Author Archive
Just because it is brilliant …
I was browsing an old discussion thread at PropertyTalk Internet Marketing Consultants – suddenly there are so many…. to check when I first expressed, let’s call it ‘skepticism’ about Shaun Stenning/Geekversity (Answer: June 2009) … since I mentioned that here when discussing how his ex-business partners are NOW blowing the whistle on him. It was […]
Shaun Stenning schadenfreude
Despite what some may suspect, I’ve never been big on schadenfreude and, as noted, I despise grave-dancing. So … I feel some concern for the collateral damage inflicted as it seems pretty clear the wheels are falling off the Shaun Stenning wagon train. In the last few days several of his former business partners, associates […]
Taking criticism hard
A while ago, in follow up comments to a post A tale of woe … or fevered imagination?, I quoted Lemony Snickett about how reading bad news is the worst way to get it. Here’s a similar thought from The Guardian‘s Jean Hannah Edelstein about why bad reviews rankle writers far more that good reviews […]
Secret? Er…
Does anyone else have a bad feeling about this? It reminds me of ‘Joe Wilson’s War’ in Afghanistan, Ronald (‘I don’t recall’) Reagan/Oliver North’s Iran-Contra deal … and, WikiLeaks or not, how is THIS supposed to stay ‘secret’? Huh?
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams
from Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven by William Butler Yeats Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths, Enwrought with golden and silver light, The blue and the dim and the dark cloths Of night and light and the half light, I would spread the cloths under your feet: But I, being poor, have only […]
Overcome the past by FACING it
This article (below) from The Guardian‘s ‘Comment is free’ site reminded me of the wonderful, uplifting movie The Lives of Others which featured the late Ulrich Mühe in the role of a world-worn East German secret policeman whose job it was to bug a playwright’s apartment and report on the goings on. I won’t spoil […]
Honest opinion
A brief extract from Bevan Marten’s thesis ‘A FAIRLY GENUINE COMMENT ON HONEST OPINION IN NEW ZEALAND’ … (Victoria University) [PDF 400k] III UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES Common to all such jurisdictions is the major tension in the law of defamation between freedom of expression and the individual’s right to reputation. The defence of honest opinion holds […]
Harvesting the ‘wisdom of the crowd’
I know I knock Wikipedia a little bit … but it is inescapable, whether it is completely ‘trustworthy’ or not. I go there all the time — and reference it. (It’s also top-of-the-pops in search results.) I listened to this fascinating BBC documentary ‘Wikipedia at 10‘ when it first came out earlier this year, and again […]
Nice logo, nice sentiment
This design appeals to me. Simple. Unified. Consistent. Good. I like it. And here’s their associated tagline which I like too … although I probably read something else into ‘media freedom‘ given my background — more John Pilger/Amnesty International/WikiLeaks than TV shows over wifi, huh? – P
The sort of spruiker who gives spruikers a bad name
My hero Neil Jenman shares his experience with an Australian spruiker … Interesting about the tie-up between Steven Fagan, his book ‘Accidental Millionaire’ and Carly Crutchfield. Have a read: Nick and Wendy are a delightful young couple. In 2004, after advice from Fagan’s property group, they purchased an apartment in the western Sydney suburb of […]
PropertyTalk, public criticism and the public good
An interesting discussion has started about discussion forum PropertyTalk in the comments thread of my post about Linking to sources and the Sean Wood case study. Two of my favourite PropertyTalk (ex) posters poormastery and exnzpat kicked it off last night in response to comments from Perry … with some pretty strong opinions… PT moderator […]
Linking to sources — why it’s vital for credibility (Case study: property spruiker Sean Wood)
I read a really interesting article I read this morning on The Guardian’s Comment is free website: ‘A case of never letting the source spoil a good story’ subtitle: Perhaps it’s too embarrassing for some writers to risk linking to primary sources that readers can check for themselves Wherein Ben Goldacre concludes: But more than […]
Bernard Whimp – another suck of the saveloy. No shame?
You may recall the general disregard in which low-ball share buyer Bernard Whimp is held by members of the local business community. My post earlier this year Low-ball share buyer Bernard Whimp in action was provoked by his [arguably] misleading offer to buy shares in big companies at a significant, some say unconscionable discount to […]
