…is almost exactly how long my HTC Touch Diamond lasted before I reverted to my iPhone (even though it has a cracked screen).

Now before you get on your high horse and accuse me of being a close-minded iPhone lover. I hate Apple, deeply hate them. I really wanted this phone to work. Minutes after turning it on though I feared the worse - but I persevered, hoping, pleading with the thing to be better.

But it just wasn’t the case.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s better than many devices, it’s just about 10 steps back from the iphone.

Pros:

Nice idea for the interface, very sexy

MMS

3mb camera with video

Lovely form factor

Text wrap when browsing

Cons:

Text input is horrid

Browsing is not nice, very frustrating

No headphone jack

Interface is very… very sluggish

Very limited multi-media support

Generally buggy

I hate to say it, but bring on the 22nd July, despite myself I’ll be in the queue for the biggest non-event in phone history…!

So yesterday I won 2 tickets to the Beijing Olympics from Nedbank because I used my VISA card. Sweet, thanks Nedbank.

The thing is, I discussed it with my wife and we both feel that there are other people out there that would get a lot more out of this than we would. My thinking was that I’d give them to two talented young athletes from CIDA. These guys work so hard, and for them it would be an opportunity of a lifetime.

Nedbank won’t let me.

They say it has to be someone from my company, or else they’ll give them away to someone else.

Wow! Really?

I cannot for the life of me understand this. Nedbank should be happy about this, we’re trying to do a good thing here, give young aspiring athletes memories they will cherish for ever.

This is a prime example of red-tape over reason…!

I couldn’t resist posting this snippet from episode 3.41 of my fav podcast; A foot in the crease (a must listen for any hockey fan). Show co-host Dave McCarthy asks TSN columnist James Duthie about the time he bumped into Tiger Woods in the l’il boys room right before the final of the 2002 Masters in Augusta…

“Tiger’s pulling out the driver today” Hahaha!

The Urinal Game

Powered by: Onlyfungames.com

Urinal etiquette, you gotta love it…!

Seems the dirty tricks thing is not the sole domain of British Airways. As a commuter based in Northriding, I take advantage of Kulula’s Lanseria - CT flight fairly often, and for the most part (other than the need of a yuppie class) I’m a happy guy. So when they launched their frequent flyer system, Jetsetters, I was there in a flash.

So off I went to login, and I when I saw that the customary “do you want to receive our marketing bumph” was pre-checked I was unimpressed, but not hugely surprised, most guys do this. So I immediately opted out, and carried on, slightly miffed.

First mail I got from them, immediately following my opt out, was this:

Aaarg. No dude, I’m not an idiot, I knew exactly what I was doing when I unchecked your box.

That’s not the worst of it though. Every time you login to the site and view your profile for anything, the sneaky bastards check the box again i.e. you need to opt out repeatedly.

Have they learnt nothing?

Gideon, I think you’re a marketing genius bro, so I’m assuming that you didn’t see this one, but please change it, it’s nasty.

When it comes to what I receive in my inbox, I should get the final vote. Otherwise you’re just a spammer, and there’s nothing fun or irreverent about that…!

Last night I got some ringside seats at Dragon Power’s Muay Thai/ MMA tournament courtesy of Derek and Marcus at Metal Machine.

The night was wicked cool with all the fights being worthwhile watches. The second last of the evening was the most brutal by far. Ricco “white tiger” Hattingh, performed a textbook shoot into mount, and rained a flurry of skull-crushing blows into the face of his opponent. It was a thing of beauty I tell you.

I couldn’t help laughing though at the scripture embroidered on our hero’s ass (this shit-kicking was given in the name of the good lord): Zachariah 4 : 6

“Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit”

Easy to say really, when you’re that mighty and powerful…!

I challenge you to refuse a hug from our good friend Carlos Francisco. Not only does this Portuguese Malawian have a heart of gold, he also wants to save the world one rural community at a time.

His latest project? Zulu Surf Riders.

From 24.com:

3 reasons to watch it:

1. Tells the story of individuals who overcome huge obstacles

2. The footage is beautiful and the soundtrack striking

3. It writes off the myth about Zulus and the sea

Here’s a sneak preview:

ZULU SURFRIDERS extra from Carlos Francisco on Vimeo.
The premiere for the movie is on 23 June. The Capitalist Punks have been cordially invited, and we can’t wait for what will no doubt be an awesome flick.

You have to admire the power of the Apple machine that can get the world excited about the launch of a cell phone. With 3G.

Ahhh, nice, Apple Computers rocking the party like it was 2006. And the world is in a frenzy.

What saddens me is that I’m probably going to buy one as soon as I can - and I hate Apple.

I’m such a fucking sheep…!

Update: Okay, so maybe not, this was pretty arb, GPS and 3G *yawn*, the most exciting thing is the $199 price point, oh and Mobile Me looks cool - realy crap name though, and pretty much what Google’s had on offer for years, with native app support. My mind is made up, bring on the HTC Diamond, or the new e71 I heard about.

The use of net-made stars in adverts and music videos is getting to be quite a common thing, one that I think won’t last too long (holding thumbs).

Weezer got in early with this music vid including quite a few of the vids we’ve all seen more than once.

South African internet star Vernon Koekemoer has been snatched up by Vodacom, Nando’s(including a fake Chuck), and more lately for the SA band Evolver music vid, Pretty thing.

Crazy how, for most of them, being an idiot makes you famous. Although, one certain idiot did make president of the US…

Hahaha.

Hahahahahaha.

SA Reunited just announced the following:

I got this tonight, seriously. Hahahahahahahahaha!

The gap’s been filled lads. The party’s over.

Welcome to two years ago…!

I love the Nintendo Wii. The fact that you can box without the blood, fish without the scaling or shoot ducks from the comfort of your living room chair is awesome. It’s all very lazy and keeps you indoors, for sure, but the Wii Fit takes it to a whole new level.

This parody vid, with added voiceover, accurately explains (IMAO) the Wii Fit.

Original full trailer here.