Thanks to Garry Barker, The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, for the fun write up of my “Mac’s Lazy Design” talk.

Beautiful chair and cot at NGV International, Melbourne

I argued the benefits of laziness at last week’s Victoria Mac User Group (iMUG) meeting and Garry was in the audience. We chatted afterwards and it seems the topic struck a cord.

I will be arguing the benefits of laziness at Victoria’s Mac User Group (iMUG) in a couple of weeks.

I will discuss how laziness has affected the design of Mac OS X, and how laziness influences the design decisions behind DssW Power Manager.

CSIRAC – Australia's First Computer, Melbourne Museum

It will be fun to brush up on my public speaking skills, share some stories of those who have shaped Mac OS X, and get the chance to meet you in person.

The meeting is free and open to the public.

Thanks to iMUG’s president, Les Posen, for the invitation to speak.

A couple of weeks ago we launched three product updates. These were updates to Power Manager, Sleep Monitor, and Energy Schedule. The updates make sure our software works seamlessly with Apple’s new Mac OS X 10.5, also known as Leopard.

As usual, we marked the launch with a little celebration. But this was a special launch. Special because it encompassed three products, and because it marks our first launch since Megan and I returned from living in Lyon.

A year in France

Last year Megan and I had to break with tradition. We spent the year travelling and most of our time was spent living in France. The broadband revolution is wonderful, and last year proved my ability to continue to grow DssW while roaming free from a traditional office environment.

Living in France had its down side. It meant foregoing our traditional David Jones’ food court chocolate cake slice.

Surprisingly, finding suitably rich chocolate cake in Lyon was not easy. Thankfully, finding an alternative was easy – and so we broke with tradition and settled for local delights.

Back in Australia

We are back in Sydney, Australia, for a while. Once again, we can shop at David Jones for chocolate cake, but our tradition has been questioned. Never again can we return to David Jones without comparison to the delights of Lyon.

Cadbury’s cupcakes marked our launch

So, Megan and I had some fun and we made Cadbury’s cupcakes. Lots of little celebratory cakes in place of our usual one luxurious piece. Not in the same league as either David Jones or Lyon’s patisseries, but a yummy marker for our three latest updates.

I saw this sign while walking down boulevard Mohamed V, Casablanca, near the tourist office. It immediately raised a smile, and I though of the vocal software start up community Paul Graham is fostering.

L’ISP est une Academy Microsoft PRO, Casablanca

There is some humour partners of software engineers will never understand.