To err is human..

I’ve been meaning to write up on quite a number of things but I jst never got the time.. Varsity’s taking it’s toll.

Anyhow, thingie #1: I found this spam from my university one day:

Dear respondent,
We ask that you spend a few minutes assisting us with a piece of research. All you will need to do is to take an online survey, which you can do by clicking on the button below. The research investigates experiences of, and attitudes towards intergroup contact. You will be asked questions that require you to write the contact and quality of your own experiences, as well as rating your feelings towards one or more ethnic groups. Please note that your responses will be made anonymously and treated confidentially.
… We know that this is not an insignificant request on our part, and what we are able to offer you is the opportunity to WIN ONE THOUSAND RAND …

One thousand big ones huh? I shrugged, clicked on the survey link and off I went.
Now, as with any form that asks me to tick a box so I can be categorized, have things assumed about me such as ‘previously disadvantaged background’ and whatever other ‘statistical reasons’ they use these little boxes for.. When asked to choose between Black, White, Indian, Coloured or ‘Other’, I chose the latter and specified ‘Human’.. What happened next was quite hillarious.. check out some of the questions asked:

7a. I am a person who sees myself belonging to the Human population group.
1 Never 2 Seldom 3 Sometimes 4 Often 5 Very often
7g. I am a person who is annoyed when people refer to me as being a Human
7j. It upsets me when other people speak negatively about Human people.

Which I found amusing.. Then came some annoying ones:

Question 9
How often do you have contact with Coloured people in the following situations? Please select the appropriate number by clicking on the circle next to it.
9a. With Coloured people in your residential area?
1 Never 2 Seldom 3 Sometimes 4 Often 5 Very often
9b.With Coloured people at your own home?
9c.With Coloured people at the homes of other people?
9d.With Coloured people at their homes?
9e.With Coloured people at religious events?
9f.With Coloured people at social events?
9g.Do you sit next to Coloured students during lectures?
9h. Do you have friendly conversations with Coloured people?

Like… wtf ?! But wait.. there’s more!

Question 10
Please indicate the percentage of your friends who belong to th Black, White, Indian and Coloured population groups (The percentage should add up to 100%).
Example: Black: 20% White: 50% Indian: 15% Coloured: 15%

Like honestly… who in their right mind is keeping tabs on their friends like this?
Then it got down to hilarious ones again:

Question 14
The following questions ask your opinion of why (some) students are reluctant to mix socially with other groups.

14b. Human students do not mix socially with Coloured students because they have different interests in sport, music, etc. [ i take it all people of a certain shade like the same sport? tssk tssk.. ]
1 Strongly Agree 2 Agree 3 Agree Slightly 4 Disagree Slightly 5 Disagree 6 Strongly Disagree
14c. Human students who mix socially with Coloured students are seen as dissociating themselves from the Human group. [ huh? ]
14d. Human and Coloured students have different ways of behaving, which makes it difficult for them to mix socially [lmao]

Good Lord.. it didnt stop there..

14f. It is difficult to mix with Coloured students because they have no understanding of the culture of Human students.
14g. There is very little social mixing because Coloured students do not want to have Human friends. [ rright.. ]

… alas. This obsession with a single mutation in one amino acid never ceases to amaze me.. Or perhaps this discovery puts it more clearly:

In fact, several scientists said, the new work shows just how small a biological difference is reflected by skin color. The newly found mutation involves a change of just one letter of DNA code out of the 3.1 billion letters in the human genome — the complete instructions for making a human being.

one letter people.. one letter of 3.1 billion.. this mutation doesn’t _make_ u like certain sport or _make_ u like certain music or _make_ you act this way and that.. leave that to where you grow up.

I guess i remembered all this coz yesterday I had one of those random unplanned-going-out nights [came back at 5am]. Had a good time.. but to cut the long story short, we were in this club called Sankayi [ my first time there and didn't even know there was a club in that part of Rivonia ]. Anyway, this club (rather posh with a steep R100 entry fee) was mainly playing Congolese music and Kwaito which aren’t really my faves.. And so while I was chillin, beer in hand, one of the guys we were with came up to me and the convo went sort of like this:
Him: Hey man, why aren’t you dancing?
Me: I don’t really like this type of music..
Him: Why not?
Me: Don’t know.. jst doesn’t appeal to me ..
Him: But you’re African..
Me: Yea.. so?
Him: So you should enjoy it then..
Me: Well I don’t.. *shrug*
Him: *Blank look*

Poor guy…I wonder if he thinks that all people with green eyes like the same type of music.. Or that people with albinism enjoy the same food.. *Rolls eyes*
Anyway, it’s gettin late. Gotta crash so there ends my lecture.. Comments welcome

mwahahaha! :)

Teehee!
I’m dead tired.. I’m revamping a website using a Content Management System called Joomla and now i sit here uploading a beta.. after 5 hours of workin on the darn site, it’s still not finished.. Don’t understand why the ftp is takin so long coz it’s only 7megs bt anyhow, imma leave it running and go get some sleep. Timecheck: 12am.

touch-screen ipod

Feast your eyes on this. Now I've gots to get back to some sort of productivity at uni.. I'm loving the new access provided at the varsity labs [i.e my laptop got access to the varsity's network ..]

Anyhow, back to 'work'

Inner ear, ear thumping

Today was one of those set-out-to-do-one-thing-end-up-doing-another days. The plan was after varsity, head to Wolly’s.. do a bit of work in the afternoon and then have a chilled night.
We ended up extending our lunch break till about 3pm.. at which time we decided to get cross-over cables [ he ( Wolly ) jst got a new laptop so he's practising untold geekery ]…

And so… we headed out to Sandton mall, got the cables (at a reasonable price I might add, R29 or abt $5 usd for 5 metres), picked up a laptop backpack as well..
Now you can’t go to the mall and not pay a visit to the Apple store.. at least I can’t..and so we headed off there..drooled over the powerbooks, g5′s, imacs, bose sound docks, etc.. That’s also when my eyes caught sight of the Griffin EarThumps.

As you might have read in my last post, I was planning on getting inner-ear earphones to help block out external noise.. Well the EarThumps looked kewl and a quick search for reviews gave positive results so.. good ol jorgy got himself a pair. [ for about $30 usd which is quite a hefty markup from $20 on amazon ]

Am I happy with em? Hell yea! They have a snug, more comfortable fit than the feebie included ones.. and they do significantly reduce the external noise levels.. I mean, I can still hear cars and stuff but they sound far away thus I can joyfully listen to music at a low volume [40% and less] on the streets!

So for all you music lovers out there that want to retain their hearing… I’d recommend a pair..

This and that..

Hmm.. a new week is here.. Officially the first week of varsity as the Thursday and Friday lectures last week where more introductory than anything else.

Weekend was relaxed. Stayed in and watched War Of The Worlds and a whole bunch of Scrubs episodes [ finished season 1 ]. I was bitten by LazyBug though so haven’t worked on my vac work project report as I should’ve.. :-/

Going out in a few for a beer-before-shit-gets-rough with Yoni.. I am rather tired though so we’ll keep it short.. I really don’t have much to say, I’m just fighting LazyBug.. Perhaps a few of the new things this year:

1. I’m shopping my own groceries and cooking for myself [ as opposed to splitting 3ways with my flatmates and taking turns cooking .. i don't wanna be responsible for other ppl .. at least not now ]

2. I’m getting into podcasts [ basically, recorded radio shows in mp3 format that you can download and listen to whenever it suits you ]. Particularly, TWIT. A good show talking about weekly headline news in technology.

3. After reading several sony inner-ear earphones. They block out external noise thereby enabling you to use the recommended 40% volume on your ipod for prolonged listening.

And I Quote:

Your Ears are Not Replaceable

It’s easy to ignore the potential for hearing damage until it’s too late, so it’s up to iPod users (and, for younger users, their parents) to take proper precautions early on. While this may sound preachy, your ears cannot be replaced, and hearing damage is permanent. If you love music, you’ll want to listen to it for your entire life; if you lose your hearing, you’ll be missing one of the greatest joys of this world. With that in mind, if you develop any of the symptoms mentioned above, see an ear specialist and have your hearing checked to make sure there is no damage. And, don’t forget, hearing aids cost a lot more than iPods and don’t look as cool.

Gnite.

Registered. 2006.

Got registered for my third year at uni yesterday. It was an ordeal partly bcoz of me and partly because of some serious disorganisation (or ‘problem’ as they mildly put it) at the international office.
I’d left my passport at my flat so I realised i couldn’t do do any banking nor get registered w/out it. Took me roughly an hour to go back to my pad, get the passport and do the required banking. Then the hellish 2-hour wait at the international office for my clearance chit. Something was seriously wrong, I’ve never had to wait that long jst to get a stamped piece of paper declaring that my tuition and medical insurance where covered. There was no queue system, just about 100 ppl hangin outside the office all waiting for their passports and clearance chits.
Anyhow, in the end I did get through it and here I am.. staring at my new student card and thinkin I look quite different from the me that walked in here 2 years ago, maybe it’s the ‘fro. [ I had very short hair then ]

On a side note, went to the Wits Street Party last night. T’was alright.. just students walking up and down this street and cheap cheap beer Spent most of the night talkin to this Israeli girl whose name I should know coz she’s no stranger to me but for some reason I dont.. I hope she never reads this

That’s all folks, my feet hurt like a biatch thanks to the 7 or so hours of standing I did last night, combined with the walks today.. so just lying here feeling extremely lazy.

Lectures begin tomorrow. 3rd year electrical engineering. The shit hits the fan. I hope I make it through this year in one piece.