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It�s not like me to rush out a blog post. I don�t leap to my keyboard everytime something in the media has people crying out against it. But today I just felt so compelled to write about TitStare.

At TechCrunch�s �Disrupt� event in San Fransisco, audience members were presented with the TitStare app by two guys from Sydney, and another app called Circle Shake by a guy in Adelaide where he pretends to jerk off. Part of that audience was a 9 year old girl. Part of that audience was female. Part of that audience was self-respecting men who couldn�t believe what they were seeing. And yeah, it was a little bit funny, but totally inappropriate for a professional industry event.

We have AVG 2013 successfully running on a number of client�s servers and our own servers, with no problems. However one particular client with SBS 2003 experiences intermittent email problems which always co-incide with an update to AVG.

Symptoms include: Users saying they haven�t received any emails recently or their recipients haven�t received emails that they sent, failed SMTP test on mxtoolbox.com (indicating the Exchange server is not accepting messages for delivery).

Last week, on three separate occasions, I was given feedback by people I admire. Two of those were part of a formal assessment process. One came out of the blue. I respect the skills, opinions & experience of all three people. And I was glowing.

�Exemplary� �A style that�s yours � don�t ever change it� �Have you considered contacting this publication�

To say I was on Cloud 9 is an understatement. And then, in that same week, I had an opportunity to speak into a few people�s lives. An opportunity to sow some seeds of encouragement, build some people up, cheer for them on the sidelines. Not to give advice, not to solve anything, but just to reassure.

This post is going to be short & sweet, as a grocery list is staring at me & the school pickup is also looming. Being self-employed means sneaking into the supermarket BEFORE pickup, so as not to drag two kids through it afterwards & it take ten times longer. But hey, if Seth Godin can write short daily posts, so can I (just don�t expect them daily)!

A business expert once said �do your filing once, each week�. Another business expert said �never handle a piece of paper more than 3 times�. I tried the former, and ended up with a pile called �Filing� that NEVER got emptied, no matter how much I tried to convince myself that it was the perfect Friday job with some great music playing loudly.

When the QLD Government announced that solar power users would be paid for power that they generate, don�t use and feed back into the grid, I didn�t give it much thought. Our power bills were slightly higher than the average, running a business from home and having computers on 24�7, but the cost of a solar system was way beyond our budget. But then, we did the numbers.

We were going to be significantly better off if we drew-down on our mortgage to pay for our solar system. Our mortgage payments wouldn�t rise any higher than we were already paying plus we�d have free power & feed in payments. So, we took the plunge and invested in a 5.5kw system. We love it to bits, especially when our power bill arrives each quarter, in credit.

Personal finances � there�s an interesting topic for you.

My wonderful melancholic detailed husband has a magical budget spreadsheet that magically shows us earning more than we spend. Problem is, his lovely wife has no visibility of that when she is actually spending. And I�m not saying I�m a reckless spender at all, but my shopping volume is based on the bank account balance on that day, not any budget or forecast.

We have a client who uses Unleashed Software for inventory management and invoicing. It integrates with Xero. They called us today to say that their company logo was appearing on some but not all of their computers, which are a mix of Macs & PCs in different locations & countries.

Wary of the old �Quicktime & Myob� trick, that was the first thing we asked them. The second thing we asked gave us the answer though � in the instances where the logo was not showing up, they were using Google Chrome to access the system. Once they launched Internet Explorer instead, the logo appeared fine.

Warning, this post may turn into a rant. This topic has been on my heart since before Queensland�s recent rain event (Jan 2013) and it just won�t leave my thoughts. Now that my attention is not so urgently taken with filling needs, it�s time to let the topic loose.

Are we really that stupid?

Once upon a time, there were maybe a handful of ways to die: sickness, injury (especially in the workplace, if you think industrial era) and childbirth. But society went and got all advanced and created technology and the Internet and cured illnesses and improved safety and childbirth. And we all lived long lives happily ever after.

As we reflected on the 2 year anniversary of the 2011 QLD Floods, little did we know that another severe weather event was literally around the corner. Thanks to ex-tropical cyclone Oswald, our season of drought was about to be spectacularly broken, in more ways than one.

400mm+ of rain fell and fell and fell. Rivers burst their banks and created new pathways as gravity pulled that water volume downwards to sea level. Suburban and urban drain systems couldn�t keep up with such rapid and consistent water inflows. Queensland flooded again.

OK, this one is a �mini-post� to �get the subject off my chest� � yes, pardon the pun.

On the news yesterday we heard of a mother who was approached by a staff member at a council-run public swimming pool, because another swimmer was uncomfortable with this lady breastfeeding her baby at the poolside. The mother was embarrassed & humiliated and chose to leave the pool. To her defence, she stated that she was supervising her other children who were still in the pool. It�a also against the law to discriminate against breastfeeding mothers in public places.