We journalists like to complain about PRs. I didn’t study journalism, so never got the opportunity to pick up some of the bad habits of the industry. It’s always cute to note how many scribes enjoy hating PRs. I think the hatred is reciprocal (an explanation for their general foul attitudes when I call?). I appreciate that they have a job to do. So, a kindly word to PR practitioners out there: I wouldn’t know how to do your job. But I know mine, and it sometimes means that we have to cooperate.
Dorrit Moussaieff – wife of Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, Iceland’s president – made a dramatic gesture over the weekend by hopping a security fence to join in with a group of protesters hurling eggs and yoghurt at politicians, demanding that the government do more to help the lower-income bracket.
China-fearing bureaucrats at the Department of International Relations and Co-operation breathed a sigh of relief this morning when the Office of the Dalai Lama in Delhi, India announced that the Tibetan spiritual leader had cancelled his trip to South Africa due to not receiving a visa in time.
With another Oktoberfest coming to a close in Munich on Monday, the hung-over locals deserve to start boasting about their accomplishments. 7,9 million litres of beer were consumed by festival goers, despite this year’s price per litre rising to 9 Euros (R96, 00). Beeeeer.
Rugby fans, and swooning middle class women the world over: here’s something to get you over the Rugby World Cup dry spell we’ll all be suffering this week. We present, Bob Skinstad, coaching school children. Aaaaaw! [Images : Courtesy MasterCard] [Thanks, Mike!]
The South African media giant, Naspers, has bought the Russian version of Gumtree: Slando, for an undisclosed amount. The original founders of Gumtree, Michael Pennington and Simon Crookall, confirmed the deal overnight. The site has 11 million users, and has sold items including Stalin’s clothing, a slew of diamonds, a MIG 21 aircraft and one whole oil refinery.
I know you’ve been craving a new video for our Boss Hall of Fame section. So have I. But the wait has been well worth it! This one involves a makeshift vegetable market and a fully operational train track. As they say, seeing is believing.
If you live in Cape Town, chances are pretty good that you’d have come across a Charly’s Bakery creation. And things are about to get even sweeter! This famous bakery has now teamed up with Justin Bonello’s Cooked in Africa Films to film a brand-new reality show, starting on Saturday at 16h00 on SABC3: Charly’s Cake Angels. Details inside.
Boston Dynamics, a tech company working under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), has released the latest in its BigDog project line – Alpha Dog, an SUV-sized, four-legged robot equipped to carry a little under 200kg in gear over a range of 32km, in harsh conditions. It’s a giant, terrifying, military robot dog. Take a look.
Lefty legislators (Those liberals! What will they come up with next?) in Mexico City are pondering a change to the city’s civil code that would give couples eager to samba down the aisle the chance to sign out of “til death do us part” within two years of the anniversary, giving them the opportunity to annul or renew their vows without censure.
One of the highest honours in the UK military is being awarded the Military Cross for bravery in war. Durban’s Peter Keogh, 30, has been selected for the award for his courage during a fire-fight in Afghanistan. He’ll receive his medal from the Queen of England later this month. Pretty impressive.
The Dutch conservative coalition government that came into power last year announced plans to fight the massive tourist flow to the country’s coffee shops where tourists and locals alike come together to puff the old magic dragon. However, the Dutch border city of Maastricht has decided to try something different to demonstrate this won’t work in the long-term.
A Dutch man was caught trying to smuggle more than a dozen live hummingbirds inside his underpants at Rochambeau airport over the weekend. They were individually wrapped in cloth and taped up to stop them from escaping. Airport officials noticed the passenger fidgeting and acting suspiciously, and the man was detained by French customs officers.
Pop-culture rumour news is dangerous to talk about, but Arrested Development was one of those shows that won a religious sort of fervour from its fans, with FOX playing the role of Judas or something. So when creator, Mitchell Hurwitz announced the show’s return over this weekend’s New Yorker Festival, the internet got its preach on.
Growing up in the 80s, there were two things that I would argue to my last breath during little and/or big break. First, red ice-suckers tasted better than green ones, and second, Thundercats was cooler than He-Man. That was basically it. No argument.
In the latest auction by Nominet (a company which runs Britain’s web infrastructure), Facebook, Google and Mercedez Benz were among several big name companies which reportedly bid on single letter web addresses. The auction helped raise £3 million for the Nominet Trust, a charity that promotes safe internet access.
Hundreds of homes were destroyed when a tornado tore through the town of Ficksburg in the Free State province yesterday afternoon, emergency officials said. At least one person was killed, but the full extent of the damage is not yet known. Last night, a second tornado hit the East Rand and caused extensive damage to Duduza, near Nigel.
Terms and conditions: we never read them, but we know we know should. Here’s what you should know about Amazon’s Fire and the new Silk browser it comes with: they make it clear that the company is entitled to retain your tablet’s unique ID, plus the URL’s of pages you have visited, for up to 30 days.
WELL DONE TO MARC B FOR WINNING. MARC TOOK A BUNCH OF MATES AND HAD A BLAST. WATCH THE VIDEO OF THEIR AMAZING DAY ON 2OCEANSVIBE TV HERE. Where were you last month when Jack Daniel’s and 2oceansVibe treated almost 40 hard working Capetownians to a scenic Harley cruise, and a gourmet lunch at the […]
We know you love BOS Ice Tea – those trendy, brightly coloured cans of deliciousness – but did you know Sir Alex Ferguson loves it too? The well-known manager of Manchester United has just bought a stake in this very cool South African Rooibos brand. And for a product that only recently celebrated its first birthday, that’s pretty boss.
NASA wants to put somebody on an asteroid by 2025 because they don’t know how else to get people’s attention. And to succeed in this entirely worthwhile endeavour, they’ve designed a mechanism by which to harpoon asteroids, so that vehicles can land on the thing despite the weakened gravity. Call me Ishmael.
Is there anything Google can’t do? Between mapping the world (and the moon), interior designing the internet or digitizing every part of your work life, Google seems to have it all covered, and now US netizens can even access a Google application that makes a best guess at someone’s sexual preference.
Remember the Millionaires Club of advocates, who were under investigation for sucking the Road Accident Fund dry? Well those 13 naughty members of the Pretoria bar have been punished for ill-gotten gains. The case, which commenced exactly a month ago in the Pretoria High Court, closed today with six of the lawyers being struck off the roll, and a further seven receiving suspensions.
How do you wake a deaf person, especially if the building that they are in is on fire? You squirt a puff of wasabi at them, obviously. Seven Japanese researchers were awarded the Ig Nobel prize for chemistry in the 21st annual Ig Nobel awards, a spoof of the real Nobel awards, at Harvard University last night for their invention.
My biggest problem with Mark Esterhuysen is that he has failed at properly explaining to the average Joe why he did what he did. That is a real pity. Robin Henry was sentenced to 12 months of house arrest for smashing shop windows during a G20 summit. The following is a letter wrote, presented in court, to explain his actions. You should read it too, Mark.
Please notice the “allegedly” up there. Reports claim that two senior officials at the SABC have been arrested in London after refusing to pay two prostitutes for their services; the two men were in the UK for a business school initiative set up between South African and British academic boards.
The Snor [Thanks, Riaan]
The study, which took place over a two-year period, is based on a “mood analysis” of some 509 million posts from 2,4 million users. Researchers found that our outlook varies greatly depending on the time of day, the day of the week and the season, with our moods improving as the summer solstice nears and over weekends. So basically it’s a study of what we already know. Kiff.
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe has today told a small news conference that China has agreed to invest approximately R19 billion in investment projects around South Africa. He’s been on a three-day visit to China, and has avoided all mention of the constant South African headache that is deciding whether the Dalai Lama should get a visa or not.
For all those shallow Hal’s, cheap dates and general sloppy drunks (we all know at least one), this little guy’s for you. The “stay-sober pill”, is still in development stages, but is said to allow you to drink as much as you want and still stay sober as a judge. Or prevent you from getting laid.