Blog

Australia is a popular place to visit for backpackers of the world. For those of us that live here, that makes perfect sense. Australians are welcoming and generous and relaxed. Just as importantly, it is relatively easy for backpackers to secure som…

When we purchase products, we should be thankful for the Innovators. Everett Rogers released his Diffusion of Innovations book in 1962 but his hypothesis is still used today for the methodology of adoption of any new idea, in particular tec…

My daughter came to me this morning and asked if she could use the milk in the fridge on her porridge. “The expiry date was yesterday,” she said. “Is it safe to use?” I did as any caring parent who wanted to avoid an early morning trip to the…

Back in 2015 I thought I was being very clever. Handing out a 90mm x 55mm card with my details on it seemed a little old-fashioned in a modern digital age…but many people still believed business cards were the single greatest marketing tool availab…

I try not to stand naked in front of strangers. Actually, I try and avoid doing it in front of friends as well! The problem is, that fear of being seen in the nude is impacting our health – particularly with men. Only 40 per cent of men over the ag…

Do you remember the original Pixar/Disney Cars movie? It was launched back in 2006 and was somewhat successful. It grossed $462 million at the box office but also generated $10 billion in merchandise sales in the five years after its releas…

Amenity. The main driver for deciding where to live is that all-encompassing term ‘amenity’ which can really mean what you want it to mean. I looked at a population heat map in Australia from the turn of last century and the country was smattered…

A moth navigates by transverse orientation. It keeps the dominant light source at a certain position in relation to their body to guide them. When we turn on a light on our verandah, those same moths keep flying around the light until they finally me…

I don’t sing. I am not against songs or music but I believe it is important you know your limitations. Holding a tune is not a talent I have so I don’t wish to subject people around me to listening to terribly out of tune singing. Similarly with …

Futurist. It conjures up the image of a person sitting in a darkened room with two hands placed on a large orb floating over a table with an unsuspecting victim waiting to hear if they should move to Toledo. In this context, possibly a better term mi…

Before COVID-19 hit the world, there were six aged care facilities in the region that I would regularly visit – sometimes with one of my children – to deliver a presentation on technology or perform poetry for the residents. On some occas…

In September 1797, Lieutenant John Shortland went in the direction of Port Stephens searching for runaway convicts. He stumbled across what he later described as “a very fine coal river” and, in one of those ultimate moments of praising y…

In raising our four children, my wife and I hope we have managed to achieve many things but, at the very least, we hope we have taught them to have a sprinkling of scepticism about the world around them. When something seems just way too good to be t…