As I watched an introductory video for the WolframAlpha launch, my memory raced back to when I first saw the internet in the early 90's and told my wife how it was going to "change the world". WolframAlpha isn't a search engine like Google, it's something completely different. In my opinion there is a place for both as they do things differently ... but if this gets hold this will change the world. It's offers a completely revolutionary way of looking at data and for the average person to explore relationships. As Danny and I discussed today, we can in our heads imagine how the search works at To View More >>

Finally the OCR (Official Cash Rate) in New Zealand has been dropped to 8.0%. As an exporter we have been doing it tough for years now and maybe this is the relief we need. http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/news/2008/3376920.html I used to joke, in a black humour kind of way, that what exporters needed was a "mad cow" to take the edge off the economy. Nothing else seemed like it would work ... Then with some sadness I realized we already had one, but she was running the country, time would not be on her side forever ... Unfortunately our relief comes only because the economy overall seems to be screwed. To View More >>

The New Zealand Herald ran a story this morning about Kevin Roberts joining the board of New Zealand's Telecom. Some stories honestly just make me go, OMG, what? Here is one of my business heroes joining the board of a company (Telecom) that "I hate to love". I continue to support them despite myself, and despite the way they present themselves to their clients. But I would love to love them. In the interests of full disclosure, our company are pretty big telecommunication users. We are heavily dependent on Telecom for our international telephone presence, and we're big users of high speed internet. To View More >>

Well it's been a good week. The guys got a new version of the software out, I got lots of work done and the dollar has dropped below 70 cents for the first time in almost a year. I'm about to have a beer with the crew, but will finish off the work week with a feel good video about old friends. I have a few people I need to reconnect with and this made me think of them. Have a good weekend everyone. To View More >>

My career started the traditional way, many moons ago, running a lemonade stand, collecting coke bottles, mowing lawns, and basically doing anything I could to turn a dollar. While at university in the late 80s I installed computer systems for a legal firm, and worked in hospitality as a waiter at the Regent Hotel in Auckland. I also worked in the family handcraft/souvenir store, Earthworks, in Parnell, Auckland. Computers were my favourite toys. My Dad had been into computers since before either the Mac or the PC (those were the days), so even though there were no computers in schools I was a To View More >>