Farewell Bill

Bill Gates left Microsoft last Friday the 27th of June to focus solely on charitable works in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Although he has not be the CEO of Microsoft since 2000, it will be interesting to see what the future will hold for the company. For Bill however I'm sure his net worth of $58 Billion will suffice in the future.

Picture from Forbes.com

iPhone to be also sold at Telstra come July 11th

... That makes it Telstra, Vodafone and Optus who will now be stocking the handset, leaving only 3 mobile as the last remaining major carrier left out. I don't know why they couldn't have just given the rights to all in an 'all or nothing' scenario. More information can be found here:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/iphone-insider/telstra-joins-the-iphone-club/2008/06/30/1214677931987.html. 3 mobile have retaliated by launching a new website encouraging customers to register their interest "for the powers that be at Apple to see".

I have been holding out for the launch of the iPhone in Australia for some while. Having resisted the Blackberry bandwagon for some time; I will now be able to step out of the dark ages and access my emails 24/7 a la Madonna!

More info and image sourced from here:
http://www.apple.com/iphone/

Art Deco 1910–1939 NGV Exhibition

The National Gallery of Victoria (International) has an exhibit opening tomorrow that I really want to check out! It's a celebration of all things art deco, is organised by the V&A museum and has the foyer from the Strand Palace Hotel as a highlight. The NGV art after dark program looks particularly good featuring music from the period followed by a talk, flapper dancing such as The Charleston and refreshments ever Wednesday night until 9pm.

The Age had a good pull-out supplement in last weekend's paper and has a good companion site, the art deco interactive walking tour of Melbourne makes for great viewing for Melburnians who love their architecture: http://www.theage.com.au/interactive/2008/national/art_deco/intro.html. I also recommend reading this PDF of Deco Down Under: http://www.theage.com.au/interactive/2008/national/art_deco/pdf/DecoDownUnder.pdf

More information about the exhibit, running until the 5th of October can be found here: http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/artdeco/index.html

What should you do before launching your own business?

... Check that someone isn't launching one with exactly the same concept as you!

Case One: Whiteport - www.whiteport.com.au
Blurb: Whiteport was established in 2007 and is the brainchild of Jennifer McCabe. A Sydney girl who lived in London for six years, Jennifer returned home to find an overwhelming absence of quality Australian homewares stores offering online shopping.
Whiteport offers an extensive range of home decor, gifts and accessories, themed around a stylish white palette. Why white? Because white products are simple, timeless and complement any colour scheme.
Website design: Grey/white with crisp images

Case Two: White Home - www.whitehome.com.au
Blurb: White Home was launched in 2007 by Susie Rosen and Isabelle Stanton, who identified an Australian marketplace need for contemporary, high quality white linen for the bedroom and table.
The White Home brand celebrates the simplicity and timelessness of a neutral palette, particularly in the bedroom - linen cupboards overflowing with quality essentials that will stand the test of time.
Website design: Grey/white with crisp images


Did these two start-ups believe there was place for two high-quality all white online homewares e-tailers in the Australian Marketplace? Probably not... Did one rip off the other? Most likely no... Are the businesses aware of their competition? Don't think so... Finally which will preserve or perish? Only time will tell...

Five O'Clock Heroes feat. Agyness Deyn: Who

After seeing this song performed again on the Sunday Night Project, I had to revisit it as its getting stuck in my head. My preference is for the live version but Agyness is purely mesmerising in the clip. It is refreshing to see someone like her on the Model Scene, instead of the usual bunch of 15 year old tweens. I love how she is the epitome of the punk look with a dose of British attitude. There's also some images from the Spring Summer 2008 Burberry Campaign by Mario Testino that capture her vibe.

Vogue Australia Me Freebie

It's not very often when I score a freebie or win a competition, in fact I can't even remember a time when I have ever 'won' anything at all. You could say I could count the many eBay auctions 'won' but its a little ironic since they involve still handing over my hard earned cash. Anyway it was a nice surprise in this month's Vogue Australia to see a forum post of mine had been selected as post of the month. It was in response to online shopping and I collect a 12 month subscription to Vogue as a result. Nice!

Inspiring sfgirlbybay!

I've just purchased the following poster from a seller in San Fransisco whose blog I frequent regularly. For $33 AUD (got to love the exchange rate), I'm going to position it in my study in the hope that it will help me to concentrate more (as the colour green is renowned for).

I was so amazed by photos of her apartment that I've included some recent shots below. (You can also see a couple of the shots of the poster in different colourways). There's also some great photos out and about around SF... I wish I was there right now escaping the Melbourne winter...
http://www.sfgirlbybay.blogspot.com/
Her Etsy store is located here.

Drugs: A Social History in Australia

I thought the video in the link below was quite entertaining. It is a historical look at the use of Marijuana and LSD in Sydney in the 60's. It's part of an exhibition currently showing at the Melbourne Museum. It wouldn't embed in this post for some reason so you'll have to do some extra mouse clicks sorry.
http://museumvictoria.com.au/Drugs-Social-History

What's Next in Media, Marketing and Advertising?

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Eco Etsy

There's so many gorgeous things which I could buy from Etsy at www.etsy.com, which is basically the handmade online marketplace version of eBay.

"Etsy's mission is to enable people to make a living making things, and to reconnect makers with buyers, and their vision is to build a new economy and present a better choice."

Another channel to consider for small retailers to sell their wares....

Fifi Lapin - too cute!

This fashion blog was featured in the July issue of Vogue Australia and it sure is adorable. It features a cute rabbit dressed in some of the latest runway creations.
http://fifi-lapin.blogspot.com/

Some are my favourites are below: