Knowing Your Online Worth

A stranger comes up to you in a bar and asks for your number. You feel uneasy and answer, “I don’t even know you, I don’t feel comfortable giving you my number”. They persist, “come on, please, I’d love to take you out sometime and get to know you”. You give in, “fine”, and scribble down some incorrect digits. They leave and you return to your group of friends to laugh. You lose yourself in the crowd before the stranger can find you again.

If this is the way that we as a society behave (more often or not) then why are we so nonchalant about sharing our data in the online arena? How is it any different?

The buzzword online at the moment is privacy. Do a quick Google search on the term and you’re inundated with articles, blog posts and people threatening to delete their facebook accounts. However, I’m yet to see any of my Facebook friends delete their accounts or complain that their content is no longer theirs. So is privacy as big a deal as it’s being made out to be?

Some people answer no. They feel that nothing has really happened to their data or content yet so they’ll worry when they’re affected, something I call the smoker’s attitude. People who smoke aren’t scared by warnings on their cigarette boxes. They’ll worry when they’re diagnosed with lung cancer.

So these social media smokers probably still feel in control of their content – they choose what to share and where to share it. They upload photographs to their Facebook account because they want to share them with family or friends, or they hope that someone in the public domain will notice their photographic skill. They share resumes and contact details on LinkedIn hoping that someone will see them and offer them their dream job. They are putting more and more of themselves online, without considering who will have access to their data and more importantly, who now OWNS that data and content.

There is this idea that we have a degree of privacy in that we are able to selectively choose the contexts in which we share specific information about ourselves, and thus the way we share data and content is deliberate. Basically, we think we’re protecting our data and content by setting our privacy controls. Yet what we’re forgetting is that we’re on a SOCIAL NETWORK, meaning it’s not just yourself you have to worry about.

“Personal privacy is no longer an individual thing,” said Harold Abelson, the computer science professor at M.I.T. “In today’s online world, what your mother told you is true, only more so: people really can judge you by your friends.” New York Times.

Everything online today is about connecting. And each connection we make is like dropping another breadcrumb. In essence "the most important thing we can do to improve security is to ensure that others get that wake-up call." But yet again, say we get to the point where we, and all our friends and connections, have set our privacy settings to maximum. Are we safe then? I don't think so.

What about the cradle in which we lie? Why is the data that we share online not private by default? Basically we’ve been tricked into opting-in to a database of information worth billions and billions of dollars. We’re a real-time target market waiting to be used in ways we never agreed to, and we’ve dished out everything about ourselves and by ourselves for free.

So what if we could get back the power? What would the ideal Social Networking space look like?  

 

• It would be private by default (with customisable settings of course).
• It would also allow us to retain ownership of all of our content and data that we share.
• It would allow us to customise our socialgraph (our network) to one that categorises our interests and connections
• And it gets better. It would allow us to monetize our content and knowledge. Your everyday input and participant is turned into a valued commodity. You’re worth something in the online world.

I'm talking about MyCube, an exciting new start-up aiming to fulfil all of these and become the perfect social network:. It’s still in Beta stage but I have a feeling its popularity is going to skyrocket.

What it comes down to is about knowing your online worth and MyCube seems to be the perfect platform to support this. Request an invite to join here: http://www.mycube.com/

1 (too many) Time.

I’m not sure what to make of this 1time eNewsletter that arrived in my inbox (I never seem to remember subscribing to half of the newsletters I receive, but anyway that’s off the topic). It sold itself on the slogan “life’s short, go on holiday”. Huh? I guess they’re trying to be humorous? Maybe a stab at trying to occupy some of Kulula’s cheeky differentiation strategy? But I have a number of comments about this:

Firstly, 1time, get your own brand. Secondly, is playing on people’s fear of death really going to sell seats on your airline? With a subject like “Holiday deal to die for” and a mention of a death certificate, it’s kind of ironic that a 1time plane had to make an emergency landing just the other day. Bad timing? Fact of the matter is that life might just be cut short if you do fly those horridly out-of-date planes you own, 1time.

It’s concerning. Let’s just think of it this way. What is the one thing that a consumer is most concerned about when travelling via airplane? Any guesses? Well, in my opinion it’s safety. When one of your planes’ engines blows up (1 November 2010, read that story here), and your cabin crew freak out more than the passengers, and you follow that incident with a marketing campaign about “Holiday deals to die for”, it kind of surpasses any humour and just becomes kind of sick. Let's not forget the "precautionary" landing in Bredasdorp (12 April 2010) and the landing gear emergency landing in Durban (23 June 2010). I think you're forgetting the lesson learnt from the crisis of Nationwide airlines. Their profits plundered rendering them bankrupt and forcing them to close. Why? Because their customers began to see their planes as unsafe. Watch this space 1time - you're fast on your way to becoming the next consumer behaviour case study.

Good luck 1time. After 1 too many times rattling my way back to Cape Town on the tin cans you call your fleet, I sure as hell will never be flying with you again.

P.S. Cherry on top was the R60 compensation voucher given to the passengers in the last incident. I don't even have the words to comment further.

Letters from Christopher.

Life has been particularly weird lately, and today was no exception when I received a hand-written letter from a Mr. Christopher Velile Paliso, a prison inmate. I assume Christopher got my name from one of my company's media publications because he addressed the letter to the Johannesburg office (we recently sent out a supplement with the Sunday Times, which carried my name and the address of the Johannesburg office). Christopher was writing to me in the hope that I could assist him in anyway to start acquiring the skills he needed to enter the workplace when he left prison. He aspires to become an architect. But it wasn't his request so much that shocked me, it was his story and his honesty.

The amazing thing is that Christopher has been in jail since 1991. He's never lived in freedom, never seen South Africa's democracy. The image he has of South Africa is still one of an apartheid regime - as he says in his letter, "I've never tasted the fruit of freedom or democracy". He was 18 when he was convicted to serve 32 years in prison for possession of fire arms, assault, theft, and robbery. Can you even begin to imagine what South Africa and the world is going to look like to him when he does get released?

The weirdest part of it all is that Christopher's conviction date is the same date as my birthday, and I received this letter today, exactly 1 week before my 25th birthday and 1 week before his 20th anniversary of being imprisoned. I know most people would say that it's just coincidence but for some reason it seems the universe wanted me to hear this man's story. So I'm going to help him by sending him some publications from our company, as well as some old architecture books to aid him in his learning (from a general company signature that is). It's weird having the choice to better someone's life in your hands.  

Receiving & reading this letter gave me a new found meaning to the term "mixed emotions"... I felt freaked out, shocked, sad, sympathetic, empathetic, confused, worried, scared. I also felt morally confused as to whether I should in anyway respond to a convicted criminal or not, a criminal who expresses his guilt in a letter to me, but also his desperation to make amends and to better himself. Funny enough, I learnt a thing or two about myself from Christopher's letter, and from that respect, I'm glad I received it.

I'm going to end this post with an excerpt from his letter [in his own words]. You can read the full letter below:

"I have a dream but I have no wings to fly. To me to be in Prison is to facing the consequences and the challenges experience of life, life has good a good and bad surprises so that we have to accept them as we all sometimes learn from our mistakes there's no one is 100% sure about life guarantee. What will happen tomorrow, I am not focusing on the past, I am focusing on the future plans, because the past confused the way to go forward. There's no one can change me unless I change my ways of thinking and actions when I falling down, I wish to wake up again and make my dreams come true"

Letter

Voting for Cape Town's Next Demolition Now Open!

Last week I posted about the upcoming demolition of the Athlone Cooling Towers. Now the event has passed and although most Capetonians didn't even get the chance to see it happen (perhaps the demolition team should have called 1026 to check the time before they hit that button), I've decided that there are a couple more demolition projects that Capetonians could enjoy to make up for missing this one.

1. Good Hope Centre

Seriously. Has this place been used for anything useful since KTV Market Day when I was like, 8? It's horrid, it's falling apart (note tiles on roof) and it really looks like something teleported out of the 80s...oh correction, it was built in 1976. Yuck. Apparently, the city of Cape Town has budgeted approximately R3.5 million for the general upgrade of the venue...and that was over a year ago. I see no change. Take it away.

2. Disa Park (a.k.a the Tampon Towers)

I didn't even know the name of these towers until I googled it now. For all 25 years of my life I have referred to them as the toilet roll towers or the tampon towers. They are HIDEOUS flats on the slopes of our beautiful beautiful Table Mountain! They stand out like an eyesore to anyone gazing up at the scenic view of from Table Bay. I would feel great satisfaction seeing these three towers go BOOM.

Disa Park

In an article on the same topic (Cape Town's Ugly Buildings), Real Estate Web ran a poll amongst readers to ask if they thought the Good Hope Centre and the Ritz Hotel should be demolished (I disagree with the later because the revolving restaurant is way too charming and makes up for it's terrible exterior). The results? 54% said yes and 46% said No...but maybe after the excitement of this past weekends demolition, the poll will swing.

But anyway, those are my votes...further suggestions for Cape Town's next demolition project are welcome!

Oh and for those of you who are actually interested in checking out some footage of the Athlone Cooling towers coming down, here's a video we shot.

Top Notch

My good friend Nicole (you can read her blog here) reminded me that I have just completed one of the things on my Pre-Dooms Day List (read that post here), namely, visiting Top of the Ritz! And now I have to tell you all about it.

Firstly I need to say that I didn't even know that this place existed until this year (SHOCK! HORROR!) and I've been living in Cape Town for almost a quarter of a century. For those of you who share this disgusting oblivion, let me fill you in. The Top of the Ritz is the Western Cape's only revolving restaurant situated on the 22nd floor of the Ritz Hotel in Camberwell Road, Sea Point. While you eat some Swiss Cuisine, the restaurant rotates (very slowly) giving you a 360 degree view of Cape Town. Each rotation takes an hour and 15 minutes, which is just about as long as it took for them to serve us our mains. The funny thing is that usually I would complain about waiting that long for my food, but I didn't even notice the time had gone by...we were having too much fun with the whole rotating restaurant thing!

When you sit down you do feel a bit funny, but after a while (perhaps it was the wine) you don't even notice the movement. Be careful of where you put your handbag though - I promptly put it down next to me (I was sitting window-side) only to look down a few minutes later and see that it was gone...the outer ring does not rotate (only the floor does) so my handbag was sitting comfortably where we had started our dinners. I'm sure a lot of people have experienced "stolen" bags at Top of the Ritz.

Before you go you should definitely brush up on your cuisine knowledge. My Blackberry came in handy for googling words like Cafe de Paris sauce, Chateau Briand and Spatzle. The menu is quite extensive (and I have to add that they have 4 options for vegetarians...panzerotti, risotto, gnocchi, and cous cous). Meals aren't badly priced, I would say between R 70 - R 100 for a main. I wasn't remarkably blown away by the standard of the food but the experience made up for it. But let's be honest...most people would say "when is vegetarian food ever excellent at a restaurant that doesn't specialise in it?". I meant to ask everyone else about their food but again, we were all getting too involved... or should I say REvolved (sorry, I had to!).

Describing the atmosphere I would say it's quite a romantic place...they have a pianist playing all throughout dinner, and you get to see the pretty lights of the city...you get the drift. A dinner for two there could be very elegant and romantic. On top of that I'd say it has quite a European feel to it - especially the bar; it reminded me of this awesome bar I went to in Stockholm called Sky Bar. What amazed me was how packed the restaurant was! It seats 120 people and it was almost at capacity on a Tuesday night??!! I suppose that's always a good sign.

Even if you don't venture up to the restaurant, the bar below (on the 21st floor) is pretty awesome and offers some great views as well. I had a cosmopolitan cocktail that was super...and it only cost R35 which I think is damn inexpensive for a fancy bar miles up in the sky. The decor is a bit old-school and could definitely do with a refurbishment to modernise the place, but I guess keeping it that way adds character. I would definitely recommend visiting the bar and the restaurant - it really is one of Cape Town's gems.

Thumbs up:

• Awesome cocktails at the bar (get there early for pre-drinks!)
• Friendly service
• Amazing views
• Absolutely fun and unique experience
• Extensive menu that caters for everyone

Thumbs down:

• Dodgy lift ride (I don't think the lift has been replaced since like the 60s...it feels that way! But I just have a thing about lifts)
• Decor (the place has such potential to be a very upmarket Cape Town bar and restaurant, but again to be fair, I'm not exactly their target market I don't think)
• The long wait for food to be served might annoy some - but as I said, the experience made up for that. It was really busy on the night we went.

Top of the Ritz restaurant

The bar at Top of the Ritz (on the 21st floor) - this part doesn't rotate.

Homage to the Twin Towers

This weekend marks a very sad occasion (well I'm feeling the nostalgia, I don't know about you)...the destruction of the Athlone Cooling Towers. Love them or hate them, these towers have been a prominent landmark since 1960, especially for Capetonians hurtling down the N2. And although they aren't really that pleasing on the eye (some would go as far as calling them an eyesore), for me personally, they've been a feature of my Cape Town landscape my entire life. As a young child traveling back from our holiday home in Arniston, I always felt relieved the moment we reached the towers; it meant we were nearly home. I'm going to be sad to see them go.

Tours au revoir.

P.S. CIVAIR is running an awesome competition to win a helicopter flip during the demolition. All you have to do is sms the word CIVAIR to 34445 before noon today (Friday 20 August).

Tea at Three

My mom is crazy. It's official. Each morning I stumble out of bed towards the kitchen, half asleep, to make some tea. Before I know it she's at me like a bat out of hell with some strange dream or story or even "what do you want for dinner?" before I've even thought of breakfast. I don't know anyone who can literally wake up in the morning and jump out of bed and be as active and talkative as she is.

Anyway, this morning confirmed my suspicions that she is in fact, crazy. She comes into the kitchen laughing hysterically. I look at her in horror through my messy just-woke-up hair and puffy red eyes.

Me: "And now?"

Crazy Mother: "What a horrible night! I hardly slept!"

Me: "Why?"

Crazy Mother: "I duno, your dad and I just couldn't sleep. So at 3am I decided to come downstairs and make us some tea. But you know, really, that's when the best ideas are generated!"

Me: "What idea mom?"

Crazy Mother: "Well your dad and I have decided to open a coffee shop for insomniacs"

Me: "oh.my.word..."

With a massive sigh I continue focusing my efforts on my tea while she proceeds to tell me her new business idea.

Crazy Mother: "It's going to be called Tea at Three, our opening hours are from 1am - 4am. Dress code is pyjamas and when we give our insomniac customers the bill, we won't give them mints, we'll give them sleeping pills!"

She bursts into another round of hysterical laughter. I shake my head and swiftly make my exit and leave her to stir up another one of her mad morning plots.

Got to love mornings with my mom. I should get her to start her own blog.