“Jonathan Seagull discovered that boredom and fear and anger are the reasons that a gull’s life is so short, and with those gone from his thought, he lived a long fine life indeed.” Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been enamoured by all things related to flight. It started with birds. As a boy, I persuaded my father to help me build big walk-in...
After letting go of my childhood dreams of building my own Terminator (or Chappie or JARVIS) I settled for something that writes (pretty bad) Afrikaans poetry, among other things. Here’s how I did it. First, What is AI? Read ten books about it and you’ll probably end up with ten different definitions. Broadly, however, it is about software’s ability to make sense of data and take the action that...
(This article appeared in issue 38 of Trail Mag) “If you’re going through hell, keep going” Winston Churchill. “Wait, why exactly are you doing this again?”, came the Nagging Voice, who sometimes joins me on my more adventurous runs. I’d been running for more than seven hours under a merciless sun pelting down on me, amid a harsh landscape of gleaming rocks, dirt, and cactuses. I was...
Preface I’ve been hesitant to write about this fun episode, mostly because of my immense respect for Taiwan and the original Spring Scream festival organisers. I do not want to sour any relationships or future opportunities. That said, it was an immensely successful (and funny) marketing exercise and I’ve been asked about it by many friends, so here goes. Taiwan. Touch your...
I don’t own a lot. A grand total of 116 items, to be precise. That number includes things like my iPhone’s permanent bumper case and spare charging cable, but not necessarily each individual headache tablet in my toiletries bag (the bag is also counted, however). I rotate between two t-shirts most of the time and do a quick small load of laundry in the bathroom sink after each jog, five...
My views on online privacy have evolved a lot in recent years. This is partly because I better understand why privacy is valuable, why it’s important to pay for online media and services, and because of all the recent cases of abuse of our online data by the big online platforms. My reasons to value my privacy might be different from yours, but I’d encourage you to do some reading (and thinking)...
We don’t like to talk about how much money we earn (this is the case in the West, at least; when I was living in Taiwan, I believe my neighbours on both sides knew my age, weight and salary). We hide our salary from our friends, peers, colleagues and in some cases even partners. Now, there are reasons aplenty to keep things private and there is always a requirement for some degree of...
Preface: I “drank the cool-aid” early on when it comes to Bitcoin. I bought my first few bits in 2013, made some money and then lost it all again. I’m a firm believer in the technology and I get to work with some of the brightest minds on some of the most intellectually stimulating work, something I believe is the future of finance. I just don’t think it’s the future of remittances in...
This is a combination of my thoughts on quitting and the letter I sent to my colleagues announcing my resignation. I don’t want this site to really be about my personal life, but so much of what has become my personal life is intertwined with what is my professional life. It is with a heavy heart –and an industry-appropriate sad emoticon– that I’m announcing my...
Formerly Business Development and Marketing at Luno (where we went from eight nerds in a tiny office to hundreds of people spread over three continents) and before that Marketing at PayFast. Currently investing, paragliding, and doing research, mostly in Mexico.