January 6, 2010 – 2:13 pm
Who sticks to their new year’s resolutions anyway? I know I don’t. But after reviewing the goals I set out to achieve in 2009 - Surprisingly, I didn’t do to badly. Here are the goals, those ’striked’ out were obviously completed -
- Build a better Blueworld and Zoopedup with strong mobile plays
- Get back into Golf
- Video blog my thoughts on Tech
- Expand the Blog network and monetize better
- Spend less time online and more time outside
- Build an Adobe Air application
- Try new restaurants every other week with Jade
- Get to gym a few times a week
- Invest and save my money (I spend like crazy)
- Write more articles online and get them published
- Spend more time with my folks
- Buy a Macbook Pro and join the ‘other’ side
- Setup a daily work schedule and stick to it
- Attend more internet related events and conferences
- Travel overseas
December 9, 2009 – 3:31 pm
20Fourlabs and BWCOM decided to enter the Nokia ‘Calling all Innovators’ Africa application competition a few weeks ago - more on that here. We received great news two days ago that we won 1st prize and $85 000 in cash! Mega congrats to everyone in Labs and BWCOM!!
Here is my business partner Bradley accepting the cheque with Werner (developer/designer from Blueworld who conceptualized the original idea) and Ronald (mobile expert from 20FourLabs). Pic by Gaby
The cheque landed on my desk yesterday
About Afridoctor
“Afridoctor is Africa’s first personal mobile health clinic, turning your device into a powerful first aid information kit, a doctor-location service, and an emergency distress notifier. Its revolutionary “SnapDiagnosis” system allows users to submit photos of their ailments and remotely receive advice from a panel of professionals. Afridoctor’s mapping feature enables users to find doctors, clinics and all health industry related services within their proximity. The emergency feature notifies next of kin of their distress and location. Features include symptom checkers, first-aid information, health calculators and quizzes. Afridoctor helps make healthcare affordable and accessible to the people of Africa.”
You can download it from the Nokia OVI app store here and follow Afridoctor on Twitter.
Runner ups in the competition -
The runners-up are: Roach Game - South Africa by Breakdesign (in second place), Sasol e.Birds by Coolideas (3), MrSNAKE by Simon Botes (4) and Thumbtribe widget by Thumbtribe (5), LiveMobile by LiveMobile (6), Countdown 2010 by Christian Reeve (7), Surfing Safari by Aqua Online (8), Turn Left at the Barrel by Turn Left at the Giraffe (9) and Mall-Buddy by Paul Hinrichsen (10).
October 27, 2009 – 12:49 pm
Blueworld Communities (Cape Town) is hiring! We are looking for a developer that will work closely with product managers to create web applications for both pc and mobile. We have a relaxed start up environment with freedom for any developer to grow his/her skill set and work in a high profile division that rewards hard work and innovative ideas. Knowledge of latest web technologies is required, as is a genuine interest and passion for the web.
The ideal candidate should be experienced in:
* Solid Object Oriented programming skills with C#
* Develop Web Applications as well as write and consume Web Services
* Solid conceptual understanding and experience in XML, HTML, DHTML, CSS, JavaScript (incl JQuery)
* SQL Server 2005 database administration and stored procedures - Linq2Sql/PLINQO is a must
* Experience with MVC will be advantageous.
* Must be a team player and work well under pressure
* Good written and verbal communication skills
Please forward your CV to charl@bwcom.co.za with examples of your work and references
Remuneration: Depending on experience but we pay well
October 21, 2009 – 10:32 am
Using 3G on my Macbook Pro is an eternal struggle - the software provided by Vodacom for their 3G E220 HSDPA modem is faulty. Vodacom support executives even confessed to me that ‘the software is buggy’. The 3G line always drops or even lately - the software stops working all together! I reached out to my Twitter followers to try find a solution and was pleasantly surprised when I found the latest version of Vodafone’s Huawei 3G modem software. Kudos to Shuan!
It works brilliantly, has a much better interface and is available for download right here!
Mentions in the media over the past two months
Brainstorm magazine - I’m featured with my BWCOM business partner Bradley Voges as well as Adii Rockstar and mobile prodigy Tyler Reed.
Leadership magazine with Rob Sussman CEO of Integr8-IT and Adii Rockstar of WooThemes fame
Charl Norman is a web entrepreneur behind local social networks 
Photos from my trip to Silicon Valley for the MIH Tech conference.
I appeared on channel MK TV's new hip hop and car show WOELAG. They interviewed me on our automotive social network Zoopedup.
I have been nominated for ICT Young Entrepreneur of Africa 2008. Now to even be nominated is a great honour for me seeing as last years winner of the award is internationally renowned Vinny Lingham.
