Category: Personal

  • Londolozi Launches 4 stunning iBooks

    Londolozi Launches 4 stunning iBooks

    A while back the guys from Londolozi Game Reserve got in touch with me asking about creating & launching their own iBooks for the Apple iBook Store. I pointed them in the right direction, and they came back to me last week letting me know they had finally completed the project and the books had been approved for sale.

    Today they are officially launching these 4 books, and I have to admit, they are awesome. They have captured the beauty of an amazing and world renowned Tsalala Lion Pride in the Lions of Londolozi. For me the highlight was the story behind the Londolozi Leopards, which Londolozi co-founder John Varty developed a relationship with the Mother Leopard in 1979 and has some amazing stories since. A MUST read !

    South Africa has some of the best game parks in the world, and just browsing through the Londolozi site, looks absolutely amazing ! One day :)

    The 4 books they have launched are:

    The Londolozi Journey – $9.99 – A story about how Londolozi became what it is today and some of the behind the scenes stuff we never hear about

    The Leopards of Londolozi – $9.99 – The story of the amazing Leopards and the history of this amazing “love affair” since 1979

    The Lions of Londolozi – $19.99 – How the world renowned Tsala Pride has captured the hearts (and cameras) of Londolozi visitors

    The Londolozi Cookbook – $16.99 – Londolozi is not only famous for the wildlife, but also some of their amazing food.  Executive Chef, Anna Ridgewell, and Londolozi Sous Chefs, Eric and Connie take you into their kitchen in this behind the scenes look of how the food is prepared and how to do it all yourself.

    I have had a peek through some of these books, and I can tell you they are stunning. The team from Londolozi have also offered a couple of promo codes for each book, which we will be giving away right here !

    All you need to do to enter is leave a comment or tweet about this post using the RaffleCopter form below and you will be entered into the draw. Competition ends Monday 17 December 2012 @ 5pm. A US iTunes account is needed to redeem the code

    a Rafflecopter giveaway

  • Meeting the legendary magician Dynamo

    Last week Thursday I was given an awesome opportunity to attend a meet & greet session with the legendary magician Dynamo. If you haven’t heard of him, where have you been ?

    Over the last couple of years British born Steven Frayne, aka Dynamo, has been making waves in the entertainment world with his street magic that he performs around the world. And South Africa gets a chance as he is here to promote his new series “Dynamo: Magician Impossible Season 2” which starts this week Wednesday on the Discovery channel on DSTV. The night before the meet & greet he also announced he would be extending his stay in SA to film a few episodes for the upcoming season 3.

    We got to ask Dynamo a couple of questions and he even did 1 or 2 spontaneous tricks as well ! Really interesting guy !

    But for me, the biggest take-away from the event was, we were each given a copy of his book, “Nothing is Impossible“, which I finished reading in 1 day. It was seriously THAT good. The book takes you into Dynamo’s life, how he got into magic, and how, suffering with a serious disease called Crohn’s disease, managed to overcome so many obstacles, and just persevere with getting recognised. For a chap who isn’t even 30 yet, and has made such an impact in his life, is utterly amazing. Seriously, if you enjoy reading biographies, I highly suggest reading his book !

     

  • My iPhoneography interview on Expresso

    Last week Friday I was invited by the team on the popular morning show Expresso on SABC 3, to chat about the upcoming iPhoneogrpahy exhibition.

    I was super excited, and nervous, but all in all the interview went off well. The Expresso studios are very very cool, and the people are all super friendly. I got to stay in the awesome 15 on Orange hotel in Cape Town, and had some time after the interview to have a walk around Cape Town, and do a little coffee tasting. All in all, I had an awesome time, and would like to thank the team at Expresso for the opportunity !!

    Check out the interview below on Youtube

    [youtube id=”vTgUmNUk1Rk”]

     

  • Unlocking the power of the internet with my top 10 iPhone Apps

    Over the last couple of weeks I have been doing a post a week with some of the best iPad apps I have come across over the last few years. I really enjoyed putting the lists together and got some great feedback. Some of the categories I covered were Travel, News, Kids Games, Educational Games & even Cooking apps.

    So now, I thought to end off the series, I wanted to put together a list of my Top 10 iPhone apps. The ones I use on a daily basis, and would recommend installing first, when buying your new iPhone. Make sure you read all the way to the bottom of the list, I have an exciting prize of a 5GB data bundle, to use as you wish,  to give away from the team at Vodacom, who are helping us all “Unlock the power of the internet”

    Number 1 on my list has to be Tweetbot. This is without a doubt, the first icon that gets opened on my iPhone every morning. The functionality and design of this app is far superior to any other Twitter app out there. I would even go so far to say, that it is def the best looking app I have on my iPhone. The cost of the app for the iPhone is $2.99. Well worth it. Just get it if you have a twitter account

    [app url=”http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tweetbot-for-twitter-iphone/id428851691?mt=8″]

    The next app that gets used “first thing in the morning” is the Facebook App. Given the recent update, which has made it waaay more user friendly, it’s a must have on your home screen. And it’s free !

    [app url=”http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/facebook/id284882215?mt=8″]

    Whatsapp is the next app to claim it’s stake on my home screen. Almost everyone uses Whatsapp now, so it’s a no-brainer to have this app. The cost of $0.99 is worth every cent given how many people are using it !

    [app url=”http://itunes.apple.com/za/app/whatsapp-messenger/id310633997?mt=8″]

    The number 4 spot on my must have iPhone apps is another regularly used app. Camera+ – The ultimate iPhone camera replacement app. I have moved this to my home screen and the standard iPhone camera to the “Unused” folder on the last page. Another “must-have” app at only $0.99

    [app url=”http://itunes.apple.com/za/app/camera+/id329670577?mt=8″]

    The wildly popular and very user friendly FNB Banking app is another home screen resident. I use the FNB app for quite a bit of my online banking now, and prefer being able to use it on the go. It has saved my life *many times* :)

    [app url=”http://itunes.apple.com/za/app/fnb-banking-app/id450094779?mt=8″]

    I have to admit (if you didn’t already know) I’m a HUGE instagram fan, so another one of those FREE have-to-download apps. This app and the images of some of the people I follow keeps me entertained for hours.

    [app url=”http://itunes.apple.com/za/app/instagram/id389801252?mt=8″]

    In at number 7 is another app I keep on my home screen, purely for 1 small feature. The app is called Celsius, It’s an awesome looking weather app,  and has a red “push-notification” icon which shows you the current premature for your selected city.Very clever ! The app is also pretty useful and is pretty accurate in terms of the actual weather conditions, and a bargain at only $0.99

    [app url=”http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/celsius-weather-temperature/id426940482?mt=8″]

    The default browser on the iPhone, Safari, is another app relegated to the dreaded “Unused” folder. This means that the awesome FREE Google Chrome app takes it place as the go-to browser. The fact that it syncs between your desktop & mobile devices, makes it super cool. My next wishlist item from the team at Apple is the ability to allow me to select it as my default browser. Would make life so much simpler :)

    [app url=”http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chrome/id535886823?mt=8″]

    The 2nd last app on this list is a rather simple app. And this app gets used way, way to often on my iPhone. Simply called Flashlight, this “tool” comes in really handy when I need a torch, which seems to be a lot more often than “normal” people. (Not quite sure why though :)) There are loads of Flashlight type apps in the app store, but this one has proven to be the best by far !

    [app url=”http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/flashlight/id379745980?mt=8″]

    Last, but certainly not least, and another of my “morning reads” is the ever popular News24 App. Although the pop-up ads can be a bit annoying, the app always has the latest breaking news. Turn on the push notifications for Breaking news, and you get the news first. Pretty handy, when you a news junkie like me ;)

    [app url=”http://itunes.apple.com/za/app/news24/id310970460?mt=8″]

    So, that’s my list of the 10 must have home screen apps. And we want to hear what your favorites are.

    Use the RaffleCopter form below to enter in the comp ! The more you do, the more chances you have of winning.

    a Rafflecopter giveaway

    We will select a winner by Random draw next week Monday 3rd September. The winner will receive a 5GB data bundle compliments of Vodacom ! Good luck !

  • 2012 iPhoneography Exhibition entries NOW OPEN !

    ENTRIES FOR THE 2012 iPhoneography Exhibition are now OPEN !! All the info @ http://iPhoneographySA.com

    Following the success of the inaugural 2011 iPhoneographySA exhibition, MarcForrest.com & iStore have teamed up again to bring you the exciting 2012 edition of the exhibition.

    This year promises to be a cracker event with events planned for Johannesburg, on the 11th October, & for the first time ever, in Cape Town on the 23rd October.

    Entries will be open from Monday 27th August to Wednesday 26th September (JHB) & 8th October (CT) for submissions.

    Anyone who has taken an iPhone photo, is eligible to enter, so please feel free to upload your images. We have opted to limit the entries this year to a maximum of 5 per person. Once entries have closed, a judging panel will go through all the images to see who goes onto to the final round of exhibting. For full guidelines on the 2012 exhibition visit your Guidelines Page

    This year we have teamed up with the printing team from Printwild to ensure uniformity with the look & feel of the event, and ensuring all prints are delivered on time for hanging.

    We are really excited about this years event, and look forward to your entries. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us on [email protected].

    Stay tuned for updates on this site for more info closer to the time on the events that will be happening with our launch evenings.