Paul Trueman goes online to chat to like- minded souls about his passions Before free Internet service providers (ISP), Amazon.com, portals, broadband and browser wars, before even the World Wide Web itself, there were newsgroups. A great example of an often overlooked facet of the Internet, newsgroups are an online reminder of when the Internet […]

Channel vision Three local programmes this week, two of which demonstrate how excellent is the standard often being achieved and one, a feeble copy of an already bleary import. Eugene Paramoer’s half-hour Boss of the Road was as fine a television discourse as you’ll find anywhere: a totally unsentimental look into the vicious warfare of […]

Matthew Krouse Guides are compiled for the ignorant, insecure and ambitious. They offer many a safe, easy route to achieving instant credibility. Because there are so many who fit this bill in the lifestyle marketplace, guides have come to occupy the same place as pornography: discreet, and purely for personal gratification. The easily accessed information […]

Stephen Gray Review of the week Jana Cilliers’s wonderful solo performance is by now so esteemed that another recommendatory report on it would seem irrelevant. Currently well into her run at the Momentum in Pretoria’s State Theatre (until November 6, when it will be transferring to Johannesburg’s Civic Theatre), she is fast confirming her status […]

The decision by New Africa Investments Limited (Nail) to unbundle and eventually disappear this week should not be seen as a setback for black empowerment. On the contrary, it represents a fundamental shift towards a more authentic power in the economy by black executives. The decision closes the door on an empowerment strategy that ironically […]

Shaun de Waal WHO IS … JM COETZEE? Who, indeed, is JM Coetzee? The question is made harder to answer by the refusal of the acclaimed South African author – who this week won the Booker Prize for an unprecedented second time – to be a public figure, to provide a packaged persona for our […]

economic wave Local businesses could find themselves at a disadvantage internationally as they fail to recognise global trends, writes Reg Rumney after an interview with bestselling author Alvin Toffler After becoming a household name three decades ago, futurist and best-selling author Alvin Toffler still keeps up with events in the global marketplace. But an interview […]

Barry Streek The Department of Finance has rejected tax reforms proposed by the Katz commission which could have been a lifeline to the financially troubled non-profit sector, despite support from political parties and the Department of Welfare. The Katz proposals have been supported by a wide range of non-profit organisations (NPOs) and the influential South […]

Andy Capostagno in London Rugby World Cup The munching noise is the sound of humble pie being consumed in vast quantities. Not only did South Africa not lose to England in the World Cup quarter-finals, they brushed aside the strongest of the northern hemisphere competitors with something approaching disdain. If Nick Mallett could tap into […]

A proposal to ease restrictions on the sale of South Africa’s rhino and elephant products is likely to top the list submitted to Cites, writes Fiona Macleod A South African proposal to lift restrictions on the sale of rhino products could be met with heated opposition from international environmental bodies. The country is also proposing […]