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Monday, November 30, 2009

Medical fraternity in South Africa may just destroy your life!

Without saying anything, I want you to visit these links which deal with the medical fraternity in South Africa and the care you could expect from them.

Mom dies in hospital "mistake"
Medical waste dumped in yard
Medical waste burnt at office
Wrong op costs baby her legs
Baby maimed during labour

These are just a few of the horror stories in South Africa.

Now this is not what it is like at every hospital and all doctors' rooms. There are some brilliant doctors out there and some really good hospitals, but the scenarios above are becoming all too common!

Could this be one result of affirmative action? I would like to see some statistics on this.

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Driving in South Africa - Pt 4


Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 if you haven't yet.

What is it with South Africans and the right-hand lane?

Here in South Africa, since we drive on the left-hand side of the road as in England, the right-hand lane is considered the fast lane, unlike in countries like the U.S.A. where it is the complete opposite.

In this country, people just love the fast lane, even if they are slow drivers. What is it with that? Why is it that on our highways, where our speed limit is mostly 120km/h, there are always several cars travelling at 100km/h or less… in the fast lane?

The problem with this is that it causes problems with traffic flow. The end result of this, especially on busy highways is a major traffic jam on the highway. There is a definitive concertina effect on busy highways when slow cars pop up in the fast lane, eventually leading to complete stops.

Remember, here in South Africa the rule is: "Keep LEFT, pass RIGHT!" Click here for more South African rules of the road.

Another thing that keeps popping up, is people who know that they accelerate slowly will stop in the fast lane at traffic lights or stop signs. Then, when the light turns green, these people will accelerate at the speed of a coral reef! I see that so often when approaching a red traffic light and there are perhaps 2 cars waiting at the light in the left-hand lane. The next person to arrive is really slow, but insists on stopping in front in the right-hand lane. Of course, the people arriving after this assume that the right-hand lane would be quicker with acceleration.

What a surprise to find out that old Mrs. Coral Reef is standing in the front of the fast lane! Apart from messing with traffic flow, this also causes people to get upset with either getting away to slowly, or even being denied getting across the green light because Mrs. Coral Reef was to slow in the front, not letting more people make it across the green light.

Another thing is that many South Africans love sitting in the fast lane playing police man. They will refuse anyone to pass in the right-hand lane that is going faster than the allowable speed. There are others, going slow in the fast lane, who simply do not care and will sit there as if it is their right to stay in that lane.

If each of us drives where and like we are supposed to, we would all have a more pleasant driving experience. By being selfish, we cause others to be unhappy on the road, and at times it becomes so bad that road rage is the end result.

Here is an interesting page called Slower Traffic Keep Right. Of course, if you are from South Africa, read "left" for "right" and "right" for "left!" Wherever this site mentions left, you should read "right" and vice versa.




So, for safe driving in South Africa
(especially you South Africans)

Next, Part 5.

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Friday, November 20, 2009

Use tr.im to see how many follow your shortened links

I have just started using Tr.im for shortening web page links on my Twitter and Facebook accounts. What I like about Tr.im is that I can see how many clicks I get on a link that I shortened and sent on. Simply open a free Tr.im account, and use it to shorten links while logged in. Then use that link in Twitter or Facebook or your blog (anywhere really) and you will be able to see how many clicks you got on that link. The following screen capture shows three links that I shortened and the results within an hour of sending them out.




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Education in South Africa is in trouble

The following graphic comes from the You magazine, 19 November 2009. It makes one think, doesn't it?



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Thursday, November 19, 2009

Gauteng gets new vehicle number plates

As it goes in South Africa, the government (whether provincial or national), always finds ways to make more money from its citizens. That is how it seems with the new number plate scheme.

newGPnumberplates

The blue BB00BB GP plates are the standard issue plates. The black PB00BB GP plates are most likely for police services. The green HEITA GP is for personalized plates such as HOTROD GP. Finally, the red GB00BB GP plates are for government vehicles.

It is not that I am against new number plates, since Gauteng will run out of numbers by mid-2010 on its current BBB000 GP number scheme. Vehicles can keep their current numbers beyond that time, but they have to get those numbers re-stamped on the new metal plates. Even though the the new plates will be "equipped with a 2D barcode and a passive electronic chip," ostensibly for security and to stop falsification of plates, it still seems to be another money making scheme. It just would have been so much easier if only newly registered vehicles would be issued with these plates.

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Wednesday, November 18, 2009

100 Open Courses and 100 Audio Books

A while ago Amber Johnson sent me a link to "100 Awesome Open Courses for Bibliophiles." Here you will find all kinds of open courses to do online. They have courses on literature, foreign literature, linguistics, books and manuscripts, poetry and drama, ancient texts, non-fiction and more.

I also saw that Dan Phillips wrote a note on "100 Free Audio Books You Should Have Read By now." Here you will find audio books from the UK, Europe, classic mysteries and thrillers, biographies and autobiographies, children's literature and poetry. Have you ever wanted to read Moby Dick? You can listen to it now! What about The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin? It is there too! You will find Black Beauty, The wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, The Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen and even History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol I by Edward Gibbon.

Go, educate yourself! Go, read!

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Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Are these pictures photoshopped?

For more of the same, click here.

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Famous pictures manipulated

Pictures we see in magazines and newspapers aren't always what they seem. See the following two pictures.

doctored_photos_01

doctored_photos_02

Now visit Amazing Facts for the other 9 famous pictures that were manipulated!

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