Of Relevance

According to a somewhat outdated copy of Fast Company that I recently managed to get my hands on, active Internet users spend 9.1 hours less watching TV than those who do not or choose not to have Internet access.

That got me thinking.  I never surf the Tv box.  I always know exactly what I want to watch, and when.  I also have a PVR decoder, so now I can manage my TV time even better.  This is  what my TV-watch list looks like:

Monday: ER or Gray’s Anatomy

Tuesday: Prison Break (which I record, and haven’t watched one episode of this season yet!)

Wednesday: Studio 60 (wow!)

Thursday: Men in Trees, Desperate Housewives and CSI (which I also tape but have not watched this season)

Saturday: Without a trace

In between: Larry King and Oprah.

Total estimated time: about 7 hours per week. I fast forward all commercials and boring bits, which saves A LOT of time.  I can usually fit 2 or 2.5 episodes into an hour.

How much time do I spend in front of the computer OUTSIDE of a 9-5 work day? At least 3 hours per day, seven days a week.  I guess if I wasn’t typing/surfing I’d be watching TV or reading.  But I certainly see TV as entertainment – not a source of news, documentaries etc.  I know how to get that faster, better and more accurately using my Mac.

On the other hand, I rarely use my Mac for entertainment.  I never visit YouTube etc since  time just disappears when I do.

How much time do you spend on TV every week? How much time do you spend on your computer, working? And playing?

Please help spread the word!

I am organizing an OpenCoffee meeting in Joburg for this Thursday evening, at the Hilton Hotel coffee lounge. If you are an entrepreneur with a start up (preferably something to do with the Internet) please consider attending. You can sign up here.

The OpenCoffee movement was started in London by Saul Klein to, :

encourage entrepreneurs, developers and investors to organise real-world informal meetups to chat, network and grow

As Saul Klein said in his blog that launched the movement on Feb 23, 2007:

This is an attempt to establish recognized, open and regular meeting places where entrepreneurs can meet with investors (and anyone else who fancies coming along) in a totally informal setting.

The key is a regular place and a regular time – it’s not important who comes along, some days it might be no one – just that people know if they want to meet, this is the time and this is the place.

We want to create some density for people — a few places where people know they can meet or bump into others.

It is now run globally at over 55 locations, and usually happens on the 3rd Thursday of the month. A past participant has described it as :

“Imagine it more as a big open lounge where people come and go, talk to others in their industry, showcase demo’s of what they are working on, save the world, and ultimately maybe get some work done and run a few small meetings.”

Make no mistake – this is a social event. No name tags, no presentations. Come, order some coffee and chat to others who also play in this crazy Internet world. Attendance is free – you only pay for your drinks.

Hopefully, as the event grows, we will attract angel investors and the likes, to make it even more appealing.

If you are working on a new website or project, bring it along and show the rest of us. Get some feedback.

And, just for fun, I am going to feature a full article on the OpenCoffee concept in my upcoming magazine, Internet Guide. So this is a great opportunity to get yourself in the mag, and let the world know what you are up to.

Please sign up, and see you there!

I think I have finally finalised my blogging platform.

I started out on Typepad, which was a heat of the moment kind of action, since I really wanted to try out this blogging trend.

Then I moved the blog to my domain name, www.evedmochowska.com. But since it is impossiblr to spell, pronounce or remember (unless you are me) I realised that that wasn’t the best move.

So I registered the name of the blog as its own domain (it was available!), www.ofrelevance.com and now I think I have settled.

Of course, I realise that I have probably lost some subscribers due to all this havoc, and certainly because I haven’t really been blogging. But that will now change. Trust me. And I promise, no more change.

(I realise that feedburner allows you to keep subscribers when you change hosts, but I made some fundamental errors when I first signed up, so it didn’t work for me).