Nic’s blog
I write about building businesses, failing and building a life, not a legacy.
TechAttack #3 - coComment
Talk about it. Thats what coComment allows you to do, talk and view what you have spoken about and where. I stumbled across this interesting site on Paul Stamatiou's blog. Straight out of the horses mouth, here is how coComment explains itself:
coComment is a service which will help you track, organize, and share all your comment-based conversations on the web.
I am currently signing up to make use of coComment and will provide updates as I get in to using it. Apparently the way it works is that everytime you post a comment on any site (Blog, Flickr, News site etc) coComment will make a copy of the comment and save it in your personal folder at coComment. You can then visit this folder and trackback your own progression through conversations. You can also be alerted to any new comments on the same thread.I think this is a fantastic tool since I spend alot of time checking back on sites that I have made comments as well as checking my mail for alerts on threads.More to come soon.
Exams are a coming
What do you get when you are stupid enough to take 4 second year credits instead of 2 first year and 2 second year credit? You get to study for an exam that you should have passed a year ago!
Gender wars part 2... instigated by Michelle Atagana
What it is about women that allows them the ability to slate all men in one fell swoop? I don't get it. If a man so much as looks at a women with any sort of disdain he is charged with being a patriarchal chauvinist and shunned from society (bet he wont get laid for ages... what a typically male thing to say!!).Michelle posted on the issue to begin with on her post I believe in the man... I think. "The male species cannot be as shallow and as one minded as they present themselves, can they?" Imagine if a man blogged that women can't be as slutty and stupid as they present themselves, and Why aren't more women cooking and cleaning for their husbands like back in the good old days?I would be burnt at the stake, not so? So then what on Earth gives any women the right to make swooping statements like one of the comments to Michelle's post: Jen said, "Sorry to burst you bubble but that is all there is to men!," tsk tsk tsk Jen, there's that stupidity I was just speaking of. Maybe all women are as moronically ignorant as Jen presents herself. No. That's not right, but that is the luxury that women are allowed, to be able to say what they want about men because of historic imbalances.Well let me be the first to say that history is over. Much like the many black South Africans who never experienced apartheid charge the white man for their suffering. What suffering? You didn't live through apartheid, you have affirmative action, you are not suffering. In the same breathe, women who are able to blog in front of their own personal laptops at University have no room to complain about the ignorance of man, because in so doing, you are expressing your own ignorance.Some men are rapists, some men beat their wives, some men are shallow and some men are not. Some women spend thousands upon thousands of Rands every year on make up so that they look better and some women don't. Are you telling me that every women who buys make up is shallow. No. That's just not true. Hence, not all men who watch rugby, drink beer and play sports are shallow. Just because you, as a women, don't grasp the male love and understanding for and of sports, don't knock it. We don't criticize your shoe collection, we love it cause it's who you are.Let bygons be bygons, let men be men and women be women and everyone be human. Simple.
Saddam gets it
Saddam Hussein has been handed the death penalty. He has been handed the knot. And I guess it's no big surprise really to anyone who knows almost anything about politics and the U.S of A.He was found guilty of murder, forced deportation and torture. The interesting and strange thing I find, it is fairly obvious, is that he is being put to death for crimes that took place more than 20 years ago. Rather late than never I always say. Hey?
Look at him in all his great glory. This picture is courtesy of Sky News as well as the info above.But (yes there's always a but) Jen sent me another article, something a bit more interesting, another take on things, if you will. I'm gonna give you the abridged version here. Read the full story if you like. And it goes a little something like this:
- It'll make the security situation worse.
- It'll make Saddam a martyr.
- The court has also awarded a death sentence to itself.
- The trial's fairness is dubious.
- The new regime is squandering a chance to prove it's better than the old one.
- The death penalty is just wrong.
In short, if Saddam gets it (and he will) then groups rallying for Saddam will lose it, worse than Saddam loses it. They will go absolutely mental all up in there and shit will hit the fan-eth. Civil unrest is certainly on the cards. Saddam looks shit hot, albeit dead, for dying for his cause. His supporters grow stronger and braver and others become more cautious and confused. The involved prosecutors, judges and families are sure to pay for their insolence. Some have already died (murdered if you choose) and others surely will. Death penalties are morally questionable. Aren't they? And finally, the trial wasn't all that legit now was it?I think this can be seen as a small victory on the battle field but a great loss for the war.*Certain inserts have been lifted from Dominic Knight. Follow the link above for the full story.
Bite him, Hard
Had lunch at my Aunts house today. I have three cousing, one is a bit of a laatlammetjie (late comer) the other two are 13 and 15 (I think).So anyways, Alex the 2 year old, is lying down with Christi (13) and starts biting her. She yelps, we laugh and he carries on like any two year old would. He bites her again, looks up at us and puts on a huge smile that only a 2 year old could. He bites her again. This time it is a proper "I'm two, I'm a big boy, feel my bite" sort of bite. We laugh (Me and Nicole, yes, I'm Nic and my cousin is Nicole, I'm Greek, what do you expect?) and carry on.Christi then threatens to bite Alex back. Dot, my Aunt says sure go for it, and this is how the conversation continued and ended:Christi: I'm gonna bite him MomDot: Ok, sure, go for itChristi: But if I bite him you're gonna shout at me and say he's only two how could IDot: No, I wont, bite him and lets seeChristi: (leans over to Alex and...CHOMP)Alex: (Balls his little eyes out clutches his arm and yelps with 'pain')Dot: CHRISTI!!!!!!Christi: You see, I told you you would shout at meDot: But you just bit him... HE'S ONLY TWO!!!!!!Alex cries as only a two year old can cry, that dry, empty, "I forgot why I'm crying" kind of cry. He then gets over it, looks up at Dot and says: "I bite Chisti" (He cant pronounce the 'r' in Christi).He gets up, walks towards her with a smile on his face and SMACK, whacks her on the leg, throws his dummie out of his mouth, leans in and CHOMP bites her on the leg. That's it, games over, fun's done and it's Time Out for Alex.Life is a game at two years old. We could learn alot from that.In no way, shape or form do I condone biting, unless the person has asked you to do it!
TechAttack #2 - LimeWire
TechAttacks are not necessarily attacks on software or websites that I dont understand. TechAttack #2 is a look at a program that has revolutionised the way I get music.I have spoken about Last FM before in Music 2.0 and an update, with regards to finding new music and integrating myself in to a community where music is the master. Well once I have found and listened to the music that Last FM finds for me I make us of Limewire to download them.Limewire is quick and easy to instal, its easy to search and find music and easy to download. Search areas include Album, Song, Band, Genre type and License type. You can also use it to search for and dowload Images, Videos, Programs and Documents. Downloading times vary depending on the available connection with a file. T3 is the fastest connection (not sure what that stands for. kinda makes me think of Arnie and the metal face) then you have T1, cable/dsl and modem. Find the file you are looking for, double click and save away! Here is a screenshot of my Limewire as I search for the band Live
Limewire also makes use of "swarm" downloading, which means that the file is downloaded from multiple sourced simultaneously. Very cool, very fast, very effective. I like, Alot.Now I know all the copyright issues surrounding this program, I get it, the music industry suffers. I also know that it isn't the big "cash cow" bands that are affected by this, it's the little bands who are just starting out that get screwed. Technically. I believe that bands have much to gain by using the web as a resource to create a fan base. The perfect example is Myspace where bands are launching albums and singles to the Myspace community before anyone else. Brilliant idea I think. A good example is a band that I found through Ange on myspace called Cartwheel Club, just launched and have thousands of listens per song.I think that programs like LimeWire need to make the music industry big wigs wake up and smell the 2.0.
My wall is humming
You know the neighbours i mentioned almost exactly a week ago on my "8am on a Saturday"? Well they are at it again, this time it's somewhat of a more confusing tactic. My bedroom wall (that shared wall) it is humming, it has been humming for an entire day and night now. I'm not sure if anyone has ever tried falling asleep to a humming wall, but it's kinda like Chinese water torture (you know, with the dripping of the water on to the head). It's not fun, i promise. This is how the conversation in my head went with the wall/neighbours (I hope it was in my head or I'm going a bit mad):
Nic: Is this wall humming?Wall: Yes, yes I am.Nic: Why are you humming you stupid wall?Wall: Because I enjoy seeing and hearing your reaction. And so do your neighbours.Nic: OK. Thats cool, so be it, torture is torture.
And then sleep kind of entered the equation. Then the torture coupled with a crack of light from my curtains and I was up almost every half hour on the half hour from sunrise. Ah the joys of the weekend!
The Coke Side Of Life
I have just recieved and email about Coca-Cola. I am not saying that these little facts are 100% true, but the 'myths' exist and we've all heard a few of them down the line. Interesting either way.
- In many states the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.
- You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and it will be gone in two days.
- To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and let the "real thing" sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous china.
- To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.
- To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.
- To loosen a rusted bolt: Apply a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.
- To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before ham is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.
- To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of Coke into the load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your windshield.
Freshly Ground Win EMA
South Africa's very own Freshly Ground won an MTV Europe Music Award. I turned on the TV and there they were walking on to the stage, recieving their award with their own song in the background for all the world to hear and see.See who else was up for the Best African Act award.Congratulations, you all deserve it. Great band, great music, great people.
Monogamy is insane... Lets Do it
I come from what is termed as a "broken home".
My home is not broken. I have a father and mother who both love me. They are the perfect example of what monogamy does to good people.
It splits them, seperates them, confuses them and destroyes them (for a while).
So why do we do it? When I say “we” I refer to the human race, influenced by society.
That right there is the key; humans influenced by society. I think that it is absolutely insane to be with one person for 50+ years. Mind numbingly scary.
I had dinner with my Dad tonight. His girlfriend was there.
Girlfriend: At my age I think that we [my Dad and her] are married.
Dad: *confused look*
Nic: *more confused look*
Girlfriend: What's the difference between having a husband or a boyfriend at my age?
Nic: Nothing.
Dad: *confused look* Nothing.
And a very good point she makes. Monogamy should equal commitment. But at different ages monogamy and commitment mean very different things. At 22 Commitment is sort of: "Lets do this and see how far we take it", at 26 it's kind of: "We're still doing this, what does it mean?", at 33 it becomes: "OH FUCK!! We're still doing this my mom thinks we should get married."
What happens? Where does it go from lets screw around a bit to lets get married? This concerns me.
I personaly believe in evolution and survival of the fittest. I believe that men and women are meant to procreate, not necessarily with the same person forever. I think that one needs to stay monogamous while in a "committed relationship", but when that one has served its course be realistic and move on. Don't stay together for the kids. Marriage is a man made concept that is implimented by a religion which is also a man made concept.
Marriage is great if you can get out of it quickly and easily when you feel the need. I am not saying book out at the first chance. I am saying that when all else fails, leave. Save yourself and everyone, i mean everyone, around you the trauma of a reckless and messy divorce.
Divorce, ah, now there's a little ripper. There is only divorce because there is marriage. Not so? Divorce is put in place to make leaving a marriage difficult. On one side that is a great thing, you stay and try to work things out cause it is too much admin and paper work to leave. On the other hand, divorce and the stigma attached to it binds people unhappily in to a marriage.I will get married. Hopefully to someone that I feel is the one. Hopefully to the girl I'm with right now. But those are just hopes. I have said this before, Love is not enough to keep a relationship going. Love is a movie myth that fucks with your mind. I believe in Love strongly but I believe in makig it work, in compromise in giving, taking and talking. I believe that if you find a person who shares these views with you, that you will be happy for as long as your love allows, not for ever, but for as close to it as possible.
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TechAttacks #1
This is the first in a string of TechAttacks that I will be posting to gain some insight and help from other bloggers more "in the know" than I am.To begin:Technorati. What the hell is this little beaut of a site supposed to do. I thought that I knew, I thought I had it all under control, but I don't think that I do. I thought that it was supposed to help me see who is linking to my blog, to gather my favourite blogs and tell me who's saying what, when and how. I know that it does do all of this, but I just dont think that I am gaining the full usage of this web-tool.So if there is anyone out there who know's better than me please help me out. This is my attempt at acknowledging that I am a helpless surfer who is living a farce.More TechAttacks to come so keep an eye out and send me some advice.
You Tube Politics
Sky News (I know, I know, alot of sky news) has broadcast a story about the political usefulness of the internet and in particular sites like YouTube. Appararently certain senators in the U.S of A are being 'tailed' by their opposition and filmed at every possible moment. These films obviously catch senators saying stupid American-like things that the public is shocked to hear and see when it is put on the internet (personally, no shock from my side).Basically, one senator noticed this man filming and pointed him out at a rally. The filming had already been done and the stupidness already recorded. This film was placed on YouTube and recieved dumploads of views and comments. Another Senator was caught on camera saying that no one in the States can go in to a corner shop anymore unless they are Asian or Indian. What the hell was he thinking to himself as he said those words. Wait, I know, he thought: "Self, no one is going to remember this, no one will know I've even said it." Sorry for you Bucko, your idiocy has been eternalised for every political analysed and voter to scrutinise through the internet. Ya Moron.I think that this movement is incredible in regard to politics. I think that candidates need to be shown as human, normal people who screw up. People who make mistakes while running for office and who will probably make a mistake while in office. Let the public see the blunders and vote accordingly.
PS3 Release
Watching Sky news and they are previewing the new PS3. It looks amazing. The word on the street is that Americans are queing up outside Toys R Us just to PRE-order these things. Apparently without a high definition TV owning a PS3 is pointless. High definition basically means looking at a plasma tv, flatron vibe. PS3 is apparently only getting to the UK in March next year.
Interesting stuff. Strange that the Xbox 360 and new Nintendo gamebox have already been released (Xbox 360 has been out for a year), while PS3 is holding out. Personally I would think that this is a mistake, but I don't work for Sony so what do I know. But as a user and Xbox fan I would not purchase an Xbox 306 to only a year later purchase a PS3. Im an Xbox man and think I most probably always will be.
The Fan, The Fan
I recently (5/6 Months ago) purchased a brand-spanking-new Mecer Laptop. Top of the range, all the specs are present that any user would need (too many, too boring to go through one by one just trust me, they're all there).
Everyone is aware of the Sony Battery debacle; explosions, fire, mini nuclear explosions just about. "Cool," I thought, "this could never happen to me." And it hasn't... yet. My keypad started heating, the fan became clearly audible (not in that "is it on, can I really hear it" sort of way) to the extent that it startled me when I started up the laptop. Now this combined with heat issue have started me worrying about the state of my fairly new laptop.I am so concerned that I will lose everything that tonight I am backing up all my usefull stuff (usefull is a loose term that is very relative at this point) to my external hard drive. Thank however is up there for these little beauts.Then tomorrow I am off to Midrand to get my sick puppy looked at and hopefully fixed. What admin, what a mess, what fuss.
London/S.A.
There is something that I have been meaning to blog about for a while now. I just remembered because I am going to see a friend now who has just landed at JHB int (or whatever the airport is called nowadays) from London.London, what a great place. I love it, i visit it often. I have friends and family and currently a girlfriend living there. So I do understand the drive to get to London to "make it", or "experience things". I get it, I do.(Now before I carry on I want everyone to know that this is a general rant not targeted at anyone for anything about anything)But I need to ask: Why stay in a place that destroys you? Why choose a place where there is a psuedo-South Africa waiting for you? When you get there, why stay? When you hate, why not leave? when you are sick by the thought of the rain and cold...find sunshine. Do not stay in London town near some South Africans who eat wors and use All Gold and Mrs Balls. If you want to do those things move back to S.A. and come and join us happy people here in the land of plenty!Ok, got carried away on that last sentence there. But You all know what I mean. S.A. is great, so is London, but they are what they are for whom they are meant to be for.
MySpace.com
I need to confess something. I have been a bad blogger. I have tarnished my consistent loyalties to the blogosphere. I have spent almost and entire day neglecting my blog. I have spent almost an entire day on Myspace.I know, i know it's terrible, but it has happened. The network is just so immense. It's a bit crazy actually. I'm not really sure if anyone really knows what they are doing on there. The design is shit, the layout is shit, the user interface is... you guessed it, shit. Nothing is really made simple in terms of customization for a user who has no coding experience whatsoever. But I digress.I spent a say on myspace trying to make it "my" space. I tried hard. I did what I could but just couldnt get the freedom. I asked lotsa people to be my friend (I feel like im back in grade 1) and recieved a few invitations back, nice one. But all in all I think that Myspace has no personable aspects to it. It's all generic and intrusive that allows anyone to do anything and some do nothing. Not my cup o' tea really.
Bad Golf Day
Everyone has bad days, for some people they are bad hair days, bad clothes day, bad luck days and just bad days in general. For my brother.. it was a bad golf day. There is no need to explain, the video speaks for itself.
Women Abuse by South African Males
Jen has posted about men in South Africa and some ridiculously scary stats having to do with women abuse. I am glad that she didnt get all feminist up in here cause that woulda put me in an awkward position. But I must say that she handled the issue well, got her point across and should be commended for it. "Thank You" is a post that applauds the good guys, knocks the rapist but focuses on the positives, not negative.I am proud to say that I am one of the men that she speaks of in the post. Give it a read and be proud to be a South African Male who does not abuse women.
The Contender - Shocking
Going through the DSTV channels on a lazy Sunday afternoon i stumbled across The Contender. The Contender is a reality TV show based around boxing. However many fighters that couldn't cut it on their own in the world of boxing have been thrown together in a house to train and compete against one another for a shot at some title or another. That's not really important. At the end of each episode two boxers go head to head in a five round fight where one of them loses and is eliminated.The shocking part of this little story is that at these fights families are present. Now I'm not talking about brother, father, mother family. The family present at the fight on this evenings show were children, the boxers children, with their mothers/grandmothers watching over them.What message are we teaching our children by sending them to a boxing ring containing their fathers? The one little girl (maybe 10 years old) was shouting, jumping, screaming waving her arms yelling at/for/with her father to either kick the other boxers ass or for her father not to have his ass kicked. He lost, she cried, looked dissapointed and upset that her father had lost. This child had just witnessed her father take a voluntary beating in the name of money and was upset that he lost.Look, I've never seen my father get a butt whoopin' and I'm still pretty messed up. Imagine what this child is going to grow up believing in later in her life. It's ok to solve problems through violence. Violence is ok when it's for monetary gain. My father did it so why can't I?I just think that it is absolutely horrific that this is what we as viewers have become. We are willing to see people eat things, beat people, fight, scream, cheat, deface love all in the name of ratings on a TV show. It's not for me.
The Mosquitos are here
It has reached that time of year once again, I like to call it The Irritation season (Summer). All the bugs come out and play while leaving me with a sense of fear for the next four or five months. I really dont mind Summer at all, in fact I think that its a nice break from Winter. But that's all that I really wish Summer was, a break from Winter. I am a big fan of Winter. It's too cold for the ants, mosquitos and parktown prawns to come out and that's just the way I like it.Summer however, you do get to go out in shorts, swim and enjoy the sun and blue skies that South Africa allows.The whole reason for me writing about Summer is actually this: I have recieved my first Mosquito bite for the season. I really, really hate those little bastards, I do. This dude bit my on my wrist, in the perfect spot to grate up against my watch everytime I move my wrist. Smart little mothers they are.Enjoy the South Africa Sun this lazy Sunday afternoon.