Category: General

  • Solving the problem of forgetting to take back library books, and having fun doing it…

    Problem With access to 4 library cards, each with 30 book capacity, that’s a whopping 120 books we can take out. The current “reminder” system from our local library involves emailing you 2 days before it’s due, and then 1 week AFTER it’s due (and you’ve picked up fines). We’re currently sitting at around $20…

  • gSouthAfrica 2.0 Day 1

    Ok, so gSouthAfrica Day 1 didn’t really grab my interest in the slightest, perhaps the coolest thing I saw was some of the features around Google+ that are either just released (Google Ripples) or planned soon (like the integration with YouTube to add music play lists and share and control these from Plus, although can’t really see…

  • gSouthAfrica 2.0 Hackathon

    Attended the 1st day of gSouthAfrica 2.0 (https://sites.google.com/site/gsouthafrica20/), the second incantation of the Google South Africa conference. The first day was a Hackathon focused on the Google+ API (https://developers.google.com/+/api/) in its current incantation. For me the day was a bit of a let down, the Plus API is severely limited with only the basic ability…

  • My initial experience of the Viewsonic gtablet

    I recently purchased a Viewsonic gtablet (or gtab) and I thought I’d dump some thoughts I had on it for future buyers. Firstly I’m based in South Africa so access to technology like this is, well, lacking. The only “tablet” officially available as of this post, is the Samsung Galaxy Tab (I say “tablet” because…

  • Velvet Intimidation and Thuggery

    In South Africa you hear stories about people brushing against the corruption of the Police but it doesn’t sink in until you actually experience it. Today I was stopped by a pointless roadblock doing nothing more than harassing innocent citizens, checking for expired licenses, expired roadworthy certificates and the likes. Unfortunately my car’s roadworthy certificate…

  • Google South Africa conference (day 2)

    I’m back in Joburg and I figured I better get around to writing a Day 2 post. Day 2 was, for me anyway, not as interesting as Day 1, but nevertheless worth it (it’s a fault of mine that I’m way too technical and not focused enough on “the other stuff”). It’s focus was mostly…

  • Google South Africa conference (day 1)

    Geeks, coffee, sweets and cool music, add that to a lineup of interesting speakers talking about cool technology and you have a recipe for an awesome event. Day 1 of the Google South Africa (g|southafrica) Conference finished a couple of hours ago and it was a pretty cool day. I’ve worked with most of the…

  • Conference Fun: Blackberry Developer Days

    Having just returned from what was an eye opening Blackberry Developer Days conference in Johannesburg, I thought I’d write a few of my thoughts on it, and Blackberry itself (or rather the direction I see it going). Firstly, thanks to the presenters, they showed both a good knowledge as well as a passion for the…

  • My first of many Android apps

    In my spare time I do what I love (how sad, I should do what I love all the time), and what I love is coding, and the android platform… I’ve created my first android application available here: http://torrentfunnel.ricktonoli.com, read up on it at the site. If anyone wants to give it a whirl I’d…