Tonight, I got the chance to see Al Gore speak live. He was spruiking his investment company, Generation _, which is being launched (via a platform) to retail investors in Australia. I’m not usually seduced by celebrity, but this felt like an opportunity you don’t get every day. I readContinue Reading
I’ve put up a new page on the books I’ve read this year – since I seemed to have lost the ability to actually do a proper review of them. I’ll add to it from time to time.Continue Reading
With APEC visiting this week, my team took the opportunity to dress in casual clothes. The theory is that we are less likely to be pelted with fruit by ratbag protesters. My team, as befits a bunch of actuaries, is not much into dressing especially well. So the chance to dressContinue Reading
Michael Duffy had a column in the Sydney Morning Herald today with some (I hope) last gasp global warming denial. Before I got into blogging, I suspect I would have read it as making some valid points. Unfortunately, for Michael Duffy, I had already read the comprehensive demolition from theContinue Reading
Via Elizabeth, at Half Changed World, I found this index of walkability of where you live. It works on google maps, which unfortunately isn’t populated for my local part of Sydney, so I don’t know where my house comes out on the scale. To see how the scale works, here’s whereContinue Reading
Once a month, I spend the best part of two days in a series of Board meetings. Occasionally, the topic of conversation drags, particularly if it is a paper that I’m not expecting to be questioned about, and I watch the interactions play out in the meeting. Our meetings areContinue Reading
Elizabeth at Half Changed World has a post up about divorce myths – in particular the myth that half of all marriages end in divorce. In the US, it turns out, around 40% of all marriages end in divorce (if you track divorce rates by duration). Coincidentally, reading the paperContinue Reading
I wnet to a speech from a new CEO today. One of the things he said, when asked his goals for the new role was that he was determined to root out politics. “If anyone starts playing politics, they are out the door, no matter how senior they are”. ItContinue Reading
Back in the late 90s early 2000s, I did a lot of consulting work for Asian clients. Mostly from Australia, but occasionally I would fly up for a week or so to do a job. I gradually learned just how culturally different all the Asian countries are from each other.Continue Reading
I managed this week to avoid jury duty, mainly by politely begging them to give me an exemption because it was end-of-financial year (which is one of the three or four busiest weeks for me at work). I do feel somewhat guilty about it. The jury system is a vitalContinue Reading