Mike Riversdale

A little something from this years Wellington Sevens, be warned the sound is quite atrocious as it was VERY loud drumming via a camera - ick. [18-Nov-2024: Unfortunately that video is lost, but this is the earliest of mine on YouTube ...] I'm gonna see if I can use it to upload some of the video snippets I have of the family ... not sure about the privacy aspect though.

These are animals that take their snooze time very seriously: BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Aussie chainsaw croc runs amok (hat tip to house_monkey for the story)

I'm sure you've been following my life on-line 'experiment' with bated breath (or is this the 1st time you've heard of it) and are fully aware that I've been transferring EVERY photo I've ever taken with a digital camera (from 1999+) up onto Flickr (and some scanned old ones as well). Well, I've uploaded every single one - around 8,000 pictures. Actually, this isn't quite true as Jack and Meg are the last to start the trek up into the Internet cloud and will probably be a week or so before they are all uploaded (watch Jack and Meg's sets grow) So, you can find any picture I've ever take with you in it and all the news ones as I put them up. And here's how: by Sets : http://www.flickr.com/photos/mike_riversdale/sets/ I've got the following sets of photo's (think photo's of the same stuff) - click, wait and browse. Examples for sets are: Family Friends Parties and Get-togethers Wellington (NZ) views ... by Tags : http://www.fli...

In my day back in the UK (around 10 years ago) it was the Conservative MP's and hanger-ons that were known for their sexual slease and suburbian shenanigans but by crickey this bunch of Labour boys and girls seem determined to beat (with birch) anything that went before. Mo Mowlam's widower seeing Short Prescott admits to having affair Wikipedia: Ron Davies Wikipedia: David Blunkett - would you shag this man!?!? D'ya think it's the power that goes to the head (or lower)? Don't forget that whilst this Labour government has been ruling for a while they were Her Majesty's Opposition and didn't have much to do for quite a number of years before. Maybe they watched Alan B'Stard and thought it was all real, found it wasn't and set out to make it so. Whatever the reasons, once they got in they got straight at it ... !?!? Mind you, I have to say I find it all most funny and love the way the British media stoek the fires of UK public outrage because someon...

Update 29-April : Everyone's getting in on the act !?! Tony was correct, Kodak are on the path with the Kodak EASYSHARE V610 Digital Camera (OhGizmo!) towards the best photo taking idea I've had in a long time

Wholly schmolly! That's where your petrol dollars are going ... hands up who's got BP shares? Source: Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Fear and speculators driving oil prices too high, says BP chief

Never a fun thing really is it, telling work that it's been nice but I'm outta here - or is that me just being too sensitive? Well D (the CIO and a lot of the reason I am here) and Steve (my direct boss) were both extremely supportive about the UK move whilst expressing a little sadness and dissapointment. I'm sure there's also a degree of, "Oh for fucks sake!" involved but they both were professional about it. And they both got the "why" - which was awesome! It's true that I will be leaving at a time when a lot of the interesting work will be kicking off ... made me sad and a tad "arse" about it all. There's so much that the Knowledge Management role could achieve here at the Council and the person that fills that role after me is gonna have such a ride that I am already a little jealous. But, it's done, both face-to-face and officially in writing. Next - job in the UK! get myself into those connections and get that CV updated...

The most awesome New Zealand Music Month is nearly upon us. Having this focus on local talent (not to say they are only talent locally as a lot of these artists are big all over the world) has been wicked. I can now take back to the UK clasping a stack of CD's that shows off some of the best in NZ/Aotearoa and not have any (NOT A JOT) of cringe that there's "no good music back there" - it's as good as the UK and I love it.

If you're in Christchurch, Wellington, London or Chicago the Library Elf web site lets you receive your overdue notices and reservation requests using RSS. Wicked! http://libraryelf.com/ (hat tip to Fraser for the link)

Knowledge Management ... KM ... what the hell does it mean to an organisation, a staff member or anyone else that stumbles across the name. As you might know I am currently titled (at work) Knowledge Management Specialist which, when I started, had the most popular question of, "Huh? What DO you do?" And that's from the people within my own IT area and doesn't even approach the confused faces from all my friends and family. Of course, most people within IT/ICT are based around all things computers be it hooking them into some sort of hole in the wall, installing new fancy widgets for us to ponder, ensuring databases (and the like) are running all the way to helping people using the plethora of applications available, training them in the dark magic of SAP and holding their hands as they try and actually get some useful information out of the blessed things. These activites are all based around the piece of equipment plonked on your desk that you use to read this blo...

Question: What will happen on Thursday 4 May. Answer: At 2 minutes and 3 seconds after 1.00 in the morning, the time and date will be: 01:02:03 04/05/06 Question: Why is this unique? Answer: It will never happen again in your lifetime.

Well, sort of, and very slowly which befits Auntie - BBC to end sports show Grandstand AND BBC polls users on online adverts No more Frank Bough (I know, I know), no more collage openings, no more all day sport on the BBC ... it's a crying shame you know. But understandable, it was mostly boring tosh even back then in my rose-tinted youth. I do like the advertising idea though - get rich Johnny Foreigner to stump up and support an ad free British section, love it!

[11-Dec-2024: Picture is out there but who knows where] I rediscovered this Flickr picture from this blog's side menu panel (just over there, on the left and down a bit) and I thought, "What a pressie for an 80-year-old" - shame I didn't see it on the day

Well, after the months and months of umm'ing and ah'ing Liz and I have decided (on behalf of the whole Riversdale clan) that we're gonna up-sticks one more time and go and live in the UK for a year or so . The road to this decision was bumpy and certainly not one taken lightly - it is a big deal and definitely for Jack as he's settling down a little here in Christchurch. Factors in getting to where we're at: Jack and Meg are British so starting to appreciate what that might mean is important to me It's an adventure We're gonna upsticks and move back to Wellington for Jack's schooling (just over 2 years time) anyway Christchurch isn't the place for me The job is awesome but I can make something that is equally as exciting happen there and back in Wellington To be fair we can still argue for and against ( here and here ) and so we just have to bite the bullet one way or the another - we've decided that the adventure to the UK is the way. And ...

Seems all the Wellington 'street dudes' are getting on on the act - Ben Hana and that other dude with the pixelated paintings which I quite like.

This is a painting called A Trek Through Wellington from the Viscount of Jive and is available for viewing at his Flickr pages. The detail is quite stunning, check out this wee section: James (not this one ) has suggested that the Wellington City Council somehow assist with making this available to the wider public, and I agree. So, if there's anyone reading this that has any connection with WCC can ya see what you can do - thanks.

One of the surprises to me during my 2 years in Australia (Sydney based) was the amount of 'presence' the Christian church and particularly the Catholic wing has over there. It's not as 'in ya face' as say, Ireland, or South America, but you definitely get the feeling that there are some powerful and influential people pulling a lot of strings that would wear a 'dress' of a Sunday. I suspect that has a lot to do with the recent Court decision and hopefully the extradition decision may be appealed

It's tough surfing this interweb isn't it - most of the content is either ancient, too technical, not well written, boring or unoriginal (or all!). I add to the pile, I know. But, there are shining lights amongst it all that keep me going. Dave Barry was my first regular Web read and even though he no longer has a column his blog entries are still amongst the funniest despite most only being a sentence or two. Jonny B , with his secret diary , is probably my favourite blogger and never fails to have me shouting out to Liz, "Liz! You have GOT to read this" (and when she does she invariably agrees that it was worth it). Another that usually (not 100% but pretty darned close to it) has me smiling out loud is Cliff over at This is this . Both Jonny and Cliff are wordsmiths by profession and it shows in their blog content, wicked stuff! Closer to home (New Zealand/Aotearoa) I am really only pulled back to two as a must read - Llew at SunnyO who's turn of phrase and v...

Whilst I am using Box.net at the moment to store all my files that I can't actually put into a useful online application (turns out to be mostly PDF and Powerpoint files) I'm not comfortable that they will be around for the long term (lack of funds I think - shame as it's quite a nice interface). Hence I would really like the big boys to come along and play (check out what Box.net have to say ). As you (may) know Google accidentaly unveiled their plans for a "GDrive" and now Microsoft has hinted at their version called "Live Drive" . Which ever gets there first will be the one with the kudos and the most media coverage ... but, will they have an open system that I can use with other online offerings (link to an online file from within my Writely document? Share/privatise files?) etc. Aaaaand, what would I stick on these "file servers" anyway? If I'm using online apps to create the "files" then these online apps ( Flickr , YouTu...

In this dynamic and ever changing world of "social tagging" (explanations here , here and here with articles here and examples at my Flickr and del.icio.us sites) I've noticed that we need only 3 tags to get close enough to browse for an item. The three items are: Time - "2002", "Christmas", "birthday" Place/group - "Wellington", "workplace", "lads", "project x" Event - "party", "rugby", "meeting" Examples: Project X, Meeting, 11-Mar-1967 Lads, Rugby, March Family, Christmas, 2005 As far as I can tell it works on anything. What I'm doing is pin-pointing an entity in the dimensions we all exist within. The obvious one is time, which places the item into our lifetime existence - ever asked someone to find those meeting minutes for the "A Project"; first question is, "When was the meeting?" I have put items such as Christmas and Birthday in 't...

There's oodles of films ("movies") released every week and to a large degree most of it is missable rubbish. Even the ones with all the money and "stars" are normally not that good. How many films released in 2005 would you rate as "Will watch again and will be telling my friends to watch" - 2, 3 maybe 10 ... which is a very low percentage of the number of films released (and money spent making them). In the past few months I've realised that I don't miss out on anything (well, very VERY little by not going to the movies - for which I have my two beautiful kids to thank for that ;-) But, I do like a good story and movies can sometimes tell them much more effectively and 'betterer..er' than other media. With too many to watch, not enough time to see them all and knowing that most is crap I love having someone guiding me to the best - the key is the find that 'someone' that fits your tastes, Llew over at SunnyO is pretty good for ...

If anyone can help Microsoft turn the corner from "our life and revenue is on each and every PC" to "our lives are online and our revenue comes from ..." it's Ray Ozzie The FORTUNE: Microsoft's new brain - May 1, 2006 article is very interesting and, as I said, if anyone can do it it's Ray Ozzie. I'm particularly impressed by how Bill Gates is aware of his limitations and effects he has on staff and therefore moved himself out of the way. Some key quotes: Wall Street simply no longer sees Microsoft as a growth business. The company is still stupendously - and increasingly - profitable: Earnings have grown an average of 33 percent annually the past three years, and in 2005 the company earned $12.3 billion, a net margin of 31 percent. But last year revenues increased just 8 percent, to $39.8 billion. Then there are the really big strategic problems, such as figuring out how to fight back as free open-source software continues its relentless advance a...

Ick! In the meantime, have fun with the many MANY photos being transferred online by browsing through my photo album in all these different ways: Latest uploaded By sets (groups of photos) By my tags Over time - date posted / date taken Archive listing

Flickr'ed up in a professional manner for the next two years so that should see us through anything and everything that comes our way. It gives me a much more respectable 2Gb throughput each month which will enable me to put up every single photo I've got sitting on this PC - yaaay! And using the uploader life isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I also have unlimited sets and therefore organising them will be a lot easier ... mind you, Riya looks like a much better way of tagging pictures, I can see Google buying this! And finally, the whole darned shooting can be seen and not only the most recent 200 ... a boon for those that want to see ALL of the Sevens pictures ;-)

I''ll give it a whirl but unless it's significantly better than 30 Boxes I can't see me moving to it: Other's: Read/WriteWeb: My thoughts on Google Calendar and Web Office Google calendar shows how it's done - who can top it? BBC: Google acts to organise your life Techcrunch: Google Calendar is Live tech.memeorandum: Google Calendar links ... Enjoy the Easter

The language that has been and is being used against Iran is quite purposeful and obvious (if you want to look for it). Over the past 2 years they've been engendering a feeling of, "something's not quite right over there" by questioning what's going on. It could've happened anywhere but it didn't, it happened about Iran. The past month or so the language has changed from one of 'unease' to one of 'they're up to no good everyone'. Leaks of building up the US war machine have been part of the purposeful use of language. Also the change from calling it "Iran" to the "Iran regime" And yesterday I made the comment that all that we need now is to demonise one particular Iranian to start to focus the public/voters unease on to. Iran president tagged irrational We have that person. Further predictions from Mike: Phrases around how "diplomatic means are being pursued" will come to the for at the same time as prepar...

Once again I'm listening to the radio as I shower the body down for a new day. The National Radio news program (gosh-knows what it's called, "Good Morning" or some such malarkey ) and Geoff Plun-whatisname is talking with Dr Brash ( here , here , here and more humorously here ) who is the leader of Her Majesty's Most Honourable and Well Dressed-in-Blue Opposition here in Aotearoa, The National Party (no relation to the radio station). They are having a fireside chat about the electricity "crisis" which is either here and we're in deep doo-doo already or not gonna be an issue this year so chill out bro', depends if you pay heed to the previously mentioned Nationalistic Party or the ruling Helen Clark(no-'e') Party that used to be called Labour . Anyway. Part of his argument, well a swipe at the next person to pull up a chair near the fire and join in the gentleman's discussion (you can see how investigative journalism operates in ...

Well, sort of - a lot of people have done most of what she's done really. All the "work" things are just listing her "work" things and I could probably come up with a list of things I've done at work\ if I could be arsed. Being 80 is cool though, on her for surviving. And well done to all those others that made it to 80, 81, 82 ... this year! Celebrating the Queen's 80th Birthday > 80 facts about The Queen

Answers to the What is it that differentiates you from them? quiz Question: what country does the main character in each of these pictures come from and why do you think so? Choices were: New Zealand, England, Wales, Canada, USA, France, South Africa, India, Thailand, China or Germany a)  : NEW ZEALAND - http://masseynews.massey.ac.nz/2004/Massey_News/mar/mar08/stories/03-03-04.html b)  : NEW ZEALAND - http://www.whitehaven.co.nz/ c)  : NEW ZEALAND - http://www.helenhenderson.net/oscar2004-3.html d)  : GERMANY (?) - http://www.franky-goes-to-kiwiland.de/17_14052005_Chiefs/slides/PICT1802_NoOneFan.html e)  : NEW ZEALAND - http://dogsonprozac.orcon.net.nz/fotos.htm f)  : NEW ZEALAND - http://www.wingmusic.co.nz/ g)  : NEW ZEALAND - http://www.papergraphica.co.nz/artist_detail.asp?id=23 h)  : NEW ZEALAND - http://grumzysgallery.com/about.htm i)  : NEW ZEALAND - http://www.milkgallery.co.nz/figurative-art/figurative-artist-new-zealand.htm j)...

Here's a thought. To ensure that the world doesn't edge into extremism why don't we (the world "we" not just you, dear reader, and I) have a policy of positive discrimination when choosing our world leaders. For example, at the moment we have a right-leaning leader in Britain, a right leader in the US and the same in Australia. In NZ we have a left-leaning (just) leader and the same in Spain. So, 3-2 to the right-ists. Now, in this small world if there were to be a new leader they would have to be of a left persuasion to ensure a balance. Whaddya reckon? Of course this might already happen - anyone know of a list of world leaders that can be sorted this (Wikipedia springs to mind, oh alright I'll go check for you ... bum, it's down) ... We could also ensure, through positive discrimination, that we have a equitable balance of gender, height, outlook, Super 14 support ... whatever we wanted as we (you, intelligent reader, and I) are making up the rules.

false boobs what language does pingu speak what has "anna scarlett" achieved flashgames "maid nurse" brotwon characters femke van battenburg gorgeous martin cory manboobs diy "tailor dummy" cardiff roughest in europe lunatic fringe hairdressers canterbury handbag chch Some I understand. Some I understand why mistakenly here. Some I am bemused by but hope the trip was worth it.

When I go out and about with the kiddlie-winkles and have our trusty new digital camera with me I usually stop and take a few 'generic' photos along the way. You know the sort, nice one of the park , quick one of that fascinating cloud formation , couple of the street performers ... Whilst I'm snapping away at the park/cloud/juggler I am invariably joined by a few other happy snappers taking pictures of the same park/cloud/juggler all be it from ever so slightly different angles. Now. Why don't we have wee transmitter/receivers (pick your technology ) built into our cameras that can send/receive a photo from these other happy snappers. Of course mobile phones are, by definition, built with this and a large proportion have cameras as well. All you'd need to do is have a very quick and easy (think iPod easy) way of saying: a) Let me receive photo's being take around me; and/or b) Share this photo I've just taken with anyone that cares to have it. That way w...

It's all going pretty well actually and I've uploaded all my word-y documents (less than 0.5mb limit but there were only 3 over that anywho). I can now publish my documents to anyone and, if I so desire, even open them up for editing a la a Wiki (more on my Wiki in a few days). Here's a few anyone can read without my having to worry about converting to the Web: Ten Best Government Intranets 2004 UN Declaration of Human Rights Lessons For Life I think I can blog Writely documents as well but I'm not too sure how. The desktop ( Netvibes ) has just been upgraded and I had to do nothing - a hidden bonus that I never thought of, as new functionality appears it appears without me having to install a darned thing. Best of the new features is tabs (multi page) , it was getting a bit crowded on that one page. Still haven't signed up (ie, paid the money) for Flickr Pro through sheer laziness, sometime this week! The one major issue I have with life online at the mo' ...

Life shortest in Zimbabwe ... means I would be most probably dead. That was a scary and sobering thought especially with Melanoma entering the Riversdale's world . Oh, and the latest - the doctor told Liz on Thursday (after she got her stitches out) that's she's almost definitely clear as the edges of what she took out weren't active and therefore it hasn't spread. And breathe out ... Don't think the MoH's Plunket announcement (and here ) helps with the future generations either!

The following was emailed to me out of the blue this morning and can you imagine my initial surprise and then overwhelming joy. I will obviously be resigning from work within the hour and have already placed orders for new electronic toys to be shipped to the houses I have placed deposits on. Of course this puts me in a bit of a risky financial position but I'm sure this deeply religious lady will understand and matters will be closed at our earliest convenience. Jenny Brooks Email: jenbrooks@fastermail.com Dear Sir/Madam Just a quick stop there to express my slight annoyance that Jenny (Mrs Brooks) doesn't use my name, but she is a dying woman who's hearing the word of God so I'll let it go this time. On we go ... My name is Mrs. Jenny Brooks, I am a dying woman who have decided to donate what I have to you/ church. I am 59 years old and I was diagnosed for cancer for about 2 years ago, immediately after the death of my husband, who has left me everything he worked for...

OT - Blogging in the Public Sector - The Thorndon Bubble And give me a report back ...

It's a laff: http://www.gizoogle.com/ (Hat tip Frogstar World E )

Now you do ... Portal:Rugby Union - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Not my lifetime as it only took me a month or so to read but it is most definitely the work of Stephen King's lifetime - The Dark Tower (nice Flash intro ).  I'm not really a Stephen King fan. Not that I've anything against him but I was just never drawn to his writing. I did read The Shining and recall having a good and scary time during it but, well, that was it for me. A few months ago I came off a few weeks of reading some heavy true/biographical type books and was looking for something completely different. I tend to wander into Scorpios for inspiration and wander around as if it's my very own sanctuary . I then get overwhelmed and after an hour walk right back out for a breather. This time I had to get something as I was bereft of reading material ... I don't count Liz's chick-flicks as reading material to which I know I'm being overly critical but, I don't. So, after picking up every book in all the usual suspects, SciFi, Fantasy, Biography, Sc...

Anywhere?

Forget that other map site (which I'm sure you struggle to use just as I do when I really have to), for your complete NZ mapping solution able to easily find every darned place in Aotearoa head over to ZoomIn . So, how easy to use - type in your address and find out ... easy eh! Here's where I work and look at the extremely easy to use URL - http://www.zoomin.co.nz/christchurch/addington/tuam+street/163/ - sheer bliss. It is a cracking mashup of other info so expect to see restaurants, businesses and stuff of interest on your map as well (is it Google Maps based?). If you're into GIS you might wanna check out their API's ( example ) So, here's Christchurch and Wellington in all their mapped and tagged (wellington|restaurants ) glory. Who's behind ZoomIn? It comes from Projectx which is a startup running in Wellington (where else) consisting of: John Clegg Ben Nolan Nick Chapman Tomek Piatek Ross Lin Check out their blog for the latest (addin for Mozilla/...

Via email from Tom a mate in Auckland: .......this is gold - written by an Englishman, but goes to show the universality of what it means to be a bloke. NB. Rugby fans, in No.3 please substitute 'Stuart Pearce' with 'Jerry Collins'. 1. OPENING JARS - She's struggling. You take it from her hands, open it effortlessly and pretend she loosened it for you. She didn't. Jars are men's work. 2. CALLING SOMEONE 'SON' - Especially policeman but even saying it to kids makes you the man. 3. DOING A PROPER SLIDE TACKLE - A Stuart Pearce tackle is the pinnacle of the game, simultaneously winning the ball and crippling the man. Magic. 4. SHARPENING A PENCIL WITH A STANLEY KNIFE - Blunt, is it? Hand it here love. No, I don't need a sharpener, I've got a knife thanks! 5. GOING TO THE TIP - A manly act which combines driving, lifting and - as you thrillingly drop your rubbish into another huge pile of other rubbish -noisy destruction. 6. DRIN...

I was gonna list the April Fools I had stumbled across but Wikipedia is far more inclusive - I love Wikipedia. April 1, 2006 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia My favourites include the Google Romance and Bill Gates personally buying OpenOffice

Liz had a mole removed a few weeks ago on the excellent advice of her GP. This morning she was called by her GP with the news that it was a Level 1 melanoma and she'll need to come in to have a bit more taken out and then some more tests done. *sheesh* Suddenly everything else pales into the background. The doctor has arranged for the consultation (with a plastic surgeon ) next Monday then she'll booked in for an "operation" to remove some more from her ankle. That 'more' and some from the newly dug hole will then be sent off to be checked and if everything is fine that's it. If not then we start on the road of getting rid of it - radiotherapy and whatever happens next. Not what anyone really wants is it! Thank golly her doc was onto it so early and there's every chance it'll be sorted within a few weeks.

After finding out what the world (online) might think about you and your sort I was wondering what it is that makes, say, a Kiwi be a Kiwi. Apart from holding the official documentation (passport normally) what is it that makes someone a "Kiwi" ... or an Aussie, or a Englishman ... or whatever? I suspect it's an external set of "social clothing" that's placed on us by others and when we're on our own no-one would be able to burst in and declare, "Aha, a Welshman" without first asking questions etc. I watched the Hurricanes v Crusaders game (we lost, 11-20) at a booze barn ( Legends ) here in Christchurch and, as is expected, it was full of Crusaders fans. I, being the shy and retiring person that I am, gave mighty shout-outs as Jerry plowed up the middle and I was quickly rounded on by a few of the others (all with good humour and banter, nothing dumb). First comment was, "Where's your colours?" from someone wearing a Crusaders ...