Edible Mince

Book Review: The Firm by John Grisham

2011-05-31T21:37:00.000+02:00

Book title: The Firm

Author: John Grisham

Genre: Legal Thriller

Mitch McDeere, young and straight out of law school, is being hounded by offers from law firms all over the USA. After much deliberation over where to work he finally decides on a small four storey firm in Memphis: Bendini, Lambert and Locke. With his new job, he gets a new house, which his wife, Abby, is allowed to decorate, a new BMW and a nice pay check each month. He has to work extremely hard for the firm and aspires to be a partner in the firm within 5 years.

Abby becomes friends with his colleague’s wife, but finds herself growing annoyed with some of “the firm”’s many restrictions which apply to their families as well. However he stays oblivious to this until he is approached by an agent for the FBI. When he reports this encounter to the Board at his firm, he is quickly sent on a trip to the Bahamas. There, an encounter with a young girl leads to trouble. His suspicions arise after he returns, and finds his house and car have become bugged. Now he doesn’t know who to trust, but what he does know is enough to get many people killed!

The Firm is a fast-paced, surprising and detailed book describing how the Mob can use ordinary people without their knowledge. The book plays on our fears as humans regarding privacy and society’s Big Brother syndrome: nowhere are we safe. The story is told in third person which allows the reader to better understand what is happening with each of the characters; it also creates a sense of speed and urgency, while enhancing the feeling of being watched. The twist at the very end provides a satisfying end to a fascinating read.

Back in.. Well not Black

2011-05-31T21:15:00.000+02:00

OK. Its been a while has it not. I would like to thank all our followers who held out during the dry patch where we were doing some minor adjustments to the site. However, the site will now be up and running once more.

So on that rather resounding note I would like to welcome everybody back to the site with most of the news, projects and general everyday helping out.

We hope to keep you posted and keep this blog up and running for some more time.

Peace out, and watch this space

Why are Asians so good at mathematics? An analytical report

2009-12-02T22:21:00.001+02:00

Before anyone says anything about stereotypes and predjudice - just stop. Let's face it - by the average guy's standards, Asians are better at maths. And although this is not always the case, we cannot deny the fact that we've all been trumped by an Asian in a maths test sometime in our life. Before I continue analyzing possible reasons for this strange phenomena, take a look at the following comparison:

It is clearly evident that the average Asian is better able to manage complex mathematics sums than non-Asians. Of course, this cannot simply be assumed by looking at the above example, but I base my opinion on facts as many studies have been done on the matter (including one by the BBC). After much consideration, I have outlined the following as the most likely reasons for this strange phenomenon (call it "x"...)

1) Societal Pressures -
    In most Asian countries such as China, Korea, and Japan, there is immense societal pressure on students
    to perform well. Many generations of hard working people have created an "acceptable standard" at
    which students are expected to perform. The educational systems in these countries supports these ideals
   and pushes students hard (often too hard to allow decent freedom in one's life). The time that a child
    spends at school varies, but can often be from ten to twelve hours a day. In addition, weekends are not
    resting periods - most Asian schools require pupils to attend school six days a week. Scary stuff. In a
    nutshell, the standard of Asian schools is far higher than Western countries, and in addition the
    expectations that parents place on students is remarkably high.

2) Population -
    Currently China has a population of 1,325,639,982 people, South Korea is sitting at roughly 48,607,000.
    In today's world, one must either sink or swim. Students must work as hard as they possibly can in order
    to ensure that they have a job and can feed themselves. This of course, is no different to any other
    country - except that the huge populations in these countries results in students pushing themselves even
    harder than they would have otherwise. This reason should really be reffered to as "competition" as that
    is the fundamental idea here.

In conclusion: adaptation -
Due to the above two reasons, the Asian community is pressured into being clever. Now I know this sounds wrong, but get what I am saying here. Many years of dedication and hard work, and a good mental attitude can result in people's thought being "moulded" into an ideal way. I believe this is exactly what is happening here - they are just so damn clever! I would like to say that no-one should feel offended by this post, I have been talking about the Asian community as a seperate unit to everyone else. This was only to make things easier - in reality it does not matter where you are from or what skin colour you have because we are all different in our own ways, and should feel united because of that.

Infected Mushroom - Legend Of The Black Shawarma

2009-11-30T09:52:00.003+02:00

The newly released album by Infected Mushroom is very much the same as most of their other albums. It comes with more of the same utterly mind blowing and amazingly put together sounds that creates a symphony of music that would be expected to come from out of space.
Although the album was originally meant to be a concept album of the duo's (Amit "Duvdev" Duvdevani, Eisen) favourite places to eat, hence the name Legend Of The Black Shawarma, after the success of the first songs they wrote, they decided to make it a full album.
The name is taken from a Middle Eastern wrap/sandwich; and was inspired by Shawarma Hazan, a restaurant where Amit and Eisen used to eat often.
The dj's heavy beats, and serious guitar riffs make the album more of a listening pleasure than something to be played at a club. In songs like "Smashing the Opponent" featuring Korn's,Jonathan Davis, the heavy synths and great guitar riffs make for a great listen. As well as "Herbet the Pervert" where most of the song is dominated by great metal guitar solo's.
So if you liked any of their previous music, you will probably really enjoy their new album.

Go out and buy it now!

How the Nintendo Wii is helping the world...One granny at a time

2009-11-08T18:37:00.022+02:00

The Nintendo Wii has made countless medical breakthroughs in the past few years. People who have suffered from Alzheimer's, Parkinson, strokes, and other physical injures have been paying miniature fortunes to stay in hospital and doing exercises and activities that make them exhausted and frail.

This does work but they have to use most of their precious time doing the exercises, which can be very difficult and only done with the support of family members or others. People who suffer from Alzheimer's and Parkinson disease have very poor hand and eye co ordination as well as they can often become very depressed. Since WakeMed has come out with the idea of using the Nintendo Wii as physical therapy, patients have been recovering at an amazingly increasing rate. Those who suffer Alzheimer's and Parkinson disease, have had their hand and eye co ordination improve drastically as well as their depression rates becoming almost nonexistent.

The nurses and therapists say that they have never experienced a ward that is so happy and rejuvenated. They said the patients are thrilled to play sports that they never thought they could play again even if it is just a virtual reality. The therapists said "If you get them to want to do it, they will." Once introduced into the health system doctors recommend the Nintendo Wii in all of the households with people older than 70 or people with any type of injury and that they should interact with others, as it will help with memory and it will help prevent Alzheimer's and Parkinson disease taking over their life.

This new form of treatment is now being introduced into Old age homes across the world.

Posted by WhyOranges?

Facebook coming to Xbox 360!

2009-10-25T10:49:00.000+02:00

Ever wondered what it would be like to have an all in one center that allows you to browse the web, watch TV, and play games with a decent controller? Well besides the PC there isn't much else out there. Despite this fact major corporations are working together to bring some of the publics favorite services together.

Microsoft have recently officially announced that they are going to allow free access to one of the favorite networking sites, Facebook from an Xbox. In addition to Facebook, Twitter will also be added Now before you jump out of your seats at this somewhat extraordinary news, the 'free' access is only available for Xbox live Gold memberships. Free trials will be given to Silver members.

So is extra gaming time really worth the saved time of putting on your PC to check your Facebook account? Probably not, but at least they are trying to think up new ideas to attract customers.

I would like to see how Sony (Playstation) are going to respond to this.

The Most (in)Famous Hackers of All Time

2009-10-20T23:13:00.000+02:00

Hackers can be thought of as people who use technology to empose on others' privacy or steal potentially valuable information from them. The term "hacking" is not merely a twenty first century concept. It has been around since the very first hacker, John Draper, "hacked" telephone calls way back in 1971 using a whistle from a cereal box. Nowadays, technology has progressed, and so too has the number of hackers around the world. Over time, many of them have caught the attention of the public, as well as the police. The purpose of the following article is not to promote bad morals, but forgive me for feeling a hint of admiration for these hacking legends.

                                                  Jonathan James - AKA c0mrade
One of the greatest hackers of all time - he is famous for being the youngest hacker ever to go to prison (caught at the age of fifteen).Frankly, the man is a legend. Not only did he successfully hack one of the most secure government gencies in USA - the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (Ironically, the DTRA are responsible for much of the nation's security matters), but he also single handedly attacked NASA. James hacked one of the DTRA servers by means of a backdoor he scripted. He then used this security infiltration to acquire valuable information such as account passwords and software. His attack on NASA forced them to shutdown their systems and ultimately cost them over $41,000. In response to his attack, James said that the software he stole was merely done in an attempt to aid his programming studies. The result? Six months house arrest with probation.

          Kevin Mitnick - The LegendMitnick is famous for being the most wanted hacker of all time. His long list of offenses started at an early age when he hacked the LA bus punchcard system, effectively allowing him free bus rides to practically anywhere. This feat was not as complex as it sounds, but nonetheless very impressive. Mitnick also hacked phonecalls (much the same as John Draper and Apple founder, Stephen wozniac), and the Digital Equipment Corporation - which led to his conviction. However, the police would not have found Mitnick, if it were not for the help of Tsutomu Shimomura (a fellow hacker). Mitnick had attempted to hack Shimomura's computer but had fortunately been "out-hacked" by Shimormura. His location was discovered and reported to officials, as this was Shimormura's personal score that needed settling.

Robert Tappan Morris - Less is More
Although Morris is not as well known as hackers like Jonathan James or Kevin Mitnick, he made a huge impact on the need for online and offline computer security. Robert Morris created the first worm - known as the Morris worm. The worm was a big threat to the online community and caused an estimated 6000 machines to be infected beyond repair. The effects of the worm may have been severe, but Morris claims it was in order to see how many people were connected to the internet, and not done for harmful purposes. Morris had to pay a big price for his mistake - a fine for more than $10 000, 400 hours community service, and three years' probation.

Although these hackers are legends in the hacking community, and they have much skill, we should remember to not encourage this sort of behaviour in our own circles. On the other hand, however, it may not be wise to chastise people like Morris if you believe he has caused the online security threats we have today. If he had not created the worm, somebody else certainly would have, and that should not be overlooked. That sort of thing is simply human nature.

Windows 6.5! The new OS for smartphones?

2009-10-17T15:05:00.002+02:00

The new OS developed by none other than Microsoft seems to be taking the Smart phone world by a small drizzle. After the dismal experiences of using previous Windows Mobile operating systems, it seems that Microsoft have finally learnt how to put together a properly working Mobile OS.
A few companies have decided to launch their phones with the new OS. Namely AT&T with their HTC Pure, and the HTC Tilt 2.

The main focus of Microsoft has been to make the experience of using their OS more enjoyable. By redoing the entire Home screen, and making all of the menus more 'touch friendly'. The OS is also slightly faster, and allows for easy integration of the up and coming Windows Marketplace, which is set to take on the App Store.

This is the old home screen compared with the new one.
Although Microsoft have released Windows 7 for PC, they are lagging a bit behind in the Mobile market. However 6.5 is a big step in the right direction from 6.1.
Many people would caution at getting the new OS, and to rather wait for the release of Windows 7 Mobile next year, however if you are one of those people that want to try anything new, and don't mind a few bugs. Go for it! Well done Microsoft, hopefully this will make the market a bit more competitive for iPhone and Android.

District 9 - Poor or Impressive?

2009-09-17T22:19:00.001+02:00

District 9 is a South African Science-fiction film created in 2009. It is directed by South African Neill Blomkamp, and produced by New Zealander Peter Jackson (Lord of The Rings). The film follows the life of protagonist, Wikus van de Merwe who is the field officer of MNU (Multinational United). Wikus' job is to relocate arthropod-like aliens that have been living in a slum called District 9.

The aliens arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa 20 years prior, famished and malnutritioned. MNU helped the aliens (Derogatorily named "prawns") by allowing them to live in district 9 and by allowing them equal rights to humans. MNU take matters into their own hands as conflicts between prawns and humans become substantial after many years. They begin relocating the prawns in District 9 into a new area just outside Johannesburg called District 10. While trying to relocate a prawn named Christopher Johnson, Wikus unknowingly ingests alien fluid. The alien fluid begins mutating Wikus into a prawn, and he is taken to MNU, but escapes after having undergone much experimentation. He pleads with Christopher the prawn to cure him, and he is given hope. Wikus and Christopher then venture into MNU to retrieve the fluid - which is the last remaining fluid available to fuel Christopher's space ship. Christopher makes a deal with Wikus that he will use the fluid to return to his home planet, only to return three years later to cure Wikus.

At first Wikus is enraged at the news, and turns on Christopher. Later, however, he learns to let go as the forces of the infamous Nigerians as well as the MNU are after him and Christopher. The plot plays on the theme of xenophobia, and is historically linked to the event of Apartheid (which occurred in South Africa as an act of racism). Effectively, the humans show contempt toward the aliens - even though the laws protected them, they were still vulnerable to human superiority.

Poor or Impressive?
District 9 has awoken the originality within me that I thought had disappeared a long time ago. As a South African, I feel proud to review a film so controversial and original that I would never have thought about it myself. The film evokes heart felt emotions toward the end, even tough it is not intended to be a movie as such. In addition to this, District 9 was also funny as it displayed typical South African habits and personalities. It kept me on the edge of my seat and I truly believe it to be the "movie of the year."

Viva Wikus!

Hubble Telescope - The Amazing Universe Through New Eyes

2009-09-12T16:13:00.002+02:00

NASA's nineteen year old Hubble Telescope is back after being refurbished. The telescope is fitted with a new powerful spectrograph - which enables it to see galaxies and stars billions of light years way. The new Hubble Telescope is now more light sensitive meaning it is quicker for distant objects to be observed. The telescope will focus on several things that will give insight into our universe. It will focus on the population of asteroids in the Kuiper Belt (which exists at the end of our solar system), the formation of new planets as well as stars, and will view planets in our solar system through their atmospheres (giving us insight into other planets). In addition, the Hubble Telescope will explore Dark Matter with more intent.

Dark Matter:
An invisible matter that is speculated to be the cause for the universe's mass. It was first theorized by Swiss astrophysicist Fritz Zwicky, of the California Institute of Technology,1933.

The following photos were taken on September 9 2009. They are a beautiful sight to behold.
Above: Butterfly Nebula - 3800 light years away
Below Top: Colliding Galaxies - Several Million light years away
Below Middle: Stephan's Quintet - 290 Million light years away
Below Bottom: The galaxy Messier 74 - 32 Million light years away

Additional information:

Turkish ship shipwrecked off bloubergstrand South Africa

2009-09-09T20:43:00.001+02:00

A ageing bulk carrier from Turkey has been shipwrecked just off Bloubergstrand in Cape Town. "The ship could stay stuck for some time" said city disaster managers. The 29 year old ship, Seli 1, originally bound for Gibraltar, was carrying 30 000 tons of coal and 660 tons of fuel when it became grounded.
The biggest fear at the moment is what could happen if the ship lost all of it's cargo into the sea. The amount of environmental damage will be tremendous, and take many years to rectify.
A joint operations committee - including the SA Maritime Authority, Southern African Foundation for the conservation of Coastal Birds (Sanccob), Smit salvage and others have said that their first task will be to remove the fuel from the vessel. It is reported that the cargo ship was built in South Korea in 1980.
The salvors report that besides their best efforts they need the swells and weather conditions to become calmer, so as for them to be able to safely remove the fuel and coal.

A spokeswoman, Clare Gomes said that there was no risk of the ship breaking up at this stage. Once the fuel has been removed, experts will be brought in to assess the damage of the vessel and whether it will be viable to have the ship moved or rather to break it up and recycle it.
It has been reported that the ships captain lowered the anchor in Table Bay, but the anchor broke off in the large swells. The vessel then drifted towards the shoreline and was driven onto a sandbank, and finally onto some rocks which punctured a hole in the side of the boat. Unfortunately the hole was exactly in the position of the engine room. After the engine room was flooded, the ship's crew was unable to power the ship and had to be evacuated by the NSRI.
This is the third vessel that has run aground in the same area just this year.

Amazing but weird disfigurement - TREE MAN

2009-09-08T23:22:00.001+02:00

Dede Kosawa (37) - also known as "tree man" is a man with a strange disfigurement. His body is covered by several kilograms of warts. These warts give him the strange tree shape appearance he has, and is a disease known as Epidermosdisplasia Verruciformis. He contracted the disease when he scraped his knee at the supple age of fifteen. The gash soon sprouted warts and these soon spread around his body.

The Indonesian man makes a living by working in the circus, by performing in the "freak show". The term is horrible, but describes the performance accurately, as he is joined by many others with similar bizarre disfigurements.

Kosawa has been interviewed by Discovery Channel, as well as Ripley's Believe it Or Not. Incredibly, he has already undergone surgery several times and has had more than four pounds (1.8 kg) of warts removed from his hands and feet. After the surgery he reported being able to see the outline of his toes for the first time in several years. An American, Dr Anthony Gaspari, has taken it upon himself to attempt to cure Kosawa's disease. He has taken several skin biopses and hopes to help the poor man to continue the rest of his life in normality. He says he wants to meet a girl, get married, and get a proper job.

"Tree Man" after having 4 Lbs of warts removed from his body

Additional Information:

Apple Mac: Snow Leopard

2009-09-07T21:10:00.014+02:00

Macintosh have once again beaten Windows to the chase with their 'finely tuned' operating system. Name Snow Leopard. Mac have promised many things in this upgrade of their previous operating system, Leopard. They have promised and once again delivered to the maximum amount possible.
Something to notice about this OS is that it is not a completely new OS, just a tuned up version of Leopard.
The most amazing thing about the new OS is that it is 7 gigs smaller than the previous version.

Apple have introduced something that is very fascinating to me, it is called 'Open Cl'. What this particular feature does is allows the user to use the graphics processing core as a secondary core. It does not give a clear description of how it will achieve this feat but it seems to now be possible.
Apple as usual are creating Operating Systems that are way before their time, and Apple claim that Snow Leopard is able to handle 16 terabytes of ram. They say that they programmed it to handle so much, just because they can.
Another new innovation to accompany Snow Leopard is something called Grand Central Dispatch. Which allows programs to easily take advantage of the multiple cores in processors, boosting the speed of heavy duty applications such as video editing software.
They have also encoded the whole OS to run on 64 bit processors. This is a big step forward as it decrease the time taken for most tasks by almost 2 percent. This should also allow word programs and normal browsing to be slightly faster.
If you are a fan of backing up your computer, Apple claim that it is now 80% faster to back up your system which is a significant decrease.
A new version of Quicktime has also been released alongside the OS. Quicktime 10 will allow the user to crop videos in the program, which means that you don't always have to fire up iMovie to just crop a video quickly. Also there will be no need to buy Quicktime pro as all the advantages of Quicktime pro will be in Quicktime 10.
Start up is now 2 times faster and Shutdown is 1.8 times faster. This is a nice little bonus.
Apple have once again out performed their rivals. Unfortunately they have not released a 'pc' compatible version as yet. If they did I would most definitely go and buy their software right now. The only reason that Apple Mac control such a little piece of the market is because their computers are so expensive and there is limited software available for the OS. Hopefully in future I will be able to enjoy Mac on my PC alongside with Windows.
Now all we need to do is wait and see how Windows 7 has to add to the table. Looking forward to it.

Half life 2 Episode 3

2009-09-01T18:26:00.009+02:00

For all those people who played Half life 1 or Half life 2 would have noticed that they were market changing games. Meaning that Half life 1 was the first game that was a first person shooter to be well received by consumers. When Half life 2 was released there was complete amazement and shock at how deep and interesting the storyline was. The graphics on both those games were completely unheard of at the time and even for a few years afterward.
Half life 2 episode 1 and 2 were released about a year apart. Valve used the Source engine for all of the games.
Although nothing much has been said about Half life 2 Episode 3, there are some things that valve have said to confirm that it is in existence and are working on it.
For instance, When Valve was questioned about Half Life 2 Episode 3 they did not deny that they were working on it.
Also Valve have recently stated that they will be learning Sign Language. They said that they would use this to explain why Dog and Alex can sign to each other and can "talk" to each other while no one else can understand what they are saying. This sounds like a interesting twist to the story.
I am very excited to see this latest installment for myself, and I hope that Valve will release early 2010. If it is anywhere near as awesome as any of the previous episodes I will definitely say well done to Valve.
Here is some concept art of how Half lIfe 2 Episode 3 will look.

Flesh Eating Bacteria - streptococcus

2009-08-30T21:27:00.002+02:00

You may have heard about a "flesh eating disease" on Oprah. I heard about it via word of mouth (wom) and decided to share with you some of the horrific information gathered.

Necrotizing Fasciitis is the term for a bacterial infection that can literally eat at the tissues in your body. Most common types of Necrotizing Fasciitis are due to Group A Streptococcal bacteria (also known as GAS), the most common being the Streptococcus pyogenes. It is very scary to think that around 30% of people with Necrotizing Fasciitis die from the disease... and even scarier once you know that most people who acquire the disease were perfectly healthy prior to infection.

(acquired from: http://images.oprah.com/images/tows/200904/20090410/20090410-tows-monica-290x218.jpg)

The above picture is of Monica Jorge, a recent guest on Oprah. She is a wife and mother of two children and was recently diagnosed with Necrotizing Fasciitis, after being perfectly healthy. According to sources, she cut her hand open by mistake with a sharp instrument. Just hours after the cut, she immediately began to feel "strange" and felt a strong headache. With in two days she was admitted to hospital, and had no choice but to have amputation surgeries performed, due to the exponential amount of flesh being attacked and killed. She has since lost her limbs, but her strong will has kept her strong throughout. In a letter to Oprah after the show: "Thank you for reminding me to have gratitude for what I have instead of sorrow for what I don't"

Registered Domain name...

2009-08-30T15:57:00.000+02:00

Edible Mince is expanding...
Now it is easy to remember our url address, it is simply :
ediblemince.tk

that's it! enjoy

Xbox: Project Natal

2009-08-26T21:41:00.004+02:00

"This is a pivotal moment that will carry with it a wave of change, the ripples of which will reach far beyond video games"

STEVEN SPIELBERG

Xbox has recently announced the launch of a new product at E3 convention, namely project natal. Simply put, it is a video camera type peripheral that can be added to the xbox 360...Replacing the need for a controller! Essentially, it detects all motion as well as facial expressions and gestures, adding an all new aspect to gaming, never before experienced. It was released as a response to Nintendo's wii remotes. Playstation released a similar concept (Eye Toy) in March 18, 2005; however, these concepts are entirely different. Project Natal serves to completely mimic the actions of the gamer, immersing them in the game completely by use of smart technology that responds to your actions appropriately.

In one example, Microsoft shows a scene where a boy preferred to ride on his own skateboard in a skateboarding game. He simply holds up his skateboard to the camera, commands it to "scan", and voila! Instantly his deck is in memory and he begins to skate away, the motion sensor detecting his movements as though he were really skating. Amazing. I can just imagine Gears of War 2 being played around my living room. Dipping and ducking behind the furniture would provide me with the ultimate adrenaline rush, and not to mention a completely new way of irritating all family members within the vicinity.

For more info:

http://www.xboxnatal.net/

New Sony Playstation 3 Slim

2009-08-26T17:26:00.010+02:00

(Image courtesy of Gamespot)

The new Sony Playstation 3 Slim is no longer just a myth and is infact real. It was announced just a week and 1 Day from today. It will be $100 cheaper, have a 120 GB hard drive, be 33 percent smaller, and 36 percent lighter than the previous model. This is quite a nice decrease as the first version of the Playstation was a bit on the large side.

A reason for the apparent price drops is the decreased number of PS3's that were sold compared to the PS2. The PS2 has sold 51.8 million in Europe and 138.8 million globally. PSP sales continue to grow: 52.9 million globally. The PS3 has sold 10 million in Europe, and only 23.7 million globally. Nintendo Co have sold 52.6 million Wii consoles, although the Wii has costed $250. Microsoft have sold more than 31.4 million XBOX 360 consoles worlwide. The main XBOX 360 consoles costs $300 in the US.

The new Playstation will be sold at $299, a drop from $399. It will be sold at €299 from €399, although the price was kept the same at 39 980 yen in Japan.

(Image coutersy of Gamespot)

The price cut is due to the critical year-end shopping season, when game/console makers sell the largest amount of merchandise. Judging from previos models with the PS2 a price cut is a extremely effective way of receiving a boost in sales.

Also, there will be a new patch for the PS3 slim.
The memory card slot is gone.
The touch buttons have been replaced by actual push in buttons.
There are 2 USB slots in the front.
If your Sony TV has the Bravia sync feature, with the update you can play with your TV remote.
A new vertical stand.
The Install other OS feature is gone. Theredore cannot install Linux or other OS on your PS3 slim

For more info check out:

http://gamescom.gamespot.com/story/6215296/sony-gamescom-press-briefing-live

Kite Surfing: The ultimate adrenaline rush

2009-08-24T22:03:00.000+02:00

The feeling of wind in your hair. The feeling of gliding above the water, seemingly weightless. The feeling of power in the grasp of your hands. These and many more are the feelings that you experience while doing one of the most amazing sports that have ever been created in recorded history.

Although kitesurfing is a relatively new sport (only really saw a boom in the south African economy around 2 years ago) the amount of people that have caught on obviously suggests that it is not only highly enjoyable but also has other benefits such as muscle building and the decrease in risk of heart problems.

In the short time period that I have been Kitesurfing I have seen many people above the age of 60 going out into the water for a 2 hour session.

Although this seems highly unlikely, the art of true kitesurfing is not the high jumps or elaborate tricks that most people affiliated with Kitesurfing, but more the smooth passage of your body been easily pulled across the water.

There are many forms of Kitesurfing, including doing tricks, riding the waves or just gliding over the water.
Kitesurfing is a relatively expensive sport to start (Full kit costing an average of R16 000 zar) but once all the equipment is bought you are free to go out and enjoy yourself any time that you want. The only thing that limits you will be your partner and the wind.
Kitesurfing is so addictive that a few people have rather left their spouses than give up their Kiting.
There is only one main problem with Kitesurfing, and that is that while you are in the water it is very difficult to tell how long you have been in for. My average session is about 6 hours, and everytime I get out of the water I am suprised at how long I have been in for. Therefore it is recommendable that a watch is worn while kitesurfing. Also never tell your partner that you will be home at a certain time, rather say that you will be home as soon as you can.

I have done many things including Bunjy Jumping and in my opinion I have never experienced an adrenaline rush that can be compared to when I am kitesurfing.

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood

2009-08-21T17:11:00.014+02:00

You might have heard of the game released by Ubisoft. You might've not. I certainly had not until I overheard some of people talking about it. I quickly joined in the conversation and what they told me quickly intrigued me. I decided that I had to play it.

The first thing to note about the game, is the beginning. It starts off with a cut scene of two people pointing guns at each other. Those people you find out later in the game are in fact two brothers. The two brothers are Ray and Thomas McCall

The game is based in America during the American Civil War. The two brothers start off on a mission to find out if their home has been destroyed. From finding their partly destroyed house they set on a mission to run away from the army ( after they deserted to go home), and kill the people who caused their mother to die.

They run to Mexico with their little brother, William, tagging along. William is a reverend at the time, and believes that his duty is to turn his brothers away from their evil deeds "towards the light".

After getting kicked out of a town for killing the sheriff, the three brothers spot a beautiful woman, Marisa, who is been harassed by some cowboys. The brothers rescue her only to find out that she is married to Juan 'Juarez' Mendoza. Juarez then tells them about the mythical Lost Treasure of Cortez. They agree to help him out for a share of the treasure.

Call of Juarez is a typical gangster cowboy game, except that you can choose between either of the two brothers (Ray and Thomas) to play with. Each are better with a certain weapon, and only Ray can wield double pistols, except when both brothers work together to eliminate a room full of people. The storyline, although short (took me about 7 hours to complete) is very gripping. It consists of many gunfights, horse races, fighting against natives, and puzzle solving. From the moment I started playing the game I knew that I would get addicted. Also, unlike most other games where you have a chance to free roam and explore the countryside, this game is actually fun with realistic side challenges that only add to the plot.

Need to know:

Graphics - are reasonably good, although some of the cut scenes look a bit rough overall the graphics are good.

Multiplayer - The multiplayer is fun, it consists of mostly team based modes.

Keys - Not complicated at all, the main thing that you use when playing is your mouse.

Original - Yes, although it is quite similar to most gun games, except for the fact that it auto aims slightly. This is not a bad thing, as the guns don't do much damage.

Similar to - Gun

Overall game play - The game is extremely fun, although lacking somewhat in AI. The graphics could have been a bit better, but overall the game was extremely fun.

Gamespot rating : 7.5

IGN rating: 7.7

My rating: 79%

New joining: Jonathan... !!

2009-08-21T16:59:00.004+02:00

Hello my fellow bloggers. I have just started as a blogger. I will be writing on Edible mince along with Davis. I hope that in the future I can write some informative posts that will help you to conquer your everyday battles between life, and well living.

Due to the fact that I am new at blogging do not be afraid to comment on my posts or give me advice on things that could be written better.

Thank you, hope you enjoy my stay here at Edible Mince.

What the hell is this "zorbing" business about?

2009-08-21T16:45:00.009+02:00

Zorbing? Everyone has probably heard the term somewhere along the line. In reality its simply a great way of fun possibly invented for adults to not look stupid, having the chance to be like a child once again. Okay, so what is it? well it is a giant double layered inflatable ball, with space for up to four people (not recommended). A person climbs in and the ball begins its decent down a hill, gaining momentum. It is reportedly very fun, yet I have not had the opportunity to engage in this activity yet.

Aqua Zorbing involves a bucket or two of water on the inside with the person, to reduce friction and increase slip. Ultimate adrenaline, I say. Let me know if you have done it, I'd love to do it oneday.

My Opinion on the Barter System

2009-08-13T22:26:00.005+02:00

Before EFT, Paypal, and cash, the barter system served as the only method of trade. Markets were dependent on buyers and sellers coming together to establish a price and quantity of a good. Much the same as the markets that exist today, however it is also much different. The "price" referred to in today's economy is quite different from that of bartering. With money, a definite value is known. With bartering however, things become complicated as there is no set value on a certain good and thus it can make trade very difficult or unfair. Below are some of the pro's and con's of Bartering in Today's Society... These are the result of a class debate, however the verdict is yet to be reached; so your conclusion would be much appreciated.

Pros of the barter system:

People who are willing to work may "barter" their labour in exchange for goods; encouraging hard work and healthy competition.
In addition, it would also be more fair to the people as those who are willing to work will get rewarded and those lacking the effort will in turn lack the reward. Poetic justice, I say.
In an ideal system, everyone wins. "one man's treasure is another man's trash" is a good way of describing this point: if a good is of no worth to you, it can always be traded to a consumer in need of that good. This again kicks out unfairness.
As one man values his goods differently to another, poverty would be harder to establish as he may be "poor" and still significantly value his commodities.
As a child, you would learn the real value of your goods and be less inclined to waste as there is no change in return for your good.
The fact of there being no change also makes trade much simpler, as even a toddler won't exchange his lollipop for your rock (Shame on you).
Credit card fraud would not be possible as physical goods cannot be streamed virtually in the way that real money can.

Cons of the barter system:

Although it is mentioned that bartering can cause overall fairness in an economy, the exact opposite is also true. If a man is in desperate need of water and he only owns a car, he cannot exchange half his car for another man's water. He may be forced to wait for alternate suppliers.
Similarly, it can make life very complicated because an equilibrium price can be difficult to establish. This is because there is simply no value with which to compare goods.
Lack of a generally accepted equilibrium price would ultimately result in time wasted negotiating.
In a modern economy, one cannot rely purely on what is present in his pocket. Savings and loans are required in any major economy, and would be nearly impossible in a barter system.
Tangible goods may be lost due to natural disasters out of the owner's control.
It would be difficult receiving wages/salaries as one may not have the capacity either at home, or even on his way home, to carry the payment. Whereas, the space physical money takes up is negligible.
In my opinion, technology would be harder and more time consuming to develop, as developers and engineers would require some type of standard payment in order to make for quick and mass purchases.
As mentioned in the comment - children of the like may be trading at an early age and being unwise and uneducated, would result in bad decisions and people taking advantage of one another.
People of high stature may not like the idea of others being considered as well off as they are.

The conclusion? Simply put, there is no possibility of returning to a barter system.
As technology develops, more people's needs are satisfied, more
problems solved, and an overall increase in the standard of living takes place.
The barter system would not accommodate people's needs and wants in this society,
it is not an option. However, it can be argued that the progressive change from
the old system to the current system may have been premature. Not only has
Technology increased exponentially, but also people's perceptions have become very
shallow and their lives materialistic.

Prototype - Edible Mince review

2009-08-07T23:30:00.012+02:00

Prototype is a fast paced RPG (role play game) developed by Radical Entertainment, set in Manhattan. The protagonist of the story is named Alex Mercer, who is a shape shifter and along with these powers, he also possesses the ability to "consume" enemies. This is done to gain health or the enemy's memories. These memories are stored in what's known as the web of intrigue - a place to visit memories that have been acquired. Each memory places another puzzle piece in place, ultimately revealing the story line little at a time.

Alex is after the military people who are responsible for both the viral outbreak in Manhattan, and for his own Special abilities. In addition, he must also destroy certain "infected" along the way. Think of him as the chosen one. Although the plot is very in depth, it is not hard to follow and is certainly very clever (and 'gripping'). I love This game :]

Need to know:
Graphics - great. with the exception of Alex shapeshifting or consuming others.
Multiplayer - No multiplayer
Keys - complicated key combinations, but with little effort can be easily grasped.
Original - Yes, although the general idea of people being infected and overwhelmed with viruses is used. Still great though.
Similar to - Assassin's Creed
Overall game play - Extremely fun, certainly one of the best Single player games I have ever played. Keep you entertained for hours.

Gamespot Rating: 8.5
IGN Rating: 7.5
My rating: 85%

Swine Flu?

2009-08-07T22:36:00.005+02:00

It seems we are all very concerned with the latest "Pandemic" called swine flu. Do not feel concerned about it! The media have made it out to be much worse than what we would think; it is just a flu after all.

It is almost 'famous for being famous' if you know what I mean, because in actual fact H1N1
Will affect you little more than what we term 'regular flu'. Infact, more people die each month from normal influenza than swine flu (regular flu infects up to 60 million each year as opposed to a couple hundred affected with swine flu). All in all it is certainly curable, and therefore nothing to worry about. I laugh at people who worry about it so much, they are stupid.

Conspiracy theories hold my interest more than anything else, and so I will post a couple of ref's here that I have been engaged in lately. Interesting starting point: Deliberate Vaccine Stockpiling

Here is a taste of what may very likely be tomorrow's headlines:

Swine flu conspiracy - is H1N1 man made?
Truth about Swine Flu - "1976"
Truth behind swine Flu - Do not Take Vaccines (you may want to skip this as it is nine minutes long)

Then finally:
The United Arab Emirates are planning on making the vaccines mandatory for the next school year. I think it's a particularly poor idea as the vaccine has not been proven safe. Take a look:

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/563135-swine-flu-vaccination-mandatory-for-all-uae-students

I am not here to convince you to conform with my opinion, I merely want people to have their own outlook on matters and not believe everything people tell them. I challenge you.

The Introduction of Formal Topics

2009-08-07T22:26:00.003+02:00

As of now there is going to much frenzied activity going on with this blog.

First off: Fewer random stories (figured I should begin to grow up)
Second: Reviews, opinions, debates, discussions, are all a part of the future for me and that is where I'm taking this blog.
Then: I would love to continue posting brief points of interest occuring in my life as one day I will read all this crap and it will be great :]

Great Visual - feel free to snag it

The Random story (continued)

2008-05-14T20:20:00.001+02:00

It's odd to think about how we came to be. Just consider for a second that your name was infact Ken. The level of how gay your name is is certainly (and undoubtedly) atleast (if not more. And don't just say when because it's not going to get you out of this one ((especially the name part, Ken that is, not the latter which would therefore mean that you would get out of thinking altogether and that... well that would be horrific. If in fact you choose to not think the slightest thought and you were to succeed, you may be in trouble as your oxygen decreases and your heart breaks (((and if not caused by the love of your life ending it with you then it's damn ironic))) and you slowly enter a stage where you crawl into a straight circle and die)). But that's actually impossible ((((the not thinking a single thought part, not the die part)))) because, well have you ever tried not to think? You think about not thinking and that means your thinking and it's pretty much a basic law to understand so don't look at me like an idiot.)

OK so as I was saying, the level of how gay your name is is directly proportional to the amount your parents had to drink at the time of naming you. And please, if your name happens to be Ken, do not take the law of physics into your own hands, but rather ignore the last paragraph and this one and maybe, just possibly the next one too in case it contains the dreaded K-word again. And yes, your name has officially become a swear word Ken. I defy you Ken, I defy you for bringing these stupid names into my existence and to make matters worse and take the flint even further into the mallet I want to just let you know that the entire time Mrs Dickson was strutting toward me these thoughts were crossing my mind (well, more like looping because I wasn't really paying much attention to anything else. But I guess it would be more accurate to say they were thumping through my mind but that's just due to my headache and has nothing to do with this story really so I think I will cut it there in case I start going on about some other story that happened way back when...
Which reminds me: back to the story (bracket).

you see, when you have Mrs Dickson as your register teacher you find these thoughts consume and envelop your mind, and unfortunately they seem about 78 percent more interesting than learning about the arts. Whether it's the arts themselves or Mrs Dickson that's so boring is up to the viewer because at this stage you have a bit of background on her, and I'm sure you know more or less what Arts and Culture is about. Those words don't deserve capitals, so: arts and culture, there we go.

Onto another mid-topic while we are talking about cheese and the effects of wrapping a sample. It's actually my duty (or duties thereof)to announce that I might in fact trip next Wednesday. The reason I'm saying this is due to a recurring nightmare/de javu. But what puzzles me even more than the Hendrix of the wrapped cheese and it's host is that it hasn't happened yet. How can I have De javu of a future item which has in fact happened before (hence the french de javu). you may not get what I'm saying, OK look, in simple terms: I have tripped before in the future of my past in which I foresaw that I would have pre-tripped before I knew that it was indeed not in the past but rather (or possibly both, your are the judge it's up to you again I'm afraid) in the future of my presence to which I will re-live what I have not lived before. Quite a major contradiction but it makes sense, especially that bit regarding the cheese. So, quote of the day (and it's just a warning) there is a 1 in 500 million chance of getting shoved off a cliff by a herd of sheep and that's no lie, watch your back. These sheep are their own generation

The random story (1)

2008-04-21T21:01:00.002+02:00

"It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all..." I stared at these freaking words one by one for about half an hour while I was waiting for the other kids to finish their exams.I didnt get it; how could such a piece of shit statement make it so far into history without getting disclaimed? And then I wondered to myself... What in the name does disclaimed mean? disclaim, to disclaim, the disclaimer of disclamation AAAHHHH! What a stupid language we speak.It was at that point When i just had enough, I hauled my question sheet through the air toward Mrs Dickson and proceeded to read the newspaper. Ofcourse, it would probably help if I was holding an actual newspaper but nonetheless.

She immediately strutted toward me with that gaze upon her face, while I was thinking to myself about the people that eat that peice of cake they knew they shouldnt have and then wonder why they are fat so they vouch to never eat another uneccessarily smidgen and on top of that, I regret to proclaim (do people of other cultures even bother to speak this random odditory of complete rubbish? I guess if they answer me I wont be able to understand what they're saying....unless of course it were a perfect selection of selected selections of words and phrases completely audible and undoubtably not French,Italian, German or one of them 306 chinese variated languages that probably were just created to put people like me and you off of what they are saying because they want to earn the extra buck here and there.oh I think there was supposed to be a question mark there? wrong place wrong time, it's another one of them stupid sayings that people know and use before they use what they knew they know before they actually forgot what they were remembering to use,like butter instead of margerine. Oh and back to the story: (bracket)

I think i'll have to continue this story as soon as Ive finished starting my homework in order to finish school... hold on, i'll be back for the part after 1 (two)

Lol cats - there are more to follow...

2008-04-19T19:09:00.002+02:00

Links and contact page

2008-04-19T16:45:00.002+02:00

Links Page: interesting and informative sites to have a look at

Gamespy: hot news about gaming http://www.gamespy.com/
Lazy Gamer: I recently discovered this awesome gaming site http://www.lazygamer.co.za/
Tech 43: all the latest in Technology and gadgets http://www.tech43.net/
Newszoom: Another site with the latest news on technology http://www.newszoom.com/
Gamespot: The biggest gaming site around http://www.gamespot.com/
IGN: Along with Gamespot, they are the largest gaming site on the net http://www.ign.com/

Join Edible Mince!
If you're enjoying the Edible Mince site and you would die to become an author, edit and post, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post stating that and leave an email address. If you prefer your privacy, request ours. Don't be shy, punch shy in the face.

By the way, All help is much appreciated. If you would like to post topics about a certain matter etc. each week, We would be glad to accommodate you. This is in fact preferable.

Current Members: Davis, Jonathan, Daniel (whyoranges)

Its been a while...

2008-04-19T16:02:00.001+02:00

Hi readers
Its now April and this is the first time im posting in like 6 months which is kinda weird but I guess so is gravity.So anyway I wana giv u guys sumthing special to lighten your moods just a little and so here are a couple memories and news since October:

Kyra tackled Kukard to the floor on camp
Josh French deliberately tried to pull his muscles in our class photo
We've finally got rid of Miss Visagie for good
Madoda is still clueless about life
Vam ate Josh's chocolate that he was so proud of winning yesterday
Went to My Coke Fest 2008 and it was awesome.Hayley snuck me and my bro into the Golden Circle
I discovered Hayley's middle name is Mary-anne Catherin.I wonder how long it will take her to find this and slap me
Madoda has since quit doing high jump

Friday's excitement turned into irritation for Dylan

2007-10-20T12:24:00.002+02:00

Dylan (a serious Mac user) hates this one song so much he deleted it last year from his iTunes library and he probably forgot about it... until yesterday.

The song's called "are you online" by someone called Lynn and on Thursday Jonathan managed to download it from somewhere, he sent it to me and I put it on my flash drive. Then yesterday (Friday), I secretly imported it into his library without him knowing and we played it full volume for him. He was shocked because he deleted it about a year earlier and thought that was the end of it, but then he started getting really mad. Not only did I put it on his computer, I renamed about 20 of them and imported those as well! he doesn't know where they keep coming from as he has deleted them like 10 times now.

High jump with Madoda

2007-10-18T18:33:00.000+02:00

Today I had athletics after school and my group did high jump. The coach spent about 40 minutes teaching us the proper technique of how to jump properly over the bar thing, and I thought we all got the idea after like 10 minutes, but I think Madoda should have payed more attention.

He took a run up toward the thing and jumped. He cleared the bar easily... as well as the landing pad and landed on his neck straight on the ground without even touching the pad. Of course, I wasn't laughing as it happened cause I thought he broke his neck, but we ran to him and asked if he was okay, and after a few seconds we heard, "Aaaahh" and I burst out laughing because I knew everything was alright. It's typical Madoda

iGothit... with an Apple

2007-10-16T19:07:00.000+02:00

Okay, the name implies it was infact a product of Apple, but actually it was less painful than being hit by a computer or ipod. It was the last period of the day, Maths (with Mr. Vam) and somehow Jonathan (not Kukard, other Jonathan) had accumulated an apple with a face drawn on it (I honestly don't know how that got there) and it was named Scott(again, I've no idea...).

Well, anyway, I was just outside the class and asked Jonathan to throw it to me, so he threw it in a split second and I tried to duck but it was kinda dumb, I should have moved out of the way but instead I ducked right into the path of the apple and it hit me square on the back of the head and exploded everywhere (down my back mainly). This would have been embarrassing for almost anyone, it's just, I don't get embarrassed easily. And for some strange reason it didn't hurt at all, I don't know why. What I do know is that it was just another day at Elkanah for us. I don't know if I'm gonna go to school tomorrow cause I can't imagine what could possibly happen that I havn't seen already. Oh well, I'm just gonna have to see

Join the Ediblemince community!

2007-10-15T18:52:00.006+02:00

If you're enjoying the Edible Mince site and you would die to become an author, edit and post, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post stating that and leave an email address. If you prefer your privacy, request ours. Don't be shy, punch shy in the face.

By the way, All help is much appreciated. If you would like to post topics about a certain matter etc. each week, We would be glad to accommodate you. This is in fact preferable.

Current Members: Davis, Jonathan, Daniel (whyoranges)

2007-10-15T18:09:00.000+02:00

Hey, it's a Monday unfortunately and not much happened. The usual really: we didnt really do much in chemistry, we just had to come up with a rap/song based on the periodic table which is due for Thursday, and Kukard (Jonathan Kukard) and Tsheole (Thoriso Tsheole) had a bit of an argument. This could have turned out to be a bit of a fight but Miss Hood (EMS teacher) walked into class...

i feel sorry for Kukard sometimes because a lot of people don't like him and I don't know why really, but I don't see anything wrong with him, I'm going to turn him into a PIMP one of these days.

My current highest ranked music video

2007-10-14T19:12:00.000+02:00

I'll try and add my top music video every month or so. I'll call it: MTMV. cheers for now.

Sundays are dumb

2007-10-14T12:15:00.000+02:00

I live for my weekends but there is one catch to a weekend:
Sundays!!!
It's always the same with days like today, nothing fun happens and the whole day you are reminded that it's school the next day. It's like the last day of school holidays.

They should abolish the last day of holidays, then people would be able to have a care-free holiday without thinking about school until the next day. Oh wait, then that would by default become the last day... unless you have your last day on a weekend so that it feels normal to go back to school on Monday. No, then it would feel doubly as bad because not only is it Sunday, it's also the last day of holidays and in both cases you have to go to school the next day. Ahh. okay, well, there is really nothing that i can do for people at school unless i strike against having school holidays at all so that people wont feel so bad at the end of holidays.

Maybe, maybe not. the moral of the story is that, well, there is no moral exactly but if there was then it would say: Don't spend your day reading pointless blog posts unless it's a Sunday so that you can forget about school the next day. That might actually remind you that it's school the next day but never mind, I don't want to get started again. Whatever.

My first post - one that may or may not look fake

2007-10-14T11:43:00.001+02:00

I didn't exactly spend much time making it but you get the idea...