Uncategorized
Testing the Posterous iPhone app
Here, have some photos of the estatesgazette.com offices in Holborn:
Tim Relf has no taste...
It shouldn't be this way – some of my best friends are farmers, my girlfriend is a farmer's daughter, I even work for Farmers Weekly. But The Archers epitomises all that's wrong with so much radio drama. It's too acted; too hammed up. It's as if the actors are trying to compensate for the lack of pictures with grunts that are a extra grunty, stutters that are over-stuttered, ooh-arrs that are a little too rustic.
BURN THE HERETIC...
The Past, in a Skip
via ageofuncertainty.blogspot.com
One of my obsessions that I have to keep at bay is a love for found photographs. I find photographs at sale at antiques fairs or in junk shops almost unbearably heart-rending; objects that were once beloved momentos thrown away and up for sale, totally removed from the context in which they were created.
I've had to be disciplined and resist their lure, because I have vast amounts of fmily scanning to do before I can think of any found photography scanning, but this tale of rescued photography just fills me with joy. Well worth checking out.
Amen (or your secular affirmation of choice)
So it seems we know too little to commit to strict atheism, and too much to commit to any religion. Given this, I am often surprised by the number of people who seem to possess total certainty about their position. I know a lot of atheists who seethe at the idea of religion, and religious followers who seethe at the idea of atheism - but neither group is bothering with more interesting ideas. They make their impassioned arguments as though the God versus no-God dichotomy were enough for a modern discussion.
Debenhams Matures…
This got a huge thumbs-up from my (fashion-obsessed) mother-in-law over the weekend. Debenhams is using older models in some of its adverts.
She actually felt she could identify more with the people on display. Goes to show that "aspirational" doesn't always need to mean "aspiring to look 18"…
Hints of that double dip
Our food costs have increased frighteningly since last year. Just to take a few examples from Le Manoir's own provisioning: our blueberries have gone up by 16% since 2009, butter 4.5%, flour nearly 12%, Jabugo ham 15%, Manuka honey 11.5% and milk by more than 8%.
That's the chef Raymond Blanc blogging about the business challenges of the current economy. Base materials and energy costs up. Interest rates are going to have to rise at some point. Many public sector cuts to come.
Anyone nervous yet?
Pre-requisite for modern media?
We firmly believe that you can't build a modern media company without having a platform, and TypePad is our platform for doing that.
Interesting choice of words.
Living in the UK - not so great
The UK and Ireland have been named as the worst places to live in Europe for quality of life, according to research published today.
I'm not sure how and why the UK went so wrong, but this article actually sums up what we've been feeling for a while. Unless you're in a certain income bracket, the UK isn't a great place to be right now.
Where now for Movable Type and Typepad? - a post on my "work" blog about the Say Media news. I suspect several people reading this know way more than I do about the future, but I wanted to put an alternative spin on it to some of the predictions of doom circulating...
Thieves jamming car-locks?
Surrey police are exploring the theory that a gang of car thieves are jamming central locking systems to make it easier to steal goods from cars.
The theory arose after one a witness reported that a man used an electronic device to prevent doors from locking when he parked his Lexus at a local Sainsbury's.
That's a little worrying. I was in the Waitrose (how middle-aged am I?) car park on the way home from work a couple of weeks ago, and my car resolutely wouldn't open.
A couple drove up and told me that this was a common problem, and that I should go and see the manager about it. I said that it wasn't a problem, I could manually open the car, and they drove off. Just before I pulled off the manual open cover, I tried the fob lock once more, and it worked. Now I'm suspicious of that couple's motivations…
Blog Unleashes Cliché in Headline
Katie Holmes unleashes her wild side in leopard print
Oh, dear God. Is there no end to the clichés? How long have print media journalists been using "wild side" for anything to do with leopard print? It's dull, it's predictable, there's precisely nothing wild about Katie Holmes in that photo and do blogs really need to use the same clichés?
grumblegrumblegrumble
On the death of Vox
Last Thursday, I opened Safari, and found a death notice. Vox, a blogging platform I've used for four years, was on death row. At the end of this month, it dies.
I used to love Vox. Up until mid-2008 I was an enthusiastic Voxer, posting there as least as much as I do here. But my activity had petered off in recent years, and I think there are some lessons worth learning in the demise of this once-promising platform.
For anyone who has followed me over from Vox, I've blogged my thoughts on its end over on my "work" blog.
Reporting the Obvious: Women in Skimpy Summer Outfits Cause Male Drivers to Crash
According to a new survey from UK insurance company Sheilas' Wheels, male drivers are more likely to cause crashes than women in the summer because they are distracted by women in skimpy clothing, the Daily Express reports.
So what -- our bikinis and Daisy Dukes could be considered reckless endangerment?
The poll found that 29 percent of men admit to rubber-necking at scantily clad females while driving in the summer, according to the paper.
C'mon, guys. It's not even August yet. Do you have to start the silly season so early?
(Sheila's Wheels? Daily Express? I despair over the state of my profession...)
Update: And suddenly, I realise how damn offensive the original headline from the post I reblogged is. No, women's clothing doesn't make men crash - men staring at women like lecherous morons causes crashes. It's scary how easily blame slips the wrong direction in issues like this.
Doctor Who Theme (with didgeridoo)
[youtube www.youtube.com/watch
Somehow melancholy - and somewhat Sherlock Holmsian…
This Is Where I Live
CAMPAIGNERS protesting over cuts to their jobs and services were branded “f**king idiots” and told to “get real” by a mayor last night.
Mayor of Lewisham Sir Steve Bullock’s foul-mouthed outburst came after he was heckled by protestors at a Mayor and Cabinet meeting in Lewisham Town Hall.
*sniff* I'm so proud of my neighbourhood...
Dancing to the Productivity Tune
Research from University of Windsor in Canada showed the effect of music on the work performance of software developers. According to the study, without background music the designers’ quality of work was lowest and it took them more time to complete tasks. With background music, participants reported positive mood change and enhanced perception while working. Plus, the researchers noted that this positive change in mood correlated with increased curiosity — an excellent thing to have when doing creative work.
Fire up your iTunes or Spotify - and get busy. :)
Feeding Your Doctor Who Addiction
For the first time in 13 weeks, no Doctor Who, and there won’t be new episodes on television until Christmas. But if you’re not sure whether you’re going to cope, ask yourself if you need to see the Doctor, because you can listen to him courtesy of Big Finish.
Handy guide to enjoyable Doctor Who audio plays to keep you entertained until Christmas…
Quitting apps in iOS 4
There's actually a much simpler approach for quitting apps, and that's to use your recent app list. Double-click the home button to display the recently accessed applications. Press and hold any of the icons shown, then navigate to the application you want to quit and tap the red circled minus button.
via www.tuaw.com
Useful to know - this had been bothering me since I struggled to get the TomTom app to go away once I arrived at my destination…