Welcome to Invisible Ink. This is the personal homepage of Kobus Myburgh, and here he will either entertain you (or sicken you) with petty philosophies, tasteless jokes or his curriculum vitae. Hopefully you will see something here that interests you.

Kobus Myburgh was born in 1975, and has been working in the IT industry for over 12 years and has gained vast experience in managing tertiary education computer systems and users, all aspects of web development and customer care (through his company, NetGold Productions, founded in 2001), usability, accessibility and user experience improvements (through his B. Sc. (cum laude) and B. Sc. Honors degrees through North-West University) and also various other professional qualifications, some of which are A+, ITIL Foundation, ITIL Practitioner in Release and Control, Web development through Working Webs, Software specialist (with distinction) through Boston Business College and attendance of Novell 6.0 CNA.

WebProNews posted this article about an executive at Facebook stating that e-mail will probably go away. I have commented the below, what do you think?

Well, that article hits the nail on the dot. E-mail can't die. It is so integrated into our daily lives that there is no real way to conceive it to just die. But because I like to play Devil's Advocate, I will contest this statement (without any proof, all just postulates, so don't see it as opposing your story or the comments of the hundreds of - absolutely correct - commentators on your post).

The other side of the story goes something like this...

Who's to say there will not be a new technology to take the place of email in the near future? Maybe Facebook is currently busy developing it. Who would've thought about 15-20 years ago that cellphones would all but replace conventional telephones?

Furthermore, when Sheryl said email will vanish, did she mean it will vanish like dinosaurs did, or did she mean it will vanish like the Illuminati did? Or even vanish as the KKK in the USA or Apartheid in South Africa? Just think about that... Does "dying" really mean "extinction" in this case?

Now, I didn't attend the show, or listen to the broadcast, but I am just speculating here: could she have meant "conventional email sent via a computer" would die out? Could she have said that "email will die out in favor of mobile technology"? While these mobile devices certainly all have messaging technologies, and has a "handle" or "nickname" that has the format of an "email address", does that necessarily make it an email?

And now, let's go back to the other side for a bit... (sorry Sheryl)... If you take the official definition of email, according to one source on the net: "Email is a way of sending messages from one computer to another." or another: "Email is the exchange of computer-stored messages by telecommunication", it could be postulated that even an SMS is an email. So is an MMS, so is ANY other method of receiving a notification via electronic or telecommunications media.

So - will email die? Completely? NEVER, unless they can devise a way to send a message via telepathy. With the human mind sending signals between neurons via "action potentials", which are considered by some as electrical impulses, that opens up a whole new debate...

Go figure...

Do you believe in Karma? Is she a bitch on high heels? Or is she just and fair? Does she "exist"? I don't know, and quite frankly, I believe that is for each to decide for themselves. I have often heard "What goes around, comes around" or "She got what she had coming" and things like that - this would suggest that Karma is indeed a bitch, if treated inappropriately...

I am not 100% sure - but based on my general feelings, I agree that you attract the response you send out to the world via your attitude. If you're a kind person, people will be kind to you in return, well, generally speaking of course. If you trample people, they will trample you, or die trying to, depending on your disposition.

Now me, I am generally kind, and I am having it pretty good in Karma's books. I have not had any serious problems recently. Am I doing something right? I don't know. But I do know that I have been blessed twice in two days with excellent service. First my car repairs on Friday, and this morning, great service at my hair dresser's. Maybe I am doing something right afterall :-)

Of course, you can argue that this is expected, as you pay for the service, but still - we have become so complacent that service is bad, that we are starting to accept bad service as the norm. It doesn't have to be this way...

When thinking back about this all, I figured what had at least a part in the good service I have received in the past few days - friendliness. I realised in hind sight that I was friendly (well, I am almost always friendly, given, but recently it was more than usual - the reason for that is a story for another day). Being friendly got me friendliness in return. Simple as that. Karma.

Perhaps we should stop seeing the fault in everyone else when we receive bad service, and start looking at ourselves. Hmmm?

We are very sad today - our friend Jaco was taken away in a car accident this morning. SJS will not be the same without Mayor around. Mayor, friend, you have enriched our lives.

The collective sadness we feel today at SJS is so overwhelming. Everyone is quiet, keeping to themselves. Nobody is posting much, so I thought about this:

If we assume that there are at least 50 people mourning Jaco's departure, and that all departing people are mourned by at least 50 people, this would world is a sad, sad place. Every day millions of people die. Considering South Africa as on July 2009, 16.99 of every 1000 people die per year. With a population of almost 49 million, that means around 832000 people died in the last year in South Africa alone. That would make 41 million people mourning the death of a loved one througout the year.

Well, this post was not meant to be negative, depressing or even 100% accurate, but I think you get the idea. When we're sad, we're often sad for our own loss, as the person who left us for eternity is in a better place. His or her job on earth was complete. It is not for us to try and figure out why.

The point of this post is, that even though 41 million people mourn every year about a loved one lost, that same 41 million people rejoice every other moment in time about the joy that people brought to their lives while they were alive.

Don't cry because it is over, smile because it happened. Yes, harder to achieve than to say, but we have to try, otherwise nobody will ever be happy...

So - let's celebrate Jaco's life, for who he was, what he has meant to all of us, and what we've learnt from him...

Ah, the ever elusive concept of eternal love. Does eternal love between lovers exist? The short answer is YES. But what about the long answer? ABSOLUTELY! Well, technically speaking the one answer is short and the other one is long. So bite me!

But before you can really know for sure about eternal love, you have to ask yourself WHAT is eternal love. How do you practise it? How do you get it?

You practise it by being absolutely dedicated to the one you love. Consider everything you do and say in such a way that you would be happy if someone did that to you. Scold them? Would you like to be scolded at? Cheat them? Would you like to be cheated upon? Ignore them? Mistreat them? Make them sad? Make them cry? That is the simple recipe, and I have the answer, straight from various religious sources: Do unto others as you would want done unto yourself.

So easy in theory, isn't it? :-)

The question that I pose is: Can you ever know someone completely? My answer is - I certainly hope not!

Why would you want to know someone completely? What is in it for you? No more enigma, no more surprise. No more thoughts of "what's next"... How boring it must be!

Given, you need to know at least a few little things about a person you want to marry or otherwise spend your life with, need to find out the things that you can't live with and the things you can't live without. You have to know the fundamental differences and similarities between you. You need to know if your potential mate is an axe murderer. Wanted by the police? For sure, you need to know that. What about HIV status? I am sure that is high on everyone's list.

But honestly, before getting married or otherwise hitching up, does it really matter if she had a Barbie doll when she was 7? Or that he had his appendix removed when he was 16? What about having 2 false teeth? What about being Victor Lodorum in school? NO! You don't need to know this before committing! That is the fun of being with the one you love - you get to learn something new, every day!

After all, you want to do this for your entire life (the commitment, I mean). Well, at least most of us do. Most of us do not think - "Hey, I will date this person for a while, until I am bored" and those that do, have decided already that you can know someone completely right from the start. Skip the boredome! Leave something for the future. Grow old together, and die old, one day, thinking - I wonder what colour dress that Barbie doll had on?

Ciao!

What does an open window and curtain tell you? As opposed to a dark room with curtains closed? Compare the two.

Open window and curtains. Fresh air and light. It invites you in. And usually, when your window is open so other people can see into your place, the place is relatively neat. You don't want people to look into your bedroom window when your clothes are on the floor and your bed is not made?

Closed windows and curtains. Stale air, darkness, Wants you to stay out. Your place could be a mess, you could be ashamed of your place. You could, perhaps, be too lazy to clean it up. Or, you could simply be busy with private matters.

Using this physical comparison, we can bring it to bear on your every day lives. Are we open? Are we closed? Are we a source of light for other people? Do we shut them out? Do we keep to ourselves and appear grumpy all the time? Or do we smile and let people into our souls?

Some of us have been hurt so many times and are so untrustworthy, that we do not want to let people inside. This is particularly true of the love scorned.

Are you like that? Closed? Perhaps. What are your reasons? Is it because of being scorned, or perhaps you simply do not know how to invite people in? Whatever your reason is, work at letting people in. The ones you appreciate most will be the light that shines from your eyes if you do...