Darryl King’s blog ireckon

Don’t get me wrong - like everyone who has been around the web for a long (read:maybe too long) time, Google has been an important part of opening the interweb up to the masses and making many web based things easy.

But…

As a closet data miner, and Information Analyser, I often wonder about when the popular masses will get as paranoid about their data collection services as they were here in Australia over the Australia Card debate, in the 1980s.

I was reading this morning a couple of interesting posts, 1 of which I tend to agree with, although I can see the value in both messages.

(more…)

Well this month I had to come back from my holiday camping at the beach for the Qld Leaders monthly meeting. Always a shame to interrupt a good holiday but unfortunately there wasn’t a day without an interruption, so was a break if not a holiday.

Being committed to the 12 month process, there was no option of not going.

(more…)

What is a team? What makes some teams win over others, and how does that impact on our successes?
This past weekend I have watched several sporting events which were big for their own reasons, but out of which I got to observe the real key characteristics of teams in action.
Some things stand out:

• A willingness to do your part irrespective of what others are doing
• Understanding that dropping the ball by one of  your team mates is just part of the nature of team activities and if you can help you do.
• In a team you don’t seek to get square, you just do it because you believe in the team.
• There is no I in team but there is a me. I am allowed to revel in my successes and get rewarded for them but ultimately me is just part of team.
• Teams lose when the I thinks it is bigger than the group.
• Every team needs leaders – leaders in action more than words, but leaders none the less.

In an article I read Mick Malthouse (shame he coaches the Pies – but everyone deserves employment I guess), he talks about the true quality of character, that shines when the chips are down and in hard times (yes it is a cliche but it is true).

(more…)

So last week was my second hit of Queensland Leaders. As discussed by previous participants, you definitely get more each time from it.

This week we had presentations from a whole raft of people, but including ABN Amro Morgans (Philip Lee), McMahon Clarke Legal (Langton Clarke) and BBS (Amanda Newbery). Sometimes it is hard in short sessions to gather all your thoughts together, but these 3 were all very relevant to me / ireckon at this time and it had my mind spinning a little.

Particularly useful was a checklist provided by Langton Clarke which covered about 100 questions, to check how investment ready you are. As ireckon has grown so quickly over the last few years, I often look back at the trail left behind by the growth whirlwind wondering if all is in order.

(more…)

Readers of this blog will know I like Twitter. And there are many others like me out there.

Yesterday I received my email advising me that because I don’t live in 1 of 3 countries, I would no longer receive the free SMS updates of the people I was following on Twitter.

Part of the attraction of Twitter is that you get to interact with it in a very cool way using your mobile, and out and about you get to interact with the people you follow. True mobile interactivity.

Due to their huge growth and of course the costs of this service they have turned it off.

While I won’t quit on Twitter just yet, I have started to look around at alternatives. Frankly I would probably pay for the SMS’s but that is not an option they have put in place for us Aussies. Well not that I have seen yet anyway. I don’t expect to get everything for free, like many users on the net, and am more than happy to pay for a service i get utility out of, but it seems their planning hasn’t factored me into their equation.

Facebook has an embedded widget for smart phones so that you get basically the same deal as being online, I get updates like messages on my phone and it costs me, not them - that’s smart thinking.

Maybe Twitter should have thought through all its options before it shut the gate on a community that has been extremely loyal through all its downtime and other issues.

I guess they feel the USA audience is enough to see them through the rough times, but that only creates more ill-will in the smaller countries that have high usage and uptake rates like Australia. I see a pal of mine in the UK bemoaning the same deal there, so that big audience isn’t going to be happy either.

Twitter, maybe this time the Whale of success might sink your boat!