MIKESTOPFORTH

Soon, Nelson Mandela will die. As I write this post traditional and social media channels are rife with rumours of his ill health and deteriorating state. This day was always going to come. When he dies messages of condolence and sympathy will flood in. Wreaths will be laid, memorial services will be held and millions, [...]

Richard Mulholland is without a doubt one of the smartest people I know. Not only that, but I consider him a close personal friend and confidante. We’ve been through similar challenges, both in terms of running businesses and running lives, and I know for myself that I am deeply grateful for the role he’s played [...]

I love smart ideas. I love smart business ideas even more. I get turned on by clever twists in business models, innovative approaches to management and fancy ways to turn a profit. That said, today I was blown away by a business that has taken arguably the simplest idea and found ways to deliver it [...]

It seems only fitting that my combined passions for film and the Web should lead to a movie review about The Social Network – a dramatic tale centered around the remarkable story of the birth and early days of Facebook, and in particular it’s enigmatic founder Mark Zuckerburg. Not to mention the fact that I’ve [...]

After a slow start to his writing and directing career, M. Night Shyamalan burst on to the Hollywood scene with his mind-bending blockbuster, The Sixth Sense. The cleverly written thriller shocked and wowed audiences around the world, resulting in veritable cult status and an enviable ranking of #128 on IMDb‘s list of the Top 250 [...]

I recently upgraded from a much-loved Audi A4 1.8T to my all-time dream car, a Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG. It’s not that I didn’t like the Audi, on the contrary on many levels it’s an easier, more comfortable car than the C63 – it has more headroom on the driver’s side, a softer ride and in [...]

Yes, you heard me right.  I am a racist.  And I venture to suggest that you might be too, if you’re honest with yourself about it. Recent events in South Africa have, to borrow Jenny Crwys-Williams of Talk Radio 702′s phrase, “lanced a boil” filled with putrid racist muck, and the contents are spilling out [...]

I wonder if this is a South African thing, or just a South African boomer thing that is rubbing off on younger generations, but I just DON’T get why we all think we have to rush to the garage to fill up with fuel at the first sign of a petrol price increase. I mean, [...]

It is no surprise, given my love for Johannesburg and all it’s diverse craziness, that New York stole my heart. I’m certainly not the most well-travelled human on the planet but I’ll go a long way before I find another place that inspires me like NYC. Note, I said ‘inspires’ and not ‘invigorates’. New York’s [...]

After a marathon 30 hour transit from Jo’burg to Austin, the last few days have been spent acclimatising to a dry Austin that is starting to enjoy the first signs of Spring, and of course with it, the deluge of crazy people (70,000+) that descend on this small city for the SXSW music, film and [...]

It’s been a big four years. Cerebra has evolved from a one-man consulting show to a full-service social media agency boasting a client list that includes Samsung Mobile, Toyota, Vodacom, eBucks, GIBS, Microsoft, Touchline and Cell C (and those are just the brands we’re engaged with right now). Our team is comprised of a young, [...]

The news is finally out and I’m as excited as a 5 year-old on Christmas eve! I’ve just received a press release from the fine folks at Emerging Media informing me that their client WirelessG will soon be offering in-flight wi-fi to sub-Saharan Africa. No more boring flights for me! Here is the release in [...]

Yep, I know – plenty of noise and hype and buzz around District 9 already. I’m not hopping on the bandwagon though – I am genuinely excited about what this movie means for Johannesburg, South Africa and South African cinema (which I’m sure you’ll agree could use a kick up the butt). My 9 reasons [...]

I’ve been offered 10 tickets to the Comedy Heavies gig happening at Carnival City next weekend and am giving them away to 4 lucky people (yes, I’m keeping 2 for me monkeys) who post the best jokes in the comments section of this post by 8PM Sunday 28 June. MY decision is final… here’s the [...]

I’ve never cared much for politics. This is largely because I felt intimidated by it. When I don’t feel knowledgeable about a subject I simply steer clear of it to avoid looking lke an idiot. I could never understand politics because it never made sense to me. I think I understand now that I had [...]

Man, I just love these self-righteous, introspective, “I-think-I’m-important-enough-for-you-to-read-such-crud” blog memes. I’ve been tagged before mind you, and if it weren’t for the fact that it’s the incomparable Ethan Zuckerman tagging me this time around (just a mention on his blog results in a lightning bolt of traffic) I’d ignore the whole shebang. Still, I wouldn’t [...]

Ok maybe I’m finding this funnier than you will, but I just got a mail from Virgin Active saying the following (verbatim): Hey there Premier Upgrade Fee We’re writing to let you know that your monthly upgrade fee will be increased by R .00 per month, effective 1 January 2009, resulting in your new monthly [...]

God bless Sheena Gates‘ little cotton socks. Not only does she regail us with unending wit and drama on Twitter but, and to quote her own words, in a week that is normally quite ‘emo’ for many of us returning to the grindstone, she has brought a little ray of sunshine to the circle-jerking, ego-flated [...]