Guess that didn't happen did it!

To paraphrase George Carlin, how do you know that we weren't put here to create styrofoam., or to use trees, or dig holes, use oil, whatever. Don't you all think that we are just a product of evolution. Are you so holier than God to think that we are outside of nature? How pompous to think that we can save a whole planet. The planet will be here long after we are gone, because you know why? Survival of the fittest, and if we're not the fittest, then syanara to humanity, baby!

If you don't like big polluters, then don't support them. Stop trying to use the government's police force, because someday you might be on the receiving end of that force. Ride a bike, live in a cave, don't use the sewer system, don't use the power system, but STOP PREACHING WHAT YOU DON'T PRACTICE!!

Yes, we should try not to pollute because nobody wants to breath polluted air or drink polluted water, or see the cute fuzzy little animals die out, but why is it that no one seems to care about the insects, or how about this -- who gave you vegetarians the right to kill plants for food or kill bacteria and viruses. Why don't you all just become breathans and live off the air!

I'm all for space exploration. There are plenty of planets and stars out there, and why don't all the tree huggers live on Earth and the rest of us can live on other planets and do as we will. If we have to use some trees for houses or kill some animals and plants for food, or mine some coal (or use wind - hey I'm not unreasonable), then let us do it in peace, and stop trying to bully the rest of the world. If it wasn't for business, you wouldn't have 1 tenth of the things you have -- you would have to make your own clothes, hunt or grow your own food and build and maintain your own shelter, forget about your own energy! Think a little before you try taking us all back to the stone ages!!!

For one, this is news to me, but in other news... Scott Adams (writer of Dilbert - *waves* hi to Scott, because Google Alerts will now let him know of this post) has written that fossils are BS. Another post which to me, made a lot of sense and are saying that for all these years, scientists have come to a conclusion, and are justifying their conclusion with facts. Instead of looking at the facts and then drawing a conclusion.

For me the Flying Spaghetti Monster is living proof of this "fact".

My Magic Bunnies and Hunters

Ok... Some quick definitions...

A bunny is someone who I've played 5 times or more, and against whom I have a 60%+ winning ratio.

A hunter is someone who I've played 5 times or more, and against whom I have a 60%+ loss ratio.

Ideally though, to define bunnies and hunters you'd probably want about a 2/3 ratio, and about 8-10 games played. But those stats wouldn't have included so many people. :-)

These stats are as 2006/12/16 (I've played in some prereleases since then and have won 8/9... eagerly awaiting those updates), and consist of Limited and Constructed.

Opponent	Loss	Tie	Win	Games	Win Ratio	Bunny/Hunter
Bunnies
Bethany Culbert			5	5	1.00	Bunny
Izak van Zyl Marais	2		6	8	0.75	Bunny
Jeffrey Manuel	2		5	7	0.71	Bunny
Tiaan G. Towsen	4		7	11	0.64	Bunny
Emile C. Wilton	3		5	8	0.63	Bunny
Andre' Ferreira	1	1	3	5	0.60	Bunny
Andre' Rademan	2		3	5	0.60	Bunny
Brian Harris	2		3	5	0.60	Bunny
Hunters
Detlef Romatzki	4	1	1	6	0.17	Hunter
Kestell Laurie	6	1	2	9	0.22	Hunter
Herc Du Preez	6		2	8	0.25	Hunter
Nico J. Boshoff	8	1	4	13	0.31	Hunter
Jacques Eloff	4		2	6	0.33	Hunter
Durham Smith	9		5	14	0.36	Hunter
Peter Norman	7		4	11	0.36	Hunter
Dwayne Kimber	3		2	5	0.40	Hunter

Of these stats... what interest me the most is probably Nico Boshoff. I thought I beat him a lot more... but I guess it's because especially against Nico, you tend to remember the wins more. But it's also interesting how often we've been paired together.

I hope to get Dwayne off the list, then my Hunters is less than my Bunnies. I also know I beat Kestell in the draft, but he that win is only step one of quite a few to get him off the list.

The US date format vs. The rest of the world

Ok, this is one of my pet peeves.

31 January 2007 should be written like this: 2007/01/31. It's what makes sense mathematically. Same as 103 is written as 1 in the "hundreds" a 0 in the "tens" and 3 in the "ones". 2007/01/31 has "2007" in the "years" or even "20" in the Millennium, "07" in the "years", "01" in the months, and "31" in the days.

01/31/2007 and 31/01/2007 both makes little sense. Because I've been reared with 31/01/2007, it's natural to me... also the same as the one that makes mathematically sense, just the other way around.

But this is what I can say for the US system. A computer checking the month while you are typing the days is much more comfortable if you've already typed the month. So trying to type 31/01/2006 when 05/02/2007 is the "default" is somewhat tricky if the validation is done real time. You first have to change the 02 to 01 (or another month with 31 days) before you can change it to 31.

Fortunately most date input boxes aren't programed to validate real time, but Powerbuilder is. And it sux... suxx. suxxx.

But my suggestion is everyone dates MMYY/mm/dd.

Firefox 2 quirks

Well well... Firefox 2 has been released.

However it has one peculiar quirk that I hated... the close buttons on all the tabs. But in true open source fashion this is customizable. My personal favourite is to have it have a close button on the active tab only.

To do this... I've found out from this site.

• Open a new tab and type about:config in the address bar and press enter.

• In the filter field type browser.tabs.closeButtons.

• Double-click on the entry and enter the corresponding number below:

0 - Display a close button on the active tab only
1 - Display a close button on each tab (default)
2 - Don’t display any close buttons
3 - Display a single close button at the end of the tab bar (Firefox 1.x behavior)

• Click OK

• Close the about:config editor or tab

However, the option 3 apparently doesn't work properly. I use 0, and I am very happy.

Proudly South African

Well...

I found this really interesting. And I am very glad that we have South Aficans who are so liberal, and so ahead in their thinking about South African politics.

This reminds me of the EU that wants to ban the Swastica, but the Hindu people oppose it because it is also a symbol in their religion that resembles peace and stuff - I don't really have the Hindu angle covered, but yeah... (I should really add a link here, but I am a lazy blogger).

I agree though with John Smith not signing it. But had it been the black guy's old flag... I dunno. We all have such double standards. ;-) Racism is all about double standards.

Jhb and CT traffic in terms of Dnd allignments

Well...

My sister-in-law moved from Johannesburg to Cape Town recently. And well, the way people drive always become a topic of conversation.

Now I thought about it this morning, and since I've driven in both Jhb and CT, I feel I can comment on the subject. For me, Cape Town drivers are very "lawful" to use the DnD terms. The Jhb drivers are far less lawful than the Cape Town drivers, but they are in fact more "good".

To explain this with examples I'll have for Cape Town:
The guy who sits in the right hand lane doing pretty much the speed limit (Speed limit is 120, and they'll be doing 115 or so). Very lawful. But not very considerate.

Or for instance you'll put on your indicator to pass the truck... but since you've had to slow down to 80 to not drive into the truck, the people coming from behind at 115 won't give you a gap. You'll be behind that truck in CT until there is a natural gap in the traffic or until the truck turns off.

For Johannesburg it's the other way around:
They go 140-160, but they are considerate. Or in suburban areas they'll be doing 80, but if you want to get out of your parking spot, or need to get past that truck or whatever, they'll give you that gap you need.

It's like they understand that the traffic is so bad, that not giving a gap worsens it more than actually giving the gap.

It's the concept Mr Nash (Beautiful Mind anyone?) in real life. What's best for the individual, isn't necessarily better for the whole. Jhb understands that, CT doesnt.

Rejoice, Boje is out!

Well, I am apparently in a blogging mood today. :-)

I have to say, that maybe some will moan, but to me, I am grateful. Boje out. My finger is raised. I believe that he would not have been chosen for the team, but it I thank him for giving me the peace of mind with the tests coming up.

I will not continue to bash him further, as he's had a couple of great innings' and some important wickets. However couldn't another exciting young spinner have done the same?

Amazing Open Source Game!

After John Carmack and co published the Quake 3 source code in June 2005, the open source community started programming and working on OpenArena. An enginewise clone and it seems weaponwise clone (not the models though) of Quake 3: Arena.

Gameplay is great even though the game is only at v0.6, with bot support and quite a lot of maps and textures etc. There are also some dedicated servers to be found on the site as well.

Open Source gaming is really picking up, and a special thanks to id and Carmack for being the contributors they are.

You can make friends this way!

Not...

Or should I say "You can make friends this way not" as Borat would say it. :-)

Anyway, enjoy the most rediculous concept (that may work! Eish). If I could only get some Anime girls on my friends list.

Except that I don't have a myspace space (thankfully).

But why don't you just do what Sammy did? Get millions of friends! And he tells you how (though they've patched it by now).

My friend's Google Calendar

I've created a google calendar to remember all of my friends' birthdays.

Unfortunately I don't know that many of my friends' birthdays, so I am hoping you'll leave a comment with your name and birthday.

(Jerall... I've got yours from your blog...)

Cape Town Business

Work is scarce in SA, and everyone tries to make do with what they can... However this man got a niche market for himself.

At the headquarters of SARS (South African Revenue Services) in cape town, parking is a premium property. A smart young entrepreneur however, created a business solution to the problem.

People "idle" their vehicles and give their envelopes filled with their forms to this "short distance courier". He then sprints toward the window, and delivers the package, all under the watchful eye of the client. He then sprints back to the car for a "donation". Which he does not always get, but usually he gets... in soft money. (You don't want to be sprinting 100m all the time with a bunch of coins in your pocket)

So if last post was to all the people outside South Africa, here's to all the people inside South Africa, for true entrepreneurial spirit!

Cacking in my pants (Afrikaans taking over the world!)

Words are for me a very interesting subject.

Now this blog is somewhat interesting read, albeit on a popular subject... Sex.

But to me, this post had this English lady (or call her by whatever name you want), using the words "cacking in my pants from fear" (end of the 3rd paragraph). Now to the average afrikaans speaking person, it's obviously an english form of "kak", the afrikaans for shit.

Searching on the internet (www.dictionary.com, as well as www.thefreedictionary.com) didn't have an origin to the word.

Anyway, this post is dedicated to those afrikaners in London and the rest of england who are influencing the english language to such an extent!

Frieve FREE Music / MIDI editing software

This software has a bit of a learning curve, but is probably some of the best sequencing software around that's free. (And works on windows. MusE also looks good.)

Anyway, I just want to link to it to add heighten it's score on search engines.
*(Because I now had a torrid time searching for it)

Armor!

ElvishPillager wrote this merry song (no melody yet) about roguelikes and armor.

I thought it was a really great read!

Armor

When there's monsters at your back,
and your fortune's looking black,
and you've lost your kith and kin,
what's left to protect your skin?
Armor! Armor!
refrain: It protects your skin from harmer!
refrain: It keeps up the monsters' karmer
refrain: and with the ladies it's a charmer!

And suppose you're in the town,
with a golden crown of beauty,
all the shopkeeps feel a duty
to rebate some of that booty!
As your AU's going down,
you're just glad you've got that crown,
because it's armor! It's armor!
(refrain)

And down in the dungeon low,
And you start to get in trouble,
and you exit on the double
but the monsters tunnel rubble
and you've missed your saving throw,
and you're thinking, "oh, OH NO!",
but then something stops the blow,
What's the something? Now you know!
It's armor! It's armor!
(refrain)

Then when Morgoth comes to call,
and he smashes through the wall,
and he stands above you tall,
and you watch his hammer fall,
as he hits you with his all,
naught will save you from his maul...
except for armor! Your armor!
(refrain)

Then when everything is done,
and you think you've finally won,
and it's time to have some fun,
then that Elf comes from nowhere,
and asks you the Void to dare,
and you wonder how you'll fare,
you recall your Cloak of Air...
You could stay as king or farmer
but you'll go into the void
'cause you've got armor!

Google Spreadsheets

So here is a snapshot of me using Google Spreadsheets...

Truth be told. It is not Excel, I doubt it'll ever be excel. But it serves a different purpose. I can for instance keep my "contacts" on there, because I am one of the people that prefer a grid of data to an outlook-like contacts vibe.

Or I guess more appropriately, The Luckshack could keep their league standings on a google spreadsheet, and then everyone will be able to see it. (I don't know if you can share with read-only access, but I am pretty sure you can)

Dewey Colour Test

Ok, so this test is interesting, and very effortless (very important).

HOWEVER, the test didn't want to accept me because I was using firefox... The site's shares dropped immensly once they did that.

I also think that the site is only giving you your good points, which makes it easy for anyone to agree with whatever is being said of them. (Fundemental Positive Attribution)

Bling, my Necro

I'm part of a multiplayer notepad in this multiuser blog.

Losing dice is a blog about our experiences in our role playing world of Mage: The awakening.

This is my description of the previous session.

Universal Driving Laws

Ok, recently I've come to look at driving differently. I have set up these rules, but I have on several occasions broken several them. But this is what I believe is what separates the good drivers from the bad ones.

1. Be alert
2. Be calm
3. Be considerate
4. Be predictable
5. Don't send an sms
6. Don't talk on your cellphone
7. Don't flash or bright the guy in front of you
8. Keep a comfortable following distance
9. If you drive fast, drive with your headlights on, and especially follow rules 1-8.
10. If you drive slowly, don't sit in the fast lane, and don't be shy to put on the emergency lights, and go into the yellow lane.
11. Put on your indicators BEFORE you actually turn.
12. Keep your car in a roadworthy condition.
13. You may add more, but think before you add more, because it may be you transgressing some of the above rules rather than the other person doing something stupid.