Vive le Tour

Right, so the TDF is back, and my evenings are once again being planned around the delayed feed and highlights packages of the days racing.
Its weird - every time I mention to non-TDF junkies just how exciting a race it actually is to watch, I get this blank Icouldn'tthinkofanythingmoreboringthanwatchingcycling stare. I've given up trying to convince people now, and resorted to changing channels in the office at around 2:30pm each afternoon, with a gentle nudge on the volume control as the afternoon progresses and the peloton winds its way through some of the most magnificent fields, forests, hills and mountains, into the streets of the town that the race will finish in.

As for picking a winner this year - well its pretty wide open at this stage. Alexander Vinokourov has been labelled the favourite, and to be honest, if I had to back a rider this year, he would be the guy. He's the one who was so aggressive in the mountains during Armstrong's last three Tours, and was denied participation in last years tour due to his team pulling out at the last minute because half its riders (excluding Vino) were part of the doping scandal. After todays stage though, it'll be a tough task for him - he was involved in a nasty fall about 30km from the finish, and rode superbly to limit the damage but still ended up losing over 80 seconds. Will make things interesting in the days to come, as team mate Kloden now appears to be the best positioned rider in Vino's team (second place overall), and may take over leadership as a result. Watch Vino in the mountains though - he'll be deadly.

Yes folks, its mid-July, the evenings are long and cold, but one thing's for sure - the voices of Paul Sherwen and Phil Liggett are a familiar comfort at this time of year and the sights and sounds out of France are an exciting end to each day. Vive le tour!

Wimax trial disappointment

I signed up for the MWEB wimax trials a couple of weeks ago, and the guys came around to install today. Seems like I'm not in the right area though, as they could only get a maximum of 2 bars out of ten in signal strength.
Was looking forward to some uncapped bandwidth as part of the trial, but I guess I'll have to make do with my adsl connection for the time being.

MK89 video blog now live

I blogged last night about the imminent launch of the MK89 video blogging network - well, I can tell you now that its live - check it out here.
Its important to stress that its still in Beta - there are some known issues that we're working on (like translations, and styling issues), but by and large its up and working. As of 5 minutes ago, there were 25 profiles loaded - mostly bands, artists and presenters, but you have to start somewhere I guess. The newsletter went out this afternoon, so we'll see what effect that has on spreading the word.
27 and counting...

iPhone Launch problems

Seems like there are a couple of glitches with activation on the new iPhone keyboards. From Adrian Kingsley-Hughes:

The iPhone keyboard issues seem to be a moot point compared to the activation hassles that early iPhone adopters are facing. A poll over at Engadget suggests that over 38% of the 9,000 respondents to the poll are suffering from activation problems and have an iBrick to show for their cash.

Eh eh - iBrick - gotta love it.

MK89 Video Blog Network Ready To Launch

Its been a slog over the past week getting the new MK89 video blog site ready for launch. Lots of late evenings and work this weekend, but its finally launch ready.

Its quite ironic actually, as the launch of this site was prompted by Uno de Waal in his post, MK89: A social network waiting to happen written on 6th June 2007. The M-Net New Media team felt the same way, and has been hard at work getting the platform together. At its basic level, it incorporates profile creation, with the ability to upload video (in mpeg, avi, 3gp, mov and mgp format) and images, create blog posts, request friendship, become fans of other users, as well as full forum functionality.

Not another Facebook, or MySpace, or Blogger site you're saying. Why create yet another profile? Well, the idea is that this network will allow its users the opportunity of getting their video and profiles on TV. There aren't many other blogging/social network platforms out there that will give its users that opportunity.

Its still early days, and the site is most definitely in Beta status still as we iron out some of the issues that we know exist, and as we get feedback over the next few weeks. Its due to launch this week when it gets a heavy punt in the M-Net newsletter, but here's a sneak preview of what the site looks like.

Current Favourite...

Came across this music video on the One Lite blog for the Linkin Park song that I blogged about the other day. Rate this song as my current favourite at the moment.

Blues Room Tonight...

K and I are off to the Blues Room tonight to celebrate Pat's birthday with him. Looking forward to it too. Among the lineup posted on the Blues Room site is a guy called Dean Meldau - haven't heard of him before, but looks like it could be interesting.

As for the rugga this afternoon - what a disappointment. I'm not going to go on about it, as there are hundreds more qualified blogs that could give you a breakdown of what went wrong, so all I'll say is that it was a good match to watch - lots of aggression, lots of excitement, but you have to feel like we threw it away in the last 15 minutes. My simple take on it, is that in a game of that intensity and pace, you can't bring on 4 or 5 replacements all at the same time. It takes them a couple of minutes to get a feel for the pace and the tempo of the game, and to bring 5 on at the same time, you're weakening your side for at least 5-10 minutes. That's where we lost it in my opinion.

The Good news or the Bad news...

Mobile phone interrupts my trail of thought...

Alan: "Good day sir, Alan from Audi Centre"
G: "Hi Alan, is my car ready?"
Alan: "Well sir, there's good news and bad news"
G: "Ok, hit me with it"
Alan: "The good news is that we managed to get the water bottle. Its only R189"
G: "Awesome. So when can I collect?"
Alan: "Well sir, we fitted the water bottle, did a pressure test, and we need to replace the water pump as well"
G: "Ok, how much?"
Alan: "Water pump is only a couple of hundred rand sir"
G: "Awesome, when can I collect?"
Alan: "Well sir, in order to fit the water pump, we need to remove the cam - which we do again as part of the major service due in 5oookm. Can we go ahead and do the major service now? It'll save you, as we only have to remove the cam once that way"
G: "Makes sense. How much, and when can I collect?"
Alan: "Umm, thirty bucks short of ten grand sir, and you can collect on Wednesday"
G: ". Umm, I guess I don't really have many options here?"
Alan: "No sir"
G: "Go ahead Alan"
Alan: "Awesome. See you on Wednesday"

iPhone launches in 12 days...

If you haven't heard yet, the iPhone launches in just under two weeks. June 29th to be exact - in the US first, and then Europe, Asia and the rest of the world. Its not very clear when the first batch will be shipped to SA yet, but you can be sure of one thing - getting your hands on one of these puppies will only happen with some serious influence over the next few months.

From what I have been able to read so far, they will retail from around 499USD, and Apple will be shipping somewhere in the region of 3 millions units for launch. So what's the big deal? Why would you want one:

- Well, its another slick looking device from apple for starters.
- Comes with contacts and calendaring functionality - much like any other new mobile phone.
- It got a built in 2 megapixel camera - still not the unique selling feature.
- It can do email. Ok, so which device released in the last few years can't?
- Its an iPod. Yes, an iPod. That's music and video. Making sense now?
- Oh, and it doesn't have any buttons. Its all driven through a revolutionary multi-touch interface.

If you still need convincing, check out these adverts on the iPhone site.

Check the oil and water please...!

My mobility has been somewhat hampered over the past 2 days, and probably will be for another 2 days. Thats because my car is currently sitting in the workshop, waiting for a new water container.
It all started on Friday afternoon, on the way home from work. Rush hour traffic through the detours in Rosebank and I notice that there is steam rising from the left side of my bonnet. Thinking that I've probably run out of water, I quickly maneuver my way into a side road and turn the engine off. I wait about 45 minutes for the engine to cool down before taking the water cap off. The bottle is empty, so I figure that I caught it just in time. Luckily I have a 1.5l bottle of water in my boot - I quickly pour that into the bottle. Not enough, so I find a tap, fill the bottle, and continue to top up the level in the container. Still not enough, I go back another 3 times. Eventually the level reaches the top, and I figure that its all sorted.
I make my way home slowly, watching the gauge to make sure the temperature doesn't rocket - all looks good. I promise myself that I'll check my water more often.
Anyway, wake up on Saturday morning and figure I'll go and have the oil checked, tyre pressure checked, and give the car a good clean. When I ask the guy to check the water and oil, he starts filling up the water container once again, pours and pours and pours until its full. I then check under the car, and its leaking out all over the garage floor. Problem.
So I take the car straight to Audi, about 1 km up the road, and then do a pressure test. Sure enough, there's a leak. They remove the bottle only to find that it is quite badly cracked underneath - probably as a result of the heat, and the fact that it has seen over 100k km's in mileage now.
Long story short, they need to order a new water bottle which will take a day or two, and once received, is a 5 minute job to replace. I just hope that the damage has been limited to the water bottle, and that everything else is ok. Also means that I am car-less at the moment - so between K and I, we'll have to make a plan to get to work in the morning.

What I've Done...

Bought the new Linkin Park album on Saturday, and the first thing I did was add it to iTunes and update my iPod. Some of the tracks are a little heavy, but I'm loving track 6, What I've Done. The trip into work tomorrow morning is going to be grungy and aggressive for a Monday...

Food good, service medium-to-rare

There are times when you just have to shake your head and wonder about the service you get at a restaurant. Last night was one of those times.
Hooked up with Patrick, Jo, Richard and Susan for a dinner at the more upmarket steak house on the Nelson Mandela Square last night.
Having eaten there a couple of times before, and generally having been quite pleased with the food and service, I was looking forward to the evening. It didn't start off that well though. As we got the entrance, we were asked whether we had a booking, and rushed to our table. It wasn't that we were late or anything - just seemed like the reception manager was too busy to welcome us in properly and was pre-occupied with thumbing through the bookings and generally just looking flustered.
That aside, we sat down and had a bit of a wait for Richard and Susan to arrive, so had a leisurely look through the menu. Page one of the menu has about 10 rules that immediately jump out at you as if to say "hey bud, we're here to make money and that's all that counts", including:
- we didn't allow children before, but now we do if they're a certain age.
- minimum price per head is R80.
- 10% will be added to your bill.
- we close at 10pm, so hurry up and get your order in.

Ok, so nothing too serious yet. Just not your typical hospitable attitude thats all. We order some wine and eventually Richard and Susan arrive - time to take an order. Waiters all seem too busy to help out now, because we've kept them waiting for 15 minutes. Another 5 minutes and we eventually track one down. K isn't that hungry, so decides to have a salad and a starter, instead of a salad and a main. We realise that this could contravene rule number 2, so politely tell the waiter that if the salad and starter are less than R80, we'll happily put in the difference. No, can't do. You can't order a starter and have it brought to the table with the mains - house rules. More rules - just that this one wasn't on the menu with the rest of the legislation. K politely calls the manager and asks whether he could bend the unwritten rule number 11, and after a bit of hesitation, he agrees. A victory for the paying patrons - K gets to have a starter with the main meals. Not to let that put a damper on the evening, we order another bottle of the same pinotage that we've been drinking - only to have a bottle of merlot opened and put on our table. That gets sent back at the insistence that we'd like to continue with the pinotage that we so enjoyed, much to the annoyance of the waiter who neglected to actually check what the first bottle was.
Having said all this, the food was actually pretty good, but for the price you pay at a place like that, you kinda expect a little more than medium-to-rare service.

Uncovering some Cape Town gems...

Had the fortunate opportunity of travelling down to Cape Town this week on a business trip. The purpose of the trip was to meet and greet a mobile solutions provider that will probably play an important role in some of the projects that I'm working on at the moment. Went down with a good colleague of mine, and despite the cold and rainy weather, we managed to uncover a few of Cape Town's gems.
First up was a little pub/restaurant in Steenberg called Jakes. What a great atmosphere - tucked away at the back of a little shopping centre called the village, nicely styled with log fire, it had a great cosy feel about it. They also make the best beef, onion and ale pie I've ever had.
On our way back to our hotel, we stopped in at a great little joint in Long street called Cafe Royale. Typical Cape Town joint, trendy and alternative, with that UCT design student feel about it - not that it was very busy at 8pm on a Thursday night. The place is located in what is obviously a very old, narrow building. On the street level you'll find the main restaurant/cafe. Two doors down, but still part of the same place, you find another level of the same cafe. Up another level you'll find a retro lounge and bar area, with yet another level above that playing host to private functions. Nothing is expensive or snobby about the place, and you might get the picture that its a big place given all the levels I've described, but its actually another small and cosy place, playing funky new age tunes. They also serve some of the biggest and tastiest burgers I've ever come across.
The last place that made an impact on me, was the West Lake golf club. Managed to sneak in a few holes on Friday before heading back to the airport, even though it rained. We had a look at Steenberg gold club, but they had closed the course due to all the rain they received the previous night. West Lake, just down the road, was open for play, so we indulged. What a delightful course it was too.

Hole-In-One

I have been playing the game of golf for about 15 years now, on and off. Today I join the Hole-In-One society for my efforts at Killarney Golf Club.
Didn't have the best start to my round, but the Par 3 sixth hole will remain one of the sweetest golfing memories I have to date.
My caddy told me that we had 165 meters to the pin, into a slight breeze. In my books, that's a six iron. Anyway, struck the ball well, starting it out on the right hand side of the green, high approach shot that drew nicely towards the hole in the center of the green.
I didn't actually see it roll into the cup, and there was doubt on my part, but the caddies in our four-ball were quietly confident that it had gone in.
Sure enough, as we made our way to the green, my ball was not on the green, but in the cup.
What a sweet feeling.

The Madness Continues...

If you haven't had the pleasure of reading John van de Ruit's Spud, do yourself a favour and get your hands on a copy. I finished reading 'The Madness Continues...' this week, and only have good things to say about it.
The first book introduces Spud Milton and the rest of the characters that play a role in his Grade 8 year at an exclusive South African boarding school. The diary style entries are a laugh a minute, and cover all facets of Spud's adolescent life, from his sporting and cultural skills, to his dorm mates and introduction to girls.
The second book finds Spud a little more "mature" than his Grade 8 year. He's in Grade 9 now, and is looking forward to finally losing his "spud" status. I'll leave it up to you to read the book to find out what a "spud" is.
K is currently working her way through the second book, and a regular chortle from the couch next to me tells me she's enjoying it as much as I did.

Rock, paper, scissors

Right, so we've all played the game growing up, but would you believe that there is a Rock, Paper, Scissors (RPS) World Championship? Yup - takes place in Toronto on 13th October of this year. In fact, there is a RPS society that sanctions tournaments all over the world.
For those of you who don't know what RPS is, or how it is played, Wikipedia has an article explaining all you will need to know.
The reason I'm so interested in sharing this little piece of trivia with you, is that once a year, we tend to have an RPS stand-off. It takes place on our golf tour when trying to decide who gets the main bedroom with en-suite bathroom in the place that we have rented for the duration of the tour. The beauty about it is that it can be played on the spot, no equipment needed, and is probably the fairest way of deciding on an outcome.
Quick overview of how it is played:
- It is played using one's hands - closed fist represents "Rock", open hand represents "Paper" and extended index and middle finger represent "Scissors"
- Hand is placed behind one's back or head, and on the count of three, it is pulled out with one of the gestures made.
Game is resolved according to the following rules:
- Rock breaks scissors, result is that rock wins
- Paper covers rock, result is that paper wins
- Scissors cut paper, result is that scissors wins
- Same gesture results in a re-match

Gotta love the simplicity in it.

Next trip...

Picked up the tickets for our August trip yesterday - all is in place now.
Here's how it will play out:
- Leave for London on August 14th
- Al and Sam's wedding on August 19th
- Couple of days in Edinburgh. Planning on doing the touristy thing and checking out the Castle, Royal Mile and would like to do a distillery or two. Also discovered that the Boks are playing at Murrayfield that week, so who knows :-)
- Then back to London for 3 days. Will hook up with mates and family.
- Off to Spain for a week in Malaga after that. Plan on lots of sunshine and beach, and hopefully some golf before returning to SA in the first week of September.

K and I have been to London three times and Edinburgh once, but never in summer, so this should be a great change. Also, have never been to Spain before - really looking forward to that.

5 minutes of fame

So, for those of you who read our blog regularly, you will notice the new look. I'm not convinced its there yet, but it was definitely time for a change, and given the fact that I'm relying on Blogger templates at this stage, this is about as much flexibility as I can get away with.
Have also taken the decision to list the blog on Amatomu - a South African blog aggregator. In doing so, I have been listed as the newest blog to be added, as seen in this picture of the homepage. Quick, check it out, before someone else lists...

Battle At Kruger

Amazing footage of a battle between Lion, Buffalo and Crocodile.

Facebook: Social Networking Tool, or Big Brother?

Came across an interesting video, originally found in an article posted on Groogle, but available on YouTube now, on what Facebook is potentially capable of, given the amount of information that they are collecting. Conspiracy theory? You decide.