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Day before yesterday we got $750 of free christmas presents. Could have been over $1000 but I chose not too. How do you ask?

For the aussie readers only, I went to a Strathfield Mobile phone shop and contracted my wife's existing phone account for 24 months to the same price plan she was already on - with better options-got her a new handset, the Nokia 6300 for free, and then spent the $300 of free store credit on various Christmas presents. Not describing them here due to some of the readers of this blog going to be receiving them!

I also upgraded my phone to a Nokia N81, but as this was a more expensive handset I didn't qualify for the free $300 of store credit. The phone was free and just meant resigning my existing account on the same plan for another 24 months. Not like I was going to change it anyway!

Following Scott Hanselman's, Steve Richards and Bill Gates lead, I have decided to share my office and workspace setup.

This isn't meant to be a gloat about the technology I use rather an explanation of the tools that I use in my job. Plumbers and electricians have cool vans full of all their gear and they probably spend more on that than I have on this.

My office is around 4 metres square, though one corner is chamfered off. In order to maximise the space available and still create enough room for my staff to work I have a real mixture of furniture. My desk is a curved reception desk I picked up second hand from the gym when they remodelled. It has nice deep drawers on both sides and the 90 degree curving space is an excellent fit for the 4 monitors I work on - 2 x 22" and 2 x 19" wide screens. It also holds current files and data, pens, blank cds, odds and ends and all the cables to connect my mobile phone, camera, video camera and creative zen. On top at each end I store things that I don't need to look at but need to access. In the middle I have a photo frame of my 4 kids and a Lego Bionicle I was given when leaving a client.

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Looking through photos that your kids have taken can be pretty interesting. If you've got a budding photographer on your hands and want to help them get more familiar with photography, keep reading. Darren has written 13 lessons to help you when teaching your child about digital photography. These are:

• Experiment
• Check your Backgrounds
• Hold the Camera Straight
• How to Hold a Camera
• Get in Close
• Take Lots of Photos
• Getting the Balance Right Between Photographing People, ‘Things’ and Places
• Find a Point of Interest
• Rule of Thirds
• Review Your Children’s Images with Them
• Focal Lock
• Different Modes for Different Situations
• Exposure Settings

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