Longboarding, also often referred to as downhill skateboarding, has always been around really. It can be traced back to the earliest days of skateboarding. As skateboarding grew, the shortboard form of skating became more popular with skateboarders always trying to come up with more and more technical tricks.

In recent years, there has been a return to longboarding as surfers took to longboarding when there were no waves. Downhill skateboarding is most popular as longboards are more stable for this discipline than their shorter cousins. The sport has evolved so much though that there are many more disciplines of longboarding now. From downhill skating to freeriding, carving, cruising and sliding.

If you are into longboarding, also be sure to check out the forum on the website, forum for longboarding in South Africa. Share the stoke!

So after Googling around a bit I came across an interesting piece of information. It is possible to update your Twitter account using Google. And to be more precise, Google’s Feedburner. It’s quite simple.

First off you obviously need an account with Feedburner and secondly you need a feed to burn (duh). Then once you have your feed setup, you go to Publicize and on the left you click on Socialize. Then you’ll be presented with a few options, you link up your Twitter account and Bob’s your uncle!

But now, I have been wondering how to get my Facebook updates into Twitter. A while ago Facebook changed their security policy once again and made it virtually impossible to get your status updates to Twitter. It’s quite easy to do it vice versa, but let’s be frank, not all of us want our Twitter updates to go to Facebook. What happens on Twitter should stay on Twitter! So, originally I was using TwitterFeed as I mentioned earlier, but then I thought, I might as well give Feedburner a bash.

Now it’s not quite that easy to setup, but once you know how, it’s a blast. And you know at least when it comes to Google, it works!! One difference is though, the update frequency is not quite as often as TwitterFeed USED to be, but it works a charm.

So how do you get the feed to your Facebook status updates?  Here comes the tricky part:

• Log onto Facebook.
• Go to your notifications page, www.facebook.com/notifications.php
• At the top you’ll see a little link that says, “Via RSS”. Click on it.
• Then in your browsers address field. Change the word notifications to status and hit enter. You’ll now we presented with your own status updates only.

And there you have your feed. Pop it into Feedburner and voila. You can publish it to Twitter or just about anywhere you damn well wish.

Have fun

I’m not entirely sure exactly what the script does, but it seems that they get into the sites via FTP. Which means that my PC must have been infected by a trojan which has been sending them my details. I have so far spoken to another developer and have also seen a comment on another blog post about the same guys, here, which suggest that the trojan targets Filezilla specifically and that way gets all the saved login details to your sites. If you follow that link to Nate Stillers blog you will get some good advice on what to look for.

What I have been doing up until now is just to download all images and template folders, delete the entire installation, then re-upload the images and template folders to the CMS systems. Then I go about changing all the FTP login details as well as the admin login details on the systems themselves.

So far I have had WordPress, Joomla and just plain html sites hacked. I have also downloaded a nifty little application called UnHackMe, which helps with detecting rootkits and trojans which your normal anti-virus won’t pick up.

Hope this helps someone as I have not seen many posts so far about these guys. I you have anything to add, please comment here or on Nate’s Blog post.

Needing urgent help. These huskies and their pups will be put down if they don’t find a home very quickly! I don’t even want to know what kind of person can go so low. See the message below for more info.

Anyone want a puppy? Or know someone who does?
Looking for urgent housing for the above huskies, otherwise they will unfortunately be put down.
The female is 2 years old, the male 1.5 years old and the pups are 8 weeks old.
Please email this to everyone you know that might help
For more info contact Suzanne Wiese on 082 640 xxxx.

Anyway, enough of me complaining about humans complaining. Lately you hear people everywhere saying how much they dislike Facebook. They complain about other people that use it all the time, they complain about it making the global village smaller, they complain that it is unsociable. Often these same people will be seen on Facebook in photos of their Wednesday night dinner party, photos of their new-born baby or their drunken night out on the town. Or they’ll be the ones that “likes” everybody’s status updates, photos, video links, blog posts, or whatever.

My theory is deep down inside, everybody enjoys Facebook. After all, humans love gossip. We like to stay up to date with what’s happening in everybody’s lives. Whether you’re a regular, or whether you just login once a week, we all love it! It’s like the reality TV shows when they came out. Everybody was nailed to the TV set, because we love watching drama and Facebook is full of drama.

I happen to visit Facebook quite often as I am a web developer and work on the internet every day of my life. To me it’s just another communication tool, like having Skype, Gmail and Outlook open all at the same time. And then the phone rings…

I remember way back when cellphones came out. Before cellphones, people could only get hold of you if you were at home or at the office. That’s it. It was great! Now you can be reached just about anywhere. But why I bring up those days is, I remember back then how people complained about cellphones. Some people even said they will never get one. It was almost as if people had this whole “big brother” fear about cellphones. Now it is an everyday thing. If you don’t have one, you’re just plain weird (I actually met someone the other day that does not have a cellphone, or an email address for that matter, weirdo). The point I’m trying to get to, if I can maybe stop interrupting myself, is this. My generation were still in our teens when cellphones came out and we easily accepted them. I remember it was mostly the older generation that were scared of them and who said they will never own one. Now the people that complain about Facebook are my generation and upwards. It’s the younger generations below us that are accepting it as the next best thing.

I remember when I started chatting on the internet. Everything was very anonymous. You used an alias and an avatar and no-one knew your real name. It was almost unheard of that you’ll expose your real identity to people in chat rooms. The first time I joined Facebook, I signed up with an alias. Haha! Needless to say, it did not take me long to figure out that it defeats the whole purpose. It took me a very long time to get accustomed to the idea of actually putting a photo of myself on the internet.

Our kids will grow up with Facebook being just another tool like a cellphone. It will probably be so integrated into our society by then that we won’t even think of it as a social website anymore, but more like a service that make our lives easier. Just like we used to crack jokes about our parents being old and not accepting new technology, our children one day will do exactly the same thing. They will probably be like, “But Dad, how did you get anything done if you did not have Facebook when you were growing up?” If used cleverly, Facebook can be a very useful tool (besides network marketing).

Facebook is here to stay. You might as well get used to it. Embrace the change. Technology is here for us. It is here to make our lives easier. It is progress. If you don’t want it, don’t use it and go back to your cave. And if you dislike it so much, why do you still have a profile on Facebook? It’s really easy to deactivate it, just go check under your account settings, it’s right there. Just a few clicks away. Otherwise, just keep your sad opinions to yourself.

Die Antwoord

Die Antwoord is currently a big hit in the USA. I don’t think they know what hit them! Check out this review after their performance at Coachella 2010. I find it quite amazing that people that don’t have any idea of afrikaans or South African culture find them so mind blowing.

Ninja (Waddy Jones and Max Normal), Yolandi Vi$$er and DJ Hi Tek are pure geniuses. Some of the speculation on Die Antwoord just shows that people ‘just don’t get it’. It reminds me a lot of art critics. They’ll take a painting of a flower and try to dissect what the artist was thinking and feeling at the time when in fact the guy was just thinking, ‘Wow, what a pretty flower, lets paint it!’

Ninja and Yolandi (oh and sorry, all cuedos to DJ Hi Tek too) have taken all the bits of South African culture, no matter how crude, threw it in a potjie, cooked it up and got Die Antwoord as a result. No matter how crude the lyrics, the music is awesome and their live performance is definitely ‘something to write home about’. And to think they launched it all over the internet. It’s pure genius!

I can’t help to feel proud to have these guys in our ring. Ninja, Yolandi, DJ Hi Tek, you go boys (and girl)! Enter the flex, access that inner zef and keep making us proud! Show them what South Africa is all about.

Seriously, if any tourists to our beautiful country read this and have any fears, please be at peace. What you hear and see in the media has a lot of hype attached to it. We might have our problems in South Africa, but it is not that bad.

And for those who were wondering. No we also do not have lions, rhinos or giraffe roaming the streets, they are all out in the wild or locked away safely in game reserves!

One thing I must say, please no bad vibes, manners or any mass paranoia allowed, leave those at the airport before boarding.

To put it mildly, it feels like things are on thin ice, as South Africa’s political status as far as race is concerned has never been a very bright one.

But now lets be optimistic and look at the glass half-full instead of half-empty.

We here in South Africa have come a very long way politically. With the release of Nelson Mandela and then him becoming president, there has been a lot of positive change in South Africa. Hey, we’re the “Rainbow Nation” after all. Now with the FIFA World Cup right around the corner, things are really coming to a climax. South Africa is under the looking glass, so to speak.

Is this not our hour of truth. What happens next would determine whether we’ve passed the test and have finally matured as a nation. Someone like Julius Malema who is still clinging to the old racial crap is not a good ambassador for our country, but seeing the reaction from other politicians sure does give a glimmer of hope.

This morning I was invited to a Facebook group called, “Malema, a Love Letter“. This group was started by someone who very clearly looks at the glass half-full. The whole point behind her view is, don’t fight fire with fire, lets douse the fire and educate at the same time. Everyone should write a letter to Julius Malema detailing their hopes and dreams for our nation. It is meant to serve as an eye opener. At the moment everyone is attacking him which clearly is not helping and the only thing it’s good for is to fuel the fire.

The guy is ignorant. He needs to be educated. He is only reacting the way he does due to his ignorance. He does not know better. He is still living in the dark ages of racial divide. It is very clear from his statements and also by a statement made by one of the members of the Facebook group that some black people still go around with the idea in their heads that white people are being brought up to believe they cannot trust black people and that all black people are criminals. This is ridiculous!! And then in the same instance they say that South Africans need to stand together. How can we stand together when this is the crap that are being fed to the ignorant. It’s like the blind leading the blind. It’s a recipe for disaster.

The Facebook group will lead you to this article, Malema, a love letter. There it will give you details on how to publish your letter. Lets show the world that we have stood the test of time and that we have now matured into a true Rainbow Nation.

Then you can’t help to wonder what the real issue behind this price increase is. Is it really to improve the country’s electricity infrastructure or is it merely to line the pockets of the fat cats at the top. I believe it is the latter and I have very good reason to believe so.

This morning The Herald published an article wherein it is stated that Eskom was offered an opportunity to partner with a Madagascar-based company called Cyclocean. Paul Greyshock, a representative of the company, has been based in East London for the past month researching the possibility of harnessing the energy from the Agulhas current flowing off the coast of East London. Greyshock says, “The energy at Agulhas is more than all the coal in the world.” (aaarrrgghhhh, are they that stupid??!!)

Eskom merely had to invest R150 000 for a joint-risk project whereby a test unit is set in place to determine the optimum placement for future units. Eskom said they did not have the finance as they need to take care of the two new power stations in their care. (another aarrrrggghh!!!)

“They’ve been responsive there (Florida),” Greyshock said. “I don’t think Eskom was ready for this – (the technology) may be a bit ahead of its time.” (got that damn right!!!)

Eskom did not comment!!!! (I rest my case)

Apparently the door has been left open for a partnership.

You can read the full article in The Herald here, Eskom snubs ocean energy solution.

How will we ever move forward as a country? Shouldn’t the government be stepping in here. I thought the idea was that the whole world is looking for ways to save resources and stop abusing the planet.

This proves a very fine point (as if we did not know this already!!). Eskom is just out to make more money from the consumer. They sure as hell don’t want to hear about cheaper energy solutions as they simply “cannot afford it” (in more ways than one).

Please forward this to everyone you know!!

Now that I have had a chance to stay there for a month, I got a better feel for the place. Besides it’s beauty, which is the first observation, I now had a chance to get a feel for the capetonians. I suddenly realised that they are not the nicest bunch of people in this country. It seems almost everybody is walking around with a chip on their shoulder. And please don’t get me wrong, I met some amazing people there, but they are few and far between. The majority seems to feel they are somehow superior to the rest of humanity. They are unfriendly and unhelpful. This includes the people in the service industry. You’re almost too scared to ask them for any assistance.

So now I’ve been trying to figure out what exactly this is. I recall a lot of stand-up comedians making fun of this. They seem to think it’s because of the mountain. Like, “we’re sooo cool dude, we havva mountain an’ all”. Haha! I have to honestly say, I think this is exactly what it is!! The people living farther away from the city do not seem to suffer from this, just the bunch living in Table Mountain’s shadow.

So I tried to imagine what Cape Town would be like without the mountain. And the answer is, it will just be another city! Just like Jo’burg or some or other polluted, busy place.

Capetonians really need to lighten up. They’re living in one of the world’s most beautiful cities. It reminds me of the saying, ‘Beauty only runs skin deep’.