Weblog | Events | Features | Gallery | Links | Consultants directory | Zine | About | Contact Weblog> February 2003 030228: Fri How American Greetings used multiple channels to sign up paid e-subscribers This article featured on Internetretailer.com is a cool read about how American Greetings partnered with Kmart to offer a $10 gift card and also partnered with Conde Naste publications to offer 3 free months of 3 issues of their magazines if people subscribed to the American greetings site. For that price, American Greetings would let subscribers send an unlimited number of ecards in one year. They signed up 20,000 subscribers in a short period of time. Tablet PC Forbes.com has this article on some of the tablet PCs / laptops currently available. Starting your business on a part-time basis This article is featured on the Entrepreneur.com site. It's titled 'Your Good Side: Don't quit your day job. Really, we mean it. Start a business on the side while you work full time for someone else.' It gives examples of people who have done this and some have chosen to tell their bosses, others haven't. It's talks about commiting to your business if you're serious about getting it up and running, even though you're working part-time hours on it. Hear it from the BOSS: Leading CEOs talk with Adam Spencer - Apr 3, Sydney This AFR Boss event where Adam Spencer talks to Leading CEOs sounds interesting. It's going to be at the City Recital Hall, Angel Place, Sydney, 6-8pm. Cost $25. "Getting to the top is about hard work and talent but when the pressure goes on in the corporate world, it’s also about having the edge in ideas, skills and commitment. And there’s only so much you get from the text books. In the end, some of the best lessons are from the people at the top. They’re the one who can tell it how it is and tell you what to focus on and what to avoid. In Sydney on April 3, come along to a special AFR BOSS event as CEOs, executives and organisational leaders talk to presenter Adam Spencer about talent, achievement and building a career. Speakers include: Michael Hawker, CEO, IAG Brett Godfrey, CEO, Virgin Blue Malcolm Broomhead, CEO, Orica Mary Foley, CEO, St Vincents Christine Gee, publisher Diane Grady, company director" Switch to Linux Flash animation One of my engo friends sent this link to the group. It's about why you switch to Linux. Sea Cow Had fish and chips from Sea Cow, Darlinghurst for dinner. This place has gotten really busy since the 'Phamish' Vietnamese restaurant across the road from it opened. Kinokuniya books Been meaning to check out the Kinokuniya bookshop on Level 2, Galeries Victoria, 500 George St, Sydney, opp. the QVB. So after work today, I walked over from Darling Harbour into town. I only had a quick look around the place - and it's pretty cool so far! I want to go back and check out their design books. They've got lots of comic and Japanese books as well. The place has a fun, spritely vibe. It feels a bit different. There's also a nice stationery section as well. Borders' magazine collection is better though. They had 20% off business and computer books. Got the book 'Your Money or Your Life'. Saw it and had a brief look at the summary chapter online so thought I'd get it. 030227: Thu Bonus books I recently saw this posting on an email list titled 'Supersearcher challenge' to help an academic in South Australia find the source of a quote that has often been attributed to Thomas Jefferson. Anyway, I did a quick search on the web at the time and found that the quote couldn't be confirmed as being attributed to Jefferson. Anyway, in the post today, I got a nice surprise. As a thank you for being the first to send him a response, I got given three books: 'The Seven Faces of Information Literacy' by Christine Bruce, 'Website Indexing: enhancing access to information within websites' by Glenda Browne and Jonathan Jermey, and 'Liblaf One: Cartoons for Libraries' published by the University of South Australia Library - which is a cool publication! So this was all pretty cool. I was told that I was indeed a 'geek' when I was seen to be so excited to receive these titles. Also got sent two tickets to the 'RedCarpet' short film festival in Glebe. V. cool! Blogging for dollars This article in the SMH discusses the potential ways of making money through blogging. Colorgenics If you're into online psychological tests, then check out Colorgenics and have a bit of fun doing their tests. They have colour and shape tests you can do to find out what your mood and personality is... Your Money of Your Life Came across a posting on a financial independence workshop at the active.org.au website which linked to a summary of the book 'Your Money or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship With Money and Achieving Financial Independence' by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. It contains some interesting ideas. It discusses the idea that people sacrifice their 'life energy' time to make a living and to perhaps buy things they don't really want or need etc. It's about getting your priorities right and doing what makes you happy, for example spending time with your family instead... I may see if my the bookshops still have this one in stock as it seems to cover ideas I've also thought about over the years. Prophecy Magazine - a new comic arts magazine launching soon "Prophecy Magazine, a new sequential art publication, is set to launch in early summer, 2003. Prophecy features cutting edge, alternative content from independent artists and writers from around the world, half of whom are women. This full-color, tabloid-sized magazine is already being heralded as the next biggest thing to hit the comics world. We're currently offering reduced subscription rates and, if you're an artist, we're accepting submissions, via our website, for possible inclusion in upcoming issues. We are dedicated to changing current perceptions and stereotypes about the comic arts and need your help to pass along the word. Check us out and let me know what you think." Passing Away Was in Auckland, NZ from Fri - Sun last week. My uncle passed away. He was in his 80s. Cousins, aunts and uncles ... from New York, Wellington, Sydney, all flew over to Auckland for the service. Hadn't seem some of the relos for 3 years and others for even longer. It's amazing that we were all gathered at the same place at the same time for an event like this. Makes you think that maybe people should make more of an effort to see each other when they're alive and well, and to also come together more often for happy occasions as well. Lots of us were in tears as we listened to the service. The last bit was walking up to the stage where he lay and placing flowers and petals by him. He was a great man and lived a great life surrounded by family and friends. The realisation hit that we would never talk to him again in a physical sense, but he will always be in our memories and in our hearts. That night, the relos all got together and basically just caught up with each other, and sat around and talked all night about anything and everything. It was a pretty special couple of days. Having the extended family come together like this to say we are all there for each other is a pretty powerful and comforting feeling. 030216: Sun Walk Against the War Got up this morning, watched the Sunday program and then caught a bus into town for the Walk Against the War march at Hyde Park, Sydney, starting 12pm. The news tonight reports that there were approx. 250,000 people in Sydney. It was an amazing sight! The news also showed clips of similar rallys all over the world. It's great to see the world's population gathering together to make a stand for peace! Now if only Howard, Bush and Blair would only act upon the wishes of its people .... We all live in hope! After this, we walked back and on the way there was a Mardi Gras 2003 fair. So had a look at some of the stalls before continuing on down King St, Newtown. Got a frozen strawberry yoghurt from the IGA. Then went to buy some groceries in Marrickville. Got drenched on the way back but it was great as I was about to have a shower after all that walking in the humid weather anyway. Rushed to put out buckets, watering cans and indoor plants to catch the rain - but then it stopped. Only managed to collect a few drops of water. It would've been great if it just kept pouring down with rain through the afternoon and into the night. Active.org.au 'Stuff for Social Change' If you want to find out about any activities, events etc related to social change then visit the site http://www.active.org.au. They list what's happening in the cities, who's organising it, and how to get involved! 030212: Wed Events page will be updated in the next few hours Where I make reference below to more info at the events page, check back in a few hours. It's now 1.40pm. Going to go get some lunch and will update events page when I get back. RedCarpet Night short film program - Sunday 9th March, 7.15pm at the Valhalla Cinemas in Glebe, Sydney "The idea of RedCarpet Night came about with a group of filmmakers looking to find ways of getting their short films shown outside the competitive festival circuit. This is a way for anyone to have that opportunity - to get their short film on the big screen and in front of a knowledgeable and supportive audience," says Founding Director, Betty King. "RedCarpet Night is a new and unique concept for giving Australian filmmakers, of all levels of experience, an opportunity for showing their films in the cinema environment and in a non-competitive atmosphere. There is no entry fee for submissions and no format criteria. The profits of each screening go to a chosen charity. The March screenings will include Gary Doust's Murbah Swamp Beer, Mardi Gras finalist Keiran Galvin with Contact, and a host of excellent films, spanning comedy to drama, from up and coming filmmakers. All profits of the March screening will go to The Northern Beaches Interchange Inc, a charity providing respite care for children and young adults with disabilities. Each filmmaker goes into the draw for a fabulous prize. The RedCarpet prize for March is a cash award of $250. For film program and more info, go to the events page. It's all happening at the Valhalla Cinemas in Glebe, Sydney. To submit your short film email: redcarpetnight@hotmail.com or phone: 0425 757 468. Media enquries contact: Sarah Runcie 0402 107 043 sarahruncie@hotmail.com Change of art - Nola Diamantopulous This article from the Australian Business Women's Network (ABN) website is about Nola Diamantopulous who changed careers from: being a tax manager to now an artist and art teacher. The interview is a good read. She changed careers at age 37 and had never studied or practiced art. She was happy when she was doing creative things and had a 'desire' to do art. There's a heap of other articles like these if you go the ABN website and click on 'Free Business Articles' in the left menu and then scroll down to the section titled 'Interviews with Entrepreneurs'. Mega cute bear greeting card - great for Valentine's Day This Flash bear card is really cute! There's a good selection from afreegreetingcard.com. Space Invaders Desktop calender page for February 2003 Andreas Lindkvist has put up a cool Space Invaders desktop calender for February on his site at lindkvist.com. Ethics and recruiting This article from Brainbox.com.au discusses some unscrupulous behaviour by some agencies - namely getting you to talk about potential jobs then approaching the companies with candidates from their own books. How low can one get! Managers that Suck Also from Brainbox.com.au - this article is Dilbert like and identifies managers you've probably met sometime in your working life and just couldn't wait to finish those gigs. Descriptions of the following are outlined in this article: The Slave Driver, The Responsibility Avoider, The Over-Promiser, The Stingy Git, and The Perfectionist. Stewart Crawford will present Landcom’s KM Strategy and early implementation efforts - Thursday 6th March: CBD, Sydney Also possible speaker - Kate Andrews on Knowledge Commercialisation. These talks are organised by the Knowledge Management Forum NSW. Go to the events page for more details. Panel Session: Design in Bush Fire Prone Areas - Monday 24th February: Roseville, Sydney Organised by the Architects Network Upper North group. A collection of experts with experience in the behaviour of bush fires, design solutions and building materials will share knowledge and experience to minimise risk of loss of property located in bush fire prone areas, with emphasis on Design Solutions. Go to the events page for more details. Ted Harkness - architect, academic, writer: talk on Saudi Arabia - Thursday 13th February: Rozelle, Sydney "Saudi Arabia: The safest place on earth. War? What war? There is a building boom in the Kingdom and elsewhere in Persian Gulf countries. Australian architects are busy in the Middle East." Ted Harkness would be pleased to discuss with interested architects, Saudi Arabia in the context of his four year sojourn in the Kingdom, reflecting upon some of the cultural influences on Islam, fundamentalism and possible consequences of non interference in Iraq and possible consequences of the anticipated war. Go to the events page for more details. Ideas circulating via the Digital Eve email list on how to tell Howard that we don't want to go to WAR Idea 1: Send Rice to feed the hungry in Iraq This one was forwarded by watagan@hunterlink.net.au on the Digital Eve email list: "If you are concerned about the situation with Iraq and the possible impending WAR - please read on thanks - Jo I pass this on from Associate Professor Joanna Mendelssohn College of Fine Arts University of New South Wales Selwyn St Paddington. NSW 2021 Australia Folks, Things are looking serious, and this might help. There is a grassroots campaign underway to protest war in Iraq in a simple, but potentially powerful way. It might be more notieable than yet another petition. Place 1/2 cup uncooked rice in a small plastic bag (a snack-size bag or sandwich bag work fine). Squeeze out excess air and seal the bag. Wrap it in a piece of paper on which you have written, "If your enemies are hungry, feed them. Romans 12:20. Please send this rice to the people of Iraq; do not attack them." Place the paper and bag of rice in an envelope (either a letter-sized or padded mailing envelope) and address them to: Prime Minister John Howard House of Representatives Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Drop this in the mail. It is important to act NOW so that Prime Minister John Howard gets the letters ASAP. In order for this protest to be effective, there must be hundreds of thousands of such rice deliveries to the Prime Minister. We can do this if you each copy this message and send to your friends, family and mailing list. There is a positive history of this protest! In the 1950s, Fellowship of Reconciliation began a similar protest, which is credited with influencing President Eisenhower against attacking China. Read on: "In the mid-1950s, the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation, learning of famine in the Chinese mainland, launched a 'Feed Thine Enemy' campaign. Members and friends mailed thousands of little bags of rice to the White House with a tag quoting the Bible, "If thine enemy hunger, feed him.” As far as anyone knew for more than ten years, the campaign was an abject failure. The President did not acknowledge receipt of the bags publicly; certainly, no rice was ever sent to China. What nonviolent activists only learned a decade later was that the campaign played a significant, perhaps even determining role in preventing nuclear war. Twice while the campaign was on, President Eisenhower met with the Joint Chiefs of Staff to consider U.S. options in the conflict with China over two islands, Quemoy and Matsu. The generals twice recommended the use of nuclear weapons. President Eisenhower each time turned to his aide and asked how many little bags of rice had come in. When told they numbered in the tens of thousands, Eisenhower told the generals that as long as so many Americans were expressing active interest in having the U.S. feed the Chinese, he certainly wasn't going to consider using nuclear weapons against them." Idea 2: Returning the booklet on how to "fight terrorism" to John Howard Red Wolf wrote in response: "Unfortunately, if this pack is marked 'return to sender' it will simply be returned to the mail house handling this job, where it will be shredded. Although the returns will be counted and reported to whoever generated the job (some flack in the government), the mail house will extract a fee for this. The more returns there are, the more money the mail house makes. The best way to make a statement is to mark it - clearly - 'John Howard, Parliament House', so he gets an avalanche delivered to him. The 'return to sender' option will just cost us all more tax payers' money, and is unlikely to be as effective a protest as everyone hopes. Perhaps you could pass this message on to anyone who sends you another 'special referendum' e-mail." watagan wrote: ">>Over the next fortnight the Federal Government is sending a mailout to > every household in Australia. In this pack is a letter from our > illustrious Prime Minister, a booklet on how to help the government > "fight terrorism" and a fridge magnet (!) > > > > Today, Brisbane's Lord Mayor, Jim Soorley, made the eminently > sensible suggestion that Australians who did not support the Howard > government's backing of America's war should simply return the package > to sender." 030209: Sun Lots of TV on tonight There's 'J-Lo Maid in Manhatten' at 6pm then 'A Bug's Life' at 6.30pm then 'Gladiator' at 8.30pm as well as 'Looking for Alibrandi' and 'The Beach' then there's 'Picasso: Magic, Sex and Death' at 11.05pm. Maid in Manhatten Got up early this morning. Called Hoyts Broadway to see if they still had tickets left to 'Maid in Manhatten'. I figured they would but you never really know. They did so went and saw the movie. It was a pretty good romance movie! Stars Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes. Got out of the cinema around 12.30pm. It's good to watch movies in the morning - it's not too packed, there's heaps of parking available and they don't show you any ads - not at the session I went to anyway. Went to the fish markets and got some sashimi and salad stuff for lunch. Yum. 030208: Sat Silverchair tickets Silverchair are playing at the Sydney Entertainment Centre on Sunday 13th April. Tickets go on sale Thursday 13th February for the public. Fan club members can buy tickets the day before. I really enjoy listening to their music but don't feel like I need to be updated on Silverchair news on a regular basis. What a bummer! Hope the tickets don't sell out as I'd love to hear them play live. Beth Orton concert in Sydney Found out about the Beth Orton concert on Wednesday 12th February a bit too late. But then just having a look at the Metro theatre site now, I see they've got another concert on Tuesday 11th February which is still selling. I guess they must've added another one on! Cool! Maid in Manhatten If you subscribe to the Hoyts newsletter, you can get to see 'Maid in Manhatten' tomorrow morning at 10.30am at selected cinemas - a month before official release. I printed out the coupon page but haven't tried to buy tickets in advance or anything. Might see if I can get up tomorrow morning and see if I feel like going to see if there are any tickets left. Semi-Permanent conference I've sent my registration form in to go to the Semi-permanent conference in April. It sounds interesting! I don't mind if the studios just talk about their own approach and show us their showreel etc. It's always cool to look at what people are doing and to just listen and learn and to be inspired by all the cool stuff that's being created. Designex Comfia 2003 This year's Designex Comfia design / furniture exhibition is in Melbourne. It's a 'trade' event. So if you're an architect, interior designer, or anyone else who may specify products, and you happen to be in Melbourne between May 8 - 11, then you may want to check out this exhibition. Saturday afternoon and night Did some much needed gardening this afternoon. Need to find some information on how to look after herbs. I find my herbs are growing totally feral. It's growing everywhere and need to know the right way to prune it so that the old bits are cut away, as well as helping to promote new growth. My chilli plants are multiplying or something as well - there are literally hundreds of chillis now - all ready to be picked and eaten. The lemongrass is also growing crazy. May need to learn how to cook some Thai meals quick! After all that gardening, decided to have some take-away. Yep. Got some Thai food. Tried the Volcanic chicken - sounded interesting. Was very nice. Also had the usual Pad Thai and Massaman curry with rice as well. Hmmm. Then played a game of Scrabble after all that :-). Cognitive Dissident There's an interview with John Perry Barlow of the Electronic Frontier Foundation in MotherJones.com. He talks about his views on the Total Information Awareness Project in the States, civil liberties, file sharing, and John being a member of every counterculture that's emerged since his youth. He makes some interesting points about privacy issues etc. Emerging Technologies Business 2.0 put together a list of emerging technolgies. Each subject has a list of links to interesting articles about that subject. Topics are: 4G, Biofuels, Biometric ID Systems, Biomimicry, Bionics, Biosensors, Clockless Computing, Cognitronics, Combinatorial Science, Genotyping, Molecular Manufacturing, Nanotechnology, Neurotechnology, PAN (Personal Area Networks), Parasitic Grids, Pervasive Computing, Quantum Nucleonics, Remote Control Automation, Segway Human Transporter (Ginger), Superconductivity, Tele-immersion, VoIP (Voice Over IP), WAP (Wireless Application Protocol), and Wearable Computing Devices. I'll have to follow these links through some time. It all sounds very interesting. Norma Khouri - writers at Stanton talk Norma Khouri will be speaking at Stanton Library, North Sydney on Wednesday 5th March, 1pm. It's a free event. You just turn up for the talk. Khouri has written a book about "the story of a young Muslim woman who was the victim of an "honour killing" after she fell in love with a Catholic army officer." Open air markets Came across this link to open air markets. Will have to read through it more thoroughly some time. It's a list of resources to street markets and more. I love wandering around markets. I did some research back in my Geography uni days on stall markets. I wrote this honours thesis on 'Stall markets as a response to the negative effects of Global Capitalism'. Saturday: making chocolate banana bread Got up at around 7 this morning and had some brekkie and then made some chocolate banana bread whilst watching Rage - music video clips show on Channel 2. I may need to look up some more baking type recipes. It's kind of relaxing to bake. It was a bit confusing though because I was following this recipe which said 250g or 2 cups of plain flour. I thought 250g was a cup and looked up some measurement conversion sites which said 250g was equivalent to 1.1 cups. So I ended up with a half-loaf in height of bread instead of the full loaf. So next time, I'll follow the cookbook's cup measurements. I don't know why they call it bread. It tastes almost like cake. Maybe bread is meant to sound healthier or something. Then did some work and got a bit tired. Went to Bar Italia for lunch at 3.30pm. Had a pasta and an iced chocolate. Had the usual fusilli vesuvio - which is the spiral pasta with ham, mushrooms, tomato cream sauce, and peas - which I leave behind in the bowl ... though lately I've eaten a few peas before leaving the rest behind. 030205: Wed To the Moon in a Space Elevator? This article in 'Wired News' discusses research into the development of a ribbon like elevator that would extend 62,000 miles up into space. Zaha Hadid Zaha Hadid is probably the most prominent or at least well known woman architect in the world. She's an Iraqi born UK based architect. Her firm's site is at http://www.zaha-hadid.com. Read a feature on her in the hard copy of January's 'Architectural Record' magazine and she's won numerous international competitions and her work is very organic, fluid, and conceptual. She mentioned in the interview that she initally got into competitions to get the work and recognition. She doesn't get commissions in the UK though because she doesn't apparently fit into the 'establishment'. In another article in the 'Guardian', Zaha mentions that her designs are different and she thinks that there is still sexism in architecture. Latent Utopias This is an exhibition in Austria till the 2nd of March titled 'Latent Utopias'. It features experimental architectural projects "characterised by radical abstraction and strangeness". Get a preview of possible future living environments. The website for this exhibition is nicely designed and features images and text of the projects on exhibition. The exhibition was co-curated by Zaha Hadid. What Should I Do With My Life? This article titled 'What Should I Do With My Life? - The real meaning of success -- and how to find it' by Po Bronson is a good read. It was featured in the January issue of Fast Company. The bits I found interesting relate to people who have found their passion, regardless of money, status, conventional means of success etc. When they found what they truly loved to do, they were happy and successful in their jobs or ventures. Bronson interviewed a large number of people who found their passion and he's written a book about it. 030204: Tue Tee Museum You can go and check out this virtual museum of t-shirts and buy these designer 'collectable' t-shirts online. They cost $45 U.S. each so it's a bit expensive if you convert it to Aussie dollars. Nice concept though. They even use a museum metaphor rather than just a straight online store. Artists' t-shirts on there at the moment are that of: Andreas Lindkvist and Cynthia Malaran. It's 3 a.m. Where's your librarian? This article talks about the 24/7 reference service. Libraries in the States have joined up offer librarian reference services online 24 hours a day. Space Invaders Playing that BeSpelled game made me think back to the IBM tape deck days when I first came across Space Invaders. Did a quick search on Google and came across many links. Will probably go through some of them to see which ones are a bit faster to play etc. But had a quick go on this one: http://spaceinvaders.retrogames.com/html. Ah memories! Ally McBeal The last episode of Ally McBeal will screen tonight. I used to love this show but it seemed to lose its direction along the way. I like Jon Bon Jovi but he wasn't given a character that was strong, intelligent and fun like Robert Downey Jr's Larry character. So it's probably about the right time to end the show. Will and Grace Was flicking channels the other night and saw the episode in which Kevin Bacon makes an appearance on Will and Grace. That was pretty cool! Kevin does a dance like in 'Footloose' as well as making a fun reference to the Six degrees of separation game where he's connected to Val Kilmer because Tom Cruise was in 'Top Gun' with him and Tom was in 'A Few Good Men' with Kevin. January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 March 2002 February 2002 January 2002 December 2001 November 2001 October 2001 September 2001 August 2001 July 2001 June 2001

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