GERJOHOFFMAN.CO.ZA

All Blacks Skills - Part 1 - Tricks at Training

noreply@blogger.com (Gerjo Hoffman) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 09:18:00 +0000

I wonder is the Springboks can do this?

Volkswagen Commercial: The Force

noreply@blogger.com (Gerjo Hoffman) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 09:48:00 +0000

This is the coolest ad and was flighted during the Super Bowl on Sunday.

Build your own Groupon on Facebook

noreply@blogger.com (Gerjo Hoffman) — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 11:47:00 +0000

How do build a Groupon with the tools you have available

Mitchell is the co-founder of BigCommerce. He has been selling online and building web-based software for close to 10 years. Mitch is passionate about teaching business owners how to build long lasting, mutually beneficial relationships with your customers and clients via his YouTube guru channel which has had 500,000 views.

If you want to read the full article click here.

Groupon DIY

noreply@blogger.com (Gerjo Hoffman) — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 11:19:00 +0000

The sale of Twangoo to Groupon made me look at what technology is requiered to build a Groupon clone. Its seems very easy to start your own Groupon clone and it can cost you less than USD200.

Wroupon
Wroupon is a turnkey solution to get your own groupon like site. Wroupon has been developed using PHP and MYSQL.

For as little as USD405 Couponic offer access to the following products:
*Couponic Script
*Discussions Module
*Facebook Module
*Referral Module
*Branding Removal

This includes a mobile version and a IP-to-city module.

El Media Global
EMG actually built the Twangoo site and with Twangoo probably migrating to Groupon's platform on Groupon SA this solution might also be up for grabs.

A picture is worth a thousand words

noreply@blogger.com (Gerjo Hoffman) — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 10:36:00 +0000

According to Wikipedia the adage "A picture is worth a thousand words" refers to the idea that a complex idea can be conveyed with just a single still image. It also aptly characterizes one of the main goals of visualization, namely making it possible to absorb large amounts of data quickly.

For some context: This is an advertisement for a subscription to recruit reader's grandparents to subscribe to Die Burger (Cape Town based Afrikaans newspaper).

MEDIA RELEASE: Beach goers cautioned of increased white shark activity in False Bay

noreply@blogger.com (Gerjo Hoffman) — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 13:45:00 +0000

The City of Cape Town and the Shark Spotting Programme would like to inform beach goers of increased white shark activity in the False Bay area and are appealing to all water users to be extra vigilant at this time.

Shark Spotters have today recorded five sightings in total, at Muizenberg, St. James and Fish Hoek. Law Enforcement also reported a sighting at Macassar Beach and another reported sighting was made from Long Beach, Simonstown.

High numbers of people are using Cape Town’s beaches currently due to the good weather. The City is therefore appealing to all water users to be vigilant, familiarise themselves with the recent shark activity in the area before entering the water, obey the shark siren, and to take note of the Shark Spotters’ flags and signage for regular updates on shark sightings.

Since the school holidays at the beginning of December, Shark Spotters have recorded 24 shark sightings at Muizenberg, Clovelly, Fish Hoek, St. James and Noordhoek. This brings the total number of shark sightings to 857 since the Shark Spotters Programme started in 2004. This illustrates the effectiveness of the program as an early warning system.

Furthermore confirmed reports have also come from NSRI and Western Province Life-saving from Clifton, Llandudno, Cape Point, Simonstown, and the area between Strandfontein and Macassar.

The increase in shark activity can be associated with a growth in biological activity often identified by schools of fish, the presence of marine mammals and high marine bird activity. Today birds and dolphins have been observed feeding on a bait ball of fish in the Glencairn area. Furthermore, dolphins and whales were reported in the Fish Hoek area earlier today. These observations point to the availability of prey for sharks, and re-iterates the strong correlation between an increase in shark activity and the abundance of prey.

Beach users are reminded that there are no shark spotting services at Simonstown beaches or beaches along the north shore of False Bay between Sunrise Beach and Gordon’s Bay.

Shark Spotting services are available at Muizenberg, St James-Kalk Bay, Clovelly (until April), Fish Hoek, Glencairn (until April), and Noordhoek.

Issued by: Communication Department, City of Cape Town

Media enquiries: Sakhile Tsotsobe, Coastal Coordinator, Department of Sport, Recreation and Amenities. Tel: 021 400 4638 or Cell: 072 626 3669

Apple TV - coming soon

noreply@blogger.com (Gerjo Hoffman) — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 13:29:00 +0000

I'm really excited about getting my new Apple TV. Hopefully I'll receive it before the end of the week, thanks to Andries Vrey that brought it back from the UK.

In the past couple of months my TV and Movie consumption has totally changed. In actual fact besides E! Entertainment Television, and SuperSport I don't watch anything else on South African TV channels.

What I have been doing more is watching TV series's and movies downloaded from the internet. Having uncapped internet makes this much easier and it takes about an hour to download an one hour show.

As soon as Modern Family, No Ordinary Family, Glee or Californication has shown in the US I can start downloading it.

This has really changed the way I use the TV and with Apple TV I think this is going to change even more especially that I'll be able to stream Youtube from any device to my TV.

In 2011 I think Apple is really going to get traction with its Apple TV and building a home entertainment ecosystem that makes it easy to consume digital content.

E stands for Espresso - Top 5 Coffee Shops in Cape Town

noreply@blogger.com (Gerjo Hoffman) — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 12:18:00 +0000

This is my first non tech related post.

Here follows my top 5 coffee shops in Cape Town.

1. Espresso Lab (based on quality of coffee)
2. Cafe Deluxe (quality and price of coffee)
3. Origin (quality)
4. Starbucks in the Southern Sun Cullinan Hotel (just for the novelty)
5. Vida e Cafe (for consistency)

New eCommerce Fashion site launching soon!

noreply@blogger.com (Gerjo Hoffman) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 11:31:00 +0000

36Boutiques is a private, online destination that puts the thrill back into shopping. By joining, you will gain access to some of the finest international and local fashion brands – at exclusive sale prices.

Not just anyone has been invited to be a member. If you are selected, you can invite your friends. It’s still a secret, so please just invite your best friends. Simply submit your details and keep an eye on your inbox. Membership is free, but limited. Click here to join.

Where to iFix your iPhone or iPod?

noreply@blogger.com (Gerjo Hoffman) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:05:00 +0000

My iPhone 3G recently had problems with its volume button. I took it to Vodacare (bought it from Apple just for the guarantee) and was told it had liquid damage!

After losing it with the customer service person at Vodacare, I started with some research.

Apparently Vodacom is side stepping guarantee with the "liquid damage" clause. There is a red indicator at the bottom of the iPhone 3G and even a breeze of Durban fresh air will activate the indicator and turn it to red.

My research lead me to the guys from iFix in Gardens, Cape Town.

Their service is great and they fixed my iPhone in an afternoon (R350), while it took Vodacare 2 weeks to tell me they won't fix my phone.

Support iFix. They repair iPhones and iPods and even sell refurbished units.

They do repairs nationwide and for more details go to www.ifixipods.co.za.

Mweb goes uncapped for R219pm

noreply@blogger.com (Gerjo Hoffman) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 08:33:00 +0000

Internet service provider MWEB has introduced uncapped ADSL accounts starting at R219 per month, the lowest price ever for the service.

Well done. This is going to change the Internet in South Africa and force Telkom to get their act together. Read more here.

Kalahari.net launches eBook Store

noreply@blogger.com (Gerjo Hoffman) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:06:00 +0000

Entrenching its position as one of SA’s biggest booksellers, kalahari.net this week launched its electronic book offering with over 60 000 titles available as digital downloads. This offering includes best selling fiction titles as well as titles across all other genres offered on kalahari.net.

To get an ebook click here.

The Ultimate Monthly Digital Huddle

noreply@blogger.com (Gerjo Hoffman) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 06:06:00 +0000

Its been a while since my last post.

I joined MIH Internet in Cape Town in November and since then its been a bit hectic.

I'll be speaking at Media24's magazines monthly huddle, sharing my ideas on eReader and eBooks.

In the next couple of days this whole environment will change and I'll keep you posted.

Baby 4 sale on SA Classified website...www.dealfish.co.za

noreply@blogger.com (Gerjo Hoffman) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 07:57:00 +0000

Ten gadgets to buy for Xmas

noreply@blogger.com (Gerjo Hoffman) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:47:00 +0000

1. iPhone 3GS - this is still a hot favourite for this summer and while its difficult to find a shop with stock, it becomes an even more sought after gadget.
2. Kindle - order you Kindle from Amazon and start ordering books as soon as you've recieved it.
3. With 2010 World Cup just around the corner, a new LED LCD, seems just like the toy to kickoff the new year. They are lean and mean and the coolest TV's available.
4. Want to become all green then buy a Sun Jar - this is the greatest green geek gadget of the year.
5. Transparent toaster - it allows you to see your bread while it is toasting so you can make sure you never burn toast again. This idea is based on a transparent heating glass technology.
6. The PS3 Slim is the ultimate gaming gift for 2009 and I hope there is one waiting next to the chimney on the morning of the 25th.
7. Windows 7 for those who still bow before their PCs.
8. PowerMat - this needs a bit more explaining, but basically you can charge and three mobile devices without any wiring...WOW, sounds exciting? Google it to find out more.
9. Apple magic mouse - my colleague has one and even though you have problems scrolling on Entourage its one mean mouse.
10. Blackberry Bold - this is lame, but trust me, with the free email and browsing options it becomes a great buy especially in countries where data costs are still high.

Ten ways to be more productive at work

noreply@blogger.com (Gerjo Hoffman) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:57:00 +0000

1. Use SMS and call less especially for yes or no answers.
2. Don't use voicemail and also don't call back numbers you don't recognise.
3. Don't use a fax - time it took you to walk to the fax machine and send, you could have sent up to 10 emails.
4. Don't categorise your emails. Use search. Don't even delete emails, its a waste of time and you'll "never" run out of space.
5. Don't open attachments - they might have a virus attached and will take too much of your time. Think of it like this: it's like practicing safe sex.
6. Use email only to confirm a conversation as it will occupy too much of your time if you use it as a essential business tool.
7. Make minutes of meetings on you laptop while in the meeting.
8. Turn Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites off while at work, it will lead to procrastination and while you start just by poking a friend, 40 minutes later you'll find yourself adding comments to a person's wall you haven't seen since school.
9. Never give out your office land-line number. You will get unnecessary interruptions.
10. Never give out your business cards, except if its Donald Trump or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Bionic Eye app for the iPhone 3GS with Augmented Reality

noreply@blogger.com (Gerjo Hoffman) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:14:00 +0000

Bionic Eye is a new application specifically developed for the iPhone 3GS that enables you to visualize subway stations and Points of Interest (POI) located in your nearby environment, thanks to a unique Augmented Reality functionality using the iPhone camera. This application is available on AppStore.

Bionic Eye :
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZ...

Bionic Eye UK :
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZ...

Bionic Eye France :
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZ...

Bionic Eye Tokyo :
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZ...

Shift Happens

noreply@blogger.com (Gerjo Hoffman) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:09:00 +0000

This is another official update to the original "Shift Happens" video. This completely new Fall 2009 version includes facts and stats focusing on the changing media landscape, including convergence and technology, and was developed in partnership with The Economist. For more information, or to join the conversation, visit http://mediaconvergence.economist.com and http://shifthappens.wikispaces.com.

Facebook: Beats local press on local SA breaking news story

noreply@blogger.com (Gerjo Hoffman) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:07:00 +0000

I picked up an interesting breaking news story on Facebook yesterday.

I first saw it on a friend's status update and was later confirmed when a second friend posted the same update. The news was the death of Izak de Villiers. Izak de Villiers was a former editor of Sarie magazine and editor of the Afrikaans Sunday newspaper Rapport.

I wanted to know more without asking too many questions and visited Nuus24 and News24 without any update on this story. As it was Sunday I knew Beeld and Die Burger would never have this story on their websites as they don't update their sites on a Sunday.

I started to lose interest in the story after a last attempt to look if Google News had anything to offer, but the reality was they they don't generate news and just republish publications (mostly print) news.

It was only this morning that I saw Die Burger covering this story on their front page. It had no more interest for me as I already knew that he passed away.

Newspapers thought that they had the upper hand on local news, but looking at this example it seems that the news carried by social networks are becoming much more relevant and spreads much faster that a traditional daily news cycle. Even over dead quiet weekends.

Will eReaders ever hit the fairest South African shores?

noreply@blogger.com (Gerjo Hoffman) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:06:00 +0000

The debate/discussion continues whether users or advertisers should pay for the creation of content. Possible future business models will probably play out in mobile, web, print and broadcast environments.
But where do eReaders fit in? Is this a new platform or will it be a subcategory of mobile, print, web, or could it even include broadcast in the future?
All of the above is very much content driven and not device driven. In the case of the eReader, could it be that this is its own platform and driven by technology more than content?
It seems there is a global trend indicating that content providers, creators and technology provides are gearing up for EReaders.
Major players are:
Content
• Amazon
• Google
• Sony
• Hearst
• New York Times
Technology
• Microsoft
• Sony
• Adobe
• Apple
• Kindle
• EInk
The recent biggest shifts in the gearing up towards eReaders are:
• Google’s Book Search Settlement (that will make published content freely available)
• Apple’s possible launch of the iPad (EReader)
Here follows a probable future model for SA
• Initial costs of device carried by a mobile service provider (contract model)
• Possible “Pay as you go model” with customer carrying costs
• The device is sold with a data package including monthly subscription for exclusive content (Maybe a Vodafone Live)
• Niche market (Yr 1 initially 10 000 to 30 000 units) similar to iPhone market in SA
• Customers can use wifi/3G to download/sync content
• Email/internet functionality
• Long battery lifetime
Ultimately build a “Walled Garden” approach and anything outside is paid by customer.

Monetizing Newspaper Content

noreply@blogger.com (Gerjo Hoffman) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:42:00 +0000

According to a survey conducted for the American Press Institute, reported in Media Buyer/Planner, more than half of newspaper publishers believe readers will pay to access online newspaper content. 51% of publishers say they believe they can successfully charge for content, while 49% either aren't sure or believe paying for content will not work.

But Alan Mutter, in his Reflections of a Newsosaur blog, said "While 68% of the publishers responding to the survey said they thought readers who objected to paying for content would have a difficult time replacing the information they get from newspaper websites, 52% of polled readers said it would be either "very easy" or "somewhat easy" to do so... "

The survey, which was conducted for the latest in the series of industry conferences this year studying how to monetize the valuable content most newspapers give away for free, shows that publishers who are worried about charging for content have good reason to be concerned.

68% of publishers said they thought that, even if readers object to paying for content, they would have a difficult time finding that information in other places, while 52% said they thought it would be either very easy or somewhat easy for readers to find replacement content.

More data from the study includes:
58% of publishers said they are considering charging for content
49% said they have no timetable in mind for how that will play out
12% said they plan to charge for content by the end of the year
18% said they will do so in the first quarter of 2010
10% said they would begin charging by the beginning of next summer
10% currently charge for some portion of the web content

According to the study:
38% of the respondents say they will limit full access to stories to monthly subscribers
28% say they will likely offer monthly subscriptions as well as micropayments for individual articles
15% expect to offer monthly subscriptions, micropayments, and "day passes"
19% expect news articles to remain free but that they will produce content specifically for the website which would be behind a pay wall
9% say they may adopt a system which would make visitors pay separately for each story they want to read.

For the report presentation, please go to Mediabuyerplanner here, or to review the complete slide presentation of the Belden Revenue Initiatives Survey, visit here. In addition, comments from Alan D. Mutter can be seen here.

Source: MediaPost blogs

iPhone apps

noreply@blogger.com (Gerjo Hoffman) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:00:00 +0000

So many publishers want to launch their own iPhone app. But not too many publishers understand the use of an app except that its trendy.

The novelty elements is more important than the usefulness.

Take a look at the new iPhone TV ads to have a better understanding of the usefulness of iPhone app. I wonder if this is what my journalism lecturers meant when they referred to "News you can use".

Cool new social media strategy for Vitaminwater

noreply@blogger.com (Gerjo Hoffman) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:49:00 +0000

Vitaminwater is using social media (Youtube and Facebook) to market its campaign whereby consumers can design their own Vitaminwater flavour in the "Flavorlab".

Check this video out!

Socialnomics

noreply@blogger.com (Gerjo Hoffman) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:39:00 +0000

I've seen so many of these videos, but the facts are still cool (Which someone will try one of the video's with a different music bed.)

10 questions for outspoken newspaper industry critic: Vin Crosbie

noreply@blogger.com (Gerjo Hoffman) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 07:24:00 +0000

I recently attended a course on the Essentials of Managing Newspaper Convergence at the Sol Plaatje Institute of Media Leadership a Rhodes University presented by Vin Crosbie.

Vin is regarded as one of the most outspoken and expert critics of how the newspaper industry has responded to challenges presented by the digital media revolution.

I asked him 10 questions:

1. Why were you visiting South Africa?
I’ve been in SA this winter for three purposes. To teach Digital Media Management to post-graduate students at Rhodes University’s Sol Plaatje Institute for Media Leadership. To teach an executive education course there about the Essentials of Managing Newspaper Convergence. And to help four Rhodes post-graduate students who have fellowships augment the editorial and business models of Grocott’s Mail.

2.What can the South Africa newspaper industry learn from what has happened in the US?
Quite a lot. The US newspaper industry is imploding because it didn’t perceive, prepare, pursue the correct course when the arrival of inexpensive broadband Internet access would change the way that Americans consumer media. The arrival in South Africa this winter of transoceanic fiber optic cables will begin to the process of reducing the outrageous costs of broadband in South Africa. Realistically, the reduction of those costs will probably take several years. That gives South African newspapers time to learn from the mistakes of the newspaper industries in the US, Canada, UK, France, Australia, and other countries that have had inexpensive broadband for many years.

The main thing that the South African newspaper industry can learn is that when people gain access to a cornucopia of media -- which is what ‘always-on’ broadband Internet access is compared to the four television stations, a handful of radio stations, and a several newspapers to which South Africans now have daily access – those people change their media consumption. Rather than use those traditional forms of media, they instead go online because that can give them much more up-to-date information than waiting for the next morning’s paper or the few newscasts SABC or its competition air daily. People also – and this is very important for publishers to understand -- tend to stop using any one publication for all their news needs and instead visit half a dozen or dozens of news Web sites for just a story or two year. When no one newspaper gets the full online use of people who used to read nothing but that publication in print, that newspapers doesn’t make as much money as it did.

Many US, Canada, UK, France, and Australia had tried to combat those effects by not publishing their full print contents online, but that simply lead people to use other Web sites rather than keep reading the printed edition. Before the world recession struck, none of those newspapers had ever been able to charge people for accessing the newspaper’s content online. Those efforts failed simply because people had so many other choices (broadcasters, news magazines, etc.) online and also because those people were only using any newspaper’s site for a story or two, not enough to encourage those people to pay. Now that most American, Canadian, British, and Australian newspapers are in grave shape, their publishers are desperately trying again to charge.

Many print publishers fear broadband Internet access, but those who perceive its advantages and adapt to it can be very profitable. The Scandinavian newspaper company Schibsted is a good example.

3. Is news still a commodity?
Some categories of news are commodities. Such as what President Zuma publicly did or said today. Or the weather forecast, the price of gold, or the Springbok’s game score. Some categories are never commodities, such as what a reporter discovered that Zuma said privately or a story about a locality that no other news organization covers or any other story no other news organization has.

4. What should print media journalists do to prepare themselves for the future?
They need to understand that people who have broadband multimedia want to see and hear stories not just read them. And almost all good worth reporting should be reported not only in text but also in audio and video. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the print journalist should take those photos, video, or audio. If the print journalist doesn’t want to learn those additional skills, he should simply bring along a photographer, videographer, or audio reporter to the story. However, if the print reporter can learn to be basic -- by which I mean usable -- audio, video, and still pictures, he can then report breaking stories in multimedia.

At my media school in the US , we are teaching all of its students 1,700 students the very basic skill to write, to video, and to capture and edit audio. We don’t care if they are newspaper students, video students, magazine students, radio students, or even public relations students. Of course, most of them will naturally specialize in text or video or audio, rather than two or three of those skills. However, they need to be conversant in all those skills. A guitarist in a band can be phenomenal guitarist, but should also know the basics of drumming or the piano, not because he may ever need to play those instruments but because he needs to know how a band plays.

5. Can traditional media journalists reposition themselves as digital journalists?
Those traditional media journalists who do learn the basics of multimedia can be one-man armies. They might be intimidated to learn those news skills, but they don’t need to be perfect at those skills, just functional enough to get usable audio and video. They don’t even need to carry a professional video camera anywhere. A good example is The New York Times’ Nicholas Kristoff, who has won more than one Pulitzer Prize for his reporting from Darfur and China. He carries a handheld minicam that captures both audio and video.

6. What do you think is the most exciting technology hitting newsrooms in the next 2 years? The all-screen mobile phones, such as the Apple iPhone and Google Android-style phones. Those are capable of bringing the Web to far more South Africans, and people everywhere else, than personal computers can. News in SMS or MMS formats isn’t very compelling. But news in Web format have proven to be compelling worldwide.

7. When will newspapers seize to go to print?
Electronic devices will replace newsprint worldwide sometime during the next ten years. These won’t be as restricted as the Amazon Kindle or iRex or Sony e-reader devices that can be used only to read books, newspapers, and magazines. The successful devices worldwide will be capable of receiving, storing, displaying, and creating newspapers, magazines, Web sites, love notes, homework assignments, office documents, and anything else, and will replace today’s laptop computers and mobile phones by merging those devices and e-reading devices. The forerunners of these device are already appearing. Examples include the iPhone and Nokia’s new netbook computer.

8. Where are the biggest opportunity for traditional publishers in South Africa
Traditional newspapers in South Africa certainly have another five to ten years of life. The country’s economy will continue to expand and develop, which means more and more people will want to know the news and have the income to purchase newspapers or the electronic equivalents. The single biggest opportunities for publishers will be to take advantage of the Internet’s ability to provide people will information. That doesn’t mean just taking the printed edition’s stories and placing those online. It means online services that can not only report them in text and still photos but show them. Don’t just report on the town council meeting, webcast it. Don’t just report on the major crimes, provide people with a constantly updated interactive map of every reported crime. Etc. that sounds like a lot to do in a country where broadband today is phenomenally expensive and only 12 percent of the population has access to the Internet, but it’s not in those countries where you can have unlimited broadband for the equivalent of R150 per month, like mine. South Africa will have inexpensive broadband during the coming decade. Be ready for it.

9. Who are the great digital media evangelist in South Africa?
Matthew Buckland, Elan Lohmann, and Vincent Maher are known worldwide. Art Goldstuck and Colin Daniel are becoming well known.

10. How did you experience bandwidth constraints in South Africa?
Before I came, people had told me about the constraints. But I didn’t realize how bad it was until I had arrived. Rhodes University’s IT department limits everyone on campus, no matter whether a student, a professor, or the vice chancellor, to only about 32 megabytes per day, which wasn’t enough for me to teach my New Media courses. I must spent several thousand Rands supplementing my campus online access with MTM and Vodacom wireless Internet access. When I returned to the US, I immediately and legally downloaded several DVDs worth of movies and music.