It feels like ages ago that Pia started a company, named in such a way that I would eventually have to join… and join I did. It has been a wonderful experience, not just because it has allowed us to do great things for good money — our preferred arrangement of adjectives! — but because working together has taught us so much about business, the Open Source and ICT industries, and ourselves.

One of the nice things about the way we work is that we’ve had plenty of room for our other loves, in both our commercial and community realms. That flexibility, in turn, has changed our business. So, I’ve sunk my teeth into more technical stuff of late, while Pia has been doing lots of education related work. The up-and-down nature of consulting can sometimes be a bit scary, but the ability to evolve our business with our interests — and the changing needs of the market! — is awesome. We’re a rockin’ team.

Of course, none of what I’ve written above really helps to explain why, in the last couple of weeks, we decided to completely change everything. I suppose the flexibility bit might. Anyway, when Pia was invited to join Senator Kate Lundy’s team as a policy advisor, focusing on ICT (as an engine, not a sector), government openness and transparency, and online engagement, there was barely a heartbeat between the two of us before “yes” was the obvious answer. Pia started a week after the offer.

See, there’s a side of me that would totally take a job removing staples from parliamentary dishwashing memos in order to work in Parliament House, but Pia is not the politics tragic that I am… She’s leaping in because the recipe is right: not only are these fantastic and important things to work on, but by working with (seriously clueful) Senator Lundy, there’s a huge opportunity to actually Get Shit Done. A mission worthy of the kung fu steamroller, don’t you think?

Pia’s commute to her new office might have been more of a concern had we not bought a house and moved to Yass just before Christmas. The whole thing is surreal to me on a number of fronts: (a) we bought a house, which seems somewhat shocking among our generation, (b) we decided to buy a house in a matter of days and moved in a matter of weeks, (c) we live in Yass, and (d) we’re really, really enjoying it.

It’s so… serene. We get to spend more time with Pia’s family. There are cows on the hill behind our house. We have a back yard and a shed. The abject lack of urban convenience is improving our abject lack of routine. Win!

So, as of this anniversary we can announce that we’re taking the next logical step for the Waugh family…

We’re getting a puppy!

Happy fourth, poo.

At end June 2007, there were 45 businesses in Australia involved in the provision of digital game development services. These businesses employed over 1,400 people and generated a total income of $136.9m which represented an average of $3m per business.

Total expenses incurred for the same period were $128.5m. Almost two-thirds of this amount was attributable to labour costs ($83.8m).

During 2006-07 digital game development services businesses recorded an operating profit before tax of $8.5m, and an operating profit margin of 6.2%.

Compare and contrast.

It has been incredibly satisfying to ship the report, as this project has been with us in various forms for over a year now. The initial concept came together in July 2006, as I was leaving Canonical to join Waugh Partners, and we announced the project in November 2006 at our (thoroughly over-catered) launch party.

We knew that one of the most significant barriers to Open Source adoption in Australia was the perceived lack of support, but that was always counter to our anecdotal understanding of the industry and community here. We needed numbers.

Many thanks to our sponsors, NICTA, IBM and Fujitsu and supporters OSIA, Linux Australia and the NSW Department of State and Regional Development. Without their help, this may have just been yet another small-target, DIY project — no professional face, no industry credibility, and no impact on the wider business community. Instead, we have a serious resource that our industry and community can use to change the game.

… and that’s what Waugh Partners is focused on in 2008: Changing (and sustaining!) the game for Open Source in Australia. This report is just one of the steps we’re taking towards this goal.

While I share some disappointment in the lack of technology practitioners at the Australia 2020 Summit, I’m tickled pink to be presenting today at a feeder event, organised by the very mavenly Senator Kate Lundy.

Foundations of Open: Technology and Digital Knowledge features some familiar faces, and some fresh ones — all in all, an awesome group of people rocking the frontiers of digital collaboration and openness… and from the sounds of it, the “audience” is going to rock, too!

In the spirit of open, there is a Moodle running for online collaboration and discussion about the event, open to participants in the room and those tuning in via the web. Click through to it from Senator Lundy’s site above. I believe there will be a streaming video of the event available today, but I’ll have to update later with the details.

Update: Tom Worthington has put videos (and lots of other goodies) from the day up on the Open 2020 Summit Moodle site. Enjoy!

Grab the PDF version of the invitation to send to your clients, business associates, local representatives, etc.

However, I disagree with his suggestion that I am “flamboyant”. I have never punched a man or vomited into a piano while wearing a cravat.

But then, one must have goals.

If you’re an Aussie FLOSS contributor (no matter how far or how wide you roam) or if your company sells, services or supports Open Source related technologies in the Australian market, this is for you!

There’s heaps of information on the website and in the announcement.

Meanwhile, we’re just about to leave for Darwin, the first stop on our “Meet the Open Source Industry” roadshow. Incredibly (or at least to us), Darwin has had the highest number of registrations so far. Rock on!

While we’re doing this to promote our Australian Open Source Industry & Community Census project (which you’ll hear more about soon, but you can read about some of it on our website already), we also wanted to make it useful for the whole industry, by educating potential business and government customers about Open Source and showing off our local talent. That’s how we roll!

So, come along for the breakfast and networking action! Make sure you RSVP so we can cater appropriately.

If you’d like us to introduce you during our presentation — and give your company or product a plug! — please send a 1024x768 slide for display, and let us know which city we’ll see you in. Our contact details are on the Waugh Partners website.

(Note: To support our rocking industry association, we’re only going to plug OSIA members. If you provide Open Source solutions and/or services, and you’re not a member… join OSIA today!)

Has anyone made hackergotchi-powered business cards before?

My ugly mug…

… and Pia’s beautiful wedding hackergotchi:

… and someone asked if we put anything on the back…

I have a perfectly functional printer, so the design would be something like a flatbed scanner with an inbuilt modem and fax keypad — stick some paper on the scanner, and dial away. The ideal design would have to include ethernet for printer connection and network faxing or scanning.

Sure, I could rig up a flatbed scanner and a few bits of software, but I want to see whether or not this sucker exists first. Looking for a solution, not a science project. Of course, if it doesn’t exist, I’ll start banging some of my favourite science project rocks together… SIP phone + Asterisk + network-capable flatbed scanner + hacking == rock!

Update: SIP phone + Asterisk doesn’t necessarily mean VoIP (which, as a commenter points out, is a shitty way to fax)… I’d set up a prefix to kick off the scan-and-fax process, sending the scanner input to the number dialled on the SIP phone. Just like a fax machine, only with distributed hardware components.