Via Shred or Die

Firstly I hardly ever feel like eating an orange. That is easily overcome by forcing myself to eat an orange. It never turns out to be too unpleasant.

Secondly, orange eating is quite a messy business, especially at  your desk, so I have been experimenting with different techniques. However, when cutting an orange I always seem to be left with that white core piece running vertically down a few of the slices, so naturally I finally resorted to Googling “how to cut an orange”. Here are two of the videos I found… I find them highly amusing because the subject of cutting oranges is so mundane, yet the passion these orange cutters exude is admirable!

via surfline.com

Skateboardanimation from Tilman Singer on Vimeo.

Via Koi Koi Koi.

An honest, emotional and beautifully filmed movie about how complicated growing up is.

Based on the well-known 1963 children’s picture book (sparsely) written and (lavishly) illustrated by Maurice Sendak, it left director Spike Jonze with plenty of blanks to fill and I should imagine that is exactly what appealed to him about this project.

This movie is truly a masterpiece, you should see it if you can, although it seems that our mainstream theatres are not screening it for some backward reason. A word of caution to less liberal movie-watchers: you may be forgiven for thinking that the crew who made this must have been smoking near-lethal doses of dagga to conceive of all the madness. And who knows, maybe they did?

I sat spellbound following nine-year-old Max in his wolf suit as he runs away from his home and sails across the sea to become king of the land Where the Wild Things Are.

Even though Max runs away from his problems, he is confronted with them headlong in this faraway land, but in a different form - a very large and furry form. There are things you can change and there are things you can’t, but there is always room for change within. I think the crux of the movie lies in the scene where Bob and Terry advise Max to confine his problem to just seven words. After a moment’s thought he asks: “How do I make everyone O-K?”

Is that not the ever-burning question deep inside each one of us?

I would suggest the tough guys among you start chopping some onions near the end of the movie just in case you need an excuse for those misty eyes.

And when all is said and done you will be hard pressed not to let out a nostalgic yet triumphant AAAAAWWWOOOOOOOO!

Via Billabong

* Update 29/03/2010: After waiting almost two weeks I feared that something had gone awry, but I received my new cable in good order last Friday. The Post Office never let me know that they had my parcel, so I just took a chance and went to the counter with my tracking code and ID.

Original post 15/03/2010:
I have always been a sucker for a good bargain and online shopping makes it pretty easy to compare prices - provided it’s a product that is commonly found in online commerce.

I discovered yesterday that my iPhone data/charger cable has mysteriously snapped near the USB end, and is hanging from a wire. Expecting the worst I started rummaging through the internet to see how much a replacement would set me back. My first discovery was that the price of this item ranges from R29 to R349 depending on where you look!

Opting for the former offer from GeeWiz.co.za, I started the online order process. Postage amounts to R29, so the total would be R58 - not bad. As I was about to complete the purchase I suddenly remembered about jump.co.za - a South African price comparison engine, so I thought I would try my luck. By arranging the results from lowest to highest price, my GeeWiz find ranked second to the same cable at R19 from Bid or Buy. On closer inspection, the supplier of this cable turned out to be GeeWiz!

For some reason, postage on Bid or Buy amounts to R30 (R1 more than postage from GeeWiz). So by ordering the GeeWiz iPhone cable through Bid or Buy for a total of R49 I am saving a collossal R9! It may not seem like much, but it is a substantial 15% saving, and either way it certainly beats paying the R349 plus postage at the other end of the price range.

Via Zigzag.

*Update – Here are some better pictures, shot from the same location, but in the opposite direction. Found via 2oceansvibe.

Ever heard of FNB Connect? Me neither… until I got a couple of emails from them during the last two months, marketing their services. Just click the links in the email and go straight to fnbconnect.co.za to sign up!

But, that doesn’t seem quite right because when you visit the FNB website, the following warning pops up:

PHISHING ALERT

Remember, FNB will never ask for sensitive information via email

Golden Rules

• Never access the site via a link. Rather type the address into the browser address bar or save the address as a ‘Favourite’.
• If you suspect that your confidential information has been compromised, please do not hesitate to contact our dedicated Fraud Team on 011 632 2226 for assistance, or email risk.online@fnb.co.za

The most important thing to remember is not to interact with the sender of the email, and definitely do not enter any of your personal or account details from a hyperlink in an email.

Ok… So now I’m interested in the services offered by FNB Connect, but hang on, how do I know it’s really them and not just a scam? To make perfectly sure, I go to FNB’s website first - surely there will be a link of some sort to direct me to the “Connect” products? Wrong! Only a thorough study of the FNB site map yields three links to descriptions of the “Connect” services, and right at the bottom of this, a small link to fnbconnect.co.za.

Wow, very convincing FNB. Especially since you shredded every scrap of confidence in me with your PHISING ALERTS.

Just keeping the Connect services on the fnb.co.za domain instead of fnbconnect.co.za would already make the world of difference to boost user confidence. A link on the home page wouldn’t hurt either. Oh, and keep the page design consistent.