Growing up in South Africa, I was faced with it first hand. Sure it wasn't as bad as how it was for people much older than me but still everyone knew what racism was. Apartheid, even though well gone now and South Africa being 18 years as a democracy, there are still signs of racism today. Now why you ask did I bring up such a topic? Well its been a while since I did a blog on my favourite football club and after this weekends victory over long term arch rivals Manchester United, the comments that filled my timeline on twitter deserved one. In fact I was called all sorts of things by one person, daft, prick and told I was stupid.
Luis Suarez & Patrice Evra
Lets start from the very beginning. Liverpool vs Manchester United at Anfield in November last year, Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra have a coming together over something and words were exchanged. In the case held by the English FA, Evra claimed he was hurled racial abuse by Suarez, he who then took to the stand and admitted to calling Evra a "Negrito". Before going anymore further, let us ask google what this term "Negrito" means.
the diminutive negrito is used, as a term of endearment meaning "pal", "buddy" or "friend". Negrito
has come to be used to refer to a person of any ethnicity or color, and
also can have a sentimental or romantic connotation similar to
"sweetheart," or "dear" in English. - Wikipedia
Okay, surely Suarez wasn't calling Evra sweetheart but clearly according to 90% of Google's search results it isn't deemed racist. The FA them self did not say Suarez was racially abusing Evra. The charge was for him admitting to using the word which is why Liverpool FC were up in arms over the decision to ban him for 8 games. Yes there was a case to fight but was it really worth it? In South America the term is used loosely but obviously in Europe it is a bit different. With the modern day game of football having so many nationalities playing in the league itself, we're going to get a culture clash of note. If you still don't understand it, here is Gus Poyet's explanation of it.
Dirk Kuyt celebrates the winning goal
Getting back to yesterdays game, most United fans were upset and claimed Liverpool fans displayed racism, yes there was one tool who was caught on camera making a monkey like figure, unfortunately you do get the odd numb skull. We cannot control these things but he will be caught and will face the consequences. Now to claim the entire crowd were being racist because they booed Evra every time he touched the ball, that's a bit harsh no? Especially seeing that Danny Wellbeck and Antonia Valencia were of the same race as Evra and were not booed at. That's a big statement to make, that 40 odd thousand people support racism. Sure we hate the guy for what he did but support racism? really?
Alex Ferguson
Crowds boo players all the time, Rooney gets booed at Anfield, Mascherano, Gerrard, Torres, Carragher and the list goes on, all have been booed by opposition fans, were they being racially abused? Nani is a black player, he put in a number of dives when playing against Liverpool which subsequently got him booed at Anfield, were we being racist then? I'm not quite sure what brought on this reaction from certain United fans. Maybe it was the result, maybe they're sore losers or it could be penis envy, who knows? The fact of the matter is, none of the managers brought it up, nor did any of the news broadcasters (besides that moron who was caught on camera). Evra himself didn't make mention of it at all, Fergie just seem perplexed how his team lost with the usual comments being "we were the better team"...ahem, as one United supporter told me once "If you believe you were the better team, then why didn't you win?"
Kenny & Steve Clark
Now Liverpool haven't had the best of season's but from the past 2/3 it has been an improvement. We have our ups and downs and this past week we have surprised a lot by beating both Manchester teams in cup competitions both of whom are topping the League table and have brilliant squads. That there is some accomplishment, the Liverpool team is still in a rebuilding phase so most fans know not to expect magic from the word go even though we have the legend that is King Kenny back in charge. We still get frustrated at certain players during the game but in some instances they produce moments of brilliance that get us results.
Moron caught on camera
To end off, yes Suarez isn't the most liked player in world football after what he did in the World Cup but he did get punished for it, he was sent off, a penalty was given but Ghana didn't take the chance that was handed to them. One cannot take away his brilliant technical ability and his eye for taking an creating chances. At the end of the day, "haters gonna hate, Suarez gonna celebrate"
You've probably seen the adverts on TV and not really taken interest in them when they were first aired, but as you watch them more often you would take notice at what they're actually involve.What adverts am I talking about? Microsoft's Holiday party of course.
Towards the end of last year I was invited by Microsoft to a presentation on their up and coming products and software changes. The event which was held at Durban's ICC and unusually I was the first to show up, grabbed my bag of Microsoft goodies and made my way into the room where I was told I had to be seated in the special tables provided up front.
Collin Ross: Windows Client Business Group
I was greeted by Microsoft's Collin Ross who was heading the presentation. As much as I wantied to know why I was there and who he was my eyes couldn't get off the massive display table they had filled with laptops, tablets, desktop replacements and other computing devices.
the machines...
From devices that haven't been launched yet to concepts that will never see production. It was all there, fully functional devices for me to play with! But first back to the reason I was there, Microsoft launched in December their "Holiday Party" campaign. What is it? Basically its showing how Microsoft are using their software and online presence to link multiple applications and devices. Its like reuniting a family, you have your laptop with windows, desktop the same, X-box with live functionality and your windows mobile smart phone which all can be linked wireless to each other. Now I know what you're thinking "Microsoft? they're no where at the moment, Mac all the way!" Yes especially when it comes to mobile phones and tablets, one would tend to agree with that statement BUT...
Windows phones with mobile 7.5
Microsoft were aware of it too, hence the new range of devices soon to hit the country is like no other you've seen before. Normally the cellphone manufacturer would build the phone and buy the OS from Microsoft. Many had problems with these "Windows phones" because the manufacturers never built the phone with the correct specifications to make the most out of the operating system. What Microsoft then did was tell the various makers that, here's how we want you to build the phones, these are the specs and this is the layout. On these new phones which all are pretty similar, have Microsoft Windows mobile 7.5. Its the latest mobile OS out by Microsoft, you may recall in my Deadmau5 post, the launch of the Nokia Lumia in London, that has Windows 7.5 running on it. The OS itself along with the phones is a pretty lethal combination with the user interface and processing ability being brilliantly fast. With Windows there is nothing complicated about it so everything is self explanatory, not saying that its childish but more practical than other OS's on mobiles.
Also discussed was cloud computing, with the rate social media is exploding world wide many are taking advantage of this with their devices being more mobile but also with the new devices, storage does become a problem. One wouldn't walk around with a tablet and a huge external hard drive around now would they? Step in Microsoft Windows Live Skydrive, now if you already have a Windows Live account/ hotmail address, you already have one. What is skydrive? basically its a portion of the Internet allocated to you. You upload files to the drive and you can access them from any machine world wide. Eg: if I have a video of 50mb that I want to email to a friend, I'd upload it to my skydrive then send him the email. He wouldn't have to download the attachment to view it unless he wanted to. I was told at the presentation that at the moment, you can store up to 2gigs of data on your skydrive which is ALOT considering how many people have Live accounts.
Asus UX21E
The pick of the laptops on display had to be the new super slim Toshiba and Acer, both with solid slate drives and i7 processors. These were just bench marks of the technology of the future. These sleek sexy machines are just as powerful as any other laptop if not more and battery life is pretty impressive. All of them were running Windows 7 and to say it was running smooth was an understatement.
Acer Aspire S3
Now one who is reading this must be thinking that Windows is just ripping off Mac, first with the phone, now with the Mac book pro equivalent. Well yes you're right and no you're wrong in a way. Mac's for eg the iPad are generally used by people for an entertainment aspect. Its a cool device no doubt, the app's are brilliant but 80% of the time its hardly used for business. Just buy a laptop is what most will be saying, why though? We have made devices like this, why cant we use it for business as well? sure you can load Microsoft Office for Mac but that's just pricey. What if there was a windows alternative? Pretty soon there will be and it might be more powerful than most laptops. Mecer had on display their new slate which was powered by an Intel Core i5 processor. Yes a core i5 processor in a slate drive!
The downfall to it is the weight and thickness, but its not being put into production just yet as they are addressing those issues. BTW, that's what Windows 8 looks like, yes Windows 8 but more about that later. Apart from showcasing the serious stuff, they did have some other cool stuff on display for us. How many times have you watch CSI and they're busy on the heads up touch screen display and Horatio asks for the image to be shown on the big LCD and with a quick flick the guy almost throws the image onto the screen in front. Fake surely? not anymore, Windows have made that technology now! By syncing the devices to the TV, one can access video's, songs or pictures via your portable device but view them on another display. i.e the video will only play on the TV while you can carry on doing other work on your device. Cool huh? That's not the best part. Everyone knows about Kinect, the device made for the X Box which enables the user to control the games via movement, no controller needed. Now Microsoft are researching ways in using Kinect with PC's! They had on display a laptop with the device hooked up and just by hand movements, one could access documents, view slide show presentations and even draw on MS Paint. The technology is still under development but the possibilities with it are endless.
Now back to what I said earlier, yes Windows 8 is almost here. I say almost because the developers edition is out so the programmer's from the various software companies are busy writing programs and apps for the software. From the little I've seen of it, it does seem to be a very touch orientated software. So if you have touch screen devices, it will be superb and hence the catch phrase is "touch tomorrow". The layout is different from the norm. There is no normal desktop with start bar. Everything is in tiles, but if you do prefer a desktop, there is one available by simply selecting the tile.
I don't really have a preference when it comes to things PC, I just like whats best and easy to use. Microsoft hasn't really taken a hit in the market with sales as many still purchase their products as a given. So its good to see them taking the initiative and making products that appeals to the modern generation that want these cool gadgets. They could have very well just sat back and leave it be but they didn't and from what I've seen they're ready to give their competitors a good run for their money!
Greetings readers of the bucket! Welcome to 2012, apparently some extinct race from South America say this is the earths final year. Well best we make the most of it then! What better way to kick off the first blog post for the year than with the Bucket Babe? Plus the format is slightly changed, not to worry, there is still pictures! We've included a question and answer section to make it a bit more interesting for the girls that are featured and of course, for you the reader! Today's featured model needs no introduction to the Bucket, as she has graced these pages before, not only is she famous online but famous throughout the country, by appearing in newspaper's, magazines and who knows what next!
Yolandi Malherbe
Bio PLAYBOY Playmate July 2011, full time model in the making, brand
ambassador, aspiring presenter, Good Hope FM regular, beach bum, petrol
head and all round party girl! I'm very hard working, dedicated,
ambitious, passionate about everything I do and I'm a force to be
reckoned with. Though I collect bikinis and shoes, I'm not your typical
girly girl. I always mean business.
Yolandi is in the running for Playboy SA playmate of the year, you can vote for her on the website here, or you can vote for her via sms by sms'ing 4 to 38570.
Q & A 1. Hot girls and hot cars go hand in hand, what ride would you like to see yourself in? A:
I'm currently in talks with Subaru Cape Town to be an ambassador for
them and ever since I got behind the wheel of the 2.5 2011 WRX Subaru
Wide Body, I fell in love. So for now, this is my car of choice. Just
like me, it's curvy and built for speed, not comfort.
2. What sandwich are you most likely to make for me? and will it be toasted or plain?
A: I'd make you something way better, but I'd probably make you a roast chicken, cream cheese and basil pesto sandwich, toasted.
3. What type of music gets your booty shaking?
A:
I love Hip Hop and all commercial music. Right now I've got David
Guetta's latest CD, Nothing but the Beat, on repeat in my car!
4. Dream cover shoot? A:
PLAYBOY for sure! I've been working really hard to be a great Playmate
and brand ambassador, and I've done everything to market myself and the
brand really well. It's all up to the judges in the end, but I hope they
see my hard work and dedication, and pick me as the Playmate of the
Year. Should I win this, I'll get the cover of Playboy.
5. If not modeling wasn't an option, what career would you have most like to get in to? A:
Probably a Vet because I love animals! But I'm happy to be doing
modeling, photo shoots, interviews for great websites, such as this one,
radio interviews, appearances... The list goes on! This is already such
a dream come true, that I can't ever imagine doing anything else. This
is my passion.
6. Everyone loves popcorn (well I think they do) whats your topping/ sprinkle of choice?
A:
I don't ever buy popcorn when I go to the cinemas because it's always
old and cold. I love the microwave popcorn and I recently discovered a
new flavour, basil and cheese. I could live off that! Otherwise, the
usual butter flavoured popcorn is a must!
7. Anyone holding that hand yet? or is it available?
It's
not about who's holding it. It's about who can hold on to it. I've got
many wrapped around each finger, but as for my entire hand? Not yet.
8. Growing up you must have had someone you aspired to be, so who is your role model?
A:
To this day I still look up to Lee-Ann Liebenberg and Tracy McGregor!
I'm very fortunate to have met, and spent time with, Tracy. She's as
beautiful inside as she is outside.
9. Obviously being a female you would love fashion, favourite label/ designer?
A: Two words: Forever New. I can be bribed with anything from that shop!!
