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31 Dec This post is from from my other blog here In Five tips for achieving IT success in 2008 by ZDNet's Michael Krigsman gives list of five tips that guarantee successful projects in 2008, summary follows below and full post here...
You would be surprised how often these basic principles of project management are not followed, and how resistant some people are to doing them. via Aide-mémoire
31 Dec This post is from from my other blog here Summary of the tips from LifeHack on getting to the top follows, the original post is from Oct 2007 but still resonates for me. This is worth thinking about today as we all consider resolutions for 2008.
"Friendly people have many friends: friends who will speak up for them, help them in tough times and watch out for their best interests,and, best of all, people forgive their mistakes and overlook their weaknesses.Today’s constant obsession with competition and winning makes it easy for people to slip into bad habits towards colleagues, customers, and subordinates. The more successful you are, the more important it becomes to act with humility and genuine warmth towards everyone."Read the full post ... via Aide-mémoire
31 Dec This post is from from my other blog here Changes to the law of consent in rape come into force today. I think it is a big step forward to have consent formally defined. Some people have claimed that these changes will cause frivolous cases where women will have a change of mind after the fact. But nobody has been able to provide any evidence to support such a claim. Instead I think that the clarity of the definition will make cases easier to run.In the latest amendment to the Crimes Amendment (Consent—Sexual Assault Offences) Act 2007 No 66 (Schedule 1 Amendments) under section 61HA(2) the "Meaning of consent A person consents to sexual intercourse if the person freely and voluntarily agrees to the sexual intercourse."and under section 61HA(4) consent is negated if:"(a) if the person does not have the capacity to consent to the sexual intercourse, including because of age or cognitive incapacity, or(b) if the person does not have the opportunity to consent to the sexual intercourse because the person is unconscious or asleep, or(c) if the person consents to the sexual intercourse because of threats of force or terror (whether the threats are against, or the terror is instilled in, that person or any other person), or(d) if the person consents to the sexual intercourse because the person is unlawfully detained."via Aide-mémoire
29 Dec This post is from from my other blog here This post over at Techcrunch on the now infamous Jim Chomas' naked & drunk video is worth a view. It is instructive as to some of the dangers inherent in posting video online. It is also utterly hilarious. I saw the url to it on Twitter and went there to watch the action. It was like watching an accident in motion - hard to look away, but quite entertaining. It is the same thing that keeps us watching Britney Spears et al. You want to see what can possibly happen next.Unlike when you write blog posts under the influence, video shows it all up close and in living colour. I suspect that Duncan Riley was correct when he said "If Jim had any career before it must surely join the deadpool now, or maybe not, after all drunk TV had some value tonight, at least from me and 100 others. Either way if the full Ustream clip gets released I’m betting this might well be the last great viral video of 2007." Perhaps Jimmy will just continue doing his show drunk and naked in future?via Aide-mémoire
29 Dec This post is from from my other blog here This is a really great summary of how people are using Twitter and why from Dan York over at Disruptive Conversations, in summary he uses Twitter:1. as a News Source2. as a Knowledge Network3. as a Virtual Water Cooler4. as a way to stay up-to-date with friends5. as a Travelogue6. to Track Conferences7. as a PR/marketing Tool8. as a Learning Tool9. as Fun10. as a Daily Lesson in Humility (and Brevity)But it is worth reading the entire post.via Aide-mémoire
29 Dec This post is from from my other blog here About a week ago I decided to start deleting some of my lesser used online accounts, starting with MySpace. It seems that it is very hard and takes a long time to delete a MySpace account.I went to the MySpace site and followed the directions to cancel the account, have to date done this process several times now. To no avail. Is it actually not possible to cancel your MySpace account? Finally in desperation I logged a support ticket, which received the following email. I have emailed another request to cancel this account, let's see if it can finally happen (it is only week #2 of the process).-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"Re: Account - How to delete? [ref:00D78NrS.50074htCV:ref]From: MySpace.com help@support.myspace.comSent: Friday, 28 December 2007 10:23:47 AMTo: Kate CarruthersHello, The information below provides instructions on how to cancel an account/profile and addresses why yours may have been cancelled by MySpace. You can cancel your account/profile by accessing go to "Home" and select "Account Settings". Please keep in mind that once your account/profile is deleted we WILL NOT be able to restore it for you. Click on the red link marked 'Cancel Account'. Your account/profile will be cancelled once this information is updated in our system. This may take some time to complete so please be patient. If you wish to use the same email address for a new account/profile this can only be done once the address is released.If your question pertains to why your account/profile was cancelled by MySpace or why content was deleted, please refer to our Terms of Service for more detailed explanations. Reasons could include, but are not limited to inapproproate images, racial content, excessive violence, copyright infringement of any kind, underage users, etc. MySpace is a community where free expression is encouraged. However, we also have a responsibility to all of our users to ensure everyone abides by our Terms of Service. If this does not address your issue completely, please press "Reply" and provide any additional information you feel is relevant.Please do not alter the subject as it will be considered a new inquiry. For the most up to date messages about MySpace, subscribe to the MySpace Help blog! You get updates almost every day! Go here to subscribe.www.myspace.com/myspacehelp Thank you for contacting MySpace.com.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Please cancel my account I have tried to do this severaltimes now but no email has arrived to finalize the process(yes I have checked the junk mail). Many thanks for your help.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------via Aide-mémoire
29 Dec This post is from from my other blog here This video from McDaniel Partners via Phil Gerbyshak from Slacker Manager gives some food for thought on employee engagement. It makes me wonder about the financial cost of employee disengagement?via Aide-mémoire
27 Dec This post is from from my other blog here Repost from STUB website follows ...Some Melbournites (well, at least @fulltimecasual) are in our fair city, and have decreed that there shall be a STUB meetup, this Sunday (30th December) from 2pm at the Glenmore Hotel.Aide-mémoire
27 Dec This post is from from my other blog here Over at the Sydney Morning Herald website Richard Ackland summed up some of the more memorable happenings in Australian legal circles in 2007, but two stood out for me:Aide-mémoire
27 Dec This post is from from my other blog here Great snarky post from Marc Andreessen about "When non-technologists write about technology: They're so CUTE!" - this is a great serve on the type of overblown analysis of tech stuff done by people who don't have a clue. Really worth a read!via Aide-mémoire
26 Dec This post is from from my other blog here I came across another lame article (no I will not dignify the piece of crap by linking to it, just take my word for it) that talked about there being no "I" in team. It made me cranky again (just after I'd recovered from the recent Samsung A701 mobile phone malfunctions too) as it avoided the whole point that teams consist of a number of individuals (a.k.a. me's or ids). The simple fact is that teams consisting merely of rampant ids in the form of individuals who do not have predetermined and agreed manners, forms and norms of behaviour are doomed to perpetual idiocy and indecision or rule by loudmouth. Further, it is management of organisations that sets and enables the particular form of team behaviour that is exhibited in each place.From my experience, the best teams are those where decision making and rules of behaviour are agreed upfront with a view to ensuring that the best possible decision is made.Well, I'm sick and tired of being in teams where the stupidest but loudest and best connected idiot in the room determines the direction that the group should take. I'm sick of decisions being made by the least qualified individuals in the building when there are others who actually have a clue in the particular problem domain. My new year wish is for a world where people become self aware enough to admit they don't know everything and defer to other individuals who actually have a clue about the issue under consideration.Let's see how my new year wish unfolds?via Aide-mémoire
24 Dec This post is from from my other blog here Thanks to Michael Arrington over at Techcrunch for this vid, Kina Grannis is great and I too like to Digg:via Aide-mémoire
24 Dec
24 Dec
24 Dec This post is from from my other blog here Over being cranky now - best wishes to everyone for peace and happiness this Christmas Eve.via Aide-mémoire
24 Dec This post is from from my other blog here This stupid Samsung A701 mobile phone crashed again. Had to remove my battery & SIM card to reboot the phone again after a yellow screen of death. This is not a phone it is just an annoyance. Can't wait to replace it immediately the shops open after Xmas.This is the first phone I've had that crashes more than once in a blue moon.via Aide-mémoire
23 Dec This post is from from my other blog here It is difficult for me to find words adequate to express my unhappiness with Telstra's crappy NextG network and the equally crappy Samsung A701 phone that I own. But I'm going to try ...The NextG network is the most unreliable thing since the early days of digital networks in Australia - high levels of drop outs, and there are dead zones all over suburban Sydney. God knows what it's like for anyone in a smaller city. For heaven's sake I could not even get a call out in Hornsby today, and it drops out regularly on the lower north shore and Northbridge, Chatswood, and St Ives. Luckily my friends are now used to one of us having to call back after a drop out. Maybe it is part of Telstra's plan to increase revenue by doubling the cost of each call due to these drop outs mid -conversation?I wish the NextG people would just find out what their brethren over at Bigpond are doing because they've managed to provide me with a reliable DSL service for several years now.As for the phone, it is an annoying thing that is so unreliable that I'm going to replace it immediately after Christmas. Maybe I just got a lemon, but I will NEVER EVER by a Samsung phone again. It needs to go and be repaired again. So now I am going back to my old 2G Nokia handset which, by the way, still works day in and day out - even if it is a little clunky.I feel better with that off my chest - still not happy, but better out than in.via Aide-mémoire
23 Dec This post is from from my other blog here Suspect that video based social networking is about to take off in 2008. But of course, I could be wrong!During 2007 we've seen the consolidation of video sharing on sites like YouTube and others, now we're seeing sites like seesmic launching. Early in 2007 lots of normal people (i.e. non-geeks) were talking about Utube (sic) but had never seen it, but now everyone knows what it is. Growth in video communications is coming our way. Who knows, soon I might even have a friend who can take one of my video phone calls?via Aide-mémoire
23 Dec This post is from from my other blog here It is always instructive to watch what a smart & successful company like General Electric* does and try to work out why they are doing it.Several years ago GE spun off their insurance businesses and this divestment was of interest to me at the time because GE was removing a number of capital intensive operations from their business while retaining an equity interest. By this move GE no longer had to maintain tier-1 capital for these insurance businesses but instead retained a dividend stream from their equity, they also substantially reduced their own risk in those operations. By 2006 GE had sold their remaining equity in these operations, noting in their 2006 annual accounts that:"In 2006, we substantially completed our planned exit of the insurance businesses through the sale of the property and casualty insurance and reinsurance businesses and the European life and health operations of GE Insurance Solutions Corporation (GE Insurance Solutions) and the sale of GE Life, our U.K.-based life insurance operation, to Swiss Reinsurance Company (Swiss Re). Also during 2006, we completed the sale of our remaining 18% investment in Genworth Financial, Inc. (Genworth), our formerly wholly-owned subsidiary that conducted most of our consumer insurance business, including life and mortgage operations, through a secondary public offering." (Source: GE 2006 annual report p. 49)This deal by GE really got me thinking about the problems associated with insurance products in the globalised markets where risk is interlinked between geographies and products. With the sub prime mortgages problem in the US lenders have loaned money to people who cannot repay their mortgages. The lenders don't really care because all the mortgages are insured, but the insurers are probably very worried right now. And, if the mortgage insurers have been following the lead of the lenders you can bet that they also relaxed their underwriting rules to write those policies.The credit crunch is going to be worse for the insurers because often they not only insured the mortgages, but also provided the deposit bonds. Also the ratings agencies are really going to come under some scrutiny - the real question is do they have any clue as to the underlying risk of the products they are rating? I suspect the answer is about to be revealed as a resounding not really.The sub prime mortgage problem exists because lenders ignored prudent credit policy on the optimistic basis of a rising property market. We are now seeing the almost inevitable consequence of these poor credit policies. GE had the foresight to reduce their exposure to these insurance businesses, a pity some of the other players were not so prudent.Aide-mémoire
22 Dec This post is from from my other blog here Here is a story for those among us who do not believe that software testing is critical, this is from New Scientist's Doh! Of Technology:Back to the futureIN FEBRUARY 2007, 12 F-22 Raptors, the US air force's new stealth fighters, left Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii, bound for Okinawa, Japan, on the high-tech planes' first overseas outing. Things went smoothly until they reached the 180th meridian - otherwise known as the International Date Line.Some of the pilots suddenly found themselves without any navigation aids. With nothing to tell them their compass heading or even whether they were level or not, it was as if the pilots had been instantaneously transported from the cockpit of the world's most advanced aircraft into one dating from the first world war.Fortunately the skies were clear, so the squadron did an about-face and was able to follow its in-flight refuelling tankers back to Hickam.The error was diagnosed as a problem with a "partial line of code" that had pitched the planes' computers into an infinite loop of trying and failing to calculate their position while dealing with an unexpected date. A fix was issued, and three weeks later the planes made their trip to Japan without a hitch."Reliance on electronics has changed the flight-test process," saysDonald Shepperd, once head of the US Air National Guard. "It used to be tails falling off, now it's typos that ground a fighter." via Aide-mémoire
This post is from from my other blog here Finally got an invite to Seesmic last night from Loic and, of course my webcam is not working on my desktop. This means I will have to use the Mac, which I generally only use on the road. It would seem very strange to use it here in my study. Unless tomorrow I brave the Christmas retail madness and buy a replacement. Dunno what to do for my first video though?via Aide-mémoire
22 Dec This post is from from my other blog here Techcrunch goes political with the US election, Michael Arrington explains:"TechCrunch wants to provide a voice for digital policy and technology issues in the upcoming U.S. Presidential election, and so we've decided to hold our own political primaries online. Voting will be open from Tuesday, December 18 through midnight pst Friday, January 18. TechCrunch will endorse one candidate from each the Democratic and Republican party as the "Tech President" candidate based on the popular results of reader voting and blog input from our community of technology leaders and entrepreneurs."More at http://primaries.techcrunch.com/via Aide-mémoire
22 Dec
22 Dec This post is from from my other blog here I recently upgraded to Microsoft's Office 2007 and what a pleasant surprise it was! The upgrade process was really easy, the product itself has a really nice user interace, and it's easy to use. This is so much better than the previous versions, although I do suspect having a lot of RAM helps.via Aide-mémoire
22 Dec This post is from from my other blog here I am reading Christopher Hitchen's Thomas Paine's Rights of Man: A Biography  Aide-mémoire
22 Dec This post is from from my other blog here Gmail has been crashing my Firefox since I upgraded to version 2.0.0.11It is very annoying so I've started running IE7 againvia Aide-mémoire
22 Dec This post is from from my other blog here During 2007 I have become a fan of Apple - just a Macbook and and Ipod nothing fancy. But they are sooooo easy to use, and sooooo stylish in design. According to this quiz:Aide-mémoire
22 Dec This post is from from my other blog here In my house, somewhat to the consternation of various relatives, we have decided that we are not doing anything for Christmas or on Christmas day. This means no presents, no family get together, no shopping at the mall (except for basic foodstuffs). We are just going to stay home and have a normal day off. Rest, maybe go to the beach, have a nap, etc.We are not grinches, we are not angry with anyone. The fact is that our families are financially able to buy their own stuff, we are too. Nobody needs more food than we normally eat. We're not saying we don't want to catch up with family members. In fact, we plan to catch up with some them who are based in Sydney over the holiday period.Nobody in my family is particularly committed to the actual date of 25 Dec, let's face it Jesus was most likely born some time in April. December was decided on by the Church to hijack the Roman feast of Saturnalia, which was celebrated between December 17-25; or that of Sol Invictus. More on the origins of Christmas on Wikipedia.I've got no issues with Christianity, I just think that Jesus would be horrified by the commercial debauchery that occurs in his name each year. It's time for me to put a stop to it in my life. Simplicity, peace and no unnecessary shopping are the watchwords for this Christmas.via Aide-mémoire
21 Dec This post is from from my other blog here Some nifty advice on how to work out if your son (not daughter though) is a hacker, Leo Laporte and Martin Sargent of TechTV discuss an article from Adequacy.org (it's an oldie but a goodie). via Aide-mémoire
21 Dec This post is from from my other blog here Thanks to Chris Brogan for this link. This is interesting - as mentioned I don't get pownce; but use jaiku and twitter. My preferences seem to match the stats: twitter, jakiu, pownce.  The stats on number of people show a clear preference for twitter:twitter.com 469,914jaiku.com 72,161pownce.com 85,218via Aide-mémoire
21 Dec
20 Dec This post is from from my other blog here This is great commentary on some of the anti-One Laptop discussion recently. Harris makes some good points. I've seen on of these PCs and they are beautifully designed and engineered. Some people just don't get it. OLPC: the best designed notebook in the world by ZDNet's Robin Harris -- "The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) is the best-designed notebook computer in the world. It just isn’t designed for you. Get over it. Criticism of the OLPC centers on the fact that it isn’t like the notebooks adults use. As the ASUS Eee shows a low-cost conventional laptop can be powerful. But that misses the point. [...]" via Aide-mémoire
20 Dec This post is from from my other blog here Here is another critique of Twitter - this time as the enemy of corporate confidentiality. Does Krigsman not realise that the problem already exists with mobile phones & PDAs? I can already send a text message to the 200 people in my mobile phone's address book. Although Twitter does make it more easy to do. It just means that organisations need to ensure people are aware of confidentiality issues. But you can never legislate against stupidity, so someone will surely leak something sometime. Twitter is dangerous by ZDNet's Michael Krigsman -- "Twitter is rapidly becoming a serious threat to corporate information protection. The program’s great strength — many-to-many messaging — becomes its great weakness in this context. Imagine this scenario: 20 people are in a confidential meeting, one of them using Twitter. This attendee broadcasts an off-hand “tweet” (Twitter comment) to his or her “followers” (Twitter friends). [...]"via Aide-mémoire
19 Dec This post is from from my other blog here .flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }  Pirate Pete, originally uploaded by kate.carruthers. Here is pirate Pete the accountant showing off his booty (obtained from Harry's Cafe). This is his natural state.
15 Dec This post is from from my other blog here This is one of those stories that friends email you with the request to email it to 10 friends for a 'miracle'. For some reason I decided to check if it was true and discovered that it is alleged to be true. In any case I like it. It has always seemed strange to me that we wait until someone is dead before talking about their good points. I have always thought this was better stuff to hear while you are still around, also hearing it might encourage people to do more good stuff. Here is the story from Truth or Fiction:"Aide-mémoire
15 Dec
14 Dec This post is from from my other blog here Here is a great story from ISN on Tue, 11 Dec 2007 01:01:27 -0600 (CST) - now the bad guys can extract personal info using flirting robots. Talk about paranoia for online dating!"http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9831133-56.htmlBy Ina Fried, December 7, 2007Those entering online dating forums risk having more than their hearts stolen. A program that can mimic online flirtation and then extract personalinformation from its unsuspecting conversation partners is making the rounds in Russian chat forums, according to security software firm PCTools.The artificial intelligence of CyberLover's automated chats is goodenough that victims have a tough time distinguishing the "bot" from areal potential suitor, PC Tools said. The software can work quickly too,establishing up to 10 relationships in 30 minutes, PC Tools said. It compiles a report on every person it meets complete with name, contactinformation, and photos."As a tool that can be used by hackers to conduct identity fraud,CyberLover demonstrates an unprecedented level of social engineering,"PC Tools senior malware analyst Sergei Shevchenko said in a statement.Among CyberLover's creepy features is its ability to offer a range ofdifferent profiles from "romantic lover" to "sexual predator." It canalso lead victims to a "personal" Web site, which could be used todeliver malware, PC Tools said.Although the program is currently targeting Russian Web sites, PC Toolsis urging people in chat rooms and social networks elsewhere to be onthe alert for such attacks. Their recommendations amount to just goodsense in general, such as avoiding giving out personal information andusing an alias when chatting online. The software company believes thatCyberLover's creators plan to make it available worldwide in February.Robot chatters are just one type of social-engineering attack that usestrickery rather than a software flaw to access victim's valuableinformation. Such attacks have been on the rise and are predicted tocontinue to grow.Update 4:10 p.m. PST: Mike Greene, vice president of product strategy atPC Tools, said that the company learned of CyberLover's existenceearlier this week as part of its regular monitoring of IRC chat roomsand other places where talk about malware takes place.Greene said that it is hard to tell how prevalent use of the program isin Russia."We don't have exact statistics, but I think it's early on," he said.Greene said that the perceived anonymity of the Internet hasdesensitized people to the fact that information disclosed in an onlinechat can cause real-world damage."People are used to not opening attachments or maybe not clicking on alink that shows up in their IM," he said. "But this emulates a realconversation, so you more are likely to give over personal information,click on a link or send your photograph." via Aide-mémoire
14 Dec This post is from from my other blog here Over at Techdirt it has been noted that "David Hazinski, a journalism professor and former NBC correspondent, claiming that 'unfettered' citizen journalism is 'too risky' and that it needs to be regulated (via Romenesko) by 'official' media companies, handing out 'certificates' to citizen journalists".It is great to see that free speech is so well understood by an actual journalist, pity about his elitist tendencies. There is much in the modern media that is merely opinion, and that opinion is no better than anyone else's. And it is certainly not more valid than any citizen journalist. It is only in the area of fact-checked news stories that 'official' news media may have an argument. But this raises issues about 'facts' and their interpretation within an ideology and their presentation as objective. But that's another whole can of worms.One thing I ponder is how did journalists get to be so special? Again the press has lost sight of its own origins in the 18th century pamphlets and newsletters. Ordinary people took up their pens to voice their own opinions and it has grown into the press industry we know today. The Internet is just enabling us to reclaim citizen journalism for the people (OMG that sounds a little bit Marxist, but you know what I mean).via Aide-mémoire
13 Dec This post is from from my other blog here This via Michael Krigsman is the funniest thing I've seen in a long time - it's an error on the huge billboard in Times Sqaure in New York. "The big screen in New York’s Times Square runs Windows and Adobe Flash. I guess you could say that Flash crashed big-time (no pun intended). From Andrew Flynn’s website: And here’s a close-up of the error box:"
13 Dec This post is from from my other blog here Over at Freakanomics they did a Q&A with the creator of Second Life, Philip Rosedale about Second Life (aka SL). This is interesting stuff - the questions are wide ranging from security and privacy to economics.But I still don't think that SL is a very good user experience in Australia due to low bandwidth & our generally 3rd world broadband (thanks again Telstra).via Aide-mémoire
13 Dec This post is from from my other blog here I can't believe that crappy program says I look like these celebrities!  Aide-mémoire
13 Dec This post is from from my other blog here Laurel Papworth - Online Communities - Australia and Global: eMarketer.com is a SPAM site...Poor SilkCharm is getting spammed by www.eMarketer.com this is bad manners!
12 Dec This post is from from my other blog here Great to see that Pia and Jeffrey Waugh have been awarded the NSW Pearcey Award 2007 for their collaboration within the open source software sector and their sustained contribution to the Linux movement in Australia (more at LinuxWorld)via Aide-mémoire
08 Dec This post is from from my other blog here This visit to Twitter by Loïc Le Meur is very amusing ...via Aide-mémoire
08 Dec This post is from from my other blog here Loïc Le Meur est un « serial entrepreneur » français de 35 ans, he recently shared his 10 tips for internet startups:
Thanks to Carleen Hawn for this list.
08 Dec This post is from from my other blog here Good discussion by Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins on Mashable: Have we really drunk the koolaid? Has the interet jumped the shark?I think there is business value in the internet yet. But I also think there is a lot of dross in the market. But you need that volume of activity to generate the real innovations.via Aide-mémoire
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