May 3 2013

DSTV on your iPad

DSTVSky TV in the UK has had this feature forever but it is great news that DSTV in South Africa has also made this amazing feature available.

You can now play DSTV OnDemand programs on your iPad.

It’s easy to setup and actually works perfectly well on a 4mb/sec MWEB ADSL line. All you need to do is register on the DSTV website. http://ondemand.dstv.com/
After the registration you will be sent an email. Following the basic instructions on the email DSTV send you, you will link your DSTV smart card number to this account. I would safely assume that this is how the application will determine what shows are available to you in the OnDemand section of the iOS application.

The DSTV application is available FREE from the South African App store. Once you have downloaded this on your iPad and logged in using your newly created account a new world of magic opens up to you.

But wait there is MORE:

The DSTV OnDemand selection on the iPad is much bigger than on your DSTV decoder’s OnDemand section. I was very pleasantly surprised to see a host of series and movies on the iPad OnDemand section that are not available when you check your DSTV decoder. The other killer feature is that every series lists its previous episodes. This makes it so easy and convenient to watch a couple of episodes in a series one after the other without having to hunt around. Given that without the ubiquitous adverts a series episode can easily finish within 35 minutes compared to the full 1 hour with adverts, this is a very tempting activity on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Multiple people can log into the DSTV app with the same account information. This will facilitate you, the wife and all the kids to have access to the series and movies on their individual iPads. GO ON admit: everyone in the family DOES have their OWN iPad.

Thank you DSTV.

You might have retained me as a client due to this breakthrough facility.

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Apr 10 2013

The new LinkedIn navigation

LinkedInLinkedIn made many changes over the past year, most for the better such as the new profile design and new Jobs search.  The next rollout of design changes started a short while ago, and we will all soon have the new top navigation to simplify our LinkedIn experience.

  • The top bar will now consist of a much simpler layout, with a small LinkedIn logo and menu options only for Home, Profile, Network and Career.
  • Network has two drop-down options: Connections and Groups, and Career splits into Jobs, Companies and Post a Job.
  • There’s a new and improved Search with autosuggest, autocomplete and drop-down search results from the whole of LinkedIn.
  • There are a few icons on the right for Inbox, Flag, Add Connections and Help & Settings.

And that’s it!

Wait, what?

No Recommendations, Edit/View Profile, Following, News, Signal…?

While these parts of LinkedIn are all still available from links on other pages, most LinkedIn users will have to look for everything on LinkedIn for a while!

—

Here’s a simple representation of what you can expect: Read More…

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Apr 9 2013

Do you have a secure backup of your website?

hackerIf the answer is no you stand a very real chance of losing all of it completely. We live in a time that hackers abound. Their motives for creating havoc on your site is often not clear. You should be aware that to be recognised as a “hacker” you have to be rated. To obtain said rating the padawan hacker has to hack a website leaving their hacker handle as proof of their dirty work.

This explains a reason behind their intent. There’s obviously a million other reasons why your site could be targeted. No matter what precautions you might have taken or how up to date you keep your website, YOUR WEBSITE CAN BE HACKED.

This is where a secure full backup of the site is essential. The auto backups provided by many ISP is not sufficient. You need a backup plan of your own.

If you have an old style static HTML website a simple copy of all the files will suffice.

Add ons have made it really easy with websites created in WordPress or Joomla. These add ons make backup a simple one click procedure. Critically the add ons automate the complex task of not only backing up the myriad of files but also backup the underlying databases.

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Apr 9 2013

In app purchases

iapThe current trend is that apps are free to download and use but the developers build in “in app purchases.” These are also referred to as micro transactions. It’s not a bad practise or done with any malicious intent. It rewards the developers with some money to continue their endeavours.

For example: you could download a basic drawing program and then opt to purchase additional pen types or additional colours.

The problems arise when the ipad is handed over to our little darlings. (Kids) The games they download with or without our consent mostly have these in app purchases. To make matters worse there is often confusion between rewards earned within the game and those that will be billed to your credit card. Remember your ipad is connected with your iCloud account which has your credit card details. To authorise a purchase from within an game or app it’s often as easy as clicking on the OK option provided. BOOM money has been deducted from your credit card.

All parents can take steps to avoid such a fate: If you have an iPhone or iPad, go into Settings, then into General, then Restrictions. Enable restrictions (you’ll have to create a PIN so Timmy can’t undo your handiwork) and then turn off  In-App Purchases under the Allowed Content heading. You can also adjust further parameters, such as whether your kids can have access to iTunes, the camera, or the Safari Web browser.

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Mar 6 2013

Who should you connect to on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn connectYour LinkedIn success depends a lot on who you are connected to.  Many professionals on LinkedIn misunderstand this and believe that you should be connected to as many people as you can convince to accept your connections. This could not be further from the truth.

This is what LinkedIn says about it:

Connecting to someone on LinkedIn implies that you know them well:

  • They’ll have access to people you know
  • Others may ask you about them and vice versa
  • You’ll get updates on their activity

LinkedIn lets you invite colleagues, classmates, friends and business partners without entering their email addresses.

However, recipients can indicate that they don’t know you. If they do, you’ll be asked to enter an email address with each future invitation.

Here are a few reasons why you should only connect to those you KNOW, TRUST and CAN RECOMMEND:

  1. When you request a connection with someone you found through a name search on LinkedIn, you are asked how you know this person – colleague, classmate, business partner, friend, group/association or other.  Choosing friend or other will require the person’s email address before requesting the connection – again, to ensure you know the person. Most people lie through their teeth here just to make a connection with someone they usually don’t know from a bar of soap.  The reason LinkedIn asks is because it matters that you actually know the people you are connected to.
  2. I’m often surprised at how I am connected to nearly every professional person in my city or industry because we know someone in common.  If I see one of my connections is connected to someone I want to do business with, I can ask my connection to introduce us.  This is a very powerful feature as it gives credibility to both parties – like a real introduction by someone you know and trust to someone they know and trust.
  3. You can only get/give recommendations from/to your connections.  The same counts for endorsements.  Those you connect to who don’t actually know you will happily give you endorsements for anything – even though they have no idea if you actually have these skills.  This causes the whole endorsement feature to be worth less than the space it takes up on a profile.
  4. You see the activity of your connections in your Timeline (LinkedIn Home) and on the Signal page – if you know and trust all your connections, these updates are really interesting, keeping those who know and trust each other in business updated with each other’s professional lives.  If not, well, it’ll just be noise.
  5.  You don’t have to be connected to someone to network with them.  Networking is done via Groups and introductions.  Find a Group you are interested in, take part in discussions and you will get to know many professionals you are not connected to.  This could even lead to new connections!

I hope this helps clear up some of the confusion around the connection issue on LinkedIn.  Please help me spread the word – if your real connections are connected to people they don’t know, it will water down your networking experience on LinkedIn too!

Do YOU connect to people you don’t know on LinkedIn, and why?

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Feb 13 2013

iLove Airport Express

express

Back of Airport Express

Airport Express I love you!

You owe yourself an Airport Express!

What an elegant device that solves a multitude of problems.

  • Add a WIFI hotspot

This clever little device can add an additional WIFI hotspot in your house or office.

Lead an Ethernet cable from your existing ADSL Router and plug into the back of the Airport.
BOOM you have a fast and strong 802.11n wifi hotspot.

  •  Make most USB printers WIFI

Plug your USB printer into the back of the Airport Express.
BOOM your non WIFI USB printer is now available via WIFI from Mac and PC computers.

  • AIRPLAY

Plug a lead from your HiFi into the back of the Airport Express.
BOOM!!!! CHAKA BOOM!
You can play your music collection from any Mac or iDevice wireless and blast it through your HiFi.

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Feb 6 2013

Scammers & Spammers

We have all seemingly adapted to email spam. We set spam filters to auto move the identified spammer into a junk mail box. The spam still arrives at your computer thus the Scammers & Spammersbandwidth is used. On an ADSL account we don’t notice it but if we are using 3G receiving spam is an unnecessary expense.

Spam could merely be some unsolicited mail trying to sell you something or it could be a more serious attempt to scam money from you. It’s so bad that I assume all mail from any bank to be a scam.

Email scam and spam is not the focus of this article. Scam and spam sent to your mobile phone via SMS is the focus here.

While we can all agree that it’s unlikely we will ever eliminate this practice it is interesting to see where the money goes.

In the world of SMS scammers & spammers WASP services is the way to go.

It’s a simple matter of registering with Vodacom and becoming a WASP service provider. You can now send bulk sms’s to millions of mobile phone subscribers using a database of dubiously obtained mobile numbers. More importantly you can charge a premium rate even for simply sending the SMS.

There is an infinite number of angles to spin a SMS scam. To be safe assume all SMSes that are not from a known contact to be trouble.

Here’s a simple scam that has been pulled on many people:

  • You get an SMS telling you that you have won a prize of Rxxxxxx million. They list a mobile number for you to call to claim your prize.
  • You have not won anything but when you call the number given in the SMS the operator although  super friendly is not super efficient. You are put on hold for ages, asked irrelevant questions and it is clear that you wasting time here.
  • Not all premium rated numbers have to have a special prefix, they can appear as totally normal numbers.
  • You might be wasting your time but the scammer is making money! The number you dialled is a premium rated number and you could be charged any amount per second of the call.

It’s only clear that you have been scammed when your monthly Vodacom bill arrives and you see the extra charges for “premium rated services.”

This is where is becomes really interesting. Remember the money trail!

Vodacom benefits the most from all money made in this type of scam. They get 70% of the amount charged to you. The WASP provider and the registered “premium content provider” gets a mere 30%

It seems obvious to all that a crime has been committed by illicitly extorting funds from you. However, the burden of proof is now yours.

It seems unbelievable that a company as big as Vodacom can get away with this type of crime. The reality is that they do!

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

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Feb 1 2013

Product review: Olloclip 3-in-1 lens for iPhone

Olloclip lens for iphone

Olloclip 3-in-1 lens for iPhone, available in white, black or red

My fascination with macro photography has changed forever with the Olloclip lens that clips to iPhone 4/4S/5 in three ways – a fish eye lens, a wide angle lens and my favourite, the macro lens! It’s brilliantly compact, easy to clip on and change between the thee lenses.

My only irritation (and it’s not the Olloclip) is the screen protector film lifting once in a while when you’re clipping the Olloclip over it.

Of course, professional photographers will need tripods, lighting and all kinds of plans, but since most of us get around every day with a camera in hand, we record life on the run. It’s never going to trump a professional shoot in quality and composition but it can be used to great effect, for both business and personal records. As I mostly take macro photos of flowers or plants, I often have no breath left by the time I take the photo! You really have to hold the phone dead still for a while to focus, compose the shot, etc. and if it’s a moving object… well, just take a lot of pics.. :-)  And have fun!

I post a link to my Tadaa page again – most of my photos are there.  Let me know where I can see yours.

You can buy yours at Kalahari for around R888

Here’s a video showing off the Olloclip:


Olloclip 3in1 lens for iPhone

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Jan 31 2013

Photo-sharing app review: Tadaa for iPhone

Tadaa is a a photo-sharing app that lets you edit and apply filters to your photos and share them in a community.

tadaa-rethavs

My Tadaa page – click to view

I love taking photos with my iPhone and after I stopped using Instagram, I tried a number of similar apps to use for posting my pictures online.  Tadaa offers much superior editing features, and I’m hooked!

What I like about Tadaa:

  1. Photo quality and size
    Comparing the Instagram pics I posted before with Tadaa pics, I realise how much I missed higher quality and larger (zoomable) pictures. Tadaa pics are posted at a maximum of 2048 x 2048 pixels and unlike Instagram, Tadaa doesn’t restrict users to a square image. Read More…
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Jan 21 2013

What to do with Duplicate Accounts in LinkedIn

In every LinkedIn workshop I find at least one person who has a duplicate LinkedIn profile – this is a very common occurrence as most professionals think they should create a LinkedIn profile for every new job or career.  This is not true, and can be crippling to your profile for various reasons:

  • Duplicate LinkedIn accountsWhen searching for your name in LinkedIn, all your (and your namesakes’) profiles will be returned in the results.  This is very confusing and does you no favours. Someone you have done business with may ask for your connection on the old profile and you will not receive the request, or worse… someone WANTS to do business with you but you do not answer their messages to your old profile.
  • All your professional experience, education and skills on ONE profile gives a complete overview of you as a professional. There’s no reason to separate it.
  • As you change jobs or companies, the email from your LinkedIn profile may be sent to a deleted email address.  The right thing to do would be to add a personal email address such as your Gmail address to your LinkedIn profile to allow password reminders/changes to be sent to you.  This way you will always be able to log into your LinkedIn profile to update your new position & company, and add your new email address. Read More…
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