Blog Archives

On Definitions – Keeping it Simple with OSSM

August 23, 2011

National Institute of Standards and Technology, New Zealand

cloud computing, cloudcamp, CloudU

In my travels running CloudCamps all over the place, I’m always surprised how often the “how do you define Cloud” question comes up. Spending so much time in the rarefied atmosphere of the twitterverse, it’s easy to just assume…

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Did I Mention That I Hate NIMBYs?

July 1, 2010

Business and the Environment, Cleantech, New Zealand, Waipara

mainpower, meridian, mt cass, waipara, windfarm

I’ve written before about the proposal of a local company to build a windfarm in the hills near where I live. An article in The Press newspaper this morning made my blood boil and made me happy that I…

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How Not to Do Customer Surveys, a BNZ Fail

June 23, 2010

New Zealand

banking, banking 2.0, bnz

God give me strength… So yesterday I got a call from our business banker asking what would make my life with BNZ Internet Banking easier. “Well”, I said, “that’s easy. Don’t make me use three separate logins to access…

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Department of Conservation and Scams, A Micro-Rant

January 20, 2010

Business and the Environment, New Zealand

department of conservation, doc, tane mahuta, waipoua

Traditionally I use my summer road trip to find new tourism travesties to rant about – this year of course is no different. Recently we visited Tane Mahuta, the largest known Kauri tree remaining alive in the world. Tane…

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Political Expediency and the Disposable Truth

January 13, 2010

New Zealand

alain marfart, dominique prieur, greenpeace, matauri bay, rainbow warrior

On our recent road trip we made pilgrimage to Matauri Bay. Maturi Bay, for those who don’t know, is an almost impossible beautiful bay on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand and is also the…

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Lobby Groups, Vested Interests and Short Sightedness

December 11, 2009

Business and the Environment, Compliance, Economic Development, Efficiency, New Zealand

cubicle, dairy, ecan, farming, federated farmers, food miles, mackenzie, organic

(Warning – off topic, but still important) Despite statements to the opposite, New Zealand is a country that gains significant wealth from agriculture and horticulture. That we do so, such a long distance from our main markets, is in…

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Commoditization… and the Tragedy of the Commons….

November 23, 2009

Business and the Environment, Economic Development, Efficiency, New Zealand

allocation, hurunui water project, Resource, rma, tragedy of the commons, water

My good friend Ruth has started blogging and, in what can only be likened to a “butterfly from the chrysalis” moment, we get to see the thoughts her previous employment have rendered her unlikely to utter. Her latest post…

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Canterbury Cloud Camp Unconference

October 12, 2009

Business, New Zealand, PaaS, SaaS, Strategy, Strategy, General, The Cloud

canterburycloud, christchurch, iaas, New Zealand, PaaS, SaaS, unconference

At the recent Auckland CloudCamp, a few of us got talking and thinking about what a tight network of SaaS/Cloud businesses could achieve – kind of a “united we stand, divided we fall” approach. Down here in Canterbury we…

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Why Banking is Broken, A BNZ Rant (Part two)

September 14, 2009

Business, My businesses, New Zealand, Strategy

bnz, business banking, service, support

I posted last week about a banking situation that had me all hot under the collar. In an effort to continue naming and shaming (and hopefully drive improvements in the process), here is part two. This morning I received…

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Time for a the BNZ Rant, They Don’t Get It….

September 7, 2009

Business, IT, My businesses, New Zealand

banking, bnz, customer service, Xero

My fellow blogger Lance Wiggs tends to be a bit of a curmudgeon when it comes to banks in new Zealand, in light of the fact that he’s sitting somewhere in the middle of Africa, I figured I’d take…

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