Pictured above with his R100 000 cheque is Chris Stranex winner of the Mxit PC client contest. Congrats to him and all the other finalists… I won’t go into details about the event, maybe later, let’s give the other media types a chance to get their info out.

Details on the MXit PC client that won Chris Stranex the R100k can be found on the Mxit devzone wiki…
Download
Source code is included in the download packs

• Windows
• Linux

Requirements

• Python 2.6
• PyGTK 2.11+
• GTK2

Optionally the following are suggested:

• Audiere and PyAudiere
• libnotify (Linux only)
• python-notify (Linux only)
• gtkspell - 1

Windows Users

Installers are provided for PyGTK, Audiere, Numpy (required by Audiere) Python and GTK in the ‘depends’ directory. Please install Python and GTK first before running the other installers. You can now run BlendIt.
1 - http://gtkspell.sourceforge.net/

Running BlendIt

BlendIt works out of it’s own directory (ie: You don’t need to install).

Under Linux or Mac OS X you may simply run ‘./blendit.sh’ or ‘python blend.py’

Windows users can either just run ‘blend.py’. There is a shortcut logo in the image directory if you wish to make a shortcut.

Compatibility

Every effort has been made to ensure cross-platform compatibility. However, it is possible that some minor issues may be experienced under Windows. This should only affect the graphical operations of BlendIt.

BlendIt has NOT been tested on Mac OS X. It is possible for BlendIt to run on Mac provided the user installs GTK2 on the system. More information on how to install GTK might be obtained here: http://www.macports.org/

Here’s the press release…
Durban programmer wins R100 000 for developing top MXit PC client application

More interesting Mxit news if you weren’t following my live twitter stream…

• Every second 500 users are logging into Mxit
• Mxit 5.9 coming soon with social networking capabilities
• mxit pidgin is out!
• Blogging coming to mxit too, micro-blogging ?

Final thoughts… Your Web AddiCT blogs, he doesn’t write columns.

With hundreds of thousand of problems running MXit on your PC and a MXit PC client that was not up to scratch. The game-changers, MXit, opened up the development on a new and improved MXit PC client to the community on MXit Dev zone.

The 5 finalists are (in no particular order)

• Randomn3ss
• l1nx
• dmalan
• eth00
• raxter, marcb and bedlamp

The Winners of the new MXit Pc client and R100000 will be announced tonight at a gala event in Stellenbosch and Your Web AddiCT will be there. Look out for live twitter updates @rafiq. I’ll use #mxitpc as the hashtag.

Core Group’s RJ van Spaandonk, is a ‘real life example’ of how not to use creative information and communication technology (ICT) tools for professionals, education and consumers. Marketing direct to end-users using the Internet micro-blogging channels (twitter), but not fulfilling via a private stream of highly un-qualified ‘bricks-and-mortar’ dealers and retailers, Core has created the new model of distribution for the real economy like their extremely sucky Waterfront Apple Istore . Core’s RJ van Spaandonk misrepresents amongst others leading brands such as Apple Computer, Adobe, and Filemaker.

Everything below by TheMacBlog.co.za - RJ + Twitter. A PR disaster

Reading RJ’s tweets make it perfectly clear why the Core Group has such an adversarial stance toward it’s customers. And to be clear, that’s what started the whole brouhaha. The CAB issue, the StopCore website and the price-difference fixation are all expressions of the customer dissatisfaction at the appalling, arrogant attitude which has sadly become a hallmark of the Core Group.

It comes from the top. Core’s attitude is reflected in the snide tone of RJ’s ‘facts and suggestions’ tweets. The company line is clearly an extension of RJ’s personal way of looking at the situation and handling it.

I think it’s time for Mr van Spaandonk to acknowledge his PR-Disaster status, step aside and get some professional help.
A PR agency, perhaps…

Read more about the great way Core Group helps Apple in South Africa.

*Discaliamer: I am typing this on my Apple keyboard, using an Apple Mouse plugged into my Macbook AIR.

Word on the tweet is that Guy Kawasaki (@guykawasaki) is putting together a South African flavoured, not flavored, AllTop. For those of you who do not know what AllTop is…
Alltop is an “online magazine rack” of popular topics. We update the stories every hour. Pick a topic by searching, news category, or name, and we’ll [...]

Okay, I’ve had the Nokia N97 for about a week now, so I thought I’d give a little (not-so) brief on my  impressions on it. The guys whom I won the phone from NokNok.tv, also asked me for some feedback the other say, which I sent back something very much similar to what I’ve [...]

Ever wonder how your Facebook friends are connected? Now it is possible with the Facebook Application Social Graph which enables you to visualize your facebook firned and how they are connected with each other. You can zoom in to the various nodes or clusters of your Facebook friends to get a closer view. Clicking on [...]

The future beckons’ is being held in India for the first time ever from 4-7 November 2009, at the Infosys Campus in Mysore. What makes TEDIndia extra-special is, that the TED Fellows program will include a group of 100 innovators from India and South Asia who have shown unusual accomplishment and [...]

Governments across the globe have failed to deliver the promises they made fifteen years ago to improve the sexual and reproductive health and rights of young people, putting the lives and wellbeing of millions at risk. Shocked by the lack of progress made, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) today launches the 15andCounting campaign [...]

YES I AM!
Many thanks for taking part in the Nokia Search for N campaign. Its my great pleasure to inform you that your name has been pulled out of the giant ‘virtual’ NokNok as a *WINNER* of a spanking brand new *Nokia N97* - the flagship device from Nokia.
Now, Nokia would love you [...]

The Nokia N97 - Search for N contest has come and gone. Hundreds of us have entered but where can those of us who are not lucky enough to win a Nokia N97 order one in South Africa? The iPhone made me yawn, a Nokia fan I am. Good luck to all contestants and congrats [...]

MXit, the global mobile social network and instant messaging giant, just upped its street cred by topping both Google and Facebook as the social network and website that South African teens use most frequently.
The Sunday Times Generation Next Survey research, conducted by HDI Youth Marketeers, polled 5,300 young urban South Africans between the ages of [...]

In December 2008 Your Web AddiCT first blogged about the Nokia N97 (video & specs). Nokia are about to launch this touch-come-qwerty mobile phone and are running a global blogging contest where 97 Nokia N97’s are up for grabs.
If you’d like to win a Nokia N97 head on over to Paul Jacobson, Nafisa, imod or [...]

I haven’t posted in a while, so I thought I’d share some cool stuff I’ve found the past week or so.
I’ve been sharing this through my twitter profile as I find them, but I thought I needed place more emphasis on them.
The worlds first battery fuelled by air - Developed at the Chemistry Department at [...]

In an effort to combat illiteracy books are now available via the MXit IM platform. From today, MXit users will be able to download an entire book on the MXit network for a mere R13.50 (50 Moola per chapter), which is a fraction of the cost of purchasing literature in traditional bookstores.
Find the Mbooks by [...]

After the HD vs Blu-Ray disc format wars were over, Blu-ray emerge the clear winner, however soon to be replaced by HVD, but that’s another story.
Anywho, it seems we have another technology war upon us, also in the entertainment industry, but this time televisions.
The war this time is between Laser TV (currently backed by Mitsubishi, [...]

I went to the Internet World 2009 expo this week and just wanted to drop a quick post about it.
There was a lot of companies punting their wares and old jokes about swine flu, but in the end I thought it was a quite a success. Lots of interesting people and companies doing some cool [...]

With the introduction of twitter-like Gatorpeeps micro-blogging service to the Afrigator pond of social media tools the next logical step would be to add a URL shortener. As Justin Hartman already has developed TinyLink.co.za in his spare time, Afrigator now also provide a URL shortening service to go with GatorPeeps called GatorURL.
What is GatorURL?
GatorURL is [...]

It was the night before BarCamp Nigeria when Afrigator MD, Justin Hartman gave me a little preview of the app he was about to launch during his presentation. One of the first things I asked him… actually it was the first… was, “How do I update my twitter Status with GatorPeeps?”
While scanning feedalizr for the [...]

Back in Cape Town after a trip to Lagos, Nigeria for BarCamp Nigeria
A quick round-up of the Nigerian Experince.

Vodacom international Roaming #FAIL
MTN 128k sim card saved the day.
SMS is really cheap, 89 South African cent(15 Naira) to send an international SMS.
Having 3 phones mobile phones is considered normal by some in Nigeria.
Lagos is more humid [...]

From The Couch, best new blog at the 2009 SA Blog Awards, and Web AddiCT(s); are running a last-chance-to-get-your-hands-on-a-limited-edition-FTW-one-of-only-40-Premium-Wordpress-theme called Hash One. Find out how to win a Hash One theme at the end of this post.

‘Hash One’ is the first theme to come out of the Obox Signature Series. This theme is aimed at [...]

To: The City of Cape Town
The new, proposed graffiti by-law criminalizes all forms of public art and violates our personal right to freedom of expression on private property. It makes no distinction between vandalism and public art that is done with the permission of the owner of the property.
The by-law will soon be presented [...]

Dear Rafiq,
It is with great pleasure that we invite you to BarCamp Nigeria 2009, which will take place in Lagos, Nigeria 24 April – 26 April 2009. We advise you to arrive on 24 April. You will be representing Feedalizr at this event.
This unique event theme is: Web 2.0 opportunities and role in driving [...]

Hot on the heels of the $20 million Synthasite investment, Vinny Lingham has just announced that Synthasite will be renamed to Yola.
Why the change in the name from Synthasite to Yola?
Have you tried spelling, pronouncing or remembering Synthasite? Exactly.
Yola is so much easier to remember and is derived from the Hindi word “jhola,” which means [...]

Voting is now open for the 2009 SA Blog Awards. Just had a look at Google Analytics for the Blog Awards site and found the following to be really interesting.

Facebook - Bloggers who message their facebook group bring in the most traffic to the SA Blog Awards site.
2oceansvibe.com
Twitter! at number 3 twitter conversations by bloggers [...]

Are you AddiCTed to twitter yet?
Find Your Web AddiCT(s); on twitter

here @rafiq
here @migueljds
and here @lilji25

You can like to haz twitter on your desktop too.

If you have a look at Your Web AddiCT(s); twitter profile you’ll notice my bio states “Web AddiCT, TED fellow, dreaming inside a technicolour conversational prism”.

Many of you have asked what exactly a TED Fellow is. Well, I emailed some of my fellow TED Fellows from TED Global 2007 in Arusha Tanzania (Where the TED [...]

One of the readers asked:
Can you please tell me how to access a blog directory? Is there such a thing - how do I get to see all the local blogs on the internet?
There are currently two ways to find South AFrican blogs:

Afrigator
Amatomu

Afrigator is by far more superior than Amatomu but Amatomu only focuses on [...]

If like most of you who check your website statistics have noticed, the trend to mobile phone internet access is on the up and up and up and up. How do you as a website owner or blogger monetize your mobile traffic?
The following 3 Advertising networks offer advertising for your mobile website or mobile phone [...]

So while Adobe AIR was being updated to the latest version 1.5.something the internet connection dropped.
Tried launching the app I keep tabs on the statusphere with (yip another new word) and the following error message pops up:
This requires a version of Adobe AIR that cannot be found. Please download the latest version of the runtime [...]

Innovation is creating something before people know they need it. read more

Yip, it’s that time of the year again. It’s the 5th annual 2009 South African Blog Awards!

So head on over and nominate your favorite blogs and may the best blog win!
If you have a blog, you can get you nomination badge from the website also.
Help out with the SA Blog Awards
The SA Blog Awards thrives [...]

Recently at the Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona, Sony Ericsson unveiled their latest , most advanced mobile phone — The Sony Ericsson Idou.
The Idou runs on the Symbia operating system and it features an incredible 12.1 megapixel camera, with a humongous  3.5-inch LCD screen, a Xenon flash and as expected, a Touch Screen display.
Generally, [...]

Twe2 is absolutely FREE.
get your Direct Messages by SMS.
get your @Replies by SMS.
get search and interesting stuff via SMS
Support a long list of coutrines

This service is currently ad supported by the wadja mobile social network and your replies and direct messages are tagged “Free SMS - Wadja.com” in the message on your mobile phone. Pretty [...]

All we do is update facebook status messages *yawn* see you on twittter.

Vinny Lingham continues to inspire, forging ahead with Synthasite and receiving an additional $20 million in funding…
To all my friends, family & colleagues,
Today, I’m proud to announce that Reinet Fund has just invested $20 million into SynthaSite, securing our future and enabling us to continue to build our business model and product offering. This [...]

In the 09 micro-predictions for ‘09 I stated that …
MXit shall offer peer-to-peer micro-payments (Transfer Moola between contacts), become more ’social’ & adopt QQ monetization techniques.
Now MXit have gotten into bed with Standard bank’s MiMoney..
MXit has signed a deal with Standard Bank’s Beyond Payments payment solution, MiMoney.
Buying MXit Moola and mobile airtime has become easier [...]

This has been a long time coming.
Check out the community cloud download page.
What new in version 2.0?

More Social - This version now includes optional “social” hCards. The plugin will check the website/blog URL of each of the commenters in your cloud and if they have an hCard it will include it on the commenters [...]

I’ve been pretty quiet lately, so I thought I’d post a little update about what I’m doing. I’m now expat Capetonian living in Bristol, UK and working with a rapidly growing new company, XMOS.

XMOS is a (re)evolutionary fabless semiconductor company that’s doing some pretty cool stuff.

XMOS is the creator of Software Defined Silicon (SDS), a [...]

This may be old news already, but I thought this was pretty neat.

If you want to teach your kids the basics of programming languages like c, c++ and java, check out this board game, c-jump

So last weekend was the first Global Game Jam (GGJ).

CGJ is, as they describe it, “a worldwide event challenging game developers to create innovative games in just 48 hours”, to me it sounds a lot like Startup Weekend for Game Developers. The one difference I see between Startup Weekend and Global Game Jam (aside from [...]

imod has some cool tips for the Coolest Guy on the Internet contestants:
Here are Chris Mills tips in brief:

Get ranked well for the coolest guy on the internet in Yahoo, Google and MSN.
Chill out on getting links from guys in one go and spread it out online over the entire month of the contest
Do [...]

Coolest guy on the internet is an SEO competition initiated by Kim Reid of MIH Africa. Remember the springleap SEO Contest? Well, similar to the Springleap SEO contest, there is now a prize for the person(guy or gal) who ranks highest for the term coolest guy on the internet will win something unknown, that according [...]

This was bound to come along when GPS came to mobile phones.

create_player(1660631150, 9520024001, 490, 75);
from The Gadget Show
Reminds me of geeks playing dundeons and dragons but think this is a great evolution to mobile gaming. Who knows what games will come of this. RPG, Adventure, Racing, Detective ?
The game mentioned in the above video [...]

In the 09 micro-predictions for South Africa in ‘09 post #2 was “MXit shall offer peer-to-peer micro-payments (Transfer Moola between contacts), become more ’social’ & adopt QQ monetization techniques.”
Imod churned out a series of FNB posts that reeked of advertorial type, paid-for-posts, they weren’t though. One of them mentioned being able to purchase MXit moola [...]

Just saw on Economist.com today, China is the number one Internet user in the world, overtaking USA from just a few months a ago. Interestingly, looking at comScore’s graph below, the top 3 internet users, China, USA and Japan cover 40% of the internet users in the world.

Over 1/6th the worlds population is now on [...]

I read your thanks to readers post - watched the vid
Very nice gesture
Just one Question please:
How do you track how many peeps subscribed via RSS?
I am thinking its probably a Feedburner option?
Have a great day!
Regards,
Anastacia Haddon
Exactly Feedburner, now Google Feedburner, allows you to track your RSS subscribers. That is not all [...]

Its a wristband with 4 LED lights…
It is also a battery to charge your ipod or cell phone you wear around your wrist. More of us are not wearing watches on our wrists any longer thanks to always being around technology. Your computer tells the time. Your mobile phone tells the time. Your iPod tells [...]

(and the RSS subscribers too).
Just had a look at Google Ananlytics and it appears a very large % of you come here directly and a few hundred subscribe via RSS. Here is a Youtube video, just uploaded, saying thank you in sign language.
Dankie, Shukran, Enkosi. Right now, what the Search Engines refer to this site [...]

You’re sending free sms messages now what about mp3 ringtones, wallpapers and mobile games? A friend told me about waptrick. A mobile site that allows you to download mp3s, ringtones, games, video clips, music videos all for free. You do not have to send an SMS to subscribe. All you need to do is point [...]

My Web Portfolio allows website designers, developers, even bloggers to show their work to their Facebook Friends. Every user has a portfolio where he can add the websites he has worked on. Thanks to the tag feature, users can easily see what others have worked on, and even comment on others websites.
My Web Portfolio is [...]