After the government recently legalized the growing of weed for medicinal purposes, a lot of people may be considering growing it- even though it comes with a hefty license fee- but this article in The Guardian should give them pause. The article is about the price of weed in Oregon, which has plummeted due to too many growers who produce three times what the state…
What I’m Reading This Week
This week I’m reading Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. It is a book I started many years ago but never finished but to which I’m returning because I made a resolution to declutter my reading lists this week. The fiction book I’m reading this week is Blood and Bone by Ian Esselmont. Again this is a book I’ve been reading for the past three months and…
The Absurdity of Tanzania’s Cyber Laws
In another ridiculous African decision, the government of Tanzania recently signed into law regulations that , among other things, require bloggers to pay a fee for the right to own, maintain and publish a blog. Reports the CNN: It’s not just bloggers affected by the provisions, but online radio stations, online streaming platforms, online forums, social media users and internet cafes. The “Electronic and Postal…
The Android Apps I Use
There has been a discussion about the apps we use in our phones in the Techzim Whatsapp group and I thought I should list mine here and why I use them. These, then, are my favorite Android apps, the ones I install on every Android device- and all of them are free. Inbox by Gmail: This is my preferred email client. Twitter: No explanation required….
The Gym…Again
After the holiday I’m told I’ve gained weight. Good thing we don’t have the girther movement here. Of course I disagree and I’m prepared to defend myself against such malicious allegations. Though, if truth be told, I’ve had one too many beers and other unhealthy stuff- but that was just me cultivating mass. Bulking up, so to speak. Who doesn’t want to bulk up? But,…
Ronaldino, Football’s Smile
Everything has something that makes it beautiful. That’s kinda meaningless I know. In fact what I wanted to say is every sport has someone who makes it beautiful. For football it was/is Ronaldino, who, the newspapers report, has resigned. But, God, he made the beautiful game,indeed, beautiful. That’s why there’s this great article on him in the Guardian. Brilliant, like Ronaldino himself. The ever-smiling Brazilian…
A Brand New Year
Happy new year everyone. I realise I’m over two weeks late but, as they say, better late than never. Hope you all had a great festive season and drank plenty of beer with family and friends. I did. Been quite a while since I last wrote anything and in the meantime so much has happened. So much, in fact, that my life- and the lives…
On GOT Season 7, Morality and Other Things
Game of Thrones season 7 ended last week and since then we’ve been rightly wondering what to do with our lives until Season 8 begins. And that, if reports are to be believed, is not anytime soon. Anyway I have written a review of the seventh Season. It’s on the Techzim website here. Please do check it out. In other news the craziness in Africa…
Activism and Outrage in the Digital Age
When First Lady Grace Mugabe allegedly assaulted a young South African model a few weeks ago she probably thought nothing of it. She is, after all, a First lady and such small things cannot inconvenience anyone of her stature- or so she thought. What happened, instead, is that the girl took to Twitter and her outrage became the outrage of thousands of people. The South…
The death of compassion and ethics in the age of selfies
The Herald reports a horrific accident that occurred a few days ago when two cars collided and more than 10 people were burnt beyond recognition in the resulting inferno. An unlikely hero of that terrible event is a guy who was herding cattle. He pulled a number of people to safety from the burning vehicles. Says the Herald: “We spent almost 30 minutes before any…