Kanthan's Blog

The green energy way to save the bald eagle...

The Seal of the President of the United States came about after an executive order issued by then US president Dwight D. Eisenhower becoming effective 4 July 1960 which reads:

The Coat of Arms of the President of the United States shall be of the following design:

Punch-drunk idiots

Yesterday, US president Joe Biden and his acolytes in the EU announced sweeping new sanctions against Russia

Fake news, it's for real...

Got a shared video today via WhatsApp (as one does); security cam footage shows the inside of a barbershop, patrons having their haircuts.

Two gunmen enter, ten shots are fired into the head of a customer, they flee the scene.

“This jst happened in Umhlanga” said the forwarder.

Within minutes, I can see this is going viral. It’s popping up on people’s WhatsApp status messages. Meanwhile, I’m checking it out because forwarding videos without fact-checking is something I try not to do.

Going after oligarchs? Dumb move...

The word “oligarch” was derived from the Greek word ὀλιγαρχία “ Oligarkhia” meaning ὀλίγος “oligoi” (few) and ἄρχω “arkhein” (to rule).

The appropriate time for a slap

This has been at the back of my mind ever since the Will Smith / Chris Rock incident last week. This is an except from Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead" which remains one of the most influential books in my life to this day,

So you want green power? Read this...

I’m doing a bit of light reading this afternoon. (Well, it’s actually a hefty volume that weighs about 4 kilograms.) HVDC Power Transmission Lines Book is an Eskom publication from November 2021 and a copy has landed on my desk, courtesy of one of the principal authors.

If you’re wondering why on earth I would be interested in High Voltage Direct Current transmission; and — more importantly —why you should care, let me give you some bullet points.

The world in sixty seconds ...

Seven years ago last night, I got on a plane from Johannesburg to London. I landed the morning of 1 April,  launched this amazing product I had co-designed with the BBC, did this panel discussion as well as two TV appearances, and flew back that night.

The idea of a news bulletin targeting an educated young audience with a short attention span seems like a crazy idea today. But BBC Minute (or #TWISS — The World in Sixty Seconds as my then team dubbed it) has thrived.

I believe in unicorns...

The news earlier today that Vinny Lingham was backing an interesting new startup triggered an entire thought process rabbit hole. Let me take you down through it.