Mates and family, they are definitely awesome! The best thing that has come from joining the Fire Service is the friendships that have developed. Last week we had a serious storm that blew a big tree across the road, destroying a power pole and tearing the lines from our rental property. Today two of my favorite people came over and helped restore things. That's Bain up in the basket and Vern down below. We had to spend the day trimming trees to re-thread the line, but it was very cool, we laughed, and I was very grateful. Days like today are also when family rallies around. While we did that To View More >>

I've just been out for a beer, a curry, and movie with my friend Joe. Always a very cool experience, and the conversation is always deep. Joe is an amazing man, someone I respect and admire and although more than capable of good humour and silliness he is also full of good advice. One of the things he often challenges me with is that he thinks I need to let up on myself, and give myself a break ... This is probably true, but what he doesn't realise is that my whole life I have wanted to be the drummer boy ... the person people follow ... inspiring enough to get them to jump into the unknown. I To View More >>

I just came across a very cool blog post on the Neatorama website covering the history of some big tech company logos. Sounds a bit dull but it's actually really interesting and includes some very cool stories. I didn't know this, but from the post was amazed to learn that Ronald Wayne, along with Wozniak and Jobs, actually founded Apple Computer. In 1976, after only working for two weeks at Apple, Wayne relinquished his stock (10% of the company) for a one-time payment of $800 because he thought Apple was too risky! Just imagine ... today that stock would be worth billions. LOL Now I have been To View More >>

I talk with people a lot about website creation, online communities and blogging and I’m constantly surprised at the differing attitudes to what works, what’s trendy and often what’s affordable. On one side of the room, the geeks say Web 2.0 is about the technology; on the other the marketing people and professors reckon it’s about the people. But isn't it about the purpose? Why are we doing this, and who is it for? Restaurants are like this. You can build the most elegant dining room, back it with the best kitchen and staff, invite all the popular people – but they won't come back unless To View More >>

Google is one of those companies I would like to avoid if I could. Not for any rational reason, just that they have become all pervasive and I want to slow them down. Like search, however, most if not all Google apps work really well and are hard to beat. Google Reader is no exception. To understand what it does, you first need an understanding of RSS; if you don't have that, click here. I follow a lot of blogs as I am interested in a number of things, but visiting them directly is impractical and most other RSS clients just didn't stack up. The reader works, so here is an introduction from an To View More >>