Great views, missing 7de Laan and a question of brotherhood: Tales from another long cycle ride

This is unfortunately not a phlog. After barely 5 hours sleep, and a rush to meet Hans-Peter in Rondebosch (because of running a bit late), the camera was sadly left behind. Yet again, Reinhardt decided not to join us for another crazy (but shorter) cycle trip; but gave no reasons this time around.

During the past week or so, Hans-Peter and I considered going to Hout Bay over Constantia Nek. However, considering the sizable uphill trek back to Constantia Nek, I convinced Hans-Peter, that it would be better to cycle through Chapman's Peak, into Fish Hoek and there after, depending on time, cycle back to Rondebosch or take a train like our last mad trip.

The weather was near perfect, with no wind. But there was quite a heavy cloud cover, so it was a bit on the chilly side, and Hans-Peter was hoping to catch a tan - but the sun never really shone through. The first part of the trip to Constantia Nek was surprisingly not too tough (with Hans-Peter showing his higher fitness levels by making it up the hill by Kirstenbosch without stopping in his first attempt). Except for the mad bus drivers that drive at seemingly insane speeds through the narrow roads, there isn't much to say. The ride down the hill was a lot of fun, esp with the surprising lack of other road users.

The cycle up Chapman's Peak was not as demanding as I initially feared, although we did make a few stops to admire the scenery. It was also quite pleasing that cyclists do not have to pay toll fees for the road. The cycle down from Chapman's Peak was even more fun, especially as we frequently broke the posted speed limit, and even caught up with a few cars that had passed us previously. In fact, the entire ride was worth it from that downhill alone. We stopped briefly at a farm stall in Noerdhoek, primarily to clarify directions, but I can testify that they make awesome chocolate chip muffins.

The ride into Fish Hoek was surprisingly short, and the only notable event was the naming of the side streets that whizzed by. I think the numbering started about 20, counting downwards as we approached Fish Hoek ... 20^de Laan, 19^de Laan etc. except when it came to 7 ... for some reason, it was 7^th Avenue - and the sign was the same on both sides; so doesn't seem to be a case of Afrikaans and English names ... maybe a bit more practical road name changes?

We stopped for Pizza at Lakeside ... can't really say it was brilliant, but it was not bad. Afterwards, there was a very curious boy (about 6/7 years old) who was asking Hans-Peter few questions about his bike, like how the bike chain works and where he could acquire one for his bike. But it was the last question, that really brought a smile ... when he asked whether Hans-Peter and I were brothers or just friends. I think Hans Peter should have answered that we were brothers ... just to see what he would have asked next.

For the record, the trip was just over 60Km, and we covered it at an average of 17.1 Km/H ... still not good enough for the Argus, as it does not consider the rest periods, but not a bad time.

Look busy

Came across this link while looking for flights for my US/Scotland trip in October/November ... brilliant I think ...

SATNAC Reflections - 2006

So, SATNAC 2006 just finished, and once again, there was a whole lot of good food (actually food at Moyo, the opening function, can be considered heavenly) and some amazing entertainment, including Watershed at the closing function last night. And for a change, and quite surprisingly, the academic content, in my opinion has improved; with some very interesting presentations. However, most of the presentations were still not relevant to my line of research.

Health Fad takes a twist

I was buy stuff at the supermarket yesterday, when I noticed that one company has introduced gourmet yoghurt of sorts called "Bliss". Now, I love yoghurt ... always have, so I was naturally a sucker to try it out. Basically, double cream yoghurt with chocolate and cherries - tasted great though; but certainly no longer in the health food camp.

Movie: The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

The Fast and the Furious series has always been very entertaining; not because of the brain dead plot; but because of the eye candy - great cars, awesome car chases and tons of hot babes. All things considered, the latest movie is probably the best of the lot; the plot is still simple, but atleast makes some sense; the car chases are really amazing, together with an awesome sound track - and the number of babes on the screen are probably higher than ever before. If nothing else, the movie is worth it for the car chases alone; it is by no means a cinema classic; but I don't think it was ever meant to be one.

Movie: Thank you for smoking

It is possibly one of the best movies I have seen this year. It is a brilliant satire on the life of spin masters, in this case Tobacco - but at the same time a story on the essence of argument. And unlike the great Monty Python skit, the arguments are not about contradictions. The acting is superb, the story is brilliant; and if nothing else; the opening credits is worth it alone.

a phlog ...

By popular demand ... a picture of my wheels ...


And while we are at it; went up to signal hill yesterday to take a picture of Robben Islandm for a photo competition ... anyway it was a beautiful sunset ...

Greatest Movie Posters

http://www.independentcritics.com/columns/tc-bestmovieposters.htm

Don't agree with all the choices; but yeah - on the whole, spot on.

Movie: Miami Vice

I have never watched a full episode of the TV series, so I did not really go into the movie expecting much. And to be honest; the movie was crap - in summary it was a movie about nothing. Because, nothing really ever happens in the movie. There are no twists; there is hardly any character development; and even the plot is utterly stupid; because there is neither a sad nor a happy ending ... you leave the movie feeling ... what was that all about?

The only redeeming quality of the entire movie is the shootout at the end; it is brilliantly shot and edited. That, and the soundtrack is pretty good. Otherwise, it's a waste of time.

Movie: Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest

First and foremost; this is a very entertaining movie - with great action sequences (esp the long sword fights), awesome effects and a generally coherent storyline (simple, but effective). Also, unlike the first movie, this one seems to focus a lot more on William Turner (Orlando Bloom) than on Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp).

The big problem with this movie, is the fact that it is effectively a long trailer for the 3^rd movie, and thus doesn't really have a proper ending as such. Also, some parts of the movie, notably the canibals, do not seem to have any major influences on the plot or on character development. Unless, they play a significant role in the 3rd movie; these segnment will just be a footnote on the whole series.

Overall, the movie was long; but entertaining. Unlike the first one, there was no amazing acting; and the story was unfinished. And, yes there is a scene at the end of the credits; but it is not worth waiting.

Movie: The Sentinel

It's a police/counter-terrorism/spy drama about nothing really. Except for a little side drama about the First Lady of the USA having an affair with her chief bodyguard in the secret service, the plot is rather bland (the said bodyguard is suspected to be involved in a plot to kill the president), a rip off of other similar dramas, but with big holes and stupid storyline. There are some swipes at the current administration, with the president having more success in the Middle East peace process and supporting the Kyoto Agreement; but Michael Douglas is too old to be an action hero; and this movie, while fun to watch, is not a movie that I would watch again, ever.

The Power of Nightmares

I finally finished watching "The Power of Nightmares" (also see here), a 3 part documentary made by the BBC in 2004. Basically, the documentary, in a style very similar to Michael Moore documentaries (except not funny), explores the relationships between modern politics and terrorism. In particular, it alleges that in the West at least, politicians are now seen only as managers of public life, not grand visionaries who will usher in a new fantastical future. Terrorism has become so hyped up nowadays, not because it is a new phenomenon, but because politicians have realised that they can use it as a new tool to promote themselves - as the people that will protect the public from terror and fear.

It is a very interesting documentary, because it manages to chronicle two of the most influential groups in modern politics - the American neo-conservatives and the Islamists, over the period of the last 30 years or so. But possibly one of the boldest claims in the documentary, is that Al Qaeda as we know it is largely fictional, and its power largely overhyped. The documentary alleges that Al Qaeda, as a term, was invented by the FBI in a trial in early 2001, largely to enable the FBI to try Osama bin Laden in absentia, because that is the only way they could make the charges stick. After 11/09/2001, Osama bin Laden used the term, only after it was used in news reports. Furthermore, the attacks might have been financed by Osama bin Laden, but he was not actually responsible for planning and co-ordinating the attacks.

The documentary also alleges that Al Qaeda is not really a terror network, and is actually a small group of Islamists. Yes, Osama bin Laden is largely responsible for financing many terror operations, but a large network of terror cells planning attacks in largely fictional. The documentary cites the Taliban recruiting and training militias (largely foreign) to fight in the Afghanistan civil war - not Al Qaeda. Also, bombing Tora Bora mountains and subsequent ground searches have yet to reveal a single Al Qaeda operative. With regards to the huge number of terror cells allegedly uncovered in the US; the documentary alleges that not a single one of them has been actually convicted of being a terror cell; and the accused have walked largely free, although some were convicted of some minor crimes.

The documentary aired before the 7 July London bombings; but the question remains. Are these bombers really part of a large terror network, or are they just a bunch of people who have their own grievances and have found this their best way of expression. This is a particularly interesting with regards to the recent airline hijack terror alert, because if the documentary is correct, then the people arrested yesterday are going to go free; because they were actually doing something less sinister.

Terrorism, whatever the definition is not new. As the archbishop of Jerusalem commented on BBC Hardtalk in this past week, one man's heroic action is another man's terrorism action. It is quite amazing how many plots seem to resemble Hollywood movie plots; leading to the question on whether these plots are actually anywhere near the truth. Prevention is better than cure; but the idea of catching people, because they might do something in the future is rather frightening. As in Minority Report - how do you know the soothsayers are correct?

High but not soaring

It has been a strange last two weeks ... one of my papers that I submitted to the DRM Workshop at the ACM Computer and Communications Security Conference was accepted. This was the same paper that was rejected at ISSA because of bad structure ... and to be honest, I thought this was my weakest paper of the three I did submit. The paper on last year's honours project (which I co-supervised) on a DRM controller on a Linux Kernel was rejected, although the reviews were quite positive. The paper I had very high hopes for, was also rejected, also with some very positive reviews, but the workshop chair wrote to me, and said that there was a lot of discussion on that paper ... so that was also quite positive. But I still feel down, because I thought it was one of my best piece of work to date.

---EDIT---
Another low: I desperately wanted to stop over in Brazil on my way to the USA, so that I could go to the last round of the 2006 F1 Championships - which is already a firecracker. But some one has booked out all the flights, so even though the rest of the trip is quite affordable ... getting to Sao Paulo is proving to be a problem.
---EDIT---

Another high: got a paper accepted at SATNAC, which admittedly, is not really held in high regards by many academics in South Africa. What is interesting however is that the paper was quite scathing on Vodacom ... one of the jewels in Telkom's crown - the main sponsor and organiser of SATNAC. I wonder how the presentation will go :p

Also another high, got my dad's old car ... so I finally got wheels. So, to all those who gave me lifts ... thank you! It was interesting driving down from Jozi on Thursday ... Free State is such a dull looking province (at least in winter). The drive through the Karoo and onwards was quite scenic though - the rains meant that there was a tinge of green and even blossoming fynbos. No pics unfortunately ... should have stopped more I suppose ...

Current Favourite Songs

According to Amarok on my home machine, the following 27 (sorted according to artist) are my current favorite songs from my music collection (approximately 5700 titles). It's a fairly acurate representation even though I do play music through other media players and then there is my iPod etc.Looking at it, it's quite an interesting mix, and reflects quite well my varied taste in music (though there is no classical or jazz numbers on the list). I am surprised that there are no Offspring songs on that list though.

And, I know I will take a lot of flak for the song that appears 2^nd on the list - but I can counter, that it is probably the only song that proves that she does have some vocal talent, and I do think it's good song. (I tried getting everything in a table, but that was a nightmare in formatting, and text is not any better ... so I am forced to show that I am a student, and do it reference style :p)

1. Black Eyed Peas: Let's Get Retarded
2. Britney Spears: Everytime
3. Dido : Thank you
4. DJ Cleo : Goodbye Feat. Dj What What
5. Eminem : My Dads Gone Crazy
6. Eminem : Stan - featuring Dido
7. Enigma: Return to Innocence
8. Evanescence: Going Under
9. Evanescence: My Immortal
10. Freshlyground: I'd Like
11. Goo Goo Dolls: Iris
12. Guns N' Roses: Knockin' on Heaven's Door
13. Mafikizolo: Ndihamba Nawe
14. Metallica: Whiskey In The Jar
15. Metallica: The Unforgiven II
16. Nancy Sinatra: Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)
17. Ray Charles: Hit The Road Jack
18. Robert Miles: Children
19. Scatman : Scatman's world
20. Seether: Broken (Feat. Amy Lee)
21. Seether: Remedy
22. Spingbock Nude Girls: Blue eyes
23. Springbok Nude Girls: Bubblegum On My Boots
24. The White Stripes: Seven Nation Army
25. U2 : Beautiful Day
26. U2: Sunday Bloody Sunday
27. Vanessa Mae: Contradanza

Living on the edge

I was curious to see how long my battery would last ... carried on full strength (strong backlight, no CPU throttling) for at least 5 minutes after my battery indicator said it was dead ... wonder where the power came from ...

Scoring Goals

So, Kaiser Chiefs won the Vodacom Challenge against Manchester United over the weekend, on penalties. Admittedly, it was their second side made up of a number of young players but it was a good performance by the Chiefs. Other than Fernadez's keeping at the goals, one thing that stood out for me in the entire competition was the lack of goals by both of the South African sides - Kaiser Chiefs and Orlando Pirates. In fact, between them, they only scored one goal (Kaiser Chiefs against Orlando Pirates). This is not a new problem for South African sides - remember the African Cup of Nations earlier this year - South Africa did not score a goal in three matches back then either.

This is actually in stark contrast to Banyana Banyana (the ladies side), whose game I caught on TV while avoiding other things I could have been doing. In a qualifier match (I think for the African Cup of Nations) against Tanzania, they won 3-0, with two breath taking goals, especially the last one in the 93rd minute from a corner curling into the top of the near post, which the defender could only head into the goal. So goals in South African football - probably only from Banyana Banyana.

Microsoft Playing Fair?

From dedicated tech sites like CNet to mainstream media like The Seattle Times, the word is that Microsoft are adopting 12 principles towards more competitive practices with Vista. No doubt, the fines lobbied by the EU totaling to almost a billion Euros had something to do with it, but the question remains - how much of this is publicity, and how much of this is actually going to happen.

The question really is, can I buy Windows Vista, the operating system without crap like IE, Outlook Express, Solitaire (and the other Windows games), Media Player and all the other GB worth of bloatware? Windows Vista is reputed to have a massive installation base, but if this is true, a slim down version of windows at a slimed down price ... then Linux and other OO variants will have to really think fresh ... On the other hand, it could also usher in a new era of true interoperability. Somehow, I just don't see it happening.

Morning Radio Blues

I used to be a big fan of Mark Gillman. In fact, my alarm clock radio thingie is tuned to 5FM for this reason. But off course, Mark Gillman is gone from 5FM, and his replacement, Gareth Cliff is crap. So, I ask, are there any good breakfast shows on radio - specifically, something that won't put me back to sleep? I promise to try all suggested shows.

Movie: Swing Vote

Abortion is probably the most contentious (and in my opinion interesting) legal battle ever, more than the death penalty. In the USA, abortion was legalised in a now famous ruling referred to as "Roe vs Wade". Since then, the anti abortion movement (pro life) has been fighting to overturn the decision, and in many cases, this has been one of the tickets that republican presidents (like Dubya) have run on, and will probably continue to run on.

The movie plotline is simple, Roe vs Wade was overturned, and a state made abortion equivalent to murder 1. A woman is charged with murder 1 after aborting, and the case has moved back to the Supreme Court. A new hot shot trial attorney has just been sworn in as a supreme court judge, and thus the decision needs to be re-affirmed or over turned.

There are no new arguments, although it is a very balanced presentation of the problem posed by abortion, with some personal touches. And in many ways, the final decision reads a lot like our own rules governing abortion, like mandatory counseling.

I read a book on the subject once, a few years back, and it defined the pro life stance as an argument based on the "sanctity of life". The question it raised was - why is life sacred, and more particularly, why is human life sacred, and are some human lives more sacred than others?

Movie: Superman Returns

It was not a conscious decision to watch two movies dealing with polyamorous love in the same afternoon - although the relationship in this case is a lot more of a love triangle. Superman (and his alter ego) loves Lois. Lois loves Superman (but not the alter ego). Lois loves Richard. Richard loves Lois. Yet another triad see ...

The movie, as expected is a CGI masterpiece, and like all superhero movies, riddled with plot holes, and sometimes stupid points. Right from the very beginning when Lex Luther, takes control over the Krypton crystals ... come on, an advanced civilisation without an access control policy?

But the movie was a lot of fun, although at about 2.5 hours, it's probably 30 minutes too long.