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Afrigator (love the name!) has compiled some statistics on the current state of the African blogosphere, and it makes for some interesting reading. Plenty of numbers to digest, with the full presentation available here, but here are some key figures of interest: In Africa as a whole, the number of blog posts indexed by Afrigator leapt from just under 69,000 to over 115,000. In South Africa, posts more than doubled, from around 77,000 to over 164,000. South Africa dominates the African blog space, with nearly three in every five blogs attributable to the country. Other identifiable countries include Kenya (8%), Nigeria (5.5%), and Tanzania (~2%). Blog growth was fairly steady, hovering at around 150 new blogs each month since January 2007, though that number nearly doubled in October, possibly due to Afrigator's acquisition by MH Print Africa. "Linklove" between blogs has increased markedly since April this year, though I'm not quite sure what the figures represent - possibly the number

Here we are. After an election campaign that has lasted almost two years, were finally at the finishing post. The people of the US have voted and well be tracking the results on the Live Blog, today, all day or until a result is known. Will Obama become

The story of the week goes to Jennifer Laycock for her article, , about Pepsi's new marketing campaign to influential social media bloggers. Twenty-five influential social media and online marketers were chosen to help launch Pepsi's new campaign. The

Personally i think the downward trend ,in conjunction with child care payments and family tax benifits , will give families a little more confidence to spend .With xmas just around the corner this is welcome news .Hopefully this confidence will flow thru

Social media and networking tools can help small businesses strengthen branding and increase business. The story of how Jim Brown and his company, Muller Bressler Brown, signed one of its latest clients is a classic riff on ?it?s not what you know,

ReadWriteWeb has disbanded its blog network, which included AltSearchEngines and last100, as well as the main ReadWriteWeb blog. Richard MacManus says that the reason for the decision is "to focus on building and extending our core ReadWriteWeb brand". That makes sense, we're in a recession after all, and it is better to tighten the portfolio and strengthen the things you truly believe in. Also from the RWW post on the matter: I will retain a personal stake in both AltSearchEngines and last100, but as of 1 November they are under the majority ownership of Charles Knight (AltSearchEngines) and Steve O'Hear (last100). I'd like to thank Charles and Steve for putting in so much effort to build up AltSearchEngines and last100 respectively. Both have done a great job covering their respective niches and we wish them all the best in continuing to grow the sites. I can't find anything about this on last100, but AltSearchEngines writes about it, using cute toons to further push the point. I lo

I saw a link to 15 Ways to Hack Your Brain For A Better Life, and since I'm a productivity maniac I gobbled down the article. It is basically some advice on how to get happier, smarter, and more balanced thanks to things you do to keep a balanced and fresh mind. The advice is sound, and it also applies to bloggers, especially us full-time ones. Our profession is a mental one rather than physical, which means that the only part of our bodies that get exercised, and again, are our fingers tapping away at the keyboard. Sure, one might say that we're using our brains all day long as well, but personally I think that is a load of crap, and the fact that we're staring at monitors for prolonged periods of time probably hurts us more than we're gaining by wrapping our minds around this and that. Now, don't get me wrong here, it is a privilege to be able to do blogging full time, and I do think it is good to challenge your mind. However, no mind will be clear unless the rest of the body is in

? Kravis says private equity partly to blame for crisis16 Oct 2008 ? KKR still plans to float this year13 Oct 2008 ? KKR Financial shares slide after analyst downgrade09 Oct 2008 ? Buyout giants spent $730bn on deals at market peak 07 Oct 2008

Pioneering African media leaders who are meeting in Dakar have called for closer co-operation among publishers and broadcasters across the continent to promote development. Participants in the inaugural meeting of the African Media Leaders Forum

The Heartland Institute's national monthly outreach publication for advocates of less government interference in, and more market-driven approaches to, information technology and telecom policy. Bloggers are breathing a collective sigh of relief after