Brisket, the Classic Recipe

Every Passover, at least one guest asks us how we made the brisket.  Here’s my mom’s recipe for brisket, or as we used to call it af Idish, flanken.  It uses the classic Eastern European “gedempt” or braising cooking method. Ingredients: Slab(s) of brisket, about 100g (just less than 1/4 lb) per serving Onions, about…

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Connecting with me on LinkedIn

So you want to “Connect with me on LinkedIn” – awesome! But there needs to be a bit more for me to accept. 1) Tell me why Simply asking to connect ain’t enough – let me know why, is it for a particular job, because of my background, due to something of mine you read,…

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Religious Instruction in NZ state schools

Should our children be taught Christianity (or any other specific religion) in state schools? If this is of interest to you, read on… I’ve been invited by David Hines to join the Secular Education Network’s mediation at the Human Rights Commission, in which they are lodging a complaint against the Ministry of Education in an…

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What does a startup need to thrive?

Last weekend I was invited to be a panelist on Radio NZ’s “The Weekend” programme with Lynn Freeman, discussing what it takes for startups to thrive.  You can hear the audio here: I took some notes before the panel, of all of the things that I wanted to say – but of course in these…

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In the wake of Charlie Hebdo

In the wake of the recent Paris killings, I helped organise an interfaith meeting of Jews, Christians, and Muslims at the Kilbirnie Islamic Centre. All three faiths denounced the killings, as per our media release from the Wellington Council of Christians and Jews. The meeting had reasonably good media coverage from Radio NZ, One News…

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Should you keep your startup idea secret?

I recently facilitated Startup Weekend Hawkes Bay, the first such event in one of my favourite regions of New Zealand.  Most of the people there were first-timers, and they put in a fantastic effort. Just after the final presentations, one of our esteemed judges and local hero Sir Graeme Avery decided to give an impromptu…

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My TEDx talk: The four superpowers of the Internet

I gave a talk at the first TEDxWellington this year, called “The four superpowers of the Internet”, which are being direct, open, accessible and free. These superpowers are all underpinned by the golden rule, that we should treat all others as we would wish to be treated ourselves. This modern force of good has driven the explosive growth of the Internet, and can turn all of us into leaders and heroes. It includes an homage to entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs as the heroes of our generation leading the creative destruction that will bring about a better world, and includes a brief history of the Internet and its governance and why humming is an effective tool in bringing about consensus.

Enjoy. A transcript follows.

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Speak little; listen much

I’ll be giving a talk at TEDxWellington next weekend.  I’m not allowed to reveal too much about what I’m going to say, but I will be spending some time talking about the IETF’s Requests for Comments, or RFC’s for short. One of the most important RFC’s is RFC 760, which defined Internet Protocol, or IP…

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Pitching tips

Idealog magazine published an article today about a great little initiative by MYOB – getting people to pitch their startup ideas for a cup of coffee on their way to work.  Nice one, Sarah Putt – I’m all for anything that encourages people to find their inner entrepreneur and find the courage to share. Sarah…

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Moxie: The next 25 years of the Internet

As a side event of NetHui this year, I was asked by Hayden Glass and Glenn Williams to participate in a Moxie Session with Jenene Crossan and Ross Young, marking the 25th anniversary of the Internet in New Zealand and discussing what the next 25 would be like. My bottom line is that we have…

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