BMW Service Sucks

Now correct me if I'm wrong here but we in the midst of a world wide recession. Car manufacturers are crumbling at the thought of a recession, the fact that we having one should dictate certain things to come in to play, such as better service and a dire need to sell cars. I am absolutely appalled by the shocking service that I have witnessed from BMW. BMW service clearly sucks.One would think so, but alas this is not the case. Before I get ahead of myself I am blogging this entire post on behalf of my mother who is in the market for a brand new 1 series convertible. I love that little car and so does she. But to get her hands on one to look at, never mind test drive is proving to be almost impossible. It's like the BMW dealerships don't want to sell cars.But let's hear it straight from her:

I have space to fill in my garage.I have tried.In an economic climate where the headlines read “car sales down” its tough to get a BMW dealership to “sell” you a car.Dealership 1 tried to fob me off with a custom made model including “sports package” that a client could not be financed on.There was no car for me to test drive and no alternative was offered as they had a great month!!!Dealership 2 could not find a car for me to test drive. Weren’t that interested when I insisted that I wanted to drive the model I want to buy.The Salesman told me that the car is in short supply as they have stopped producing due to the credit crunch (a self fulfilling prophecy?).They then promised to put me in touch with a client who had previously bought the same model. I am still waiting one month later. Goodbye Dealership 2.Dealership 3 came highly recommended. A friend referred me to the dealer principal who got his sales manager to call me.Visit no 1 – manager introduced me to his best salesman. Gave the salesman my specs and made an appointment to test drive a car at 11am Monday morning.Visit no 2 – arrived for my appointment, no car, salesman barely apologetic, sales manager assured me he would have the car at my home or office to test drive that day.Today is Thursday and I have received no contact from the sales manager, salesman or anyone else to offer me a car and it is most certainly not sitting in my driveway as promised.I have a space to fill in my garage!!!!Perhaps a Mercedes or an Audi?

So in the end bad services prevails again and it seems as if we, the ones spending money are forever indebted to the manufacturers, banks, salesmen and women or anyone else who we want to give money to in exchange for the product that they exist to sell.

The real Big Fat Greek lunch

So in case people thought that the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding was full of rubbish let me prove to you that I live it, every Sunday lunch.Incase you don't remember the movie:Here you will see All the "Nic's" in a row. My Grandfather on the far right and the subsequent generation of Nic's.In the line we hav Nic, Nico, Nicole and Nicholas. Wow.photo credit: Sylvie Shekinah

Nokia's N96 - A curios piece

I loved my Nokia N95, LOVED IT. I can't verify that fact any more than stating it that emphatically. It truly was a great piece of hardware and software in combination. But the nature of technology nowadays pushes companies to develop new tech that attempts to outdo the old.The Nokia N96 was such a piece of tech. It tried to outdo the N95. It succeeded in many areas yet struggled in others.I've been using the phone now for a few months and overall I like it. I think. It has some issues, one being speed. It's one of those phones that does a lot and achieves it all but very slowly. So opening up your contacts, loading an application or receiving a text message takes a bit of time - when I say a bit of time I am part of the generation that is frustrated when Internet on a plane doesn't work and when I wait for 20 minutes to get on to a giant piece of metal that flies. So it's not really THAT slow but takes that extra 5 to 10 seconds to search for a contact or read a text msg.With that said there are some pros to the phone. The GPS is fantastic and has allowed me to not purchase yet another technological device to clutter my car. It is seemless, effective and works 99.9% of the time.The multimedia capabilities are great with a 5 megapixel camera and fantastic video recording. Once you've got the media though it's a bit slow.I also made fantastic use of the phone's mp3 player on my trip to Kenya to listen to music - the 16gb flashdrive is a great help with this.Overall I must say I wouldn't buy this phone at it's going rate, I'd rather wait for the N97 to come out. But I am glad that I've had the chance to mess around with it and make great use of it in presentations and for much of my citizen reporting.

Jaded Ink launches - Tatts abound

The man who has done most of my ink is called Jade. Jade is a genius and a gem of a gent. His work is impeccable and his attention to detail is fantastic. So how could I possibly not go to the launch of his new Tattoo Parlour called Jaded Ink.Here's Jade doing my most recent piece that he now needs to complete (3/4 sleeve):And here's the piece:I was fortuitously invited by one Don Packett who MC'd the event.Don is a brilliant MC. He is, by nature, a funny guy but knows when an event is not about him and his talents and humour. Last night's event was about Jade and Don made sure to focus events as much as possible on what was at hand, or in this case leg, thigh, full sleeve, half sleeve, bionic arm, ankle or any other body part you could imagine with ink on it.Here are some videos from the Tattoo Fashion Show that Jaded in put on:After this event the most incredible thing that I realised is that the culture of tattoo bonds people. It brings like-minded individuals together no matter how far removed from one another they are.Jaded Ink will definitely be doing my sleeve in the very near future.

One word answers

So I thought I'd kick Friday off with a meme.Answer the questions below with only one word.1. Where is your cell phone? Pocket2. Your significant other? Inspiring3. Your hair? Messy4. Your mother? Home5. Your father? Fucked6. Your favorite? Rainstorms7. Your dream last night? Whacked8. Your favorite drink? Soco9. Your dream/goal? Dominance10. What room you are in? Office11. Your hobby? Music12. Your fear? Failure13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Independent14. Where were you last night? Tattoo15. Something that you aren't? Contented16. Muffins? Top17. Wish list item? Bravo18. Where you grew up? Jozi19. Last thing you did? Email20. What are you wearing? FCUK21. Your TV? Old22. Your pets? None23. Friends? Hand-picked24. Your life? 4225. Your mood? Disquietude26. Missing someone? No27. Car? Fine28. Something you're not wearing? Jacket29. Your favorite store? Apple30. Your favorite color? Charcoal33. When is the last time you laughed? Dinner34. Last time you cried? Unknown35. Who will resend this? Lame36. One place that I go to over and over? Africa37. One person who emails me regularly? Viagra38. My favorite place to eat? Polpetta

Britains got Punjabi talent

This is absolutely awesome. Received the video via email this morning. Found it on Youtube then found the final performance that these guys gave. Very refreshing.And the final:

I'm tumbling and no one can stop me

I can't see why anyone would want to stop me to be honest.My Tumblr, nicharry, has revived my ability to post content online without too much thought, reactively and instinctively in a short space of time.I am besotted with Tumblr.Let me explain what the service is, in my opinion, for me. It's a lifestream sort of a blogging platform. A stream of consciousness I think sums it up relatively well.Tumblr has legs in the market right now for one simple reason. It's simple to use. I have a "Share on tumblr" widget added to my browser. I click it and automatically a popup appears and allows me to share video, audio, photo, links, quotes and other types of media. The little widget handles the linkback to the source and posts to your Tumblr immediately.I've also installed the Tumblr desktop app for Mac OSX which allows me to tumbl from my desktop. Simple, easy and effective.Furthermore the type of content that I've come across on Tumblr is incredible. It's alternative, different, cutting edge, pushes all the boundaries and seems to not abide by the regular rules and regulations of producing content. It's a place where anyone and everyone can find a home.It subscribes to a very similar model to that of Twitter. You can follow people's Tumbles and they, in turn, follow yours. You can see everyone who you follow in your Dashboard and follow their content as it is published.The person who got me on to Tumblr is Wes over at BlackNotes. If you have some time, head over there and read Wes's Tumblr, you'll be occupied for hours.But for the moment head over to Tumblr, register, choose a theme and tumbl-on.

The DA, social media and the masses

I need to say this out loud and as bluntly as I can. It's cool that the DA are trying to get social with social media and a newly launched website but are we "social media experts" all so far up our own arses that we can't see that in the big picture of the 2009 elections the DA's social media campaign is relatively insignificant.What the DA is trying to do is actually COMPETE IN THE 2009 ELECTIONS. I am extremely curious to figure out how the DA's social media campaign fits in to the bigger picture of their general election campaign.I'm not convinced that social media is going to make much of a difference in the numbers that the DA is looking for as the official opposition for the 2009 elections. I think that it's essential that they are in the space of social networks, mobile activity and engaging with an online community. But let us get real here for a second, when we say "engaging with an online community", who do you think we are talking about? Is it 500 000 South Africans with broadband access? I don't think so. My 20 or so friends who aren't particularly active online have never seen or engaged with DA online. So what's the point? When we talk about engaging with social media we are probably, effectively talking about 20 000 or so people at an absolute push. I stand to be corrected here, these numbers are thumbsucked so please correct me if you know the figures.Why should we be criticising the DA, analysing their every move and be excruciatingly anal about the things they do and the way they do it online? It's actually ridiculous.I asked Helen Zille a question online a few days back on twitter. I was wondering what her stance is on Cope integrating politics and religion. I didn't receive a reply. But let's be honest Helen Zille is competing in one of the most important elections since our democracy came in to existence, what the hell difference does it make if she answers my question? I want her to do the best job she can do in POLITICS not in social media to be perfectly frank.And don't try and pull the Obama card here. We are not the USA, we cannot claim to be and we should try to be. This would lead us in to all sorts of confusion and trouble. We are, majority of the SA population, without Internet and in need of some very distinct things, one of which is not social media let me tell you. The important things right now, in the build-up to election day 2009 (22 April) is to keep the focus of this election on the people, the rights, the voting, elections, masses and not on social media unfortunately.Many people have covered, blogged and written about the DA and what they are doing online. It's quite interesting to me that there isn't much hype, noise or talk around the other political parties. Yet the DA is getting it in the neck. It's like we, the online community, are berating one of the few political parties who bothered to actually make an effort. Why are we not giving the other parties hell as openly as the DA? Why does it matter? Surely our countries democracy is more important than proper use of Facebook, social tools and multimedia?I am interested to know how much money has been put in to the DA's social media campaign and what sort of return of investment they have and will receive? I wonder if in our country that money could not be better used somewhere else? Marketing the DA differently to a wider audience? Because let me tell you, if we all praise and hail the DA as the online guru's in politics but they get trumped in the election then I will feel betrayed by social media and so will they.Walter wrote that the DA's response has him puzzled well my response is simple, in South African politics I would be more concerned if the DA was spending more time answering the social media folk than concentrating on their political campaign. We, as social media people, need to get over ourselves and look at all of this in context.I want democracy, I want a viable opposition and I want leaders who can engage without being sidetracked from what is important. I also want politics and religion to be separate but that's another story that shall be told at another time.

Tweekly.fm rocks my twitter music

I am a massive fan of two services at the moment. I have been using both for a relatively long time (for an online service) and am extremely glad that someone has put the two together.Tweekly.fm joins twitter and Last.fm. Twitter is a micro blogging service that allows you to communicate with followers in 140 characters or less (160 for direct messages). While Last.fm is a music sharing network. I use Last.fm's desktop application so I rarely visit the actual Last.fm website but nevertheless, everytime I play a song through iTunes my Last.fm App "Scrobbles" the song to my Last.fm profile.Tweekly.fm is a service that takes your weekly played artist data from last.fm and sends it as a tweet. Fantastic. Now I am giving my Last.fm profile more exposure and letting my twitter followers know what music I am listening to. I am also fond of the fact that Tweekly.fm doesn't go overboard and send out one tweet every nanosecond.Very nice. Head over to Tweekly.fm now and sign up.

I was wrong about Vinny Lingham

It seems to be my repentance week. And repent I shall.In 2007 I wrote a blog post about Vinny Lingham abondoning South Africa in a tough time, taking his money and running. I was shot down, defended and received 40 comments in total on that post which turned in to a very up-and-down debate.I was immature, I didn't understand the market I was in and I jumped to some unfair conclusions about Vinny and Synthasite. I stand corrected and gladly so.Vinny needed to move to where he moved for relatively obvious reasons. Yet he maintained offices in Cape Town and fed those offices through with some of the brightest talent he could find. He did not abandon SA but did what he needed to do to make his business work. And work it did.I received this in my inbox this morning:

Dear Nic,Today, I'm proud to announce that Reinet Fund has just invested $20 million into SynthaSite, securing our future and enabling us to continue to build our business model and product offering. This is a massive vote of confidence in SynthaSite, and we owe it to each and every one of you. Our future is bright and, with your support, we will continue to make a difference in the world!When we began building SynthaSite, we sought to create a company whose product would change the lives of millions of people by giving them a voice online. We wanted to provide the opportunity for anyone anywhere to build a website that would achieve their unique goals, from starting a small business to showcasing their achievements.In 2007, we raised $5 million in venture capital and moved our headquarters to San Francisco, keeping a good portion of our technical team in Cape Town, South Africa. Since then, SynthaSite has grown from just a handful of people to more than 40 individuals in both offices, supporting over one million users. Our support forum is one of the most active on GetSatisfaction's network, and our recent "Best of SynthaSite" contest attracted more than 1,000 entrants. This level of success could only be achieved thanks to the dedication of both our user community and our staff.I'm unbelievably excited about the future of SynthaSite and look forward to building on our success in helping you and many others reach their potential online. These past 15 months have just been the beginning...Thank you for all your support.Vinny LinghamFounder and CEO

To Vinny and his team I cannot congratulate you enough. You deserve the success (and the money) and I hope sincerely that the investment you've received in this downturn proves well worth it in the long run.

Crowdsourced police work - catch the cat abuser

If you haven't seen the video on youtube that was posted by two mentally unstable (surely?) teens in the USA then best you watch the news report below.I am not mad about pets, they just aren't my cup of tea, however i am well aware of animal abuse and it sickens me. I don't understand how the abuse of an animal aids or assists the assailants in any way, shape or form. It's ridiculous and uncalled for.But the thing about the video above that absolutely intrigues me is how anti-animal-abuse people online who saw the video banded together and figured out exactly who was behind the mask in the video.Watch the video again and notice how people jumped online, searched for the youtube users name and aliases online, gather images from the web relating to the user and pieced them together to factually define who the person was and where they were in the country.Now this is a chicken and egg situation. Sure if there was no YouTube then the video wouldn't have been online and one could argue that the act of abuse wouldn't have taken place. But let's assume that these unstable cowards are just that, unstable. Chances are they would be abusing animals with or without a platform to display their barbarous behaviour. So without the internet these animals (not the cat) would still be abusive. With the internet they were caught thanks to the dedication and keen eye of a few social media users and the tools at their disposal.The future of social media is endless, the applications of the technology are endless and the potential to use these tools effectively is endless.

Qik is just that, a quick way to stream live video

I am incredibly impressed with Qik and the service it offers.Basically it's a live mobile streaming service. You download the software to your phone. Open up the application and click "Stream". The video is then recorded and streamed live to your Qik profile.Find me at qik.com/nicharry

The follow up. I was wrong. Rattex represents

This post is a follow up to: This is what is wrong with our music culture - Rattex is poison.I bought the CD. I did it. I've listened to it and I am impressed. The production is good. It's got a great sound and I stand corrected. The guy keeps it local and keeps it as close to his heart as he can.That is clear to me now and i completely recognise that I wrote the last blog post purely on what I was sent by his PR agency or whoever sent it and didn't do much of my own research. That was a mistake on my behalf that I will gladly admit to and acknowledge.I do believe that in future the PR for Rattex should be done considerably better. The Press Release that is sent out should play on his passion for his upbringing, his home, his culture and his skill. It should not direct you to a video that I believe badly represents the artist.I am not going to suggest how Rattex should create music videos because that is not a skill of mine, I have never directed a music video but when I do, I'll open it up for criticism to my readers.I am extremely glad that I wrote the previous post about Rattex. I engaged in some extremely interesting debates with some very, um, interesting characters. Luckily there were a few people who managed to keep open minds, not jump the race card and attempt to educate me.At the end of it all I have learned appreciation for an artist that I previously wouldn't have heard or listened to. I have learned more about a culture that I do enjoy (hip-hop) and learned not to follow press releases that are sent to me.Something I think that my readers should learn: Don't jump to conclusions (like I did and many of the commentators did). Don't pull the race card, it will never end well, ever. South Africa is overly Politically Correctly, we need to let go of it, move on and be who we are and want to be.So do yourself and do me a favour. Go listen to Rattex, do your research, read his bio, buy his CD and open your mind, like I did.

The Onion writes off Sony as an advertiser forever

With this simple video, funny as hell, The Onion (unless they've planned this whole thing) have taken it to Sony, hard.This really does illustrate the independence of an online brand. Sharply contrasting how beholden old-media is to their advertisers. I love this sort of campaign, I love the brashness of it and I love that they had the balls to put it out there.

2oceansvibe FINALLY adds comments and joins in on the blog fun

I have moaned about 2oceansvibe for a long time but more recently have been in touch with Seth and am enjoying reading his brashness.I must commend him on finally placing blog comments to his posts. Many times I've wanted to bash him in a comment, commend him on his arrogance or leave a general comment but to no avail.I can now do that. And this year there will be no controversy if he wins an award at the SA Blog Awards because he can now be classified as a blog.

My Twitter followes are:

Social, Media, Entrepreneurs, Web, Marketing, Online and many many many other things. How do I know this? Easy. Twittersheep.Enter your twitter name and twittersheep will generate a list much like this one:

Too much money, not enough friends

This poor lonely soul is rich. He has money. He likes drinking. But alas he has no friends - which apparently is one of the byproducts of making money. The only possible answer is to advertise on gumtree for mates. No, to advertise on gumtree that you will PAY to have a someone drink with you whenever you ask.Click for full size imageWhat a sad but hilarious state of affairs.Unfortunately the advert has been taken down so you can't apply.

why do we call them pigs?

It's just not right. We get pissed off when the police are unable to arrest a hijacker or murdered. But it is road accidents that probably kill more people in this country. When they try to stop us from harming ourselves and others in vehicles we brand the police pigs. Unacceptable in my opinion. We can't have it both ways.Stick to the rules and if you break them don't abuse the police.

Honesty is the best business policy when selling online

Honesty in business, sales, marketing and advertising is by no means a fresh new concept. Yet it is fast becoming an integral one in the world that we inhabit.There are many posts that discuss transparency online in a personal sense. Don't lie, cheat, steal, defraud or do anything that might dent your reputation online. But I am referring more to the concept of honesty when selling online to the less knowledgeable.This has become an absolutely imperative part of selling and talking about online with people. Many companies and agencies are interested and intrigued by online at the moment because it is the direction in which the world is moving. But there are dangers.The main danger that I have come across is the overselling of the potential of online right now. Many companies almost have their finger on the pulse of things. But this means that they know of Facebook, Youtube and other sites that they can use in a social arena to promote their products. Yet many of them think that the viral nature of the social web world wide applies directly to South Africa. It doesn't. Viral in SA probably means, if you're lucky, a few thousand views of a video and a couple of blog posts. In the Western world viral translates to a few million views of a video and a few hundred thousand links to or embeds of a video. Those are the cold hard facts and expectations should be readjusted accordingly.Unfortunately the "people in the know" often oversell the potential of social media in South Africa to get the hype up and the profit margins higher. This is bad. This sort of selling is doing detrimental damage to the truth and success of the market in SA. This sort of selling makes it very difficult to create a consistent and successful stream of clients, revenue and business in the online industry. People are being burned and are staying away from spending money online because of misleading sales and delivery pitches. Return of investment (ROI) is being oversold and underdeliverd. Again, this is bad.Honesty is key. Clients need to know the truth and still want to go forward with a campaign and experiment, play in the space and engage with one or two hundred people in stead of hoping to gain one or two million. It wont happen so don't sell it that way.

Zoopy features on Maggs on Media

I was recently given the opportunity to appear on Maggs on Media with Jeremy Maggs and talk with him about Zoopy.Here's the piece: