Monthly Archive for August, 2006

it’s all geek to me

Aaaaaargh! Mr Cherryflava referred to us as NERDS. neek!Is a geek an evolved nerd or are they simply interchangeable in most people’s minds? Somehow I?m feeling a tad slighted.

I know I?ve some traces of the geek - but heaven forfend - a nerd?! I rushed to Wikipedia to allay my blistered ego and found that I am indeed a classic nerd (confirmed in being an INTP in the Myers-Briggs years back.. must’ve been in denial) %-] For the purposes of simplicity and self-confidence I?m staying with geek till it doesn?t sting so much so… Are you a geek? Geeks love metrics & tests - so for a giggle try this one to determine your GQ ::geek quotient Continue reading ‘it’s all geek to me’

Group Genius

Our Geek Dinner [THANK YOU so much to geek marketing maven Dave for organising this!! :-D] happening next week (30 August ‘06). It promises to be a riot of dazzling minds, blazing new ideas and business opportunities brought back from the very edge of fresh tech, design and marketing.. all swimming in Stormhoek wine (sponsored by the marketing genius Graham Knox).

We’ll have some speakers offering just a teaser of their insights.. with the likes of Mike Stopforth (GoForth.. and wow! is this man going forth>> get connected to Mike while you can), Gavin Chait (Whythawk, WikiMedia: the night will be worthwhile if just to hear this maverick economist’s potent keynote.. register on the wiki NOW), Jonathan Cherry of Cherryflava (reporter from the edge of the freshest marketing and business trends), Conrad Strydom (SERIOUS programming clarity from the man who brought us SA’s 1st BarCamp) of Geekspin and someone called Maximilian Kaizen ;-) of maxkaizen.com

[Thanks to the exquisite Pilobolus dancers for their bodies to express the beauty that can be achieved working together.. I discovered them through the throbbing genius gathering TED (which I do secretly have on my 101 Things To Do Before I Die list).. please feel free to grab the pic above to publicize the geekdinner on your site].

All life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly -Martin Luther King, Jr.

The theme of the evening is from the Zulu saying Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu.. for those of who need to slip the babel fish into your ear: “we are who we are because WE are” (huh?) or as Rafiq has it with more precision: people are people because of other people. We are moving into a new renaissance period and once again the collective intelligence of the passionate, determined, creative and visionary will MOVE the world. Looking forward to some Richter scale TECHtonic rumblings at the GeekDinner..see you there>>

got blogged NO’s ? could be viral

Ever had this response to your blog??! this came as a response to an email invitation I sent out to the Humour Contest that our marketing geekblogger is a finalist in :: (you are most welcome to come if you’re in the city BTW)

Even i was hesitant to go to a “blog” - thought it was a virus or misprint… cost me two phone calls to pc literate friends before i risked it and found max’s name under bookings.

Naturally, I had set up a blog to publicize the event .. and then posted to upcoming.org and eventful ..silly silly me :-/ (that’s why we leave the marketing to Dave)
Had to IM Dave to console myself >>

me: eish!
5:52 PM David: she had to call two techies before she would click the link!
wooooow
me: flippin dismal
she thought a blog was a virus
gosh
5:53 PM David: haha… I wish my blog was a virus!
me: jaja fully viral
David: hehe
5:54 PM me: golly goodness we are in a bubble of our own coolness
David: right right
me: maaaaany peops to be educated
edutained perhaps
David: exactly… we’re still cutting edge (us and 50mil other bloggers around the world)
5:55 PM me: hahahahaha ROTFL :’-D

(Boy, am I glad we didn’t set up a wiki!)
Well boys & girls the moral of the story is that only the blogged knows.. but one day..
yes, you know it… “the GEEK shall inherit the earth

the blog that narrowly escaped senseless murder

GENIUS friendOh my goodness!! What a LEGEND is this Web AddiCT supremo :-D

He’s knocked me out with his kindness (mercy even, for this damsel in distress)
I am a RAVING FAN!

I had left a trail of chaos and scrambled code in my wake as I tried on template after template this week, peeling my way through all the lovely widget-ready ones from the Wordpress theme treasure trove like a teenage girl in a changeroom with 43 new things to try on.. and you know that always ends in tears :’-(

Continue reading ‘the blog that narrowly escaped senseless murder’

ASK and ye shall receive

Fed on fairytales, with all life’s occassionally brutal and unfair edges polished off, can lead to rampant rages against whoever happens to be in charge of the Universal Luck Lotto.

“BUT IT’S JUST NOT FAIR!!” We howl in impotent fury >> How come the rich get richer, good people suffer, innocent children starve while warlords live a fat lifestyle? Why do good things happen to bad people? (yes, I meant it that way around). In your industry, is it the most talented/ big-hearted/ best-educated/ super-smart/ ethical people who take all the prizes? Yes? In a perfect world maybe! But in the real world, riches and recognition seem to amass around the AUDACIOUS It’s not as though we haven’t been warned that this is the way “luck” is dished out :: The parable of the talents was one that utterly confounded me at school and seemed to be completely unfair (mind you I went to a convent-school run by the Sisters of Mercy, so I have been steeped in many years of peculiar thought, but that’s a story for another day). Steve Pavlina has a kicker blog.post about this that I recommend you tootle over & visit.

Every one of us has more than one story that illustrates that life rewards those are already lucky. So why carry on fighting the system??

Being audacious and hustling vapourware has never been something I could settle into my operating system with ease. But being unafraid to ask for what you want is just as potent // The principle of ballsiness can be applied with a clear conscience & clean hands // The terror of asking for a favour, or for help can often cause paralysis until the opportunity gap has passed.

A psychology experiment locked itself into my memory from the deepest haze of first year university. It involved the behavioural genius Stanley Milgram telling his students to go out and ASK for seats on the New York Subway! (1975), a quest that stressed many of them to the point of nausea and immobility.. the results may startle and perhaps inspire you - 68% of those asked to, duly gave up their seats! (The experiment was repeated this year to a result of 87% giving up their seats).

Be brave - what’s the worst that could happen if you just ASK? My mate Lior specializes in helping Olympic athletes reach way beyond their current beliefs to winning gold, by developing CHUTZPAH or in his words - for those not born with the DNA - to unleash their inner Jew! I am LEARNING 8-) We have entered the Connection Economy: our interconnectedness on a global scale has never been more evident.. and the barriers to speaking to those greatest among us has never been easier.

If you have a great idea, share it, speak up, start to ASK.. who knows how lucky you could get if you do?!

So the essence is :: I thoroughly recommend taking delight the dizzying thrill of the bravado we had as children before we weren’t held down by suffocating “shoulds” and polite political correctness that keep us from playing in this wildly abundant world that is our birthright

Rock my world

..know those times when you feel the earth move? When titanic shifts are rumbling under your feet, you can’t see their effect yet, but you KNOW that when they break ground it’ll be momentous?! Last week was one of those big ole techtonic* shake-ups for me.

Think it may’ve started with the meet.up with the force of nature known as Mike Stopfornothing! [Boom! This man ROCKS! and has the energy to light up a city... put him on your radar if you haven't already].

The dovetailing synchronicity of surprising events is speeding up which is always a precursor to an evolutionary earthquake.

The last time this happened I was on sabbatical; so terrified and full of blazing rage I poured my heart onto a canvas to avoid being consumed

Continue reading ‘Rock my world’

Building Bridges for the Born Digital

As once the winged energy of delight carried you over childhood’s dark abysses, now beyond your own life build the great arch of unimagined bridges” - Rilke

Wintery Sunday morning all foggy outside, a mug of rich velvety hot chocolate, broadband …aaaah heavenly :) The teeny little girl on my lap in head-to-toe pinkness has just been introduced to Cute Overload ..interspersed with occassional beeps of the IM (from my matey Rafiq who’s still in bed and connecting on Mxit and then from my brother Dave, working on a Sunday :-/). Alex (the 4yr old laptop) shows me the camera & tells me about Skyping her granny in the States.. and wants to see who I’m speaking to (real-time typing an acceptable form of speaking to her) .. we tootle over to Flickr, where she recognises the painting hanging in the lounge from my photos on Flickr.. and so it goes.. her world seamlessly connected into mixed-reality existence, as with all Born Digital babes, this interconnectedness is normal :-) We are building the multidimensional worlds they will live and work in. NOW.

Continue reading ‘Building Bridges for the Born Digital’




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