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  • Vodacom Listens to the blogosphere

    On Saturday I posted about my mate who was going through hell with Vodacom/FNB by being scammed by con artists, trying to do a Sim Swap on a fake letterhead.

    This afternoon I received a call on my cellphone from Johan Van Graan, who is the Chief Risk Officer of the Vodacom Group. He had been alerted to the post, and wanted more info, so they could follow up on the case. I gave him my mates number, and they have since had a chat, and it is being passed onto the right people.

    But what amazed me, is that Vodacom and Johan, took time out to read a blog post, and actually DO something about it. I’m glad to see some corporates are out there “listening”.

    Kudos to Vodacom !!!

  • New Internet Banking scam

    A good friend of mine got scammed badly this week, by guys trying to access his FNB internet banking, and clean out his bank account.

    If you bank with FNB and use their internet banking you will know they use SMS to alert you and send you a PIN every time you log in. Last week he received an SMS, without logging on. So he called FNB and told them to freeze everything.
    On Thursday he received an SMS from Vodacom, saying they have processed with his requested SIM SWAP, and that it should be active in a few hours.
    He called Vodacom and asked what was happening. It turned out, these guys had created a fake letterhead complete with spelling & grammar errors, taken it into a Vodashop, with a temporary drivers license, and requested to a SIM swap for a new Sim. Vodacom happily obliged, and did the swap.

    Yesterday he went into Vodacom and asked what had happened. Turns out the guy had been there 20 minutes before, to enquire why the Sim was not active yet.

    Apparently there is a HUGE syndicate, and these guys follow every move. Their favorite trick is to stand behind you when you use the Internet banking terminal INSIDE the bank, and film you on a cellphone camera.
    Be sure to keep an eye out when using your internet banking. Don’t use internet banking in a public WIFI spot. If you get an SMS from your service provider, ensure you actually requested it, and if not act immediately.

  • Wii Fit Review

    Yesterday I picked up my copy of the latest Nintendo Release called Wii Fit, from Makro. Coming in at a pricey R999, it also includes the Wii Fit Board.

    I have been going to gym at least 3 times a week for the last year, and really enjoy it. Having a personal trainer also helps things along, knowing you have to go, otherwise you wasting money. The results have been average, but my eating hasn’t and of course beer doesn’t help either.

    So I put the Wii Fit disc in, and within 2 seconds, it was up and running. Simple. The first step is to get your body weight, and set yourself a goal. From there you are presented with 4 different excerice types. Aerobic, Muscle, Yoga & Balance. All 4 of them are awesome, and you have to accumulate time doing exercises to open new sections of the disc.

    The balance board is amazing how it tracks your slightest movements, and keeping balance and posture is very important. Every day you do a body test to see how you are progressing, and you keep track of it on a graph. You have a trainer assigned to your profile, who helps you along with the exercises, and shows you how to do them properly.

    All in all Wii Fit, is an awesome piece of software. So far, I haven’t found any flaws, except the stiff muscles I am going to be assured of having tomorrow ;)

  • End of an era…

    Today marks my last ever day working at storm telecom. I have been here for almost 9 years, which is almost 1 3rd of my life. A long time.

    Last year storm was approached by a competitor, Vox Telecom, to buy us out. Initially it was thought to be for the skills and technology within the company, but we soon discovered it wasn’t to be. I’m not really going to get into the nitty gritty of it, but I really felt I wouldn’t be able to work in a company like that. Sad but true, as they could potentially be a fantastic company.

    It really is a sad day, but on the 5th of May a new chapter starts in my life. And I am REALLY excited about it. I don’t want to say to much until I start, but what I can say is the new company is probably one of the most sought after companies to work for in Durban, and if not in South Africa. They have a fantastic work etiquette where the employee always comes first, but work is of the utmost importance.

    I have a feeling my days of being on twitter all day, and being able to blog as I wish, are going to be fast coming to an end, but in hindsight, I think I am going to be learning loads, and working hard. Keep an eye here to see how its all going. Exciting times ahead…

  • Streetmaps API

    Streetmaps.co.za is South Africas ultimate mapping solution. Sure Google Maps gives us fantastic coverage of South Africa is satellite view, but the one thing it is lacking is the ability to route from one destination, to another.

    The guys at streetmaps.co.za have built up a fantastic mapping system that allows you to do this, and view & save your results. Yesterday they released an API, much like Googles mapping API, that will allow you to embed maps into your site, as well as allow for lookups of addresses and destinations.

    There are loads of possibilities, like an interactive map that would allow you to report crime in your area, or find specific point of interests in a specified area.

    Check out the new API on http://www.streetmaps.co.za