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/ 11 December 2009
Throughout my childhood, the two-volume Reader’s Digest book of South African gardening sat on the shelf, and I don’t remember anyone consulting it.
Canteen is the new restaurant in downtown Johannesburg’s Arts on Main, a block of warehouses remade into chic artist’s studios.
A three-way partnership between Cellfind, TrafficNet and Tracker means SA motorists can now receive live traffic updates.
For a successful hike, everything hinges on the planning and while you’ll be roughing it there’s no sense in suffering unnecessarily.
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/ 28 February 2009
The bronze Nelson Mandela statue in Sandton, Johannesburg, was "redressed" in a giant shirt on Saturday by a group of artists.
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/ 14 October 2008
Developers, NGOs and companies are waking up to the potential of leveraging their service, idea, project or survey through cellphones.
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/ 13 October 2008
The rude honk of vuvuzelas rang through the halls of the Wanderers Club in Johannesburg as the MobileActive08 conference got under way on Monday.
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/ 5 February 2008
Most Mozambicans living in flood-prone areas have heeded calls to evacuate in the face of rising waters this year, but they’ll be back once the rivers subside. Françoise Le Goff, head of the International Federation of Red Cross told the <i>Mail & Guardian</i> recently that even though the water levels were higher than the deadly floods in 2000 and 2001, only eight people had lost their lives.
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/ 23 January 2008
Psst! Heard the one about Eskom? Spare a thought for the electricity supplier. Anyone with access to email in South Africa over the past few weeks has probably received at least a few of the slew of Eskom-related jokes doing the rounds. But what happens if you actually work at Eskom?
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/ 14 December 2007
There’s not much point to Africanising Christmas, but for a twist on the traditional Shane Sauvage is hard to beat, writes Matthew Burbidge.
The scrap has well and truly begun for the precious subscription broadcasting licences that the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) intends to issue. This week saw the launch of public hearings held by the regulator, which will allow it to whittle down the 18 applicants to those deserved few, who will be given an opportunity to make their fortune in the billion-rand pay-TV industry.
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/ 26 November 2006
Matthew Burbidge goes nose to nose with a Groote Post at new concept store, Winesense.
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/ 7 November 2006
Culinary-minded DStv subscribers in Africa seem to be lapping up their daily six-hour dollop of food television on the month-old BBC Food channel. Little wonder, because when Carlton Food Network’s Taste channel went belly-up earlier this year it seemed to leave a yawning gap that not even one of Antony Worrall Thompson’s sticky puddings could […]
Naspers took the plunge last week when it merged its digital division with MWeb Studios, the division responsible for the development of web-based services, to form local internet portal <i>24.com</i>. CEO Kim Reid said: "We think the South African internet environment is ready for an offering like this."
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/ 17 November 2005
The child moans and writhes in the narrow cot. The tiny ward stinks of urine. Flies buzz above his crumpled body, which is wracked by waves of pain. The doctor gently shifts him back into the centre of the bed, but he turns over almost immediately. His eyes are shut tight, and when he opens them, he doesn’t seem to know where he is.
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/ 2 September 2005
Electronic music gurus congregate in Jo’burg for four days of workshops, seminars and performances, writes Matthew Burbidge.
<b>MOVIE OF THE WEEK</b>: The extreme stylisation of <i>Charlie and the Chocolate Factory</i> may irk some, but the real star is its look and its special effects, and the movie is intoxicating,writes Matthew Burbidge.
Did you know that baby rhinos are born without knee-caps? And if you didn’t, you’re sure to wonder – do they grow in later? Interesting titbits like this can be found on Telkom’s new educational website e*telpals, launched last month. The site, in its own words, is a ‘ultra cool and exciting website for young […]
South African telecommunications giant Telkom has denied that its tariffs are too high following accusations by the internet business community that the parastatal is stifling development and the growth of the internet. The Online Publishers Association said on Tuesday the high cost of calls is taking its toll on its businesses.
MOVIE OF THE WEEK: Part of the problem with sequels is that audiences want more of the same, and then some. Shrek II sort of fulfils that brief. It is a fun movie — at least as funny as the first one. Matthew Burbidge picks up some popcorn and heads to the preview.
<i>ThisDay</i>, South Africa’s newest daily newspaper, is taking legal action against a website owner in the United Kingdom who it says has snatched its domain name. Newshounds after the latest headlines from the website will probably get more than they bargained for — including a limousine with two escorts for hire, at R6 000.
MOVIE OF THE WEEK: Sarah (Charlotte Rampling) is a rigid and conservative, yet successful English mystery writer. Sarah’s personal life and new novel take a dramatic twist when she meets her publisher’s sexy, free-spirited daughter Julie (Ludivine Sagnier). Matthew Burbidge reviews
Journalist Ranjeni Munusamy, who first aired allegations that Bulelani Ngcuka, the National Director of Public Prosecutions, was an apartheid spy, has been offered a job at <i>ThisDay</i> newspaper. Munusamy was cast into the wilderness after she took the story to <i>City Press</i> while she was still employed at the <i>Sunday Times</i>.
There’s no doubt about it, it’s the Rolls-Royce of MP3 players. For those of you that have spent your entire life under a rock, an MP3 player is a little gadget in which you can store your music. MP3 stands for "Mpeg-1 audio layer-3" and is the standard technology and format for compressing a song into a very small file.
The Media Monitoring Project (MMP) said on Monday it was generally disappointed with the South African media’s coverage of the general election, and that smaller political parties got too little airtime. Each time a party was mentioned in the media, it was entered into the NGO’s database.
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/ 11 December 2003
The National Director of Public Prosecutions, Bulelani Ngcuka, and the advocate acting for former transport minister Mac Maharaj and former African National Congress intelligence head Mo Shaik locked horns once again at the Hefer Commission of Inquiry on Thursday morning.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=28471">Zuma’s affidavit sees the light of day</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=28391">Ngcuka faces tough questions</a>
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/ 26 November 2003
Vusi Mona, the former editor of <i>City Press</i>, should not testify at the Hefer Commission of Inquiry, counsel for the National Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Marumo Moerane, suggested to judge Joos Hefer on Wednesday morning.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=24062">The famous off-the-record briefing</a>
French producer and DJ Cam is visiting South Africa and spoke to Matthew Burbidge.
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/ 29 November 2001
The Good Food and Wine show at the Sandton Convention Centre at the weekend showed the ugly face of Johannesburg food — a sort of culinary Rand Show, writes Matthew Burbidge.