Myrtleford murder mystery
It sounds like the remains of missing Myrtleford toddler Daniel Thomas may have been found today after human bones were discovered under a house in the North East Victorian town.
Daniel went missing in October 2003.
The house is the one Daniel’s mother Donna Thomas and babysitter Mandy Martin rented together when Daniel was reported missing. Ms Martin has been a police suspect. (more…)
Fitzroy and the Queen

I mentioned in the previous post the Queen attended a match between Fitzroy and Richmond in 1970. The Lions defeated the reigning premiers in that game.

Rapleaf reputation lookup
I came across Rapleaf tonight. It’s an online reputation lookup service. Rapleaf’s goal is “to make it more profitable to be ethical”.
The rationale: “Building a positive reputation is necessary in making the world a better place. Prove your trustworthiness wherever you go and feel confident in the identities of the people you deal with through Rapleaf.”
I registered for an account and entered my two main email addresses which I use for most web sites and online transactions.
It is possible to leave manual ratings for people’s email addresses. The Rapleaf score and percentage is found, I think, by trawling the web and social networking sites.
I thought it was linked with eBay somehow until I read: “Please note that Ebay has banned Rapleaf from its site and so there is not a way for Rapleaf members to transfer their Ebay ratings to Rapleaf.”
I can see some merit in this if you’re doing a lot of buying or selling online. People are invited to contribute towards the reputation of others by assigning ratings and leaving comments.
You can do that for me here.
Letters to the editor
I had an interesting email from a communications consultant wanting feedback on letters to the editor. He wrote:
I’m currently engaged on research into the effectiveness of “letters to the editor” published in national and local newspapers in Australia. I am particularly interested in the readership of letters to the editor, the extent to which letters raise awareness, whether they are a source of copy or leads for reporters and journalists, and whether elected officials and senior government bureaucrats take notice of and respond to matters raised in “letters to the editor”.
My response: (more…)
If I ruled a country …
This is one of those five-question blog prompts. I first saw it on Synaptoman. The starting assumption is that you are the absolute ruler of a prosperous, stable country without any immediate threats, no poverty or unemployment.
That means I can answer this question safe in the knowledge I don’t need to interfere with the economy or the social structure. They must be working already.
1) I’d appoint an advisory council made up of community and industry leaders. I wouldn’t have to accept their advice, but I could not govern effectively without it.
2) I would guarantee the independence of the judiciary, appoint a powerful ombudsman and ensure the police force was properly organised and well paid.
3) The only taxes would be a value-added tax and a bank debits tax.
4) I would ensure free quality education to university level.
5) I would build an excellent public transport system and ban cars from city precincts.
Media management: be open
I have been working in the media industry for 20 years. I had 13 years as a reporter, editor and manager, then a five-year interlude in public relations before returning to newspapers early last year as editor of the Kalgoorlie Miner.
We all learn through living and working. There is no substitute for life experience. I found the five years in PR gave me a special insight into how people “on the other side of the fence” view the media.
PR consultants represent people who want publicity and those who don’t want publicity. It’s a case of trying to get the best value out of a good situation and the lowest level of exposure for a bad one.
Since returning to the press I’ve taken an interest in how organisations handle particular circumstances.
Football clubs never cease to amaze me with how badly they manage negative events. Collingwood’s handling of the Alan Didak saga was a case in point. (more…)

