Rob Farley

Rob Rob Farley has been consulting in IT since completing a Computer Science degree with first class honours in 1997. Before moving to Adelaide, he worked in consultancies in Melbourne and London. He runs the development department in one of Australia's leading IT firms, as well as doing database application consultancy and training. He heads up the Adelaide SQL Server User Group, and holds several Microsoft certifications.

Rob has been involved with Microsoft technologies for most of his career, but has also done significant work with Oracle and Unix systems. His preferred database is SQL Server and his preferred language is C#. Recently he has been involved with Microsoft Learning in the US, creating and reviewing new content for the next generation of Microsoft exams.

Over the years, Rob's clients have included BP Oil, OneLink Transit, Accenture, Avanade, Australian Electorial Commission, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the Royal Borough of Kingston, Help The Aged, Unisys, Department of Treasury and Finance (Vic), National Mutual, the Bible Society and others.

Did you mean to come here? My blog is now at http://msmvps.com/blogs/robfarley



05 September 2005

Blogs and podcasts

Last time I wrote here was back in June. That's forever in blogging terms. But since then I've formed a different opinion about blogging and podcasting.

I've been doing my Aussenal podcast (www.aussenal.com) for a while now - I figured that it was quite easy to put together an audio blog, particularly about something I can rabbit on about like football - especially Arsenal. But my opinion on that has changed too! I still think it's worth doing, but now I'm wondering if I should make the time to do it better. I spent a bit of time with Mick Stanic and Cam Reilly last week at TechEd. Great guys (let's not talk about Cam's thoughts on creation/evolution) - they run thepodcastnetwork.com, and they're trying to put together a site of quality podcasts, rather than the directory concept taken by iTunes, podcastalley and others. They're looking for someone to do a soccer show for them, and I'm tempted to put my hand up for it if I can find the time. Could be a lot of fun.

But the thing about blogging and podcasting comes down to this: podcasting can be an audio blog - great if don't have the time to write - but to be decent, it should be better. But blogging is about putting your thoughts out there. I wanted to have a blog that didn't get distracted by drivel, but it meant I just stopped writing. Now, I want to write more often. That way people can get to know me better and they might decide they are interested in more than just the technical side of my blog. I plan to do an occasional audio blog, but I'll see...

Thanks to the guys at TechEd that opened my eyes to the idea of blogging to gain a bit more of an online identity... Frank Arrigo, Phil Beadle, the Daves, and others. Over the next few days I'll post some more about what went on at TechEd on the Gold Coast. Plenty to say, so watch this space.

Posted by Rob Farley at 10:11 am