NET WATCH The Salon free software book project is an innovative open-source publishing project about free software. Author Andrew Leonard is writing the as-yet-untitled book and posting bits online as soon as he can, while calling on the collective wisdom of the Net to keep him honest. “We’re publishing the book as a work in […]
A team of researchers is close to developing a drug that might help people with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Anthea Garman Human beings will live longer in the 21st century. But the bad news is that they will suffer more from brain denegeration diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. But, says Oxford University neuro- pharmacologist Susan […]
Iden Wetherell Zimbabwe’s headlong descent in to anarchy was given a further shove this week by President Robert Mugabe’s renewed support for land invasions and the refusal of police to rescue farmers from violent mobs of ruling Zanu-PF party supporters. The police said they didn’t have sufficient vehicles or fuel to intervene but, in reality, […]
working Connie Selebogo and Nadine Hutton Past grimy braziers belching gray smoke, a gust of wind reveals a group of women in the technicolor splendor of their swibelana, or traditional Shangaan dress. Cocooned in smoke, they are still vabombile – dressed to kill. This is no fashion show. It’s Johannesburg at 7am, and nestled between […]
Azhar Cachalia A SECOND LOOK The Human Rights Commission’s (HRC) hearings into racism in the media is over. The dust has settled and most members of the media seem to agree that the process was a productive one. The hearing provoked vibrant discussion both inside and outside the media industry. The industry must tackle those […]
Barry Streek Wilmot James, once the hot favourite to become the new principal of the University of Cape Town (UCT), has resigned from the powerful position of dean of humanities at the university. After barely a year in office, he quit after he failed to be placed on the two- person shortlist for the position […]
David le Page The deaths of five women in HIV/Aids drug trials were more likely the result of flaws in the handling of the trials than problems with the drugs themselves, researchers working on related trials said this week. The researchers were responding to the controversial decision by the government this week to suspend recruitment […]
Khadija Magardie BODY LANGUAGE To be honest, I’ve always wondered how she manages to do it. Barbie, that is. With her impressive, nipple-free bosom more than twice the size of her waist, equally impressive legs more than twice as long as her torso, and feet so femininely tiny that she can neither balance nor stand […]
Graham Rock HORSE RACING A lanky chestnut with a white blaze will be entrusted with the hopes of 24 Irish prison officers in the Grand National at Aintree in Liverpool. Micko’s Dream has won nine of his 19 races and earned prize money of 104E000 for his syndicate of owners. Victory on Saturday would add […]
M&G reporters Hands-free kits for cellphones do not protect your brain from radiation – on the contrary, they channel three times the dose into the skull that you receive by holding the phone next to your ear, according to the British Consumers’ Association. A report in Which? magazine will upset those who rushed to buy […]