The global trend at the moment is providing the same concept online by linking up strangers interested in purchasing the same product/service to (usually) small local businesses who provide the product to each member of that group at a drastically discounted rate. The group buying service is usually a localised service in order to provide deals to locals of their target city/community and the process usually works in the following way:

Want today’s deal? Just click “Buy” before the sale expires. If the minimum number of people sign up for the offer by the time it ends, you’ll get a printable certificate in your inbox the next day you can use whenever you like. If not enough people join, no one gets the deal and you don’t get charged a cent.

Mashable’s Pete Cashmore wrote an interesting article for CNN in which he outlines the trend at the beginning of 2010. The trend has continued throughout 2010 with dozens of websites springing up following the hugely successful Groupon. This trend has also made it to South Africa with some local group buying websites who are already offering group buying deals (see below).

I personally believe this strategy provides a unique and inspired way for small businesses to market themselves and gain new customers. Do you believe this model will work in South Africa?

The two biggest Group Buying services in South Africa currently are WiCount and Twangoo. WiCount is currently only offering deals in Joburg, but Cape Town and Durban offerings are planned (Score! Use the following promo code on WiCount to get 20% off your first purchase: Mathew-gs). Twangoo covers Cape Town as well as Joburg, with plans to offer deals in most major South African cities. Justhenga and EishCoupon are two other group buying services in South Africa. Twangoo, however, definitely is my service of choice and I’ve already purchased a few of their incredible deals.

Check out the Twangoo video after the jump for an explanation of the service:

UPDATE:

Another South African tuangou service has hit the web: UbuntuDeal

Not only does this service provide a secure backup system for your important documents and files using Amazon S3 storage, but all data is transferred using a secure connection and encrypted with AES-256. Any changes you make to files you store in Dropbox are automatically synced to the cloud via the Dropbox web service and to any other computers you have linked to your Dropbox account. For extra peace of mind, previous versions of your files are kept on Dropbox so that you can revert to previous file versions, or recover accidentally deleted files.

For us South African users concerned about bandwidth, Dropbox is particularly useful; not only will syncing default to 75% of your connection speed so as to not impede your regular browsing, but Dropbox will also only sync the part of the file that has been changed and sync local copies of files for devices connected to the same LAN.

And for when you’re not a near a computer, Dropbox has apps available for Blackberry, Android, iPhone and iPad which makes all your important data virtually ubiquitous. If that wasn’t enough to convince you, you are also very easily able to share files/folders with others. I could easily copy my concert photos to a Dropbox folder and then share that folder with friends who would have instant access to my photos.

Dropbox is a Freemium service which provides new users with 2GB of free space, which is definitely sufficient for most people’s important documents/files. However, you may purchase 50GB for $10/month or 100GB for $20/month. If you sign up using the following link, however, you’ll get an extra 500MB gratis: http://db.tt/J4MBhcH

Check out the following video for an overview of Dropbox:

The 13th day of August is labelled as The Day of Long Odds in this book. Now, I am no follower of astrology and am usually rather cynical of the esoteric world, but I do find the allusions to my life quite unsettling in the below excerpt. What do you think?

Strengths

Indomitable
Spirited
Courageous

Weaknesses

Quirky
Oversensitive
Insecure

Normally 13 is not an unlucky number, per se, but those born on August 13 at various times in their lives have to face seemingly insurmountable odds in their fight to come out on top and stay there. Securing a desired position, struggling to reach personal goals, or searching for a fulfilling relationship are lifelong challenges for them. Whether born unusual or made unusual through circumstance, August 13 people have a highly unique personality and outlook on life.

One might think that those born on this day would be depressed by the sometimes crushing weight of difficulties or challenges. Yet, although they can occasionally suffer from quite deep depressions, understandably, and feel beaten down by life, they more often maintain a cheerful, buoyant disposition to the world. Highly sensitive to criticism, and prone to thinking the worst of themselves, they may nonetheless keep any insecurities to themselves and manage to remain friendly, open and above all, active. One should not make the mistake, however, of thinking one can get close to an August 13 person easily; those born on this day generally have to know someone for months or even years before they allow that person into their private life.

Being unique, even strange individuals, August 13 people are attracted to others of an unusual nature as well; conversely they have little in common with straight-laced or highly conventional people. Yet, while those born on this day may soar toward the highest forms of idealism in their own philosophy or projects, they generally remain suspicious of those whose ideas seem unrealistic or overly optimistic. A powerful urge to rebel against any form of imprisonment, fascism or oppression marks this day. Yet, as they themselves have leadership potential, August 13 people must keep their own authoritarian tendencies in check.

Many August 13 people have an attraction to danger that is not so much about risking death or injury, but triumphing over great odds. Achieving the impossible is what they are after, and even the timid born on this day generally reject a life without challenge where safety or security is assured. Indeed, those August 13 people who have somehow managed to remain protected from accident or misfortune are quite capable one day of amazing those around them by taking great risks. All August 13 people have the strength of the long breath—they are willing to wait for what they want, and most often know the right moment to strike. Unfortunately, what they achieve or acquire is not always of lasting value, as ironic misfortunes seem to dog their footsteps. Those born on this day who do recognize and take pleasure in how unusual they are are unlikely to even bother to achieve social stability or acceptance but prefer to cut their own strange path through life. But through all their trials and tribulations, just enough good fortune seems to smile on August 13 people to get them through, and they can receive help at the most unexpected moments.

Numbers and Planets

Those born on the 13th day of the month are ruled by the number 4 (1+3=4), and by the planet Uranus which often indicates erratic, unconventional behaviour. Those ruled by the number 4 tend to be difficult or argumentative, since they often see things in quite a different light from everyone else; because the number 4 traditionally represents rebellion, idiosyncratic beliefs and a desire to change the rules, August 13 people are reinforced in all of the foregoing behaviour. This hot quality is emphasized for those born on this day by the strong influence of the Sun and its energetic effects on Uranus. Although the number 13 is considered unlucky by many people it is, rather, a powerful number which does carry the responsibility of using its power wisely or inviting self-destruction.

Health

Usually those born on August 13 have their own strong preferences in matters of diet, exercise, and health regimens. In regard to sleep habits, however, most August 13 people generally heed conventional wisdom and try to get seven to eight hours of sleep almost every night. (For many August 13 people, their dream life and unconscious are of the utmost importance and they will go to great lengths to protect them.) Whether active or inactive, August 13 people are generally unconcerned about health problems. If challenged to overcome physical disabilities or faced with slim chances in an operation, those born on this day stand a much better change of winning out that most, primarily because they have experience combating long odds.

Born on This Day

Fidel Castro, Sir Alfred Hitchcock, Annie Oakley, Ben Hogan, John Logie Baird, Philippe Petit…

Let us first dispel a few myths about alcohol consumption. Firstly, contrary to popular belief, alcohol does not destroy brain cells and in some cases has been proven to be associated with improved cognitive functioning. A “beer belly” is not caused by the ingestion of beer, or any alcohol for that matter, but rather by eating too much food. No beer or other alcohol is necessary. Rather give the post-soirée BP pie a miss if you are worried about your weight gain. And no, drinking coffee will not sober your friend up, or cold showers for that matter. Research has shown that alcohol, regardless of age, weight and sex, leaves the body at a constant rate for virtually everybody, independent of other factors. Finally, alcohol is not the cause of alcoholism. One US governmental alcohol agency states, “Alcohol no more causes alcoholism than sugar causes diabetes”, while Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) asserts that people are born alcoholic and are not caused to be alcoholic by alcohol or anything in their experience.

Alcohol, however, is a depressant. It does slow nerve responses and causes certain chemicals to be released into your body. These chemicals are responsible for slowing your heart rate, reducing your reaction time, and reducing your coordination. The hyperactivity you sometimes think you feel is actually another side effect of alcohol, caused by the brain releasing chemicals which render the frontal lobe inoperative. This causes your inhibitions to flee your consciousness, and so it is not that you are more energetic, it is that you get up and move around when you would normally decide to be lazy and sit, and that your tongue develops verbal diarrhoea, because there are no internal controls to stop your blundering idiocy.

Alcohol is produced by the fermentation of fruits, vegetables or grains by yeast that converts the carbohydrates of these constituents to ethyl alcohol. Alcoholic drinks consist mainly of various strength mixtures of water and ethyl alcohol and the substance obtained after fermentation is then further purified and distilled and sometimes matured.

One final myth concerning alcohol is that Tequila contains a worm. The worm is actually found solely in Mescal, which is any ‘Tequila’ made outside of the Tequila area in Mexico, much as sparkling wine is the term for any ‘Champagne’ made outside of Champagne in France. The worm is the Agave worm, which feeds exclusively on the Pina (a large 20-30kg fruit resembling a pineapple) of the Mescal plant from which Tequila is made.

Enjoy your drinking. Responsibly, mind you.

To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems. – Matt Groening (1954 – )

Latest update:

We all love a good special and, come winter, Cape Town restaurants usually provide a great selection of them to patrons. This year, however, seems to be a little different. With the upcoming Football World Cup, many restaurants seem to be extending current specials only till the end of May and I can’t say I blame them; what with the sketchy statistics about how many visitors are expected in the host cities and all.

However, many of the restaurants are still offering specials extending through all of the winter months, and my dear friend, Karen Hilliard, is superb at compiling lists of these. With her permission I am reproducing this list below and will update it as winter passes. Please add any other specials you know of in the comments at the bottom.

(The Review column will be updated with a rating linked to a review from Peas and Carets as these become available).

Overall my experience was not as dire as I am sure we have all come to expect from South African bureaucracies. That is not to say that I could not instantly point out any number of inefficiencies in the incumbent system, but I think I am mostly grateful that I managed to spend under an hour in the rather depressing building that is Gallows Hill Traffic Department in Green Point, Cape Town.

I arrived just before 8am this morning and joined a rather short queue, which – for a change – everyone seemed to understand the concept of. The doors opened shortly after 8am and I was directed to the Enquiries counter to my left by a scarily efficient security guard who failed to hear my objections…

You see, I normally do a fair amount of research before doing anything. With the Web at my beck and call, I usually like to have all my answers up front to mitigate any unpleasant surprises. In this case, I had consulted the City of Cape Town’s relatively new Driving and Vehicle Licensing website and deduced from the application procedure that, because my license was still valid, I would need only three ID sized photos and R110, (as opposed to the additional four photos and R45 you will need for a temporary license if your license has already expired).

And, even though you cannot apply for a license renewal online (what ever happened to e-government?), I was pleasantly surprised to find a downloadable PDF version of the application. I chuckled quietly to myself, planning to fill the form out at home and then skip gingerly past the simple folk as they begged for pens, filled in forms on stranger’s backs, and watched me in awe as I paraded past with my already-completed form. Alas, my plans were thwarted, and as I waved my completed application at the aforementioned security guard, she quickly swept my objections aside and insisted that I would have to start from scratch on the green form I could obtain by standing in the queue at Enquiries. What then is the point of making the form available online?!

So, miserably accepting my place amongst the ‘simple folk’, I went to obtain my green form, and it was at this point that the first of my photos was requested… and rejected. “I can’t be that hideous? Surely not?”, I thought to myself. Actually, it had more to do with my photos being in colour. Absurd right? Especially seeing that the application procedure again states that photos should “preferably” be black and white, not “must be black and white”! I still had spare passport photos left over from my recent passport application (which were accepted) and did not want to fork out the (ludicrous) 40 odd Rand for additional photos. But no… Black and white they must be. Why do they not just state this as mandatory then?

Cleverly (and luckily for me), someone has set up a small photographic studio directly across the street from Gallows Hill in their garage and this is where I promptly went and bled out another R42 for four black and white photographs. Returning to the same queue, I went to redeem my partially started green form and ID, and was directed to fill in the relevant sections (A, C and D) before proceeding across the building to Room 14.

Room 14’s experience was relatively painless. I first found a table in a corner and (re-)completed the form with the black pen I had luckily brought with me before I rattled off the location of the checkered block (“Top, Left, Right, Right, Left, Bottom, Top …”) for the eye test while the official seemed somewhat distracted; I’m not even sure he actually listened to my answers. I then had to present the second and third photos, sign twice, and imprint both thumbs before being directed to the front to submit my application and pay.

Overall it was not so bad, I guess. I have my gripes with the obviously flawed application procedure on the City of Cape Town’s website, but I must give props to the staff of Gallows Hill who were, for the most part, very friendly.

Here is a quick recap of what you will need if you are renewing you license (in the near future):

1. 3 BLACK and WHITE ID-size photographs (7 if your license has already expired)
2. R110 (+ R45 for a temporary license, again only if your license has already expired)
3. Your ID Book or valid Passport
4. Good humour

I would also recommend going first thing in the morning on a weekday. They are open 8am to 3.30pm Monday through Friday and from 8am to 10am on Saturdays, but I have heard of long waits during lunchtimes and on Saturdays.

Please add your experiences and suggestions in the comments below.

Being the total geek perfectionist that I am, I wanted to contextually link my bio to a page describing the typical Capetonian, but was stumped by the complete lack of any definition for one on the WWW. Even Urban Dictionary returned nothing beside the generic etymological definition, “Someone from Cape Town”.

So, in my efforts to link to something more substantial, I decided to write a post describing the typical Capetonian myself.

Yes, I hear your grunts and gripes about there being no such thing as a “typical” Capetonian because none of us like to be pigeon-holed. But stereotyping is unavoidable and inevitable in contemporary society; a society which is inundated with a constant overload of information. We have to label things based on general conception in order to simply cope and to manage our perceptions. And so, with the help of some Tweeps (see below), I managed to compile some of the characteristics of a typical Capetonian. Yes, Capetonians are diverse, but, for the most part, there are some qualities we tend to share (in no particular order):

• Laid back\Unpressured – Being surrounded by beautiful beaches brings out the surfer in all of us.
• Always late – Capetonians are notorious for working on Cape Town time. Phrases such as “now, now” and “just now” confound visitors. “Arrive at 7pm” generally translates to “come some time after 7.30pm or not”. Cape Town offices are open from Monday to Friday in theory, but try and get something accomplished in Cape Town after Thursday and you’ll be in for a surprise.
• Always lus for a Braai, Beer and/or Surf – Enough said.
• Geographically Snobby – Capetonians tend to think their City is the best, especially within South Africa. And why shouldn’t we?
• Aloof – Perhaps related to the above, or by our sense of independence from the rest of the South Africa, Capetonians tend to have an air of superiority.
• Cliquey – Newcomers to Cape Town sometimes find it difficult to break into Cape Town’s social cliques. These cliques are often formed during a stint at an elite private school.
• Accepting – In spite of the above, Capetonians can also be warm and accepting and are usually quick to react to aid in another’s plight.

This list is, naturally, incomplete so please go ahead and add your views and opinions on Cape Town’s inhabitants in the comments below.

Props to the following Tweeple who replied to my plea on Twitter: @CapeTown, @DeborahCarrao, @mirfaan, @allyphint, @mishkatjie, @rethavs and @Leeontwitta. Shot!

For good measure, I’ve also added a YouTube video below which I created while homesick in Brazil. It showcases pictures of South Africa (mostly Cape Town) with a local music backtrack. Enjoy my shameless self-promotion.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tubZE-i05Dk