MANNERS AND OTHER MATTERS

My iMac is now at home.... After much deliberation I decided last week to upgrade my computer.  It was a decision not taken lightly, because a computer, used for many purposes during the trials and tribulations of daily life becomes a close ally, and most of the time, a friend. Mine had been my daily companion for over five years, and we knew each other's foibles.  However, with the passage of time, and I have no doubt some unrealistic expectations on my part about its performance after such a relatively long time in "computer life", it became obvious that, like me, it was slowing down and needed a gentle nudge into semi-retirement.  And so it is confined to the rather boring process of accounts and bill paying and mind-numbing record keeping, rather than the excitement of new voyages towards beckoning horizons in the world of the internet. I took the leap of faith to an iMac from a PC, and despite my incredulity about it's beauty and accessibility, I felt some...

I read an interesting article this morning in The West Australian newspaper about manners and the mobile phone. The journalist had canvassed a range of smartphone users, of all ages,  and asked for their comments about the use of their phones.  The article advised that "global studies have linked excessive mobile phone use to everything from depression and insomnia to loneliness and poor social skills."   The journalist suggested that for most people a mobile phone is "more than either a convenient gadget or a psychological disorder waiting to happen - it is a way of life". Later in the day a friend sent me an email which included all the photos in this post...the author and photographers are unknown.  They say that every picture tells a story... A visit to the Museum or Art Gallery I travel extensively and I have noticed that the use of mobile phones, in lieu of, and in situ with, face-to-face conversations has become more and more obviou...

My phone/camera is always with me... Christmas is over, and New Year celebrations are pending. Like thousands of people, I have taken tens of photos over the Festive Season so far, some with my iPhone and others with my camera and quite a few have been uploaded to my Facebook page so that I can share them with friends, near and far. An uploaded photo to Facebook...to be shared only with "friends" I read a news report yesterday  in the West Australian newspaper, and quoting The Telegraph. about the sister of Facebook chief, Mark Zuckerberg,  Randi, being tripped up by the company’s privacy setting.  According to Associated Press, a picture that Randi posted on her personal Facebook profile was seen by a marketing director who then posted the picture to Twitter and her more than 40,000 followers. Randi then tweeted that the picture was meant for friends only and that posting the private picture on Twitter was “way uncool”:  The marketing director...

Gotye singing "Someone That I Used to Know " I had a call this morning from a client which deeply disturbed me.  Because it touched a raw nerve. The client asked me about the manners of personal breakups.  In 2012 should the conversation be between the two people involved, face to face, or is it appropriate to initiate the breakup by SMS, or email? What about a voice message or a telephone call? Her husband of 25 years, a well known doctor, had sent her an SMS while she was attending a conference overseas saying that he had fallen in love with someone else and wouldn’t be home when she returned the following day. I took a few seconds to compose myself before answering her. I very rarely wander into the realms of personal experience when offering advice but I decided to share with her my experience;  and when I had told her my tale she encouraged me to talk about the manners of personal breakups on this blog because the impact of internet communication is...

I read an article in The Weekend Australian this morning by Media Editor Geoff Elliott in which he commented "It’s official – social media networks and twenty-somethings don’t mix. Not if you want to risk your professional career”. He was relating to the furore this week caused when Olympic swimmer Stephanie Rice, 22 used a derogatory term to describe the South African rugby team in a public message on Twitter. She lost her contract with Jaguar as a consequence of her actions. He then went on to relate that Matt Nicholls, 23 editor of a Fairfax Media-owned paper had been stood down for sending out “highly sensitive public messages on Facebook” over the death of a policeman in Sydney. I have a Facebook account which is very tightly – I hope – controlled by me and is seen only by my friends. But recently a photo of me dancing at a wedding in the UK was posted on someone else’s site and I was alerted to it by a friend. I was happy to leave it there – it was very flattering!! –...

As usual I enjoyed visiting my nail salon, Nail Affair, this afternoon. Sharon, the owner is hysterical. She is probably the only business owner in Australia who can get away with abusing, in a very “tongue in cheek” way, her customers and staff, and have us all laughing with her and at her. She has a heart of gold and a sense of humour which is boundless. The salon is only small and when I visited a few weeks ago, Sharon was having an unusually quiet day and as it happened, one of her customers wasn’t. Listening to this woman talk and talk, in a very loud voice about her life, the people in it and her views on all manner of things made me think about how impolite it is to impose such a voice on those around her. I didn’t know her, and from the reactions around me I don’t think the other customers did. But she didn’t draw a breath when speaking to the girl polishing her nails. I was incredulous that she would be so indiscrete in what she was saying, as if she was speaking in...