Dancing Matt

This is so great.
Great to see the kids at Wainivilase Village get a little face time (around 1:24). I watch this kind of thing and can't help to be reminded how important it is to get out there, see the world and realise how alike we all are. My favourite part has to be the Papau New Guinean tribe (around 2:10). Just excellent.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Microsoft: Beware of Fiji

In the ongoing look at irresponsible media, lets look at this poorly written headline from Radio Australia.

Nation upset at use of name Microsoft Fiji

I don't know who their reporter on the ground is, but I didn't drive through throngs of Fijians with picket signs screaming about the unfairness Microsoft is raining down upon the country during my morning commute. In fact, I'll wager that 98% of this country isn't aware that Microsoft has even nicknamed a software title "Fiji". If that's the case, then how can the "nation" be upset about this?

I could be wrong but every piece of information I've read about Microsoft "Fiji" points to it being the codename of a development release (i.e.; beta) only and not any official name of a vaporware product.

Here's a description about the codename from 2006. Here's another one. Here's one more.

In the improbable chance that it is the name of their next Media OS, my suggestion would be for Fiji (the country) to wait for it's release and then file a lawsuit claiming that the product name has damaged the country's brand. Based on Vista's rollout, the likelihood of Microsoft's next operating system being anything but lame is quite high.

I suppose the interesting part here might actually be the comments from Fiji's government that they are possibly entitled to compensation for what is effectively a software title's nickname. Microsoft could just as easily change "Fiji" to "Vanuatu" and the story will go away.

[UPDATE: This Wikipedia link listing Windows codenames should hold back Fiji's attorneys I would hope.]

[UPDATE 2: Microsoft finally responds, confirming the ridiculousness. It's just a codename. Everyone breath easy.]

[UPDATE 3: Better late than never, the Fiji Times reports on the issue. I was hoping they'd see through it.]

[UPDATE 4: I had totally forgotten today was the day Bill Gates officially "leaves" Microsoft. I have this vision of him cleaning out his desk and walking down an empty hallway as some intern runs after him waving the letter from Fiji's government. "Mr. Gates...Mr. Gates...there's one more thing you need to do!!!"]

Digital Talanoa : The Talanoa of Efficiency

In September of last year, I wrote a Digital Talanoa about email management or, more specifically, my own attempts at email management. Of all the articles I’ve ever written for the Fiji Times, I still receive comments from readers about this one. Apparently, I am not the only one struggling at times to figure out ways of managing all the digital information in our lives. A few people passed along their own tips but the vast majority of feedback I received were cries for help.

As my visit to the United States wraps up this week and I return to Fiji, I’ve found myself reminded again with the need to properly manage my time and, specifically email, more efficiently. I think this is mostly due to the time difference. When I sleep, Fiji is awake and working so by the time I do get up, there is usually a long list of messages waiting in my INBOX. I manage those by going through them as quickly as possible, deleting the ones which really aren’t that important or relevant and responding to the ones which absolutely need my attention. I’m usually not happy until I have less than five messages left. That, in essence, is what I’ve been doing for the past year or so since I came close to declaring email bankruptcy. That pretty much represents tossing everything that’s in your INBOX into the rubbish bin and starting again. For those readers shaking their head about to make the mental argument “I couldn’t possibly do that. There are critically important things in my INBOX!”, consider this: If they really are critical, they would have been done already. Toss it and live free.

Journalistic Integrity in Fiji

The sudden death of American political journalist Tim Russert yesterday is so unfortunate. It's likely than many people outside the United States don't know who Russert was and that's a shame. Alongside veteran industry talent such as Walter Cronkite and a handful of others, Russert existed as a true and honest journalist. He has left us at a time where we would have all benefited greatly from his analysis and perspective of the upcoming presidential election.

Any media organisation worldwide would benefit enormously by having someone like Tim Russert on staff. In the sensationalistic mess than that currently represents the American news media industry, he was one of the few people who could be trusted not to oversensationalise. On this most recent trip to the US for me, I've noticed that American media is sinking even deeper into non-news as a key driver in its newscasts. When CNN's Larry King is doing entire shows on Hulk Hogan's marital problems, you know things are screwed up. I used to love Larry King. I think I may never watch him again now. CNN has fallen victim to the FOX News-era demands of info-tainment rather than real reporting.

Inevitably, I have no choice but to compare this to Fiji's news media. I'm not grouping every Fiji-based journalist into the category of unprofessionalism here, though. There are a number of decent journalists out there, genuinely struggling to find and communicate a perspective and a voice in an environment which doesn't necessarily support it. However, the parent media organisations are the ones who have to drive true professionalism and I do think problems exist there. I have voiced my frustrations before on this topic, most notably referencing Fiji TV.

A Visit to an American Bank

Although I am doing my best to not compare life in the United States with life in Fiji during my trip here, there are some instances where the differences are so glaring that I'm forced to acknowledge them.

A few years ago, my wife had opened up an account with a local bank in Philadelphia. We had forgotten about it until we came back to the US on this visit and although there wasn't any money in it, we happened to drive by one of the branches on Saturday afternoon and realised they were open. Late afternoon, by the way. Was almost 3 o'clock which is convenient in its own right.

Anyway, the bank was bright, airy and very comfortable and we were serviced immediately. As it turns out, our account had been closed due to inactivity but the man said he could open up a new account for us in just a few minutes. Because my family will be in the US for much of the summer, we agreed.

Upon sitting down and giving some personal information, we had a new account set up in less than five minutes. I didn't have much money to deposit at that point but that didn't seem to bother the guy who was helping us. He told us we could come back the following day (SUNDAY) and take care of that.

"I'll tell you what we'll do." he said. "We'll put $25 in there to start off this account and then you can come back tomorrow and deposit what you want."

"Ok." I said. "That sounds fine, thanks."

He came back after a minute with a checkbook and said we were all set to go.

"Should I pay you cash now for that $25?" I asked.

"No," he said. "The bank is giving you that for opening up this account."

"What?" I must have said with a little too much surprise. "In that case, I'd like to open up ten more accounts please."

I kept looking over at my wife incredulously.
Now just to clarify what is going on in my head here...I'm not attempting to make the case that this is the way things should be done everywhere. What I found so amazing was simply how different this banking experience was from what I've become accustomed to.

As I stood upon my shaky legs to leave, the banker fired off one more parting line to me.

"I'm sorry it took so long to take care of you here today." he said.

I walked out of the bank laughing hysterically, people looking as if there was something wrong with me (which there clearly is).

When I returned on Sunday at 2 p.m.(!!!), the banker greeted me by name. He printed out a bank/debit card right there and then. Compare this to a wait of about two weeks in Fiji and the sheer convenience of this system is clear.

American banks have made significant progress over the past few years refining their customer experience. It might seem less obvious if you live in the United States but I don't remember things working like this five years ago.

Perhaps I've become a bit sour battling so many sub-par customer experiences in Fiji but again, this is not about that. The difference, however, is startling.

Digital Talanoa : The American Talanoa

I’m about 12,670 kilometers away from Suva right now back in America visiting family and doing some business. It’s like I’m in another world. Before anyone jumps ahead thinking that today’s column will just be about how fast the Internet is in the US or how well everything works smoothly here, I had to disappoint but there’s more to it than that. Actually, I should probably acknowledge that the Internet has been very fast, plentiful and available just about everywhere. Free access is a great thing and for anyone doing business while traveling, it’s really a godsend.

I’d like to write about a whole bunch of other things today, though. Americans are both great inventors of stuff as well as great marketers. I find the latter a bit more interesting because whether the things being invented are actually useful or not, a marketing genius somewhere will devise a way of making it appealing.

R.I.P. - Bo Diddley

Bo Diddley died today. He was another one of the all-time greats who influenced so many of the greatest rock bands. I was fortunate enough to see him at the Live Aid concert in 1985 in Philadelphia. I don't know where the clip below was from but it certainly captures some of his energy. What a fantastic musician.

Mailife : Half the Fun

This month’s MaiLife column comes to you from New York City, capital of the western world (debatable) and location of some of the world’s greatest foods (not debatable). Actually, my trip so far has effectively been a culinary exploration of things I am unable to provision for myself in Fiji.

The food adventure began even before I arrived on the east coast. As I flew through Los Angeles with a 2 hour stopover, a close friend met me at the airport long enough to pass me some bagels in a paper bag. The transaction was smooth and almost covert in the bustling movement of LAX. To the casual observer, I’m sure it looked like a shady drug deal was going down. My bloodshot eyes, exhausted from 10 hours of breathing Air Pacific oxygen in a cramped seat with a toddler in the row behind me repeating the words “Guess who? Guess who? Meeeeeeeee!!!” over and over again for about four hours. When I saw my friend from across the airport terminal, I leaned in their general direction and pretty much let gravity move me through the sea of people until I was able to snatch my bag of bread. I collapsed by a window and in the little time I had before having to face security for my next flight, I spread cream cheese on that bagel. I was back in the United States and this round piece of bread proved it.