Zombies spotted in GAME Pavilion!!

Beware!!

My 11,600th day on Earth!

Crack out the bubbly and get your party hats on because tomorrow (Saturday 4 December) is my 11,600th day on God's beautiful green Earth! Yes, that's right! I'm turning 11,600 days old tomorrow!

What a relief!

The water is still mineral water! I was worried there for a moment that maybe it had turned into sludge!

Remember the Poppies!

Today is the day to buy your poppy in remembrance of those fallen in the pursuit of freedom for the rest of us!

BlackApps: ScreenShot FREE

Enter my second installment of BlackBerry App reviews: ScreenShot FREE by S4BB Limited.

For the full list of BlackApp options, visit http://tinyurl.com/BlackApps or go to https://spreadsheets3.google.com/ccc?key=tzaQAeEd4i1RrTG4_ZO5Klw&hl=en_GB#gid=4



Vendor explanation:

With ScreenShot you can take a screen shot of your current BlackBerry® screen with just one click.

Features:
* Takes screen shots and saves them on the sd card / internal memory
* Illustrated how to for setting up ScreenShot on a convenience key for 1-click screen shot taking
* Real camera shutter sound
* After screen shot is taken it can be sent by email easily
* No time limitation

* This FREE version DOES NOT allow for program options change - if you want to do the following, please purchase FULL version.
http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/3301

* Screen shots can be queued up for easy batch sending by email
* No branding in screen shot
* Options can be adjusted:
-- File name conventions
-- Alert settings (camera sound, vibration, dialog can be turned on/off)
-- Time delay before screen shot is taken
-- Image format (PNG, BMP, GIF, JPEG, TIFF, WBMP)
-- Storage settings: custom directory

What it all means is that you get a free ScreenShot app to use on your BB. It will take shots and save them to your SD card and make a camera shutter sound when it takes the shot. You can then email the resultant file as an attachment. If you want to pay up, you get a host of additional options and features, including choosing file formats for your images and custom directories for saving the files. Of course, the FREE version watermarks the pictures, which is a downside with this app, but it still does the job and while somewhat limited, the FREE version still allows you to incorporate a convenience key and is integrated into your BB menu button.


PRO's of the FREE version:

• FREE
• Easy to use
• Integrated into menu
• Can email screenshots
• Supports convenience key

CON's

• Watermark
• Relatively large when compared to alternatives
• There appear to be better alternatives, but I haven't reviewed them yet.

ScreenShot FREE can be located here:

https://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/11567?lang=en

S4BB Limited can be located here:

https://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/vendor/102?lang=en

BlackApps: SMSRelay

I have a confession to make: despite owning a BlackBerry handset for almost six years I didn't really bother with BlackBerry App's until about two weeks ago, and since I started to dig into them I've found quite a few that are really fantastic - almost ESSENTIAL (oh boy, here BrYan goes again).

I've decided to entitle my series of BlackBerry App reviews "BlackApps" because it sounds cool :)

My first BlackApp review is going to be about SMSRelay by Manse eSolutions Inc. 

Getting the date and time right: YY/MM/DD vs. DD/MM/YY

A recent comment made by one of my readers (yes, you know who you are, since you're the only reader :)) has spurred me on to writing this reply. It's simply to put the world in the know, because I fear South Africa will forever be trapped in the cycle of inefficiency and stupidity until we see the logic in the way the date should be organised:


First of all, I don't change the time standard as my esteemed reader alleges. I USE THE LOGICAL time standard. Have you ever wondered why the USA is leaps ahead of RSA in terms of efficiency and development? Here's why:

USA uses the date format of YY/MM/DD vs. the RSA standard format of DD/MM/YY.
If we had a phone bill received on the 1st of every month, then they would be sorted by date as follows:

USA:
2010/01/01 (January)
2010/02/01 (February)
2010/03/01 (March)
and so on

RSA:
01/01/2010 (January)
01/02/2010 (February)
01/03/2010 (March)
and so on

If we want to file all of our telephone bills into folders, if they all arrived on the 1st of the month, then in the USA they'd be filed in a cabinet labeled 2010 in a folder labeled "January", "February", "March" and so on. In RSA they'd be filed in a cabinet labeled "Day 1" in a folder labeled "January". In the USA you'd need one cabinet per year, and in RSA you'd need one cabinet per day (i.e. 31 cabinets per year).

If we wanted to filter out the a phone bill from November 2010, if it was sorted by RSA format we'd need to dig into the file of "1st's" and sift through piles of notes from January through to December 2000 through to 2010 before we found the one we wanted. In other words, to find November 2010's phone bill, you'd dig into a folder of about 120 notes because they've been filed by the Day and then the Month and then only the Year.

The US standard of YY/MM/DD is much more logical because to find November 2010, you start in the 2010 (YY) folder, then the 11 (MM) folder, and then hey presto, there's only one phone bill in that folder.

I am not for the illogical pounds and ounces and inches stuff, but the date sorting makes sense, and that's how I've always used it.

To verify my explanation, go ahead and see for yourself: click on the DATE tab in your explorer and see how it sorts your files - if it's DD/MM/YY does it help you to find your date-organised files as efficiently as if you sorted by YY/MM/DD?

Prepare your clocks! 2010/11/12 @ 13:14:15

Yes, you got it; another fancy time moment is upon us, and this one is kinda nifty...

12 November 2010 at 14 minutes and 15 seconds past 1pm it will read:
2010/11/12 @ 13:14:15 ... that's 10/11/12@13:14:15 ... set your alarms!

Cool huh?

Google Chrome Options

I've recently taken the plunge to Windows 7 from Windows VISTA (yes, I know... enough said about that the better), and I have had to re-install GOOGLE CHROME (although I still think FIREFOX is my favorite browser ATM). With the new installation comes the usual tweaks, and here are the ones that I recommend you put in place before using CHROME extensively, since they are quite useful and in some respects ESSENTIAL tweaks:

Under Google Chrome Options

• Basics
• On startup: reopen the pages that were open last
• Personal Stuff
• Sync: if you want to set this up to synchronise across CHROME sessions on various PCs
• Under the Hood
• Download location: "ask where to save each file before downloading"

And that's about it. Gosh, I thought there would be more before I started to post this. That's quite embarrassing. Well at least the blog is living up to its purpose: being a reminder to me for things I need reminding of! 

Okay, um... then how about those CHROME TOOLS, huh? Some essential ones (IMHO) are:

• Google Mail Checker
• IE Tab
• Session Buddy
• Show Tab Count on Extension Icon
• Sexy Undo Close Tab

Do you recommend any others?

Taking full advantage of Afrihost's FREE 1GB offer

(want to save on AFRIHOST? http://tinyurl.com/AFRIHOSTsavings)

I may be a Christian (in fact, I am a Christian), which means I am an honest guy as far as I can help it, but it doesn't stop me from still being blessed (or cursed?) with a crafty mind.

You see, free things and me go together like mustard sauce and a boerie roll. If there's a way to score free stuff, or to save, I'll figure it out.

So with the latest craze of free ADSL bandwidth being dished out by AFRIHOST, I came to realise that if you are already an AFRIHOST subscriber, you get 1GB free every month automatically now. What else I already know is if you are buying 1GB or 2GB or 5GB from AFRIHOST per month, it costs nothing different per GB. In fact, as I've always advised my customers and friends: rather just get the 1GB AFRIHOST account and opt for an auto-top-up to your preferred limit. That's the first and most honest way to save money with AFRIHOST.

The second money-saving tip is this one:

With AFRIHOST dishing out free 1GB to every existing customer, everyone already wins if they're a member of the AFRIHOST Elite. For some, like me, I happen to have TWO 1GB accounts under my name, so when this special kicked in, I scored 2 free GB of bandwidth (and I don't think it's port-locked since the contracted accounts let you have concurrent logins) - this translates to 2 * 1GB bandwidth usable ANYWHERE!

• The 1GB FREE ADSL is port-locked to a specific number so you can't use it outside of the number you registered it for
• Existing subscribers also get 1GB additional and it goes onto your existing contract which in my case is NOT port-locked and supports concurrent logins.
• If you run 2 * 1GB accounts it's the same cost as running 1 * 2GB account.
  A more extreme example,:if you run 5 * 1GB accounts it's the same cost as running 1 * 5GB account.
  
  The bonus comes in with the way this special is implemented by AFRIHOST:
• If you have 1 * 2GB account, you get 1GB free = 3GB (2+1) per month now for R58
• If you have 2 * 1GB accounts, you get 1GB free per account = 4GB (2+2) per month for R58
• If you have 1 * 5GB account, it's 6GB (5+1) for R145 per month
• If you have 5 * 1GB accounts, it's 10GB (2+2+2+2+2) for R145 per month
  
• See where I'm going?

Another interesting tidbit is you can sign up with GMAIL accounts and use your email address as with the "+" alias, for example:

• joe_soap@gmail.com
• joe_soap+2@gmail.com
• joe_soap+3@gmail.com

And so on, and earn yourself additional free accounts.

Of course, I don't condone exploiting AFRIHOST since it will only kill them and mean we don't get such favorably revolutionary deals in the future, but I do want to point out that if you're a subscriber, WHY are you paying the full amount every month when instead you could just be paying the MINIMUM amount and still not be preventing yourself from the enjoyment of the full service IF and when you use it (at which point you pay for what you use)? Likewise, if you go the economical route, you can actually double your bandwidth per month for FREE and use it concurrently anywhere you like!

Stefan Terblanche is AWESOME

Stefan Terblanche knows he can fly

Saving on monthly AFRIHOST bills

[UPDATE: The following only holds true for accounts 5GB and smaller. A 10GB account is R19 per GB, but with R29 per GB top-up after that. So this is now only really applicable for 1,2,3,4,5GB accounts]

Many people subscribe to AFRIHOST because of their (currently) competitive per GB pricing at R29 per GB.

What many subscribers don't seem to realise is that it doesn't pay to subscribe to any account over 1GB, because whether it is 2GB @ R58pm, 5GB @ R145pm, or even 20GB @ R380pm, it still works out at exactly R29 per GB.

The benefit of going the cheaper route of 1GB per month is that you're only tying yourself down to 1GB per month: that means if you don't use bandwidth (i.e. TELKOM is down [again] or you're away on holiday) you're only debited for R29 for the month. If you are doing a higher bandwidth deal, you're being charged the full amount regardless of usage, and there's absolutely no need for this!

AFRIHOST offers an automatic top-up facility (interestingly, this was implemented 3 days after I emailed them about putting this feature in, so they took my comments seriously and responded - another big feather in their cap from my perspective) which enables you to set the limit (and size of your top-up increments) up to 20GB for recaps every month, and this method of, for example, 1GB plus 19*1GB top-ups achieves the same net effect (and total cost) as buying a full 20GB account up front but without the committed cost implications at the beginning of the month JUST IN CASE you don't use it all.

Let me simplify this:

• Buying 20GB @ R380pm means you are committing the R380 to AFRIHOST every month REGARDLESS of what amount of the 20GB you use - 0.1GB, 2GB, 5GB, 9.3GB will all end up costing you R380 for the month and there is no carry-over of your bandwidth so what you don't use is thrown away completely.
  
• Buying 1GB @ R29pm means you are only committing to R29 to AFRIHOST every month REGARDLESS of whether you use 0.1GB, 0.5GB, or 0.9999GB.
• The real savings come in when you employ the AUTO-TOP-UP feature on the 1GB account, and set the top-up to do 1GB at R29 each time, up to a number of times that you specify (for example, if you are a 5GB subscriber, you'd set it to automatically top-up only four more times at 1GB a time).

This allows you to still get up to the total bandwidth you want every month without any interruptions to your browsing, but with the luxury of knowing that if you don't use it, you don't pay for it (in the 5GB example above, if you used 2.8GB you'd save R29*2 for that month because you wouldn't buy the 4th or 5th GB).

So what are all of you 2GB and higher AFRIHOST subscribers waiting for? Go and downgrade your contract and enable automatic top-ups instead! You'll save yourself money in the long run and it won't possibly cost you anything more than your current bills are DEFINITELY costing you every month!

Stefan Terblanche is still so fit

[ UPDATED with more entries at the bottom ]


Following on from the mad craze that hit the world a year ago, and in honour of the Sharks impending victory over Western Province tomorrow in the final of the ABSA Currie Cup, comes the next iteration in Stefan Terblanche idioms (* The whole collection is now available from http://tinyurl.com/STisfit):


A friend's offering

• Stefan Terblanche is so fit ...Stefan Terblanche went for a run with Chuck Norris and made him sweat for the first time.
• This subsequently lead to Chuck Norris shedding his first tear.
• Which lead to excessive flooding in America
• Which lead to the start of global cooling

My version of his offering:

• Stefan Terblanche is so fit ...
  He goes for a relaxing stroll alongside Chuck Norris on Chuck's daily run.
• This is the only time Chuck Norris has ever sweat.
• This is also the first time Chuck Norris has ever cried.
• Chuck's tears led to excessive flooding across the world
• Which resulted in the beginning of global cooling.
• So
  Stefan Terblanche is so fit ... That he cools the earth down.

---

Other offerings:

Stefan Terblanche is so fit ...

• Stefan Terblanche is so fit ... he can pop a wheelie on a unicycle.
• Stefan Terblanche is so fit ... if you call them, Stefan will come.
• Stefan Terblanche is so fit ... if you pass it, Stefan will score.
• Stefan Terblanche is so fit ... every street in the WORLD has been named after him ("St.").
• Stefan Terblanche is so fit ... light wishes it could go at the speed of Terblanche.
• Stefan Terblanche is so fit ... he already knows what the result will be (for tomorrow's final), but he's not telling
• Stefan Terblanche is so fit ... he's hot, so HE is the reason the global temperature raised in the first place
  ... but realising that no-one else can live at his level of hotness, Stefan fixed the problem just by being amazing.
  "Wasn't Stefan the reason the global temperature was raised in the first place? So ... He caused the problem, and fixed the problem just by being amazing? Amazing..."
• Stefan Terblanche is so fit ... Stefan Terblanche IS the Force!
• Stefan Terblanche is so fit ... his future is bright. So bright in fact that he doesn't need sunglasses - the sun needs STEFANglasses.

FREE 1GB from AFRIHOST again!

http://www.afrihost.com/secret-early-bird

Get your chance to win 1 million Rand

I want everyone to have a good shot at winning a million bucks. Here's how to do it:

Send UPICK to 32082 to get a random entry for the next 4 consecutive draws.

Remember you get 2 free SMS every week to play!

1GB Free ADSL EVERY MONTH

There have been others to offer free bandwidth before, but this I believe is the first service to offer 1GB free and it's tied into your existing contract (ie. Free bandwidth as a reward for staying loyal), or 1GB free overall, so that's a sweet deal in the context of South African bandwidth right now!

Afrihost is sure doing their brand promotion right (first R29/GB and then BOGOF top-ups and now free ADSL).

Grab it while you can!

http://www.afrihost.com/site/page/free_1gb_adsl_account

Google multiple sessions

One thing that's become a necessity for me is the ability to connect to multiple Google sessions at the same time. Initially I could check my multiple GMAIL accounts (I have one for business, one for personal, one for my Body Corporate affairs) through something like Thunderbird, which does the trick for email, but when I need to access multiple online documents (each account has their own list of appropriate documents online) it becomes a little trickier.

A simple way to access multiple documents is to employ multiple browsers - I use CHROME for one, FIREFOX for another, and IE for the third. This is helpful to quickly identify which account is being used for whatever purpose and you can be online with all three accounts at the same time but for obvious reasons it becomes a schlepp and is pointless if you're using a machine which isn't installed with all the browsers.

Google's obviously become aware of multiple account users and they've introduced Google's Multiple Sessions. At the moment this isn't a complete solution to the dilemma of multiple GOOGLE DOCS accounts, but there are ways around most niggles (like sharing without notifying etc. so one logged in account can do the manipulation of multiple accounts' documents, but that is also a hack).

For now Google's Multiple Sessions is not going to revolutionise my ultra-busy and complex life, but it certainly is a feature to keep an eye on: you can access multiple GMAIL and CALENDAR accounts at once which is certainly very helpful. One anticipates that this feature will be refined over time and eventually replace the little hacks the rest of us employ to achieve multiple access on one PC. Let's wait and see!

Miniature personalised URLs

This isn't a new secret, but it's worth mentioning anyway.

Miniaturising and customising your own URLs is easy and free (at least for now). Check out these sites to get started:

• http://tiny.cc/
• http://tinyurl.com/
• http://microurl.info/

I've already created a short URL to a published GOOGLE DOC which hosts my current curriculum vitae.

http://tiny.cc/bjcv

http://tinyurl.com/BrattexCV

A miniaturised URL is a handy piece of information to add to the end of an email and is also easy to remember in a conversation.

Free legal docs

I've certainly had my fair share of legal wranglings in the past few years, and it pretty much all started when I decided to marry Katherine*!

One thing I've grown to appreciate from my legal experiences is how useful it is to have access to free legal documents with a South African flavour, and finally I think I've found a site that offers this!

http://www.freelegaldocs.co.za/ seems to have no strings attached and provides - at the very least - useful templates to work from for matters ranging from Company documents (CM9, CM22) to Home Affairs documents (Applications for Birth Certificates, VISA) through to Property documents (Commercial / Residential leases, Power of Attorney in Respect of Property). I am very satisfied that there is enough here to play around with for me, starting with Birth Certificates and my Last Will and Testament.

* It must be noted that Katherine is not the cause of the legal wranglings, but marriage was just the start of our dealings with lawyers.

Blackberry Messenger

‎​There should be a law against idiots using BlackBerry phones. Sadly, as the BB community grows, the old grizzled veterans like me start realising more and more how people are grabbing BB handsets for toys and they're totally oblivious to the BB's actual power. I beseech thee, if you aren't running the latest BBM, upgrade NOW! http://www.blackberry.com/messenger

Quick! While stocks last!

TILE SENSATIONS stock a wide range of imported "mosiacs"!

It's X days until ...

If you need to know how many days it is until ... whenever, then you can count the days yourself with a calendar, try to work it out yourself, or cheat and use this handy little tool grabbed from http://www.jarusa.com/daysuntil.htm.

How Many Days Until How many days until an event?            Day 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Month January February March April May June July August September October November December Year 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2035 2036 2037 2038 2039 2040 2041 2042 2043 2044 2045 2046 2047 2048 2049 2050

There are some other handy calculators there too, one of which I've just used work out that I'm 11,555 days old and my 12,000th birth-DAY will be 9 January 2012!

Days Old Calculator How many days old are you?            Day 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Month January February March April May June July August September October November December Year 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

It's all in the Genes this Friday

Wednesday 20 October was National Down Syndrome Day, and the theme this year was "It's all in the Genes".

Down Syndrome is the largest single cause of intellectual disabilities affecting one in every 650 children born each year, and it is vital to raise awareness and make a difference to change society's preconceived ideas and prejudices on Down Syndrome.

Support the Down Syndrome Association of South Africa this Friday 22 October by wearing jeans and paying a 'fine' of R5 to DSA KZN for doing so. There are also skin mark tattoos available at R5 each. Let's help and raise awareness and assist in this important initiative. 

You can call the DSA on 031-464-2055 to get involved.

For those that know Kat and I personally, you know that our whole perspective on Down Syndrome has recently been shifted quite dramatically, so we are passionate about this sort of awareness drive, and also speak from experience when we say that it's as far from your mind as everything else until it's thrust into your lives. Regardless of other factors, I can confidently say that my understanding and appreciation for how Down Syndrome affects lives has changed completely recently - and I am pleased to say that my change has been for the better! Please, consider the simple action of wearing jeans this Friday and show your support for raising awareness. It's very unlikely that you will choose to think about this genetic disorder unless / until it becomes a very real aspect of your lives, but I encourage you to not wait for something to happen before your prejudices and ideas are transformed! There's so much that can be improved in society if ordinary people just take the time to sincerely think about others and work at understanding the mysterious, usually unthinkable, sides of human life.

Below is a photo of the article in this week's Highway Mail.

Tonight, at 8:10pm, brace yourselves!

At 8:10pm tonight, 20 October 2010, it will be:

2010 20/10 20:10.

Remember to record WHAT YOU ARE DOING at this momentus moment (because it will last only one minute of your life, ever, finished and klaar - never ever to be repeated on the Roman calendar, ever).

Software: FBACKUP 4.4

In May I mentioned a software solution for easy backup-and-restore operations, entitled FBACKUP.

Well, I've decided to flesh it out a bit and offer a little bit more of a detailed review about it:

Welcome to a detailed view into an entry on my essential and useful software list, FBackup v4.4!

You can go to the homepage here. It is relatively basic but it does the job it sets out to do and is a great tool for people that aren't that comfortable with computers. 

What I like about this software:

• User-friendly (big buttons to click)
• Can create a shortcut to the desktop to automate a backup (ideal for novice users once you've set them up with the software)
• Supports all sorts of locations (you can hard-code in a network backup point)
• Supports encryption and also basic mirror transfers (so you don't copy the same data over and over again)
• Schedule integrates into MS Windows SCHEDULED TASKS
• Supports plug-ins for the typical MS Windows packages that require frequent backups
• It's FREE
• SIMPLE and QUICK to set up a job
• I can't get over how straightforward it is to use!

Get ready for Sunday!

Don't forget to set your alarms for 10:10:10am and 10:10:10pm on Sunday the 10th of the 10th month in 2010 (i.e. 10:10:10 on 10/10/10). Two moments in time that will never be repeated, and they last for a second each!

Sweet tasting Saturdays!

I have to confess, Saturdays in Westville shopping centres are a boon for the financially astute - so many food chains offer free tasters of a marvellous variety, and despite the financial outlay, their strategy works - I'm a fan!

A few months ago I enjoyed free samples of "My Diner"'s curries which has led me to eat there and enjoy their hottest Pakistani curry: and I'd do it again!

This afternoon Megan and I sampled Woolworths steaks with sweet sticky sauce and as an added extra I got two hefty chunks because they hadn't sliced them properly. Next stop was a delightful Zanzibar taste tester (see picture). Really delicious - and expect a blogpost from bratandkat about our Zanzibar dinner experience.

I don't want to let the secret out, but Westwood is a great mellow shopping experience with many of the desired mainstream stores. Customer shopping experiences are much better too. They're not too busy to brush you aside and very conveniently located next to my current employer.

Software: VNC Thumbnail Viewer

Chances are if you're using VNC on a Windows platform in a fairly large-scale environment, on occasion you've needed to view multiple VNC connections at once.

A while ago I did find and make use of a handy freeware program that could filter through a range of supplied IP addresses and establish multiple VNC connections at the same time for your viewing pleasure: I just wish I knew what it was called or where I could find it now (note to self: find this software).

No matter, for the time being I have found another handy (in some ways HANDIER) multiple VNC viewer solution - its name is VNC Thumbnail Viewer.

Simply download the software and run it to get access to multiple VNC connections from one client. The added benefit of this software is that it's totally PORTABLE, and supports command line interactions.

Below is a little example of a 4-PC connection script so you can quickly and easily view 4 VNC PCs from a simple command line instruction:


VncThumbnailViewer_Win_1.4.2.exe HOST 192.168.%2 PORT 5900 PASSWORD %1 HOST 192.168.%3 PORT 5900 PASSWORD %1 HOST 192.168.%4 PORT 5900 PASSWORD %1 HOST 192.168.%5 PORT 5900 PASSWORD %1 


And an example of using it would be:
VncThumbnailViewer_Win_1.4.2.exe vncpassword 0.1 1.12 1.255

Quickly bringing up VNC connections with "vncpassword" on 192.168.0.1; 192.168.1.12; 192.168.1.255.
I really like this lightweight and efficient solution for VNC controls - it even supports RECORDING, although I haven't dabbled with that just yet.

For more information go to the homepage of VNC Thumbnail Viewer, and download it at:
http://thetechnologyteacher.wordpress.com/vncthumbnailviewer/

South Africa: Democracy at risk

Hello,


I've just signed an urgent petition calling on the ANC to protect our democracy and basic freedoms by reversing an unconstitutional secrecy Bill and a new proposal to gag the media. I thought you would want to join me. If enough of us come together now and oppose these initiatives, our outcry will be too loud to ignore at the ANC Council this week.

You can read more below and sign the petition here:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/protect_south_africas_democracy/98.php?CLICKTF

Thanks!

The truth about how the Titanic sank

Probably most people don't care for this bit of information, but read ahead if you care for conspiracy and history :)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/8016751/The-truth-about-the-sinking-of-the-Titanic.html

AutoExNT: Running a batch file before logging into WINDOWS

If you ever need to run a batch file on a SYSTEM level before logging into WINDOWS (e.g. to set static ARP entries), then AutoExNT is the right tool for you!

 

Check out http://support.microsoft.com/kb/243486 for help on how to do the AUTOEXNT stuff.

Basically you'll need to create a batch file and then do these two simple steps:

1. Copy the Autoexnt.bat file you just created, in addition to the Autoexnt.exe, Servmess.dll, and Instexnt.exe files located in the Resource Kit CD-ROM to the %SystemRoot%\System32 folder on your computer.
2. At a command prompt, type instexnt install, and then press ENTER. 

Then, if you want to only run the service ONCE add in the line "sc config autoexnt start= disabled" to the end of your batch file (or before you run the command, just in case you only want to run the file once, regardless of success: you don't want to be stuck in an infinite loop if your program / command is faulty and it never disables the service).

DOWNLOAD? Go to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=9d467a69-57ff-4ae7-96ee-b18c4790cffd&displaylang=en and grab all the Windows Server 2003 Resource Tool Kits! Have fun!

WINDOWS Force Automatic Updates on WSUS

Forcing an immediate update detection via your local WSUS is a very handy thing to know how to do, and even more handy is the website that provides you with the cut-and-paste goodness to create your own update script in no time!

Visit http://msmvps.com/blogs/athif/pages/66375.aspx for all the low-down, but for quick reference, copy everything below the line into a TXT file and rename to .BAT or .CMD:

Command-line SMTP e-mailer

Want to send an email through a simple command-line batch file? Then check this out!

Combining the latest cellphones supporting e-mail and an SMTP server with BMAIL will turn your scheduled tasks into SUPER SCHEDULED TASKS (I know, lame, but it was worth a shot).

Basically, you deploy the BMAIL.EXE file somewhere, and then you just run your tasks as usual, and at the end of your batch file, chuck in a line like 

"c:\tools\bmail.exe -s mysmtp.server.com -t myemail@address.com -f this@is.from.me -h -a "Default Subject" -b "with this Body"

and then you'll get an email to your myemail@address.com address with an email entitled "Default Subject" - how handy is that? AND BEST OF ALL - IT'S LIGHTWEIGHT AND FREE!!

Go to http://www.beyondlogic.org/solutions/cmdlinemail/cmdlinemail.htm to download!

4 Player Co-Op Game for FREE

There are several universal truths: 

1. Multiplayer games are awesome
2. Co-op multiplayer games are even better
3. FOUR player co-op makes it even better still
4. Everyone loves freebies

Thanks to my buddy, Oltman (you cracked a mention! Woohoo!), many of us are now made aware of a new 4-player co-op game available for FREE on STEAM, entitled Alien Swarm, which for some may sound familiar! 

If you want to grab it for FREE (even if you won't ever play it, grab it anyway, since it locks into your STEAM account for, like, FOREVER)... then head over to here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/630/

Enjoy!

Can you feel it? It's here! The death of South African self-respect!

Yes. I believe so. At least, in my opinion, we've done enough to embarrass ourselves in the global eye.

For one, we've got our flag all the way upside down and it's being "shown off" all around the place! This is a disgrace, and it shows how ignorant a nation is of their own heritage and identity if we still can't tell how the nation's flag works, even if it's "only" SIXTEEN YEARS!

Some people's response to this is "who cares? it's not such a big deal" and they think this is an acceptable response. What drivel! What nonsense! In fact, this is precisely why we should be embarrassed! If we don't care enough to actually look after our nation's identity, then either we lack any patriotism and national pride, or we're just a bunch of idiots! If a nation's flag is not that important to the nation, then the nation may as well be annexed because that's what we're indicating by our lackluster protection of our heritage and national identity.

Another thing: the continent's bees have all migrated to South Africa for the period of the World Cup (and I pray not a minute longer). Everywhere you go, there's those annoying trumpets and horns "affectionately" known as vuvuzela's. Some people even try to defend them as our identity, suggesting that the vuvuzela is a symbol of being truly South African. I just don't get it. There's such a divide between sensible, intelligent thought, and ignorant, stupid excuses. If people are more prepared to sign up for a blaring trumpet that contributes to the most cacophonic noise known to man (it is louder than a chainsaw - imagine being in a room with fifteen chainsaws going at full blast... then double that and you have a vague idea of the cacophony of which I refer), which very closely sounds like a swarm of flies around a pile of dung or a bit of dead meat, then no wonder our nation's pride seems to be dead for some.

DISCLAIMER: Before anyone wants to rant and rave against my seemingly traitorous posings, let me clarify for the uninformed: I am PROUDLY South African! I am so PROUDLY South African that I have to write this post, simply because I want to defend our flag - I want to defend our heritage - I want to defend our national identity! I am proud of what we've pulled off with the FIFA WORLD CUP - it's a wonderful event and there are hundreds and thousands of people who are working their buns off to get this spectacle going off perfectly. I've been to Moses Mabhida (the most beautiful stadium in Africa IMHO), I've been approached by friendly support staff, and I've seen the guys going out every single night onto the streets to welcome people to our country and to offer shelter for the homeless and destitute. I am proud to be associated with that. I am NOT proud to be associated with idiots who are more adamant that they should defend the vuvuzela over the proper orientation of our nation's identity. If anyone cares to comment and share their views, you are most welcome to - this is, after all, a beautiful democracy :)

Windows Maximum Addressable Memory Reference

 

Windows Versions (and their maximum addressable physical memory/RAM (GB))	32-bit Editions	64-bit Editions
Windows 2000 Professional, Server	4	N/A
Windows 2000 Advanced Server	8	N/A
Windows 2000 Datacenter	32	N/A
Windows XP Starter	0.5	N/A
Windows XP Home & Media Center	4	N/A
Windows XP Professional	4	128
Windows Server 2003 Web	2	N/A
Windows Server 2003 Small Business, Home, Storage	4	N/A
Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Storage	8	N/A
Windows Server 2003 Standard (SP1/SP2/R2)	4	32
Windows Server 2003 Enterprise (SP2)	64	2048
Windows Server 2003 Datacenter (SP2)	128	2048
Windows Vista Starter	1	N/A
Windows Vista Home Basic	4	8
Windows Vista Home Premium	4	16
Windows Vista Business, Enterprise, Ultimate	4	128
Windows Server 2008 Standard, Web	4	32
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise, Datacenter	64	2048
Windows 7 Starter	2	N/A
Windows 7 Home Basic	4	8
Windows 7 Home Premium	4	16
Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, Ultimate	4	192
Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation	N/A	8
Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard	N/A	32
Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise, Datacenter, or Itanium	N/A	2048