nicharalambous.com

nicharalambous.com HAS RELOCATED

2007-04-04T17:51:00.000+02:00

To all my loyal readers (If there are any of you): MY BLOG HAS RELOCATED TO http://www.nicharalambous.com.

If you followed the above link and ended up here, please refresh your browser using ctrl+f5.

All comments and posts that are on this site will remain here as a point of reference. Posts have been relocated to the new blog. THERE WILL BE NO NEW POSTS ON THIS BLOG!

I'm Leaving On WP Plane, Never coming back again

2007-04-02T17:15:00.000+02:00

nicharalambous.com is moving. I am leaving, I quit, give up and am 100% over blogger. Today I battled my little tush off with blogger and in a fit of rage and a stroke of luck attributed to Mr Hartman, I am almost ready to move over to a wordpress blog. And thank goodness for that.

Unfortunately, this means that I will be going through another design change. This one will be more customized and feel a bit different but maintain some of the look from the current theme. Nothing else will change. I will still be located at nicharalambous.com so browsing will be no different.

Comments, unfortunately will be lost, unless someone knows how to move haloscan comments over to WP without paying the $12 premium fee.

Thanks and keep reading.

Nic Haralambous

Vincent Maher Makes Virgin Money

2007-04-02T08:35:00.000+02:00

Today Vincent announced that he has a new blog, Money Talks, and it's sponsored by Virgin Money.

The new blog is about banking and in Vincent's own words,

The basic idea is this: I have a baby (also in the pipeline har) due in two weeks now, I know i need to get my personal finances in order and Virgin Money contacted me and asked me if they can sponsor a blog about it. I said “sure, why not? As long as you don;t tell me what to write”. They agreed, so it happened.

Immediately I can hear bloggers tapping at their keys and making a fuss about the influence that a big corporate has on the blogging ethos. Rubbish I say.

First off Virgin is not sponsoring Vincent's regular blogs so there is no direct impact there. Second off, I think, as Vincent says on his new Money Talks blog,

Historically this is a moment of crystallization – all the talk about the legitimacy of blogging as a cultural explosion, and the commercial value of the blogging medium in general, seems to me to have come together. It is a sign of respect for the individuals who make up this community that it is being recognized as a powerful consumer voice and not dismissed as a morass of subjective nonsense.

Good point. Bloggers must begin to understand that money is not the root of all evil, in fact, we all spend our days wondering how we can profit from our passion for blogging. Vincent is doing just that, and good on him.

However, with all of this said, I must ask the question: What if Vince wants to bad mouth Virgin Money? Or Virgin Music, Virgin Gyms or Virgin Airways for that matter? What then? Is this sort of "freedom of speech" allowed in their deal? I wonder? Vincent must believe that it is, otherwise he wouldn't have done it but I have my doubts.

Nevertheless I am extremely excited about the prospects of this sort of deal for the blogging community here in SA. The big corporates have finally taken not of the expansive impact blogs could have on the South African Community. Good job Virgin, good work Vince.

Take a Break

2007-04-02T07:49:00.000+02:00

As you might have noticed (and maybe not if you don't visit this blog) I haven't posted since Friday. I took some time off. In hindsight, time off sucks. Screw those people who say I'm addicted to my Laptop and the web, I couldn't care less that I am or if I was.

But I digress. I took the weekend off to relax with my girlfriend, have a braai, be lazy and chill. NONE of the above took place. The braai was interrupted by a monumental misunderstanding on my behalf that ended up with me standing at airport Terminal A2 for two hours waiting for no one. Really, I mean it, I stood there like a proper tit waiting for no one. But it was completely my mistake in the end. Then I return to the braai to realise that the food I cooked was so incredibly tasty that it was all gone (a mixed result in the end!).

So I sit, eat my boerie roll, take out my guitar and start to jam, then a couple of other muso's around start to play with my guitar, we're singing, it gets late, people start to leave and I am left with a mess and sore head.

We clean up that night (Saturday) and all is well in the world, until I wake up that it. My guitar is gone. My wonderfully pleasant, blond looking baby is no more. I can't tell you where it is, I dunno what happened to it, but it is gone. Nothing more to say. *weep*

So in hindsight, it is safe and secure and relaxing behind my laptop and on the web, in future no more breaks for me.

Zeitgeist - Lions

2007-04-02T07:32:00.000+02:00

Here is a Zeitgeist from Leon! Thanks man, this was a nice, neat little Amatomu cloud sentence!

HOsting locally and feeling like a HO

2007-03-30T14:10:00.000+02:00

I read the article that appeared on My Broadband and think it was a fair and equal representation of the situation of hosting in SA. SA Rocks is hosted locally but not necessarily because it is the best option. I chose to host it here because it is very tough to promote SA in the USA.

I must however comment on this situation, as the original article does. Here is my comment: "It costs me a R100 a month, at the least, to host SA Rocks locally, what a ball ache. Stupid local hosts, ripoffs, mo-fo's."

I feel like a Ho, I feel like I am being used and abused, but instead of them paying me, I am forking out the cash. I want to know, more substantially than an a single article, why it costs me, as a blogger, R100 to host here in SA? It is cheaper for me to be hosting 3 sites abroad than it is to host one blog.

Surely there is some sort of intelligent life out there in the world of hosts and service providers that can see the blogging boom occurring here in SA? Surely they can figure that quantity is massive and thus if the hosting price is dropped it might be beneficial in the long run? having 10 bloggers at R50 a month is better than one at R100 a month. Half those exorbitant price for a while, do a test and see what happens. In that test period, make it known to bloggers and webdesigners that this offer is on. Go on, I dare you, take a leap of faith and see what happens?

It takes on company to break the mold. The article at My Broadband sites a vicious circle of selfishness (in my opinion) that perpetuates this situation. Why doesn't one hosting company/service provided try something new and see what happens, you can afford it, I'm sure!

Change is Brewing

2007-03-29T08:14:00.000+02:00

Ruda Landman is leaving Carte Blanche according to an Iol story. I am not saddened by this. She is an incredible investigative journalist and business woman, but it has been 19 years that she has been a part of the show. Hopefully the show will not suffer but will carry on with some fresh blood.

Carte Blanche needs to take this opportunity to redesign, re-align and refocus their goals and ambitions for the next 19 years without Ruda.

I hope that wherever Ruda goes she goes well and is successful, but thank goodness she is leaving Carte Blanche. Now, anyone got any ideas for Derek?

Amatomu Zeitgeist sentence

2007-03-29T00:08:00.000+02:00

I love checking out tag clouds. I try to decipher obscure sentences out of them. I do this extremely often and find some hilarious stuff. Occasionally sentences are glaringly obvious and occasional they are somewhat obscure. I've been waiting for the right time to start this thread of posts. Recently my tag cloud perusing has been focused on Amatomu so I am sticking with that. The perfect time and sentence didn't really show itself so I have chosen the first semi sort of sentence to kick off this thread!

I threw in a comma in this sentence to make it slightly more clear.

If you stumble across any tag cloud sentences from Amatomu please send them through to me (nharalambous@gmail.com)! Thanks!

Website stolen on MyBlogLog

2007-03-28T15:01:00.000+02:00

Now maybe I am making a bigger deal out of this than I should. But imagine you went to register one of your sites on MyBlogLog and you were told the following:

This Hecubus freakin' dude is starting to really piss on my battery. I have now emailed the MyBlogLog people twice and am awaiting a response. Let's hope this gets sorted out fast.

Any advice from anywhere would be welcome. Chillibean, got anything?

27 Dinner was awesome, the police weren't

2007-03-28T10:00:00.000+02:00

The 27 Dinner

I love the 27 Dinners. The most spoken words of the evening must be "I need to talk to you," or "We should really talk."

I am not going to post in detail about things as I am sure many other bloggers are planning it, when that happens I will point my readers to their posts and everyone will be happy.

Update: There are other bloggers who have said it better than I could've: Carly, Tyler, Matt, Groogle, Vincent, Chillibean and just for sympathy read Mike's post 27 post.

My speech apparently went well, people cheered, some laughed with me, others cried but all in all a good response!

The Police

I ended up leaving the dinner at about 1 am last night. That was fine, but then as I turn left on to the highway to get to rivonia, BAM, the cops. Now I honestly did not think that I was over the limit in any way shape or form. Alas, apparently I was. Here is my list of things to do when being stopped by the cops:

Be Sober (no shit)
Don't be drunk (no shit)
Don't talk too much, they'll know you're covering it up
Don't talk too little, they'll know you're covering it up
Have your license ready.
After breathaliser test, ask to see the reading yourself (I did not)
Make sure your ID disk on the car is dated correctly
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AT LEAST R40 IN YOUR POCKET

Now, that last point might be incredibly strange to overseas people, but last night it save my butt. After a serious amount of persuasion attempts and offers to get the cop AWAY from a "spot fine" I gave up, there was no way he was taking me to jail, there was no way he was writing me a ticket and there was no way that he was letting me go without some compensation for his hard work.

Lets just say the rest worked itself out, he gave me some drinking advice, "You must eat while you drinking, its much safer like that," said the wonderful cop. Thanks Mr. Cop-man you're a gem.

Next 27 Dinner, lets leave before 1am and miss the cops. It'll save me a lot of trauma.

27 Dinner Time

2007-03-27T17:28:00.000+02:00

It is almost that time again. The 27 Dinner!

With about an hour to go, my 'speech' is still semi-complete and in a bit of a shambles, but I am hoping things will come together. After the Cape Town reviews one needs to be somewhat careful about talking at a 27 dinner. It's also not like the crowd is small. With over 100 people registered for the event there is much to be concerned about.

I am simply going to try to keep things short, sweet and effective. I am also hoping to capture the crowds with my dazzling wit and incredible looks (uhu).

If you are one of the lucky people attending I will see you there. As Mike mentioned in his post today, I am the dude with lots of facial hair and mostly likely to be sitting by the bar if there is one! Lets hope SA Rocks goes down well.

MyBlogLog site fraud?

2007-03-27T14:12:00.000+02:00

I recently conducted a Google search for a site that I own (wont mention it, thats not the point of the post). One of the top results, top 5, was for a user on MyBlogLog who claims that he/she owns and runs the site.

Amazed, intrigued and a bit shocked I hopped on over to the profile for one Hecubus. This user has "laid claim" to about 200 websites. One of these sites is mine, however there are much, much more interesting sites that this user claims to own or run, including: Starbucks.com, Xbox.com, blog.myspace.com and xanga.com.

What is this about? I am somewhat confused and a little concerned. Is this some sort of website url fraud? Is this some sort of hacking or simply a "slight of hand" that I have missed?

Teazers... Ooops!

2007-03-27T13:43:00.000+02:00

Now we all know that Teazers is around, and we have probably all heard about the extremely intelligent and entrepreurial Lolly Jackson. However I do think that a LARGE part of the Teazers income is generated by the mail genetic structure and occasionally pure drunken stupidity.

Teazerz Rivonia, Case in point:

Sh'thouse Comics - HILARIOUS

2007-03-26T16:51:00.000+02:00

I have discovered a comic that keeps me going all day and Sh'thouse is it. This is some incredibly funny stuff. The writer is a genius and the characters are lovably messed up! I have had the site open all day and have been browsing through it non stop.

Visit the very first Sh'ithouse now!

Incredible Accoustic Guitarist: Andy Mckee

2007-03-26T10:12:00.000+02:00

A friend of mine sent me this link a few minutes ago. This guy is mind-blowingly-unbelievable-incredible-brilliant at what he does. And what he does is play the acoustic guitar. I don't need to say any more, his guitar does all the talking.

This video is of Andy playing Africa - Toto.

For fun, check out another video by Andy!

SA Rocks Badge Competition

2007-03-26T09:48:00.000+02:00

I have just launched a competition at SA Rocks.

Design a new SA Rocks badge and win a South African Rugby Jersey in time for the Rugby World Cup!

If you feel like sponsoring or offering any other prizes please feel free to email me at editor@sarocks.co.za.

Get on over to SA Rocks to check out the specs and the contact details.

PS3 vs Xbox 360

2007-03-25T22:11:00.000+02:00

Wow, I just saw an advert for both the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. Now I am an Xbox fan myself (yes, yes Microsoft and all that) so I am a bit bias. But be serious here for a second and look at the price difference between the two systems. This is ridiculous. Any day of the week I will choose a cheaper system with as much to offer as the more expensive system.

Google's Scary Master Plan

2007-03-24T13:30:00.000+02:00

This is an incredible "pocumentary" [possible documentary] about what Google could be doing, might be watching and is using to make the entire human race transparent. No secrets from anyone, at all, ever. Scary, but possible.

Demetri Martin - Comedian Extraordinaire

2007-03-24T13:12:00.000+02:00

I have featured Demetri as a Fresh Faced Comic before on this blog. I decided that he needs to be featured more often, so here is, ever funny, every present guitar. Awesome.

Cyanide and Happiness still cracks me up

2007-03-24T12:46:00.000+02:00

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

Shouldn't Have Kept You Waiting

2007-03-24T12:43:00.000+02:00

Brilliance is http://shkyw.org/

Jo'burg gets busy

2007-03-23T10:59:00.000+02:00

We all know that Jo'burg is not a small place. I firmly believe that there is a boat load of stuff for people living in Jo'burg to do. I have never been interested in finding these spots, until now.

Jenwynne is making it her goal to discover new places in JHB.

JHB is a huge place with tons of stuff to do, but how do you sort the rubbish from the fun. Easy, I'll be your test pilot.

So if you live in Jozi and are interested to see what makes this city a rocking one, check out Jen's blog.

From what I understand she is open to suggestions and contributions, so if you know of somewhere that you would like tested, email her, or comment. If you have been somewhere that you think should be reviewed, drop her an email too!

Why can't del.icio.us and Flickr remember my login?

2007-03-22T20:35:00.000+02:00

I have a gripe with Flickr and del.icio.us. Why can these two sites not log me in automatically or at the very least remember what my username and password are? I have all the plugins, add-ons, hook-ups, screw-ups, updates, down-dates, downloads and everything in between. Hell, I watch these sites like a hawk for new versions and upgrades.

At the moment through Firefox I am running the nifty built in del.icio.us plugin that shows me all my saved sites through del.icio.us. The only problem is that to tag a site for del.icio.us or to view any of my bookmarks I need to login. To login I actually need to visit the del.icio.us site and physically type in my details and login. Do me a favour and remember my login.

Next is flickr, I have had this issue with flickr for a while. Firstly you have to have a Yahoo! login to use the service, I wonder how many people are deterred from the site due to this? I can image there are a few. Then, every time I want to make us of the actual flickr site, check my groups, friend, photos or comments I need to login. I have recently upgraded to a pro account with flickr, for my $25 dollars or whatever it was for the year, can this site not just remember my login?

Now I can feel you flickrholics itching to tell me that you have noticed that flickr now provides an option on login to sign in for up to 2 weeks and remain logged in. What a load of hogwash. That has yet to work for me. Does that mean that I need to keep my browser open for 2 weeks for this service to work? Someone please explain this to me.

These are two incredible services that have changed my online activity like no others, but please do me a favour and remember details. Seriously.

To shutdown or not to shutdown

2007-03-22T20:24:00.000+02:00

Would you be able to go an entire day without your computer/laptop/macbook/ibook or whatever the hell it is you use?

Shutdownday is an initiative that is calling for people to switch off their computers on the 24th of March.

Well the odds are in favour of those who think they can. Let's be honest, there is no way to actually prove that anyone has switched off their computers. It is a nice thought though.

I must be honest, I think I can, I'm just not sure I want to!

This is what shutdownday.com has to say:

Be a part of one of the biggest global experiments ever to take place on the internet. The idea behind the experiment is to find out how many people can go without a computer for one whole day, and what will happen if we all participate!

Um, lets be honest, if 50 000 people shut down there computers there will be another potential billion who wont. I think that if the experiment is purely for research sakes, then the organisers might come up a bit short. I may be printing this post out and eating if there is some substantial effect on the world if people stop using their computers for a day.

In fact I will go so far as to say that if there is some major effect on the world from the shutdownday I WILL PRINT THIS POST OUT AND EAT IT. You can hold me to that.

Work at a hospital...

2007-03-22T13:00:00.000+02:00

I think I missed my calling in life. This is what happens when the patients are sleeping and the interns start to play I imagine!!

Philips all over shave

2007-03-22T12:56:00.000+02:00

What a great advert. Couldn't help but post it. Wonder what the legalities surrounding posting an advert are? hmmm...

Anyways, this is just hilarious and very well thought out.

Caption read: "Simplicity is shaving yourself where you want."

Southpark's #1 moment

2007-03-21T12:55:00.000+02:00

Rolling Stone reckon that this is South Parks most memorable and amazing moment ever.

I had a nice chuckle.

Disclaimer: if you don't like canabilism don't watch this video.

Fresh Faced Comic and Ana Free - I Listen

2007-03-21T12:15:00.000+02:00

I haven't posted a Fresh Faced Comic in a while so in that light I am putting up a musician first, to apologise and then showing you a Fresh Faced Comic.

Here is Ana Free - I Listen

The Fresh Faced Comic... Kind of.

This dude is an absolute shocker. None of the opinions or views in this video are shared by this blog.

This is Bicep Boy:

Amatomu - Rate, rank and share

2007-03-20T16:53:00.000+02:00

Amatomu is being heralded by many as the South African Technorati. This is not a bad description as far as I can see it. You get to post your blog in the list, it gets ranked, your feed gets posted, you get exposure, there is a tag cloud, there is a widget (a must have!) and a cool stat counter that show's you your blogs influence on the market!

These are all great but for me the simplicity of the site is what sets it apart. Vincent Maher (online strategist from MG Online) has done a sterling job of making a complicated process and concept look and feel incredibly simple to the average blogger. The process is almost and just about idiot proof and this is an important and necessary feature. Not all bloggers are coding experts or IT freaks. Many, if not most, are simply trying to blog their thought.

Amatomu is an incredible tool to get your thoughts out there. Join today, lets crash the MG server and show our support for innovation in the South African market.

Some may argue that MG being behind the site is a problem. I say hell no to that. I think that media organisations taking the leap in to the burgeoning online market is refreshing and needed. Congratulations to the team for their efforts and result!

P.S: What is that name about, Amatomu? Sounds cool but possibly a bit hard to remember.

Tyler, screw you for beating me to this post!! For a detailed look at the features, read Tyler's post!

SMS spam out of control - Homemark

2007-03-20T15:33:00.000+02:00

I have already posted about spam on this blog. Email spam and SMS spam, email being the focus. But now it has really reached epic proportions. Not a day goes by when I don't get SMS'd about winning something stupid, paying someone stupid or someone stupid bugging me.

I need to ask a very serious and honest question: Where do these people get my number from?

Today it was my brother who was SMS'd the following:

CONGRATULATIONS you have won an INFLATABLE BED from HOMEMARK. To Claim your prize call 011 430 6000 quote ref: xxxxxx. Terms & Con apply.Reply NO to be removed.

Now notice how they abbreviated "conditions" to "Con" ironic hey? Then they do mention that I can reply NO to be removed, but they haven't said from what? If I have honestly won something why would they be giving me the option to be removed?

I called the number and this is what they wanted:

Me: Hi I've won a bed.
Call Assistant: Wonderful sir, our winning caller lines are busy please could I have your name and number for our database so that we can call you back?
Me: No thank you, I just want my bed.
Call Assistant: Yes sir, but I will need your name and number so that we can call you back.
Me: Speaking of my number, where did you get it?
Call Assistant: One of your friends or family must have provided your details when they bought something from us.
Me: Well I don't agree with that.
Call Assistant: If you give me your number sir, I can remove it from our database.
Me: Yes thanks.
Call Assistant: Thank you sir.

What a scam! All they were after was my name and number, there was no bloody bed. Homemark is all over the TV all bloody day, is that not bad enough? Now I need to be spammed when I'm not watching TV too?

Bob Woolmer's death and the media

2007-03-19T22:12:00.000+02:00

I was absolutely stunned last night at about 8pm South African time when I was alerted by news24's SMS service of the Bob Woolmer story. At that point I received a simple SMS stating that Bob had been found in his room and was being rushed to hospital. In the time it took me to turn around and ask someone on the room with me to put on Sky news I had received and email alert and someone had chatted to me about it. Then Sky was put on the TV and it was announced that he had been pronounced dead.

There has been a fair amount of coverage regarding the story and I am saddened by Bob Woolmer's death. What amazed me was how in touch I felt. I had all the necessary information at my finger tips and was alerted of his death at the same time as his best friend on Sky news. In my mind this illustrates the extent to which our media has progressed.

2oceans: going, going, gone!

2007-03-19T12:07:00.000+02:00

I must say that I am extremely contented that 2oceansvibe is out of the blog awards for 2007. He [Seth Rotherham] just announced that 2oceansvibe will be bowing itself out of the awards. What a relief, now it can actually be labeled the BLOG awards.

Many people have problems with 2oceansvibe, as do I. Where are the comments Seth? Why don't you let your readers speak to you? Are there any readers (I am sure there are)? I have used the "contact us" section on the site a few times and received no feedback from Seth. I am sure he has reasons, I would love to know what they are.

Seth posted earlier today about the 2007 SA Blog Awards, unfortunately I struggle to take him seriously and never read this "blog's" content (I can see Britney's shaved head and Paris's boobs anywhere) so I skimmed through it. Obviously Seth holds the awards in enough esteems to be upset when he feels things aren't going his way. He only joins in the debate near the end when big media picks up the story.

Tsk, Tsk Seth, do regular bloggers not qualify to be responded to by someone of such high esteem as yourself. It takes big media to rouse your opinion? Well in my opinion bud, too little too late and too inconsequential.

Oh, one last thing... I counted 48 adverts on 2oceansvibe. I think that's more ad than content on the homepage.

d2 - dear mr president - Read This

2007-03-18T13:03:00.000+02:00

Below is a short snippet from a post that has blown me over

Dear Mr President (taken from the d2 blog):

It's this shared understanding that connects us as human beings, that enables us to work together towards common goals, that gives us just enough empathy to be able to realise that we care.
Caring is what binds us, and it shouldn't be negotiable.

Read the full post you will not regret it.

Jippii's rubbish service

2007-03-18T12:35:00.000+02:00

I am extremely irritated on a lovely Sunday. Jippii is a cellular phone service that provides ringtones, wallpapers and other random rubbish to millions of unsuspecting clients, I am sure.

I am unfortunately one of those unsuspecting clients, unbeknownst to me. This morning I received two SMS's from Jippii explaining that I can win a VW Polo. I then received another SMS from them regarding something else. I then made use of the unsubscribe option on the SMS to which I was told I would be paying R5 per SMS to use as far as I understood it (I stand to be corrected).

Immediately after requesting the service be halted, I was SMS'd by Jippii again to remind me that I could win a prize and ask me to join the service.

This is absolute rubbish and I feel intruded, exploited and used as a potential client. I am not and will not ever be a client to this company.

I DO NOT suggest using Jippii it seems as though they are 100% purely after your money and they are taking it R5 a time per SMS.

Cellphone Postit

2007-03-18T11:31:00.000+02:00

This is one of the funniest and ironic things that I have seen in a long time. A cellular phone with a postit on the back as a reminder. Guess the calendar service reminders weren't doing there job!! 'Stick' to what you know at the end of the day!

Wordpress plugin directory

2007-03-16T14:54:00.000+02:00

It is something that I have been after since I started using Wordpress. Finally they have released a plugin directory. What a great resource and idea.

Blip.tv offers podcast hosting

2007-03-16T08:39:00.000+02:00

Blip.tv has come out with an mp3 hosting service (that includes podcasts) for its users. You can now not only upload your favourite videos to the site but your own and favourite mp3's and podcasts. I think that this sort of service is coming out at a great time for many South African bloggers as there are many podcasts popping up and many new ones in the wings that I know of.

Competitions like the one Mike mentioned on his blog, the getpodcasting initiative are awesome events for SA and online developments. Hosting services are incredible for many bloggers as it is firstly costly to own/run a website/blog/podcast and secondly it takes some know-how. With a hosting service this does become somewhat cheaper and simpler.

My suggestion is to try the services that are available out and see if the bridge that gap that you are trying to cross.

Can you move $9 million?

2007-03-16T07:59:00.000+02:00

I have received a desperately emotional email from a gentlemen called"Paul Mohammed" asking me to help him invest about $9 million. Holy moses this is my lucky day isn't it? Ja, sure it is. What a load of hogwash.

Brief insert:

I am Paul Mohammed, first son of Deputy Minister of public Works in Liberia. I am now resident in Johannesburg, South Africa.
I got your contact through South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

And:
My fund is presently with me safe and secured. I would like you to help me for investment in lucrative areas under your care in any of the countries that you choose or here in South Africa. The amount (Nine Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) US$9.5M USD.
What is this? Who does this? Where is this spam coming from? How does it get through my spam protection on gmail? Wow it irritates me.

I would love to know the funniest/strangest/most interesting spam mail you have received?

There is alot happening

2007-03-16T07:46:00.000+02:00

There really is very much going on right now. It is early, and that marks two days of waking up really early. I have decided recently (yesterday) that I need to start waking up at about 6:30am everyday because I am at my most productive early in the morning before most have woken up. Ill be trying this theory out from Monday.

I have a new site launching on Monday too which is extremely exciting. I will be releasing more info about this over the weekend so keep a lookout! Very nervous times too.

I am still working various freelancing jobs that have all seemingly kicked in to high gear over the last week or two.

Non-stop meetings are plaguing my day and I am meeting some amazing people along the way. This week alone I met with three bloggers face to face. Now that's something that doesn't happen every day! Prospects are looking positive if I must say.

Finally SA Rocks is really making me happy. People are contributing on a consistent basis and there seems to be a great deal of excitement surrounding this little blog. It just goes to show that a little bit of positivity really can do a country a lot of good!

Sales skills to remember

2007-03-15T17:20:00.000+02:00

I attended an interesting course today. Clive Price from the Peers Group gave a great talk today on how to alter your approach to sales.

Some brief pointers:

You can't close on sale until you've pointed out the need for your service.
Cold Calling (CC) sucks, but it can work.

Your goal for a CC is to GET AN APPOINTMENT

Once in a meeting or appointment make sure you show interest in your potential client and their company. Do not focus on your product. Repeat, do not focus on your product, yet.
Identify gaps for your product/company to take advantage of while getting to know your client.
When gaps are identified, summarise them for your client.
Try to make them acknowledge their shortfalls or gaps.

This acknowledgment allows you to then suggest solutions (your product/company)

When you have all the above achieved, begin to fill the identified gaps with products or services that you can offer.
If all the above has gone successfully, close your deal.

Remember to use open ended questions. Stay away from yes or no, true or false or two option answers. The answer will inevitably not be the one you want to hear.

For more great tips and sales assistance get over to the Peer Group website and contact Clive Price!

Away all day

2007-03-14T23:21:00.000+02:00

I will be in a sales conference for the whole of Thursday. Freelance job one has subsidised the course for me. Hopefully I will learn some interesting things regarding marketing and sales and can pass on the knowledge. Woop woop for large corporations paying freelancers to learn interesting stuff they wouldn't normally pay for!

Old men and sexual harassment

2007-03-14T11:57:00.000+02:00

Sexual Harassment is an issue in the work place. I have never experienced it personally and I think it is more of a female issue because some men believe they have the right to make women feel uncomfortable.

The reason I speak of this subject is that a friend of mine recently experienced a situation that I believe could be classified as sexual harassment.

Getting her lunch FriendA* was waiting in the queue to get a sandwich or something. A guy who works in the company in a higher position in the company than FriendA walks up to her and says the following:

"You definitely aren't eating anything other than a salad, you can't put anything else in that tight little body of yours."

What the hell is that? What gives that guy the right to talk ANYONE that way? Just because FriendA works in a position lower than his he feels that it's OK to treat her like meat?

This sort of behaviour is not acceptable in any environment let alone the working environment and should be stamped out as soon as the bastards are found.

Facebook = fakefriends

2007-03-14T11:41:00.000+02:00

I have recently had a discussion with various people about Facebook and the level of "fakeness" present on the site.

I have a boat load of friends, many of whom I know and want to have on my list of friends. However, many of these "friends" I simply agree to befriend cause I don't want to look like a prick (which is fairly easy apparently). So I have a monster list of "fakefriends" that I really don't give rocks to know or see or hear from. In fact, I probably wont ever talk to them on facebook.

I feel the need to ask why these people even bother to ask to be friends with me? Why do they feel the need to befriend someone who doesn't even really like them? I just don't get it.

I have now just started leaving these requests alone and not declining or accepting them. Anyone else got any solutions?

Flickr layout change possible

2007-03-14T10:56:00.000+02:00

Flickr has just added a little feature that allows you to change the layout of your flickr page. There are six choices to choose from. I think this is a great addition and makes the whole feel of things more mentally individual!

You can do this here: http://flickr.com/account/prefs/layout

Thanks Paul

All quiet on the western front

2007-03-13T19:33:00.000+02:00

I am struggling to blog about anything. At all. Whatsoever. So That's what I am blogging about.

Here's a comic to keep you going:

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

Stupid is...

2007-03-12T19:52:00.000+02:00

This lovely lady:

Pic courtesy 38.co.za

All I can say is the above picture is the exact reason that I got tired of Rhodes. This sort of thing will definitely come back to bite you in the arse (or nipple) later in life. It is on the net, it is out there and it will be for a very long time. Stupid is as stupid does. This is stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid.

Beyonce and Shakira

2007-03-12T15:04:00.000+02:00

These two sultry songstresses have released a single together. There is nothing wrong with that!!

Image courtesy of Elsevier

MXit tutor assistance

2007-03-11T15:58:00.000+02:00

MXit is now apparently able to be used a tutoring tool.

The Department of Science and Technology has spent more than R4-million to explore the use of cellphones as learning aids, according to a Sunday Times article. Wikipedia is also in the play here. The site is being used as a resource to assist students via instant messaging.

Students have been encouraged to make use of MXit and enter dr.math.help.me@jabber.org on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays between 2pm and 3pm. In these time slots students are able to ask questions via MXit and have a tutor answer their questions. An obvious concern is whether the service provides students with answers or help. There is a difference; if you are sitting in a class and ask a tutor for the answer via MXit, what is the point of being in the class really?

However if you are at home, doing your homework and you are stuck, simply IM the tutor and wait for assistance regarding your question, brilliant.

This sort of project is incredible as messaging via MXit costs less then 2c per message. Cheap, accessible and efficient.

Does the SA Blogging "elite" dominate Muti?

2007-03-10T11:50:00.000+02:00

I have just read two great posts about the downfall of Digg.com. The post pretty much asks if Digg is or ever was a democracy where the best posts prevail, or whether the "Digg Mafia" bury what they don't like and give rise to an underworld of posts.

This question is well posed and poised to alert the general public to the issues surrounding services like Digg and the South African equivalent, Muti.

Muti is brilliant, I love using it and reading the posts. However the "stats" section on the Muti site is somewhat worrying in regard to the Death of Digg post that I read. It seems that there is an "elite" posting cream at the top of the Muti crop. These users have the most "kudus" and are submitting the most content. I am interested to know how many of these users posts have consistently reached the top spot and stayed there the longest? I have a feeling that the results would not be surprising.

I would like to know how Muti is differentiating itself from the likes of Digg. Is the content different? Maybe, but more recently I have noticed many "Top 15..." posts from international sites reaching the top 20. These posts simply aim to reach the top of any rating site and they seem to be doing fairly well. Why are these posts reaching the top? Why are users not voting them down and how is Muti going to prevent a Digg scenario?

If these users maintain their dominance over Muti what is the chance of an unknown blogger or contributor to Muti being heard for long enough to make any sort of impact? Many new voices that emerge have incredible things to say. Yet it seems that unless a prolific submitter discovers them and submits their post to Muti the new voice will wither away and die a slow and unrecognised Mutied death.

Is Muti actively trying to engage the general blogging public? Are people aware of the service and the public and open nature of the service? If they are then maybe they simply choose not to submit for fear of looking stupid, but if they are not aware of Muti I think it is time to let the public know and make their posts and submissions count.

In the very heated debate on stii's blog regarding the SA Blog awards, the "elite" bloggers were mentioned as an issue in the SA Blogosphere. I am beginning to wonder if this "elite" is dominating in more ways than we may realise.

The SA Blog awards, Muti and then the world!

Six degrees of frustration

2007-03-10T11:02:00.000+02:00

I like to cause kak on the roads. I like to make people know that they have erred. I like to be the guy that jumps in front of you if you jump a red robot. I did this yesterday; some guy jumped the robot (strike one) nice and slowly on his cellphone (strike two). So I quickly shot in to first gear and popped in front of him in the middle of the road. Instead of reclining in his chair in shame he rolled down his window, stopped talking on his cellphone and launched at me with profanities like I haven't heard since my days at Uni (strike three).

Like any dignified man would, I yelled back throwing equally horrid rubbish from my mouth at this man. We yelled for about 30 seconds and satisfied I drove off.

I think that it took about 2 minutes for me to hit panic stations. I immediately spoke to myself:

Nic: What the F*ck did you just do?
Self: You just ruined a couple of business opportunities.
Nic: What the hell are you talking about?
Self: Well, what if you go in to your meetings next week and this guy is sitting there?
Nic: Then he gets the last laugh and I get screwed.
Self: Correctamundo my man!

My self had won. Have you ever wondered how many people you know in Sandton, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa, Africa, The World? It's a lot. In fact I think that you might be astounded that the number is a helluva lot more than you might think. I have blogged about Six Degrees of Separation before, but this is different, this is more of a fated coincidence designed to teach you a karmic slap-in-the-face-lesson. This is more worrisome in my mind.

I like to cause kak on the roads (have I said that already?) and I think that one of these days the kak is going to end up on my head. Think about it and save yourself the embarrassment, simply choose not to become angry. It is a choice, make it.

Picture perfect peppers

2007-03-09T10:34:00.000+02:00

A pretty picture perfect pepper is perhaps the most impressive thing that I have ever grown. My two hands nurtured something so amazing. In fact the folly of the fragrant pepper is to end up in my ferocious pepper sauce, but everything is destined to end up somewhere in the end.

27 Dinner - round two

2007-03-08T19:22:00.000+02:00

Chatting to good ol' Mr. Stopforth today he slyly slipped in a request for me to speak at the upcoming 27 Dinner this month. I delayed, and "ummed" and "ahhed" and then hastily accepted the offer before Mike took it away!

I am exceptionally excited to be speaking and a little bit overwhelmed (there are some serious online persona's that attend the dinner). I will be talking about my website SA Rocks. This is a great opportunity for me to give the site some exposure and get some much needed feedback about the site. In 7 minutes I have to try my absolute hardest not to make a tit out of myself in front of the genii attending.

Vincent expressly asked me not to make myself look like a hero. I am not quite sure what this means but rest assured I will not be attending the dinner in a superman suite (I think).

I hope to see you all there, places are limited and filling up fast.

Katlehong

2007-03-08T17:35:00.000+02:00

I went to do a story in Katlehong yesterday. What an amazing place. People filled with such incredible hope and aspirations.

This child stared at me forever

Flickr pro account

2007-03-08T09:49:00.000+02:00

I am somewhat disappointed. I have just purchased a flickr pro account for $24.95, the one year subscription. I did all this and there was no fuss made about it. I just gave flickr close to R200 of my hard earned cash and it just about went unnoticed.

I logged back in and had to actually look for a little sentence where it alerted me of my upgrade status. I was hoping for bells and whistles telling me what I get for my money, what has changed and the benefits of a pro account. I got bubkis, nothing, Nada, zip, zero, jack didley squat. Now I know what the advantages are, I'm a smart guy (many would disagree) who wouldn't spend the money if I didn't know what I was getting for my cash, but seriously, make me feel important at the very least.

Picasa web album storage - 1GB

2007-03-08T08:54:00.000+02:00

Google's Picasa Web Album has just announced that they have now reached free storage space of 1GB and counting. Not to mention improved searching features allowing you to find other people's photos and just some other people.

It's not flickr... yet.

Grey's Anatomy dominates Facebook traffic

2007-03-07T08:56:00.000+02:00

In case you ever wondered which was more popular, Grey's Anatomy or Facebook, the answer is Grey's.

Dustin Moskovitz (a Facebook co-founder) posted on the Facebook developers blog about Facebook traffic and how it drops massively just before Grey's Anatomy starts every week. This is incredible. It just goes to show that people can live in two separate worlds, neither necessarily reality, but separate nonetheless.

The graph below clearly illustrates the massive decrease in active users as Grey's starts. Firstly I think that it is incredible that Facebook has so many users that they can see this kind of massive drop and secondly I find it amazing that Grey's Anatomy can pull almost 200 000 active users away from their PC's simultaneously. Amazing.

Early to bed, Early to.. go %$#^ yourself

2007-03-07T08:01:00.000+02:00

I am usually not awake and driving before 8:30am. There is a good reason for this. It is not because I am lazy, I promise you I am not. It is not cause I like to snuggle in my bed for an extra hour and it is not because I don't have a job. It is simply because I hate traffic with a passion. To be honest, I can even deal with the traffic. It's the freakin' morons that drive their cars in the traffic that grate my goat (yes, I own a goat now).

Why is it that people feel that it is acceptable to drive like blind retarded pigs because they are on their way to work? Drive like regular folk, on a regular schedule in a regular car on a regular road. The fact that you and 4 million other people are on their way to work does not make your irrational and idiotic driving any more acceptable.

So do everyone a favour; slow down and keep your head screwed on to your shoulders facing forward. Thanks.

Bare Naked Ladies and Amie Street

2007-03-07T07:53:00.000+02:00

Bare Naked Ladies (BNL) and the website Amie Street have ganged up on the die hard muso's of days past. It seems as though more and more bands are releasing their albums digitally before they release on CD. If you can't beat them, join them I reckon.

Amie Street is a website that sells artists music. There is a twist however, the price of the songs starts at zero, yes nothing. Then the more downloads the music receives, the higher the price. The price climbs until a roof of $0.98 per song is hit, then downloads simply continue as is!

Great idea and I applaud BNL for making use of the technology and massive web market available to them. Let's be honest, the web market is going to take the music whether they are paying for it or not. At least this way they are paying a nominal price and even nothing at one point or another.

I've been tagged

2007-03-06T15:37:00.000+02:00

Tyler tagged me. I am so sorry Tyler, I completely missed the post! :) I am meant to be placing down 5 things that you didn't know about me.. let's see what we can come up with.

So here goes (thanks for the tag btw):

I played in a band for about 3 years (Thus Far). Check out some of the mp3's at sovent.
I am Greek but HATE olives and Ouzo. Sad but true.
If I could swim in chocolate I would. If I could sleep in chocolate I would. If chocolate were the only food on Earth that I needed to stop to stay alive, I would die. I am a chocoholic and my name is Nic.
I have significantly more female friends than male friends. Some people say this makes me a bit Metro. I am comfortably straight in case you were pondering!
I can grow a full beard in about 2 and a half days.

I am told that I need to now tag other people... hmmm. I think that at this stage almost everyone in the known universe has been tagged which leaves me with no one. If I am tagging you and you have done it already just ignore me!

To be Tagged:

Gregor - Cause I haven't heard from him in a while (too much work will kill ya)
Verge - I wanna see what you have to hide!
Leon - Someone international.
Justin Hartman - A new friend.
The Colony - Cause you interest me alot!

Thanks again to Tyler for the kind words about my first project online and for tagging me!

SA Blog Awards second round

2007-03-06T12:14:00.000+02:00

It is time for the second round of voting for the SA Blog Awards. The results are out and there are some incredible blogs that have been nominated and my congratulations go out to all the nominees.

Error messages with a twist

2007-03-06T11:53:00.000+02:00

I love it when sites take the care and the time to make their screw-ups interesting!

Who's who online list

2007-03-05T21:13:00.000+02:00

Yahoo released a list of the top 50 most influential people of the internet. Founders, Ceo's and others stemming from companies and websites such as TechCrunch, Wikipedia, Google, YouTube, CreativeCommons, Skype, Wordpress, Amazon and Digg are present.

Check it out now.

This is swarm

2007-03-05T14:49:00.000+02:00

Vincent Maher seems to have a new addiction (not smoking, that's an old one) and its name is Swarm. The MG swarm is a real time representation of what the viewers of mg.photos are looking at.

Now at first glance to those who aren't really sure of the significance of this swarm it could seem like a bunch of pretty circles rolling around a black page. It's not. It is an incredible way to view the happenings of the site without staring at blank stats and words and numbers.

So without further ado:

There a other swarms out there I know, but this one is local and local is lekker. Not only is this swarm lekker cause it's local, but because it flies around the page like a manically depressed dope smoker on crack-cocaine. The activity/speed of the swarm circles seems to be dependent on the amount of activity surrounding the image or set of photos (I stand to be corrected here, Vince you will probably be the one to correct me!!).

Anyways, whether I am wrong or right about the MG Swarm, I think it rocks and in fact, it rocks my little socks off!

Six degrees of social networks

2007-03-05T12:28:00.000+02:00

The theory of six degrees of separation is a fairly well known one. For those of you who are in the dark, this is a theory that states that [almost] everyone in the world is no more than six steps away from every other person in the world. It's a pretty nifty theory I think.

The reason that I am talking about this theory is that many people know the theory in relation to Kevin Bacon (the actor). I have heard that every person in the world is within six steps or less of Kevin. Firstly I always wondered how is that actually possible, prove it. Then I would wonder why the theory uses Kevin Bacon and not, for example, James Dean?

Anyways, The Oracle of Bacon is one hell of a cool site that illustrates links from any Hollywood star, dead or alive, to Kevin. Go ahead, make my day, try and find an actor alive or dead without a link to Mr Bacon, I don't think you can do it.

Then on to more pressing and interesting business:

Six degrees of seperation and social networks

For a while now I have been wondering about the myspace/facebook/social network craze that is about. I wonder why, I wonder how, I wonder how many and what is it that these people are after. I think that the six degrees of separation is a very good explanation of what keeps people coming back.

I have just over 160 friends on Facebook. If you don't think I do, go check my facebook out. Now let's put this theory to the test. There are approximately 7000 South Africans on Facebook. If I have 160 friends and counting and you multiply each person by 6, you get 960. That is an immediate network of 960 people that I know through my network of 160 (that's one step). If each of those 960 people multiply by 6 and extend their network to 5760 then within 2 steps I know 5760 people. One final example: take those 5760 people and extend their network by 6 and you get 34 560 people. There aren't even close to that many people in SA on Facebook.

(Disclaimer: My mathematical understanding of six degrees of separation might be completely out of whack, but for the purposes of this post you just need to understand the principal of what I am trying to get across)

I firmly believe that it is this theory that makes social network sites such as Facebook successful. If I had no desire to push my network to the extend of its network then I would have no drive to use these sites. Six degrees to keep social networking sites running.

Sharepoint expert enters blogosphere

2007-03-04T12:12:00.000+02:00

My friend and business partner Courts has eventually entered the blogging world and started up Sharepoint Expert. Courts claims to be the brains behind most of the websites that he and I develop, I think he's right but it really sucks to hear that!

We are working on a new site that should really excite students interested in the social nature of the Internet, especially in South Africa. Keep a look out for that release in a week or two. Check out this blog, Sharepoint Expert or the Studentwire Blog for more information.

In his personal blog, Courts will be talking about his experience with Sharepoint as well as his everyday boring life :).

Check it out and wait for a new template!

Facebook introduces advertising

2007-03-04T11:19:00.000+02:00

Unless I have been sleep-social-networking lately I haven't noticed any adverts on Facebook. Until recently that is. For weeks I have been trying to figure out how they make their money.

Initially I suspected that they were selling information about their users. I didn't think this was possible but I recieved a message telling me how to deactivate the "share your details" option. This option is automatically set to share by Facebook when you join. Not so cool.

(For those of you who would like to deactivate this setting log in to your Facebook account, click on "My Privacy" on the left, then go to "Friends, notes..." section and go down to the bottom. Click the tick box marked with a tick at the very bottom to untick the box. This box says: "My information may be used according to the restricted Terms of Service." This allows them to sell yours and your friends information.)

So for a while I thought I was being invaded privately (sounds kinda kinky when it's phrased like that). Now it seems that Facebook has gone all conventional and put up adverts. Very random Ads I might add (hehe). Have a look for yourself:

Cancer shavathon

2007-03-03T15:38:00.000+02:00

Today is the day. Now is the time for you to shave or your head if you ever felt the need. No one looks at you funny, no one judges you and in fact, people applaud you for supporting the cause. I love it. I think it's a fantastic idea that is always well supported and rightfully so.

If you haven't been able to get down to one of the official spots then sit at home, take your top off sit your butt down and shave that head. Now is the time.

I went to Cresta Shopping Mall today and was blown away at how many people were sitting and doing their part. The non stop stream of people were in high spirits and willing to part with their hair and air out their follicles. Ofcourse there is always the option to show your support and get your head/hair spray painted. This is a great alternative for those of you who have anal retentive bosses who don't understand the fun side of life and the joys of living outside of the box!

Copyscape - check your content

2007-03-02T12:52:00.000+02:00

After me content theft issue Leon emailed me about a site that allows you to check up and see if your content is being copied. I can't decide if it's working or not but it seems to be a great help in the war on content theft.

Copyscape allows you to enter a Url in to the search bar and then searches your content with other sites for copies. The results are displayed as a regular search engine. I am still trying to work out if it just picks out lines, posts, links, headings, pictures or what as criteria. It's still interesting to see where your content is distributed around the web.

SA heads up Security Council

2007-03-02T10:50:00.000+02:00

It seems as though South Africa has taken of presidency of the United Nations Security Council for March. We are an extremely young country within the Security Council and I think that this is quite an accomplishment!!

Content theft

2007-03-01T23:12:00.000+02:00

I think it's taking a couple of days for Technorati to pick up on this post and the inadvertent link, but someone has completely lifted a post from SA Rocks. To the point that they are using the photo which is hosted on the SA Rocks server.

I am extremely grateful that Kidtivity enjoyed the post so much that they lifted it verbatim but I am somewhat upset at the blatant and shameless lifting of the content. It's not as if the post is 100% fresh and new, but at least sources were credited and references made to the appropriate sites. I have alerted the blog editor and will patiently await a response.

The blog seems to be brand-spanking-new and has one post on it... not a very good way to start a new blog I might add; ripping off someone else's work. Is this really what some SA bloggers are doing? If so I am concerned. How many other posts have we all missed on blogs that slip under the radar?

DStv adverts

2007-02-28T14:27:00.000+02:00

If I have to see one more DStv advert thrown in to the middle of a show/song/programme that I am watching I am going to throw something through my television set. I swear it.

Could someone from multichoice please explain to me why there is this obsessive need to destroy their subscribers programming with meaningless, mindless, irrelevant and badly timed adverts?

Fresh Faced Comic - Demetri Martin

2007-02-28T10:31:00.000+02:00

It has been almost an eternity since I posted my last fresh faced comic. Every comic has a gimmick, Demetri has a guitar and a pointlessly chilled out riff that he has underneath all of his jokes. For some reason I love it. This man has the most incredible one liners from batteries dying to fingering puppets. Hysterical.

Million Dollar Avatar

2007-02-28T09:34:00.000+02:00

I signed up for a promotion service called MillionDollarAvatar about a week ago. I was promised exposure, I was promised hits, I was promised a front page. These promised were delivered. Yesterday I received an email telling me that my profile was on the homepage, today I have received an email alerting my that my profile is on the backpage as well as on the random blogs of the day.

This site aims to promote people with websites. On the backpage I am in the company of Mr. Paul Stamatiou and if you ask me that's not too bad.

iPhone at the Oscars

2007-02-26T11:11:00.000+02:00

For those of you who managed to watch the Oscars last night good on you. Helen, Forest, Martin and others walked away with a golden statue of a naked man missing the good bits.

If you were awake and did not miss a single ad break (and if DSTV/Mnet didn't make the ads local) you could possibly have seen the very first iPhone advert! The commercial is over 18Mb to download so if you don't have a worthy connection (not sure what I am talking about "worthy" pah) don't bother.

The commercial features a collection of scenes from television and film with stars saying “Hello” on a telephone. Nice idea and there is even an awesome Back to the Future scene.

Samsung cell phone flaw

2007-02-25T17:40:00.000+02:00

Apparently if you type in "economist" in to an SMS of any of the new models of a Samsung cell phone and then press the "#" key the phone stalls and resets.

Not so apparently. I tried it and it worked on my new D900 and a D820 that I tried. The phone just out right stops working and resets without pin requirement.

I am so interested to know how many other people know about this and have tried it? Let me know if you have a Samsung. Maybe the guys from Mobile Q and A could try this out and give us some feedback.

Massive Media Workshop kicks off

2007-02-24T10:11:00.000+02:00

I am sitting at UJ and have been since early this morning. I am actually not too upset by this as I have been given the chance to be the blogger of the conference, so I get to blog for 5 hours solid. Joy. While some of my friends shop all day (har har Carls!) I will be covering events here and providing students with a summery of each speaker and the days events.

Visit the Studentwire Blog for more info

Studentwire and the "Massive Media Workshop"

2007-02-23T09:53:00.000+02:00

This weekend brings with it another student media conference. This one is held at the University of Johannesburg. I am attending as a Studentwire represntative and have been given the nod to blog about the conference, conclusions and speakers.

Keep up to date with the happenings of this conference by visiting the Studentwire Blog where I will be posting about the conference. You can also check out the Studentwire moblog at Studentwire itself or visit the Studentwire flick account.

Egyptian blogger jailed

2007-02-23T09:36:00.000+02:00

An Egyptian blogger received four years in prison from an Egyptian court. Abdel Kareem Soliman was apparently jailed for criticising a top Islamic institution.

It seems that in certain countries freedom of speech is a non-existent concept. If that was the case here in SA, I would've been jailed long ago for a much longer period of time as would many of the vociferous bloggers in SA. If I were the al-Azhar university and President Hosni Mubarak, whom Soliman called a dictator, I would also be pissed and call cops, that it is if I actually was a dictator and wanted to appear guilty!

This is not the first time a blogger has been reprimanded or jailed for thinking that freedom of speech existed. This definitely explains to me why so many millions of bloggers remain anonymous at all costs (the cost being jail time nowadays). Things can't be that bad over here if we are all so excited to have our name.com url's.

Facts and image courtesy of BBC News. Thanks to Mich for the lead.

BMW drivers - the worst on the road

2007-02-22T23:22:00.000+02:00

Hoping to have an enjoyable evening out with Jen tonight I drove to pick her up from her house. However no drive in Sandton is complete without some moronic BMW driver thinking he owns the road and drives a Ferrari.

Let me tell all of you BMW drivers something; you are not special. You drive one of millions upon millions (scott,maybe you can help out on numbers here) of BMW's out there, there are millions upon millions of other people that drive your exact model. Thus, therefore and hence, you are not special. Do not drive like you own the road, do not drive like your irritating blue lights are cool, they aren't, sorry Kevin.

The reason for this post: While driving to Jen's place I was aggressively pushed on to the right hand side of the road (that's the wrong side of the road if you are wondering) on a right-angle corner by a black BMW. If you are reading this, screw you. I proceeded to do what every man would: I hooted the crap out of my hooter. It gives me satisfaction to do this. I thought I had made my point. I hooted until I couldn't here myself think. We both took the corner following another car in front of us. The three of us are now so closely knit that I can see the ridiculous hairdo of the driver of the black BMW.

Then it happened, to add salt in to the wound of a correct and safe driver, the Black BMW man flicked his stompie (cigarette butt) on to my windscreen in triumph of his idiotic and dangerous driving. Do these people think they are clever by placing other peoples lives in danger? I couldn't give a rats ass if someone like this crashes in to a wall (not in to other people) and hurts themselves. They deserve it. There are enough things in this world that can end a life, why would you want to make your driving another murder weapon.

Take your flashy driving and BMW attitude and stick it wherever is most uncomfortable for you.

This post in no way intends to brand EVERY SINGLE BMW driver an idiot, but do me a favour and help yourselves out a bit, drive like you want to live.

30 seconds to mars

2007-02-21T13:10:00.000+02:00

I haven't done a post like this for a while but this band has done my little nut. I just caught 30 seconds to mars's song on MTV now and i was literally mesmerized by their presence and song writing skill. The lead singer, Jared Leto can really belt out a tune and rips it up on guitar. What a boy. Oh, did I mention that he is an actor too (Requiem for a Dream is my personal favourite of his).

I must say that of all the actor-turned-singers this man is absolutely the best without a shadow of a doubt. Let's not forget the fact that he plays with an entire band who make him look as good as he does.

But seriously, I have not had a mesmerizing reaction in a very long time (since Skunk Anansie I recall) so these guys must have something!!

Christmas in February

2007-02-21T09:59:00.000+02:00

What is going on with DSTV and the Movie Channels? If I have to see one more movie on these channels with the words "christmas" in it I swear I'm going to do something drastic.

Mobile Q and A...hmmm

2007-02-20T18:07:00.000+02:00

I am intrigued by this site, MOBILE Q and A. Firstly I am intrigued by the url http://mobile-qanda.com/... I immediately pronounced it as i read it, QANDA. That's not a major though. So who cares.

Rafiq has a great point, goodluck getting people away from Mxit. But I think that there could be some use in this site if it used correctly. Ask the right questions, review the right phones and deal with a need you have. Interesting.

Pavlov's parrot theory

2007-02-20T15:27:00.000+02:00

I feel like I am living in Pavlov's dog theory. You know the one: the master rings a bell when the dog's food is ready and the dogs come a runnin'. Then one fine day Pavlov rings the bell, the dogs come a runnin' but there is no food.

Well I have an African Grey Parrot at home. This bird shrieks at all and any hours of the day. Initially I thought that it was random but today sitting outside making some calls he/she (we don't know the parrot's sex) didn't make a sound. I started to wonder why. I think that I am being played by the parrot.

Crackers (the parrots name) yells when his/her water is dirty, when there is no food, when he/she is cold or when he/she gets too hot. Crackers yells and waits for a response. If no response comes Crackers yells a bit more and a bit more until I come a runnin' and do all the things that I think will "shut him up". Little do I know but there sits Crackers the Parrot mastermind that he/she is in a little cage making my jump whenever her yells.

Am I running after the parrot or is the parrot running after me? hmmm....

Ananzi in top ten local websites

2007-02-19T17:57:00.000+02:00

Mybroadband recently released the usual top ten for SA websites. I am shocked that Ananzi is anywhere even close to the top ten never mind in the top ten.

I am even more shocked that Ananzi is actually still around. With that said I have just visited the site and am even more surprised to learn that there has been a major redesign that I am pleasantly impressed with. Now I cannot really continue with my little rant about users inability to move the times because it seems as though the product has done so before the user needed to.

I remember Ananzi being frustratingly text heavy and irritatingly cluttered. This is not the case anymore. I haven't used Ananzi for over years because of the issues that I had. I didn't even check the site because of my frustration, this seems to have been my mistake in hindsight!

I will definitely be using Ananzi over the next few weeks and see how it goes because design may be all good but search engines are meant to search effectively. I am not convinced that Ananzi is doing this yet.

I just searched for myself (nic haralambous) on Ananzi, the top results involved Shaun Dewburry, some myspace chick, South African artist called nic, an accounting firm and a business report involving some dude called nic.

That is shocking considering I own and run 4 local websites (one of which is nicharalambous.com). When I searched for nicharalambous I got zilch. Not impressed here, at all. Not only are the results shoddy, but I was asked by the site to put all names with a Capital Letter. Seriously, how much admin is that if you don't know what you are doing and you leave out the capital letter, the search engine doesn't recognise that you are searching for a person... as if that should matter.

Google's search results for nic haralambous returned results involving things that I have done (1st was this blog (3jobblog)) people who have linked to me and sites that I own, all in the top ten!! Now you have to wonder why people use Google. I also didn't need to put my name with capital letters!

I don't know, you tell me, how is it possible that such a rubbish search engine with such a great design (cough, cough) manages to maintain a top ten position for local websites?

Live Earth Concert

2007-02-19T12:51:00.000+02:00

The Chumps have done it again and broken a story that just blew me down and brought a lovely tear to my eye.

Live Earth is a massive world wide concert that is being held to try and make the world aware of the climate issues we are facing. The artists are trying to rally support for our Earth so lets keep our eyes peeled and our wallets full enough to purchase a ticket.

Word has it that the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, the Foo Fighters and Fall Out Boy will be coming to SA. If that is the case I am sold, in, there, going, gone, done and dusted. I love this game.

Max rocks SA

2007-02-19T12:38:00.000+02:00

Maximillian Kaizen has just posted the first of hopefully many posts to come on SA Rocks.

This wonderful lady has a fantastic way of presenting a point and this post is no different. Rock on down now and check out the post.

Google might just do some evil

2007-02-19T09:29:00.000+02:00

The term Googlebot is fast becoming one that may have more impact on the world than people initially suspected. Co-founder of Google, Larry Page, recently let slip that Google is not as far away from creating Artificial Intelligence (AI) as people might suspect.

I am not saying that this move is an evil one or that it will end badly. I am going to suggest that Google is not necessarily interested in staying within the boundaries of online world.

There are moral as well as ethical issues surrounding AI; if it is self-aware can it be controlled? If it is self-aware is it murder to get rid of it if it is not serving its purpose? These are just two issues of many.

Why Greeks Cannot be terrorists

2007-02-18T21:34:00.000+02:00

As we all know I am a South African Greek and proud of it, but I just could not help but post this:

Why Greeks can't be Terrorists':

10. 8:45 is too early for us to be up to board a flight.

9. We are always late. We would have missed all four 9-11 flights.

8. Good looking people on the plane would distract us.

7. We would talk loudly and bring attention to ourselves.

6. With food and drinks on the plane we would wind up dancing.

5. We talk with our hands, so we would have put our weapons down.

4. We would all want to fly the plane.

3. We would argue politics and start a fight in the plane.

2. We would have put the Greek flag on the windshield of the plane.

And the number one reason why Greeks can't be terrorists:

1. We would have told everyone a week before what we were going to do.

Tree-Nation, saving the world one tree at a time

2007-02-18T18:46:00.000+02:00

Saving the trees is kind of important I am told. Hell, even Al Gore has gotten involved in the cause so it must be something to concern ourselves with. If you are really and truly one of those jeeks/geeks who has not seen the sun in approximately three years, 15 days and an hour, then Tree-Nation is for you.

for a nominal price you can purchase a tree to plant in a desert area that suffers from desertification. The project aims to plant 8 million trees in the Sahara desert. I am not a tree hugger, hell I don't even recycle but I think that this strange little site is doing something really impressive.

The use of the online medium to engage with people and send them an important message is one of the amazing ways that technology has aided in the progression of change and correction of the errors of the past. So go and buy a tree today. Tree-Nation plants it for, your hands stay clean so you can blog about your hippie movement to saving the trees!

The trees above were used in the making of this paper.

The Citizen, Mike Stopforth and SA Rocks

2007-02-16T16:52:00.000+02:00

Mike Stopforth writes a column for the citizen. I think Mikes a great guy and knows what he's talking about, so with that in mind, go and read his column. This week Mike went out of his way to make mention of SA Rocks. Thanks Mike, lets get those offline people online this week!

Good content, niche markets and interesting angles

2007-02-16T14:44:00.000+02:00

I have read many posts from many bloggers who claim to know how to create a successful blog. Much of the time I think that these guys are losers who have nothing better to do than to tell other people how to run their blogs. Not so.

For the first time today I realised that the success of a blog depends on the content and concept behind the content. After only starting SA Rocks 10 days ago I officially reached the same Technorati rank as nicharalambous.com. I have been maintaining this blog for over 13 months and within 10 days SA Rocks has equaled the achievements of my personal blog.

In my little tiny blogging brain this has proven to me that you can be the best damn writer in the world (which I am not) and still have no one read your blog. It's about niche markets, good content, interesting angles and meeting the needs of a market. SA Rocks does just this while nicharalambous.com is me blabbing on about my daily life and rubbish, which many millions of bloggers are doing.

Learn your lessons now; if you want readers, think about your angle and plot things accordingly.

Get hold of the boss man

2007-02-16T14:21:00.000+02:00

Finally after 8 days of phone calls and becoming an internet hobo thanks to Telkom I have internet again.

The problem was a simple one that any phone operator could have pointed out... a Telkom phone technician had reset my modem incorrectly when I called first 8 days ago. Well thank you for nothing you bloody idiots.

Oh yes, I forgot about this: There are two people you need to speak to if you are having issues with your internet. One is the supervisor of the phone technicians, Mr Khumalo (ask for him, he digs it i promise), the other is Mr Sifiso Mkhize, he is the big boss man. Wise up and stop talking to the invalid on the line, ask for the boss and the bosses boss and his boss too. Enough of this rubbish, lets all go riot outside Telkom's office.

A few reasons why facebook is better than Myspace

2007-02-15T13:28:00.000+02:00

I have just read a post outlining the top ten reasons why Myspace is better than facebook. I think that cheezhead has some good points but misses the reason that users and I stress, USERS, make use of social networks.

cheezhead's top ten reasons why Myspace is better than facebook:

Traffic
Brand leader
Media powerhouse
Rock 'n Roll will never die
Mo' money
Rupert Murdoch
Custom URLs
Customizable pages
News corporation and phat partners
Classifieds

Now I agree with a couple of the above points: Custom URLs and Customizable pages are the main two. I think that custom URLs and the ability to change your page are great ideas. However in practice Myspace is simply difficult to use. I am fairly well versed in CSS and html and I struggled to understand where and how to customize a page. Thus if you are going to make pages customizable, make it simple or be like facebook and leave it out. The custom URL thing on Myspace is great.

My reasons why facebook rocks:

Groups - facebook has the uncanny ability to link people through groups. I have found tons of mates that I lost contact with years ago through these groups. While Myspace is filled with millions of useless users who become your friends to spam and promote a product or themselves. That's not what users are after. Plus the porn on myspace is terrible.
Group Creation - the ability to create groups and invite your mates and others in to these groups is definitely a big plus.
Simplicity - facebook makes users want to return and use their service because it is so ridiculously simple. Part of the simplicity factor is the fact that pages are the same and not customizable. If they couldn't make it easy, they left it out.
Mini-feed - facebook's mini-feed is absolutely incredible. You can see which of your friends are friends with other people you might know. It allows you to see who is changing their profile pics, uploading photos, adding posts, blogging etc etc etc. This little tool is invaluable when it comes to finding people you know and meeting people you don't.
Blog RSS - facebook makes it simple to add your blogs posts to your facebook page and allow your mates to read your posts. I have received hundreds of hits on my blog from my facebook profile. Myspace does this too, but screw me if I know how.

At the end of the day I don't care how much money Myspace earns, how many millions of users are on Myspace or if Ruper Murdoch owns my life online. I care about meeting up with people that I know and facebook does this better than Myspace by a long way.

3's Tag

2007-02-15T12:40:00.000+02:00

The Gypsy just tagged me... those damn hippies

Three things that scare me:
Failure
Ignorance
George W Bush

Three people who make me laugh:
Jen
Wilsher
Scott

Three Things I love:
Music (of the rock sort)
my laptop
my Job

Three Things I hate:
Olives
pickles
Ignorance

Three Things I don’t understand:
Ignorance
PHP - but I'm getting there!!!
The media industry

Three things on my desk:
cellphone
wallet
Smokes

Three things I’m doing right now:
Updating 4 websites and developing 1
Blogging
Bee swatting

Three things I want to do before I die:
Sky Dive
Win a proffesional Poker Tournament/Play in the WSOP.
Become a Multi Millionaire

Three things I can do:
Write
Debate
Cook

Three things you should listen to:
Hinder
Bloggers
Mates

Three things I’d like to learn:
Italian/French
how to stop smoking
women

Three favourite foods:
Thai
Greek
A Hamburger

Three beverages I drink regularly:
Water
coffee
tea

Three TV shows/Books I watched/read as a kid:
The wonder year (Yeah Baby)
The Hobbit
Dexter

Three people I’m tagging (that’s if you’ve not already done this)
I don't think that I am going to be tagging three people... I don't know why. I'm just not. Sorry!!

To in-breed or not to in-breed

2007-02-15T12:08:00.000+02:00

I have a friend (Hi Jen) who is currently in Texas and claims that the in-breeding down south has led a lot to be desired in terms of the type of people that she is meeting and related to. This could be a fantastic explanation for the actions of one G.W. Bush (GWB). I wish that it were actually a viable and trustworthy explanation to justify the moronic behaviour of the 'defender of the free world'. I just don't think that it is. I think that some Texans including Mr GWB are simply idiots who have no brain capacity, let alone independent thought to run a country.

I have heard through the vine of knowledge known as the grape, that there are currently no scientific proofs for the effects of cousins getting it on with cousins and brothers getting it on with sisters (I would have said brothers with brothers but we all know that no child... you get it). So then my simple conclusion is that some people are just morons and idiots and some are not. Furthermore, some people are happy morons and idiots while others like to blame their cousins for their idiotic behaviours and inability to keep it to themselves and out of others.

I've been away and it's bad

2007-02-15T11:06:00.000+02:00

I know I have been absent over the last few days. It's really out of my control. I am so sorry!!

Wow, I sound like a recovering addict of some sorts. I must say, these internet down times provided so willingly by Telkom always seem to come at such bad times. Meetings to organise, interviews and freelance to do using skype. It's just so difficult running an online company in S.A sometimes don't you think?

Anyways, I am making use of Primi Platinum in Rivonia for their internet access and have to shamelessly punt them for their incredible service, smiles and Jack Johnson background music. Thanks to Primi and if anyone out there needs internet, make use of a Primi near you and spend, spend, spend on coffee and smokes!

Die Telkom die

2007-02-13T15:44:00.000+02:00

I have spent over 10 hours on hold with Telkom since Thursday last week. I have been waiting for four days for an idiot supervisor to call me back and all to no avail. I have not had a safe and steady internet connection for over 6 days. Joy.

When I asked a helpline man if in his eight years at Telkom they have ever had any internet down time he answered no. In EIGHT YEARS Telkom has never experienced what we go through. I wonder why.

South African blog awards 2007

2007-02-12T11:24:00.000+02:00

It is official, nominations for the bestest of the bestest in the south are open. So get down to the SA blog awards site now and submit your vote.

Cherryflava appears to be the main sponsor of the awards this year and Your Group of Web AddiCT(s); is heavily involved (Graphic Design/Web application development).

This is a great initiative that is in its third year. Get your votes in and make this whole blogging thing worth while for those who entertain you and get your through your days!

Comfort amidst war

2007-02-12T11:00:00.000+02:00

I received this picture via email. Maybe you've seen it, maybe you haven't. Very interesting.

Upstairs Bamboo

2007-02-11T16:23:00.000+02:00

I went to an art Gallery/Restaurant today. Melville is a rocking little place, very trending and very cool.