Quick Update

An adventure of a week…

  • This week started off with getting asked to leave our office, wrapped up an exit deal with our current investors and ended with a new investment deal.
  • Monday, up early to make omelettes, school run singing along to The Lumineers, gym with Werner, moved office, product design session at Vida, a burger at Trumpet Tree, cooked supper for Mia, a glass of wine with Paul.
  • Tuesday, early morning creative writing (PR), school run – listening to the Black Keys, Waterstone cardio, ex-investor meeting with Werner – making some changes, found some new office space, quick product design session (pivot #4 in 2 years), Gust UI design session with Nico, pizza and salad at Col’caccio with Mia, gelato.
  • “Jy kannie die perd koop en hom nie wil voer nie.” — Johan

  • Mia brought home a book about Mummies, so I told her about the Rosetta Stone.
  • “The thing to judge in any jazz artist is, does the man project and does he have ideas.” — Miles Davis

  • Wednesday, early morning email scrubbing, avo smoothie, school run, gym at Waterstone, Cape Town meeting day with Werner and Luke, Wembley Square, Butterfly Studio, La Bottega, Mxit office, a beer at De Stomme Jonge with Al, ribs with Mia at Apres, gelato.
  • PR for the week… Bandwidth Blog, HumanIPO, VentureBurn, BizCommunity, ITWebAfrica.
  • Thursday, school run – talking hockey tactics, gym with Werner, Gust dev meeting at The Blue Crane, took my 70-200 lens and watched Mia score 3 of her hockey team’s 5 goals, a good game to watch, we got Mia a new hockey stick… 35″.
  • I’ve missed my 70-200, more than the engagement ring.
  • Friday, early school run for reading buddy programme, Waterstone gym, a tour of Garth’s 1000sqm office, Wembley Knead, lunch with Luke and Polly at The Kitchen in Woodstock, Brampton Wine Studio, De Stomme Jonge.
  • How to get startup ideas: “Live in the future and build what seems interesting”.. and pivot closer to the present a few times along the way.
  • Did some market research for our new product. 5/5, looking good.
  • The future is about building recurring income tech businesses.
  • “You want to know how I did it? I never saved anything for the swim back.” — Gattaca

  • Saturday, grapefruit and omelette, played with some NFC chips, nap, watched The Beach again, watched Brazil.
  • Watching The Beach kinda made me wonder if I should have done the after school overseas adventure thing. Guess I’ll just have to have a few more adventures.
  • “When you develop an infatuation for someone you always find a reason to believe that this is exactly the person for you. It doesn’t need to be a good reason.” — The Beach

  • “I found my vocation: the pursuit of pleasure.” — Richard, The Beach

  • I suspect I might have a minor obsession with grapefruit. List of things I currently eat at home: grapefruit, omelettes, smoothies, steamed veg. I may need to expand that list a bit.
  • Sunday, grapefruit, Root44 market with Luke and Polly, Blauwklippen Market, finished watching Brazil, nap, sunset podcast walk around Stellenbosch.
  • This week two years ago: Week 159.
  • Tune of the week: Foals – My Number.

Have a fun week, crazy kids.

Quick Update

Back to default life…

  • Monday, woke up in Tankwa, about 2 hours of packing, road trip, dropped Paul off, soaked in the bath then had a shower, watched 40 year old virgin again – some good scenes.
  • Tuesday, first bacon and eggs after 5 days in the desert at Melissa’s, afternoon walk around Stellenbosch with Alan, unpacked my car, watched The Intouchables – brilliant movie, caught up on some blogging.
  • Wednesday, car wash – it was pretty next level dirty, rainy Cape Town meeting day, drove around the CBD listening to FMR, had lunch at Zucchinis on Loop, roosterkoek and a glass of wine at De Stomme Jonge, a G&T with Jan and Adele at Apres, babies don’t sleep this well.
  • I think I’ve stopped reading Twitter for about a month now. Pintrest lasted all of 4 days.
  • “Touch points.” — wtf?

  • Thursday, Gusted a coffee at Mill House, weekly Gust dev meeting, fetched Mia from school, watched Mia play Hockey vs Beaumont – good fun, she made a few very good breaks, took Mia to art class, got Mia some A2 paper – for bigger and bolder art, more unpacking, photo processing and blogging.
  • The last 13 years have been a pretty busy, bumpy and epic adventure. 10 companies and a few pivots, one Mia, 2 ~divorces, lived in 13 different houses, worked in 9 different offices, visited 15 countries.
  • Friday, Werner drove us to the SeedstarsWorld startup pitch competition in Constantia while I made my presentation, we won SeedstarsWorld (R50k and a flight to Switzerland for the final), Apres with Mia and Georg, gelato, watched Intacto again.
  • “It’s all about the jockey.” — Doug

  • Finally felt really recovered after the burn. Note to self, take a few extra days off after the next one.
  • Saturday, omelette at Basic Bistro with Mia and Georg, Stellenbosch Airshow with Andrew and Dirk, nap, last unpacking while listening to some Counting Crows.
  • Mia’s 2nd front tooth came out. The tooth fairy had a bit more success.
  • “If this was your first Burn and you maybe did not read the docs on the website (which you should, event now is a good time), I think I’m going to point out the first and maybe most important rule which evolved from Burning Man… “Don’t interfere with anyone else’s immediate experience”. — some post burn thinking.

  • “You are the average of the 5 people you send the most time with.” — ~Ernst

  • A little bit of failure never hurt anybody.
  • “And finally Joe again – for your passion and love for life. Your ideas, your attitude and amazing respect.” — Ben

  • “Alice in the Thunderdome.” — Ernst, about AfrikaBurn.

  • Tune of the week: Ho Hey, The Lumineers. Mia loved this song.
  • Sunday, we read Peter Pan, I made grapefruit and omelettes while Mia watched Peter Pan, lunch with Mia and Georg at Apres, gelato, sunset walk around Stellenbosch.
  • Mother’s day: Naulene sends me a text message at 0:35 asking if she can fetch Mia at 11:30 on Mother’s day. I say yes. After being 4 hours late she insists on taking Mia to Somerset West. Then I get a phone call saying her parent’s plans have changed and Mia will not be back tonight, while Mia’s school books and clothes are still at my house. A few hours follow with no solution to the problem. I end up driving to Somerset West to fetch Mia.
  • “Some people are just dicks.” — Adrian.

  • Naulene gave my engagement ring back.

Have a fun week, cazy kids.

Quick Update

Inbox zero before AfrikaBurn 2013…

  • Week of 29 April to 5 May.
  • Monday, school run, gym, investor pitch, made supper for Mia, AfrikaBurn planning session with Paul.
  • Have a look at the Burn Guide apps.. iOS, Android.
  • Tuesday, school run, got a new car tyre fitted, car wash, Gust UI design session with Nico at Blue Crane, about 2h of packing, fetched Paul, road trip with Bert.
  • Wednesday to Sunday, AfrikaBurn 2013… not your average adventure.
  • Continuation of Ernst and my Campari and croquet game from Greyton.
  • Pretty much all the people working on Gust went to AfrikaBurn.
  • Good to unplug a bit.
  • I’ll probably take Mia to AfrikaBurn 2014.
  • I’m a but bummed that I did not take enough photos at the burn this year. Need to plan a bit better and get myself in the mood.

Have a fun week, crazy kids.

Quick Update

Pre-Burn week…

  • Week of 22 to 28 April.
  • Monday, woke up in Sedgefield, N2 road trip with Paul, stopped for a Springbok pie at Peregrene farm stall in Grabouw, office, watched Dredd – pretty entertaining, spotted Tamer a few times in the movie, watched The Fifth Element again while processing some photos.
  • Tuesday, early morning work catch up and creative writing for World Economic Forum Technology Pioneers thing, office, lunch at Mill House to demo Gust for Western Cape Government Tech Innovation Tour group.
  • Wednesday, meeting day with Luke in Cape Town, Hout Bay, got some black light LEDs in Hout st, lunch at Zucchinis on Loop st – great food, Kloof st meeting, Luke’s house, a braai at Werner’s house.
  • Seems Std bank’s mobile app counts pre-paid electricity purchases as part of your daily cash withdraw limit, went to bed early because of that.
  • Thursday, office, boiler suit, buttons, shoulder pads and 9v battery shopping in Somerset West with Werner and Janette, braai at Werner’s house, completed the making of 13 suits.
  • Mia scored 2 of the 4 goals at the first hockey match of the season. Those afternoons playing hockey with Mia seem to be paying off.
  • Mia’s first tooth fell out this week.
  • Can’t remember when last I was bored, not sure that’s such a good thing.
  • Friday, a fun day, haircut at Lize’s, two Wembley Sq meetings with Luke and Werner, gave a talk about Gust at the 27 Dinner, ended up not going to the Space Ibiza party even though Georg got me a ticket.
  • Refreshing to meet real businessmen, people who understand risk and passion.
  • Saturday, fetched Mia, got Mia at Netball ball and a bigger gum guard, G&T with Andrew, watched Brave and fell asleep on the couch, supper, Porco Rosso.
  • Mia takes my wallet, counts all the money in it and says, you have R390.40 in your wallet. Hmm. Ok. Then later when I put her to bed she says – “we’ll see if the tooth fairy exists.”
  • Sunday, not the best Tooth Fairy experience, Mia came down stairs saying “I knew it was you.”, tea, watched Matilda again, listened to some Talking Heads and cleaned up the house, afternoon braai at my place with Georg and Dirk, nap, gelato, late afternoon walk around old town
    Stellenbosch with Mia.
  • Mia seems to have taken a keen interest is Gary Larson books.

Have a fun week, crazy kids.

Quick Update

Mini holiday in Sedgefield, Knysna and Plett…

  • Week of 15 to 21 April.
  • Monday, school run, boiler suit shopping at Mr Farmer, bit of a disruptive meeting, Mia went to Judo, a beer with Alan at Trumpet Tree, pizza with Werner and Mia, some proposal writing.
  • “Everything ends badly, otherwise it wouldn’t end.” — from Cocktail.

  • Tuesday, got up at 3:00 to fight with my inbox, made omelettes, school run, gym, office, theme camp costume shopping with Werner, we made the first prototype Son of Man suit while Mia made clothes for a doll.
  • Wednesday, school run, Waterstone gym, Stellenbosch gym, Mia watched Princess Diaries again and went to Judo, rainy day soup for supper.
  • Thursday, school run, Mr Farmer, gym, Mia got her first filling at the dentist, investor meeting, suit making, spray painting and curry at Werner’s house.
  • Friday, early school for the reading buddy programme, got a new car tyre and wheel alignment, visited the Builders Express braai area, we finally tracked down the 10sec Gust Android discovery issue, fetched Paul, N2 road trip, supper with Al at Pili Pili beach bar in Sedgefield.
  • “What’s the core thing? Adventure.” — Al

  • Saturday, beach walk, oysters and tapas at Tapas in Knysna, Buffelsbaai boot brandy, lamb steak braai in Sedgefield, Paul fell asleep in the car listening to The Dead Weather.
  • Sunday, Lookout Deck in Plett, some Red Snapper at Enrico’s in Keurbooms, Pili Pili beach bar.
  • Tune of the week: The Black Keys – Gold On The Ceiling
  • Team (culture), product, business. In that order.

Have a fun week, crazy kids.

Quick Update

Mostly busy with Gust v1.2 dev and some AfrikaBurn planning.

  • Yes, I’m a bit behind with the weekly blog posts, been busy.
  • Week of 8 to 14 April.
  • Monday, first wintery morning, gym with Werner and Mia, legs day, Mia made good progress with Monkey Island 1 at the office, lunch at Melissa’s, SID meeting with Pieter and Marius, pizza at Col’caccio.
  • Tuesday, rainy school run, Waterstone gym, Stellenbosch gym, office, mid-week braai at my house with Werner.
  • Wednesday, gym, office, red wine (nice and wintery).
  • Only noticed this week that my frogfoot.com email stopped working a while ago. End of an era.
  • It’s going to be interesting to see how Mia’s memory of her childhood works out – I have thousands of photos of her childhood which she browses on iPads, screensavers on laptops and TVs. I worry that we will forget.
  • Thursday, Hazz with Alex, Jan and Nico, meeting with Ruth, a beer with Marius and Pieter at Col’caccio.
  • Friday, got up at 4:00 – mostly to trim my inbox down, we cleaned some AfrikaBurn location data (theme camps), Maia and Jan worked at our office – mostly mDNS bug fixes, Friday after-work Brampton session, Mia an I watched the end of How to Train your Dragon, Gino’s with Mia and friends, fell asleep on the couch, Mia fell asleep in the spare room.
  • Mia did not order a ham and pineapple pizza for the first time, she had ham and artichoke.
  • The Burn Guide 2013 (for AfrikaBurn) app is looking really good. Thanks Jan, Maia and Storm.
  • Idea for an app, like Pocket, but with collaborative article summaries within a circle of friends. I just can’t keep up with all the reading, would be nice to share only the useful insights.
  • Saturday, tea, grapefruit, showed Mia Google Earth – we visited the Pyramids and Porko Rosso’s Adriatic sea, Mia rediscovered her Leapfrog Tag World Map, Root44 market, dropped Mia with her mom at the nature reserve, watched the Stormers game at Jan Kats, watched the Bulls game at 5 Reyneveld, Stomme Jonge, watched 21 Jump Street – very entertaining, fell asleep on the couch again.
  • Sometimes the centre of Stellenbosch feels like Monkey Island map – nice to be walking, but only so many places you can go.
  • Sunday, housekeeping day, I think I need to get help with housekeeping – just taking too much time, copied about 40GB of photos to the media centre – just for the screensaver, Naulene dropped Mia off 4hours late again, some hockey lessons at Paul Roos, watched Tangled again, bath, reading, sleep.
  • Not much progress with the Death Star this week sadly.

Have a fun week, crazy kids.

Quick Update

Building the Death Star…

  • Monday, public holiday, made breakfast for Mia and Francis, Mia and I assembled a new braai, Lego Death Star building with some Chardonnay, Ben Harper and Chris De Burgh, Naulene fetched Francis, ribs at Apres with Paul, reading, sleep.
  • I looked at my blog stats. Seems about 30-40 people read these posts. Surprised it’s more than 5.
  • “Beware the barrenness of a busy life.” — Socrates

  • The Lego Death Star contains 4 boxes, each a medium sized project.
  • Tuesday, got up at 7:30, Mia’s first words “I want to go build the Death Star”, tea and green smoothie, gym with Werner while Mia attended the gym holiday camp, got Mia a 32″ hockey stick, tag team Lego building while watching How to Train your Dragon, chain tea drinking, Thai green tofu curry at Maia’s house with some Gust planning, dropped Werner at home.
  • Tag team Lego building seems to work best, two pages each, good quality control.
  • Wednesday, gym with Werner, Mia went to holiday gym camp and did kids yoga, we got Mia somewinter boots and hockey shoes, office – while Mia played Monkey Island 1, we passed a hockey wall around the sports fields of Paul Roos, we finished the first box (of 4) of Death Star Lego, minor hair washing disaster – Mia used shower gel and no conditioner – we undid that, reading, sleep.
  • Mia’s shoe size seems to be a 2 now. 130.5cm, 30.3kg.
  • Thursday, got up at 6:00, flagged about 100 emails as read, gym with Werner, Mia attended gym camp again, lunch at Greengate with Mia, hockey practice at Paul Roos, cooked Mia supper while she watched Whisper of the Heart.
  • Friday, up at 5:00 mostly to fight with my inbox again, installed Hakitzu and UCBLogo for Mia, made omelettes, gym with Werner – abs day, managed to get my home ADSL line upgraded to 10Mpbs, bit of a curve ball meeting at Melissas, dropped Mia at her gran’s, week-ender Brampton session, ribs and veg at Apres with Jan and Adele, one beer at Trumpet with Parri, Margot and Conrad, babies don’t sleep this well.
  • Mojo meter: 6.5 – mostly work stresses. Something I’m thinking about adding to the weekly blog, kinda QS style mood tracking logic.
  • Saturday, a really nice house warming braai with Jan, Adele, Maia, Paul and Mia, made me miss the Bakoven braai evenings, note to self: braai more often.
  • Did my SleekGeek measurements and photos, not bad – lost 8kg of fat since January.
  • “May divorce be with you.” — Georg

  • Sunday, braai meat for breakfast, Mia watched Whisper of the Heart again, dropped Mia at her gran’s house, post-braai house cleaning, watched The Usual Suspects again, fetched Mia, bubbly at Maia’s house, watched Three Kings again – nice grading.
  • “The way it works is, you do the thing you’re scared shitless of, and you get the courage AFTER you do it, not before you do it.” — Archie Gates, Three Kings.

  • While filming The Usual Suspects all the major actors were made to think they were Keyser Soze.
  • Seems I now have three (girl)friends determined to find me a new (less crazy) girlfriend.

Have a fun week, crazy kids.

Quick Update

Mia turns 7…

  • Monday, up at 5:00, gym, office, UK Skype meeting, moar house unpacking.
  • Gust on Tech Report
  • Tuesday, a walk up the Eerste Rivier, green smoothie, set up a new bank account for Gust with new co docs, some ARBurn 2.0 planning at Brampton with Jan and Werner, ribs with Werner at Apres, gelato.
  • Pressure innovation: 4th time in 2 years, when you find yourself in a space where you need to figure out something new and interesting very quickly.
  • Wednesday, walked to Lanzerac, haircut at Lize’s, AfrikaBurn planning meeting #2 at Brampton Wine Studio, the last Street Soiree for a while with Paul, Gust’s 1st birthday braai and office warming – Janette baked a (colour layer) Gust cake.
  • Thursday, office, Easter Weekend begins, watched Safe House – interesting Cape Town scenes, sunset walk around Stellenbosch, watched Entourage Season 2.
  • Friday, grapefruit, Earl Grey and Fleetwood Mac, Georg came to visit from Durban, eggs Benedict with at Apprentice with Georg (not that good), a beer at Jan Kats, Entourage, ribs at Apres (seems you can swap the chips for veg), Naulene dropped Mia at my house at 19:30 after we agreed she would come to my house at 15:00 – brain hurt, put Mia to bed with some reading, watched As Good As It Gets again – brilliant as always.
  • I asked Mia on Friday if she wanted to open her birthday present (more time to build it), but she only wanted to open it on Sunday.
  • Finally hooked up the Mac Mini to the Hifi, good music again.
  • Next time I move I’m taking three days off to unpack. This 1/2 unpacked state is not good for me.
  • Saturday, watched Hawl’s Moving Castle, tea, grapefruit, omelettes, shopping – got Mia hockey shin pads, gum guard and a training ball, Siena’s 7th birthday party, watch the Cheetah’s game with the other parents, we watched parts of How to Train Your Dragon – mostly to explain what Subwoofers do, bath, read, sleep.
  • “..and where is your lovely wife?” — those mildly uncomfortable questions at children’s parties.

  • Mia asked about getting movies to play on the TV/Hifi, so I drew her a diagram. I suspect she now gets what most people buying expensive home entertainment systems don’t get.
  • Sunday, Mia’s 7th birthday, Anton phoned, Mia opened her present: the Lego Death Star – she loved it, Easter eggs, tea with vanilla milk while watching Castle in the Sky, Naulene fetched Mia.. an hour late.. and then dropped her off again 1.5 hours late, lunch at Deer Park with Mia and Francis, big and little Beta Beach with Mia, Francis and Georg, drove back explaining freedom of speech to Mia with an example about crayfish quotas, bath, read, Francis sleep-over, last bit of Entourage S2
  • I think we all miss Bakoven.
  • Spray plaster: ultimate cure for a few light scrapes.
  • More than an hour late three times in three days. Pro tip, kids: when you reproduce, find somebody that has some respect for other people’s time.
  • “Control is a funny thing, you don’t realise how little of it you have until you have nothing at all.” — Entourage

Have a fun week, crazy kids.

Quick Update

Last week of summer…

  • Monday, raw green smoothie, school run, Waterstone gym (Twitter reading), backups day, office, Andrew took me to visit his 450l barrel of Chenin at Devon Valley to do a balling measurement (-1.8), Mia managed to bump her head jumping on mattresses in the spare room while I was out with Andrew, ice pack, a glass of Chardonnay with Andrew, Monkey Island, bath, Mia read me some Jungle Book, sleep.
  • “They should just have a big party until August.” — Werner, about WeChat and competing with Naspers and the Chinese.

  • Tuesday, up at 6:30, tea, grapefruit and 9 egg-white scrambled eggs – which is not trivial to prepare in 15min while getting a 6yo ready for school, school run, music appreciation: Achtung Baby – she liked the intro to Ultra Violet, Waterstone gym, Stellenbosch gym – the Mens Health Spartacus workout – mostly functional training, office, some market research with merchants around town with Luke.
  • School run days really feel like the rat race. Would not want to do it every day.
  • Wednesday, green smoothie, school run, gym, office, a beer with Luke, ribs and pizza with Mia at Gino’s, gelato.
  • Thursday, school holiday begins, public holiday, omelettes, we finished The Curse of Monkey Island (the 3rd one), braai at Andrew’s house, bath, read, sleep.
  • Friday, gym with Mia, installed Monkey Island 1 for Mia, dropped Mia with Naulene, Long Table at Haskell with Werner, Dirk and Falk, Rust en Vrede, Georg came to visit for the weekend, finally unpacked my TV and Hifi.
  • “Net arm mense het tatoos.” — Georg

  • Saturday, breakfast at Basic, galato, 5 Reyneveld, watched Ted – good movie, Brampton, watched the Stormers game at Jan Kats, Stomme Jonge – more than one vodka and Granedine shot.
  • Sunday, watched Entourage Season 1, breakfast in the botanical garden, a long nap, babies don’t sleep this well.
  • I kinda miss having a wristwatch. Seems I do check it more often that I care to check the time on my phone.

Have a fun week, crazy kids.

Quick Update

Recently happily divorced…

  • “This girl needs to go shark cage diving.” — Paul. How I woke up on Monday.

  • Monday, woke up on the couch, watched The Watch – awesome movie, dropped Paul at his house, took a day off, joined Pinterest, sunset walk around Stellenbosch.
  • I’m developing a bit of an ice cream addiction.
  • “I speak fluently in movie quotes.”

  • “I gain no deeper knowledge of myself; no new knowledge can be extracted from my telling. This confession has meant nothing.” — Bateman

  • Tuesday, gym – bench pressed 100Kg (one rep max), fetched some Woordfees related Gust equipment, March #HackSTB event.
  • My watch strap broke. First my cooler box goes missing, now this. Still can’t believe somebody took my cooler box at Love and Light.
  • Wednesday, gym with Werner, a walk around Stellenbosch with Luke, meeting day, Stellenbosch Street Soiree, AfrikaBurn theme camp meeting at Brampton, drinks at De Stomme Jonge with Johann, Victoria and Pieter – more than one Vodka and Grenadine shot.
  • Ever feel like you had much more time a year ago?
  • Some HackSTB news.
  • Thursday, house cleaning, Ernst arrived, a drinks safari around Stellenbosch, Akker, Trumpet, Bartinney wine bar with Elke and Lize, Campari at Coopmanshuis, Brampton with Susan and a steak at Hussar with Paul who brought some Jordan Chardonnay and Simonsig Tiara.
  • “Because I did not rave safe.” — Paul, about his moonboot.

  • “Everything is asymmetric.” — Ernst

  • Friday, Ernst got up at 5:00 to be in Cape Town by 7:00, gym, office, food shopping with Mia, Lego Pirate Ship building, watched Hotel Transylvania, bath, read, sleep.
  • Moving is always stressful.
  • Saturday, very relaxing day, had some lose leaf tea in glass thermo cups, grapefruit, smoked ham and avo omelettes, finished Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis with a few cups more tea, a sunset walk around Stellenbosch, ribs and pizza at Apres, Lecca il Gelato – rum and raisin, some reading, in bed by 20:00.
  • Mia somehow managed to get Indy killed after about 2 hours of play and we did not have a save game. She was demotivated. I started playing again and it went pretty quick because we knew how all the puzzels worked. Not long before she took over and quickly played us back to the point we were. Maybe this is the magic of adventure games. Keep on trying.
  • Mia seems to love grapefruit and she still likes to drink tea out of a bottle – but she’s pretty strict about not wanting to be in any photos with her tea bottle.
  • Sunday, moar house organising, we started playing The Curse of Monkey Island (with ScummVM), lunch with Ernst at Pierneef a La Motte in Franchoek – awesome, go there, drove home singing along to No Doubt – It’s my Life, threw a rugby ball around Coetzenburg with Mia, Monkey Island, photo processing, bath, read, sleep.
  • Nothing like the sense of completing a task to motivate you for the next task – aka forward momentum.
  • Almost feeling at home in my new house.
  • Ernst looks happy in general. The next time I see Ernst we’ll be on our way to AfrikaBurn.

Have a fun week, crazy kids.

Coding for Kids

Just got back from a #HackSTB meetup where we talked about Khan Academy, CoderDojo and a few other projects that get kids to start coding.

I’m wondering which other apps, resources and projects are good. Obviously this changes quickly with age, but I figured I’d share the things I’ve found. Please suggest a few you have found.

A few people in the #HackSTB community are interested in starting something like a Coderdojo, so if this is something you are passionate about, come to the next meeting.

ps. I found this list.

UPDATE: Found Hakitzu and installed UCBLogo.

Quick Update

Long week, 16 Woordfees shows in total…

  • Mia week. Mia is now living one week with Naulene, one week with me.
  • Monday, up at 6:30, got Mia and Francis ready for school, school run, dropped Francis with Naulene, gym, Telkom ADSL install it my new house (only 2Mbps – bad copper I guess), Mia went to Judo, supper at De Vette Mossel, Mia bday party planning. She wants a cake that says “Vader Sucks”.
  • “A day in the Marine Corps is like a day on the farm. Every meal’s a banquet! Every paycheck a fortune! Every formation a parade!” — Aliens

  • We now have an official AfrikaBurn theme camp registered: “The Son of Man”.
  • “Ideas are free. Execution and attitude counts.” — Rafiq

  • Tuesday, smoked ham scrambled eggs, school run, cardio (Twitter catch-up) at Waterstone, gym with Werner in Stellenbosch, fetched the Death Star, walked Mia at Petr’s house, Francois van Coke at De Vette Mossel with Dirk and Luke.
  • I think my information breakfast needs to be trimmed down.
  • Wednesday, green smoothie, cardio at Waterstone, Mia went to Judo, made supper for Mia, took a few photos at Fokofpolisiekar’s 10 year celebration concert at Neetlingshof.
  • Why you need to do more than just making money… Because more than you need to makes it personal.
  • “Pleasure is the awareness of being alive. Depression is building something meaningless.” — via Alan

  • Thursday, Mia got up early and was dressed before the alarm went off, music appreciation school run: Miles Davis, she liked Sketches of Spain, but none of the other stuff, some blogging and photo processing at Waterstone VA, gym in Stellenbosch, made supper for Mia, Gert Vlok Nel and Storievuur at De Vette Mossel.
  • GustPay was featured on Tech Report, eNCA News (DSTV 403).
  • Paul now has a Moon Boot – scars from Alien Safari.
  • “Work like a captain, play like a pirate.”

  • “Once in the recording studio, the players were typically given only a few instructions: a tempo count, a few chords or a hint of melody, and suggestions as to mood or tone. Davis liked to work this way; he thought it forced musicians to pay close attention to one another, to their own performances, or to Davis’s cues, which could change at any moment.” — about Bitches Brew

  • A bit annoyed that I had to go to three shops to find clear recycling bags – in this day and age. Really Stellenbosch?
  • Two photos of Mia in the school newsletter this week.
  • Friday, green smoothie, early school run for Mia’s reading buddy time, music appreciation: Moloko – The Time is Now, cardio at Waterstone, gym with Werner in Stellenbosch, rainy day eggs Bennedict, calamari at Wijnhuis, Brampton Wine Studio, Gazelle at De Vette Mossel – good show.
  • Sorry pappa ek moes die plaas verlaat want ek mis die disco ligte.

  • Kinda weird ordering a drink from the bar and the process works exactly like you dreamed up six months ago, smartphones and wifi. Rad.
  • Saturday, sometimes you just need a seven egg omelette, Love and Light with Paul and his moonboot (at 2pm). Adventures of Solo and Chewie.
  • “Vanilla essence” inside joke.

  • “You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” — Dr. Seuss

  • Sunday, woke up in Pearl Valley Golf Estate, flat tyre on the N1, last Woordfees show, Jolly Roger (ex-De Kaggel), Bo and Mystic with Paul and Wilbur.
  • Feels like I need a holiday from music events.
  • “Had to go return some video tapes”, “feed me a stray cat”.

  • “And then I got my 27th wind…” — Paul

  • Feel like I should be adding a lot of Facebook friends after this weekend.
  • “She had to go home, to build her spaceship, to go home.” — about the Spoc girl

Have a fun week, crazy kids.