I learnt a new acronym today, FUD, fear, uncertainty and doubt. 
Apparently it was originally a marketing device used by large well established companies when newer and better products came on the market. They would play on peoples Uncertainty and Doubt about the new product by creating Fear of the new one as something untested and unproved. They ( Read more... )

I was watching the crowd in the street from my hotel last night and there was an obviously very drunk Thai walking down the middle of the road in the front of cars like he owned it. When they stopped he would shake his fist at them and even kicked in the front or side of a couple. 
Nothing too unusual about that, it is a scene repeated by drunks in ( Read more... )

I wanted to email a person I had not had contact with for many years and many computers ago. I had not entered more than the first few characters of the address when google autocomplete filled in the rest. 
George Orwell was only partly right. Big Brother is watching and Google remembers everything. 

On my way to yet another meeting to organise my boat I was stopped by a hotel guest with an appealing story ( Read more... )

Australian accounts hacked in $25m splurge, says AFP

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/consumer-security/australian-accounts-hacked-in-25m-splurge-says-afp-20120817-24chy.html#ixzz23mLiyVb2

Last week I reported a suspicious transaction on my credit card. Despite my exclamations of incredulity I was told that the bank could only reverse ( Read more... )

As Australia gears up to have plain packaging cigarettes I have taken up smoking ..... It is just so cheap here. Less than a dollar a packet compared to around $20 in Oz ( Read more... )

NASA may be able to land a robot on Mars but their website lacks something.

I have been waiting all morning to watch the NASA broadcast of the MSL landing on Mars. I was watching their countdown timer on their website so with about an hour to go I started a skype call to my son. When I finished the timer was still counting down with half an hour to ( Read more... )

"Results-driven, process-oriented development professional dedicated to improving the quality of life for vulnerable and marginalized individuals and communities, with an interest in how organizations approach learning in order to more effectively achieve mission. Sectoral expertise in education, community development, social movements and human ( Read more... )

I've been on the road a bit lately, or more accurately on the water. I think it is about time for a sea change but more about that soon ( Read more... )

My son lives in"the Shire" which is apparently the subject of a new US style reality TV show. I cannot wait until I get to see a show.

With lines like

Sophie: "Sometime this week we'll organise something."

Vernesa: "If someone told me that I'd had to live without my lips, I think I'd wanna die."

They're off to the fat melters, a magical place where a ( Read more... )