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Masks
I have seen my first face mask in London today as someone tries to avoiding catching the Swine flu.
Talk about crazy. Again people are falling for the media hysteria.
On the news last night the announcer said: "Swine flu is spreading across the globe, but there is evidence that the strain is weakening as it spreads."
She said the last part of the statement in a very quiet voice as if she was disappointed that millions of people might not die after all.
Come on BBC, ITV, SKY etc etc - get a grip and stop spreading panic among the masses.
Didn't you know we are in the middle of a recession?
Mass hysteria here we come
The national press are obviously bored of the recession now so they have all latched onto another obsession now - Swine Flu.
Apparently we are about to suffer a 'global pandemic' of swine flu now - we are all doomed.
I get strange flashbacks to the hysteria of SARS and Chicken Flu and how we were all going to die from that.
Thanks
I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who helped me out with comments for a last minute feature I had dropped on me yesterday.
You really helped to save my bacon!
One million pounds?
There was a press release doing the rounds this morning - from Infosec - which claims many people questioned for a survey would sell their company's secrets for £1m.
According to the figures 37 per cent of the 600 London commuters questioned would sell company secrets for the right price.
Of that 37 per cent, 63 per cent of those would hand over sensitive data for at least £1m, 10 per cent would do it if their mortgage was paid off, five per cent would do it for a holiday, four per cent for getting rid of their credit card debt and five per cent would do it for a new job.
Worryingly two per cent would hand over the most sensitive company information in return for a slap up meal.
It is quite scary to think that there is absolutely no loyalty to companies any more -gone are the days when people would devote their entire life to their employer and would guard company secrets with their life.
However these days, £1m doesn't get you an awful lot and I wouldn't fancy their chances of getting another job when the money ran out. Hardly great reference material is it?
Reason for leaving job? I sold all the company's sensitive data for £1m.
Next candidate please.
Budget day today
Today is the Budget and it was interesting to see how Mr Brown is hoping to save some money by paying MP's a set daily allowance for attending parliament rather than risking another expenses scandal emerging.
Can anyone explain why these people need an allowance anyway? They are already paid more than enough as an MP, particularly those in the Cabinet - why should they get any more money?
It seems that to become an MP (any party) the credentials needed are: You must be good at being 'economical' with the truth (about the only thing most are good at being economical with), good at lining your own pockets, an expert at jumping on the gravy train and must expect everyone else to kowtow to your every wish.
Join the Channel Debate
The results are proving interesting on our first Channel Debate question and it is great to see so many positive comments on the subject of the recession.
We have just posted our latest video - Bell Micro's global distribution president Graeme Watt answering our first question - please do check it out here.
However we still need more people to comment and leave us their views at the end of our top story Growth in a cold climate.
It is always interesting when you launch something new - as you never know how it is going to be taken, but I have been plesantly surprised so far.
Our next question should prompt some heartfelt replies (I hope) so check out CRN next week when we reveal question number two.
Boxing star
I was speaking to one of our brave boxers on Friday and heard how he had sustained a serious head injury after a fall and had been off work for the past three weeks.
Worried about his health I asked him if he would still be up for taking part in CRN's Fight Night event on 28 May.
His answer was "Of course, I wouldn't let a split skull stop me, although it has set my training back a little."
A little underreaction, considering I had just heard the extent of his injury. But an example of a typical channel champion - the show must go on.
I know he is back at work today - so welcome back and please be careful!
Welcome weekend
It is always a little confusing for us poor old souls on CRN when it comes to Easter.
The double bank holiday means our deadlines are all over the place and we basically have to get three issues done in the time it normally takes to do two.
It means when we get back, we are not sure what day it is!
Thankfully that is over for another year now and I am looking forward to the weekend very much - particularly because I am going to pick up my new motorbike. Very exciting and not an 'L' plate in sight!
I hope the weather is a little better this weekend than it was last weekend. I'm not pinning my hopes on a nice hot summer - it doesn't look promising - but I hope I'm proved wrong.
Have a great weekend and I'll see you all next week.
The Apprentice - week 4
Yet again I am staggered by what I saw last night.
I missed writing up about the previous episode because of Easter - but this week was incredible. That Ben has to go soon - he has got to be the most obnoxious, useless, conniving, backstabbing individual that has ever been on The Apprentice. Why S'ralan kept him on I do not know - unless it is to humiliate him next week.
Their challenge this week was to come up with health and beauty products - both teams decided on shower gel and soap. One of the teams actually came up with a really nice product, but spent far too much money on the ingredients. The other team, led by a complete imbercile by the name of Noorul had a lucky escape because not only was their product rubbish, but their methods were terrible as well - he couldn't sell chocolate to a chocoholic!
I hope either Ben or Noorul goes next week - although to be honest there is not a single one of them that stands out as a winner.
As ever I will be tuned in to find out. It is compulsive viewing.
Jealous!
I just stumbled on an article in The Times about a lucky git who is going on a six-week motorcycle ride around the Med and he is lucky enough to class it as 'working' because he is writing regular updates online.
How jammy can you get?
Happy Easter?
It has been a while since I last wrote anything - but for me the past weekend has been very momentous indeed.
Not only did I sucessfully give up chocolate for the whole of Lent - but I managed to pass my elusive motorbike test as well. Third time lucky! I nearly hugged the examiner last week - but managed to contain myself.
Thanks to all those in the channel who have given me words of encouragement and relayed their own bike test experiences over the past few weeks - much appreciated!
I have already bought my first big bike - a silver Suzuki 600 Bandit for those bikers out there - very exciting times.
I'm now hoping for good weather every weekend so I can make the most of it. Not that I let a little rain stop me anyway!
I'm seriously thinking of starting some kind of channel bike club - would anyone be interested in joining me? It will make a change from golf and boxing! Please email me at Sara.Yirrell@incisivemedia.com.
Let's get talking
We are very excited at CRN after launching our 'Channel Debate' microsite today.
It is a bit of an experiment because although the channel is know for being vocal - it is not the greatest at leaving opinions on stories and web sites.
However I'm hoping everybody will prove me wrong and log on to The Debate and leave their comments. We also have a poll so please do feel free to vote in that too.
A different question will be posed over the next five months and all the data we get from the debate will be used at one of our events in October.
I look forward to reading all your comments.
The Apprentice - Week 2
Well, just as I thought they couldn't get any worse - the muppets on The Apprentice proved me wrong yet again.
This week they were tasked with a catering challenge - a lunchtime rush one day, and then an evening canapes do.
The girls' food looked absolutely disgusting - they had gone for budget food, which is not a bad thing in itself - but if anyone tried to sell me any of that muck I would laugh in their face. The sandwiches hardly had any filling, the salad had hair in it (vomit) and the 'canapes' were absolutely revolting. I worked in a bistro as a student - and if we had tried to sell customers anything that resembled their 'food' I think we would have had Trading Standards called in.
As for the boys - they decided to go for a Greek-themed evening, and sporting togas, they offered their pathetic wares on huge platters. I'm not surprised their had some strange looks - from experience, people like to actually be able to satiate their hunger somewhat on the canapes and it is a real appetite killer when presented with pasty skin and spotty backs. YUCK!
What I'm amazed at is that both of the teams managed to get some money out of their customers at the end of the evening - albeit half the agreed amounts. Those clients either have far more money than sense (probably considering it was a law firm and an accounting firm) or they were coerced into paying for something because it was on TV.
This week's loser - Rocky - goes back to managing his chain of 15 sandwich shops. If any of his regular customers saw him in action last night - they would be wise to find another lunchtime supplier pretty sharpish.
Voice 'recognition' software
I had a few funny looks from my workmates this morning.
I was desperately trying to pay my water bills over the phone before starting work and was shouting 'yes' into the phone in different tones and volumes.
I did start off quietly because I didn't want to disturb people who were already hard at work, but quickly gave up on that idea and just decided to go for it.
This was after I had keyed in all the necessary information into the 'automated bill paying line' and was asked to confirm if the details were right by saying 'yes' down the phone.
After getting increasingly frustrated because the software couldn't recognise a simple 'yes' word, I was transferred to a real live human being, and had to go through the whole process again.
Talk about frustrating - why not just put people through to a person in the first place?
Sense of humour bypass?
For those of you living under a rock - today is April Fool's Day and I was certainly expecting a raft of hilarous press releases that would really fool our readers into believing they were true.
Sadly, the only one I was sent was a spoof advert (I think) from Laptops Direct - that was offering to sponsor funerals with branded gravestones, hearses, coffins and a eulogy from their md.
I usually can and will have a laugh at anything, but I failed to see the funny side of this today.
We in the press are often criticised for running things in poor taste, and I for a change would like to turn the tables.
It may be that I have lost a lot of close family and friends in recent years so I am slightly less open to graveside humour. Or just that I have had a sense of humour bypass today.
You decide - the advert can be found here.
