The old New Zealand Herald site was getting a bit tired, having had its last design update in 2012. It didn’t support mobile well, and the old CMS was, I suspect, becoming quite inflexible. That constraint was probably the reason behind their insights section being hosted on a different technology stack (Ruby on Rails). But despite that… Continue reading Website Review: The NZ Herald
Like many people I’ve read Pride & Prejudice, but none of Jane Austen’s other novels, so this year I resolved to put that right. I start my journey with the first book she completed for publication. Northanger Abbey has an interesting history. It was sold to a publisher in 1803 for £10, but never published. By… Continue reading Book Review: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Even though I left RNZ in August 2016, I still get people asking for website performance tips, and for detail on how I made http://www.radionz.co.nz load so fast. Why would you want your site to load quickly? There are many, many, many, many reasons why, but in a nutshell: A fast loading website is perceived as… Continue reading How to make your website fast
The Guardian is out. The NYT is also out. Many publishers are ‘cooling off‘, among them BBC News, National Geographic and The Wall Street Journal. By some accounts they are fleeing. But why? Quite simply, placing your content on another’s platform is an investment—the desired return being more eyeballs, more engagement (however you measure that), and more… Continue reading Instant Articles failed to save the news business. Now what?
This is a personal post, and my hope in writing it is that it helps someone else who finds themselves in the same position. In October 2016 my position at RNZ was disestablished, and I left my job of 35 years. What followed was an identity crisis. What would I do next? What could I… Continue reading You are not your job – thoughts on life after redundancy
I have just finished reading Competing Against Luck, a book that outlines the latest thinking in Jobs Theory. That theory is built on a simple premise which, according to Clay Christensen, is: “When we buy a product, we essentially ‘hire’ something to get a job done. If it does the job well, when we are confronted with the… Continue reading What I Learned From Talking to my Customers
Media reports detailing the abuse of those in State care have appeared frequently over the last decade or two. At various times there have been claims the abuse was systemic, with denials by the Government. Having known several people who were put into State care, and who were abused, I took a keen interest in… Continue reading Was the abuse systemic?
