Hans' Milieu » Hans’ Milieu

September… wherefore art thou?

Hans Haupt — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 08:00:07 +0000

I promised to update biweekly and then I neglect to upload a single post for the month of September 2011. An entire 30 days of inactivity.

I am in the final stretch for my Masters. Almost done. Just a few more weeks… so please bear with me.

Until the next time Milieunairs!

Fingertip to Keyboard

Hans Haupt — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 20:06:57 +0000

I have given some thought as to why I do not blog as much as I used to. The most simple and least complex answer would be that I just do not have the time.

This stems from the fact that I am continuously working on my Masters thesis, which requires me to write and think, sometimes even simultaneously, for hours and hours at a time.

As such, the amount of time needed to create posts that are, in my opinion, worthy of being published, take too many productive hours from my day. It is a poignant but valid fact.

Of course, it does not help that, alongside my masters, I am simultaneously attempting to create, run and maintain several of my own websites and a bevy of social media profiles, all the while attempting to sustain some semblance of a social life. Granted I am still in a very fortunate position, being a full time student and all, but just because I do not have a “formal” job does not mean that I am not busy.

In many ways, writing a research based masters thesis is very much like a full time job. The only downside is that it is the kind of job that is not complete until it is finished. What this means is that I have not had a proper relaxing holiday or weekend in the last 18 months. No matter what I do, I know that I have work waiting for me. In fact, I actually feel guilty when I do go out or if I use my time for other endeavors that are not related to finishing my masters. Truthfully, it is actually quite an intense psychological strain. However, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, and I am currently on a downward slope towards that exit.

At the moment I am currently finishing off my thesis. All I need to do now is write a conclusion and rewrite the last section of chapter four. Once that has been completed, I will have a full draft of my entire thesis. Then the real editing and proof reading will begin. Should all go well, I will be able to submit towards the end of September. A moment I cannot help but feel both excited and anxious about.

Until the next time Milieunairs!

The Five Month Hiatus

Hans Haupt — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 10:38:34 +0000

I am flabbergasted that the last time I updated Hans’ Milieu was just under five months ago. In fact, I am appalled that I have neglected you – my fellow readers and the blog itself, which I regard as the online extension of my living entity – for so long.

So much has happened over the last several months that it would be almost impossible to detail it all in a single post. I will eventually get to updating my milieu, but until then here is a brief account of the major events that have transpired:

I am another year older.
I have almost finished my Masters – something I am both excited and anxious about.
I am a now Mac user – who would have thought?!
I have made wonderful new friends.
I have grown stronger emotionally, mentally and, most importantly, spiritually.
I am still single.
The Upper Palatte is making a glorious return – beginning again in August.
I have started a website for video games and technology: Vamers - officially launching in October.
One of my Tweets went viral.
I am committed to going from Flab to Fab by December this year – just in time for Summer.

I will attempt to update as often as possible, at least once a week from this day forward, but my education comes first. So until my Masters is complete I will be unable to update as frequently as I would like. Only a few months to go!

Until the next time Milieunairs!

A bit of a Nip/Tuck

Hans Haupt — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 09:20:00 +0000

Over the last year I have grown quite fond of the way my blog looks. Nevertheless, I felt it was time for a slight refresh. Just a bit of a nip and tuck, here and there, to improve your user experience. It is, after all, all about you. Well the blog is about me but without you, it would cease to exist.

So today I decided to give a slight makeover to Hans’ Milieu.

In addition to the updated look, I have managed to implement the following new features:

A new commenting system
A proper contact form
A suave method of viewing photographs (click on any photo, go on try it)
An updated ‘related posts’ plug-in
Brought back the search bar (after inadvertently losing it)
An updated ‘motto’ – Do you know what it means? Tell me what you think.
And I have finally decided to do away with the Milieu “Signature Send-Off”

Believe me, I am no coding whizz, but WordPress makes managing and updating a blog pretty effortless.

I hope you all enjoy the new look and changes to Hans’ Milieu. I would love to hear your thoughts on the modifications, so please do try out the new commenting system and let me know what you think.

Until the next time “Milieunairs”!

Blogging on the Go!

Hans Haupt — Fri, 28 May 2010 10:11:15 +0000

Look I really do love to blog, but I never seem to be able to make the time to do it. Or when the inspiration hits, I’m never near my PC to get the dirty work done. However, that is all about to change!

For quite some time I have considered mobile blogging. Unfortunately, the WordPress mobile website is far from satisfactory. At least, that was the case with my previous Nokia and Windows Mobile devices.

I haven’t mentioned it to you all yet but I have made the move back to the iPhone. Yes I know, I was really negative about my original iPhone 3G back in 2008 (which I still haven’t been paid in full for after I sold it) but that was all pre-iPhone OS 3.0. Now, with my iPhone 3GS and the latest iPhone OS, I feel like I can see colours again!

For years I wished for a WordPress application for my previous phones. With the iPhone, my cries were answered.

The post you are reading now has been compiled on the WordPress iPhone application. It is pretty good. Not perfect, but acceptable enough for me to actually want to use.

For a free application it really is not bad. All I really miss is having the ability to justify my text, check my spelling, insert video, and place and position pictures or photographs into my post. However, those are features I suppose I can do without, for the time being.

Anyway, this was just a short and sweet post about the fact that I am back into the mobile blogging scene. Hopefully this new application will allow for a more organic blogging experience.

Until the next time Milieunairs!

(Update: I bought a new app called BlogPress and have edited this post with it. It cost $3 but it appears to be worth it)

99 Things

Hans Haupt — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:30:00 +0000

As if working on ‘102 Random Facts About Me’ was not enough, @JessicaMcD has, courtesy of her blog, once again inspired me to follow through with another number centric post: ‘99 Things’.

The ‘99 Things’ idea is to look at this list of 99 things you could have done, and bold the ones that you actually have done!

Here we go…

1.) Started your own blog
2.) Slept under the stars
3.) Played in a band
4.) Visited Hawaii
5.) Watched a meteor shower
6.) Given more than you can afford to charity
7.) Been to Disney World
8.) Climbed a mountain
9.) Held a praying mantis
10.) Sang a solo
11.) Bungee jumped
12.) Visited Paris
13.) Watched a lightning storm
14.) Taught yourself an art from scratch
15.) Adopted a child
16.) Had food poisoning
17.) Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18.) Grown your own veggies
19.) Seen the Mona Lisa at the Louvre
20.) Slept on an overnight train
21.) Had a pillow fight
22.) Hitch hiked
23.) Taken a sick day when you’re not sick
24.) Made a snow fort
25.) Held a lamb
26.) Ran a marathon
27.) Went skinny dipping
28.) Rode in a gondola in Venice
29.) Witnessed a total eclipse
30.) Seen a sunrise or sunset
31.) Hit a home run
32.) Been on a cruise
33.) Seen Niagara Falls in person
34.) Visited the birthplace/home of your ancestors
35.) Seen an Amish country
36.) Taught yourself a new language
37.) Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38.) Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39.) Gone rock climbing
40.) Seen Michelangelo’s David in person
41.) Sung karaoke
42.) Seen Old Faithful erupt
43.) Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44.) Visited Africa
45.) Walked on a beach by moonlight
46.) Taken a ride in an ambulance
47.) Had your portrait painted
48.) Gone deep sea fishing
49.) Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower
50.) Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
51.) Kissed in the rain
52.) Played in the mud
53.) Gone to a drive-in theater
54.) Been in a movie
55.) Visited the Great Wall of China
56.) Started a business
57.) Taken a martial arts class
58.) Visited Russia
59.) Worked at a soup kitchen
60.) Sold Girl Scout cookies/Sold Sports Raffle tickets (this one was biased to the girls, so I added the ‘raffle ticket’ option for guys)
61.) Gone whale watching
62.) Gotten flowers for no reason
63.) Donated blood, platelets, or plasma
64.) Gone sky diving
65.) Visited Nazi concentration camp
66.) Bounced a check
67.) Flown in a helicopter
68.) Saved a childhood toy
69.) Visited the Lincoln Memorial
70.) Eaten caviar
71.) Pieced a quilt
72.) Stood in Times Square
73.) Toured the Everglades
74.) Been fired from a job
75.) Seen the changing of the guards in London
76.) Broken a bone
77.) Been a passenger on a motorcycle
78.) Seen the Grand Canyon in person
79.) Published a book
80.) Visited the Vatican
81.) Bought a brand new car
82.) Visited Jerusalem
83.) Had your picture in the paper
84.) Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
85.) Visited the White House
86.) Killed and prepared an animal for eating
87.) Had chickenpox
88.) Saved someone’s life
89.) Sat on a jury
90.) Met someone famous
91.) Joined a book club
92.) Got a tattoo
93.) Had a baby
94.) Seen the Alamo in person
95.) Swam in the Great Salt Lake
96.) Been involved in a law suit
97.) Owned a cell phone
98.) Been stung by a bee
99.) Swam in the Black Sea

48 out of 99. Yeah… still have quite a few things to do. Hopefully I will get a chance to do some of them this year

Until the next time “Milieunairs”!

‘Speak ZA’ – Bloggers for a Free Press

Hans Haupt — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 08:00:00 +0000

I often prefer to steer away from political and religious debate, especially on my blog. However, today I am making an exception.

I have been made aware of a movement that is taking place. My fellow South African bloggers are taking a stand against the ANC Youth League and the current ruling party for attempting to strangle our right to freedom of speech.

A free press can be good or bad, but, most certainly, without freedom a press will never be anything but bad.
~ Albert Camus

As a result, South African bloggers have been called by Sipho Hlongwane to join in the protest against the jackboot tactics the ANC Youth League are employing to try and destroy the freedom of the press.

If you support this movement you are urged to spread the word by using the “#SpeakZA” hash tag via social media and by spreading the following statement on your blog:

Bloggers For a Free Press

Last week, shocking revelations concerning the activities of the ANC Youth League spokesperson Nyiko Floyd Shivambu came to the fore. According to a letter published in various news outlets, a complaint was laid by 19 political journalists with the Secretary General of the ANC, against Shivambu. This complaint letter detailed attempts by Shivambu to leak a dossier to certain journalists, purporting to expose the money laundering practices of Dumisani Lubisi, a journalist at the City Press. The letter also detailed the intimidation that followed when these journalists refused to publish these revelations.

We condemn in the strongest possible terms the reprisals against journalists by Shivambu. His actions constitute a blatant attack on media freedom and a grave infringement on Constitutional rights. It is a disturbing step towards dictatorial rule in South Africa. We call on the ANC and the ANC Youth League to distance themselves from the actions of Shivambu. The media have, time and again, been a vital democratic safeguard by exposing the actions of individuals who have abused their positions of power for personal and political gain.

The press have played a vital role in the liberation struggle, operating under difficult and often dangerous conditions to document some of the most crucial moments in the struggle against apartheid. It is therefore distressing to note that certain people within the ruling party are willing to maliciously target journalists by invading their privacy and threatening their colleagues in a bid to silence them in their legitimate work.

We also note the breathtaking hubris displayed by Shivambu and the ANC Youth League President Julius Malema in their response to the letter of complaint. Shivambu and Malema clearly have no respect for the media and the rights afforded to the media by the Constitution of South Africa. Such a response serves only to reinforce the position that the motive for leaking the so-called dossier was not a legitimate concern, but a insolent effort to intimidate and bully a journalist who had exposed embarrassing information about the Youth League President.

We urge the ANC as a whole to reaffirm its commitment to media freedom and other Constitutional rights we enjoy as a country.

Blog’s and bloggers who support this initiative:

If you don’t have this freedom of the press, then all these little fellows are weaseling around and doing their monkey business and they never get caught.
~ Harold R. Medina

New Years Resolutions for 2010

Hans Haupt — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 10:47:00 +0000

Can you believe that it is 2010? We are already a decade into the ‘new’ millennium.

To mark this special year, which also happens to be divisible by 5 and you all know how much I love numbers, I have committed myself to 10 resolutions for this new year.

I actually had a grand plan of revealing each resolution on each new day of the first 10 days of the new year via Twitter. Unfortunately, this did not work out as planned. Nevertheless, this is the long awaited and eventual blog post to sum everything up. Without further ado, I present to you, my new years resolutions for 2010:

#1: Obtain the infamous "6 pack" by my 25th birthday.

#2: Sleep more. Try to get at least eight hours of sleep a night.

#3: Blog more. I would like to try and output a minimum of three quality posts a week.

#4: Procrastinate less. Whenever possible, do today what could be left for tomorrow.

#5: Maintain a good posture. Breaking my arm threw everything out of whack. Time to get it all back!

#6: Learn to play the piano. A new means of emotional expression.

#7: Go on a long road trip. Life is about creating memorable moments and experiences.

#8: Adhere to the speed limit and attempt to avoid reckless road rage driven drivers.

#9: Letting go. Stay close to those who add value to your life, discard those who only cause pain.

#10: Make the move. It is no longer if, but when.

All I have to do now, is actually stick to this list of resolutions *eek*. Far easier said than done, but it is not impossible.

I certainly am looking forward to this new year. I do believe that it has a lot to offer and I plan to make the most of it!

God speed to you all and may you all succeed within whatever it is you put your minds to!

Until the next time “Milieunairs”!

Relax, just do it!

Hans Haupt — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:00:00 +0000

The keen eyed amongst you may have already noticed that Hans’ Milieu has, once again, undergone yet another change. This time, however, the change is not merely cosmetic.

For the last several months I have been toying with the idea of truly making my blog, or should I say website, my own. That time has finally come.

From Hans’ Milieu’s humble beginnings with Microsoft’s Windows Live Spaces back in 2005, all the way to the eventual progression of my blog to the WordPress platform last month, I have always wanted to make my blog my own. However, I did not have the courage to do so; no matter how many times my intuition whispered ‘relax, just do it’. That is, not until late last week when, in the spur of a radical moment, I did what I have been longing to do. With absolute confirmation having only arrived early yesterday morning, my envisioned plan for my website has finally become a reality.

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Nike – Just do it!

I am immensely proud to announce that now, after almost four years, I officially and finally own Hans’ Milieu (© 2009 Hans Haupt, All rights reserved) as well as the domain www.HansHaupt.com. I still cannot get over the fact that I now have my own, self-maintained island of information, that anyone on the Internet can holiday on. It truly is an amazing feeling!

Consequently, I now have absolute freedom to do whatever I want with my website. That said, I do have a myriad of ideas bouncing within the confines of my cranium, waiting to be unleashed on the unsuspecting masses. However, I do have a lot of learning to do, both in terms of programming skills and my Masters, before I will be able to actually gain a comprehensive understanding of how to nurture my website into all that it can be. With that said, the first aspect on my new agenda is creating a logo and potential slogan for Hans’ Milieu. So stay tuned!

Lastly, I would just like to give a quick shout-out to my parents and our gracious Lord God. If it was not for their continued love and support, through both the good times and the bad, Hans’ Milieu would most probably have been shelved several years ago. They have given me the strength to ‘Relax and just do it’! Thank you for everything that you do, I love you!

Until the next time “Milieunairs”!

Hans’ Milieu has new ‘digs’

Hans Haupt — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:43:00 +0000

Hey Millieunairs,

Welcome to the new home of Hans’ Milieu!

For the nascent among you, my name is Hans Haupt. I am a compassionate, friendly, ambitious, witty and warm person who is more than able to hold an astute academically driven conversation, while retaining a self-confessed gutter bound mind.

I am also a social media aficionado with mild philanthropically fuelled dreams of entrepreneurial grandeur. Consequently, I am an active member of a variety of socially driven websites. If you are interested to know more about me, feel free to surf over and peruse the following:

To my faithful readers, welcome back! This video is especially for you…

Welcome back! Especially for Millieunairs!

Once again, welcome to the new home of Hans’ Milieu! I hope and trust that all who have or will stumble upon this site will continue to share and be an active part of my ever evolving and, at times, adventurous life story!

To the future “Milieunairs”!