Scattered Mind

UPDATE : Hewlet Packard has contacted me and offered me the same server and software as I won at TechEd, you can read more here.

I am currently at TechEd and have not had time to post for some time, not due to connectivity problems but actually due to not having time to get to it, being busy with session upon session.

Yesterday I entered into a competition at the HP stand here at TechEd Africa 2009 in Durban.

Later the after whilst in my last session for the day at around 17h15,  that goes on till 18h30.  about 18h10 I checked my phone and saw a missed call and a voice mail.

Listening to the voicemail it was HP that were trying to contact me, the missed call being at 17h17.

So I quickly went to the HP stand and they told me that I won the M110 G5 Server that was up for grabs. Gr8, but then the bad news.  They say they couldn’t get hold of me and gave the prize to someone else.

The 1 time I thought I won something and my excitement for nothing!

This however is a bit unorganised, as almost everybody is here to attend the sessions which are presented and not to stand around waiting for prize draws.

I do feel a bit ripped off though, but they did say they will send me something to Joburg – probably a stressball or something, but I’ll wait and see if that happens….

Well, now to attend the next session, will post some pics later, here is me earlier today…  [link to pic]

UPDATE : Hewlet Packard has contacted me and offered me the same server and software as I won at TechEd, you can read more here.

Thanks again HP!

Now we are getting somewhere…

Saw this gem this morning, for the kids that remember this series that aired on South African television some time ago, probably 10-15 years ago, the early nineties. Tropical Heat .

This series resolved around two private investigators, Nick Slaughter and ex-agent Silvie Girard, solving a variety of different cases. With the tropical setting and the renowned Jeep that could be seen around South Africa for some time whilst they shot the 3rd Series in Pretoria, South Africa.

Brings back memories!

So I’ve ordered a new skin for my Lenovo Z61m laptop.

It arrived about 2 weeks ago and I’m very happy with the purchase I’ve made from MySkins.co.za and they delivered in their 7 days as stated on their website.

And here it is in action

Light up those ideas with a thinking bulb

can be found at Mandatlity.co.za

Plaxo.com has been providing Contact synchronisation and management of contacts between different devices and machines for quite some time now.

I’ve joined Plaxo about 3 years ago as a tool to help me keep my laptop and desktop applications in sync when working with my address book.

At the time I believed only in 3 social networking/web applications, namely

• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• AND Plaxo.

One of the main features I liked about Plaxo is that you could have multiple email clients and then sync it to one repository online.

I used to run Mozilla Thunderbird and Outlook and would just sync each to the central repository.

For the last couple of weeks I’ve one would have noticed the following message when syncing your contacts or when starting up your machine.

Now it seems they are taking this the commercial root, and now you have to fork out money to have the sync capabilities.

I have actually concidred buying their premium package before for halping me out with doubles etc. but now it feels like this company has been taking me for the FREE-PAY -later ride.

I feel that this type of “business model” is unfair towards the un expecting end user and can cause one to rely one’s whole life on a service set as free and then being later locked down as a paid service.

Google however has perfected this as they’re adwords are floating around their applications and keep generating them money, and probably the latest recession has seen Plaxo having to make this decision that could help them generate extra money but also loose a lot of fans.

I assume their business model was based on the “hope”/prediction that at least a certain percentage of their FREE users will go for the premium memberships, but eventually stuck with the free service, and then they probably pulled on the shortest string.

To all the Female Programmers out there, of which there are not much, a song plainly called Coder Girl.

Are you looking forward to the next Sharepoint after MOSS 2007, well the first sneak previews have emerged, looks like it’s definitely going to be a hit, again!

Check out the overviews and sneak peek here.

Flying Lanterns, also known as Sky Lanterns, will add an exciting new element to your party. Their sparkle can be seen flying up in the air for up to 20 minutes and will travel several miles in distance, after which the flame will blow out and they will gently float back down for a safe landing. Sky Lanterns will fly to more than 1,000 meters in altitude, providing an enjoyable yet amazingly simple show for all ages.

Flying Lanterns otherwise known as Khoom Fay in the Asian culture were used next to fireworks in traditional Asian festivals for thousands of years. Paper lanterns were used to celebrate the Chinese New Year and as a signaling device. Countless were launched to rid the people of their worries and to decorate the city’s sky with light. The flame would symbolize knowledge and wisdom.

For more about these, you can have a look here .

Very controversial, but also very entertaining in today’s “Go Green” hype currently taking over media and the next money making bubble. Although very important to the survival of our mother planet earth, this just adds an extra light to the doomsday prophets out there.

In a world where we’re bombarded with advice on going green, authors Mark Townsend and David Glick take a refreshing line and tell us how NOT to go green. Indeed, they’re here to help us f**k up the planet good and proper. And it’s easier than you think.

This book can be found at Kalahari.net.