Essays and observations on work, technology, suburban Australia, creativity and modern life.
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Lessons from Jimmy Iovine
So I recently and belatedly watched The Defiant Ones on Netflix and was completely enthralled. It is a great story that shows how music producers and entrepreneurs Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre transformed the music industry, founded Beats Electronics, and got very very rich. I knew Dr Dre was one of the key members of N.W.A, but Jimmy…
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Being a workaholic is not cool
I was on a business trip to Melbourne recently. It was a crazy one week trip flying from a bitterly cold -6c in Amsterdam, to a steamy 28c for the tail end of the Australian summer. The weather was glorious. The jet lag was intense. The trip wasn’t taken alone. I travelled with a colleague,…
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Reflections on Fatherhood
I found this piece I wrote a day before G. was born on a long discarded and unpublished website recently. It’s interesting to reflect on how I felt then and how I feel now. I am definitely a better father, but the irony is that for my son, his experience with me is one of…
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The future of the global digital economy
The World Economic Forum recently published an article looking at the global digital landscape and there are some pretty interesting insights about the changing competitive dynamics and where the next Google or Facebook will come from. Sadly, it's unlikely to be Australia or many western countries, including the Netherlands where I currently enjoy 300Mb…
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Tay, Microsoft’s horrifying glimpse into our own selves
The thing about machines is that they inevitably reflect the feelings, thoughts, and unique passions of their creators. One of my favourite writers/ philosophers, Gilles Deleuze believed that the brain could be extended through computers to create an abstract brain, that is an abhorrent and beautiful reflection of ourselves. Perhaps Microsoft should have thought a little more about…
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The Internet is a tenuous place: finding the dumb boy #1
If you haven’t been to my About page, then you wouldn’t know that my digital journey started with writing bad poetry on what was called a digital diary. It was great fun and due to the tenuous state of the Internet is thankfully lost to your consumption. Before that I wrote a series of poems…
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Chan and Sukumaran don’t deserve to be put to death
I have 2 young children and when one does something that annoys the other, like use the indoor trapeze for too long, the aggrieved child will lash out wishing horrible things upon their sibling, sometimes they use their fists and feet trying to inflict as much pain as possible. It can get ugly. I was…
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A letter to my local Member of Parliament about Mandatory Data Retention
Here is a letter I will be sending to my local Member of Parliament, Mr Jason Wood. Dear Mr Wood, I write regarding the Mandatory Data Retention bill, Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Bill 2014 and would like you to clarify your position. I have deep concerns about the proposed scheme and request…
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Connecting the digital dots
Digital means many things to many people. To some digital describes the nexus between new technologies and marketing/business resulting in new ways to connect consumers and marketers. To others digital is an ethos. It describes a new way of working, conceptualising ideas, seeing the future, and testing, learning and iterating. Digital involves a different way…
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Tell the truth or show empathy
Telling the truth is powerful. It’s also one of the hardest things to do if you’re an empathetic person. Most of us who are capable of empathy and not psychopaths don’t like making people feel bad, sad, or angry. But it isn’t always possible to make people feel good. Sometimes as part of my job…
