Roadtrip: Day 1: Cape Town to Storms River Village

Initially, I planned on starting the trip at 6am. But due to various reasons, including the fact that I was still packing at 6:30 am, I only started out at 7am. Still dark though! For whatever reason, regardless of trip, I always manage to misplace my lip-ice - today was no exception. So, first stop - the Engen 1-Stop near Somerset West to address this problem and to buy breakfast (Woolies food stop - yummy). Decided to delay breaking the fast until Sir Lowry's pass - eat with a view!

From here on, it was rather straight forward - just drive. I did stop a few times at some of the lookout/rest areas - but the rest areas I was really looking forward to - between Mossel Bay and Knysna were all blocked out due to road construction. :( Regardless, I must state that the road between Mossel Bay and Knysna is particularly stunning, and the lakes, mountain and greenery reminded me of the Scottish Highlands.

Every second car on the road seemed to carry a bike (so I sort of fitted in). Only when I came to Knysna, did I realise that the Knysna Oyster Festival was on, and there is a bike race as part of the festivities. The traffic was horrendous, so I did not bother going into Knysna.

I have been to Pletenberg Bay once before, I did not understand the attraction. But my (ex) house mate, Dan mentioned Nature's Valley, and I decided to give it a try. A brilliant suggestion!

Firstly, the road is exhilarating with all the switchbacks through the forest and mountains of Tsitsikamma. really need to come back with a better car :P Nature's Valley itself is very cool - a massive, largely deserted beach, lagoon, lots of birds. Very pretty, and I think it has a good potential for a very nice day/evening out.

After that, it was getting towards late afternoon, so off to Bloukrans. I have always wanted to bungee jump from the bridge. But to see it properly, looking down - I almost chickened out. But then, I decided, what the hell. And went for the combo - a slide down from the side of the bridge to the jump base. And then the bungee.

The slide was brilliant - you literally fly suspended across half the canyon. I think they should make a really extreme one that does the full canyon. The jump was interesting - it was a high (all that adrenalin), and it was really cool to see the world from a different angle. The whole falling thing is also quite scary, but cool. I preferred the rebounds however, much slower speeds, and thus, you get to see a lot more. Dangling over the canyon (even if it is head first) is an experience in itself. However, I am not sure if I would like to do it again. Would happily do the slide again, and again. I must commend the staff - they were very friendly, and were very safety concious. I do find the whole video, photo and t-shirts a bit excessively priced. I think it would have been better to offer at least some of it as part of the package and not as optional extras.

As it was quite late, I decided to find a place to stay for the night. The staff at the bungee recommended that I try Storms River Village - basically a whole tourist village with a number of guest houses and the like. God a very nice self catering unit (Ploughmans B&B) - R150 for the night, fully furnished. Went to a restaurant here, Rafters, which incidentally specialises in Cape Malay cooking - whose food was average and overpriced. Oh well - you win some, you loose some.

Farewell Cape Town (for now anyway)

I have stayed in Cape Town (with a few breaks during holidays) since February 2000. In fact, I have spend more time at UCT and surrounding areas that any other place in the world. Cape Town, for all intents and purposes has become my home city.

So I leave for Germany next week, and go for a (very) short visit to Durban before I go to Germany. I am not sure if I will be back in Cape Town on a permanent basis in the near future. I love the city - and of all the places I have been to, it is definitely one of my favourite places. However, I would also like a change of environment, see new things, do new things.

So until then, farewell Cape Town.

iPhone Thoughts

So after reading a number of reviews, watching a few of the iPhone videos, my ramblings on the iPhone, possibly the most hyped gadget ever.

I think, at the end of the day, the iPhone does what it can brilliantly.

First and foremost - it is an iPod. And it is a brilliant iPod at that. It does what other iPods do, only better, and that alone is a selling point.

It is a good phone. It is an intuitive to use phone. It has some of the features that I would like (silence button for instance) but don't have. The integration with the address book is also a lot more intuitive.

It is a good medium for writing SMS text messages. This past weekend I have had SMS text message conversations comprising over 200 messages in total (it is infinitely cheaper to have a conversation via sms than to use the phone, esp over such a long period of time). It is a pain to view and organise them as they are on the Nokia that I use. The iPhone's conversation view makes brilliant sense, as does Google's gMail.

It is a good web browser. I am not talking about the speed - that is the responsibility of the network. But just as a browser it is brilliant. As someone who regularly uses wap to check my mail (via gMail) or Autosport.com etc, I can say that a full blown browser, even without plugins is long overdue.

Could it be better - off course. It could have had 3G. It could have had better battery life. It could have had faster memory. All those are for the next versions. I am sure most of the UI and multi tap screen features has been patented, and like FairPlay, no other phone manufacturer is going to come out with a UI or phone with the core features of the iPhone in the next couple of years.

At the moment, the iPhone is a good iPod with all the basic features of a phone. The first batch is effectively serving a very core market of people who will buy it because of the emotional attachment and exclusivity. The second and third generation will have more feature, and will going to target the mass appeal so that people will start wanting a iPhone because the Joneses have it. And soon, like the iPod, almost every second Tom, Dick and Sipho will seem to have it.

And then they will launch another gadget that will cause long queues similar to other gadgets on the market, with smaller set of features, but allowing the user to inteeract with those features really, really well. After all it is the usage of the features that matter, not the features themselves.

Peace Breaker

Like Carl, I also bought a new CD recently (a highly unusual occurrence for me). I was browsing at Look n Listen when I came across the new Springbok Nude Girls Album: Peace Breaker.

I was very disappointed when the Nudies didn't play more songs from this album, esp as there is such a wide variety of songs. From the heavier stuff (like the first song, and one of my favourites Gang Gang) to less heavier ballads, it has it all. And above all, as I commented to Jay, it is loud enough to keep me awake for my upcoming road trip :P

Movie: Driving Lessons

Rupert Grint (Harry Potter's Ron Weasley) plays a devout teenage boy (almost adult) who takes a summer job helping an almost retired actress. As such th eplot wouldn't be interesting except that the boy's domineering mother is a control freak, and basically over mothers her son. To top it off, there is an undercurrent of hypocracy, as although the family is a strong christian family on the outside (the father is a preacher), the mother ends up having an affair with a younger preacher (apparently because it was God's will).

It is a good comedy that explores some of the links between common sense, legality, adventure and safety. It is a movie about friendship accross age groups (no nothing sexual) - and about having fun, regardless of your age.

Music: Cold Hand Chemistry, 12th Avenue & Autopilot

Last night, I went to the Independent Armchair Theatre on a whim - I knew that there were bands playing, and knew it was rock/metal - but nothing else. No idea who they were, how good they were etc. It is the best R 30 I have spent recently.

Cold Hand Chemistry is a relatively new metal band; and they played a short 30 minute set. Of the three bands last night, they had the most diverse range of instruments (keyboard and percussion), but it was their composition and mixing of their instruments that really stood out for me. To be honest, their vocalist was not impressive - she was not exceptional (but I suppose you don't need to be song bird to be in a metal group), and that did impact some of their actual songs. But their lyrics (esp their last song) was really impressive - and in my opinion, the last song was the best song I heard this weekend. I think this band could go places ...

12^th Avenue is a more old fashioned rock band, two guitars, one bass guitarist and a drummer. They are getting ready to launch a new album, so they played songs from old and new albums (not that it made any difference to me). Lots of energy, and generally good catchy songs. Not exactly pop rock, but good entertainment.

The main event was Autopilot launching their new music video. First and foremost - their mixing was atrocious. Too much bass, and too much volume - for everything - it just didn't seem to gel together. And although, like 12^th Avenue, they had some pop rock, catchy tunes, it just wasn't as much of a pleasurable experience. And the video seemed to have the same problems, so I don't think it is a venue issue - but more of a band arrangement issue.

Music: Captain Stu and the Llamas & The Rudimentals

I have always been a big fan of the Rudimentals, and went to see them perform at the Zula Sound Bar on Friday night.

The support act was Captain Stu and the Llamas, also a ska band. They are a big band - 4 brass players, 2 guitarists, a drummer and the vocalist - but they have lots of energy, and were really entertaining. I can't really comment on the lyrics for two reasons: 1) the vocal volume was on the low side, and 2) I don't really try to understand the fake Jamaican accents Ska and reggae bands try to incorporate. Their music however also encompassed some other styles including Hip Hop and rock, although none of these songs can really be considered special.

The Rudimentals are a brilliant stage act. Their CDs, for whatever reasons, just doesn't do them justice for their skills, and for me, they are a prime example of why live music can be so much better than CDs. The Rudimentals are opening for UB 40 when the tour SA in the next two weeks, and so this set was their "warm up" set. And after quite a while, I heard some new stuff from them - new songs and some new collaborations with another Reggae artist (name escapes me). And as can be expected from the Rudimentals, they were brilliant on stage, and got every one up and moving! Yet another great gig!

Lion's Head

The weather has been great recently, so I decided not to waste it staying indoors, and walk up Lion's Head. And, convincing Hans-Peter was not too difficult either! I really love Lion's Head - it is relatively easy to walk up, and has some of the best views of Cape Town. It was also a great opportunity to have more fun with the DSLR. (photos have been resized ... don't have the patience to upload 3MB+ pics)

There has been a lot of rain, so there were a number of streams on the mountain. The aim was to capture "frozen" water droplets from one of the small water falls ... worked out, but could have been better.

Table Mountain from the top.

Devil's Peak from the top.

Trying out the long range telescopic shots ... there seemed to be some oil rig mooreed in the harbour.

It has been cold recently - snow in Africa :p


A bird eating something.


Hans-Peter charging down the mountain!

Working Life: Differences between Google and Microsoft

I came across this article via Slashdot. It is primarily crafted at trying to improve working life inside Microsoft, but some of the insights are quite interesting.

The free food and clothes is well known, but the idea that there is no real career advancement is interesting. After all, is there a need for defined career advancement? Surely, the fact that you get paid better for being a better employee is equivalent? After all aren't titles meaningless without the associated salary increases? Maybe I am missing something - after all I have no corporate experience!

Movie: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

Horrible plot, horrible acting, horrible script. And, an utterly, mind numbing, stupid ending. Good CGI though. An utter waste of time, otherwise ... why do they keep making stupid movies?

Movie: Ocean's Thirteen

The third installment of a rather drab series. I found it quite slow, and even the heist, rather uninteresting - particularly because, the opponent is a very advanced computer AI. It had its moments, but nothing spectacular.

Movie: The History Boys

There have been a number of movies with a similar theme, and I haven't watched any of them. The plot is simple - a group of boys, in a fairly non-distinct school (not exactly poor, but not very well off, lower-middle class probably) have a fighting chance to get into Oxbridge if they do well in their A-level exams. Thus, the teachers (in this case History teachers) and the headmaster are pushing a lot to try ensure that they do actually get to go to either Oxford or Cambridge, and if possible, get a scholarship to attend either. There is an eccentric teacher, a very modern teacher and there is fun and games. All in all, an entertaining story, with a bit of a sting in the end.

One thing that did stand out for me, was really the environment of the story. The fact is, people who get to go to the top universities, get to perform well at exams are often from the "established" schools. This is not because that the children are any brighter, nor because the teachers are any better - these are definitely factors - but the story pushes that it is a lot to do with the general environments - trips to Rome and Paris help a lot with learning French or Itallian, and similarly discussing renaisance art history is easier if you have actually seen a collection of Renaisance art. Ultimately, the movie argues, this is the hardest opposition for great students from poorer schools have to overcome, when competing with the affluent students.

Music: Ashtray Electric and The Dirty Skirts

A bit of a "Indie Brit Rock" night, last night at the Armchair Theatre. Despite the bad weather outside (the usual cold and wet winter's day in the Mother City), the Armchair Theatre was packed! The Dirty Skirts commented that it was the first time they had to turn people away - maybe - but there still too many people - unsafe even. In fact, if something bad did happen, there would have been quite a few casualties. And it is not only that you couldn't move - it was compounded by not enough ventilation (the fans weren't turned on) and poor bar service - too many people, not enough bar tenders.

The Ashtray Electric (no website), are a new band, and while well dressed, did not really have much to offer. They play music well enough - but the lead singer was hardly audible, and they just didn't have any stage presence. Maybe it's the newbie blues, but the fact is, they weren't impressive enough such that I would want to pay to see them again.

Sara did not rate The Dirty Skirts as musical geniuses - they probably aren't - but regardless, they are great entertainment! A very energetic stage act, coupled with a number of easy crowd sing-alongs, and generally brilliant performance. Maybe they aren't musical geniuses, but very few acts are. They do make a great night out though!

Finished!

End to end, 278 Pages, 82 367 words, 3 and a half years. It is a rather long dissertation, but it is done, and submitted. All 5 copies of it! Hopefully, the examiners find it as impressive!

Destination Germany

So, I have got a quite a good compromise to my problem. I will be doing both internships, but only 6 weeks at DT Labs and 3 months at Fraunhofer IIS. Off course all these depend on me getting the visas, but that shouldn't be a problem. Really excited - 6 weeks in Berlin in summer followed by 3 months in Bavaria. All I need to do now, is to organise my timetable well enough to go to at least one F1 race (currently thinking Monza would be awesome on 09 Sep and I could even make the German F1 race on 22 July) and off course travel around Germany. In fact, I am sure I am not going to make any money out of all this ...

Movie: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

Stanley Kubrick aparently said that this movie was unfilmable. I have never read the book, but if the movie is a true reflection of the book - it must be an amazing novel. The story explores the story of a man (from his birth), who has an extraordinary sense of smell - a super power, almost. And with that, he aims to become a perfumer - to capture the smells of the world. The story is dark, but in it's brilliant, and I really want to read the novel now.

Movie: Shortbus

Gay sex, gay threesomes, transsexual, hetero-sex, orgies, oral sex, bondage, in fact, other than pedophilia, bestiality and necrophilia, Shortbus features it all. It can be called a porn movie with a plot - but it's not a porn movie, even though it features more sex than the average late night movie on eTV. It is a movie about sex, told primarily from the view of a married, female sex therapist (sorry couples counselor) who has never had an orgasm.

It is a movie by artists, about art and pushes many of the boundaries present in movies. But, to paraphrase the movie, I think it is a load of pretentious bullshit, that tries to be intellectual, but isn't really.

The end of an era?

So, last night was the last time I played badminton as a member of the UCT Badminton club, for the forseeable future. I have "threatened" to leave before, notably at the end of my 3rd and 4th year, but this time it is for real.

The club has changed a lot, since Tim, Murray, Kevin (Feng) and I joined in our first year (2000). It was a social club, and back then, it was struggling to sign up enough members to justify itself as a UCT sports club. Since then, the membership numbers have improved, and there is a good balance of competitive and social activities of the club, although some may justifiably say that the social aspect of the club has diminished substantially.

My association with the badminton club has been rewarding. I don't think I set out to get the club to be competitive, and many of the things that happened, almost arose from accident. I remember going to Frans' office, to ask him about SASSU, and whether he thought I should run. I left, not only wanting to run for SASSU but also the WPBA.

It is in the WPBA that I have possibly had the most rewarding time, but also the most frustrating time. The red tape, and the pig headedness is difficult to get used to, esp when you are used to getting things done (because usually, you are the only one doing anything). At the same time, seeing the results of the development program, such as Gugulethu and more obliquely Ocean View, is reward enough.

Unlike Navine, I don't think I can commit to UCT Badminton club after I leave UCT. It takes special dedication to commit to a club for 20 years, and sail through the turbulence without actually taking the helm. I don't know what my future holds, but if it is in Cape Town, then, maybe I should start my own club :P

Movie: Spiderman 3

Take one hero, who is going through a "I am the best, the greatest" etc phase. Take an alien "molecule" with a mind of it's own. Take a criminal with a concience. Take a self centered guy who just hates our hero's alter ego. Take the son of the hero's fallen nemesis, who wants revenge. I think we have enough for a good dose of action ... but wait, throw in a love triangle, some self loathing, some other girls going for the heros charms.

In the end, there is too much - it becomes boring, long winded and a bit too preachy. I can see why many people didn't like the movie, and I am with them - there isn't much to see. There was just too much hype and not enough substance.

Movie: Pirates of the Caribbean - At World's End

Way too long - and at the same time, still leaves enough scope for yet another sequel. Don't get me wrong - there is a lot of action, and the effects are super brilliant. But when you get bored during a movie, then there is something wrong. Worth watching once, just for entertainment maybe - but not more than once.

Perpetual Copyright

In this New York Times article, Mark Helprin presents the case for perpetual copyright.Basically, ownership of property is perpetual - ownership can be transferred, but property is rarely transferred back to the commons. Helprin suggests that a similar concept should apply to intellectual property. The concept of perpetual copyright is not new - it was in fact suggested at the very begining, and for a brief while, perpetual copyright actually existed.

However, intellectual property itself is not like normal property, as it is intangible. It is also used in different form to normal property, and has different characteristics. Firstly, there is no wear and tear in IP, and there is a need to maintain property, to maintain its value. IP is valuable in itself - there is no attached maintainance costs for example.

Secondly, physical property, if fallen into desrepair and left unused, is often recycled and available to the commons. There are means to get rid of ownership of a physical property. IP cannot have perpetual ownership, until there is a means to recover abandoned works without fear of prosecution.

Lastly physical property has a narrow range of uses, morphing physical property to other uses is not easy. However, IP is about the idea - and a design of a house can be morphed to a design of a boat etc.IP is also used differently - you can't really combine physical assets to form new usable physical assets, while retaining the use of the original assets. With IP - you can mix songs and videos to produce something new.

IP and physical property are different types of property. In fact, copyright protection period is too long and need to be shortened; and not the other way around!

Jo'burg Notes

So, Stephen and I was in Jo'burg for IFIP Sec 2007, for the past three days. I am not a big fan of Jo'burg, and every time I go there, I am reminded why, I am not a big fan of Jo'burg. We stayed at the Parkmore Lodge, a quiet little B & B near Sandton; definitely a place to consider next time I am in Jo'burg.

And most of the gripes is about the drivers and the roads. The traffic is horrible, but I suppose it's not anything different to the M5 in Cape Town. But, for the richest city in Africa, the road conditions are terrible, especially at night. For example, the road marking at night are hardly visible in some places, and I am not the only one who thinks that. And then there are the drivers - who all seem to be in a rush, and not care about anybody else on the roads. Everyday, there seemed to be some one who decided to turn in front of us (to cross the road), even though we (and others on the road) have the right of way, and are actually moving forward. No wonder there are so many road accidents!

On Monday night, Stephen and I met up with Siya and Reinhardt at a restaurant (the Butcher's Shop and Grill) on the Nelson Mandela Square. Phathu was also supposed to come along, but unfortunately he was feeling ill - hope he gets better soon.

Things I was hoping to see, but saw no evidence of: the intelligent highway and the Gautrain.

Things I was hoping not to experience and didn't experience: The famous Jo'burg crime.

Coincidence: Parked next to our car (a white Toyota Corolla 160i) was a white Toyota Corolla 140i whose number plate started with the same first three letters!

Oh yeah, had the most expensive ice cream at the Sandton store of Häagen-Dazs. Really worth the price!

Rustenberg

Initially, I was supposed to meet up with Sarai in Sandton on Sunday. Due to various things, that idea got canned, and I drove to Rustenberg to see her instead. and, as Sarai has commented a number of times before to me, there is nothing much to see in Rustenberg.

It's a sleepy little town, where children still play in the streets (and ride bikes in the streets), there are no walls surrounding houses, houses are pretty big in size and leafy subrubs mean exactly that. And, watching F1 in the comfort of Sarai's mom's couch (on a massive rear projection TV) was great too!

The side trip was quite good, a welcome break in fact. But, it's hardly a town that I am dying to go back to. Oh yeah, property prices are quite cheap, and with the Royal Bafokeng Stadium due to host a number of matches, 2010 prospects are good!

IFIP Sec 2007

I normally describe IFIP as the European version of the ACM, which is unfair, because it is a lot more international. However, the participants of IFIP conferences tend to be more European centric, than US centric. This year, South Africa hosted the 22^ndIFIP Security Conference (2^nd time in South Africa), at the Sandton ICC.

I suppose the organisation of the conference was not bad, except the Sandton ICC venue was too large for the number of delegates. I think, it would have been far better, if the venue was the Balalaika Hotel, as per the Information Security SA conferences from the last two years. Another gripe, mainly associated with the venue, was the lack of free WiFi access during the conferences - come on, a computer conference without WiFi?

There was a distinct lack of local students at the conference - yes it is marginally more expensive than ISSA last year, but it is still cheaper than SATNAC and the value of this conference far outstrips that of ISSA and SATNAC, put together.

Day 1
Judge Mervyn King delivered the opening plenary talk, and it was the only, really general talk of the entire conference, focusing on management and risk over all, rather than specifically on IT. That said, his talk was quite entertaining and informative.

The first paper I attended was an adaptation of ticket based authentication, through the use of TPM chips. This was effectively an advance on my own ISSA paper from last year, which looked at the advantages of ticket based authentication systems for DRM, although my paper was focused on a software approach.

The other notable papers discussed identity management, with a specific focus on national government level identity systems, which was the focus of a panel discussion. I think it all boils down to two things: one governments need some sort of identity system to provide services to its population in a cost effective manner. However, there are too many features, and too many requirements being hoisted on to these systems, limiting their potential success and usage.

Day 2
Prof. Ross Anderson delivered the keynote talk in the morning, focusing on the economics of security, including a discussion on monopolies, buggy Microsoft products and why many large scale government projects fail (eNatis anyone?). I have heard most of the content before, but it was still a well presented, and well thought out presentation.

Most of the talks I attended were on access control, and one of the privacy session (which was where I presented my paper). Of note, was the Deutsche Telekom lab talk focusing on role based extensions to single sign on. The concepts were great, but their current approach creates a privacy problem where the single sign on service provider, potentially knows too much about the user. A paper earlier in the day, focusing on signing e-learning material (e.g. Moodle) was also interesting, but I think the problems could be solved easily if they use a verifiable digital identity system, like the proposal I outlined in my paper at ACM-DRM last year.

My own presentation went well, and was surprisingly short. At 40 slides, I thought my presentation would be longer than the 20 minutes I did take. There was some good discussion afterwards, always a good indication. The paper before me, in my session was interesting, although the presentation was a bit dry (and it was a difficult topic): about signatures that can be used to prove integrity and non-repudiation to a target user, but such a signature would prove nothing to any other users. One problem with the presentation was a lack of a useful example; so here is mine: whistle blowing. In whistle blowing, the user (often at risk) can inform securely to the monitoring organisation, but the monitoring organisation cannot unveil the whistle blower without his/her permission.

Day 3
Prof William Caelli presented the last keynote paper, on the requirement for a newer, updated definition of MAC, or Mandatory Access Control. This is good news, because in my thesis, I propose DRM as a new form of access control, and one that could potentially cater for the requirements placed by MAC.

Another, soon to be PhD graduate, Thierry Sans, presented a paper on a DRM policy administration model, which is similar to my own approach. However, my approach does not follow his approach of resigning the data at every step of the distribution cycle, as I think that strategy is inefficient, and ultimately un-necessary. Prior to that paper, there was a paper which discussed the potential to use web counters as a means to craft covert communication channels - great idea, but incredibly difficult to follow.

Another interesting paper was a theoretical trust model that looked at the possibility of clustering crowds according to their respective trustworthiness. Interesting, because it provides possibilities for wireless mesh routing (and possibly even other routing solutions).

My New Toy

I have wanted a Digital SLR camera for a while now, primarily because I want to get better at taking pictures, and also take better pictures. So, I have finally got myself a Canon 400 D and a Sigma 18-200 lens.


I bought this, primarily thinking of my South American jaunt, where I wanted a decent optical zoom capability but did not want to carry too much equipment around. And, this was the best package I could get overall.


And, I have been busy - the Boland Badminton Open was on this weekend, and I exhausted the battery already, after about 300 plus shots!

Music: Unit.R and The All Star Funk Four

I went to the album launch of The All Star Funk Four's new album, Control Alternative Delete, not to see them, but the support act, unit.r. My friend Mary (also known as my editor, Mary) was so enthusiastic about them, I just had to see them play.

And unit.r did not disappoint. They are a mix of electronic and heavy rock, with some interesting lyrics, and even more interesting music. They were simply a great band at a party, and were, in my opinion vastly superior to the headline act. In many respects, unit.r has what it takes to become successful, and this is a crossover act that works! Incidentally, the drummer, Aleks was in my honour's class.

The All Star Funk Four, was a disappointment. They are best described as a rock band with a rap singer (and lyrics). While that worked with Linkin Park, the problem with the band is two fold. Firstly, the lyrics are not clever, and it seems like he is trying too hard ... another Eminem wannabe really ... very much like that guy in the VW Polo ad, trying to get street cred. Secondly, the rapping introduces very jarring music, to coincide with the rapping, which, for me, just did not work. However, looking at the number of people in the mosh pit, maybe, I am just being unfair ...

A good problem to have?

As many of you know, I am almost finished with my thesis, and should be handing in at the end of the month. Many of you also know, that I intended to take a 2 odd month backpacking trip across South America. The trip has sort of been put on hold (although I still intend to do it), but the reason why I have to put it on hold is the source of the problem ...

I have been given a firm offer for internship at the Deutsche Telekom Laboratories in Berlin between mid July and Mid October. This fits in great with two conferences I wanted to attend, first in Germany at the end of the internship period and then ACM CCS 2007 in Washington DC two weeks later. I would be associated with some general security projects, and would be a nice break from DRM in a way.

I also have an opportunity to do an internship at Fraunhoffer IIS (the inventors of the MP3) in Erlangen. The internship period is quite flexible, so should be able to fit in the conferences. The only problem is, I have yet to get a confirmed offer from Fraunhoffer. At IIS, I would be associated with some DRM projects, notably the development of the next step in the OMA DRM specifications, and thus would actually get to use my degree for something!

Movie: Fierce People

Diane Lane plays a single mother, massage therapist, with a drug and alcohol problem. The young son, is just about to be reunited with his father (a world renowned anthropologist, studying the Yanomani tribe in the amazon rain forest), when he is busted in a drug raid, destroying his summer holiday. So the two of them, pack up and end up living in the estate of a billionaire (who needs a massage therapist). The movie, is effective a study of the rich people tribe ... surely just as different to the common people.

Brilliant acting, great story and Donald Sutherland makes a great patriarch. There is a bit of a murder mystery, not that difficult to spot really - but over all, a great movie to watch.

Theatre: The Lesson

Another PlayGround reading performance - and a lot more entertaining performance. The Lesson is a play by Eugene Ionesco, about a young lady who goes for a lesson at the house of a renowned professor. The play is brilliant in its absurdity ... trying to enunciate the difference in languages, but using one language as the medium or the absurdities of simple arithmetic. And the performances were great to boot - even if it was just a reading and not a full blown performance.

My Coke Fest 2007

Last year's concert was going to be hard to live up to, and not surprisingly, Metallica's performance still remains the best live performance I have seen. That said, this year's festival, was not bad at all - and the South African bands were particularly impressive. And so was the event organisation - plenty of space, plenty of facilities, plenty of food and drink, and hardly any queues. That said, things seemed to be more expensive (R150 for T-Shirts!) and the set up times seemed quite long. Also, with the absence of Guns N' Roses, it was expected that some of the bigger SA bands, especially the Nudies to play longer sets. Sadly, they were all limited to 20 minutes, with the Nudies playing for 30 minutes. So, a festival billed as 12-12, ended up being 12:30-11! Also, the advertised last band, "Lonehill Estate" did not even play.

But the best part: after 4 days of rain, there was no rain, little wind and quite a warm night, under a full moon. What else do you need for a rock concert?

Bed on Bricks

I have always enjoyed the Bed on Bricks, and have seen them live a number of times. Their live act is superb, and have some interesting songs, especially Humanarium. A great performance, to start the show.

Taxi Violence

I have always wanted to see them ... but manage to have conflicting commitments every time. So, Taxi Violence was always going to be a highlight for me; and they did not disappoint. They seemed to have a lot of fans in the crowd, and they played well. Although, to be honest, I can't remember too many specifics of their performance ...

Love Jones

Love Jones is a very quirky band - weird style, some weird lyrics ... what Sam described as very kitsch. I don't know if kitsch is the right word, but they are a crossover between 70/80s style with a very indie feel. A very energetic performance, and really cool songs; plus a nice bonus story about a band being sponsored by a green airline to fly to Cape Town :P I would love to see a hour gig from them!

The Dirty Skirts

I had previously seen them perform live, for one song at Obz Fest (they were about to finish), nothing to form an opinion (and it was over a year ago). The Dirty Skirts were really impressive , and I think they have a very similar sound to Kaiser Chiefs. Very good performance, and very good music; and I think they were the best South African band on show.

The Parlotones

After a hard rock band, the Parlotones' soft/pop rock was a bit of a downer ... but the thing about pop rock - almost every one knows the songs, and everyone can sing along. In that sense, the Parlotones were brilliant, and really started to get the crowd going.

The Springbok Nude Girls

This was meant to be the last stop in their relaunch tour. With that in mind, I was really expecting the new music. But understandably, with their time constraints, they could only play 3 old songs, before they launched into their old, crowd favourites. I think a lot of people were disappointed with the short time given to the Nude Girls, and on a performance level, they were miles ahead of the other SA bands. They could however take a leaf out of Evanescence on how to interweave old and new songs together in a show.

Hoobastank

Definitely the best band when it came to interacting with the crowd! Really great stage show, and great performance. Played a number of their big hits, together with some less well known (as in frequent radio play) music. And, they asked everyone to get their music, even if it is downloaded from the Internet. It seems, like many others, they have chosen to follow the path of getting money through shows rather than album sales. Maybe, it's time I expanded my Hoobastank collection.

Staind

IMO, Staind was the second best band on show. Like Seether last year, their on stage performance was rather static - not too much jumping up and down etc. But that was all made up, with the quality of their music. Their songs are really good, and musically one of the best bands on show yesterday. I have heard a few Staind songs on the radio, but never a complete album. I think it is high time I acquired a their albums ...

3 Doors Down

After the heavier Staind, 3 Doors Down was a bit more pop, and they also interacted well with the crowd, and generally had a good show. They also played two songs live for the second time (first being the Coke Fest in Jo'burg) and had a good mix of old and new songs. There was also a swipe at Axl Rose and Guns N' Roses for not making the trip, with some verses of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door". Personally, I think a cover of "Sweet Child O' Mine" would have been better. They ended of with "Looser" and were joined by Aaron Lewis (of Staind), something I think more bands should have been doing (collaborating with others).

Evanescence

Evanescence was the band I wanted to see from the beginning, and I was not disappointed. Amy Lee is a fantastic singer, and the blend of her voice with heavy rock music is simply brilliant. Amy Lee did not interact as much as Hoobastank with the crowd, but their set was brilliant, and the inclusion of a grand piano with heavy rock was just impressive. Their playlist was brilliantly set up with a good combination of their older songs from "Fallen" and their new songs from "The Open Door". A brilliant performance, and well deserving of the headline act status.

Theatre: A Lie of the Mind

So it was a bit of a cultured weekend - I read "A life of Pi" and watched a theatre performance ... effects of the rain I suppose. The Baxter Theatre hosts a "Play Ground reading" - basically, actors get together (for a week) to read a play - not a fully polished performance: actors still carry their lines, the sets are crude and costumes are hardly perfect; and given a week, accents and other details are not perfect. But it allows the actors to stage plays that are interesting, and may not become commercial success.

I have been to two of these before, and thoroughly enjoyed them. A friend of my house-mate Donal was performing, so it was a good way to spend a cold wet evening. And the performances were brilliant - and yes unpolished. But for the play itself - written by Sam Shepard, it is a convoluted story of miscommunication in Middle America. Funny dialogue, brilliant banter; but I left wondering what it was all about - there were story plot lines that just did not seem complete; and the story itself did not make much sense. Entertaining yes - but what was the story? Not sure ... maybe it was at a higher intellectual plane ...

The Cricket World Cup Farce

Australlia, deservedly, won the World Cup. Regardless of our number one ranking, we never really deserved it, neither did we ever feel comfortable saying that we were the number one team in the world. And, with respect to the world cup, we can't say that we are the number two team in the world - Sri Lank, were deserving runners up, and gave Australlia their closest match.

The fact is, the organising and the format of the World Cup has been a farce. A 7 week tournament? Cricket tours are sometimes shorter than that! How many people have the time to watch all the matches? And then there was the number of mismatches. In fact, it would be fair to say, that there were only a few really close or exciting matches - a small percentage. In hindsight, it all started with the "super" stage nonsense ... bring back the format of 1996! And if you want less of a knockout, then use the 2003 format without the super stage.

It is sad that some of the best players had to end their careers in this farce. Excet for Glen McGrath off course. He took the most wickets, didn't have to bat, and walked off with the player of the tournament. He went off with a high, and deservedly so. But, to see Brian Lara's last game ended with a run out, or Flemming's last match in a thrashing by Sri Lanka? They deserved better; and the cricketing supporters deserved better.

Movie: Venus

The movie is a simple concept really - an old man, a somewhat celebrated actor, at the end of his life; charming a young girl, who is the grand niece of his best friend. It can be seen as a somewhat creepy, love across the ages (Anna Nicole Smith?) but without the gold digging. But is somewhat more ... yes there is love, but it is more about the interaction between the old and the young - going to a theatre and then going out clubbing ... quoting Shakespeare and quoting Spice Girls. And even though the movie is ultimately sad, it is funny - the interactions between the old men just absolutely brilliant.

And, ultimately it is a movie about acting, by some of the most celebrated actors ever. Peter O'Toole, playing the lead old man, was nominated for his 8th Oscar (incidentally he has never won one); and it has references to other movies and plays everywhere. It is worth watching for his acting alone.

Lessig and Free Development

The SA chapter of the Internet Society hosted a talk by Lawrence Lessig (wikipedia link). As the person who invented Creative Commons, Lessig is definitely an interesting speaker, and an interesting mix to Stallman and Co. The talk was more evangelising than anything else - I have come across most of the ideas before, both for my PhD work and other areas. Looking at the network stack, Lessig wants to promote the freeing up of the other stacks (TCP/IP is already free) to cater for commons, non profit usage.

His proposals have merit - the market space of the operating system and network providers, is often dominated by monopolies; and the monopolies have a direct say in what is available and supported by the operating systems and networks.

It is evident in UCT itself for example - ICTS as the sole provider of network access at UCT has the authority to decide what type of traffic is acceptable and not acceptable. It can dictate that certain applications should not be used; and thus block it. It can decide to throttle speeds etc etc. The argument is, that this type of operation, while probably fine for a company or even a community is not suitable for a country and even the world at large.

The problem is changing the mindset - after all; most IT guys don't want to talk the law. And most lawyers and legislators don't talk code. Maybe if we all did, it would be much better?

Movie: 300

There are two ways to review this movie. It is visually stunning, over the top, a simple, straight forward plot line - all hallmarks of a great adaptation of a graphic novel. It is highly entertaining and enjoyable.

But it can also be seen as political and historical commentary - esp as it is a fictionalised account of a real event. The real event: a war between Sparta and Persia, where the Spartans were out numbered, but eventually won. But, it was nothing in the scale proposed by 300. In a a modern setting, it is like saying 300 men first went into D-Day, and paved the way for the latter onslaught. Most people, whether literate or not, get their history through visual means; ;not by reading. How many people learnt a bit of the history of Scotland through Braveheart for example? Surely, there should be a motivation to get the history fundamentally correct?

And lastly, it is a political comment - that a well trained army will always defeat a massive army of lesser talent; and we should never reference any help that is actually offered on the way. It is a war between the east and the west - it is a war about defending freedom (aparently). I am not sure, if the bloodshed potrayed is really good propaganda ...

Just Sarah and Fevertree

A bunch of us were thinking of going out to see live bands, and after much deliberation, we settled on going to Zula Sound Bar on Long Street. We didn't know too much about the bands, except that I had heard of Fevertree and the other bands on offer (at other venues) were either not liked or too expensive.

Just Sarah, fronted by Sarah I assume, describe themselves as a Indie/Pop rock band. And while there were one or two interested lyrics, on the whole they were not that great. Too much teen angst etc etc.

Fevertree on the other hand, are a great band to watch, great music, great stage acts, and just on a different level really, when compared to Just Sarah. It is no wonder - they are a SAMA nominated band! What was really disappointing was the crowd - they just did not seem to be interested; and there were just a few of us who seemed to really appreciate the music. And this is not a new thing; I have seen many bands suffer the same problem ... and they suffer despite their music being quite good ...

Phone Spoofing

Finally, the plebs have woken up! In this week's Mail and Guardian, there is a story about phone spoofing. It is about time really ...

How many times have you got a call, from some one telling you that they are from the bank or from a company XYZ ... how do you authenticate them? Phishing is too easy, as most people don't both ... just phone up some one and tell them that you are verifying their identity by checking their bank account number.

I remember, when I turned the tables and asked a bank clerk who phoned me to authenticate themselves. They seemed so surprised ... I take it most people don't do that from their response. But the biggest problem facing the consumer is, what do you use to authenticate a bank (or similar institution)? They do have public identifiers (company registration numbers etc) but those are public anyway. That, in the end is the biggest problem - how do you create mutual authentication without a predetermined code and without revealing any secrets? I sense a research topic ...

Movie: Ghostrider

A young man makes a pact with the devil to save his father; and when he grows up he becomes the ghost rider - the devil's bounty hunter. The idea of the movie is great; and it could have been a classic. But the execution was horrible: the script was bad; the action scenes were not that great, and apart from the CGI, there was nothing really brilliant about the whole movie. In fact, the list of plot holes on IMDB gives the idea I think ...

Movie: Happy Feet

I really wanted to watch this movie when it was on circuit, but I never got round to it. I quite like animated movies, their scorelines are usually simple, but I prefer the humour over slapstick comedy in most other types comedies.

The story is simple enough: in a colony of emperor penguins, who sing to find mates, there is a chick born who can't sing, but can tap dance instead. It's a story about having fun, fitting in when you are different and the effects of human over fishing. A bit simple, yes; but it is really an animated musical.

Unfortunately, it is not as clever as Shrek or Shrek 2; nor is it as beautiful as Finding Nemo. It is just average really ...

Masala Dhosa

I am a big fan of Dhosa, a South Indian rice pancake, usually served with very hot, dry curry, coconut chutney and sambar (a lentil soup/dhal with lots of vegetables and usually sour). There is a store in Long Street that sells Masala Dhosa (called Masala Dhosa) and I tried it out.

Unfortunately, I was sorely disappointed - the dhosa was good but the accompanying curries and sambar was not, and on the whole was largely unsatisfying. And it cost way too much ...

Old Town House and Slave Lodge

I had a meeting at the Department of Sports, whose offices are located at Greenmarket Square. From my past experiences with trying to get parking in that area (and with the free concert taking place tonight) I decided to rather use the Jammie shuttle. Public transport can be remarkably efficient, and I had about 15 minutes to kill before my appointment. Thus, I took the opportunity to have a look at the Old Town House, which is on Greenmarket Square, and referred to as the centre of Cape Town (unlike the City Hall, which is usually the centre of town). As one of the oldest buildings in Cape Town, it is interesting in itself, but the exhibitions were being changed, and thus there wasn't much to see really.

After my meeting, I did not feel like coming back to UCT, and thus decided to continue my cultural exploration of Cape Town and visit Slave Lodge on Adderley Street.

Slave Lodge is a remarkable social history museum, in three parts. The most interesting is definitely the history of Slavery in South Africa; an often overlooked part of our history. Slave Lodge was originally the "storage and processing" centre for slaves, and thus an appropriate location to explore this part of our history. Of the South African museums and galleries I have visited, this was by far the most interesting and well presented exhibition. There is also some history of Afrikaans, a language that was born out of the slave trade by the slaves (through the amalgamation of different languages). It is most ironic that the language of the slaves became the tool to oppress others, 100 plus years after the abolition of slavery.

The other parts of the museum - a cultural history, through music, weapons, silverware, pottery and a small section on Egypt, seem a bit disjointed really and seemed to be largely ignored by the other visitors. The third part looks even more out of space, with an exploration of segregation in the USA, but parallels are drawn with Apartheid, and in that context it sort of "makes sense".

Movie: The Good Shepherd

In The Talented Mr Ripley, Matt Damon played a heartless bastard, and celebrated the idea that a villain could be the hero of a movie (and not suffer death or prison). In The Good Shepherd, Matt Damon is back playing a cold hearted, calculating, bastard ... it's a role that suits him well I think.

The Good Shepherd examines the early life of the CIA, but primarily through its effect on one of its veterans; and the effect of his job in other aspects of his life. It is far too long, and while it is a very interesting story, it just does not feel like a feature movie; but rather a mini series or something along that line. And apart from Matt Damon as a cold calculating bastard, there are no stand out performances or anything really worthwhile watching .... best avoided really.

Movie: Babel

There are really four separate stories here - a story of a village herding family, a story of a married american couple on holiday in Morocco, a story of a deaf and mute girl trying to get to grips with society's apparent rejection and a mexican nanny trying to balance caring for other peoples kids with the need to participate in her own children's lives.

Off course there is a connecting thread through it all; and like Pulp Fiction and Crash, the movie follows each story at its own pace. And more like Crash, the movie is a social commentary - on socity's general treatment of people who are not like ourselves ... immigrants, foreigners and the disabled. But it is also a movie about celebration - of how strangers are willing to help strangers, of how technology could make the disabled be more normal (3G video calling is a godsend for the deaf) and how the nanny's family treats the kids, who are really intruding on a very special family occasion.

The acting is superb, the filming is brilliant - esp when parts of the movie is shown through the deaf girl; how do you go clubbing when you can't hear the DJ - and it is well worth watching.

Culture and Shit

I have never watched Shallow Hal, but the quote describes yesterday morning in a way. Hans-Peter and I went to watch the RAG Floats procession around 11am, and then proceeded to see the National Gallery and have a general walk about in the Cape Town CBD. I have done this in many other cities, but I suppose it was time to do the same in the city I now call home.

As for the RAG Floats, I think it is a good move to go back to Adderley Street. There seems to be a lot more people, and more enthusiasm for the event. The theme was great inventions, although I don't think two of the floats, the soccer ball and the vuvuzela, really qualified, but maybe it's a matter of interpretation. And another interesting point - so many of the inventions were entertainment related: the iPod, the Jukebox and the TV. And there were only two engineering inventions on parade: the steam engine (again Kopano led the way with innovation, with steam coming out of the engine) and the hot air balloon (although it was a bad float as such).

And off course, the floats wouldn't be the floats, without the Dummies and their nursemaids.

As for the national gallery, it's really small. But there are are a few pieces that make it absolutely worth it (and it's free anyway). A bust of Othello in a hood, made completely of stone (I think, very solid regardless), but really looks like cloth, even up close.

There is also an old painting of Cape Town, with the harbour (or was it just a canal) near the City Hall. So, after lunch at the German Deli (in Gardens Centre), Hans-Peter and I walked back to see how much (if anything) of the painting remains today. Unfortunately, apart from one sculpture, the castle and the City Hall, not much remains ... a great pity :(

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What a game!

No, I am not talking of the farce, that was the Netherlands-South Africa match, even with Gibbs' six sixes in an over. Instead, I am talking about the Pro20 semi final between the Warriors and the Cape Cobras.

Initially, the Warriors did not impress, with only 139 runs on the board at the end of their innings, and with minimal excitement in that innings, I was thinking I should have rather watched the SA-Netherlands game. With the Cobras in fine form this season, and having scored 221 (yes 11 runs an over!) recently, the match seemed decided, especially as Adam Bacher hit a six and a four in the first over.

But then the Warriors struck back, with regular wickets, and the run scoring from the Cobras was pedestrian at best. After 15 overs, they were scoring about 5.5 runs and over, with the asking rate reaching 13 runs per over, and with only 5 wickets in hand. But then the fight back began, and slowly the match was tussled out of the Warriors' hands with some massive sixes doing good damage. With 5 balls remaining, only 4 runs were required; and victory seemed assured. And then, the Warriors took two wickets in two balls, and the scenario changed drastically - the Warriors were almost back in command.

3 balls, 4 runs, and a hat trick ball to negotiate. Alan Dawson managed to get a single off, but then Kleinveld at the other end only managed a single instead of the two he needed to get to assure the tie. So with the entire crowd at its feet cheering him on, Dawson managed to somehow get the ball past mid wicket, and scramble for two ... it was close, but safe.

Certainly one of the best matches I have seen, and definitely the best live sports event I have attended ... now I wonder if the final is also at Newlands ...

Zimbabwe ...

So it has finally come to this - the opposition and the police state; the inevitable clash, and a farcical trial. It has happened countless times before, and I don't think this will be the last time. And, apparently it's all South Africa's fault.

The question that comes to my mind - what is South Africa or any other African state or any other world power to do? And this question applies, not only to Zimbabwe, but to Darfur, Somalia, Iraq etc etc. So as a neighbouring country (or a world power), what do we do?

Do we go guns blazing to depose the offending dictator? If so, what then? Do we get another Iraq, where the invading country (the liberators) gets saddled with the reconstruction bill, a population that doesn't want them and our own citizens that don't support our presence in a foreign country?

Or do we send in a team of special ops, that will assassinate the offending dictator? And then what? Are there people who will take charge, and lead the country? And who do you kill - just the dictator? What about his supporters? And how do you identify all of them, and what is the criteria we use to judge them?

Or do we go to the UN or a AU where, some members don't care; while other members have vested interests (because they own a mine or two) and thus don't want to interfere. And off course there is plain apathy, and some don't even bother voting, because, they frankly don't give a damn.

Or we could do nothing; and hope that some one else does something.

In the end, every one of these alternatives are problematic. Most of the successful, long term democracies, who have thrown off the yoke of dictators have done it themselves. Zimbabwe did it themselves 20 odd years ago. In the end, that is possibly the best solution .... but they do require support; and this is where South Africa has failed. In the end, the people of Zimbabwe who are tired of Bob Mugabe (remember, as in all dictatorships, not every one hates the dictator) need to stand up and be counted; and those who stand up must be helped. Doing nothing, achieves nothing.

DRM Doomed?

Yet another opinion on a tech site raises the question - was my 4 years of slaving (well ok not slaving) towards a PhD really worth it?

The thing is, DRM is not a copy protection mechanism - it stands for rights management; not copy management. Likewise, it is not a copyright enforcement mechanism. There are enough academic papers (including my own) about the last two points. And if that is the case; why on earth does everyone still rally on the same issue?

The fact of the matter is, DRM has been maligned with control of media in a veiled attempt at controlling piracy. DRM has been sold on the same terms as CDs and tapes; and not as new business measures which is what it really is. Furthermore, DRM has been seen as the big guys protecting their property from the public - the possibility that joe public could use DRM to protect their own things - photos, documents, home movies etc. has been ignored. So maybe, my thesis does have a place; but will anyone care?

Cash in Transit Vans

When I was in Durban, my mom raised a very fair point when we were trapped behind a cash in transit van at the traffic lights: why do cash in transit vans label themselves so clearly that they are carrying a lot of valuables on them? Surely, it would be best to remain anonymous - yes have armed guards inside etc - but there is no need to proclaim on the side "Coin Security Service - Cash in Transit"!

And it is a valid point. In computer security, we maintain security through obscuring the data - sensitive data is encrypted. And encryption of data, is more akin to obfuscation, than to the popular lock and key. Encrypted data is still data - it is not packaged inside another data file. Instead, it has usually the same length, just looks different.

Surely, cash in transit vans can do something similar - after all, I don't think there are regulatory requirements for Cash in transit vans to state that they are potentially carrying valuables. They can just be armour plated vans with a guard inside them. And, maybe then we will have a lower attack rate on cash in transit vehicles - after all, to attack a cash in transit vehicle, you will first have to find one.

Movie: The Last King of Scotland

Idi Amin was one of those weird leaders; respected because he honestly did a lot of good for (some) of his people. Reviled, because he also did a lot of bad things ... as Jay said after the movie - a lot like Robert Mugabe. And the movie portrays this conflict between the good and bad very well; at certain times, Idi Amin is a very charming, helpful man and at other times, he is a monster. Almost a real life Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde.

What is more interesting is the white Scottish doctor, who is effectively the narrator of the story. He is not cast as a general good guy, caught in the crossfire; like many other stories of this nature. Instead, we see how he does take advantage of his situations, although he does have a conscious; which is eventually what leads him to try get away. And, there is also the hints of western interference, when a British spy claims how they put Amin in power, and how they can take him out also.

Most of all, the movie is worth watching because of Forest Whitaker's performance. From the accent, to how he interacts with the people, it does not feel like it's an actor. Jamie Foxx, in his portrayal of Ray Charles was similar in this respect; and it is possibly the best accolade one can give an actor.

Gloriously Inept

Cricinfo has a wonderful article on Glen McGrath's lack of batting prowess in the ODI arena. It's just hilarious reading.

Movie: The Pursuit of Happyness

No it's not a spelling mistake, but a "in joke". On the whole, this is one of the uplifting, everyone can overcome their difficulties. But it leads you to think - are the homeless guys and other poor people, poor and homeless because they do not have what it takes; or is it because the roll of the dice have forced them to what they are. The movie is about a poor man, whose state in life so far has been dictated by rolls of the dice; and how he overcomes his obstacles to get out of the cycle of poverty. Yes, it's a cliche. Yes, it's a predictable story. But, at the same time, it is a wonderful acted story. And Will Smith thoroughly deserved his Oscar nomination. And his real life son, plays a wonderful on screen son.

Movie: The Queen

To be honest, I am not too sure what the hype is all about. Yes, it is a biographical movie about a recent event involving a living (and still ruling) head of state. Yes, Helen Miren had an uncanny resemblance to Elizabeth II. But, while the story does have some interesting points, a lot of witty humour, I would hardly rate it as one of the best movies of the past 12 months!

Movie: Blood Diamond

Blood Diamond has been criticised by some yet another movie exploring a bad white guy's redemption. And on the surface, it is no different to movies such as Tears of the Sun. However, I think the movie does justice in exploring the civil war in Sierra Leone, as well as the fact that wars and corruption in Africa also involves the support of certain people in the West. And the performance of both Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou provide excelent performances. It is a rare occurrence for an action movie to provide both a good plot and good acting performances.

International Historic Car Racing

Weather on Sunday was not spectacular; but at least I did not commit my self to go to the one sided cricket match. I saw the ad for an International Historic Racing and Car Show a few weeks ago, so I decided to check it out. And I was not disappointed at all.

Together with a number of old classics, including cars that once ruled Le Mans and other famous races around the world, there were bikes and many humbler aged vehicles. And the racing itself was fast and furious, as an accident where a car (I think it was an old Alfa Romeo or Fiat) went somersaulting through a corner proved. And I saw cars race, that I had only heard of (or seen on TV) before: Ford GT 40, one McLaren, Ferraris, Porches, Triumphs and even the famous Aston Martin DB 4. Sadly, I managed to forget my camera at home; but I did take a few pics on the cellphone.

Mavericks, a "gentleman's club" seemed to be a big sponsor; with many cars carrying their logo. This bike however, was just on a different level.

The best part of the whole day, was that spectators could watch the race from the pits, standing next to the pit wall as cars and bikes zoomed past. This alone, was worth the entrance fee. Plus, you could wander around the pit lane, speak to the drivers and mechanics and just see racing cars really, really, up close.

Viagra logo on a big exhaust ... just made me laugh

Movie: The Prestige

Two magicians fighting in a tit for tat war, in victorian London for the ultimate trick. I thought it would be yet another fantasy movie; and I was very pleasantly surprised; because the magic is not fireballs delivered by Harry Potter but rather the illusions and escape artist tricks. And for the most part, I loved the plot and the storyline - so realistic, and so believable. All except the final big machine - the final trick; where we leave reality and head into fantasy. Although, the resulting plot line is brilliant, I would have preferred a more ¨normal" outcome; something more believable ...

My Coke Fest

Last year Metallica headlined the CocaCola Massive Mix. This year, it's renamed to My Coke Fest, and features Evanesence, Guns N' Roses and Hoobastank. I am a big fan of Evanesence, so I am definitely going ... and with Golden Circle tickets at R550, it's going to be a tight squeeze. Aparently, there will be a total of 10 bands on the line up; and I am hoping the other bands include Springbok Nude Girls (in their now original line up), Seether and Karen Zoid. In fact, I am quite sure the Nudies will be on the bill ...

Movie: Apocalypto

Yes the movie is violent, and blood flows from begining to end. But it is also a beautiful movie, and it is one of the best action movies I have ever seen. Like Braveheart, Apocalypto can't be relied on as a historic record; and many of the cultural aspects, including the human sacrifices are overblown, and most probably in accurate.

This is not a movie about a clash of cultures, but something much simpler, resembling what can be considered very much a classic action movie plot. The hero is exposed to a great wrong (Mayan headhunters rape and pillages his village, and enslaves most of the adult villagers including the hero). The slaves are now taken to the main city, and the hero manages, against all odds, to escape, and tries to go back to his wife and child. He is off course pursued by the Mayans and he has to not only escape, but get rid of the threat as much as possible.

Yes it's violent, but it is great entertainment.

Movie: Kairo (Pulse)

The Japanese Film festival is on at the V&A,and it's free. Simon and I went to watch a movie, not even knowing (or caring) what the movie was about. The concept is pretty simple (and easy to understand if you have seen other Japanese Anime/Manga etc) ... after death all souls (from all types of animals) go to one place. That place has a finite capacity, and thus one day it will over flow, and then it will over flow to a different space - ours, and it has begun. In between that, there is also a bit of interesting philosophising: most religions with a heaven usually promise a life of fulfilment. However, what if it was the opposite - what if, eternity is just boring, and completely devoid of any company and completely lonesome.

And as ghosts start appearing, people who meet the ghosts are torn by this realisation, and usually get shocked to death that no one really cares; and no one will care. And to compound problems, it has spread over to the electronic systems, and every one is becoming infected.

It is a slow, and rather haunting movie. It's not horror through blood and gore, but rather of the bone chilling variety ... where you get scared by the reactions of the characters and the environment. And as people disappear, the new empty environment itself is a nightmare ... like the empty subway train in Tokyo, or the deserted streets. In a way, that is more terrifying.

Rock on Morning Radio

In a previous post, I mentioned that I got fed up with 5FM and Garteh Cliff, and was looking for an alternative. Anyway, over December, I was listening to the cricket on Radio 2000 on my alarm clock/radio; and then forgot to change over. The following day, I woke up to Barney Simon ... and for the rest of December, waking up was a pleasure. Sadly, Barney is no longer doing the morning show; but Mo G and Ray White (yet another ex 5FM person) also play rock, and morning radio is pleasurable once again.

For the record, Barney hosts a great 4 hour, South African music show on Tuesday evenings. Radio 2000 is now my favorite music station!

Movie: Shooting Dogs

According to the plot summary, the movie is:

Based on a true story. An exhausted Catholic priest (Hurt) and a young idealistic English teacher (Dancy) finds themselves caught in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. They must now choose whether to stay with the thousands of Tutsis about to be massacred or to flee for safety.

While this certainly gives the structure of the plot of how the movie unfolds, it is certainly a deeper movie, and possibly one of the strongest criticisms of the United Nations, ever.

The fact that the UN did nothing for 100 days is well known. The movie shows how far the UN went to do nothing; and how much the UN could be held accountable as assistants to the carnage, just as much as the Hutu militia. The story takes place in Ecole Technique Officielle (ETO), a high school in Kigali, where the UN has set up a military base. When the violence starts, about 2500 Tutsi refugees take up shelter in the school, where the UN provides a sense of protection, while the school is completely surrounded by the Hutu militias. But even then, while Tutsis are massacred with machetes metres infront of the UN soldiers, the UN cannot intervene - because the UN security council has refused to change their mandate from monitoring to peace keeping. In fact, the only thing the UN soldiers can do is shoot the dogs that are feeding on the human corpses, because it "is a health issue". But the ultimate insult is not that the UN did not do more, but that in the end they pulled out of the school leaving all the Tutsi refugees, including children, to face the Hutu militias. What followed, is one massive bloodshed ...

One would have thought that, 12 years on, the UN would have learnt their lesson. That, instead of fighting over the definition of what constitutes genocide (which is what the US were arguing about in the security council), we would do something to prevent such acts in the future. Instead, we have continuing violence in Darfur, unrest in Somalia; and let's not forget the Middle East. The Americans are right - the UN is pointless; but not because they do not bend to the wishes of the Americans; but because the so called super powers have no accountability on their actions.

Movie: Little Children

The movie is narrated as a children's story; but it is nothing like a children's story - no happy endings; no children content. Rather, the movie uses children (mostly playing at the park, in the streets, at the pool) to expose some of the hypocrisies and idiosyncrasies that make up western society. At the core there are two major story lines: Firstly there is the affair between a man who takes the role of the care giver in the family (while the wife works, and is ignored in bed) and a young wife of a rich, older man (who is older, and prefers jacking off to Internet porn than his wife). The affair develops while they take care of their respective toddlers at the town pool or the park.

The second major storyline is the tale of an ex con, who was in prison for exposing himself to a minor and an ex cop who wants him out of the community. This angle certainly raises questions - the prison service is supposed to rehabilitate inmates; and thus they should be fit to live in society - but that is hardly what happens. The anger and revulsion is certainly food for thought.

Off course it all blows up etc etc. It is a tragic movie in many parts; a thinking movie while providing many comedic moments brought about by the many hypocrisies. It is however not the most entertaining movie ... and maybe a bit too much food for thought.

Back on the saddle

After a long time (49 days to be exact), I finally went for a bike ride ... and a long one at that. Basically up to Constantia Nek (11 Km almost all uphill) down to Hout Bay (7Km of downhill bliss ... going faster than the 40 Km/h speed limit for cars :P) up Chapman's Peak (about 5Km and another 2 Km of uphill) - but the scenery alone is worth it down to Noerdhoek, back to Rondebosch via Fish Hoek. It did not feel too bad, but the last 10 Km were torturous ... even though most of it was relatively flat. And most of all, I think I need padded shorts ... I have done the route before, but it did not feel this painful last time!

Some stats:

Total Distance: Just over 61Km

Total Time: Under 5 Hours including a long stop at Noerdhoek for "brunch"

Pedalling Time: Just over 3h 30min ... giving a rather slow 16.5 Km/h average speed

Authentication Failure

Hot of the wire ... A Standard Bank branch was robbed by men who posed as security guards. The guards followed the same protocols as the security company, and made off with R1.4 million. It all boiled down to the fact that there was no real authentication mechanism at the bank to verify the identity of the security guards, other than a name. When names are hardly unique, they make really bad authentication elements anyway, so the flaw was bound to be exploited.

Hardware Blues

It started the week before Christmas; I bought a TV Card (manufacturer: Gigabyte) but I just couldn't get it to work. On Windows XP (SP2), the drivers would just not install; giving an error "Access is Denied", and would always rollback just after getting to the "registering" phase at the end of the installation. Trying out all tricks suggested from Google didn't help a bit. So I tried Linux, with little success ... and even KnoppMyth did not work. Surprisingly enough, it did "work" in Windows Vista, but my machine is too slow, and the sound does not work anyway (XP drivers in Vista that is).

The card itself works, and I suspect the main reason for all these problems is the VIA chipsetted motherboard. Many comments on Linux based TV card sites seem to confirm this theory; and it is yet another let down by the VIA based motherboard. My USB ports are already very dodgy and the onboard sound card does not seem to support 5.1 surround channels in Linux. And to compound all these problems, my Windows hard drive seems to be on its last legs, making all sorts of weird noises.

Off course, with a 2.5 year old computer, the best answer is to buy a new one; but I really want to save my money and buy a laptop and travel. So for now, I hope my other hard drive lasts until I finish my thesis (yes I do have back ups on two other machines).

Movie: Little Miss Sunshine

I had seen the trailer a long time ago, and the descriptions at first did not really appeal to me. But after recommendations from a number of people, I decided to see it; and I was quite impressed. As a comedy, it is superb; and has all the right ingredients. The motivation speak father, who is a failure, a nutcase uncle, a pervert grandfather, a young girl (Olive) wanting to be a beauty queen (but does not fit the mould of the traditional beauty queen) and the brother who has taken a vow of silence. The mom is the only one who seems normal ...

In part this is a road trip movie, part a movie about family and all those "msuhy" things ... I just think it is a great comedy; anda comment on the absurdities of life. And the final scenes involving Olive's talent show is easily one of the best comedic I have ever seen.

Trailer Park Lynching

That was the theme for our house warming party (and incidentally, our housemate Donal's birthday). And although not many people (including, I am ashamed to say, the hosts) dressed up - the party itself was a great success. A whole lot of people pitched up, and counting the number of people who had a bit too much to drink, most seemed to have enjoyed themselves. My new place, is simply a great spot to host parties; and it showed. A special mention must be made of Sara who definitely had the best costume. I would post a picture, but I am afraid I could be lynched ... .so if Sara is brave enough, she can post one on her blog :p

Movie: The Departed

With a cast of Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen and Mark Wahlberg; at a glance, The Departed seems to be yet another movie trying to make it through the names of the stars. Yet, for once, this is a movie where the stars actually prove why they should be stars - the acting is just absolutely amazing!

The story is about cops and robbers; focusing on "the rat". Matt Damon plays a cop, who effectively works for the Boston Mafia boss Frank Costello (Nicholson). DiCaprio plays a cop, who infiltrates the Mafia and to bring down Costello and the whole movie is about the parties on either side trying to catch the rat(s) for their paymasters.

Nicholson is simply amazing as the Mafia boss; and DiCaprio puts in a performance worthy of an Oscar ... indeed I think both will get nominated for Oscars this year. And even Mark Wahlberg can act ... something I wouldn't admit to after watching The Italian Job. But perhaps the best part of the movie is the amazing script ... with brilliant twists and the scene in the elevator at the end of the movie reminded me a lot about the classic standoff scene in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

Movie: Flags of our Fathers

The Iwo Jima Memorial (or it's official name - The US Marine Corps War Memorial), is one of the most impressive war memorials in the Washington DC area. The memorial itself is based on a famous photograph, of US soldiers raising the US flag on top of Mount Suribachi, in the island of Iwo Jima, during World War 2. This movie, directed by Clint Eastwood and produced by Steven Spielberg, recounts the raising of the flag, but instead of focusing on the war itself (like Saving Private Ryan for example), it talks about the how the photograph was used as a publicity machine to generate support (and money) for the war.

It is amazing how lies are created, and the men are almost forced to parade these lies. It is an anti war movie like none before ... and challenges the very notion of heroism and hero worship. In the times of Jacob Zuma, Robert Mugabe and Iraq, the movie raises some very relevant questions for right now.