Digipolitik: Robots judging people: the problem with context, culture and profanity.
Currently working on getting the First Season of Digipolitik up and running, and playing with streams etc. This was an impromptu Facebook Live session where I show a real world example of the problem with algorithms, show you (sort of) what they are, and basically just riff, and try to land on some messaging. I […]
‘Like and Subscribe’: a shy ‘old’ person’s first week on YouTube and what I learned.
Let me take you back to the year 1990. You know, about 15 years ago… I had to perform in a school play. I was one of the main characters, and had to ‘faint’ about 2/3 of the way in and stay on the ground for the rest. My Dad and my Grandma were in […]
Ooga Booga Feminism: aka ‘looking for empowerment at the bottom of a Chanel purse’. #iwd2016
I am a feminist. I am a card carrying, flag-waving, “shrill”, “hysterical”, “loud”, “bossy”, “crazy” feminist. I am that ooga-booga feminist that infiltrates the nightmares of the men in Fedoras. I am that feminist that makes the balls of construction workers shrivel with a single look if they “compliment” me in the street. I am […]
Facebook’s Boring Tax: How the Newsfeed Changes Affect Your Business Page.
If you have been listening to me for the last few years, good news, you’re pretty much prepared for the changes that Facebook are making to the Newsfeed, specifically with deprioritising Brand Page posts. This is fantastic news for Users, and in line with what I have suspected to be their strategy for some time: […]
The qualities of a good UX Designer
With technology being increasingly cheaper, quicker to implement and easier to use, the barrier to entry is low for anyone with an idea. With that, there are more competitors, and many businesses questioning the ROI of their digital spending. No more can businesses justify $100k on websites that are just pretty, with no consideration of […]
The world’s greatest parenting book
I’m going to release my own parenting book. My advice? 1. Keep ’em alive.2. Laugh & talk with them.3. When they’re sick, give them medicine to make them feel better.4. Happy parents, happy kids.5. Loving your kids is not about smothering them: it’s about being there when they need you. That’s it. Now available on […]
On Ideas.
Ideas and discussions about cool shit are wonderful, but at the end of the day, follow through & action is what counts. I thought of Spotify back in 1999. Did I create anything but a logo & a concept? No. I have 3 app ideas that someone else will probably develop before I can get […]
Eyes on your own plate.
Here’s a little epiphany I had whilst feeding ducks and watching a magpie trip over his face this morning: 6 months ago, I quit dieting for good and started listening to my body. I focused on what felt right (gluten restriction aside, obviously) TO ME, ate what I felt like eating and I let my […]
Pinterest People
Some of us are Pinterest people. Pinterest people are the people that will spend 20 minutes, per cookie, icing cookies. They look at a celebrity’s eye makeup and painstakingly learn how to replicate it, with 5 different eyeshadows and the correct brushes before leaving the house. Some of us are not Pinterest people. We buy […]
Remember: Words Have Power. And sympathy is not empathy.
Yes, I know. Another Charlotte Dawson post. Another social media person making commentary in order to get some Google Juice. Another person who has been the victim of online harassment speaking out. Another person sharing their story. I know you’re fatigued with the discussion, because so much has been said already, but hear me out. […]
Witnessing the Marriage Equality discussion…
Witnessing the Marriage Equality discussion, and a few others in the last few years since social media took off… makes me reflect on my Undergrad Politics classes. We learned that 95% of the Australian public are apathetic to political discussion, not engaged, don’t even know how government works. We learned that engaging the electorate-at-large in […]
We are the 99% and we are douchebags too.
I have a genuine dilemma about the 99% movement… On one hand, I agree with the sentiment, in principle. On the other, I consider it to be ignoring one big point: That people are selfish, irrespective of the economic base it comes from. Greed & individualism, at the expense of human compassion, are our enemy. […]
You Really Want to Know?
I just want to say a few things about the ridiculous RUOK Campaign. Despite the best of intentions, unless you are prepared for the following answer: “No, actually, I am not OK. My life has fed me a shit sandwich since the day I was born and it continues to get worse. The only reason […]
Dear Grandma: A birthday blog letter
Dear Grandma Chris, I know it seems odd that I would be writing to you, seeing as your ashes are sitting in my storage locker and, well, you’re not alive anymore. In fact, I am certain that there will be a group of people who will question my mental health by writing to a ghost. […]
Blog Action Day Post: Water. aka Lawns are Stupid and Here’s Why.
This years Blog Action Day post was initially a little bit of a challenge. I live in urban Australia, where clean drinking water is plentiful and wasted. I am tremendously lucky. So lucky that I, and those around me, take it for granted every single day. I used to work for the government in Essential […]
Compromise.
Marriage takes compromise. I decided we should get a dog, Mina decided we should get a dog & Jules decided we should get a dog. Jason said we shouldn’t and that we better not come home with a puppy because we were going out to dinner. So I bought a puppy and I pick it […]
A douche and a turd sandwich.
Tonight’s leadership debate has further proven the contempt that both major parties seem to have for the Australian people. They focused on vilifying refugees — the most vulnerable people in the WHOLE WORLD — and chose to ignore issues like health, aged care, aboriginal essential services (which are embarrassing), youth, education… the list goes on. In other words, they […]
The Big D.
I am going to a charity ball on Friday night for Lifeline. It’s the inaugural Black Diamond Ball and it is going to be great fun. But I wanted to take a moment and just acknowledge my amazing community of Twitter friends, a lot of whom are going to the ball, but who have also […]
In defence of knob gags.
This morning, I woke up to a fun meme on Twitter. The #changelovetoknobsongs hashtag. For those that are unfamiliar with how these things take off, it generally means everyone gets on board, tries to have some fun with it, and after a little while, we all move on and everything goes back to normal. 95% […]
Planning.
Mina: “ X Friend goes to basketball on Mondays, Girl Guides on Tuesdays, Netball on Wednesdays, dancing on Thursdays and gymnastics on Saturdays. Oh, and touch football on Saturdays” Me: “Fark, when does the poor girl just get to be a kid?” Mina: “On Tuesdays, before Girl Guides.” Me: “…”
The Eulogy I couldn’t read.
Well, it’s all over. Grandma was cremated this afternoon. Today was really, really hard and it has now hit me that I will never see her again. Walking into the funeral home for her final service, and seeing the coffin, was just a little too much, and the last 2 months hit me like a […]
Vacation
Before I talk about our holiday, I need to explain something. My husband does not do ‘impulsive’ terribly well. In fact, if you could describe my husband, one of the very first words you would use would be “not” and the second would be “impulsive”. For all of his excellent qualities, he’s not what you […]
Numbness.
I now understand what the song ‘Cry Me a River’ means. It’s definitely referring to the snot. After sobbing, numb for 20 minutes after that call. A lot of crying. And a lot of snot. And I sit here, half an hour after that call, at 3:30am, knowing that I did everything I possibly could […]
And now for something a bit more lighthearted…
… like … How FUNNY is cancer? Seriously! The thing that has surprised me the most over the last 6 weeks is that even in the absolute worst experiences of our lives, it can still be funny if you choose to see it that way. It’s how my Grandma always saw the world and how I […]
Nothing worth doing was ever easy.
I am exhausted. Exhausted and sad and a bit scared. But still, OK… and… philosophical. After my Grandma’s MRI results came back, we were given the news: she had 2 large tumours in her right parietal lobe. They found a “lesion” on her pancreas and a small “lesion” on her lung. Everything that looks dodgy […]
We are all stronger than we realise.
I always knew it was coming, and I frequently worried how I would cope when I got that call. My Grandma Chris is 79 years old in December… and as much as I hoped she’d live forever, I knew that every year she was getting just that little bit more frail and that it would […]
Getting my rant on.
There are people in this world who float through life. They work in jobs without purpose, slaving away for their small patch of land with a box containing an eggplant feature wall. They go to work, and then spend their weekends sitting around, either painting said eggplant wall or cooking up different kinds of meat […]
Well, I do believe that is called a backlash…
I have had such an amazing response from my post yesterday about why I have decided to quit Facebook. So many people have emailed me and DMed me on Twitter voicing their support and similar concerns. It has got me thinking a LOT about why I decided to end it. It seemed like a bit […]
Why I deactivated my Facebook Account (and will probably delete it).
It’s hard to imagine a world without hyper-connectivity. It started with mobile phones, extended into social media and at the moment, the biggest trend is telling people where you are, what you are doing AT THIS VERY SECOND AND HERE’S A MAP OF THE RESTAURANT I AM EATING AT. I attended a Conference where people […]
They’re just not that into you: Client edition.
All of us have had a lukewarm client at some point in our career. A lot of us have had many. They are hard to spot initially, because a lot of the time they say the right things. They seem enthusiastic, they go through the motions, but you often find yourself feeling unappreciated, or the […]