Foreign Perspectives Foreign Perspectives News and editorial on life from the south of France, a regular series on how to move here and some random musings too. As seen on TV. Articles
Cher in Vegas this May? don?t miss it!
2008-03-11 22:35:00 I really should get the OH to write this as she’s very much the director of entertainment in our family and I’m sure that she’ll give off about what I write here! Cher ’s one of those acts that seem almost timeless yet at the same time she keeps updating both her looks and what she does, ... More About: Entertainment , Miss , Vegas
Almost at the opening night!
2008-03-11 22:22:00 James’ nursery school is in the throes of producing a film based on the Arabian nights tales. Well, we think it’s on that as James is less than forthcoming about his role in the production beyond mentioning the other day that he had to hand a lamp to two of the other children in his class. ... More About: Commentary , Night , Opening , Opening Night
Where do you go when you want ?more? than a Rolex?
2008-03-11 21:47:00 Whilst a Rolex is, of course, a very good watch by and large they are heavy duty watches: something that you’d see on the wrist of a diver. If you’re looking for something more elegant and refined the brand to go for is Patek Philippe. The base price starts around the $3000 mark but extends right into the stratosphere, peaking ... More About: Shopping
Can the post office really consider itself a bank?
2008-03-11 21:30:00 Post offices in many countries around the world offer a range of banking services these days, but are they really up to it? Typically a small post office will have one counter to do everything. That works well when “everything” is mainly posting letters and parcels which take a few minutes to process. Add on banking services ... More About: Commentary , Office , Finance , Post , Post Office
When you don?t want a fixed rate mortgage
2008-03-11 21:00:00 As usual, people are continuing to select fixed-rate mortgages even though it seems pretty much certain that the interest rate will be going down fairly soon. That’s typical of course. Just as people generally choose variable rate Mortgage s as the interest rate is almost at bottom and therefore sure to go up, so they choose fixed ... More About: Finance , Rate , Fixed
Trying out adwords again
2008-03-11 20:46:00 Now and again I try out adwords, mainly to advertise the listings sites or rather to advertise for owners to list on them. It’s been ages since I spruced up the campaigns so I thought I’d have a shot at it again today. One thing to remember is that you only want relevant clicks on your ads. How ... More About: Marketing , Web Development , Adwords
What about South Africa for your next holiday?
2008-03-10 21:39:00 South Africa is one of those destinations where there’s just too much to talk about. It’s fairly easy to get to and flights to South Africa are much more affordable than they were even just a few years ago. It is a long haul flight from Europe though so it’s never going to be as cheap to ... More About: Holidays , Holiday , South
Souping up the listings sites
2008-03-10 21:32:00 I came across an interesting site a few days ago which has set me thinking about my own listings sites. What this site does is build mini websites for accommodation properties and then enters those properties in a property listing. It’s interesting because my own sites operate from the other end so to speak. They’re listing ... More About: Internet , Web Development , Listings , Sites
How about a really, really good watch?
2008-03-10 21:24:00 Whilst you might consider the likes of a Rolex as most typical of a true Swiss watch, of course the really good marques aren’t nearly so well known as that. Starting where Rolex mainly leave off you come across the likes of Patek Philippe which are very much understated elegance in place of the more “in your ... More About: Shopping , Watch , Good
Launching a new blog? is there a category for ?soapbox??
2008-03-10 20:51:00 Launching a new blog is a peculiar thing to do in many ways. This blog for instance has been running for a little over four years now. From before that time I’ve had a domain sitting around which I basically just used for e-mail so I thought that I’d use it as something of a soapbox for ... More About: Blog , Category , Soapbox
Looking for some IT training?
2008-03-10 20:14:00 There are oodles of IT training outfits around the world with varying degrees of proficiency so, as in all things, it’s best to look at the background of the place that you’re thinking of getting your training from. These days it’s relatively easy as you have lots of IT qualifications in training itself so you can ... More About: Internet , Training , Computing
Surely it can?t make any difference where you host your site?
2008-03-10 20:06:00 You might not think it, but it makes a substantial difference because google and other search engines use geotargetting. This is fine if your website is country-specific (eg .co.uk) but not so good if you’re using a non-geographic domain (.com, .net, .org, etc.) as many people do these days because then they will assume that your ... More About: Commentary , Web Development , Site , Host , Make
You?d sign up for insurance that protected your mortgage payments, wouldn?t
2008-03-09 22:15:00 Of course, you would. You’re protecting the payments of your mortgage in case you lose your job or whatever so naturally it’s bound to be a “good thing”, isn’t it? Well, no, that’s the problem: it isn’t. Or, rather, it is a “good thing” but generally speaking for the banks that sell you it along with ... More About: Finance , Insurance , Mortgage , Sign
You?d sign up for insurance that protected your mortgage payments, wouldn?t
2008-03-09 22:15:00 Of course, you would. You’re protecting the payments of your mortgage in case you lose your job or whatever so naturally it’s bound to be a “good thing”, isn’t it? Well, no, that’s the problem: it isn’t. Or, rather, it is a “good thing” but generally speaking for the banks that sell you it along with ... More About: Finance , Insurance , Mortgage , Sign
Finally a valid RSS Wordpress feed
2008-03-08 12:27:00 At last I have sorted out the problems that the RSS feed for the blog was having. Yet again, it was down to problems with the character set. This time around I thought I’d go back to basics and work from the validation errors that the feed was having to correct the problems directly in the ... More About: Wordpress , Feed , Finally
Finally a valid RSS Wordpress feed
2008-03-08 12:27:00 At last I have sorted out the problems that the RSS feed for the blog was having. Yet again, it was down to problems with the character set. This time around I thought I’d go back to basics and work from the validation errors that the feed was having to correct the problems directly in the ... More About: Wordpress , Feed , Finally
Are YOU ready for the corporate manslaughter act?
2008-03-07 20:56:00 If I was running a company where anything potentially dangerous was being used on a regular basis I’d be getting worried about the going live of theCorporate Manslaughter Act this coming April. Two of the major differences are that it will be much easier for companies to be prosecuted successfully and government departments are no longer exempt (which I’m sure is causing a certain amount of concern in some areas). It’s worth bearing in mind that individuals can be prosecuted under the act ie you can’t just hide behind the company. You can find a more complete rundown of the provisions at the resource centre. More About: Ready
Are YOU ready for the corporate manslaughter act?
2008-03-07 20:56:00 If I was running a company where anything potentially dangerous was being used on a regular basis I’d be getting worried about the going live of the Corporate Manslaughter Act this coming April. Two of the major differences are that it will be much easier for companies to be prosecuted successfully and government departments are no ... More About: Ready
Are YOU ready for the corporate manslaughter act?
2008-03-07 20:56:00 If I was running a company where anything potentially dangerous was being used on a regular basis I’d be getting worried about the going live of the Corporate Manslaughter Act this coming April. Two of the major differences are that it will be much easier for companies to be prosecuted successfully and government departments are no ... More About: Ready
Still more Wordpress hassles
2008-03-07 20:48:00 I thought that we were home and dry with the various blogs on the new hosting service and had just one last blog to move. Apparently not though as the feed for this blog ain’t working which is probably why the number of subscribers has dropped off somewhat. Feeds are, of course, something that you don’t normally look at yourself so everything seems fine even if they aren’t and it was only when I tried to sign up for a new blog aggregator that the problem surfaced. Anyway, I’m having another go at installing this blog, this time starting from scratch so it should be a clean upload but as the problem is related to some odd characters that Wordpress saw fit to insert itself it might be a little while before everything is back the way that it should have been. That’ll “just” leave the forum and the two directories to move over. I’m not really that bothered about the forum as such and it wouldn’t be a great loss if I just dropped it. ...
Still more Wordpress hassles
2008-03-07 20:48:00 I thought that we were home and dry with the various blogs on the new hosting service and had just one last blog to move. Apparently not though as the feed for this blog ain’t working which is probably why the number of subscribers has dropped off somewhat. Feeds are, of course, something that you don’t ... More About: Wordpress
Still more Wordpress hassles
2008-03-07 20:48:00 I thought that we were home and dry with the various blogs on the new hosting service and had just one last blog to move. Apparently not though as the feed for this blog ain’t working which is probably why the number of subscribers has dropped off somewhat. Feeds are, of course, something that you don’t ... More About: Wordpress
Car insurance
2008-03-07 11:55:00 Since our trusty Suzuki Alto is no more we had to see about getting a replacement for it and looked once more at the Suzuki family as they’re very sturdy little cars. For us, the best choice seemed to be the Ignis. It’s actually got dreadful reviews which isn’t surprising as it doesn’t fit neatly into one of the categories that reviewers recognise. Is it a supermini? Is it a small 4×4? Is it town car or a country car? Who cares? With the Ignis you get a LOT of car for your money. The higher driving position is always useful in this style of car when you’re driving in town. Not the crazy monster size 4×4 which are just far too large to park anywhere, just that little bit more height so you can see what’s coming up on the road. It’s built, to paraphrase the old Volkswagon ads, to be “as tough as old boots” which is really what we wanted in a car that we were going to use a lot for lugging people and things around. What ... More About: Insurance , Car Insurance
Car insurance
2008-03-07 11:55:00 Since our trusty Suzuki Alto is no more we had to see about getting a replacement for it and looked once more at the Suzuki family as they’re very sturdy little cars. For us, the best choice seemed to be the Ignis. It’s actually got dreadful reviews which isn’t surprising as it doesn’t fit neatly into ... More About: Shopping , Insurance , Car Insurance
Pagerank vs site traffic
2008-03-07 11:40:00 Many people see a site with high pagerank (PR) and assume that the site also has high traffic. They’re wrong to make that assumption: there is little correlation between PR and traffic. Take a simple example: I registered a domain just over a month ago. It acquired PR2 a couple of days ago yet the only traffic that it has had has been from the google spider! There have been no real people visiting the site at all. That applies all the way up too. Many blogs taking sponsored posts are finding that their high PR doesn’t equate to a high RealRank (RR) as calculated by PPP. The reason is really obvious when you look at some of the blogs: they may well have thousands of links to their site (hence the high PR) but have no content that would interest anyone so the traffic that they get is minimal and so too is their RR. Ironically, advertisers are only starting to realise this and change how they allocate sponsored opportunities to use RR (ie actual traffic) instead of PR. They... More About: Traffic , Pagerank , Site
Pagerank vs site traffic
2008-03-07 11:40:00 Many people see a site with high pagerank (PR) and assume that the site also has high traffic. They’re wrong to make that assumption: there is little correlation between PR and traffic. Take a simple example: I registered a domain just over a month ago. It acquired PR2 a couple of days ago yet the only traffic ... More About: Commentary , Web Development , Traffic , Pagerank , Site
Online casino guides
2008-03-06 21:54:00 The Online Casino Bluebook doesn’t mess around with providing you with lists of hundreds of casinos for you to wade through as many such sites do but rather homes in on the top 10 in each category. On the opening page you get a straight list of thetop 10 online casinos which is as far as most people will need to look but if your requirements are more specific they’ve also produces top 10s in the categories of no deposit, bingo, poker and sports betting. In fact, I exaggerate in saying that they are top 10s because they list only the top entries in each of those categories with typically only four entries for you to consider. Is this a copout on their part in not listing all the possible casinos? No, because there’s not much point in you running down a list of 100 or more online casinos as, frankly, most of them aren’t worth considering. Also, by limiting themselves to just a relative handful of casino sites they can keep the information about each casino fair... More About: Guides , Online casino
Online casino guides
2008-03-06 21:54:00 The Online Casino Bluebook doesn’t mess around with providing you with lists of hundreds of casinos for you to wade through as many such sites do but rather homes in on the top 10 in each category. On the opening page you get a straight list of the top 10 online casinos which is as far ... More About: Guides , Online casino
Savings, investment,… gambling
2008-03-06 21:43:00 Normally people move from savings to investment but draw the line at risky investments and don’t consider gambling as being in the same continum. But it is. Certainly savings and gambling are very much at the extreme ends of that continum but some high risk investments aren’t nearly so far from gambling as the investment community in general would have you believe. Is it any more risky to put 1 on a horse or to put 1 on a penny share? Well, sure, it’s usually riskier to put it on a horse BUT remember that whilst you might put 1 on a horse, chances are it would be more like 1000 that you’d be putting on that penny share which is a whole lot more to lose. Of course, that difference in the amount of money involved is critical in how you should rate a gamble as compared to a very high risk investment. However, don’t forget that even the safest investments are also gambles as any investor in Northern Rock will tell you now or for that matter policy holders i... More About: Investment , Gambling , Savings
Savings, investment,? gambling
More articles from this author:2008-03-06 21:43:00 Normally people move from savings to investment but draw the line at risky investments and don’t consider gambling as being in the same continum. But it is. Certainly savings and gambling are very much at the extreme ends of that continum but some high risk investments aren’t nearly so far from gambling as the investment community ... More About: Finance , Investment , Gambling , Savings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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