Swimming in the rain, very liberating! # It's pissing it down. So much for going to the beach. # Updating the blogging component on ipchitchat.co.uk # At my Internet business meetup group - and 2 Internet celebrities have shown up! # Designing a new risk methodology - my head is hurting! # Do I stay … read more

The use of Twitter seems to have taken off enormously over the past few months as people are realising how the tool can be used not only for messaging, but also for marketing and self-promotion. It's interesting to see all the celebrities that are now 'tweeting'. Some of them are obviously just … read more

Last night I held my January Brisbane Internet Business Meetup. Of the 82 members (as of today) I think only 14 turned up but that didn't detract from what was a really good night. In particular, our group was blessed by the presence of two genuine internet celebrities: Yaro Starak is a blogger who … read more

Nursing a serious hangover # @yarostarak Fring and Twitterific works well for me. in reply to yarostarak # Shitfaced on jim bean bourbon # Having a BBQ and a few wines at George and Julie's # Queensland offers "the best job in the world" - http://tinyurl.com/97w8wg # On my way back to Brissie # … read more

This week I've been to Newcastle, and I didn't spot a single Geordie! Actually, Newcastle in New South Wales does have some similarities with its namesake in north east England, and in some parts does look a lot like other areas on the north east coast of England. It particularly reminded me of … read more

Pondering my goals for 2009. Should I aim high or be pragmatic? # Now have 66 members in my Brisbane Internet Business Meetup Group. Whoo-ooh! # Going to Cath's for scran # This week has been a struggle getting back into things # Going to watch Lauren's swimming lessons # Back to the gym # Moving my … read more

There was only one real contender for my favourite film release of 2008, and that is... In Bruges was easily the most enjoyable film that I've seen since Last King of Scotland. The wordplay in particular between Colin Farrell's character - Ray, and Brendan Gleeson's character - Ken, represents a … read more

Xmas has been and gone for another year. I had a couple of weeks off work, along with Rach, so we were able to make the most of it and take her Mum and Dad for a spot of sightseeing. Rach’s Mum and Dad are leaving on Saturday and they seem to have had an enjoyable time, although Rachelle’s Mum has … read more

With a new year I thought it was time to give my blog a bit of a freshing up. So, I did something that I've been meaning to do for quite a while - I registered darylhaines.com, installed Wordpress on my hosting account and moved my blogger blog over here. I'm still tinkering around with the look of … read more

Rachelle's Mum and Dad arrived safely on Friday to join us for Xmas and new year. I think Mandy in particular was a little shocked about the heat and humidity. We did warn them about coming to Brisbane in Summer! On Sunday we all went to Rach's boat club for Sunday lunch and the kids Xmas party with … read more

A couple of weeks ago we spent a night away in luxury at the 5 start Sheraton Mirage Resort and Spa Hotel on the Gold Coast, courtesy of a hotel voucher from Rach's boss in thanks for Rach selling one of the Marina berths. Rach has already blogged about this on her own blog so I won't repeat it … read more

Being a rather geeky James Bond fan I was very much looking forward to the Quantum of Solace. After the re-incarnation of James Bond in Casino Royale, which kept pretty much authentic to the original plot and character in Ian Fleming's novel, I had high hopes for QoS. What a disappointment. Unlike … read more

It's tropical storm season here at the moment and this year it has been particularly bad. Tonight we've been treated to yet another fantastic lightning storm after a very hot day, but it was rather mild compared to what happened on Sunday 16th November when we had the worst storms for 30 years. … read more

In just a few hours time, after what's been the longest, most expensive, and perhaps most exciting presidential election ever, we'll know who is going to be the 44th President of the United States. Being a political news junkie, I've been following the race fairly closely for the last 18 months, … read more

Our latest set of visitors arrived safely on Friday - Frances and Rob - so we had a busy weekend playing tour guide. Friday evening we took them to the Manly Harbour Village Halloween Street Party. Loads of people dressed up (kids and adults) and joined in with the 'spooky street parade' at dusk. … read more

On Saturday night we went to see Stevie Wonder in concert at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre. Being one of my all-time favourite artists, this was a rare treat, and he didn't disappoint. Both Stevie and his band were magnificent. There were a couple of small let downs. First, while he got through … read more

As the Chelsea v Liverpool game was on at midnight our time last night I recorded it and watched it before work this morning. With Chelsea being unbeaten in the league at Stamford Bridge for 86 games, I was expecting yet another goalless or 1-1 draw between the two sides. Incidentally, the last team … read more

I'm very busy on the work front at the moment, both in my day job and with the internet business. In my day job I'm involved in a major, very complex, government PKI project. PKI stands for Public Key Infrastructure and is basically a set of systems that can be used for issuing and signing digital … read more

Yesterday when I went to get on the bus to work I realised I'd forgotten my Go card, which is basically an electronic card you can use with the Brisbane transport system - I can top the balance up online and simply touch on and off buses and trains, and it automatically gets deducted (it's basically … read more

I am pleased to announce the launch of our latest website - www.EzeeQuit.co.uk You may have heard news stories, such as featured on the front page of bbc.co.uk/news today, about the revolutionary Electronic Cigarette. This product is win-win for smokers and non-smokers alike as it allows smokers to … read more