Entrepreneurs being tarred with a brush
July 21, 2005Has anyone else noticed that the media portrayal of Steve Vizard has shifted from “Company Director” or “Former Entertainer/Lawyer” Steve Vizard to “Entreprenuer” Steve Vizard? Here’s a couple of recent examples …
from The Age …
The entrepreneur has to persuade a judge that his remorse is deep and sincere.
and The Australian …
DISGRACED entrepreneur Steve Vizard has made elaborate plans to sidestep sanctions imposed for improper business dealings, setting himself up with a consulting role in a media group.
Why is it that the media use the term Entreprenuer to portray failed or dodgy businessmen? If I’m not mistaken, the media did the same thing in the cases of Skafe, Bond, Rivkin, and Rich. Perhaps it has something to do with the creative nature of entreprenuers and the media are immediately leaping towards the negative connotations of “creative accounting”?
Yes, most people would indetify these individuals as being entrepreneurs, and in the strict sense of a definition of an entrepreneur as “someone who acts without regard to the resources currently under his control in relentless pursuit of opportunity “, I don’t have a problem with this.
But I do object to the media’s use of the term in this context, as there are many honest and decent people who chose the entreprenuerial path, and this portrayal does not serve them well. It does not give these people any credit for having the courage and conviction to put their career and financial security on the line for an idea, nor value their creativity and innovation which leads to new ideas and opportunities from which we all benefit.
Good for my Head!
July 17, 2005I haven’t blogged a lot over the past couple of weeks. I’ve been putting together a Business Plan, so I figure that I just can’t get into it because of the amount of writing I’m doing for that. I’ve also been trying to give the other senses a run, and I’ve been reading and listening to tunes a lot ..
AUDIO
Ramones
Led Zeppelin — Despite being into the Hard Rock/Metal scene, I never really got these guys … but man, I’m really grok them now!
Foo Fighters
Joe Satriani
Ozzy Osbourne
PRINT
On the Road, Jack Kerouac
Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson
Blackwood Farm, Anne Rice
VIDEO/TV/MOVIES
Herbie Full Throttle — Great for the kids and a flashback to my own childhood
Madagascar
Mythbusters — man is this show cool or WHAT?
Pink Floyd & the Syd Barrett Story
Friday Night Footy
iPod new features
July 12, 2005A couple of weeks back, Apple released iTunes 4.9 which — amongst other things — includes support for Podcasts, which is a fantastic addition, and something that is going to take Podcasting into the stratoshphere.
I’ve been pondering since the release — is it just me, or is there something not quite right with the taxonomy of having the Podcasts > menu under Music > ? I would have thought that it made more sense to have it on at the top level on the main menu? Perhaps it has something to do with the integration of the Podcast Directory with the Music Store? Anyway, IMHO — it’s strange!
One less talked about feature that was included with the iPod Updater 2005-06-26 firmware update was the ability to set a ‘timer’ on the backlight, thereby providing the ability to utilise the backlight more effectively without punishing the battery life — a much welcomed (and used) feature.
Paypal launches Payments Pro
July 6, 2005Paypal has launched a new all-in-one payment service, which provides the payment-processing capabilities of a merchant account and gateway – plus much more. A lot of people use Paypal for website payments, which is achieved via a link to Paypal from your site. This new product seamlesslyy integrates within your own site, although this may require a deeper technical knowledge to implement. Check it out here for more details.
Melbourne Coffee Review in the press
July 6, 2005Shameless cross-promotion: The MCR, of which I am (sometimes) a contributing blogger, got a bit of press in the Australian IT Alive section yesterday. Well done Peter!
