Archive for the ‘News’ Category

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Cape Town is still on fire (pics)

Wednesday, March 18th, 2009

Last night when I was driving back from Stellenbosch, I drove right into a thick cloud of smoke so dense that even with my headlights on bright, it was hard to see further than a few meteres. It seems Cape Town is on fire again, this time Devil’s Peak.

For more pics see www.capefires.com

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Posted in News | 4 Comments »

Facebook reverts to old Terms Of Service

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

Just yesterday I blogged about Facebook’s new terms of service which was aiming to take ownership of your intelectual property (and I’m sure 1000’s of other bloggers blogged about it too) This morning I was notified that facebook updated their terms of service:

Terms of Use Update

Over the past few days, we have received a lot of feedback about the new terms we posted two weeks ago. Because of this response, we have decided to return to our previous Terms of Use while we resolve the issues that people have raised.

If you want to share your thoughts on what should be in the new terms, check out our group Facebook Bill of Rights and Responsibilities.

The Facebook group is led by Mark Zuckerberg (founder), Barry Schnitt (spokesperson for Facebook) and Simon Axten (spokesman for Facebook), seems like a heated debate is about to unfold …

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Posted in News, info | 6 Comments »

Facebook now owns your content legally

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009

I will no longer have my blog automatically imported into Facebook notes as the new terms of service that Facebook decided to sneak in say that Facebook can overwrite your copyright and take ownership of whatever you import or link to from outside of Facebook.
In other words, if you earn money advertising on your blog, and you import your notes into Facebook, then technically Facebook can sue you for making money of “their” content. By importing blog entries into the Facebook “Notes” application, you’re basically giving up ownership of the content, whether you agreed to it or not, they made provision for that by stating if you continue to use Facebook, you’re automatically agreeing to the new terms of service whether you’ve seen it or not.

Technically they can sue me if they want to, even if I delete my account, their terms of service say that they retain copyright on everything, even after your account is deleted, not that they delete your content when you delete your account, they just deactivate your account and maintain their copyright on your social media.

The full article can be found here.

Can they really afford to have another mass uproar of angry users deleting their accounts after the Facebook Beacon scandal and after their stock value plummeted to $8.88 (from $35.90)? They are playing with fire, we’ll soon see them get burned by their own greed for power.

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Posted in News, Rants, Techno Blabble, info | 6 Comments »

13-year-old becomes a dad

Friday, February 13th, 2009

13-year-old-dad

Alfie Patten, 13 years old, became the father of a child after his girlfriend, Chantelle Steadman, 15 years old, gave birth to Maisie Roxanne in Eastbourne Hospital, East Sussex, UK.

The UK tabloid The Sun did an interview with the involved parties:

“I thought it would be good to have a baby,” Alfie told The Sun.

“I didn’t think about how we would afford it. I don’t really get pocket money. My dad sometimes gives me £10 (That’s about R142).”

Alfie, who lives with his mom, admitted he did not know how much nappies cost: “I think it’s a lot.”

Alfie, who was 12 when Maisie was conceived, and Chantelle decided not to have an abortion.

They kept the pregnancy secret until at 18 weeks Chantelle’s mom noticed the weight gain.

“When my mom found out, I thought I was going to get in trouble,” Alfie said.

“We wanted to have the baby but were worried how people would react

“I didn’t know what it would be like to be a dad. I will be good, though, and care for it.”

Alfie’s father Dennis, who is separated from the family, said his son did not seem to appreciate what he had got himself into but at least he had taken responsible attitude.

Alfie had been present at the birth and has been keen to cuddle and hold his child.

“He could have shrugged his shoulders and sat at home on his Playstation. But he has been at the hospital every day,” Mr Patten said.

Chantelle defends herself and Alfie from accusations they are being irresponsible.

“We know we made a mistake but I wouldn’t change it now,” Chantelle says.

“We will be good loving parents.

“I have started a church course and I am going to do work experience helping other young mums.

“I’ll be a great mum and Alfie will be a great dad.”

Chantelle and Maisie were released from hospital yesterday and will be living with her family who are supported by welfare payments.

All I can say to Alfie and Chantelle is good luck, they’re going to need it, seeing as they are both still in school and seeing that their kid will go to school when they’re about to finish school. Also good luck to the poor kid!

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Posted in FAIL, News | 6 Comments »

George W Bush is dead

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009

E-TV accidentally reported that George W Bush is dead.

This must be the best bushism ever!

10. “I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we’re really talking about peace.” —Washington, D.C. June 18, 2002

9. “I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn’t do my job.” —to a group of Amish he met with privately, July 9, 2004

8. “Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.” —speaking underneath a “Mission Accomplished” banner aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, May 1, 2003

7. “We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories … And we’ll find more weapons as time goes on. But for those who say we haven’t found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they’re wrong, we found them.” —Washington, D.C., May 30, 2003

6. “Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be somewhere!” —President George W. Bush, joking about his administration’s failure to find WMDs in Iraq as he narrated a comic slideshow during the Radio & TV Correspondents’ Association dinner, Washington, D.C., March 24, 2004

5. “If this were a dictatorship, it’d be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I’m the dictator.” —Washington, D.C., Dec. 19, 2000

4. “There’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.” —Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002

3. “Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren’t able to practice their love with women all across this country.” —Poplar Bluff, Mo., Sept. 6, 2004

2. “Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.” —Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004

1. “My answer is bring them on.” —on Iraqi insurgents attacking U.S. forces, Washington, D.C., July 3, 2003

0. “George W Bush is dead … and so is Nelson Mandela, Saddam Hussein killed him.”

A moving banner headline reported bush dead after the technical director pressed the wrong button and broadcast the test message on live television.

The irony is, George W Bush declared Nelson Mandela dead during a live news conference on MSNBC in September 2007, maybe this is revenge on E-TV’s part?

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Posted in FAIL, Humor, News | 7 Comments »

Pikum is closing down

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009

To everyone who’ve been using the gambling social network called Pikum, it’s closing down after it ran out of money to continue operation.

The Game

Pikum is a new kind of betting game, created and played between friends online. Players compete with others in their social network to see who can best predict the results of sports and other events. Pikum can be played for fun or for money (where possible).

You’ve got until February the 13th to withdraw whatever money you have left in bets, after that they will send you a check to pay out the remaining balance to the address you’ve used to register.

closing

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Posted in FAIL, News, Techno Blabble | 3 Comments »

Google Earth 5.0 released

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009

To all the Google Earth addicts, Google has just announced the release of Google Earth 5.0!

The new Google Earth allows you to go back in time and see the older archived satellite images instead of just the latest available satellite images. Another feature they’ve added is the ability to go on 3D tours and save your tours which can be shared with other people. Interested in wandering around on Mars? With some help from NASA, Google Earth will allow you to walk around on Mars and explore it by yourself. Oceans have also been revamped, instead of a low resolution ocean just sitting there, you can now dive into the ocean, view shipwrecks as well as view video footage provided by National Geographic and BBC.

Well, looks like internet service providers are going to make some extra money this year selling bandwidth.


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Posted in News | 2 Comments »

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