I joined Yahoo Answers in May 2006, in its first full year of adoption, as it seemed an enjoyable interactive thing to participate in, and a smart savvy thing to do.
I jumped right in and became an active contributor and got my own little niche as “top answerer” in the Business/Finance, advertising/marketing section. By 2007 I had reached level 4 (there are 7 levels) and was still top answerer. But by now I was finding it a bit repetitive, with lots of vague questions and just plain un-thought-out things that just did not seem worth contributing too. I gradually drifted away and then got tired of the whole experience with some sections seeming to be the adopted place for the nutters, spammers and general dispossessed – a lot of the friendly sociable help-me-out-here interface seemed to have gone.
This year by chance I logged back in and was pleasantly surprised to see I was still in the top five. I gradually drifted back into it and then realised if I wanted to reach level 5, I had to get some more points and best answers. So during September 2011 make a concerted effort to drive up the points and answers – gradually creeped up to 4th in the “charts” and suddenly in the way that these things do I well overshot the mark and was well into the 5,000 points so now up at level 5. I’ve also been given the little orange badge as a “top contributor” so now there’s just the task of getting into the top three answerers and then seeing if I can get to be the top answerer again.
Putting this "achievement" into perspective though - The UK top contributor has over 850,000 points with 21K best answers. The global top contributor has over 1 million points and over 74K best answers. Crikey they must live there!
Thursday, October 06, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
Cycling heat-wave!
While the developing countries are abandoning their bicycles and flocking to cars it’s time for a comeback for the humble cycle. While the occasional trend bounces cycling into the limelight at the moment there seems to be a plethora of cycling activity. First, Hertz introduces their electric bike rental scheme in London
Meanwhile Lusaka-based Zambikes are building bikes for sale around the world – and they’re made out of bamboo - sorry panda’s. Of course if you don’t have a panda you can always take some dogs for company, as the inspiriring cycling gypsies.
While in Brazil - the Bicicloteca is a tricycle adapted to function as a mobile library, distributing books to disadvantaged areas. Talking about it being more than a form of personal transport, in Holland they have a Pedal-equipped school bus powered by kids, de Cafe Racer maybe a new cycle to work scheme!
There’s only one thing left to do – time to get on your bike. And to do that Levis have created the commuter jeans - The new Commuter series from Levi’s offers jeans that are designed specifically with urban cyclists in mind so they tell us! See you on the road, cycle lane, or muddy pathway or wherever.
Meanwhile Lusaka-based Zambikes are building bikes for sale around the world – and they’re made out of bamboo - sorry panda’s. Of course if you don’t have a panda you can always take some dogs for company, as the inspiriring cycling gypsies.
While in Brazil - the Bicicloteca is a tricycle adapted to function as a mobile library, distributing books to disadvantaged areas. Talking about it being more than a form of personal transport, in Holland they have a Pedal-equipped school bus powered by kids, de Cafe Racer maybe a new cycle to work scheme!
There’s only one thing left to do – time to get on your bike. And to do that Levis have created the commuter jeans - The new Commuter series from Levi’s offers jeans that are designed specifically with urban cyclists in mind so they tell us! See you on the road, cycle lane, or muddy pathway or wherever.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Bees boost work morale or not!
You have to be careful when you scan read as fast as I do - not that I’m accomplished at this, it’s not a skill in my case more a wavering in-attentiveness – so when I first read this “London offices offered bee hives to 'boost work morale'” being somewhat of a cynic I assumed this would be negative reinforcement along the lines of “Smith, go and stand in the rain with the smokers and try not to get bitten by the bees and then fall ill with an allergy while I consider your low performance review”
Instead the articles goes on to say this idea is to be seen as an employee benefit – um I’m not convinced about having your place of work surrounded by marauding bees! Helpfully they added “To ensure there is enough food from the off we've been filling five bike-lock planters with bee-friendly flowers since last autumn” so that’s all right then – oh no hold on if they adopt an equally cycle-friendly approach and adopt a cycle to work scheme that means every time you drop your cycle off you risk attack from bunch of bees – although somebody will assure you they are “docile ones” so those stings will hardly affect you then!
No I think having an deranged lion in the HR room is best motivation and just leave the bees alone, indeed leave them where they are in our gardens at home, and not force us to bring them to work.
Instead the articles goes on to say this idea is to be seen as an employee benefit – um I’m not convinced about having your place of work surrounded by marauding bees! Helpfully they added “To ensure there is enough food from the off we've been filling five bike-lock planters with bee-friendly flowers since last autumn” so that’s all right then – oh no hold on if they adopt an equally cycle-friendly approach and adopt a cycle to work scheme that means every time you drop your cycle off you risk attack from bunch of bees – although somebody will assure you they are “docile ones” so those stings will hardly affect you then!
No I think having an deranged lion in the HR room is best motivation and just leave the bees alone, indeed leave them where they are in our gardens at home, and not force us to bring them to work.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
There's an app for that...
Having left my IT background a few years ago, I sometimes stumble across some techie talk that I still appear to comprehend – desktop managed services, which was like a statement in my day and now just sounds like jargon. But now I’ve moved into the electrical area and words like PLC and HMI’s are everyday phrases, and you start to come to terms with a new set of jargon. But at least if you don’t understand these terms at least you have an inkling of what they mean, I mean PLC and HMI sounds as if they do something right? But sometimes you come across another industry or profession and abruptly that gap widens and you realise that you have no idea whatsoever what they are talking about – and so it was I came across MHT technology who do “LNG peak shaving”.
I’m sorry they do what? I can’t even make an un-educated guess what that is. I mean given the context is that a physical thing that they do to something, or a stage in a process or the whole process, or is it a thing - "LNG peak shaved for sale to good home" , or a service so that people go around saying “here’s your LNG peak shaved” – and you say “oh thank you very much”, or is it some technical wizardry that creates a “peak” that is somehow “shaved”, or some technological wonder like NASA where boffins go around saying “I’m glad we can orbit humans up into space but I wouldn’t want to risk LNG peak shaving”.
Fortunately of course there are people who do understand these things and the California energy commission gives a really useful bluffers guide – But what happens when there aren’t people around who understand such things. Will it be like losing your instructions for the IKEA cabinet so it ends up looking like a umbrella stand or will it improve things or will we re-create such things all over again. The problem is I still don’t really know what LNG peak shaving is, sure I understand the words I just don’t grasp what it actually means. Still when we run out of people who know what it means and can actually do it, well apple (or someone) will have an app for that.
I’m sorry they do what? I can’t even make an un-educated guess what that is. I mean given the context is that a physical thing that they do to something, or a stage in a process or the whole process, or is it a thing - "LNG peak shaved for sale to good home" , or a service so that people go around saying “here’s your LNG peak shaved” – and you say “oh thank you very much”, or is it some technical wizardry that creates a “peak” that is somehow “shaved”, or some technological wonder like NASA where boffins go around saying “I’m glad we can orbit humans up into space but I wouldn’t want to risk LNG peak shaving”.
Fortunately of course there are people who do understand these things and the California energy commission gives a really useful bluffers guide – But what happens when there aren’t people around who understand such things. Will it be like losing your instructions for the IKEA cabinet so it ends up looking like a umbrella stand or will it improve things or will we re-create such things all over again. The problem is I still don’t really know what LNG peak shaving is, sure I understand the words I just don’t grasp what it actually means. Still when we run out of people who know what it means and can actually do it, well apple (or someone) will have an app for that.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Preserving or varnishing over the cracks?
English Heritage has called for the whole of Plymouth city centre to become a designated conservation area. It’s not April 1st and it is on the BBC - so it must be true. Why? While others reckon the unsightly concrete monstrosities need to fall down and be rebuilt on, others reckon the rebuild that happened solely because of the damage during the second world war means that Plymouth is "unique" with the whole of its centre completely rebuilt during the 1950’s. There’s even a website celebration of art-loving buildings and what with the formidable and effusive Kevin Mcloud supporting the idea, preserve in aspic is it. Although a worried Plymouth City council says "English Heritage must recognise that there needs to be a careful balance between preserving our past and planning for a prosperous future”. Or maybe what with there being a book (from English Heritage), and a film (well artworks and videos) maybe it’s all just a bit of commercialism. Never having visited the place it's hard to comment but anyplace that has a Lido must be worth preserving, maybe just not all of it!
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
Cycle lanes – Must be a good thing eh?
Sub-consciously I can’t help but think that cycle lanes are plainly a good thing. The recent article in the New York Times, NYC Cycle Paths highlights a backlash against cycle lanes, with a legal dispute shaping up – leaving aside some political bias for this lobby, more fully explored in this NYC article there does seem to be a clash of opinions or lifestyles or just plain old grievances being raised here. It’s made me consider the issue a little more.
Curiously enough, if you wonder around some cycle forums, a number of cyclists don’t like cycle lanes either! The argument seems to go that by segregating the cyclist from other road users they are stopping cyclists from using roads and reinforcing the idea among car drivers that roads are for them and not for all of us. As one who has been shouted at by an irate car driver to get on the cycle path I can concur with this view. However, I don’t especially want to be enjoying the birdsong and feeling the sun beam down on me while dodging juggernaut mirrors as they hurl past me at 60mph. So I guess I prefer leisure cycle lanes most of the time, but when commuting to work I want to get there using direct roads without making bizarre diversions to out-way spots as many of the cycle paths do.
I’d really much prefer to have cycle lanes as they do in Holland where they follow the roads and are separated from the road traffic, safe and practical! And where they do have pedestrian paths as well, separate from the cycle paths, and where if we all take a bit of care (for ourselves and for others) we can get by without running in to each other! And as for the New York retail argument - As one who can’t cycle far without stopping for food and drink or a daily paper I reckon a load of us cycling would encourage local shops rather than destroy them.
Curiously enough, if you wonder around some cycle forums, a number of cyclists don’t like cycle lanes either! The argument seems to go that by segregating the cyclist from other road users they are stopping cyclists from using roads and reinforcing the idea among car drivers that roads are for them and not for all of us. As one who has been shouted at by an irate car driver to get on the cycle path I can concur with this view. However, I don’t especially want to be enjoying the birdsong and feeling the sun beam down on me while dodging juggernaut mirrors as they hurl past me at 60mph. So I guess I prefer leisure cycle lanes most of the time, but when commuting to work I want to get there using direct roads without making bizarre diversions to out-way spots as many of the cycle paths do.
I’d really much prefer to have cycle lanes as they do in Holland where they follow the roads and are separated from the road traffic, safe and practical! And where they do have pedestrian paths as well, separate from the cycle paths, and where if we all take a bit of care (for ourselves and for others) we can get by without running in to each other! And as for the New York retail argument - As one who can’t cycle far without stopping for food and drink or a daily paper I reckon a load of us cycling would encourage local shops rather than destroy them.
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
Sustrans
Having foolishly decided I had time to get involved with something else, when I clearly don't have the time, I volunterred to help out Sustrans on maintaining the local cycle routes here. This would mean getting on my bike, which would presumably mean inflating the tyres and getting it fettled so it actually worked.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Hotel Bookings
Having determined we needed to visit Preston to suss out the Uni there, we needed to book an inexpensive hotel overnight. We'd settle for an expensive hotel doing a cheap deal tho'! As we needed two rooms it made everything twice as expensive - can't wait for Tesco to do hotels, you know, "buy one get one free"!
Having ages to get the best deal I was so pre-occupied with doing this that I missed the best offer which was to book a month in advance with the likes of Travelodge. With increasingly less weeks to go I started to rely upon the late bookings site to get the best deal. Fortunately we had a discount for one of the big chains and that offered a really good discount againt the standard prices and looked like a winner if nothing else came up.
Having signed up for another one of the chains i was trying to get a best deal on that, except the best deal was always better on the public site, and often said they had spaces, whereas when i tried the "preferred site" they often said no availability. Unfortunately, the public site would have its own idiosyncratic ways, as their price would fluctuate. So with two weeks to go i was still waiting on the best deal, starting to have a niggling feeling that I'd end up paying full price somewhere just to get in!
So with a week to go I was sure the next time my chain had a deal i would book it - with five days to go their price stayed as it was. I figured maybe with less days to go they would change and drop the price - No it didn't - So while i needed to book quick i also didn't want to pay a higher price than was strictly necessary. With two days to go I went to book and decided against it - give it one more day! Had a sneak look at work in morning and still price remained - mindlessly checking it in the afternoon the price had gone down! Ah book it now! Except I didn't have my details with me - so got home that evening and fortunately the lower price was still on offer - booked that, and Job done. Checked the next day and the price has gone back up and stayed there. What's that all about then! I do know this experience means I would be rubbish on ebay, I just can't take the pace. Better start thinking about booking summer holidays i suppose!
Having ages to get the best deal I was so pre-occupied with doing this that I missed the best offer which was to book a month in advance with the likes of Travelodge. With increasingly less weeks to go I started to rely upon the late bookings site to get the best deal. Fortunately we had a discount for one of the big chains and that offered a really good discount againt the standard prices and looked like a winner if nothing else came up.
Having signed up for another one of the chains i was trying to get a best deal on that, except the best deal was always better on the public site, and often said they had spaces, whereas when i tried the "preferred site" they often said no availability. Unfortunately, the public site would have its own idiosyncratic ways, as their price would fluctuate. So with two weeks to go i was still waiting on the best deal, starting to have a niggling feeling that I'd end up paying full price somewhere just to get in!
So with a week to go I was sure the next time my chain had a deal i would book it - with five days to go their price stayed as it was. I figured maybe with less days to go they would change and drop the price - No it didn't - So while i needed to book quick i also didn't want to pay a higher price than was strictly necessary. With two days to go I went to book and decided against it - give it one more day! Had a sneak look at work in morning and still price remained - mindlessly checking it in the afternoon the price had gone down! Ah book it now! Except I didn't have my details with me - so got home that evening and fortunately the lower price was still on offer - booked that, and Job done. Checked the next day and the price has gone back up and stayed there. What's that all about then! I do know this experience means I would be rubbish on ebay, I just can't take the pace. Better start thinking about booking summer holidays i suppose!
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
Michelin Tyres
Always being a convert to Michelin tyres, I know its going to be a bit of an expense whenever I need some new tyres. After a heavy winter I needed two new front tyres so thought i'd better try and shop around.
You'd think it would be quite easy to replace the tyres but you need to faff around with exact tyre sizes and then you get a mutitude of different ones to opt for (the cheapest?). After google search (what did we do before that!)I realised that a lot of the codes on tyre relate to the speed rating. So for mine it meant "R" represents a speed rating up to 106mph, "T" is 118 mph, "H" is 130 mph and "V" is 150 mph. Of course the prices go up as the speed rating, so let me have a quick thought - oh i know as i drive like Mr Magoo and the national speed limits are 70 mph I'lle opt for the R rating! Then I had a look at some websites for prices and a lot had "call for our best price" and "this weeks special offer are 4 Pirelli tyres" but I don't want 4 of anything!
I had a look at the actual Michelin website and they seemed to have quite a good deal using their preffered provider which turn out to be one of those vans that come to you. Which could be a good idea if you know that they are any good. There was actually quite a lot of these "vans-to you" service and their prices went from as low-as-you-can-get to a lot higher than a normal tyre shop. I wanted tracking done as well and as wasn't sure whether these people could do that decided to stick with a real bricks & mortar shop.
While doing that tho I came accross the likes of ATS who do have real places in certain locations then use vans for areas like mine so that was a bit in-between! As you had to book online I wasn't sure I wanted to try that out, it being a lot easier for me to just drive down to my local tyre shop.
Which in the end I did, because when i called them for a quote they told me they did price-matching and would go with the lowest quote from a real shop nearby. So I got the best price, maybe not the exact lowest, but one that was affordable and convenenient. And I get to go back in a few weeks to check the tracking is still all OK.
You'd think it would be quite easy to replace the tyres but you need to faff around with exact tyre sizes and then you get a mutitude of different ones to opt for (the cheapest?). After google search (what did we do before that!)I realised that a lot of the codes on tyre relate to the speed rating. So for mine it meant "R" represents a speed rating up to 106mph, "T" is 118 mph, "H" is 130 mph and "V" is 150 mph. Of course the prices go up as the speed rating, so let me have a quick thought - oh i know as i drive like Mr Magoo and the national speed limits are 70 mph I'lle opt for the R rating! Then I had a look at some websites for prices and a lot had "call for our best price" and "this weeks special offer are 4 Pirelli tyres" but I don't want 4 of anything!
I had a look at the actual Michelin website and they seemed to have quite a good deal using their preffered provider which turn out to be one of those vans that come to you. Which could be a good idea if you know that they are any good. There was actually quite a lot of these "vans-to you" service and their prices went from as low-as-you-can-get to a lot higher than a normal tyre shop. I wanted tracking done as well and as wasn't sure whether these people could do that decided to stick with a real bricks & mortar shop.
While doing that tho I came accross the likes of ATS who do have real places in certain locations then use vans for areas like mine so that was a bit in-between! As you had to book online I wasn't sure I wanted to try that out, it being a lot easier for me to just drive down to my local tyre shop.
Which in the end I did, because when i called them for a quote they told me they did price-matching and would go with the lowest quote from a real shop nearby. So I got the best price, maybe not the exact lowest, but one that was affordable and convenenient. And I get to go back in a few weeks to check the tracking is still all OK.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Blogging good news
So after a long break have somehow made it back - I wanted to try out my new enthusiasms, as now getting involved in our local canoe club, and looking at updating their website with some new "contact us" forms.
We've used survey monkey this month to run a succesful survey and that worked really well. Am also using Polldaddy to demo this poll. Again their website provides nice and straightforward ready-to-go software.
We are also trying out this more visible "contact us" form and again this example from Jetform provides a reliable way to get this feedback, and of course its free. Found all these and lots more from a quick google search and there are probably lots more out there but these seem to work for us.
We've used survey monkey this month to run a succesful survey and that worked really well. Am also using Polldaddy to demo this poll. Again their website provides nice and straightforward ready-to-go software.
We are also trying out this more visible "contact us" form and again this example from Jetform provides a reliable way to get this feedback, and of course its free. Found all these and lots more from a quick google search and there are probably lots more out there but these seem to work for us.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Fit to print
Being in marketing I sometimes get glimpses into future trends and novelties, but occasionally get taken aback by what seems to be retrograde steps. The latest news from Michelin that they were re-introducing the michelin man (bibbendum) took me aback - you mean they dont currently use it? Years of i-spy book and shodding my car with michelin means i had no idea. Most laughably they stated they are thinning bibbendum down to be in line with customer expectations. Um. More like double the size in line with social trends!
Even better (or worse) MG have changed their moniker. MG being synonymous with sports cars of the late 50's and 60's - try saying MG without adding "B GT", like saying audi without "quattro". They announced that they are changing from Morris Garages (whenever did anyone associate MG with Morris Garages?) to the epitomy of 21st century stuff - "Modern Gentlemen". Of course, you would wouldnt you. That captures the always-on i-pod generation doesnt it. Unlike this luddite marketeer who imagines some edwardian gentleman with a bloke with a red flag 50 yards ahead. Um us creative types sometimes dont know what good for us!
Even better (or worse) MG have changed their moniker. MG being synonymous with sports cars of the late 50's and 60's - try saying MG without adding "B GT", like saying audi without "quattro". They announced that they are changing from Morris Garages (whenever did anyone associate MG with Morris Garages?) to the epitomy of 21st century stuff - "Modern Gentlemen". Of course, you would wouldnt you. That captures the always-on i-pod generation doesnt it. Unlike this luddite marketeer who imagines some edwardian gentleman with a bloke with a red flag 50 yards ahead. Um us creative types sometimes dont know what good for us!
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Changing (Faster) Times
Before getting back on-line I had to wade through ol' bits of paper to find essential email addresses and logins etc. While doing this came upon some real ol stuff back in 2000 when I was almost an early-adopter of technology with a 56 modem (can one be a "late early adopter"?)
I found a load of stuff about ordering online from Tesco, the online supermarket, when you loaded the order from and onto a Tesco CD rom, and then uploaded the order (that itself could take 10-15 minutes) via the internet. If you wanted the latest offers and new items you also needed to download these first, again on the old connection you could go and make yourself a cup of coffee (and some home baked biscuits) while it was trying to struggle online. So performance has certainly improved, you forget - it really wasnt that long ago!
So off now to use my other new essential bit of modern kit - the shredder to chew up the paper and scatter into my compost bin. And yes I did buy that from tesco, but no not online - wanted to see it for real before buying. Ah modern and old technology - isnt is great!
I found a load of stuff about ordering online from Tesco, the online supermarket, when you loaded the order from and onto a Tesco CD rom, and then uploaded the order (that itself could take 10-15 minutes) via the internet. If you wanted the latest offers and new items you also needed to download these first, again on the old connection you could go and make yourself a cup of coffee (and some home baked biscuits) while it was trying to struggle online. So performance has certainly improved, you forget - it really wasnt that long ago!
So off now to use my other new essential bit of modern kit - the shredder to chew up the paper and scatter into my compost bin. And yes I did buy that from tesco, but no not online - wanted to see it for real before buying. Ah modern and old technology - isnt is great!
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Getting back on-line
So just how long does it take to get back online?
Well if you are me - quite a long time.
That's partly cos so many things were happening in life that getting connected wasn't such a priority. Another issue was having to undertake a university-style-thesis study of best broadband options and setups for SOHO @ home. And finally was the sheer logistics of getting the stuff working. Um. Back now and totally abnormal service will be resumed.
Well if you are me - quite a long time.
That's partly cos so many things were happening in life that getting connected wasn't such a priority. Another issue was having to undertake a university-style-thesis study of best broadband options and setups for SOHO @ home. And finally was the sheer logistics of getting the stuff working. Um. Back now and totally abnormal service will be resumed.
Friday, July 21, 2006
Shut Down
Well it will be shut down for a while as I’m going away on holiday and not taking the laptop and trying to avoid any place that have networks!
Curious isn’t it that the Americans take “vacations”. That sounds rather “professional” as if they’re going on some form of self-improvement or doing something charitable (if spending US dollars in England can count!). By comparison “holiday” sounds a bit 1950’s to me, it does sound like a “jolly” - which is only right, as that is what it should be, time to re-charge the batteries and put a fresh perspective on things. I rather like the French idea of shutting down the entire country and disappearing off to enjoy three weeks of fun. So back late August with fresh inspiration!
Curious isn’t it that the Americans take “vacations”. That sounds rather “professional” as if they’re going on some form of self-improvement or doing something charitable (if spending US dollars in England can count!). By comparison “holiday” sounds a bit 1950’s to me, it does sound like a “jolly” - which is only right, as that is what it should be, time to re-charge the batteries and put a fresh perspective on things. I rather like the French idea of shutting down the entire country and disappearing off to enjoy three weeks of fun. So back late August with fresh inspiration!
Friday, July 14, 2006
Why is it so expensive to leave this country?
I know this start is a conversation killer but….I watched a great TV programme yesterday. It was about David Walliams' heroic efforts in swimming the English Channel for Sport Relief. End of that plug.
It did strike me that swimming the channel is actually quite a good way of evading modern-day piracy, which is what ferry companies seems to be doing to us on this little island. Why is it so expensive to leave this country? While technology increases and lowers costs, prices creep down and inflation is low. Yet it still costs an arm and a leg to take a short hop on a boat. You’d think a sea-faring nation we’d be able to do better that that!
Unless you have a PhD in reading timetables and an almost telepathic knowledge of arcane bargain-buys, coupled with the sheer tenacity of endurance to arrive at a ferry port on the south coast at 2am, then the reality is a ferry ticket is the price of a small house. That’s without factoring in the size of your car, height of roof rack and top box, inside leg size and hair colour. Want to travel across the water quickly and easily - No chance, Sit in line and wait. I thought the tunnel may shrink the cost and compete with rip-off ferries, not a bit of it, they both increase their prices – it must be the most expensive per mile trip, aside from the Virgin flight to outer space, and at least they don’t charge extra for a return ticket!
Swimming the channel. Suddenly seems like an easy option to me.
It did strike me that swimming the channel is actually quite a good way of evading modern-day piracy, which is what ferry companies seems to be doing to us on this little island. Why is it so expensive to leave this country? While technology increases and lowers costs, prices creep down and inflation is low. Yet it still costs an arm and a leg to take a short hop on a boat. You’d think a sea-faring nation we’d be able to do better that that!
Unless you have a PhD in reading timetables and an almost telepathic knowledge of arcane bargain-buys, coupled with the sheer tenacity of endurance to arrive at a ferry port on the south coast at 2am, then the reality is a ferry ticket is the price of a small house. That’s without factoring in the size of your car, height of roof rack and top box, inside leg size and hair colour. Want to travel across the water quickly and easily - No chance, Sit in line and wait. I thought the tunnel may shrink the cost and compete with rip-off ferries, not a bit of it, they both increase their prices – it must be the most expensive per mile trip, aside from the Virgin flight to outer space, and at least they don’t charge extra for a return ticket!
Swimming the channel. Suddenly seems like an easy option to me.
Friday, July 07, 2006
wimbledon priority week
So in the same week that it was officially a heatwave in merry ol’ blighty, Wimbledon has been stopped due to rain. Um...sounds like a typical English summer to me!
Interestingly heatwaves are like priorities – there are different levels of them. As anyone who has ever called a help desk will have learnt to their cost. “Priority sir, certainly Sir” - Blithely you think you’re now near the top of the queue. You’re not even on the list. Well you are but below “clean the bird cage out”. Make sure you find out what the levels are, not only may there be priority levels above priority one, but there may be grades of priority one. Oh just call a help desk and find out!
Anyway heatwaves are the same. In this case Monday was a heatwave category three. The only thing more serious was category four – an emergency. Actually as we know now the only thing worse is the weather changing and it being hot and wet as opposed to hot and dry. Well at least I mowed the lawn (priority one last weekend).
Interestingly heatwaves are like priorities – there are different levels of them. As anyone who has ever called a help desk will have learnt to their cost. “Priority sir, certainly Sir” - Blithely you think you’re now near the top of the queue. You’re not even on the list. Well you are but below “clean the bird cage out”. Make sure you find out what the levels are, not only may there be priority levels above priority one, but there may be grades of priority one. Oh just call a help desk and find out!
Anyway heatwaves are the same. In this case Monday was a heatwave category three. The only thing more serious was category four – an emergency. Actually as we know now the only thing worse is the weather changing and it being hot and wet as opposed to hot and dry. Well at least I mowed the lawn (priority one last weekend).
Monday, July 03, 2006
twenty-four seven
Well the internet is 24/7, but I’m not, so had the weekend off and here I am again Monday morning. I’m rather in agreement with my friend, who provides technical support, as he says, 24/7 between the hours of 9-5!
We need our downtime and this obsession with having everything available all the time is self-defeating. As we rely more and more on unlimited access to everything from supermarkets to service help, it creates an unrealistic demand on ourselves and on each other. What started out as flexible working soon transforms into the modern equivalent of shift work. That useful tool, the mobile becomes a slavish necessity. People start to never switch off, and then find they’re stressed out. And in reality this “always-on” isn’t that great. Sure the shops are open, but then they only get one or two deliveries a day, so all the fresh bread is sold out by the time you get there at 10pm!
So what are we gonna do about it? Well I for one am moving my daily blog to a weekly one, freeing up my time for some more “quality time” with myself. Try it, be selfish, don’t answer that email, switch off that mobile. Ah bliss, the peace.
We need our downtime and this obsession with having everything available all the time is self-defeating. As we rely more and more on unlimited access to everything from supermarkets to service help, it creates an unrealistic demand on ourselves and on each other. What started out as flexible working soon transforms into the modern equivalent of shift work. That useful tool, the mobile becomes a slavish necessity. People start to never switch off, and then find they’re stressed out. And in reality this “always-on” isn’t that great. Sure the shops are open, but then they only get one or two deliveries a day, so all the fresh bread is sold out by the time you get there at 10pm!
So what are we gonna do about it? Well I for one am moving my daily blog to a weekly one, freeing up my time for some more “quality time” with myself. Try it, be selfish, don’t answer that email, switch off that mobile. Ah bliss, the peace.
Friday, June 30, 2006
nearly the end of the week - tdf time!
So it’s nearly the end of the week, and I’m looking forward to the start of the Tour de France, starting this Saturday, and ending as always on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, July 23rd. The tdf is truly one of those great sporting spectacles, full of drama and passion. Somewhat marred by the plethora of accusations and counter-defences about drugs and doping.
The cycling news is full of names, new and old, from false accusations like Lance Armstrong (7 times winner of the tdf), David Millar (admitted charges and back after 2 years) to Manolo Saiz, the cycling team director at the centre of a doping storm in Spain, who has decided to quit. And the latest, just this morning, that Ullrich (this years possible tour winner) is now out. Yet it’s an old story, with new twists. Being of an age where I can remember the shock of finding out that Ben Johnson (US athlete) cheated to win the 100m olympics; I’m always disappointed about those who try and lie and cheat their way out – drug-taking may be one thing, lying about it is another thing entirely. So we’ve seen the crocodile tears of team and individuals, yet I can’t help feeling for Tyler Hamilton, a renowned cyclist, who answers his accusers direct on his website (see links).
I have absolutely no idea about the science of the accusations, the fact is that all his appeals have fallen on deaf ears, and he won’t be competing at this years tdf. The trouble with Tyler is that I, for all my human frailties, really believe him. He just plain walks talks and sounds honest and truthful. I’ve never met the guy and like people on the TV you see in the street – ooh don’t they look different, much taller, shorter etc – I have no real idea. But I do have an instinct, that he’s just downright honest, and for those of us who watched him cycle on during the tdf with a shattered collar bone (and ive had one - let me tell you I couldn’t walk much less cycle up mountains like he did), I’m in awe. I would really like to hear black and white argument that the cheats are, and the rest aren’t, and accusations are just that until proven. With poor old Tyler he’s being trashed in public. I just believe in Tyler and think there’s been a mistake. Trouble is we don’t really know. But a common dose of humanity suggests we try and believe in our sporting heroes, and for that reason I will still be around watching the TV and enjoying the TDF for the next 3 weeks. And Tyler and Jan (Ullrich), I’m real sorry you are not there.
The cycling news is full of names, new and old, from false accusations like Lance Armstrong (7 times winner of the tdf), David Millar (admitted charges and back after 2 years) to Manolo Saiz, the cycling team director at the centre of a doping storm in Spain, who has decided to quit. And the latest, just this morning, that Ullrich (this years possible tour winner) is now out. Yet it’s an old story, with new twists. Being of an age where I can remember the shock of finding out that Ben Johnson (US athlete) cheated to win the 100m olympics; I’m always disappointed about those who try and lie and cheat their way out – drug-taking may be one thing, lying about it is another thing entirely. So we’ve seen the crocodile tears of team and individuals, yet I can’t help feeling for Tyler Hamilton, a renowned cyclist, who answers his accusers direct on his website (see links).
I have absolutely no idea about the science of the accusations, the fact is that all his appeals have fallen on deaf ears, and he won’t be competing at this years tdf. The trouble with Tyler is that I, for all my human frailties, really believe him. He just plain walks talks and sounds honest and truthful. I’ve never met the guy and like people on the TV you see in the street – ooh don’t they look different, much taller, shorter etc – I have no real idea. But I do have an instinct, that he’s just downright honest, and for those of us who watched him cycle on during the tdf with a shattered collar bone (and ive had one - let me tell you I couldn’t walk much less cycle up mountains like he did), I’m in awe. I would really like to hear black and white argument that the cheats are, and the rest aren’t, and accusations are just that until proven. With poor old Tyler he’s being trashed in public. I just believe in Tyler and think there’s been a mistake. Trouble is we don’t really know. But a common dose of humanity suggests we try and believe in our sporting heroes, and for that reason I will still be around watching the TV and enjoying the TDF for the next 3 weeks. And Tyler and Jan (Ullrich), I’m real sorry you are not there.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Networking Event
I attended the first networking event of the UK’s most popular online business support community (UK Business Forums), held just outside the dynamic new city of Milton Keynes. Organised and hosted by Richard Osborne, it gave this “virtual” community a chance to meet up for the first time and to generally “network”. The day before the event we received the list of attendees, an interesting mix, from accountants to web designers, from business support organisations, consultants, charities, toy and joke shops to an eclectic range of professional services including supercar hire, and what I think must reflect the international nature of online communities, someone from “Bulgaria Next Big Thing”.
On attending (well signposted organisers!) we had corridor interaction, messing around with badges and trying to find people to talk to. Then ushered into the dining area we sat down at tables and Richard did a brief introduction. Surprisingly there were far more people from outside of the online community, so I’m not sure what that says about the UKBF community, maybe just that being online, distances don’t matter, whereas for actual meetings it does. A nice touch was that we were asked to move around the tables during the meal changeovers, which did provide us the opportunity to really network – as it was not co-ordinated we sometimes ended up with people we had just met with, but generally that worked well. Even better at each table there was a facilitator to move things along, this was a good approach, although some facilitators clearly had more experience and were more adept at this activity than others.
We had a good guide to “networking for novices” by Michael Markham, from Stanair, I found it really entertaining and useful. Michael made it interactive and gave some time for the “elevator pitch” from selected participants, and he did it all without running overheads or powerpoints. The man just stood, and talked (well, he moved around quite a lot as well), great show, thanks Michael. He provided time for us to rush around collecting as many business cards as possible (the winner got one of the elevator pitches) and lots of brilliant tips on how to network. A really thought provoking one for me was to ask “how can I know if someone I’m talking to would be a good prospect for you?” . Learn to ask that, learn how to answer that, and I think your networking performance will increase wonderfully. For that alone it was worth attending. And as we left people were buzzing and swapping business cards and chatting so all in all a good event, thanks Richard and Michael. And thanks to the UKBF, more @ http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/f
On attending (well signposted organisers!) we had corridor interaction, messing around with badges and trying to find people to talk to. Then ushered into the dining area we sat down at tables and Richard did a brief introduction. Surprisingly there were far more people from outside of the online community, so I’m not sure what that says about the UKBF community, maybe just that being online, distances don’t matter, whereas for actual meetings it does. A nice touch was that we were asked to move around the tables during the meal changeovers, which did provide us the opportunity to really network – as it was not co-ordinated we sometimes ended up with people we had just met with, but generally that worked well. Even better at each table there was a facilitator to move things along, this was a good approach, although some facilitators clearly had more experience and were more adept at this activity than others.
We had a good guide to “networking for novices” by Michael Markham, from Stanair, I found it really entertaining and useful. Michael made it interactive and gave some time for the “elevator pitch” from selected participants, and he did it all without running overheads or powerpoints. The man just stood, and talked (well, he moved around quite a lot as well), great show, thanks Michael. He provided time for us to rush around collecting as many business cards as possible (the winner got one of the elevator pitches) and lots of brilliant tips on how to network. A really thought provoking one for me was to ask “how can I know if someone I’m talking to would be a good prospect for you?” . Learn to ask that, learn how to answer that, and I think your networking performance will increase wonderfully. For that alone it was worth attending. And as we left people were buzzing and swapping business cards and chatting so all in all a good event, thanks Richard and Michael. And thanks to the UKBF, more @ http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/f
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
carbon copy all
Its interesting to view the response from the recent networking event i took part in last friday. It was aimed at a bunch of us interactive types so youd think we'd be quite good at following up - after all it was about NETWORKING.
First, no-one hurriedly got on their PDA and tipped us an email (well maybe they did but didnt include me) late friday. Some enterprising sorts actually did some stuff over the weekend, well done them, but then I wasnt around to get it til Monday, when my inbox was pretty full anyway!
No, most managed to get thro' the weekend and start thinking about it Monday - as did I.
I sent the same missive with a few variations one by one. Thats polite isnt it? Replies varied from a mass email response (great to meet you whoever you where) to a "proper" reply. Nice one you know who you are!
By Tuesday things got desperate with the late-comers either mass mailing us - who wants to see loads of email addresses in the "To" list. Besides which, I dont want people seeing my email mass mailed around. At least learn bcc guys! Worse still by this time we were getting the corporate war & peace (this from small business people) with endless attached pdf's (yeh right im gonna download and read that, thanks) and assorted messages with attached jpg's png's and doc and pdf's - any more three letter acronyms available people? Now its eased off, still waiting for a mega unique tailored offer email. But then maybe I should look at my own. Off i go.
First, no-one hurriedly got on their PDA and tipped us an email (well maybe they did but didnt include me) late friday. Some enterprising sorts actually did some stuff over the weekend, well done them, but then I wasnt around to get it til Monday, when my inbox was pretty full anyway!
No, most managed to get thro' the weekend and start thinking about it Monday - as did I.
I sent the same missive with a few variations one by one. Thats polite isnt it? Replies varied from a mass email response (great to meet you whoever you where) to a "proper" reply. Nice one you know who you are!
By Tuesday things got desperate with the late-comers either mass mailing us - who wants to see loads of email addresses in the "To" list. Besides which, I dont want people seeing my email mass mailed around. At least learn bcc guys! Worse still by this time we were getting the corporate war & peace (this from small business people) with endless attached pdf's (yeh right im gonna download and read that, thanks) and assorted messages with attached jpg's png's and doc and pdf's - any more three letter acronyms available people? Now its eased off, still waiting for a mega unique tailored offer email. But then maybe I should look at my own. Off i go.
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