One of the many great things about France is the infrastructure. The inventors of the TGV knew what they were doing, so it is easier to take the train anywhere in France than to fly. Here’s what it is like going through a snowstorm at 300kmph or so…
Author Archives: Lance Wiggs
NZ 4th best….
In yet another silly survey NZ is ranked ‘4th best place to live’ in the world. France is first, USA 5th, Australia 2nd and the Netherlands 3rd. I wouldn’t disagree that these are all great places to live – I’ve spent at least two months in four of them, lived in three of them and …
More snow…
As requested, a couple more photos from my travels. I am currently in Paris, having just returned from a week in Val d’Isere, where the snow was great and the sun incessantly shining. I finally invested in a ski helmet, which is having a bad impact on my “willingness to do something”/”ability to do so” …
Telecom post Theresa
So Theresa finally retires from Telecom NZ. finally. But sadly not until June. She is proud that there has been ‘almost no involuntary turnover in the top 100 in Telecom’ and is ‘proud of culture of Telecom’. I wouldn’t be. Sure it was a tough hand-over – inheriting under investment in infrastructure, and antediluvian CDMA …
eBay UK changes fees paradigm
eBay UK as announced big changes in their fees. Good coverage on eBay Strategies. Firstly, media (CD’s DVD’s etc.) will attract much lower listing fees (down, for most items, from 35 to 75 pence to 10 pence). However the downside is that success fees have gone up from 5.25%/3.25%/1.75% to a flat 9%. That’s a …
shill bidding on eBay
Shill bidding on eBay is, anecdotally at least, a big problem. eBay’s recent decision to hide the ID’s of other bidders has not helped the community policing. Slashdot has some interesting comments on the issue – including one chap that has the following advice: 1) Never bid on camcorders, computers, automobiles, or any other high …
France…
A snapshot of France.. I’m wirelessly surfing the internet in a bar, vin rouge beside me, very polite French folk around me also sipping wine, dogs playing in the middle of it all and right outside in the hallway a patisserie with perfect coffee, croissants and baguettes for breakfast… Outside are huge mountains (this is …
eBay stock options
eBay paid (page 6) $75m in stock based compensation in the last quarter, and $317m for the year. That’s 5.4% of Gross Profit or 4.3% of revenues. It must be wonderful to have a company with margins like that. With the 12,600 employees in 2005 that would be $25,000 in options granted this year per …
Snow here in London
That’s two cities now – I saw the first snow of the season in Washington DC and now here in London. Next stop Paris…. [Update – sure enough – Paris experienced it’s first snow the day I arrived….]
NZ online traffic rankings from alexa….
Very cool summary of NZ site rankings from Projectx, or you can just look at the laest results on Alexa 1: Trade Me isn’t that far behind Google. In the USA eBay is number 5 after Yahoo!, Google, Myspace and MSN. 2: 6Park is bigger than Skykiwi, which was news to me. It has all …
More skiing piccies…
The Utah pictures ….for those that thrive on disliking my skiing…. Val d’isere is next – I go there Friday Europe time.
Telecom overvalued?
Yes says Goldman Sach’s local branch, but if you use the “what’s it worth to a takeover buyer?” approach (see Marty Whitman) then Telecom is probably undervalued. Imagine the extra value that could be dredged from Telecom by an operator that understood where the internet is taking telecommunications…
Online Dating – at $3,500 a year
Match.com’s new Platinum service is not a bargain at $3500 a year. They promise personalised matching with Match.com members and (eventually) with other Platinum members. The high end of the dating market really is limitless – personal net worth is not really material when it comes to meeting and marrying the perfect partner. The USA …
Be on Google maps…
If you are in Sydney on Friday then look up and smile…
Skiing in Utah…
It hasn’t been all work over here in the USA…. That’s skiing in Utah – on a bad snow day!
Lance Wiggs 