Faking it - Orgasms, iPods and more

Going to work today I realised that I was in the elevator with my iPod's earphones in my ears but no music. I had forgotten to push play (or tap play in the case of the iPod touch!).The most interesting thing happens in an elevator when people think that you can't hear them, they immediately assume you can't see them and that you don't exist at all.I have definitely done this before and on purpose to try and catch people unawares. I have managed to catch some interesting info out while people think I can't hear them.My question to you is:What do you fake? Anything at all? Nothing? You aren't a faker? I want to know if it's an orgasm or an illness.

Nothing better than golf on a Sunday

Played a round of golf yesterday at ParkView. What a beautiful course. Makes me love this country everytime I step on to a golf course with the sun shining and good mates around me.Here's a photo:

MTN - Unlimited bandwidth within 8 weeks

Can someone please explain this to me. I drive past this banner advert on a lampost every day. I still have no clue what it means.

My Wikia Search preview photo Features on TechCrunch!

Very cool.My photo from the Icommons innovation event is currently being featured on TechCrunch. I am extremely chuffed!Anyways, here's the screenshot!

Screeshot of the Jimmy Wales "Socialpedia"

I seem to be the only person who managed to snap a photo of Jimmy Wales' new project. So I thought I should post it here for people to see.Matt has a great couple of posts that were picked up by Mashable! Good on you Matt!

Bring bloggers and editors together

My post about Charl Norman and Intelligence magazine seems to have raised some interesting issues.Bloggers vs journalists, ethics and standards and a broad lack of writing integrity.Vincent has come out and said that he is willing to organise a meeting between bloggers and mainstream media editors (or editor). What do you think?From Vincent:

If any bloggers are interested, I would be happy to organise a session between bloggers and our editor as an ethics and legal primer. Anyone interested? Email me vincent@vincentmaher.com

I think that this is a great idea and one that can benefit various people on various levels. Email Vince and let's get the ball rolling.

Conflicts of interest -What happened to ethics?

Any trained and qualified journalist knows that ethics are of great importance when writing an article. The topic, angle and genre of the article are irrelevant when it comes to ethics. They should always be present.I would like to take Charl Norman to task in this regard. I read this Muti'd article from his blog and have an issue with the entire concept.Firstly the list that Charl has compiled is obvious to an extent, no problem with that for the most part. However there are two inclusions that I think fall under conflict of interest. What is this list based upon? Opinion, choose, random selection?How could Charl have written an article wherein he names two of his own products as top web startups to watch? It's one thing to claim this on your personal blog as a blogger. But when the byline of the article states that the writer is a blogger, freelance journalist and web entrepreneur and then advertises his own blog I have a problem.That is some sort of paid advertising or an advertorial article. I immediately get the feeling while reading the article that the idea for the article stems from a want to promote Blueworld and to a lesser extent ZoopedUp.I am not saying this is the case, I am just saying that this is how I feel when I read the article.Intelligence should be weary of making this sort of thing a habit. The article is fine but would have been better served written by a journalist not involved in the content directly. In fact the best outcome would and should have been to look at Charl's blog post and ask an "objective" journalist to base a more extensive article on the blog post.All that Intelligence have done (in a not-so-intelligent manner) is helped to promote Charl's projects and along the way maybe include some other cool projects.I am all for promotion of web startups in SA and any promotion is great. But comes a point where the line must be drawn. The thing that really urks me is the fact that this article is branded as journalism. There is a fine line between bloggers and journalists. They are not one in the same thing at all and don't claim that they are. The article that appeared in the magazine was an expanded blog post for an author looking to self-advertise, on some level at least.Ethics are becoming scarce and I hope this isn't a trend that continues. New media is not a quick fix for larger magazines to fill pages with content. Let us not fall in to that trap.

Morning Joke - Them Greeks

After having dug to a depth of 10 meters last year, Italian archaeologists found traces of copper wire dating back 100 years and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago.Not to be outdone by the Italians, in the weeks that followed, Turkish archaeologists dug to a depth of 20 meters. Shortly thereafter, headlines in Turkish newspapers read: "Turkish Scientists have found traces of 200-year old copper wire, and have concluded that Turks already had anadvanced high-tech communications network one hundred years before than the Italians !One week later, "The Kathimerini", a Greek newspaper, reported the following: "After digging as deep as 30-meters in fields near Athens, Sakis Petropoulos, a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely nothing.Sakis has therefore concluded that 300-years ago, Greeks were already using wireless networks.

Mentez.com, a FB app competition and ownership issues

This sort of thing is really dodgy sometimes and thanks to the Sharepointexpert I got wind of this one.The idea that Mentez.com is proposing is immediately enticing. Especially when R40 000 is up for grabs. But at a second look the terms and conditions are somewhat concerning.The competition seems to be run in rounds. First you send in an idea, then the best ideas are accepted by judges then you have until sometime in January, 2008 to develop the app. Then, simply by entering the compeition you:

11. By submitting a registration form, each Participant fully and unconditionallya. Agrees to these Terms and Conditionsb. Authorise Mentez to use their personal data for the purposes of running and promoting the Contest this year and/or in subsequent years;c. Will be deemed to have read, accepted and agree to be bound by these Contest Terms and Conditions. Participants are advised to print and keep safe these Terms and Conditions.

The full terms and conditions are available here. But let's move on.To me, the R40 000 is miniscule when considering the potential of a brilliant local FB app. IT feels like the website is asking brilliant SA developers to write these apps. Then host them with Mentez and negotiate a contract regarding the app thereafter. Hmmm... and who owns the app? The competition winner? The writer of the app? The company, Mentez, who?

15. For the applications that are selected to pass to the development phase of the contest, the participants will have to sign a development, hosting and monetization agreement with Mentez.com. This agreement is readily available for your review and is required to qualify for the second stage of the contest.

Then it seems that if you are unhappy with the outcome of the event you are not allowed to say anything:

22. Participants must not act in any way or fail to act in any way or be associated with any cause or group which would have a negative impact on the reputation of Mentez, the Contest or the Judges.

What happened to freedom of speech? We've seen this before on the local scene with the podcast competition earlier this year and others. Now can these competition people stop taking us for accepting, naive bafoons and realise that if we are going to make FB apps, we want the glory, which probably equals more than R40 000 if the app is great. Just my thoughts.I invite Mentez.com to email me and let me know their thoughts and clearly explain the terms and conditions. I am intererested to focus on the questions of hosting the app, ownership and profit share specifically.What do you think?

Sugar we're going down - in fast forward!

This Youtube "star" makes me laugh. What a great idea but what a pointless one too!!

Googlethu lives

I was in CT this weekend. In all the over-Africanised paraphenalia that I stumbled across there was one gem for a geek in CT... Googlethu. Laugh It Off does it again:

The Facebook song

Online politics - Zoopy and Helen Zille

I have quite enjoyed watching Zoopy's extensive coverage of Helen Zille over the past few months. But today for the first time I found myself questioning their coverage.Why is it that Zoopy covers Zille so extensively? Why is the coverage not more representative. I am sure that Jason is going to come on here and tell me that they have covered Patricia de Lille too, but that really doesn't count as extensive.Just as the SABC is pressed for equal representation I think that an organisation such as Zoopy should be too. If nothing else, they need to be weary of aligning themselves subconciously with a party. It appears to me that this might already have happened...This comes directly from the Zoopy "about us" section:

Who’s behind it all?At Zoopy HQ it’s just the three of us, for now: Jason, Gerry and Pat. And a few carefully selected contributors.

Hmmm... carefully selected, sounds intersting, lets find out more.I emailed Jason from Zoopy to get some comment on the issue and see if this is a definite trend that is to continue or an incidental happening. This is what he had to say:

Thanks for giving Zoopy some blog space – and on such a relevant topic too. It needs to be said that we’ve personally spoken with Ebrahim Rasool, Jacob Zuma, Trevor Manuel and indirectly with Patricia de Lille. None of them have responded in any way. Helen grasped the technology available from the first meeting we had with her and her team. They have a handheld video camera with them and have chosen to upload a range of political and non-political issues, ranging from aerial shots of a dam through to her new electric car and more. She responds in person to users who send mail via Zoopy and those who leave comments on her Zoopy profile.There are also occasions when we’re out at events that she happens to be shaking hands at, or attending, and in those cases we upload any relevant footage ourselves. So really this is not a case of us showing favouritism toward any party or individual. It’s a case of the individual getting involved themselves, and us facilitating it as much as possible. We’d love to host social media relating to every South African on Zoopy (politicians, lawyers and bloggers included! hehe) and always promote the possibilities when meeting with interesting people.That said, there are more high profile people going Zoopy very soon. Because of the technology, functionality and community available to them. Not because of who they are or whether or not we believe in their cause.

I think that is fair and valid justification of their stance. I wait with anticipation for the "high profile" people to get involved with Zoopy. Let's see if this becomes a case of YouTube and CNN joining forces for the next American election.

Great men were destined to be great

I have been struggling lately with a bit of internal strife. I am a thinking man. I always have been. I think alot, all the time, non-stop, about everything.My latest mind-bender is whether great men (and women) would be great in any era or context or was it there social background and influences that moulded them?Please don't tell me that it's a mixture of both, that nature and nurture both apply in equal amount. A spoon full of sugar doesn't make the medicine go down. I want an answer. I have an answer in my head but it keeps becoming null and void as this week as progressed.Let me explain what I mean by great men. Firstly the reason that I don't refer to great people is because I am a man and I relate to great men moreso than I do to great women. Margaret Thatcher, Mother Theresa and others were and are still great women and human beings. But I want to focus more on men like Ghandi, Mandela, Richard Branson, Mark Shuttleworth, Bill Gates, Hitler, Stalin, Mugabe, Biko and others.These men may not all have been good men, but they were all great. One man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist just as one man's greatness is another man's failure.But it is undisputable that Hitler was a great leader. He had the entire world fighting against him. That is greatness. He was not a good man, and was in fact an evil man, but great nonetheless.My question is this: Would these men still have been great if things in their lives were different? If they had loving parents, if they lived in Mexico instead of Germany or were wealthy instead of poor. If Branson was a trust-fund baby would he still have had the drive? If Ghandi lived somewhere that promoted equality instead of segregation would he still have been great? If Mandela was white would he have helped to end apartheid?I personally believe that these men are great and would have been great irrespective of their surroundings. I firmly believe that great men are great and are destined for greatness be it evil or good, rich or poor, greatness prevails.

Will.i.am - Baby where'd you get your body from - Sexist bullshit

Here are the mindless lyrics that Will.I.Am from the Black Eyed Peas wrote:Baby where’d you get your body from?Tell me where’d you get your body from.Baby where’d you get your body from?Tell me where’d you get your body from.I got it from my mama.I got it from my mama.I got it from my mama.I got it got it got got it…Baby where’d you get your body from?Tell me where’d you get your body from.Baby where’d you get your body from?Tell me where’d you get your body from.I got it from my mama.I got it from my mama.I got it from my mama.I got it got it…Honey lookin good from her head to her toe.Beauty overload, body out of control.She twenty-four, she could be a model.So beautiful, also natural.Mommy lookin good from her head to her feet.She forty-four, but she still lookin sweet.And you can tell her daughter aint even at her peak.Cause her mama lookin so hot, packin that heat.So be a good girl and thank your mama.She make me steamin like a sauna.Look out, look out, here she come now.Look out, look out, here she come.Baby where’d you get your body from?Tell me where’d you get your body from.Baby where’d you get your body from?Tell me where’d you get your body from.I got it from my mama.I got it from my mama.I got it from my mama.I got it got it got got it…Baby where’d you get your body from?Tell me where’d you get your body from.Baby where’d you get your body from?Tell me where’d you get your body from.I got it from my mama.I got it from my mama.I got it from my mama.I got it got it…Girl, your beauty is a sensation.You sittin in, in a temptation.I never knew a girl could shine like a sun.You better thank your mama, cause girl, you the one.We should have a date of celebration.Celebratin god’s best creation.Girl you got a beautiful vibration.Everyday should be your birthday, hun.You make the guys all dumb.Maybe cause you’re blessed with the beautiful buns.Maybe cause your beauty keep the dudes on sprung,Wonderin just where you got that from.[I Got It From My Mama lyrics on http://www.metrolyrics.com]Baby where’d you get your body from?Tell me where’d you get your body from.Baby where’d you get your body from?Tell me where’d you get your body from.I got it from my mama.I got it from my mama.I got it from my mama.I got it got it got got it…Baby where’d you get your body from?Tell me where’d you get your body from.Baby where’d you get your body from?Tell me where’d you get your body from.You can tell all this right here,I got all this from my mama…All of this stuff right here,I got all this from my mama.Ladies... x7Here we go…If the girl real fine,Nine times out of ten,She fine just like her mama.If the girl real pretty,Nine times out of ten,She pretty like her mama.And if her mama real ugly,I guarantee ya she gon’ be ugly like her mama.And if her mama real ugly,I guarantee ya she gon’ be ugly like her mama.If the girl real sexy,Nine times out of ten,She sexy like her mama.If the girl real hot,Nine times out of ten,She hot just like her mama.And if her mama real ugly,I guarantee ya she gon’ be ugly like her mama.And if her mama real ugly,I guarantee ya she gon’ be ugly like her mama, like her mama…Baby where’d you get your body from?Tell me where’d you get your body from.Baby where’d you get your body from?Tell me where’d you get your body from.You can tell all this right here,I got all this from my mama…All of this stuff right here,I got all this from my mama.If you pretty, make some noise.If you pretty, make some noise.If you pretty, make some noise.Make some noise, make some noise.This is the biggest load of shit that I have ever read, heard or listened to.
Will I Am LyricsThis dude really pisses me off. "Music" like this really pisses me off. Notice the immense repetition in the song lyrics? That's thanks to lack of formidable writing skills. Will.I.Am definitely isn't much, of anything really.

Ever wondered if you are hated?

I have. I often wonder how many people I truly piss off on a daily basis. I am pretty sure the number is high.Controversy has never scared me off and probably never will. Being a loud, outspoken and a calculating kind of person I don't imagine that I win over many people on my first try - or even the second.But then again, who cares? I recently decided that I am probably pretty disliked on the blogoshpere and in "real life" without even knowing it. I cause alot of kak and that is definitely not helped by some of the bloggers that I am friends with.Now I know that there are some people who will comment on this post that I am trying to win over favour and get people to tell me how much they like me. I'm not. I don't really mind if you do dislike me.I'm just asking a simple question: Have you ever wondered if you are hated?I have.

Is the bloggers bubble bursting in SA?

Let's just get one thing straight off the bat: We are not nice people.I am not a nice person in general. I am nice to those that I care about and my friends but that's where it stops. Done and dusted.Why is it that we think the blogosphere is different? We as bloggers are all self serving. We all want hits, we all want money, we all just want and that's the truth.With this years blog awards we saw the turning of the tides. That was the beggining of the real age of the blogosphere. The truth is that we all kind of harbour jealousy towards someone else who blogs something first, who thinks of something new or who creates something that we didn't think of. Then we shut our mouths, "praise" that person and keep deep seated rage towards them.Take Mr Richard Catto for instance. I applaud him. Why? Because he is harsh and most of the time he is looking to be a mean guy and succeeds. I don't particular like him but his honesty and brazen comments are appreciated. Many of them are out of line in my view but that's my view.When we don't like something he says we pussy foot around the giant elephant standing in the sphere. What is that elephant? Fact is we all dislike someone, if not many people, most of the time. But in the blogosphere we try not to. This is not real. This is not the way the world works.Justin and I had a discussion about the "community" that we call the blogosphere. It is not much of a community if we are honest. At an extreme push there are 200-300 bloggers (real people) who are extremely active and entrenched in the local blog scene. That's it. It is impossible for us to take a liking to all 300 of these people. It wouldn't happen in real life so why would it happen online?It doesn't. And if you think that it does you are still living in the old bubble of local-blogosphere 1.0. We are now in version 2.0 of the local space. This space is not so pleasant as Jon Cherry discovered when he organised the blog awards this year. Unfortunately the events disdain was directed at him and he became the scape-goat.Now things have changed. People are talking a big game and others are responding with even bigger talk. I almost got sued, which was not pleasant either. Bolton Deventer existed for a week or two and then dissapeared. But we all still pussy foot around and act like it's OK and we are happy and "Hahahaha he got us". Fuckem. He didn't get me, I didn't link to him, didn't blog about him (until now) and commented a couple of times. I refuse to take that shit again. I wont do it.I'll tell you why I wont do it, because if this space was larger people like Deventer, Mclaren, me and my blog would all be lost in space. Because we are a small, new and fresh sphere we are trying to be pleasant and entertain every notion and partake in every conversation that pops up. If this space were bigger I would be an insipid blip on the blog-radar. In fact, I think I am an irrelevant voice in the grand scheme of things and so are many other bloggers who just don't see it the same way.Ego is an issue. Many people don't like that about our little local blog space. I love it. I love the game, I love the hype and I love the big talk. Why? Because it's the closest thing to reality that I can experience online. Egos are real, competition is real and disagreements are real to. Let's embrace it, get pissed off and move on.Why does every little incident have to be turned in to a massive ordeal that everyone partakes in and get's riled up about? Why do we even entertain the bullshit and give the likes of Deventer hits?

More posts ahead I promise

It's been a busy day, a busy week in fact.When I get a minute I'll post a few posts here. I promise they will be cynical, skeptical and the usual load of banter from me.Don't I just sound like every blogger grasping for that extra minute in the day?

Ipod touch blogging

This is my very first blog post from my iPod touch. I am incredibly impressed with versatility of this thing. Coming up, a full review of the touch. Check back soon.

A day at the Turffontein race course

What a way to spend a Saturday, at the races. A friend of mine's father had some horses running (donkeys if you ask me) so we went through to Turffontein race course for the day.I have never been much of a gambler but decided that today was my day to make some cash.I was given a crash course in betting and odds and the styles you can play as well as looking at horses and deciding which looks like a winner. Perfect.On we went to the betting area. I placed my first bet on Race four. Swingers Box (which means that you pick four horses or so and if any of them place top three you win), a horse to place and a horse to win. I came up short. R100 down.Next one I bet another swingers box. It "shat in" apparently and I walked away with R250 odd. Great, I was up. Then we went for lunch to a fantastic little Portuguese restaurant. Starters, queen Prawns, a couple of brandy and cokes and life was good.Then the final race of our day before heading back. I decided to play blind, picked four horses in the swingers box, picked a winner and a place. It just so happens that I picked the winning and second place horses to finish my day R450 up. What a pleasure.All in all, if you have a couple bucks to play with, definitely something I would suggest doing. But getting caught in the gambling trap is easy at the races with the hype around you, so watch out and keep your cash in check!