BrYan's Blah Blah Blahg

Student protests: how to protect your car

2012-02-15T11:00:00.000+02:00

Camouflage!

Decisions, decisions ...

2012-02-14T10:13:00.001+02:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

Not that I celebrate such commercialised tripe, but thanks to the protesting students on campus I've got the day off, so I guess I'll surprise my missus with some strawberries and chocolate dip. The thing is, do I get 200g of dip for R20 or 400g for R19? Decisions, decisions ...

International Rugby Calendar 2012 and onwards

2012-02-11T18:05:00.000+02:00

Back in 2011 I posted about a Rugby World Cup calendar for you to import to your Outlook, iCal device (iPod, iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, etc.), and so forth. I didn't realise that Mike Riversdale would continue this calendar past the World Cup and as it appears, it's still being updated for international rugby events through 2012. That's very exciting :)

So, if you own an Android tablet, iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, or such then you can add this calendar to your device to keep track of all the international rugby events for 2012 (and hopefully beyond).

To add the calendar pick one of these links:

Super 15 Rugby Fixtures Calendar 2012

2012-02-11T17:30:00.000+02:00

If you want the latest Super Rugby fixtures list, for 2012, then pick one of these for your desired format:

Click this link for the iCal format (BlackBerry, iPhone, Outlook, Google Calendar, etc.)
* you can add iCal format calendars directly into your GOOGLE CALENDAR account by loading up calendar.google.com and then at the bottom under "Other calendars" clicking Add by URL.
Click this link for the XML format
Click this link for the HTML format
* you can bookmark this on any device that has an HTML browser and you'll always have the calendar directly at your fingertips.

If you want to customise the calendar yourself, then you'll need a CSV format, which you can obtain here. This CSV file was courtesy of Arthur the Grandmaster from MyBroadband.co.za forums and is the root source for all of the modified formats above.

Alternative options:

http://www.ougrote.com/2011/09/03/2012-super-15-fixtures-for-outlook-and-ical/
this one offers a few options but it lists each event as an "all day event" for the day it's due rather than scheduled at the correct time in an iCal calendar.

Free undercover parking for as long as you like at Westwood Shopping Centre

2012-01-22T00:51:00.001+02:00

I don't promote nefariously abusing what I'm about to tell you but use it if you feel justified in doing so...

You know how you have to pay R5 for 1 hour's worth of undercover parking at Westwood? Well, shopping at Pick 'n' Pay gives you 90 minutes free parking but what if you end up being delayed in the queues to pay for your shopping and the 90 minutes expires? Simple: swipe your ticket again!

You see, the system at Westwood seems to work by setting your timer back 90 minutes (e.g. 12h00 arrival becomes an effective 13h30 arrival so at 12h45 the system technically sees you as 'not having arrived yet') but when the 90 minutes is up the system seems to just count up from zero again (you've arrived at 13h30 so it counts as normal from then) so if you then swipe your ticket for another 90 minutes of free parking it thinks you're resetting another 90 minutes (e.g. 13h30 'arrival' becomes an effective 15h00 arrival).

If you are already within the 90 minute cycle then swiping your ticket again has no effect. You have to wait for the 90 minute cycle to end before doing this again.

And yes, I've done it myself and have had a friend do it too so it definitely works.

Feel free to +1 me if this post is helpful.

Download YouTube to MP3 using YouTube MP3 and many others

2012-01-20T14:54:00.002+02:00

If you've ever wanted to download a YouTube video's soundtrack to 'high-quality' MP3 there are a few sites to visit to achieve this which I've listed below. If you use Google Chrome you can also choose to install an add-on that will allow you to do the download at the click of a button while viewing the YouTube video. The add-on is called, creatively, YouTube MP3 and can be downloaded here http://www.youtube-mp3.org/addons/chrome.

If you want to use a web interface then try out these sites:

www.youtube-mp3.org/ the parent site for the Chrome add-on
www.listentoyoutube.com/
www.video2mp3.net/
www.vidtomp3.com/

There are of course plenty more that are just a quick Google search away and also a bunch of add-ons for other browsers - this is simply to point you in the right direction (and if you didn't know it was possible beforehand, now you know!).

Enjoy downloading your favorite Rebecca Black tracks this Friday!

SAOL information misleading

2012-01-18T14:57:00.000+02:00

Dear SAOL

Your homepage announcements are not providing the correct information about comparative pricing between Telkom and SAOL and this is false advertising.

SAOL:	Telkom:
Circuit Speed	Up to 1 MB	Up to 1 MB
Extras	ADSL + 1 Gig FREE + Email	ADSL Only
Top Up per Gig	R29	NA
Price	R299	R326

SAOL:

Telkom:

Up to 1 MB

ADSL + 1 Gig FREE + Email

ADSL Only

R29

R299

R326

The Telkom website quotes the 1Mbps line as R289 (incl. VAT) per month. Your site says Telkom charges R326 which is not correct. Will SAOL be offering a better price than Telkom or should we stick with Telkom for our 1Mbps ADSL lines? In either event, please update your website to the current pricing to avoid misleading potential clients.

Regards,

Bryan Johnston

NeoGo - 24GB mobile data + USB modem for R799 once-off

2012-01-17T15:53:00.003+02:00

"Best prepaid deal" in South Africa at the moment, although there's no mention of the speed for the modem. Either way, 24GB of data for R799 (including the modem) is a very good price. That's R33 a GB which is equivalent (almost) to Afrihost's R29 per GB for ADSL. Just be aware that the modem is CDMA which is a lot less connected in South Africa than 3G...

Teddy Bears beware!

2011-12-31T13:46:00.001+02:00

Teddy Bears aren't welcome in Pick 'n' Pay!

R200 for a wrong flag design?

2011-12-27T19:03:00.001+02:00

People should honestly know better. Not only is this iPhone cover more expensive (at R200) than the rest (at R80) but it's got our beloved flag back to front!!

You're basically paying R200 to someone else to reward them for being stupid and you're also advertising to the (intelligent) rest of the world that you can't tell your left from your right and you're as stupid as the people that make this. In fact, if you own one, you're even more stupid than the designers because they've got your money for it and you're the one showing off how you were ripped off.

Dealify is dead ... Merry Christmas!

2011-12-27T18:59:00.001+02:00

I kind of always knew this was inevitable but for some reason it still makes me a little bit sad. Dealify - one of the social buying sites and arguably the most innovative in terms of being the only one to advertise on TV - is dead. That's right. Dealify is dealifud.

I suspect there are more reasons than I can discuss here but one of the failings is possibly the fact that Dealify was the only one to venture out to mainstream media. Not really sure if it cost them too much to advertise or if it opened up people's eyes to the concept (and their competitors) but it's a pity because Dealify tried to break the mould.

Here's their site's explanation:

This is the end...

It's official, Dealify is closed!

Now, if you've bought a coupon recently don't panic, they're still valid
and our lovely client service lass is still working (very hard) to make
sure your experience with us remains a good one.

And if you're a merchant with concerns about payment, don't be! We promise
to make sure you're paid, after all we're backed by Naspers who's been
around for over 80 years.

If you're a customer and have any queries, questions or comments please
don't hesitate to get in touch on 0861 332 5439 or info@dealify.com

If you're a merchant and have any queries about payment please contact
accounts@dealify.com

From all of us at Dealify we'd like to thank YOU for being part of the
Dealify family.

We wish you the happiest holidays and a prosperous New Year.

Much love,

The D Team.

Virgin Active gym times

2011-12-19T20:05:00.000+02:00

This is for Westville gym but I'm sure it's the same for others too...

Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock Bundle at fantastic price

2011-12-18T09:37:00.000+02:00

At Incredible Connection, today only!

Google sounding the death of BlackBerry or sounding a declaration of war?

2011-12-11T00:37:00.001+02:00

Google recently announced that it won't support the GMail app for
BlackBerry any more. The app isn't even available for download any
more either, it's just gone!

Their argument is that they will now focus on the web based interface instead.

Somehow, I don't really buy it. I mean, they also recently pulled the
Apple app for GMail too, so I'm suspecting this is more an
Android-growing tactic. In either case, it's very sad news for
BlackBerry users and also very confusing: why not leave the app in
place until this new web interface is live?

BlackOps: Google Sync adding entries to BBM Groups instead of default calendar fix

2011-12-05T18:18:00.001+02:00

If you are experiencing a problem with your Google Sync and the BB Calendar where everything is being added to the BBM Groups calendar, I can help.

This was first experienced for me on my BlackBerry Torch 9800 with OS6 and the source of the problem is a conflict between Google Sync and BBM. The quickfix is to uninstall BBM and then reset your calendar sync and then reinstall BBM.

Here are the steps in detail:

Backup your BBM contacts etc. and then remove BBM. In OS6 go to Options --> Device --> Application Management --> BlackBerry Messenger --> Delete

Note: some users experienced difficulties deleting BlackBerry Messenger; in such cases first try to install the latest version available from the BlackBerry App World and then delete it from there; for some reason the default "core" installation bundled with the OS isn't removable.

Consult http://brattex.blogspot.com/2011/05/blackops-that-google-calendar-syncing.html for initial steps and for methods to backup your calendar. You can skip the steps on deleting service books (i.e. do not do steps 3 and 5) but follow the rest.
After you've run Google Sync and verified that it's all in your default calendar ... reinstall BBM.

I would be really interested to know if this solution worked for you so please feel free to leave a comment below or give this a thumbs up, +1, like, etc.

Grannies are for pernonin' n00bs

2011-11-23T10:00:00.000+02:00

Stop the Secrecy Bill today!

2011-11-22T11:48:00.001+02:00

I just tried phoning Deputy President Mr. Motlanthe to voice my objections to the Secrecy Bill that is being pushed through Parliament today. After a very long wait on the phone (call it persistent), a gentleman answered and told me to email my comments through.

In order to assist everyone else in airing their same concerns, here are the email addresses to consider sending an email to, starting with the infobill one first...

infobill@parliament.gov.za

And then also ...

idavidson@parliament.gov.za
gmagwanishe@parliament.gov.za
mmotshekga@parliament.gov.za
nntwanambi@parliament.gov.za
vcalvert@parliament.gov.za

Here's the gist from Avaaz.org so you're armed with a thorough argument, as well as the message that I sent through:

We literally only have hours now to stop the Secrecy Bill -- the National Assembly is called to vote on it this afternoon.

Call Chief Whip Dr. Motshekga's office: 021 403 2288 or 021 403 2280 or 021 403 3860

Call Deputy President Mr. Motlanthe's office: 021 403 2353 or 021 403 2635

The other Chief Whips:

Call Chief Whip Mr. Magwanishe's offices:
Cape Town -- 021 403 2211 // Constituency -- 011 873 7753
Call Chief Whip Ms. Ntwanambi's offices:
Cape Town -- 021 403 2429 // Constituency -- 021 785 4610
Call Chief Whip Mr. Davidson's office: 083 302 2199
We stopped it last time -- after over 35,000 of us sent messages to the Chief Whips and thousands of us took to the streets two months ago, they postponed the vote. Now, the unchanged bill is being pushed back to the floor after a sham public consultation this weekend that was only announced on Friday evening, and the ANC majority could force it through!

The same Chief Whips have the final word on the vote today -- if we call on them and Deputy President Motlanthe, the one outspoken ANC MP, we could block this shockingly regressive bill. Call the Chief Whips' and Motlanthe's offices now to halt the vote and protect our democracy -- it'll only take 5 minutes. Let's give them the public consultation that they have ignored:

Suggestions for your call:

Say that you want the ANC to halt the vote and throw out this draconian bill that puts a shroud over government and undermines South Africa's hard won freedoms.
Say that the public consultations were a last minute sham and you expect the process to be revised and a real public consultation to take place as promised by the Chief Whips in September.
Say you specifically object to a Secrecy Law that: gives up to 25 year jail sentences for anyone holding classified information; removes any protection for whistleblowers; has no public interest clause; and has no independent appeals mechanism.
Appeal to Deputy President Motlanthe to use his powers to halt the vote until a public interest defense clause is included as he announced earlier this month.
Ask Chief Whip Davidson to bring the citizens messages to the floor of the debate.

If you get a busy signal, don't stop calling. That means we're jamming their phone lines and the pressure on them is rising!
If it just rings -- please try again later or send an email to: idavidson@parliament.gov.za, gmagwanishe@parliament.gov.za, mmotshekga@parliament.gov.za, nntwanambi@parliament.gov.za, and for the Deputy President: vcalvert@parliament.gov.za

And my message to these people:

Dear servants of the people

I won't bore you with details but as a rate-paying, honest, law-abiding, critical-thinking God-fearing patriot of South Africa I abhor the nature of the Secrecy Law in its current form. I embrace democracy and the statutes of law and justice that our country stands for but without protective clauses for whistle-blowers we are spiraling into a draconian state. The argument that other leading nations do not even allow whistle-blowers immunity from prosecution is irrelevant. South Africa is in many ways a pioneer for democracy and we shouldn't play follow-the-leader to these other nations; we should show that we can lead the global community with a transparent and open society that is free from corruption and oppression.

The public consultations were held at the eleventh-hour and we need a revision of the process and a proper consultation.

Whistle-blowers need a public interest safety net if they are to hold the country to account for dishonest and corrupt behaviour. We also need an independent appeals mechanism.

Deputy President Motlanthe - you have the authority to put an end to this vote in the interest of the nation's security and prosperous future. We need further consultation and better protection for honest individuals willing to stand up for justice and against corruption.

Chief Whip Davidson - bring this message - the message of a nation - to the floor! Let us be transparent and open in our conversation!

Picasa and Picasa Web Albums - Free unlimited storage

2011-11-18T13:47:00.001+02:00

I've been on a quest for a long time now to find the best site to backup all of my digital pictures and videos. I thought I had found the answer in Snapfish but a friend of mine pointed out that they charge you to re-download your photo's at their original resolution. No good!

I'm not on Facebook (and can't really comment on their photo storage options but I think pictures are resized) but am quite an avid fan of Google. Picasa Web Albums was limited to 1GB of storage so it wasn't really an option for me either but I've since learned that Picasa now offers a form of unlimited storage for photo's (and more importantly, videos).

In summary, files under a certain size don't count towards your 1GB storage limit and videos up to 15 minutes won't either. If you reach your quota, all future uploads are resized to fit within the free resolution requirements.

From the Picasa FAQ, the 1GB free storage of photo's and videos isn't affected when uploads to Google products (including Picasa Web Albums, Blogger, and Google Maps) are within the threshold.

The threshold varies for Google+ subscribers and ~~freeloaders~~ people not subscribed to Google+.

If you've signed up for Google+
You can upload photo's up to 2048 x 2048 pixels and videos up to 15 minutes for free (i.e. no harm to your quota). All photos uploaded in Google+ will automatically be resized to 2048 pixels (on their longest edge) and won't count towards your free quota. All photo's uploaded to Picasa Web Albums over the free size limit will count towards your 1GB free storage and once you reach your limit, any new photo's uploaded to Picasa Web that are larger than the free size limit will be automatically resized to 2048 pixels (on their longest edge), keeping you able to upload your photo's.

If you're not signed up for Google+
You're limited to 800 x 800 pixels but the videos can still be up to 15 minutes. Once you've hit your 1GB quota all your photos uploaded will be resized to 800 pixels (on their longest edge).

Although this isn't yet the unlimited storage solution that other services offer (like Flickr), it is completely free so it's a good step in the right direction. Having all your videos up to 15 minutes stored online for free is great (and not limited to going through Youtube any more) and now you have - at the very least - a helpful backup facility to your primary storage service.

Hope this information helps ;)

Keep an eye out for a more comprehensive overview of the various photo storage services when I've managed to put them to 'paper' ...

Sending an e-mail to Twitter, receiving Twitter to e-mail

2011-11-17T14:00:00.001+02:00

I can get lazy sometimes, and if there's one thing I can guarantee it's that my email account will always be open and readily available. I can't always say the same for my Twitter account. That's because I'm lazy.

I've found a way to overcome my laziness with an e-mail to Twitter solution that allows me to tweet from the comfort of my mailbox.

TwitterMail (@TwitterMail or https://twitter.com/#!/TwitterMail)

TwitterMail allows you to send an email to a specific Twittermail email (for example, abc123@twittermail.com) which then tweets it to your associated Twitter account. Better yet, you can also receive tweets sent to your username (@twittername) via email.

The problem is privacy. For TwitterMail to work you need to share your twitter account with them. For some people, this may be a problem. For others (like me), it's not such a big deal because it's not like a rogue Twitter thief would be able to do much with my Twitter account anyway!

For a bit of piece of mind, it uses The Visitor Widget to authenticate on http://twittercounter.com/pages/twittermail without sharing your Twitter password (which allows the application to read tweets from your timeline, see who you follow, follow new people, update your profile, and post tweets for you; it will not be able to access your direct messages or see your Twitter password). You can also revoke access at any time by going to your Applications tab of your Settings page - good enough?

Additional features of TwitterMail include:

send a message with "friends" as the subject to your twittermail address and you'll be sent back a list of the latest twenty postings from your pals.
tweet to your heart's content and let TwitterMail automatically truncate the tweet with a "read more" link
delay tweets for a specific date and time
convert longer URLs to shorter versions
Tweets sent during Twitter downtime will be automatically published once Twitter comes back online

Twittermail.com in their own words:

“When you give us your Twitter credentials we supply you with a TwitterMail email address. For instance abcdef1234@twittermail.com. If you send an email to that address it will be posted to Twitter.com. Receive your latest twitter-replies automatically by e-mail! Send an e-mail to your secret TwitterMail address. The body of the message will be published in your Twitter Profile. For a normal message, you should always leave the subject-line empty.”

Check them out over here: http://twittercounter.com/pages/twittermail.

TwitterCounter is the parent site for TwitterMail, and also offers its own range of features (including milestone notifications, weekly email updates of your Twitter account, etc.) so go and check them out!

In Your Arms - Kina Grannis

2011-11-17T13:25:00.001+02:00

Fan of stop motion?

Ever tried to create a stop motion video yourself?

If you have, then you'll appreciate the immense labour of love that this music video is.

22 months.
1,357 hours.
30 people.
2 ladders.
1 camera.
288,000 jelly beans.

Hotprints is going!!

2011-11-17T10:40:00.001+02:00

It sometimes feels like things that are too good to be true just really are too good to be true, and in terms of a free online photobook printing service, poor Hotprints couldn't keep out of reach of the cold icy deathgrip of economic reality, even though they gave a good (two year long) fight.

I only discovered Hotprints a few weeks ago and have already ordered a test sample to see just how good they are for their 'free' pricetag. I'm still waiting in anticipation to see what my photobook looks like if / when it arrives.

The model was simple: you pay $4 for international shipping and get an advertising leaflet in the photobook to subsidise the cost of the prints.

Alas, I had hoped to reveal this modern wonder to the world with an in-depth review of a tangible product but now it seems this venture is pointless. Hotprints closes down at the end of the month, so if you want to try them out you have until end of Friday 18 November to place an order.

Sad. So very sad. It was a great concept and unfortunately just not a sustainable model, it seems.

Give them a try if you want ... You've got one day left.

Star Wars legacy collection!

2011-11-14T14:46:00.000+02:00

Takes me back almost 30 years!!! I want!!!

In less than an hour ...

2011-11-11T10:11:00.000+02:00

The time, date, and so on will read as follows:

11/11/11 11:11:11

(2011/11/11 at 11h11m11s)

That really won't happen again except in 12 hours' time so you have this momentous occasion and only for a second. Enjoy it. Remember where you are and what you were doing when that second passed you by.

Get your free copy of Eish Magazine - Online!

2011-11-10T14:46:00.000+02:00

Durban's one and only lifestyle magazine for the hot, smart and trendy hits the streets now...

Read about...

> The musical resurrection of Durban's local band Habit To
> We take a trip to Hawaii for the ultimate surf experience with surf photographer, Ryan Janssens.
> SA Fashion Week's business of fashion, read about how it all went down in Sandton.
> Some inside information for the guys...How to get a girl?
> Want to succeed as a freelance photographer? Andrew Brauteseth is that guy with a camera...
> People watching at Follow you Art and Interpret Durban... inside this issue of Eish.

For trends, fashion, lifestyle and how society gets high on life!

Get your complimentary issue NOW!

Facebook : Eish Magazine

Twitter : eish_mag

and

http://eishmagazine.tumblr.com/

Playlist Central - Free music streaming for South Africa on cellphone or PC

2011-11-07T15:11:00.001+02:00

[ UPDATE 2011-11-07:
Under the "more" button at the top you can generate a random playlist from 5 to 50 songs from 'any' genre and year. There is also support for cellphone streaming and ... interestingly ... uploading songs?

UPDATE 2011-12-05:
I noticed a few weeks ago that this site was no longer accessible and now when you go there it says "account suspended" so I guess it's back to the old drawing board, or www.grooveshark.com for your music fix :)

END OF UPDATE ]

When I was in the U.S.A. I was overwhelmingly convinced that Pandora music service would be the next big thing to hit the world of internet music streaming. When I returned to South Africa I was heartbroken to discover that it's limited to U.S.A. and I would never be able to partake of the juicy goodness that lies in Pandora outside of the States.

Almost two years later, a poor substitute has surfaced in South Africa called Playlist Central which boasts (at time of post) more than 76GB of 64Kbps MP3 music (that adds up to more than 1200 artists, 2900 albums, almost forty thousand songs, or in other language - one thousand two hundred hours [forty nine days of non-stop music]) that is free-to-play online.

Some may argue that forty thousand free-to-play songs online for South Africans isn't a poor substitute but clearly those 'some' haven't tried out Pandora! Since this post isn't about Pandora I won't do a comparison and will focus more on Playlist Central and what it offers in a South African context.

Playlist Central is currently in a beta offering but from what I've tried in the afore-mentioned context of available South Africa services it's fantastic. Sporting a range of artists from A-Z including the likes of Abba, Seether, Breaking Benjamin, Adele, and Sepultura there's sure to be something for everyone.

The controls aren't too complicated and you can even set up your own playlists. I am not one hundred percent convinced that this service is completely legitimate (having said that, any would-be music broadcaster can obtain rights to broadcast so why would the medium of internet broadcasting be any different than a radio broadcast?) or that it will survive being free but on the surface it has a lot of promise. ~~If the developers of this service can improve the way you can pick up random music to play then I think it will be a huge hit.~~ At the moment, from my dabblings, you have to manually pick the albums / artists / songs you want to play but with the ability to set up a playlist it's not too much of an effort. ~~I would have preferred a randomiser to just login and play random songs (ala Pandora) but no matter, it's a great alternative for online-music-streaming starved South Africans.~~

The introduction to Playlist central reads as follows:

Welcome to Playlist Central!

Playlist Central is a free, cloud music service, providing ubiquitous access to a substantial music archive.

Use it to listen to new music before radio stations get wind of it. Create playlists to be shared with friends or even played at your place of work/ Stream DIRECTLY to your internet radio HIFI and run multiple channels to different parts of your house. All this at CD quality audio! This service works on every internet line available in South Africa!

To get started, select an artist on the left an queue up some music!

Registered users enjoy advert free listening, IMMEDIATE playback and more! All it costs is one R20 SMS every month. No cash, no credit cards, no long bank transfers! Email sales@playlistcentral.co.za for more information.

Here's a screengrab to show you how it looks:

And here's a screenshot about the cellphone support (currently supports iPhone, iPad, iPod, Windows 7, BlackBerry Playbook, and Android).

One final request - if you found out about Playlist Central first from this post, please do me a favour and hit a thumbs up, a +1, or a comment so I know that my posts are being useful :) Call it an exercise in stats analysis (even though it's a mild flavour of ego patting).

Go and check it out: www.playlistcentral.co.za.

Thank you.

20GB prepaid Vodacom data for R499

2011-11-07T10:29:00.000+02:00

Thanks to my subscription to the mybroadband twitter feed I can now confidently declare that Vodacom's latest Mofaya prepaid data promotion is here.

You can now get 20GB prepaid data for R499 instead of the original R3,620.00 - that's quite a decent drop in cost if you ask me (which you didn't, but it's my blog so I'm telling you anyway).

This promotion starts today and ends 9 January 2012. There is no modem and the data summer bundle carries over until the last day of the next month.