Articles
Latest articles and thoughts
Last day in Hà Nội
I've checked out and am sitting in the lobby catching up on my blog, drinking more Vietnamese coffee, waiting to catch a cab to the airport in an hour. How do I wrap up the week I've had? So many mixe...
Taking it Slow: Shopping in the Old Quarter
Waiting out the front of the hotel, I'm watching with continued bemusement as the traffic goes by. Those images you see of unbelievable loads on vehicles on the 'net, they're all normalised by this ci...
Một hai ba, yo
The company I'm working with had their company party last night, and boy do they know how to celebrate. The whole office shut down at 3pm, and after dropping my laptop off at the hotel, I was whisked ...
If it looks like a Duck
Trigger Warning: if you have a problem with the graphic description of meaty dishes, get a paper bag ready.
Good Morning Vietnam!
The team spent the morning finalising changes to documentation, and we met at 11 for the planning session, which ended up taking 5 hours. It was a tiring and hard day, and I suspect tomorrow will be t...
Traffic in Hà Nội
I sat in the back of the taxi, quietly amused that there wasn't a seat belt (noting my hosts didn't even look for hers) for the impending 45 minute, roller coaster ride in to the city. Thuong asked me...
Excuse me, I have a Frog in my Throat
The two tables we sat at each had a hole in the middle, with a burner set under them. On these burners would be placed large pots containing a watery soup, to which other foods would be added to cook ...
The Nothing to Hide argument
"If you aren't doing anything illegal why would you care if someone captures your license plate number?" "If I'm not doing anything illegal, why do the police need to record my license plate number?" ...
The Pervasiveness of Unquestioned Data Sharing
My partner's daughter went to a friend's birthday party at Build-a-Bear last weekend and came home with a lovely stuffed toy in a dress, and she excitedly told me that it has been chipped so that if l...
Banks going Biometric
- something you know, - something you have, - something you are.
Privacy and Security in a Mobile Phone World
This question, though, was met with silence, a pause, a smile and a one line response: "I'll have to write a whole blog post about that topic!"
You're a Fucking Idiot - Or How Not to Start a Conversation
This is the greeting that came to me with a thick Australian accent from a blue Holden ute (pickup truck) at the lights on the way to work this morning. I had filtered to the front on my motorbike and...