Making A Better World - Milton Louw

on Namibia's 21st birthday, 21 March 2011 This morning once more my country awakes This day is no normal day though, No, today my country has come of age, It is no longer a child, But an adult member of the world. I remember its birth many sunrises ago When I was chosen to raise our new flag, Looking out from that first maternity ward Over the rolling hills of our capital Windhoek The skyline created by the colonialists. Today, my country receives its key, The key to unlock things before hidden, Things that were forbidden to do, Now maturity must lend a hand And help in the choices it makes. During its teenage years, I became worried as it flirted, Its political alliances changing shape Hard words being exchanged during puberty Crying tears of unanswered love. As my country becomes more self-assured Exerting its own will and wants It is time to step quietly aside, Assuring it of my undying, continued love While letting it achieve its own greatness. S...

The whole world is becoming focussed on social media and the number of users on Facebook, Twitter, etc. However, very little reliable information or statistics seems to be available about Namibian user and their preferences. So, while I had very little to do this weekend while sitting in a cold Düsseldorf, I decided to look at what figures I could put together. This first place to start was Twitter. Twitter is the site where I get most of my introductions to a topic after which I may decide to look into it further and click on the link. Because of the limit of only 140 characters, I don’t have to worry much about missing a comment by a friend because some other “friends” has loaded dozens of pictures or played lots of games. News providers I started my Twitter search by looking at the Namibian media, that is, the companies or websites who provide information on Namibia. This is what I found in order of the most followers (as at 22.02.11): #namibia_news - 1,980 followers. Mos...

The ability to save information on a computer (for example in the central register) will also necessitate new legislation to be promulgated. These laws are especially necessary in our Information and Communication enabled society where information is stored on electronic retrieval systems. Legislation for informational privacy The Namibian Constitution states in Article 13 Privacy: “(1) No persons shall be subject to interference with the privacy of their homes, correspondence or communications save as in accordance with law and as is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the protection of health or morals, for the prevention of disorder or crime or for the protection of the rights or freedoms of others.” The Constitution thus guarantees only “Physical Privacy”. The storage of personal and business information (“Informational Privacy”) must have legislation that will prevent misuse of...

Did you know? • The fifth biggest “country” in the world is Facebook. That’s right, a country that only exists on the Internet has over 200 million people sharing their thoughts, photographs, birthdays, love lives, interests and causes with one another. In the “Nation of Facebook” your every thought is shared with all your friends at once. They can indicate if they like it, or make a comment. In addition, you or a friend can “write on the wall” if you wish to send each other private messages. The photographs area allows you to upload any of your photos and share them instantly with those you know. The best feature is the ability to tag a friend, and everyone they know will be informed that a photo has been loaded. • In the Twitter application an actor, Ashton Kutcher, beat the news company CNN to having a million users following their “twitting” (Twitter is a service that allows you to send and post SMS messages to a network of contacts.) Kutcher had challenged CNN to the Twitter race,...