I've been in fulltime work, working for other people for the last 20 years or so. In that time, I've been a school teacher, vocational trainer, business analyst, project manager and held various different roles in IT departments. For the last five years I've also been doing some work on the side as a freelance writer/journalist and have managed to secure regular work for a number of the most respected mastheads in the Australian IT publishing scene as well as doing a couple of spots on national television. But it's only been the last few weeks where I've been working full time for a new boss - myself.

I've been very blessed to have worked with some very talented and dedicated people over the years. Some will remain friends for life while others have been friends but I suspect we won't keep up for ever. Such is life. I was once told that it's healthy for friendships to only be transient. In any case, I've never left a job because of the people - my driver has always been a more personal one. Like a desire to do something new or because I've felt that the partnership is no longer delivering benefit to both parties.

So, a few months ago, I realised that the relationship I had with my employer was no longer all it could be. The company I'd worked for was changing and it was clear to me that my personality and the new corporate culture weren't a good match. So, I started to think about what was next for me. And it was clear that my personal goals weren't going to met by simply looking for another fulltime job at another company. I knew that the next step for me was about working for myself.

Such a decision isn't easy when you're a single income family with a wife, three kids, a mortgage and all the usual stuff. The decision required some planning in order to make sure that we could maintain our family life while I switched from a regular paycheck to the peaks and troughs of self-employment. Having worked for over ten years at the one employer has some advantages. In Australia, employees have the benefit of Long Service Leave. After 10 years of continuous employment, employees are entitled to three months of paid leave. If you leave at that time, you get that paid leave as cash.

With some backup funds, a steady set of great editors and publications that I write for and the opportunity to seek out work in some other roles, I've embarked on the journey to independence.

That's right. As if I didn;t have enoug to do, I've just launched an all new online magazine called Netbook MOjo. As you can guess, the publication is 100% devoted to netbooks. It's 100% focussed on netbooks, netbook accessories, netbook news and tutorials.

Please stop by, tell your friends and all that.

I'm now 20 days into Movember and there's a respectable amount of fur over my top lip.

Movember raises funds for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and beyondblue, the national depression initiative. Movember is a joint initiative of these two organisations and aims to raise funds to deal with health issues facing men. I have several good friends who have been affected by both these ilnnesses so it's a cause that's close to my heart.

You can help by sponsoring me as I grow a moustache this month.

Just click this link and following the instructions.

Each year I do some sort of fundraising. In the past, I've done the Leukaemia Foundation's Shave for a Cure where I've shaved my head and tried to get folks to sponsor me to do that. I've done that a couple of times, raising close to $10,000 in the process. This year I'm participating in Movember.

Movember raises funds for the Protrate Cancer Foundation of Australia and beyondblue, the national depression initiative. Movember is a joint initiative of these two organisations and aims to raise funds to deal with health issues facing men. I have several good friends who have been affected by both these ilnnesses so it's a cause that's close to my heart.

You can help by sponsoring me as I grow a moustache this month.

Just click this link and following the instructions.

Every few days I'll post an update on the mo. Here's how it's coming along so far.

Earlier this week, I was invited to give a talk on Twitter to a group of journalists in Melbourne. Although the crowd wasn't huge, they were enthusiastic. We met in the backroom of the funky Softbelly bar in Melbourne. One of the great benefits for me, as someone who mainly works in tech, was to mingle and learn from travel writers, health writers, novelists and lots of other cool people.

I've put my slides up on Slideshare. You can view them from here.

In addition, I've prepared some notes that flesh out some of the material on the slides. Please note that the linked PDF file is 8.2MB.

Download Twitter for Journalists Notes

I can't believe that it's been over a month since I last posted anything. I can't recall the last time I didn;t have something to say for so long!

In any case, i've got quite a few things to share so I'll post a few things over the next or two by way of catch-up.

In today's Green Guide, the IT and TV supplement in Australia's best daily news paper - The Age, I have a story on creating your own website.

Titled, "Mastering your own Domain" it tells you about such technological wonders as DNS, IP Addresses, domain registrars and webservers.

You can read all about it by clicking here.

I'll be running a seminar for business people on the wonder that is Twitter. By using lots of case studies and real world examples I'll be taking people on a journey through the potential benefits and pitfalls of Twitter.

The seminar is being facilitated through Franklin Collins. If you're interested please email seminar@franklincollins.com.au to register your interest.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Telstra boss, Sol Trujillo suffered a rather embarrassing loss at the hands of one of Barcelona's notorious pick-pockets. His mobile phone, loaded up with the top secret version of the next version of Windows Mobile was stolen.

In a confidential chat with a Microsoft staffer, I discovered that the loss was actually very minor and that he device was remotely bricked before any information was shared.

The full story can be read here at APC Mag.

You know those promotions where you buy a product and there's some code you have to enter by SMS or on a web site? I've always thought that they were a bit of a crock. This afternoon my wife picked up a copy of the Casino Royale DVD for me and there was a special promotion being run by Sony.

Seeing as the promotion required entry of a code onto a website figured that it cost me nothing so I went through the motions and - I won a prize. It's a Sony HTSF2000 Home Theatre System.

I've never won a competition so I'm pretty stoked. It'll go nicely with the TV we recently purchased.

 Home Theatre • Sony • Winners