Monthly Archives: September 2009

Zapiro: Telkom’s response to Winston’s victory

This is Zapiro’s response to the story of Winston, the carrier pigeon which proved, once and for all, that – in South Africa at least – sending data by carrier pigeon is faster than transmitting it by so-called broadband: Hehehehehe…. … Continue reading

Posted in Creativity, Events, Humour, Internet, Life in South Africa | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

SumbandilaSat has been launched!

Yay! This afternoon, at 17h40, I hopped on over to http://www.tv-tsenki.com/livechoose.php to watch the live video feed of the imminent launch of SumbandilaSat, South Africa’s second satellite. I quickly figured out that I could do screen captures by pressing ctrl-printscreen … Continue reading

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Is the world your ashtray?

Brace yourselves for a rant. I have lost count of the number of smokers I’ve seen on our roads, who toss their burning cigarette butts out of the window. They seem to have absolutely no sense of what is appropriate … Continue reading

Posted in Around the Neighbourhood, Life in South Africa | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Movie review: “Doomsday”

Urgh. What a waste of resources – shooting this drivel. What a waste of (a handful of) otherwise good actors. And what a waste of time – watching this sh*te. If you have a sensitive stomach, avoid this one. *Especially* … Continue reading

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Still no lift-off for satellite

As I wrote in my previous post, South Africa’s second micro-satellite, SumbandilaSat, was supposed to have been launched on Tuesday at 17h55 local SA time. The launch, on the back of a Russian Soyuz 2 rocket, was delayed by 24 … Continue reading

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A catnip thief?

Hey! Who’s been chomping on Tuffy-cat’s brand-new catnip plant?! This is what it looked like on 3 September 2009, which is only about two weeks ago: And this is what the poor thing looked like today: Strictly speaking, it’s been … Continue reading

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The imminent launch of SumbandilaSAT

A South African micro-satellite by the name of SumbandilaSat was supposed to have been launched yesterday (Tuesday): “At exactly 17:55 today [Tuesday], South Africa’s SumbandilaSat will launch into space atop a Russian Soyuz rocket in Baikonur in Kazakhstan. The 81 … Continue reading

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’tis a strange world we live in

Did this chap really think he’d get away with it? Quite some time ago, in November 2007, a security guard by the name of Tsheko Maloma, employed by the Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality in Groblersdal, stole a Vodacom 3G datacard … Continue reading

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The KAT containers head north!

On Monday morning, bright and early, we “rushed” down the N2 (or rather, as slowly as the early-morning commuter traffic allowed) to make it to the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in Observatory, Cape Town, around 8h00. The sun was … Continue reading

Posted in Exploring the Cape, Karoo Array Telescope and MeerKAT, Life in South Africa, Work | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Preparing for the departure of the KAT containers

Background On 6 May 2009, four containers arrived at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in Observatory, Cape Town. These weren’t just normal containers, though. These were very special containers: high-tech, RFI-shielded containers, especially designed and outfitted to accommodate all … Continue reading

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