Just a Bunch of Notes from Africa

Is the Battle for the Rhinoceros on its Last Legs?

2012-03-03T16:26:00.000+02:00

Southern African conservation of the rhinoceros is severely threatened despite years of intensive preservation effort, mostly by private enterprise and non-governmental entities. Renewed demand for rhinoceros horn, basically a material called keratin, similar to hair and nails, has stepped up the pressure upon Africa’s most treasured fauna heritage. Criminal syndicates are hard at play while

Talking Photography: Colour Temperature #photography

2012-02-23T20:49:00.006+02:00

A short while ago this blog touched on the subject of white balance. Another aspect to successful photography is having some knowledge about colour temperature, or the characteristics of available light. What does that mean? Well, to put it simply, the environment in which you are taking photographs is not consistent in ambient temperature from area to area; or region to region; and, indeed,

Poultry By-product Dumping into Zimbabwe an Issue

2012-02-15T11:53:00.000+02:00

Zimbabwe’s well established poultry industry has excelled during the last year despite many challenges facing producers within the sector. More recently the Zimbabwean government imposed duty surcharges on foreign produced dressed poultry products, amongst other food imports. This is an attempt to further protect local industries against competitive imports, a lead issue for egg and broiler meat

Darling, Come See My Wildlife Etchings...

2012-01-30T17:23:00.000+02:00

With the explosion of digital cameras, from 'point and shoot' equipment, which most can afford, to the very sophisticated equipment available to the more affluent; everyone is armed to the teeth with camera equipment to take photographs. People or portraiture, seem to be the object of this fascination for photography as millions of family and friend 'mug-shots' will tell, but this amazing wave

Andrew Talks Photography: White Balance #photography

2012-01-23T19:59:00.002+02:00

Colour is probably the single most important aspect of taking any image which you intend to publish in some form or other; be this on a website, or perhaps as a photograph to hang on the wall, or to print in a magazine or book. Even monochrome images require balance between the white and black constituents of the image. By all accounts, colour is a very technical subject and there are several

Power: The Indigenous Hiccough and Coal

2012-01-22T16:09:00.001+02:00

The exploitation of vast resources of coal in Botswana into viable exports to Asian and eastern nations, such as India and China has, apparently, a Zimbabwean impediment. Studies into the more viable routes to get Botswana’s coal reserves to the sea opt for routes which transverse either Namibia or Mozambique (via Zimbabwe). The latter, with its port at Ponta Techobanine, is considered the

Big Brother's Long Arm of Credit Rating

2012-01-19T16:24:00.005+02:00

What do you all understand by a credit bureau or indeed a credit rating bureau? The history of bureaux have been the establishment of databases which carried mostly negative information, such as civil defaults on loans or debt and perhaps even criminal records. These often operated on the old saying, 'once a thief, always a thief' and once you suffered a civil judgement against you then you could

You Don’t Have To Be A Brain Scientist To Steal

2012-01-15T12:44:00.006+02:00

You do not have to be a brain scientist to steal, which probably explains why there is so much theft going on. Particularly prominent in this silent and stealthy larceny is the thievery of digital creative works, be these movies, your written works, software, music or simply just images. Digital technology has made crime just so much easier. Those who make the effort, outlaying their time and

Speed, Guns and Tobacco Kill: Vehicle manufacturers get off lightly

2012-01-08T10:46:00.004+02:00

Speed trapping is probably the single most used law enforcement method to combat road deaths. One might however question whether this does in fact save lives or whether it is merely window dressing enforcement to generate general compliance with the rules of the road. For want of a better word the imposition of fines gets a wee bit ‘pedantic’ for those who are travelling at say 65kph in a 60kph

Sir, You Just Went Through an Orange Light...

2012-01-05T17:29:00.002+02:00

Traffic policing in most countries has evolved into a science almost. The utilisation of highly technical gadgetry must surely make traffic law enforcement the one area of policing that holds hands with science. Today’s breathalyser tests are a feat of chemical engineering on their own. The highly sophisticated use of laser and radar technology for speed trapping has evolved with number plate

Happy New Year Bunkum

2011-12-31T20:27:00.004+02:00

As we lay 2011 to rest, many of us are reflecting on the year which has past and others are jubilant about the year about to begin. There is a gushing of resolutions to change and do better, be happier and so on. Now what is all the fuss about, what makes 1 January such a special day, giving rise to a better New Year? The calendar is merely a part of a cycle of time and it seems that the start

Have a Laugh: Africa’s Spotted Hyena

2011-12-29T22:11:00.008+02:00

I just love Africa's rich folklore about the hyena, particularly the spotted hyena, or as some call it, the 'laughing hyena', but some European folklore is equally as racy. Some suggest that this goes back to the ancient Greeks, from whence its name is derived, who believed that the hyena could change its sex, from male to female and then back again (hermaphrodism), since both male and female

Hippo Company

2011-12-22T15:16:00.006+02:00

The hippo (Hippopotamus amphibious) is wonderfully interesting animal, which has a common ancestry, apparently, to the pig. It seems such a calm, if not 'cute', and passive beast in the water, body submerged with just nostrils, eyes and ears exposed. The hippo is anything but, being one of the most dangerous animals in Africa accounting for more human deaths in the wild than any other mammal,

Google+ Still Getting the Thumbs Down, But Wait... There is More

2011-12-20T15:56:00.002+02:00

I still cannot say that Google+ is my favourite social networking site. I guess, in many respects, part of the reason many ‘punters’ are not taking to it is that some of its features are a little overwhelming or labour intensive. Circles seem to be the most consuming feature here, if you actually want Google+ to work for you. Circles allow you to classify the nature of your social contacts

The Social Media Threat: Myth or Revolution

2011-12-18T14:59:00.000+02:00

Zimbabwe has a poor record for press freedom and transparency. The suppression of the private press by the former ruling party is well chronicled, yet freedom of expression is so fundamental to the constitution. Somehow the more open and technologically advanced media, such as the internet, or more specifically social media, has evaded the thinking of crinkly, party political, old salts (or the

Book Review: Three Sips of Gin

2011-12-14T21:45:00.001+02:00

Timothy G Bax Published by Masai Publisher, Inc. (Web site - to review/purchase) ISBN:978-0-615-45552-5 I suppose when one settles into an autobiography in which many of those named are known to you, one acquires a sense of comfort. For Rhodesians who did any time in the military or associated services, the surroundings are familiar, you have been there before and you have stepped in the

Social Overloading: Network failings

2011-12-14T14:34:00.002+02:00

You have probably heard of information overload, a term discussed in Alvin Toffler's book, Future Shock, back in the 1970s. If not, you have probably had the symptoms of sensory overload, which is still perceived to cause disorientation and lead to a lack of response to what is happening in your environment. Any of this sound familiar? It should be. Social networking is the modern day

Social Influencing Through Likes For Heroes... Not So Many For The ‘Grovellers’

2011-12-06T15:51:00.000+02:00

Do you like me? Have you pressed a little button on my profile lately and told me so, not having a clue about who I really am? Indeed, have you tried to call me on a one to one basis and tell me you like me? Well I know you have not; in fact I am pretty sure many would cringe a little if one of their networking ‘fans’, friends or connections, actually called you on the phone and told you

Networkers do it En Masse... Never One to One

2011-12-05T16:08:00.004+02:00

I do not know about you, but it seems yours truly is wasting just a little too much time on this social networking cult. In fact it is a bit of a chore if you are one of those people who believe it important to maintain your rankings or ratings on those scoring networks like Klout (which seems to be falling out of favour recently), Peer Index or some other application like for example Empire

Corrupt States: Outcome Choices - Democracy or Revolution

2011-12-04T14:53:00.000+02:00

One may ask, is there some correlation between democracy and corruption? It would seem there is. Those countries with autocratic or ‘president for life’ dictatorships, or those that suffer democracy challenges, seem to have a higher ranking, for being lofty in their corruptness, than those with more stable democracies. The recently released Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perceptions

Destroy Clarkson: Burn him at the Stake... hate... hate

2011-12-03T16:55:00.000+02:00

The Director The BBC Dear Comrade Destroy Clarkson: Burn him at the Stake... hate... hate While watching TV just the other day, I saw that bastard presenter, Clarkson, you know the one who burns loads of fuel and is a major cause of global warming, making scabby and inciteful statements about shooting our comrades in front of their families! I mean, when I heard that I coughed the remnants of

Censorship: Transparency versus Ethics

2011-11-20T10:57:00.000+02:00

Last week a controversy exploded in the South African media concerning the alleged muzzling of the press by a high flying politician with an apparently shady background involving arms deals corruption. In Zimbabwe, a partisan police force invaded the offices of a local weekly newspaper looking for evidence which might incriminate journalists who wrote a piece about an apparently failed medical

I am Rich, I am Rich!

2011-11-19T13:09:00.001+02:00

I passed a little Empire Avenue milestone at the weekend. I have just made E10 million on the social networking game. Would it not be perfect if we could generate these figures in real money. Well I did once, and much, much more as Zimbabwe’s economy spiralled down with the world’s worst inflation ever recorded... I was a multi Quadrillionaire... a big shot in a tiny little pond of the world’s

Are you Password Savvy?

2011-11-14T18:15:00.000+02:00

I do not profess to be an expert on this subject, but I have experienced the pain of others who have succumbed to the loss of their e-mail accounts, including valuable contact data. Recently a friend of mine lost his Yahoo email account to webmail hackers. They closed down his access to the account completely and then started sending nefarious spam to pull the emotional strings of his entire

Composition: The Niggling Rules

2011-11-05T11:00:00.006+02:00

We frequently hear reference to the rule of thirds in our exploits with competitive photography, but rarely do we hear about the other rules of composition in the visual arts. Rules denote the need for conformity, so perhaps we should refer to them as principles. Some of these principles, which have evolved over centuries of art, are just as important as the thirds principle. These rules or

Back to School Blues: Zimbabwe gets the Dunce’s Cap

2011-10-17T14:52:00.000+02:00

Recently, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation published its extremely comprehensive rankings of African governance providing a pretty interesting insight. On their web site, the Foundation indicates that it compiles its measure of ‘effective delivery of public goods and services to citizens’ from no less that 86 indicators and from 23 data providers. Saliently, Zimbabwe is not doing too well. Out of

2011-10-16T14:03:00.000+02:00

Today I am sharing a simple before and after photoblog with you... out of Africa Before Three Buffalo - by Andrew Field After The closer the bone.... - by Andrew Field Life in Africa can be harsh... the reality is nothing is fair.

Copyright: Be Aware of its Limitations

2011-10-14T22:55:00.002+02:00

Photographers, and indeed all artists and creative people, have rights to the protection of their work in terms of international copyright laws. No matter how much you may claim your right to a copyright or however well notified the public is of your rights, this does not mean all you believe is protected by copyright is actually protected. There is vast opinion on the subject of what splits an

Criticism - It should be open Season

2011-10-13T16:03:00.003+02:00

For those who venture into poetry, writing and various art forms, in my case it is photography, there comes a time when your work is subjected to some form of critique. Most open forums I know of suffer the ‘positive critique syndrome’, where anyone can offer a favourable, sometimes gushing, comment about how good your work is, clearly without offending you in any way. The ‘good old like’

A funny thing called ISO

2011-10-12T20:16:00.003+02:00

Catching actions shots just before sun-up or after sun-down in the African bush can actually be quite a challenging task, particularly when the action is in the shade of the bush. Getting a sharp picture, with little ‘noise’ is just near impossible. Here is the toss up. The players are shutter speed, aperture and ISO (sensitivity settings on your sensor). Because we are into action we need to

So you want an iPad...

2011-10-11T18:48:00.000+02:00

It is happening every day, to everyone, but I was introduced to another level of personal computing recently, that being the iPad. Yes, I know that they have been around for a while, but I have never really taken to Apple products and systems, simply because much of the applications software I get any utility from sit on either Microsoft or Linux platforms. Principally, accounting packages,

Political Game Conservation Woes

2011-09-24T14:58:00.000+02:00

Zimbabwe’s south eastern Lowveld features a number of intensive natural conservation areas and the Gonarezhou National Park, a wildness region destined to form part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park. The domain of the Transfrontier Park is expected to see its international boundaries (between Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe) rubbed off the map in a way, allowing free migration of its

Elephants Pirouette in Africa

2011-09-19T20:12:00.000+02:00

The most majestic of the African mammals must surely be the elephant. I know the lion is meant to be king, but our marvellous pachyderms seem to behave much more like kings. They are such gentle beasts, going about their daily browsing with not too much ado, when left alone. They are well respected by our regal lions, and other predators, which dare not impose their will. Elephants seem to

Lion Kill!

2011-09-14T13:33:00.000+02:00

The other day, there I was travelling along a dirt road, after dusk, minding my own business, but keeping an eye open for lions, which were, apparently, in the area. We had been told by others on the road behind us to look out for a pride in the area. At the suspected location we stopped and our guide, Johnny, alighted to see if he could pick up spoor or see elements of the pride. Within

Oh No, Not Another Score!

2011-09-06T14:40:00.000+02:00

Well its back to scoring I am afraid. I have just come across a blog which outlines a new scoring system on Ecademy... based on an algorithm apparently designed by William Buist, a member of Ecademy. My stakes are falling! Now don’t worry I shall not be leaping off the 43rd floor just yet, in fact I am not sure I would find one in Zimbabwe. In the doldrums again... ranks and score down...

The Wonder of Digital

2011-09-05T14:45:00.001+02:00

{EAV_BLOG_VER:304b63a0c1c4a78b}One of the wonders of digital photography is not the tech-savvy stuff, but the mere fact that it is possible to share your images with millions of people. I remember the ‘good old’ days of film photography, which I guess ages me slightly, when we would shoot a load of photographs and then pop down to our local processor to get those negatives developed. I used to

Succession

2011-09-04T16:10:00.000+02:00

Perhaps the most sensitive matter to being thinking about within the ZANU(PF) ranks is that of the matter of succession. That is, the succession of the octogenarian president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe when he either steps down, or dies. Love him, or hate him, the president is not ready to move on and clearly his succession is an issue which, to him, is best left on the shelf for the time being

Somewhere South of the African Equator

2011-09-03T17:12:00.000+02:00

During the last few weeks we have seen some outrage expressed for and against punishment of offenders following the recent riots in the United Kingdom. Heckles and emotions have been raised and evidently there is quite a lobby against cruel, brutal, inhuman and degrading treatment of offenders, understandably so. Punishment, per se, by its nature, can be and is perceived as cruel, particularly

Foursquare - Thumbs down in Zimbabwe

2011-09-03T12:34:00.001+02:00

One little network I was asked to consider the other day is one called Foursquare. This is a location-based social networking website based on GPS-enabled mobile devices, according to Wikipedia. The idea is to ‘check-in’ when you arrive at a social venue, be it a restaurant, a shopping centre or a nightclub, perhaps. That way, those who share your Foursquare network will know where you are,

What's my Score?

2011-08-31T17:42:00.000+02:00