contempt Tim Jackson Gradually, the view took shape at Intel in the mid-1980s that the guys at Microsoft simply didn’t care that their programmes ran very slowly on Intel processors. Intel set up a team of three or four people inside the group developing its 386 microprocessor, and gave them the job of making sure […]

Karlin Lillington asks why we should read a book from cover to cover when it’s possible to dip in and out Now read on – or back, or sideways, or anywhere. Welcome to the world of hypertext fiction, the latest genre to win critical acclaim. “There is no simple way to say this.” The opening […]

FRIDAY, 10.30AM: LATEST credit extension and money supply growth figures released by the Reserve Bank on Thursday have scotched hopes of an early interest rate cut and once again raised questions about the reliability of these indicators as a basis for monetary policy. Private sector credit extension growth in October increased 14,41% against the same […]

rats from torture Alternative methods of drug testing could save animals from experimentation. Danny Penman reports Two weeks ago at an Aids meeting in Johannesburg, watchers were so horrified by film of animal tests of a new herbal immune system booster that they demanded the screening be halted. But European Commission scientists in Italy have […]

support Many black farmers with new land are struggling to survive. Ann Eveleth reports When Dorah and Josiah Matlou took out a lease on 200ha of farmland in Rust de Winter, they dreamed of one day becoming part of Africa’s “breadbasket.” But for now the best they can hope for is to turn a tiny […]

Mail & Guardian reporters The death of former Malawian president Kamuzu Banda invites the following question: who was he really? President Nelson Mandela seemed in two minds this week. Asked for thoughts on the departed despot, he acknowledged that Banda did not “have a very good reputation” because of his support of the old apartheid […]

into poverty and confusion Jan Raath It’s official. The people don’t want land. They want jobs in a market economy, and an opportunity to work for a decent living. This information is tucked away in a comprehensive study on poverty released two weeks ago by the Zimbabwean Ministry of Social Welfare. Members of about 18 […]

Paul Hayward : Motor Racing Michael Schumacher’s career was involved in a low-speed collision near Heathrow airport in London recently with the men who run Formula One. He emerged unscathed but the authority and integrity of F1 were a write- off. Now that he has escaped both a fine and a suspension for trying to […]

Andrew Spencer : Golf There is something very special about the Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge at Sun City. Perhaps it is the size of the seven- figure purse – in American money nogal – or the simple fact that this is an elite field on an elite layout carved out of a slice of unremitting […]