Archive for 'South Africa'
Controversial new Nandos ad
This one should get a few tongues wagging. Here’s the new Nandos ad that is being released today on TV. Given the recent launch of the new breakaway Congress of the People (Cope) party from the ruling African National Congress (ANC) — and imminent elections next year, this one is going to be hotter than […]
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Upcoming: Tech Blogging from South Africa
I’m leaving for south Africa for a tech blogging tour. I’ll be posting from there and you can come back to this site shortly to see what I’m up to. In the meantime, here are a few tech facts:
- Mobile calls in and out are $1.49/mn (T-Mobile)
- Unlimited BlackBerry email: $20
- mobile browsing: $15/MB
- Getting charged $1.49/mn for incoming calls, even when I don’t answer: priceless. (I’m serious)
Let’s see if I get charged when using unlicensed mobile access (UMA) over WIFI. I get conflicting answers from T-Mobile reps.
Prime Circle in photos
I haven’t featured a photographer from the SA Rocks Flickr Group in a while and thought this was a great opportunity.
Charlotte_ZA from on Flickr just added the following stunning photographs to the SA Rocks group on Flickr.
Charlotte_ZA has some absolute phenomenal photographs of bands on her flickr profile page so head over and […]
FOKOFPOLISIEKAR in a movie – Oh Yes
This movie, film, production, whatever you want to call it, looks absolutely stunning. I cannot wait to see these maniacs rocking out on the screen. The passion of these dudes has always made me wish I had a better grasp of the Afrikaans language.
Fokofpolisiekar Movie Trailer from Fly on the Wall on Vimeo.
First found […]
USA-SA Blogger meetup in Cape Town
Party alert! Local bloggers and digital citizens are invited to attend and meet up with a touring US blogger “delegation” on Sunday 8pm, at Asoka Bar in Cape Town. The US bloggers will be out here on a tour, organised by the International Marketing Council (IMC).
Dave Duarte and myself are helping the IMC, […]
Click on headline link to visit matthewbuckland.com for full article
Foschini Group – 16 charities, 16 days
Q&A with Karde Buys – Senior HR Manager: CSI & Wellness of The Foschini Group
1. The Foschini Group has historically supported the 16 Days of Activism campaign. What makes this year’s campaign different?
In previous year’s, we selected one NPO to support. This year, we have aligned our […]
Back to South Africa
I’m off to Africa. Whenever I leave the states on an extended trip, I always think about earlier trips in my life when a departure could have meant a permanent one. I followed the gypsydom of my youth more than most because I figured those “callings” were designed for youth.
They certainly weren’t designed for my elders so I thought, since it seemed like so many walls, excuses, what ifs and responsibilities were attached to all the adults around me, wearing them down like 60 foot ship anchors. If my future was one of adults complaining they never lived out their dreams, using every reason why it didn’t happen ‘for them,’ I figured I may as well ‘create’ a dream or two before the world conspired to take them away from me, which is how it seemed most adults felt at the time.
So leaving always brings about a nervous but intense and exciting energy. With this energy in place, you are much more open to raw opportunities rather than ‘scheduled ones.’ When you leave on a business trip for say, India, China or Germany, you have an idea of who you’re going to meet with, the deals you’d like to cut and your return date.
Creative gurus, change agents and branding consultants can ignite new ideas and passions in people by getting them in a room with a whiteboard or you can simply tell them to go walkabout to a place that has always inspired them or they’ve had dreams of since childhood. Give them an outline so they have some kind of focus and send them off.
Be sure that something will unlock in their unconscious mind, something that will be life-changing for them and more likely than not, positive for the company as well. It’s not a vacation, it’s a walkabout and be sure to emphasize the difference. The latter will clear old energy and bring on the new, a bit like hiring a fresh new face and voice but with years of experience under their belt.
I’m a huge fan of walkabouts and while some do this in some shape or form in the way of a sabbatical, it’s not a standard we’ve come to adopt in this country. Here we live to work rather than work to live. This cultural difference is fundamental and defines who we become, not just as individuals but as a nation.
My journey back to South Africa for the first time since white rule is a journey of re-discovery, it’s a journey of expression through the written word as well as photographic and videographic art, and it’s a journey into the past lives of people who both touched and shaped my world perspective now more than twenty years ago. While I spent most of my time in English schools in Durban and Johannesburg suburbs, below is a shot taken at an Afrikaans school I attended for awhile.
Back then, life’s encounters were largely with teachers, parents, farmers and friends. On this trip, I’ll be talking to technologists, green enthusiasts and creators, energy experts and animal experts, farmers, artists, designers, journalists, bloggers, photographers, CEOs, doctors and shop owners. More from the road. Be sure to follow along on this marvelous journey, not just my own, but the journey of 12 other bloggers who I’ll join for a fifth of this adventure.
Confederations Cup advert
I am very impressed with the advert that has emerged for the Confederation Cup next year in June.
You can apply for tickets at your nearest FNB branch or visit fifa.com.
Similar Posts:2010 ticket prices and availability
Real men don’t rape – Zola said it
You can register to vote in weekday office hours
Nike Advert For South Africa
Eagle-Eye […]
Local startup makes it on to CNN
Wizzit has received a relatively large amount of publicity from magazines and newspapers in SA. This is great exposure for the local company that has created a cellphone bank in your pocket.
Watch the video, it explains it all:
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Gautrain information via Youtube video
Battle at Kruger
Braaiday’s video on Zoopy
12 […]
Sustainability Includes Planet AND People
If you ask five friends what it means to be sustainable, you’ll likely get five varying interpretations. Most response would center on the treatment of the natural environment, or possibly the ability of a business to continue into the future.
On a macro level, sustainability also includes about the health impact of its mining industry, according to The New York Times.
The rate of fatalities in South Africa’s gold mining industry is improving, but still runs at more than four people per week. This is of particular concern to me since I’ll soon be a few thousand feet underground in the TauTona gold mine , as part of the We Blog the World media tour. The Tau Tona mine — the deepest operating mine in the world — has been improving its safety record but experiences dangerous seismic activity.
No enterprise where mother nature has a say in the outcome can ever be 100 percent safe, but it is important that strong guidelines be in place. As long as there is demand for high value minerals and metals, there will be mining, and people will lose their lives.
To ensure that those events are as rare as the metals being mined, the South African parliament is considering a law that would criminally prosecute mining executives — including jail time — for avoidable accidents on their watch. This would be a significant step towards protecting workers and making mining a more sustainable endeavor. All nations should consider such penalties.
