With the following note:

As promised, here is a pic of me in the t-shirt (excuse the badly taken pic, it was the best I could do alone):

Thanks @RSAWEB!

When we arrived in Cape Town (there was a large group of us from Johannesburg), we were told to choose a car from the fleet, get into groups of four and self-drive to a warehouse in Brackenfell. Everything was waiting for us: keys in car, parking ticket to exit the parkade, and directions to the warehouse. We got there easily with my directions, well not mine, but me directing the driver

After a short welcome, unveiling of the Spark and a quick performance by dancers, the formalities began.

We were told to get into the cars and tune in via FM transmitter to listen to the rest of the presentation.

Then the fun part began – driving the Spark! We got into groups of two and followed directions placed in the car, which took us to Franschoek. We had lunch, swapped drivers and drove back via a slightly different route.

The drive was scenic (well, it is Cape Town), and while I was doing 120km/h, I noticed a 60km/h sign with a camera below it. Oops. There was no point in slowing down; I (or rather General Motors) was going to pick up a fine anyway. Most of the journey was on a single lane road and there were lots of trucks. Overtaking was very tedious, but that’s what you’d expect from a car that size.

The Spark is a step up from the Spark Lite and two specification levels are offered, L and LS. Both are powered by a fuel-efficient 1.2L, 4-cylinder, 16-valve engine. The base L model offers power steering, air conditioning, radio / CD / MP3 player, Auxiliary USB port and driver & passenger airbags. The LS model additionally has electric side mirrors, ABS anti-lock brakes and remote boot release. These are just some of the features.

The Spark L is priced at R115 495 and the Spark LS is R125 495, which I’d say is ideal for students or as a first car. I wouldn’t be going out to buy one as I’d like a car with a bit more power. More information on the Chevrolet website here.

Thank you General Motors, for inviting me to drive the hot new Spark!

It is a mixture of geeky cool, funky, fashion, jewellery and accessories. If you’re a fan of Big Blue, you might like Rhinestone Cowboy. I liked the little odds and ends like Robo Keys [robot head for your keys] and Dunny collectable dolls that are a total mystery, you don’t know which one you’re gonna get until you open the box [tweeted here] which I ended up buying. I got Luke and he is so cool.

If you’re looking for a really cool gift for a kid, who is very imaginative [or not], I’d recommend getting the Pop Zolo. It’s a whole bunch of parts that you can put together to create a unique person/alien/thing-a-ma-bob:

Look at the awesome jewellery collection:

If you want to check it out, details here. I think it’s the ideal store for gifts. I’m definitely going back.

An event like the Twestival attracts the geekier crowd (Twitter has not gone mainstream), and I think it’s safe to assume that a lot of geeks are shy. I’m all for networking online and admit I’m one of those who wont just go up to someone and say, “Hi, I’m Nafisa and you must be….”. Sounds a bit stalkerish. If you’ve built a ‘relationship’ with someone online for a while, then introducing yourself comes naturally.

While chatting to the SingleSyllable last night, we agreed that people on Twitter know what they want and know why they’re there. Twitter is a very powerful tool, if used properly. It’s also natural to network with like-minded individuals. However, I think it makes a difference if you not only follow a person on Twitter, but their personal blog too and after that, the idea of meeting irl is just the next step. Relationships like these tend to have a more solid foundation.

During my time as content & community manager at My Digital Life, I built a lot of relationships online with numerous bloggers and when we had a MOB (meeting of the bloggers), introducing ourselves came naturally; there were no uncomfortable or awkward moments. Conversation flowed.

Social networking has indeed changed the way people communicate. There’s no beating around the bush.

Just the way I like it.

Those surveyed earn above R 8 000 and live in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban. Basically, those earning less than R 8 000 were not leading the digital lifestyle and it didnt make sense for them to be surveyed.

Candidates were questioned on their internet activities, digital products, cellular / mobile activities. Based on the results, they were classified using the ‘Digital Lifestyle Measure’ (DLM). The classification, based on the score, was then divided into 4 groups (DLM1 – DLM4). Digital products like cellphones, flat screen TVs, camera’s, laptops etc were used to score points and more points were awarded for uncommon technologies.

Fewer digital goods mean you fall under DLM1-DLM2 and average would be between DLM2-DLM3, while above average DLM3-DLM4.

These were some of the results:

• The most common form of communication in SA is Mxit
• More than half of IM users are in the 16-24 age bracket and use IM everyday
• Mobile IM has more than doubled in the last 12 months.
• The percentage of registered Facebook users decreased with age, except for the oldest age group (45 and over).

The study also concluded that the higher the consumer DLM, the earlier they registered on Facebook.

The Digital Lifestyle predictor is an ongoing study.

Mxit was just fortunate they came out at the right time. I dont think (if they have competition out there) that anyone can take over easily. I’m not a Mxit fan, I find that its more for tweens / teens or people who are still dating and of course people who are bored in their current relationships.

Originally blogged on My Digital Life.