In 2009 Steve Andrews rode his motorbike around Australia to raise awareness for depression. This illness will affect 1 in 5 Australians, and currently affects 1 million adults and an estimated 100 000 young people.
A good friend of mine Tony, as well as 2 other colleagues, Raz and Andrew, have joined what has become this year’s annual event, the Black Dog Ride. They will be riding 6000 kms to the Red Centre of Australia and back on motorbikes raising awareness and funding. You can support Tony at http://tonyblackdogride.posterous.com
Personal
I guess when you have a family of 6, that has moved countries, experienced divorce, illness, and death, the odds are at least one family member will experience depression.
Our story started way earlier than 2003, but that’s when Em, now 20, was diagnosed in a cataclysmic experience. We’ve journeyed as a family for the last 7 years and to support Tony in his ride, I put together a video chronicling some of that experience.
Note, the video is short at only 4 mins 30, this is because I’ve entered it into the inaugural Mobile Screenfest Competition, which has a maximum length guideline. I will be editing a longer version sometime this week.
Here’s “Discussing Depression”
In this transparent and vulnerable video, a young 20 year old, Em and her dad, me, share their 7 year journey with depression.
All to support Tony Hollingsworth as he rides to raise awareness for depression in the Black Dog Ride to the Red Centre in Sep 2010.
Every aspect of the movie was shot on the Apple iPhone4 in 720p HD
If the movie spoke to you, and want to raise publicity for Tony, please do head over and vote for the video It’s not up on the site yet (I’ll update this post when it is) but you’ll need to select the “Best Phone Journalism” category, then rate the video.
And You…
If you’re experiencing depression, or one of your family members are, feel free to contact me for a chat. Teen depression especially doesn’t exhibit like adult depression. I know this very well. There’s certainly no reason to feel a failure as a parent, anymore than if your child had broken their leg, or contracted pneumonia. Again, I know that knowing this does not change how you feel as a parent.
It’s been 8 months since our last Episode, and almost a year since our first. Which begs the question: “Should the TAGCast slip from coma to the morgue?”
In this very brief, 4 minute episode, I propose:
Let the TAGCast die gracefully.
Let it live again – like Phoenix rising from the ashes – new hosts, new topics.
Migrate it to the (perhaps) aptly named TWAT – This Week’s Aussie Technology
If we go with option one, I’m thinking of bringing back the Mobile Smackdown, only, on the web… Where we’ll talk all things Mobile. I’m looking for a Windows Phone 7, Blackberry, and Nokia/Symbian co-host. Also monthly we’ll do impossible challenges with our smartphones.
It’s Friday night, in Castle Hill (the ‘burbs of Sydney), you’re in your forties (or fifties); responsible, upstanding, dependable, just, well, beige….
…so what do you do?
Well what you can do, is relive the time that started it all! The Summer of Love! Woodstock! A time of protest! A time when the young had the resources, the passion, and the purpose to challenge the status quo. A time very much like now (except that we’re now the status quo)…
This is a great show. Not least because of the music they play, or the headliners (Phil Emmanuel), or the brilliant musicians. All that is true of this show (even understatement). But everything else from the attention to detail, to the ambience, to the audience dancing and letting go like they haven’t, since the 60’s.
Some applaud. I create. So my attribute to Wild on Woodstock is my photos and videos of the gig. Enjoy.
With the video I suggest playing with HD on, in full screen, through a good set of speakers.
If you’re into classic rock, and get a chance, it’s worth seeing these guys.
I love it when technology works. When my mum, in her 60’s, can share her epic drive through Africa with over 200 people; and just chat to her grandkids every day as if she’s in the room.
From a young age I’ve been entranced by technology that works. Technology that enables. Technology that brings people together across time and space. In fact of all of the technologies I’ve studied, supported, designed, and implemented, it’s those that connect people that have enthralled me.
I’m old enough to remember our first TV, our first colour TV, and remember being gobsmacked by our first (top-loader) VCR. Imagine being able to pause Magnum P.I.
Touch-tone, then mobile telephones. Hand-held scanners. Modems. Ethernet. ISDN. Video Conferencing. Digital cameras. Messaging systems. PDA’s. The Internet. ICQ. Instant Messaging. Wi-Fi. ADSL. Smartphones. Webcams. VOIP. Social Media. I feel like I was born into exactly the right age, as I’ve worked with all of these (and their underlying) technologies. And loved every problem-solving, solution designing, people enabling second!
When sales people can submit an order whilst having coffee with their client. When a family can share a birthday dinner in real-time across oceans. That’s when I appreciate the true power of technology.
It’s also why I get frustrated when it doesn’t work.
Office Communicator? Rock solid. I use this tool daily to have full-screen, Hi-Def video conferences with my work colleagues. Need to collaborate on a document, no problem, just share my second monitor. It really does enable us to work without the need for corporate offices. It just works. In working, it changes the way we can work!
Office Live Meeting on the other hand. Where do I start? Suffice to say, std operating procedure in organisations is to get to a meeting 15 mins early to set up Live Meeting. Even so, I have yet to see a Live Meeting start on time, with everyone connected. More often than not, half the participants are struggling to connect, or to get the video working, or the audio, or their presentation. Nightmare. Frustrating.
When it does work, invariably on a high-speed network, it’s great. Multi-party video, audio, screen sharing. But not once have I had a seamless experience, no matter the technical experience of the attendees. I mean, I can get it to work, but that’s pointless if people on the other end of the line cannot!! Even if it’s just one person. Especially if they’re not technical.
Skype on the other hand? Well, my mum uses that. And my daughters. No setup time, just click the green button. Need to add my brother from NYC into the conversation? No problem.
Oh – and it’s free. And it allows you to call people overseas on their phones for next to nothing. For people to call you, when you’re travelling, for the cost of a local call. In fact to give yourself a foreign phone number allowing people to call your mobile from the other end of the world, without even the need for a computer. It just works.
I love it when technology works. It’s why all of the collaborating I do for usergroups, and with my family, uses Skype. I have pushed the Live Meeting barrow for too long. But it just. Doesn’t. Work.
What technology do you have to use that frustrates you?
Andrew Coates is an inspired Developer Evangelist for Microsoft Australia, who’s been using this water analogy to describe “the Microsoft platform” for some years. It’s a fantastic analogy, because water is something we all use everyday, the plumbing of which we now take for granted, at least in the developed world.
The platform is moving out of the company computer room, or data centre, and into what is now called, the Cloud!! Great big Utility like Datacentres, run by Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and about 41 other vendors.
Of course, we’ve had computing as a service since the bureaux days of AOL and Compuserve days in the ‘80’s! (actually CompuServe was founded in 1969) And I was fortunate enough to lead the team which built Australia’s first Hosted Email and Office Application Service Provider Data Centre back in 2000! Then CWO a-Services (CWO = Cable & Wireless Optus).
But vendors would have us believe that “Cloud Computing” is something entirely new.
Nevertheless, I’ve seen Andrew deliver this analogy many times. Today I notice that he’s had it made into an animation. It’s short at 2 min 55, and very sweet. Succinctly explains why computing is moving (back) into the Cloud, and the opportunities for developers, businesses, and individuals to innovate.
And really there’s a lot to be impressed about. Today we had the Readify “KickOn” event. I.e. the annual company kick-off. We fly the whole company together, this year in Melbourne. In the afternoon we meet to celebrate the achievements of the last financial year, and discuss the strategy for the next. Already there’s a [...]
Last week I blogged about the abysmal experience I had flying home from London on QF32 that took over 49 hours. Well, I have to update that story. This week Qantas finally followed up on my camera loss from 28 June. No they haven’t found it, and yes they confirmed this again with the team [...]
A couple of days ago, I was in Auschwitz! Which is the subject for another post (at least one). But also to say the I’m starkly aware of the contrast which the poor souls there faced in the context of our minor inconveniences over the last 48 hours… I began Sunday, 11 July, early with [...]
On Monday night a bunch of the NSW Readify Consultants held our own “Ignite” evening. The format is to present a 20 slide, 5 minute, auto-advancing presentation (15 secs per slide) to the group. This format is intense. Not only having to focus your presentation down to a mere 5 minutes, but also keeping to [...]
It’s not up on the site yet (I’ll update this post when it is) but you’ll need to select the “Best Phone Journalism” category, then rate the video.