This blog is our place to talk about the things we love about technology, media and the Web; our musings and things that amuse us.

About MadLid

No, Lid is not mad, and it’s not exactly a portmanteau ^[1] word either.  Instead it is the combination of the initials of Martyn’s full name, with the first three letters of Lidija’s name.  Along with our two little people – Jonah ^[2] and Jamie ^[3] – we are Aussies ^[4] living in Silicon Valley ^[5].

Mad – Brief background

Went to Melbourne University ^[6] to do maths, but found computing much more interesting (let me play Rogue ^[7] and Hack ^[8]). Graduated in 1985 and got my first job programming PDP-11’s ^[9]. Started programming on the Windows platform [can't remember the year] when Windows 2.1 ^[10]was released and have been bigoted ever since.

Worked for Microsoft ^[11] for a while (in Australia), did my own consulting for a while, got offered a job at Verity ^[12] (now Autonomy ^[13]) in Silicon Valley in 2005, and now have the blogging ^[14] bug.

Lid – Brief background

Studied at the Victorian College of the Arts ^[15] for a Bachelor of Music, but realized in my final year I didn’t have the skills [read patience] to teach. I left my classical training and my piano accordion ^[16] and moved into media, producing videos, television commercials and eventually television shows.  In the early 90’s, I fell in love with the Internet, and soon after that the Web, and in ‘95, I wrote my first pilot, .neteffect, a series about the Internet, which was sold to Beyond International ^[17] later the same year.  In 1997, I produced Online, Australia’s first television series about all things Internet for the Nine Network ^[18].

I have continued freelancing for newspapers, television, radio, and the Web; continued learning, and in 2006 completed coursework in graduate journalism at Harvard University.  There is a little more about me here ^[19].

About BlogWell

Ethics Statement/Disclosure

We are not paid directly or indirectly for the information we provide on this blog, and any biases are our own personal bent.

We own shares in Microsoft ^[20], and also hold options in Blinkx ^[21] (don’t hold your breath).

If you want to throw any Google shares our way, we won’t say no

Note: We often get asked whether we have business affiliations with WordPress ^[22] or Automattic ^[23]; the answer is no, we just like what they’re trying to do, and the way Matt ^[24] thinks.