iam_Devon

And there's far too much distraction for me to find something to focus on so I ramble on things from various avenues of my life ...

[iam-devon]

Just one of those days ... 

My recent trip to Sweden was filled with so much excitement and curiosity both because I had never been to Sweden, and the other because I was going to go to Dreamhack for the first time, something I had always “dreamed” of doing as a youngster. 

Well Sweden is really (really, really) expensive and there wasn't too much to do in the small town we were visiting, and Dreamhack was an opportunity missed 20 years ago for me. This however is not the story of the trip I went on but rather the journey back home. 

Let’s start with some context, upon arriving at Dreamhack we discovered the show was in fact shorter than we were initially led to believe. This was somewhat of an irritation but it is what it is, so Dan and I then set out to adjust our travel plans ... 

After finally getting our flights, and trains changed, we were ready to leave so we thought. Only the night before and the morning of leaving we could not get hold of the taxi service, it would seem that they just let the phones ring and ring. We managed to get hold of a service eventually who explained due to Dreamhack and the amount of people leaving on the day (25,000+) the taxi’s were running amok trying to deal with all the clientèle.

We were told that we would get a taxi at the earliest 30 - 40 min from the time of booking(9:00am), keep in mind that we had to reach our train station to board the train for 10:06. Once the 40min period was up (which was our last opportunity to get onto the train) we called again and they couldn't give us a time at all. I think this came down mostly to our location being 25km out of the town center it wasn’t the easiest of places to reach. 10:06 ... still no taxi, we gave them a call to which they respond of course a taxi will be with you in 10min! Seriously ... 

Having missed our train we now had to catch a bus (see image above) to get to the next town to catch the train we needed. However once we arrived at the station we found out that most of the trains were now delayed by 30-45min. Which meant that we’d now be arriving at the airport as our flight gate was closing. A kind conductor at the station gave us a “lift” to the station we needed in order to catch the next train, however we were going to have to stand as the train was full.

This was not an issue so Dan and I obliged happily. Eventually reaching our station we got off to ask the “station assistance” on hand where we should go to board our train? She seemed puzzled and couldn’t find the train we were looking for but we were indeed at the correct station, I checked on the platform we were on and noticed that the train we JUST got off of was in-fact headed for the airport.

We didn’t have time to ask for confirmation so we just winged it jumped on board and hoped for the best. We then quizzed the passengers as to the destination of this train, hoping that our intuitions were correct and we were going to finally reach the airport. Sadly our fellow passengers didn't know English so they looked as confused as we did. 

Thankfully the train conductor came down the isle (the same one that allowed us onto the train) to which he gave us a good ‘ol fashioned “I have good news and bad news” the good news was that the train was indeed going to the airport. The bad news you ask? Well our tickets were for a competitor train line and he was going to have to drop us off at the next station or fine us. 

We followed up with plea’s and explained our story and day (so far) to which he sympathised or just got tired of us moaning (hey whatever works right) and allowed us to stay for the journey till we reached the airport. 

WE MADE IT! We finally arrived at the airport and all was good in the world. Having accomplished our mission we set out to enjoy a meal at Burger King, cause well why not. I loaded my app  so that I could check-in as I usually do, only to find more news ... (not good)

The first thing I noticed is that our flight was, yeah you guessed it ... delayed by an hour. Although a nuisance it didn’t bother us too much cause at least we were still going home! You said news Devon, Plural. Ah indeed I did my avid reader! It seems that when our flights were changed we were put onto a flight that didn’t include checked in luggage and we were going to have to pay extra to check-in our bags, WTF!

Fortunately it seems that being from South Africa and my good looks and immediate charms swayed the check-in lady to allow us to check-in for free. The day is not over yet, but I’d like to think that the worst is behind us. As I kept telling Dan this will make a hell of a story and although we seemed to hit hiccup after hiccup we were constantly greeted with silver lining of generosity from willing people, even if it wasn’t obvious at the time. 

Keep being rad people! You never know when you’re helping someone just having a shit day. 

[iam-devon]

So this was an odd capture, some guy having a good go at ... well I'm not sure what he was doing but it was an entertaining start to our Friday.

[iam-devon]

I’m so funny hahahaha

[iam-devon]

Let me tell you a story about my scar

I have the tiniest of scars on my right thumb knuckle. Its really hard to notice unless you're looking very carefully or examining my hands but I see it all the time. Sometimes I can still feel the "ghost damage" that was done so long ago. Like a tattoo it serves me as a constant reminder of the story behind it. 

In my youth some 17 years ago, while still in school I had an argument with my best friend, what the argument was about I could not tell you, in hindsight it's was probably inconsequential. What I can tell you is that what started out as a mild disagreement turned into stones being thrown at each other. I remember being confused as to why my friend took such great offence to me.

Soon that confusion turned to anger and I remember the pit of my belly boiling with anger, I was furious. The rest of the day was spoilt and I couldn't get it out of my mind, distracted and looking for an answer or reason I tried class after class to track my friend down and find out "what the hell man?". 

I got home, and barely acknowledged my parents presence as I stormed up stairs with phone in hand, determined to have a few stern words with my friend. After a great argument of which I remember none of (probably due to the rage), he hung up on me. Well ... that was just the straw that broke the camel's back. 

Without even thinking I put my fist straight through my bedroom window, and promptly removed it as I started to feel the blood trickle out from my knuckle. I felt nothing, no pain, no guilt, no fear, all I could think of was that I may have lost my best friend (so young). 

I was however smart enough to realise I needed some form of medical attention, and promptly stomped my way through the house, alerted my parents of the incident citing "I'm sorry Mark hung up on me, so I put my fist through the window" Mother of course swung into paramedic mode, and attended to my wounds of war.

And then the quiz starts; what, when, why? I eventually spilled the beans finding some peace in telling someone my troubles. My father, the incredible man that he is, taught me a lesson that I'll never forget. After feeling like the worst of it was over and accepting defeat, that my friend was officially no longer my friend, he told me to get into the car. 

I started resisting, it was so much easier to just accept what had happened and I was exhausted from the day, I was tired of it all, I just wanted to leave it. Fortunately he was a much more persuasive man than I (and by persuasive I mean he dragged me to the car). Got me in and told me that we're going to see Mark and that I'm going to apologise first. I really had no choice in the matter, and now my heart was racing, "why should I apologise", "he started it", "I was probably right all along", I came up with all the excuses I could muster and now I was now terrified because I felt like we were going to start this all up again and embarrassed that "I" had to apologise.

My father rang the doorbell and announced my arrival, my friend (who's father clearly looked like he kicked him out the house too) came trudging down his driveway to meet me behind bars. Once we were face to face it was quite a surreal moment, as we sort of both cracked a smile as we'd realised the ridiculous moment that we had put ourselves into, we apologised and moved forward.

He's still my best friend to this day and we see each other regularly, we've still had our fights but we've resolved them as quickly as they started. Compassion, understanding and forgiveness are the lessons I learnt that day, it was interesting that it didn't matter where the apology came from but simply the act of it allowed for us both to start from the ground up. I learnt that hanging onto anger is poison, and if you can't clear it, it will fester inside you.

It's also one of my greatest fears, to have something like that unresolved. I hear so many stories of people who fight and argue for silly reasons only to find out the next day that their friend has passed away. What's the point... ?

And that's how I got my scar.  

[iam-devon]

There's an assassin behind us!

[iam-devon]

A working #AssassinsCreed Phantom blade! How cool?

[iam-devon]

It's soon much easier to LAN with #XboxOne why aren't we doing more of this? #LANparty

[idonethis-blog]

Daniel Tawfik, founder & CEO of Vonjour explains how to manage team aimlessness

[siasduplessis]

My ALS/MND Ice Bucket Challenge, I have nominated SA’s legendary sports presenter Robert Marawa, Proteas T20 captain Faf du Plessis and SA Women’s Hockey captain Marsha Cox

Check out www.mnda.org.za www.alsa.org

[iam-devon]

So Sias Accepted my challenge, what boy!

[siasduplessis]

Official Destiny Gameplay trailer! 

[iam-devon]

The BEST gifts are geeky ones! Even if your friends aren't geeks at all, Hehe they soon will be #OneOfUs @geeksdoingstuff

[iam-devon]

#Gamescom cologne here I come!

[iam-devon]

View this post on Instagram

#BlackWatch loading up for @rplsa (at Nasrec Expo Centre)

[iam-devon]

"I don't understand why a logo costs so much? It's ridiculous"

So I'm embarking on a new venture as a consultant to help small business with their online presence, I'll get more into that later. In doing so has presented some interesting scenarios.

A part of my service is offering re-branding, and getting a decent logo to represent your brand or company, I've spent a lot of time looking at small business and the one thing they don't really pay too much mind to is their logo. Why should they though? To a business owner their business is not to have a nice logo it's to sell a product. 

The truth is though, many people will "Judge a book by it's cover" and many good companies are poorly represented. When I finally am able to break the requirement of, why a company should look at their logo. I present the client with a logo quotation. Which is immediately followed by, why on earth should I pay so much for a logo?

It's a common thread I find with many of my designer friends, they charge a rate they see as fair time spent on the research, conceptualization and design on a particular logo. It's the knowledge of how to operate application like Illustrator, Photoshop and in-design. Many people will unfortunately to the shortcut and find a neighbor's friend or someone who knows someone that has just downloaded a copy of Photoshop and is keen to give it a try.

This type of thinking HAS to stop. This perceived value of what a logo should cost you to be designed needs to be reconsidered. Taking a step back from what the actual company does as a service or product offering. People/Customers see your logo first. That first contact immediately sets a president of "Do I find out more about this company?" "Do they look trustworthy?". 

What people tend to forget is that for a designer, there are no monthly costs that they can charge you, they make their money on a once off design that they will create once but that a business will use EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. The returned value alone on that makes the costs of getting a professional to design a logo for a business negligible. 

Yes there are some shysters out there that will take you for a spin and not deliver on a logo that makes you happy, and yes designers do and can charge a lot because they're interpreting your vision as best they can. 

My advice is this, take your time considering a logo understand what you want your logo to achieve, it costs you nothing to sit with a designer and talk through your idea's look at logos from places like logopond. Stare at a logo until you can see your company name appear and you know that that's the one you want. Listen to a designer when they tell you something won't work with your application, they, oddly enough, know this shit! 

And lastly get hold of me ;) cause you know I'm awesome and I know awesome people. :P 

[iam-devon]

So it's my first time and I've popped the figurative cherry to attend E3 in Los Angeles. It's a gamers dream to attend this show as this is where it happens! I'm feeling extremely privileged to be here and I want to share my experiences with gamers and geeks! Graeme and I speak on our experience at the conferences of day 1!

[iam-devon]

Hahaha this is so brilliant, bringing LAG into a real life scenario creating perspective. Wish we could get a connection like that 

[iam-devon]

I was fortunate enough to be given the chance to go to Italy, I did not want to squander it so I recorded my trip and I'm sharing it with you. Italy is Belissimo and you should definitely go!!