Traveling Geeks

Rhodes University: My alma mater

I must say, I’m particularly proud that I went to Rhodes University. I have such amazing memories of studying and partying there. It’s an unusual campus, away from the big cities, situated in a small, relatively isolated town called Grahamstown. What this means is that most students live in residences and there is a tremendous […]

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Everything is amazing, nobody is happy

Hilarious… and too true. See myself in this video. (Received via Facebook from a friend.)

tags: crazy

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Why Obama Needs A Special Envoy to Africa (and not just George Clooney)

A Month in Israel

Jeff Saperstein writes about his month in Israel; the War in Gaza here and his posts over a month period talk about tourist sites as well as his reflections about the region in general.

An excerpt here of what he says about Gaza:
“Gaza from a distance looks like any city and it is hard to comprehend how centers of population that are so close to each other can be so different and hostile. I joked to one of the Alumim kibbutzniks that when I return to the Bay Area I will be able to tell the difference between artillary shells and sonic booms should they happen in San Francisco.

But the joke does have a larger meaning. We do not worry when our children go to school whether they will be blown up in the school bus. When our kids leave home to university we do not worry they will be in harms way as the Israelis do when their children serve in the army. We do not have barbed wire fences around the perimeter of our communities as they do here in Alumim. We do not have security people checking our bags when we go to stores, malls and restaurants. In many ways every day Israelis are reminded that there are people who are always trying to kill them and their loved ones.”

How stupidity can lead to innovation

It sounds crazy, but it’s true.
There’s a famous philosophical phrase that goes along the lines of “The more I know, the more I realise I don’t know”. I first came across it in my Philosophy II class as a freshed-faced student at Rhodes University. It speaks to the realisation that the more we discover […]

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Obama Needs to Watch “Gossip Girl”

Have you Obamafied your website today?

Nobody likes an antisocial site. Social sites are winning the traffic stakes, and even elections. A politician from Honolulu showed us how it’s done.
I never thought that one of the best examples of a social site would come from a politician, but it did. It’s a lesson for all websites, including media players, on how […]

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Taken by Stormhoek

On December 1, the bloggers were welcomed at Stormhoek winery near Wellington. Owner Graham Knox had some some of his wonderful champers labelled in our honour (the stain in the picture happened after we got the stuff home). He told us about his winemaking philosophy and we were treated to a tasting. The Pinotage, in particular, was glorious. Later that evening, we repaired to the Lanzerac in Stellenbosch, where Graham gave us a presentation on Stormhoek’s groundbreaking use of social media to build a globally renowned brand.

This just in. Stormhoek is trying to crack the wine market in west Texas. A small market, but as the man says, if you can sell a South African wine in west Texas, you can sell it anywhere.

Muizenberg Beach at Sunset

African sunsets are always dramatic even when they miss the vibrant oranges, reds and purples. Below, birds play at sunset in Cape Town’s Muizenberg Bay.

Too Many Encounters & Stories to Come up for Air

The blog has been a bit quiet lately but not through lack of things to say or visual content to post. And, 90% of that content has little to do with PR, marketing or the world of Web 2.0 due to an extended trip to Africa, a place that touched my soul for the first time more than twenty five years ago. Okay, perhaps the place ran my soul over with a bulldozer.

In addition to capturing one incredible story after another from a wide range of South Africans, Zimbabweans, Kenyans, Brits, Belgium and Dutch folks and more, I am meeting with technology and sustainable energy companies and people, as well as designers, artists, technology and social media visionaries.

Additionally, a cast of journalists, bloggers, scientists, botanists, gardeners, photographers, architects, farmers, pilots, environmentalists, politicians, authors, sculptors, bankers, real estate agents, miners, chefs, musicians, dancers, faerie preservationists, dreamers, psychologists, vets, game hunters, jewelery designers, psychics, solar experts, hot air balloon racers, sailors, wood carvers, captains and builders have all landed in our path between the Zimbabwe border and the most southern point in Africa Cape Argulas.

Connectivity has been slow and limited and given that a lot of the content we've captured has included video, stories will come when they come, no doubt slowly until there's decent broadband or until the encounters stop coming. Look for images in the next few days as placeholders until the stories can be unveiled. And as for images, this has been by far, my favorite place to shoot on the planet. Costa Rica and Paris are close seconds. Morocco is probably third.