The most expensive WordPress template in the world?

Would you pay a web development company R40m [$4.41m] to create a website for you? Surely not!

That’s what the Free State Provincial Government [which is led by the African National Congress] in South Africa, forked out to a web development agency which strangely does not even have their own website. Actually the amount is in dispute, with the Provincial government claiming it was R40m while the newspaper that leaked the story reported an astounding R140m.

But that’s not all. It appears that the designers used a WordPress theme called London Live, to create the website which goes for $40, or at the latest exchange rate, around 362 South African Rands. [Read one such report here].

That makes London Live, the most expensive template ever designed… or there are some serious shenanigans at work here. If you consider that WordPress themes are really easy to use and one need not be an expert at using a CMS to make design changes, it would take an experienced web designer a few days or less to create a really stunning site. So either the design agency has pulled off the mother of all web-design con jobs, or there’s some sort of fraud involved here.

With the ANC having a well-known history of fraud and corruption up to the highest levels in government, I’m going with MASSIVE FRAUD.

_____________________________

Update, 13 March 2013:

The woman who handed out this ludicrous tender to the design agency, a Director-General at the time, has been promoted by the Provincial Premier to Minister of Finance. Now don’t this beat all?

A day of science awesomeness and religious foolishness

At about the time the robotic Mars Rover, Curiosity was undertaking or completing one of the most complicated landing manoeuvres for a space mission, 5 Pakistani militants from the banned Lashkar-e-Islam group were being blown up by the bomb they were planting on the roadside near the border of Afghanistan.

Here are some thoughts about these two events:

1. Both events played out on barren landscapes; one of them is inhabited by at least some intelligent life forms.
2. Both were magnificent feats of science and engineering; one of them was for a truly higher cause.
3. Both of them were inspired events; one was inspired by the yearning for true knowledge.
4. Both events will leave you laughing; one in joy and the other in derision.
5. Bothe events will lead to acts of discovery; one to perhaps signs of life before death and the other perhaps to signs of life after death. Guess which one’s odds are greater.

***

Here is a video of man celebrating the achievement of science awesomeness:

***

At this time there’s no video of man celebrating the achievement of lunacy. If and when they find all the body parts and bother to make a video, I’ll be sure to post it, but don’t hold your breath.

The Stars above a Mountain

Terje Sorgjerd photographer extraordinaire, has done it again. This time his video is a time-lapse photographic rendition of the Milky Way galaxy above Spain’s highest mountain, El Teide.

Join me in marvelling at the majesty of the cosmos, and man’s amazing ability to visualize it artistically:

Aurora Borealis vs The Star of Bethlehem

Thanks to a Facebook friend who provided the link, today I watched the most amazing video of the aurora borealis over Kirkenes and Pas National Park near the Russian border, by a really gifted photographer. Terje Sorgjerd used time-lapse photography to capture the stunning images you are about to see, in some very inhospitable conditions too.

This awesome display of lights is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the sky at the polar regions due to the collision of charged particles under the influence of the earth’s magnetic field.

After watching the video I got this strange notion that had the author’s of the bible known about this beautiful visual phenomenon, they would surely have opted to script Jesus being born under such an awe-inspiring light show. Instead we get a supposed divine entity being born under a very bright star, among billions of other very bright stars not visible to man.

Wouldn’t you rather have Jesus being born under something spectacular like the aurora borealis, than a common bright star?

I’m hopeless as a human, pathetic as an alien, but it seems I’m cut out to be a predator

I’m on a mission. To learn to play. Computer games that is.

The activity that has taken the world by storm, ensnared the minds of both young and old, even the very young and the very old, has somehow passed me by. Until now that is. Since purchasing my gaming notebook [this thing is a behemoth and should more correctly be referred to as a desktop replacement], I’ve been intrigued to find out what it can do.

It boots up superfast because of the one solid state drive and renders high-definition video superbly with the aid of the high-end graphics card and quad-Core CPU. It does exactly what I purchased it for; editing video amazingly well. I’ve watched Blu-ray movies on the full high-definition display monitor. Stunning! Connected to a set of external speakers, the THX audio system is mind-blowing.

It came time to see why the manufacturer Asus, labelled it a gaming notebook. So I purchased a few PC games about a month ago, which I was led to believe would really test my systems performance and graphics capabilities. It was a frustrating month of starting up the games and then being able to do nothing else, because I’m video-game challenged, practically illiterate. Sure, I’ve played pinball before, but that didn’t require the almost superhuman finger dexterity and hand-eye coordination that modern electronic games demand. And you could kick the pinball machine in frustration, quite safely without doing any damage, when it went into TILT mode. Try that on your modern games console or computer.

Over the last month, I managed to create a SIM, which looks nothing like me, no matter how much I fiddle with the options. I also managed to buy a house and a couch. And that’s where my attempt at playing SIMS 3 came to an end, not knowing how to proceed any further. Yeah, I’ll try reading the instructions some time, if someone could tell me where it is. Next came CIVILIZATION 5. The opening introductory sequence was great. Superb, realistic graphics. I managed to choose a historical figure and establish a city. Alas, that’s where my great adventure ended, not knowing how to proceed further.

After these failures, I turned to Aliens vs Predator. I’d heard about first-person-shooter (FPS) games at some point; I think it was at that gaming Expo I attended, RAGE. The game had a cool opening sequence, stunning graphics, great sound. It looked promising. First I tried the single-player Marine missions. Ugh! I sucked at being a Marine. I did figure out how to use the mouse and keyboard, and actually got to move around – albeit in constant circles. I also managed to get a few shots off. Okay, I killed some drums that were lying around, and I think I killed that dead guy lying in a heap on the floor…again. After giving up, I tried the Alien Mission. It was easy walking around in circles, but after killing the guy in the lab-coat (after considerable effort I must add), I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to do next. Yep, I’m no Alien either.

Then yesterday I made a concerted effort to get somewhere. The only thing left to try was the single-player Predator Mission. And finally, I actually made some progress. I completed two missions, by following the instructions on-screen more attentively and with more patience. Off course, I got killed almost immediately on my third mission, but I was coming to grips with the whole gaming thing. And I was starting to understand why this is so addictive.

So now, I need to get Call of Duty - Black Ops…

Will I ever complete playing any game in its entirety? Who knows? Is that even possible? I do know that I need more help though, and I’m not about to ask some 8-year old kid!

Antimatter does matter

Antimatter used to be the stuff of science fiction; that’s the stuff that powered the starship Enterprise on Star Trek. These days however, our brilliant scientists have not only actually created antimatter, just recently they have achieved the stupendous feat of capturing it long enough to study it.

Scientists, led by Professor Jeffrey Hangst at the CERN laboratory in Europe announced that they have managed to capture 38 antihydrogen atoms for a tenth of a second, in a specially designed magnetic trap. To non-physicists that may not sound very impressive, but to these guys at CERN, 38 atoms is an astronomical figure, and a tenth of a second is an eternity.

While the scientists at CERN are jumping hoops, what does this latest breakthrough represent to the ordinary man in the street? Apparently not much to those who are religiously inclined, or just plain ignorant it seems. A quick browse through various websites announcing the news indicates the usual antipathy, incredulity and indifference one has come to expect of humans who are too absorbed in their own little worlds.

However, there are a good number of people who understand the importance of this research, and who are hopeful that it could lead us to understand the nature and origins of the universe. These people know and understand that such research enables scientists to uncover secrets that lead to complex technological creations that revolutionizes the way we live.

Others of course, will continue to question the vast expenditure and use of resources that are necessary for such endeavours. Yet others will feel threatened that man is venturing into areas that are best left to their vengeful, spiteful, domineering gods.

The latter do not matter; antimatter matters…

Six things I’ll miss the most when I die

While driving to a technology, computer and gaming exposition [RAGE 2010] today, I got to thinking about what I would miss the most about life, when I finally expire. Note that I do not say if I die, because death is inevitable (currently), and I also do not say after I die because there’s no evidence for an afterlife that will allow you to feel, let alone miss anything.

Without further ado, here is my list, in descending order of importance:

1. Music
2. The natural world (stars including our sun, the sky whether cloudy or clear, trees, plants, animals, rivers and waterfalls etc.)
3. Media, written and visual (books, movies, National Geographic, the Internet)
4. Scientific discoveries
5. Pork ribs
6. Other human beings

If you too have a list, let’s have it…

Oinck if you think the cops have gone ape shit over PigSpotter

Over the last few days, the South African traffic police have become highly visible, and in great numbers too. I’ve never seen them in such a frenzy before. Seems that the guy who uses the handle @PigSpotter to tweet about the police road blocks [he has since stopped tweeting about road blocks and exposes only speed traps] and speed trapping positions have really got to them.

Well, praise the great big sky fairy, hallelujah; somebody needed to get these tubs of lard out of their lazy, disrespectful, bribery-infested, revenue-collecting comfort zones, and back to the real world of traffic law enforcement. Yes, that’s right, it’s now common knowledge that the daily actions of the traffic cops has little to do traffic law enforcement, but a whole lot to do with generating revenue for the despicable bureaucrats who piss away our taxes; and off course it gives them a chance to throw their weight around too.

But, hold your excitement; the cops may be in this panicked state of activity because they have declared all-out war on PigSpotter for disrupting the utopian existence they were enjoying up to this point. I think they are shell-shocked; stunned that one individual, with a little help from the amazing world of modern technology, dared to take them on, and expose the rot that had set in. And now, they are going to inconvenience and harass the rest of us (just like they always do), in their contemptible efforts to arrest PigSpotter.

I’m not surprised the cops have decided to resort to using force to answer their critics. The petty intention to arrest and prosecute PigSpotter confirms that they have not learnt anything from this historic event that played out over the past week. They are still oblivious to the fact that the disrespect that the public show towards them, is a direct response to the disrespect and contempt that they have for the people they are supposed to serve. These pitiful blobs need to realize that we don’t appreciate the speed-ticketing extortion racket they are running, and we don’t like the abuse of authority hiding behind that ugly uniform and badge.

PigSpotter has shown us that power belongs to the people; we don’t have to tolerate the hypocrisy, exploitation and tyranny from men in uniform or sleazy politicians in pin-stripe suits. It’s also quite plain from all the media commentary, that the public are nearly 100% behind him. I don’t buy the protestations from the Justice Project SA (JPSA) that the police are victims (???) too, and I’m sure the majority don’t either.

I’m hoping that PigSpotter provides the impetus needed for the people to take back the power that was guaranteed to them in the Constitution, but so nauseatingly swindled away from us by the suits and their enforcers in uniform.

Pigspotting

You gotta love technology and the ingenious uses people find for it; and in so doing, provide a service to fellow humans.

Pigspotting has the makings of becoming a big hit with motorists in South Africa; and is being made possible by social networking application, Twitter. There’s this guy who has the moniker @PigSpotter who tweets about locations of police road blocks and speed traps that are set up by our good-for-nothing, mostly over-weight traffic officers.

His charming tweets about these speed-trapping locations, are by all accounts pretty accurate, and this has caused the short and curlies of certain high-ranking boars at police hog-quarters, to get into a real tangle. Subsequently they have hogged the headlines, squealing about all sorts of ridiculous transgressions that our beloved PigSpotter is supposed to have incurred.

Somehow it has not occurred to the top boars at Metro hog-quarters that policing is supposed to be visible, and that information being passed about their favorite grazing trapping pastures, is totally legal. And so they have issued some pretty dubious statements which reeks of pig-pen poop:

It’s wrong for him to inform people of the whereabouts of the officers on duty because drunk drivers will use other roads and cause accidents which could lead to innocent lives being lost

Presumably drunk drivers have enough control of their faculties to be able to follow Twitter feeds. And it seems that they should not be allowed to use “other roads” which must remain the sole hunting grounds of our kamikaze taxi drivers.

And:

He could also warn criminals to evade the police, making it easier for them to escape

Criminals evade the South African police all the time, and all intelligent people know that Twitter or PigSpotter is not the reason why. No, no, no, rotund pork-bellies and plain incompetence spring more readily to mind.

I have until now avoided Twitter like the plague, but PigSpotter may have just given me a reason to reconsider.

Beautiful Black Dream Machine

I placed my order today for this beautiful, black, behemoth of a dream machine inspired by the F-117 stealth bomber. It’s wiped out my bank balance, and probably consigned me to being as tight-fisted as Scrooge for the coming months, but it’s worth every penny. Really!

What am I rambling on about? No it’s not the latest sports car from Lamborghini (I’m an Aston Martin kinda guy, anyway) ; it’s the latest extreme gaming notebook (laptop, to you South Africans) from ASUS. You didn’t figure me for a gamer, did you? Well, you’re right; I don’t have the requisite skills, or inclination for such a, err pastime. I’ve opted for this model because of its processing power and HD graphics card which will come in handy for HD video editing, which is a more, err worthy pastime.

I did look at a custom-built Alienware machine, but the prices made my eyes water. The specification on this beauty (the ASUS G73JW is the latest release in the G73-series that is available to South Africa) is comparable, and at a lower price; not that much lower, but so-so:

• Intel Core i7 Quad Processor i7-740QM (6Mb cache, 1.73GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 2.93GHz
• 8192MB DDR3-1066MHz SO-Dimm Memory (4 x 2048MB)
• 1 TB (2 x 500GB) SATA HDD 7200rpm (Hard Disk Drive)
• 17.3″ Full HD LED display (1920 x 1080)
• Blu-ray ROM/DVD Multi Writer optical drive
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M graphics processor with 1.5 GB GDDR5 dedicated memory
• 2.0 MP built-in webcam
• All the other bells and whistles such as Wireless LAN, Bluetooth, backlit keyboard, microphone and headphone ports, 3 x USB 2.0 and 1 x USB 3.0 ports and 1 x HDMI port
• Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
• 2-year collect and return Warranty

I have opted to fork out the fairly hefty additional cost to replace the standard boot-up HDD (500GB) with a Corsair 256GB SSD (Solid State Drive), which ASUS-SA will do for me, before shipping. All of this makes the beast weight in at around 3.85 kilograms, so lugging it around is going to be somewhat painful. Fortunately, the cool-looking ROG (Republic of Gamers) back-pack they’re throwing in, should make this task a little more bearable, for when it is absolutely necessary to take this baby along for the ride.

As you can imagine, I can’t wait to get my hands on this beaut and caress that lovely back-lit keyboard with those oh-so-spaciously-placed keys, gigantic touch-pad and rubbery black finish. Just two more weeks, and this baby will be all mine…