My Favourites

Being based in NZ means that much of the news I listen to on mainstream media relates to local domestic news. i.e. Cat gone missing in Matua (Monday headlines), Cat found in Matua - Neighbours rejoice (Tuesday headlines).

To keep in touch with things overseas, I rely on my Favorites menu. So these are the sites that I use to interface with the rest of the world.

For news, I check out BBC Online, CNN, Times of India (Bangalore) and the Daily Telegraph (London Edition).

For business, I check out FT.com, Reuters and Bloomberg.

For sport, I check out BBC Online, Blackpool FC, Fylde RUFC and Rivals.net.

For Technology, I check out 3 or 4 Blogs. Although I work in the technology space, I prefer not to write about it from a techie perspective. Having first experienced 'New Media' in 1979 when I joined Brunnings Advertising in Liverpool - 'New Media' was then commercial radio, I have experienced so many 'New Media' moments, that I no longer predict their future. I prefer instead to refer to others and let them do the hard work.

I am indebted therefore to those Bloggers who I habitually visit. There is a Microsoft bias, but this perhaps reflects Microsoft's strategy of encouraging their employees to blog in company time. There also appears to be a new generation of Microsoft employee that is more open to non-M/S speak and more aware of the bigger picture. Could be of course, just a good disguise.....

Steve Clayton, CTO of the Microsoft UK Partner Group has a good blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/stevecla01/. Steve does cover some technology issues but also looks at the wider impact of emerging technologies. His blogs usually contain some good links to both Partner and non-Partner sites.

Claire O'Halloran works with the Microsoft UK Partner Group and heads up the 'Partners of the Future' team. Since we are one, it is good to catch up with her thoughts. Like Steve, some great links to Partner sites doing amazing things in the Web 2.0, SaaS area, etc. etc. Check Claire's blog out at http://blogs.msdn.com/armadillo/default.aspx.

Frank Arrigo is responsible for all Microsoft Australia's Technical Communities in Australia, which includes Developer, Architect, IT Professional, Academic and ISV. He is also brother of Rita who I met during a Business Australia meeting in Melbourne back in March 2006. He is also related to John Beer's wife Elvy. John is my partner in Pingar. So for a taste of Aussie M/S thinking, I occasionally drop into http://blogs.msdn.com/frankarr/

In NZ, a name that has cropped up several times in recent months is Rod Drury. So I checked out his blog and then bookmarked it. It's got some techie stuff, but also links to some NZ-based companies and developers. I check it out at www.drury.net.nz.

New Zealand does have some of its own sites, though particularly in the News and Business area, they all appear to publish the same NZPA news feeds at the same time. Two of the better online sources for news are Stuff and NZ Herald. For business, I occasionally check out the New Zealand Stock Exchange and National Business Review.