tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727260224166364622Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:32:34 +0000Survive the information age. Discover and learn about all things Internet and how it touches your business ...and the business of life. Sense of humor required. South African readers and technophobes are particularly welcome.http://blog.gezact.com/noreply@blogger.com (Waldo Louw)Blogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727260224166364622.post-1708079358555781249Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:29:00 +00002009-11-09T14:47:01.516+02:00I've been working in the IT industry for 20 years: By age 13, I could write programs.Back then Google did not exist and due to the idiocy of Apartheid, South Africa was isolated. We could not buy books, software, tools or training material from overseas, so we had to learn the hard way: - by hacking 16 hours a day while guzzling enough paint stripper (aka coffee) to wake up a Telkom employee.We http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gezact/~3/hVBhzUzeyw4/mental-napalm-and-five-new-lessons-i.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Waldo Louw)7<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Gezact/~4/hVBhzUzeyw4" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.gezact.com/2009/11/mental-napalm-and-five-new-lessons-i.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727260224166364622.post-2115951657099145752Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:32:00 +00002009-09-25T12:45:54.468+02:00I remember when I was about 9 or 10 years old, my mother owned a small red Datsun car. It gave her endless hassles - mainly because it was serviced maybe twice in it's decade long file.It was about 120...in car years...and much of those were spent driving (proverbial) dirt roads.Trying to start the car in the mornings was an exercise in faith: Many mornings it refused point blank to start until http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gezact/~3/g8NxQbDBjJM/spring-clean-tuning-your-windows-xp.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Waldo Louw)3<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Gezact/~4/g8NxQbDBjJM" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.gezact.com/2009/09/spring-clean-tuning-your-windows-xp.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727260224166364622.post-6651757218804220667Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:35:00 +00002009-08-07T13:51:08.403+02:00Hectic! Awesome! Wicked!I believe "sick!" is also a term used to mean "good"...or "cool". And "cool" means, well, "good" to us old folk who were born before 1980. What is with that? How did "cool" become "sick"? Wtf? (What the flip)I spent a lot of time feeling old lately because Cozahost turned 10 years old in July. To put that in perspective:In 1990 Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau proposed http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gezact/~3/lCswOh8IwK0/ten-candles.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Waldo Louw)3<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Gezact/~4/lCswOh8IwK0" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.gezact.com/2009/08/ten-candles.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727260224166364622.post-2354697811392883733Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:18:00 +00002009-06-12T13:05:13.461+02:00I was 13 when I spent my entire 3 week school vacation learning how to program my Sinclear ZX81 computer. Days and nights disappeared in for loops, variable assignments, gotos and the paraphernalia that makes up the BASIC programming language. The machine had 1 Kb of memory (that's 0.0001 Megabyte or precisely 1024 letters). No hard disk. No stiffy drive. No data storage of any kind. When http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gezact/~3/B2XgFzyrrI0/infinite-computing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Waldo Louw)8<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Gezact/~4/B2XgFzyrrI0" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.gezact.com/2009/06/infinite-computing.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727260224166364622.post-4563261719044872721Fri, 22 May 2009 10:46:00 +00002009-05-22T12:53:41.910+02:00In a previous post about cell phones, dentures and public swimming pools, I talked about how pervasive technology became. Everybody has a cell phone and they take it everywhere. Thing is, internet access via cell phones are still a bit voodoo to many users - so that is what this post about: un-voodoo'ing internet access via your cell phone.The first thing to mention is that most "old" cell http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gezact/~3/6Y4RzvpNyo0/un-voodooing-internet-access-via-your.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Waldo Louw)3<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Gezact/~4/6Y4RzvpNyo0" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.gezact.com/2009/05/un-voodooing-internet-access-via-your.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727260224166364622.post-9162051909110982101Fri, 08 May 2009 08:27:00 +00002009-05-11T09:48:33.036+02:00If you don't own your organization's domain name you can be abused, threatened, ridiculed, defrauded, blackmailed and worse....anything up to (but excluding) alien abduction and anal probes.I do mean to scare you. It's so simple to register your domain name, it's just silly not to. The cost and effort is minimal. The risk of loosing your domain name to an abusive 3rd party is absolutely not worthhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gezact/~3/d7KxhwB0lRw/5-things-to-watch-out-for-when-you.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Waldo Louw)1<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Gezact/~4/d7KxhwB0lRw" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.gezact.com/2009/05/5-things-to-watch-out-for-when-you.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727260224166364622.post-229998528210812020Fri, 08 May 2009 08:21:00 +00002009-05-08T10:37:47.962+02:00How many phone numbers do you know? Off-hand I mean - in your head?Not a lot I'll bet. Most people rely on their personal phone books on their cell phones, computers or paper.I don't even remember my own cell number most of the times...and that's not (just) because I hate phone calls.I don't try to remember my own phone number (or anyone else's for that matter) because I have a theory that my http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gezact/~3/D-shO32_g48/true-unsung-hero-of-internet.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Waldo Louw)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Gezact/~4/D-shO32_g48" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.gezact.com/2009/05/true-unsung-hero-of-internet.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727260224166364622.post-1036588005894100330Fri, 17 Apr 2009 09:37:00 +00002009-04-17T11:46:07.989+02:00We are a connected nation - despite the spectacular failure of the Government's policy of "managed liberalization". For many years Telkom was allowed to starve South Africans of bandwidth. 1 Gb of capacity in South Africa costs about R 50.00, as opposed to about R 2.00 in the USA. The CITY of Luxemburg has about the same amount of internet capacity as the entire South African nation.Insane.Andhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gezact/~3/KejcfZW-QlY/cell-phones-dentures-public-swimming.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Waldo Louw)2<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Gezact/~4/KejcfZW-QlY" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.gezact.com/2009/04/cell-phones-dentures-public-swimming.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727260224166364622.post-8156606724282275953Fri, 03 Apr 2009 10:17:00 +00002009-04-03T13:41:54.339+02:00Take this "now": You are reading this for the first time. That "now".N o w.This now will he will be forever gone - after you read this sentence.Poof! That's it - gone.We are now in another (next), now. You can never, ever, in all eternity, read the previous paragraphs again for the first time. You can read the next paragraph for the first time to repeat the experiment (in the future), but the http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gezact/~3/tOgfpRwYqYs/time-is-weird-thing-tie-your-brain-into.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Waldo Louw)1<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Gezact/~4/tOgfpRwYqYs" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.gezact.com/2009/04/time-is-weird-thing-tie-your-brain-into.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727260224166364622.post-7838783539008709389Fri, 27 Mar 2009 08:27:00 +00002009-03-27T11:03:32.882+02:00After the last post about Brandy's propensity to bite the hand that feeds it, I've had to endure countless innuendos about Zorro's manliness, and, by association, my own. So, last night after dinner and a few stiff digestives, I decided to post a picture of Zorro making his scary face (on the left).A picture fit to make Cujo wet his panties and go hide under the bed.Proof beyond doubt that he is http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gezact/~3/Bf9btxYMmhc/after-dinner-and-few-stiff-digestives-i.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Waldo Louw)2<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Gezact/~4/Bf9btxYMmhc" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.gezact.com/2009/03/after-dinner-and-few-stiff-digestives-i.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727260224166364622.post-212823186593264677Fri, 13 Mar 2009 08:51:00 +00002009-03-13T11:14:59.751+02:00I told you about my Labrador, Zorro: A big black guy. He is 10 or so, but seems to believe (and behave as if) he is still a puppy. He poops more than I feed him. Everything is his favorite: Eating. Sleeping. Pooping. Playing. Birds. Cats. Snakes. Sticking his head under water. His collection of toys. E-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g.This dog is so docile, I've seen a three year old dig a bone out http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gezact/~3/GVoJcua9h3A/always-assume-postitive-intent-but.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Waldo Louw)2<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Gezact/~4/GVoJcua9h3A" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.gezact.com/2009/03/always-assume-postitive-intent-but.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727260224166364622.post-8273905457188766350Fri, 13 Feb 2009 11:04:00 +00002009-02-16T08:41:33.935+02:00It's all doom and gloom whenever the economy is mentioned: Global recession, financial markets melt-down, the end of the world is nigh. It is a fact that the global economy is in a nose dive. Hundreds of thousands of people will loose their jobs in South Africa. Everybody is saying so. It must be true. The end of the world is nigh. So, what are we to do? Duck our heads, huddle together http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gezact/~3/QMihsVOX7nQ/penguins-are-going-to-die.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Waldo Louw)2<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Gezact/~4/QMihsVOX7nQ" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.gezact.com/2009/02/penguins-are-going-to-die.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727260224166364622.post-8971464746504844067Fri, 13 Feb 2009 10:27:00 +00002009-02-13T12:55:21.954+02:00My argument was flawless. Eloquent. Powerful. Super relative.Satisfied, I put down my drink on the little table next to me and leaned forward to check on the large black pot happily bubbling on the fire. I lifted the lid waved the aroma to my face, sniffed, nodded and stuck the wooden spoon down the side to check the moisture level. It was perfect, so I pretended to add a little salt. You http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gezact/~3/lzo3sEf0-To/be-careful-what-you-thinkand-drink.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Waldo Louw)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Gezact/~4/lzo3sEf0-To" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.gezact.com/2009/02/be-careful-what-you-thinkand-drink.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727260224166364622.post-8493313977548126925Fri, 30 Jan 2009 11:58:00 +00002009-01-30T14:04:57.359+02:00O-oh!  Eish!  Wow!  Splat! That was the sound track for the last year.  2008 was weird:O-oh! The world sees the start of the worst economic crisis since the great depression: Lehman Brothers bank file for bankruptcy with US$ 613 billion debt.  That's more than South Africa's 2008 gross domestic product (of US$ 506 billion).  Oil reaches US$ 147 a barrel.  In November 2008, 500 000 people loose http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gezact/~3/fN14vX0396Y/2009-in-crystal-ball.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Waldo Louw)3<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Gezact/~4/fN14vX0396Y" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.gezact.com/2009/01/2009-in-crystal-ball.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727260224166364622.post-695603805848420319Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:48:00 +00002010-02-09T12:28:55.117+02:00The wet rooikrans was giving me a hard time.The smoke from my fire was starting to obscure the airport. I noticed the incoming aircraft deviated from their normal approach to avoid the plume. I was starting to worry I might get mistaken for an incompetent suicide bomber...you know: the slowly exploding kind.Wet braai wood really sucks, but that was not what put me in this murderous mood.No.It washttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gezact/~3/epc5hDAq6D4/i-hate-phone-calls.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Waldo Louw)5<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Gezact/~4/epc5hDAq6D4" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.gezact.com/2008/11/i-hate-phone-calls.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727260224166364622.post-6257535581252568522Fri, 14 Nov 2008 07:57:00 +00002008-11-14T10:30:52.543+02:00"Getting things done" it's called. It was lying there on my shelf, on eye level, burning holes in my consciousness. A productivity book. Another not-done thing.Couldn't get started on this blog (and a zillion other things), so I ordered a book to teach me how to...err...get things done. Until last night it was lying there in silent accusation.I eventually gave up and started reading.About 40 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gezact/~3/j0vuQTxM51I/book-that-was-staring-at-me.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Waldo Louw)3<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Gezact/~4/j0vuQTxM51I" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.gezact.com/2008/11/book-that-was-staring-at-me.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727260224166364622.post-7887084169610671341Tue, 11 Nov 2008 08:21:00 +00002008-11-11T10:50:04.992+02:00As the priest of the "Value-for-money-cult" would whisper reverently: "this is a good value." The Asus eee is a modern day computer appliance. Simple, effective and best of all: you can sneak one into a braai if, say, some emergency image manipulation and Facebook upload would be required to put some or other idjit in his place.Because of my previous sins, I bought mine about a month ago and http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gezact/~3/gTFsw3rnalM/extreme-value-alert-on-asus-eee.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Waldo Louw)3<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Gezact/~4/gTFsw3rnalM" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.gezact.com/2008/11/extreme-value-alert-on-asus-eee.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727260224166364622.post-4858688493737567570Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:07:00 +00002008-11-07T14:13:01.201+02:00Friction and inertia are as real to business as it is to a physical body. Huge changes are occurring in the world...Firstly, congratulations to Senator Obama on winning the election. His campaign's use of the internet played a significant role in his ultimate victory. I know my congratulations means a lot to him, and even more so: the undying love of the entire Kenya who scored a public holidayhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gezact/~3/o1suaQBLUyU/frictionless-commerce-and-idjit-tribe.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Waldo Louw)3<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Gezact/~4/o1suaQBLUyU" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.gezact.com/2008/11/frictionless-commerce-and-idjit-tribe.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727260224166364622.post-4471964973719565604Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:58:00 +00002008-10-16T14:21:41.670+02:00Open Office 3 offers exceptional value for money - but, since it is free, is it really valuable? A product or service can only have value to you if it satisfies a need you have - at a price that is lower than the benefit you get...or something like that. This is how the debate started:The value for money cultAs our culture dictates, most social events revolve around food. As our gender http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gezact/~3/nJE0hXLsT7g/open-office-3-and-value-for-money-cult.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Waldo Louw)8<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Gezact/~4/nJE0hXLsT7g" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.gezact.com/2008/10/open-office-3-and-value-for-money-cult.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727260224166364622.post-2197745597431270524Fri, 26 Sep 2008 07:34:00 +00002010-03-12T09:31:21.036+02:00"What is the password dude?" He was grinning like Comrade Zuma at an arms show - a safe distance away behind the security gate.It was national braai day and I was in no mood for games."Rumpelstiltskin" I said, utterly humorlessly.He just grinned wider."What freaking password are you talking about?", I asked a little more loudly than necessary."The password to come in for the braai!", he said http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gezact/~3/4ThgtFgtTSk/strong-and-secure-passwords.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Waldo Louw)3<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Gezact/~4/4ThgtFgtTSk" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.gezact.com/2008/09/strong-and-secure-passwords.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727260224166364622.post-1777534189226492769Fri, 19 Sep 2008 12:13:00 +00002008-09-19T14:50:48.900+02:00"Web 2.0", I said as I turned the wors.It was that time again. The usual tribe was drinking around a fire and pretending to braai. Smoke was everywhere.I had the tongs in hand, and protocol dictates that I have the right to introduce a new topic of conversation. The guy with the tongs have special status. Chairman of the braai. Mostly he won't talk much because he will be too busy pretendinghttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gezact/~3/_XgKMA8wto4/web-20-and-tong-bearer.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Waldo Louw)3<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Gezact/~4/_XgKMA8wto4" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.gezact.com/2008/09/web-20-and-tong-bearer.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727260224166364622.post-7848506571963823797Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:38:00 +00002008-09-18T11:02:40.333+02:00An incident a few years ago. The names are witheld to protect the guilty:Hmm...having a nice dream. Snuggle deeper into the blankies - soooo good. The dream is about something nice - I don't know exactly what it is about, (the way dreams sometimes are), but it is definitely nice. On the border of my consciousness there is a vulgar, annoying, piercing sound. I shake my head in distaste and fall http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gezact/~3/4gDok02qoKA/morning-in-live-of-sysop.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Waldo Louw)1<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Gezact/~4/4gDok02qoKA" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.gezact.com/2008/09/morning-in-live-of-sysop.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727260224166364622.post-6753996597888016144Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:52:00 +00002008-09-18T11:02:21.103+02:00Googling is an essential skill. ("Googling" is the words the cool kids use to mean searching for something with Google. Don't worry if you didn't know - you do now). First of all we need to understand that Internet search engines are software programs and as such are brilliant idiots. They cannot "understand" meaning or intention - you have to talk to them the way you would to a dimwitted http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gezact/~3/wHXvaHB6GWc/improve-your-googling.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Waldo Louw)4<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Gezact/~4/wHXvaHB6GWc" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.gezact.com/2008/08/improve-your-googling.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727260224166364622.post-3979397274954911970Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:35:00 +00002008-09-18T11:01:46.922+02:00ebookI downloaded an ebook by Dereck Gehl (of the IMC) where he talks about what it takes to build a successful long term internet business. The ebook is a pre-cursor to the (excellent) internet marketing course they sell. Very good stuff, but I'll let him speak for himself:Quote from the ebook's introduction:"Before you waste another minute or spend another dime on Internet business training, let's http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gezact/~3/mWMn1yo38Nw/do-you-have-what-it-takes.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Waldo Louw)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Gezact/~4/mWMn1yo38Nw" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.gezact.com/2008/08/do-you-have-what-it-takes.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727260224166364622.post-9181277949875983739Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:20:00 +00002008-09-18T11:01:24.436+02:00A binary computer records, calculates and manipulates by using little switches - microscopic transistors - almost like a child would use it's fingers to remember numbers or do sums. These transistors are so small you could fit a few million in a square centimeter - they are the computer in the computer: Each one of the little darling things have 3 legs, called the collector, the emitter and http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gezact/~3/Wad1MuwIdDU/how-computers-remember-things.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Waldo Louw)3<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Gezact/~4/Wad1MuwIdDU" height="1" width="1"/>http://blog.gezact.com/2008/08/how-computers-remember-things.html