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Google Maps killed the pornography star
2007-06-08 11:32:00
Ok, so I'm taking a couple of liberties to try and crowbar in a Sun-esque headline. A prize for the first five that can name the band-what-sung-it.*  But, the nudity race is on for the purveyors of that wonderful, if somewhat Orwellian, Google Maps .  Yes, following the revelation in early 2006 that people were being caught nudie sunbathing by Google Earth, and at least one being tracked down by a radio station, the race is on to find the next generation of scantily clad people wandering about their home as Google brings you its Street View function.  Yes, Google is touring the planet?s roads in a car with a camera taking pictures of people?s houses. Well small parts of America at any rate.   I can see the benefit of being able to know what an obscure side turning looks like when you?re lost in an alien place ? Luton for example. But it does sound a bit creepy.  The Aerial view is at least fun, hovering over the Thames identifyin...
More About: Google Maps , Star , Pornography

Don't believe the hype
2007-06-06 21:40:00
We get accused of all sorts in our biz. One of those things is the heinous crime of creating hype out of thin air.  Funnily enough, the latest Smashing Pumpkins song I heard on the radio a couple of times today reminded me of an incident where I learned first hand all about hype. And as far as I'm concerned, what we do as tech PRs is fair game in comparison.  I am of course referring to the time when I got mistaken to be the lead singer of the Smashing Pumpkins: Mr. Billy Corgan.   I won't post a picture of myself for you to compare, however, suffice it to say, where Corgan is quite pale of complexion, I am olive skinned.   Indeed, where Corgan is bald, I am a brunette.   But most strikingly, Corgan is a man.  And I. Am not.  The incident occurred whilst sat in the middle of a fashionable and overcrowded restaurant in New Orleans with my Father. A really very drunk chap came over and marked me out as t...
More About: Hype

A round of applause for that company, please
2007-06-06 17:55:00
Ebay has had a stroke of genius. Already one of the most recognisable online brands on the planet, I?d put only Google ahead of them, the company has upped the anti and is to auction off radio air time to advertisers.  This will severely rival Google's online advertising income and it can only be a good thing for that to happen.  Now I?m a fan of Ebay. I?ve touted tickets on it, bought various trinkets and watched back as others swipe what I?ve wanted from under my nose. But I?ve also seen a couple of things from the inside ? a close friend works there. So I?ve always kept a keen eye out for the company and its unofficial rivalry with Google.  But this is inspirational and I can only say, why hasn?t it happened before.  Hmmm, I wondered if you can place false bids and make another company up its offering? Mwa ha ha ha ha. 
More About: Company , Applause , That , Lease , Round

DRM moaning
2007-06-04 18:04:00
I have to chip-in on last week?s media uproar surrounding revelations that the new ?DRM free? unlocked iTunes downloads contain the identity of the person who bought them. So what? I can use the new files on anything I want so am not limited to certain hardware that?s good, easier for me and they?ll outlast my current equipment without any fiddling. I?m not planning to sell the tunes to anyone, so I really don?t care if I can be identified by my iTunes purchases.   If my iPod (if I had one) were stolen and recovered, I presume the powers that be could simply drop me an email to say ?your iPod?d been found in Birmingham, where shell we post it?? - Great! (Like that will ever happen!)   If you?re really that worried about big brother ? burn a CD of the tunes you?ve bought, the ones with your identity burned in to them - then re-import them to another iTunes library ? legally laundered and unsullied. Oh and scrap the mobile, stop using the internet and go and ...

Hands up
2007-06-01 14:31:00
The goverment, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to 'suggest' that teachers should no longer ask children to put up their hands in class if they want to answer a question.   hands up  Instead, teachers should select a child and then give them 30 seconds to think before they answer.  I don't know about you but I was always quite happy to let others put up their hands to answer (and wasn't it always the same 'swots' who did). Who wanted the teacher to ask them to answer a question? If I was asked I was petrified and much more likely to find myself ridiculed by the rest of the class because I did not know the answer.  I do agree that teachers should make sure that they do not always ask the same children to answer but I am sure that the rest of the class are more than pleased when someone shoots their hand up - more time for day dreaming. 
More About: Hands , Hand

What?s in a search
2007-06-01 11:57:00
Google has come under fire for its privacy policies..   The company doesn?t release its information but it does amass a staggering amount of search data each day. This is used to analyse what we search for and target adverts that the we might find appealing.  But, what does this information actually reveal about us. The simple way is to look at a mistake made by AOL. The search engine released data, made anonymous by removing IP address and user names.  Unfortunately, this data can still easily be used to track the writer down. I?ve googled my name, my home town, my work, what sort of things I do ? rowing etc.  So it will not take a genius to link it to me. I?m also in the phone book.  To highlight the data that people unwittingly reveal about themselves, the NY Times did this for one Thelma Arnold or user 4417749 as she was released by AOL as.  But the AOL data also brought up several questions. Should this data be...
More About: Search

Big Brother big deal
2007-05-31 11:21:00
Yay. It?s summer. Insects are flying. Flowers are blooming. Oh, and Endemol are streaming pure excrement into living rooms across the country. Yes Big Brother is back.  Sadly there was nothing on last night. So the endless channel flicking that accompanies multichannel TV led me to occasionally land on Channel4 for five minutes.  Yes, the dregs of society has been grouped together plump for nuking. But at least it doesn?t seem as bad as last year. Maybe the celebrity version with Jade and Shilpa has made them tone it down. As much as an oestrogen fest can be.   But during this channel hopping and endless advert breaks one question came into my head.  What is Big B rother?  Profanities aside. Is it a work place? Is it a prison? I doubt C4 could call it their homes.  The reason I ask. The smoking ban comes in on the 1st July in England. If it they cannot leave then even the outside areas are still surely part of...
More About: Deal , Roth

What I want to be
2007-05-30 15:02:00
When I grow up.  I read in today's DT that when Gordon Brown was visiting Beijing recently he was asked by a group of teenagers what he had wanted to be, at their age, when he grew up. Being a trendy New Labourite he said a professional footballer. This was greeted with a certain amount of disbelief amongst his audience as, when he asked the same question of them the responses included "venture capitalist' and 'research biologist' - aspiring to be a footballer was not something any Chinese teenager would admit to.  This got me thinking - how many of us ever end up being what we thought we wanted to be when we were a teenager? I cannot imagine many 14 year olds saying "what I want to be is a top technology PR."   It is such a continually asked question of young people but how many have the information to hand at that point in their life to make informed decisions. There are those (an enviable few) who always seem to have known what they wanted t...
More About: What I Want

Insurance shock
2007-05-30 12:06:00
Being a self-confessed internet shopping addict has paid off once more this week. Even at the ripe old age of err? ?over 40? I was very surprised to get the cheapest insurance premium I can remember at the weekend, using one of the ?one web site searches all? services.   My usual renewal reminder came in, I almost ignored it but then idly tapped in the facts only to be confronted with one quote which was less that half my current provider?s bid. Under 200 pounds for a 149mph* turbocharged estate car? No wonder the motor insurance business is hard to make money in! So I rang the insurance company, confirmed a few details and sure enough the premium increased?. by 20 pounds, I can stand that I thought.  What particularly amused me was the original list of insurance quotes I received and the bit at the bottom which stated the companies who declined to quote me, and why.   One said I was in the wrong profession, no arguments from me, but I can?t believe...
More About: Insurance , Shock

Last word... probably
2007-05-30 10:53:00
For anyone following my thoughts on the WiFi debate I offer this link to a page written by a chap from the UK's Guardian newspaper and a good round-up of the other side of the story. Interesting twist from the school children at the school 'they' did the tests at. http://www.badscience.net/?p=418 
More About: Word , Probably

And on the topic of stealing WiFi
2007-05-25 12:33:00
My dad always said the cops were vindictive but the Inquirer has identified one Michigan cop that takes the biscuit.  Sam Peterson recently escaped a five year jail sentence, being given community service and a fine instead. All this for stealing a coffee house?s unsecured WiFi. From its car park to check his email.  Although no one in the US village knew this was a crime, including Police Chief Andrew Milanowski. Milanowski had reportedly enquired what Sam Peterson was doing and let him on his way.   Milanowski however then went back to the station and set out to find anything with which to arrest Peterson, researching every angle.  The trial has just finished and has made me realise one thing. If you?re stealing WiFi from your car in plain view of everyone and a cop asks, admit to curb crawling. It carries far less of a sentence.   
More About: Wifi , Topic , Steal , Ealing , Stealing

Blog if you want to get fired
2007-05-25 12:32:00
According to a recent survey two bloggers in every five risk being sacked because of the content on their online diaries.  The survey by Croner HR, which had 2,000 respondents, highlighted that 39 per cent openly admitted to making defamitory comments about their workplace or boss.  Croner cited the relaxed environment of weblogs as a reason for the willingness to post less than flattering comments.  Shame about this news, I?m now cancelling my next two blogs.   But, in reality, how easy is it to track a blog back? If you use a pseudonym and post using someone else?s WiFi will it be fine? China has recently allowed people to blog using aliases so presumably not.  Remember, they are watching you 
More About: Blog , Fired

Cleanness envy
2007-05-23 12:38:00
Last night's 'Whistleblower' on Sainsbury's and Tesco's unhygienic deli-counters left me unmoved.   Well, that's not quite fair.  It made me think I should probably clean out my fridge.   Well, that's not quite fair.  Made me think I should really get a cleaner in.   And probably eat out more. But that's by the by.  The Sainsbury's related thing that really shocked me yesterday was someone trying to pay the DELI-COUNTER staff for her Southern Fried chicken. Imagine that! Has she never been to Sainsburys before?   In fact, as far as I'm aware, deli-counter payment is not acceptable in any supermarket. Not even Morrie's! And then, how is it possible for a grown-up to have never been to a supermarket before? HOW?  Now I'm really curious. Does the lady in question order everything online? Does she only buy local produce? Does she have a personal shopper?  Made me think I should pro...
More About: Ness , Anne , Envy

Female sharks can 'give birth without mating'
2007-05-23 11:58:00
WOOOAAHHH!  Was Mary, in fact, a Hammerhead? 
More About: Female , Birth , Give

The importance of being translated
2007-05-22 18:28:00
The office is psyched up having just found out that we?re going to Italy for the 20th anniversary of EML.  Amidst the ciao bellas and tirame il ditto (pull my finger) came Jaime?s recommended phrase:   Tiene le tue luride mani lontane dal mio Pinot Grigio, sporcaccione, e, mentre ci siamo, smettilo di guardarti rispecchiato nelle vetrine.  Get your filthy hands off my pinot grigio and while you?re at it stop staring at yourself in the shop window.  Bein g a cynical bunch, we?ve run this through Google and babel fish. The varying answers have been odd.  So what other sayings struggle when being translated from English and back again? So, Python or Izzard... Python, enjoy.  From the Spanish Inquisition sketch  NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency.... Our three weapons are fear, surp...
More About: Trans , Slate , Late , Being

Please trim the fat off technology development
2007-05-22 11:54:00
I was struck by a very comical story in today's Indy.   Apparently researchers at the Birmingham based research company, Select have developed a system involving 32 cameras and a whole heap of expensive technology to determine if someone is fat. It is being trialed by the Birmingham Heartland Hospital and has been dubbed BVI (Body Volume Index).  Now I'm a lightweight rower and so know that BMI doesn't work for athletes. I train 10 times per week and have trained harder in the past yet am classed as overweight.   Several of the guys I've rower with have been classified as obese with a lower body fat percentage than most anorexics.  But here's the thing. Do you really need this technology to determine this. Surely you need to look at someone to ask if they're fat.   BMI was designed as a way of determining how overweight and identifying those at risk. Why bother applying it to those that are blatantly healthy.  &nb...
More About: Technology , Development , Lease , Ease , Develop

Going to the extreme for a good mobile phone signal (part 2)
2007-05-22 10:46:00
I posted a entry last month about the Motorola sponsored world record attempt being undertaken by Rod Baber. Rod was attempting to make the world?s highest mobile phone call by embarking on the 29,028ft trek to the summit of Mount Everest.    Well fair play to him .. he's done it!  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technolo gy/6676901.stm  Surely that's got to have thrown down the gauntlet for Nokia to try and trump impressive PR stunt? Any ideas? A call from Challenger Deep - the deepest point in the ocean at 35,838ft below sea level - would certainly do the job, but could be a little problematic. 
More About: Mobile , Phone , Mobile Phone , Extreme , Part

WiFi stopped in its tracks?
2007-05-22 10:29:00
Well I watched Panorama last night and was amazed who the BBC team chose as the objective independent engineer to make relative signal measurements. Alasdair Philips runs a nice little outfit which provides all sorts of helpful advice on how to avoid electric fields of one form or another. It even sells those nice little radiation detectors featured on the programme. You can also buy these stickers on his web site, follow the link and draw your own conclusions.    http: //www.emfields.org/publications/overview. asp 
More About: Wifi , Tracks , Trac

A warning signal?
2007-05-21 16:28:00
I hadn't even woken up properly at my desk first thing this morning before someone said - you watching Panorama tonight? Wouldn't have thought so, says I. That WiFi in schools fuss is being covered, was the reply and a handful of cuttings from today's papers was dumped unceremoniously on my desk.   Great - WiFi radiation levels three times that of mobile phone masts - quotes the Times. Kids' wi-fi radiation warning - says the Mirror.   Panorama researchers have apparently measured the levels of WiFi signals in schools and found that they were stronger than the mobile phone signals. Call me cynical but could that be because the mobile phone masts have been moved so far from every school in the country (after years of arguments) that the signal is generally non-existent? The press obviously took Panorama's press release about tonight's programme to heart and has given the programme makers a whole load of promotional coverage, well done PR team, great ...
More About: Warning , Signal

Social interaction - or lack of it
2007-05-21 15:03:00
Strange isn't it how modern technology seems to have put up barriers to normal person-to-person communication. We now live in a world of instant messaging via text and email but less and less voice contact. Hands-up those who email a colleague rather than walking across the office to speak to them, which would be much better for both body and soul.   This is having a knock-on effect on youngsters now trying to enter the PR industry where calling a journalist is a vital part of our trade. The phone holds horrors for many of those used to the shorthand of txt, freedom of chat rooms and facelessness of email. Gone are the days of getting home from school and being shouted at by your mum for spending an hour on the phone to the person you sat next to all day, discussing what happened during the day. Now it is up to their own room where there is a computer with access to the wider world and online they go.  With sites such as MySpace and Facebook they can create the...
More About: Social , Tera , Lack , Interaction , Interact

Men really do have a one track mind ? for football
2007-05-10 11:21:00
A recent study has recently shown an unexpected F word is all men think about - football.   The survey of 2,000 British fans of Premiership clubs has shown that the fans think about their club an average of 80 times a day.  There was also a group of fans into hardcore football, contemplating football once a minute.  Fans in the north came out top of the group, Sheffield United occupying the thoughts of fans 110 times per day on average. Or nine times per waking hour.  The top five also included Charlton (104), Chelsea (90) , Liverpool (81) and West Ham (79). Proving Manchester United?s fans were glory supporters, the club only made sixth with a positively infrequent 71 times per day average.   That said, Man U still beat my club, Spurs, in 12th place who only think about it once every minutes. Even with Berbatov?s performance this year. Everton?s fans came bottom of the pile with just 43 thoughts per minute.  Oh dear,...
More About: Football , Mind , Track

Flying into PR with your eyes shut
2007-05-04 11:23:00
The London borough of Haringey has just launched its attack on environmentally unfriendly houses in its borough.  It is using a name and shame policy using thermal imaging, placing the results on the seeit website   This is great, several houses obviously don't care about global warming. Unfortunately for Haringey Council, I can see two teeny, miniscule flaws in this.  First of all. It is a snap shot so the blue, non shamed houses may just be out and so the radiators aren't on.  Second of all, and slightly bigger. The council took the images from a plane. Hardly a green solution.  So what was the first thing listed on its press release? You guessed it. 
More About: Eyes , Flying , Shut

Life in the fast lane
2007-05-03 10:41:00
Travelling Club class (courtesy of BA points) certainly has its benefits going through Heathrow security. Dedicated separate check-in zone with really pleasant staff joking about all these women with tubes of moisturiser in their hand baggage. Still have to strip off your shoes, belts, jackets etc but there was an air of jollity about it even at 8am.  The rest of Terminal One was packed to the gunnels with business men and people hopping off for the long weekend being stressed by the queues and delays at check-in. I do hope that Terminal Five is going to make a difference because security is with us now and the queues need to be addressed. The earlier people have to check in, the longer they are on site, the more there are wandering around without enough seating areas.  Oh well, next time I travel it will be back in stearage but it is nice to sample the 'other side' for a change. 
More About: Life , Lane , Fast

New media - is it too much?
2007-05-02 14:08:00
I?m going to try something slightly controversial. I?m going to question new media. Is there too much of it? Has MySpace and the like hit the point of bad cable TV when there is so much rubbish out there that I?m more inclined to ignore it.  Today alone there has been 47,000 videos uploaded to the UK MySpace and it?s only just turned midday. Just how much of this is good stuff?  And herein lies the hypocrisy. I blog, I?m producing my part of the insurmountable wall of information being put out daily. Yet I don?t think that everyone?s voice should be there. I want voices who can entertain and educate, I don?t want drivel.  And I?m apparently not the only one. Andrew Keen, who made his fortune off the web, has said that he doesn?t want to ?hear the thoughts of an 11 year old with a keyboard? reported the Observer.  And it has got me wondering, if it would be possible to have opinion and comment only from those you like. Can control the...
More About: Media , New Media

More for our licence fee
2007-04-30 18:43:00
I was going to review Channel 4's announcement about its 4OD on-line replay service which it has found so popular. In the FT today Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson says that a million people have watched 20 million repeats, downloading the programmes they missed - pretty impressive stuff. But now I read the BBC has got the go ahead for a national free-to-air satellite service to be in place before the 2012 digital switch-over and there's talk of a high-definition BBC channel as a result - great high-definition for free.  BBC's DG Mark Thompson said it will support digital switchover by providing another way for licence payers to receive digital services without subscription. Important point this as only 75% of UK viewers can actually get Freeview at the moment via terrestrial TV transmissions, I'm happy to say being almost a Londoner me included, so when they pull the analogue plug...   I can't help thinking of my old mum when I see this sort of news - the UK may ...
More About: Licence

Wither weather
2007-04-30 15:12:00
The UK must be very righteous the way the sun is shining down at the moment - it is one of the warmest places in Europe. It has been officially declared that we have never had an April like it. (Well, that is since records began which is not to say that there were not hot Aprils before the last Ice Age.)  One thing that we have always had in our favour as a country is that we do have 'weather' and seasons, or at least we did. In the UK you could be sure that there would be distinct differences between each season unlike other countries when one day is much like another. However, this winter the thick jumpers and tweedy suits have stayed firmly at the back of the wardrobe and clouts have been well cast before the may is out.  In fact, talking of the may being out - the garden is so ahead of itself it is going to be a dull summer as the flowers will have bloomed and gone. Seedlings are growing so fast that I have had to plant out vegetables that I would usual...
More About: Weather

Now I feel bad
2007-04-25 13:35:00
Having been the first image on this site, I've just found that Alan Ball died last night. So in his honour...   
More About: Feel

The intricacies of HTML and all that jazz - I.E. we now have pictures yay
2007-04-25 08:44:00
This whole blogging malarky is at times testing patience.  Until today we thought that pictures would not be possible to upload. And it might be a touch more dull.  The intricacies need to be worked out but since we do words and understand how the likes of semiconductors work and the issues surrounding the stories very few of us know about HTML.  So, it is with great pleasure (and narcisism) that I bring you Put Simply's first picture. Me. So without further delay.    There is a reason for the Lycra I promise. Racing in the Vets head in March, the day after the Italian and GB squads sank on the same course. 
More About: Pictures , Jazz , Html

Nightmare stories, with out them life would be so much more dull
2007-04-25 08:34:00
And now a story that escaped the news it appears. Alas there must have been no journalist on the flight from Nice last week.  There is no news story that reports an iota that upon landing a doctor came on board the plane. Clad from head to toe in protective clothing and face mask.  That the passengers were kept on board for an hour and a half with no explanation. That the closest this came to an explanation was a card saying you may have contracted a serious contagious disease.   So is it TB, Legionnaires disease? Did someone just, well? cark it mid flight? Am I going to die a hideous death?  At work I have been quarantined. A cough / flu like symptoms have come in as well, which is nice.  All I want is some information. So for now, if anyone has a mate who knows someone who works for BA who might know someone from the relevant section. Do get in touch.  A hem. Cough splutter splutter.  
More About: Life , Stories , Nightmare

And on a similar note
2007-04-25 08:33:00
Why will a news paper report that third world debt needs to be decreased. Here from the Times  And still champion the work of Vodafone, Orange and IBM etc. for selling technology to the impoverished  Fantastic, your average Tanzanian and Sierra Leonian (is that a native of Sierra Leone?) now has a mobile. How about a water sanitiser and food?  
More About: Note