Archive for the 'Posts' Category

If you look for solutions in the wrong place

December 14th, 2008

People are impatient for Obama to take over.
Why?
Bush did not do too well
America is fighting two wars
The economy is in melt-down
Humans look for good news and when the news is consistently bad like the past few months, they look anywhere. If there is no good news, people will settle for anything that looks as if [...]

The South African blogger that got sued

December 8th, 2008

I wrote about the SA blogger is that was sued by QVC because he criticized their marketing methods.
Sympathisers has now started a Facebook group and a wiki
Join the fight and spread the message. Many people appear to be victims but don’t know about this case.

The Post Office, the Bank and my lost initial

December 8th, 2008

A month ago, or so, I received an SMS from Standard Bank to inform me that my new credit card has been dispatched via the Post Office and would reach me in, I think it was, 14 days.
I just received an SMS from the South African Post Office. It reads “Mr N Prinsloo, the South [...]

If you are interested in the power of social media, read this

December 4th, 2008

Walter Pike, on his blog Pike’s Thinking, points out the realities of operating in an always on, always connected world.
Business owners may benefit from reading his post at http://walterpike.com/2008/12/learning-the-hard-way-bloggers-court-case/ and taking it to heart.
May the blogger win!

This blogger needs your help

December 1st, 2008

A blogger, Donn Edwards of Insights & Rants,  is taken to court because he exposed a company’s dubious practises.
Maybe you were also a victim or you can help. Go here for the info.

The comment spammers discovered my blog

December 1st, 2008

The comment spammers discovered my blog and changed the way in which I wanted to use it.
Comment spammers are those good-for-nothing people that promote products such as medicines, everything-enhancement-pills, porn and the like, by trying to force it down your throat. They do this by sending you unsolicited emails or, in this case, they send [...]

Do you fight ignorance?

November 24th, 2008

Last week I had the privilege of talking to librarians of Polokwane and outlying areas about social media.
We only had time to touch on the basics - Wikipedia, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Blogs and the philosophy underlying social media.
What I realised is that there is keen interest in anything new and a wish to be effective [...]

It seems Polokwane Municipality has trouble planning

November 17th, 2008

My previous post raised interesting comments.
All seem to reflect on the municipality’s capacity to plan ahead. The post and comments are here http://www.nicp.co.za/2008/11/polokwane-municipality-does-not-care.html
But look at the photo taken on the corner of Cygnus and Grobler Streets in Sterpark.

The electricity section dug this trench three weeks ago to “take electricity to Pick ‘n Pay in [...]

Polokwane Municipality does not care

November 12th, 2008

The slogan of Polokwane municipality is “Naturally Progressive”.
Well, it will have to happen naturally or by act of God because it will not happen if it depends on some officials.
My daughter lives in a town house in Polokwane where the previous inhabitants ran up a nearly R2000,00 water and electricity account. “Not to worry”, the [...]

Will Obama save us all?

November 10th, 2008

Barack Obama is going to save us all, that is the impression I get when I see the reaction to his victory.
People in Kenia hope it will result in some positive but unidentified spin-off for them, black (all) people in South Africa hope it will ignite a new awareness of their own worth and their [...]

It is all about defending the power structure

November 3rd, 2008

Most confrontations between individuals and the establishment is the making of the defenders of a power structure.
Whether it is a religion overreacting to criticism, a government official acting with antagonism because she does not know why a specific form is necessary, or a manager that realises that a subordinate know more than he does, the [...]

Most people are like a bar of soap

October 27th, 2008

Most people are like a bar of soap.
A new bar of soap releases more soap and more foam than one needs when it is still new. It gets progressively harder as you use it and at the end, when you reach the core, it is dense, releases little foam and needs more involvement from the [...]

How a 21st century South African newspaper company messes up

October 20th, 2008

The intention was not to write about my previous employer (the one I wrote about here) but I couldn’t help but smile when I received a Google alert about Caxtons’ most recent effort to catch up with the competition.
The alert was about a web designer who is sour because he was not approached to do [...]

Why?

October 13th, 2008

Why do we spray champagne when we win?
Why should I buy from you?
Why should I visit your shopping centre?
Why should I attach value to your advice?
Why should I buy this car?
And why should I buy it from you?
Why should I read your paper - or your blog?
Why do we drink to celebrate?
Why do we cry [...]

The Shongololo must cross the road

October 6th, 2008

When one travels on the roads near my home in the rainy season, one frequently comes across Millipedes (we call them Shongololos) unhurriedly crossing the road.
To ensure the survival of its species, the Shongololo must follow certain instincts. It must get food and it must get to a mate before its lifecycle ends.
Unfortunately for the [...]