hertenberger.co.za

Just a message for those of you in parts of the world that have yet to enter the year 2010, regardless of your calendar: rhino horn in any form cannot cure cancer and is unlikely to increase any sexual prowess you are seeking. Hunting rhinoceros or any other animal for that matter is primitive, inhumane and cannot be justified for any reason.

Like homeopathy, you are believing in bullshit – your belief (like many others) is not supported by scientific fact.

Stop buying animal products in the mistaken belief that your pathetic life can be improved. Your poachers deserve little more than death – ideally in no less a horrible form than the death you are imposing on a dwindling population of harmless, innocent animals.

You need medical help? Seek out a physician. You need sexual potency? Take Viagra.

Leave. the. rhino. alone.

The place DOES look like a park. No menu in sight and the food is NOT worth ordering.

Buzz Lightyear

Originally uploaded by MHertenberger.

FIFA 2010 bundle delayed… Blame: volcano!

The Easter weekend saw about 300,000 or more (depending on what figure one accepts as true) iPads being sold in the USA. Some rather exciting announcements regarding software applications available for that application also came along, foremost among them a comic book reader by Marvel, Zinio magazine reader and the Kindle application for the iPad. Whilst I cannot wait to get my hands on an iPad, I fear couple of months wait are still necessary…

Hot on the heels of the iPad release, Apple has announced an event that will lift the lid on the new iPhone OS version. There is a lot of speculation as to what iPhone OS 4.0 will include – a new device may be on the horizon, too.

The iPhone OS 4.0 event is scheduled to take place on April 8.

A native Kindle reader is finally available for the Macintosh platform, having been released late last year for Windows only. The 8MB download contains the reader application. After the installation, the reader needs to be registered for existing content to be available and purchases to be downloaded.

The interface is pretty standard: existing books are displayed in the archive or downloaded for offline reading. If any other Kindle reader or Kindle has accessed any of the books, bookmarks and progress are updated to make the reading experience seamless.

Download the reader here.

Fortunate Apple fans in the USA will be able to pre-order the iPad in the next few hours. Though the 3G-enable iPad will be shipped only much later, the wireless model could be in expectant mitts by 3 April. The 3G model will ship only at the end of April.

There is still no information on when the iPad will be available to markets outside of the USA, though it may be possible to purchase and import from authorized retailers soon. The iPad added to my B&H wish list was removed after Apple indicated that only authorized resellers would be able to sell the device. It’s to be expected that the initial volume of sales will occur in a market that precludes non-US residents from purchasing. Once the craziness has died down, everyone will be able to buy one – Apple is into making money, after all.

Porsche has come up with a very interesting slant on a hybrid vehicle: the Porsche 918 Spyder is a concept car that carries both a V8 engine and two electric motors, one for each axle.

The V8 does quite nicely, providing 500 horses. But coupled with the electrickery, an additional 200 horsepower is added. That propels the Spyder from 0 to 100 in less than 3.5 seconds.

Top speed is somewhere around 260km/h. Since it’s a hybrid, fuel consumption and emissions are kept to a minimum. Road noise will be the next optimization, I’m sure…

Steve Jobs didn’t disappoint at his presentation of the new Apple product announcement.

The iPad will be available in the next month, with international availability pending. It’s little more than an oversized iPod, but that’s exactly what I was hoping for.

The 9″ device is powered by Apple‘s own A4 chip, running at 1GHz and able to execute the entire library of iPhone applications natively. A choice as to whether the app is run in full screen mode or centered on the larger iPad screen is available, until applications for the iPad are developed. A variety of options regarding configuration are available and the pricing starts at USD 499. The ideal model is the one containing both 3G and WLAN with 64GB of storage. That’s the one to get.

The unit accepts optional accessories, including a stand and keyboard stand. For those with an Apple Bluetooth keyboard, that can be connected to the iPad. It will be possible to upload photos from a camera and possibly use an application to edit and process those. A new version of iWork runs on the iPad.