If a picture says a thousand words...
What says this picture of 15 words?
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Braking the power crunch
It was with great interest that I read an article in Business Day newspaper today about the Gautrain.
There has been much protestation about the highspeed Gautrain that is being built in our province, and the amount of power it will use. People have argued that surely, in times of electricity tightness, a massive power user such as this train would not be good for other consumers.
The Gautrain is planning to use the friction and heat created by braking to generate electricity which it will then feed back into the national grid. The power it will generate from braking will be 20% of the power it uses to accelerate. The energy created will be sufficient electricity to power something as large Eastgate Shopping Centre - that's a fair deal of electricity being pumped back into the national grid.
Good on you Gautrain. We need innovative ideas to help us not only overcome this power crunch, but also to lead us in the direction of becomming a progressive energy-using country in the long-term.
There has been much protestation about the highspeed Gautrain that is being built in our province, and the amount of power it will use. People have argued that surely, in times of electricity tightness, a massive power user such as this train would not be good for other consumers.
The Gautrain is planning to use the friction and heat created by braking to generate electricity which it will then feed back into the national grid. The power it will generate from braking will be 20% of the power it uses to accelerate. The energy created will be sufficient electricity to power something as large Eastgate Shopping Centre - that's a fair deal of electricity being pumped back into the national grid.
Good on you Gautrain. We need innovative ideas to help us not only overcome this power crunch, but also to lead us in the direction of becomming a progressive energy-using country in the long-term.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Bulbs Pieterson and the children of Darkness
We are lucky in South Africa, in that we have very colourful names.
We also live in a colourful society that, among other things, has electricity generation constraints. Any problem offers exiting new possibilities...
I was sent this list today:
South African names after 9 months due to Eskom's "load shedding":
1. Candle Mabuya
2. Darkness Ngozi
3. Eskom Shabalala
4. Vroegslaap van der Merwe
5. Blackout Legodi
6. Battery Ndlovu
7. Generator Mothabela
8. Loadshedding Masibuko
9. Ugezi Phindanghene
10. Switch-off Mkhwanasi
11. Geyser Baloyi
12. Capacity Mahapa
13. Traffic-light Mdlalose
14. Megawatt Nxumalo
15. Power-cut Nhlapo
16. Gas-turbine Khaba
17. Solar Buthelezi
18. Rationing Mlaba
19. U.P.S Van Wyk
20. Bulbs Pieterson
21. Bright Brown
22. Dim du Preez
It is vital to note that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Eskom has however informed us that this light has also been turned off.
We also live in a colourful society that, among other things, has electricity generation constraints. Any problem offers exiting new possibilities...
I was sent this list today:
South African names after 9 months due to Eskom's "load shedding":
1. Candle Mabuya
2. Darkness Ngozi
3. Eskom Shabalala
4. Vroegslaap van der Merwe
5. Blackout Legodi
6. Battery Ndlovu
7. Generator Mothabela
8. Loadshedding Masibuko
9. Ugezi Phindanghene
10. Switch-off Mkhwanasi
11. Geyser Baloyi
12. Capacity Mahapa
13. Traffic-light Mdlalose
14. Megawatt Nxumalo
15. Power-cut Nhlapo
16. Gas-turbine Khaba
17. Solar Buthelezi
18. Rationing Mlaba
19. U.P.S Van Wyk
20. Bulbs Pieterson
21. Bright Brown
22. Dim du Preez
It is vital to note that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Eskom has however informed us that this light has also been turned off.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Inland Empire
Watch this if you can!
David Lynch's latest film, Inland Empire, is shot entirely in digital video, and was premiered on September 6, 2006 at the Venice Film Festival.
http://www.inlandempirecinema.com/
"We are like the spider. We weave our life and then move along in it. We are like the dreamer who dreams and then lives in the dream. This is true for the entire universe."
- Aitareya Upanishad
David Lynch's latest film, Inland Empire, is shot entirely in digital video, and was premiered on September 6, 2006 at the Venice Film Festival.
http://www.inlandempirecinema.com/
"We are like the spider. We weave our life and then move along in it. We are like the dreamer who dreams and then lives in the dream. This is true for the entire universe."
- Aitareya Upanishad
Casting light on SA
How many South Africans does it take to change a light bulb?
Ok, that's a nasty joke.
Ok, that's a nasty joke.
In a dark, dark house in a dark, dark forest...
It's 11pm, Johannesburg, you don't feel like going "out" so what do you do?
This past Saturday evening a few friends decided to take me to see the "Walkerville Ghost".
They turned out to be very good guides with testimonials that could make even the most staunch sceptics have second thoughts, complete with full moon and howling wind.
I was up for a laugh, so within 10 minuites we were on the R59 to Walkerville.
It was about a 20-minute drive from the south of Jo'burg. Not bad: Just goes to show - in Jo'burg you are always near to the activity - even activity from the OTHER SIDE.
As we approached Walkerville, the roads became narrower and the sky became darker. This ghost's marketing team had their heads screwed on... ironic as the ghost is supposedly headless.
We turned left into the haunted road. It is a very, very long quiet road with plots (smallholdings) on either side. Dark and queit. Any Jo'burger's nightmare. It all made sense to me - Walkerville: paranormal activity for paranoid people. If there was wind, it would have been howling. If the moon was full, it would have been tinted red. There were no howling dogs.
We reached the end of the road (and that's how it felt). Turned around, turned the lights out and waited.
Then the lights were flashed three times to "call" the ghost, which is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Nevertheless, to satisy the experiment I went along with the crowd. I flashed my lights three times - to call on a spectre from another realm, because as you know they are light-sensitive and only respond to the number 3. (Trinity, 3am ghosting hour, 3pm on Golgotha, everything happens in 3s - I wonder how that came about?)
Anyway, before long we were witnessing a red light in the distance that changed to a light green and then white and it appeared to be approaching very fast. I turned on my lights to prevent being crashed into by the oncomming car (that was my excuse anyway) only to see nothing when the lights were turned on. "You chased away the ghost!" people shouted at me. So we reset. Lights off, 3 flashes and low and behold the same thing, a red light that changed colour and appeared to be approaching until I turned my lights on again, and guess what... nothing! We drove up the road to make sure there was no one there and we went through the motions once more. Same result. The wind was still not howling.
I have no idea who created these lights, or how they did it, but it was quite spectacular.
But I can tell you this, I was terrified.
My skin was crawling and so I was happy to leave. Not because of the biker ghost, though.
But because I was stopped at the side of the road, at night, near to Johannesburg, and visions of hijackings and other ghastly (not ghostly) things were drowning my mind. I was checking my review mirror and had my car in gear, ready to flee. Even while wating for the dearly departed, I was ready to depart hastily.
I look forward to the day that I can sit at the side of the road and not look in my review mirror.
(Now President Mbeki, whether this fear is perception- as you call it - or not, it is real and tangible to the average citizen)
I fear though, in the medium term, I have more chance of seeing a headless biker whizz past.
This past Saturday evening a few friends decided to take me to see the "Walkerville Ghost".
They turned out to be very good guides with testimonials that could make even the most staunch sceptics have second thoughts, complete with full moon and howling wind.
I was up for a laugh, so within 10 minuites we were on the R59 to Walkerville.
It was about a 20-minute drive from the south of Jo'burg. Not bad: Just goes to show - in Jo'burg you are always near to the activity - even activity from the OTHER SIDE.
As we approached Walkerville, the roads became narrower and the sky became darker. This ghost's marketing team had their heads screwed on... ironic as the ghost is supposedly headless.
We turned left into the haunted road. It is a very, very long quiet road with plots (smallholdings) on either side. Dark and queit. Any Jo'burger's nightmare. It all made sense to me - Walkerville: paranormal activity for paranoid people. If there was wind, it would have been howling. If the moon was full, it would have been tinted red. There were no howling dogs.
We reached the end of the road (and that's how it felt). Turned around, turned the lights out and waited.
Then the lights were flashed three times to "call" the ghost, which is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Nevertheless, to satisy the experiment I went along with the crowd. I flashed my lights three times - to call on a spectre from another realm, because as you know they are light-sensitive and only respond to the number 3. (Trinity, 3am ghosting hour, 3pm on Golgotha, everything happens in 3s - I wonder how that came about?)
Anyway, before long we were witnessing a red light in the distance that changed to a light green and then white and it appeared to be approaching very fast. I turned on my lights to prevent being crashed into by the oncomming car (that was my excuse anyway) only to see nothing when the lights were turned on. "You chased away the ghost!" people shouted at me. So we reset. Lights off, 3 flashes and low and behold the same thing, a red light that changed colour and appeared to be approaching until I turned my lights on again, and guess what... nothing! We drove up the road to make sure there was no one there and we went through the motions once more. Same result. The wind was still not howling.
I have no idea who created these lights, or how they did it, but it was quite spectacular.
But I can tell you this, I was terrified.
My skin was crawling and so I was happy to leave. Not because of the biker ghost, though.
But because I was stopped at the side of the road, at night, near to Johannesburg, and visions of hijackings and other ghastly (not ghostly) things were drowning my mind. I was checking my review mirror and had my car in gear, ready to flee. Even while wating for the dearly departed, I was ready to depart hastily.
I look forward to the day that I can sit at the side of the road and not look in my review mirror.
(Now President Mbeki, whether this fear is perception- as you call it - or not, it is real and tangible to the average citizen)
I fear though, in the medium term, I have more chance of seeing a headless biker whizz past.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Business Unusual
A mathmetician, an accountant and an economist go for the same interview.
The interviewer asks:
What is 2 + 2?
The Mathmetician answers instantly "Four!"
The Accountant answers after a delay "Probably four, but thats not taking into account tax, inflation and the real-term value of the 2 after considering the fundamentals..."
The Economist closes the door and leans in close to the interviewer:
"It can be whatever we want it to be".
Indeed...Welcome to South Africa.
The interviewer asks:
What is 2 + 2?
The Mathmetician answers instantly "Four!"
The Accountant answers after a delay "Probably four, but thats not taking into account tax, inflation and the real-term value of the 2 after considering the fundamentals..."
The Economist closes the door and leans in close to the interviewer:
"It can be whatever we want it to be".
Indeed...Welcome to South Africa.
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