This journal is semi-locked. Any entries of a personal nature or that are work-related are locked, and viewable only by LJ friends or specific filters.

I've been reading a lot about the proposed US healthcare bill, and the opposition to it. Now, to my mind, general public healthcare is a good thing; can anyone explain reasonably clearly why this proposal has problems? I'd like to know why there is opposition to it.

One of the four remaining flying English Electric Lightnings (one of the two-seater ones, from the looks of it) went down at an air show today, killing the pilot, Dave Stock, who had problems ejecting.

A terrible loss, of both an experienced pilot, and a fantastic fighter aircraft.

Thanks for all the responses to my question about the American white T-shirt thing.

I'm a little confused though: what's with the abhorrence of men's nipples and/or chest hair? Are they really that disturbing? If you're not in the US, do men wear white undershirts where you live?

Just speaking from personal experience, it's not been an issue in South Africa, that I'm aware of. I know white perforated vests were were popular with my grandfather's generation, but not recently. I spent yesterday looking at shirts etc. at work, and I noticed that almost no-one wears smart white shirts any more - they're all striped, lightly checked, or coloured - and also that nipples did not appear to be visible under smart shirts (golf shirts are another story).

All rather interesting...

I have a question for the Americans: what's the deal with the white T-shirts that, judging from movies and TV, American men often wear under their shirts? What are they for? Is it for warmth, or what?

I'm so pissed off with Vodashop Hyde Park Corner.

Vodashop, for those overseas, is the retail arm of the biggest cellphone service provider in South Africa, Vodacom.

Last month we visited Vodashop in Hyde Park Corner, to get a new phone contract (Blackberry), and to upgrade my phone's contract to a different contract. They screwed both up, not activating the first contract, and, despite me signing the upgrade forms, not actually submitting my forms to Vodacom. The first took a day and a phone call to resolve, the second I only found out about today...which delays moving onto the new contract by a month.

This is their fucking core business, and they can't get it right...

We had an incredible hailstorm here on Friday. I was on my way to Parktown at the time, and next thing the heavens opened, and the hail fell out of the sky. It really looked like a snowfall; quite beautiful.

In Parktown, I had to collect a PC from someone who lived on the historic Rock Ridge Road; the houses there looked so beautiful with white hail on the roofs and grounds. I did have a go at seeing how easy it was to stop my car on the layer of ice on the road; answer: not easy. The ABS hammered my foot, and the car took a lot longer to stop than it would have on a normal wet road.

Anyway, I took some pics:

Here's an interesting question I nicked from ask_me_anything.

Poll #1474256 Equal rights for nudity
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 25

Should laws that address nudity above the waist apply equally to males and females?

Feel free to comment or explain.

This little poem, by Calvin Trillin and published in The Nation, pretty much sums up what Roman Polanski's supporters are saying:

A youthful error? Yes, perhaps.
But he's been punished for this lapse--
For decades exiled from LA
He knows, as he wakes up each day,
He'll miss the movers and the shakers.
He'll never get to see the Lakers.
For just one old and small mischance,
He has to live in Paris, France.
He's suffered slurs and other stuff.
Has he not suffered quite enough?
How can these people get so riled?
He only raped a single child.

Why make him into some Darth Vader
For sodomizing one eighth grader?
This man is brilliant, that's for sure--
Authentically, a film auteur.
He gets awards that are his due.
He knows important people, too--
Important people just like us.
And we know how to make a fuss.
Celebrities would just be fools
To play by little people's rules.
So Roman's banner we unfurl.
He only raped one little girl.

A few weeks ago I finally got sick of the regular random disconnects from my Logitech MX5000 Bluetooth wireless keyboard, and bought a replacement: the Logitech G11 gaming keyboard.

Some of the nice features:

• It's wired. No more wireless disconnects.


• The keys are all backlit in blue; nice for dim environments.
  
• The arrow keys and ins/del/home/end/pgup/pgdn keys are in conventional layout, not the stupid new layout Microsoft and Logitech seen to like nowadays.


• Rotary volume control.


• Best of all: 18 fully programmable additional keys on the left. These can be programmed to do particular keystrokes or keystroke sequences or run apps or do various things, all specifically in particular apps, if desired. That's a lot of combinations! I have some of my keys set to run programs, and others to do certain things. For example, the very convenient G13, G14 and G15 keys do copy, cut and paste; so much easier than Ctrl C, Ctrl X and Ctrl V. I have one key set to do a Ctrl A Ctrl C in order to select all and copy; this is so that when I type up a long post response and click post, it doesn't disappear into the ether when our flaky Internet connection drops the connection.

On the downside:

• The keyboard comes with two built-in auxiliary USB ports. This would seem useful, except that they're not USB 2.0, so no use as all for flash drives or hard drives. Might be handy for a mouse or joystick though.


• The soft-touch keys don't have the best tactile feedback around.

Otherwise, great device.

A food meme, borrowed from seawasp.

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating. (I'm also crossing out any that, after eating them, I would never try again)

1. Venison
2. Nettle Tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart (not street cart specifically, but close enough)
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac
37. Clotted cream
38. Vodka jelly
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

I have no idea what half of those actually are, or I'm sure I'd have crossed some out.

Here are some bonus items I've added:
101. Elephant
102. Rhino
103. Mopani worms
104. Raw boerewors (sausage)
105. Sharon fruit (persimmons)
106. Brown cow (Coca-cola and milk)

Saw this article regarding the Vatican's standpoint on paedophilia.

Now, paedophilia is by no means unique to religious institutions; what's important, though, is that churches, like schools, are places where adults are in a position of trust and authority over children, and should thus be held to higher standards. What's really galling with regard to the Roman Catholic Church, though, is that in many cases, abuse went on for years, and instead of defrocking priests and handing them over to the police, church authorities would shuffle the perpetrators off to another parish where they could start again.

I'm not amused by the Vatican's weasel-words over the definition of paedophilia. What it's called doesn't change the abhorrent nature of the crime.

Sex abuse rife in other religions, says Vatican
Riazat Butt, religious affairs correspondent, and Anushka Asthana
guardian.co.uk, Monday 28 September 2009 22.41 BST

The Vatican has lashed out at criticism over its handling of its paedophilia crisis by saying the Catholic church was "busy cleaning its own house" and that the problems with clerical sex abuse in other churches were as big, if not bigger.

In a defiant and provocative statement, issued following a meeting of the UN human rights council in Geneva, the Holy See said the majority of Catholic clergy who committed such acts were not paedophiles but homosexuals attracted to sex with adolescent males.

The statement, read out by Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican's permanent observer to the UN, defended its record by claiming that "available research" showed that only 1.5%-5% of Catholic clergy were involved in child sex abuse.

He also quoted statistics from the Christian Scientist Monitor newspaper to show that most US churches being hit by child sex abuse allegations were Protestant and that sexual abuse within Jewish communities was common.

He added that sexual abuse was far more likely to be committed by family members, babysitters, friends, relatives or neighbours, and male children were quite often guilty of sexual molestation of other children.

The statement said that rather than paedophilia, it would "be more correct" to speak of ephebophilia, a homosexual attraction to adolescent males.

"Of all priests involved in the abuses, 80 to 90% belong to this sexual orientation minority which is sexually engaged with adolescent boys between the ages of 11 and 17."

The statement concluded: "As the Catholic church has been busy cleaning its own house, it would be good if other institutions and authorities, where the major part of abuses are reported, could do the same and inform the media about it."

The Holy See launched its counter–attack after an international representative of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, Keith Porteous Wood, accused it of covering up child abuse and being in breach of several articles under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Porteous Wood said the Holy See had not contradicted any of his accusations. "The many thousands of victims of abuse deserve the international community to hold the Vatican to account, something it has been unwilling to do, so far. Both states and children's organisations must unite to pressurise the Vatican to open its files, change its procedures worldwide, and report suspected abusers to civil authorities."

Representatives from other religions were dismayed by the Holy See's attempts to distance itself from controversy by pointing the finger at other faiths.

Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, head of the New York Board of Rabbis, said: "Comparative tragedy is a dangerous path on which to travel. All of us need to look within our own communities. Child abuse is sinful and shameful and we must expel them immediately from our midst."

A spokesman for the US Episcopal Church said measures for the prevention of sexual misconduct and the safeguarding of children had been in place for years.

Of all the world religions, Roman Catholicism has been hardest hit by sex abuse scandals. In the US, churches have paid more than $2bn (£1.25bn) in compensation to victims. In Ireland, reports into clerical sexual abuse have rocked both the Catholic hierarchy and the state.

The Ryan Report, published last May, revealed that beatings and humiliation by nuns and priests were common at institutions that held up to 30,000 children. A nine-year investigation found that Catholic priests and nuns for decades terrorised thousands of boys and girls, while government inspectors failed to stop the abuse.

Source: The Guardian

This article, mentioned by polymale, was rather interesting:

How races and religions match in online dating

It's a set of correlations (astrological sign, religion, and race) from around 500000 online dating users on OkCupid. Some of the comments are interesting, and some totally daft.

Here are some odd links for today:

20 Tattoos You Don’t Want To Get (If You’re A Girl)

The Biggest Bugs on Earth

9 Weird, Mouth-Watering Meats

7 Vampires Around the World Worse Than The Ones In Twilight
This one's interesting because I hadn't realised that the Malaysian penanggalan was a real world creature; I loved using it in D&D (it was in the 1st Ed. Fiend Folio). "You smell vinegar..."

What the hell? A company is making underpants to suit left-handed men? *boggles* Are these really necessary?

Underpants for lefties fills gap in market

September 24 2009 at 01:11PM
By Liz Thomas
Daily Mail

Specially designed underpants for left-handed men are going on sale from on Thursday.

The pants will have a horizontal slit on top of the gusset, rather than a vertical one on the right, to save wearers time when they visit the toilet.

Rob Faucherand, from Debenhams, said: "Left-handed men have to reach much further into their pants, performing a Z-shaped manoeuvre through two 180 degree angles before achieving the result that right-handed men perform with ease."

He added that the launch of the new style, by underwear brand Hom, was a "step towards equality".

Debenhams said left-handed men tended to favour boxer shorts, but added that it had received complaints from men wanting more choice.

Research ahead of the launch also found that some left-handed men found it "embarrassing" fumbling around for an opening on the right.

Mr Faucherand said: "Switching from a vertical to horizontal slit may sound like a small step, but it is the major breakthrough that many have been waiting for."

The Hom H1 Original Maxi Trunk is £22, (about R267) while the Hipster version is £16. They can be bought online and in stores.

In recent years the number of products developed for left handed people have soared and now include video cameras, scissors, pencil sharpeners, wallets and guitars.

Men's pants have become a topical issue ever since Jeremy Paxman publicly complained about the declining standards of underwear on sale in the high street.

The host of BBC2's Newsnight was so annoyed he contacted Marks and Spencer chief executive Sir Stuart Rose to discuss the matter with him personally.

"Like very large numbers of men in this country I have always bought my socks and pants at Marks and Sparks", Paxman said.

"I've noticed that something very troubling has happened. There's no other way to put this. Their pants no longer provide adequate support.

"When I've discussed this with friends and acquaintances it has revealed widespread gusset anxiety."

Source: IOL

Tell me, dear readers: would this be a selling point for you?

For those of us who still think that "they don't make cars like they used to", watch this video clip. It's a crash test video of a 1959 Chevy Bel Air hitting a 2009 Chev Malibu, and it's rather eye-opening. Car safety has come a long way.

We have a snowman in our fridge, and he's been named "Kelvin". I think that our snowman is a bit of an uninvited guest, and would like to defrost the fridge. Other soppy-hearted people in the household want Kelvin to stay.

So, should Kelvin stay or should he die?



Poll #1459176 Should Kelvin Die?
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 30

Should Kelvin die?

Found on the net somewhere...

Understanding South Africans
Braai
What is a braai? It is the first thing you will be invited to when you visit South Africa . A braai is a backyard barbecue and it will take place whatever the weather. So you will have to go even if it's raining like mad. At a braai you will be introduced to a substance known as mieliepap.

Ag
This one of the most useful South African words. Pronounced like the "ach" in the German "achtung", it can be used to start a reply when you are asked a tricky question, as in: "Ag, I don't know." Or a sense of resignation:"Ag OK, I'll have some more mieliepap then." It can stand alone too as a signal of irritation.

Donner
A rude word, it comes from the Afrikaans "donder" (thunder). Pronounced "dorner", it means "beat up." A team member in your rugby team can get donnered in a game, or your wife can donner you if you come back from a braai at three in the morning.

Eina
Widely used by all language groups, this word, derived from the Afrikaans, means "ouch." Pronounced "aynah". You can say it in sympathy when you see your friend the day after he got donnered by his wife.

Hey
Often used at the end of a sentence to emphasize the importance of what has just been said, as in "You're only going to get donnered if you come in late again, hey?" It can also stand alone as a question. Instead of saying "excuse me?" or "pardon me?" when you have not heard something directed at you, you can always say: "Hey?"

Izit?
This is another great word to use in conversations. Derived from the two words "is" and "it", it can be used when you have nothing to contribute if someone tells you something at a braai. For instance, if someone would say: "The Russians will succeed in their bid for capitalism once they adopt a work ethic and respect for private ownership." It is quite appropriate to respond by saying: "Izit?"

Ja well no fine
This is another conversation fallback. Derived from the four words: "yes", "well", "no" and fine", it roughly means "OK". If your bank manager tells you your account is overdrawn, you can, with confidence, say: "Jawelnofine."

Klap
Pronounced "klup" - an Afrikaans word meaning smack, whack or spank. If you spend too much time in front of the TV during exam time, you could end up getting a "klap" from your mother. In America , that is called child abuse. In South Africa , it is called promoting education. But to get "lekker geklap" is to get motherlessly drunk.

Lekker
An Afrikaans word meaning nice, this word is used by all language groups to express approval. If you enjoyed a braai thoroughly, you can say: "Now that was lekk-errrrrrr!" while drawing out the last syllable.

Tackies
These are sneakers or running shoes. The word is also used to describe automobile or truck tyres. "Fat tackies" are really wide tyres, as in: "You've got lekker fat tackies on your Vôlla, hey?"

Dop
This word has two basic meanings, one good and one bad. First the good: A dop is a drink, a cocktail, a sundowner, a noggin. When invited for a dop, be careful! It could be one sedate drink or a blast, depending on the company. Now the bad: To dop is to fail. If you "dopped" standard two (Grade 4) more than once, you probably won't be reading this.

Saamie
This is a sandwich. For generations, school- children have traded "saamies" during lunch breaks. In South Africa you don't send your kid to school with liver-polony saamies. They are impossible to trade.

Bakkie
This word is pronounced "bucky" and can refer to a small truck or pick-up. If a young man takes his "girl" (date) in a bakkie it could be considered as a not so "lekker" form of transport because the seats can't recline.

Howzit
This is a universal South African greeting, and you will hear this word throughout the country. It is often accompanied with the word "Yes!" as in: "Yes, howzit?". In which case you answer "No, fine."

Now now
In much of the outside world, this is a comforting phrase: "Now now, it's really not so bad." But in South Africa , this phrase is used in the following manner: "Just wait, I'll be there now now." It means "a little after now".

Tune grief
To be tuned grief is to be aggravated, harassed. For example, if you argue with somebody about a rugby game at a braai and the person had too much dop (is a little "geklap"), he might easily get aggravated and say.: "You're tuning me grief, hey!". To continue the argument after this could be unwise and result in major tuning of grief..

Boet
This is an Afrikaans word meaning "brother" which is shared by all language groups. Pronounced "boot" but shorter, as in "foot", it can be applied to a brother or any person of the male sex. For instance a father can call his son "boet" and friends can apply the term to each other too. Sometimes the diminutive "boetie" is used. But don't use it on someone you hardly know - it will be thought patronizing and could lead to you getting a "lekker klap".

Pasop
From the Afrikaans phrase meaning "Watch Out!", this warning is used and heeded by all language groups. As in: "The boss hasn't had his coffee yet - so you better pasop boet" Sometimes just the word "pasop!" is enough without further explanation. Everyone knows it sets out a line in the sand not to be crossed.

Skop, Skiet en donner
Literally "kick, shoot and thunder", this phrase is used by many South African speakers to describe action movies. A Clint Eastwood movie is always a good choice if you're in the mood for of a lekker skop, skiet en donner flick.

Vrot
Pronounced - "frot". A expressive word which means "rotten" or "putrid" in Afrikaans, it is used by all language groups to describe anything they really dislike. Most commonly intended to describe fruit or vegetables whose shelf lives have long expired, but a pair of old tackies (sneakers) worn a few years too long can be termed "vrot" by some unfortunate folk which find themselves in the same vicinity as the wearer. Also a rugby player who misses important kicks or tackles
can be said to have played a vrot game - opposite to a "lekker" game (but not to his face). A movie was once reviewed with this headline: "Slick Flick, Vrot Plot."

Rock up
To rock up is to just, sort of arrive (called "gate crash" in other parts of the world). You don't make an appointment or tell anyone you are coming - you just rock up. Friends can do that but you have to be selective about it. For example, you can't just rock up for a job interview.

Scale
To scale something is to steal it. A person who is "scaly" has a doubtful character, is possibly a scumbag, and should rather be left off the invitation list to your next braai.

Ja-nee
"Yes No" in English. Politics in South Africa has always been associated with family arguments and in some cases even with physical fights. It is believed that this expression originated with a family member who didn't want to get a klap or get donnerred, so he just every now and then muttered "ja-nee". Use it when you are required to respond, but would rather not choose to agree or disagree.

I think our Minister of Higher Education, Blade Nzimande, is suffering from some cognitive dissonance.

"I have not abandoned my values. I don't think I've abandoned my moral leadership. I am still a communist, I am still committed to the working class," he said.

"Government at the moment is undertaking a process through Cabinet of looking at a whole range of austerity measures that must be taken and once those are done, they must be announced so that they are able to guide all government institutions and government departments," Nzimande said.

"It is very necessary, I support that to the hilt," he added, just minutes before leaving for the airport in his silver-grey BMW 750i.

Source: News24

I'm glad he understands the concept of communism, austerity, commitment to the working class.

By contrast, the rather capitalistic millionaire businessman Tokyo Sexwale drives his own personal car.

We went off to see Up in 3D today. What a lovely movie! It had fun adventure stuff for the kids, but for adults, it was really moving (though not in a soppy way) and thought-provoking. The characters were well-done, and unusually in kids' movies, there were no unfunny fart or bodily function jokes. Music was beautiful - the theme was really good, and it was neatly used in a number of ways.

Very highly rated...

Interesting article from Wired.

( 5 Things RIM Needs to Fix in its BlackBerries )

My thoughts:

Browser: Yeah, could do with an update. It's a reasonable browser, but it could do with more features, like tabs, better script support, and suchlike. Opera Mini is a decent browser on the Blackberry, but it's not as well integrated as it should be.
App store: There's a Blackberry app store? Oh, wait...they have one, called App World - but despite the name, it's only available in parts of North and South America and Europe. Fat lot of good that is.
Wi-Fi: I have a Blackberry with wi-fi, but hardly ever use it. There aren't enough free wireless access points around, and I'm not even sure how to make the Blackberry use wi-fi instead of 3G in the various web-enabled apps.
Desktop Software: I don't use the media part of the Blackberry software, but it would be nice to be able to compose and read messages on PC when the Blackberry is connected.

I was amused by this - Hayibo makes some fun of the South African refugee in Canada.

Huntley case helps Darfur survivors gain perspective

CAPE TOWN. Survivors of the genocide in Darfur have issued a formal apology for overstating their case, saying they were forced to reassess the extent of their plight once confronted with the terrible story of South African refugee Brandon Huntley. "It's like Jerry Springer," said one, "you only realize how fortune has favoured you when they bring out the seriously dysfunctional at the end of the show."

Sudanese refugee, Abdul Wardi, currently living illegally in Mowbray, Cape Town, said he could only imagine how tough things must have been for Hartley. "He spent a whole winter living in a basement in Ottowa. Could anything be worse?"

Wardi, who walked from Khartoum to Cape Town said Huntley's journey must have been significantly more dangerous than his own. "He made it all the way to Canada, I only made it to South Africa. It's hard to imagine the degree of persecution a man must have suffered for him to be driven that far."

Wardi said it was only after Monday's ruling that he was finally able to understand why repeated appeals to the West from humanitarian groups working in Darfur had fallen on deaf ears.

"They are busy assessing important applications like Huntley's," acknowledged Wardi. "They can only do one thing at a time."

He said he was also able to understand why Huntley had chosen Canada as the place to lodge his appeal for refugee status. "The most famous black person in Canada is Leonard Cohen," he said. "It's all so clear now."

Meanwhile responding to Wardi's comments and the furore that greeted the ruling on Huntley's status a spokesman for the Canadian government, Chalky Canuck, expressed regret.

"It saddens us to hear of a second genocide in Africa so soon after the terrible events in South Africa."

Canuck went on to say he hoped his country's decision to grant refugee status to Huntley would be a small silver lining and a tribute to the millions of white people who had suffered during South Africa's worst ever atrocity."

When it was pointed out to him that raced based persecution in South Africa had ended in 1994 and that the country had never experienced the horrors of a genocide, Canuck said the evidence presented by Huntley's attorney's had shown otherwise.

"The tribunal has ruled," he said. "I am sure history will prove them correct."

Source: Hayibo

This really pisses me off:

( SA white gets refugee status )

It's really a bit of a cheek. Yes, there is crime in SA, and yes, I'm sure there are racial overtones to many crimes - but such things happen to many people, black, white and in-between. There is not, however, institutionalised support of hate crime in the country, contrary to what the Canadian court thinks. Brandon Huntley, is one of those privileged South Africans (most of whom, as it happens, are white) who have the money and resources to be able to leave South Africa for another country. And now he's a "refugee"!?

Hayibo has an amusing take on it: Canada shocked to learn Hartley wasn't last white in SA

An Auckland accountant was sacked for sending "confrontational" emails with words in red, in bold and in capital letters. I have to admit, I've encountered these people who fill their emails with capital letters and red text, and part of me thinks she deserves it.

The whole drama of the gender testing for Caster Semenya leads to some interesting questions. For example, how exactly should one's sex be determined? Is it by genitalia? Chromosomes? Hormone levels (testosterone, for example)? Psychological gender? What about those who are intersexed, or have chromosomes like XXY or XYY? Where exactly does one draw the line?

And then, when it comes to sports, are sports authorities only worried about males masquerading as females, rather than vice-versa?

Thoughts?

This is the best "from basic principles" demonstration I've seen of how a car's diff works:

These were interesting:
SF and Fantasy's 26 Greatest Tearjerkers

Sadly, I haven't seen half of those.

We saw the South African District 9 premiere at the Rosebank Zone last night, and quite an event it was. Plenty of people (including some I know off Twitter and LJ), nice snacks, and wine. The whole Zone was booked out, so the shows started at staggered times; ours started at 20:45.

I really enjoyed the movie. It was a B-grade film, and perhaps it has been hyped a little too much, but I found it entertaining, and it was so absolutely cool to see Johannesburg feature in a major film. I might be wrong, but this might possibly be the first time Johannesburg has featured as the setting for any relatively major international film. The second half wasn't as interesting as the first, but there were still good moments.

The music score was unfortunately pretty poor; derivative, and no South African flavour at all. The film could have done with something more original - hell, like pieces from the Soweto Gospel Choir or Ladysmith Black Mambazo instead of wailing North African bits.

( Cut for mild spoilers and images )

These articles were interesting:
5 Things You Didn't Know About District 9
District 9: Science is the casualty in human-alien conflict

So, what did you think of it? If you're not South African, any comments on the SA flavour?

This was vaguely amusing...

The Five Saddest Death Scenes in Kids Movies

18.08.2009

Sometimes in a kid’s movie, either to further the plot or merely to sell more toys, a death scene is required. Whereas Arnold Schwarzenegger movies have desensitized adults to on-screen violence and death (in addition to poor acting, cheap catchphrases, and an accent thicker than a sumo wrestler’s waistband) children aren’t used to emotions more complex than hunger, tiredness, and the ever-present fear induced by Sarah Jessica Parker’s face. Which makes death in a kid’s movie about ten times more poignant and potent. So, because everyone loves re-living the traumas of childhood, here are five of the saddest deaths in a kid’s movie.


‘Transformers: The Movie’ - The Death of Optimus Prime

This is a tough one - how to write comically about one of the most tragic moments in the lives of millions of children. I don’t think that there was a single kid who watched this film who wasn’t shocked to see Prime die after his epic battle with Megatron. As a five year old, I literally could not believe that this beloved hero could be killed. It was like waking up and being told that Santa’s sleigh had been hit by a Surface to Air Missile, that the reindeer were in intensive care, and that Santa would now be delivering presents in heaven.

But the worst thing was how it happened - Hot Rod (foolishly) trying to help Prime, Megatron (skillfully) seizing the opportunity to make use of an concealed firearm, and Prime (tragically) biting the dust. This followed hot on the heels of half of Prime’s fellow Autobots being decimated in the opening half of the movie. Of course, at the time it didn’t occur to me that the primary reason that the filmmakers had chosen to permanently scar their audience in this way was because Hasbro were bringing out a line of brand new characters/action figures and had decreed that almost all of the existing characters should be wiped out!


‘The Lion King’ - Scar gives Mufasa a Helping Hand

Sometimes it’s better to be smart than strong, especially when you’re trying to launch a coup. Scar was clearly not the alpha male in the pride. Of the two royal brothers, he was the skinny, less attractive one. The one whom all the girl lions ignored. But while Mufasa spent his youth getting busy with the lionesses, Scar spent his lonely days planning, and plotting, until one day Simba gets caught in a stampede of wildebeests. Mufasa rushes to save him, finds himself clinging on the edge of the cliff by his ‘finger tips’ and begging Scar for his help. Scar ain’t gonna help you Mufasa. Scar didn’t get laid remember? It’s time to meet your maker my friend. Meanwhile everyone else just reached for the tissues.


‘The NeverEnding Story’ - Artax the Horse Commits Suicide

Proving that depression is not merely a human condition, poor Artax the horse willfully met his demise in the Swamps of Sadness by allowing himself to sink into the mud and drown. I guess that he realized that his dream of winning the Grand National was never going to happen, what with being a fictional horse ridden by a kid in a children’s fantasy world. It’s kind of like waking up at 32, being overweight, jobless, living at home with your mum, and realizing that you’re never gonna be a Formula 1 racing champion (with your mum’s house being a metaphor for the Swamp of Sadness).


‘Bambi’ - Bambi’s mother takes one for team

The seminal classic - Bambi’s mother ’sacrifices’ herself so that Bambi can survive. Technically, that’s not true because no hunter is going to shoot a fawn when there is a big deer waiting to get it. The pathos comes when Bambi, after running back to the thicket, yells out something along the lines of “We made it Mom!”, only to find out that his “mother can’t be with him anymore” - since she is now a wall ornament.


‘My Girl’ - Macaulay Culkin’s character dies after stepping on a beehive

As a kid, two things baffled me about this movie:

1. How is it that the ingenious kid from ‘Home Alone’ could be killed by bee stings yet survive a run-in with Joe Pesci?
2. If he suffered from a known allergy that meant that a bee sting wouldl kill him, then why the hell was he antagonizing a bunch of bees? That’s like a man whose known allergy is getting viciously crushed by a former world heavyweight boxing champion walking up to Mike Tyson, calling him a “limp wristed fairy”, and spitting in his face.

Still this was a poignant death and definitely made the girls cry. Of course, no number of cinematic bee stings can make a man cry. In fact, the only film that could reduce me to tears is…’Transformers: The Movie’.

Source: The Daily Different

Off to the District 9 South African premiere at the Rosebank Zone tonight! Really looking forward to it. Director and star will be there.

The 10 Stupidest Tech Company Blunders

I got this from redqueenmeg's post:

Man bound over for trial in hammer attacks
Courts » Motive may have stemmed from 'Dungeons and Dragons' game and jealousy.

By Mark Havnes
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 08/17/2009 07:06:43 PM MDT

Cedar City » When Logan Bryson suddenly awakened in the early morning of May 30, he thought he was having a bad dream until he realized someone was beating him with a hammer.

"I didn't realize I was being attacked until I fell to the floor with my arms up to defend myself," said Bryson, who took the stand Monday in 5th District Court in Cedar City during the preliminary hearing for Zachery Frank King, charged with beating Bryson and Daniel Shokrian at Shokrian's home in this southern Utah city.

King is charged with two counts of attempted aggravated murder and a count of aggravated burglary, all first-degree felonies. At the conclusion of the hearing, Judge G. Michael Westfall bound King over for trial.

King, who agreed to be arraigned after the preliminary hearing, pleaded not guilty to the charges before being returned to the Iron County Jail.

Testimony Monday suggested a motive for the attacks may have grown from the trio playing the fantasy role-playing game "Dungeons and Dragons" and jealousy over a girl who King and Bryson knew.

Bryson, 23, suffered a concussion and bruises in the attack; Shokrian, 20, lost some vision and his ability to read and write, which he is trying to recover through therapy.

Bryson and King knew each other at school and had spent time the previous day playing "Dungeons and Dragons" with Shokrian, who was acting cocky during the game, according to Detective Nathan Williams. Shokrian was directing the game as Dungeon Master, and King didn't like what he was doing with King's character, Williams said.

Detective Michael Bleak testified that during an interview at the police station, King told him he went home after playing the game at Shokrian's house, took an over-the-counter sleeping pill and went to bed. He awakened angry, found a hammer in a tool shed and drove to Shokrian's house, entering through an open window.

Bleak said King told him he went to Shokrian's bedroom and said, "I hate you," and started hitting Shokrian with the hammer. King then went to the room where Logan was sleeping and attacked him.

Bleak said that King had an issue with Bryson for dating a girl after both said they would not date her.

Source: Salt Lake Tribune

You thought Arnold Schwarzenegger was a pretty big guy, eh?

Well, check out this picture, taken on the set of Conan the Destroyer:



The little guy in the middle? That's Arnold Schwarzenegger. He's flanked by Wilt Chamberlain and Andre the Giant...

It's the 50th anniversary of the invention of the seatbelt today. The seatbelt, from a statistical point of view, is by far the biggest safety innovation in cars. The second-biggest, by the way, is electronic stability control, and third-biggest is airbags. ABS doesn't save lives, statistically speaking.

( The modest seatbelt celebrates 50 years of lifesaving today )

Amazing how many people are still too ignorant to wear seatbelts, or worse, don't buckle up their kids.

I've seen a few movies over the last few days:


On Wednesday, I saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. To be honest, I wasn't very impressed; I thought it was overwrought, rather choppy, and quite dull. Dumbledore, in particular, felt really unconvincing. Most disappointing.



On Thursday, I saw The Hangover. It was better than expected, and amusing in parts, but all-in-all, rather forgettable. Heather Graham was a rather welcome distraction.



On Sunday we saw The Brothers Bloom at Cinema Nouveau. It started off really well, but as it went on, fell apart somewhat, not being able to decide whether it was a comedy or a drama, but not being either properly. The two female leads, Rachel Weisz and Rinko Kikuchi, played their roles well, and their characters were amusing. Mark Ruffalo was OK, but Adrien Brody was totally miscast - he was a black pit of charisma, and pulled the whole movie down with him. A real pity; the film could have been much better.

This is almost not parody, disturbingly...

Women's Day reminds grateful women that men own the other 364 days

JOHANNESBURG. Women across the country have thanked their menfolk for reminding them of their place in South African society, saying that Women's Day was a "wonderful and timely reminder" that the other 364 days of the year belong to men. They added that the day has inspired them to try to be more like men, and they hope one day to earn a second day.

Women's Day is a relatively new public holiday in South Africa, instituted after the country's men realised that they could cram more sexual violence into their year if their partners stayed at home an extra day.

"She's easier to beat up if she's pottering around in the kitchen," explained one of the inventors of the day, Stanley "The Hammer" Molephe.

"Plus, if you have a Women's Day, it's implied that the other 364 days are Men's Day.

"So it kind of kills two birds with one stone.

"Or concusses one bird with one half-brick, as the case may be."

His wife was unable to comment as she is currently in traction and "not taking visitors, ever again, in case she tries to escape in a suitcase".

Meanwhile those women who were not in traction have echoed Molephe's sentiments, saying that they were grateful for a whole day dedicated to them, on which they could pamper the men in their lives.

"Feminism isn't dead," cooed one housewife who wished to remain anonymous, largely because she could not remember her name. "It can't be dead because it never lived."

Her neighbour, who has produced two sons and nothing else, agreed.

"I wish these lesbian bull-dykes with their careers and their atheistic ideas would just stop being so arrogant and get back to traditional values."

Asked what "traditional values" were, she explained that they were "whatever men wanted".

She praised large supermarkets like Pick n Pay for reinforcing women's status in society by still placing women's and babies' toiletries in one aisle while men's toiletries got a separate aisle.

"It's a healthy reminder that women are effectively babies," she said. "We need to be fed, clothed, even burped by our menfolk.

"Maybe, if we love, honour and obey them enough, and don't force them to kill us by being irritating or making eye contact, we might get our own aisle one day. How awesome would that be?"

Meanwhile the government has confirmed that today is Man's Day. Tomorrow will be Man's Day also. The rest of the year will be Man's Day. It has urged women who have a problem with this to stop being hysterical, and to consider the possibility that they are anxious because they don't have a baby to care for, or that they are premenstrual.

Source: Hayibo

I was given a Blackberry Bold 9000 at work last week, as an upgrade to my Blackberry Curve 8310 that I was given in January.

Wow, it's quite a difference. Nominally, the Bold is better in that it has 3G and wi-fi capabilities. Practically speaking, it's much improved: the 3G is certainly better than GPRS for downloading apps, but the major difference is in how the phone responds - it's far snappier, and does things far more quickly. Application loading is quicker, and switching between apps, and just generally even moving the cursor. The Curve, I'd found, got quite bogged down when running 4-6 simultaneous apps, and it would lag and even hang for periods of time. The Bold doesn't do that - at least, not with the roughly 9 or so simultaneous apps I've tried running.

The one downside I can think of with the Bold is that the camera is the same rather poor 2MP device as on the Curve. Blackberry cameras really need some improvement.

The Bold's screen is lovely too. It's not physically huge, but with a 480x320 resolution, it's very clear and sharp. Very pleasant. I like the piano-black face, chrome edging, and the faux-leather back on the Bold; it looks both stylish and professional.

Migrating to the Bold from the Curve was remarkably easy. The Blackberry PC software has a "Device Switch Wizard" which lets you migrate from one Blackberry (or some other phones) to a Blackberry. I ran it, and it copied all my data over, and all my settings, even down to my ringtone choices, wallpapers, applications, the whole works. Absolutely amazing. All I had to do was activate the new one on the Blackberry Enterprise Server at work, and I was in action. I did have to go and recreate my wallpapers, but that was only because the screen resolution differs between the Curve and Bold. There are a bunch of decent third-party themes for the Bold; I'm currently running one called "Iphone4" which has a nice selection of iPhone-like icons.

The Bold doesn't fit my old phone-holder in the car, so my project for this weekend is to get a new, wider one mounted.

Very cool phone.

I think this is pretty damn poor customer service...

Bus company offers only 'godly' shows

July 24 2009 at 08:34AM
By Craig McKune

A quarter of Intercape's passengers complain about its "godly", "anti-Darwinian" onboard entertainment, but the long-haul bus operator stands by its message.

"We're a godly company and we believe we need to show Christian-based entertainment," company spokesperson Adre Zandberg said on Thursday.

Peet Louw, director of Humble Pie Entertainment, which manages Intercape's onboard entertainment, said an internal census showed 25 percent of the mainliner's passengers "are not 100 percent happy". But he said they had only heard "about three complaints out of 150 000 customers", and they were catering for the country's 80 percent who claim to be Christian.
'They don't have to travel Intercape if they don't want to'

Louw said Humble Pie manages the content for Intercape's 65 buses, which transport between 60 000 and 100 000 passengers a month.

The entertainment is played on the buses' television screens with the sound broadcast from speakers which passengers cannot control, he said.

Speaking on CapeTalk radio on Thursday, one caller described how, on her trip to Port Elizabeth and back, she was offended by the "gospel" content she was forced to watch. But both Zandberg and Louw stood by what they called "simply good clean 'Intertainment' with a message".

"If we get a few complaints from other religions, we don't care about them. They don't have to travel Intercape if they don't want to," said Louw.

The programming avoided sexually suggestive or violent content and focused on family values, he said.

"We're not forcing anything down anybody's throat in the same way that Nu Metro and Ster Kinekor are; not forcing the occult, sex or witchcraft. You can decide for yourself whether or not you accept it."

He said the programming was "unashamedly" anti-evolution.

"Most of those complaints you mention are from evolutionists, but we of course know there is no proof for evolution. The origin of species is really a lie," he said.

Intercape's programming offered documentary-style content, wildlife features from a creationist standpoint, movies, music videos and advertising.

Intercape passengers arriving in Cape Town on Thursday said they had watched only comedies on the screens and had no complaints.

Two Intercape employees, however, said the DVDs were usually shown "because our boss is Christian".

Although Christian, they did not agree with the programmes. "A lot of our customers are Muslim or Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist. What about them?"

Zandberg said the programming had been shown for about six months, although they used to show Christian DVDs before that.

Source: IOL

""We're not forcing anything down anybody's throat in the same way that Nu Metro and Ster Kinekor are; not forcing the occult, sex or witchcraft."

Please. You have a choice of movies to watch at a cinema. When you go on a bus trip, you're not expecting to be bombarded with religious movies.

""Most of those complaints you mention are from evolutionists, but we of course know there is no proof for evolution. The origin of species is really a lie," he said."

He's an ignorant idiot.

Power and fury of US Moon rocket

Cool article on the Saturn V rocket. It's amazing how big it was - take a look at some of the pics, especially of those engines! And 30 stories high...