Moved on

I'm not blogging here anymore, I suggest you use My DIGIVU Blog (www.digivu.co.za) for all my SAFPP, agribusiness, related and misc blogs. There you will find the type of information I was posting here.

Finding Specific Items in my Blog

  • Select appropriate TAGS from the list in the left hand column
  • Browse the archive in the left hand column

Sunday, May 20, 2007

The link of the Day

This will be a regular posting - presenting a link through a discussion of its value to me.



The Manual for Home and Farm Production of Biodiesel by SW Mathewson



A thorough but simple and well explained manual for anyone interested in Bioethenol, and who in agribusiness isn't today.



The manual is available online at http://journeytoforever.org, and as indicated by the table of contents below is comprehensive.





There is real detail in the manual down to understandable and practical drawings.







CONSTRUCTION OF A REFLUX COLUMN



DIGIVU

20/05/07





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Sunday, May 13, 2007

Vodacom Super 14 Final

Not only:

the first Vodacom Super 14 Final in South Africa

but:

the first South Africa Only Vodacom Super 14 Final

and:

the first South African Vodacom Super 14 Champion

Monday, April 9, 2007

Not True, Even in Black and White

The bottle of juice calmly claims to be "100% cranberry juice" containing apple, cranberry and other fruit juice.



What it should be is 100% pure fruit juice with cranberry! Quite a different claim for the heath conscious consumer looking for the benefits of cranberry, but getting a mainly apple juice.

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Hi Blood

While I am often annoyed at the level of English in South Africa, especially where it can effect efficiency and effectivity, I am also fascinated by some of the words we use.

In English we are used to biro meaning pen, scotch meaning cellotape and hoover meaning vacuum cleaner but as a white South African I miss much:

"high blood" is even used in the INTERNET e-commerce for a herbal remedy for hypertension
"checkers" for a plastic bag and brilliant advertising for checkers

"look up and runs" for packets of chicken head and feet

"zo zo" for a small room in the back yard of a house

"hippo" for the round roofed township house

just a few really interesting words, but there must be thousands - send them in and I'll start a Colloquial South Africa Website and publish if we get enough.

By the way a look at the web shows many lists, but to me mainly uninteresting Afrikaans based slang - I am sure there's something much more interesting out there.

  • http://www.capeoptions.com/slang.htm
  • http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/634bf/
  • http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-south-african-slang-words
  • http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/links.htm
  • http://www.southafrica.info/plan_trip/travel_tips/questions/saenglish.htm
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_South_African_slang_words
  • http://www.southafrican.za.net/sa-slang.html

Friday, March 23, 2007

Changing Place Names - A Solution?

A few weeks ago I wrote about the changing of street names in Machadodorp, quite liking the idea but seeing some of the interesting issues around the process.

I didn't, however, address the one that effects me to some extent - how to remember the new names and match them to whats still in my map. What about this from www.iol.co.za ?

I first put this up with my tongue in my cheek, thinking it was rather weird. But maybe while the old sign is still usable, its not a bad idea, especially for all those tourists we want to attract.

A final thought - what a difference between all that Durban's Point Road represented and what the Great Mahatma Gandhi represents.

Sunday, March 18, 2007

The Market is King

Small business success is ALWAYS linked to a market thatwill buy the product. But a simple as it seems its not easily taken to heart.



Mary Jane knows that and puts it very clearly (SABC 15/03/2007), surprisingly it not always considered - you would see this in the rest of the interview, where she says it twice more in response to the questions.Small business success is ALWAYS linked to a market that will buy the product. But a simple as it seems its not easily taken to heart.

Monday, March 12, 2007

Machadodorp Musings III

Helping Hawkers?

The hawkers (under the tree & in the insert), the old unoccupied building (across the intersection) and new building shows a flawed process. I have seen in many places including KwaNgwanase, Bazana, Soetfontein and am sure it happens over and over again.



Local government (with a desire to help the poor) see the hawkers and, maybe pressurised by some of the old guard, want to get the hawkers off the road. They don't think of using the empty buildings nearby but build new ones. They presumably consult (but not well enough) the hawkers and design and have something built like that at Maschadodorp. They expect to attract the hawkers and get them to move into the new building.

However, the hawkers don't find any advantage in moving, possibly for one or more of the following reasons:
  • the rent is too high - anything is a lot more than nothing (happened in Mellville)
  • its too hot inside as its just a corrugated iron roof (I have seen this in Soetfontein)
  • it doesn't meet the behavioural needs (women sit on the ground in front of counters selling from the floor in KwaNgwanase)
  • its not as pleasant and socially open
I of course can't assure you these are the real and the only reasons, but then its not my job to build these centers. I have informed the municipal manager of this post & given her the right of response.

However, with all the failures, I believe its the duty of local government to identify the real problems and share there experiences so that others don't blunder after them.

These small stalls obviously were not an enormous cost but the problem is that similar errors are made with many public buildings (including many similar stalls, Majadje Food Processing Center in Limpopo, Community Center on road from Josini to KwaNgwanase ... - all possible future stories.)