Monday 26 May 2008

Beware when editing Skype messages to Linux users…

The Linux version of Skype has not yet caught up with the Windows version (3.5) - the feature that allows you to edit your chat messages has not been implemented in the Linux version yet.
I use Skype as a tool to keep the work team in touch with what's going on. From 'whose birthday it is', to urgent client issues that need to be sorted out… recently, confusion reigned and we found out the hard way that we need to be extra careful when information is given using a Windows version of Skype and the message is then edited - these edits do not get through to the Linux users…. So, to be safe, rather re-type the message correctly - don't edit the message and fix the typo.
But, for those people who are using the Windows version and want to use this 'message editing' feature to fix your typo, here's what you need to do:
Yes. With Skype 3.5 for Windows and above it is possible to edit or delete your most recent entry in a chat.
Right click on the message, and select ‘Edit Message’ to modify what you have written or ‘Remove Message’ to delete the entry.
Note, all members of the chat must be using for Skype 3.5 for Windows or above.
For other useful Skype chat control commands, see my previous blog: Skype chat: taking control of the group chat session
And remember, you can get 20% discount on SkypeOut calls. See here for more info: To get your 20% discount: register on fatwallet.co.za using this link: Register on FatWallet
then purchase your SkypeOut credit using this link: Purchase SkypeOut credit

If you are not interested in getting the 20% discount then go to Skype directly here: Purchase SkypeOut credit

Sunday 25 May 2008

Say goodbye to the blogger.com error 'Your template could not be parsed as it is not well-formed'' when trying to add JavaScript to your blog

I have battled whenever I wanted to add various components to my blog's template.... eg: StatCounter, ChangeDetection, BabelTranslate, etc.
The error 'Your template could not be parsed as it is not well-formed' appeared and I couldn't get the component to appear on my blog!

I have found some converter tools that solve this problem. The trick is that some special characters need to be replaced....
So, if the html code that you are pasting into the blogger.com html template contains the following characters, then they need to be replaced:
<
>
&
"
These need to be replaced with the following:
< becomes &lt;
> becomes &gt;
& becomes &amp;
" becomes &quot;

So, do a search and replace for the above characters
or
use these two tools that do it for you:

Sunday 18 May 2008

Zimbabwe inflation hits 355,000%, so is there a crisis now??!!!

The Zimbabwe Independent and ZWnews has reported (15May2008) that inflation has now hit 355,000% - no wonder Zimbabweans are pouring out of the country and into Soweto, Jhb city centre, Cape Town, South Africa!
That 23 trillion ZW$ meal was a bargain the other day!
So, comparing inflation rates (using my inflation calculator):

165,000 % per annum
13,750 % per month
3,056 % per week
458 % per day

355,000 % per annum
29,583 % per month
6,574 % per week
986 % per day

1,700,000 % per annum
141,667 % per month
31,481 % per week
4,722 % per day


and last month's R7 loaf of bread will now cost R2,078!!!.... but if inflation had remained @ 165,000% it would have been a bargain @ R97

And "some people" say that there's no crisis in Zimbabwe! - well that "no-crisis" is now "coming home to roost"!

From the article: "The central bank introduced the $500 million bearer cheques for the public and the $5 billion, $25 billion, $50 billion agro-cheques for farmers. The new notes come hardly two weeks after the introduction of the $250 million bearer cheques.

The Zimbabwe Independent, 15 May: see here for the full story: Inflation hits 355 000%


Update on Wed21May2008: Oh no.. .can you believe that this can actually get worse - now it's up to 1,000,000%.
See here for more details:
Zim inflation estimated at 1 million %

Update on Thu29May2008: From The Zimbabwe Independent: Inflation Shocker: 1,700,000%
ANNUAL inflation for May galloped to 1,700,000% as the Zimbabwean dollar continued to crash causing prices of goods and services to skyrocket....

Now
Tomorrow
Next week
Next month
Next quarter
Next year
Cost of item: R 7.00 R 337.56 R 2,210.70 R 9,923.67 R 4,729.22 R 119,007.00




Thursday 15 May 2008

The reality-seeing is believing! - it really hits home when you see it.... a cash slip from Zim for dinner for 1 totalling over 1 billion Zim Dollars!

Following on from my post on the Zimbabwe inflation rate calculator, I have just received a cash slip from a friend's dinner at "Jungle Junction" at "The Victoria Falls Hotel" in Zimbabwe.
As you can see, on 23rd March 2008, 2 beers cost $ZW191 million, 1 mineral water cost $ZW95.6 million, and dinner cost $ZW956 million and the grand total came to $ZW1,243 billion! (I wonder what the gratuity came to?!!!).

So, using the Inflation calculator @ 165,000%, on 23rd May 2008 (that's 2 months later), this bill would have increased to $ZW23,848,428,223,750 (is that 23 trillion?) [and remember, the 165,000% inflation is also going up!, so the calculation is conservative!]
Want to feel like a billionaire for a while, then book here: mailto:reservations@tvfh.zimsun.co.zw and remember to take a calculator with at least 15 digits to use for dinner!

And "some people" say that there's no crisis in Zimbabwe!

Monday 12 May 2008

Y4L 60% Voda, 55% Other.... on your cell Broadcast: Anyone wondering what your Vodacom cell phone's are trying to tell you?

Well, Vodacom has just announced (11May2008) the launch of a new Prepaid tariff plan called Yebo4Less. This tariff plan offers customers variable discounts based on the customers location and time of day. {My calculator calculates savings.... see below.}
This means that I could pay a different rate depending on which corner of my house I initiate the call from! Not that I have a large house, it's just that I know that it's covered by 3 Vodacom masts! At the time of writing I have one mast giving "Y4L 55% Voda, 55% Voda" and another giving "Y4L 90% Voda, 65%"! So, obviously I would use the 90/65 connection.

The tariff plan is a per second tariff plan with a flat standard base rate that is applicable all day; i.e. there is no differentiation between peak and off-peak.

The following call charges and discounts are applicable on the Yebo4Less Tariff:
Peak & Off Peak (no difference in cost);

On Net - Vodacom to Vodacom; Standard Charge: R2.60 (=4c/sec) ; up to 99% discount
Off Net - Vodacom to Other; Standard Charge: R2.89 (=5c/sec); up to 65% discount
More details around Yebo4Less costs: http://www.vodacom.co.za/services/yebo4less/cost.jsp
I have created a calculator to figure out whether it's worth my while to change plans (from VodaGo to Yebo4Less):
VodagoOrYebo4Less.xls
It seems that it is worth it... but, I'm a cautious person... I'll wait a bit and see where the catches are!
Things to note (so far): there's no HappyHour on Yebo4Less; Telkom is treated as off-net on Yebo4Less; per second billing (not per minute, or 30 second part thereof)
Additionally, you also get a guaranteed minimum discount of 50% off calls made during off-peak times, to any number! You only pay for what you have to say – with Yebo4Less per second billing applies.

The discounts are based on the time of the day and how busy the network is where the customer is located.
Vodacom will determine these discounts on an hourly basis.

Yebo4Less customers will be able to obtain discounts of up to 99% on Vodacom to Vodacom national calls and up to 65% on calls to other networks, i.e. MTN, Cell C, Virgin, Telkom and Neotel. Customers can view the discounts by switching on the Cell Broadcast option on their phone or they can dial *111*444#. Cell Broadcast is not available on the 3G network.

Please note that the discount is only applicable to national voice and 3G video calls and excludes premium rated numbers and any data services.

Existing Prepaid customers will be able to migrate to Yebo4Less, via FreeChange by simply calling 1181 from their cellphone (free of charge) or dialling *111# from their cellphone and choosing option 7. Customers are able to change their prepaid tariff plan once ever 30 days free of charge. The customer’s airtime value, Talking Points and any SMS or Data bundle will remain intact after FreeChange.

New customers will be required to purchase a new Vodacom prepaid starter pack and use FreeChange (by calling 1181 or *111#) to change to the Yebo4Less tariff plan option.

Customers on the Yebo4Less tariff plan will continue to earn Talking Points when recharging with airtime vouchers; however, they will not be able to redeem their Talking Points for airtime bundles or call discounts. Talking Points can only be redeemed for cellphones and SMS bundles.

Please refer to this link for more info and FAQs: http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=118048
Subscribers on Vodacom PrePaid can switch plans once every 30 days without costs: customer must dial 1181 from their cellphone or dial *111# from their cellphone and select option 7 for FreeChange.

Yebo4Less is just like MTNzone and works with area, but Vodacom gives discounts off calls to other networks too!

Additionally, you also get a guaranteed minimum discount of 50% off calls made during off-peak times, to any number! You only pay for what you have to say – with Yebo4Less per second billing applies.

When you opt in via FreeChange to the Service all accumulated on-net airtime discounts redeemed with Talking points will be lost.
Customers on the Yebo4Less tariff plan will continue to earn Talking Points when recharging with airtime vouchers; however, they will not be able to redeem their Talking Points for airtime bundles or call discounts. Talking Points can only be redeemed for cellphones and SMS bundles.
  • The discount applied to voice and video calls will be dealt with as follows:
    • Same discount period, same area – If your call is connected and terminated in the same discount period in the same area, the discount assigned to that area during that period shall apply.
    • Same discount period, multiple area – If your call is connected and terminated during the same discount period but you move between two or more areas during the call, the discount that is assigned to the area in which the call originated shall apply to the entire voice/video call.
    • Multiple discount periods, same area – If your call is connected and terminated in the same area but your call spans over two or more discount periods the discount that applied to the period in which the voice call originated shall apply to the entire voice/video call.
    • Multiple discount periods, multiple area – If your call is connected in one discount period but terminates in a different discount period and different area, the discount that was assigned to the area in the period when the call originated shall apply to the entire voice/video call.
  • If you are on the Vodacom 3G network, you will not receive the Cell Broadcast due to 3G network configuration restrictions.
  • The customer will be able to dial *111*444# to find out what the current call discount is for the particular cell they reside in at that time.
  • There's no subscription costs for Yebo4Less.

    Sunday 4 May 2008

    Where is my geyser's thermostat? How do I turn it down?

    I have had a lot of questions related to my blogs on saving electricity:

    To summarise:
    If you don't have a solar geyser then you need to concentrate on:
    -> using less hot water (shower [not bath] using a low‑flow shower head),
    -> reducing the temperature of your geyser's thermostat, and
    -> reducing the heat loss from the hot water pipes (insulate them)
    (and not on turning your geyser off).

    If you do have a solar geyser then you need to
    -> do all of the above (for no solar geyser)
    -> as well as installing a time switch.

    But, where is that thermostat that I keep referring to, and how do I adjust it so that the water is not so hot?
    The geyser's thermostat is on the geyser, inside a protective enclosure (see Figure 1 below).
    Figure 1: Geyser with Thermostat enclosure (closed)

    To get to it, you need to:
    1) turn off the electricity supply to the geyser (to be 100% safe, turn off all the switches on your electrical distribution board)
    2) find the geyser - usually in the roof (Note: if you are climbing into your roof, then make sure that you step on the rafters (not on the ceiling board) otherwise you will fall through the ceiling and onto the floor!), then
    3) open the protective covering
    4) using a small flat screw driver, turn the thermostat setting screw to a colder setting [usually, clockwise] (in Figure 2 below, the setting is 40 degrees Celsius)

    Figure 2: Thermostat enclosure open, and set to 40 degrees Celsius

    Note: the thermostat settings are not exact and you might need to visit your geyser more than once.




    Update on 16June2010:
    Watch out or, at least, be aware: #WTF Geyser's element has just blown <3 years after installation... 5 year geyser warranty, but only 3 months on the element! #FFS #RipOff

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