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Divine told me that Anna, the "events coordinator" would be phoning me tomorrow morning to give me the address. Does anyone have ideas for what I should say? I'm thinking of accusing her outright and getting a response. Ideally someone with lawyering skillz could tell me what charge to lay and get a case number?

Continue reading ""You've won a car" Scam - Carlswald"

Posted by Dominic White

Continue reading "InfoSec Professionals are the Hottest according to Forrester"

Posted by Dominic White

Posted by Dominic White

If you've decided you want to make better coffee, here are my tips for the changes that will yield the biggest results. These aren't comprehensive, just some quick tips for quickly making better coffee.

1. Don't use instant, use proper Arabica grounds.
2. Espresso is the best, then French press, then percolator. A Moka Express or Brikka are quick ways to get into espresso.
3. Use hot milk. This makes a big difference in taste, 30-40s in the microwave should do it. A French Press can be used with hot milk to make decent froth for cappuccino too.
4. Grind your own beans. A grinder is cheap, and freshly grinding your own beans just before you make a cup makes a subtle increase in flavour. Remember to store your beans in an airtight container in a cool dry place (not the fridge).

Posted by Dominic White

Posted by Dominic White

Continue reading "Ciao! We're off to Italy"

Posted by Dominic White

I'm currently sick as a dog, but lying in a 5 star hotel. I guess I break even.

I highly recommend the Arabella Sheraton in Cape Town. They have been nothing short of fantastic. There are few things better than arriving back at your room, feeling rubbish, to find a gown, slippers, Lindt chocolate and drugs on your bed. While this is Cape Town, they were only flu drugs.

Posted by Dominic White

One year ago today I cut off my beard. I did it because I thought I shouldn't start my first job looking like a Maddog wannabe. I have since realised that nobody cares, and am proud to say that it is back in full swing. It grows much slower in the lofty heights of Johannesburg (humidity makes a difference, who would've though). I am still without mustache however, this bothers me somewhat.

I have run into many people who don't like beards because they feel people with beards have something to hide, I find this quite amusing. The rest either think it makes me look good/bad with no clear winner as yet. I do look noticeably older however, I quite enjoy the fact that clients don't ask me how old I am as much. Instead of having to show them how incredibly bright I am like before, I can now slip into the annals of mediocrity :)

I am deliberately not including any pictures, so I can continue to get those wide-eyed reactions from my friends.

Posted by Dominic White

Some geeks in a small town in the Cape of our country, South Africa, hacked together a mobile Java MSN client. They called it MXit and gave it away free. Given the disproportionately high difference in price per byte of SMS vs GPRS provided by our mobile operators. It caught on quickly.

However, the media, and indeed a seemingly large chunk of parents have become very concerned about the latest evil in our society. A rather tech savvy journalist friend of mine just included the phrase "A Society in Crisis" in his last blog entry on the subject, and our daily news tells of an emotionally scarred teenager who just had a 'helluva' ordeal. He'll probably never love again, poor kid.

This topic has been grating my tit for some time now, and I felt the need to counter-rant.

Continue reading "MXit the Great Satan!"

Posted by Dominic White

Posted by Dominic White

Tonight we had a team building exercise, nothing cheesy, just a bit of fun. I really enjoyed myself. But the reason this has me blogging at 8:15pm on a Friday night instead of shaking my buttocks, is because everytime I walked through the offices for whatever reason, I kept finding work mates huddles away at their desks. Of course it doesn't take much convincing to get them to join the party. What impresses me about this is that is highlighted a sentiment I have been feeling for a while now, but have been nervous to voice: I love my job.

Sure, these people could be slaving away at their desks on a Friday night because of overbearing managers and too tight deadlines, but mostly it isn't. They are here because they let work get away with them, which is just too easy to do here.

Anyway, enough gushing about work. Have a great weekend everybody.

Posted by Dominic White

Continue reading "Three Years"

Posted by Dominic White

Recently I bought a Nokia 9300i. Phone cock-swaggering aside, it allows me to be connected to the internet, permanently. I can ssh to my machines, I can look up facts on the internet and I can read without moving my eyes further than a few square centimeters of screen. This is nothing new, what is new is that I can now do this all the time. I can do it in the middle of speeches, in restaurants or on the toilet.

Continue reading "Digital Entropy"

Posted by Dominic White

Posted by Dominic White

I really appreaciated this from the Easter liturgy:

Our commandment was to love one another as we love ourselves, not to assist God in meting out punishment.

Happy Easter everyone.

Posted by Dominic White