Road trippin' to Grahamstown - DCI and Highway Africa

Tomorrow I'm leaving on a jet-plane and heading to Grahamstown. The reason for this is more than a bit of a nostalgic weekend away to my old University. I am in fact heading to Grahamstown to take part in the Digital Citizen Indaba and Highway Africa.I've wanted to take part in this event for a while now but never seemed to get around to it (or get invited). This year however, I have been invited to speak about the tools that can aid citizen journalists and the available services that one can use.This is an extremely interesting topic for me as I have made a slow and slight transition from mainstream journalism to a more citizen journalism role through my blogs and social media.I'll be posting the presentation online once I'm done with it but I doubt it will make too much sense as I enjoy the sound of my own voice and like to make this the focus of my presentations.Nonetheless the entire weekend (four days) will be great. Matthew Buckland and Vincent Maher will be there and apparently our first stop is the old faithful Rat & Parrot. B-E-A-UTIFUL!

Why Kulula rebranded and what it means

I've managed to secure a short interview with Nadine Damen, the marketing manager of Kulula.com. I've asked her some questions about the rebranding, sub-brands and more interesting tidbits about Kulula.com.I also found out that Kulula.com does ±R3.5million in sales every day. Yes, that's right, every day. Wow.Here's the interview:1. Wow, great new and clean design for your site. Can you tell me why Kulula is relaunching the brand now?The timing of the new site coincides with kulula’s seventh birthday and we consider it an opportune time to extend kulula’s focus beyond aviation. We have a new strategic direction and the new look (as well as the three supporting sub-brands) are part of this expanding business focus. Domestic air travel in South Africa is worth around R13 billion per annum. The broader travel sector in southern Africa is estimated to be worth more than R50 billion. With kulula’s new look and three distinctive sub-brands, we expect to have more flexibility to associate kulula with a wider array of products within, and outside, the travel sector.2. Do you think a "Web 2.0" feel is right for the brand considering many saying that web 2.0 in design is out?Web 2.0 means different things to different people and without getting into the details, kulula plans to be more interactive with its customer base in a future incarnation of kulula.com, especially on the air and travel side of things.3. Would you be able to tell me how much the redesign cost and who helped? Did you outsource the design or manage it in-house?The cost of the new CI is less than a tank of petrol for 5 flights from CT to JHB. The design was created in collaboration with the Johannesburg office of Brand Union. A new advertising campaign, conceived by King James advertising in Cape Town, will launch in mid September to support the new kulula travel brand. Over all the re-design didn’t cost much because the biggest element we had to change was our website, which we build, design and manage in-house; so it was just a matter of getting the resources to do it on time.4. Are there more plans to delve in to the social media world with the Kulula brand?Yes…stayed tuned…5. How long has the design been in progress?The new look for kulula has been part of this year’s strategic plan and has been envisioned for a while.6. I see that there seem to be plans for a Kulula Travel and Connect to complement Kulula Air. Can you tell me a bit more about these?Taking a plane is more than about just getting from A to B. A trip could be for pleasure, for business, to explore, to escape etc. In addition, while travelling, many South Africans want to keep in touch, either on a cell phone or a laptop. With this in mind, kulula’s partnership with Altech is a complementary business to our core competence – flying passengers. Similarly, kulula travel is a logical brand extension into related areas such as hotels, car rentals and travel packages. As a trust online brand, we have a great platform to build on and encourage more consumers to extend their favourable kulula brand experience into other products that are similarly easy to browse and purchase online (all in the same place – something no other online travel retailer is doing). With more than R2 billion in revenue each year and over 650 000 unique browsers monthly, kulula is the largest online retailer in South Africa. With this strong base and entrenched consumer respect, kulula has the opportunity to extend into complementary business lines within and beyond the travel sector.

One request for Gmail

Please give us a "Flag" or "Follow-up" option on our e-mails.I never thought I'd say this, but take a page our of the Windows Outlook book and let me flag my emails to follow up on later. I can't keep track of all of the e-mails that I receive in a day and often forget about many and in turn receive irate e-mails from people because I have a bad memory.

Are podcasts useful?

Yes, I think podcasts are useful in fact, I think podcasting can be an extremely useful mechanism for relaying a message, point, story or event.I found a post on podcasting being dead or alive through one of Eve's blogs. I must say I immediately sprang to blog about it because I recently made use of podcasting as a citizen journalism media.Admittedly I focus much of my thought around social media and web 2.0 on how it affects the mass media on the whole and how the "little person" or Citizen Journalist can benefit from the trends emerging at the moment.

Early Adoption failed me

Podcasting really caught my attention and I tried my hand at it on SA Rocks and the RocksCast. Must like Dave and Mike with their Amplitude, SA RocksCast died.I think that I tried to jump on the bandwagon and appear to be an "early adopter" with my attempt at podcasting. I didn't really grasp the media platform itself nor fully understand how to market or create these podcasts effectively. So it died a quick death.Vincent Maher and I also tried our hand at a podcasting targeting the local sphere. Flamebait was short lived because we were a bit zealous in our approach to the content and it was shot down by editorial staff. Oh well. Needless to say the actual media itself still intrigues me.So are podcasts dead? No, I don't think so. Taly Weiss brings up a good point regarding the technology behind podcasting. If it is there then podcasting itself is not dead. In other words, if we have iPods and media players that are capable of storing and playing back podcasts then the media is not dead. But that isn't really always true. I still have a VHS player, that doesn't mean that VHS isn't dead, it is. And if you think it isn't, trust me it's on the way to the grave.

Podcasting and Citizen Journalism

While on a mission at the Million Man March this year I discovered that one doesn't need to consistently make use of a specific type of media for it to be effective.While making use of various platforms to update people about the event I was asked to do a podcast interview over the phone for The Times. What a great idea. One of their journalists called me and did a short (one or two minute) interview with me about the event.This proved to be a very effective means to get my message across. Yes it was for a big media organisation so that helped ofcourse. But the essence of that instance made sense to me. Why do we have to produce a podcast every week, month, day etc etc. When all that is really needed is an event or story to make a great podcast.Grassroots media or citizen journalists can really produce viable content for their websites over the phone with simple technology. Use a digital dictaphone, if fact, use the recorder on your cell phone, make sure you are succinct in your 3 minutes and publish it as is.Rally your media around events, don't make an event out of your media.

Zoopy...it has begun

I have refrained from blogging about this for the past few weeks. Partly because I had a lot to do at M&G Online before I left and partly because there is still a lot that I had to find out about Zoopy.I managed to get much done with M&G and have the utmost confidence that they are on a path to absolutely fantastic things under new leadership. A new GM has taken on Matt's role, Jason Norwood-Young has taken on Vince's role and I can almost certainly say that M&G is heading down one helluva great path and we are all in for some interesting times.Moving on to Zoopy.I have taken up the position of Gauteng GM for Zoopy. The decision to move to Zoopy was a tough one because it meant that I was leaving a company and brand like Mail & Guardian Online. But Zoopy presented me with some very enticing ideas, goals and movements for the next 12 months or so. The plans are innovative, interesting and like nothing being done in the online market in SA at this point in time. I couldn't say no to a chance like this.Basically I am going to be setting up Zoopy in JHB for now. That means staff, offices, equipment and most importantly relationships with anyone who thinks they can offer something of value to our vision.That's all I'm going to say for now as it has been a long day and I have yet to step in to my first meeting here in Cape Town. Bring them on.For those of you attending the 27 Dinner in CT this week, I'll see you there and look forward to meeting many of you for the first time in real life, really!

Death Metal, Rap-hop and the devil made me do it

Satan has been in the news a fair amount over the past few days.

Krugersdorp - A schoolboy who stabbed a fellow pupil to death with a sword in Krugersdorp on Monday morning was apparently high on drugs, saying Satan had told him to kill the children...Krugersdorp councillor Alex Raubenheimer said school children on the scene told him the boy was high on drugs and was dressed like Joey Jordison, a drummer of the band Slipknot.source

I really enjoyed Chris Roper's post on the topic.I'm not sure if you've seen the movie "Primal Fear"? If you haven't, you should. Ed Norton and Richard Gere are fantastic.The basic premise of the movie is that an alter boy kills some people and uses his innocent, god-fearing "nature" to defend himself. This coupled with his apparent schizophrenia gets him off. He walks free.This isn't the same thing as stating that "the devil made me do it" ofcourse, but the premise is the same. It's the same as saying I am incapable of making decisions on my own so I blame the devil. The devil is intangible and doesn't exist therefore I need to make the concept real so I tell you that heavy metal is the devil's music. I can therefore blame the heavy metal for my actions and by association, blame the devil.{The way I see it (and I think this might ruffle some feathers) is that the devil does not exist. So in theory this is where my article should end, but for the sake of debate, let me continue.}Is this some sort of twisted philosophical logic that I just don't grasp? Why don't we blame the parents, the school system, the child, the child's friends and their influence on the child's life and actions? Why do we have to make it about themusic and single the music out as violent, aggressive and possible of warping a perception so much so that the child becomes warped in action?Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that an under-age child should be listening to music or watching films that promote violence, sexual promiscuity or any other illegal or dangerous action. But that is for the parents to regulate, you can't tell the music to stop playing itself if it thinks the child is under-age. That's just ridiculous.Furthermore, music can be intense, aggressive, cutting edge, loud, banging and harsh but that doesn't mean the lyrical content reflects that. I am deep in to rock music, old, new, heavy, soft, refined and raw. I love it all. But it doesn't all dramatically influence my action, choices, decisions and life. It provides me with insight in to what other people perceive the world to be.Let's step back 50 years or 40 years or 30, 20, 10 years in our history. Think back to The Beatles, The Stones, Queen (is the name a reference to homosexuality possibly?) and heaven forbid Elvis the once banned rocker and now the king of rock 'n roll forever. These bands all faced adversity in their time. Why? Because parents, teachers, headmasters, religious pundits and many other groups couldn't take responsibility for their actions, their children or their children's actions. Basically, blame the music for the uncontrollable and rebellious nature of our children.I thought we were meant to learn from the mistakes of our past? Are we not just repeating the actions of the ignorant and blind from the past by condemning the music and inadvertently pushing our children towards the messages that we are trying to protect them from?When I was about 11 I got in to Skunk Anansie heavily. I loved them. The lead singer was a bald black woman by the name of Skin. Skin. Do you honestly think that my Greek Orthodox (then) father was going to tolerate it? Not a chance. The first song on the album featured the lyric "Yes it's fucking political". Ha! I didn't stand a chance. Or did I? I made sure that the first thing I did when my father stepped out of the house was play that song. I credit that song alone for my political interest and for my degree in politics from Rhodes University. That Damned music, it ruined my life.

Here's a Skunk Anansie cutaway:No wonder I'm so messed up. This is what I was listening to at 11/12 years old and I haven't killed, maimed, harmed anyone....yet...dum dum dum dum

All that my father's harsh actions, forced law and pushy intention did was make me crave the message, the content and the music more. Get real, kids are smarter than we give them credit for. Nothing you do is going to make them stop listening to that music.I'm not sure if you've looked around lately, picked your head up out of your bible, book, "reality" or life and noticed how liberal the world has become. Take your blinkers off. They are playing "the devil's music" in clubs nowadays, they are playing that rock-metal-death-rap-craziness on the radio. The world has moved on. So why don't you?One murder happens involving teenagers and it immediately becomes anti-religious (as if the only thing that can save our children is god/religion) and name and blame towards the musicians. I listen to Slipknot, I have 16 year old female cousins who listen to them too, they aren't suicidal, on a murderous rampage or intent on harming others. In spite of their personal lives they are actually very well balanced cousins who make me proud. The music they listen to gives them perspective on the world not insight in to the devil's mind. This was one incident that occurred amongst a sea of socially uncomfortable youths who do not choose to murder. Let's look at the one case, not clump the entire youth of SA and their music habits as satanistic.I am not saying the research doesn't oppose my argument, it might, I don't know. But to be honest I am more than satisfied with blaming myself for my actions, my societal influences, my friends, parents or experiences but not the devil and his (her) music.Last point, if you want violence, turn on Carte Blanche on a Sunday at 7pm, turn on SABC 1, 2, 3 and e-tv news at 7am or 7pm every day, listen to the radio broadcasts about war, dishonesty, crime, violence at home and abroad, cheating politicians world wide and more. Music, let me tell you, is a fraction of our problem today.

Facebook is running out of space and will delete you

Yes, it's true. Well, it must be true because people have been receiving this message from "Facebook Founder: Mark Zuckerber" - isn't there a "g" on the end of his name?Anyways, here's the message that's been floating around and around. I haven't personally received it but a friend sent it to me in an email after contacting me on Facebook in a frantic spin talking about the internet running out of space.

Attention all Facebook members.Facebook is recently becoming very overpopulated,There have been many members complaining that Facebookis becoming very slow.Record shows that the reason isthat there are too many non-active Facebook membersAnd on the other side too many new Facebook members.We will be sending this messages around to see if theMembers are active or not,If you're active please sendto 15 other users using Copy+Paste to show that you are activeThose who do not send this message within 2 weeks,The user will be deleted without hesitation to create more space,If Facebook is still overpopulated we kindly ask for donations but until then send this message to all your friends and make sure you sendthis message to show me that your active and not deleted.Founder of FacebookMark Zuckerber

Well, I am trying to be as "inactive as possible" so that I can test this little theory and maybe be saved from Facebook. Please Mr Zuckerber, delete me.

Instant Messaging becomes a mini social network

Lately my chat client has become somewhat of a business, social, friend, acquaintance network.I've been contacted by friends, business associates, potential colleagues, colleagues, family, bloggers, writers, journalists and marketing people via my Instant Message.

This is made all the simpler when I'm using my Macbook Pro as I use Adium which pulls in most of my IM accounts in to one simple to use application.

I am not stating that Facebook is dead, MySpace is a goner or that Blueworld is history. What I am stating is that I am in control of my IM and I like it.I like that I am not obligated to talk to people, and there are a lot of people, on my IM client. I can set my status to "Buggeroffleavemealoneorillthrowsomethingatyou" and people laugh. I also love the integration between my twitter client, Twhirl and my IM client.What integration? None technologically. But person to person IM and twitter work fantastically together. I post something on twitter, vague, true, false, rumour or opinion and within minutes I have 5 people on instant message asking me about it. I then choose whether or not to engage, how long the conversations last and that's that.I know that traditional social networks allow for this scope of choice; whether one is available or not. But for some reason it just seems different when it's more personal, more instant and over messaging only.I don't want to see how many friends this person has, how many pictures they've been tagged in what zombie ate them or what groups they have joined. I want to know they are either available, away or unavailable. Select the person to talk to, discuss, get in and get out.IM allows me to do this on my terms and think I like that.

Let's all blog about blogging about blogging

Bored. That is what us bloggers must be. Why? Because we seem to be so preoccupied recently (a phenomenon that has coincided with some interesting arrivals of late) with who is who and doing what and how often in our wondrously massive local blogging community.Those who are mentioned "seem to not care" but care enough to blog about themselves being blogged about. I have been mentioned a fair amount and I am now partaking in my own condemnation (oh the irony). I am blogging about blogs by bloggers on blogging and bloggers and who's the bestest of the best and whose daddy is bigger than whose mommy and who has the nicest fanciest shmanciest housiest home or rather, blog, and who is more influential than who and how often they influence those that influence others.Can I just chime in here and say that I actually think it's a load of rubbish. In spite of my participation in Mandy's "Top Ten bloggers" post over at MoneyWeb I honestly think it's irrelevant. Mandy asked on twitter yesterday: "Who has more influece?" and listed three bloggers for others to compare. Link. Bait. It's link baiting. Not journalism. It's irrelevant in my opinion (and only in my opinion). What does matter is that its time we refocus our energy on relevant content for the every day reader. Not the bloggers who blog about blogging.Has content become so drab and non existent that we have turned to each other, looked one another in the blog and decided that we are the only content relevant enough to blog about? Are you kidding me?I reiterate that I grasp the fact that I am doing the same thing right now that I am condemning, do not point it out in the comments, I get it, I know that I am doing it but occasionally it is unavoidable.What I am getting at is that people like to stir the pot, we like to back rub, we like to have our backs rubbed, we all do and we all know it, we just can't help ourselves. It's the old adage that people like to see themselves on TV, look at America's Funniest Home Videos. That show has never gone away and it's because there are regular people focusing on people like themselves. That doesn't make it good content though. It just makes it long-lasting.Maybe it's time I shift my focus to writing for readers, not bloggers. Writing for people and writing about things that people like to read. In my opinion readers don't like to read about bloggers blogging about blogs and other bloggers egos and ranks and pages and pageranks and technorati and lists and links... see I'm bored already.

ComedyTwist.co.za - Have a laugh on your phone

Last night I attended an absolutely hilarious opening. No it wasn't a joke, but there were lots of jokes present.It was the launch of a new mobile "service" called Comedy Twist Mobile.You can visit the website at comedytwist.co.za. And with that we have a problem number 1.The website isn't live and the launch was held last night to the media. That's bad. Even though the official launch is 1 September 2008, surely if you hold a press conference, comedy event and big fancy "Howzit" type party, you make your website live, even for a second to preview. We got nothing.There was a glimmer of potential when the host of the evening plugged in his cellphone and visit the WAP site, which we were never given the URL for. Oh well, no preview.I'm jumping ahead a bit. Let's go back a step.

What is Comed Twist

The basic idea behind Comedy Twist (CT) is comedic content supplied to you on your cellphone wherever you are. To quote from the flyer I received:

"It's a new digital content platform, offering high quality video and audio material for an extensive variety of South Africa's talented comics - all for mobile phones."

Phew, that's fairly intense. They are doing a lot. Or are they?From what I can see CT is trying to duplicate the success of sms subscription services that already exist with one exception, they offer video and audio and ringtones all about comedy. It's a relatively good twist I think (maybe that's where the name came from "twist"). The country needs comedy, I love comedy and I want to try this service.Enter issue number 2.

Premium Content

This is a very strange choice. I suppose that many social media, content producing, user generated content websites have struggled in the past with monetizing good ideas. But Comedy Twist think they have a solution. Make people pay for content.In my opinion this could be the downfall of the entire concept. The prices for what seems to be "On-Demand" content:

Video - R10

30-50 second live joke

Audio - R5

30-70 second live joke

Ringtones - R15

15-30 second looped funny ringtone

Video Discount Basket - R5

15-30 second live jokesThis brings up my next question: What does "Live Joke" mean? Anyways, that's besides the point.You do have another option, you can subscribe to the service which has a "revolutionary" one-click-opt-out. Nice selling point, but not new. You can SMS "comedy" to 38370 and a video will be sent to your phone every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Three videos.

Target Market

This seems to be a good idea, decide who you are targeting. Comedy Twist is targeting LSM 7-10. My immediate reaction is that's where the money is, they will pay for the content. But then my research tells me that LSM 7-10 have cellphones, they have cellphones that are able to receive video but they a) are not interested in SMSing a number to subscribe to a service that is going to bug them every other day of the week, comedy or not and b) LSM 7-10 have trouble visiting WAP sites on the their phones and by that I mean that many don't actually know how. This is not an insurmountable problem, but it will take a fair amount of marketing, above and below the line and a lot of education.That is not to say that LSM 7-10 wont be successful if targeted correctly and with money behind the project (I can't say how much money is behind the project) so who can tell how it will go.It just leads me to wonder about the approach. I know alot of kids (in their teens) who spend hours and hours playing games with others on their mobiles, blowing cash to interact, chatting on Mxit and using other free and subscription services. Why? Because they know how and they know that LSM 7-10 Mommy and Daddy will pay for their usage. Simple. To get to the money, go through the children. It's worked well so far.

Almost a potentially great mobile social network

I don't want to go on about this but Comedy Twist had the potential to be a cracking social network on the mobile platform. People love to laugh, people love jokes and love comedy. Even more so, people love to laugh at themselves, their friends and other people making fun of other people. This could have been used VERY effectively to create a social network around laughter, jokes, pranks and anything else in the genre.

It will survive

Why? Because some of the funniest people in South Africa are on board for the ride. Trevor Noah to just name one that I saw at the event. The man must be the funniest guy I've had the pleasure of seeing live. The comedians will save this ship from a certain premium-content go-slow.

Facebook's "Note Bloggers" must outnumber us "Real Bloggers"

Facebook's "notes" feature has possibly created an entirely new faction of bloggers who have no idea that they are self publishers and by default, bloggers.I can only imagine that by the sheer number of South Africans that are using Facebook (over 700 000) and are actually writing innocent "notes", well outnumber us "real bloggers".Furthermore, if on average let's guestimate that these "note bloggers" have +-250 friends and that each note is being read, or at least viewed by half of these people. Imagine if every article you wrote on your blog was read by between 100 and 300 people. You'd have a thriving "real blog"."Note blogger" vs "Real blogger" - what's your poison?

My list of Ten Influential Bloggers

As published in Mandy's MoneyWeb article:1. Michael Trapido - www.thoughtleader.co.za/traps - Traps is a voice worth hearing. His opinion and relentless 4th estate approach to his writing is much needed in a dumbed-down political sphere.
2. Rob Stokes - http://www.gottaquirk.com/ - Rob is an important blogger to read because he has true insight and genuine experience that makes his writing worth the read.
3. Ndumiso Ngcobo - http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/silwane - Genuine and honest opinion is hard to come by. The Silwane Files is a blog filled with simple truisms and introspective outwardly-appealing opinions.
4. Fred Roed - ideate.co.za - Entrepreneurship is the lifeblood of SA at the moment, Fred and his Ideate partners provide integral insight in to their business experiences.
5. Khaya Dlanga - http://www.youtube.com/user/khayav - Khaya is actually a Vlogger. His insight and no-holds-barred opinion about SA is invaluable.
6 & 7. Glen and Wanda of Urban Sprout - www.urbansprout.co.za - Green is the future and I respect and value anyone talking green in SA.
8. Vincent Maher - wwww.vincentmaher.com - He doesn't blog often but still remains an essential figure to follow in the online industry.
9. Jarred Cinman - http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/burningpaper - Open, honest and not scared to blog about the "no-no's" such as religion.
10. Fred Khumalo - http://blogs.thetimes.co.za/khumalo/ - Mainstream media taking up blogging is always interesting. Fred has done a brilliant job of involving himself and his opinion in the blogosphere.And I'd just like to thank all the bloggers and people who mentioned me in their lists in the same article.

Why Muti moderation might work

Muti has been suffering the plague of the downvote debate for a while now. I have blogged about it before, I have banged my head on a table and shouted and screamed at/with various people about this debate.For those of you who aren't aware of Muti it is "a social bookmarking site inspired by reddit and Digg but dedicated to content of interest to Africans or those interested in Africa."I have always been a fan of downvoting on Muti. The way I think of it is that it is a democratic "talk with your vote" situation. Unfortunately, just like any great democracy corruption exists and people end up abusing the downvote system on sites like Muti, Digg and Reddit for their own gain.This is where moderation comes in to the picture. And here begin my reasons for thinking that moderation might work moving forward.

Moderation is a better name than Downvoting

The first fantastic thing that Neville (the creator of Muti.co.za) has done is not call the process "downvoting" but "moderation". This immediately takes the steam off a pressure cooker that was waiting to be attacked by the nay-sayers. It is now a process, not an abused system.

Reasons for moderating an article

You can no longer simply vote a post down for no apparent reason (unless you choose "other"). There are specific criteria that a posted article can be moderated on. These are:SpamExcessive Self PostsLameIrrelevantInapropriateDuplicateAgainst Terms of ServiceOther"Other" does present a bit of a problem in terms of the lack of specific reasoning. Some have suggested that the "other" option have a text box where a reason can be entered. I am sure this is under consideration but I don't think is important enough to warrant concern. The next point will illustrate why I don't think this is a problem.

Transparency

The moderation process is completely transparent. Any user can see why a post has been moderated and more importantly can see who has moderated the post. This basically implies that if you are moderating an article and you own content miraculously appears above that moderated article, no matter what reason you gave for your moderation, it will look suspicious.In turn this makes people consider, relatively seriously, how badly they want to actually moderate the post. The name and shame nature of the moderation process therefore makes you think twice about throwing your weight around or your mod points at the problem. If you vote, they will know, if they know, how will you feel? If you think you'll feel a bit naughty then you probably wont vote.

Mod points are not given, they are earned - much like respect

This is one of my favourite things about the new system. You are not simply handed an unlimited number of moderation points. Every time you vote for an article, you lose a moderation point. This definitely makes me think twice about moderating a post or article on Muti. Do I really want to blow one of my two moderation points on this irrelevant article that no one will vote up anyways? No, I probably don't. I'm going to wait it out until something really bad, racist, self-punting or community thrashing is placed on Muti. Then and only then will I use my moderation option.

Mod points promote activity on Muti

Why? Well it's simple (from moderation proposal):

Mod points are earned:

• when other users having a minimum kudu score vote items you submitted up. The minimum kudu score requirement will prevent people from earning extra mod points by simply creating new users, since new users always have a zero kudu score
• when a user with a minumum kudu score votes a comment you have made up
• You need to also have a minum k-index to earn mod points (this will prevent people from posting hundreds of junk articles to get mod_points). Note that the k-index and the kudu score are NOT the same thing.
• when you vote other peoples items up. (This is to encourage people to vote up and not just downmod all the time)
• mod points will be applied in realtime ie you will earn them instantly when the above activities take place
• your current balance of mod points will be viewable in your profile page

So basically you need to participate to gain the ability to moderate the community. This is a sheer stroke of genius. Much of the time you wont even realise that you are actively earning mod points but when you go to moderate an article you will have them. This means that Muti users need to begin commenting on articles, voting posts up, engaging and interacting with Muti, the posts and the community members. This is the kick in the pants that Muti needed. Active users, more voting, commenting and sharing.Strangely enough I think that at the end of the day the concept of "down voting" might just be the firecracker that lights the sky for Muti.

Customise your Facebook Fan Page with FBML Application

I am not a serious programmer at all. I have never claimed to be. But I made the effort to learn the basics and can manipulate CSS. So it frustrates me that all of my Facebook Fan Pages look the same and look like everyone else's.Not anymore apparently. I discovered an application that you can add to your FB Fan Page that will allow you to create boxes on your Fan Page that you can code in to. It's called FBML. If you do a Facebook search for FBML you'll find a host of other apps and groups that can help you with the application and your skills.I was somewhat sceptical but decided to give it a go with my South Africa Rocks! Fan Page. It worked.Now I haven't spent much time on the two boxes that I have added so they are suffering from lack of attention but the proof that the FBML application works is there.Have a look:If you have used this app and have a great example (I know mine isn't so hot) of what FBML can do, let me know. If you are interested in messing around with it drop me an email or comment and I'll let you try some stuff out on the SA Rocks Fan Page for some experimentation.

I make a goddamn difference! What about you?

This is absolutely fantastic and had my awe-struck by the end of it. Thanks to Online Trek for posting it.The transcript of the poem by Taylor Mali is below.

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What Teachers Make, orObjection Overruled, orIf things don't work out, you can always go to law schoolBy Taylor Maliwww.taylormali.comHe says the problem with teachers is, "What's a kid going to learnfrom someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"He reminds the other dinner guests that it's true what they say aboutteachers:Those who can, do; those who can't, teach.I decide to bite my tongue instead of hisand resist the temptation to remind the other dinner gueststhat it's also true what they say about lawyers.Because we're eating, after all, and this is polite company."I mean, you¹re a teacher, Taylor," he says."Be honest. What do you make?"And I wish he hadn't done that(asked me to be honest)because, you see, I have a policyabout honesty and ass-kicking:if you ask for it, I have to let you have it.You want to know what I make?I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional medal of honorand an A- feel like a slap in the face.How dare you waste my time with anything less than your very best.I make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hallin absolute silence. No, you may not work in groups.No, you may not ask a question.Why won't I let you get a drink of water?Because you're not thirsty, you're bored, that's why.I make parents tremble in fear when I call home:I hope I haven't called at a bad time,I just wanted to talk to you about something Billy said today.Billy said, "Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don't you?"And it was the noblest act of courage I have ever seen.I make parents see their children for who they areand what they can be.You want to know what I make?I make kids wonder,I make them question.I make them criticize.I make them apologize and mean it.I make them write, write, write.And then I make them read.I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitelybeautifulover and over and over again until they will never misspelleither one of those words again.I make them show all their work in math.And hide it on their final drafts in English.I make them understand that if you got this (brains)then you follow this (heart) and if someone ever tries to judge youby what you make, you give them this (the finger).Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true:I make a goddamn difference! What about you?

Young bloggers in South Africa

A while back I read a few blog posts that spoke of young bloggers abroad making waves and finding great success.I am relatively young but I think that these posts are referring to bloggers younger than I am.Where are the young bloggers under the age of 21 in SA? Are there any and if not, why not?I can't think of any and don't read any but that doesn't mean they don't exist. But is there really value for this sort of market in SA? Should we be looking for the next big thing now and getting them online and benefiting from their potential success? Is this exploitation?I am also extremely interested to discuss what the next generation of bloggers will look like.Should there be a batch of teenagers coming to the fore? Surely if blogging was taking off as much as bloggers think it would be reaching the younger generation and adopting the practice of blogging?Could this be a sign that blogging is not all that it's cracked up to be and it isn't growing at the rate we all think it is? With so many teenagers on Facebook and using Mxit in SA in my mind it makes sense that some of them should be, could be and would be publishing their own content on blogs. But they just aren't. Why?

I've blogged myself in to circles

If you blog you might be read but there is also chance that you might not be. But one thing is certain, if you don't blog you will never be read.The past week or so I have not blogged at all. I think it was a necessary break for me. I have been suffering from over-exposure to blogging, online bubbles, "inner-circles" and circular debates, discussions and topics. I think I've saturated my interests and lost some semblance of relevance recently.I'm happy to admit that.Stii said it the other day on twitter and I think I'm willing to reiterate it here; "If you have nothing good to say then rather don't say anything at all." And I haven't.However, I've been taken to task, not literally but in my rankings, stats and anylitics on both this blog and SA Rocks.That basic premise is that when I blog, people read. Not always or every time but there is a greater chance that people read what I write when I actually get around to writing. I've been relentless with SA Rocks, blogging every week day for almost an entire year straight. This can take its toll and I think it has taken its toll on me.At this point blogging becomes a chore that one is obligated to complete. I don't want that to be the case and nor do my readers.I personally feel like publishers of blogs in SA have become a bit stagnant of late, nit-picky and petty on various issues (myself included) and this has thrown me out of whack and left me with little colleague-initiated inspiration or motivation.There's nothing wrong with that, ebbs and flows I think, ebbs and flows. These things take place and then bounce back and get better or worse. For now though I think that my recent illness which prompted a tactical break from blogging has helped me to realise the mutually beneficial relationship I share with my readers and fellow bloggers in SA. I need them to inspire me and keep me on my toes and they read what I write. Without one the other suffers.In the end, if you never write, you'll never be read but if I write myself in to a circle it's sometimes better not to write at all.

To .me or not to .me, that is the question

I awoke a few days ago to a countdown timer on Godaddy.com. I've made a conscious choice recently to purchase whatever domains I feel are or might be worth something, anything, to anyone.So with intrigue I registered two domains that I have now been told I did not manage to register.I first went straight to southafrica.me and bought it, money off my credit card.Then I went and tried to buy talk2.me and again, money off my credit card. Gone.About twenty minutes later and I received confirmation of the registration of both the .me domains successfully went through. Unfortunately that was not to be as I received this:

Dear Nic Haralambous,The following domain name has failed to be registered:SOUTHAFRICA.MEError: SOUTHAFRICA.ME: cannot register - already registeredWe will evaluate this error and retry the registrationif appropriate.If we are unable to successfully register the domainname, your account will be credited accordingly. Pleaseallow one business day for the refund to be processed.Please contact GoDaddy.com, Inc. if you need any furtherassistance:http://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/support.asp?prog_id=GoDaddy&isc=gdbb14Sincerely,GoDaddy.com, Inc.

And that was that. Done and dusted. No domain, no millions of dollars from the fantastic SEO tips that obviously have cause they are hot property right now. Now talk2.me, no southafrica.me no nothing, at all, nada, zip.But I think I'll make it out alive, I still have a trump card or two that could come in to play. But who doesn't these days?I did manage to purchase haralambous.me which I have redirected to this domain. My question, in the end, is whether or not it's actually worth owning a .me domain?

Sick and tired of being sick...and tired

Just a short post to alert whoever it is that cares that I haven't been blogging very much because I have been KO with Bronchitis. I've been off work for 4 working days tomorrow but am off to the doctor yet again because I am not better.I am fast losing faith in the medical profession.

Bloggers, money and moving out of the box

Lately I've been thinking alot about monetizing blogs.There are obvious solutions to try and generate revenue from a blog such as Traffic Synergy and Google Ads.But I honestly think that there is more valuable to be had than simple clickthrough earnings.There are a few things that are important to considerAre you even trying to generate revenue from your blog?Some people just love writing whether it is coherent or not, they just like to write and have no intention of earning any money from there blogs. If this is you then you don't really have to worry about implementation of various methods to earn money. Throw on some Google ads in strategic position and hope for the best.Do you have a well established brand?If you do then this is your biggest value proposition. Using SA Rocks as an example. It is a valuable brand that can aid a products public image merely by association. In this case it's important to find sponsorships and build relationships with the advertisers on your site. They will gain value from brand association. Think outside of the box here, what you offer isn't merely clicks or immediate feedback, it's having their brand present on your site. This is value that deserves recognition and pay.Your business only operates onlineYou probably need to monetize your blog quickly. But if you aren't desperate and have other projects in the online sphere your blog might prove to be a valuable place to talk about your projects and rally support for them. This can indirectly translate in to profit or revenue. This can actually be interpreted as revenue generated from your blog.Your business is online and in the "real world"This is possibly where your blog-brand can extend your profits the most in my mind. It's here where I think bloggers need to start extending themselves and pushing their brands in to real results. A great example of someone who puts himself out there and has seen the results is Mail & Guardian Blogger Michael Trapido. Traps is a fantastic mind with lots to say and a firm and educated opinion on a variety of topics. He blogs on Thought Leader and Sports Leader and has turned online blogging in to an offline growth of his core business. Fantastic news and the way that online personalities and specialists need to start migrating.Another great example is the Girl With A One Track Mind blog. This used to be an anonymous blog that generated huge visits and pageviews. Then the author was outed by a journalist and Zoe Margolis was born. This has possibly been one of the best things that happened to her blog (see this interview by Paul Carr). She could become the face of her brand and take her thoughts in to the real world. This allowed her to generate more and different kinds of revenue from her blog.You blog to build a reputationThis can be one of the most valuable blogging currencies. If you are careful and smart about your blog you can gain a very strong following and a very good reputation in a relatively short period of time. This can be converted in to many different revenue streams.How do you or have you earned money from blogging? Let me know.