The Optimistic lover blindly skips into a relationships and “lets the cards fall where they may”. It is all good, after all. Often expecting to “get lucky”, even if only by holding hands.

The Pessimistic lover uses a “worst case scenario” thought process in order to emotionally prepare for the devastation that will inevitably ensue once within a relationship.

The Realistic lover looks at any relationship as a learning experience, regarding it as neither good nor bad. With no expectations, the realist is ready for anything.

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To be precise, U2 will be performing to a sold out crown of sweaty palmed South Africans in exactly 300 hours from the time of this post (yes, I worked it out).

The best part? You could win a set of double tickets to either the Johannesburg or Cape Town shows as well as other incredible prizes.

The very cool folks over at 94.7 Highveld Stereo, who are also the main media partners for the tour, are giving anyone who was not lucky or adept enough to buy tickets to the U2 360° Tour (like myself) another chance at being able to say “I was there… and I made out with my steak out”!

The process is simple.

From now until Friday 11th February 2011, there will be a 94.7 Highveld Stereo branded stage touring Gauteng. To win awesome prizes all you need to do is find the stage, whip up the courage to get up on it, and belt out your favourite U2 song to the crowd. It is that easy!

For clues to the whereabouts of this nomadic stage you will need to follow 94.7 Highveld Stereo: on-air, through Facebook or via Twitter (#U2Highveld is the official Twitter hashtag).

Even better, those lucky enough to find the stage and sing to the world will have their 360 seconds of fame uploaded to 94.7 Highveld Stereo’s official YouTube.

With a cylindrical video system of interlocking LED panels, and a steel structure rising 45 meters from the floor over a massive stage with rotating bridges, the U2 360° tour will be a truly unmissable experience. Seriously, it is going to be spectacular!

So what are you waiting for? Start following, finding, singing & winning!

For those who are interested, here is a little bit more about the tour:

U2 will kick off their 360° tour in South Africa at Johannesburg’s FNB Stadium on Sunday 13th February 2011 before moving to Cape Town and performing on Friday 18th February 2011. U2 will be the first band to stage a live concert in both World Cup 2010 built stadia.

Some interesting facts about the U2 360° tour:

• Before reaching South Africa, over 4.5 million people would have seen U2 360°.
• The design can support up to 180 tonnes.
• The steel structure is 28 meters tall with the center pylon reaching 45 meters tall.
• The cylindrical video screen is made up of 1 million pieces.
• The steel structure takes four days to build with a further 12 hours to load the screen, stage and production equipment.

Anyone with a modern mobile device knows how much of a bane and a blessing the autocorrect feature can be when typing out text messages, emails, notes and so on.

Often the autocorrect feature will change perfect text, without rhyme or reason, and before you realise the error, you have already hit send.

These ‘corrections’ almost always result in a bevy of hilarious, if not mortifying, messages to friends, loved ones, strangers or colleagues.

Consequently, the Internet is a buzz with this latest meme.

In the vain of FailBook, a website which posts pictures of incredulous and hilarious Facebook status updates, Internet savvy users can now enjoy the latest meme to hit “the interwebz”, the trials and tribulations of ‘autocorrect’.

Courtesy of DamnYouAutocorrect.com, we are now able to catch a rare glimpse into how technology continues to influence the fabric of modern day communication. Usually with humour filled repercussions. Below are a few examples of some of the better postings available on DamnYouAutocorrect.com.

As much as I hope this post has brought a smile to your face, just remember that from now on, no autocorrect “fail” is safe. Thus, my advice to you is to treat messaging like you would crossing the road: always check twice before going forward.

Until the next time “Milieunairs”!

The good ol’ Goog has decided to tackle this issue head-on and has launched a new and undeniably useful function. So useful, in fact, that after prolonged use you cannot help but wonder, “why did they not think of it sooner”?!

Enter: Google “Instant Preview”.

Think. Type. Search. Preview. Find. – The new staple for every Google search. 

Google’s “Instant Preview” now offers users an immediate snapshot of the website which may offer the information they are looking for.

For example, lets say you type in “Madam Rosmerta’s Butterbeer” and hit search. Upon receiving the search results you will now notice a little magnifying glass next to each result. Simply clicking on the magnifying glass will offer you a preview of that result.

Presto! You get a very cool little preview of your search result. In this case a snapshot of Hans’ Milieu and my infamous recipe for “Madam Rosmerta’s Butterbeer”. Yes, shameless self promotion is what it is all about now days kids.

In addition to the cool little snapshots, Google “Instant Preview” also highlights your search terms within the “Instant Preview”. Thus offering conclusive evidence that the page holds the information you are looking for.

Genius I tell you, genius!

You can read all about it here or watch this video instead.

Searching the web just got a whole lot easier. Now go on and use it already. You know you want to!

Until the next time “Milieunairs”!

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”!

It is Music Monday and thus time for another Vivaciously Varietal Vibe!  

• Flavour: Electronic/Dance

• Artist: Swedish House Mafia vs Tinie Tempah

• Album: Until One

• Song: Miami 2 Ibiza

Rationale: I may not be the kind of person who goes clubbing every weekend but I am definitely one who enjoys a song with a good beat. Especially one that I can suggestively gyrate my hips to. Oh yeah, that’s right!

Unlike most people, I almost never listen to the words of a song. To me, music is all about the melody, tone and beat.

Truthfully, I had no idea who or what the Swedish House Mafia was or even that they existed. Not until last week when a cousin of mine introduced their music to me. Since then, I have been hooked.

According to good old Wikipedia, Swedish House Mafia is a group of three house disc jockey’s and producers known as Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso. Those who are familiar with dance/electro/techno/whatever-this-kind-of-music-is-called-now-a-days will no doubt recognise the names as some of the most influential in this particular genre of music.

Simply put, Swedish House Mafia’s debut studio album is fantastic. It is the perfect party album and I can foresee that a majority of the songs on their debut album will no doubt become ‘club anthems’ in the very near future.

The album is out this week. If you like it, buy it online via iTunes or Zune or simply head out to your nearest music store.

Check out the  video below of the latest single from Swedish House Mafia and be sure to let me know what you think!

Usually whenever I post about Vivaciously Varietal Vibes on Music Monday’s, you would be able to simply click on the name of the song and be taken to a web page that displays the songs lyrics. However, this song has no real substance since it is all about the beat (aka I could not find the lyrics).

Until the next time, “Milieunairs”!

Time and time again I am asked how I managed to obtain access to a US iTunes store account. Well, the answer is fairly simple. I just created one.

I know what you are thinking: “How the heck did he do that”?

Any South African who owns an iDevice of some kind dreams of accessing the US music and application store. It is not hard to imagine why, considering the crippled and lackluster state of the content within the South African iTunes marketplace.

With that said, gone are the days of being unable to legally and easily purchase music online or fantasizing about the latest must have US only iDevice applications. Now everyone can join in on the fun!

These are the steps to take to gain a US iTunes account:

1. First, head over to http://www.maximuscards.com and purchase a US $10 iTunes voucher (the cheapest one available). By the way, I use Maximus Cards all the time for my Xbox 360/Zune Microsoft Points and iTunes/Mac AppStore vouchers. I have always found Maximus Cards to be efficient and reliable.
2. Once you have your voucher code, which will be e-mailed to you, open iTunes. If you already have an account, click on the drop down arrow next to your ‘Log-In’ name and click on ‘account’. If you do not have an account, just follow the prompts and skip to step 4 of this guide.
3. The next window will show your account information. Next to the country registered for the account will be an option to ‘change country’. Click on the ‘change country’ button.
4. Next, select the country you want your new iTunes account to be set in and follow the rest of the instructions. Once you reach the page which requests ‘credit card’ & ‘billing’ information, do the following:
   A: Ignore the credit card options, for now.
   B: Insert your pre-purchased iTunes voucher code into the available text box.
   C: Use your real name & e-mail address.
   D: Use a US physical address, including city, state & postal code (Preferably in California as that state does not charge tax on online purchases).
   E: Once you have entered all of the information, excluding any ‘credit card’ details, hit ‘continue’.
5. The next window should display all of your information again, but the area in which you inserted the iTunes voucher will now glow green. Additionally, there should now be a ‘none’ option under the credit card information section. Select ‘none’ before continuing with the rest of the registration process.

Please bear in mind that you modify your iTunes account at your own risk and that the above guide does not guarantee a user access to a US iTunes account. Furthermore this guide is only accurate as of the time of publication of this blog post (UPDATED: 24th June 2011).

There you go! Everything should work and you should now be the proud owner of a US iTunes account. Easy as pie!

It is important to note that your pre-purchased iTunes store voucher is not claimed during the registration process. It is merely used to indicate that you have a certain level of funds. As a result, you will still need to claim the voucher within iTunes. This is a simple process. You can either go into account settings and fund the account from there or merely select any item from the iTunes store and follow the prompts for adding a ‘payment method’ to your account (aka use the voucher option).

Happy shopping!

Until the next time “Milieunairs”!

Girl Guides is described as a “gathering of minds investigating technology from a feminine perspective” through a collective of women from all around South Africa.

The premise is simple. A group of ladies review the latest and greatest technology on offer in South Africa. In other words:

As you can see, this is made of pure ‘win’.

In all seriousness, I think that Girl Guides is a great idea. As much as I prefer to deter from using stereotypes, the fact remains that a lot of woman, both young and old, just do not ‘get’ technology and gadgets.

A clear niche exists then, to help unleash the hidden legions of untapped hot geekettes; and this is precisely where Girl Guides comes in.

So if you have a sister, partner or girlfriend who may be a closet geekette, give them a helping hand and point them towards Girl Guides.

Until the next time “Milieunairs”!

Essentially people are cutting and dying the hair of poodles and other unfortunately fluffy dogs, to resemble other creatures, such as Panda’s, Pirates and Fairy’s. It is as crazy as it sounds and the results are just as mind numbingly hilarious.

Poodle Doodles: Endless Possibilities VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

(All photographs are © Ren Netherland/Barcroft Media)

My initial reaction to finding this was ‘what the frakk’! I immediately formed a rant about how stupid people can be… blah blah… animal cruelty… blah blah, you know the drill. So I checked it out again.

You know, it may not be conventional but as long as the animals are well looked after and have a good life, I do not think it is as bad as it could be. After all, it is only for one day of the year and it is just hair which will grow back. Besides, some of those dogs do look pretty cool. Come on, admit it! Who would not want a Pirate dog? Which brings me to the following question:

Should I give Chocolate, our beloved Bouvier, a funky once off makeover?

I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter as well as suggestions for what Chocolate could become.

Until the next time “Milieunairs”!

Yes, I have been quite the slacker when it comes to updating my blog. I have no excuses this time though. Truth be told, I have just not felt like updating.

(Picture courtesy of AlaaShaker)

Granted I was abroad for over 5 glorious weeks but what people in the blogosphere do not tell you is that blogging is hard. It takes time & skill to write good posts worthy of garnering attention and building a ‘following’. I have found that it is much easier to simply update my social networks with information than to have to sit down and consciously write and edit stories about my life.

With that said, I cannot help but feel ‘guilty’ for neglecting you. Yes you, a member of the undeniable legions of readers I fool myself into believing are actually there. Thus, I will persevere. However, I will no longer fill your dreams and hopes with empty promises. I shall blog but I will do so randomly and without any form of predictability.

Until the next time “Milieunairs”!