We bumped into Olympic gold medalist, UCI world champ and overall MTB legend Bart Brentjens at the ABSA Cape Epic media launch held in Cape Town recently. Bart was kind enough to share with us his aspirations and preparation planning for the 2010 ABSA Cape Epic.

No longer considered a passing fad, blogging has proven itself to be a valuable marketing tool for those who have valuable, interesting or even entertaining content to share with the world. Here are seven indispensable tools that may be useful for amateur and pro bloggers alike:

WordPress is a blog publishing application which may be used for basic content management and focuses on web standards and usability. Features include, but are far from limited to: a user-friendly workflow, rich plugin architecture and an advanced templating system. WordPress is free and has become one of the most popular blog software applications used. RSAWEB provides web-hosting packages suitable for hosting WordPress sites.

Bit.ly and Goo.gl are used to shorten the length of your URL, enabling you to share the link easily, Tweet and email to it to friends, with the objectives being: stability (ensuring the services have good uptime), security (protecting users from malware and phishing pages), speed (fast resolution of short URLs) and tracking (see how many people followed your link).

Google Analytics is a valuable tool which allows you to track the traffic information associated with your blog. You can view the number of unique visitors, page views, as well as how the visitors arrived at your site. This information provides you with useful insights into your target audience, hence preparing you to write better-targeted content and strengthen your marketing initiatives.

Google Feedburner allows bloggers the ability to create and manage their own custom RSS feeds and track the usage of their subscribers and readers. It is the leading tool for media distribution and audience engagement services for blogs and RSS feeds assisting bloggers, podcasters and commercial publishers to promote, deliver and ultimately profit from their blog.

Disqus expands on your blog’s discussion community through using Discus Comment as a comment system and moderation tool for your site, also allowing users to comment via their Facebook and Twitter accounts.

TubeMogul, if you decide to include video into your blog, then TubeMogul is the tool for you. TubeMogul presents the blogger with a single point for deploying uploads to multiple video sharing and media sites. Additionally, the analytic technology aggregates your video-viewing data to give users the information as to who, when, where and how often their videos are being watched.

HubSpot gets you found online with advanced inbound marketing tools and shows you how to convert more visitors into leads. The full package will burn a hole in your pocket, with the cost of packages ranging from US$250 to US$12,000 p/month. However, the 7-day free trial should give you a fair understanding into the products capabilities. There are also HubSpot free tools available at Website Grader, and Twitter Grader which will analyze your Twitter account, followers and Twitter habits.

These suggested tools are merely the entrance gate to a whole world of apps that will assist any blogger with getting the most out of their blog. There’s an app that will suit a bloggers every need, it’s just a question of: Which one is your favourite?

Geeks need love too. Its true.

Showing that special geek in your life that you care this Valentines Day might be the smartest move you’ve made since moving from Windows to Linux. We can help. We’re giving away 5 limited edition Valentines Day Geek Gear coffee mugs to help 5 lucky Geeks give a gift that says more than Twitter could ever express.

To stand a chance to win one of these testaments of love, simply ‘like’ this post (Facebook fans only) or leave a comment / geeky love poem with this post to enter the lucky draw. Winners will be announced on Wednesday, 10 Feb.

Here’s that link again.

When it comes to preparing for the Cape Epic, hard work and gutsy determination will only get you so far. Serious riders know that the science behind using the correct nutrition will give them an edge to prepare themselves for what is truly one of the greatest mountain biking challenges on the planet.

Team RSAWEB nutrition sponsor Biogen provided the team with a carefully selected range of products from their Enduro range, which is designed for athletes that need to perform over longer periods of time under demanding conditions.

In preparation for the Team RSAWEB 2010 Cape Epic Mission, our pro riders Nic & Simon Lamond put these products to the test in a “light” training ride from Cape Town to Sedgefield. After conquering some rather interesting terrain (see pic below), and pushing their fitness levels to breaking point, the lads had this to say about their new trail companions:

“The recovery drink (Recovergen) works well. It’s thick and milky and feels like it rebuilds us after a hard training session. Ready for the 9-5, or the next session!”

“We are both impressed with the taste of the Energy drink (Cytogen) and the Gels (Energy Gels). Seriously. The naartjie flavour drink is awesome. You can drink it all day which is critical on a 5-hour training ride and will be a god-send during the race.”

“As for the gels, they give a boost much like most gels out there do, but these ones don’t clog up, or make you wince at the taste and texture. Easy to swallow, and pleasant on the palate.”

Special thanks to Biogen for powering our team. Literally.

With the new-year in full swing, lets take a look at what strategic technologies we think are already beginning to take root, and will play a big role in shaping IT in South Africa during 2010:

1. Cloud based Technologies
With the success and rapid adoption of cloud based technologies in international markets, it’s only a matter of time before this game-changer reaches our shores, offering services that are faster to market than ever before. Expect some big developments in this space from RSAWEB in the near future.

2. Modular Data Center design
A more modular approach to data centre design will be employed, only providing resources for space being utilized. Previously, newly-built data centers often had huge areas of vacant floor space, fully powered and backed by an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), water-and air-cooled while they were predominantly empty.

3. Flash Memory
Flash memory is not a new technology, but it is only now beginning to gain momentum as the price drops with increasing demand.

According to international research company Gartner, at the current rate of price drops, this technology will enjoy more than a 100 percent compound annual growth rate during the new few years and become strategic in many IT areas including consumer devices, entertainment equipment and other embedded IT systems.

4. Virtualization for Availability
Recent developments in virtualization technology such as live migration, has brought a new focus on this technology, which now provides higher availability than before. Such developments will allow for the cost and complexity systems to be reduced.

5. Mobile Applications
An often overlooked factor in a country that has 3 times more mobile internet users than broadband users. By the end of 2010, Gartner predicts that world wide 1.2 billion people will carry handsets capable of rich, mobile commerce providing a prosperous environment for the convergence of mobility and the Web.