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Terrorist threats, knee-jerks, and real jerks

July 29, 2007 in Rants by Lafinboy | No comments

The latest comments by the Australian Immigration Minister, Kevin Andrews, with regard to the actions of Dr Mohamed Haneef, leave me with grave concerns for the future of personal freedom in Australia.

For those that are not aware of the proceedings, Dr Haneef is an Indian doctor working in Australia, who was arrested as a suspected terrorist following the recent bomb attacks in the UK. Dr Haneef is the cousin of one of the men involved in the UK bombings, and this seems to be the only plausible reason for his arrest. Other 'evidence' of his involvement has been proven to be circumstantial, unsubstantiated, or just plain wrong. That didn't stop the Australian authorities from holding him for over three weeks without charge under new Australian Anti-Terrorism Laws.

Dr Haneef has finally been released, with all charges against him dropped, yet Mr Andrews has canceled his work visa, stating "undisclosed information" as the reason.

Dr Haneef made short time in arranging flights back to India to visit with his wife and new born daughter, and to no doubt escape the mass media attention and probable further persecution by the authorities. And this is where I got really pissed off, with Mr Andrews' comment that the speed with which Dr Haneef flew out of Australia only "raised his suspicions"

Shame on you, Kevin Andrews. You have become a puppet of the very threats you are 'trying' to defend us against. You have removed liberty from an innocent man, and continue to besmirch his name. You have abused your position of authority and should, for the sake of Australians faith in our government, step down immediately.

Hiding behind the threat of terrorism as justification for illegal acts is as cowardly as the acts of terrorism themselves.

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Bad things happen in threes

June 9, 2007 in Daily Life by Lafinboy | 1 comment

My son, 4 year old Connor, seems to be on a mission to keep alive the Celtic belief that bad things happen in threes.

Week 1:
Following his regular Saturday swimming lesson, Connor was playing in the toddlers pool. The game of the day was jumping towards the edge of the pool, using his kick board as a chest plate, so that when he hit the water a wave would splash out over the edge and get me wet. All went swimmingly (cheap pun) well until he jumped a little too close to the edge and landed his chin on the edge of the pool. A gush of blood ensued, and after 5 minutes calming down time we found a 1cm gash under his chin. Trip one to the hospital for a couple of stitches.

Week 2:
Mid-afternoon I get a call at work from Connors' daycare center. Connor has run straight into a metal column supporting the outdoor covered area. Not too bad, a lump over his right eye and a sore head. Here's the kicker though, 5 minutes after hitting his head he has a convulsion and loses consciousness. Now that's scary! Another trip to the hospital for a check up, and the possibility of further tests being required.

Week 3:
Connors bitten tongueAnother mid-afternoon call from daycare. This time Connor has bitten his tongue. So what, we all bite our tongues at sometime. Only Connor has really bitten his tongue, just check out the photo taken in the hospital waiting room. Another trip to the hospital, this time to be admitted for emergency micro surgery to prevent speech impediments in later life. Six hours waiting for surgery, another two hours in recovery, then home to start on a mostly liquid diet for the next week.

So there you have it, three weeks of injuries. With another long holiday weekend about to start I'm keeping my fingers crossed that three is the magic number.

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Top 20 marketing buzzwords

May 15, 2007 in thought-after by Lafinboy | 2 comments

We all get bombarded with them every day, you can't miss them – marketing buzzwords. The words and phrases that marketing types use to hype up their pitch, to make it sound better than it is. Marketing and sales speak could well be a whole sub-language, and something that future historians would choke on translating.

So what are the top 20 phrases or words that you come across that are seemingly only ever used in marketing or sales pitches? The words themselves aren't necessarily out of the ordinary, but their use may be out of context.

I'll get you started with a few of my own favourites:

  • leverage
  • synergic
  • value proposition
  • shifting the paradigm

Feel free to add to the list, and we'll see if we can pull together the all time top 20 marketing buzzwords!

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Australia SEO agency penalised by Google

May 10, 2007 in thought-after by Lafinboy | No comments

An interesting development in the life of the Found Agency.

Australian IT – Google penalises black hat tactics Lara Sinclair, MAY 10, 2007

Not sure what their clients must be thinking right now, but I'm sure there is a lot of damage limitation activity going on. The rumours and chinese whispers of the SEO/SEM market will keep this story alive for a while yet.

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Web Industry Professionals Association (WIPA) opens membership

May 7, 2007 in WIPA by Lafinboy | No comments

A message from Roger Hudson for Australian web professionals:The new WIPA site was launched today.The recently established Web Industry Professionals Association (WIPA) aims to foster the development of the Web Industry in Australia and provide forums where people who work in all the different facets of the industry can come together and exchange ideas.

Australian web professionals can now join WIPA through the new site.

WIPA is not just for one web practice or section of the industry. WIPA is for all web professionals in Australia including, designers, content writers, information architects, usability and accessibility specialists, web developers, interface developers, online content producers etc. In short, anyone who works in the business and who has an interest in discussing, promoting and improving the work we do.

WIPA is a not for profit association incorporated in NSW. Although the incorporation is in NSW, the association is committed to promoting and representing the work of web professionals throughout Australia. As a clear demonstration of this commitment, the Association Rules provide for representation on the Management Committee from all States and Territories with more than 5 WIPA Members. Also, the position of Vice-President is reserved for a person who does not live in NSW. The current WIPA Management Committee has members from the ACT, NSW and Victoria.

There is a variety of other web-related groups in Australia including, the Web Standards Group, Usability Professionals Association, Oz-IA, AWIA, Mobile Monday and AIMIA. WIPA aims to work cooperatively with all other groups in helping to develop a cohesive and sustainable web industry in Australia.

For more information about WIPA and to join the association visit http://wipa.org.au/

Thanks

Roger Hudson

President – Web Industry Professionals Association Incorporated

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