Airline Woes! Don't Think It Only Happens Here!

A few minutes scanning local consumer websites will reveal a general feeling of unhappiness at the lack of customer service and professionalism experienced by many travellers at the hands of airlines. While one understands the needs for extra precautions in terms of security in this age of global terrorism, there is no need for airline staff or airport staff to treat passengers, regardless of which class they are flying in, with disdain.

It has almost become customary for South Africans to dismiss this type of service as "typical in Africa". This type of South African pessimism is uncalled for, unhelpful and possibly could even be construed as racist. The poor service levels experienced by many in the airline industry have become common-place the world over. I came across this account of a gentleman from San Diego who missed his flight to Johannesburg due to unbelievable hassles at the San Diego airport. Go ahead and read his story and realise that these problems happen all over the world.

I am convinced that our service levels need drastic improvement in many areas but let's not fall into the trap of thinking that poor service is unique to our country!

Need More Visitors To Your Blog?

Have you noticed the new widget on the right-hand side of this page? Take a look now - its okay, I'll wait!

Say hello to "BlogRush" - a free traffic generator that works by displaying your latest blog headlines on a desktop widget. You install the widget on your page and see the headlines of blogs related to your particular subject matter.

The system also has a referral component which means you earn traffic credits off 10 levels!

As the system is brand new this is a great time to come aboard. Every site needs traffic and it seems to me that this is a great way to generate traffic that is already interested in the subjects you write about.

Sign up by clicking here.

To see other traffic generating tools - click here.

New Blog Of The Week - #9 (Is it a bird, a plane? No - it's a UFO!)

So where have these people been all this time? Why do we not hear more of them? They need greater publicity!

So here we go ...

This week's "New Blog Of The Week" is from the South African UFO Resource and gives a local perspective to this phenomenon. If unusual sightings of flying objects interest you this site is worth a visit.

As for me, I will just keep looking up and wondering...

Springbok Rugby - Historical Tales #2 (video - RSA vs ENG)

It was on 24 October 1999, the quarter-final of the Rugby World Cup, that South Africa removed England from the competition thanks in no small part to the boot of flyhalf Jannie de Beer.

Not only did he add a world record 5 drop goals to the scorecard, he also struck five penalties and two conversions to ensure an historic win for the Boks.

Let's hope that our boys can repeat their winning ways against England on Friday!

Facebook in South Africa - Are You Being Paid?

Social networking online has fast become the darling of the internet. The South Africa network on Facebook now has over 260 000 members! It had to happen sooner than later that some bright spark realised that with millions of people logging in every day and the resultant advertising revenue increasing, those who were making use of tools such as Facebook and MySpace should be benefitting too. After all, it is the users who make these sites so successful - why not reward regular users for their efforts?

Enter Yuwie - a Web 2.0 social networking site that pays users for their normal everyday activities and links this to network marketing model that pays 10 levels down!

Think of how many times you log into Facebook during the course of a week. Imagine getting paid every time you altered your profile, invited friends, left messages on your friend's walls, participated in a group... Not only that - what if you were paid every time one of your friends participated in activities such as these as well - down to 10 levels? This is the magic of Yuwie.

Some questions answered :

1) Is it legal? Yes Yuwie is completely legal.Yuwie is marketed as a Social Networking site with a Multi Level Marketing business structure. You see Pyramid schemes involve users paying a fee to join, and that fee gets divided up and paid to the users above them...and Yuwie is not one of these. Yuwie is free to join. It costs nothing, so there is no way it can be considered illegal, or a pyramid scheme.Yuwie gets it's revenue from advertising

2) How is my income calculated? Your income is determined by the Yuwie - Revenue Sharing Rate (RSR). Here's how it works. After each month, a report will be generated in your earnings area...See your "Control Panel" and look for the money bag. It will show exactly how many views your referral tree accumulated on each level. It will also show your earnings for each level. Here's the actual calculation:

RSR x (Page Views/1000) x Level Percentage = Your Earnings

3) How long has this been around? The Yuwie.com Domain was Created on May 21, 2007 and the business is run by a gentleman (Korry Rogers) out of Norman, Oklahoma


This is a great tool for buiding a business network with the benefit of being paid at the same time! Its like having an advertising agency pay you for using their services!

Why not head over to my Yuwie profile and get the ball rolling! I really do believe that this tool will be become as popular as Facebook over time - get in now! Sign-ups are over 1000 per day - you really don't want to miss this opportunity!

Check it out now...

Swop A Kiss For An iPod!

How creative is your kissing? Fancy winning an iPod in return for some creative kisses?

South African author Bridget McNulty is giving away a brand-new iPod Nano 4GB with video on her blog. To be entered into this competition requires photograph of you being creative in a kiss. She puts it like this

It doesn’t have to be a romantic smooch, it can be you kissing your super-adorable child, or your pet hamster, or your favourite popstar’s poster. But for it to be the winning photo it has to be something special.

The Top10 will be displayed on her website for the world to see.

So for a new iPod or simply bragging rights about your smooching ability, enter now!

Find the info here.

To read Bridget's latest book, click on the cover below :

Springbok Rugby - Historical Tales #1

As the Rugby World Cup launches in France later tonight, I have decided not to follow the general blogging trend and write match previews, reports and express opinion on the on and off field antics of players and management - the mainline press will do enough of that!

Instead I am going to be writing a series of small posts highlighting something interesting from the history of the South Africa Springbok rugby team.

Today I give you a quote from a book entitled "The Bob Scott Story" by R. W. H. Scott and T. P. Mclean published in 1956.

In the days before teams were flown around this country South Africa had an advantage with distance and altitude which we used to good advantage. In 1949 between the First Test in Cape Town and the second at Ellis Park in Johannesburg we packed the New Zealanders off by train to what was then Rhodesia forcing them to spend 8 out of 11 nights on the train. On their way back their train collided, in the middle of the night, into the rear of a Goods Train. This caused some players to be thrown out of the upper bunks, with one player, Charlie Willocks, a forward, so badly damaged his shoulder that it affected him for the rest of the tour.

And today they moan about food poisoning!

It seems this book is out of print. If anyone knows where to find a copy, please leave a note in the comments.

50% To The People

On this, the 50th post for OnlineTrek, it is fitting that we feature an organisation which is making a significant difference in the lives of many in this country and beyond.

The organisation's name is "50% For The People" and offers folks the opportunity to work in South Africa in a volunteer capacity with a number of NGO's and other non-profits. The big difference with this organisation is that 50% of the monies paid are ploughed straight back into the NGO benefitting from the volunteer work.

The company promotes responsible volunteerism -

* minimises negative economic, environmental, and social impacts;

* generates greater economic benefits for local people and enhances the well-being of host communities, improves working conditions and access to the industry;

* involves local people in decisions that affect their lives and life chances;

* makes positive contributions to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage, to the maintenance of the world's diversity;

* provides more enjoyable experiences for tourists through more meaningful connections with local people, and a greater understanding of local cultural, social and environmental issues;

* is culturally sensitive, engenders respect between tourists and hosts, and builds local pride and confidence.

Aimed at people living outside South Africa, this opportunity opens doors for future tourism and investment. Impacting the lives of those whom they serve, the volunteers are exposed to experiences they may not have had otherwise and so they too grow from the experience.

Each trip generates over R75 000 for the NGO with whom the volunteers serve.

I believe totally in what this organisation is doing but I do have two questions :

1) Is any follow-up done with the NGO's which receive monies to ensure the income is put to good use?
2) Which NGO's are chosen and what process was used to determine their worthiness?

Notwithstanding these questions, I think that 50%FTP is a model which could be replicated the world over and I am delighted to think that the people of South Africa are benefitting from this initiative.

The latest OutSurance advertisements showing members of their staff giving their time and expertise to the community has also made an impact (watch some of the ads here). The act of doing something tangible rather than throwing money at a project is of far better value to the recipient and the giver.

My prayer is that more organisations and people would move from the comfort of their living rooms and the safety of their cheque books and get into communities that need assistance - not to give hand-outs, but to empower. The future success of South Africa does not rest in the hands of the powerful but in the hearts and hands of ordinary people.