Technology

Consumer / Mobile / People / Technology — 2 Comments
2
Oct 09

Thoughts on RICA

If you missed it, a new piece of legislation came into effect in June that requires all cellphone users to register their sim cards. I’m not going to get into why I agree with this and why I don’t, because I have my own views on it’s effectiveness.

However, I will share why I won’t be registering my sim card. In South Africa, identity theft is still a reality yet we are obliged to hand over all of our personal information to anyone who asks for it. I’m quite annoyed by this as I hate filling in documentation, but more importantly I don’t feel comfortable sharing my personal information with just anybody.

In the article, they mention that “all information will kept confidential in a secure database”. I would like to question how secure that database is if I can go to numerous outlets around the country to register. If it is so secure and confidential, then what happens if I need to update my information? How does someone at one of these outlets assist me? If they can retrieve and update my information, then I don’t trust the system because there are thousands of outlets and thousands of people who can access this information.

I’ve been thinking about it quite a bit and this is what I think is going to happen in 18 months when the registration window expires for existing sim cards. All the major mobile operator networks (Vodacom, MTN and Cell C) will submit a letter to government stating that they cannot de-active the sim cards that have not registered due to the large quantity and the effect it will have on their business. We will be granted an extension period.

What are your thoughts on RICA?

Mobile / Technology — 28 Comments
22
Oct 08

MobilePress – WordPress on iPhone and Mobile Handsets

Today is really exciting, we’re launching MobilePress one of our first components to Project Wolf. It’s a plugin for WordPress, the most popular blogging software in the world, which allows users, designers and publishers to extend their audience and service by having specific themes for specific mobile devices or browsers.

We have a very neat iPhone theme in production, however due to some bugs we have held it back. The iPhone theme available with this release has some minor AJAX enabled on certain pages.

Note: This is not Project Wolf, only a component of Project Wolf. Our launch date for the new product will be announced shortly.

Technology — 1 Comment
28
Sep 08

iPhone 3G – The Launch

Last week Thursday (25th of September), the launch party for the infamous iPhone 3G was held at VodaWorld. There was a rather large crowd that partied on until the launch at 12 o’clock that evening. I was in the VIP section with Vincent Maher, Denham Coote, the couple (Matt & Megg) and the Zoopy Crew.

I received the wonderful gift from Vodacom, the iPhone 3G, on arrival at the launch party. Nic Haralambous (GM of Zoopy), quickly snapped up a few photos of me opening the packaging. I also did a quick interview with Zoopy. Please excuse all the “um” and “err”, it was very on the spot.

As midnight drew closer, DJ Fresh came on to rock the crowd and keep the energy going. He’s also a very huge Apple fan. I was able to get my hands on the official pricing just before the launch, as it was signed-off at the last minute. If you weren’t at the launch party, you can catch the count down on Zoopy or the view all the videos and photos captured by the Zoopy Crew. The guys over at the ZA Tech Show also have an exclusive interview with Chris Ross from Vodacom about the iPhone 3G launch in South Africa.

I would like to give an extended thank you to Vodacom and everyone else behind the launch party, it was a roaring success. I would also like to thank Zoopy for taking the time to stream the event, I think they did a really great job.

Disclaimer: Vodacom is a client of Younique, a company of which I am a founder.

Technology — 9 Comments
19
Feb 08

South Africa Needs Crime Spotting

South Africa is a country with some of the highest crime statistics in the world. We all know this and we all talk about it. We spend ridiculous amount of money on security to keep ourselves and our families safe. We have lost almost all confidence in our police service.

We already have a few websites that help with spotting and preventing crime. I have always had a little idea I would like to pursue and last night when I came across CrimeSpotting I knew that it could be done. However, I can’t do this by myself, so I would like to share my thoughts on it and see what others think.

The idea behind CrimeSpotting is that information such as reported crimes should be public knowledge. This public knowledge is then plotted on very pretty maps provided by Live Maps (one could also use Google Maps). However, in South Africa, asking government to store and release such information would be another task all on its own. So we’re going to have to rely on user generated content.

CrimeSpotting Map

So how do we go about creating a platform for users to report crime? I think using the same model as Twitter would be best. A great example of how this can be is by taking a look at Ushahidi.

Web Platform

The web platform will allow people to quickly and easily plot crimes on a map. These crimes can then be tagged and viewed by anyone. There could also be some really great additional features, such as:

  • Email & SMS Alerts – Get alerted whenever crimes our plotted within your neighborhood, town or city.
  • Improved Crime Statistics – Using the data entered into the platform, we could accurately determine “hot spots” for certain crimes.

Mobile Platform

The mobile platform would allow users to easily report crimes using SMS, WAP site and perhaps even a mobile based application using similar technology to The Grid. This would be essential as South Africa has more mobile users, this means even people who are in rural areas or townships to participate as well.

3rd Party Application / API

Let’s make the whole thing open. You never know what great tools people could create if you give them enough access to the crime data. Integrating into services such as Facebook, instant messaging, MXit and a whole range of others would be made easier for 3rd party developers. This will expand the reach and access of the platform.

I would really love to be involved in something like this. If there is anyone who is interested in pursuing this idea please contact me. Please feel free to leave any suggestions or comments below, I feel something like this should really be as open as possible. I also believe something like this can make a difference, I am sick of crime!

Personal / Technology — 12 Comments
28
Jan 08

My First Nike+ Run

I came across Nike+ some time ago, but I never thought much of it until I read how Paul started using his pair of Nike’s. I then saw the Nike+ kit at a Nike factory store in Durban, but I still wasn’t completely sold. I (am) was a sprint athlete in high school and hated long and middle distance events, I thrived on the adrenaline rushes of 100m and 400m.

My sprint training programs had me spending a fair amount of time in the gym lift and pushing weights for strength. However, after high school I lost my knack for sprinting and my dream of making it to the 2008 Olympics due to injury and then later a new set of commitments. At the beginning of December I stopped going to gym and decided that in 2008 I will focus on the health and fitness of my body, rather than becoming muscle bound.

This shift lead me to buying a pair of Nike+ running shoes so that I could join the other bloggers who run as well. I spent most of my Saturday this past weekend shopping for the perfect Nike+ shoes. I found a black pair that was going for R1400, but I wasn’t prepared to pay that much. After almost giving into buying the black pair, my girlfriend spotted a pair at another store and I knew they were the pair I wanted. They cost me R900 and the iPod receiver was another R400. I ended up spending R200 less than what I budgeted for, bargain.

Nike+ Running Shoes

I was able to free some time this afternoon to take a quick run, of which 800m was just calibrating the sensor. I am a very competitive person and refuse to believe I am unfit, until proven. Well my Nike+ setup proved that I am well unfit. Unfortunately the low level map views for my suburb aren’t too great on Nike+ so I can’t plot accurate routes. Instead, I guessed a route and calculated it at 2km, it came to 1.9km exactly.

Nike+ First Run

As you can see I started off fast, in my super athlete pace and slowly but surely ended up walking a long way back. The first major dip represents my chest starting to tell me that I am old and unfit, while the second major dip is my legs telling me that I am not a super athlete.

It’s going to take me some time to get the the level of fitness that I consider good enough. I am enjoying the Nike+ system thoroughly and I recommend that anyone who is serious about running or simply a beginner and wanting to start out, use this product. It’s like a portable treadmill, thank you Nike, and because I have to, thank you Apple.

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