• "They didn't include any DRM, what did they think was going to happen? / They had it coming."
• "Thanks, pirates, for making the case for DRM."
• "Piracy is killing PC gaming and this proves why."
• "Thanks, pirates, for ruining the game experience for legit players."

Sequestered from my humble (by global standards) DSL connection in the heart of the Cradle of Humankind I desperately try to get online with the few bars of GPRS signal that I have. It’ll be expensive, but I’ve not checked my mail, Slashdot, or miscellaneous forums in over 16 hours… Violent withdrawal was moments away and it’s never pretty.

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Here’s the short of it for those that don’t want to read my whole epic.

While trying to upgrade from WordPress 2.1 to 2.6 I was presented with the database upgrade page when trying to get to the backend (/wp-admin). Upon clicking the Upgrade button/link a half-ream long list of “Table doesn’t exist” errors were displayed.

WordPress failed database upgrade - Table doesnt exist error messages.

The reason WordPress can’t find the tables is because it fails to create them during the database upgrade. For the full reason behind why this happens you’ll have to read the whole post. If you’re only interested in what to do to get it working the next three paragraphs and two code samples should explain all.

In WordPress 2.2 two new settings were introduced in the wp-config.php file namely DB_CHARSET and DB_COLLATE. By default, that is in the wp-config-sample.php file, it sets these variables to ‘utf8′ and ‘utf8-general’ respectively.

If you added the DB_COLLATE option to your old wp-config.php file and retained the default option as given in the sample file then it is highly likely you experienced this error since utf8-general-ci is not a valid MySQL collation. The silly little error that causes so much grief lies in the dashes — they should be underscores.

Most MySQL installations use utf8_unicode_ci as the default collation. You’re likely to get joy by setting the DB_COLLATE option to

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Sorry for the horrible attempt at a pun.

By now is old news that Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, has withdrawn from the final run-off elections in Zimbabwe which would determine the next president of the country.

This comes after at least 70 MDC supporters have been killed. Robert Mugabe’s answer to the “imperialist West” to the allegations that opposition supporters are being killed by mandate of the government is that the media is once again misrepresenting what is happening in Zimbabwe to justify their interference in the country.

Steve Pierson at The Standard, a political blog, says:

Military action seems to be the only option left. A smart campaign could be conducted relatively bloodlessly but it would have to be led by South Africa, the only country in the region with the standing and the military might to carry out such an action. And South Africa is showing no will to act. [http://www.thestandard.org.nz/?p=2298]

In some respects I agree with Steve. It is obvious that non-violence seems to be a tactic only the opposition are interested in. But I disagree that any military campaign conducted by South Africa against Zimbabwe will be “relatively bloodless.” I also agree that New Zealand should offer its support – but that South Africa should decline. At least initially.

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Evidently a number of motorists are filling up and then speeding off without paying. Fin24 says so… so believe it coz it’s true! Peter Morgan, chief exective from the Fuel Retailer Association (FRA) said that there were at least 10 similar incidents in the past month.

The latest one involved a Durban man driving into and knocking down a 29-year-old petrol attendant, causing injuries to his spine and hand. In a related incident, a man from Pretoria stole R2 570’s worth of petrol at a petrol station on Hans Strijdom Avenue in Waterkloof Ridge.

Now Morgan (from the FRA) tries to empathise with the consumer, stating that “People are doing this because they have no choice…”. I applaud him for his desire to see the situation from another’s perspective, but there is always a choice. Each incident has a unique set of circumstances. Given that there are only “about 10 similar incidents” a generalisation is especially foolish. Even if there were a greater sample to draw from generalisations only serve to neglect certain elements in a sample.

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Seriously, if I wanted to live in a winter rainfall area I’d be Capetonian.

or Here’s an interesting new way to deal with the problems SA: When you’re done whining and ranting do something.

For those that don’t know, Niemand is a South African rock band whose members are all Christian. I’ve received two mails from Joe in light of the ‘Xenophobic attacks’ in Johannesburg. They are truly powerful and one of the few non-humorous mails I feel are worth forwarding.

Hi Guys

We have just returned from Jeppe Police Station in town where approx 2000 refugees are crammed into the backyard. This is just one of many stations swamped.

Thank you for the incredible response in terms of donations and volunteers.

You have once again proved that people just want to know how they can help to make a difference and get involved.

Seeing as Government has not responded on ground level with any plan to resolve this crisis, it is up to volunteers and donators to feed these people. The police who are already stretched beyond their limits are doing their utmost to care for these people in terms of toilets, food and blankets. They are overworked and with no end in sight, the situation can only worsen.

It just started raining.. That is going to be a big problem for all these people who are outside in this cold weather.

For the few of you upset by this initiative, I apologise if one of these mails slips through to you. On that point, when we arrived at the police station on Wednesday a child had just passed away. That child did not choose to be there.

There are babies, children, pregnant woman, illegal immigrants, legal immigrants and criminals all bunched together, they are all being treated the same. We are not there to pick sides or say who is who. The fact of the matter is that there are surely those who were attacked for good reason, but blind hate has been poured over many, many innocent and legal foreigners as well.

The circumstances around the xenophobic attacks are so complex, that anyone trying to pin it down to one thing is being presumptuous. The fear, frustration and hate that broke out into violence like this can be traced back to many factors. People are unsafe, unemployed and leaderless.

We are not there because we feel that illegal immigrants should be allowed in this country. We are not there because we have a political angle on this or because we don’t feel that foreign syndicates are a problem. Our reason for getting involved is purely because we came together on Monday night and as a band decided that seeing a man being burnt alive in our city is not acceptable.

No matter who he is.

We don’t have the time to discuss this with people who say that many people are murdered, why jump at helping the foreigners?

My only answer to that is that I personally have removed myself from what is going on in this country for long enough. For long enough have I avoided the news because “it’s always bad.” We have become so detached from our reality that it took the photograph of a man burning alive to make an impression on me. So if it takes the attacks on foreigners in this way to ignite us into action, so be it

On a practical note:

Feeding people is great but we feel that actually moving people out of danger and back to their countries is the only way to resolution. We can’t force people to return home and we can’t do it on our own. So because the Mozambican government has an initiative to move their people we are working with them. We are still volunteering with food and relief and the response of people that want to help has been overwhelming. We will use RAOK as a rally point for initiatives and resources. We will make and take suggestions and do what we can where we can.

We have to start somewhere. We have to start sometime.

We have to snap back to reality. Get out of our Playstation, DSTV, Facebook lives that only amount to us trying to escape boredom.

There is more to life.

We started moving the first Mozambicans last night in cooperation with the Mozambican Consulate General in Johannesburg. Please keep everyone on the ground in your thoughts and prayers.

We will send out updates on needs as they arise. Currently there is a desperate need for:

• Purity
• Water
• Toilet Paper
• Nan 3
• Blankets
• Black bags
• Cups and paper plates

Please do not call us, we don’t have the capacity to take all the calls coming in. Mail us at istell@niemand.co.za if you want to volunteer or donate.

Thank you

Joe

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Sequels can be such a messy business.

Crytek, the studio that brought us the original Far Cry and the more recent Crysis, isn’t developing Far Cry 2. The game won’t be built on CryEngine 2 (the engine behind Crysis) but on Dunia, a custom-built engine that re-uses only 2-3% of the original CryEngine code. Lush island forest landscapes have been exchanged for 50km² of African savannah. The story is quite different from the original and Jack Carver won’t even be reappearing as the protagonist.

So what about the game makes it Far Cry 2? Using the original CryEngine, Far Cry showed us that games could have great graphics and be set in a large open-ended environment that can be explored non-linearly without pausing to load. Far Cry 2’s game mechanic centres around this concept and it promises to push the envelope of open-ended first-person shooters.

Fairly little is known about the characters or story. Apparently our hero is the “strong, silent type” and seeking to rid the world of a filthy literary critic slash warlord. You find yourself in a fictitious African country, bed-ridden with malaria and this man has the gall to enter your hotel room uninvited, read your memoirs, and mock them. He also happens to supply both sides of a faction war with weapons.

Malaria is one of the biggest killers on our continent so what better choice of handicap mechanic for a game set in Africa? Peter Redding, narrative designer of Far Cry 2, revealed at the Game Designer’s Conference earlier this year that the disease is also used to force the player to interact with the non-threatening characters. The friendlier NPCs have access to medicine without which you will die.

The depth of the interaction with NPCs promises to give more scope to the open environment than just being able to wander wherever you want. Your path to the kingpin is not pre-determined by a set story but guided by an intricate progression mechanic. To get to him you must advance through the ranks inside the factions. This you earn with your reputation.

Your reputation is based on how you do a mission and who you do it with. Walking the fine line of fame and notoriety within the factions gives you access to different missions, each of which can be approached in a variety of ways.

Ubisoft Montreal have gone to great lengths to immerse the player in the game world. They use new ways of graphically depicting game mechanics as Far Cry 2 will forego a classic heads-up display. Mission briefings, healing and even viewing the map are seen from the first-person perspective.

Far Cry 2 promises much, the hype machine stands poised and the fans have high hopes. It’s a little sad that the studio that was responsible for the original Far Cry has had no hand in it’s sequel but (dare I say it) given how Crysis turned out… maybe that’s a good thing.

I don’t really watch a lot of television. But there’s a secret cache of talkshow programmes on South African television on Sunday nights that are quite interesting to watch if you’re in a, thinking, inquisitive, open-minded mood.

The first I watched was Asikhulume, and the second Interface. Interface did a pretty cool piece on the deregulation of the fuel industry in the light of the massive petrol price hike this month.

Asikhulume/Let’s Talk asked an interesting question: “Has the South African government promoted reconciliation at the cost of transformation?” They had 3 semi-famous people on their panel: a black woman whose name I can’t remember, a white dude called Dan Roodt representing Afrikaner interests, and a black man called Aubrey that was the most rational around that whole table (hostess included).

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