Status-Q

Ah - I've been wondering how long it would take Paypal to get into m-Payment schemes. Now they have.

I'm writing this on a flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town operated by the low-cost airline Kalula. We had the usual departure delays that one expects from budget airlines, but otherwise I'm quite impressed; the seats are spacious and comfortable and the staff are friendly.

What will stick in my memory, however, was the safety briefing, which was a hoot. Extracts that I can remember include:

"In case of a loss of cabin pressure, oxygen masks will descend from the panel above your head. Please stop screaming and pull the mask towards you, which will start the flow of oxygen..."

"In the event of a landing on water, you will find beneath your seat the latest fashion in lifejackets. Please place this over your head and tie the straps securely around your waist, as you may actually survive this..."

"...please help children, and passengers acting like children...."

"Please ensure that your mobile phones are switched off, as they may interfere with the aircraft systems, and I don't know about you, but I don't want to end up in Zimbabwe."

I think most of my readers live in the northern hemisphere, and I'm sure most of you (being the sort of chaps and chapesses of whom Baden Powell would approve) will know how to find the Pole Star at night, and hence know which way is north.

But if one finds oneself in the southern hemisphere, looking up at the Southern Cross instead of Ursa Major, how does one find south? Here's the answer. So now you know.

Here's the real thing, from my balcony tonight. The Cross is lying on its side in the top half of the image and the pointer stars are in the lower half. So south is probably somewhere near your scrollbar.

And, incidentally, if you want to explore the night sky in a little more detail, you could do a lot worse than install Stellarium...

I climbed Table Mountain today. It's not too strenuous a climb, really, but the temperature (around 90F today) made it more of a challenge. There was almost no shade on the way up; this photo is from one of the few spots which was out of the noonday sun:

I met this chap on the top. He seemed remarkably unconcerned by the proximity of humans.

On the slopes of Table Mountain...

I'm at the impressive Rhodes memorial with a spectacular view over Cape Town.

I'm also drinking Earl Grey, and reading John Buchan. Seems appropriate, somehow.

I was going to post a picture or two from a boat trip yesterday in Cape Town, but I emailed some snaps to John and he beat me to it.

I've taken to carrying a little IXUS 750 with me almost everywhere I go, and one of the things I'm appreciating more and more is its ability to record video clips. I've never been one of those people who likes to spend much of their holiday looking through a camcorder viewfinder. I have a very nice camcorder, but I normally only use it for making corporate demo videos; I don't carry it around with me.

Occasionally, however, there are scenes which require something more than a still image, and it's great to have something on my belt which can record them. Here are a couple of little Quicktime clips from yesterday:

• The Cape Town Waterfront (10MB)
• A life on the Ocean Wave (9MB)

A fountain at Montecasino, which is Johannesburg's (somewhat mild) answer to Las Vegas. Pretty fountain, though.

Here's an interesting site:

A portable app is a computer program that you can carry around with you on a portable device and use on any Windows computer. When your USB thumbdrive, portable hard drive, iPod or other portable device is plugged in, you have access to your software and personal data just as you would on your own PC. And when you unplug, none of your personal data is left behind.