If you’re not using Property24.com, you’re house hunting in the 80’s. This is one of the funniest advertised about mobile phones I’ve seen in 10 years. Maybe I was fortunate because my first phone was an Ericsson and very small by comparison. What embarrasses me now, looking back, is how often I used to carry it on my belt. This was my way of showing off a perceived status symbol. Anyway enjoy this one and be sure to share this with you friends on of the buttons below.
Month: February 2013
Oscar Pistorius website undergoes PR makeover
Oscar Pistorius’s official website, oscarpistorius.com, has had a massive revamp in recent days. This is thanks to a PR drive his team launched after he was accused of killing Reeva Steenkamp.
Pistorius’s family have decided to devote his official website to the latest news about developments as well as messages of support they are constantly receiving.
The website is also open to Pistorius’s fans from all over the world, who have been posting messages of support on the website and Bible verses, wishing him luck and praying for him. It also contains a copy of the affidavit that was read by his lawyer in court on Tuesday, explaining events that he said had led to the shooting of his girlfriend.
What is missing, however, are all the logos of his sponsors. A week ago, when one clicked on the logos of his sponsors, such as Nike, on his website, the page would open to an article. Now, those logos have been removed, after his sponsors dropped him.
The website has, among others, a picture gallery, media articles and messages of support. Despite huge interest in the Pistorius story worldwide, there were only four listed under “media articles” on Thursday afternoon.
Two were from last year, informing his fans that the athlete would be appearing on Piers Morgan Tonight on CNN as well as on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The other two articles are recent opinion pieces written by people blasting Pistorius’s critics and those “that have already judged him”.
One of the opinion pieces is from Duncan Reyburn, who claims he went to school with Pistorius and happens to work “at the university that Oscar used to go to, on a campus just one block away from the prison where he has been held”.
In his article, Reyburn, a lecturer at the University of Pretoria, makes that South Africa is to blame for Pistorius’s actions.
“I know that Oscar, whether he is guilty of murder or not, would have benefited from being the product of a culture that promotes thought over action. But, sadly, Oscar is the product of our culture. He is, whether we like it or not, a product of us – we’re reactive, terrified, wounded people.
“I have no judgement yet on Oscar’s guilt. Having been the victim a few years ago of a violent attack in my own home, I completely and fully understand the possibility that Oscar could have acted the way he did because he was afraid, because he wanted to protect his girlfriend,” Reyburn says in the article.
Matthew Syed, who writes another opinion piece that appears in The Times of London, blasts Pistorius’s critics, saying that what was happening was “quantity of cod psychology (fake psychology) that has been unleashed” since his arrest. There’s also a statement from Pistorius’s uncle Arnold on behalf of the family.
“We believe that this (the website) is an appropriate way to deal with the expressions of support we have received as well as keeping the media informed about any key developments in the case. We have every confidence as a family that when the world has heard the full evidence, this will prove to be a terrible and tragic accident which has changed many lives forever. We are praying for everyone touched by this tragedy.”
source: The Star / Botho Molosankwe
Imagine the Possibilities
Imagine The Possibilities – Turning Nothing Into Something. Jim Rohn was a legend. It was only after he died that his style, his passion and his sincerity began to touch me. There is something poetic about the way he speaks. This is an excerpt from one of his lectures. If you feel like you have nothing today, this video is just for you.
Yusuf Moses: Persistance To A Motivated Life
This is the story of my friend Yusuf Moses, one of the most motivated people I’ve ever met. After years of ups and downs, he is now a respected ABET teacher, happily married father of two daughters. When we first met he worked in a factory building components for Volkswagen South Africa:
Uitenhage, in the Eastern Cape not very far from Port Elizabeth, is a place I call home. My name is Yusuf Moses and I am the eldest of four children. My mother is a soft, understanding, and loving yet strong women. She has been a housewife for as long as I can remember. My dad is proud man, a bricklayer by profession. He was always motivated to improve our situation. So he sold items such as peanuts, oranges, sweets and anything he could get his hands on from age of 10 when his own father passed away.
Growing up we were not rich or wealthy in any way. Besides that we never went to bed hungry, we stuck together, worked hard, never begged and were always honest. My taught us the importance of books and religion as well as what was considered ethical and moral. My dad worked long hours and would come home very tired. He bought items and would force me to help him sell, “we are poor but we are not going to ask or except any handouts, we are not a charity case,” he used to say. God help those who help themselves and with those words without any further discussion he motivated me to also go out and sell for my family.
I wasn’t always motivated because I felt uncomfortable in the early days. It felt like begging to me, walking through town or any other place where I could find a crowd. The taxi rank was the best place, there were always interested and interesting people that made it worth it and I did not have to walk to far to get it all sold. So free weekends and playing after school was not part of my childhood. The only thing worse than selling was Monday morning at school because that was when all the kids that saw me and poked fun at me would start again. Most of the time there was nowhere to run or hide. I have been called so many different names, one could probably write a book on that. All this influenced my selling on weekends, but as I was selling.
Eventually I started seeing and realising things that I don’t think I would have noticed if I did not sell. I found that not everyone is what they would pretend to be or say who they are, people will in most instances try to bargain with you and pay less than what you were offering. In the end I learned the most valuable skill for anyone who lacks motivations i.e. persistence. My exploits on weekends were training wheels for adult life. Selling eventually became a passion and I’ve since read many books on sales that continue to motivate me.
Three Ways To Deal With Boredom
A while ago I wrote an article about how SMS relieve loneliness, stress and depression. The same advice applies well to boredom in general. John Taylor Gatto first alerted me to the pandemic of boredom in public schools. This is a cause for concern both in children and in teachers. Everyone has felt bored at some point in their life, it seems to be the way the world works now. Without this innate feeling of despondency how could we continue to fuel to the consumer driven economies of the world.
According to Dictionary.com boredom is a noun: the state of being bored; tedium; ennui. Origin: 1850–55; bore2 + -dom Synonyms: dullness, doldrums, weariness. These dates fit perfectly into the industrial revolution’s time frames. Meaning that before that period there was no such thing in the common language of conversation. People amused themselves in a variety of ways.
WALKING
When you find yourself in this position, the key is to get your body physically doing something. So the immediate task at hand can be as simple as taking a walk. This gets oxygen flowing and begins to clear your mind. In fact when you are weary you often do not feel like doing anything at all. How do you motivate yourself to keep walking? If you’re bored and it’s night time you may not want to take the risk of walking around outside.
DANCING
Another option is to listen to music that gets your energy juices flowing. This is not a time for relaxation and more dullness. You can listen to dance music and get yourself into the groove being motivated to have fun. There’s saying I stole from somewhere which goes like this, “The only business we take seriously is fun…” So should you.
TALKING
Instead of surfing around Youtube or Facebook, start texting or chatting on your Smartphone with a friend. This is a great way to relieve boredom because you’re engaging with a real human being and not the faceless social media sites. You are not trying to numb your senses through mindless television. Texting is two way communication. From this the other person may suggest you meet-up, which is even better than chatting over your phone. Talking to a person face to face is the most powerful way to engage.
Three Tips on How You Can Successfully Change Your Career
Have you hit that point in your career where you just are sick and tired of what it is you’re doing? Maybe you feel like you’re never going to get the promotion you deserve, or maybe you just can’t stand the monotony of your job. Whatever the reason is, it’s time for a career change and you know it.
Lots of people who are sick of their jobs stick with them anyway because of fear. They either think that they’ll never be able to find a new career, or they’re too far in their current career to abandon what they’ve worked for. If that’s you and you’re ready for a change, it’s not as hard as you may think.
Don’t live your life fed up with the career you’ve chosen. Change your career! It’s not as hard as you think. Check out these tips on how to switch careers and live a better, more enjoyable life starting today:
First, Don’t Quit Your Current Job
Finding a new job, especially in a new career field, is tough. It may take you longer than you think, or longer than you’d like. That’s why it’s important that you don’t quit your current job while searching for a new career. You’re also a lot more likely to get hired somewhere if you’re currently employed, rather than unemployed.
It could take weeks or months, maybe even a year, before you find a new career. All that is too long to go without a paycheck. Make the wise decision to search for a new career on your days off or after you’ve gotten off work, just so you have the security of a paycheck until you find a new career.
Consider Going Back to School
Lots of people dread returning to school, but with distance education it’s become very easy to earn a new degree to switch careers. If you’ve got the skills to change careers without a new degree that’s great, but in many cases you’re going to need a degree if you want to start a new career in a completely new field.
Consider distance education and getting a degree from an online college for professionals. There are many benefits to this rather than going to an actual classroom based school, one being that you can study on your own time rather than take off work or cut your hours in order to sit in class. If you’re looking for a simple career change, you probably don’t even need a bachelor’s degree, meaning you can earn your online associate’s degree in two years or less.
Use Your Networks
Chances are you’ve developed lots of connections with people through your current job. Maybe there’s a vendor that you’re friends with, or one of your coworker’s siblings works in an industry that you’re in to. Use those connections to try and network your way into a new career.
Be ruthless, but not annoying. Schedule informational interviews to inquire as to how you can enter those careers. The more people you talk to, the better chance you have at succeeding.
Image credit: http://careerchangeforboomers.com/
MTN to ditch BIS
Surely after this becomes the norm there is no good reason to own a BlackBerry device in South Africa. Since BlackBerry 10 will not support BIS or unlimited Internet for a fixed monthly cost, now is the time to look for alternatives. We recommend moving to 8ta who offers the best pre-paid data bundles.
Here’s the report…
Mobile giant MTN is reportedly planning to ditch the popular BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS).
The network looks set to adopt a range of what is dubbed “BlackBerry Absolute” packages instead, MyBroadband exclusively reported. According to the website, the top-end BlackBerry Absolute package is at the same price-point as the existing BIS service (R59), while also featuring a 200MB “fair use limit”.
Once users have exceeded the 200MB limit, an out-of-bundle rate of R0.65/MB will come into effect. The new range apparently includes three more packages, ranging in price from R14.95 to R29.95
The R14.95 deal looks to offer BlackBerry Messenger connectivity, as well as web-based email access. This deal comes with a 10MB “fair use limit”.
The R19.95 package includes BlackBerry Messenger, BlackBerry Email, web-surfing, App World access and social networks. This also has a 10MB limit, however. The R29.95 deal has the same benefits as the R19.95 package, but includes web-based email access and a 25MB limit.
“MTN will issue an official statement to media should there be any changes to BlackBerry pricing,” the network told iafrica.com.
source: iAfrica.com
Celebrating Safer Internet Day 2013
Today I was interviewed by Lotus FM part of the SABC in Durban, South Africa. Lotus FM is targeted at the Indian market through their cultural focussed programming content. So it was a real surprise they called me to discuss Safer Internet Day. This takes place on the second day of the second week of the second month, every year. So in 2013 Safer Internet Day will be on Tuesday, 5 February.
Some of the issues we discussed were as follows:
- Legal Framework in South Africa: We have several laws that govern Internet and mobile usage. They are the Electronic Communications and Transaction Act (2002), the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act (2002), The Film & Publications Board Amendment Act (2009). There’s also a Privacy Bill on the cards.
- Internet Usage Policies: You must protect yourself by carefully reading the Social Media & Internet policies before signing them. I suspect cases will go to court where staff can claim coercion from management on signing these agreements.
- Online Privacy: You must be vigilant when downloading apps or signing up for profiles or competitions on the Internet. To keep safe, start using a separate email address not used for business; consider using a fake cellphone number when you’re not sure what they will do with your private information. Companies are becoming more and more negligent with your personal data, so you must take matters into your own hands where possible.
The best possible advice I offer people is to stop creating new profiles, downloading new apps and master what they’re using already. Whenever I look at the online behaviour I find people make mistakes because of ignorance or lack of experience. So it’s important to really master what you already have installed on your Smartphone or laptop before you get into the habit of installing new applications. Someone recently claimed to have over 100 apps on his Smartphone, the majority being games. This is one example of the extreme dependence we have in the current mode of living.
Below is a brief video with a short overview on what Safer Internet Day is all about.
How Digital Platforms Will Transform Brain Health in 2013
Compared to physical fitness, the fitness of the brain is often overlooked by both individuals and health systems, but it is easy to see positive and broad changes on how brain health is defined, monitored, maintained, and enhanced across the lifespan, and digital platforms are going to play a key role.
Here are 10 predictions, many of which will likely be realized before the end of 2013, based on “The Digital Brain Health Market 2012-2020: Web-based, mobile and biometrics-based technology to assess, monitor and enhance cognition and brain functioning,” our new market report.
- More than one million adults in North America alone will take a self-administered annual brain health check-up via their iPad or Android tablet.
- More than one million amateur athletes will better manage possible concussions by taking cognitive baseline tests via a mobile device.
- More than 150,000 teenage and adult AAA members will access web-based brain training to become safer drivers.
- Biometrics-aided meditation will become the next big thing in corporate and consumer wellness.
- iPad-based cognitive screenings will inform more diagnoses of Alzheimer’s disease and MCI than neuroimaging.
- Patients with multiple sclerosis in at least 10 countries will be offered online cognitive training together with drug-based therapy to help address their condition.
- Insomnia and depression will be first-line treated with computerized cognitive behavioral therapy in at least two national health services.
- The industry’s first brain-based biomarker to predict depression treatment responses will be cleared by the FDA.
- Brain training firm Lumos Labs and/or biometrics-based developer NeuroSky will file for an IPO.
- At least one major insurer will launch an educational campaign to help adults proactively take charge of their own “brain fitness” navigating emerging research and digital brain health tools.
To learn more about these growing trends you may want to check out: Digital brain health infographic
source: Huffington Post