Today, I officially submitted my Masters thesis.

I am finally done.

I almost shed a tear before leaving the local PostNet. It felt like I was leaving behind a part of myself. I was suitably, and still am, a bit emotional about it.

My Masters thesis has been a part of my life for the last few years. I have worked on it for countless hours. It became a part of my daily routine. It was my job. Now it is no more.

Although I am relieved to have finally finished, I am also incredibly anxious.

This intense anxiousness stems from the inevitably looming question: “what now”?

I hope you will join me on my journey forward as I try to find the answer.

Until the next time Milieunairs!

“Three Apples changed the world: One seduced Eve, One awakened Newton and One fell into the hands of Steve Jobs”

Steve Jobs has passed away.

My sincerest condolences to his family.

I may not have known Steve Jobs personally, although I wish I did, I am deeply, deeply, saddened by his death.

Steve was an inspiration to many, including myself, and his innovative vision and quest for perfection will be sorely missed.

Rest well Steve and suffer no more.

[I wrote a larger piece on Vamers if you are interested to read it]

If you do one thing today, do yourself a favour and watch this speech that Steve Jobs gave to graduates at Stanford University:

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!

South Africa’s very first iPhoneography exhibition is taking place on Thursday 1st September 2011.

For those who do not know, iPhoneography is the process of taking and editing photographs with only the use of an Apple iPhone.

A few weeks ago, I submitted some of my photographs for the exhibition.

I got in.

When I submitted my photographs I did so under the guise of “why not”. The idea is new and the concept is great. So I took a chance and my photographs were accepted.

Believe me, I was truly taken aback when the email arrived in my inbox telling me that my photographs had been selected for the iPhoneography exhibition. Needless to say, I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to display my photographs as ‘works of art’ – a term I did not think I would be able to attribute to any of my photographs that were taken with only a mobile phone.

I have been fortunate enough to have 17 pieces accepted for the exhibition. 16 canvasses and a single ‘unique’ creation.

Previews of some of my photographs that will be on display can be seen in the gallery below. The photograph with the ‘story’ is a teaser for my unique piece titled “Life: A Journey Through Time”.

The exhibition will be held at the iStore on Sandton Drive on ‘spring day’ (Thursday 1st September 2011). Everyone should come on down and be a part of this novel and potentially groundbreaking exhibition. I know that there will be many photographs that will absolutely blow your mind from other extremely talented South African iPhoneographers. The best part? If you like what you see, you can purchase the artworks on display.

For those who will be driving, please note that there will be road closures in and around Sandton City for the Springbok send-off. Be sure to plan ahead accordingly.

For those who, like myself, will be using the Gautrain, please note that once you arrive at the Sandton Station, you will need to catch a Gautrain bus running on the S4 route. There is a Gautrain bus stop directly in front of the driveway to the Sandton Drive iStore. For more information about Gautrain bus times, please call 010 223 1098.

For my fellow Twitter folk who attend, please be aware that the official hashtag is: #iPhoneographySA. If Facebook is ‘your thang’, you can RSVP to the event here.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Until the next time Milieunairs!

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!

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!

Dear fellow gamers,

I am currently in the process of completing my Masters thesis, which involves performing research into better understanding the social experience of online video gaming, particularly as a new arena for socialisation, from a uniquely South African perspective.

However, in order to do so, I need your help.

I require volunteers who would be willing to have, at most, an hour long text based online interview with me. The interviews will be conducted through an instant messaging application of your choice and at a reasonable time that is most convenient to you. Any and all personal information obtained through the interview process will be kept strictly confidential, preserving anonymity wherever possible, as per Monash University research regulations.

In order to qualify as a research participant you will need to meet the following criteria:

• Must be South African.
• Must be over 18 years of age.
• Must have an Xbox Live Gold account (any region) or Playstation Network account.
• Must actively play games online with others.
• Must have a minimum 1000 point Gamerscore/achievement points.

All gamers who meet the aforementioned criteria and who respond to this research appeal will be placed in a participant pool before being randomly selected for participation. Willing participants will be issued with all of the necessary information pertaining to the study, such as an explanatory statement and consent form, by means of email.

Please note that participation is completely voluntary and that randomly selected participants are under no obligation to take part in the study and may opt out at anytime.

Should you wish to participate within the study or simply wish to find out more information, please do not hesitate to contact me  (Please use ‘Research Participant’ as the subject of your e-mail and please add the following email address to your Spam filter) or by means of an @-reply on Twitter or a Direct Message on Facebook.

If you know of anyone else who may be interested in participating within this study, please do forward this message on to them.

Any and all support would be most appreciated.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post.

Kind regards,

Hans Haupt

(‘Gamer Evolution’ portrait courtesy of Two Player Comics)

South Africans are a buzz.

That’s right folks U2 is here  and, believe it or not (I still cannot), I was privileged enough to crack an elusive invitation to an exclusive behind the scenes look at the inner workings of the U2 360° Tour.

“The Claw”, or as it is known locally “The Prawn”, is a magnificent structure. I have never seen a stage construction like it before. It is so big that it actually begins to make the FNB Stadium, previously known as Soccer City, feel small. Let me tell you, that is no easy feat. Check out the video I created below for an indication of the true immensity of this structure.

Here are a few more interesting facts about “The Claw” and 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 and was conceptually designed using forks over ‘dinner’ during the Vertigo Tour in 2006.
• The steel structure is 28 meters tall with the center pylon reaching a  height of 45 meters.
• The cylindrical video screen is made up of 1 million pieces, weighs 54 tonnes, is 4300 square feet when closed and opens to a size of 14 000 square feet.
• The steel structure takes four days to build with a further 12 hours to load the screen, stage and production equipment.

Behind the Scenes VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

In addition to getting all close and personal with “The Claw” while on the ‘behind the scenes tour’, we were also extremely lucky to have the chance to speak to Jake Berry (U2 360° Tour Production Director), Paul McGuiness (U2’s Manager) and John Langford (Chief Operating Officer of Big Concerts).

In order, from left to right: Jake Berry, Paul McGuiness and John Langford.

Whether you are a fan of U2 or not, this is most certainly a show you do not want to miss. I would even go so far as to fully agree with the U2 360° Tour Production Director Jake Berry, who exclaims how being able to attend this production would be “an opportunity of a lifetime”.

360° Panorama of the FNB Stadium and U2 360 Claw

I would like to offer my sincerest thanks to 94.7 Highveld Stereo, Primedia and everyone else who contributed towards allowing me to be a part of such a privileged and incredible “behind the scenes” experience. Thank you!

Until the next time “Milieunairs”!

In December I was fortunate enough to be blessed with an Apple MacBook Air. My very first Apple computer. All who know of Apple are aware that this is the brand synonymous with photo, video and sound production. Today, I decided to put the aforementioned stereotype to the test.

I am no stranger to video production. From a very early age, I have had the fortune of being both in front of and behind the lens of my fathers camera equipment. This allowed me, on numerous occasions, to dabble in the fine art of filmmaking. Of course I am by no means a Spielberg, Kubrick or Cameron, far from it in fact, and I am very much still an amateur. Never the less I do enjoy the process. I find it a lot of fun. So I took my new camera, a Canon EOS 7D which I still have to learn to use, I headed out into the garden and I began to film whatever caught my interest.

The result? A trailer for the purely fictional and wistfully thought out independent art house film called UMFANA: the story of a boy.

The two stars of this *cough* award winning *cough* film are the handsome little tyke Sibusiso Mahlangu and the beautifully shaggylicious Chocolate Faith. Sibusiso is a real little trooper and was pretty excited to be a part of the “movie”. Both his mom and his grand mother work for us which is how I had access to this little rising star. Chocolate Faith is our Bouvier. She loves having her tummy rubbed and drinking out of the pool.

Once I had completed the trailer, a feat I feel guilty about taking credit for since iMovie ‘11 pretty much puts the whole thing together – a click here and a click there and presto, you have a movie trailer, I hosted a mini ‘screening’ on our home theatre. I gathered up everyone on the property and reserved a special seat for our new star. Everyone enjoyed it, especially my mom… who cried. But that was to be expected because my mom always gets emotional for things.

That pretty much sums up my afternoon. Instead of doing my Masters research, I ended up making a trailer for a non-existent movie. I could be the poster child for procrastination. Regardless, I feel good about it. It was almost as if I needed it. I also inadvertently proved that Apple is still the ‘shiz niz’ when it comes to video editing and I would very much like to, one day, hone my fledgling filmmaking skills on a Mac with Final Cut Pro.

“If it can be written, or thought, it can be filmed”
~ Stanley Kubrick

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”!