Online Insights on FIVEaa Sunday May 13 2012
This month on Online Insights we drive down memory lane in Adelaide in full technicolour, discover a resource to stop grey-haired people around you turning your hair grey, recoil at Vegemite’s woes and discover what brand you would be, given your personality.
Life in Adelaide
Believed to be Deckers restaurant in Adelaide circa 1966 (Image Film Australia via YouTube)
I have started a new habit.
It is so cold and dark at dinner time these days, that I am alone at the BBQ while the family is inside. So I arm myself with a glass of wine and my iPhone, dial up YouTube and throw in a random search term.
However, the first term I have been using is ‘Adelaide’.
Apart from a particularly nauseating case of road rage, the second video I ever found was some Film Australia archival footage of Life in Adelaide shot in 1966. It runs 20 minutes and is very, very intriguing.
You get to see grapevines growing in the suburbs, red and white taxis, old rotary dial phones, the Cox Foys playground atop its Rundle Street building, the Paris nightclub, and all the retro finesse that you would expect to find in Mad Men if it were situated in Adelaide.
Online Insights on FIVEaa Sunday April 1 2012
This month on Online Insights we find a treasure chest of intelligent, Australian writing, take the federal survey on same sex marriage, look for love in social networks, review how necessary daylight saving time really is, and then look for local things we might like to do.
Same Sex Marriage survey
Play matchmaker with your friends
This weekend we have had Catholic bishops sending letters to be read out to congregations, urging members of their congregations to vote in the Federal Government’s House of Representatives Committee online survey which is asking for feedback on two Bills before the house relating to the legalisation of same sex marriage.
It will be interesting to see what transpires because I think most bishops will be surprised by just how little actual control they have over the private thoughts of their flocks.
One thing that has always seemed ironic to me in this debate is that a growing number of heterosexual couples are moving away from marriage and choosing de facto relationships, while the oft-considered ‘progressive’, homosexual members of society seem to be clambering to become married. I understand there is a world of difference between having a choice and not having a choice; as humans, we always seem to want what we cannot have. I wonder if the granting of marriage to homosexual couples will lead to a small spike in marriages and then commence the downward spiral in accordance with the rest of society thereafter?
But be that as it may, I thought it would be useful to share the link for a few reasons:
- It is a very simple to use online form – a great example for others to follow
- It is a good example of parliament reaching out for direct public input
- It might be handy to have the link if you’d missed it
The Committee wants our views on the two Marriage Bills before they are debated in parliament. The deadline for filling in the survey is April 20, 2012.
Meanwhile, on the more sedate side of human relationships, a new app for Facebook has been designed to ‘introduce you and your friends to new people with similar friends, likes and interests’. Yes, it is a matchmaking app called Yoke.
Online Insights on FIVEaa Sunday March 4 2012
This month on Online Insights we shall see the light, then move from the old world to the ‘other world’ and come to rest in the inner world. Sounds mysterious but don’t fear, it is me and Sean Perry, you will not be spooked! Before you dive into the actual stories, I also encourage you to read my VENT over the Guardian Three Little Pigs video about social media that is all the rage at the moment. I argue that rather than support the social enmeshing of news, it is the most poignant argument against the 24-hour news cycles that surround us.
LED lighting leaves lighter footprint
Energy and money saving LED lighting
Darwin electrician, Jon Story, is a crazily passionate sparky I met during my regular visits to Darwin. He runs a company called Dunwrights Electrical, Darwin electricians.
One of his pet subjects is LED lighting and he says he is on a mission to help the world ‘see the light’ in a smarter, more cost-effective way.
He has written an article about how LED lighting saves you money and saves the environment. Here is his argument:
Online Insights on FIVEaa Sunday February 5 2012
This month on Online Insights we explore mind control tricks from the underbelly of marketing, tease out some of Adelaide’s interesting bloggers, get a grip on British English and poke some fun at the lack lustre food photos shared in Social Media.
5 Creepy Forms of Mind Control You’re Exposed to Daily
Cars have facial expressions
As many of you know, I am a marketer. And there are many different understandings of marketing.
Some people think of marketing as those hyped-up people in car parks trying to hustle sales of ‘car wash in a can’ or similar. Others think marketing is having a job in a large firm where all you do is design posters and arrange launch events.
But I work in that part of marketing called strategy development. This is where I believe the hard yards of marketing are exercised. Thought goes into the product or service being marketed, the ‘market’ or ‘markets’ being marketed, and all that will be involved in bringing the two together. Sometimes this results in tweaking, redesigning or cancelling a product or service. At other times it results in shifting the focus of the story and message surrounding the product or service so that it can resonate with a different audience.
However, I digress. Tonight’s link is to a comedic article about some of the ‘tricks’ researched by marketing boffins for extracting an extra degree of influence from customers.
Online Insights on FIVEaa Sunday January 1 2012
Welcome to 2012 and the first edition of Online Insights for another year. This month we take a different approach to resolutions involving food, give ourselves some tricks for spelling better, correct some of the common myths we all believe and finish with a way to play book publisher.
What’s more, most of tonight’s links may prove helpful on this sweltering, 41 degree day.
Food list challenge
Frogs' legs anybody?
Could this be your New Year’s Resolution for 2012?
The food list challenge is a list of 100 foods and the authors believe your score determines how much of a ‘foodie’ you are. Turns out I am Mr Average with 47 out of the 100.
The list includes:
- Aligator
- Biscuits and gravy
- Frogs’ Legs
- Goulash
- Pistachio Ice Cream
- Rabbit Stew
Online Insights on FIVEaa Sunday December 4 2011
With xmas about 20 sleeps away a couple of sites this month will focus on that event on how to navigate work parties and how single people can treat themselves to festive feasts, we’ll discover some quick house cleaning tips (always useful this time of year) and we finish with some thrilling rides.
Andersons Law Blog Christmas wisdom
Between now and Christmas Day, many people will be letting their hair down at various work functions – those held at their place of work, their partner’s, their clients, customers or suppliers.
And as much as it is a time for fun and letting hair down, there is always a risk of letting too much down, so to speak.
The first website tonight is actually from the blog run by Andersons Solicitors here in Adelaide and it is called - The work Christmas party, fun or frightening?
This is one of the simplest and most helpful pieces I have seen on the risks of office or workplace parties.
This quote sums it all up: More than ever, it is important to remember that work functions are just that, work functions and as work functions the employer is responsible for what happens to employees (and other attendees) at work.
Online Insights on FIVEaa Sunday November 6 2011
This month we get real about food, about money, about music and about publishing a book.
What does a healthy person eat?
Leandra Walker's Roast Beetroot Salad
There are many theories and diets around the best food for us. There are also many examples of healthcare professionals who abuse their bodies worse than their patients do.
But a young, Darwin-based chiropractor who does live a holistically healthy life has just started a public project to help her clients (and the rest of us) see how easy it is to eat a diet consisting mainly of whole foods.
Dr Leandra Walker is co-founder of The Chiropractic Place and every day during November 2011 she is photographing and logging everything she eats.
She says it is because her clients always say they want to eat better but have no idea how to incorporate OR sustain the changes.
Her mission is to at least wean as many of us as possible OFF white bread sandwiches for lunch! Continue reading
Online Insights on FIVEaa Sunday October 2 2011
This month we explore what is meant by Australian Women’s Weekly when it claims that Frugality is the new Black, experience the fun side of HTML5 (who would have guessed), and a small video of magic and high tech blended into one. Enjoy.
Frugality is the New Black
Deception - tonight's theme from magic to our consumer society
My wife told me the Australian Women’s Weekly has claimed that Frugality is the New Black and a quick Google search reveals that various media outlets have been claiming this since about 2008 when a book with that title was released to ‘cash in’ on the Global Financial Crisis.
Of course, there is nothing like a tight patch to teach us how to be less wasteful and more resourceful but it is probably best to practice some of these skills and approaches to life BEFORE a crisis FORCES you to adopt them.
To that end, I discovered a series of posts on this topic by Kim Sbarcea, a Kiwi who writes under the topic of ThinkingShift. What I like about her posts is that she does not come across PREACHY and in fact often acknowledges her failings and struggles along the journey to a more sustainable lifestyle. In her post about feeding the plastic pig (a piggy bank), she confessed that she goes through cycles of being very good for months on end and then indulges in a splurge although not with big designer brand names – she has kicked that habit.
Online Insights on FIVEaa Sunday September 4 2011
This month we look at the importance of sleep for weight loss, of how to get our minds straight, take a global glimpse at Fathers Day and finish off with a handy way to use Lego.
Sleep adds weight AND makes you fatter
Lack of sleep bad for weight loss (Picture: iNform Health)
After reading this article, I have worked harder and harder at getting more sleep each night.
You can read the article for the technical terminology but in short, research from Stanford University has found that when we sleep less than five hours each night our hormones go crazy and end up making us not only feel hungry but feel less full.
As the writer summarises well, ‘so poor sleep essentially sets us up to feel hungry, crave food and have less satisfaction after eating. It’s not a wonder that people who sleep less have a higher BMI.’
However, the real shock came when researchers got healthy men and women to sleep just four hours in one night. They became dramatically insulin resistant the next day.
What does this mean? When you are insulin resistant it means your body cannot regulate blood sugar levels and that four hour night of sleep dropped insulin resistance to a level that was the equivalent of carrying 10kg of extra body fat. It just makes is harder all round.
The research also found that six nights of extreme lack of sleep can fast track you to Type Two Diabetes.
So, what can you do if you have trouble sleeping? Continue reading
Online Insights on FIVEaa Sunday August 14 2011
This month on Online Insights we look at incredible printing technology, furniture planning software that allows you to order your design, troubleshooting bitter coffee and a fun poke at MySpace.
3D Printing
Dungeons and Dragon Dice (Image: 3dfuture.com.au)
During a workshop in Murray Bridge recently for Regional Development Australia, I met Andy Ide, a man obsessed by the technology known as 3D printing.
When he mentioned it to me on the night I nodded cautiously, thinking I knew what he was talking about but it was when I walked through his website and watched a video of the process that my jaw dropped and I realised I was listening with a 20th Century mindset to 21st Century science!
In essence, 3D printing is when three dimensional plans are applied to a printer that can spew resins and different substances from its printing head, rather than just ink.
My latest snaps on Instagram
Listen to Steve
- stevedavis: The #socadl Daily is out! http://t.co/vLwzsWJH ▸ Top stories today via @scottmccarten @hayleybw @hellobenteoh May 18, 2012
- stevedavis: @JoshuaWhiteSM must be a good feeling! Wordpress workshop walks biz people through basics of running wp site with lots of marketing input May 18, 2012
- stevedavis: @JoshuaWhiteSM how was yours? May 18, 2012