Andyp

Online sales rip High Street to shreds

noreply@blogger.com (andy) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 21:17:00 +0000

The figures are gradually emerging for retail performance in Q4 2008 and high street sales figures are a bit of a mixed bag, some stores have generated increases (against the trend), some have suffered small losses but the overall trend of high street sales is down, down, deeper and down and so doom and gloom - gloom and doom is forecast for the economy.

However, this is a little like a soccer player taking their eye off the ball. Retails sales are now just one part of the equation - year on year online sales have shown massive growth IRO 30-50% year on year for the past 5 years and estimated to be 30% for Q4 2008. This has to be migration and cannibalisation from the high street. I know that I don't have any more money to spend, and neither do most of the people I know so (in the main) this is not new business.

No matter who you believe (the British Retail Consortium state just 5% of retail spend is online whilst Interactive Media in Retail Group reckon that is's closer to 15%) there is a vast migration to the online shopping environment and if it is cannibalisation then someone has to get hurt - and it's the high street that suffers.

Or does it. A recent report from Nielsen Online (PDF summary here) shows that with the exception of Amazon (who top their table of the most popular UK online retailers in Q4 with 15.6m visitors +18% on 2007) and Play.com who come in at 4th place with a 35% increase in visitors to 5.7m all of the rest of the top 10 are established high street players - Argos (+32%), Tesco (+15%), M&S (+46%), Littlewoods (+66%), Currys (+35%), Asda (+53%), John Lewis (+31%) and Next (+38%).

This is simply further vindication of the move to an online environment. Why would anyone torture themselves by fighting the traffic, playing "hunt the parking space", digging out the change from your pocket to feed the parking machines (why can't towns be enlightened and provide the option of SMS payment or cash) and then braving the crowds in the high street to trudge from shop to shop comparing prices, checking availability and finally purchasing. Only to have to lug it all the way back to the car and then to start all over.

WHY would anyone put themselves through this torture when you can do it from home (or the office), shopping when YOU want to, not when the stores feel like opening and as a nocturnal web dweller this is a REAL benefit.

You have access to ALL of the stores, not just those that have a presence in your nearest town, you can instantly compare prices and availability. Hunt for discounts and cashback deals, place your order and just sit back and wait for the delivery vans to start turning up.

So, the simple message is - if you can sell your products or services online then you HAVE to. If you fail to realise this, your customer base will be leached away by more enlightened businesses and I can't believe that I am still pushing this same message years after online trading became a viable option for ALL traders.

Things we take for granted - #1. Water

noreply@blogger.com (andy) — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 14:11:00 +0000

Last Wednesday, the last Wednesday in November, the 26th, our water supply failed. Pressure had died away to a mere trickle. I did all the logical stuff, checked the stopcock on the incoming feed - turned it off and the trickle died, turned it back on full and the trickle was restored. Went outside to the water meter / valve. Turned it off and the trickle died, turned it on and the trickle was restored.

I looked at the dial to see whether water was gushing through the meter and out through a hole in the pipe between the meter and the house. This would have been the worst-case scenario. A leak on my side of the meter would have made it my responsibility but there was nothing.

I checked with my neighbour to see whether he had a supply. He ran his tap for me to hear - he still had water so I phoned the 24hour "help" line provided by my water Co., Thames Water.

After navigating through a number of automated menus, i finally made it through to someone. He looked up on the system and said that there had been no other reported issues and so drew the conclusion that the lack of supply was my problem and that I'd have to call a plumber to get it resolved. I was 100% certain that this was not so. However, my argument fell on deaf ears (my argument being that no water was flowing through the meter so the problem must lie upstream).

It was too late to call a plumber so we started to (slowly) fill jugs and saucepans ready for the next day.

Thursday came, a plumber arranged. Due to work volumes, the plumber was not able to make it until towards the end of the business day. He arrived, we talked. He reckoned that it would be a Thames Water issue but proceeded to carry out some basic diagnostics. He dismantled the internal stopcock to check for blockage. He knew it would be clear but needed to prove this so that Thames Water would be convinced that everything had been checked properly.

He went to the water meter and drew the same conclusion as mine earlier - no water was flowing through the meter and so the fault would be upstream of the meter.

He left me with a bill. I called Thames Water. They agreed to get a contractor our within 4 hours. Not bad, I thought. then, an hour later (about 7pm) I had another call from TW. How was the water he asked. Was it enough to get by with until tomorrow? To me, this sounded like someone trying to get out of a night call and defer it until the next day. I told him that the TW help line had advised me that someone would be there within 4 hours of my original call. He then said he'd be there inside 90 minutes.

Fair play, he arrived within an hour with a road crew. They used a power saw to cut through the pavement and a mini digger to start digging down. It's now 8.30ish and they are not quiet.

After about an hour of digging they identified the problem. A piece of packing material that should have been removed prior to the original pipe laying had made its way down the pipe and settled across my spur, cutting the flow. TW were responsible, they will fix and they will meet the cost of the plumber that I had to call.

By now it was late - water supply had been restored and they agreed to come back on Friday to fill in the hole.

Fill in the hole they did but the quality of work is so poor that I think it needs redoing. The pavement was covered in mud - as was the front door and window sills of our house. They left their "Men at Work" signs and the barriers that you can see in the pictures and these were not removed until I emailed Customer Service at TW.

The barriers have now been taken away, the signs have been collected but the pavement is still muddy - less so than it was but this is only after some heavy rain. We should not have been left with a pavement in this condition - it should have been restored to as close tot he condition that it was when originally dug up.

I have notified Customer Service at Thames Water and they responded within their 10 day guidelines - and today (15 December) a far more professional restitution has been made - fair play to Thames Water

However, the experience does make one realise how much we in the west take things for granted and how "big" the problems are when things cease to work as we have come to expect. Does pale in to insignificance though when compared to the current (and ongoing) problems in Zimbabwe

Public Wi-fi - Value add or revenue generator?+

noreply@blogger.com (andy) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:31:00 +0000

Was at a hotel in the Midlands earlier. I won't mention their name because that would be like free marketing for them and I don't really want to do that. However, they are a 4 star hotel located just off the M69 and A5.

Great location, from what I saw of the hotel, it looks OK (in a corporate kind of manner) but, imagine my surprise when I opened my laptop and wanted to access Wi-Fi. £6.99 for an hour something around the £20 mark for an all day connection.

When will a business learn that Wi-Fi is a Value Add NOT a revenue stream. I was hampered by the fact there was no Orange or Vodaphone 3G signal so 3G was out.....so I decided not to go online AND I certainly won't recommend the hotel as a meeting point. Simply extortionate rates.

I now realise that I was less than a mile from a McDonalds and their Wi-Fi is FREE. See, Mikey Ds understands Value Add - coffee for around a pound (and it's pretty good coffee too) and free Wi-Fi compared to coffee at over £2.00 (probably) and no free Wi-Fi.

Heck, a couple of miles further up the road and I'd have found a J.D Wetherspoons pub. Good coffee, soft drinks, reasonable prices and free Wi-Fi. Someone else that understands Value Add rather than Revenue Stream.

Hmmm.....both the latter outlets are aimed at the general public, I suspect that my location was business person focused (read Expense Account).....wonder whether things will change in the credit crunch

The cabbie and the nun

noreply@blogger.com (andy) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 09:34:00 +0000

A cabbie picks up a Nun.

She gets into the cab, and notices that the VERY handsome
cab driver won't stop staring at her.

She asks him why he is staring.

He replies:
'I have a question to ask you but I don't want to offend you.'

She answers,
'My son, you cannot offend me. When you're as old as I am
and have been a nun as long as I have, you get a chance to see and
hear just about everything. I'm sure that there's nothing you could
say or ask that I would find offensive.'

'Well, I've always had a fantasy to have a nun ki ss me.'

She responds,
'Well, let's see what we can do about that: #1, you have
to be single and #2, you must be Catholic.'

The cab driver is very excited and says,
'Yes, I'm single and Catholic!'

'OK' the nun says. 'Pull into the next alley.'

The nun fulfills his fantasy, with a kiss that would
make a hooker blush.

But when they get back on the road, the cab driver starts crying.

'My dear child,' says the nun, 'why are you crying?'

'Forgive me but I've sinned. I lied and I must confess,
I'm married and I'm Jewish.'

The nun says, 'That's OK.
My name is Kevin and I'm going to a Halloween party.'

Is nothing new?

noreply@blogger.com (andy) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 23:20:00 +0000

Was having a random browse around the Internet just now (using Stumble if you must know) and came across a series of vintage ads. Scrolling down I came across a "picturephone" - yes, a telephone with a video screen in......go on, guess...well it was originally launched in 1964 at the New York World Trade Fair but it was a touch unwieldy so they released a more compact version in the early 70s.

And we thought video conferencing was a thing of the mid to late 90s.......just goes to show huh!

MENTAL HOSPITAL PHONE MENU

noreply@blogger.com (andy) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 19:51:00 +0000

Hello and thank you for calling The State Mental Hospital.

Please select from the following options menu:

If you are obsessive-compulsive, press 1 repeatedly.

If you are co-dependent, please ask someone to press 2 for you.

If you have multiple personalities, press 3, 4, 5 and 6.

If you are paranoid, we know who you are and what you want, stay on the line so we can trace your call.

If you are delusional, press 7 and your call will be forwarded to the Mother Ship.

If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully and a little voice will tell You which number to press.

If you are manic-depressive, hang up. It doesn't matter which number you press,
nothing will make you happy anyway.

If you are dyslexic, press 9-6-9-6.

If you are bipolar, please leave a message after the beep or before the beep or after the beep.
But Please wait for the beep.

If you have short-term memory loss , press 9.
If you have short-term memory loss, press 9.
If you have short-term memory loss, press 9.

If you have low self-esteem, please hang up. Our operators are too busy to talk with you.

If you are menopausal, put the gun down, hang up, turn on the fan, lie down and cry.
You won't be crazy forever.

If you are blonde, don't press any buttons. You'll just mess it up.

CAUTION - Lidl Scam

noreply@blogger.com (andy) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:36:00 +0000

This is a warning to men who may be regular Lidl or Aldi customers. Over the last month one of my friends became a victim of a clever scam while out shopping. Simply going out to get a few odd's and ends has turned out to be quite traumatic. Don't be naive enough to think it couldn't happen to you or your friends.

Here's how the scam works:

Two very hot 25-26 year-old girls come over to your car as you are packing your shopping into the boot. They both start wiping your windscreen with a rag and Windolene, with their breasts almost falling out of their skimpy little T-shirts. It is impossible not to look.

When you thank them and offer them a tip, they say 'No' and instead ask you for a ride to another store. You agree and they get in the backseat. On the way, they start undressing. Then one of them climbs over into the front seat and starts crawling all over you, while the other one steals your wallet.

He had his wallet stolen July 4th, 9th, 10th, twice on the 15th, 17th, 20th & 24th. Also August 1st, 4th, twice on the 8th, 16th, 23rd, 24th, three times last Saturday and it's very likely to happen again this coming weekend.

So tell your friends to be careful.

P.S. Woolies have wallets on offer for £2.99 each.

All I want for Christmas is...........

noreply@blogger.com (andy) — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 16:12:00 +0000

That the merchandising and hooplah starts in November!

Here we are at the beginning of September and already (as of Monday September 8th, our local Asda-Walmart had Halloween paraphernalia and regalia out in full force - well I suppose it is a little under 2 months before this major event!!

However what was worse was that this weekend saw the rolling out of the Christmasware in at least 3 stores that we visited. Boots had Christmas Crackers and Christmas toiletries already on display, our local "Pets at Home" had advent calendars and the Co-op had Christmas sweets, mince pies etc....can you believe it...it gets earlier and earlier each year...it won't be long until the start of Christmas meets itself on the way out from the previous year.

Google Chrome - shiny shiny shiny

noreply@blogger.com (andy) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 08:38:00 +0000

As I use Google Chrome more and more, I discover more and more about it. As an example, I am having to complete a detailed on-line assessment that requires a lot of on-line form filling. Since I am not the worlds most accurate typist I often have to make my entries in Word and copy and paste them in to the form - just to be able to run a spell checker across my work before committing the data to "the powers that be".

this is a pain in the butt and time consuming - no more is it an issue - Google Chrome automatically checks my spelling for me, as I type and errors are underlined in red with options presented on the right-click of my house.

OK, so the dictionary needs a little education - it appears not to recognise Google for example but it's a lot better than nothing at all!

Hooray - - :-)

Txting is "fun"

noreply@blogger.com (andy) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 19:17:00 +0000

You really have to watch this to believe it. This is a guy riding a motorbike whilst texting - and it's nothing like you think it is.......

Google Chrome - is it the Emperors New Clothes?

noreply@blogger.com (andy) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 09:50:00 +0000

So, Google release a new browser called "Chrome" - with all of the competition out there from Mozilla (Firefox), Opera and Microsoft Internet Explorer why should Google release a browser and why should we take any notice?

Well, the answer is more closely related to the way that you use your browser rather than whether you should change for change's sake.

If you simply open your browser and look at web pages sequentially, then there's probably very little benefit in changing - unless you want to have a look at "the new" although pdf documents open significantly faster in Chrome.

Where it comes in to its own is with tabbed browsing. Opening new tabs has been a long term differentiator between Firefox and Opera (both of which have had tabs for a long time) and Internet Explorer - which only gained tabs in its latest update. Tabbed browsing enables you to have multiple web sites (or pages from the same site) open at the same time.

With all other browsers though, a problem with one page in one tab can (and does) freeze the whole browser. Imagine that you have webmail open in one browser and you are half way through composing an email, you have a web based spreadsheet open in another tab and go to a third tab to do a little research for your email. You launch the tab, navigate to the target site and have to wait for Java to load. Your browser is frozen and you wait and wait....until...you realise that the web page you need for research has locked up your browser. No option - crash out of the browser and re-start. You could have lost your email draft AND any unsaved data in your spreadsheet.

This is where Chrome is different. Each browser tab runs like a stand alone program so if a tab has problems, it can be closed WITHOUT AFFECTING the other open tabs!

Chrome has also been designed around web computing - not web browsing so all YouTube aficionados, all of those who use web based applications (Google Docs, Zoho and the like) will all see benefits.

Last but not least of the features that i have found and like is that if you are working on a document and open another tab for research - if you have space on your desktop with a large monitor, a wide screen or you have multiple monitors, you can pull the research tab "away" from your main instance of Chrome and have it open in its new window.

It may just be in "beta" i.e not fully developed, it may not have all of the options available to Firefox (Firefox has thousands of useful ad ons) bit I have to admit that I like Chrome a lot.

And...the way that it works it not too far away from being an operating system in its own right. If you do everything remotely through your web browser (Thin Client Computing - Wikipedia definition) then Chrome may just be the best way to achieve it.

Sick of Corporate Cliches?

noreply@blogger.com (andy) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 12:32:00 +0000

So, let's take this offline, let's look at a new paradigm, i envision us going forwards...do these sound familiar? They're all entrants in BS Bingo - the type of "speak" that consultants may use when they really have nothing to say. Have a look at this from MiniBlackHole - who is a journalist by trade.

miniblackhole's Love Solutions from miniblackhole on Vimeo.

Jumping the Shark

noreply@blogger.com (andy) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:47:00 +0000

Well, I think it has happened. After months of expectant waiting, Top Gear - the irreverent TV motoring show hosted by JC (that's Jeremy Clarkson) Richard Hammond and James May has returned to our TVs.

2 episodes in and I am finding that something is missing, not sure what it is, but something is missing. The very un PC attitude is there, the quips are there, the fast cars are there, as is the Stig and "Star in a reasonably priced car" but it feels forced, too scripted, over produced maybe....not sure but it's possible that TG has "Jumped the Shark", it has reached the peak in its popularity and is heading off for a slow decline. Maybe it has - maybe not, only time and the remaining episodes will tell. I'm sad........but that's life

The better phone is here

noreply@blogger.com (andy) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:23:00 +0000

I may have commented in the past about how much I came to dislike my "smart" phone. The Sony Ericsson P990i was more of an infuriation than it was smart. Constantly dropping Blue Tooth connections, before calls, during calls, after calls - consistent it was not. The it also has the temerity to crash - around 1 in 20 incoming calls would find be pressing the button to answer, holding the phone to ear to speak - talking to nothing followed by an exasperated look at the phone which had the temerity to advise me that "This phone is restarting to improve your customer experience".

It nearly went out of the window on several occasions - but all that is behind me now, the spawn of Satan Sony phone has passed on.

For the past month I have had the pleasure of using the HTC TyTn II phone. Sadly it's running Windows Mobile, happily this has yet to crash. I thought I'd give it a month before posting, just to make sure that the phone is as good as it seemed when it arrived.

Now, this really IS a smartphone. It has a features list as long as your arm, and all of them seem to work pretty well - so where shall I start.

OK, the screen is 2.8" and very crisp with standard Windows Mobile buttons and a touch screen interface. Then, push the screen back and there is a usable QWERTY keyboard. Tilt the screen up and it looks like a little laptop.

It is 3G and HSDPA (up to 9 times faster than 3G) so it has really quick web connectivity -a boon when using the built in GPS receiver in conjunction with Google Maps (or the inbuilt SatNav). Yes, Wi-Fi is there to although my data bundle from Orange looks to be shouldering the load.

ActiveSync means that it pulls down my emails from our corporate server and keeps my diary up to date whilst pocket versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint let me read attachments with ease (oh and Adobe too for pdfs)

As an MP3 and video player it works pretty well although the screen is too small for really serious watching.

On the back is a 3Mp camera with digital zoom. OK, it won't set the world alight and it lacks a flash but I knew that before I ordered the phone and I have a decent digital camera anyway. Taking snapshots with the phone is fine, and 3MP will happily print to a 6 x 4 photo in photo quality if I like.

MicroSD cards allow me to up the memory from 128Mb to almost as much as I like although the 2Gb card that came with the phone is probably enough.

Battery life is OK too - surprisingly, although WiFi use does tend to suck the power, but it can be charged in the car, at home and off the laptop so that's not really a worry.

So, how do I feel now the new iPhone has been released - not so bad really. Yes, it too has fast 3G connectivity (at last), yes it looks really cool but look at the price. My HTC cost me nothing in capital and I pay under £30 per month for a bag full of minutes and unlimited (well nearly) web access too.

RIP Sony Ericsson P990i and welcome to the family HTC TyTn II {dumb name tho}

Google CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)

noreply@blogger.com (andy) — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:50:00 +0000

Well, I was going to blog about my new phone - the one that replaces the spawn of the devil that was my Sony Ericsson P990i - however I followed a link from Google the other day and learned something new about our favourite search engine.

Their response to the Burmese tragedy was to post a link on their search page offering to donate up to $1m. The way this worked was that you clicked on the link and you were taken to a page where you could donate online to two of the charities working hard to alleviate the suffering of the Burmese people affected - UNICEF and Direct Relief International. Google would then match the donation $ for $.

From here, I discovered a Google domain previously unknown to me, www.google.org

Here, Google explains how they they want to harness the "power of information and technology to address the global challenges of our age".

They talk about the generation of renewable energy (developed to be cheaper than coal) and on a realistic scale. To back this up, Google have a fleet of plug-in vehicles to test under real-world conditions charged by their installation of the largest solar panel installation on a corporate estate. 9,212 panels generate 1,600 kilowatts of power - this would translate in to sufficient power for 1000 Californian homes.

They are involved with the commercialisation of Plug-In vehicles (OK, so we need the first one before this so that the power used is non-polluting) as well as using information to empower communities, policy makers and you and I to improve public services as well as helping to increase the flow of capital to Small and Medium Sized enterprises in the developing world.

Anyway, it transpires that when Larry Page and Sergey Brin wrote to their shareholders in 2004 about their vision for the company they outlined their commitment for Google to contribute 1% of their equity and profits (together with employee time) to help address "some of the world's most urgent problems".

To May 2008 Google has committed over $85m in grants and investments - not bad going.

As I said, you can find all this and more at www.google.org - have a look and learn a little more about our favourite Internet giant.

The charge of the light bulb brigade

noreply@blogger.com (andy) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 22:56:00 +0000

Do you know how much I have come to loath the humble light bulb?

Once upon a time, it was really simple. A bulb blew and all you had to do was to decide how bright you wanted the replacement to be - how simple is that. Oh you could choose from "pearl" - those bulbs with the frosted glass that gave a softer light, or "clear" for a brighter, harsher light. Then you could choose a colour if you wanted to - I used to use those red bulbs for electric fires when I was a teenager - living in my own red-light zone, my bedroom used to look like a brothel - not that I realised when I was 13, it was just different and cool.

Now, if a bulb blows, one needs a university degree to ascertain the fitting type, fitting type, bulb type, the application that it is used for, how much one wants to spend, how green one wants to be etc....

We have moved on from the simple bayonet fitting that worked so well for so many years, now we have screw threaded bulbs - with different sizes of screw threads. Sometimes they work loose and stop working - all that is needed is a simple screwing back in but it's all too easy just to assume that they have died and have to be replaced.

Then you have the choice between incandescent bulbs and the newer low energy fluorescent bulbs. These are far more efficient, they sip electricity compared to an incandescent (which positively gulp their power down). The typical 60 watt incandescent being replaced by a 9 or 11 watt fluorescent - using something like 1/6th of the energy and lasting a squillion times longer (or so they say)

Of course, it's never quite that simple. The cheaper fluorescents take a little time to develop their full brightness -coming on candle like and allowing full brightness to develop over time. These cheaper ones can also have a greenish (how appropriate) colour cast - not normally noticed by the human eye such is its adaptability.

The more expensive ones come to full brightness a lot quicker (although neither are happy when used with a dimmer switch) and tend not to suffer from such a colour cast.

However, cheap or expensive, all fluorescents contain mercury - which is incredibly toxic. So, when they fail they have to be disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner - you can't just throw them in your bin, the recycling police will refuse to take your waste away and will call down such an infestation of pox that you'll wish you have never discovered the joys of the electric light and stayed with candles.

And woe betide you if one breaks. You have to call a full decontamination squad who will arrive in their chemical warfare suits and breath through filters that make them all sound like Darth Vader. You'll be treated as a pariah for polluting the community, pilloried by your neighbours and eventually be forced to move out of the neighbourhood - all because you broke a low energy fluorescent bulb - probably out of frustration because you threw it to the floor having failed to get the right brightness / fitting combination.

Then there's the bulbs for the kitchen appliances, the oven, the microwave, the cooker hood / extractor - even the vacuum cleaner.

Then there's halogen bulbs for those dinky little ceiling lights (not very environmentally friendly at all), I've just seen a halogen lower energy bulb in a "standard" enclosure. This was designed to replace "normal" bulbs (if such a thing exists), give out more light than the older incandescent bulbs so use less energy (although not as little energy as the fluorescent bulbs) and are priced between an incandescent and a fluorescent energy saver.

It does not matter how much you spend and how many spare bulbs you have, you will never have the right one to replace the one that's just blown and thrown the loo in to darkness just when you really cannot wait any longer......

The IP Police come a calling

noreply@blogger.com (andy) — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 12:39:00 +0000

So, in all their might, the various agencies with "responsibility" for pirating are once again using their telescope the wrong way around.

Having tried to take out the file sharing sites and the torrent directories in order to prevent people downloading pirated music and video files, they turn their focus to the Internet service providers, those that deliver our broadband to our RJ45s

This is like trying to make the companies that build the roads to be responsible for speeders, or like making transport companies responsible for alcoholics and binge drinkers. The gun is pointing at the wrong target.

If the laws get passed, it will become your broadband provider's responsibility to police the data that you download. Woe betide if you are caught downloading a torrent stream. You will instantly be guilty of piracy and will be the recipient of a "cease and desist" note from your service provider. Get caught a second time and the message will be stronger. Get caught a third time and your connection will be terminated.

Of course, there are a couple of problems with this approach

1/ Some torrent traffic is legitimate. It is a legitimate distribution route for some software applications, the download model of the BBC's iPlayer uses torrents to share legitimate material and, more telling, the pirates are already one step ahead of the game. They now use encryption to mask the type of data streaming across the Internet and so become undetectable (again)

2/ What happens if a broadband provider is not based in the UK? A number of companies have moved their HQs out of the UK to benefit from slightly advantageous VAT rates. These companies will be outside of UK law and if outside of the EU, then outside of EU law as well - Switzerland springs to mind here.

Why do the media creators not just admit that the golden age of making money hand over fist is over and look to re-invent themselves in a more 21st century manner.

With bands like Radiohead making their latest album available effectively for free, some of the artists are already embracing the model. Thousands of new acts are springing up and using MySpace and YouTube as their route to market - cutting out the major producers at source.

They may not generate the vast up-front signing-on offers (which are only advances after all, and have to be paid back out of the profits from sale of CDs) but they build incredibly loyal fanbases who DO pay for downloads and who WILL pay to go and see the artists perform live and WILL buy T-Shirts and other ephemeral memorabilia.

So, with this in mind, why don't the studios embrace all the BENEFITS offered by new media - -the potential access to a vast new market . . . for example, touring China or selling CDs. and DVDs in China may be difficult - providing content via the web is not much easier but it is more achievable.

And why don't they make the content available for free - at a low quality, (VHS or audiotape quality) for example.

That way, the cheapskates who would NEVER pay to view or listen could actually access the material, others could sample the quality of performance and if they then wanted a higher quality then they could buy the higher quality version - with various qualities on offer

MP3 player quality or audiophile quality for the aficionados (who will pay)
TV quality and Hi-Def quality for the real fans - who will also pay.

As far as I am ware, this has never been put forward as an option worthy of consideration. Therefore I consider this to be the AP New Media Business Model and claim it as my own.

What's all the hot air about?

noreply@blogger.com (andy) — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 23:23:00 +0000

So, Steve Jobs announced the new MacBook Air last week, and what a stunning looking beauty it is. Claiming to be the worlds thinnest notebook, running the best operating system {maybe} and the most stylish {almost certainly}. Set up correctly it will run Microsoft Windoze (if you really must) as well as the latest version of Apple's operating system, ummm.....gazelle, giraffe...oh....nope, it's Leopard

However, it may also be the least useful laptop around. I've recently moved to a Sony Vaio, a VGN-SZ61WN - not quite as "sexy" sounding as MacBook "Air" although Sony do brand it with the "everywair" tag and that does describe it, although I don't know whether this tag was added after the MacLaunch or before......anyway, it's not a Mac, has a horrible model number and so there's already an image problem to overcome. However, let's see how things stack up.

Size
Apple quote the Air as being 0.76inches thick (at it's thickest) and in the new money, that's 1.93cms. The Sony is 3.3cms - so round 1 to the Mac.

Apple say the Air is 12.8 inches wide and 8.95 deep (that's 32.51 x 22.73 centimetres) whilst the Vaio is 31.5 cms x 23.43.

Hmmm, that's pretty close, the Vaio being a little shorter but slightly deeper so let's see which one takes up the most desktop real-estate.

So, the Sony requires 738.95 cm2 whilst the Vaio requires 738.05. So close, the margin is so small that it would be churlish to declare a victory for the Vaio so let's call this one a draw.

Weight
Sony say the Air weighs in at "about 3lbs which is around 1.36 kg whilst the Sony is 1.79kg, that's 400 grams heavier, or around 0.9lbs. That one goes to the Mac.....

.....or does it.

See, the Vaio has an inbuilt optical drive that reads and writes both CDs and DVDs, the Mac has no optical drive built in, does not come supplied with an external one either but an external one can be purchased for $99. Hmmmm......OK and Apple say that you can install apiece of software called "Remote Disk" that will allow you to use an optical drive of another Mac or PC - well that's OK then, at least I can install my applications. Oh - yes, if you want to do this on a Windows machine - well drive sharing is included in the operating system! (Damn, I never thought I'd praise Windows)

So how will "Remote Disk" work? Well, the MacAir does not have a network port (in fact it does not have many ports at all) so you'd have to use the integrated wireless networking. Not sure I'd want to use Wireless to install an application suite...oh well.

Oh, the Sony, yes it has wireless networking built in but also has a Gigabit Ethernet port included as well.

Networking and Connectivity
Oh, and while we are on networking, the Vaio also sports an inbuilt HSDPA. (That's 3G broadband to 3.6Mbps over the mobile phone network - depending on what's available in your area). So, wherever I am in the UK, I can access my office remotely, emails, Internet etc etc - truly "Martini" computing. (Any time any place anywhere)

Oh and they both have Bluetooth.

I think, for networking, the Vaio wins, hands down!

The Vaio also has a "proper" video port for the connection of a second screen (and supports extended Desktop on that screen) or for using a Projector. The Vaio also has 2 (yes 2) graphics cards, an integrated Intel device that's low on poer consumption and just fine for business computing and a higher power NVidia 8400 for some gaming.

Yes, I think the Vaio wins on the graphics front - - - oh, the screens.....

Vaio offers a 13.3" screen with 1280 x 800 resolution - and so does the Mac.

Let's continue on connectivity, remember the MacAir has...ummm.....
1x USB2
1x Micro DVI (for video out)
1x Headphone socket
I would presume that the MacAir has an integrated microphone to work with the iSight webcam

The Vaio has....

2 x USB
1 x Video Out
1 x Headphone socket
1 x Microphone Socket (with an inbuilt mic to work with the integrated "MotionEye web cam)
1 x PCMCIA slot
1 x Modem socket
1 x Ethernet Socket
1 x Docking Station port
1 x Memory Stick slot
1 X MultiCard reader (MMC, SD card, XD card compatible)
1 x Express Card Slot

Hmmm.....a connectivity win for the Vaio

The MacAir comes with an 80Gb hard drive, respectable enough......the SOny ships with a 160Gb device - another sount thrashing for the MacAir.

Now, what makes these babies fly???

Well they both come with 2Gb RAM DDR2 667Mhz - so we can declare that a draw.

They both have Intel CPUs, the MacAir having a custom designed Intel Core Duo device running at 1.6Ghz with a 1.8Ghz option.

The Sony Vaio wins again with an Intel Core Duo CPU running at 2.2Ghz. (They both have 4Gb cache)

They both claim to have a battery life in excess of 5 hours. As with most claims, I think this should be taken with a pinch of salt, don't know the real world figures, but I have got around 4 hours out of the Vaio which isn't to shabby.

Oh, and the MacAir has an oversize multi-touch track pad so it works a little like the screen on the iPhone.

The Winning Post
So, let's see - the MacAir is a little lighter and looks slinkier (as all Macs do) but I think my Vaio looks just fine in black. However, it may be lighter but lacks an optical drive. The external drive does not have to weigh too much to make the combination heavier than the Vaio.

After that, things are either a tie (memory, webcam, battery life, WiFi and Bluetooth) or an outright victory (hard drive size, integrated optical drive, memory card readers, expansion slots, integrated Ethernet, analogue modem, HSDPA) so I think this is a comfortable win for the Vaio.

Sadly, it all comes tumbling down when you realise that the Vaio is crippled by Vista. It's adequate but feels no faster than the Dell it replaces which was a single core 1.6Ghz mobile Intel part. OK, I have yet to really push the Sony but it just does not feel any faster - maybe I should install XP, bet it would really fly then.

It's Christmas Day, all is secure!

noreply@blogger.com (andy) — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 20:30:00 +0000

'twas the night before christmas

he lived all alone

in a one bedroom house made of plaster and stone

I had come down the chimney with presents to give

and to see just who in this home did live

I looked all about a strange sight i did see

no tinsel no presents not even a tree

no stocking by the mantle just boots filled with sand

on the wall hung pictures of far distant lands

with medals and badges awards of all kinds

a sober thought came through my mind

for this house was different it was dark and dreary

i found the home of a soldier once i could see clearly

the soldier lay sleeping silent alone

curled up on the floor in this one bedroom home

the face was so gentle the room in such disorder

not how i pictured a lone british soldier

was this the hero of whom i'd just read

curled up on a poncho the floor for a bed

i realised the families that i saw this night

owed their lives to these soldiers who were willing to fight

soon round the world the children would play

and grownups would celebrate a bright christmas day

they all enjoy freedom each month of the year

because of the soldiers like the one lying here

i couldn't help wonder how many alone

on a cold christmas eve in a land far from home

the very though brought a tear to my eye

i dropped to my knees and started to cry

the soldier awakened and i heard a rough voice

'santa don't cry this life is my choice

i fight for freedom i don't ask for more

my life is my god, my country. my corps'

the soldier rolled over and drifted to sleep

i couldn't control it i continued to weep

i kept watch for hours so silent and still

and we both sat and shivered from the cold nights chill

i didn't want to leave on that cold dark night this guardian of honour so willing to fight

then the soldier rolled over with a voice soft and pure

whispered 'carry on santa its christmas day all is secure'

one look at my watch and i knew he was right

'merry christmas my friend and to all a good night'

This poem was written by a peace keeping soldier stationed overseas.
Let's remember those of all nations who will be away from their families and loved ones this year
Doing their job so that others may enjoy their lives in relative peace and security

'Those who can laugh without cause have either found the true meaning of happiness or have gone stark raving mad.' - Norm Papernick

Broadband Woes - contined

noreply@blogger.com (andy) — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 10:12:00 +0000

This is the press release that i sent out last week in the hope that it may attract some media attention. It has, a national TV network consumer affiars show has made contact although i don't want to announce who it is at this point in time whilst investigations in to the matter continue.

BT Incompetence means Swindon based IT Consultant is 4 weeks without broadband

Andy Poulton, an IT Consultant in Wiltshire, lives in North Swindon and has long been frustrated by the slow speed of the broadband service that he is able to access – this is due to the fact that although he lives just 1.2km from the telephone exchange in Blunsdon, planning decisions mean that he is right on the limit of line length for service delivery, some 7.2km of cable lie between his house and the exchange.

On Monday September 17th Mr Poulton’s broadband connection failed.

Between September 17th and October 8th, BT claim to have fixed the fault no less than 8 times and yet Andy says the service is still unavailable.

Only once (right at the beginning of this saga) has a BT Openreach engineer visited Mr Poulton’s house (after carrying out work at the exchange) to verify that the service was still faulty. An administrative error somewhere in BT Openreach meant that the job was closed and so the engineer was unable to pursue the matter further and make good the repair.

Andy believes that it will require a visit to his house to properly address the issue and to prove that service has been restored to his satisfaction – a step that BT Openreach seem unwilling to take, even when they agree that a house visit is necessary.

This is despite BT Openreach calling Mr Poulton on the morning of Day 16, Wednesday October 3rd and explicitly stating that they would like to send an engineer to his house that afternoon to check the connection to the property.

Mr Poulton went to some length to re-arrange his diary, re-arranging several pre-existing appointments and made sure he was home by 1pm, the earliest that BT said an engineer would call.

BT Openreach did not visit the house, wasting one whole afternoon of Mr Poulton’s time. Instead, the Openreach engineer went to the Blunsdon telephone exchange and claims to have carried out a repair to some “jumpers”, signed the job off as completed and advised Mr Poulton’s Internet Service Provider that service had been restored.

Sadly, like the previous 4 BT Openreach interventions and the 3 subsequent interventions where BT Openreach claimed to have resolved the problem Mr Poulton’s broadband was still unserviceable.

Despite emails to CEOs of BT, BT Openreach, BT Wholesale and his Internet Service Provider, Mr Poulton has yet to be contacted by anyone in these organisations who may be able to resolve this issue to Mr Poulton’s satisfaction, once and for all.

In a recent interview Andy said “I cannot believe the level of apparent incompetence demonstrated by BT Openreach. I live less than 15 minutes from the exchange, all it would take is a simple visit to my house to confirm that they have failed to restore the service and yet no-one within Openreach seems prepared to take this action. They are either not prepared to offer an acceptable level of customer service and appear incompetent, economical with the truth or are deliberately acting in an anti-competitive manner to prevent my Internet Service Provider delivering an internet service to my home”

Notes
Andy Poulton has worked in IT for over 11 years, first in network design and implementation and customer support roles for many national companies and latterly as an IT adviser for Wiltshire based businesses, helping them identify and resolve their IT and web site issues and assisting them with their plans for growth and expansion

More information, including a complete diary from Andy’s perspective is available , just post a comment to this blog indicating that you like to know more.

BT and Tesco fail to deliver the goods

noreply@blogger.com (andy) — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 10:12:00 +0000

Well....it is now 24 days that I have been without a home broadband service and so in the past week I have started to circulate letters of complaint.

This is the diary so far -

Day 0 Saturday / Sunday September 15/16
Broadband service to 01793 700480 becomes increasingly unreliable, dropping out frequently during this time.

Day 1 Monday September 17th
Service unavailable all day

Day 2 Tuesday September 18th
Service call logged with Tesco premium rate number.
I had already carried out as many tests as possible – connection attempted with 2 x devices (router and Speedtouch ADSL modem), multiple computers, a variety of ADSL filters and two leads known to be good - all via BT master socket.

These steps were duplicated whilst on the telephone to the premium rate number and it was agreed that the broadband provision was faulty.

The next step was for my call to be escalated. No Level 2 tech was available and so an appointment for a call back had to be made.

Earliest mutually convenient time was Thursday September 20th in the evening.

Day 4 Thursday September 20th – Evening
Support Technician called back as arranged. Discussed diagnostic process undertaken - agreement that broadband provision was faulty and agreed to escalate to BT for remedial action

From your records, BT claim to have subsequently conducted a line test and claimed that everything was OK.

Day 9 Tuesday September 25th
Called Tesco to advise that the problem had not been rectified

Escalated to next level of support

Day 10 Wednesday September 26th.
Contacted by a call centre and appointment with BT engineer was booked for the afternoon of Friday September 28th.

Day 11 Thursday September 27th
Contacted clients with whom I had meetings scheduled on the 28th to rearrange. Level of inconvenience caused by broadband outage expands beyond household.

Day 12 Friday September 28th
Early afternoon - BT engineer called, as agreed, and started making investigations at Blunsdon exchange. He telephoned again a short while later to provide update (he had identified a fault at the exchange and was in the process of rectifying – BT engineer action – “lift and shift”).

Engineer called back to advise that he had completed this action and that the problem should have been resolved. I told him that I still had no service.

Engineer visited property, accessed telephone line junction box outside of property and confirmed that there still was no broadband service.

Engineer returned to Blunsdon exchange and diagnosed that “lift and shift” had failed, that another piece of hardware was faulty and that he would take the appropriate steps to arrange another “lift and shift”.

Because it was now late in the afternoon, I was advised that it was unlikely that he would receive the appropriate authorisation until Saturday but, since his shift included Saturday, he would be able to continue

Day 13 Saturday September 29th
Message from BT engineer advising that job had been inadvertently marked as “Complete” by BT and that Tesco would have to re-open the job.

At this point I was still happy with BT because this engineer had provided an excellent level of communication whilst attending to the issue.Day 14 Monday October 1st c 13:00
Having heard nothing further I once again called your Tesco service desk in an attempt to find out whether any further progress had been made.

Was informed that the system had been updated by BT at around 11:00 that morning claiming that BT would provide a further update in a couple of hours

Day 14 Monday October 1st c18:30
Contacted Tesco again - and was again told the same – that BT had updated the system at around 11am and would provide more information in a couple of hours.

I made the point that this was exactly the same message as at 13:00 and more than a couple of hours had passed. Subsequently requested that someone call me on my mobile on Tuesday 2nd to advise me of any progress

Day 15 Tuesday October 2nd 11:08
Message left on landline number (no one available to take call which is why I requested contact to my mobile) advising me that broadband service had been restored.

Wife picked up message at around 2pm and tried to log on – to no effect.

Wife contacted me and as soon as I was able, I took more time off from work to come home. Carried out diagnostics (as per Tuesday September 18th) and confirmed that broadband service still not working.

Called Tesco to advise

Day 16 Wednesday October 3rd 08:29
Call from BT Openreach looking to make appointment. Openreach had identified a line fault and wanted to book an appointment to visit property to examination external cable junction box. (Funny – according to BT there the service was fine at 11:08 Tuesday October 2nd – where has this line fault appeared from – did it exist on Tuesday, in which case BT is providing inaccurate information to Tesco and are failing to properly complete a repair – so they are inept – or BT are deliberately acting in an anti-competitive manner, denying Tesco customer access to internet via BT equipment.) Supposition – BT may like client to give up on Tesco and migrate to alternative supplier…BT perhaps?

Agreed appointment for Wednesday October 3rd between 13:00 and 18:00

Re-arranged PM diary (again calling clients, apologising and moving appointments – inconveniencing clients, adding to logjam of work building up as a result of previous time off and time taken to make extensive calls to Tesco). 2nd time that inconvenience had been visited on people not directly affected by BT failure to resolve fault.

Day 16 Wednesday October 3rd 18:00
No engineer visit, no communication to advise as to reason for failure to make visit.

Consequence – afternoon wasted. Potential revenue lost.

Day 16 Wednesday October 3rd c 20:20
Called Tesco Internet to advise of engineer no-show and request update to mobile as soon as possible

Day 17 Thursday October 4th 13:45
No call from Tesco to either landline or mobile. Called Tesco at first possible time (13:45)

Was advised that BT engineer had visited exchange and had rectified problem with “jumpers”. Engineer claimed that broadband provision restored.

Tesco, noting that no attempt had been made to access Tesco broadband on account presumed that fault had not been rectified and so put in another request to BT to investigate.

Day 17 Thursday October 4th 15:28
Call to Tesco enquiring as to status. Advised that job is now open with BT (again) and that I should await a call back to book an appointment.

Day 18 Friday October 5th 12:15
Nothing heard from Tesco so I called in at earliest opportunity. Was advised that I would be called back “shortly”

15:30 called again since “shortly” had come and gone. Was promised a prompt call back

16:45 called again – my definition of “shortly” and “prompt” obviously differs from the Tesco dictionary definition. Finally spoke with someone other than a member of the first level response team. Was advised that BT had updated the job status and closed the job, implying that the fault had been resolved. I was sceptical. It was agreed that Tesco would call me after 19:30 to run some diagnostics.

17:45 – arrived home, checked router – no broadband service. Just to be sure, connected Speedtouch modem to BT master socket – no broadband service

19:30 call from Tesco – missed by self
20:00 call from Simon at Tesco. Advised that broadband service still U/S. Was advised that BT reported they moved telephone line to a different line card.

Simon offered to take matter up with team leader and also to try to contact Openreach on Saturday and to call me around lunchtime to update – even if the update is just that he has been unable to make progress

Day 19 Saturday October 6th 13:12
Message left by Simon, no update – will have to wait until Monday for more news

Day 20 Sunday October 7th
Nothing new

Day 21 Monday October 8th 12:16
Having heard nothing from Tesco, I called – phone rang, was answered but kicked straight to music. Hung up and redialled. (46 seconds)

This time, phone was answered – asked for update. Placed on hold for 11 minutes. Since I have an MP3 player to play music, I gave up listening to the music-on-hold and hung up.

17:06 – called again. Again given music to listen to – some of which was badly distorted. After another 12 minutes on hold, was advised that the tech guys had been trying to call BT all day but hadn’t been able to get through.

17:26 – Simon called back. He had BT on the phone and they wanted to book an appointment to come to the house. Agreed to a visit Tuesday 9th, AM so spent the next 5 minutes making outbound calls to re-arrange diary.

Day 22 Tuesday October 9th (week 4)
No reply to any of the emails circulated to the address list provided below.

09:50 BT Openreach engineer calls to advise that he will be at the house in around 10 minutes

10:03 BT Openreach engineer arrives, plugs laptop and ADSL modem in to BT Master socket – no service.

Removes master socket from the wall and bares 2 incoming wires which he connects to his own phone socket. Connects laptop and ADSL modem – no service

Replaces Master Socket and leaves to visit street cabinet, promising to return.

11:30 BT Openreach engineer calls. He has been to the street cabinet and carried out a variety of checks. This has indicated to him that the fault lies back at the exchange – there is no broadband service on 01793 700480 between the exchange and the street cabinet.

He advises me that this job now has to be passed to another engineer – he does not know their workload and is not able to give an estimated time/date when work will re-commence.

How frustrating – if the original site visit had been allowed to continue on Friday 28th September / Saturday 29th September, this problem would have been resolved by now.

16:55 Call from Samuel, Tesco Broadband. Introduced himself as a member of the customer care team who would be taking responsibility for managing the problem and that he would carry out some investigations and call back.

Samuel called back and left a message due to my being in an evening meeting. There was no real news – just that the Openreach engineer had closed the job because he felt the fault was at the exchange and a different engineer had to take over.

Day 23 Wednesday October 10th
12:15 Call from “David” and Tesco to update me o the situation. Actually, there was no real update just that David was going to call BT in an attempt to get things moving.

17:20 David called back. He had been on the telephone to BT and learned that the engineer had been in to the exchange and carried out some work. This had failed to resolve the problem. It was felt that a “cease and restore” was required and that this was in the process of being booked. David advised that he would be back in touch on Thursday with a further update.

Based on the fact that BT have already tried a number of “fixes” I have no faith in this next proposed course of action and will continue to have 0 faith until BT propose a solution, implement a solution and visit my home to demonstrate that a working solution has been implemented.

Day 24 Thursday October 11th11:00
No update from Tesco

Can you say "frustrated". I'd have more success if I tried to headbut my way in to the Bank of England. At least someone would pay attention - even if it was only the police to drag me away or the hospital to mend my broken head.

Watch this space

E-Commerce goes thru the roofand small businesses miss the baot.

noreply@blogger.com (andy) — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 22:43:00 +0000

I'm writing this as I wait for Windows to sort itself out. 17 months after my PC died and was reborn with new motherboard, processor and memory the original boot drive has gone to that place where all drives eventually go, hard drive heaven.

Whilst I try to get Windoze to install on a different drive, let me share some wowtastic ecommerce factoids relating to July 2007.

The 10 week run up to Christmas 2006 saw £7.7bn spent online. This was a 54% increase on the previous Christmas and in December the £1bn / week figure was smashed for the first time. For the whole year, £30.2bn was transacted online.

Now, in July 2007, £4.2bn was transacted online, a massive 80% increase on July 2006. Now, seeing phenomenal growth in online sales is nothing new, as seen in the Christmas illustration above. What is interesting is the comparison between this online growth and the growth figure for High St sales. For July 2007, High St sales grew just 3.3%

This demonstrates the importance and impact that on line retailing is having.

However, a survey last year by the Federation for Small Business (FSB) indicated that just 18% of SMEs (Small to Medium Sized Enterprises) were actually trading online.

To me, this just shouts "missed opportunity". All of those businesses not actively trading on line have to be loosing business to their competitors - they must be and yet they still continue to carry on as before. What they may not realise is that by doing nothing, they are not standing still - they are moving backwards and they should jump on the wave and join the ride or face hardship.

Now I know we have all heard the doom-sayers before, 7-8 years before, telling companies to get on line or die........however I think this statement is truer today than it was then and the statistics back it up too.

Not only that but 1m more users joined the information super highway in the UK in 2006, with over 31m of a population of 60m having web access, 84% of those getting online with a broadband connection.

So, the numbers of Internet users continues to climb, online transactions enjoy stellar rates of growth and yet 82% of SMEs don't think this is for them.

WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE.

Even putting together an online store is not overly expensive these days - and anyway - what is the cost if an online store is not launched?

Cars, cars and more cars -but preferably black, red or silver

noreply@blogger.com (andy) — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 12:15:00 +0000

OK, so I need to own up, not only am i a self confessed geek but I'm also a bit of a petrol-head as well and over the past couple of months I have been lucky enough to see some really rare cars.

It's not every day that I see an Aston Martin but compared to the following cars, Astons are as common as.......I have seen 4 cars in the past few weeks that are rarer than hens teeth - the types of car that one may only ever see once or twice on the road in a lifetime of driving, cars that are masters of the art of vehicle design.....that have (at some point in their history) redefined a genre. So, enough of the blabbing and on to the steel (or thermo-plastic or carbon fibre).

The first of these cars that I saw was dubbed "Il Mostro" by the Italian press, "The Monster" and surprisingly enough it was not a Ferrari or a Lamborghini but an Alfa Romeo. Now, Alfa's are nice enough (the latest ones are really good looking cars in the right colour) but Il Mostro was something different.

In the late 80's Alfa were struggling with their identity and so asked 3 design houses to come up with a Concept Car. The monster was born - although officially it was the Alfa Romeo SZ or "Sprint Zagato Experimental Sportscar 3.0 litre" to give it its full title.

Only 1,036 were ever made and by today's standards of 500-600HP motors the 210 HP 3ltr engine seems pretty tame. However, back in the 80s this was "good stuff" and when mated to a lightweight body, the performance was pretty good. (152MPH top speed 0-62mph in around 6 seconds).

And then there were the looks - only available in "Rosso Alfa", Alfa Red, the car looks stunning and purposeful. Saw this car on a family trip whilst driving around South Wilts / North Somerset.

Next is a supercar Tour-du-Force. When Mercedes wanted to design and build the ultimate Mercedes, they turned to UK company, McLaren for help. Already Partners in the McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 team, the request was a natural one, particularly in light of McLaren's record in the SuperCar business - having already designed and built McLaren F1 supercar, one time holder of the record for being the fastest production car.

And so the Mercedes Benz SLR McClaren was born.

Combining Mercedes Benz style and quality with McLarens proven SuperCar design and engineering skills and the engine design skills of AMG, the SLR is probably the fastest car with an automatic gearbox!

It's gull-wing doors hark back to the MB 300SLR of 1955 and this car is powered by a 5.4ltr V8 developing 617 Hp which provides almost rocket-ship levels of performance. 0-62mph reached in 3.5 seconds and on to a top speed of 210mph.

Also saw this rocket ship in South Wiltshire.

One weekend in August we went to a classic car show at Wroughton Airfield and revelled in the sounds of a load of AC Cobras, saw plenty of Jenson Interceptors and other lovely classics but a few days after, saw a genuine Ford GT40 on the road.

Back in the 60s Ford attempted to buy Ferrari for their sports car experience. The takeover was rebuffed and in frustration, Ford decided to take Ferrari to task and to design a sports car with the sole purpose of winning the Le Mans 24 hour race. That was the design brief, the result was the F40. So named because it is just 40" high. And, yes - it went on to beet Ferrari at LeMans, not just once but in 4 consecutive years. In the first year, the car was co-driven by Bruce McClaren - who went on to form the McClaren F1 team. The car was also produced for sale and a legend was made.

Originally powered by a 4.2ltr V8 engines of up to 7.0ltrs were fitted as the car evolved. Although not as rare as the other cars featured here, the GT40 is still an exciting and rare site on our roads.

And last but not least, spotted on the M4 motorway this very lunchtime, a very distinctive SuperCar, the Pagani Zonda. Built in Italy by Pagani at the rate of just 25 per year, this is a mid-engined 2 seater that has been designed and built by a brand new company with just motoring excellence in mind. Using a 7.3 ltr AMG tuned Mercedes V12 with 594 Hp and can reach 62mph in 3.7 seconds and tops out at 214mph. Stellar performance.

A real rarity on our roads. it was almost a pleasure to see this car. I say almost because the orange that it was painted in did not really suit the car. It's the type of orange you can see nearly everyday on the Ford Focus RS.

The Bourne Ultimatum

noreply@blogger.com (andy) — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 09:46:00 +0000

Wedding anniversary - had a wonderful evening on our own....went to see the latest of the Bourne films, The Bourne Ultimatum.....well what can I say...what a film. It was everything the reviews said it was. Matt Damon makes a great agent, at least as good as the very best of the Bonds (who in my opinion are Sean Connnery and Daniel Craig). Bourne (again) is pretty much on his own, relying on his wits, a mobile phone, a pistol (which is rarely used), unarmed combat skills and some great driving.

The film is action from the start - consistently putting you on the edge of your seat. Great beginning, great middle and great end........(nope not going to tell) - - go on, pay up get along to the cinema and see it for yourself.

How to avoid domain name disasters

noreply@blogger.com (andy) — Fri, 25 May 2007 01:12:00 +0000

You're planning on launching a new website and realise that you have yet to choose a domain name. You get your team together and start the selection process.

However, some thought should be given as to how your domain name will be perceived, the impression that it will give about your business and how the domain name will be marketed.

Some names are great, and self explanatory, www.diy.com, the home of the UK's No1 DIY chain, B&Q, www.bbc.co.uk, www.amazon.com, www.ebay.com, www.google.com etc.

In their own right, these are good - they either represent the company or the services offered by the company.

However, for some people, good is not enough, they need to be seen as being "smart", "trendy", "hip", "cool" or whatever the current word of the day is for one who is in tune with youth culture.

A classic example is the former mobile phone company, one2one. Great company name. It embodies the text culture, it hints at the nature of the company, is fairly short and snappy and looks good on paper and that is probably how it came about. People sharing ideas by email or paper.

Luckily the company had a huge marketing budget covering print media, TV and radio so the brand name was spread far and wide. However, just imagine how it would have been were the budget to be significantly smaller.

When talking about the web address, the owner would have had to almost spell it out to the listener - "yes, we have a web site, it is at www.one2one.co.uk and that is the word "one", the number "2", that's the digit 2, followed by the word "one" again.

All of a sudden the snappy web address seems a lot less snappy and almost a liability.

So how about www.business-in-the-west.co.uk, this looks really good on paper - easy to read, much easier than www.businessinthewest.co.uk and yet - - when one tries to communicate this message verbally, it gets extremely convoluted.

So, choosing a domain name can be more of a minefield than one may originally think.

Of course, choosing a domain name verbally also has its share of problems.

There was much hilarity when Italian battery distributor Powergen Italia was thought to have registered the domain name www.powergenitalia.com. Easy to see how this conclusion could have been reached - they are called Powergen Italia after all. However, put it on paper and it could take on a totally different, and unwanted, meaning.

It was later confirmed to be a spoof and powergenitalia was no more.

However, there are some sites where errors of this magnitude have been made.

I'm not sure whether this site is a spoof or not - I've been aware of it for a couple of years. It has been updated a couple of times and seems legitimate but it just does not "smell" right. The company sells promotional pens, the type where you get your company name printed on them. The company name is Pen Island, however put together as www.penisland.net is a little more risque, this IS an example where a hyphen would have helped.

How about the site put together by software experts to exchange ideas. www.expertsexchange.com - sadly they seem to have realised the error of their ways and sold this domain on now, but for a long time it was a repository for software ideas, not experts on sex change.

There is a site for actors who are looking for an agent. If you want to know who represents a particular actor, you can use the site www.whorepresents.com Sounds great over the phone but written down - well my wife would not be too happy if she thought I was buying presents for whores.

And finally - Californian Therapists. Want to find a therapist in California, then go to www.therapistfinder.com. They really should have used that hyphen, www.therapist-finder.com because the alternative reading (especially bearing in mind the potential target market) is simply awful.

So, there you have, exercise caution when selecting a domain name. See how it looks on paper, look at all the ways the letters can be split up and also think about how you would explain it to a potential customer over the phone.