Book review: The Man in the White Suit: The Stig, Le Mans, the Fast Lane and Me

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For years the identity of the The Stig, the racing driver in white overalls that tested cars on the hugely popular Top Gear show, was unknown. He was invincible around Dunsfold, Top Gear’s private track, where he set lap records in pretty much any and every car imaginable. The Stig became a Top Gear cult and after 10 seasons of being unknown, he was eventually outed. The Man in the White Suit is Ben Collins’ book on his life as a racing driver and ultimately The Stig.

The Stig. The Man in the White Suit. Ben Collins

I must admit I was a little let down by the book. The chapters don’t really follow on from one another and because of that, some chapters start off extremely vague leaving you to read a page or 2 trying to work out where this fits into the timeline of Ben Collins life. That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed all the racing stories as they are extremely detailed and the style of writing gives you a great idea of what it was like to drive all those amazing cars. The book details more of the life of Ben Collins the racing driver trying to cut his teeth in Nascar, Le Mans and other racing series than his journey as The Stig, but you do get a great sense of what it was like to be a part of Top Gear. He also writes about all the celebrities he has met and raced with from Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton to Tom Cruise and Jamie Oliver.

Ben also goes into great detail on some of the super cars he has driven over the years. Super cars such as the Aston Martin DBS, Ferrari 430 Scuderia, Bugatti Veyron to the Red Bull F1 car, Nascar and Le Mans series. You really start drooling at all the amazing cars he got to drive the balls off!

So if you into super cars, racing and enjoy Top Gear, I would recommend reading the book. It’s a great foray into the life of a racing driver who had what it takes to be a F1 driver, but without that lucky break, never made it to the pinnacle of motor sport.

Where to for me in 2011?

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People like new things. Buying new things, starting new hobbies, making new friends and also starting new years. I love starting a new year for 2 reasons. One, I get to look back at the previous year and I’m always taken back at how much I’ve seemed to achieve in 12 months. Every year since I’ve left school has topped the previous year and without fail, there have always major changes or events that I look back on and are very grateful for. The second reason is I get to set myself a few goals and things I would like to accomplish for a new year. Here is a list of my goals for 2011.

#1: Grow Whitespace. Whitespace is a (web/mobile/application) design focused company I started with 2 awesome chaps Adrian and Paul. It really is just a coming together of 3 freelancers under 1 banner, but it is also so much more. I want to grow (and properly launch) Whitespace in the first quarter of 2011 and make 100% sure that Whitespace is a sustainable business for years to come.

#2: Travel. I’ve been fortunate enough to travel overseas on holiday over the past few years. This year is definitely going to be no exception with hopefully a few countries in Europe getting to feel the click of my camera and an end of year trip to the United States being planned.

#3: Become fitter and healthier. Who doesn’t usher in a new year without mentioning the words diet and gym in their new years resolutions? I started running, playing 5-a-side soccer and gyming at least twice a week in 2010. So fitness wise, I’m pretty much on track already, although I would love to try mountain biking and more importantly enjoy a healthier form of eating. I love food, but when it comes to getting in shape, what you eat is 70% of the effort with exercise a paltry 30%.

#4: Read more books. I do enjoy reading, but don’t read enough. Being a geek, I believe getting an Amazon Kindle will get me reading more just as much as getting the Nike+ kit got me running!

#5: Blog more often. This is something I say every year, and I’ll never give up until I’ve managed to blog once a week for a whole year! I also want to do some work on my other blogs and get them up and running again. This blog also needs a bit of a makeover, so #5.1 is redesign my blog.

Who knows how 2011 will turn out for me, but I’m sure its going to top 2010!

Managing data only sim cards in your iPad or Galaxy Tab

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Apple iPad and Galaxy Tab

The Apple iPad and Galaxy Tab

If you own a device like an Apple iPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab, you want to be able to use 3G data when you are not at home or in the office where the Wi-Fi flows like water. The problem with having a SIM card in one of these devices is actually managing the data usage!

It’s not often I’m using my iPad outside of a Wi-Fi enabled area, so signing a 24 month data contract for my iPad doesn’t make sense. However, running a pre-paid SIM card for data only is a real hassle! Topping up with data requires you to top up the SIM card with credit, then take the SIM card out and put it in a cellphone to then convert that credit into a data bundle. You can also go down to cellular shop and they can automatically top up your SIM card with a data bundle, but once again, that takes effort.

Enter Flickswitch

Flickswitch is a hassle free way of managing data on a pre-paid SIM card. You load money into your Flickswitch account, setup rules to determine when and how many times you would like to top up with data bundles and then easily monitor your data usage!

I’ve currently set mine to only top up with a 110mb data bundle a maximum of once a month. Also, it will only top up when my current data bundle falls below 5MB. For those data hungry users, you can easily change the rules depending on how your current usage. What’s even better is you are able to monitor your daily usage too!

You can also manage multiple SIM cards on Flickswitch and their service is not only used for data. You can manage pre-paid credit and data, so you’ll be able to manage your family’s and business SIM cards!

The service costs R6 per month per SIM card and their data and top up pricing is the same as retail pricing.

Win a luxury VIP weekend away in Camps Bay!

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Get this, you and 3 friends could be treated to a weekend of opulence by staying in a luxury villa in Camps Bay as well as getting treated to a night out on the town! In addition you will be chauffeured in a limo for the duration of the weekend and two highly trained bodyguards will protect you from stalkers and the paparazzi!

Cape Realty International has launched a new blog called Luxury Cape Town. In conjunction with the blog they have launched a competition where you could win a weekend of luxury in Camps Bay. The prize involves a weekend stay at a luxury Camps Bay home, a chauffeured limousine, two bodyguards (on hand for the duration of the weekend) as well as a night out to Camps Bay’s hot spots with VIP treatment.

To win the prize, simply like their Facebook fan page and let them know which celebrity you would like to live like for a weekend. The more creative and wackier the better!

Follow them on Twitter for more regular updates, and if you have an iPhone, download their iPhone app, Luxury Cape Town.

Find your iPhone or iPad

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With the latest iOS update (4.2), Apple have released the Find your iPhone service that used to be part of a Mobile Me, for free!

What is Find your iPhone all about?

Find your iPhoneFind your iPhone is an app that you install on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, that allows you to do 4 things. Find your device on a map, send a message to the device, remote lock the device or remote wipe all sensitive data off the device.

So if your phone is ever misplaced or stolen, you’ll be able to remote lock the phone with a pin and leave a message on the phone for the person to contact you to give it back!

Find your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch

How to activate Find your iPhone

The app that you can download to your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch is only useful if you have multiple devices. You can however login to Mobile Me with your free account and monitor all your devices from the web.

To activate Find your iPhone, go to settings > Mail, Contacts, Calenders and Add Account. Then add a Mobile Me account and login with your Apple ID. It’s the same username and password that you login to iTunes with. You can also create a brand new Apple ID if you do not have one yet. Once that has been done, just enable Find your iPhone and you good to go!

Login to http://me.com to test to see all is working and send your device a message!

Work with me

Would you like a blog like this? Does your brand need a mobile presence? Want to know more about Social Media and how you can benefit from it? Get in touch with me!

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