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Brave new year

And so another year has come and gone. I had a wonderful 31st - we ended up only having time to visit Fairview farm (it was great) and then spent the evening with friends in Wellington. It was a wonderful relaxed evening chatting and laughing until late.

The next morning I left for Wildernis, for a nice last little break. We spent three days there with friends. It was really nice, except that I am really stiff from skiing. But I suppose a few days of cripple walking is a small price to pay.

I have also seen the Chronicles of Narnia (twice) this past week. Once on New Year's eve and again yesterday (all of us went to the movies and my friends really wanted to see it - I didn't mind seeing it for a second time).

It isn't exactly what I would call the greatest movie ever, but it was a nice bit of entertainment. I am just sad I couldn't have seen this movie at 8 - that would have been brilliant! I thought it was a great Christmas movie, but really aimed at a younger audience. The graphics work is excellent and the acting surprisingly good, with Aslan living up to this awe inspiring self and especially Lucy gave an admirable performance.

I also quite liked the way they interpreted the book, although the metaphors were a bit "in-your-face"... but then again one needs to remember that it is a childrens' movie.

All in all I liked the movie - and will now have to read all the books! I suspect they might just make a few more movies.

This will be a rather hectic few days, so I will post when I have the chance.

The end is nigh

Wow - this feels almost surreal. I can't believe that 2005 is almost over... this certainly was a hectic year: fast, chaotic and thrilling.

This will be my last post for a little while, since I will have a packed day today and on the first I will be leaving on half a week of unexpected holiday. The plan was for me to just relax at home for another week until I return to Stellenbosch (I have to be in the office on the 9th already).

One of my friends sprung a nice surprise on us though, inviting my whole family to come stay with them for four days at Island Lake (near Wildernis). I will therefore only be returning on 4 January.

This morning I will have to get up early, since a couple of friends and I will be watching Narnia (or Wallace and Grommit) at 10:00. After that we are looking to go on a wine tour to a few farms (KWV, Fairview - see picture - , etc). The evening we will all be going to André in Wellington to celebrate the end of the year!

It looks like it is going to be a glorious day - I just hope the fires die down. There are some very bad veld (forest) fires raging in the Stellenbosch and Franschoek area. The soot and smoke will be horrible, but the destruction is even worse!

I just hope I don't get back to late - we are leaving before 07:00 the next morning!

Anyway... I won't have time to post, before we leave - so allow me to preempt things a bit:

I would like to wish you all an absolutely great year, filled with fun, happyness and laughter. May you survive all your dreams.

And thanks to all my loyal readers! I am quite surprised that you are still with me after almost a week. I have not thought that I would even keep posting for this long. Let's see if this lasts... I am even enjoying these postings! As always - your comments and e-mails are much appreciated.

Godspeed.

2005 is a long year...

Undoubtedly you have heard by now, but for the few who haven't: 2005 is going to be a longer year than normal - literally (albeit only one second longer).

2005 sees the introduction of a "leap second" after the last scheduled second for this year. This measure is needed since the atomic clocks used to define our standard time (UTC) is even more acurate than the earth's rotation. Due to tides and other natural phenomena the earth's rotation has some small variations.

To keep atomic time and "real time" (ie. the rise and set of the sun) in sync, one extra second will be added to this year. International atomic clocks will read 23:59:60 before ticking over to the new year.

Read more at National Geographic...

Enjoy this extra second to savour all the good things that happened this year!

Oops

"Screw the nano."

"I'm going to f***ing bury that guy, I have done it before, and I will do it again. I'm going to f***ing kill Google."

"I know what I don't know, and to this day I don't know technology and I don't know accounting and finance."

"Lightweight, and crank it on, and you shuffle the Shuffle."

It's just amazing to see what some (famous) people say in public. Visit Wired to see who uttered the infamous words above and which entries made it to this year's "Foot-in-Mout" awards. There are a few brilliant entries and they certainly had me chuckling in shock.

Whilst your at it, head on over to the Washington Post and read the histerical interview they had with president Bush about his iPod. (We certainly are safe with him in charge of "pretty high tech stuff" - like nuclear weapons...)

Galileo frees world from US domination

Today marks the beginning of the end of the US domination in the arena of satellite positioning with the launch of the first Galileo-satellite (GIOVE-A) in Khazakstan.

I am quite sure that everybody is well versed with the American Military Global Positioning System (GPS). This amazing network of satellites allows us to pinpoint any position on earth (or at least most of it) to within 6 meters.

Although this system is obviously invaluable for millions of users of the system, concerns have been rising towards leaving the whole world reliant on one nation for their navigation requirements. This concern was highlighted last year, when plans were formalised for blocking global GPS coverage in "times of crisis" as well as in "unfriendly" areas. The shut down of this system would of course have catestrophic consequences.

A few years back, the EU Space Administration and ESA (European Space Agency) launched the Galileo project to build a new satellite navigation network. This network will be comprised of 30 satellites and is planned for completion in 2008. The launch of this network will more than double GPS coverage and increase accuracy to less than 10cm. Furthermore the Galileo system will be entirely in civilian hands, allowing ESA to guarantee flawless, always-on operation.

The US military was vehemently opposed to this project, stating it to be "uneccesary and a gross security threat". It does seem as if a compromise was reached. Handsets are set to go on sale from early 2008 and will be able to switch between Galileo and GPS systems.

If I win the Lotto

One often gets asked what you would buy if you win the lottery. Mind you, there are quite a few things on my list and it would have to be a bonus jackpot to finance all my fantasies.

There are, however, some things that you just absolutely need; but you also know you will never have. For me the Wallypower 118 is certainly one of those things.

Since first locking eyes on this work of beauty, is has instantly become an object of desire. This incredible boat (if one can call it that) is also featured in the movie The Island. At first I thought it must be CGI or some kind of scale model. Imagine my amazement to find that it is in fact in production.

Head on over to Wally and see more pictures of this marvel, as well as the other boats they manufacture. (Be warned though, this beauty retails for a cool $24.83 million)

Your turn...

By the way - if you have an opinion, question or comment on any of the postings or the blog itself, I'd really like to hear from you. Feel free to click on the "comment" links and leave a message.

What's in the [search] box

Since starting my blog (a whole 2 days ago), I have vowed to not let it deteriorate into a "Best-of-the-web" link list. But when one stumbles upon a site that really is worthwhile, there shouldn't be harm in linking to it... right?

If you have the time, head on over to Xooglers.This insightful blog is

A gathering spot for ex-Googlers to reminisce and comment on the latest developments in search.

If you want to know what is really going on inside GooglePlex (or at least what was), take the time and visit the site. Some very interesting bits...

Ridiculous Razor

Yup - the crazyness is yet to end. Gillette recently announced that it's Mach3 razor collection will be replaced with the Gillette Fusion range in early 2006.

These new razors will each sport 5 blades on the front and one "precision trimmer" blade on the back of the cartridge. This new invention is specifically aimed at men with beards who need a closer shave for "facial hair sculpting".

The release of this new razor will rush Gillette to the front of the blade race, nudging ahead of Schick's four blade Quatro model.

Rumour has it that the new Fusion model will appear in both a battery operated and manual version. Read more at MSNBC. (For an ironic twist, consider that this announcement appears just more than a year after a spoof of a "five blade razor" featured on The Onion. )

Where will this end...

Baba Yetu

I just came upon the most amazing song... Oddly enough I discovered it after installing the new Civilizations 4 game - the song plays at the menu screen.

Take a minute and download the song from the composer's site. It really is worth it. It would also appear as is the song has a very interesting story. Read more on this blog.