Diakonia Good Friday Service

ICC: Good Friday 6 April from 6:15am

The 22nd Annual Diakonia Council of Churches’ Good Friday Service will be held on Good Friday, Friday 6 April 2007 at the Durban International Convention Centre (ICC) at 6:15am and the guest preacher is Bishop Rt Revd Rubin Phillip speaking on the theme: We Overcome Through the Cross.

Singing starts at 5:15am at the International Convention Centre. Bishop Rt Revd Rubin Phillip will preach the sermon at the service which starts at 6:15am. Thereafter the congregation will process through the streets of Durban in silence. The service will conclude at approximately 8.15am on the steps of the City Hall with the flowering of the Cross, an act of commitment by all present to work for the eradication of poverty.


The Diakonia Council of Churches – which celebrated 30 years of service to Church and Community last March – is focusing on the churches’ response to serious poverty-related issues in this region. A year ago, Diakonia published The Oikos Journey: a carefully-researched resource document which is a theological reflection on the economic crisis in South Africa bringing together the voices of the poor with analysis of the systems that keep the poor in their place. It looks at the economic injustices in society and to try and find ways of helping the churches to get to grips with these. To this end, they will continue with their focus on Poverty as the theme for Diakonia’s Good Friday service again this year.


Entry to the Good Friday Service is free and all are most welcome to participate in this significant, multi-lingual Christian Easter event. For more information – contact the Diakonia Council of Churches on 031 310 3500.

IOL gets Zoopy'd

From the Zoopy blog

Just today, IOL leapfrogged stuck-in-the-mud thinking and embedded a Zoopy video in one of their stories.

Someone from Zoopy HQ was at the Solidarity in Action / Freedom of Expression protest outside the SABC in Sea Point yesterday and uploaded the footage to our iWitness News photo and video channels. IOL happened to cover the event and, for the benefit of their readers jumped at the opportunity to enhance the written article with some video footage of the event, which we were only too happy to share.

Have a look at just a small example of what South Africans can achieve online, when we put our heads and hearts together:
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3015&art_id=vn20070329093103423C456687

Zoomr a free, multi-lingual photosharing site

Some pics from Zoomr


With Zooomr, photos are no longer just photos -- they are emotions, ideas, and stories meant to be shared and explored. Zooomr helps you share them with the world. Here's how:

Show your favorite photos to the entire world in anyone's language
Actually put your photos on the map!
Add sound to your photos
Define who's inside a photo and maybe become famous
Feel at ease when sharing private photos with friends and family members
..And if you think that's cool, just see what's next

18 year old Chris Tate is the coding expert responsible for Zooomr, one of the most popular photo websites on the net.

He has been using computers since he was four years old - and not just bashing his fingers on a keyboard as though it were a toy.

"At four I was working with my dad's Apple Mac. He brought home Code Warrior programming software and compilers and I started coding. I liked seeing how things ticked.

"I was able to build things and share it with other people.

"Zooomr is a combination of all my past experiences, bringing them all together into one solution."

Tate built Zooomr initially for friends but launched it to the world soon after. The site was mentioned on prominent technology blog TechCrunch and within hours picked up buzz on the blogosphere.

DIY Planner templates

Are you one of those really organised people? How do you do it, do you make many lists? Is so you'll love this site. If not, take a look anyway and maybe you'll be able to use one of the templates to become more organised.

Pet Care diary, business expenses, minutes of meeting, mileage log, this site has a DIY Planner template just for you.

Quote of the day

The consumer is in control

With the rapidly expanding media landscape, marketers and advertisers have never faced more challenges in reaching consumers, giving them what they want -- when they want it -- and finding brand success and longevity in the interactive space.

Maria Mandel, partner, executive director of digital innovation for Ogilvy Interactive, opened the floor at the 2007 iMedia Breakthrough Summit with some solutions on how to best involve and interact with consumers on their terms, and with some of the more effective approaches to building brands and developing relationships where they count.

Renaming her keynote "Consumer Control," Mandel stressed that the crux of the media world is that the consumers are in the driver's seat, and that it's up to them to determine how to interact with your brand or content.

read more

Socially Responsible Investing

SocialFunds.com -- Socially responsible investing (SRI) experienced a landmark year in 2006 on so many fronts that any one of the SocialFunds Top Five SRI News Stories could have taken the number one spot in any of the previous seven years we published this list. The sheer number of green investing developments, combined with the gravity of the climate crisis they address, made this topic rise to the top of the list this year. On par with this, however, is the significance of Muhammad Yunus winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

The launching of the Principles of Responsible Investment by the United Nations is numbered fifth, but clearly it is a development of global importance for SRI. So the number ranking is less important than the compilation and analysis of the most significant SRI events that transpired in 2006 to help project what 2007 likely holds in store.

Read more

We do live in a diverse world!

Best Quote Of 2006?

"You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy,the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America's Cup, France is accusing the U.S. of arrogance, Germany doesn't want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in America are named Bush, Dick, and Colon. --Comedian Chris Rock

Top Ten Mobile Phone markets

The mobile market is shifting to developing countries, with nine emerging markets in the top 10 mobile markets.

In terms of net adds, India ranks first, followed by China, Pakistan, Russia, and the USA.

Among emerging markets, the top 10 ranking gives first India with about 74m new adds in 2006 and agrowth rate of 97%; second is China with almost 68m new mobile users and agrowth rate of 17%; then Pakistan with 29m new users and 147% growth rate; Russia is fourth with respectively more than 26m new subscribers and +21%; Indonesia follows with 23M and +39%; Ukraine reports 19m and +63%; seventh is Brazil with almost 14m and +16%; Bangladesh with 12m new users and +135%; Nigeria is ninth with respectively 11.5m and +38%; Vietnam is the tenth market with 10m new mobile subscribers and +80% growth rate.

In these countries, mobile penetration is very important as it fills the lack of fixed-line connectivity and help the country' s GDP increase by 0.6% for every 10% increase in mobile phone penetration.

http://telcoflashnews.over-blog.com/

Flags of death

The red flags represent those who have died in in war in Iraq.

See more pictures

How to say F-off in a nice way

The Ultimate Rejection Letter
Herbert A. Millington
Chair - Search Committee
412A Clarkson Hall, Whitson University
College Hill, MA 34109

Dear Professor Millington,

Thank you for your letter of March 16. After careful consideration, I
regret to inform you that I am unable to accept your refusal to offer me
an assistant professor position in your department.

This year I have been particularly fortunate in receiving an unusually
large number of rejection letters. With such a varied and promising field
of candidates, it is impossible for me to accept all refusals.

Despite Whitson's outstanding qualifications and previous experience in
rejecting applicants, I find that your rejection does not meet my needs at
this time. Therefore, I will assume the position of assistant professor
in your department this August. I look forward to seeing you then.

Best of luck in rejecting future applicants.

Sincerely,
Chris L. Jensen

SA Bill of Rights - DUT Celebrates

The Acting Vice Chancellor, Professor Gawe of the Durban University of Technology(DUT) is celebrating the SA Bill of Rights with the launch ceremony for the ‘Images for Human Rights’ Print Portfolio on the 19 March 2007 at 5pm for 5:30pm.

The venue is the Foyer Area of the D Block, 8th floor, M L Sultan Campus. Guest-speaker Adv Anil Naidoo, chair Art for Humanity.

The South African Bill of Rights enshrines the rights of all South Africans and affirms the democratic values of human dignity, equality and freedom was declared on the 8th of May 1996.

In celebrating the birth of our Bill of Rights the Images of Human Rights Portfolio, consists of 29 fine art prints, created by 28 artists representing the nine provinces of South Africa.

The artists reflect the diversity of South Africa, both culturally and by training. Some have a strong academic and cosmopolitan background, while others are self-taught with a rural upbringing. The collection was hand printed by master printmaker Jan Jordaan at the Dept. of Fine Art, DUT, signed and titled by the participating artists.

Each image in the collection depicts a Clause of South Africa's Bill of Rights, by virtue of which our country has joined the community of nations which respects and upholds human rights.

The Images of Human Rights portfolio has traveled extensively as part of national and international exhibitions. It forms part of many art collections and it is also on display at the South African Constitutional Court.

Among the contributing artists is the internationally acclaimed Azaria Mbatha, the first South African artist to have works included in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Other artists are well known printmakers Philippa Hobbs from Johannesburg, Vedant Nanackchand, originally from Durban and Ndabenhle William Zulu from Vryheid, KZN. An open national competition won by Norman Kaplan of Port Elizabeth, produced the stunning image for the frontispiece of the portfolio. The end-piece is the creation Jan Jordaan.

The portfolio was launched at the Durban Art Gallery by Judge Albie Sachs of the Constitutional Court on International Human Rights day 10th December 1996.

Revelation

This first appeared in the late 90's as a type of chain letter - but i believe the stats are accurate.


If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100
people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would
look something like the following:

There would be:

57 Asians

21 Europeans

14 from the Western Hemisphere, both North and South America

8 Africans

52 would be female

48 would be male

70 would be non-white

30 would be white

70 would be non-Christian

30 would be Christian

89 would be heterosexual

11 would be homosexual

6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth;
all 6 would be from the United States.

80 would live in substandard housing

70 would be unable to read

50 would suffer from malnutrition

1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth

1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education

1 would own a computer

Removing me won't solve the problem

I saw this amazing post on Wooster Collective:
"i noticed how the police would move the homeless from street to street, doorway to doorway around the town. this gave me the inspiration for my latest piece "removing me wont solve the problem" a kind of twist on the removal of graffiti."... Mike Newton"

I'm always amused at the outrage and fuss over graffiti. I was heartened when the eThekwini municipality decided to erect a Graffiti wall at the skate park on the beachfront - but that was once again a "launch with no follow-up."

I don't know about elsewhere but South Africans are great at launches. We spend gazillions on glitzy and glam events to launch projects, websites, programmes etc and then... all the energy is gone.

The websites become old and stale; the programmes fizzle out or someone pushes off with the money and the projects sort of stutter on and dwindle away.

Some bravely soldier on with no maintenance until they fall apart.

But, I digress.

Removing the homeless, the streetkids ie cleaning up the cities before big events is just cosmetic - it doesn't solve the problem.

Books from Blogs - local blogger lined up for big prize

The Lulu Blooker Prize is the first literary prize for books from blogs.

So Close: Infertile and Addicted To Hope by local blogster Tertia Albertyn is one of the finalists.

With all the infighting and bickering going on surrounding the SA Blog Awards it is great to see something so positive coming out of the blogging community.

YGFIG! (you go for it girl)

Making your YouTube or Zoopy or MyVideo work

South Africa now has Zoopy and MyVideo as local video sharing sites, both which are gaining popularity as they grow their own fan-base.

With the billion dollar lawsuit from Viacom against YouTube in the air, one would hope that South Africans are a bit more clear of the legal boundaries before they place their videos on these sites because we have quite hectic copyright laws here in SA.

These videos that people make to share with the world are called virals.


LA-based Feed Company put together Social Video 101: a Primer, an example-ridden tutorial on why some Youtube "virals" work and others don't. Will your video start a conversation? Is it funny? Is it sexy? Is it something you'd share with your friends?

"Viral is video that you're prepared to share with your friends," says CEO Josh Felser of Grouper. "If you're not prepared to share it with your friends, it's not viral video."

Voice of the people@International Women's Day

Key findings of Gallup pole

Four out of ten global citizens still think that women do not have equal rights: this is according to the Voice of the People© survey, released by Gallup International for International Women's Day on 8 March. The poll, which interviewed over 60 000 people in 64 countries, also shows that a quarter of the surveyed population thinks education is more important for boys than for girls, although the vast majority expects both genders to contribute to a family’s household income.
Commenting on the results of this study, Meril James, Secretary General of Gallup International, said: “On International Women's Day, our Voice of the People© survey shows that although some progress has been made to improve women's rights, gender equality is still a goal that will need to be met in the decades to come.”

read more

New Look SA search engine

Ananzi before


Anazi After

Ananzi.co.za, South Africa's premier search engine and information portal, now boasts a fresher, less cluttered and more cutting-edge homepage. The new gray and white theme is in stark contrast to Ananzi's previous front-page identity, which consisted of yellow and black bars and headers.

The new Ananzi homepage, with the striking logo which stands out more so than before, consists of a myriad of value-added features including a sophisticated search bar, a condensed navigation bar and personalised info options. The new look and feel now allows prominence for advertisers, whilst not taking anything away from your Ananzi experience.

The new homepage features include:


* an innovative search bar with access tabs which allows you to search for a subject within a specific category, such as news, jobs or property.


* the "Ananzi Services" navigation bar on the left hand side now includes a second-tier drop-down menu, which appears as you move your mouse over the service categories.


* news, sport, weather and rates blocks, which can be customised to appear on the homepage and can also be moved up and down according to your preference.

"The homepage allows easy navigation for users and allows them to specifically look into a particular category, thus streamlining their search results. The news blocks now offer the option to customise the news available to them on the homepage. This new look and feel comes in the wake of listening to our users and supplying them with their demand," comments Managing Director of Ananzi.co.za, Mr. Mark Buwalda.

Mix and network on Muti

Muti, an Africa-focused social news platform driven by and for its users, is an alternative model of publishing making inroads into Africa, according to its creator Neville Newey, a South African based in California. “This model is untested in Africa but there are strong indicators that social news sites can, and will, grow within Africa, given time and development on the right platforms,” he says

Newey, who created Muti, and its sibling Newsmap, says that the response to Muti has been amazing, with the number of users growing daily.

Bizcommunity.com launches into Africa

After leading the South African business-to-business and online media in publishing daily news to the media, marketing and advertising community in South Africa, Bizcommunity.com is launching into Africa to provide our readers on the continent and advertisers with comprehensive and durable content country by country – adding to the 800 000 newsletters it already distributes monthly with SA-specific content in this industry.

Launching into the English-speaking territories on the continent to start with, Bizcommunity.com will on Thursday, 15 March 2007, go live with www.africa.bizcommunity.com in a total of 15 countries (including adjacent islands) that are deemed to be the prime movers in Africa north of South Africa. These are: Algeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. All of these countries have well developed communications and their advertising, marketing and media industries are robust and pro-active.

more

Freshlyground - Nomvula

When the missionaries came...

When the missionaries came, we had the land and they had the Bible. They taught us how to pray with our eyes closed. When we opened them, they had the the land and we had the Bible.

Jomo Kenyatta, first President of Kenya

Where to place ads on your webpage

In print layout there are unwritten rules about how and where advertising is placed on a page - from the bottom outside corners up and inward. But what about web pages? Doe it really matter where you place your advertising?

Oh yes, it does, says Joseph Carrabis. There are many factors to consider. The "voice of authority" in Western culture is located in the upper left. If you want to touch people's hearts, place the ad or video in the middle of the screen.

Read more about Branding and online Ad placement on iMedia Connection.

International Women's Day - lighting the candles

International Women's Day - we all celebrated together

International Women's Day - The Poets

International Women's Day - The Speakers

Nonhlanhla Mkhize (above) and Councillor Nomusa Mthethwa

International Women's day - some of the Durban group

International Women's Day...Futura kids

International Women's Day

International Women's Day was celebrated in Durban by Amnesty International South Africa Durban Group and the Futura High School Group. The theme was Championing the rights of Women and Girls.

America Is Still A Superpower

2007/8 line up for Ukhozi FM

Ukhozi FM’s new 2007/8 lineup which focuses on weekday time slots is a combination of established station and new radio personalities - radio and TV personality Sbusiso Leope aka DJ Sbu, formerly of YFM, will take over the breakfast show in April 2007 and Mandla Ngcobo, ex-Gagasi FM, joins the Ukhozi FM sports team.Two of the station’s long-serving and loyal personalities, Dudu “Lady D” Khoza and Linda “Mr Magic” Sibiya, will remain in the mid-morning show and afternoon drivetime respectively.

Lucky Sefatsa, who has been at helm in the breakfast show will move to the midday slot (12pm – 3pm) to take over from Bongi “BGM” Gumbi, who has been promoted into Ukhozi FM management as an executive producer in charge of the Johannesburg office.

According to Ukhozi, DJ Sbu is at the epitome of popular culture right now and his talent has been highly sought after, with a number of radio stations jostling for his service: With his effervescent persona, infectious brand of humour and wit, heart and mind that has an appeal across diverse audiences, DJ Sbu will be entrusted with an important responsibility of hosting the station’s most important slot, the breakfast show, from the beginning of April 2007. DJ Sbu will be assisted by the charming Sbonga Zungu to deliver a show that will become the mother of all breakfast shows in the country.

"Mandla’s versatility, experience, multiple talents and passion for radio will be put into good use in his new role as Ukhozi FM sports bulletin anchor on the weekday breakfast and the afternoon drive-time slot. Mandla’s resourcefulness will also be employed into the mainstream shows as he may be utilised as a substitute for other show hosts when the need arises,” concludes the press release.

www.bizcommunity.com

Countdown for 10th PRISA Prism Awards

Now in its 10th year, the PRISM Awards have received various outstanding entries on par with and sometimes exceeding international standards, according to organisers Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA). The awards ceremony will be held on 28 March 2007 at The Westcliff Hotel, Johannesburg.

“This year we received quite a few high profile campaigns that were very visible in the media and it was difficult for the judges to keep focused on the judging criteria. But the PRISM Awards is not just about these big brand campaigns, and we were really impressed with entries that covered the every-day PR programme,” says Bridget von Holdt, chairman of the PRISA Public Relations Consultants Chapter.
Read more on biz community

New Emblem for Parliament

Cape Town-based Switch Design Group will be rolling out the new emblem of the South African Parliament after competing against Enterprise IG Johannesburg in a paid-for creative pitch. The project will encompass the application of the new emblem to all Parliamentary collateral, including printed material, signage and television channel branding

The new emblem is the result of an intensive public participation process where all South Africans were asked to submit their proposed emblem design for a Parliament that is representative of, and responsive to, all the people of South Africa.Based on philosophyOver 2200 entries were received and finalists were invited to a workshop where four design directions were developed, based on the philosophy of Parliament.

Following a public call for tenders, six shortlisted design agencies were then required to present credentials displaying ability to roll the emblem out across a diverse number of applications.After a further shortlisting, Switch Cape Town and Enterprise IG Johannesburg were briefed to develop a proposed refinement of the emblem in a paid-for creative pitch. The presentations included not only the refinement, but application to a number of Parliamentary communication elements.

Paid-for pitch
Simon Arenhold, business director for Switch in Cape Town, says he is delighted that Parliament has taken the view of paying for a creative pitch as this afforded the agency the opportunity to spend a great deal of time developing a sound design concept.“In fact, the investment in the work during the pitch process was money well spent as much of what was conceptualised during that phase has been retained for the roll out,” comments Arenhold.

The emblem will be launched on 27 March 2007 at a gala ceremony in Cape Town

www.bizcmmunity.com

Why most women are liars

by

Malebo Lesejane

It’s known and accepted by all that men are liars by nature – they lie about the car they drive, what they had for lunch, and where they were last night. But according to Chris Rock: yes, men might tell the most lies, but women tell the biggest lies.Scenario: It’s Friday night, you’re ready to sweat, pick up your boys and hit the party scene (okay, okay, not very original – these are lyrics from an Aaliyah song).

Read more... Marketingweb

The woman in the picture is Meda, a well known model in India especially in Chenai and the photographer is Srini.

Some things change... and some don't

I took these pics a while ago at a place down the road. Every time I see these dummies on the pavement with the sign I have to smile because it would probably be too much to expect them to call these garments Protective Wear for Domestic Workers.

And you know what also amazes me is the frilly little caps and aprons they have with the Maidsets. I mean it is so Colonial!

Just watch the old Berea ladies and their "girls" shopping at Musgrave. The domestic workers, also usually not spring chickens themselves, are dressed up in overall, apron and doek or frilly cap - spic and span. (These are well dressed maids and madams on the Berea).

But often the fabric of the overalls is really so horrible to spend the whole day working in.

Surely the purpose should be to protect the clothes of the domestic worker or cleaner, not a dressed up symbol of servitude!

It is time that our women, especially those who were former trade unionists help get domestic workers organised and let them design their own protective wear.

Negative image of Africa

When you spend a lot of time on the Net you realise why Africa, and South Africa have such a negative image abroad. Most of the rest of the world is "connected" but we are not very interested in the Internet. South Africans use email; kids like games and it seems like the only other time one hears it mentions is when the word pedophile crops up in the same context.

The negative South Africans and the racists - well they gotta get their message out so they are switched on and you find their posts popping up all over the place in the blogs, in search engines in favourites. All I think of is what about all those people overseas who think this is the correct information? They are the ones who then spread the news. They are the people who won't come to visit, who block business deals who write negative articles in the media.

If all they read is the kind of stuff from - I don't know what to call them without being abusive - I'll give you a couple of websites to look at and you decide.

I support free speech absolutely, but I don't support hate speech. I am a journalist and I don't support lies masquerading as the truth in the name of propaganda. And racism - let's not go down that terrible tragic road again! Don't people learn from history?

Judge for yourself and please take action - I mean report them to whoever or write to them or something. But better than that, start your own blogs and websites talking about positive and good things that happen here. Warning, these blogs are scary!

http://getoutofsa.blogspot.com/
http://southafricaiscrap.blogspot.com/
http://deathofjohannesburg.blogspot.com/
http://www.africancrisis.org/Photos45.asp
http://cryforhelp.wordpress.com:80/
http://www.crimeisoutofcontrol.co.za:80/
http://therightperspectivepodcastblog.blogspot.com/
http://www.southafricathetruth.net/
http://zaregime.blogspot.com:80/
http://southafricasucks.blogspot.com/2007_02_01_archive.html

Angry sign

I googled myself - typed my name into Google - just to see if protocolinpractice was showing up and found this photo taken a fellow flkr snapper called Editor B, who lives in New Orleans, USA.

I can only hope that their aim is as bad as their spelling!

Racism - don't judge me for what I wear

John T is an 18 year old freshman at college in Indiana ,USA. He like 2Pac and Kanye West and he has a has a really cool page on MySpace, the biggest social networking site where people meet and socialise on the net.

He says: It seems that everywhere you go your always gonna be judged on what your wearing and not who you really are. You put a wave cap on, tilt your hat a certain way and its assumed your gangsta, a thug, a player. Why cant it just be you like the style and felt like dressing like that! Don't judge me for what I wear, but for who I am. But as I think about it becomes more evident to me that new styles and fashions that come out have only accomplished one thing and that is create separations between people!

One million blogs for peace

One million blogs for peace. Check it out.

How much beer does your country drink?

List of countries by beer consumption per capita. SA is only 22nd. I better start drinking, we've a long way to go to get to the top.



read more digg story

Top 10 Worst Marketing Gaffes, Flops, and Disasters

MacDonalds, Microsoft, Calvin Klein, the Hindenburg a cute robot that fell flat on its face and a very dead elephant - you must see this.



read more digg story

You have 10 minutes to name as many of the 54 African Countries as you can.

Test yourself with this challenge. You'll be surprised how little you know about Africa--yes, even less than you think you do.



read more digg story

Politicians on the "tube"

Remember the last American Presidential campaign and how Howard Dean built up his numbers by harnessing the powers of the internet? He did something that wasn’t supposed to work in politics – he gave up control to a bunch of bloggers and young voters.

David Weinberger, his online campaign manager explains: “The thing I think the Dean campaign got right was recognizing that... brand does not emanate from the center. Advertising does and marketing does, but actual awareness of and enthusiasm about a so-called brand comes from the market,"

“If you want to build a social network quickly, the only way to do it is by giving up some measure of control. Control throttles growth," he says. "So they very purposefully and explicitly gave up some control, a remarkable degree of control, over their message in order to allow the supporters to find one another" he said.

Well what does that mean for us here in South Africa with our Presidential succession race looming at the end of the year?

Does it not really touch us at all because we aren’t so internet-connected yet?

Or is it that the African National Congress still regards itself more of a liberation movement than a political party?

Maybe it is because the grassroots support – where the majority of votes comes from, after all, lie in the ANC branches? So, I guess we just leave it to the mainstream media to wildly speculate while the ANC does its own thing as it always has.

It would be nice if a few names were put up and people who declared themselves eligible for the position could post a channel with videos of a few topics and we, the voters could interact with them, ask questions. There are plenty of us who truly believe in people centered governance.

Reuters reported on 1 March that top White House candidates have unveiled their own YouTube video channels, pushing the 18-month-old Web video-sharing site even farther into the U.S. political mainstream.

They can post a video in which they speak on a given issue while members of the public will be able post a video response or questions for the candidate.

Politicians have the final say about what appears on their channels, but they still may be unable to prevent being caught up in what became known last year as the "macaca" phenomenon.

Republican Senator George Allen of Virginia, lost a closely fought election after getting some unwanted publicity when a video showed up on YouTube of him calling a rival's staffer "macaca" -- an African monkey and sometimes a racial slur. The rival's staffer was of Indian origin.

Jordan Hoffner, YouTube director of content partnerships, said candidates might get the most benefit from their channels by being as open as possible.

Some of the politicians you can watch and interact with are Hilary Clinton, Barak Obama, and Rudi Giuliani.

Ubuntu way of copyright

"Creative Commons provides free tools that let authors, scientists, artists, and educators easily mark their creative work with the freedoms they want it to carry"

Those were the fist words I read when I landed on this site that explained a very Ubuntu philosophy of copyright to me. We all know that is it almost impossible to police the Internet, but we can appeal to the good and the decent in us when we post something that we created.

Creative commons is a copyright licensing method for websites, blogs, photographs etc with All Rights Reserved and Some Rights Reserved options.

I don't know how this would hold up in a South African court, maybe someone can tell me, but I think in many ways cyberspace is a world of its own, with its own rules and regulations. It is a pity people only ready about Internet porn and bomb recipes - they don't read about people across the globe linking together and forming online communities, not based on gender or race or social status. These communities are usually based on shared interests.

Have a look at Creative Commons - it makes you wish the real world lived up to these kind of ideals.

Flipping great idea

Remember those little books you made where you flipped the pages to show your picture move - like in the movies? Sometimes you even got hold of REAL flip books from America or tiny ones in Christmas crackers.

I guess I'm showing my age. We used to draw pictures near the edge of the pages of books (usually school books) and then flip them to make the figures move - our own version of animation.

Well Flippies has decided to re-engineer the concept as an amazing marketing tool, proving that something really simple and straightforward is often the best way to go. Their blurb says:

"Use Flippies for your creative premiums, event handouts, sports promotions and tradeshow giveaways. They're also great for movie tie-ins and entertainment marketing premiums and creative promotion ideas. Flip books are perfect for turning your marketing ideas into creative pharmaceutical promotion materials, retro marketing items, kids promo items and other promotional products."