November, 2006

I've got a great team, and it currently looks like this

Yesterday the newest member of the team started  - Shane Morris - who has come on board as our User Experience Evangelist (UxE) and he is based in Melbourne. For the last 5 years Shane has been a freelance interaction designer, and prior to that Regional General Manager and Principal Consultant for The Hiser Group, a usability/user interface design consultancy. He brings a wealth of experience to the team.

But that's not all.I've got two more new roles open

• Developer Evangelist
• ISV Developer Evangelist - MBS

I am looking to have both roles sitting in Sydney, but for a truly wonderful candidate, I'm flexible.

[ Current Listening to : Shadow Boxer by Angels from Wasted Sleepless Nights: Definitive Greatest Hits ]

Today's my birthday.

43 - another prime number age - I can say I am in the prime of my life!

My kids know me too well - they got me a USB Missle Launcher

[ Current Listening to : Dude (I Totally Miss You) by Tenacious D from The Pick of Destiny ]

My blogging has been rather quiet - for a reason !

Since Friday I had been in hospital. I had my appendix removed Friday night and now I have a nice little reminder on my right hand side.

This morning, I was discharged with instructions from the surgeon to 'take it easy'

I plan to do just that.

Thanks to all who dropped me a note, or wrote a post - it is really appreciated.

BTW - The hospital delivered 100 notes from different folks

[ Current Listening to : Move On by Jet from Get Born ]

All my machines are now running Windows Vista RTM.

My office is now an XP Free Zone

UPDATE: Folks on TechNet Plus and MSDN programs will get the first look at the RTM of Office 2007 and Vista soon. Office 2007 is available from 13th of November and Vista is available from the 18th of November

My son 'Rigo has been bugging me for weeks. He's has been really eager to get his hands on Gears of War.

Well, I got a copy of it.

Do I take it home for him to play??

[ Current Listening to : The Metal by Tenacious D from The Pick of Destiny ]

Ther's been a bit of news of over the past few weeks about the woeful state of Broadband in Australia. 

Ziggy slams slow broadband
Courier Mail, Australia - 25 Nov 2006
FORMER Telstra boss Ziggy Switkowski has added his voice to complaints that broadband in Australia is too slow. Echoing the concerns ...

Coonan hits out on net speeds
The Australian, Australia - 24 Nov 2006
MEDIA moguls complaining that Australia's broadband download speeds are a "disgrace" are just trying to maximise profits, Communications Minister Helen Coonan ...

Coonan dismisses broadband complaints
NEWS.com.au, Australia - 23 Nov 2006
AUSTRALIA'S media moguls are pursuing their own commercial interests by complaining that the country's broadband speeds are among the slowest in the developed ...

Australia's broadband 'disgrace'
The Age, Australia - 14 Nov 2006
... Media rival and Publishing and Broadcasting Limited executive chairman James Packer was equally critical of Australia's broadband speeds when he made a speech ...

Coonan cranky on Murdoch broadband blast
NEWS.com.au, Australia - 15 Nov 2006
COMMUNICATIONS Minister Helen Coonan has rejected Rupert Murdoch's criticism of Australia's broadband services, saying the media baron is misinformed. ...

Broadband a disgrace: Murdoch
NEWS.com.au, Australia - 14 Nov 2006
... rival and Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (pbl.ASX:Quote,News) executive chairman James Packer was equally critical of Australia's broadband speeds when he ...

Broadband expert backs Murdoch's claims
The Age, Australia - 15 Nov 2006
Rupert Murdoch's description of Australia's broadband network as a disgrace would shake the government into doing something about high speed internet access, a ...

[ Current Listening to : The Government Totally Sucks by Tenacious D from The Pick of Destiny ]

My brothers & sister in EMEA have been busy.  They have launched an curious application called UniveRSS.

UniveRSS is a 3D RSS feed reader for Windows Vista. It leverages the Windows Presentation Foundation and provides a stunning way of visualizing RSS feeds and their content. It introduces a full-screen 3D universe where galaxies represent the folders of your RSS feed directory, and the stars are represented by the spinning cubes that hold the feed information. Size and position of the feed cubes indicate how many unread items they contain.

It installs as a click-once application, which is a nice touch.

Give it a try - it's quite an interesting way to look at your feed universe.

[ Current Listening to : Pride (In the Name of Love) by U2 from 18 Singles [Bonus Track] ]