RobiNZ Personal Blog

Bob Jones's recession survival advice @ BusinessDay.co.nz

I like Bob and hope he's right Bob Jones's recession survival advice - BusinessDay.co.nz New Zealand is in the early stages of a recession, how long and how deep nobody knows. What we do know is that for a number of reasons it won't be nearly as bad as in Britain, the USA, China and many other countries... Read more →

Fiat and Chrysler: An Italian Daimler Chrysler Sequel?

UPDATE 2009-01-21: The Deal is done? Deal signed between Fiat and Chrysler - Radio NZ Fiat + Chrysler doesn't seem like a brilliant idea at first thought. Anything + Chrysler would be a bundle of t... Read more →

China on top, a sign of the times?

The United States stumble , while China soars ... Read more →

Will Formula 1 be the next to crunch?

In a week where trillions of "dollars" are being shredded, and printed, what impact will it have on my favourite sport which only requires billions! This feature from ITV outlines what will likely be... Read more →

Sergio Marchionne, Fiat, on the Global Finance Crisis

Sergio Marchionne’s views are well worth reading. Truthdig - Reports - Fiat Chief on the Global Finance Crisis Read more →

Oscar & Yoplait, a neat story

Yoplait annoy Oscar, age 7, with mis-labelled yoghurt so he writes to complain… Yoplait makes Oscar mad again » Conor’s Bandon Blog Osc opened a Melon and Orange yoghurt yesterday to discover it actually contained Fruit of the Forest… Yoplait respond, and gain a fan… Yoplait has a customer for life » Conor’s Bandon Blog We got a call from Customer support in Yoplait last Friday week asking if we were in to take a delivery and to apologise for the mis-labelled yoghurt… Read more →

Credit Where It Is Due - Bavarian Motors Limited

I was reading Earl Mardle’s praise of Thai Airlines good service and thought about a company, I’ve been a customer of for more than 20 years, that deserves a more than just repeat visits. When first out of tech I purchased a Fiat 127, even then old, which was the answer to getting to my first job. It needed some work, the clutch was “abrupt” & brakes had some travel, but otherwise Ok for it’s age. Cars were expensive in those, pre Jap import, days and it was all I could afford after several years as a full-time student. A... Read more →

Software, the future of Kiwi industry?

The recent move to “un-bundle” our phone network was heralded as the first step towards NZ getting better connected. Rod Drury highlights a couple of recent software deals and points out this industry represents a potential low investment path to increase our productivity. I’d add the work done by local Movie/TV production houses, it’s just another form of software, to this argument for creative “soft” industries being a future path for growth. If you have a great idea, the resources and talent to develop it then distance – the problem our traditional exports face – is not an issue. Another... Read more →

After a blog holiday, Scoble shoots for the moon

I don’t blog about work. It’s something I’ve considered but, to be honest, I’m not sure what I could say that would benefit either me or the company so it’s easier to avoid it. Perhaps if I could write like Robert Scoble does I would… Scobleizer - Microsoft Geek Blogger » How Microsoft can shut down Mini-Microsoft I dream of a Microsoft that no longer has anything for Mini, or his commenters to complain about. Read more →

Quicken 2006 Review

Devon has produced a nice review of Quicken 2006 comparing it with his previous experience with Microsoft Money. I started with Quicken (3?) when contracting and still use it for both business and personal finances. I can’t imagine life without it and once you get over the bump starting, setting up accounts and payments etc, it becomes painless to use & maintain. I can’t comment on MS Money as have never tried it. Although it’s great software I do have one major problem with Quicken. With just the click of a button it tells me I can’t rush out &... Read more →