Slashdot Mirror

http://www.southafrica.info/about/education/education.htm

At about 5.3% of gross domestic product (GDP) and 20% of total state expenditure, South Africa has one of the highest rates of public investment in education in the world.

Thank you for your very informative clarification. I get the whole sub-lethal does issue (sounds a lot like antibiotics).

For the "domestic applications", I believe I saw a bunch of old footage of DDT applications to houses in Singapore, essentially fumigating the entire place -> would that apply to your position?

And what is the significance of the "longer than six months" transmission season?

Lastly, do you have any insight into the use of DDT in south africa? Specifically its reintroduction:

http://www.southafrica.info/about/health/malaria-190906.htm

Thanks again, hey!, if I had mod points I'd be bumping you up.

An earlier poster wrote:

I've seen a lot of comments around the Internet insinuating that if you hate the sound of vuvuzelas, then you're a colonial racist who hates South African culture.

The funny thing is that the vuvuzelas are a recent introduction into South African culture. They are not only post-Colonial, they are post-Apartheid.

The maker of the horns admits that the prototype came from the USA... http://www.boogieblast.co.za/vuvuzela.htm

and this has been known in wider soccer circles for at least a year... http://www.footballiscominghome.net/the-hosts/the-vuvuzela/

and while the plastic horns have been around since the late 90s in South Africa... http://www.southafrica.info/2010/vuvuzela.htm

the current mass-producer only started up in 2001... http://www.vuvuzelas.com/about.html

Additionally, there's the blaringly obvious notion that the vuvuzela looks nothing like the kudu horn it allegedly comes from and looks everything like a cheap rip-off of the sort of long thin horns you see draped with flags playing fanfares when kings enter in films set in the middle ages, but I suppose it's expecting a lot for everyone to think critically. Last time I checked, kudu horns didn't have embouchures, either, which is what allows the plastic horn blowers to last all game.

http://www.southafrica.info/ess_info/sa_glance/med ia/google-150806.htm

Doesn't seem like Google is setting up in Kenya as opposed to South Africa. They're simply setting up in Kenya. I think they're already in South Africa.

As far as "Why Kenya?" Kenya is an obvious choice for setting up in East Africa. Nairobi, while a bit of a crime ridden hell hole, is the central point for anything in East Africa. If you set up in Nairobi, you get Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and probably Ethiopia, malawi and northern mozambique.

Obvious reasons to set up in East Africa are the ones given in the article: improving maps and localized content. They'll hand wave at providing local content for East Africans but let's be honest: There's no money in that. It's about tourism. East Africa is a huge tourist destination and a damn difficult place to get info on. Having lived, worked and travelled there extensively, I know there's a huge market for mining information OUT of the region to supply to the world and that's all google really does anyway. They want to connect the world to the region. If they happen to connect the region to the world as a byproduct, then that's a happy secondary result.

And lastly, I'm sure they want to influence local legislation. They have serious issues in China. East Africa isn't a rapidly growing economy, but it is growing. I'm sure they'd like to be proactive about avoiding political issues in an economic region they will want to eventually focus on more heavily.

If any company did this out of the goodness of their heart, I'm sure it would be google. But every corporation is a slave to the bottom line and Google has shown that they have to be too. The business model here is providing maps and targetted ads to potential safari goers both back home and while they're in the region. Anything else that comes out of it will be a happy secondary benefit.

Umm, http://sourceforge.net/

Let's see. Stallman et. al., invested much more than 2 years of their life into gcc. Then gave it away. Linus invested gobs of years, then gave it away. Friends and I wrote a database for the Amiga, HyperBase, then released it to freeware.

Most of the work of dead, european composers is freely available.

On the other hand, Check out what happened to the writer of the tune to "The lion sleeps tonight". Died penniless and insane, and his family lived in poverty even though the song has earned $15 million worldwide.
http://www.southafrica.info/what_happening/arts_en tertainment/mbube-210206.htm


Ok, ok, I made up the insane part. But the rest is real.

Actually, yes they most certainly do.

You do realize that Africa is a CONTINENT, right?. It makes up 23% of the total land mass of the earth, and has 13% of it's population (source: Encarta).

The poverty levels are much higher there, and average income much lower, but they don't all live in caves and huts or whatever you have it in your head that they do over there.

Want more proof, click here. Sure africa is dark compared to other places around the world, but there's still plenty of artificial light to be seen.

When's the last time you visited Africa? And if you did, did you visit just one point, or all of it? If you were visiting Iraq, would you come home and be like "Asia is a dump, and it's so violent over there!" Because obviously Iraq and Japan are exactly the same, both being part of Asia and all, right?

Thanks for the website compliment - I try :)

In Zimbabwe, yes, there is a dismal failure. I wouldn't put it down to race relations all that much though, although they do play a part. Bob Mugabe (the president) is severely abusing his own people, most of whom are black, as is the majority of the political opposition. Personally I think he's simply grown power hungry and arrogant. My own country's relationship and attitude toward him I find shocking and disgusting, treating him like there's nothing wrong, but I have no reason to believe that what has transpired in Zimbabwe will repeat themselves in South Africa - we don't have a Mugabe.

In South Africa I don't see overwhelming trouble in the near future. Economically we are growing, but too slowly. This can only worsen when Aids starts hitting our labour force (this sounds heartless, but it is the bigger picture. Obviously I feel for the human element as well). This will hurt our economy, certainly. However, I don't think the country will descend into civil anarchy or anything like that - if anything I think the overall situation will improve despite all these problems.

The government appears to be beginning to get a handle on many issues which have plagued the country since democracy in '94. It is widely predicted that the ruling ANC, which currently has 70% of the vote and accordingly the 2/3's majority they need to pass any bill in parliament, will not see a majority anywhere near that big again. Accordingly politics will become more representative in the near future (say after two voting periods - 10 years), where the ANC will be in charge most likely but the other parties will wield considerable parliamentary influence as well. This can only be a healthy and good thing for a democracy.

Let me put it this way: I'm a white male Masters student at a South African university, and I have no intention of leaving the country when I graduate. I feel positive about the country's prospects. A good intro to the country can be found at this site, while this is the official internet gateway to the country.

Onto the cricket...

Yes, a Test cricket match, one of the two major international varieties, is scheduled to take 5 days. The other version takes about 6 hours, while a newer, shorter version recently introduced takes about 3 hours. The basic rules are explained here much better than I am capable of doing so. I personally think it is the most awesome of sports, which may of course be slighly tempered by the fact that South Africa is quite good at it...

An excellent cricketing link if you have a further interest is here.

Hope this is concise enough. Always a pleasure to spread some info about my home or my favourite sport!

Thanks for the website compliment - I try :)

In Zimbabwe, yes, there is a dismal failure. I wouldn't put it down to race relations all that much though, although they do play a part. Bob Mugabe (the president) is severely abusing his own people, most of whom are black, as is the majority of the political opposition. Personally I think he's simply grown power hungry and arrogant. My own country's relationship and attitude toward him I find shocking and disgusting, treating him like there's nothing wrong, but I have no reason to believe that what has transpired in Zimbabwe will repeat themselves in South Africa - we don't have a Mugabe.

In South Africa I don't see overwhelming trouble in the near future. Economically we are growing, but too slowly. This can only worsen when Aids starts hitting our labour force (this sounds heartless, but it is the bigger picture. Obviously I feel for the human element as well). This will hurt our economy, certainly. However, I don't think the country will descend into civil anarchy or anything like that - if anything I think the overall situation will improve despite all these problems.

The government appears to be beginning to get a handle on many issues which have plagued the country since democracy in '94. It is widely predicted that the ruling ANC, which currently has 70% of the vote and accordingly the 2/3's majority they need to pass any bill in parliament, will not see a majority anywhere near that big again. Accordingly politics will become more representative in the near future (say after two voting periods - 10 years), where the ANC will be in charge most likely but the other parties will wield considerable parliamentary influence as well. This can only be a healthy and good thing for a democracy.

Let me put it this way: I'm a white male Masters student at a South African university, and I have no intention of leaving the country when I graduate. I feel positive about the country's prospects. A good intro to the country can be found at this site, while this is the official internet gateway to the country.

Onto the cricket...

Yes, a Test cricket match, one of the two major international varieties, is scheduled to take 5 days. The other version takes about 6 hours, while a newer, shorter version recently introduced takes about 3 hours. The basic rules are explained here much better than I am capable of doing so. I personally think it is the most awesome of sports, which may of course be slighly tempered by the fact that South Africa is quite good at it...

An excellent cricketing link if you have a further interest is here.

Hope this is concise enough. Always a pleasure to spread some info about my home or my favourite sport!