This was announced a few days ago. And I would like to give some perspective before you read the official statement from MXit below.

MXit has been around for a number of years. And the media has enjoyed blaming MXit for everything from distribution of pornography to examination results dropping since its introduction. As a user of MXit on a daily basis, I found this tool to be one of the most revolutionary technologies ever created. The reason for this statement is that MXit truly provides a means of communicating without further enriching the mobile operators in South Africa.

So why did it take MXit so long to make this announcement? It does not matter any more. The importance of this announcement cannot be underestimated. When you are the leading technology in the mobile space with anywhere from 17 – 19 million users in this country, whatever stance you take will be taken seriously by other players in the same space. So what this statement below means is that other companies in the mobile Internet business will also have to make very serious commitments to fighting pornography and cyber criminals. More over, this statement, when it eventually filters down to parents and schools will encourage the prosecution of those who abuse the Mxit platform.

Remember you can book Ramon Thomas for a talk on the Psychology of Technology by calling 082 940 7137.

MXit declares war on porn and cyber criminals

25 March 2010 – MXit today announced a zero-tolerance policy against offenders who abuse its online community. Anyone posting explicit or offensive material in public areas within MXit will from now on be banned from its systems without warning.

“For too long, a group of less than 0.1% of our user base has tarnished our reputation with their continual abuse of our community through unsavoury, and sometimes criminal, behaviour,” says Herman Heunis, CEO and founder of MXit.

“Until very recently, we had great difficulty in identifying and tracking these degenerates, but with new developments, we are now in a situation where they leave a definite electronic footprint.

“Our users’ right to privacy is, and will always be, of paramount importance. We have no intention of imposing censorship on communication between users as their privacy is a constitutional right, just like private communication via letters, SMS, MMS, e-mails and other mediums. However, when someone publishes offensive content or uses our platform to prey on innocent people, we shall remove them from our system.

“Furthermore, any suspicious behaviour indicating possible criminal intention will be handed over to the Cybercrime Unit of the SAPS as currently required by law.

“Our foremost responsibility is to protect our 19+ million registered user base that makes up our community, and as such, we will do everything in our power to identify these offenders and help the authorities bring them to book,” says Heunis.

“Lastly, I want to strongly urge users never to exchange personal information with strangers, and certainly not to meet them in person. Inviting strangers to be your friend on MXit, or any other social network for that matter, is exactly the same as opening your front door without knowing who is on the other side. It just isn’t smart,” concludes Heunis.

Download my Parents Guide to MXit here…

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First National Bank (FNB) and PayPal today announced that customers in South Africa can now sell to PayPal’s global customer base of more than 81 million active accounts in 190 markets around the world and move the proceeds to their FNB accounts. This new service allows customers to top up and withdraw funds to their qualifying FNB accounts from their PayPal accounts.

“We are especially pleased to make this announcement on the eve of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, as South Africans will be able to join the global eCommerce marketplace. Our agreement with PayPal also enables international businesses and individuals to transact with South African service providers via a secure and convenient payment gateway”, says Michael Jordaan, FNB’s Chief Executive Officer.

“The exclusive top up and withdraw service with PayPal allows South Africans to make payments and receive money internationally without sharing their financial or personal information,” adds Jordaan.

FNB Customers can simply open a PayPal account and link it to a qualified FNB account and receive PayPal payments in 21 different currencies. FNB will convert the currency to South African Rand, when the money is transferred into their accounts.

This solution enables customers to top up their PayPal accounts anytime they want to send money or shop online with PayPal’s global base of merchants.

“FNB and PayPal have a similar focus on innovation, so it makes sense that we would work with FNB to make online payments even easier for merchants and consumers in South Africa,” said Oded Zehavi, head of PayPal’s business in Israel and South Africa.

“With South Africa’s solid financial infrastructure and its status as the continent’s largest economy, we’re optimistic about the future of eCommerce in this market and look forward to working with FNB on the opportunities ahead,” says Zehayi.

“The launch of PayPal sees FNB take another step forward as South Africa’s most innovative financial institution. It responds directly to our ‘how can we help you?’ brand promise,” concludes Jordaan.

The PayPal service will be offered in partnership with FNB and has received approval from the Exchange Control Department of the South African Reserve Bank.

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My role as a technology evangelist is to bring the good news about technology to you. Well there is good news and there is bad news. And as with most people I’m sure you prefer the bad news first. A question I want you to ask yourself before I share that news with you is this: is technology really neutral or is it biased based on the inherent function that is is designed for?

Anyway here’s the bad news: there is a myth promulgated that in today’s society that social media is social interaction. How can you compare a conversation at a braai to a conversation on Twitter? How can you compare a conversation over the dinner table with a conversation on a Facebook discussion group? How can you compare an intimate conversation late at night with your lover to the same conversation using MXit?

It is my opinion that we’ve reached a stage in our evolution as the human species, in the 21st century, that we’ve become chronically dependant on technology. Children born after 1985 or 1990 cannot imagine a world without cellphones, 24 hour television or the Internet. What do I mean when I say chronic dependency? I simply mean that we do not even realise to what extent we rely on these technologies until they are taken away from us.

Think back to the last time your cellphone battery died. How did you feel? Think back to the last time your Internet connection was down for a few hours. How  did you feel? Think about the last time the electricity in your neighbourhood was down. How did you feel? Some of you may have felt anger, some may have felt disgust, or resentment. However, I would vouchsafe that the real feeling beneath the exterior aggression was one of helplessness.

Now when I posted this comment on my Twitter/Facebook status the first person stated that it is not wrong or right. Well I go on the record now by saying it wrong to believe that social media interaction is the same as social interaction without social media. They are not the same and they are certainly not equivalent. I came to this conclusion after speaking to at tens of thousands of people across South Africa for the last few years on the psychology of technology.

When you correlate the use of our 5 senses in communication with that of “communicating through the screen” you realise to what extent we’ve come to accept this substandard way of communicating as genuine. When you are texting or using MXit, you cannot see the other person, hear the other person, touch the other person, smell the other person, let alone taste the other person. So you are not using any of your 5 senses in the interaction. When you do not use your 5 senses you are making decisions based on an exceptionally limited amount of information.

Yes its my opinion after observing thousands of South Africans interact using MXit, Facebook, Internet Dating and other technologies and convincing themselves its the equivalent of social interaction or let me rather say, face to face interaction.

The facts remain that we are like zealots when justifying our chronic dependency on technology. Agree or disagree?

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Johannesburg:- Smartphones have made a dramatic entry into corporate South Africa, far surpassing general consumer use or small business use.

This is a surprise finding from a new research study released today by World Wide Worx. The Mobile Corporation in SA 2010 report reveals that three quarters of South African companies have deployed smartphones within their organisations, compared to almost none two years ago.

The study, backed by First National Bank (FNB), leaders in cellphone banking in Africa, and Research In Motion (RIM), the developer of the BlackBerry solution, shows that saturation point has almost been reached by large South African companies in the use of fixed landlines (96%) and ordinary cellphones (92%). And, as forecast in 2007, 3G data card penetration has also reached near saturation, with 94% of large companies deploying it. Now the focus has turned to integration of smartphones with business processes.

“These results show that enterprise mobility solutions are no longer just nice to have. They’re essential for businesses that want to be competitive, responsive and efficient in a world where a customer won’t wait for a salesperson who is visiting customers and where project flow can’t stop because a manager is at a full-day meeting,” says Deon Liebenberg, Regional Director for Sub Sahara Africa at RIM. “Not only does mobility allow companies to improve internal efficiencies and communications, it also enables them to interact more effectively with their increasingly mobile customers.”

The study also showed that corporate South Africa expects to embrace the new world of online services to an extent that was not even anticipated as recently as one year ago.

“Until last year, concepts like Software as a Service (SaaS) and Cloud Computing were regarded as little more than buzzwords,” says Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Due to unforeseen circumstances I’ve been forced to move the date of the next Internet Cafe workshop schedules for this Saturday. The primary reason for this is that I’ve been on a short break in Uitenhage and on Sunday missed my flight back to Johannesburg. My car has been parked at OR Tambo airport for 3 weeks and I have to drive directly to Rustenburg from Tuesday till Thursday to deliver 7 talks to parents, teachers and children at Selly Park Convent Primary School, Selly Park High School, Fields College Primary School. Fields College High School and Lebone II.

So the new date is Thursday, 18 March 9am-5pm. And the venue remains Sandton Library on Nelson Mandela Square. Any queries? Please post your questions below as comments. More updates will be posted on this announcement.

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