Monthly Archives: May 2009

… but which guitar?

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My first electric guitar: a classic Washburn BT-3, black with a white scratchplate. It resembles the Fender Stratocaster shape, with a more rounded body and 3 pegs on either side of the headstock, instead of Fender’s single line of 6 (this is a blog post all on it’s own… how does tuning one string and simultaniously detuning the next a good thing?). This guitar feels amazing, plays beautifully and has been a great companion to me over the last just over a decade or so. This brings me to the topic of this post: the search for a second guitar. Which guitar to choose?

It’s interesting how, over time, one becomes very comfortable with one’s guitar… so much so that I’m tempted to look in the same range for a second guitar, as I love the Washburn. Floor salesmen usually ask what style you will be playing on the guitar… but what if you play a variety of different styles?

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Crush it forward

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Over the last few days, I’ve been on a productivity ride that is taking me on a journey like no other. The feeling of being productive is one that I enjoy beyond belief. Recently, the phrase to “crush it”, coined by Gary Vaynerchuk, is what I’ve been experiencing lately.

The concept of “pay it forward” refers to helping someone and asking in return only that they do the same for someone else. This got me thinking, “why can’t we crush it forward?”

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Useful HTML characters reference

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While searching for a specific character (→ to be exact) I stumbled upon this great resource for HTML character entities. It can serve as a great resource for common characters used in web design (copyright symbols, etc) as well as other characters (for example, replacing a ^ with ↑ in a “back to top” link on your website).

I hope you guys find this as useful as I have today. :)

View the HTML characters reference.

Making time to blog…

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… can be darn difficult!

So clearly, through the blog revamp process, I lost the knack of making time to blog. This was actually part of the reason for the revamp (being able to login, type and hit “Publish”). It’s Sunday morning, it’s chilled after yesterday’s thunder storms, so I thought “eh, what better time to blog?” … and here it is. :)

I’ve been thinking of a few ideas for blog posts of late, but haven’t been able to sit down and explore the idea further. I figured, this blog isn’t just about exploring ideas and writing super serious posts… it can be about whatever. :) I’ve had a few ideas on how I can streamline the viewing though, and separate the shorter (and evidently, more random) posts from the meatier ones. I’ll hopefully implement one of these ideas as soon as possible.

So yeah, just touching base. Have an awesome Sunday everyone. :)

Prophets preach at NetProphet ’09

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NetProphet 2009OK, not real prophets… and not really preaching either. Either way, before I start, let me some up my experience of NetProphet ’09 in a single word: awesome!

NetProphet 2009, for those who don’t know (or those South Africans who’ve been living under a digital rock for the past few weeks) is a conference that was held today for the first time, hosting online media professionals, discussing the possible future of the internet, how users will embrace and interact with technology and various niche topics within these realms. Speakers on the bill included Arthur Goldstuck (Intelligence Magazine), Herman Heunis (CEO at MXit), Hannes van Rensburg (CEO Fundamo), Mike Stopforth (Cerebra, Afrigator, 27Dinner), Dave Duarte, (Huddlemind, Muti, 27Dinner), Peter Flynn (SaaS), Henk Kleynhans (Founder of Skyrove), Andrew Smith (Live Alchemy, Yuppiechef) and Charl Norman (Blueworld Communities)… a full line-up, if ever there was one.
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… but why the redesign, Matty?

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As you may or may not (I hope you have) noticed, I’ve launched a redesign for my blog today. After a week or two of planning, thinking, designing and coding, the redesign is finally here. You may, at this point, be asking yourself; “but why?”; here’s why:

A fresh look and feel. – I wanted a look that was clean and simple, yet fresher and more graphically driven than my first layout, while still echoing elements from the original layout.
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