Posts Tagged ‘south africa’

High-tech melktert

// November 16th, 2011 // No Comments » // Food, Tech

Earlier this year, around September 2011, I attended the Compubrand Brand Summit in partnership with Microsoft.

One of the presentations by Microsoft’s Alexandre Michelin (Executive producer MSN EMEA) really grabbed my attention. He stated that, “Brands needs to reinvent themselves in this new digital world and find new ways to re-engage consumers in order to enhance brand loyalty, otherwise, consumers will desert them.” Which is particularly true and very challenging.

That aside, he played a video clip of Microsoft’s productivity future vision. A high-tech representation of how technology could transform the way we get things done at school, at work, and in the home over the next 5 to 10 years. That video was released back in 2009.

Productivity Future Vision (2009)

Fast forward to 2011 and Microsoft has just released the latest edition of this futuristic view, with a surprising addition. South Africa features with views of OR Tambo International airport, Johannesburg and melktert. Yes, you read correctly, melktert.

Melktert, for the uninitiated, is loosely translated as milk tart in Afrikaans, and is a traditional South African dessert. It is a sweet pastry crust containing a creamy filling made from milk, flour, sugar and eggs. The ratio of milk to egg is higher than in a traditional European custard tart or Chinese egg tart, resulting in a lighter texture and a stronger milk flavour.

Skip forward to time code 05:31 and behold high-tech melktert. Not exactly melktert made by small nanoprobes, but rather an interactive recipe with video and some cool infographics depicting the ingredients and method of cooking.

This is certainly not new. iPad apps such as Epicurious and Jamie’s recipes already offer some of these features. However, if we have this kind of technology at our disposal now, I get extremely excited about what the future may hold.

High-tech melktert Productivity future vision 2011

Supermoon – Cloudy

// March 20th, 2011 // No Comments » // General

It’s cloudy in Johannesburg, so not much to see with the Supermoon. There was a slight break in the clouds – this is what I could snap in those few seconds.

A quick reflection on 2010

// January 1st, 2011 // No Comments » // General

legacy

Here’s a different take on my reflections of the past year.

Decision of the year:
Deciding to lead a Lifegroup at GodFirst Church Fourways. For some reason it was a nerve wrecking decision at first, but in the end it was such an extremely blessed experience. We laughed, we cried, we ate, we wrestled, we made great friends, but most importantly, we got to know more of God through doing life together.

Event of the year:
Finding out that we’re going to have a baby.

Person of the year:
Although Time magazine has named Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg Person of the Year, my vote for person of the year goes to my wife. For putting up with my 15-hour work days, for creating a wonderful home for us and for always supporting me in the changes we made this year in how we live our lives.

Sports moment of the year:
South Africa successfully hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup was undoubtedly the biggest event of the year.

Mother Nature’s moment of the year:
Mother nature certainly flexed a bit this past year, causing some devastating earthquakes around the world, most notably the ones in Haiti, Chile and New Zealand.

F-up of the year:
Neglecting my body half-way through the year, putting my back out and busting a knee – probably comes from 15-hour work days, overall bad diet and lifting of heavy boxes while getting rid of clutter….which is a story for another day.

Thanks to Miriam for the idea of this post.

Soccer City stadium photos

// May 22nd, 2010 // 3 Comments » // Photos


We recently had an opportunity to go on a tour of the Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa. This stadium will be hosting the opening and closing matches of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Football tournament in June-July 2010. It’s an amazing venue.
Click on the image above or here to view the rest of the pictures in the gallery.

Eugene Terre’Blanche murdered

// April 4th, 2010 // No Comments » // News

eugene-terre-blanche1


According to many reports – the leader of Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) Eugene Terre’Blanche was murdered at his farm 10km outside of Ventersdorp on Saturday. (more…)

Afrigator