Eish!!

Monday, March 2, 2009

Twittering the Cycletour

As I have essentially not been able to train for this year's Argus Cycletour around the Cape Peninsula, I have been looking for a way of forcing myself to take it easy and make regular stops along what is sure to be an ardous course in my present condition.
I found it. This year I will be twittering my progress and my experiences as I struggle around the 110 odd kilometer course. The Cycletour is Cape Town's premier event and around 32 000 cyclists take part cheered on by thousands and thousands of supporters who don't just spectate, they participate as they egg on, water down and push up total strangers who like me find the trip more than just a challenge. Hopefully the upcoming tweets from hacker Eishman will help you experience a little of this spectacular event.

Follow from me on 07h30 Sunday 8th March (South African time) on twitter here, or keep refreshing this page and follow the updates in the left columns of Eish!! under the heading I'm Tweeting ...

... and while you are at it pop over to www.race4change.co.za and sponsor the Eish!! team.

Links

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Thursday, November 6, 2008

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Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Social Networks are evil!

50So, I switch on the laptop, ready to kill off one of those stories waiting in the wings .. ready to give the Eish!! readers a pearl that is going to change the online experience.
But, wait first I need to check Digg to check out the latest online buzz. I better wade through the various email accounts for feedback, requests and other material before deciding on today's topic. You know what, I should see what the rest of the SA blogosphere are writing about at Muti and Amatomu ... maybe take a quick peek at Afrigator as well? Hey, look someone has joined my BlogLog community and a couple of dudes and dudettes have updated those wiki's I like to keep tags on. In fact while I am at it let's see what the guys and gals are up to on Twitter! (yes, it's up .. damn) OK, I guess I should take a browse through the Facebook seen I am on a roll. Now maybe I should check out Plurk ...

Now why did I switch the machine on?



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Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Oops, there goes the Cape Town 27Dinner!!

While a Wiki page is great for collaborative efforts, sometimes there can be a downfall.

Like tonight, when a user, seemingly in error, managed to delete the Cape Town 27Dinner page when adding here name to the list of attendees.

I hope Dave and the boys can get hit an UNDO key somewhere ... I was too scared to touch anything.

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Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Freedom Swim 2008

In South Africa the 27th April is a commemorative public holiday, Freedom Day. It's a day when we remember the miracle of our first democratic elections in 1994.
This day is also quickly becoming synonymous with the Freedom Swim. Billed as the extreme cold water swim in the world, there will be close to 110 solo swimmers and, at last count 19 teams making cold crossing from Robben Island to Blouberg beach.
Those making the crossing will be adhering to the Cape Long Distance Swimming Association and Channel rules, which means all swimmers (besides a few relay teams) are only permitted to wear a basic swimming costume, cap and goggles. With the current temperatures in the bay ranging between 10 and 13 degrees celsius, the challenge of the 7.5km distance pales into insignificance compared to the fight against the cold.
The organisers reserve the right to postpone the swim to Sunday should the conditions be too dangerous, however looking at the weather predictions, this seems unlikely this year. The swimmers are due to leave the island at 10am and will take between 90mins and 3 hours to make the crossing. This year spectators will be entertained on the beach with events taking place while waiting for the swimmers.

Once again the event's primary sponsor is Cadiz Financial Strategy Group, with all the proceeds in aid of the Vista Nova School for special needs children. The aim is to raise at least R75 000-00 and judging on the continual upward curve of the number of entries this target should be reached with ease.

Finally, it must be said that Eishman has been roped into swimming for Team Bouyancy! Eish!! what was I thinking?
Once thawed I will post on the experience.
You will also be able to follow the progress of some of the swimmers at SportsTrack.net

Related post : Freedom Swim 2007

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Friday, April 18, 2008

Eish !! SA Music Friday

Friday has morphed into SA music day here @ Eish!!

From now on, each Friday we will be featuring a South African artists, highlighting the exciting pool of talent we have here. The focus will be on (but not necessarily limited to)those artists with a web presence of some sort, those that are using the new media platform to get noticed.

Please, if you have an artist you would like featured, send a mail to eishblog@gmail.com (or comment below) with the artists name and links to web sites, MySpace, video clips etc. Or send the word out to those artists you thing could do with a little nudge.

Previous artists featured :

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Monday, March 31, 2008

Thanks for your support

On the 29th of February I reported on the Race4change initiative introduced by the organisers of the PicknPay/Argus Cycletour and invited readers of Eish!! to sponsor my ride. All the proceeds were to go to The Sunflower Fund, and organisation whose aim is to secure financial support in order to increase the number of bone marrow stem cell donors in South Africa.

I am happy to announce that the simple request raised R850-00 for this charity. While I acknowledge that this pales into insignificance when compared to what they require for the awesome work they currently and strive to do, that's R850-00 more than they had last week!

I would really like to extend my appreciation to all of you who gave over your hard earned cash.

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Friday, March 28, 2008

Sorry Miss Lira

Last night I was happily listening to Lira while posting yesterday's post. This morning I popped over for another listen and got the following message.








The 'Digg Effect' is one of those ironic headaches webmasters and bloggers have to contend with, it looks like we now have the Eish!! effect!?

Let's hope the hosts of misslira.co.za get the website up asap!

Sorry Miss Lira!

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Friday, February 29, 2008

Eish!! takes up the challenge for charity - You can join!

The Argus Cycle Tour has a initiative to coincide with this year's massive cycling event. Titled Race4Change it give the participants a chance to raise money for a selected group of charities.
This makes it easy for groups or individuals to use this epic to raise money for charities, with the knowledge that a legitimate organisation is handling of the collection and distribution of the monies.

So let's give it a test!!

I have set up a group for Eish!! readers to donate money to The Sunflower Fund.

Simply click
here and donate ... and Eishman will make the full 109km's to ensure your money is well spent.

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Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Things that keep me awake at night ...

Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?

Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are flat?

Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?

Whose idea was it to put an 'S' in the word 'lisp'?

Why is it that people say they 'slept like a baby' when babies wake up every two hours?

Are there specially reserved parking spaces for 'normal' people at the Special Olympics?

If the temperature is zero outside today and it's going to be twice as cold tomorrow, how cold will it be?

Do married people live longer than single ones or does it only seem longer?

How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?

Did you ever stop and wonder......

Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, 'I think I’ll squeeze these pink dangly things here, and drink whatever comes out?'

Who was the first person to say, 'See that chicken there... I'm gonna eat the next thing that comes outta it's bum.'

Why do toasters always have a setting so high that could burn the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?

Why is there a light in the fridge and not in the freezer?

Why do people point to their wrist when asking for the time, but don't point to their bum when they ask where the bathroom is?

Why does your Obstetrician, Gynaecologist leave the room when you get undressed if they are going to look up there anyway?

Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're both dogs!

If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?

If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, then what is baby oil made from?

If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

Why do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?

Stop singing and read on…….

Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?

Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him on a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?

Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster?

  • Stolen from an email from I received, but there is so much here I have pondered some time or another I had to share it with you.

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Friday, February 15, 2008

How to Enjoy a Colonoscopy

Only because it's Friday ... enjoy

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Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Online Valentines Checklist

Your online Valentines checklist:
(All the links below are South African & Eish!! will receive no commission on resultant sales or traffic)

Order your flowers
Book your table
Get a little gift
Send a eCard

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Friday, February 8, 2008

Cape Town Burns - Update

From my vantage point,it appears that while the fire's front was shrunk and continously kept away from the houses.
It has hit an densely vegetated area though, and the flames appear 5+ meters high.
The area used to be inhabited by many indigenous antelope, buffalo and famously a Rhino. Fortuously they have been moved when the game farm foreclosed about a year ago.
Homeowners in the houses just below look on nervously.
The winds continue to blow gale force, the firefighters continue the night vigil.



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Thursday, February 7, 2008

Cape Town burns down south

I sit here in my comfortable house, the children fast asleep, sharing my time between CSI, the internet & the radio. Just a normal Thursday night, except I don't usually have the radio on. I have it on to keep tabs with what is going on less than a kilometer up the road.

Our mountain is burning, set alight, almost certainly by an arsonist. But that's a whole different discussion, for another day. Right now I am extremely thankful for the group of firefighters, paid and volunteers, that are manning the mountains.
While my abode is not far from the flames, realistically I can say with a reasonable amount of certainty that it is not in any danger of getting in the flames path. However it would be impossible for me to get any rest knowing that others in my suburb stood a chance of losing their homes.

Its because of these heros I can sleep. They will not. They will battle in the gale force winds outside I want to use to power my house. They will battle the flames. They will watch as hectares of vegetation dissappear and the flames march on. And they will put their limbs and lives on the line to ensure peoples properties are kept safe.

I salute you all, may God bless and keep you safe.

Update : Inhabitants in neighbouring suburb, Ocean View are on high alert to evacuate should the fire, currently out of control reach them during the course of the evening

For more info : CapeTalk Radio's home page & live news broadcasts are updates regularly

For how to help : Cape Volunteer Wildfire Services

(Pics below taken from the back garden, I like to make sure that I do not get in the way of the emergency vehicles, as too many gawkers tend to do)














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Power crisis - Time for a conspiracy theory

There has been a surprising shortage of conspiracy theories surrounding the power crisis South Africa is currently contending with. So here's one for those that have an appetite for such things.

It's been widely reported that the CIA, and US President George Bush are concerned over the identified capability hackers have to shut down power grids. According to the UK's Telegraph.co.uk 'Tom Donahue told a utilities security conference in New Orleans all the successful hackings occurred outside America.' News24.com reported on the same issue on the 18th January this year, and also states that no details of the power cuts, the country in which they took place or when will be divulged. And this is not a new phenomenon, there are reports dating back to August 2003, of the problem.

The SA government, while projecting apologies the way only politicians can do, have up to now, refused to take action against any of those individuals responsible for the delivery and maintenance of our electricity supply. Couple this with the fact that, as Carte Blanche (video link) revealed, the real problem is not so much the increased demand but the massive shortages of supply and one can think that maybe are playing hardball with some cyber-terrorists.

How much could they be asking for?

Related Posts :


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Wednesday, January 30, 2008

How much is your salary worth?

While doing some research on the web, I came across this great site that compares your salary and your current cost of living to that of other cities, either locally or internationally. Using this tool, should you be looking to move you are able to ascertain what salary level you should be aiming for. It uses various benchmarks from property rental and prices to the cost of Coca Cola in it's calculations. To give it a go click over to SalaryExpert.com's Cost of Living Calculator.

If you want to check out how your salary compares to others in the industry, with similar job specifications, qualifications and even experience, I highly recommend Payscale.It uses other surveyees (sic), industry standards as well as job listings to ascertain averages. I was hugely impressed with the depth and the resultant reports, and it is localised. I strongly recommend that all employees make this site a regular visit.
MyWage.co.za provides a slightly different, and in my experience a lot less comprehensive, service albeit more localised. Their salary checker helps you find the average salary being paid in your line of work. There is also a link to the same formatted page in other countries for comparison. Click here to give it a go.

In awesome resource that would be great if it could be replicated here in SA is the Salary Centre at MyCareer.com.au. It hurts, just a little, to praise something developed by the Aussies, but this must be an invaluable resource for the workforce and their employers down under. You are able to find out the average salaries paid to specific jobs and then check out the comparatives down to state and even city/town levels. SA web developers, check this out, there is a definite gap in the SA web space.




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Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Free/Legal music downloads too good to be true

It seems that the promise of free and legal music downloads was a little premature. Much excitement has been generated around the online community around the launch of Qtrax. Qtrax claimed to have the buy-in from the four big record labels, for free Peer to Peer downloads of their artists tracks. They went live today. Being a music lover, I took the gap presented by being in a different timezone and downloaded their software and registered this morning. Here's my experience.

Firstly, when registering, although they have some 'obscure' territories like Argentina, there was no South African option in their 'Country' download box. Whether this is done purposefully or not, I have not been able to ascertain.
Secondly, the promise of being able to access artists from the major labels has not materialised. Despite claims to the contrary since April last year, even on their website, Reuters have reported that both Sony BMG and Warner music have publicly denied that they have signed any agreements with Qtrax. The agreements they signed was to test paid downloads and these contracts have since expired. I gave this a test and searched their catalog for Bruce Springsteen, an artist I know is signed to Sony BMG. His catalog is found and itemised, but you cannot download. This function, the pop up claims, will be coming soon.
Thirdly, after browsing the service for about fifteen minutes the service suddenly became unavailable. Server problems? High traffic volumes? Court action threats? Time will tell.

In short, the old adage, of too good to be true seem to apply.

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Monday, January 28, 2008

SARS Tax returns - today could be your deadline!

While those who submit their tax returns manually had to do so some time ago, those of us who chose to submit via the SARS e-Filing, web-based mechanism have until 31 January to so do. However, if you have not completed your registration for the service, you had better do so today! Once you have registered it takes 48 hours to be vetted and activated. That leaves you with one day to comply. So don't be caught out, register today!
For more information click here : SARS E-Filing


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Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Your vote could get Cape Town on the Monopoly board

Hasbro is creating a World Edition of it's ever popular Monopoly game and have decided to open up the list of cities that coulld make it onto the board to a worldwide vote.
68 cities have been pre-selected, of which only 20 (plus a few wildcards) will eventually make it . Cape Town, is one of the 68 pre-selected cities, but we are not doing to well at the moment, languishing in the middle of the leaderboard but well short of the top 20.

You are able to vote once a day until the 29th February, so it's your patriotic duty to click over to the Monopoly site and cast your vote, preferably daily. In fact take it as your duty to the continent as Cape Town along with Cairo (doing considerably better @ position 15) are the representatives of the African continent.


According to Hasbro, since Charles Darrow patented the game in 1935, approximately 750 million people have played the game, making it "the most played (commercial) board game in the world.


Now, I wonder what they are going to value our mother cityy should we make it onto the board?

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Leon helps us smile (Video)


Watch more free videos

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