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| FYI - MMXL = 2011 in Roman numerals... :) |
At launch, the Nokia N8 sported the most powerful camera on any smartphone at the time, and one of the best ever, according to many online review resources.
That being said, the iPhone 4 is one spectacular device.
There are so many new Android-based handsets on the market right now, that it is just ridiculous to try and pin down any one handset.
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| The mark of good pizza! |
More to come as they get spotted!
Seen any awesome Christmas trees or spectacular decorations in your hood lately?
Send them my way and I will put them up here for all to behold :)
Slowing down as I approached the MariaanHill tollgate just outside Pinetown, I spied an empty looking gate to the right and made a bee line for it - it is always amusing to watch how all the cars scurry in the final dash to get the emptiest tollgate :)
Feeling rather smug as I waited in the (short) queue of 3 cars, I noticed how the driver in front repeatedly (and fruitlessly) swiped his card through the automatic card machine, each time slightly more urgently than the last...
After about 10 unsuccessful swipes and with cars piling up behind us, the driver in front eventually got out of his car and made his way over to one of the manual booths, where he could interact with a human being, rather than a card-refusing machine.
A short discussion then followed, after which the 2 of them then headed over to the stubborn machine.
They then took turns trying to make the questionable card work, unsuccessfully.
Eventually, they gave up and the tollgate operator waved his hands at the now decidedly long queue, in what was a rather enthusiastic gesture for us all to reverse back (into oncoming traffic), and use another tollgate.
Not an easy task.
As the reverse lights all started coming on, and with trucks and a variety of other vehicles now bearing down on the stagnant queue of stranded vehicles, the task seemed just about impossible.
There we all were - a stationary queue of cars lined up one behind another, all behind one bottleneck, all trying desperately to escape.
Trouble is, we weren't going anywhere because it's a bit tough trying to reverse into oncoming traffic, in the hope that said traffic will just understand why several vehicles are reversing towards them... :)
It is also truly amazing how transfixed and overly focussed one can become, when faced with what appears to be an insurmountable situation - one such as this for example.
So when the (fairly large) passenger in the car behind me suddenly got out and made his way to the car responsible for the blockage, my first thought was "Oh hell... Here comes a fistfight..."...
Surprisingly, there were no fists, and indeed, no fight.
Instead, the fairly large passenger and the blockage-causer exchanged a few words, at which point the fairly large passenger produced his own petrol card, proceeded to swipe that, and lo and behold - the boom lifted and the day was saved.
I was speechless for a few seconds before the thought hit me... "Now why didn't I think of doing that?".
Who knows what mechanism makes us lose sight of the most obvious solution to a problem when we are involved in it - all I can say is that the idea of moving an entire queue of cars at a toll gate, seemed such a massive task, that all the other people in the queue simply failed to think of paying for the toll themselves, in order to get the whole queue moving again.
The funny thing is that the toll for that specific plaza is something like R7.50... Not really an account breaker...!
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| For the plebs... |
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| ...and for the kids :) |
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| @ the Space Bar... :) |
Image via Wikipedia
Image by KhE 龙 via Flickr
A bit earlier today, my phone started showing a small 3G icon just below the network signal.
"Could it be?"... I wondered in a cautious, yet ever so slightly hopeful manner...
So I quickly located a 3MB song online on my phone, and downloaded it... in 10 seconds flat!
That equates to roughly 300 Kilobytes (or 3 Megabits) per second, and that means that Cell C have finally delivered on their promise of a JHB rollout of their HPSA+ network.
At last my previously stunted Nokia N97 can now download data at full speed - and from the first impression it is pretty darn quick!
Oh and in case you are wondering why I only got 3Mbps in download speeds (Cell C have boasted about speeds up to 21Mbps), it is because the Nokia N97 only supports data speeds up to 3.6Mbps.
If I wanted to test out the maximum speed of the Cell C data network, I would need to get myself one of those new USB data modems that Cell C is offering on their new data bundles...
So unless Cell C maybe decide to offer me the opportunity to try one of those out (hint, hint), I will have to just make do with what I have for now :)
In any case, well done and "big up" (as they say in the States) to Cell C - this has been a long time in the making and I hope that it pushes you guys way ahead of the competition!
These photos, however were snapped this weekend in Houghton, Johannesburg - and this was just the tip of one truly gargantuan floral iceberg...
In areas with lots of wind, the purple flowers are literally blanketing the roads - it's as if some art student came along and gave our roads a purple makeover - it certainly adds some beautiful colour to what would otherwise be a drab tar road surface :)
So when you hit the road tomorrow (not literally of course, unless you are a road construction worker maybe :), take the time to notice how prolific the Jacaranda trees are right now in Jo'burg - they are all over the place!
People of Pretoria - watch out!
You had all better be on your guard - Johannesburg is hot on your heels and might soon snatch your "Jacaranda City" status from under your noses...
...and when that happens, I think that the Jacaranda FM offices will need to relocate somewhere a little closer to JHB... ;)
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The Tissot T-Touch is an awesome timepiece - the touchscreen simply blows minds wherever it goes, and the watch certainly looks the part! ...
