You know how it goes. You kind of lapse into a non-update period, and then it all seems like too much effort to update and explain yourself. That’s where I was. Can’t say I feel awfully guilty, although I probably should.

So, what’s been happening on my end? Not really an awful lot. Watched a bunch of movies,  played a lot of games, and finally managed to start and finish LOST. That in itself is quite an achievement I would say!

Looking to the future. Friday the FIFA World Cup starts. I’m sure it’ll be lovely, but I’m not a sports person as such. I hope South Africa manage to showcase everything that’s great about this country though.

In August we’re going to the UK and France for our vacation. Everything’s in place except for our Visas, but we’ll be getting those sorted soon. Then it’s just a matter of waiting it out. Can’t come soon enough, that’s for sure.

Work-wise… I moved to Sandton, still doing the same work, just in another place. Traffic’s much worse, but one gets used to it. However, with the launch of the Gautrain, I might finally be able to use public transport to come to work. Will give it a bash and see how it goes.

And that’s pretty much all I have for now. I might go into detail on some things as time goes on, we’ll see.

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Local music at least made a decent showing on my listening chart, which I feel good about. It’ll be interesting to see what 2010 holds in terms of new music discovery!

Click the link for more!

Wolfram|Alpha Blog : Step-by-Step Math.

Have you ever given up working on a math problem because you couldn’t figure out the next step? Wolfram|Alpha can guide you step by step through the process of solving many mathematical problems, from solving a simple quadratic equation to taking the integral of a complex function.

]]> http://broken.co.za/blog/2009/11/09/real-space-invaders/feed 0 http://broken.co.za/blog/2009/11/06/the-secret-life-of-everyday-things http://broken.co.za/blog/2009/11/06/the-secret-life-of-everyday-things#comments Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:42:30 +0000 Broken http://broken.co.za/blog/?p=529

Bent Objects by Terry Border: The Secret Life of Everyday Things – Telegraph.

These micro piglets may be tiny enough to fit in a teacup, but at £700 their price tag is anything but small.

Published: 9:23AM BST 06 Oct 2009

Micro pigs with a hefty price tag

Micro pigs Simon and Cheryl (R) Photo: GEOFF ROBINSON

The pets, which grow to be just 14in tall, have become so popular that they are now almost impossible to get hold of in Britain.

They have even been snapped up by celebrities, including Harry Potter actor Rupert Grint, who plays Ron Weasley.

“Demand for micro pigs is soaring and we are inundated with enquiries every day,” said Jane Croft, 42, who breeds them.

“It’s amazing how popular they have suddenly become and just how many people want pigs as pets.”

Micro pigs are much smaller than a standard farm pig and weigh 9oz, about the size of a tea cup when they are born.

At two years old they are fully grown and weigh in around 40-65 lb and are around knee height at 12-16in tall. They can live for up to 18 years, but make popular pets as they are low maintenance, quiet and surprisingly clean.

“Micro pigs make fantastic pets as they are very low maintenance. You don’t have to take them for walks and they have very few health issues,” said Mrs Croft, who runs Little Pig Farm in Christchurch, Cambridgeshire.

“They don’t make much noise, they are easy to lavatory train and once they have bonded with you they are very loving.

“They are actually very clean and never mess in their bedding and are just so adorable.

“They are also highly intelligent and are the fourth most intelligent species after man, monkey and dolphin.

“They really are the perfect pets, I don’t know why people haven’t thought of them before.”

Micro pigs are also good alternative pets for people with allergies.

“Lots of people are allergic to cats and dogs but you can’t get allergies from pigs as their skin is very similar to ours, and the have hair not fur” added Mrs Croft.

“We’ve had many parents buy pigs for their children who suffer from fur allergies.”

The Little Pig farm has been getting 4,000 hits a week and at least 60 emails and 40 phone calls a day from people all over the world, including America, Russia, Spain and even Australia.

The pigs are crosses of Miniature Pot Bellied pigs with Tamworths, Kune Kunes and Gloucester Old Spots to create their tiny, colourful Micro Pigs, which are sold for between £195 and £700.

The size of the piglets get smaller with every litter with Peanut the piglet believed to be one of the tiniest adult pigs in Europe.

She weighed just under 2kg at twelve weeks old and now lives indoors with Mrs Croft as a companion to her dog and sleeps on the sofa.

At 13 months she has almost stopped growing and is just 12 inches tall.

via Micro pigs with a hefty price tag – Telegraph.

I will hopefully start getting back into the swing of things, or at least a reasonable facsimile thereof. Most likely a lot more frivolous posts about amusing things I stumble across will be popping up here, a dumping ground so to speak.

That’s all for now!