alturnal.com

Software As A Service Continues To Soar

2009-07-15T10:25:00.003+10:00

Gartner says another year of stellar growth for SaaS despite the global financial crisis.

Market for SaaS is forecast to reach $US8b in 2009 up from $US6.6b last year.

It is also expected to double to $US16b by 2013.

Hot areas are -
- horizontals with common processes among distributed virtual workforce teams and web 2.0 initiatives.
- office suites and digital content creation
- enterprise resource planning and supply chain management
- human capital management and procurement
- customer relationship management (now at 18%!)

Key drivers were -
- rapid deployment
- rapid return on investment
- less upfront capital
- decreased reliance on limited implementation resources
- greater competition
- increased focus by mega vendors giving legitimacy to the space

Secondary benefits of a SaaS strategy were -
- backups outsourced
- updates and maintenance outsourced
- resourcing and operations outsourced

Should be good for Saasu and the SaaS Ecosystem.

Thanks to Gartner Research and The Rust Report. Quality reporting as usual.

Trade secrets of a Tycoon

2009-07-10T16:00:00.002+10:00

Wisdom from a rich man, third hand but sharp and memorable as your own tattoo.

This article was originally published by Marcus Padley in his 'The Insider' Column. I have taken the liberty of reordering the points but otherwise is is unchanged. Thanks Marcus, a quality read as usual. I have added notes in brackets only.

Tough lessons, sometimes brutal, always true. If you do want to be a commercial success, these will certainly help. Then again after reading this you may not be willing to pay the price.

1. Patience is not a virtue - it is a waste of bloody time. Time is the most valuable of commodities and you will fail without it. No one got rich working 9 to 5 and respecting weekends. You can't build a business 9 to 5. It takes total immersion. Every activity becomes a time-versus-money equation.

2. There is no substitute for making mistakes. Mistakes compress learning. [Some people say you should try to get other people, like your first few employers, to pay for your mistakes, but beware if you make too many you may never have any more employers]

3. Education is paramount. The more you learn the more the lights come on and the more you realise how many other lights are off. Knowing opens doors. And knowing what you don't know is as important as knowing what you do.

4. You can not do everything yourself. Lucky then that the most valuable and available capital in the whole world is human capital, employees. The willingness of highly capable and educated people to work for a certain rather than variable sum is the most exploitable, available and cheap investment you will ever make. Invest in the markets and you concern yourself with returns of zero to 20 percent per annum and possibly even a loss. Invest in people and your return can be hundreds of per cent. There is simply no better return on capital "employed".

{Beware governments who create too many barriers to businesses employing and deploying human capital, a poor balance will ultimately destroy the quality of life it was intended to protect.]

5. There is education and there is qualification. Set out in pursuit of a qualification and you will deliver yourself to the corporate sector for exploitation. Set out for an education and you will develop beyond that. To take it to the extreme: Why do exams? You already have everything you need.

[Qualifications are valuable mans of benchmarking but take care to see beyond them when identifying talent for your business].

6. Starting with nothing is good. Who is the better competitor - someone fat and comfortable or someone lean and hungry, someone driven, focused, bold and prepared to take risks?

7. Debt is king. You'll never [?] make big money without it. Do not be afraid of debt. Liabilities drive you too the most herculean of efforts. [Debt can be of course be non-monetary obligations, moral and otherwise].

8. Think beyond the square. Set an unachievable goal. Shoot for the stars and hit the moon. Pictures of Porsches on the ridge. All that sort of stuff. [Start a movement not a business some commentators would say. The key is make your motivation and goal as large as possible and only limited by your imagination.]

9. Growing a business organically will only ever achieve incremental returns. Take the big steps and the little steps will look after themselves [?]. there is more money made is a room [e.g. investment bank trading room] in an hour than is made in a factory every day.

10. Your business [model] has to be scaleable. You cannot make exponential money without exponential growth. A pop star making an album is a scaleable business and why pop stars are rich. After 100 years in the game Morgan cars are still in the same factory and have a waiting list. They don't sell cars they ration them The business is not scaleable.

Easy isn't it? So, do you still want to be rich?

Share your secrets with others by commenting below.

Computers Need To Get Easier & Better - Chrome OS insight

2009-07-09T13:50:00.006+10:00

Google just launched their first operating system, very quietly. But it will have a huge impact.

Computers just need to get easier to use and better for the tasks we want to use them for.

No hassles. No viruses. No learning. No configuring. No updating. No frigging around.

I just want to do stuff. Now. Keep it simple!

Using all sorts of operating systems for years I have a better perspective than most. DOS, VMS, AppleOS, Lots of Mac, Lots of Windows, Lots of Unix, iPhone, Android, 'browsers' and a fair few embedded operating systems too.

Lots of UX (User Experience) and usability and design people around the world think they are doing a great job, and generally they are.

But the foundations are made of sand. Their platforms are flawed.

Don't get me wrong, iPhoneOS and MacOSX have done more for the human race recently - in terms of letting them get on with thinking about the thinking (which only we can do) rather than the machine they are trying to use for the task - than anyone else on the planet. Apple are leading lights.

But even Macs and iPhones take a bit of sorting out and updating regularly and a little learning. I am onto my third new generation Mac and this last one I let my kids unpack, install and configure. They did it in minutes. I watched but it really was child's play. Ok so the internet wifi was already available but that aside, kids couldn't do that in the past easily.

But it is still not enough. My Windows and Unix stuff won't run on the Mac (without parallels or fusion and more installing and configuring and switching).

So Google has launched Chrome OS, not the browser Chrome (9 months old now and used by 30m people regularly they say) but the the Google Chrome Operating System (GCOS?).

Chrome OS has a new windowing system too and will run on most devices (targeting netbooks up to desktops and maybe more) while the android OS is targeting phones and netbooks. So there is some overlap and the Chrome browser underlying technology will work on both. with some tweaks.

I think it is as much an admission that they need two teams (read product lines or production lines in the industrial age) for these two huge market opportunities. The need for focus and speed to market simultaneously in two spaces - as much as any differences - are driving the need for separate products.

It sends a clear message that connected environments are now mainstream. Most business can run entirely from the cloud now. We do.

Same for individuals and families.

And the SaaS (Software as a service) or cloud apps (applications - ie software) all work neatly now, they will also benefit.

The key is standas, mainly javascript (and HTML5 or 6 and java) because it is so standard now and fast (a recent development) the developers are flocking to it.

As a result frameworks are popping up to solve the longer term bigger issues of the browser like local peristence (storage) and semi-online and offline working seamlessly so you can handle being in a taxi and not stop your note taking or emailing or presentation or the like (within limits).

But the BIG CHANGE is something else - simplicity, security, standardisation all of which rolls up into ease of use.

EASE OF USE IS THE BIG CHANGE. It is nirvana.

Because the majority of the world still don't use computers. Even in mature economies with great infrastructure, young kids and older adults still don't use it much.

This is a BLUE OCEAN play by Google. They can make a difference here to humanity. It may be incremental technically but the impact will be disproportionate because it could enable new lower cost platforms too.

And they don't have to wait for an app store to get populated. All the web apps will just work on ChromeOS and most of the others will see this as such as huge market they will flock to it.

IF Google can resist the temptation to put too many bells and whistles it may finally deliver what industry pundits have promised for years, as Sun said so aptly the network is the computer.

With peer to peer networking improvements (not promised by Google but my big tip is it will come) these is turning that wisdom on it's head - the computers are the network.

With other developments by empute (a new stealth startup in Sydney looking at the human to machine interface) this could be a very very interesting space.

You can read the Google official Chrome OS announcement here.

Music Grid Changes Your Mind About Surface

2009-07-07T12:58:00.002+10:00

Stimulant: ToneGrid from Stimulant on Vimeo.

This really changes my mind about just how good Microsoft Surface could be, forget about piano keyboards and plastic wind instruments, just play!

Seven minutes that could change a life.

2009-07-06T08:45:00.000+10:00

How To Really Live - 40 Simple Steps To Try Today

2009-06-24T13:34:00.007+10:00

So much in life keeps us away from really living. Stop surviving and try actually living. Here are some simple steps to try today, just one a day will make a huge difference.

0. Develop a sense of urgency about living. Carpe Diem. Seize the day. You only get each day once. Decide to live. This list can help.

1. Love. Perhaps the most important. Fall in love, if you aren't already. If you have, fall in love with your partner all over again. Abandon caution and let your heart be broken. Or love family members, friends, anyone -- it doesn't have to be romantic love. Love all of humanity, one person at a time.

2. Get outside. Don't let yourself be shut indoors. Go out when it's raining. Walk on the beach. Hike through the woods. Swim in a freezing lake. Bask in the sun. Play sports, or walk barefoot through grass. Pay close attention to nature.

3. Savor food. Don't just eat your food, but really enjoy it. Feel the texture, the bursts of flavors. Savor every bite. If you limit your intake of sweets, it will make the small treats you give yourself (berries or dark chocolate are my favorites) even more enjoyable. And when you do have them, really, really savor them. Slowly.

4. Create a morning ritual. Wake early and greet the day. Watch the sun rise. Out loud, tell yourself that you will not waste this day, which is a gift. You will be compassionate to your fellow human beings, and live every moment to its fullest. Stretch or meditate or exercise as part of your ritual. Enjoy some coffee.

5. Take chances. We often live our lives too cautiously, worried about what might go wrong. Be bold, risk it all. Quit your job and go to business for yourself (plan it out first!), or go up to that girl you've liked for a long time and ask her out. What do you have to lose?

6. Follow excitement. Try to find the things in life that excite you, and then go after them. Make life one exciting adventure after another (with perhaps some quiet times in between).

7. Find your passion. Similar to the above tip, this one asks you to find your calling. Make your living by doing the thing you love to do. First, think about what you really love to do. There may be many things. Find out how you can make a living doing it. It may be difficult, but you only live once.

8. Get out of your cubicle. Do you sit all day in front of computer, shuffling papers and taking phone calls and chatting on the Internet? Don't waste your days like this. Break free from the cubicle environment, and do your work on a laptop, in a coffee shop, or on a boat, or in a log cabin. This may require a change of jobs, or becoming a freelancer. It's worth it.

9. Turn off the TV. How many hours will we waste away in front of the boob tube? How many hours do we have to live? Do the math, then unplug the TV. Only plug it back in when you have a DVD of a movie you love. Otherwise, keep it off and find other stuff to do. Don't know what to do? Read further.

10. Pull away from Internet. Twitter, Facebook and the next big thing might be interesting but stop. You're reading something on the Internet right now. And, with the exception of this article, it is just more wasting away of your precious time. You cannot get these minutes back. Unplug the Internet, then get out of your office or house. Right now! And go and do something.

11. Travel. Sure, you want to travel some day. When you have vacation time, or when you're older. Well, what are you waiting for? Find a way to take a trip, if not this month, then sometime soon. You may need to sell your car or stop your cable bill and stop eating out to do it, but make it happen. You are too young to not see the world. If need be, find a way to make a living by freelancing, then work while you travel. Only work an hour or two a day. Don't check email but once a week. Then use the rest of the time to see the world.

12. Rediscover what's important. Take an hour and make a list of everything that's important to you. Add to it everything that you want to do in life. Now cut that list down to 4-5 things. Just the most important things in your life. This is your core list. This is what matters. Focus your life on these things. Make time for them.

13. Minimalise. Is that a word? Minimize. Simplify. Eliminate everything else. What's going on in your life that's not on that short list? All that stuff is wasting your time, pulling your attention from what's important. As much as possible, simplify your life by eliminating the stuff that's not on your short list, or minimizing it.

14. Exercise. Get off the couch and go for a walk. Eventually try running. Or do some push ups and crunches. Or swim or bike or row. Or go for a hike. Whatever you do, get active, and you'll love it. And life will be more alive.

15. Be positive. Learn to recognize the negative thoughts you have. These are the self-doubts, the criticisms of others, the complaints, the reasons you can't do something. Then stop yourself when you have these thoughts, and replace them with positive thoughts. Solutions. You can do this!

16. Open your heart. Is your heart a closed bundle of scar tissue? Learn to open it, have it ready to receive love, to give love unconditionally. If you have a problem with this, talk to someone about it. And practice makes perfect.

17. Kiss in the rain. Seize the moment and be romantic. Raining outside? Grab your lover and give her a passionate kiss. Driving home? Stop the car and pick some wildflowers. Send her a love note. Dress sexy for him.

18. Face your fears. What are you most afraid of? What is holding you back? Whatever it is, recognize it, and face it. Do what you are most afraid of. Afraid of heights? Go to the tallest building, and look down over the edge. Only by facing our fears can we be free of them.

19. When you suffer, suffer. Life isn't all about fun and games. Suffering is an inevitable part of life. We lose our jobs. We lose our lovers. We lose our pets. We get physically injured or sick. A loved one becomes sick. A parent dies. Learn to feel the pain intensely, and really grieve. This is a part of life -- really feel the pain. And when you're done, move on, and find joy.

20. Slow down. Life moves along at such a rapid pace these days. It's not healthy, and it's not conducive to living. Practice doing everything slowly -- everything, from eating to walking to driving to working to reading. Enjoy what you do. Learn to move at a snail's pace.

21. Touch humanity. Get out of your house and manicured neighborhoods, and find those who live in worse conditions. Meet them, talk to them, understand them. Live among them. Be one of them. Give up your materialistic lifestyle.

22. Volunteer. Help at homeless soup kitchens. Learn compassion, and learn to help ease the suffering of others. Help the sick, those with disabilities, those who are dying. Teach kids to swim, run, read, write, play chess, play ball. Learn and teach life saving techniques - they are useful in your local mall just as much as at the beach.

23. Play with children. Children, more than anyone else, know how to live. They experience everything in the moment, fully. When they get hurt, they really cry. When they play, they really have fun. Learn from them, instead of thinking you know so much more than them. Play with them, and learn to be joyful like them.

24. Talk to old people. There is no one wiser, more experienced, more learned, than those who have lived through life. They can tell you amazing stories. Give you advice on making a marriage last or staying out of debt. Tell you about their regrets, so you can learn from them and avoid the same mistakes. They are the wisdom of our society -- take advantage of their existence while they're still around.

25. Learn new skills. Constantly improve yourself instead of standing still -- not because you're so imperfect now, but because it is gratifying and satisfying. You should accept yourself as you are, and learn to love who you are, but still try to improve -- if only because the process of improvement is life itself.

26. Find spirituality. For some, this means finding God or Jesus or Allah or Buddha. For others, this means becoming in tune with the spirits of our ancestors, or with nature. For still others, this just means an inner energy. Whatever spirituality means for you, rediscover it, and its power.

27. Take mini-retirements. Don't leave the joy of retirement until you are too old to enjoy it. Do it now, while you're young. It makes working that much more worth it. Find ways to take a year off every few years. Save up, sell your home, your possessions, and travel. Live simply, but live, without having to work. Enjoy life, then go back to work and save up enough money to do it again in a couple of years.

28. Do nothing. Despite the tip above that we should find excitement, there is value in doing nothing as well. Not doing nothing as in reading, or taking a nap, or watching TV, or meditating. Doing nothing as in sitting there, block out the outside world, doing nothing. Just learning to be still, in silence, to hear our inner voice, to be in tune with life. Do this daily if possible.

29. Stop playing video games. They might be fun, but they can take up way too much time. If you spend a lot of time playing online games, or computer solitaire, or Wii or Gameboy or whatever, consider going a week without it. Then find something else to do, outside.

30. Watch sunsets, daily. One of the most beautiful times of day. Make it a daily ritual to find a good spot to watch the sunset, perhaps having a light dinner while you do so.

31. Stop reading magazines. They're basically crap. And they waste your time and money. Cancel your subscriptions and walk past them at the news stands. If you have to read something, read a trashy novel or even better, read Dumb Little Man once a day and be done.

32. Break out from ruts. Do you do things the same way every day? Change it up. Try something new. Take a different route to work. Start your day out differently. Approach work from a new angle. Look at things from new perspectives.

33. Stop watching the news. It's depressing and useless. If you're a news junky, this may be difficult. I haven't watch TV news or read a newspaper regularly in about two years. It hasn't hurt me a bit. Anything important, my mom tells me about.

34. Laugh till you cry. Laughing is one of the best ways to live. Tell jokes and laugh your head off. Watch an awesome comedy. Learn to laugh at anything. Roll on the ground laughing. You'll love it.

35. Lose control. Not only control over yourself, but control over others. It's a bad habit to try to control others -- it will only lead to stress and unhappiness for yourself and those you try to control. Let others live, and live for yourself. And lose control of yourself now and then too.

36. Cry. Men, especially, tend to hold in our tears, but crying is an amazing release. Cry at sad movies. Cry at a funeral. Cry when you are hurt, or when somebody you love is hurt. It releases these emotions and allows us to cleanse ourselves.

37. Make an awesome dessert. I like to make warm, soft chocolate cake. But even berries dipped in chocolate, or crepes with ice cream and fruit, or fresh apple pie, or homemade chocolate chip cookies or brownies, are great. This isn't an every day thing, but an occasional treat thing. But it's wonderful.

38. Try something new, every week. Ask yourself: "What new thing shall I try this week?" Then be sure to do it. You don't have to learn a new language in one week, but seek new experiences. Give it a try. You might decide you want to keep it in your life.

39. Be in the moment. Instead of thinking about things you need to do, or things that have happened to you, or worrying or planning or regretting, think about what you are doing, right now. What is around you? What smells and sounds and sights and feelings are you experiencing? Learn to do this as much as possible through meditation, but also through bringing your focus back to the present as much as you can in everything you do.

40. Listen. Really listen. To the birds, the wind in the trees, to people you love, to your friends, spouse, children. Focus on others and on the simple wonders of our world and how people journey through it.

41. Do a random act of kindness. Don't expect any thing back other than your own feeling of having helped someone.

42. Re-read And Repeat This List. Improve it, share it and find little ways to do it better next time.

Ok so that was 43 steps, I'd like to make it 46 which is my lucky number and also the number of DNA strands each of our personal genomes so add suggestions here as comments.

Most of this post is an extract from Tips for Life, add it to your reader, it is a quality find.

Is Apple Winning The War For Developer Hearts & Minds?

2009-06-21T18:36:00.005+10:00

Microsoft has lost the faithful and Apple is welcoming them with open arms, other vendors too. Google is too slow to accumulate new users and will end up doing plumbing like Amazon if they are not careful. Maybe Google Wave will buy them a reprieve but they could end up like TomTom the venerable GPS provider just now an accessory maker for the iPhone.

There are also two mainstream battlefields - mobile and desktop - or should I say mobile and semi-mobile because laptops are the new desktop. This is evidenced by the risk of the netbook, the collapse of advanced laptop prices (particularly from Apple) and laptop/netbook/smartphone sales dramatically exceeding desktops.

The recent World Wide Developer Conference for Apple was a key turning point in this war, it was the biggest event of it's kid ever for Apple. In the same week Steve Jobs announced his liver transplant (and return to work planned in weeks) his replacement team stepped up tos how they are more than able to handle the job. At the same time youtube is over run with videos slamming Steve Balmer as nothing less than a maniac - at least on the topic of developers, developers, developers (google it) - because we all know how important they are.

Over 1,000,000 downloads of the developer software development kit for iphone, over 50,000 apps on the Apple appstore, 900 improvements to existing core applications, the list goes on.

The reality is Microsoft are still winning with .net (particularly version 3 and 3.5) particularly on the server - continuing to gain acceptance (despite having heels nipped by Ruby on Rails and a resurgence in the Lisp family like Scala and Erlang for being used to build high end sites like Twitter.

But apple has the momentum where it counts - owning the user experience.

And the ecosystem of real word devices the connect now are changing the game - monitoring heart rates, advising diabetes on exact insulin amounts, amazing connected gaming, school science with real time sensors - all unheard of in the mass market even a year ago, let alone with this incredibly high level of end user experience.

MS is being smart and quietly building compatibility underpinning for some of the above languages into the CLR (Common Language Runtime) so it can run (like Java on JVM - Virtual Machines - over all OSes) over the top of .net and hence Windows.

Nokia too has done well with the new ovi (their word for app) store - but Nokia can't hold a candle on the server.

Apple and Microsoft (and ORacle/Sun) is the game, but while Apple do have desktop/laptop developer appeal that is growing (up 300% in two years to circa 75m active users) they still struggle on the server outside niche markets.

So they have a new version of the core OS - called OSX Snow Leopard and priced at $49 for three pack it is ridiculously cheap. It also has lots of MS interoperability built in FREE now like exchange and MS Office compatibility in the new iWork'09 suite.

So what about Apple on the server? Well maybe they don't want it, or maybe they do but are taking their time about it. 64-bit OS is gradually coming, 50% improvement in space efficiency, 80% efficiency in some internet aspects and expansion of addressable memory fto 16 Billion Gb. Now you are talking.

Oracle/Sun has a huge footprint and corporate trust but smaller developers will be hurt during the coming consolidation and smart guys are holding back committing to new investment until the product rationalisation strategy is clear.

But MS continues to hold the server fort for now with .net, Sun's Java is supposedly immune from the $8.4B takeover by Oracle but every developer has had a seed of doubt sown in their mind about the future of the platform so the lazy will stay, the scared if faced with a decision will probably look at .net and the long sighted, brave and possibly ultra-naive commercially at least will look at new languages.

I think it is great. Change challenges us and encourages the great debate. Microsoft has never had more challenges and this attack on their core OS and mobile by Apple will win some. Oracle and Sun have a great opportunity and in the mean time lots of smart small platform plays are springing up on the web and the few open mobile platforms.

Mobile Madness Continues

2009-06-10T09:12:00.002+10:00

The adoption of mobile internet continues to steam ahead int he early adopter countries, as a result it is the place to be investing.

The only thing is which platforms will win? Nokia launched their appstore equivalent the ovi store, android (open handset alliance) is starting to ship more handsets and apple has released the 3G-S which has some neat new features but more importantly is white hot on app store activity.

We also have a string of new j2me mobile platforms coming out that will breath new life into the older handsets and lots of other activity that has promise like blackberry apps (still too slow) and sun launching a java app marketplace.

All the while, the record debt accumulated by Telco's is costing them less than ever thanks to record low interest rates. And short term at least the new unemployed with payouts can afford the time and a small splash out on a new handset. Longer term this will be an issue but with just about everyone (with any sense) reducing handset and plan costs maybe the future is pretty bright.

The real fun mid term will be software based innovation in social apps and interaction with business apps.

Parenting Tips

2009-05-20T13:34:00.006+10:00

Parenting is hard. It is also fun. But sometimes it helps to hear what the 'experts' say especially when it is on target and relevant. Here is one I found recently that is good.

Ten Tips for Talking to Your Kids About Anything

Raising a child is probably the most gratifying job any of us will ever have -- and one of the toughest. In large part, that's because times have changed. We live in an increasingly complex world that challenges us everyday with a wide range of disturbing issues that are difficult for children to understand and for adults to explain. We believe this booklet can help. It offers practical, concrete tips and techniques for talking easily and openly with young children ages 8 to 12 about some very tough issues: sex, HIV/AIDS, violence, drugs and alcohol. Some parents and caregivers may
question the appropriateness of talking about such sensitive topics with young children. Maybe you're one of them. But consider this: our kids are already hearing about these issues from TV, movies, magazines and school friends. If we don't talk with them early and often -- and answer their questions -- they'll get their facts from someone else. And we'll have missed an important opportunity to offer our children information that's not only accurate, but also in sync with our own personal values and moral principles. Make sense? We think so. So let's get started.

1. Start early.
Kids are hearing about and forced to cope with tough issues at increasingly early ages, often before they are ready to understand all aspects of these complicated ideas. Additionally, medical research and public health data tells us that when young children want information, advice and guidance, they turn to their parents first. Once they reach the teenage years, they tend to depend more on friends, the media and other outsiders for their information. As a parent, you have a wonderful opportunity to talk with your child about these issues first, before anyone else can confuse your
child with incorrect information or explanations that lack the sense of values you want to instill. We need to take advantage of this "window of opportunity" with young children and talk with them earlier and more often.

2. Initiate conversations with your child.
While we want our children to feel comfortable enough to come to us with any questions and concerns -- and thus give us the opportunity to begin conversations -- this doesn't always occur. That's why it's perfectly okay -- at times even necessary -- to begin the discussions ourselves. TV and other media are great tools for this. Say, for instance, that you and your 12-year-old are watching TV together and the program's plot includes a teenage pregnancy. After the show is over, ask your child what she thought of the program. Did she agree with how the teenagers behaved? Just one or two questions could help start a valuable discussion that comes from everyday circumstances and events. Also, when speaking with your child, be sure to use words she can understand. Trying to explain AIDS to a 6-year-old with words like "transmission" and "transfusion" may not be as helpful as using simpler language. The best technique: use simple, short words and straightforward explanations.

3. ...Even about sex and relationships.
If you feel uncomfortable talking about such sensitive subjects -- particularly sex and relationships -- with your young child, you're not alone. Many parents feel awkward and uneasy, especially if they are anxious about the subject. But, for your kid's sake, try to overcome your nervousness and bring up the issue with your child.
4. Create an open environment. Young children want their parents to discuss
difficult subjects with them. However, our kids will look to us for answers only if they feel we will be open to their questions. It's up to us to create the kind of atmosphere in which our children can ask any questions -- on any subject -- freely and without fear of consequence. How do you create such an atmosphere? By being encouraging, supportive and positive. For example, if your child asks, "How many people have AIDS?" try not to answer with, "I don't know. Please just finish your lunch." No matter how busy you are respond with something like, "That's an interesting question, but I'm not sure. Let's go look it up." (FYI: Don't worry that if your children learn that you don't know everything, they won't look up to you. That's
simply not true. Kids accept, "I don't know," and "let's go find out," and they are better responses than any inaccurate or misleading answers you may be tempted to offer.) One more point: You don't need to answer all of your children's questions immediately. If your 10-year-old asks, "Mom, what's a condom?" while you're negotiating a tricky turn in rush-hour traffic, it's perfectly okay for you to say something like, "That's an important question. But with all this traffic,
I can't explain right now. Let's talk later, after dinner." And make sure you do.

5. Communicate your values.
As a parent, you have a wonderful opportunity to be the first person to talk with your child about tough issues like drugs and violence before anyone else can confuse him with "just-the-facts" explanations that lack the sense of values and moral principles you want to instill. Likewise, when talking with your child about sex, remember to talk about more than "the birds and the bees," and communicate your values. Remember: research shows that children want and need moral guidance from their moms and dads, so don't hesitate to make your beliefs clear.

6. Listen to your child.
How many times do we listen to our children while folding clothes, preparing for the next day's meeting, or pushing a shopping cart through the supermarket? While that's understandable, it's important to find time to give kids our undivided attention. Listening carefully to our children builds self-esteem by letting our youngsters know that they're important to us and can lead to valuable discussions about a wide variety of sensitive issues. Listening carefully also helps us better understand what our children really want to know as well as what they already understand. And it keeps us from talking above our youngsters' heads and confusing them even further. For example, suppose your child asks you what crack is. Before you answer, ask him what he thinks it is. If he says, "I think it's something you eat that makes you act funny," then you have a sense of his level of understanding and can adjust your explanations to fit.

7. Try to be honest.
Whatever your child's age, they deserve honest answers and explanations. It's what strengthens our child's ability to trust. Also, when we don't provide a traightforward answer, kids make up their own fantasy explanations, which can be more frightening than any real, honest response we can offer. While we may not want or need to share
all the details of a particular situation or issue with our child, try not to leave any big gaps either. When we do, children tend to fill in the blanks themselves, which can generate a good deal of confusion and concern.

8. Be patient.
Often it can feel like forever before a youngster gets his story out. As adults, we're tempted to finish the child's sentence for him, filling in words and phrases in an effort to hear the point sooner. Try to resist this impulse. By listening patiently, we allow our children to think at their own pace and we are letting them know that they are worthy of our time.

9. Use everyday opportunities to talk.
It's important to try to talk with your kids about tough issues often, but there isn't always time in the day to sit down for a long talk. Also, kids tend to resist formal discussions about today's toughest issues, often categorizing them as just
another lecture from mom and dad. But if we use "talk opportunities," moments that arise in everyday life, as occasions for discussion, our children will be a lot less likely to tune us out. For instance, a newspaper item about a
child expelled from school for carrying a gun to class can help you start a discussion on guns and violence.

10. Talk about it again. And again.
Since most young children can only take in small bits of information at any one time, they won't learn all they need to know about a particular topic from a single discussion. That's why it's important to let a little time pass, then ask the
child to tell you what she remembers about your conversation. This will help you correct any misconceptions and fill in missing facts. Finally, in an effort to absorb all they want to know, children often ask questions again and again over
time -- which can test any parent's nerves. But such repetition is perfectly normal, so be prepared and tolerant. Don't be afraid to initiate discussions repeatedly, either. Patience and persistence will serve you and your child well.

Source: Edited text from www.healthresources.caremark.com by the Association of Heads Of Independent Schools Of Australia. Receive parenting tips by email www.pared.edu.au

Google Wonder Wheel

2009-05-15T10:40:00.004+10:00

The recent upgrades to google search start to really demonstrate the difference between their search capabilities and the competitors.

Google Wonder Wheel search options let you see the topics related to the one you are searching and then navigate this multi dimensional network visually. These visual representation tools have been around for ages, but this is the first time they have been combined with the vast depth of Google's capabilities in a combinatorial manner.

The wonderful thing is the ability to also search by other dimensions such as timeline and drill down and more.

The lessons for user interface designers are also important. They are reusing the existing search bar to keep context and using the left navigator for options. The world will be trained this way now so bad luck to anyone who doesn't take this approach, your uses will need to be retrained or find your app counter-intuitive.

Fortune Cookie Insight & Philosophy

2009-05-08T11:09:00.004+10:00

I have always liked the simplicity of the fortune cookie business model and the simple hope and possibly fear uncertainty and doubt they play on.

Most of all however it is hope and the potential of what could be in simple phrases, here are ours from last night -

1. Firstly, one with nice timing, especially considering the global financial crisis is making most businesses pull their budgets and sales forecasts in tighting -

The ship is safer in the harbour but it is not meant for that.

2. This one is for those that still think the internet is changing the world (I do) -

You have at your command the wisdom of the ages.

3. Next, an old classic for all regardless of age or ability -

You will find an outlet for your creative genius and accomplish a great deal.

4. One for the boy scouts (and anyone who has to do public speaking or a speech at a wedding) -

The will to win is important but the will to prepare is vital.

5. One for the world's politicians grappling with the naive stimulus approaches currently being employed. Also applicable for people who this their bank is safe -

To every complex problem there is an easy answer, and it is usually wrong.

6. One for the project managers and office bossy-boots -

Goals are dreams with deadlines.

7. And my favourite of all time...

This insert has a protective coating.

AOL Buying Bebo - What A Boo Boo.

2009-05-04T11:49:00.003+10:00

Big mistake by AOL who spent $850 buying Bebo after negotiating for a year and now the traffic on twitter just kills it. They could also have purchased Twitter for a lot less I bet.

Statistics thanks to the wonderful people at compete.com

New outlet for Autism creativity using Google Sketchup

2009-04-30T10:09:00.003+10:00

A very cool new way of using a proven tool, Google Sketchup is a piece of software that is easy to use and can help you make 3D designs of houses, offices, anything. These can then be placed on Google Earth for the world to see.

A recent project called Spectrum explored how Autistic people, particularly kids use the software. Their natural strengths in visualisation enable remarkably effective and sophisticated use of this tool and potential create a longer term development path and perhaps even any industry.

Congratulations to everyone involved in this project, it gives us all hope for a better future through meaningful application of technology. Read more here.

Where is home?

2009-04-27T13:05:00.003+10:00

It is amazing how fast the world is shrinking. While we still see suffering from developing and conflicted nations on the TV, our personal networks selectively develop via professional and social networks (PSNs) to span a filtered world.

Where is home to you? Your suburb, small town or city? Perhaps you are altruistic and environmentally aware enough to say it is 'Earth' because we all need to care for it?

A new generation may have their definition of home defined by their social network on linkedin or twitter perhaps?

The only issue is our 'home' network is filtered by our connectivity rather than our humanity if we are not careful.

Economic Power Of Language

2009-04-21T11:29:00.007+10:00

What language/s should you or your children learn to position yourselves best for global success in the future or to minimise impact of downturns?

The ability to back a winner perhaps different to your native tongue or to connect between languages (speaking two or more languages well) becomes even more import because of the associated network effect benefits and the economic power of the home country/countries e.g. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or more strategic measures like politics, technology or more brute force influence like their 'defense' force.

The most important languages today (an over simplified list with some flaws no doubt) are (in millions) -

< 1,500m English

< 1,300m Mandarin

< 700m Hindi/Urdu

< 500m Bengali, Spanish, Arabic

< 300m Russian, Portuguese, Japanese

< 100m The Rest

This list is rough but effective in ranking those that speak a language as their primary or secondary language. It may change a little in the < 100m range once we consider those who speak three or more languages but overall it is largely a good picture.

I am a great believer of the network effect. The first telephone was not very useful by itself but now we have billions around the world it starts to get pretty useful. The cost of the ability to talk to the second telephone was pretty much the same as the first, plus of course the interconnection cost between households.

The most recent telephone in the world now (perhaps a grandmother in the UK or a teenager in China) now has a very powerful tool in their hand for a fraction of the absolute cost of the original one, most importantly the incremental cost of having the ability to communicate with others on the network is NOT the same again per person/household, it is something like ten orders of magnitude less.

Amazing.

The same can be said for email, traditional mail, TV, iPods, Mobile Phone SMS/Text, iPhone Appstore, SWIFT (the main interbank system for moving money) and lots more technology or services or user experiences.

It can even apply to subtle quirky things like the ability for millions of Mumbai residents to get a hot lunch delivered from home each day for a very low cost using the Tiffin Box network or the ability for Nokia users to pick up hundreds of millions of other Nokia handsets and start using it very efficiently instantly.

Now that the world is in a global financial crisis without any doubt (it was obvious to most it was coming from October last year), the role of language and the associated network effect becomes worth considering.

So which languages have more economic power?

Clearly Mandarin is powerful but the GDP per capita is low in China so it is probably lower than English but maybe not that much lower over the coming years if China continues to grow and English speaking nations like the US and UK decline a little.

English is exploding as second or third languages in China so joining the two top languages will help cement China's success if they stay the course.

India and the sub-continent generally has relatively low per capita GDP too so while they have good growth it is unlikely Hindi/Urdu speakers will move out of their unique second tier position in the next twenty years. However there are over 65m English speakers in that group so their network effect is large indeed as a bridge.

Meanwhile English is now the defacto language across more international commerce and international law entities so it will probably remain the most economically powerful (not least because the top 3 or 4 share markets are also conducted English language).

The top three will be highly resilient too because of their strong network effect (non-resident Indians and Chinese globally are a major force in their own right).

The next band is the most interesting, Arabic and Spanish have substantial numbers and very large network effect to English and a majority of the <100m languages so they are in a unique position for breadth of connection across the smaller pools. Their influence is also typically lower GDP per capita but has some huge outliers in the very wealthy (e.g. middle east natural resources) and also as a result provided those wealthy and powerful don't make bad investment and political decisions will probably be the most resilient of groups for the next twenty years and possibly thousands of years.

Bengali is also in this third band but with low GDP, volatile growth, health and political challenges it will probably remain in a similar tier for the foreseeable future.

The next band is < 300m and there is no doubt Russian is the most powerful here in the long term because of natural resources but isolation in geographic, legal and commercial ways will hold them back from moving up substantially. Meanwhile Japanese is very strong and remains an economic powerhouse but growth will be low in economic terms so they are unlikely to move out of their band unless the continue to developer bridges to the major tiers particularly Chinese and return to the earlier post war progress made with English.

The final band has many traditionally powerful groups including French, German, Pujabi, Wu, Cantonese (Yue Yu), Marathi and more. Most of these will continue to grow in influence but mainly as a result of the network effect generated by learning other languages, particularly English.

Of special note is Cantonese, they have been the primary source of Chinese immigration to the Anglosphere for 150 years plus have a very high percentage of speakers of English and Mandarin. Cantonese speakers are uniquely positioned to be the bridge language and culture globally between the two very different leaders English and Mandarin.

It will be an interesting future for the next generation regardless of these views. My winner predictions are English followed by daylight, then Chinese and thereafter the top 9 will remain largely unchanged with Cantonese possibly sneaking into tenth place ahead of traditional European, African and Asian challengers.

Australian NBN Disaster

2009-04-08T16:46:00.002+10:00

The National Broadband Network announcement was made yesterday, no surprise that the dominate carrier Telstra's share price went up.

We won't get it rolled out for 8 years, what a joke. Korea is doing a similar rollout in 3 years.

It will deliver 100 Mega Bits Per Second to the average home, office and school. Big deal, the Korean rollout is delivering TEN TIMES that - One Gigabit Per Second.

I doubted Kevin when he was elected but not I know he has pathetic ability to select a team - Stephen Conroy has FAILed.

Even worse is Wayne Swan, allowing the PM to sprout off and commit to a $43 billion dollar investment with little more than 10% of the funding to cover it. They will spend double the surplus the previous accumulated by the previous government in just one announcement.

I just feel sorry for the kids.

Now they won't get hospitals, roads or decent internet. They will just get multi generational debt without the infrastrcture they need to pay it off.

At least they will have the cables hanging in the air outside their house as a constant reminder of three failed attempts at solving Australia's tyranny of distance.

More App Stores Than You Can Poke A Stick At

2009-04-08T16:42:00.002+10:00

The plethora of new application stores for mobiles to download is inevitable, since Apple showed the way with what will soo be 1,000,000,000 downloads it seems to make sense that others would soon follow... and they have.

So here is a comparison table of the major app stores from -
- Apple for iPhone OS (and iPod)
- RIM for Blackberry OS
- Nokia
- Google and the Open Handset Alliance for Android
- Palm for their new Palm OS

We will add the others as them come to light.

Pillars Of The Economy

2009-02-24T12:55:00.002+11:00

Don't you just love Australian banks (see chart), I'll have to find some income statistics for the executives and compare how much they made while shareholder value was being destroyed at a rate unprecendented since the 1929 depression and probably in the history of the nation. Meanwhile the reserve bank says it will get better soon, I doubt it will improve before 2010.

Sweet! Wifi gets ten times faster with GiFi

2009-02-23T18:00:00.003+11:00

Great news, another Australian first will make wireless internet access ten times faster.

Now er just need to work out how to pronounce GiFi. Is it Guy-Fi or Gee-Eye-Fi?

Abstract...

For the first time, NICTA will publicly demonstrate a prototype system using its world-first 60GHz Gigabit wireless (GiFi) chip technology. This will lead to wirelessly connected environments enjoying audio and video transfer rates ten times the current maximum wireless transfer rate, at one-tenth the cost.

NICTA, Australia’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Research Centre of Excellence, is pleased to announce the first public demonstration of a prototype system using its world-first 60GHz Gigabit wireless (GiFi) chip technology.

"Today, we will be demonstrating the transmission of wireless video using the 60GHz chipset," explained NICTA’s Gigabit Wireless Project Leader Professor Stan Skafidas. The demonstration comes after a research effort spanning four years, involving a team of 15 researchers. "Our achievement resulted from understanding emerging technology trends, bringing together a team with the right knowledge and skills and collaborating with key industry players," Professor Skafidas added.

Nice one Stan!

Poor Product Producers Pay The Price

2009-02-20T12:59:00.005+11:00

The onion news network have out done themselves with this video dig at major vendors who release less than ideal products - and at us - the poor consumers who make mistake of lapping up poor user experience (UX). One particular well known brand is the target but I think it is clearly a dig at the wider issue and the industry.

Beware there is a little bad language in the sound track!

Well done ONN.

A shout out to the team at optimal usability - probably one of the best UX teams on the planet for bring this to my attention.

Global Financial Crisis Bargains - What $100b will buy you...

2009-02-20T12:24:00.005+11:00

This market is playing with our future like a dog with a ball.

Consider that one year ago RBS paid $100bn for ABN Amro. That seemingly impossible amount would now buy:

Citibank $22.5bn

Morgan Stanley $10.5bn

Goldman Sachs $21bn

Merrill Lynch $12.3bn

Deutsche Bank $13bn

Barclays $12.7bn

And still leave $8bn change......with which you would be able to pick up GM, Ford, Chrysler and the Honda F1 Team.

I am not sure where this original data came from but I just received it from a colleague and it seems pretty accurate... and scary because I think this global financial crisis (or GFC as it is increasingly being called) is just getting started. Depressing sure but better to know and be prepared...

I am suggesting people should consider buying gold.

Software As A Service (SaaS) Ecosystem

2009-02-20T10:38:00.006+11:00

With the increasingly rapid movement from business software to Saas happening around the world, I wrote a presentation last year while working at Saasu.com to explore ways we leveraged and built our own ecosystem and the CRITICAL importance of every business to realise they should do the same.

Your competitors are already moving to becoming all saas enterprises (ASE) and there are hundreds of sounds reasons why.

Anyway, the SaaS ecosystem pack I did is on slide share, as it was presented in CEBIT 2008 and has had a lot of views and downloads now so I hope some people got something out of it, despite it being a bit rough due to time pressures.

Link Six Pack Number 1

2009-02-13T10:49:00.003+11:00

I link sharing successful finds on the net, but delicious and twitter and other sites often don't do the trick for a range of different reasons.

So here are some recent finds that hopefully people will find of semi-enduring interest. I'll probably make this a regular post stream.

Focus will vary but most people in technology development or the innovative side of financial technology plus of course anyone who likes good design and practical ways of delivering it - will probably find them useful.

1. 45 jQuery Out of the box plug ins
2. 37 More Cool Jquery plugins
3. Word Press Tips, Tricks and Hacks
4. 40 Super Sleek Fonts for Clean Web Design
5. 10 Sensationally beautiful Letterpress business card designs
6. The Card Observer Site

These ones didn't make the cut but what the heck I'll mention them anyway...

7. 11 Sweet Mootools Tips
8. Old fashioned typing teaching game that works - a life skill!

Noca is the free paypal for merchants

2009-02-11T14:38:00.009+11:00

A new payments service has arrived. Noca.com bills itself as a solution to the relatively expensive but wildly popular paypal

This is fairly ambitious since paypal has somewhere between 220 and 300 million registered accounts depending on who you believe.

That said, this is the exactly right place to focus on if you are to enter this highly competitive market.

I have been watching paypal since 2000 (did due diligence on it for an investment by a bank) and think this one will be interesting...

Tech Crunch did a good review and the comments are very high quality too -including responses from Noca staff.

So how do they do it? They use ACH and interbank clearing networks so the consumer's issuing bank takes the risk. I assume this means a purchase via Noca hits your account like a cash advance (which means less detail on mint.com - if you use that - and similar systems) and no frequent flyer points. Hard to check right now though since you need to have a US account to use it at least for now.

It is like the existing direct debit service on paypal except paypal don't pass the savings onto the merchant and Noca does from what I can work out.

The merchant benefits more than the consumer, so it will be a supply led solution like a lot of payments solutions. This could be it's downfall though since consumers won't want to sign up.

Watch this space... There is also more on it at finextra.com

One Million Jobs Lost - More To Come

2008-12-11T18:33:00.004+11:00

In September, I blogged on Finextra saying (paraphrased) 'sell NOW, we have already, it is going to get a lot more ugly and could be worse than 1929'.

By my count the global job losses (based on a pretty quick scan, it is probably a lot more) is over 1m now, mostly in recent months.

I've put the full list up below but you will probably prefer the table view in HTML or the PDF version.

Some Government stats and industry research stats round this up a bit. I'll break them out as the data comes to hand.

The list shows Country, Company, Year, Quarter, Jobs Lost, Total Employees Prior, Percent lost, Industry and has been moved to it's own site now at www.joblosscentral.com it is still in beta.