Hello, my name is Byron, and I am a Professional Photographer and Web, iOS and Mac Developer, living in Cape Town.
Proud Dad and Husband. Tattoo Canvas. Wannabe Foodie. Co-Founder of Tangram.
During the day, I am the co-founder and lead developer at Tangram, a small design and development agency based in Cape Town. By night, I shoot photos and dabble with some cooking.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Email to Things (Redux)
I have started using Things again. Mostly because I am testing out the new Cloud sync facility. It’s in early beta, and that is about as much as I can say about it. If you are interested in more information, you might try having a good, hard look at the Cultured Code website.
I have used a lot of GTD type apps over the years, and Things always stood out for me, but it lacked in some features that just couldn’t get me to stick to it. The Hit List allowed quick entry of tasks by hitting the return key, and had copy and paste from or to the app. Other than that it wasn’t that great, and it’s expensive now. Things lacked simple things like that, and the old Bonjour WiFi sync was tedious to say the least. Wunderkit works well, but it’s still in a beta phase, and can be a bit buggy and sluggish, and there is no way of accessing the tasks outside of the containers, be it iPhone, Web or iPad.
Anyway, I digress. Things enticed me with the cloud-based sync. But it still lacks that polish. If I add a new task, I need to take a few steps between each task. Press return, then a key combo to create a new task.
What if I could type my tasks in an email, or forward them from a client directly into Things?
AppleScript to the rescue.
There were a few scripts that I could find on the Google machine, but most didn’t do what I wanted. Some had the subject of the email as the task and the body as notes, which is good I suppose, but for me - I need a brief look at what’s to be done, and what is finished. So I set about writing my own.
It’s almost 3:30 am, and I am probably not making sense, so here is the code. Shout if something snags, or you can’t figure it out. I will probably add tagging and due dates etc in the future, but for now - it does what I need. Quick multiple task entries.
Helping Mom
I try not to bring my entire personal life into my online presence because well that is just it, it’s personal. However, I need some help. I’m not one to usually ask for help, and neither is my mom, but:
My mom recently lost her job, and with it her place to stay - she lived where she worked, her car and her income, which is never an easy thing to have to go through, especially so for my mom because, well let’s be honest, on paper (her age - she will be 59 this year, lack of Matric and the fact that she didn’t *need* to work for 15 years because of her ex-husband) she is not the right fit or has the right requirements for most companies looking to hire these days, so finding a job is difficult, and when you are in that position it’s very demotivating. Some of you know that she went through a bad cancer (Colon Cancer) scare a few years ago, and while she is in remission and has been clear for nearly 2 years, her keeping in good health is extremely important. She has lost a lot of weight, and this additional stress is not helping.
Her friends have been super supportive, and have offered her a place to stay, but when I talk to her, I can hear she is not happy, and the place she is staying in now, is very restrictive on her - she has no keys to the house, so has to rely on those friends to be at home if she needs to come/go - and it’s breaking her, which is killing me. A lack of income also restricts her with doing things, and even the simple things like paying towards food. She is using what little money she has left to survive, but it’s not going to last.
She has been offered another place to stay which would offer her a bit more freedom, but it is again sharing with somebody else and is not going to help this situation, and we will be back down this road again in a few months. Again, lack of income plays a roll in her eating and being able to afford the simple pleasures that she needs to keep her happy.
Unfortunately, staying here in CT with us is not an option, as we are battling with the size of our place with just the 3 of us at the moment, and with Kid Number 2 on the way, space is going to become an even bigger issue.
Before I go on, I am not asking for financial assistance for her, while it would be appreciated, it is not going to solve the problem. Money is not infinite and it’s not your responsibility.
We are going to help her with money to give her the things she needs right now, but what I would like help with is for you to keep your eyes and ears open, and spread the word.
My mom needs a job, preferably in Durban, but anywhere will do… She lives on the Bluff, and all her friends are there, so it would be ideal if it were somewhere in the area or surrounding areas so that she could get to and from work with relative ease. It doesn’t need to be anything fancy, but something secure and permanent, with a contract and defined salary would be amazing. She is computer literate, has Pastel and bookkeeping training, and is amazing with people and has good management skills. She has been on the committee at the MOTH club, is the secretary for the Fynnland’s Sports Club and worked as a manager/barperson/help for them for some time.
Ideally for her, a job that offered live in facilities (B&B or Guest House) would be the best as it would afford her an income (albeit smaller) and a place to stay, with meals, which would then mean we could focus on getting her another car, and she would be able to look after herself and have the little pleasures she needs, which is time with her friends, her smokes and a bit of money to go to the club and have a few beers on the weekend with her friends. But any job that provides her an income that would allow her to rent a place, buy food/necessities would be appreciated.
No parent ever wants to rely on their child, and my mom has never asked me for help. Just getting all this information from her has required many phone calls to get her to talk and other family passing on messages of how she is doing.
Thank you for taking the time to read this; If you know of anything that is available, or know somebody that is looking, please drop me a mail on byron[at]byronrode.co.za - I will be forever grateful. All I really ask is that you please just spread the word. The more eyes that can see this, the better chance I have of getting my mom back on her feet.
B
So true. My son will never know the connection between a tape cassette and a Bic pen!
but i do
Kawuleza Connect - WISP
It’s still very early on, and I have only just started using the service, but so far, I am extremely happy, and the biggest joy I have had so far is not having to deal with Telkom, at all.
Kawuleza Connect have been awesome so far. I called them last week Wednesday to get a quote on wireless internet through them (after scouring the Google for a few hours, and calling some very badly mannered companies in Cape Town), and after confirming some of the details on the site, I made an arrangement to have them come and install the equipment and set up the trial.
They came along on Friday morning to install the equipment and set up the line. The free trial costs absolutely nothing, and if you are unsatisfied, they will come back in 5 days, take down the equipment, and let you be. The installation takes a few hours and they run tests on the Line of Sight to their nearest tower, and once completed, you will literally have a connection to the internet in your wall. No need for any additional hardware*.
I emailed them this morning and asked them to please cancel the trial and sign me up for the full product. The line speeds have been great, even with the weather being shitty last night, and the wind howling today, and I am constantly getting around 3.5mpbs download and above 2.5mbps upload, all on a connection that doesn’t require a telephone line or a sim card and grossly over-priced data costs.
Another one of the biggest factors for me was cost. I did a bit of investigation beforehand, and then put together this cost comparison today, using 3 of the bigger ISP’s in SA offering fixed-line ADSL. Kawuleza have come in cheaper, even with the equipment costs** added into my bill.
Will give more feedback as I go along, but from my tests over the last few days and the service I am currently receiving, I don’t foresee many issues.
* Obviously, if you need to share the connection with wireless devices or other computers, then a Wireless Router (with WAN port) is required.
** I opted for the 12 month Finance Option on the equipment required to receive the Wireless Signal. You can also purchase it outright or take it over 24 months.
A timelapse test, testing focus for an upcoming project.
This is incredible. In 10 years from now this kid will be AMAZING.
6 YEAR-OLD SKATER
Zebra & Giraffe - The Waiting Room
Click on the picture for more
Monday morning. You suck!
Break-ins Rock. Not.
I walked out of my front door this morning, thinking that it wasn’t going to be too bad a Monday, I mean not only did I almost lose 320GB of data over the weekend and had to spend R1800 replacing a harddrive and ram on my MacBook Pro, but I have to fork out another few thousand on a deposit on a new flat because my landlady has sort of, kinda, lost the plot.
I walked out of my gate and saw this
This is the 3rd time that I have been broken into in a little over a month, and unlike the first time, where they got away with nothing and the second time, my radio, this time they managed to destroy my window, break-in without setting my alarm off (very clever thieves) and damaging the back seat to get into my boot only to take my car charger which was in my cubbyhole (glove box).
“They” knew that my car only has an alarm system for the doors and boot, so by breaking in through the small side window, they could wind down the window, and climb through the window without triggering the alarm, which would have woken me, as my car was parked right outside my bedroom window.
They emptied my cubbyhole, broke through the seat to get into the boot and took my iphone car charger and a inflatable mattress and some chappies, leaving everything else perfectly strewn over the car floor.
Moving
I am moving at the end of the month because my landlady is selling the property and the new owners want to live there (this is the short version) and have signed a lease on a nice place in Tokai, which is closer to work and has a undercover, guarded and secure parking area, but I still think I am going to sell Bubbles.
Selling
I have decided that it might be time to sell my golf, Bubbles, and get myself another bakkie (pickup) again. My insurance on this VW is just costing me too much and 3 break-ins in an area that has had hardly any issues in the last year seems to be a sign.
