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Olympic Efforts

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Further Congratulations to Team GB as the medal rush continues from Super Saturday into Super Sunday ;0)

I also want to congratulate the BBC on their fantastic Olympic coverage. They have embraced every feasible technology on a professional and personal level. Are any other big news channels using the Web 2 technologies, Twitter, Blogs and Flickr (for example) in such a manner?

Take a look at the BBC Sports Olympic Group on Flickr - it has a fantastic array of shots.

Labels: News, UK

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Good News/Bad News (edit)

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Quick run down of my weekend experiences of Good News and Bad News!

Good News - My mum no longer requires further heart surgery

Bad News - My uncle was taken ill yesterday and is currently in hospital

Good News - O2 Called to apologies for the iPhone set up fuck up and have offered me £20 compensation

Bad News - I received my first bill and they have charged me £10 for a bolt on I never requested!

No comment!

Labels: iPhone 3G, My World, News

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Back to the land of the living

Saturday, July 12, 2008

I cannot believe it's been so long since I have put a decent blog entry online. Things really have been very manic and now I feel like I can take a breather (although I am not sleeping properly (yet)).

This week saw the hosting of the Marketing Excellence Awards at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. I project managed the roll out of the web project which featured a number of mini TV shows which educated people about the awards. On the night I had a crew in place interviewing key members of the company before the ceremony, the dinner and then the winners. It was a very hectic and long night (nee day) but it was worth it.

I worked pretty much straight through Thursday and was at the studio early yesterday morning to monitor final edits before getting back to the office to have the film and communications out by 8 am.

Needless to say I am very happy that the whole event has been a huge success. People are happy with a number of things but for me it was especially great to hear nominees mention the TV shows and comment positively around all the work we have completed.

The photo was taken during the dinner and gives an impression of the interior of the Great Hall of the Royal Courts of Justice (the second highest court in the UK), the set up and the atmosphere ;0)

There is a photo of me which I took around 2.30am when I returned to my hotel for a brief sleep. I took it with my Nokia as my parents wanted to see me in my tuxedo... ~~I may upload it later ;0)~~

Update - OK as you can obvioulsy see I have now uploaded the hideous photo :( God I HATE this photo!

So that's a huge amount of work, time, blood, sweat and (nearly) tears but I am very very happy with where we are with the whole project.

Yesterday was also a big day as my iPhone 3G arrived at the house at 7 am. Richard took delivery for me. Sadly I cannot connect to O2 at present due to demand and the high volume of subscribers but at least I have it and I am very impressed. I am also in the process of updating my Touch with the 2.0 software as I think it is excellent. I am very impressed with Mobile Me too.

On a more site related note I have decided to discontinue Release. It's been fun and a nice experiment following the closure of my Trunk Casts but my past couple of weeks has made me realize that I have other things to concentrate my time on (the death of my Lacie external hard drive loosing all my files, 6 years worth of photos and videos this week doesn't help either). It was fun and thanks to everyone for there support but this officially is the end of my days as a pod caster.

Labels: Apple, Digital Media, iPhone 3G, iTunes, London, News, Release, Richard, Trunk Cast, Work

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Craziness

Monday, June 30, 2008

Last week was crazy - every day something happened - something major and something to put the spanner in the 'ol works.

This weekend was also very eventful (not to mention me suffering from a horrendous bout of hay fever).

Did I blog or pod cast about it - no. I was too busy surviving!

Hopefully this week will sort itself out. At least during his birthday on Wednesday, Richard and I get to escape to Paris for the day ;0)

I could ramble on and one but I choose not to - I do however have to ask what is up with the sick bastards in the world these days?

I'll sign out for now with a photo I took whilst waiting for my train this evening. I love London when it's sunny...

Labels: London, My World, News, Richard, UK, Weather, Work

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You make me sick

Sunday, June 01, 2008

I am sorry but I really do not understand what it wrong with this country.

The new London Mayer, Boris Johnson has decided to reinforce the ban on drinking on public transport. I may not be a fan of Boris' but I applaud this action - it's illegal to consume alcohol on public transport anywhere in the UK and so it should be.

I have never ever drunk on the bus, the tube or train etc and nor have I ever wanted to - I don't see the point.

Imagine my surprise and shock that people had decided to host parties on the underground last night to mourn their last night of freedom.

Web sites such as Facebook were used to organise these events and considering what happened last night I feel they should be held accountable.

Excuse me but get a fucking life! Typically this evening of ad hoc celebration turned into chaos with trains being cancelled and stations being closed due to the drunken behaviour.

We did witness drinking on the tube as we were making our way home last night and indeed there was an incident at Kings Cross St. Pancras which involved British Transport Police and a Riot Squad from the Met.

Why do people feel they have the right to such idiotic behaviour? From our observations most of the drunken revelers were foreigners - mainly Australians.

There is a law and we should all abide by it - I don't agree with all laws but to be honest not being able to drink on public transport isn't just necessary, it's practical and promotes a safe transport system.

I am amazed that people have become so addicted to booze that they have to mourn such an occasion. Even if they did feel the need to attend why did they have to get drunk - could they not just do with one drink as a gesture and then go home? Have they no will power?

I just hope all the police officers that were occupied with these festivities were not taken away from more serious crimes elsewhere.

Labels: News, UK

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BBBig Mistake?

Saturday, April 05, 2008

As you know I have been in the web and design business for some years now and have had a lot of experience in usability and design online.

I have to say that I usually find myself defending the BBC as they are a world leader in news coverage and web production but I really have to balk at the new BBC News web site.

The BBC always get it right and yet this latest incarnation of the trusted popular news site is truly awful.

I have read the editors comments and justification as to why they decided to update the site but I don't believe any of it to be honest. I agree it's good to refresh a web site every once in a while (ahem). But this new incarnation is awful. There's too much white space, the fonts look horrible and worst of all the content has suffered.

You used to see three or four stories in a category, now you only see the one. I could understand if the BBC needed to justify the sites existence through click through as this would force you to open more pages.

Truly this cannot be the reason for such an over-site?

The site now looks like its missing content, you have to think before you can access any information and the gaps make it look like something is missing.

Coming on Auntie - get your act together!

(I also must say I find it odd that the BBC has asked for nay feedback...)

Labels: News, Web

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Finally good news

Friday, April 04, 2008

It's been a very odd and sometimes horrible week. Especially in work, first with the company news and then with the shock news that my 45 year old boos who was our Project Head died suddenly on Wednesday. Find out more in Trunk Cast 130

Today was a brighter day starting with our planned office trip to the Bridewell Theatre for the lunchtime performance of Shakespeares "Tempest". It was another great performance from the production company there.

I think got confirmation that my ore ordered copy of Mario Kart Wii is good to go ;) I cannot wait to get my hands on it. See you on the race tracks online.

Labels: London, My World, News, Trunk Cast, Wii

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Lucky Escape

Thursday, January 17, 2008

I am so glad I am nowhere near Heathrow today - with this BA plane coming down I cannot imagine the level of chaos there.

The pilot really has to be commended though - current reports suggest that the plane lost all power and he had to glide it in to land. Of course these planes are designed to do just that but to get the 777 safely on the ground with no injuries is commendable.

As you can imagine this has been a major talking point in the office today, especially as all European BA flights have been suspended - there are a lot of delegates in London for meetings etc whom won't be going home tonight!

Labels: News

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Paddles, Stones, Knives, Guns and Wands

Monday, August 27, 2007

This weekend has been very nice - having the extra today off today is an obvious bonus.

Thanks to the weather making a dramatic shift we have been able to make the most of the three days off.

Richard and I had a quiet day on Saturday which is probably just as well as it helped us shift our colds.

On Sunday we visited the Docklands in London, specifically to go to the Docklands Museum. It's owned and run by the Museum of London and we have always said we'd go and finally we managed to! I found the exhibition very interesting as it gives a very graphic portrait of the history of London and the Docks, dating as far back as the Romans to present day.

We made the most of the dock side location and had a spot of lunch in one of the many restaurants offering alfresco dining.

Canary Wharf is not very far from the 02 where we ended up yesterday as we booked to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It was odd to be back at the 02 so soon after Fridays Prince concert (even odder that the stadium was decked out for the Rolling Stones).

I thought I saw quite a few O(+> t-shirts at the Prince gigs but I was surprised by how many "tongue and mouth" t-shirts I saw the Stones fans wearing. I am not sure what to make of the crowd either - there was a small amount of younger fans but the rest of them appeared to be as old and as geriatric as Mick Jagger and Keith Richards!

The film was good fun though and even though I am not a Harry Potter an I found it entertaining. I do feel however that J K Rowling creates characters just for the sake of it. The headmistress appears to have more attention paid to her than anyone else and yet she is expelled quite rapidly without much intervention from any main characters. And what of the main characters? Do not of them get to progress at any level? It really does appear that they all are a part of the story just to back up Whining Potter!

Richard and I watched the news on the train back yesterday and were not that shocked to hear that someone had been stabbed at the Notting Hill Carnival. Stabbings have became as almost an annual event as he carnival itself. What with the recent culture of knife and gun crime on the streets of the UK I really am worried about the future of this great country. I don't know how things have got to bad not how it can be fixed - all I do know is that government is too soft and the police appear powerless as a result.

I grow tired of the way news and stories are carried on the media. An 11 year old white boy was shot dead (in the back of the neck) in Liverpool earlier this week. It was s hocking story but a couple of days later his tragic tail has slipped to the bottom of the bulletins. When Damilola Taylor, an 8 year old black boy was stabbed to death a couple of years ago in London, his story was top billing for weeks. What allows the news organisations to pitch one story as more important than the other and why aren't they using the news generated from the death of Damilola to make people realise the this poor 11 year old should not have died in this gruesome attack as something should have been done about gang culture years ago!

I really don't know what this country is heading towards...

On a more personal note you may realise that I have decided to end my run of 365 photographs. I enjoy the whole online social thing but to be honest it all takes up too much time. I therefore have decided not to continue with 365 days. I did manage to complete 160 days!

To be perfectly honest I have other things to do with my time, this also a reason why I am growing tired of other social sites such as Facebook - who has the time to spend hours updating useless elements of a web page - and to be honest, who really has the time to read it all? I look at some profiles and wonder if some people actually have much going on in their lives at all as all them appear to do is update My Space and Facebook profiles!

Of course this doesn't mean I will disappear offline nor does it mean I'll stop uploading photos; but only when I have something to share and want to share it!

Labels: London, my, News, Photography, TV, UK, Weather

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Nice Package

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Last nights recording of French and Saunders at the BBC was hilarious.

As ever Dawn and Jennifer were even funnier off script than on it.

We were treated to a bevvy of clips from old shows and lots of new material. This is because the show in production is a 20 year celebration of work.

It's great to see that after that much time their comedy still remains fresh, funny and relevant.

This is even more relevant as the Head of Comedy for the BBC, John Plowman, presented Dawn with a Rockie Award which she had won from the Canadian Comedy Awards for The Vicar of Dibley.

As you can see from the photo, the BBC are definitely capitalizing on the success of Dr Who and have placed a Tardis outside the audience entrance, I couldn't resist getting my photo snapped inside it.

Unfortunately Richard was unable to make it due to work commitments but the mirth was shared with Dan and Matt.

We've quite a busy weekend ahead of us as Carol and Dave are in London this weekend as Dave is taking part in the Commemorative Falklands March tomorrow.

I doubt I may blog for a while as next week I am away on a course for work (boo). Straight after we are off to Paris for the Air show (yay!) - so at least you can expect lots of photos very soon!

After a short sabbatical Trunk Guy.com Trunk Casts returns to your ears in the form of show 94 ;o)

This show really builds on my blog entries and photos from the past couple of weeks with the odd twist. There is an appearance from a special guest too ;0)

Labels: 365, Friends, Humour, News, Pic-a-Day, Trunk Cast

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Nearly Missed This...

Friday, March 30, 2007

Hey BestGayBlogs, thanks for the heads up!

If it wasn't for the fab widget from MyBlogLog I would have missed your review.

Thanks for such kind and flattering words. I am honoured.

Labels: Digital Media, News

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Bloody Vandals

Saturday, February 10, 2007

I cannot believe vandals have defaced Gaudis lizard sculpture at Parc Guell in Barcelona.

This is such a magnificant place and an excellent statue - how could they? It is so mindless and pointless.

I hope they get strung up for thier actions.

Is nothing sacred in this world any more? Are youths really that bored?

Labels: News

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Buddy Christ

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

I cannot believe that the Catholic Church has today said that it does not want the forthcoming changes in the adoption laws. They are against the changes as they do not think it is right that same sex couples should be able to adopt.

What is the matter with the church?

There are 40,000 children waiting to be adopted in the UK (a staggering figure) and the church wants to reduce the amount of people able to adopt them, care for them, love them and look after them?

I find this rather ironic that it comes from a faith that frowns upon contraception and encourages couples to have large families. Large families that cannot cope in this day in age as the cost of living is so high. Families that are prone to divorce and their children suffering as a consequence.

To be honest if I had to be adopted I don't think I would care who was looking after me as long as that person loved me. I thought we were supposed to be a tolerant open society - obviously not in the eyes of the Catholic Church.

I think these comments are as damaging to society as all the hate and fear that has surrounded and come from the Muslim communities in the past couple of years.

Why do people put so much faith in religion? What's the true purpose? Are these people so misguided that they have to take the words of black cloaked paedophiles and wife beaters instead of deciding on life choices for themselves?

Are these people incapable of making decisions?

I hope the Prime Minister does not give into the Catholic Church. He should remember that he serves the Queen, she who is head of the Church of England and not the Catholic faith. Maybe he and society should take note of these things.

These actions by the clergy are acts of fantasy - the kind of thing you would expect to see in Dogma. Maybe this is what they want, to slowly end humanity, to overcrowd the planet with large families, to crush everyone who doesn't conform and to wage war on those who don't believe.

Does this sound farcical? I don't think so. It's the same tact the Media have taken with other religions - why should the intentions of the Catholic Church be any different?

As for the looting of the stricken container ship off the Devon coast; will Pikey Northerners find any excuse to visit the south west and destroy it? News broke today that the looters are not local residents but gangs coming from hundreds of miles away! Fuck off home and let the authorities do their job.

Labels: News, Religion

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