MarcForrest.com

Month: March 2010

  • 27Dinner comes to Durbs again in May

    I am a huge fan of 27 Dinners and after kicking them off here in Durbs in 2007 they have grown quite considerably in Durbs. Cath & Briget will be orkanising the May event. If you in Durbs, I highly suggest you make a plan to get to La Bella on the 28th May. Here is all the info you need:

    27dinner | Durban | May 2010


    The 27dinner movement aims to bring together informed, networked individuals with a common passion for technology, media and business in an informal but valuable real world space.

    On the 27th day of every month of the year since January 2007, hundreds of interesting people from diverse walks of life have collected under one roof over good food and wine to celebrate a common passion for technology, media and business.

    These 27dinners have fast become a staple entry in the calendars of South Africa’s smartest, funkiest and most networked entrepreneurs, business owners, designers, developers, geeks, marketers and even good old corporate jacket-and-tie’s.

    The dinners provide these fascinating humans with a unique opportunity to share ideas, debate industry hot topics, meet new contacts and even fire up collaborative endeavours. Slowly but surely companies are realising the value of engaging an audience like this in an authentic conversation (Cluetrain Manifesto-style).

    We’d love to meet you – regardless of whether you simply want to come along and participate, share your latest venture with like-minded people or even sponsor the event.

    Like all infamous Durban “scenes” though, we’re full of apathy. So, with that in mind, get off your butt, sign up and come along to the next Durban 27Dinner. We’d like to thank all of you for attending the last 27Dinner, in February, and hope all of you will come along for the next one!

    Our second 27Dinner in Durban for 2010 will be taking place on 28 May 2010 (we took a little poetic licence there and shifted it to the Friday, as most people find it easier to attend a Friday night event!).

    For May, we’ve decided to showcase some brilliant Durban women, who are:

    Lungile Zondi from http://www.myshuttles.com/ who will be discussing her awesome initiative that’s going to make travelling in South Africa a breeze, especially during the FIFA World Cup 2010!

    Briget Ferguson of http://www.myr260car.co.za/ and winner of this year’s Nerdies, will be talking about her brave and quirky approach to a social media campaign

    Questions? Cath on [email protected] or call 0820600071 or Briget on [email protected] or call 0823379441

    Date: 28 May 2010

    Venue: La Bella Cafe, Corner of St Thomas and Essenwood Roads, Musgrave, Durban.

    Time: 18h30 for 19h00

    The Important Stuff: Cash bar and buy your own dinner! (Hey, I told you we’re low on sponsors :P)

    RSVP – sign up on the 27dinner website here: http://www.27dinner.com/ and RSVP to the event here: to be inserted once event is up on website

    Lastly, please pass this on to anyone else you think might be interested!

    Hope to see you there!

    Cath Jenkin and Briget Ferguson

  • Magic Sheet iPhone app

    I came across this really cool app developed by another South African iPhone app developer, Juliaan Evenwel, called Magic Sheet – $0.99 (iTunes link) This is Juliaan’s first app, and I have to admit it’s a very cool little app. The design of the app is well done, and the graphics he has used make the app look pretty slick :)


    The app is pretty basic in functionality, but is a real mind boggler when trying to catch out your mates. When the app opens up, you choose (think of)  a number from a sheet of numbers. Using a couple of Yes & No questions, the app will eventually tell you which number you picked. Very clever :)

    I also have 5 promo codes to give away for you to give the app a bash. To win a promo code, retweet this post using the Retweet button on the side of the post, or just leave a comment below. I will choose a winner using Randomize.org. Competition closes on Friday 2nd April at 12pm.

    Also keep your eyes peeled for the new app that Juliaan is working on. I have been helping a bit on the side, and I can promise you it is going to be a cracker :)

  • My, how times have changed

    Well, what a week this has been for South African internet consumers. We have literally gone from 0 to hero in 1 week, no thanks to the likes of Mweb, FNB, Afrihost, PayPal; only to mention a few.

    Last week this time we were all raving about how we could now get uncapped ADSL for R219 a month. That was big news. We now can use the internet to its full content. I’m not talking about torrents and downloading of dodgy programmes. We can now, view Youtube without having to click pause, we don’t have to check our cap every 3 and half minutes, and moan when on the 15th of every month, we can’t check our internet banking. Now, we can surf without any worry. This is huge in our country, and with Telkom doing tests on 8MB ADSL lines, we will soon start seeing a shift in the way we work.

    But today, for me, was one of the biggest achievements in our internet history. The fact that now we can receive money, without complications, and have the ability to sell products on the web without having to apply for merchant accounts. We can now use PayPal. We can now receive money, flawlessly & securely, which we can then deposit into our bank accounts, and withdraw from an ATM. This is a huge step. This now allows Tant Sanie from down the road to sell those delicious jams she has been making for jarre. She can now market her goods across the world, and become that super jam star she always wanted to be :)

    In all seriousness though, I am excited to see how we going to progress in the next 6-12 months in South Africa. I think we in for a brilliant ride, and I reckon the competition from broadband providers is going to force the mobile operators to drop their data rates too much much lower than the R2 a meg we seeing now. Yes, they have the advantage of being able to connect remotley, but sooner or later they gonna have to come to the party. I’m predicting 50c a meg before the end of the year :)

    A big big big thanks to FNB & Paypal for the invite today to the PayPal event. I am honoured to be part of this ground breaking initiative in South Africa. Also a big thanks to Vincent from Cerebra for the invite and help with the flights etc. Finally a HUGE massive thanks to eBucks who sponsored me a Avis Point to Point chauffeur from the Airport & back to Centurion. I think without dear Andries my driver this morning, I may have gone a bit mental in that silly silly Joburg traffic :)

  • FNB & PayPal Launch #PayPalSA

    FNB & PayPal launched their product offering in South Africa this morning. I’m sitting in the press conference. Here is a bit more info about the offering. I will be updating my blog a bit later with some more info.

    Fast Facts

    FNB’s customers can now sell to PayPal’s global customer base of more than 81 million active accounts in 190 markets around the world and move the proceeds to their FNB accounts.
    This new service allows customers to top up and withdraw funds to their qualifying FNB accounts from their PayPal accounts.
    FNB’s customers simply need to open a South African PayPal account and link it to their qualified FNB account to receive PayPal payments in 21 different currencies. FNB will convert the currency to South African Rand when the money is transferred into their accounts.
    This solution also enables customers to top up their PayPal accounts anytime they want to send money or shop online with PayPal’s global base of merchants.

    Press Release

    First National Bank (FNB) and PayPal today announced that customers in South Africa can now sell to PayPal’s global customer base of more than 81 million active accounts in 190 markets around the world and move the proceeds to their FNB accounts. This new service allows customers to top up and withdraw funds to their qualifying FNB accounts from their PayPal accounts.

    “We are especially pleased to make this announcement on the eve of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, as South Africans will be able to join the global eCommerce marketplace. Our agreement with PayPal also enables international businesses and individuals to transact with South African service providers via a secure and convenient payment gateway”, says Michael Jordaan, FNB’s Chief Executive Officer.

    “The exclusive top up and withdraw service with PayPal allows South Africans to make payments and receive money internationally without sharing their financial or personal information,” adds Jordaan.

    FNB Customers can simply open a PayPal account and link it to a qualified FNB account and receive PayPal payments in 21 different currencies. FNB will convert the currency to South African Rand, when the money is transferred into their accounts.

    This solution enables customers to top up their PayPal accounts anytime they want to send money or shop online with PayPal’s global base of merchants.

    “FNB and PayPal have a similar focus on innovation, so it makes sense that we would work with FNB to make online payments even easier for merchants and consumers in South Africa,” said Oded Zehavi, head of PayPal’s business in Israel and South Africa.

    “With South Africa’s solid financial infrastructure and its status as the continent’s largest economy, we’re optimistic about the future of eCommerce in this market and look forward to working with FNB on the opportunities ahead,” says Zehayi.

    “The launch of PayPal sees FNB take another step forward as South Africa’s most innovative financial institution. It responds directly to our ‘how can we help you?’ brand promise,” concludes Jordaan.

    The PayPal service will be offered in partnership with FNB and has received approval from the Exchange Control Department of the South African Reserve Bank.

    For more information, visit www.fnb.co.za or www.paypal.com

  • FIFA World Cup 2010 stadiums in 3D

    Last week I posted about how Google is coming to the South African party by upgrading Google Earth to include 3D buildings in some of the Major cities.

    I have done a bit more research and found that they have now made all of the stadiums being used for the World Cup available as 3D Buildings. This is really really cool.

    I have created a KML file (Download), which you open with Google Earth, which will allow you to “fly” to all the stadiums and see them in full 3D glory :)  Make sure you have 3D buildings selected in Google Earth when loading the file.

    Without being biased, being a Durbs boy, I honestly honestly have to say that the Durban stadium takes the cake this round. It is by far the most awesome looking stadium out of the lot…Promise, no bias :)