Cliff Notes

"We, the people"

Written by Gareth Cliff Monday, 20 February 2012 14:27

Ster Kinekor Premier of Chronicle

Written by Gareth Cliff Friday, 10 February 2012 03:50

State of the Nation

Written by Gareth Cliff Monday, 06 February 2012 12:31

This week we attempt to take in the President's plan for the nation in 2012. That's right, it's State of the Nation time again.

Last year, you may remember taking part in the largest Twitter event in South Africa, when we all played the State of the Nation drinking game. It was fun. Every time the Prez touched his glasses with his middle finger, coughed, said "Absolutely" or laughed we had to have a drink. All across the country, people who would never watch the SOTN found themselves paying attention, and in some cases getting their Phuza Thursday off to an early start. It is estimated some 400 000 online participants logged in to join the game. The President himself gave us a tacit acknowledgement at the start of the speech, mentioning twitter, touching his glasses with his middle finger, coughing, saying "Absolutely" and laughing. It also got plenty of laughs in the house.

This year, because we have matured a bit, we're going to treat the speech much more seriously. We're going to play the State of the Nation Undress. Every time the President:

1. Laughs 2. Says 'Absolutely' 3. Says 'Poverty' 4. Touches his glasses with his middle finger or 5. Seems to have been distracted by an attractive woman in parliament

you lose an item of clothing. Now you may be clever and start the game with much more clothing on than normal, just in case you end up naked within the first few minutes. We advise that you play in the company of a few friends, but not at work. Seeing colleagues naked might change dynamics in the workplace for the worse.

So it's #SOTNundress on Twitter. Make sure you're part of the fun and get ready to get naked. We'll make politics sexy, even if we have to take it off.

APP OF THE WEEK

Written by Gareth Cliff Wednesday, 30 November 2011 12:27

Gareth Cliff App for iPhone/iPad

This is the final in the App of the Week series.....and congratulations Natasha Fourie  for winning the iPad 2 this week.   If you weren’t lucky enough to win, get yourself to an Apple store and starting from R4999, you too could have an iPad.   Go to ....apple apps link....to check on new developments. Visit http://www.facebook.com/appleappsza for regular Apple updates.

We saved the best for last, and yes, we're biased. The first ever South African personality app has been available on iPhone some time. That's the good news. There is better news though, so keep reading:

The GC app has a daily video blog, which gives you all the latest directly from Gareth. Sometimes funny, sometimes interesting and sometimes hard-hitting - there's always something to talk about. Apart from that the most popular feature of the app is the personal alarm clock - featuring selected wake up calls from President Zuma, The Arch, and even the Phuza Thursday Shop Steward. If that isn't enough, instantly connect to Twitter and FB with Gareth Cliff to see all the news and funny stuff on a personalised, exciting platform. You can comment, like and forward any of the stuff you enjoy to anyone from your iPhone, with a minimum of effort. There's also a picture gallery.

The better news is that we've just launched version 2.0 - the iPhone upgrade and iPad version, featuring enhanced graphics and functionality, and new clips for the alarm clock. try it, let us know what you think.

Here's what the icon looks like so you'll know where to find it. It's available in both the SA and international iTunes store:

APP OF THE WEEK

Written by Gareth Cliff Tuesday, 15 November 2011 13:48

The winner of an iPad2 this week is...

Lara Myer! You're a winner wena!

If you want to win Read the review and leave an answer in the comments section below,

this is your last chance to win an iPad, then you'll have to buy one like the rest of us.

GarageBand for iPad

If you've never had a Mac or played on the old Garage Band before you're in for a massive treat. Garage Band for iPad is the most amazing musical instrument app you'll find anywhere and makes it possible for you to play the drums, guitar, keyboard and bass; mix them together, edit things, change them around and actually make a bona fide song. That supposes you're actually able to play any of these instruments. Even if you can't play an instrument though, it is a marvelous thing. With functionality that creates baselines and chords for you, you'll find, given enough time, that anyone can write a passable song. So apart from the various instruments that you can use, making my old Casio keyboard look like something, well, from the 80s; you can actually strum, touch the various drums and make their sounds, hook your iPad up to an actual amp and play like you're in a real rock band. It's that awesome.

If you're a serious muss or just someone messing around and putting those tunes in your head down, this is the most incredible 21st-century way of doing it. If you have a few hours to kill, you can learn enough chords to play a simple melody and make it sound like you're a pro. With so many people on earth who want to be musicians, this could be the intro that you need. Try it out, you'll see what I mean:

Here's what the icon looks like so you'll know where to find it. It's available in both the SA and international iTunes store:

Visit http://www.facebook.com/appleappsza for regular Apple updates.

Question: What do you think the best app ever invented is?