Blog entries from Jas

Hello, Skyrim! Goodbye, social life…

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 14:00:09 +0100

So I purchased the pre-order of Skyrim (to get the fancy cloth map bonus content) that arrived on Friday. After a troublesome install, whereby I had to scour the Internet searching for answers, and eventually discovered you had to call Steam using the –install command line argument.

It seems, much like Sword of the Stars II (SoTS II) that was released but two weeks ago, that no one bothered to check the install mechanism properly. In the case of SoTS II, they releaseRead More...

A Return to Social Networking?

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:47:15 +0100

So Google+ is now available to the world, and yet I still feel no compulsion to join “the fastest growing social network”. Sadly, I’m starting to dislike the whole movement that Google is taking: trying to make the Web more social. I’m slowly getting to the point where I feel I might be better off disassociating myself from all their services, and finding alternatives (and there are many alternatives available, and while they’re not always free, they are on the cRead More...

iPad or iFad?

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:28:41 +0100

I’ve always really thought of most Apple products as something I would never really want to get involved with, what with their release cycles, and that they only add very small amounts of functionality between these releases (iPhone 3 and iPhone 3G, for example).

This is also further highlighted with the iPhone 4S, that while it includes new hardware architecture changes, the main attraction is of course, Siri.

However, even as Apple says that Siri is only available for thRead More...

NWN Forum Server Hacked

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 07:17:54 +0100

At 08:37 this morning, I received the following email (hyperlinks taken out of course - wouldn't want someone else changing my own password!) - although perhaps this is more cautionary than anything else; they do state the passwords were encrypted after all (yet perhaps more of a worry, since Graphics Processing Units (GPU's) seem to be fairly good at brute forcing passwords these days).

from Aaryn Flynn GM BioWare Edmonton bioware@em.ea.com
reply-to AaRead More...

Broadband - what we pay for?

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 08:41:39 +0100

I was reading this article on TechCentral titled: Telkom: 'we're not expensive' and thought I would do my own little investigation into the price of broadband overseas...

Sky Broadband
Broadband Unlimited
Up to 20Mbps
Up to 1.3Mbps
unlimited
£15
R 165

Virgin Media
L
Up to 10Mbps

£5
R 55

Virgin Media
XL
Up to 30Mbps

£18.50
R 203

Virgin Media
XXL
Up to 50Mbps

£25
R 275

Demon Internet
Home 2+
Up to 20Mbps
Up to 1Mbps
50GB
&pRead More...

Powerless - the saga continues

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 09:15:29 +0100

Its day three without power, and this morning I had no water too. I think the ironic thing is the area in which the fault occurred actually had power last night (a friend of mine drove through it and instantly WhatsApp’d me – the indignity of it all).

What amazes me is that we’re meant to be in this age of smarter grids – smarter ways of delivering power and utility services, and yet when one Read More...

The rise of the anywhere photographer

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 11:26:25 +0100

With the advent of smartphones, people are more easily able to generate fresh, digital content – especially as the quality of mobile phone camera’s extend beyond the 5 megapixel range. We are no longer required to carry around heavy duty, large digital-SLRs in order to take that perfect pic – the mobile phone is slowly surpassing the camera-oriented folk.

But it’s not just about the phone’s camera, but the software effecRead More...

FlySAA FAIL

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 09:45:49 +0100

So I've been trying to book a ticket through to Pietermaritzburg in Feb, and I know SAA is the only airline (Via the Airlink Express?) that flies directly there.

You would think that, going through to the FlySAA Website that one would, ordinarily, be able to book a flight? Well, I'm a bit of a browser junkie, and have four, yes four of the latest browsers installed (beta's mind you). But do you think there is a single browser that will work with the FlySAA website?

No. I donRead More...

Frustrated finding a [mobile] contract

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 11:40:13 +0100

So I'm trying to go onto a contract through Vodacom, but I just can't seem to find anything that I really want to find out. Not from their Website, not from other company websites... And I am not the kind of person that feels he should have to waste his time going into a store in order to find out this kind of information (not with the Internet at my command!) I know I want to go for a BlackBerry Torch, and I know I want a contract that includes the "free" Internet that has helped popularise Read More...

What's missing from the Samsung Wave...

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 10:07:57 +0100

So I’ve had the Samsung Wave (S8500) for the better part of a year, and I will admit I do still love the phone. But after a year, I’m quite discouraged by its App store – and I really, really think they could have owned the market (or at least broken into the market) somewhat better if they had introduced a free data bundle plan – ala Research In Motion (BlackBerry users). Smart phones, on average, seem quite chatty in nature, and while I haven’t found the Wave tRead More...

The Paranoid Web

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 09:07:11 +0100

So after the recent news of Gawker Media having their websites hacked, I've received countless e-mails from many other services, all in a flurry and panic that the password that I've used will have been hacked, and that I should change them all immediately.

Now I'd like to think that, as a non-causal user of the Internet, that I have pretty secure passwords (which if I count on fingers, usually pass over the 15-digit value including the use of alphanumerical and non-standard keys) Read More...

Forget Facebook; find yourself.

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 07:11:11 +0100

Hi, my name's Jas and I'm a recovered Facebook-o-holic.

About a month ago I decided that the all-powerful Facebook had taken enough of my time, and so I decided to permanently delete the profile. Having disabled my profile once before, I knew about the temptation of just 'hopping back online' to check and see what other people were doing, so I knew I'd have to undertake a far more drastic, permanent Read More...

Death of Diaspora

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 06:50:57 +0100

The social network could run into user issues before it's even begun.

Diaspora is a new social network that sets out to put you in charge of your data. The entire idea was formulated because of the strong attacks against Facebook with its bad privacy changes, effectively opening up your profile information to almost anyone who wanted it - unless you took the awkward and sometimes complicated Read More...

Doing the digital detox?

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 09:02:15 +0100

As I've written before, quite a while ago, I have often gone through the process of what I call a "digital detox" - deleting accounts and lowering my online footprint significantly. It's been a while since I've felt the need to perform a digital detox though...

I guess a major reason for not undergoing the procedure (and trying to get rid of your online profile) is that it is in itself a very long procedure to undertake. Facebook makes it particularly difficult to remove your profile, Read More...

PayPal – It’s for business

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 10:13:26 +0100

I’ve never really had much use for PayPal, although I profess I had an account while living in London (technically I still do). The account was created to recharge my Skype limit, but now that I don’t live there, I haven't bothered logging into my account since - and I’m finding it almost impossible to close my account (although that’s not the nature of this article).

I predict the “better” use for PayPal in the South African market lies not so mRead More...

I’m going postal ordeal

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 11:59:57 +0100

On Saturday morning I went to the post office to collect an item, only to find that they had sent it off to the Johannesburg post office in town. The lady I spoke to at Parklands said I should give them a call to get them to send the item through to the Parklands post office.

Going home somewhat irritated, I went online to get the post office’s number to give them a call. Sitting on the phone waiting for someone to pick up, my patience lasted around five minutes of waiting unRead More...

Recruitment gets it wrong

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:01:53 +0100

I sometimes get updates from recruitment companies in the UK looking for developers. This was initiated way back when I was living and working in the UK, but have now since returned to South Africa (and have been back for sometime).

I know I’ve mentioned this before in comments, but it really was too good an opportunity not to pass up putting on MyDL:

*****Are you Junior Application Developer looking to rapidly develop your skills and career - OrRead More...

The uncapped Internet wars

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 13:32:48 +0100

After MWEB released its uncapped Internet offering companies are starting to play catch up.

Late last week, MWEB released its uncapped broadband offering, sparking a change in the way we perceive the Internet, how we use it, and migrating South Africa into a new era of unlimited connectivity.

Today Afrihost (@afrihost and @gianvisser) unveiled its own uncapped ADSL offering with offerings that look competitive when you don’t factor in the line rental, and even goinRead More...

Are we losing something with games?

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:38:01 +0100

There's nothing like the real deal. I say this not in terms of the piracy of computer games, but of the older, more traditional way of distributing games: the box and cd.

I'm one of those people that prefer having the original box, with manual and instruction guide like the "good old days" of computer games. I think back to the days of Baldur's Gate, which had a big box, great instruction manual and a large-scale map of the world (not to mention it’s 4CD case). Not only was tRead More...

Issue / Bug / Tracking / Client help desk

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:51:04 +0100

I have a friend that works for a fairly small company that is becoming inundated with support calls. I suggested he looks at software to handle issue tracking, support, and bug tracking – but fell short when it came to looking at Sourceforge. When I delved further into his requirements, my friend says he needs a fair level of automation involved – I’m guessing like a client help desk. What open source initiatives are being used. State reasons for use (ie: features, ease of iRead More...