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Today's quotable quote: Geoffrey Parfitt: I've got a very poor sense of direction. I keep forgetting which way is forwards.

This day in history: 06 November 2025: The Green March Begins (1975). Extremely arid and almost entirely sand and gravel, the sparsely populated territory of Western Sahara was a protectorate of Spain until the 1970s. Despite internal calls for independence, the king of neighboring Morocco led a march of more than 300,000 unarmed Moroccans into the territory as a show of support for annexation. Known as the Green March, the mass demonstration led to Spanish withdrawal, but control of the region is still contested.



Home - Outeniqua Choo Tjoe

outeniquachootjoe.com, 29 October 2025

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Please watch this site for news about Classic Rails’s project to return steam trains to South Africa's Garden Route.




Klepetan and Malena - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org, 14 October 2025

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Klepetan and Malena were a pair of white storks (Ciconia ciconia) who became renowned in Croatia for their romantic endeavors. Between 2001 and 2021, Klepetan traveled from South Africa to Brodski Varoš, Croatia, each spring to mate with Malena, who was unable to travel due to a gunshot injury. On ...


The Vintage

Woah #fblifestyle, 02 October 2025

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Woah #fblifestyle


A Brief History of the Minimoog Part I

youtube.com, 23 September 2025

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Follow the life of the Minimoog Synthesizer from its inception through its prolific contributions to poplular music throughout the last 4 decades.In this fir...



Physics wins, hydrogen cars lose

medium.com, 24 July 2025

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How many times have we heard that hydrogen-powered cars are “the future”? Well, that future has been collapsing like a house of cards for a…


The Vintage

In South Portland, Maine, a group of parents sparked a quiet revolution by replacing smartphones with landlines for their kids. Concerned about the effects of constant screen time, they formed a “landline pod,” where children use home phones to call one another, plan playdates, and have real conversations—no texting, no apps, no distractions. The result? Kids building confidence, empathy, and stronger social skills through simple, meaningful connection. What began as one mother’s creative idea has grown into a neighborhood movement that’s bringing back the lost art of talking., 20 July 2025

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In South Portland, Maine, a group of parents sparked a quiet revolution by replacing smartphones with landlines for their kids. Concerned about the effects of constant screen time, they formed a “landline pod,” where children use home phones to call one another, plan playdates, and have real conversations—no texting, no apps, no distractions. The result? Kids building confidence, empathy, and stronger social skills through simple, meaningful connection. What began as one mother’s creative idea has grown into a neighborhood movement that’s bringing back the lost art of talking.



Frogsicles: Frozen But Still Alive

youtube.com, 05 July 2025

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The wood frog's body makes its own anti-freeze that allows it to survive the winter. The secret ingredient? You'll never guess.From: CRAZY MONSTER FROGShttp:...



Abandoned

These weren't just "oaks" - they were planted between larch and spruce so that they would grow tall and straight, which means the navy oak forests are rather unusual., 20 April 2025

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These weren't just "oaks" - they were planted between larch and spruce so that they would grow tall and straight, which means the navy oak forests are rather unusual.


Contact details

Dion Truter

Work: map2tech, Unit 186, Block F, Millennium Business Park, 19 Edison Way, Century City, 7441

082 389 2834

contact7@truter.org

https://map2tech.com/

In the news

World’s largest web houses 110,000 spiders thriving in total darkness: Deep underground in a dark, sulfuric cave on the border between Albania and Greece, scientists have made an incredible discovery – a giant communal spider web spanning more than 100 square meters (1,000 sq ft), dense enough to resemble a living curtain, home to an estimated 110,000 spiders. Posted on 06 November 2025.

Gambit 6 brings air-to-ground capabilities to autonomous fighters: General Atomics has rolled out the latest iteration of its modular Gambit series of Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), adapting the common-core airframe for air-to-ground missions while retaining its autonomous core capabilities. Posted on 07 November 2025.

IRS Notifies States There Will Be No Direct File Program For 2026: We knew this was coming, but it doesn’t make it any less stupid. Posted on 07 November 2025.


Cape Town weather

5 day forecast

  • Fri 07: sky is clear

    16 ° - 27 ° Wind 6 km/h / Clouds 0 %
  • Sat 08: scattered clouds

    18 ° - 26 ° Wind 7 km/h / Clouds 48 %
  • Sun 09: light rain

    19 ° - 25 ° Wind 5 km/h / Clouds 40 %
  • Mon 10: light rain

    17 ° - 22 ° Wind 3 km/h / Clouds 8 %
  • Tue 11: broken clouds

    17 ° - 23 ° Wind 7 km/h / Clouds 66 %

See next two weeks

News (continued)

Top 10 AI Tools That Will Transform Your Content Creation in 2025: Looking to level up your content creation game in 2025? You're in the right place! The digital landscape has evolved dramatically, and AI tools have become essential for creators who want to stay ahead of the curve. Posted on 02 January 2025.

Panel presents promise, peril of AI use in education at Cornell: The panel, “AI + Education: Teaching and Learning in the Age of AI,” held during the 75th Trustee-Council Annual Meeting, painted a complete picture of the state of AI in education at Cornell. Posted on 06 November 2025.

‘Vibe coding’ beats ‘clanker’ to be Collins dictionary’s word of the year: AI-inspired word joins ‘biohacking’, ‘Henry’ and ‘broligarchy’ on tech-heavy 2025 list“Vibe coding”, an emerging software development that turns natural language into computer code using artificial intelligence, has been named Collins dictionary’s word of the year for 2025. Posted on 07 November 2025.

Universe expansion may be slowing, not accelerating, study suggests: Astronomers cast doubt on Nobel prize-winning theory and suggest universe could end in ‘big crunch’Astronomers have cast doubt on a Nobel prize-winning theory that the expansion of the universe is accelerating, suggesting that instead it may be slowing down. Posted on 07 November 2025.

One of the best Apple Watches you can buy isn't Apple's newest (but it's 30% off): The Apple Watch Series 10 might be last year's model, but its specs prove it's basically as capable as the Series 11. Posted on 07 November 2025.

Bird flu virus spreading in UK could be worst yet, expert warns farmers: A top virology expert tells the BBC that the "super-infectious" avian influenza virus could mutate. Posted on 06 November 2025.

How one tech startup is giving cash to SNAP recipients: Propel makes a free app for people on food stamps. Posted on 04 November 2025.

The secret life of baobabs: How bats and moths keep Africa's giant trees alive: Baobabs are sometimes called "upside-down trees," because their branches look like roots reaching skyward. Posted on 07 November 2025.

OpenAI Races to Quell Concerns Over Its Finances: The A.I. company faced pushback after a top executive raised the idea of government aid, amid concerns that the A. Posted on 07 November 2025.

Empresa de transporte noruega encuentra vulnerabilidades de seguridad en autobuses hechos en China: . Posted on 07 November 2025.

What Scientists Are Learning From Brain Organoids: Lab-grown “reductionist replicas” of the human brain are helping scientists understand fetal development and cognitive disorders, including autism. Posted on 07 November 2025.

How a great-grandmother helped researchers unravel a dinosaur mummy mystery: A paleontologist was trying to locate the site of a famous 1908 discovery when a rancher in Wyoming shared an important clue. Posted on 01 November 2025.

China exports unexpectedly slide to worst since Feb as global trade pressure mounts: . Posted on 07 November 2025.

Mark Zuckerberg Opened an Illegal School At His Palo Alto Compound. His Neighbor Revolted: Mark Zuckerberg opened an unlicensed school named after the family's pet chicken -- and it was the final straw for his neighbors, writes Slashdot reader joshuark, citing a report from Wired. Posted on 07 November 2025.

China’s humanoid robots are gaining ground – but they’re not there yet: The U.S. and China are racing to build humanoid robots capable of performing many daily tasks – but the complexity of home and business environments makes that challenging. Posted on 29 August 2025.

Roman road network was twice as large as previously thought, new mapping project finds: The new digital map increases the Roman road network by nearly 100%. Posted on 06 November 2025.


Some of the tech in my workday

Best programming language?

The PYPL PopularitY of Programming Language Index is created by analyzing how often language tutorials are searched on Google.

The TIOBE Programming Community index measures popularity based on the number of skilled engineers world-wide, courses, third party vendors and search engine activity.

w3techs analyses page content to determine the technology used, and also uses publicly available information from sources such as Alexa, Google, Microsoft and ipinfo.io.

While Java and Python top the popularity charts, more than 80% of all websites run on PHP.


Longer term weather forecast

Cape Town weather

  • Fri 07: sky is clear

    16 ° - 27 ° Wind 6 km/h / Clouds 0 %
  • Sat 08: scattered clouds

    18 ° - 26 ° Wind 7 km/h / Clouds 48 %
  • Sun 09: light rain

    19 ° - 25 ° Wind 5 km/h / Clouds 40 %
  • Mon 10: light rain

    17 ° - 22 ° Wind 3 km/h / Clouds 8 %
  • Tue 11: broken clouds

    17 ° - 23 ° Wind 7 km/h / Clouds 66 %
  • Wed 12: broken clouds

    17 ° - 22 ° Wind 7 km/h / Clouds 51 %
  • Thu 13: few clouds

    17 ° - 22 ° Wind 6 km/h / Clouds 20 %
  • Fri 14: sky is clear

    16 ° - 24 ° Wind 7 km/h / Clouds 0 %
  • Sat 15: overcast clouds

    16 ° - 20 ° Wind 12 km/h / Clouds 100 %
  • Sun 16: sky is clear

    15 ° - 20 ° Wind 11 km/h / Clouds 0 %
  • Mon 17: scattered clouds

    16 ° - 19 ° Wind 9 km/h / Clouds 44 %
  • Tue 18: light rain

    14 ° - 17 ° Wind 10 km/h / Clouds 87 %
  • Wed 19: light rain

    14 ° - 19 ° Wind 11 km/h / Clouds 13 %
  • Thu 20: sky is clear

    14 ° - 22 ° Wind 7 km/h / Clouds 0 %
  • Fri 21: sky is clear

    15 ° - 25 ° Wind 5 km/h / Clouds 0 %
  • Sat 22: light rain

    18 ° - 25 ° Wind 3 km/h / Clouds 2 %