More Bots than Human Beings

Something big happened this year that most people surely missed. For the first time, more non-humans searched the web than humans. To put it another way, automated web traffic officially overtook human activity for the first time in Internet history. The memorable moment came on 3 June when Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince announced that humans were now in the minority. OBSERVATION: This does matter. This very blog is crawling with bots, where for various reasons one would want to know how many humans there are. There are tools to track the bots -- but, in my experience, not that reliable.

Urban Movement

Someone was late for an appointment once, in 2011 -- so I picked up an old Church address list in my vestry. I was amazed to see that, since 1997 (in 14 years), only 34 out of 220 surnames -- 15 percent -- remained on the list. That was rather stunning -- although for an urban congregation, really quite normal -- and this is one of the big things a minister must get used to when moving to urban ministry. OBSERVATION: The number of names joining us was, however, far greater than the number of names leaving. God Himself sustains His Church. 

The Perfect Fix

For this kerbstone fix, one has to give our city a perfect 10. Firstly, this job was clearly optimised for speed and efficiency. 10/10. Secondly, the fix is obviously a strong one that has held. 10/10. And all in all, this must have saved the taxpayer a lot of money. 10/10.

POSTSCRIPT: It brings to mind my post New Broom.

Rousing the DSD

Here's an interesting one. On 25 February 2025, I submitted a formal complaint, in terms of §18 of the Manual of Faith and Order, to the Uniting Presbyterian Church (UPCSA). They ignored it, repeatedly. I put this to the Department of Social Development (DSD), with whom the UPCSA are registered. I said that the UPCSA's reporting channels were out of order. The DSD said that I should come on over, and we would talk. I exercised my right to refuse a verbal discussion, and insisted on written communications. Among other things, this was too important for a verbal discussion. But the DSD refused a written response. Therefore I referred them to the Public Protector (PP). The Public Protector called me today (a public holiday)! The DSD were "not co-operating", they said, and they were now considering a subpoena. Could I help them with a last attempt to rouse the DSD? OBSERVATION: And the UPCSA's reporting channels, to this day, remain inert. But we may be getting somewhere ...

First Year Student

I took this photo last night of a first-year student in class. In the late 1800's, Xhosa King Sarili introduced imported German roller-printed cotton fabric to the kingdom. Women began adopting these brightly patterned fabrics, eventually creating the iconic umbaco—a heavy cotton fabric traditionally featuring black geometric braids and patterns, paired with vibrant beadwork. OBSERVATION: Women's clothes evolved, too, to signify their age, social standing, and marital status. You may click on the photo to enlarge.

Driving Us to the Brink

It is no wonder that people live with depression, burnout, sub-threshold PTSD, suicidal ideation ... This week I received a bill, dated 22 July. Yet whoever was responsible for sending it to me, they sent it only on 15 September -- 55 days late. Then my financial adviser informed me there was a "clamp" on my finances, and I could pay no bills until 5 October. The amount of "digital homework" needed to get me out of this jam was extreme. I watched thousands and thousands of key-presses tap-tap-tapping before me as I sought to address it. OBSERVATION: This kind of demand, which is not untypical of our civilisation, is driving us all to the brink. It happens day after day after day.

Close Encounters

A post on temptresses was popular recently. One might imagine that a minister will be excluded from doubtful women's ambitions. Here are four times that temptresses had a go at me:

1. A woman was hitchhiking near the Church, so I stopped to offer her a lift. She jumped in, and said, "Business or pleasure?" I stopped the car, and said, "Get out." She refused. I said, "Get out," and she got out.

2. A woman approached me after the Sunday service outside the Church. She said with a smile, "Would you like to #@%! me?" I said, "You do know that I am the minister?"

3. A woman told me, "My marriage is dead." I thought that she wanted counselling. I said, "I have no opening this week, only next." She said, "I could rent a room."

4. Walking to Church one Sunday, a woman leaned over a balcony, and said, "Come up and have some fun with me." I said, "Thanks but no thanks." She said: "You're not going to be in Church all day!"

OBSERVATION: There is no shortage of variety or inventiveness in these approaches -- and there were more. There are encounters, too, where one can't be sure: What was that about? 

Canal Bridge

This one's just a pretty picture. I took this photo with an ultra-wide-angle 10mm lens at Century City in Cape Town. Note how this photo takes in both the ground below and the bridge above. This bridge crosses one of Century City's canals. OBSERVATION: You may click on the photo to enlarge. It is taken with the extremely compact AstrHori 10mm F8 lens, which takes superb fisheye shots in black and white, with slight purple vignetting in colour. Its one disadvantage: with a fixed F8 aperture, it needs good light. This lens is obtainable from Amazon for Fujifilm*, Sony*, M4/3*, L-Mount*, and M-Mount* cameras, at half the price ($79) of a budget fisheye.

*This is an Amazon affiliate link. I earn a commission, at no cost to the buyer.

Integration

There is a lot of talk about the integration of foreigners lately -- for example, in Europe. In South Africa, in spite of its upheavals, this has happened successfully at least twice:

1. There were the French refugees -- the Huguenots -- who were integrated into a Dutch colony. The Dutch demanded oaths of allegiance, dispersed the French among the population -- then came French language bans, and widespread intermarriage. Today, they are one people -- the Afrikaaners.

2. There were African refugees -- the Bhaca, the Bhele, Hlubi, Zizi, and Radebe -- who were integrated into the Xhosa nation. Xhosas demanded pledges of loyalty, dispersed the refugees among the population, integrated the fighting forces, and intermarried. Today, they are one people -- the Xhosas.

OBSERVATION: This is to put it very simply. My wife, incidentally, speaks the language of the Afrikaaners -- which originates with the Dutch -- and is mostly of Xhosa ancestry.

Africa Burning

It's been a cold winter in Cape Town -- far away from the world, on the southern shores of Africa. Yet relying purely on observation, one would be able to tell that there is a global crisis. The sunshine has cast a yellow hue for a long time, and a fine yellow ash has fallen over the city. A shop assistant said to me, "No doubt someone's field has gone up in flames." More likely, I should think, the world has gone up in flames. OBSERVATION: 85 million hectares burned across sub-Saharan Africa during the peak early season of 2026 -- more than half of all burned land globally in a very bad year worldwide.

Pesky Robots

The times they are a-changin. My son wrote to me from Europe, saying that he was "nearly assaulted" by a robot today. A week ago, a friend wrote to me from the USA,

"In our grocery store three weeks ago, a robot appeared. It scoots around doing inventory, wearing little signs around its neck with things like 'I'm Simbe. I'm taking inventory.' I complained to management, saying I was deeply unhappy about how they were taking jobs away from humans ..."

My friend was also worried about what the robot was doing. Who says it was only taking inventory? OBSERVATION: I had an experience with furious little robots last year, when I arrived at Zürich airport in the early morning, and laid me down to rest. Next thing, there were cleaner robots everywhere! Thankfully, robots seem to be a long way off in Africa. We still have friendly, dawdling humans here.

Dangerous App

Bridgetown, a Cape Town suburb which lies between Langa and Heideveld, is notorious for its gang violence. Google AI comments that driving in the area "requires high alertness and caution" (Google's emphasis). This is where I lecture at seminary. So I zip down the road towards the seminary, and as I go, I pull out my smartphone, punch in a password, activate an app -- and as I turn into the seminary driveway, I press on a button which says "Entrance Gate". The seminary gate slides open before me, and automatically shuts behind me. Last week, however, I activated the app, and my whole screen was taken over by a notice which read something like this: "Install the latest update? Our latest update includes ..." and so on. The "Entrance Gate" button was nowhere to be found. OBSERVATION: What in the world were the programmers thinking?! Google AI again: "When a driver has to stop, slow down, or wait for a motorized gate to open, they become a stationary target with limited escape routes."

Evading Religion

Recently I sought to monetise my blog. It seemed to comply in every way with Google's standards. However, Google responded, "Your publisher account was found to be non-compliant with programme policies, and as a result, it has been disabled." Could this have to do with occasional religious posts on my blog? I asked Google. Google replied that "getting approval can be difficult" if one has religious content. I appealed the decision. OBSERVATION: Is this anti-religious bias? Google responds: "It is less about a broad 'anti-religious bias' and more about how our automated safety systems filter content for advertisers." Hmm. There are, however, other options besides Google.

Quality Workmanship (Not)

One does wonder sometimes about people's sense of quality workmanship. I snapped this close to my former home. OBSERVATION: Perhaps, though, this would be the angle at which one reads the sign after one has succumbed to chlorine gas. The concrete foundation, too, is an interesting piece of work.

Catering at the New Year

I took this photo a few years ago in wife E's parents' home. E is in the foreground. There are a number of things one may notice about this photo: the many children in the background, and the large amount of food being prepared in the foreground. There are many photo frames on the wall in the background, too -- about half of the photos taken by me. OBSERVATION: Once a year, about 20 family members descend on the small house of E's parents, to see in the New Year. They may stay for a week or two.

Improvement on the Valve?

Wife E and I woke up this morning to no water. The prepaid water meter showed ERROR 2. "It's the Council," said a neighbour. "They shut off our whole block last week." "It's the battery inside your prepaid meter," said an officer in the complex. "No," said another officer, "the prepaid meter transmits to an external unit. When that battery is flat, it's ERROR 2." They now hunted down the person with authority over the external unit. Interestingly, the external unit then connects to a Smart Utility Network -- powered by another battery -- which is grid-tied. This Smart Utility Network transmits to a Head-End System -- which is powered by the grid. The Head-End System is connected then to a Meter Data Management System -- which in turn connects to Grid Operators -- and so on. The repairman who replaced the battery said, "When I was young, you just turned a valve!"

Kinship Terms

I married into a Xhosa clan. One of the things that struck me early on was that they do not use the familiar English kinship terms. In the more traditional scheme of things, there seem to be no uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces. Brothers and sisters are not always what we call them in English. It seems to me that the more traditional kinship terms are these:

• mothers and fathers (the older generation)
• sons and daughters (the younger generation)
• brothers and sisters (the same generation), and
• brothers- and sisters-in-law

Brothers and sisters include those of the same household. Uncles and aunts may sometimes be distinguished by calling them "little" mothers and "little" fathers. I am not sure whether there is such a thing as "cousins". The photo shows (in English terms) a niece and a cousin of my wife's. In Xhosa kinship terms, a daughter and a sister. OBSERVATION: It is interesting that family members actually treat each other as they call each other.

POSTSCRIPT: I received the comment that similar kinship terms were in use in the Pacific, until Generation Y marked a shift to more English kinship terms.

Europe vs. Central Africa

Recently one of my fellow faculty took his students into the seminary library. He told them to select a section, and remove all the books that were written by White men. There was almost nothing left! A professor commented, "With what are we going to replace those empty shelves?" OBSERVATION: I see a parallel at the moment in the fires which are ravaging Europe. The situation in Central Africa is much worse. Did anyone ever tell us that?

Big Bad Taxi

My poor car (pictured) got hit by a big bad taxi this evening, on our N2. The taxi was weaving, weaving, weaving, and BANG. This loosened my front bumper, and apparently buckled the taxi's back bumper. OBSERVATION: They didn't stop. I didn't stop. A Swiss knife was enough to fix the damage. Our minibus taxis are notorious.

POSTSCRIPT: This is the second time I was hit by a minibus taxi. See elsewhere on this blog. 

Rowdy Students

I once discussed with a New Testament professor the differences of lecturing in different countries. He said that Americans tended to be apathetic, Japanese deferential, and Africans boisterous. Tonight I held a lecture on Homiletics. The students were more than boisterous -- they were rowdy -- not rowdy as such, but rowdy in response to my lecture. OBSERVATION: Thankfully, I have a lot of experience with rowdiness. It does not faze me.