Last week in the Mxit office…

• “Get on with it. Enjoy the now.”

• Monday, sunset walk, supper at Thai Cafe.
• Last dev before the end of the year: We built Gust Finder for Android, new Gust Pay, new Gust PayPoint, PayPoint Dashboard and a few new APIs.

• “Cut before you measure.”

• Tuesday, morning walk, packed up most of the office, a beer at Trumpet with Parri, Werner and Janette’s house warming braai.
• Wednesday, morning walk, got some AfrikaBurn tickets, a swim at Andrew’s, boat drinks at the Gordon’s Bay Yacht Club with Emma and Andrew.
• Thursday, press release writing, Mxit’s end of year lunch at Gino’s, nap, good wine and steak with Paul at Hussar grill.
• Friday, last day in the Mxit office, afternoon walk, fetched Mia.
• PR for the week: Gust PayPoint: No more clunky cash registers, Gust Pay introduces its iPad based point of sale solution.
• The baker is back. Not sure if that’s good or bad. Desensitised deja vu.
• Saturday, brunch at Basic with Mia, we watched Rise of the Guardians – pretty good, Mia clothes shopping, nap, kicked a ball around Coenzenburg, 11h sleep.
• Buying children’s clothes by age seems a bit unpredictable – I currently buy things between 8yo and 11yo for a 6yo.
• Sunday, Mia watched The Cat Returns – while I created order around the house, nap, built the Playmobil Knight’s Castle with Mia, food shopping, supper and a sunset play area visit at La Pineta, bath, read, sleep.

Have a fun holiday, crazy kids.

Mia was living at my house for a week…

• Monday, tea, yoghurt, grapefruit, vitamins, Bircher Muesli with vanilla milk honey and banana – while listening to Madeleine Peyroux, school run music appreciation class: The Talking Heads, dropped Mia at school, gym, fetched Mia, a walk around Stellenbosch looking for a venue for Anton’s new project, supper at Oppie Dorp.
• Tuesday, school run music appreciation: Bruce Springsteen, dropped my car at Audi SSW, fetched Mia from school, fetched my car – Bert is much happier, smoother ride with the air suspension working again, kicked a rugby ball around Coetzenburg with Mia.
• Wednesday, dropped Mia at school, gym, fetched Mia, Mia’s end of year school braai.
• Mia’s last day at pre-school. Seems like only yesterday was her first day there.
• Thursday, dropped Mia at school, gym, took some photos of the Mxit office, a beer at Die Akker with Werner.

• “Shh. Shh. Shh. Shh. Do you hear that? It’s the winds of change.” — Randall, Monsters, Inc.

• Not sure if photography amplifies nostalgia or helps us feel better about change.
• Friday, morning podcast walk, breakfast with PW at Arnold’s, lunch at Knead with Ellie, meeting with the guys from 4Di, a beer at Trumpet with Werner and Parri – hectic day: 42 people leaving Mxit, a drink at 5 Reyneveld with Georg.
• Saturday, watched Margin Call – good movie, watched Moonrise Kingdom – entertaining, but not as good as Life Aquatic, nap, watched Top Gun again, sunset podcast walk, supper at Thai Cafe, photo processing.
• Sunday, installed Gust Finder for Android, watched Bad Santa – had it’s moments, sunset walk, pizza at Col’caccio’s.
• Tune of the week: Miss Atomic Bomb, The Killers.

Have a fun week, crazy kids.

Studio Ghibli weekend 2.0…

• Monday, avo and banana smoothie, dropped Mia at school, gym, sunset walk, steamed veg and a glass of The Big Easy 2011.
• Tuesday, avo and banana smoothie, Gourmet Boerie with the people from my recent Israel trip, a walk up and down Long street, a chat with PW, a Pink Gin drink with Cath at &Union, 27Dinner at Frieda’s on Bree, nice to see all the Cape Town kids again.
• I think I miss Cape Town.
• Wednesday, avo and banana smoothie, seems 14 Dec will be our last day in the Mxit office, 1/2 price cocktail at 5 Reyneveld with Parri.
• It’s been a fun year. An exciting ride, cool people, fun challenges, creative hacks, two pivots, lots of learning.
• 2012 was a bit messy relationship wise. You have to have a sense of humour about people who end engagements with a text message.
• Only one regret about 2012: health and fitness – I blame VA for not having a Stellenbosch gym (up to Dec) – time to get fit again.
• Live in the future – but not too far in the future.
• Thursday, gym, Mia’s school concert – she was a narrator, fetched Mia from school, steamed broccoli for supper.

• “Time you enjoy wasting, is not wasted.”

• Friday, V for Vendetta eggs, dropped Mia at school, gym, fetched Mia from school.
• Saturday, tea, watched Porco Rosso – pretty good, pizza and salad at Col’Cacchio, nap, watched Whisper of the Heart, a glass of Hartenberg Chardonnay 2009 at La Pineta with Andrew.
• Sunday, tea, watched The Secret World of Arrietty – pretty good, gym (Wembley), swim, Waterfront, a play at Green Point Park, smoothie with Nick at Neo, a game of Backgammon vs Mia – it was close, moussaka and salad, a Campari with Al and Victoria at 5 Reyneveld, bath, read, in bed by 20:00.
• Tune of the week: The Veldt, Deadmau5.

Have a fun week, crazy kids.

Pondering Wifi access in South Africa…

Context:

By mid 2013 we’ll reach a tipping point for smartphone sales in SA – more than 50% of phone sales will be smartphones. About 70% of smartphone data travels via Wifi. People like using wifi. Phones conveniently remember wifi login details. Mobile (3G) data is expensive in SA. Your average small restaurant can now get 1Mbps uncapped ADSL at a total cost of less than R500 per month.

The old:

Some places still have Wifi with web portals which make users watch ads or charge money for access. Nobody likes using these services. The fees are often out of sync with reality. It’s often a grudge purchase. How many times have you heard a friend saying something like: “why do all airports not have free wifi?” It’s even annoying when we have to login via a web portal to get free access. Our attention and time is worth more than the cost of the traffic.

The new:

Wifi should just work. No time and attention needed. No web portals. A once off wifi profile configuration on your smartphone should be enough. This takes care of some regulatory snags and makes sure people don’t abuse the system. I want to be able to walk into any restaurant or shop and just have wifi access. How hard can that be?