A better Top 10 for 2007

Being very disappointed with my most popular posts during 2007, here’s a list of 10 posts which I think are a better, more intelligent read. Enjoy.

Actually make that 15. In no particular order…

  1. The Inaugural Paul Neil Milne Johnstone Award goes to…
  2. It’s the little details which matter…
  3. Oops, there goes privacy! So now what?
  4. Scaring the shit out of clients
  5. Releasing the Black Hawk crash video was A Good Thing
  6. Thoughts on “Earth Hour”
  7. Stay alert, ye nameless, toiling animals
  8. Why The Greens won’t win Marrickville (about the last state election, but still relevant)
  9. How can Microsoft stop us hating them?
  10. Burnt out sofa, burnt out life
  11. “Let’s just write that down…”
  12. Human Rights: a reminder
  13. A Meditation at 11,700 metres, 719km/h
  14. Saturday Night at The Duke
  15. and everything I wrote for Crikey (is that cheating?)

Most of that’s reasonably serious — suitable for a reflective Sunday morning, though. So you might want to check out the entire Humour category too.

They’re also the longer pieces, but I reckon there’s a whole swathe of little comments which are wonderful contributions to the sum total of English literature. Don’t you agree?

Review: Exit Right

Cover of Quarterly Essay: Exit Right

Quarterly Essay has provided me with plenty of in-depth analysis over the last couple of years, and Judith Brett’s “Exit Right: the unravelling of John Howard” is no exception.

Brett presents Howard’s downfall through the prism of the “Strong Leader”, one of three leadership types put forward by political psychologist Graham Little. (The others are the Group Leader and the Inspiring Leader.) Howard failed, Brett says, because his leadership style was ill-suited to the political environment of 2007.

Continue reading “Review: Exit Right”

Most popular posts of 2007

OK, there’s still 2 days to go, but close enough. Here’s a list of the most-read items on this website during 2007.

  1. More Steve Irwin jokes
  2. Danger List demonstrates Drug Hypocrisy
  3. Daylight Saving Chaos
  4. 33 Days of Wiki Inspiration
  5. Brain-Dead Businesses
  6. About Stilgherrian
  7. Vodafone only half-useful
  8. Julie, I want to make you a star (in a Samantha Fox kind of way)
  9. The First Tacky Steve Irwin Joke
  10. Weekly Poll: Who’s the greatest pop band?

I’m disappointed. The continuing interest in stupid Steve Irwin jokes is particularly depressing. There’s only one item in the Top 10 which I’m even vaguely proud of (number 8), and even then that’s a self-indulgent joke.

Numbers 5 and 7 are only there because they catch everyone searching for “Vodaphone”, not realising it’s spelled “Vodafone”. Number 3 is there because Microsoft Entourage has a bug which shows up every time you switch to or from daylight saving, and I posted the actual text of the error message. Lots of people looking for help, but I don’t have the answer.

I’d much prefer to have some of my more thoughtful essays in the list.