Geekdinner #8

aubrey — Wed, 28 May 2008 21:46:36 +0000

So it was the 8th Geekdinner tonight. And I think 4th one I’ve attended.
Another success I’d say.

Great venue (Thanks Mel’s Kitchen, Rondebosh). Great food (Gluhwein, soup, lamb/chicken/veg curry, pudding+custard). Great people, saw some faces I haven’t for a while (Hi Luke. Hi Allan. Hi all you other people I forget to mention.), even met one or two whose names I know (Hi @kerry_anne) and never met, some interesting talks, good wine (Thanks Perdeberg, I’m not a wine ‘spurt, but I sampled both the Sauvignon Blanc and the Pinotage, and they were both excellent!)

The talks. Oi vei. OK, so Jonathan (I forget which number he is) spoke about Game Theory. Funny that, I came across it on Wikipedia the other week for some reason. Interesting.

And the Jonathan (Yet another one) spoke about 5 ways to live in Cape Town. Very cool, really liked it. Some very true points, I’ve been wanting to do as Romans do for a while. Funds limit the possibilities though I’m afraid.

And then Ian had a nice talk about GM foods and GM products and why it’s not necessarilly a bad thing, but how it’s a bad thing if not tested properly. I think everybody, including the big corporations, know this, but it’s all about money and immediate needs. Yes, we need to cater for the 6 billion people on earth, so let’s do it quick and make money while we’re at it, screw the environment, or the planet. That’s a few generations down the line’s problem. I’m still on the fence about it all, but I’m definitely for proper testing of GM stuff though.

Tim did the Slideshow Karaoke, on the mating and sexual habits of some obscure Australian ant-eater mammal thing. Funny. Seemed like well-researched material, Tim managed quite well, even when the four-headed penis topic came up. Don’t ask.

All in all though, I think it was great, had lots of fun, even the coffee was good. Lovurly.

May Geekdinner

aubrey — Wed, 07 May 2008 10:31:42 +0000

So it’s another other-month, and it’s time for another GeekDinner.
I try to make the GeekDinners when I can, sometimes it’s just too far, and other times it’s too expensive. I count cents you see.
But, this month is different.
This month we’re off the Mel’s Village Kitchen (no site, but see a pic here)for the Geekdinner, on the 28th. Nice, it’s after pay day (My current employer pays salaries *before* the last day of the month, like *normal* people…), and Mel’s is in Rondebosch. And on the menu, for a mere R115, is a typical 3-course meal (Soup, bread, curry buffet, baked choc pudding), and we’ll likely get wine sponsored by one of our previous sponsors. (There’s talk of Perdeberg being involved, more about that later). Previous sponsors included Stormhoek and GetWine and Blank. They all have some awesome wine (I’m not ‘spurt on wine though, but what I’ve had tasted nice, haha), and you can even own a vine in Stormhoek’s vineyard too if you have some cash to help them out.

Anyway, the Geekdinners have always been fun. Lots of interaction with old colleagues (mostly from IOL) and fellow geeks, funny-as-hell Slideshow Karaoke, and some (usually) interesting and (usually) informative talks. It’s very informal, and there’s a small group of people that usually take charge and run the thing, keeping tabs on the time for talks and introducing the next speaker, or generally just talking crap while some poor sod tries to get Windows and the projector to talk nice.

So, I’ll be there, very, very likely. Not talking about anything (I don’t think I have much to say yet…), just enjoying the interactions and the wine. Maybe, the wine.

Oh, and if you use/like/develop for WordPress, you can swing past the 3rd Cape Town WordPress Meetup at the Bandwidth Barn in town, right before coming through to the dinner. I use and like and (can) develop for WordPress, but don’t think I’ll make the meetup. I might have to make a plan though. *ponders*

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Geekdinner #8

May Geekdinner