Dual Loyalty

As writers and bloggers are so fond of saying; you couldn't make it up. You don't cross the Iron Curtain and come out without scars ...
· Jozef Imrich, Survivor of the Iron Curtain Crossing

Friday, August 21, 2009



Global teams are like oceans: depending on how they are navigated, they can link the world together or split it apart. When global (or any national or remote) teams work, they tap into a company's top talent, exploit local expertise, unite far-flung groups and ramp up worldwide production. When they don't, they are divisive, spark massive miscommunication and drive projects into the ground ...
A Butterfly Flapping Its Wings, or How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference: For many global citizens the only way to spend the weekend is cold, wet and practically naked.
"We are the Bondi Icebergs,
the toughest men they breed.
Happy and contented,
cold water's all we need.
We're not soaks or crooners,
we just sing as we drink our beer.
So bring out all your schooners 'cause the 'Bergs are here."
- The Icebergs Anthem, written by Joe Wallace, 1940
The impact of the Internet on democracy is still in its infancy, and while we have seen some remarkable developments, some more difficult challenges have also come into view Cooking The Internet and democracy ;
Digital Streams Books will survive, but not on paper
When I read recently that sales of the new Kindle e-reader in the US have not been as huge as anticipated, I must confess that my first feeling was one of relief. In the course of the past week I have acquired a new phone that does everything but feed the cat and an equally complicated camera. Both have necessitated lengthy tutorials from my son and I'm going through a fit of technology overload.

When US digital guru Bob Stein and I sat down at the Melbourne Writers Festival last month to discuss the future of the book, we were searching for common ground. Bob is one of those guys who calls books user-driven media. I'm one of those women of a certain age who belongs to a book club and can't get on a plane without at least one novel in my hand luggage.


sanctity of an author's work ; [It was once believed a national ID card would be a threat to privacy. Nowadays we need one to protect us from big government Protection from Big Brother; Biologically speaking, humans are a remarkable, and quirky, species. The New Scientist magazine has published a list of the odd things we do everyday that don’t make a lot of sense. With all the scientific advancement, you’d think we know why we do the funny things we do ... But why do we create art, or dream, or pick our noses? The Funny Things Humans Do ]
• · Or does it sometimes take moral courage to stand up against authority? How important a quality is a strong ethical framework in a good leader? From Janusz Korczak to Bernard Madoff, what makes a person act ethically or unethically as the case may be? Laws may be introduced which actually exacerbate (if they don't actually create!) the very problems they were supposedly set up to solve... Is what is legal always ethical? ; One of the primary tasks assigned to the Government 2.0 Taskforce is to find ways for Government to use Web 2.0 tools to consult and collaborate with the public.However, while Web 2.0 has lowered technical barriers to communication, there are still a series of just as significant social barriers that remain.Government needs to learn new skills to be able to effectively listen to the public via Web 2.0. In particular, it needs to learn that the key to listening in the Web 2.0 world is to focus to the community Government 2.0 - it's the community, stupid
• · The high number of users on social-networking sites means malware can be distributed on a mass scale. Web sites such as Twitter are becoming increasingly favoured by hackers as places to plant malicious software in order to infect computers, according to a new study covering Web application security vulnerabilities. The study is part of the recently released latest Web Hacking Incidents Database (WHID) report. Hackers put social networks ; such as Twitter in crosshairs
• · · ; Themed issue of Canada's public service e-magazine includes profiles of a wide cross section of Canadian public servants working in innovative ways.
People behind public service innovations
• · · · According to a report by Reuters (Zurich) bankers and industry experts say the US tax probe against Swiss bank UBS has killed traditional offshore banking, and wealth managers will have to improve their offers to survive ; Do we trust too much? As individuals and working in organisations, trust has to be developed and tempered. Learning to read the cues and clues better while developing receptive behaviours will improve the environment for all. Rethinking trust and brand
• · · · · The number of Internet users is forecast to grow 45% globally over the next four years, reaching 2.2 billion by 2013. More people online, more data to hack -- it's a cybercriminal's paradise. Many people don't yet fully understand the enormity of the threat - to individuals, their families and the companies that they work for. Information security: why cyberciminals are smiling ; The dangers of posting sensitive personal information on social networking sites are well known, but a researcher has now revealed how data mining these sites can dig up undisclosed personal - or corporate – information Mining social networks for clues ; Government policies change with the times, but the importance of government being accountable for its performance and the use of public funds remains constant The Business of Government: why public sector management must evolve
• · · · · · A legislative framework is required to govern the establishment and operation of official inquiries at the federal level, to ensure that such inquiries have adequate investigatory powers while at the same time ensuring the protection of the rights of individuals concerned ALRC calls for greater flexibility, more options for Royal Commissions and other official inquiries, ; Strengthening evidence-based policy: an introduction to the Roundtable ; Disclosure of information: rights and obligations of Australian Public Service employees

Tuesday, August 18, 2009



Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people only once a year. I visited the NSW Parliament as Andrew Tink was launching his book at the NSW Parliamentary Chambers. The Governor: Professor Marie Bashir AC Professor Bashir, the first woman to be appointed Governor of NSW, who took up her office on 1 March 2001 made a number of complimentary observations including the fact that every library should have a copy of Andrew’s book. She quoted Wentworth is stating that the squatters’ 8 million sheep and half a million cattle provided an annual income of $2 million pounds. By contrast, Sydney merchants were simply engaged in exchanging one commodity for another … productive of absolutely nothing.. The current Speaker Richard Torbay who was inspired by John Hatton to enter politics explained in a very entertaining way the reasons why Andrew picked William Charles Wentworth - because he was very important to the way we live today in two ways, the first was opening up new grazing lands by going over the Blue Mountains, but most importantly the way the government system was set up to today. government system was set up to today. Andrew gave us a number of vinaigrett such as this story He designation of William Charles Wentworth as “Australia’s greatest native son” is that of Manning Clark. William Charles Wentworth: Australia’s Greatest Native Son - Review Racy view of a rollicking life: The Australian

CODA: When Andrew Tink walked away from a distinguished career as a Liberal state MP, he knew his serious health concerns would one day take hold Andrew Tink

Outside Edge Pioneers of the Ryanair revolution
Is Michael O’Leary a child of the Soviet Union, something of a fellow traveller? OK, it might not be the first thing one associates with Ryanair’s Irish boss, the very personification of raw business drive who turned a struggling low-cost airline into a successful profit machine – all the while railing at bloated competitors and deploying a mischievous turn of phrase to generate more coverage than any marketing budget could ever deliver.


The reason I ask is that as thoughts now turn to tales of delays and lost baggage, I am transported back to the late 1970s when as a young westerner living in the Soviet Union I was presented with a vision of the future. It came in the form of a prim lecture from an official on the superiority of aviation under communism. Not only was it far more extensive and cheaper than in the west, it was less elitist. While back home air travel was for the few, in the USSR it was for the many – just another mode of public transport. Aeroflot, the national carrier, was both the world’s biggest airline and one of the cheapest, so catching the red-eye to Vladivostok was as easy as hopping on the Number 2 trolley bus on Kutuzovsky Prospekt.


Idealism and anger t; [The mountains around the cold war horizon began to wobble and fall over A time when hope replaced repression; Recently, the Minister for Finance and Deregulation addressed the International Corporate Governance Network 2009 Annual Conference held in Sydney. Mr Tanner discussed the future of corporate governance and, in particular, corporate and financial regulation in the post-recession global economy. He noted that "perhaps the most important lesson to take from the crisis is the need to build institutional and regulatory frameworks which fit the modern economy. FUTURE OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE]
• · Stoppard is not the only playwright who has been provoked by the divisions of the cold war into thinking about psychological as well as political splitsThe art and culture of the year of revolt; Havel, Schwarzenberg and other East European politicians: Why did they write to Obama?
• · They say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself. —Andy Warhol Do The Warhol—Part 3: The Velvet (Underground) Revolution; Central Europe: Naïve Nostalgia
• · · Sir, John Lloyd views the aspirational society through the prism of the educated elite John Lloyd ; A university degree is not everything ; Nelson Mandela: assessing the icon
• · · · George Burns noted that the secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending; and to have the two as close together as possible. 'The best in the business' reveal their secrets on how to nail a speech. Here are 15 foolproof tips to improve your public speaking, presentations and pitches. Never resort to stock standard phrases like 'thinking outside the box' ever again 15 secrets of a great speech
• · · · · Email overload can ruin your vacation. One solution: social media like Twitter, blogs and wikis to tame your inbox. How to stop email from ruining your summer vacation ; While it's impossible to escape every social networking threat out there, there are steps one can take to significantly reduce the risks. Here are seven typical security mistakes people make and how to avoid them Seven deadly sins of social networking security

Monday, August 03, 2009



When Computers Leave Classrooms, So Does Boredom 'Teaching Naked' at SMU

Hollow Victory The Friday Five: Forecasters and Futurists
The best forecasters and futurists in the Boston area.

From Cambridge-based Forrester Research, a collection of blogs on everything from data security to interactive marketing to consumer products. My two favorites are Forrester CEO George Colony's blog, and Josh Bernoff's blog on social technologies.


Social technologies; [As media giants band together to reinvent themselves in the digital age, potentially sharing everything from online video sites to DVD distribution, they have to be careful not to raise antitrust hackles. Hollywood dealmaking risks antitrust scrutiny; Best Job in the World” winner Ben Southall, who's being paid to promote Australia's tropical islands, is under fire for his online diary, with followers saying it sheds little light on what a Abnormal tourist would experience ]
• · Coolest Gadget Winner ; How a Pulitzer Winner Prepared for a Chron Buyout
• · Checkout' Girl Cashes In With Best-Selling Memoir Blog: Where Are They Now?; Knowing your checkout chicks and neighbors best way to fight crime ; Google on Crime; Wealthy shift tax burden to others
• · · It's pretty amazing what passes for good news these days MuscleMarketing.Blogspot.com as a Top Internet Marketing Blog; Joys Of Being A Blogger – My Ex-Wife Was Nicer To Me!
• · · · Ask my Millennial: Know your blog's audience; There was a time in this country when a company reporting a few billion in earnings could count its money while basking in polite, reverent applause Windfalls for Bankers, Resentments for the Rest
• · · · · The bad old days of bull semen partnerships may not return, but I suspect the financial Merlins are already cooking up new shelters for what promises to be a booming new market ; The joint Lords and Commons Human Rights Committee has waded in to support freelance IT contractors hit by tax demands going back up to seven years, following the retrospective closure of a £200m tax avoidance scheme
• · · · · · EthicalJobs.com.au is a new jobs website which promotes "work for a better world" – it connects people looking for an ethical job or career with employers from the not-for-profit, business & government sectors who see their organisations as contributing to a more equitable, more just or more sustainable world EthicalJobs.com.au; While the various wars on drugs have failed as a public policy, they have often succeeded as a political strategy ; The jobs of the future are beginning to be shaped right now, in the world of work, On the track of ignorance ; Nothing has prepared today's leaders for the current economic situation. As a result, managers who were once balanced and poised are being knocked off their feet, with their teams feeling the brunt of their increasingly ineffective behaviour Managing during the downturn ; Company politics, stonewalling, layoffs - sometimes it's part and parcel of the security job. Here are one CISO's takeaways. Surviving layoffs: five career lessons from the security trenches