Disqus - Latest Comments for aqualung

Re: What Android Phone Should I Get?

Ric — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 20:41:34 -0000

I've been using the Nexus 6P (purchased direct from Google Play) for a few months now … while I'm still unsure about the size, the rest of the experience has been excellent. Like you, I place value in using stock Android and having an unlocked phone, and I like being on the Google update channel so that updates get to me quickly.
I HAD planned to go back to an iPhone (I swap too, just not as often :) ), but the 6P was an attractive proposition … maybe the iPhone 7S will get a look-in!

Re: Ad Blockers

Ric — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 06:10:08 -0000

I use Ghostery in the following manner:
. I always block trackers when I find them
. I block ads by default, but:
- will either pay for access if I intend to continue using a site, or
- whitelist the site to display ads in the event that I use them occasionally

I do subscribe to the idea that web properties need some incentive to find better business models, but recognise that they need to survive long enough to do so.

Re: A bombshell that could destroy ‘Debt Star’ banking

Ric — Wed, 13 Jan 2016 00:02:18 -0000

The article is talking about *private* debt, not government. In actual fact the BIS report is a criticism of the monetary policies of most developed countries in recent history, suggesting that the issue is trying to stimulate the economy with low interest rates (which encouraged more private debt) rather than via fiscal policy and deficit spending (i.e. your “Keynesian” activity), which would increase *public* (or government) “debt” (I use inverted commas because countries like Australia, US and UK that are a monopoly supplier of a fiat currency and have a floating exchange rate can always repay debt denominated in their own currency - the “debt” is effectively a balancing accounting entry in the public books)

Re: On "Trust Frameworks"

Ric — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 20:36:15 -0000

My fear is that they will invent something new, rather than build on existing work (e.g. Kim Cameron's Rules of Identity, the Respect Trust Framework (http://openidentityexchange..., and that it will allow aggregation of private information across agencies, be centralised, and citizens will not control their own data. My hope is that I'm wrong …

Re: Going Past Capital

Ric — Thu, 28 May 2015 09:35:44 -0000

Albert

There's an economist here in Australia that advocates for a slightly different take on the idea of a guaranteed income … he espouses the idea of a job guarantee. You might be interested in his posts on the topic: http://bilbo.economicoutloo...

Re: Go shopping, says Hockey. Households ask, with what?

Ric — Wed, 03 Dec 2014 17:27:13 -0000

As the economic participant that ISN'T revenue-constrained, Hockey should be taking his own advice and give up the ideologically-based obsession with a budget surplus. Macroeconomic arithmetic tells us that a Federal Govt surplus is a private sector deficit. We consumers can only spend more if we borrow more; which is what we did during Costello's surpluses, and what we're still paying off now.

Re: CotéIndustries.com

Ric — Sat, 30 Aug 2014 04:11:20 -0000

Michael - try Freemind. I've been using it for a while … http://freemind.sourceforge...

Re: Free International Roaming With A Premium Upsell

Ric — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 09:41:13 -0000

Recently adjusted my plan (with Vodafone in Australia) which allows me to use my (domestic) plan data overseas for a $5 charge per 24 hr period I use it (i.e. if I never use it, I don't get charged; if I start using it at 1pm, I'm charged $5 which lasts until 1pm tomorrow). It also includes my call/text plan quotas as well, and since I have 6.5GB data + $700 calls/texts this was an attractive option, especially when compared to the $1/MB for international data I would have been charged otherwise. So for the 9 days I was in Indonesia and Singapore my maximum extra charge was $45, rather than ~$500 (based on data usage and calls made), without looking for a local SIM or changing my number … was pretty happy with that :)

Re: The Cost of Letting Your Social Presence Slide

Ric — Sat, 24 May 2014 03:28:30 -0000

Never left … I'll stick around :)

Re: SA election: Entering the great unknown

Ric — Sun, 16 Mar 2014 22:02:50 -0000

Libs polled really well in safe Liberal seats (so no effect on seats won); they had a reasonable swing to them in safe Labor seats (again, no effect on seats won), but didn't get much more support in all the extra seats they could have won. The statewide percentage 2pp just reflects that safe Lib seats are VERY safe, but that getting even more votes in those seats (which affect the total %) doesn't get any extra seats.

Re: Campaign Diary: pencils, dog whistles and robots

Ric — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 06:31:14 -0000

Just on the Do Not Call point - I think you'll find the legislation specifically exempts two classes of caller: political parties (perhaps unfortunately); and companies you are already a customer of (e.g. your bank)

Re: Why Australia's Climate Crisis Matters to the World | Politics News | Rolling Stone

Ric — Tue, 18 Feb 2014 07:20:37 -0000

The crazy thing: two and a half years later the situation is worse, and we're now governed by a political party of climate change deniers who have dismantled the carbon pricing system, reduced support for renewable energy, and support coal-mining. What hope has the rest of the world when the canary won't even listen to its own warning?

Re: Yes, I Just Posted That.

Ric — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 03:13:52 -0000

NOT that you need either my permission or blessing, but … be the you you need to be, not the you anyone else thinks you should be. If nothing else , it will keep you interesting :)

Re: Stowe Boyd, DC Traffic Cameras

Ric — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 07:36:46 -0000

Causation, or correlation? I suspect there are a few other contributing factors …

Re: Stowe Boyd, Turn And Face The Change

Ric — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 21:54:49 -0000

No problem, but would you mind keeping the links to the GigaOm writing coming here - it is (as far as I can tell) impossible to subscribe just to YOUR posts there … don't mind going there to read them, but don't want to be inundated with ALL GigaOm posts :)

Re: If enterprise architecture is the answer, what was the question?

Ric — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 08:14:20 -0000

Thanks, Ivo … I think I can work on a couple of extra questions from that :) … updates will come!

Re: helicopters and metamodels take 2

Ric — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 03:15:33 -0000

Yes it does help …

I had already contemplated linking Drivers and Governance - I agree that “outside-in” relationship is important (if you look at the previous version of the diagram, I had the link in there). I admit I was hoping that I could imply that relationship via the business model, rather than make it explicit, but you may be right that to do so obfuscates it too much.

I'm VERY uncomfortable about the capabilities/process part of it - and for the very reasons you mention. I'm still trying to figure out how to represent the recursion, where high-level processes cross capabilities which also contain processes, which may be sub-processes of the higher-level processes and use lower-level capabilities … I'm dizzy now, can I stop? :)

On “information” - I see information architecture (as in how and why the business creates and curates its information asset) as part of the business design (where data architecture sits within technology design), so that IS an omission at the moment, even in the “big picture”. Again, in an interim version I had people, process and information within capability …

Did I mention things like “work-in-progress”, “incomplete” … :)

Thanks for the grit; hopefully I can turn it into a pearl!

Re: #twitterfail ethics & economics

Ric — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 09:05:37 -0000

Work emails are not “private” by definition; plus it was available elsewhere on the Web already so didn't break Twitter's rules. This is about Twitter dancing to NBC's music …

Re: Red Hat to acquire FuseSource from Progress Software – Yahoo! Finance

Ric — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 23:58:34 -0000

That wasn't a possibility I'd considered, but it's an interesting thought. I certainly hear you on the lack of substance behind the April strategy announcement; and as for investor skepticism, a quick look at Yahoo! Finance for PRGS would indicate that the market doesn't think much of it yet … although a longer-term view would indicate that Progress hasn't done too badly: http://achur.ch/Nakjma Of course, so far a long-term view is conspicuous by its absence in this strategy :)
If indeed the purpose is a complete wind-down/sell-off, I still think they're going about it the wrong way - “we think these products are no good; please pay us lots of money for them” - is unlikely to achieve full value for the software assets they have. If that is the scenario, then Bhatt & Co obviously see the components as more valuable separately than combined; that to me is a management failure - bad execution from previous incumbents, lack of vision from the current crew.
I feel another post coming on …

Re: Better Business English: 16 Confusing Words and Phrases Clarified

Ric — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 02:12:43 -0000

“think” because that's what the blog is about? Or “luscious” because it's somewhat onomatopoeic?

Re: Better Business English: 16 Confusing Words and Phrases Clarified

Ric — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 20:07:43 -0000

You've hit a whole bunch of my pet peeves there - thanks! And never apologise for being a “word nerd” … never has it been so necessary!
Another one that gets me, and I see it most in US English (although it's on the rise here in Australia as well) is the misuse of the word “of” in this context: “It's not that big OF a deal” or similar … the expression is “… not that big a deal”; “of” is completely superfluous.
My other guess for your inspiration would be “its” and “it's” …

Re: http://www.stoweboyd.com/post/23622922187

Ric — Wed, 23 May 2012 20:07:26 -0000

I'm struggling to understand how Patch/AOL could have ever believed that they could support hyperlocal with their own resources … it was never realistic to imagine that hyperlocal activity would support permanent, paid resources; almost by definition hyperlocal reporting has to be supported by some level of volunteer labour.

Re: Working on the web site…

Ric — Thu, 03 May 2012 23:14:19 -0000

Chuq, if you're thinking in a Wordpress direction, check out the Postalicious extension. It will pick up links bookmarked in a number of places (I'm feeding it from pinboard.in atm, but it does a bunch of others. You can set it to post by time, or after a certain number of links get to it. My flow goes: bookmark on Delicious (mainly because I still have a lot of bookmarks there, but you could skip this step) WITH COMMENTS, feed to pinboard - giving stuff I want to show up as a post a particular tag; Postalicious picks up links with those tags, and assembles a draft post until the trigger fires.
This is what they look like: http://achurchassociates.co...

Re: Enterprise architecture, business design and governance.

Ric — Thu, 03 May 2012 22:42:57 -0000

Well, it's certainly true that we see the world through the prism of our own experience … and you're right; that's what creates a lot of this debate. But that also explains why this particular framework is my current preference: it helps me (AND my clients, most importantly) make sense of the business environment.

Re: Freedom To Innovate

Ric — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 06:26:15 -0000

It's a shame http://iworkfortheinternet.... focusses on US-only states. While I probably won't have much influence on a US politician, they should also hear that this is not just a US issue. With large parts of the Internet's underlying infrastructure resident there, decisions in the US may have a much broader impact … add to that treaties such as free trade agreements that the Australian Govt has with the US (which, for instance, already force US copyright laws on Australians) and the chances that this will repeat itself over here are pretty high. I'd rather fight it on the first beachhead.