What with family re-unions and dark nights ( I hate the winter) I haven’t been attending to this particular blog.
It’s very hard these days to keep up with the world of technology. Recent observations.
- The Bebo generation are now firmly ensconced on Facebook – this will change its dynamic as a business tool, and not for the better.
- I still don’t much care for Twitter, however, I have been introduced Tweetdeck by my good friend Laurena McKenna – its a winner.
- I have been playing about with Netvibes again but that login bit does my head in.
- The world has gone Mafia Wars and Farmville crazy. Apparently 70 million people are now invloved. Do you know anyone who doesn’t play one or the other, or both?
More later
Tags: Bebo, Farmville, Mafia Wars, netvibes, Tweetdeck, Twitter
A Creamed Cage in August. Never heard of it? What about Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow? Still no?
Actually, they are one and the same. It’s a Marc Bolan and T.rex Album from 1974. So what, I hear you say, some old shite that nobody listens to any more. You’re almost right. I own two copies of this album. Both are vinyl copies that I haven’t played in more than 20 years. The single sleeved version was played a lot back in the day. The gatefold sleeve version which is rare has only seen a couple of outings.
Normally when working, anywhere, I need my music. It helps me concentrate and get things done. Take away my music and my attention deficit order kicks in big time – look a squirrel! Of recent weeks when working at our home office, with my partner at the next desk it has been a bit awkward. Sharron is the opposite of me – she can’t stand music when she is working , and that includes when I wear headphones. This usually means I go sulking off to the living room with the laptop.
Sharron is off site today, so I took advantage of Spotify at full volume. Normally I just let it run, but today I thought a bit of Bolan would be good. Spotify pulled up some really duff covers of Raw Ramp and Motivator by Steve Overland. Leave the guitar solos alone. Bolan wasn’t a great guitarist but I loved these solos – shame on you.
So I’m scanning and I find Zinc Alloy, selected all the tracks and off we go. Some of the songs I though were crap when I was 14 sound so much better to my (almost) 50 year old ears. I now have a new favourite T.rex album. Thank you Spotify – you’re real pal.
Truck on Tyke………………..
Tags: david farrell-shaw, listen to music, Marc Bolan, music, Spotify, T.rex, Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow
My signature edition of Windows 7 Ultimate has arrived – hurrah!
I had just fallen in the door after an exhausting trip back from Edinburgh. The rain, the traffic – I swear my next bike will have a fairing. I was greeted, firstly by the dog and secondly by a rather large box. There was no plain packaging to be seen. The package is actually larger than the one Hayley’s Dell laptop arrived in yesterday, and is emblazoned with Windows 7. As Rolf Harris would have had to say, you’ve guessed what it is then!
As I write the install is underway. Update to follow.
Tags: david farrell-shaw, microsoft, windows 7
Technology expectations should be realistic – don’t promise bang wizz and then fail to deliver. That has always been my mantra and, over the years, I have often moaned about what a service says it will do and then been disappointed with the actual results.
Sometimes, however, its not down to the service itself, but rather how the service is delivered. We are at the mercy of Internet Service Providers (ISP) and the bandwidth they provide us to go about our daily tasks.
It was good to catch up with content guru Gerry McGovern today. He was taking me through his latest incarnation of Customer Carewords – if you haven’t heard about it hang your head in shame. So there we are Skype to Skype and having a blether. Gerry moves me on to a meeting using gotomeeting.com so that we can discuss the finer details. It doesn’t quite work. Disappointed? Not a jot. Once we have a established the limits, it is perfectly possible to have a business discussion. We make allowances for Gerry’s broadband playing up. As a fall back he moves to using his mobile broadband dongle and we get a positive result.
So what is the point of all this waffle, I hear you ask, and, be honest, some of you started thinking this at the very first sentence! The point is; a couple of years back we couldn’t have had our meeting online. It would have seemed like a magic lantern show. I have been talking up web conferencing for a long time – usually to an audience that seemed to be thinking “burn the witch , burn the witch” – and now we just accept it as being like radio or tv. When it doesn’t work – some people get agitated – us old heads don’t.
Stop to think about it. I am sitting at home in Dunoon. Gerry is sitting at home in Ireland. We are using telephony over the internet, running through slides and websites via Citrix and all we have to complain about is a five second delay. To me that is still amazing – will I ever grow up?
Tags: Brian Lamb, Citrix, Content Critical, customer carewords, david farrell-shaw, gerry mcgovern, gotomeeting.com, web conferencing
Sometimes, sloppy statements can’t help but dumbfound the recipient. Today I could not believe what I had heard.
The early morning news, from Radio Clyde , announced the tragic loss of life resulting from two teenage girls jumping from the Erskine Bridge.
Next up was the story that, due to the recession, the Glasgow Waterside Project was now ‘dead in the water’.
C’mon guys ………..think about what you are saying!
Tags: bridge death, clyde one, erskine bridge, Glasgow Waterside, radio clyde, suicide
Lena Wilson has been appointed Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise, it was announced today.
Ms Wilson, who is currently Chief Operating Officer of Scottish Enterprise and Chief Executive of Scottish Development International, will take up the post on 4th November.
Scottish Enterprise Chairman, Crawford Gillies, said: “This is an excellent appointment – both for the organisation and for the Scottish economy. 
“When we embarked on our search for the new Chief Executive, we wanted to cast the net as wide as possible to ensure we found the right person for the job. Lena shone through in the interview process and has been appointed against an exceptionally strong field of internal and external candidates.”
He added: “Lena’s experience of the organisation and her proven track record in delivering fantastic results will ensure Scottish Enterprise continues to make a real difference to the companies we work with and help grow Scotland’s economy as we prepare to move out of the current recession.
“As Chief Operating Officer, Lena played a key role in helping to transform the organisation in recent years and has demonstrated outstanding leadership qualities and a motivation to get the job done. I am looking forward to continuing to work with her as we move forward into the next stage of our development.”
Finance Secretary John Swinney said: “Lena has vast experience of what it takes to help support and grow Scottish businesses and of selling Scotland around the world. She has an excellent track record in delivering results. I know she will make an outstanding Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise as the organisation continues to play a key role in carrying through our economic strategy and ensuring we emerge from recession stronger than ever.”
In her new role, Ms Wilson will be responsible for the organisation’s 1,100 staff and £250 million budget, which is focused on supporting Scotland’s most ambitious companies and helping to create a positive business environment for those companies to thrive.
Talking about her appointment, Lena Wilson said: “It is an honour and a privilege to be appointed Chief Executive and be able to continue to work in an area which I am so hugely passionate about.
“Scotland has such an abundance of strengths in areas as diverse as financial services, life sciences, food and drink and energy. One of my priorities will be to identify new ways to unlock that potential so we can deliver more for Scotland’s economy and contribute to the delivery of the Scottish Government’s economic strategy.
“I also know that trading conditions are likely to be tough for many months to come and Scottish Enterprise has a vital role to play in supporting companies to respond to the challenges they are facing. I am looking forward to continuing to work with colleagues across the organisation, and with our partners to ensure companies can access the right type of support to strengthen and grow their business.”
Tags: congratulations, Lena Wison, Scottish Enterprise, Senior Management
This really reminds me about a certain someone:o)
Tags: bad manager, complete erse, poor managment
An excellent presentation from Dr. Jim Hamill and Alan Stevenson, Department of Marketing at the University of Strathclyde.
Dr Hamill is no stranger to the web community. He is well known for his ability to combine ‘leading edge’ ideas from academia with the practical ‘hands on’ approach required in a fast moving, dynamic global business environment.
Dr Hamill has acted as consultant to a number of leading international organizations including the United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations; Economist Intelligence Unit; International Labor Office; World Bank, European Union. He also provided expert advice to the EU Tacis Project ‘eSkills for Russian SMEs’.
European carrier Telefonica has confirmed plans to launch the Palm Pre in mid-October in Germany, Ireland and the UK.
According to a report in Telecoms.com, O2 Germany will be the first operator to get its hands on the Pre on October 13, while O2 UK and O2 Ireland will have to wait until October 16.
Despite the fact that O2 UK is the exclusive carrier of the Apple iPhone in the UK, the Palm Pre, which is also an exclusive, will be pitched at an identical price point and tariff. The device will be available for free on a 24 month contract as well as the higher end 18 month contracts, bundled with unlimited mobile data usage.
Touted as a serious competitor to the iPhone and Nokia’s flagship N97, the Pre packs a slide out keyboard and touch screen interface and is available with wifi and GPS. It boasts 8GB of storage and a 3 megapixel camera and probably a handset first in the shape of an inductive charging unit.
