Through my own eyes

My Blog Has Moved! :)

2008-11-18T23:28:00.004+02:00

I started taking my blog serious earlier this year and it grew rapidly. I never really received the support from the blogosphere that I deserved, except from a handful of fellow bloggers (and my most loyal reader, Island-Chic!), and many times I have considered quiting.

But I kept at it and months later, my blog has overgrown the functionality offered by the Blogger platform and it has become necessary to move it to a platform that can support a custom domain, highly customizable templates and ironically, better SEO support.

With this in mind, I have launched my blog on www.DChetty.co.za and will discontinue posting on this domain. I will leave this blog up for a few weeks, until all my faithful readers have been redirected to my new domain. I will then delete this blog entirely!

Thank you for your support on this domain and I truly look forward to having you on my new domain. If you have backlinked to me on any of your posts, Blog Rolls, Link Lists, etc, please consider changing this link to land on DChetty instead.

#FAIL!

2008-11-13T18:37:00.003+02:00

I picked up this site on the twitter waves today and found this pic! This site is CLASSIC and is a must see. It has a collection of #FAIL posts that is bound to have you cracking up!

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MWEB Sale Announcement!

2008-11-10T14:25:00.005+02:00

A few months ago, the CEO of MWEB, Rudi Jansen announced that a strategic decision has been made by Nasper's to "auction off MWEB" to a company that can provide MWEB with access to a network.

After months of rumours and speculation, it was announced today in a letter to the staff by Rudi Jansen announced that the sale process has been called off.

"Following months of work and endless late nights working on the sale of MWEB, I am now able to give you a final update on the process. Naspers has decided to end the formal auction process for the sale of MWEB South Africa due to current market conditions. MWEB South Africa will therefore remain within the Naspers group.
An agreement has also been concluded whereby Telkom will purchase the MWEB Africa business. This transaction will take some time to close, mainly due to regulatory approvals that are required. We expect the date of closing to be some time in quarter 1 2009."

America has a Black President!

2008-11-09T13:08:00.002+02:00

This is flipping HILARIOUS!

Nokia N810 WiMax Edition!

2008-11-09T12:38:00.004+02:00

The Nokia N810 WiMax Edition is Nokia's super communication device! Priced at about $495, the handset is set to take the WiMax mobile market by storm!

Check out the advert for the hardcore device below:

Twitter gets AdSense!

2008-11-06T00:46:00.003+02:00

Now it seems that everyone has AdSense on individual “tweets.” At least that’s what I’m seeing on individual tweets using FireFox and IE7 in Microsoft Vista and in XP. I don't have a Mac of Linux machine to check if it's the same on that!

I'm Sorry... but when I saw this, I laughed till my eyes started tearing! This is BRILLIANT!

Click on the image if you can't read the text...trust me... its worth it! :)

44th American President - Breaking the trend!

2008-11-06T00:34:00.004+02:00

Thanks to my mate from iMod, who pointed out that today, the 5th of November... yes "Remember, Remember the 5th of November" can't go without an Obama post!

So here it is :)

If you find this offensive...laugh a lil mate... you are thinking it anyway, you just don't have the Kahuna's to say it!

Sprint & Clearwire get FCC Approval for WiMax!

2008-11-06T00:20:00.004+02:00

Sprint and Clearwire have FINALLY cleared their differences today and the FCC has given the nod of approval for the companies to hit the road running with WiMax! The partnership is set to bring broadband wireless internet to 140million users in 2 and a half years, using WiMax technologies.This is BIG news for WiMax globally! I've been part of a few fairly heated arguments about the future of WiMax and the financial viability of rolling out a WiMax network now, when we have technologies like LTE already emerging in the horizon with a grin on it's face!

To clear that up, LTE and other new technologies will always be athreat to the success of WiMax. Like all great technologies, the glory only lasts as long as the press release of the next technology is still in the mail. But the financial viability is driven by the cost of establishing the network and the cost of consumer products that use the network!

Its that simple! South Africa, you better watch this space for exciting WiMax news ;)

Nokia Rolls Out an Army of Cheap Handsets!

2008-11-06T00:07:00.004+02:00

Just as I finished my last Nokia article, I stumbled across another hot topic. That is the low end market. We have seen the product range go through a major storm of late with the iPhone, the Nokia E71, the HTC Touch HD, etc etc, but we really haven't seen much movement in the lower price bracket!
And this is the cue for Nokia's latest army of budget handsets. Designed specifically to target emerging markets, these handsets range in price from as little as $25 to $90! Most of them come packed with the standard features of late, MP3 playback, cameras of at least 1 Megapixel (but going up to 3Megapixels on the higher end phone), GPRS and browser functionality.

At $25, this is set to be Nokia's cheapest handset ever and it sports a monochrome screen and basic features that we have last seen on the Nokia 3300 :)

Nokia strikes hard in the touchscreen war - Nokia 5300!

2008-11-05T23:41:00.004+02:00

On the back of a super successful full touch screen phone, the iPhone, we have seen just about every handset manufacturer release a touchscreen phone!

Samsungs Omnia, the new HTC Touch range is said to compete, and now.. all hail the Nokia 5300!

This is Nokia's first mainstream handset with full touchscreen functionality. Nokia does have preceding devices that were way to expensive to have taken off successfully, like the N800 Tablet and the 7700. This handset is said to be targeting the sub $400 price bracket with tweaked OS driven by Symbian S60 Version 5 (Yes, I said Version 5!) to push the multitouch screen through its paces!

All About Symbian has done an extensive review on the device and I must admit... the boys at Nokia have been really working hard lately!

Android could hit China in June 2009!

2008-11-04T22:17:00.003+02:00

On the back of a major #Fail for Apple's iPhone in China, HTC has been very adamant to get the G1 into China by mid year 2009. The Google powered handset can already be found on the streets of China for about $580 and with the major uptake on the streets already, it only makes sense for HTC to bring it legally to the market!

The Nokia N85 - WOW!

2008-11-04T21:55:00.003+02:00

The Nokia N85 has been reported to be better than the flagship N-Series phone, the N96, by an Italian reviewer recently and I couldn't help but to first think that this Italiano was high on olives and smoking his socks!

But oh goodness is this a beast of a phone!

Detachable modular cellphone leaks!

2008-11-04T21:20:00.004+02:00

A handset with detachable modules has surfaced recently. It seems that a QWERTY keyboard module can be attached for messaging and std use of the phone, a Game Pad for a full gaming experience and the 3rd module is a speaker for full multimedia playback.

The main unit seems to be fitted with a 3 inch touch screen. This is definitely a pinnacle achievement for mobile convergence!

I don't know who the handset manufacturer is, but well done guys, this looks awesome!

South African Petrol Price Drops!

2008-11-04T21:14:00.003+02:00

At midnight tonight, the petrol price in South Africa will be dropping for the 4th consecutive month now!

Dropping by a huge 45cents, this is a welcomed relief for the economy and highlights the strength of our economy and the ability for our markets to fight off further inflation!

Vuvuzela is going to be 'Legen - wait for it - dary'!

2008-11-04T21:09:00.001+02:00

Click on the image to few an enlargened version!

ANC Game!

2008-11-02T20:42:00.000+02:00

Click on the image to enlargen it!

The Springbok, The Scorpions and The Rand!

2008-11-02T20:40:00.002+02:00

If you can't read the text, please click on the image to enlarge it!

Picasa 3.0 comes out of Beta!

2008-11-02T16:45:00.005+02:00

Picasa 3.0 Beta launched in late September and it changed the way we managed our photos forever. Effortlessly, simplifying photo management, editing and posting to the web.
Picaso 3.0 has just come out of Beta. They have also included video management in the latest version. The site still says that it's Beta, but the download file is definitely the final version. I highly recommend Picasa, download it here!

Audi Stand at the Johannesburg International Car Show!

2008-11-01T18:47:00.004+02:00

I love Audi! I've said it before and you are damn sure that you will hear it again! When Audi launched the new Audi A4, I couldn't help but skip a heart beat. It is stunningly sexy and an absolutley amazing car to the point that I had to have one.

So I am an Audi owner now. My biggest problem with this though, is that every time I see a new model, I start having these cravings and I'm almost tempted to pull into the driveway of an Audi Dealership and get the enthusiastic salesman to do a swop for me!

I've just had a look at the new Audi Q5 on the video below... and those urges are back! Somebody slap me!

Thanks to Zoopy for the videos of the Johannesburg International Car Show!

Free Plugin for Excel 2007 - Chart Advisor!

2008-11-01T12:54:00.005+02:00

Windows only: Chart Advisor, a free plug-in for Excel 2007, takes the guess-and-hope element out of making your spreadsheet data presentable. The plug-in adds a single button to Excel's "Insert" toolbar, and clicking it brings up a window with the Advisor's recommended layouts, ranked in order of relevance. Mouse over the chart layouts to see a preview, then click on "Modify Chart" to filter and change the data being used.

It's definitely more helpful than Excel's default chart and graph chooser, and helps graphing newbies figure out how to tweak their displays. Chart Advisor is a free plug-in, requires 32-bit Windows XP or Vista and Excel 2007. See below for a video demonstration of Chart Advisor's features.

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:3092cdf1-75ff-409e-9bdb-b4a818b39952&showPlaylist=true&from=shared" target="_new" title="Chart Advisor Overview">Video: Chart Advisor Overview</a>

Mobile TV booster for iPhone...Nice!

2008-11-01T10:04:00.004+02:00

Ok, this is COOL!

Japan does love 'em some mobile TV. Now that 1-Seg digital goodness has been announced for iPhone users. The 80-gram tuner provides a TV fix over WiFi and doubles as a battery extender when plugged into the iPhone 3G's dock connector. Trendy sidewalk zombies, the streets are yours. We'll update you with prices and dates when known. One more pic for size comparison after the break.

Update: Official PR with specs (no price) is now out: 3 hours continuous 1-Seg viewing, 2-/4-hours charge via AC/USB, and available mid December along side a free 1-Seg application from the AppStore.

Download Halloween Firefox Themes!

2008-10-30T22:27:00.005+02:00

I'm a pretty hardcore Firefox fan and have posted a few love articles for Firefox before. In fact, I should post a revised list of some of my favourite Firefox plugins soon. None-the-less, with Halloween dawning, the guys at HalloFF have launched a new theme for the world's greatest browser.

Download the plugin here!

Microsoft plans Office Web Applications

2008-10-28T22:24:00.006+02:00

As a clear strategic shift towards cloud computing and recognising the effect that Google Apps has had on Microsoft office products, by offering a web based office suite of productivity tools that enable users to benefit from hosted applications and best of all... its FREE, Microsoft has announced that it will be launching Office Web Applications. This is basically a hosted version of Microsoft Office!

Microsoft Office is still the default productivity suite of choice my businesses globally, and one may argue that this is due to lack of education with respect to Open Source or free application.

This product will undoubtedly shake up the industry and will further drive an awareness towards cloud computing. Is this proof that Microsoft realises that they need to adapt or die?

Microsoft Excel Online!

Microsoft Word Online!

Julias Malame is truly guiding the youth!

2008-10-28T21:47:00.005+02:00

By now, I am sure that you have heard about the matric results of Julias Maleme, the guy driving the ANC Youth League. What I could never figure out though, is why call it a youth league and the guy in charge is 27 years old,

Anyway, you can always count on the guys at Madame & Eve to make you smile!

Click on the image to view a larger version of the image!

Ok bright spark Julias... How do you plan to set an example for the youth of our nation with grades like that? All those who voted Julias into the driver seat... how could you POSSIBLY not ask beforehand?

Petrol Price Cut Regardless of Raped Rand!

2008-10-28T07:23:00.004+02:00

The last month has seen the South African Rand get kicked to hell and gone by a fearful market. Global recession has been the new hype on the block of late, before that it was iPhone and before that it was Facebook.

But even though the price of the dollar is still pretty much the price of a dozen syruped koeksusters, (since the price of sugar is skyhigh...trust me boet...its not cheap!), the international oil price is at a low unmatched in about 18 months. Reported to have traded at around $59 to a barrel recently, which puts it at lows that were last matched in Feb 2007 if I'm not mistaken.

35 cents off the petrol price and about 20 cents off diesel is expected to be announced this friday, which also marks the last day of October. Now, the pattern has been that price changes happen at 12:01 on the Wednesday after the announcement... so if you can hold off filling your tank for about a week, you could end up saving about R22 off your next tank of fuel... thats a box of smarties, a coke and a packet of crisps bru!