General
C Programmers get away with murder
Mar 27th
I have been reading a lot of C source code lately and I have found that C programmers are lucky, in that, they can get away with pretty much whatever they like.
Why? Well firstly, there are few C programmers around to start picking apart other peoples code so the reviewing process usually gets ignored. Secondly, C is fast. It is so quick by design that there is often no need to write good code, because the language on its own is just extremely fast, hence you will see a lot of sloppy code around!
With that said… If you don’t fit into the “trying your luck” coder category, the company I work for is looking for an additional programmer well versed in C with *nix experience, so if thats you, email me
Gauteng’s traffic explained.
Feb 15th
If you are like me, a person not from Gauteng, you may have wondered why you always hear about these ‘accidents’ in the morning during the traffic report. Why are there so many in Gauteng, is it just purely mathematical (more cars?) or is it some other phenomenon?
Well, I have recently had the (un)fortunate experience of travelling to Pretoria thanks to my loving company (shameless punt), and I think I have figured out the problem. There are so many accidents in Gauteng, because the people in Gauteng, drive like complete idiots. I have no doubt, driving ability wise, they are probably on average better than most other cities drivers, but when it comes to common sense, they must be the lowest.
While driving back to the airport from Pretoria, I was simply horrified to see how these loons drive. Zigging and zagging through the traffic at high speeds in their small sports cars until reaching a ‘go slow’ and then simply going down the emergency lane/yellow line. The question was, why was there a go slow? Because some idiot, in his sports car, had an accident. Now, in my opinion, from what I have seen, this must be a daily occurrence on the highways in Gauteng causing a serious head ache for motorists.
Being a programmer, let me try and approach this logically, and explain it to the loons out there who insist this is the best way to drive. If you drive fast and badly, ultimately, you will be in an accident and cause a huge delay for everyone else (law of averages), and while it may be some other loons turn today, yours will come. Now, if you all (loons) decide to drive with some relative sense (no emergency lane, minimal zigging and zagging), you will probably decrease your odds of an accident quite significantly, and if you all play along, there will generally be less accidents. Hence on average, there will be less delays, and everyone will be happier!
If you are from Gauteng and own a Z3/Z4/SLK/Any other equally compensating for something type vehicle, ask yourself, is it really necessary to endanger yourself and everyone else, to save those few minutes?
I’m guessing the answer is probably yes, but at least I tried.
The two ‘koms
Jan 24th
I’m sure I must be at least the thousandth person to write something like this.
Load shedding hit us today again and our office was plunged into (somewhat) darkness. Luckily our management have managed to implement some sort of power generation system so at least we not be totally unproductive as I noticed some of the other businesses in the area were at this time.
It really made me quite sad as I drove into the petrol station, the pumps were all off, and the petrol attendants left twiddling their thumbs thanks to another parastatal. It made me sad because, the poor staff are losing out of an eight our shift, two and a half hours worth of their tips, which I’m sure makes up an important part of their income. Also, the company hiring these staff will probably feel the effects of lost sales and will end up retrenching some of their staff, its a vicious circle.
The theme is all too similar. Another one of our beloved monopoly’s, maybe not as visible as the current load shedding takes the focus. Of course I’m talking about Telkom. Telkom has been riding the South African public for years and continues to do so as no end is in sight of their exorbitant prices and unreliable service.
These two companies, if things go the way they are now, are going to cost the South African economy a whole pile of money. We can already see from the various news articles around that international investors and international businesses with South African offices are seriously starting to reconsider their future investment in this country.
It just annoys me immensely, after all the hard work that was done to get international business confidence in South Africa to this point, and now it is basically lost after a few weeks of sporadic power cuts.
Apparently the government is to blame for Eskom too, so can I ask a favour? I pay enormous amounts of tax every month, so can I get a discount for the following things goverment has failed to supply me:
- Education
- Security
- Health care
- Electricity infrastructure
- Cost related telecommunications
I’m really tired of supplying them (where I’m allowed to) my self, and I could use the money.
Mass Golf Course Review
Jan 3rd
I have been so busy in the past 4 months that I have simply not had the time to write any sort of reviews on golf courses, not that I think anyone actually cares, but to the one person who might want to know what to expect when they go to a golf course, I have decided to write a ‘mass’ course review with some of the courses I have played over the past few months with a quick rating.
- Arabella
- A very nice golf course with spectacular views, softish greens, but quite difficult when the wind is blowing (as it usually is)
- 8/10
- Pinnacle point
- Quite possibly the golf course with the most spectacular views I have ever played. The greens are super fast and well looked after, I only have good things to say about this golf course. The service at this course was also out of the top drawer. I suggest taking lots of balls though.
- 10/10
- George Golf Club
- The people of George are very spoiled to have this as a home public course, it is a fantastic course, well manicured with a challenging layout. If you start on the 10th tee and shoot a good score for that 9, don’t be fooled as the front 9 is quite a bit more challenging!
- 8.5/10
- Humewood Golf Club
- Some say it is the only true links course in South Africa and I would tend to agree with them. It is a simple course which is put out right in front of you, with the only defence being the wind, which in Port Elizabeth is more often than not around to enjoy the game with you. The greens are grainy which will confuse some first timers but just ask some of the locals for some tips and you’ll be on your way.
- 9/10
I will try write some more reviews as the time comes, if you have any questions about the courses, please leave a comment and I will respond.
Enjoy the golf!
SA Drivers
Jan 3rd
Happy New Year everyone, lets hope 2008 is a great year for all.
I am due to be back at work in a few days, which means I have just finished my time on the SA roads for the holiday season.
To my surprise things were not as bad as I suspected, for the most part drivers were calm, courteous and patient, except for some. So just to get my rant out I have decided to name my top 5 worst drivers list. As I don’t know the drivers (obviously) I have grouped (stereotyped) them by the cars I found to be doing the most stupid things out on the road.
5. BMW excl 3 Series
4. pre 2002 Golf GTI
3. Any car under R20,000 cost with a CF prefixed number plate
2. Any car over R50,000 cost with a GP suffixed number plate
1. BMW 3 Series drivers (est. 9 out of every 10 have no regard for others on the road)
If you fit into one of these categories, take a good hard look at how you drive, because if you’re late or in a hurry, don’t make it a problem of the other people on the road!
Paarl / Boschenmeer Golf Course Review
Aug 21st
Thanks to my PlaymoregolfSA membership I recently had the pleasure of being able to play the Boschenmeer golf course at Paarl, paying no more than R79. I wasn’t sure whether I should write this or not because I don’t want the course to be overbooked so I can’t get a spot! But why not I will continue to do what I set out to.
For those who know me, they will know the perils I had to go through to finally play Paarl, not due to the management but simply due to the weather, the 4 previous occasions I tried to play the course, it was completely rain soaked and the course was actually closed. Alas! 5th time lucky I was able to actually get on the course, it was well worth the wait. My playing partner and I were playing holes 1-9 and 19-27, for those who don’t know Paarl actually has 27 holes on the Boschenmeer Estate. Even though I shanked my opening shot just far enough to clear the water, I was not discouraged thanks to the beautiful surroundings of the course.
The first 9 holes we played (1-9) were quite challenging, with tree lines fairways and water in the most annoying places, but if you play smart (as opposed to the way I played) you will easily be able to keep the ball in play and hit the greens. The holes are not super long nor super short, I would say about medium length holes in general on the course. The day we played the course was rated 70.
The second 9 holes we played (19-27) had a more open feel, not as tree lined but challenges based on hazards and tee shot placement in order to attack the greens. There are some beautiful views of the surrounding mountains on this 9 and I was constantly gazing around just taking in the sights.
Aside from the golf, the service was excellent, there was a friendly starter there indicating where we need to tee off and when we were due on the tee. The half way house food was good value for money as well, as some of you may know playing golf at fancy courses sometimes also means paying R30 for a pie, but thankfully this was not the case at Paarl. We were one of the first groups off so pace of play wasn’t an issue with us and we rarely waited at all.
I give Boschenmeer a 9/10 as I was impressed with every aspect of the course, for R79 its an absolute bargain.
Technorati Tags: Golf, Boschenmeer, Paarl
A Springbok supporter deep down.
Jul 20th
It doesn’t often happen when you get to take a snap of a die hard All Black supporter, wearing a Springbok jersey. Nevermind the circumstances or reasons, I just thought I’d share with the planet, John Ingram our conference facilitator, wearing, proudly I might add, the Springbok rugby jersey. If you happen to know John Ingram or any of his friends, please spread this around.
Sorry, John 
Technorati Tags: Springboks, All Blacks, John Ingram
SalesForce or SalesFunk?
Jul 12th
And by Funk I mean, as in Funky smelling, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw this.
USB Humping dog
Jul 11th
I think I just found the ultimate gadget for my computer, the USB Humping dog.
Whoever came up with this gem needs to be rewarded!
How to measure website success? Page views or time?
Jul 10th
I just thought I’d share an interesting article with the rest of you, because it made me think about how I analyze my readers, whether they are just visitors who have no real interest in my content, or if they actually stick around and read what I have to say.
So in future I’ll try post some items worth reading :]
How to measure website success? Page views or time?
Technorati Tags: The Register, Analytics
