Chiperoni ku Basel

Month: September 2004

  • The Use of a Blog

    Today i found out how useful old blog postings can be. Wanted to remove some Moire patterns from a newspaper scan and i knew that I had posted an entry on my old blog site. I get to minimize Moire patterns once a year at the most… and I easily forget which filter gives the best results. These days most scanners have an option to remove Moire patterns automatically… this scanner didn’t.

    Note to myself: your blog can be useful to store tidbits of information you don’t always need. Esp. if you regularly work on more than one computer. I find that no matter how much you organize yourself, the info you’re looking for is bound to be on your other computer. Plus: somebody else might find your notes helpful.

    Maybe this may seem obvious to you and not worth an entry. But I believe one of today’s challenges is managing information. Who would have thought a couple of years back, that your email archive is a reason to get a larger hard disk and more back-up space? Just cos people are afraid to trash emails which might have some useful info. Or cos they require a fallback if other systems have failed.

    My blog is a sort of online scrap book, where I collect links, develop ideas, make notes, display photos and publish my views. Nothing really important. But it’s nice to see it’s useful as well… It’s also a fun way to keep up-to-date with current web technology. I can see how a RSS feed could be useful to distribute the company press releases and news I write during my day job.

    BTW, I wasn’t really planning to migrate my old blog entries to my new home… 😉

  • Online Tutorials

    list of useful online tutorials for sql, html, php, css
    at scriptygoddess

  • The mitsubishi ad

    One of the regular highlights of a Malawi visit is driving the Mitsubishi 4wd pick-up. It’s a solid vehicle, ideal for Malawi road conditions. And it’s fun to drive…

    Close up of the Mitsubishi

    But I did manage to lose grip in this ditch…

    No grip

    YAMP…

    Yet another Mitsubishi Photo

  • freie sicht aufs mittelmeer

    Here’s an interesting production playing at the Theater Basel.

    The stage is the streets of Basel…
    I saw an interview with Dani Levy, and I’m planning to go see the show.

    [Update Saturday Oct 30] I managed to get hold of a ticket despite the fact that the show is sold out for the season. Sometimes it helps to voice your leisure plans at work…

    The play starts in the courtyard of the city prison. Headphones and rain capes are distributed. And then the entire set, audience, sound and light engineers move from building to building in the St. Johann’s Quartier of Basel. Video and live scenes mix. And there’s an excellent use of the real setting. At times I felt I was witnessing real disputes as a passer-by, in other cases I felt I was watching a movie.

    Highly recommended. A great show! Different but not too experimental. Plus you get to know another part of Basel…

    See also: NZZ | Wikipedia

  • about returning to africa

    The idea of returning is a dream that teases and torments many African expatriates.

  • What is Chiperoni?

    If you’re from Blantyre, you are familiar with this word. 

    What is the meaning of Chiperoni?

    • It’s the name of a drizzle rain in Malawi.

    Here’s an official definition by the meteorological department:

    Chiperoni: Malawian name for influx of cool moist air from the south east, bringing overcast conditions with drizzle on windward slopes along the Northern lakeshore and in particular to many areas in the South of Malawi. This phenomenon can persist for up to a week but the usual duration is two to three days.

    Source: Malawi Meteorological Services

    There’s a mountain in Mocambique called Chiperoni or sometimes spelled Chiperone. When the winds blow the clouds over this mountain, the Shire Highlands get chiperoni weather.

    Sometimes chiperoni forces a change in travel plans. The constant drizzle can turn gravel roads into a soap-like mud adventure.

    It’s also used as a brand name. There used to be a blanket factory in Thyolo called Chiperoni. The factory has closed down or moved but the brand name still exists. (update 28.05.07: it seems they are still producing Chiperoni blankets).

    Chiperoni is one of my favorite words. I like the sound of it. Chiperoni could also be a spicy chili snack or the name of a hot, new, hi-tech gadget. From Chip + Peperoni.

    For now, it’s the new home of my Malawi blog.

    I saw this sign advertising “Chiperoni blankets” in Blantyre.

    chiperoni blankets available here

  • Phalombe Road (August 2004)

    Phalombe Road

    View of Mount Mulanje from Phalombe Road

    Travelling from Phalombe to Mulanje

  • css

    I’ve started playing around with the css…
    I’m very much in “playground mode”. Everything is in transition…
    And this process will take some time. Cos my day job also involves sitting in front of “The Great Monitor” for hours on end, I try to use my free time to recover from the side effects of working long hours. Essentially this means it will be a while before the design is final (don’t know about final…. maybe “has settled” is what I mean). Apologies for hurting designer eyes along the way… BTW, if you know of some cool links or have some advise, please feel free to comment below.

    I’ve started by defining a color scheme and I’ve prepared a basic design in Photoshop.

    The current colors:

    {#7786b2}  
    {#abc0ff}  
    {#b3b3b3}  
    {#ffffff}  
    {#4d4d4d}  
       

    The file to change is wp-layout.css.
    I find these links useful:

    wp-layout explained – description of the css file

    css explained – step by step procedure

    I’m using a text editor and Dreamweaver 4 to change the code.

    Can’t decide on a font yet… I’ve tried Verdana.

    [update Jan 11, 2005] found this link on building full CSS layouts

  • the last wave

    saw Peter Weir’s “The Last Wave” at the Stadtkino yesterday evening.

  • installing wp

    Just decided to add my experience on installing WordPress…

    I set up the MySQL database, modified the wp-config.php as required, uploaded the files, and then triggered the installation. Well, all I saw was a long error message… it took me a while to find out but for some reason PHP wasn’t working. After this was corrected, the install was easy and fast!

    Next step: change the look and feel of the blog.
    Apparently the design is css-based…

    My first impression of wp: good.
    Suitable for non-geek bloggers, who just want to write!

  • the first post

    welcome to chiperoni.ch