Mike Riversdale

Not just Google Ads = Masturbation but also chickens and pigs making breakfast , superheroes and making IT Policy writers sweat - who says work blogs have to be boring? On the Google side of things I've: shown people how to use public calendars ; listed the Google Apps upgrades ; and hinted at Google moving one step closer to being "social" Talking of social, be aware Facebook (M$) wants the keys to YOUR Web experience ! On a lighter and more constructive note the NZ National Library reviewed one year of Flickr use And then I have walked through the day-to-day stuff I do at client sites such as: 5 useful things about People-Tagging ; 5 questions about moderation ("censorship") I've also pleaded for people to think before jumping for the computer . But it may all be pointless as most companies who try to do Enterprise 2.0 will fail I'm also expanding the 3 pillars of collaboration - watch out for the book and the movie. But, if you only click on one l

The Obama Effect has started in New Zealand and Kiwi politicians are using social networking sites such as Facebook ... in fact, only Facebook as far as I know. This popped into my Facebook Profile the other week: And I thought, "Hmm, not my usual type of Facebook friend ... wearing a suit for a start ... and that's one heck of a professional photo ... usually see this over on LinkedIn ". And then I thought, "I wonder who the jolly bee's wax Richard Worth is!?" ... I know, probably should've known or something, but I don't hang out with politicians, or political places, or read political stuff ... in fact this is just a mockery! So I clicked through to Richard Worth's Facebook profile : Aaaah, I see ... nice touch with the "HTML Profile box" on the left-hand side ( huh? ): And then I remembered that it said there were some "friends" of mine that were "friends" of his ... I wonder who they are: Now I don't know

Totally fell in love with In Swings The Tide CD again this morning, just love it. So, this is for me really :-) Check out My Old Man or Dreams In My Head from In Swings The Tide or hum along to the hit, Falling In Love Again , from her Thinking Room CD

Pop out and use these as many times as you can during the following day. Do not get your genitals out in public. Source: Mirth and Woe: ASBO fodder "I'm pregnant, and I'd like you to know that you're not the father." "Stands to reason. I've only ever done you up the bum." Source: On random snippets of conversation I noted the following as, "My Monday morning" Source: garfield minus garfield ‘Obviously making the road wider won’t actually reduce congestion – it is more of a post-modern comment on the irony of shape, expressing the futility of modern road transport with an exciting piece of conceptual art. We’ve had diggers and cranes and men in yellow jackets and everything. It’s been great to look at from my helicopter. It’s not just me that likes it, either. Everyone been slowing down to have a look, which shows just how influential it’s been.’ Source: M1 roadworks revealed as 'conceptual art' I am not afraid of many things, apart

Don't you just hate awkward silences? - originally uploaded by BzarklapOOSH :) Love it, from my old home town in Wales, Monmouth Goes alongside the "Smile" graffiti I snapped a while ago very near the same spot.

If you run a sports club, this post is for you. If you are on a community committee, this post is also for you If you host events, this is for you. If you put on shows, this is for you. In fact, if you do anything that has a date/time component that you'd like to share with people, this is for you . Yep, probably for all of us. Sharing calendars can be both: an effective way of letting everyone know a complete and utter technical pain in the bottomly region If you've posted up an events page onto your website you know how difficult it is to keep up to date, how the readers have to keep coming back to get the latest changes and don't even think about integrating with somebody else's "events page". Ok, so we all know the problem. What's the solution? iCalendar (normally shortened to iCal) ... yep, it's a geek word that you will come to know and love just as much as RSS. In fact, think of it as RSS for calendars. But that's enough geekery, if you want

A couple of people I know (and one on-line) has recently struggled with Ubuntu in ways I just never had to. My advice was (and still is) to go back to whatever worked and not worry about it - it's just software. When "they" (M$ normally) ask for money then re-evaluate. Behind that was the nagging feeling that Ubuntu (the flavour of Linux they all tried) was getting a bad press ... not just bad press but unfair bad press, but I couldn't figure out why. And then it hit me. All of these people are normal people. They aren't uber geeks like I am, they don't want, care or worry about such things as software drivers, version numbers or patches. They just want software that works. And fair enough. But they weren't installing a new screensaver, oh no. These guys had taken the fairly major step of installing an operating system. That's the whole kit and caboodle, everything a computer needs to run ... EVERYTHING. And for some it just didn't work out and the

Me With Pens are a very caustic, real and honest bunch of guys (and gals?) that take any website and give you caustic, real and honest feedback. This is their business. They concentrate on usability but will let lose on anything. They also do freebies when they can to which I put my hand-up for one. I'm scheduled for a caustic, real and honest drive-by on this blog September 9th. *gulp* What do you think I need to make this site more useful? Things I know I really should sort out: Archives - have one! Top level navigation - not sure what to put in Latest comments In-line comment form ...??? Let me know what I can do to improve this blog for you!

I am proud to give you this weeks "Mike Recommends" Mike recommends ... because ... Espresso Rescue is not just run by good mates with the best attitude to service in the world supporting organic, sustainable and awesome coffee. I am stoked to support local Wellington/NZ businesses that provide excellent products with excellent service. They may or may not have a web presence but they will definitely offer quality, the personal touch and a little extra. No, you cannot ask me to place you on the list ... it's all down to me, sorry. You can, of course, let others know about cool shops and services in the comments .

I sometimes stop and look around and think, "Am I missing something here?" and in the very act of stopping and looking I realise what I'm missing, life. It's good to be slow, ponderous and in the now ... this is it, not a rehearsal My frame of mind to write this was brought on by this most excellent wee "video" (short / safe for work) - Music & Life

And so can you ... (thanks James Cridland )

... eating grapes and putting as many as you can in your mouth so you can chomp them all in one go Show all | explain this

What if there were no stop signs... and a major corporation was charged with inventing one? It's been doing the rounds and so it should, classic

I. Want. To. Go. Kim, can you go along for me? Nick, how about you? Shona, you up for going along on my behalf? Stu, take the little tacker along for me and Jack! Anyone pop along, get a program, take photos, steal original art? Cartoon Museum - 35 Little Russell St, London, WC1A 2H View Larger Map

For those using Facebook and wondering where it's all going check out my work post: Google Moves One Step Closer To Being "Social"

Well, only "Riversdale" listed in the Whitepages ... there was a reason I discovered that above and beyond searchinfg for our name but I won't bore you with the details. But the next load of Whitepages searches was pure entertainment on my part: UK : 0 Aus: 0 USA: 1 One other - Annie D Riversdale in Saint Louis

Funnily enough I have no problem putting up loads of information about myself on the World Wide Web but I am wary of using the newly released Snapper Card* So why do I worry about this card but not the WWW? This is my latest comment at the Wellingtonista and half-pie which probably sums it up for me. What do you think? So that's the thing ... IF I want to use it like cash then go to the -- hang on, I've got cash in my pocket, why don't I just use CASH? But they, the ANZ and Wgtn bus company are going to penalise me for that. So what do I gain from this "cool-ness" ... a more expensive bus ride home. And if you are an ANZ member and use your credit card (with any fancy email address) then they can work out who you are. And if you use the same IP address (broadband anyone) then they can work out it is "probably" one person and do data magic on it - Google is in the European pooh because of exactly this. So ... it's not really, if at all, "lik

Head over to Lance's Chocolate fish, bloggers and a tragic death posting: Horrible news from the inquest of Chocolate Fish landlord Adrianus Johanus Vlug, who the coroner found committed suicide after feeling pressure from “rather uninformed bloggers” about the rent increases at the chocolate fish. And then head over to the Facebook groups to review what YOU wrote: CF Facebook entry Save the Chocolate Fish Cafe SAVE CHOCOLATE FISH CAFE!!!!!!!!!!! I was a member of the Save the Chocolate Fish Cafe group and whilst my comments were in no way an attack on the building owners I s'pose being a small part of the throng counts: Mike Riversdale wrote at 12:33pm on September 17th, 2007 Oh you and your practical ways Jo ... how about everyone only drinks at the Chocolate Fish from now on. With transport it might cost over $20 per coffee but I think it's worth it! I also posted these on this blog and over at Wellingtonista (where I was a contributor): The Chocolate Fish (Scorching

"Yeeh, yeeh, yeeh, nah" :-)

... eating only the melted cheese on cheese-on-toast Show all | explain this

I can't say I'm a great fan of Radiohead and generally poo-poo them as Pink Floyd derivatives (spam me if you feel the need). However I like the "House Of Cards" song, the video, the thinking outside the square and generally the "let's do something different and fun" attitude. And I really REALLY like the way they've open sourced the data so that anyone else can "re-mix" a video and pop it up onto YouTube . Nice work fellas House Of Cards video The Making Of "The House Of Cards video" video

It's this Saturday

Wellington : New Zealand profile settings on Blogger had me stumble across the NZ Labyrinth Training blog ("Revive a Lost Ancient Olympic Sport. Synchronize the Multiverse. Save the worlds.") I am quite intrigued I must say! Labyrinth Training is an unusual "sport" starting to be played by groups all around the world, as a part of a global part-online/part-real-world interactive-story/game which has been financed by the Olympic Committee. Are you?

... imagining what life will be like for people in 245 million years Show all | explain this

And so the video week continues - is this blog turning in to a TV station of the weird and wonderful? One question (after you've watched it) - could you even stand on that pole? And it's true, the last stunt is quite stunning Link: Neatorama

Brilliant advice for whenever your girlfriend dumps ya! Click to see the advice in glorious detail! (thanks Sam !)

A brilliant find from Hadyn of The Dropkicks ... watch (2:23 min) as this Belarus referee is gently escorted from the field ... I've seen more sober people thrown out of pubs! Aaaand, he thinks he's standing up straight :-)

Wow, I would've made more noise than that. Linked from: kottke.org

Get along and buy oodles of goodies! The details from their site : What: Craft2.0 Wellington When: July 19th, 11am till 3pm Where: TheNewDowse So what is Craft2.0? Craft2.0 is an indie craft fair featuring the best and brightest of the New Zealand craft scene. Our carefully juried shows highlight a wide variety of handmade goods, including handbags and jewellery, baby gifts and paper products, clothing and housewares, one-of-a-kind plushies and original artwork. Everything sold at Craft2.0 is 100% NZ Made. Everything sold at Craft2.0 is made by the person selling it Most items are unique one-off or limited edition creations Craft2.0 runs from 11am-3pm free gift bags to the first 50 adults and badges for the first 50 kids through the door at 11am Plus between 11am and 2pm anyone can enter our prize draw to win over $200 of crafty creations And note that Craft2.0 is going national with the crafters call out for Christchurch Craft2.0 event , August 23rd to be held

Here's a question for you all - has any of this 'social networking' worked for you? I'm talking being on Facebook, Bebo and alllllll the others ... has it worked for you? For me it seems to have raised my profile here in Wellington amongst all my lovely techie friends but, well, that's about it. So it's worked for me in a professional sense ... a bit. Twitter was probably the most successful for me in that sense. Other than that ... I'm not so sure. I've re-connected with some friends back in the UK but we've not got a lot to talk about once we get passed the, "How's the new life?" and, "Heh, do you remember when we put pepper on the stove of Jo's part?!?" I have read a lot of funny articles and seen a lot of weird videos through Google's Shared Items ( mine ) which is probably meant it's stayed out of my InBox. That's a bonus. I also think that I have a new "stalker" view on people that means I am &

Thanks C4 for bringing this to my eyeballs, love it! What is it called - Toe Jam Who is it - It's the BPA (Brighton Port Authority) which is a new band from Fatboy Sli m (AKA ex- Housemartin Norman Cook ). It features David Byrne on vocals as well as a great little rap from Dizzee Rascal .

The past few photos I've used for the computer wallpaper have been from Wales and so I was determined to find a local (Wellington) based photo this time. And to be fair it was hard work. I trawled through the Flickr "Wellington" group and despite there being some mighty fine photos nothing would work as a background and then it struck me - it's not about being a good photo! For a photo to be good (as in useful, not get in the way but still make you go, "Nice!" when you login) it has to: big big enough - you will notice that pixellation if you merely stretch it to fit) compose of one main colour - one that fits your colour scheme is good but not a must not have a lot of busy detail - you'll lose your desktop icons in them be slightly "background" - obvious really but it's hard to find be of a mood - I like 'calm' but get one that fits the mood you want to have EVERY time you log in have the rights to let you use it - check the licens

As you know I am now an independent consultant trading under the glorious name of MiramarMike.co.nz . With the updating of the work web stuff I'm sloooooowly moving this blog further and further away from that brand (for want of another word). And so, I'm playing around with the http://*.mikeriversdale.co.nz (and .com) domains. What does that mean for you? Hopefully nothing but I may break things (as I did this morning). Please bear with us caller. In the future you'll all be automatically redirected but I'll also ask you to update your Delicious bookmarks and browser favourites. The RSS feed will just keep on playing without any intervention required.

I dare anyone not to laugh ... I bet the glass of water gets ya! Pippa Wetzell shows her composure under much pressure from Paul Henry who finds the idea of a pet rat all too amusing. For more Breakfast head to www.tvnz.co.n

Well done Colin for raising this up and out of the geek world and into the face of the great unwashed" - let's hope they voice their opinions loudly on talkback radio ! Today on Radio New Zealand National I talked about a treaty called ACTA about which its hard to find any information. ACTA is being negotiated now by countries including New Zealand, and it has the potential to curb people’s privacy and their rights to use the Internet. MED has issued a call for submissions on what New Zealand’s negotiating position should be, although it has delayed answering an OIA request for more information until after the deadline of next Monday. Does this affect you? Quite possibly it will if some well-funded lobbyists get their way. It’s clear that some want this treaty to impose DMCA-style laws across the world . This would effectively stop innovation in its tracks except when it was done by big companies. And the last New Zealand copyright law change pandered to the interests of t

The Pitch Each week two of the advertising industry's finest agencies are pitted against each other and challenged with selling the unsellable. Which agency's ad convinces us more that we need to invade New Zealand? Ha ha ha ha - I love 'em both but the finest is definitely from the Marmalade agency, "There's a day off in it for ya!" Shame I can't embed the vids for ya - pop over to the ABC.net.au site to check 'em both out . And then vote! If more Kiwi IP addresses appear in their stats they'll have something else to laugh about :-)

Following my plea to all fine women to cease and desist from the nightmare fashion of 2007 I am happy to report that years Winter look meets with high degree of acceptance from myself AND nearly every bloke/lad I have spoken to over the passed few weeks. Just above knee skirt/shorts Leggings/tights Boots Top work Women of Wellington. But don't rest on your laurels. And I think Brenda has thrown down the fashion gauntlet for us men in this coming summer - I accept!

Had to happen (as Adam on his Jokeslist said): Link: Stuff

Whilst Kursten Shalfoon has posted an excellent rebuttal to the"NZ iPhone is too expensive" over at GeekZone I think Adam Shand summed it up for me: Vodaphone isn't boning us on the iPhone, they are boning us on everything . When you compare the announced prices for the iPhone hardware and planes with all the other mobile offerings in New Zealand, it stacks up pretty favorably. As for the reaction from myself and the general (online) public Miki nails it for me: That is the root of this issue - an implied promise was made and then broken. Still won't be buying a phone at that price ... still not worth it which is a value decision on my part that cannot be argued by tables of numbers and statistics

HA HA HA HA HA ... Link: The Presurfer

I can wait for another phone, another carrier or another new toy ... dickheads. Too expensive! See everyone thinks the same thing - thanks Mike Have a rant on Facebook! But don't give up heart, bad decisions have be reversed in the past

Vote for Skylight , a cracking agency that I once worked for (both "with computers" and "as trainee counsellor" - I've had an interesting career :-) This from Tricia, Skylight's Resource manager: Hi Everyone, Skylight is one of the Top Six Charities selected for July by Sovereign Sunshine and this means that we are in the running to receive a donation of $15,000 Vote for us by taking a minute by logging on to http://www.sovereignsunshine.co.nz/#vote The Charitiy is selected by the number of votes it gets. It is importnat that you get as many of your friends to vote as possible and then each of your friends gets as many of theirs to do the same. Even Children can vote - they just have to have their own e-mail address. Everyone can vote at the office and then from their home computer as it is one vote per e-mail address. If everyone votes we may be the happy recipient of the $15,000 Remember vote for us by http://www.sovereignsunshine.co.nz/#vote Thanks for y

Why of why (Delilah!) is 'talkback radio' so damned popular. I just don't get it. Kiwi's are, when you get to know any one of them, "salt of the earth" types . Even the ones that drink Lattes and Flat Whites and can tell you the difference (thanks everyone). The types of people you'll meet outside of the "main centres" (there are 5 centres) are even saltier. New Zealanders (for it is they that are labelled 'Kiwis') are practicable, fair minded, knowledgeable, tough but fair and not adverse to sticking up for the underdog when it seems ... fair. Ok - these are great, sweeping broad brush phrases that can be applied to many a nation and many an individual. However, I would hazard a guess that these attributes are ones that Kiwis apply to themselves and their fellow citizens. They are commonly applied to Kiwis by "outsiders" receiving a hearty, "Too right mate" from any New Zealander within half a yard of hearing it. So

Maybe a dinner this time? What do people think ... leave a comment or get onto Facebook * Open to anyone really ... if you blog, read blogs or just want to know what a blog is then come along. * Sorry to say that the dinner/drink will most likey be driven through a Facebook group: Wellington Bloggers

Yes, that sort of "grass". Top work from this Queensland couple that decided to hide their Cannabis in plain view and shaped it into their garden hedge.

Awesome find from Llew who discovered the cracking Myth Busters at the NZ Governments Population and Sustainable Development site. How cool that the dusty old beaurocrats are able to use popular culture to get their message across ... ok, ok, civil servants don't go to work in bowler hats any more but it still hard to have public facing fun in any government - top work people! Analysts in the Population Statistics Unit hear often repeated statements that make us: shake our heads in despair scratch our heads in thought or just yell no! On these pages we will examine the stories behind some of the common "population myths" (facts, fudges and fallacies) and subject them to a range of ingenious tests. We may also throw out a few challenges to our fellow analysts to provide evidence to support or refute claims linking population trends with economic trends. We hope to clarify some areas of confusion, bury some misconceptions and encourage some debate. Myth 1: Half of all ma

Ok, so the video's been out for a little while now and I've sort of been avoiding it as I had awesome smiles and memories from the first one which I didn't want to taint them with the "sequel". I watched it a few minutes ago. It's very cool. Fave part - in India with the women dancers, top synchronised dancing, Oh, and the wave the engulfs Matt will make you go, "Wooooah!" Enjoy - you will have a smile on your face after. Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo . Link: http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/

Whilst finding the vids for the blog posting about the mighty DVDs from my brother to Jack I found this that should make you smile: 30 Themes from childrens television in the 1970's. Also includes images from the time including sweets, comics and toys. Bod roobarb animal kwackers rentaghost pugwash mr benn bagpuss hong kong phooey tiswas flumps wombles dastardley camberwick green tomorrow people ivor the engine

... sneezing five times in a row and getting louder and louder and louder Show all | explain this

Policing the rugby 7s - originally uploaded by jig o'dance Ha ha ha ha ha - stumbled across this looking for something else for a lecture I'm giving tomorrow. Classic eh!