FREEDOM TOASTER – make sure you get your slice
Thanks as always to one of our most loyal and on the mark Representers ‘Stoffel’ for his juicy bits that he sends us on nearly a daily basis… Check out this brilliant initiative, from the generous Shuttleworth Foundation – The FREEDOM TOASTER project – they’re making open source software available to all South Africans through their innov… ative FREEDOM TOASTERS – ‘conveniently located, self-contained ‘Bring ‘n Burn’ facilities that provide free OPEN SOURCE software downloads to anyone that feels like a piece of toast… All you have to do is insert your blank disks and make copies of the free software so you can empower yourself and your computer without spending a fortune on the big boy software like Windows and Apple whose tight grip on the market is a hard one to negotiate. Click here to go to the site. Here’s the basics: What is the Freedom Toaster The Freedom Toaster is a conveniently located, self-contained ‘Bring ‘n Burn’ facility, where users bring their own blank discs and make copies of the open source software they require. What is the Freedom ToasterThe Freedom Toaster is a conveniently located, self-contained ‘Bring ‘n Burn’ facility, where users bring their own blank discs and make copies of the open source software they require.But why do we need this? The Freedom Toaster project began as a means of overcoming the difficulty in obtaining Linux and Open Source software due to the restrictive telecommunications environment in South Africa, where the easy downloading of large pieces of software is just not possible....
AMAZON.com looking for Sou’ Africans to join the start up
At last – Amazon.com has ventured to the land of milk and money… our economy is Boom Boom Booming and any clever brand should want to be a part of it! They’re opening a ‘software development’ centre – sounds interesting! We wish them all the best of luck and welcome them to Mzantsi! They’re looking for potential EMPLOYEES to be a part of the start-up – now this is a company… that you REALLY want to work for – check it out: “Amazon.com is delighted to announce that our new software development centre in South Africa is now fully operational. The Centre offers a unique opportunity to be a part of a rather unusual start-up — one which will serve tens of millions of active customer accounts around the world. We are now looking for outstanding individuals across a number of different areas of expertise to join the start-up team. “ GET TO IT!!!...
A guide to South Africa’s 12th language – GELEZA!!
Did you know that Black Label beer is also known as 10111? Or that the latest BMW 330i BMW is known as “half past three”? Lebo Motshegoa, one of the visionary mfowethu’s behind Soweto Rocks, gives us another treasure all in the name of getting to understand each other better. In this case it’s an opportunity to really get into TOWNSHIP TALK and learn some street-taal. Get it from a book…store near you! For all those behind the times on Scamto, South Africa’s popular language of the streets, well here’s Township Talk Dictionary, a guide to South Africa’s 12th language, scamto. Geleza this dictionary and begin to frostun the language, the culture and the people of South Africa. Soon you’ll become a chizboy probably driving a G-string and sipping on Jesus & his Brothers, that’s J&B. Learn more with this Dictionary, compiled by Lebo Motshegoa, who compiled the first ever township glossary, titled Scamto Dictionary that won the much-coveted Loerie Awards in 2003 & 2004. The dictionary explores amongst other things, the history behind Township lingo. For example, the language emanated in Sophiatown in the 50 & 60s& it was known as Tsotsi Taal and was developed to ensure privacy between the boys and their ‘matharas’… Then the legacy continued and in the late 70s to 80s when “Mapantsula” came into the picture. Mapantsula were notorious for their rough nature and behavior… This dictionary tells how they wore expensive clothing and had expensive taste. Their girlfriends were known as Mshozas… The political uprisings of 1976 brought the realization for unity and common purpose in South Africa. The categorization of people based on their taste; company and patronage became a thing of the past… There was one common goal for all, and that was UNITY and the struggle for FREEDOM. Hence, another form of communication was born: Township lingo, fusing all South African languages into one. So when you do get a copy of the Township Talk Dictionary, expect to see words like regte, pluck, stompie, cherry, dom kop, chizboy, four five and many others that are spoken words in South African townships. The Township Talk Dictionary does not only include the A-Z of township lingo, it has included the street nicknames of di transie (cars), dice, street jargon for nyuku (money), words and phrases that give insight into urban black South Africans. No wonder it’s tag line is, the language – the culture – the people. This dictionary is truly hip to the...
01/09 – 04/09 :: UNYAZI – our 1st electro music festival
UNYAZI Festival of electronic music and sonic arts kicks off next week on the 1 – 4 September at WITS in Johananesburg with huge international guests and lots of locals too… The computer, the sampler, and the turntable. The new sound technologies embraced by the post-rave generation have linked them into a network of experimental and unconventional musicians going back to th…e electroacoustic pioneers of the 1960s. Over the last decade this explosion of creative collaboration between several generations of electronic musicians and sonic artists has been celebrated in a growing number of international events, such as the Sonar Festival in Barcelona and the Phonotaktik in Vienna. Now electronic music is coming to Johannesburg with the UNYAZI festival. NewMusicSA, the South African Section of the International Society for Contemporary Music, is proud to present UNYAZI – the first festival of electronic music and sonic arts in Africa. Over four days in September, top international musicians, teachers, and artists will be featured together with African musicians who are working in this field. Under the curatorship of South African composer Dimitri Voudouris, the festival will run from 1 – 4 September in Johannesburg at venues on the Wits University campus in Braamfontein, in association with the Digital Arts and Music Divisions of the Wits School of Arts. Funded principally by the National Arts Council of South Africa, the festival will feature the extraordinary range and variety of electronic musics from Africa and the rest of the world. UNYAZI will consist of -a symposium with presenters from Europe, the Americas and Africa, – workshops and live performances throughout each day of the Festival by some of the most well-known names in the sonic arts both internationally and nationally, from tape music to kwaito and everything in between. Come and experience legendary names such as the Egyptian Halim El-Dabh and American pioneer Pauline Oliveros in electrifying performances and workshops. A wealth of other composers and performers will come from Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Cyprus, Egypt, Mexico, Norway, Spain, Sweden,Zimbabwe and the USA – Rodrigo Sigal, Lukas Ligeti, Blake Tyson,Yannis Kyriakides, Matthew Ostrowski, Maxime Rioux, George Lewis , Luc Houtkamp+POW,Francisco Lopez,Sandra Ndebele,My Kingdom For A Lullabuy,Schnee Local electronic musicians will not be neglected. At Unyazi you can also catch performances by artists and composers from all over South Africa: Warrick Sony,Brendon Bussy,Louis Moholo,James Webb (Cape Town), Theo Herbst and the KEMUS Ensemble (Stellenbosch), Sazi Dlamini, Jýrgen Brýuninger + Sazi Dlamini and Zim Ngqwana (Durban), and Carlo Mombelli, Joýo Orecchia, Skwatta Kamp, Pops Mohammed, Rheza Khota, James Sey, Skid, Chris Wood and Dimitri Voudouris (Johannesburg). Workshops will be conducted by Blake Tyson , Pauline Oliveros,...
25/08 – 27/08 :: Joy of Jazz – some FREE SHOWS in Newtown!
UPDATE! The JOBURG LEG of the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz festival kicks off on the 25 August and continues until the 27 August… If you don’t know what’s going on CLICK HERE for the program and HERE for COMPUTICKET to reserve your seats for the paying shows – HURRY! There are free shows at Nikk…i’s Oasis and Shivava’s – see the program – but get there early! ———————————————————— 21 July 2005 Joy of Jazz is back in August with two big concerts in Johannesburg and Cape Town featuring three hot and happening Jazz muso’s… two guitarists and a saxophonist. GO GO GO! Legendary Jazz maestro’s Dave Koz, Lee Ritenour and Stanley Jordan are heading to South Africa this August, for the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz festival series. The tour kicks off on the 25th at the Standard Bank Arena in Johannesburg, featuring Dave Koz and Lee Ritenour and then heads south to the Cape Town International Convention Centre on the 28th where all 3 artists will be performing. Dave Koz, the latest contender for the instrumental pop saxophone throne, came out of nowhere after his self-titled 1990 release made it onto the Billboard Contemporary Jazz charts and stayed there several weeks. He work has been described and fiery and intense, and he also played on Arsenio Hall’s show, which increased his popularity among the urban contemporary, light jazz and pop audience. Koz plays instrumental pop covers, some upbeat tunes and generally sticks to the fusion production formula; background vocalists, synthesizers and drum machines. Lee Ritenour has long been the perfect studio musician, one who can melt into the background without making any impact. While he possesses impressive technique, Ritenour has mostly played instrumental pop throughout his career, sometimes with a Brazilian flavor. After touring with Sergio Mendes’ Brazil ’77, in 1973, Ritenour became a very busy studio guitarist in Los Angeles, taking time off for occasional tours with his groups and in the mid-’90s with Bob James in Fourplay. Stanley Jordan’s discovery in the early ’80s rightfully earned a lot of headlines in the jazz world for he came up with a new way of playing guitar. Although he was not the first to use tapping, Jordan’s extensive expertise gave him the ability to play two completely independent lines on the guitar or, when he wanted, two guitars at a time. After graduating from Princeton in 1981, Jordan played for a time on the streets of New York. Soon he was discovered, had the opportunity to play with Benny Carter and Dizzy Gillespie and, after recording a solo album for his own Tangent label, signed with Blue...
We will be back!
