Jesus and Buddha: those normal humans!

Here's an interesting idea I thought about recently:we think Jesus and the Buddha (and other spiritual leaders) are abnormal and superhuman but they aren't--they are what humans were intended to be! It's the rest of us that are abnormal!

How to Mxit

I like to smile
and cuddle
and kiss
and

well, it was cold on Thursday.

Love is never a duality

We are aware of love because we live in a world without it. The world does not know what love is-- its art, its music, its films, its books--it does not recognise love and so it cannot describe it. Love is never a duality; it is not a man and a woman: it is the man and the woman together, a unity, in a place where neither of them any longer exist. In the place where you can no longer tell who is who and which is which, you might find love. Love is beyond the body, love is beyond the mind. Love is beyond duality; it cannot be described in words, for a word always implies its opposite. To say 'I love' means that I can also say 'I hate'. This is not love but just talking. This is liking or lusting; it is desire, not love. Love is beyond such distinctions. Love is beyond words.The world talks of falling in love because it knows also of falling out of love. Love is love. It doesn't have a falling out or a falling in. It deepens but it doesn't run away. It doesn't have valleys or mountaintops because it is the air and the stone and the plants--the very fabric from which the valleys and mountains are made.

Peppermint vs Jolicloud

Ok, I've been trying out these two implementations of a Cloud-based OS, and I like them both. It's amazing how quickly my thinking has adjusted to their different designs. My verdict right now is to use Peppermint for laptops and Jolicloud for networks--but that decision is based primarily on the fact that I can't get Jolicloud to install on anything other than my Samsung NC10, where it works just fine.

Both use online suites of apps-- Google's; and, in Jolicloud's case, Adobe's air.

They differ in interface design and underlying technologies.

Both are built on Ubuntu, but Jolicloud looks more like an iPhone desktop than Ubuntu. Peppermint looks like Linux Mint. Rather than a browser, dedicated panes are used to run web applications: Peppermint uses Mozilla's Prism; Jolicloud uses Google's Chrome.

I have had no problems at all so far with either system (although I'm using the Peppermint respin rather than the initial buggy offering).

Which will be the winner? probably something else entirely, but these are showing the way to go. Recommended.

South Africa 2010 World Cup

Africa, and Africans, are really really hoping that their teams will shine at this year's World Cup. It's more than a matter of pride; it's a belief that somehow history will be corrected. I was in a restaurant/bar in town the other day when a warm-up game was on the TV there. I asked a waitress who she thought would win the game. She looked up at the TV: it showed 'Portugal 0, Mozambique 0'. Without a moment's hesitation she replied, "Mozambique". Her response was representative. [The final result of that game was Portugal 3, Mozambique 0.]

Caffeine @ work

Well, there it is. I checked my Facebook page and a window popped up asking me if I wanted to link my profile to 'things I was interested in'. What the ? I thought. Then I looked at the list-- yes, these are my areas of interest; they have obviously been culled from my blogs over the years. I was amazed: there were things there I had completely forgotten about (I have been blogging for a long time).

Google's Caffeine

There has been widespread (worldspread) concern about Google's collection of data and many are already viewing Google as the 21st Century's Big Brother. I'm personally not so concerned; I'm aware, so I reduce the risks: I don't use credit cards nor do I use Internet Banking and so on. Even so, my footprint is all over the web and there's no way I can ever be anonymous. I'm also aware that a remote computer (running windows, which I don't) can be hacked within 15 minutes of logging on to the net. And Google analytics is running in the background, all the time.

In short, I'm neither naive nor paranoid; I believe the Cloud is a good thing and I embrace it.

But still, I'm staggered by the figures released by Google regarding their new Caffeine engine:
* Caffeine will constantly monitor the web to search, store and index information
* It will process information in parallel, not in linear fashion (which means thousands of
pages--like this one--at once) every second
* the database can hold 100 million GB of information

Blowing the 2010 trumpet (vuvuzela)

Today, in the UK Times, there is this comment: "Shame on the visiting footballers and coaches who, before the World Cup has even begun, are whining about the noise made by vuvuzelas, the metre-long plastic trumpets with which South African football fans serenade and spur on their team!"
The sound made by the vuvuzelas is in fact entirely appropriate since it is South Africa that is hosting the football World Cup. It is exactly the sound familiar to gentlemen like President Zuma, who, as a past herdboy, will know the sound intimately; it is the sound made by cows in the field--deep and indeed deeply monotonous. But that's what you get from cows. In case people don't remember, this region is rooted on cow culture: the structure and shape of homesteads (kraals), the use of cow manure for a variety of things, the notion of cows being a sign of wealth--even for paying marriage dowry (lobola). And as a vegetarian I can personally attest to the multitude of dishes that involve cuts and pieces of cow. I'm not particularly a fan either, but come Friday my ears will also be ringing to that sound.

Rocking in the not-yet free world

In another Swazi-MTN skim (a skim is a scam perpetuated solely for the purpose of making money) we discover that 'Free Access' means that you still pay for it. On your mobile, log on to FB through O.facebook.com [not m.facebook.com]. You should see, up at the top left, 'Free Access by MTN'. Then logout/exit and discover that you have been charged anyway. :-(( No wonder Swazi-MTN is doing all it can to retain its monopoly. Repeat after me: 'Monopolies are bad things...monopolies are bad things...' etc. Then bang your head against the nearest wall.

Bad things can be good for you

Who said bad things can't be good? There are three great things about being sick: 1. It shows that your body's warning systems are still working; 2. It really, really makes you appreciate being well; and 3. It reminds you to re-read Chesterton's wonderful essay, 'On the advantages of having one leg.'