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Eggwatch part 1
Thanks to everyone who attended a lunch today where I was the guest speaker! It was a first for me and I actually enjoyed it very much.
Good to meet some new faces and catch up with people I hadn't seen for years. I hope everyone else found it useful.
However one thing that has arisen from it is I have to do a regular Eggwatch.
For those of you who I haven't excitedly told - I am the proud owner of six hens - which are supposed to be laying eggs round about now.
However so far there is no sign and it is going beyond a yolk (sorry couldn't resist).
I'm hoping in the next few weeks I will be rewarded for my patience - trekking down to them in the pitch black every morning to let them out, feed them and clean them.
If anyone else keeps hens and can offer me any tips - I'd be very grateful.
Let the taxpayer take the risk!
A good contact of mine has just alerted me to a BBC story about the French government close to agreeing to provide insurance cover for firms that offer credit to their customers.
Now it is one thing getting cash moving again - but this takes it to a whole new level.
I can't imagine the UK taxpayer being that happy to foot the multi-million bill for Woolworths for example.
Now all it needs is for our hare-brained government to come up with a similar idea. After all - it is awash with cash at the moment (ahem).
Sad day for pic 'n mix
No more Woollies pic 'n mix then as the company goes into administration.
As a child and a student one of the highlights of my week was heading to Woolworths and choosing a couple of quid's worth of sweets from the pick and mix, and trying to avoid those that had been touched by little kids with snotty fingers - ah the memories.
However on a serious note for resellers - Woolworths' demise is quite a lesson to learn really because it ended up stocking so much and trying to be a 'one size fits all' shop that its ended up hanging itself because people couldn't decipher what its core business actually was. The fact is you cannot be all things to all men - having a USP is key!
Another store that has fallen victim is MFI which has put an administration notice on its web site. Now I've bought two kitchens from MFI in the last decade and think they have been a great place to visit when setting up home, but again it has fallen victim to 'hipper' competitors such as Ikea. I have to say though that the level of service I received during my last visit to MFI was so poor I ended up walking out in disgust. They obviously didn't need my business?
I wonder who will be next?
I'm very sad but....
Is it strange to get excited about having three followers on Twitter already?
I don't even know if it is a good thing or a bad thing - but there are lots of people there with hundreds.
How often should you update? I hear some people literally write their every move - eek am I going to turn into one of those?
i'm just experimenting with the web and have set up a Twitter account.
My username is Yirrelli - please leave me a message and any gossip that you want me to report in my blog. Names and identities will always be protected!
Fall out
The fall out from the pre Budget report is still being felt with Cameron forcing a debate on the issues, just when the politicians were going to give themselves five days off for all their hard work.
These people really do live on another planet to the rest of us.
However even more encouraging is the fact that protests about the rise in rail fares is gathering pace.
I heard on my local news that the chief executive of my particular rail company East Midlands Trains - is being presented with a tin of sardines to represent travelling conditions for passengers. Quite rightly so.
Colleagues at my former newspaper the Northampton Chronicle & Echo also reported how a local MP handed another tin of sardines to transport secretary Geoff Hoon.
I have sat in the luggage racks on my trains fairly often now - and for that privilege I pay almost £6,000 a year. Bargain.
Something has to be done about this.
I noticed one comment from someone saying why should taxpayers subsidise commuters' fares? Well for one thing - commuters going to work is what keeps the economy going - how else do people think pensions, benefits, child support etc is paid if people cannot get to work? I'm a taxpayer too, and I think as a commuter we deserve some financial support as well - everyone else seems to get it.
Not that I am angry or anything.
Good old Darling
Well, he has done it. Alistair Darling is going to cut the VAT rate from 17.5 per cent to 15 per cent (for a year). Apparently it is the first cut in VAT since 1974.
However I'm not sure how this is going to benefit the economy in the long run and it is just a government that has got us into unbelievable debt stalling for time.
Many retailers have already dropped prices as they look to encourage spending once more, so that change will probably have been absorbed already and I'm not sure how much the average shopper will notice the difference. Hopefully it will be passed on in household bills, but thanks to a massive price increase, it is not going to have that much of an impact on many homeowners.
What worries me is how we are going to see that increase in years to come and soon, 17.5 per cent will be a distant, but longed for memory.
He has also announced that the income tax rate for those earning £150,000 and above will be 45 per cent. Luckily for me I don't earn anywhere near that amount, but it puts an end to Labour's mantra about not penalising high-earners any more. However these high earners have until 2011 to move country before the tax starts!
The real question for me - as a commuter being constantly squeezed by eye-watering rises on the transport system, I would like to know when the government is going to stop allowing rail companies to just charge what they like, before everyone is priced off the railways once and for all.
Leveraging those synergies
As journalists we are always amused by how many companies 'leverage synergies' during the course of the day, but I have heard a new one today - 'maximising the leverage'.
It is a phrase I am definitely taking to heart now and it will be a frequently asked question among the CRN team.
"Have you maximised your leverage yet?"
"Don't go to lunch until you have fully maximised your leverage."
"Can you help me maximise my leverage?"
I could go on forever, but I had better stop.
However I am very tempted to get some T-shirts printed with my new favourite saying on them. After all, anyone who values their customer-facing synergies, would not be seen without one.
Power of text
I received a text message yesterday supposedly naming the people involved in the atrocious 'Baby P' case.
Now the names of these people (I find it hard to call them that) have been ordered by a court to remain undisclosed .
Being a journalist I understand and respect court orders and understand the consequences of breaching these orders. Not nice I can assure you.
However I am as disgusted as everyone else about the awful suffering this poor child went through.
But how do you stop this kind of thing spreading via text? Apparently this text has been sent across the country - sparking fears of vigilante-type action against the people named.
But what if the names and address mentioned is wrong?
How can this sort of thing be controlled?
It scares me how something like this can be spread so quickly and with relatively little effort.
I just hope the course of justice is allowed to run with the correct verdict being reached, and nobody tries to take matters into their own hands based on this shaky text 'evidence'.
Corporate Fraud
An interesting press release was sent to me about the increase in corporate fraud.
In today's climate - as companies begin to lay people off - there is definitely going to be a few disgruntled ex-employees about and it is quite a realistic situation that some of them may try and take revenge on their former employer.
After all - in a downturn like the one we are all now expecting - losing your job at a time of the soaring cost of living is not the best thing to happen and some people do end up in a desperate situation.
So I would agree with financial instutitions that are warning firms to take this matter seriously and not brush it under the carpet.
Reading difficulties
I am officially voting Reading as the most unhospitable place in the South.
I had the misfortune to attend an event in the town this week (great event, shame about the choice of location) and stupidly went to the nearest taxi rank expecting the driver to take me where I needed to go.
Instead he looked at me as if I was something he dragged in on his shoe and refused to take me, saying "you can walk, its over there". He lazily swept his hand in an arc and went back to reading his paper.
As I stood there dumbfounded I thought I would try another driver.
"Never heard of the place," he said before shutting his window.
I'm amazed any tourists actually visit Reading if that is the welcome they get.
In case you were wondering - I did manage to get a taxi to take me to my destination. Although he did take me round the houses and charged me an arm and a leg.
I walked back to the station that evening.
Feeling slightly guilty
Oops. John Sergeant has dropped out of Strictly Come Dancing. Mainly due to the backlash he has felt from people like me having a pop.
I feel slightly guilty now. But not that guilty.
To be honest it was the right and honourable thing to do and he has definitely earned some brownie points.
Well done John. Now you can get back to what you do best - hounding our politicians and making them accountable for their actions.
Awards Success
I was unfortunately not in a good way on Friday (too many shandies) - so this post is slightly late.
But I just wanted to say how much we at CRN all enjoyed the Channel Awards last week, and judging from the comments made to me, everyone who came along also managed to have a great time.
We are very proud of the Channel Awards - they are now in their 15th year - and are going from strength to strength. So I would like to thank everyone for their continued support and am already looking forward to the 2009 event.
I must also thank everyone who talked so loudly through my welcome speech - you really gave me a challenge in raising my voice and I've learned a little more about voice projection as a result. Thanks for that!
I hope to see you all there next year where my voice will be louder than ever. Ear protectors may be needed! You have all been warned.
Strictly Out of Order
Now until this point I have kept silent about my obsession with BBC's Strictly Come Dancing programme on a Saturday/Sunday night, but I can keep silent no longer.
This weekend's programme was an absolute outrage with the flat footed John Sergeant staying in the competition and a brilliant dancer in the form of Cherie Lunghi being booted off.
What is the voting public thinking? It is supposed to be a DANCE competition.
I ususally stick up for my fellow journalists, but I can stick up for him no more. He has to go. There are some brilliant dancers left now and if he is voted in another week more - it will be a travesty.
Yes, I know there are serious things like a credit crunch, economic turmoil etc going on in the world, but shows like Strictly take your mind off reality for a short while and are great for venting frustration by shouting at the screen.
So come on everyone, please don't vote him in for another week. It is painful to watch and is spoiling the show completely.
AWOL Award
We have a bit of an amusing situation here today....
Apart from feeling extremely rough thanks to another great night at the channel awards last night - we have a missing award.
ANS Group was awarded the Emerging Company of the Year Editor's Choice award last night - but we don't actually know who collected it on their behalf! He had his picture taken and then disappeared with the award.
Will you please come forward and identify yourself!! ANS want their award back!!
This could turn into an interesting saga - anyone with any information - please let me know!
Getting on stage
Well - tomorrow is nearly here - the Channel Awards 2008. We have been talking about it since April - so I can't actually believe it has arrived.
Luckily for me I get to stand on stage before the evening starts to give a welcome speech. I have been attending the Channel Awards for nine years now (scary thought) and every year it gets harder to keep people's attention.
I've kind of resigned myself to the fact that half the room will be merrily talking over me while I am on stage - but I really hope people support our chosen charity of the evening - the British Heart Foundation.
I know the horror of losing someone to a sudden, unexpected heart attack - I lost my dad five years ago - and I really hope everyone can find a few spare coins (or even notes) to donate to this very worthy cause.
Please dig deep and do the channel proud!
Oh yes, and I'll see you all at the bar!
Silence please
I was fortunate enough to be able to observe a two minute silence to honour all those brave soldiers who gave their lives in various wars, on Rememberance Sunday.
However trying to hold a two minute silence during the working day is a lot harder - we tried at work today, but it never quite pans out. Someone's phone always rings and there is always one unfortunate that is in the middle of an interview and who cannot quite get the interviewee to be silent about their latest promotion.
Next year I will be taking my phone off the hook I think to save future blushes.
Nothing to do with the Port....
I couldn't update my blog last week as I was in Portugal with Cisco and unfortunately I couldn't sign on.
I certainly didn't drink too much port and forget my password if that is what you are thinking.
However the trip itself was interesting - unfortunately I didn't get to see anything of Lisbon - we did go on a night trip via a tram - but there is only so much you can see in the pitch dark. Funnily enough the tram ride took over an hour, which made us late for the rest of the evening.
We were taken to a sumptuous palace for dinner and the setting truly was superb, the food was very rich and the alcohol flowed very well (nice port). But the true highlight of the evening was the entertainment. Three guys posing as waiters ended up singing opera in the middle of the meal and right up until the second song people were not sure if they were an act or the waiters truly were spontaneous opera singers.
Interestingly enough for us the performers picked all Cisco people to hone in on which made a nice change from picking on the press (HP I hope you are reading this!!) - so we were able to enjoy the Cisco reps being embarrassed for a change.
Cisco appeared in a very upbeat mood despite the gloomy economic predictions and although it did admit some of its partners may not make it through the storm, it made it clear that they all have its full support. I just hope it rubs off on the rest of the industry.
Pet entertainment
I don't know where I would be without the government and its handy guidelines.
Being an animal lover and an owner of cats since the age of six, I always felt there was something missing in my and my cats' lives.
Now, thanks to a Defra guide to keeping animals, with a 26-page pull out on cat care, I know what the missing link is. I need to entertain them.
Now I don't know if that means taking them to the pub or to the cinema - but cats not only like doing their own thing, but they need to be able to 'climb', 'jump' and 'go to the toilet' as well and have some kind of entertainment laid on as well.
Failure to do so could lead to prosecution, the government warns.
It really does beggar belief the stuff that this government wastes taxpayers' money on. Whatever next? A guide to teaching houseflies how to perform circus tricks?
Read the whole crazy story on the BBC here
Green spells danger?
A report out today has hinted that although it is a great benefit being green and investing in environmentally friendly IT kit, businesses could actually be putting their datacentre at risk at the same time.
Because of the demand on the uninterrupted power supply (UPS) caused by green IT kit, entire systems could fail and fall over, leaving us all doomed [this report claims].
However drill deepter beyond the scaremongering headline and the report, handily compiled by physical installation company on365.co.uk, claims that (surprise, surprise) if the products are installed correctly this problem can be avoided.
So it is not bad to be green, as long as you use on365.co.uk to install your new greener system. Brilliant.
The thing that annoys me with these reports is not only the self serving message of them, but the way they try and scare readers into investing in their technology.
