Blog
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First Light With My New Miniature Photography Setup
To go with my increasing activity in wargaming, I want to get back into my photography and apply it this renewed other hobby. After fiddling around with some new, controlled pin spots (narrow angle spotlights) and getting them talking to the DMX controller, it was time to take some pictures. There will be a longer…
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Why I’ve Returned to Wargaming
And Why You Might Want to As Well I’m in my early 60’s. As a kid I started wargaming and actively continued it through to my mid 20’s, at which point gaming on the computer took over. But a few months ago I returned to wargaming. In this article, I will explore why and also…
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Five Micro Skills Essential to Your Sanity and Success in Life, Your Career and Relationships
A different take on how to equip yourself for the future. This is a companion article to my friend and colleague Jade McAndrew-Barlow’s “These 5 Micro Skills Give You Career Agility”. I take a different approach to Jade’s excellent one, so that all the bases are covered. Photo by Icons8 Team on Unsplash As the last few years…
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The Power of Words
Words have the power to enable or disable, empower and disempower. So with great power comes great responsibility. As someone whose life’s trajectory (see an earlier article) has been focused on development and growth, I have seen over and over again the impact words can have. For some of my students, friends and family a few…
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Just How Stupid is Career Planning?
If you are like me, you were taught the importance of career planning. What we were taught was wrong. Let’s examine why. I remember sessions in school when we looked at career possibilities and discussed, for those of us who were heading towards what in those days was considered a career, how to craft a…
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Has the Workplace Pendulum Swung The Other Way?
Covid had unexpected impacts on the workforce and the changes are not going to go away, nor should they Over my lifetime I have seen a major swing in workplace relations, from significant power in the hands of workers because of widespread and often legally enforced unionism, to the recent years of virtually destroyed unions…
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The Day After Defender of the Fatherland Day, Or Why Dealing With the Russian Invasion of the Ukraine is So Critical
Can it be a coincidence that Putin committed to the full invasion of Ukraine the day following Defender of the Fatherland Day? Photo by Pavel Neznanov on Unsplash As someone who clearly longs for the old days of Soviet power, the symbolism of initiating the real invasion following what used to be called Red Army Day was clearly…
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The Learning Manifesto
Five Core Principles for Effective Learning I started teaching in 1979, when, as a third year undergraduate student, I was given a 1st year class to teach. Since then I’ve taught thousands of students, designed courses from short courses to Masters degrees and bailed out courses that were in trouble. Over 43 years I have…
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A Simple Retail Staffing Model
Finding Better Systems With Some Lateral Thinking Photo by Clark Street Mercantile on Unsplash My wife and daughter both work in retail. For my wife this is her career. For my daughter it is something she does when there is not work on for her in the film industry. Both have worked across many businesses, from national chains…
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Tips and Tricks of a Successful DIY Install of a Bosch Solution 6000 Alarm System
While it is tempting to advise that the best way to do a successful DIY alarm installation is not to, that would be an overly simplistic piece of advice. The reality is that you can successfully install it yourself, with some suitable provisos. Bosch home security keypad (courtesy of Bosch Security Australia) Why DIY? There…