International View On Zimbabwe - (video)

Our northern neighbour's politics are the source of either laughter or tears in the world outside Africa. Unfortunately it seems that African leaders are blinded by the history of the Zimbabwean liberation struggle and refuse to acknowledge that Robert Mugabe has become a corrupt despot. It was interesting to hear CNN reporter Richard Roth repeatedly refer to President Thabo Mbeki as the Zimbabwean president in a report yesterday evening - perhaps an indication of what the world perceives in Mbeki's attitude to Zimbabwe?

This video from the French news channel France24 gives an inside look at Zimbabwe - it makes for interesting viewing.

Click here to watch the video.

SA Blog Given International Recognition

SA Blog Of The Year, the Mail & Guardian's Online Thought Leader, has been named as an "official honoree" by the Webby Awards. This places it in the company of big players such as blogs by CNN, CBS News, the New Yorker and Time magazine.

This puts Thought Leader among the top 11 political blogs in the world and the only blog in its category from outside the United States.

Well done to the guys at M & G for this outstanding achievement. It is good to see our local bloggers receiving recognition outside our borders as well.

For more information on the 2008 SA Blog Awards see this review by Eishman at Eish!

Getting In On the Act

Okay so I've been caught out! By Blogger no less!

Have you been RickRoll'd?

For more information on this internet phenomenon check out the following sites :

1) Wikipedia entry

2) Urban Dictionary

If you want to protect yourself from being RickRoll'd, go along to the RickRoll Database where you can also enter the URL of a site that sent you to Mr Astley's 80's hit song!

SMS From Your Desktop - 10 Free Credits

Wouldn't you like to save money on SMS messaging? For some time now I have been using WinSMS as our preferred Bulk SMS service and have found it very effective. What is great is being able to use this from your personal desktop and saving money on your personal text messaging.

The WinSMS website lists the following information to help you to understand the program better:

WinSMS is the solution you need to enable you to immediately start sending SMS messages from your PC, e-mail, website or custom database.

Besides being the hottest marketing and communication tool available today, WinSMS will

• Save you up to 80% of your telecommunication costs:

  If you use SMS to communicate with your staff and customers instead of calling them on their cell phones, you can save thousands of Rand's every month!

• Provide you and your customers a two-way communication channel:

  Replies to your SMS messages are automatically routed to your e-mail address, allowing you to respond timeously to customer requests or confirmations.

• Save you money on unnecessary phone calls:

  Why make a two minute phone call if you can say it in a SMS for a few cents? Sending SMS from your PC using WinSMS is cheaper and quicker.

• Dramatically increase your customer service ratings:

  A simple "thank you" SMS can do wonders for your reputation of providing good efficient service - your clients will feel appreciated and will be more likely to buy from you again in the future.

SMS Messaging, from the comfort of your PC, using your existing Internet connection, is a powerful and economical tool that will give you the edge over your competition, while saving you valuable time and money!

Using SMS to market your products and services has an immediate impact, is highly personalised and has been proven to generate a solid increase in sales!

Here are some examples of what SMS Messaging & Bulk SMS can be used for:

• Inform customers of product launches, specials and product-related news
• Notify debtors about account balances exceeded or overdue
• Provide information services to customers or subscribers
• Send time-critical information to a mobile workforce
• Send price changes and stock information to clients or sales staff
• Inform staff of meetings or schedule appointment reminders
• Run campaigns and competitions

And it's easier than you think! If you can browse the internet, send and receive e-mail, and have basic computer knowledge, that's all the skill you need to be able to start sending SMS directly from your desktop.

So go ahead and visit the website - you will receive 10 free credits to try out the system. What have you got to lose?