It's a bit wit here!

I've been in Auckland for just over a month for work & have noticed the following:

- Despite what most of the locals say, public transport in the city is actually pretty good. If I'm feeling lazy, a bus takes me pretty close to my flat. However, my view has obviously been swayed by years of Sydney public transport.

- One of the bars I visited when I first arrived in AKL responded to me on Twitter! The bar, Steamship, is in a pretty good location & is a nice after work spot. They've even got lamps hanging from the roof!

- The NZ accent has me smiling to myself most days. One of my colleagues, sent me this amusing link on mastering the Kiwi accent.

- All kiwis I've met so far are very proud of Flight of the Conchords, and why shouldn't they be? It's an awesome show!

More later..

Australia’s digital divide: Some thoughts on the media

After seeing this tweet on Twitter, I started to think about the different levels of access Australian’s have in regards to published/broadcasted material:


Of course, most Internet users have access to illegal streaming and download sites, but Australians don’t have a third party website that allows to stream shows for free. Itunes Australia provides some free content, including video podcasts, and Youtube can be used for some programs, but most Australian programs are very hard to access legally online.



The ABC allows streaming of previous episodes, as do some of the commercial stations like Channel 9 and Channel 10, but not without a myriad of advertisements in place. Networks will be forced to create legal avenues for users to view programs, otherwise users will continue to access illegal sites.

It is obvious that Australia is behind the US in terms of access, both the access to the Internet and sites like Hulu, but nowhere near developing countries that are not even yet online. The NBN seems like a nice idea in theory, but it is evident the Federal Government have not invested enough research or thought into developing a well structured program for all Australians. Check out what the Liberals have to say.

I’ve come across some well written posts on these topics which both highlight the concern for the adoption of NBN and the ramifications for consumers.

Tweeting about!

Even after reading Wired's claim that blogging is dead, I still felt it was necessary to blog about the wonders of twitter.

Not only has the alleged real Britney signed up, but the Aussie Veronica's and the current Leader of the Opposition, Malcolm Turnbell has joined up too.

If this isn't enough, a recent Australian Top 50 Twitter Influencers released has sent a lot people into a tizz. I'm enjoying the irony of it all - numbers aren't suppose to count in a qualitative relationship based online world, but a lot of people are stressed about their position on this scale. A more thorough and coherent post on this is Alex Manchester's. It is important to have some rank, so you know who to engage with on twitter, particularly the thought leaders who rank in the top 10. However, unless you want to engage with people on twitter, you're not going to get higher up in the ranks.

So I'll be interested to see how Twitter develops from here in Australia, whether people are still battling it to make the Top 50 list and whether more politicians will be stepping up to the plate.

Don't cry for me (because tomorrow I shall be in) Argentina!

A busy day spent packing for an overseas trip is quite an educational experience - not only have I questioned half the pieces of clothing I have purchased, but it really helps to find out what I need to survive. Should I pack a hair dryer? Do I really need 7 pairs of socks? Am I asking rhetorical questions because I've just watched the Sex & the City movie?

My procrastination of planning (how's that for an alliteration!) has culminated in packing this arvo before my flight out to Buenos Aires, where I will spend a solid three months fumbling around the continent with minimal Spanish. Thankfully, the first few weeks of my trip will be based in a language school with my good buddy Bella, hopefully easing some of the communication barriers I can currently foresee...I doubt that "Muchas gracias mono" is going to get me everywhere.

I will try my best to source out the Internet, I have a fear that I could be stuck with nothing, but that's just because I've been reading a lot of articles about the Lost Tribes. I do know the first 6 weeks will be in either Buenos Aires or Mar Del Plata.

A few of my twitter friends have asked if I'll tweeting - and the answer is 'si', I will be sending updates via my mobile phone. It's going to be my main communication channel for family & friends, as the 13 hour time difference might throw a few people off.

Next post: The struggles of communicating in Argentina.

Strewth - Check out these little beauties!

In my usual meandering online, pottering about and dabbling with new sites, I've come across some pretty useful online tools. Some of these have been around for awhile, and I may be a little slow off the mark, but bear with me - you may not have seen all of them!

The first site is Dipity, who I discovered through a tweet from @bmoyle (Joffre Street Productions).
Dipity is "the easiest way to make and share interactive timelines about the people and things you care about".


I can see these being very useful for monitoring and evaluating online campaigns for both individuals and organisations - it's easy to submit a RSS feed from any site and track what they're posted up.

The next site which I've actually known about for awhile is SlideShare. Most recently, I've been looking at the slides of a presentation done by Seb Chan, a blogger for The Powerhouse Museum, fresh + new(er).
His presentation covered the important aspects of social media & government, it was a really great view - the images & included social media content really show some of the amazing work being done at the Powerhouse Museum.

| View | Upload your own

Bloggerati Australia has been around for a couple years, as I checked out in the FAQ - but haven't only just come across it recently. It's hosted by the popular, Laurel Papworth, most famous for her appearance on the Today Show...I jest ;) It's got over 43,000 members, so definitely of worth to news chasers, public relations professionals & all those concerned with the media..

Finally, for those lacking the understandings of Aussie slang, go and follow AussieSlang on Twitter. Though they can be a bit on the rude side, I'll suggest you go and check out the link, rather than me chucking some of their updates on my polite blog ;)

First China censoring, now Twitter!

After reading a tweet from Scott Drummond on whether twitter should be censored - I thought I'd just observe if it worked or not, rather than test the theory itself. (Side note - check out the new marketing magazine site - it's been recently launched and looking fabulous!).

So next thing I know - Lee Hopkins (yes two mentions in two blog posts - definitely on a roll now!) has written a rather surprised post on seeing text being censored on twitter.

Using the world's most reliable source (Wikipedia of course), I thought I do a bit of research on online censoring - which inevitably lead to China. First they blocked Google, then more recently the dispute with BBC.

Posted on this blog was the question:

So, is this a genuine loosening of web censorship in China or just a temporary PR move in the run up to the Olympics?

If this is suppose to be a PR stunt, I can't see it being fairly effective. There's been no official notice on restoring connections to the BBC and other online sites, nor has their been any release on the matter - it's all been very restricted.

Interestingly, the lead story on ABC's Foreign Correspondent tonight is on "The Great Firewall of China". Perhaps that will provide more insight into the Chinese government's censorship campaigns.

On a separate & final note, while having a scan on this topic in the blogs, one of the more amusing posts was that "Free Tibet" flags were being made in China!

Investigating the online trail of Lou Veyret

On the topic of managing your "digital dirt" I decided to evaluate my presence online. Sure there's my myspace, facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter pages - but what about what comes up when you search "Louise Veyret" on google?

Luckily that's all quite innocent, I'm not committing any kind of facebook suicide and I'm managing my online reputation well so far.

Amusingly, for the past 10 years or so (literally) the first thing that came up for Louise Veyret on google was a response to an Australian Science Magazine poll. Despite the comment being published in 1996, the comment seemed to haunt me as I was reminded of how I didn't think that violent video games would prevent someone from beating someone up. I kept thinking that this could sway the opinion of future employers, as the comment wasn't well written (I was still in primary school!) and not really related to anything that would be of interest to me. So I started signing up to other social networks, and slowly that link has made itself down the pile, surrounded by mentions of my father and other siblings.

I guess it's true what the social media experts and online gurus say about monitoring your online image - anything can be tracked or sourced, even things from over 10 years ago.