Nic’s blog
I write about building businesses, failing and building a life, not a legacy.
Do not buy a Guess watch
I recently received my degree from Rhodes University (about 4 months ago) and at that time was given a Guess watch as a gift. I think that over the past 4 months I have worn the watch less that it has been in repairs. The watch itself is incredible, well designed, individual, innovative in its design but does not have a strap that seems to work.I have now returned the watch twice to have it repaired. I refused to accept another repaired watch so forced the issue of replacing the watch. Each time the watch strap breaks it has to be sent to Zürich or some other far away place to be repaired. What is that? And surely if you are sending the watch so damn far you are going to try to ensure that the watch is actually fixed when you send it back? Not Guess. They seem to like having irate customers at their door.The saga continues after today. I went to the Sandton Guess store to inquire about the status of the new watch (note not the repaired watch). She didn't even know which watch it was and where it was in the world. This is going to be interesting.
I'm going down...
And it isn't 'cause you ain't around baby!I am baffled, bemused, condusticated and confused. This blog just keeps on dropping down the charts. Which ones I hear you ask? All of them.It's strange. Sometimes you can feel like a rockstar and sometimes you just feel like the rock. Let it roll I guess, let it roll.
Lines of holes in Jo'burg road
Can anyone tell me why there are long holes through the streets of Jo'burg? Are they laying cables for communication of some sorts? Are they testing the water below? Has it got to do with the major culprit of the moment, they Gautrain?Someone with some sort of knowledge around this topic please help me understand why Rosebank and many other places in JHB are littered with holes?
Avril Lavigne is an idiot
I am dissapointed in Ms Avril. She's an absolute idiot. She is childish and a sell-out.I was watching MTV right now and there is a special on called "Making the Album". It is Avril Lavigne's new album being featured. The most intelligent thing that I have heard Avril say is nothing. Her choice to never shut up is insufferable. She talks about how hammered she was when she wrote this song, how that chorus took her 2 minutes to write. I think I heard her mention the word "drunk" 5 times in one sentence. She then proceeded to write a song about her drink of choice, Limoncello.People might get bleak with Britney and Christina about their new images and content on their albums, but at least they show some sort of progression. Avril is still talking about parties, cheerleaders and mindless crap. Do me a favour and grow up.So sad when someone stagnates and is unashamedly proud of it. At least Britney is screwed up in a big people kind of way, drugs, boose, "real" problems, hahaha. Avril is still stuck in teenage issues in spite of her marriage and success.
Facebooks Gifts Make Me Puke
Everyday I look at my FaceBook (FB) profile and I notice another annoying little gift on the right hand side of the screen. Today's gift is an 8-bit Warrior.I ask you, an 8-bit Warrior? Who the hell wants to blow $1 on an 8-bit Warrior?Thing is, there are 100 000 of them available, limited time only, get yours now before they run out. 100 000 freakin' 8-bit Warriors! WHAT A LOAD OF HOGWASH.You people are idiots, you facebook freaks who spend $1 on a gift that someone is designing off the top of their head. You are paying for absolutely nothing, zip, nada, zero, squat.FB is coining it through these little gifts, sometime there are 1 000 000 little gifts available on the day if its a cup-cake, a burger or something even cuter.It makes me sick. To the stomach. I think I just threw up a bit in my mouth.
One Of Those Mornings...
...when you wake up and you've slept through your alarm by just enough time to warrant not eating breakfast. When you get in your car and realise your almost out of petrol. When you get to the first petrol station and it is full (now you are running late). When you get to the next petrol station and it is on a go slow. When you need to clean your windscreens, check the water and oil, fill up and there is only one gent who seems to not hear your requests for service. When the full tank seems to take an age to take...in...that...last...drop.When you leave the petrol station and the robot stops working. When you try to get on the highway there is a big, fat, ugly BMW X-whatever pushing in to your lane after sitting for 20 minutes and waiting your turn. When you get on the highway it rolls smoothly, up until your turn off. When you take the turn off you find roadworks.When you make the decision to go lane-hopping instead of trusting your choice of lane. When every lane you hop in to seems to slow down or miraculously contain a massive truck almost reversing down Corlette Drive.When you get in to your parkade at work, there are no parking because you are late.When you eventually get to work in such a tizz because you think that everyone will be waiting for you tapping their watches in disdain and there is almost no one there yet.I love flexihours. I love mornings and I love the media industry.
The Big Whatifs
Whatif I take this job? Whatif I don't? Whatif he dies, whatif he lives, whatif I turn left, or right, if I drive or walk?These have been plaguing my mind. The Whatifs. Lately the Whatifs have been significant. Life changing and future defining for me. They are scare, all of them, every single one. Whatif you don't say goodbye and don't ever get to? Whatif she doesn't know you love her and you never get to tell her? Whatif then hey?I can hear you mumbling janowhatever-likesureman, there's always tomorrow. Well Whatif there isn't tomorrow?Tomorrow will come, it is a matter of how you remember yesterday that defines what today feels like.There is some very cool stuff happening to me and to the people around me at the moment. I think things are looking up and I think that great things are ahead for some great people. Keep a look out!
Are Ugly Girls All Talk?
Disclaimer: the following post is of a very shallow nature. I am not being mean with the title of this post but it this is something that I have noticed more and more often. I am sitting at Nino's in Rivonia and listening (eaves dropping) to a girl at the table next to me blabber on about all the love interests that she has on the table. Are these men blind? Dumb? Deaf or all of the above? This girl is irritating, presumptuous and self-centered.Very often I go out and talk to girl that are merely acquaintances who do not shut up about all of their love interests and escapades. Are they for real? Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that I am the be all and end all of judging what is hot and what is not, I am sure that to many ladies I am ass ugly but hey, that's everyone's personal choice.I am more interested in the concept of being brashly arrogant about what you have, don't have and think you have. I am not saying that one should not be confident, but why is it that in my experience it is always the ugly people (not just girls) in general who are talking about all the incredible things they have to offer and are being offered?Worst of all the ugly girl sitting next to me is sitting with a very good looking lady who has not been able to get a single word out of her mouth. Shame.Am I missing something or should you not just keep some details to yourself?
I Hate The Licensing Department
If I don't manage to renew my drivers license today then they should probably just take me to prison because I give up. I am very surprised that more people have not been blogging about this topic. This is my third trip to the lovely licensing department. The first two trips were absolute mares. Systems don't work, employees are apathetic (if present at all) and the queues are unfathomable. Ridiculous, the entire business is just ridiculous.Alas this one of those grown up things that one needs to come to terms with. We unfortunately do live in a third world country and this is evident in the systems that we have in place to deal with this kind of situation.So here goes, third time lucky and lets hope I'm coming home with a new drivers license!
David Bullard Attacks Blogs
I am not sure what David Bullard ate this week but it has upset him and I think a blogger fed it to him. Bullard has chosen to take on the blogging community and done a great job of misunderstanding what Blogs are and the potential therein. I think that he hates us, us bloggers, us vocal individuals who are not employed by "the man".Bullard says, and I quote:
Most blog sites are the air guitars of journalism. They’re cobbled together by people who wouldn’t stand a hope in hell of getting a job in journalism, mainly because they have very little to say. It’s rather sad how many people think the tedious minutiae of their lives will be of any interest to anyone else.
What is this man going on about? I am sure that the thousands of readers on So Close and Peas would disagree immensely with Bullard. Unfortunately in my opinion he has missed the boat this week. The "air guitars" of journalism, I think not Mr Bullard. I can understand how many bloggers think that they will make it big if they simply write something on a blog. This is ignorant and naive and not true, obviously. But there are many, many, many blogs and bloggers who in fact work as journalists and many other professions who are bloggers too, yours truly for example.This seems to be a case of witch hunting, he doesn't understand something [blogs] and couldn't be bothered to actually do enough research to determine the extent of the reach of a blog, and especially of an effective blog at that. It is fairly strange to me that Bullard knocks blogs so hard when he interacts with many steadfast and established bloggers every day. I would love to know what CrazyRant, Groogle and YoungBlood think about Bullards attack on bloggers.To add insult to injury, Bullard then proceeds to attack the readers of blogs:
It’s even sadder when someone reads them.
Are you kidding me? Now he is insulting the choices that people make? Who is this print columnist kidding? Readers can read what they like, I choose to read Bullard's column every week as much as I choose to read Chumpstyle, 1000Mnms and many other blogs.It seems to me that Bullard is talking about the average Joe who thinks that he/she has something profound to say and then finds out that someone has said it before. I get it, there are millions of blogs out there that are ridiculous, but there is a market for them all.I am not even going to start the discussion of print vs. new media, old vs. new and which will prevail. It's not worth it and I think that if Bullard was to do a bit more research he would see that there are many great writers, journalists and citizens who are making use of their blogs for more than mindless ranting.I am disappointed.Update:Check out the following:http://vincentmaher.com/mit/?p=347#comment-28411http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2445995529http://www.unodewaal.com/2007/05/06/david-bullard-plays-air-opinion/http://www.henriska.com/blog/?p=162http://wiredgecko.net/2007/05/ill-just-write-some-drivel-then-bullard/http://justinhartman.com/2007/05/07/is-david-bullard-an-utter-wanker/http://www.greenman.co.zahttp://www.mikestopforth.com/2007/05/07/dont-prove-david-bullard-right/http://www.sharepointexpert.co.za/?p=17
Mushy Swearing And A 1000 Damnations
I have been following 1000brownmnms for a few weeks now. I enjoy the way Martin Marcus writes (I still can't bring myself to call him Dr Martin Marcus). I have posted a few comments and must say that I have found it hard to not feel hypocritical when talking to or about the way Martin Marcus posts and the things that he says. I am often taken aback, offended, laughing and left confused on occasion. Is this not good blogging?I love miss peas and her toasty bits, I do, really. I also think that Martin Marcus went a bit far with her. End of story, that's it, it's done and that simple. It was said and it is done. That's how I feel (Peas, we spoke and we're cool).I just can't help but wonder why all the uproar? Why is everyone taking this dude so seriously? This is nothing new, the whole "lets swear a lot and blog about topical things in an adverse manner to spark reaction". I've seen it before and it's come and gone. So what makes this blog different and these swear words so potent? I am not 100% sure to be honest.My very first reaction is this: If I had thought of swearing and ranting and pissing people off I would have done it myself. Is that not what paperburner did a few years back? Miz Ritz posted on the topic a while back here and here. Then I think that any bafoon can swear and blog and it's free and easy so whatever, let the guy rant.Then I thought about the mini "outcry" that has taken place and I immediately feel the need to back up Mr 1000 rants and his Dr Martins Marcus. Why are people freaking out? Why have we made such a performance of one bloggers opinion? Is he right, is it because we all love Peas so much?? Possibly. But at the end of the day, the dude has the right to swear, rant and pretty much do what he likes. We also have the right to respond and to further rebut our positions. But let us just be honest, there are billions of blogs out there and if you don't like reading anything why do you go back? Stop reading, delete the RSS feed and let it ride.Fuckin' hate swearing on blogs.
Telkom VS Eskom
If my Telkom ADSL isn't down then my Eskom electricity (as if there is another option) is off. Today I have had trouble with both. The joy.First my ADSL wouldn't work, issues with Mac settings and wireless router. Solved that problem. Then as I get down to business with Digspot the electricity cuts out. Thanks Eskom. One forgets that it takes electricity to power a modem and wireless router. What to do? Simple, go to MacDonalds on Rivonia Rd and order some shitty food that makes you feel like crap so that you can use their wireless.. so here I sit.
Never Reformat Your HardDrive...Ever
I decided to reformat my Mecer DL70 yesterday. Public holiday I thought, good time to get it done I thought, Quick and easy I thought. I was wrong. So wrong.First I reformatted the HDD, that was OK, it's not a hard thing to do. Then the trouble started. The keyboard wasn't working. This meant that I couldn't enter the product key to activate and continue installing Windows. Joy, Windows.Then panic stations kicked in, big time. I freaked, found another Windows installation disk, reformatted HDD again and attempted another install. Not so much. Same issue, no keyboard action, no keys outputting anything on the screen, no nadda. Then I did what any freaked out person would do in this situation, call for help. So I did, I called the Vin (not Vin Diesel). Mr Maher has some air of solution about him. It seems to me that he can solve a problem just by hearing what it is, no action involved. At 19:30 last night the Vin answered his phone, spoke some shit to me for a bit and BAM the keyboard was fixed. Bastard, he didn't even have to tell me to do anything constructive and he had fixed the stupid keyboard.So hurdle #1 was overcome. Then hurdle #2 has stamped it's authority and prowess. I have no drivers, for anything, no modem, wireless, printer, etc etc etc. Nothing. This sucks. I was told to download them, how pray tell me? I cannot get on to the internet. I am at a loss.I am now making use of my mother's laptop to write this post and get some work done. I will then be heading off to the Mac shop in Sandton City to make my purchases I reckon. They tell me not to do it, they tell me to save my money, screw it, money is a commodity, I will have more of it by the end of the month!!
Simba Cheapskates
I am sick to death of opening up a packet of Simba chips and finding a quarter of the packet filled with air. Lots and lots of scrum-didli-umptuous air. Sick of it.Today was the final straw. This is what I found in my packet of Creamy Cheddar Simba Chips:
Count those chips, there are 8 in total. A whopping 8 chips in a bag. Fair, it was a small bag but nonetheless how bout more than a measly 8 damn chips? Ridiculous.
One Day of Silence For The USA, How Many For Africa?
I just read on Tylers' blog about a call for one day of silence on April 30th for those who dies in Virginia.Forget it. I outright refuse to observe this. I am saddened by the event as I have stated already but refuse to acknowledge this American rubbish. Why should I in Africa observe a day of non-blogging or "silence" for 30 Americans who died at the hands of one of their own? It is shameful what that freaking psychopath did but I am in South Africa, I am trying to make sense of the thousands, hundreds of thousands that die everyday in Africa and other countries because of trade restraints, Western Capitalists exploiting the people of Africa and others who have tried to take over countries around the world such as Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Vietnam.What about those people? What about the millions of innocents that America has trudge on to get what they want, to gain political, economical and geographical strength? Please. Keep your silence of one day and try taking it on for all of those innocent people that have been massacred by Westerners over the years.I am sorry that I am ranting but it really pisses me off when ignorance meets tragedy and more ignorance ensues. Get a grip on the world America, learn where Africa is, figure out your history and feel the pain of the millions that have suffered at the hands of your apparent "fight for freedom".
Stop Twittering You Twit, Live Your Life
I refuse to acknowledge Twitter as a service that I will make use of. I tried, I did, I promise. I just cannot sanction the use of something so blatantly anti-social and real-world-phobic. Do me favour; stop blogging about life and live it.I know that I am stepping on people's toes here, but just be serious for a second and tell me exactly what the value of knowing someones EVERY move is? I just can't think of any significant value whatsoever. If you can please feel free to let me know. If you are using it and it has revolutionised your world, again please tell me so. I cannot justify the use of services like this.I found myself lost in my text messages to Twitter when I should have been listening to someones story, or drinking my beer or smoking my cigarette. This sort of behaviour, in my humblest of opinions is not socially acceptable. You begin to take the people you are with for granted, you begin to lose grip of what really matters. What really matters to me are things like human contact (touch believe it or not), actual human conversation between real people, no medium to hide behind, no screen to guard you. Openness that extends deeper than a 140 character haiku that states what colour your crap looked like because that is all you could think of to type to this twit, that twit or Twitter itself.Most serious bloggers believe that a blog post should be worth while, substantial, niche, specific, random but well written, intricate or simple, complex or basic but in the end it should mean something. What does Twitter lend to this theory? How does letting someone in Timbuktu know that you are walking down the Vegas Strip make a difference?I think that this is an issue that is bugging me more and more lately; people are not making the clear distinction between their hobbies or job (the internet and blogging) and the real world. I mean this sincerely. Step away from your phones, stop texting Twitter, don't check your Gmail on your WAP, just live your life breathing real air, eating real food and meeting real people with faces, not profile pictures.
Website stolen on MyBlogLog
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?
MyBlogLog site fraud?
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?
Why can't del.icio.us and Flickr remember my login?
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.
Jippii's rubbish service
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.