Life is awesome...

2006 - Less prickly Than 2005 - I hope...

2006-01-06T14:51:00.000Z

'Happy New Year' to all... yes all the 6 billion people in the world ! Why do I start my blog that way: a) It is a new year b) Although 2005 was a pretty prickly year for me, I firmly believe (more than ever) treat people as you would expect others to treat you ! So 2005 saw me separate from my wife and hopefully 2006 will see the divorce complete... these things happen... at least the process will not be starting this year :)... and then at the end of 2005 I was made redundant for no good reason... hopefully this will not repeat itself in 2006 !!! So now to my blog... Essentially I set it up to try the 'corporate blogging' phenomenon that I read about so often... it kinda worked... but since I am no longer with my former employer... I thought I would use it for 'stimulating conversation'... well I can try... and my first try at using Google Adwords on my blog... if you have read this blog, give me some encouragement to write something more interesting by visiting an Adword link on the right !!! And Happy New year To You All !!!

Emart appears all over the place....

2005-11-17T16:13:00.000Z

I made a post the other day about this website that I found... those that know me will realise me buying excessive quantities of wine is nothing new... however I thought that the website that I was talking about was fairly new... well I just found out that a collegue of mine has ordered an mp3 player... and from the sounds of it - it is excellent value for money... strange how there are many sites out there that no-one knows about... and clearly sites that people do know about. Just realised that unless you read my previous blog... which I hope you have done... you will not have a clue who I'm talking about... the site is emart.co.uk... and I love visiting it... hope Santa does too...

Yes... I'm back...

2005-11-10T14:14:00.000Z

Here we go... I feel that one should only blog when on has something to say... and boy do I have something to say... a great site for all those shoppers in the UK shoppers to visit... http://www.emart.co.uk The amount of product is truely amazing... so far I have ordered 3 boxes of wine from the... wine store it all arrived as expected... the quality is fantastic... really impressive... a great selection... cant wait until my next order !!! As to the other stores their is such a great range of products... it makes shopping really easy... so before you go any where else check out http://www.emart.co.uk Great to be back blogging... will try and make the next blog more interesting...

Where have I been...

2005-07-27T11:11:00.000Z

Yes, I know... I have been gone for sometime... well I would like to say I am back with a bang... but that will have to wait. a) I am still getting over THFC adding some silver to the trophy cabinet... and b) I am up to my neck in designs for the new emart website... So where have I been... why have I been so quiet... well I received the following message from my computer... I switched... but now am trying to correct the ' '... you know the ' '... anyone know of a quick way to correct it ?

Cava and Cheesecake Is The Way To Go

2005-07-05T10:52:00.000Z

Having been treated to Cava and Cheesecake today... I can conclusively concur two points... 1) that it does (although marginally) beat Kronenberg and Cheesecake. I feel that this could be the start of some more research... especially with the recently discovered presence of Kronenberg Blanc... and 2) that Billy Bloggington from Emart.co.uk, really does know his stuff... if you have need of a wine recommendation... I heartedly recommend Billy Bloggington's recommendations...

LIVE 8 - MAKE POVERTY HISTORY...

2005-07-02T22:47:00.000Z

OK... so what does this great day mean to me ? I will never forget seeing the haunting pictures of the famine that struck the continent of Africa... and then watching the Live Aid concert in 1985 on a school holiday. It is something not to forget... and today is another one of those days... it is time for the G8 leaders to stand up and say 'we' will make a difference... I heard that at 23.00pm GMT over 23 Million people had signed the live8live.com website list... to be presented at the G8 summit... this means people give a damn and want to see our leaders make a difference... if you haven't signed it and I can make a small difference by pointing people in that direction... then go and sign it and help to make a difference... live8live.com I have never been a great fan of Tony Blair... but I hope that he can see that he has two paths he can follow in Scotland... one where he seriously tries to make a difference and follow it through... or the other which is to spend the G8 summit living it up with his buddies at Balmoral, making lame excuses for a poor agreement... and making no difference what so ever... one will make him a great leader and one will make him a pointless nobody... We truly have a chance to stop thinking about our everyday difficulties... every member of each G8 state has a life that is awesome, compared to the poverty in Africa... we may think our lives are pretty poor... but really nothing can compare to the decades of abuse and deprivation that Africa has had to endure... The great thing about today is that it can be the start of something even greater... we are part of a generation that can do something memorable... not something destructive like Great Wars but something positive MAKE POVERTY HISTORY... I said a few days ago that YOU CAN NEVER UNDO THE PAST... ONLY INFLUENCE THE FUTURE... and not only have I seen a global wave today, of people interested in influencing the future... but I have seen three people/groups who really stood out for me... two individuals and one band... The individuals: 1) SIR BOB GELDOF... why the hell do people give him so much stick... there are pretty few individuals who could have put together this huge global project... was it just a big pop concert... no it has been a great vehicle to get one simple message out MAKE POVERTY HISTORY... 2) BILL GATES... through luck, skill, sheer determination he turned Microsoft into a huge business... what ever your thoughts about Microsoft and Windows... one cannot fault Bill and Melinda for their Philanthropy. They could just sit on their money and watch it grow... but they are actually using it to try and benefit those who are considerably less well off than themselves... 3) The regrouping of PINK FLOYD.. even rock stars can show some humanity that we can all take notice of... as Gilmour said recently... "Any squabbles Roger and the band have had in the past are so petty in this context, and if reforming for this concert will help focus attention then it's got to be worthwhile." Remember our LIFE IS AWESOME... lets not miss out this historic moment to generate momentum in the fight to MAKE POVERTY HISTORY...

Am I a Cartesian Product ?

2005-06-29T11:15:00.000Z

Whilst being involved in the world of computers and technology, I have always tried to stay clear of technical acronyms and confusing (unnecessary) 'tech speak'(I frankly refuse to use the words g**k speak)... but every now and then I enter the abyss and talk in terms that alienate 90% of the population. This becomes particularly surreal when laughing and joking about a technical phrase... especially if the participants of the conversation can see the humour on multiple levels... as a joke between each other and as a fly on the wall... looking around at the strangest faces as 'non-technical' people struggle to comprehend what the hell it all means... The particular phrase that amused us was Cartesian Product... how the hell do you even start to explain it to not only non-technical people... but even to people on the technical ladder... For those of you who have escaped falling into a coma... a Cartesian Product is a table created when data is pulled from two other tables with no WHERE clause... all that happens is that you end up with a table that is full of data... but 9/10 that data is rubbish and meaningless... So where is the humour in that... well for the technical team the momment came about when we considered that there is a term for a relatively pointless process... someone actually thought it required naming ? Referring to the SQL for Dummies book... which in itself is nuts... PC's for Dummies I understand... Driving a car for Dummies I could get... but SQL... that is just frankly crazy... it may as well say nuclear fission for dummies... or brain surgery for dummies... unless you had some understanding of the human body... you wouldn't even know where to begin. Anyway back to the Cartesian Product... in the previously mentioned giant of the literal world... a Cartesian Product is descibed as... "When youre trying to get useful information out of a multitable database, the Cartesian Product produced is almost never what you want. It's almost always the first step toward what you want...' Does that make me a Cartesian Product... I am certainly at the first step towards what I want...

Blogging... should you watch what you say ?

2005-06-24T09:00:00.000Z

My good friend RS is a big fan of 'freedom of speech' when it comes to blogging... but I had an interesting discussion two days ago about blogging, with someone who felt that one should be careful about what one says... When I enquired further, the reason given was that you could undermine yourself by giving a collegue/someone else ammunition/ideas to do your job ? i.e. if you are too open with your blog, someone could either gain significant knowledge to do your job and/or find out what type of character you are... thereby undermining you position/reputation. I thought about this comment for about 2 minutes before drawing my conclusion (does that mean I say things before I think ?)... ah so yes my conclusion (hesitation now... what could that mean)... is the same as my lifes philosophy... DONT LOOK BACK... KEEP MOVING FORWARD... YOU CAN NEVER UNDO THE PAST... ONLY INFLUENCE THE FUTURE... I do not tend to make comments/blog half baked ideas... I try to talk about/post comments/thoughts that I have considered and completed... i.e. I have moved on in my thoughts and am now thinking about the next idea/plan/thought... so if someone thinks of using my 'cast-off' thoughts... I'm letting you know your behind the times... **** And before I sign off... this is a quick mention for anyone 'using my ideas to undermine me' to visit the blog of one of the coolest and most beautiful young ladies around at sportastic.blogspot.com ****

A Little Something For Billy...

2005-06-21T08:55:00.000Z

Billy... hope this template helps... tip: print before you go out...

Freedom of the mind...

2005-06-19T22:16:00.000Z

Not only do I hope to cover a little of my personality in this blog (see comments to my previous posting)... but I intend to try and explain my role in emart... and how I can use my experience to develop the emart concept... hopefully that will give a mixture of humerous and serious postings... they say variety is the spice of life... When starting a new project, creating an idea is one thing... to then create a design concept is something else... especially when several people have their input. How long is long enough when throwing 'ideas into a pot' ? For how long does one keep refining I(and hopefully improving) a design/concept ? I think input from many sources is a critical part of the 'creative process'... certainly when we started thinking about emart and what it would start to become... we had the opinion of 6 males. Although we tried to be as open to ideas as possible... we were still 6 males... The first advancement from 6 males... was to look to design agencies for their input... but I have to say (my personal thoughts) that in terms of e-commerce sites and design... the market is surprisingly dissappointing... far too many sites now follow the same tired traditional route of muted colours on a white background... how creative is that... and too be honest many design agencies don't seem to want to break free from that look ? Why ? Our second advancement was the recruitment of 5 young ladies to the team... at last some female opinions... and very valuable they are !!! I am sure that as sections of the website evolve the site will appeal to a great cross range of customers... So with the deliberation of many agencies... 12 members of the team... 8 weeks of mood boards and ruling out ideas and designs that either did not work or that we just did not like... we seem to be nearing a design that I think will be different and inviting to our visitors... So how do I see my role in this process... I see it as one who has used the above 'assimilative process' to take those ideas to that point whereby a website of distinction can be developed... the last 4-5 days have seen us move much closer to that point...

OK now I've started...

2005-06-16T11:53:00.000Z

What a day yesterday became... RGB for screen... CMYK for print... ahhh... get it wrong and frustration can soon appear around the corner... eventually the finish line was reached... Hatch summed up the process in his post yesterday (CMYK blues...) My main role is to creatively develop the emart web platform... and I can not wait... some of the products are already incredibly inviting... New World Wines in the wine store... scooters and some mad bike contraption in the sports store... Talking of the web platform, it is interesting to compare different views on technical acronyms... maybe it is because there are so many out there... how many of them are really needed ? How many people truly understand what they mean... feel free to leave your comments on acronyms... Now back to the job in hand... and SEO... how many understand that one ?

it has to start somewhere...

2005-06-14T23:29:00.000Z

Welcome to my blog... it has to start some where and this is the beginning. The aim of my blog is to journal my thoughts on a really exciting project that I am working on. The project is called EMART and you've guess it... it is about creating an electronic market... yes an online store. But before you think... not another one... I truely believe this one could be different... it may even make you excitied about shopping online...