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Showing posts from December, 2014

The secret way to get stuff from the US - from SMH

I tried to talk my brother who lives in California into running a business like this 3 years ago but he never got excited about it. These Aussies are doing $1mill per year with the same idea... Since then I have been toying with the idea of a town consolidation model... ie pickup locations where larger multi-person shipments are shipped from the US to an address in a local town (ie Byron Bay) and people who wanted cheap shipping group together to get one consolidated package shipped... For it to work the goods must be non deteriorating and the recipients must be happy to wait for the full order by weight to be completed before the shipment can go off... so a person wanting a pack of batteries must wait until 80 kg of other orders are made to have the goods shipped.. but that way they may be only paying 1-$5 per kg shipped. From SMH: MySmallBusiness is running a selection of readers' favourite stories from 2014 over summer. This is one of them. Wha

Revealed: the encryption tools spies can (and can't) crack

With the experience I have had over the years of having my privacy breached by lawyers in "discovery" for court cases I have been made keenly aware of how personal information can be inappropriately used and abused. Some make sweeping statements about not having anything to hide, but its amazing how information can be twisted and abused. In the Microsoft case I had two highly paid Microsoft lawyers grill me about what they thought was some damning evidence that turned out to be an amplifier design for hall that I was doing volunteer work at. Its not about having things to hide. Its about how information can be twisted to serve any purpose an intruder wants. On the other hand we want to live in a civil just society so there is argument for both sides but I for one like to have some say over when and where people get access to my personal information. This article is an eye opener. Revealed: the encryption tools spies can (and can't) crack : 'via Blog this'

Jeremy Howard: The wonderful and terrifying implications of computers that can learn

I've had a few people tell me that this video is disturbing but I find it fascinating... its is really worth the investment of time to have a look at this to understand machine learning (also called Deep Machine Learning) and its impeding impact on modern life. 'via Blog this' Jeremy Howard: The wonderful and terrifying implications of computers that can learn | Talk Video | TED.com :

Apple Pay works in Australia, if you have the right card

Interesting to see the reality of what happens in trying to role out a ubiquitous solution for something as complicated as merchant services.. Make me think that Quickpay (a project I am working on at the moment) has a solid chance of becoming a large scale solution. Apple Pay works in Australia, if you have the right card : 'via Blog this'

Sir Richard Branson Proves the mighty power of the lowly notebook

I'm a chapter or two into Sir Richard Branson's latest book and seeing yet again how powerful his simple practise is of keeping a notebook for all his meetings, ideas, lists and life. This practise continues to serve him well and yet again I am forced to concede the simple practicality of his system. Ever since I read "Losing my Virginity" his first book, I have been trying to work out how to achieve his success with notebooks with firstly a Palm Treo then my iPhone... but the fact is that the organic immediacy and handiness of a notebook trumps all... Over the years I have cycled in and out of periods using notebooks for a number of reasons... What really stands out in this latest book is his discipline in writing down notes after meetings and also some thing he alluded to in this latest book... he talks about how he recalls details from months ago to use in meetings so he must practise the use of carrying the last 2 or 3 notebooks with him at any given time as

8 Weeks work cycle life hacking: 7 weeks work + 1 week off

Back in 2007 I conducted an experiment in trying to optimise the length of sustained work over a limited period of time... I started by looking at the traditional quarterly work cycle.. 4 cycles per year with evaluation and planning at the end of each cycle. But i found that cycle to be too long.... people lose focus and momentum when delivery dates are months away... but the other extreme doesn't work either... in my experimentation I found that less than a month doesn't give you enough room to get major projects achieved... so I settled on an 8 week cycle where the 7th week is used for relaxing and recalibrating and the eighth week is used for planning the next 8 week cycle. Well Ill never forget the feeling of successfully completing my first 8 week cycle! 6 weeks of intense activity felt like a lifetime but was just short enough for me to push hard with the knowledge that if I achieved my goals i would have a reward week at the end... I went on a 10 day RV trip with m

Court Case Win in East Texas

Yesterday I arrived home from Texas on a 17 hour Qantas direct flight. The day started with the first day of Jury deliberations for the case of Uniloc vs Electronic Arts... the day ended with a verdict in favour of Uniloc and a dash to Dallas airport to get back home. I came to Tyler for the case as a witness. It was my first time in court representing myself as the inventor of the 216 patent and it was a real eye opener. Top things learned was how great it is that an Australian can go to Tyler in Texas and ask the American people for justice from a worldwide respected Judge (The Honourable Judge Leonard Davis) and eight patient and long suffering jurors. I never got to meet the jurors but I did get to say hello to the Judge. After 5 long days it was a real honour to meet such a well respected and even handed member of the judiciary. The first thing that hits you in court is just how solemn and serious the law process is. Judge Davis has a coat and tie rule so there is a rack
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