This might be something that can help you? I.e. installing the apk directly and sidestepping Google Play which is what I assume is in your way...
Hey, just a quick one as I'm on my phone: this is probably mad overkill but I can't help thinking that this is a good use case for many of the techniques mining exploration people use for mapping geological features (exploration geophysics). It's not my personal focus but I think you'd have a good chance of finding the pipe using ground-penetrating radar or electrical resistance tomography (where I live the domestic sewer pipes are plastic but maybe you might have luck with a metal detector too). Some guys that I work with spent some time trying to use these to do realtime crevasse detection and I believe it's the same technique used for archaeological surveys. Whether it's a commercially available service with a reasonable price tag I'm not so sure. Anyway as I said it's probably overkill but it immediately popped into my head so I thought I'd share. Cheers.
Thinking about this a bit more I feel it highlights something that I've been struggling to make sense of - complexity. Our first tendency is to try and look for simple explanations which can boil down an event or thing such that we draw some conclusion from it. It's becoming increasingly clear to me that almost any problem which is an important problem is probably a wicked problem. One with multiple layers of complexity that take a lot of work and understanding to peel back. (That's one of the things I wanted to do with these posts - start to peel back at least some of those layers to see what can be learned in looking at far-away issues with a bit more context than usual.) The trouble with grappling with complexity is that it gets paralysing after a while - my work is in trying to make mining do better and it's a daily struggle to convince myself that I can even make a difference. Trying to imagine solutions to or even causes of internecine political conflict on the other side of the country is even harder. How do we manage actually understanding problems on a fundamental level without becoming swamped by the complexity of it? For now I'm taking the route of digging deeper where I can - maybe there is light somewhere down at the bottom...
Thirsty is a good word. The Cederberg is equally stunning in its own way. We stayed on a farm there on the way down and were quite excited to check out the prehistoric Khoisan rock art they apparently had. Turns out the previous guests who stayed there had chiselled it out of the rock face and taken it with them... utterly mind-bending. This stuff is sometimes thousands of years old...
I think the biggest strangeness in this whole debate is that there is now supposedly a dichotomy between organic and GMO. In my mind I don't see them as mutually exclusive but I guess it depends on how you define such. If all crops used by humans have been "genetically modified" in some way, how the modification or trait selection is a problem in and of itself is not clear to me. Arguably the debate should be more around the systems which underpin them today - increased fertiliser usage, land degradation, monoculture, seed monopolies, scale of production etc. For example, imagine a scenario where GMOs are developed for the public good - drought resistance, productivity increases, whatever. These are then cultivated in line with organic "principles" i.e. companion cropping, no-till, reduced reliance on synthetic fertiliser - take your pick. Where is the contradiction? I'm not sure there is one and maybe it can help to address the problems with food production we have today.
Thanks. I think you've actually captured my intentions quite nicely. The primary reason why I wanted to do this was to try and capture my thoughts somewhere where it can have some value-add, and I think hubski is the right kind of space for that. Underneath that is however the fact that I've been thinking a lot lately. I went through what you might call a "life changing" experience last year that really shifted my perspective on a lot of things. South Africa is my home. I don't want to live anywhere else. But it's become clear to me that we can't just rest on our laurels and expect things to get better organically. At the very least it's necessary to start to define what kind of a future is the one I want for myself and those around me. This definition in turn requires that I grapple with the big issues so that I can have a clarity of purpose in what I do. 50% theoretical framework, 50% moral conviction. The big question that umbrellas over all the others is one of identity and belonging. How do define myself and what I stand for in a country with mega baggage and a suspect future? So no, it won't be a sociology lecture, not least because I'm an engineer but also because of the perception thing I spoke about - I can only work with what I've got and what I get from others (this touches a bit on the subsequent responsibility to hear what others have to say). Lastly, being an engineer, this is really my first foray into 1st personal writing so you may need to be gentle in that respect!
I'm not 100% sure what you mean. Do you mean the legal situation that led to the Charter being written in opposition to the laws of the time, or more around the process of its drafting?
This is pretty interesting. I tend to use my card wherever I can but that doesn't cover nearly enough of the occasions where I'd spend money to say that I don't need cash and so I usually try to have what must be about 15 USD on me. Firstly, taxis only take cash and actually I think they prefer coins. On campus I don't think any of the food vendors take cards and while there are ATMs it's quite a schlep with queues and all. Not to mention that most of these transactions are going to be like 2 USD so the POS card charges wouldn't be pretty. Bars/clubs are another one - minimum card transaction is often about 6 beers' worth so obviously it's best avoided. I also don't think I've ever seen anyone pay entrance with a card. It would be nice if something like m-pesa would take off because after all that, carrying cash is a bit of a liability. Some people are saying that they have like 40 USD which is a bit much for me to risk... edit: my roommate informs me that he never carries cash (mugging risk), and that he draws money when he does need it.
Haha yes I suppose this is confusing, I'm not talking about metered taxis but rather minibus taxis which operate more like public transport. They only drive certain routes and you just get on and off wherever along the way. At the moment there are a number of reasons why expecting them to have card machines would be strange but in terms of the future it's certainly possible that this might change. As for the meter taxis, here there are two options: you can either use the fancier "brand name" guys which are starting to have card readers more often, or the pirate style guys who drive busted 1990 Camry's and take the taxi sign off the roof when the cops are nearby. Needless to say they don't take plastic. As for POS I was under the impression that certain account/card packages do carry charges for the user. Otherwise I don't know why they would list it as a charge in the brochure? Like you say most people (myself included) don't worry about the cost to the vendor so ja... Minimum transactions are just a thing here then I suppose, it might again have to do with preventing people from making large numbers of card transactions and racking up fees for the business - perhaps the fees are relatively higher?
I wouldn't say usually, but often: In the summer it certainly is but in winter you also get a few nice days (that was one). The photo is from Cape Town, on the mountainside.
Put it down to like 50% lighting, 50% potato camera
Oh yay, someone else reading this! I peeked through the different sections and the commentary/lectures seem like such a great addition. What drew you to the book?
Ha, I think that's the first thing I checked... In one sense it's great that there can be so much uncertainty in the word when presumably the interpretation must have been obvious at the time it was written.
I suspect you're right in that most people perpetuating casual racism don't view themselves as racist. Like you say, there's a feeling that we've moved beyond race and that people should just get on with the bootstrap pulling. When the flag represents nothing more to you than a shared cultural experience (using shared loosely considering that it's not really the most inclusive "share") then I'd say you have other issues at hand. It shows that they haven't considered what it must be like to see the flag through any other lens than their own. Or perhaps more frighteningly, considered it but came to the conclusion that the other experience was not "that bad" or whatever. IMO you'll never have any kind of meaningful reconcilliation until people are able to identify with the lived experiences of the other group. edit: on rereading I see this might seem like I'm implying that you (BB) think this way - when I say "you" I mean it generally
Just to add some more context to the question of "who uses whatsapp", in South Africa basically everyone with a smartphone uses it. It's a verb in the same sense as "google". A while after BlackBerry started the adoption of smartphones with this baby it started to gain traction because it was cross-platform, unlike BBM at the time. I use whatsapp to talk to friends, family, my debating students who live in a township, and my boss a few times. It's pretty ubiquitous. Strangely, I have never paid for whatsapp. They keep extending the free period. I always assumed it's because they don't expect people in developing countries to be able to pay at all (not many people use PayPal/Google Wallet). Everyone I spoke to today seemed at least skeptical of the merger.
Aw man same here; I'm guessing you know about his newest album. Everything I've heard so far is pretty awesome.
True. Apparently I'm much more naive just before I sleep. I guess we'll just have to wait and see, considering working hours have still been decreasing in the last few decades. You got me thinking about trade unions but, in contrast to last night, I'd rather not write down some unsubstantiated things.
Definitely, take a look at this. USA is pretty much the only country to stay the same. edit: bollocks, seems hubski doesn't like bitly, www.bit.ly/1dD9JEM
Everyone who enjoys James Blake should know that you can watch a 90 minute performance of his through NPR. It really is rather stunning.
Strange how deceptively small the internet is... How is your studying going? You were doing architecture or similar, right?
Hmm I think it may have been on a Nardwuar interview, but Haim has said that people were often asking them whether Oh Well was their song... In other news, welcome to hubski AS; I remember you from MCpublic :D
Heel goed! I'm about 3/4 through the first year of a chemical engineering degree. Probably been the best year of my life so far.
Amen, man. This is exactly my outlook. As part of my engineering degree we have to take up electives in both the humanities and sciences. Most people in my course plan on doing the minimum, and even then sticking to the apparently "easiest" courses. Doing this misses the point of university, in my opinion. I'm still struggling to comprehend the amount of knowledge that is at my disposal here and I really don't want to waste the opportunities. Basically I want to do as many electives as I think I can fit in. Quite frankly I can't believe I get to take electives. So awesome.
Btw, it's basically a non-issue, but I noticed there's no favicon for the hubski feed. There's probably an <icon> spec or somesuch.