Archive for September, 2008
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
This morning on 5fm, Gareth Cliff and his team spoke about the US bailout.
He asked whether you would bail out a friend who went on a spending spree and got in way over his/her head.
I guess a friend’s debt situation and the situation of million dollar companies doesn’t have the same consequences, but the principles are the the same.
In South Africa, I dont think Thabo Mbeki’s government, Tito Mboweni and the Reserve Bank received the accolades (I almost said credit!) they deserve for keeping the fundamentals of our economy as strong as they can under the circumstances.
We moaned and groaned at high interest rates and rising costs, but if there is an idiot’s guide to economics, I’m sure it will advise you to only spend what you have.
Up until now economies of developing countries have mostly been at the mercy of first world countries. Smaller economies were forced to keep sound fiscal policies. Our countries were expected to jump through hoops to get foreign investment and loans, rightfully so.
Would a third world country have received billions of dollars in loans to invade a foreign country though?
As for me, fortunately I don’t have to make a decision on behalf of a whole country, but I would only bailout a friend I could afford to give the money, without expectation of receiving it back and I would only do it one time.
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Monday, September 29th, 2008
The weather might be awful at the moment and summer seemingly a fair bit away, but there has been some great news for Cape Town.
This city was voted as one of ‘20 cities of 2020′ by the Ethisphere Institute, a New York business ethics and social responsibility think-tank, as one of ten cities in the world that are most likely to become a global sustainability centre by 2020.
Other top ten cities in the world were Toronto, Hyderabad, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, New York, London, Frankfurt, Curitiba and Melbourne.
Cape Town was acknowledged for its sustainable development programme in 2004 that aims to have ten percent of homes using solar power and ten percent of the city’s energy consumption coming from renewable sources by 2020.
“Cape Town is enjoying economic growth that will likely to continue through 2020 and beyond,” the Ethisphere Institute report said.
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Monday, September 29th, 2008
First
Google, then
e-tv and now we hear
News24 is turning 10 years old!
I have especially fond memories of the beginnings of News24, having won quite a few competitions on their website when they started.
I especially remember with fondness a whole hamper of Cadbury’s chocolates that arrived with compliments of News24.
1998 Was a good year, definitely!
Here’s to many, may more years News24!
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Monday, September 29th, 2008
According to an article Americans are concerned about their privacy online. People I speak to at work and at home feel the same way. They can hardly believe that I do my banking online – amongst other things.
It is amazing how easy it is for some people to log onto a website and transacting without any worries while others view internet shopping with suspicion.
Personally I feel safer shopping online than walking with my debit card into Pick n Pay or doing banking online rather than withdrawing from an ATM.
Just more than a year ago I Googled an item I was looking for and ended up on Bidorbuy. Within a few minutes I registered, bid on the item on auction and subsequently lost the auction. This was the first time I ever saw the site or anything similar. It was also my first auction. I waited for the next auction and got the same item at a cheaper price! The bug had bitten big time.
Having been online since 1998 I bought books through kalahari.net, groceries through Pick n Pay Homeshopping, Woolworths and made other purchases through some other sites, so the internet never held any demons for me. Ever since my first online purchase I have been aware of security and always make sure the purchase site is safe.
My first few transactions on Bidorbuy were all purchases and through luck and common sense I have not had any problems. I’ve read on local forums of people who have been scammed, but it’s not something I can identify with.
Most important for me is to check the buyers ratings (from more than just one or two people), make sure I really want the product, the price is reasonable and to not spend more than I intended to.
Best of all – I got some good bargains and it presented the opportunity for me to become a seller!
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Sunday, September 28th, 2008
The prize in is a Garmin Nuvi 310 GPS Unit worth R4799.99.
Smartbid is part of Bidorbuy that allows you to Win products for absolutely FREE.
The competition is in the form of a reverse auctions where the lowest
unique bid wins.
It will not cost you a cent to participate.
Competition closes on 5 November at 2.00pm.
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