cris sharp

Perfect

2010-09-12T18:35:00.003+01:00

So, it transpires that the pub Jo found during the week is having a beer festival this weekend, 24 different barrels of real ale and 4 ciders!

Mmmmmmm, perfect...

Link:
The Merry Harriers

-- Post From My iPhone

GIZMODO iPad charging info

2010-08-27T11:00:00.002+01:00

The flipside of the iPad's seemingly inexhaustible battery life is that the length of time it takes to recharge it is best measured in epochs. Turns out, some methods work better than others.

There's a lot of ways to recharge an iPad—thank you, USB—but the iPad is finicky. For a portable, it has high power requirements, high enough to cause problems for some people. (It even has its own support document.)

We took the four most common ways to charge an iPad: The iPad's standard 10W charger, Griffin's PowerBlock iPad charger, the iPhone's standard power adapter, and via a MacBook Pro's USB port. We timed how long it took to bring the battery up to 80%, which is the standard baseline for a "quick" charge. That last 20% goes very slowly to preserve battery life, so doing total time wouldn't give a fair indication of the charging method.

The standard iPad charger and Griffin's PowerBlock are both spec'd to pump out 5 volts at 2.1 amps (so ~10 watts). The iPhone's standard compact power adapter runs at 5V at 1.1 amps (~5 watts). The MacBook Pro USB port is a little more complicated—if you have a newer Intel model, like we used, the port adapts to what you plug into it. Normally, it pumps out 5V at 500 milliamps, but if you plug in something like an iPad and it has the juice to spare, the port becomes a high-powered port, juicing your iPad at 1.1 amps, so roughly the same as the iPhone charger. (Note: All of these adapters are smart and dynamically adjust output, which is why you can plug your iPhone into an iPad charger and it won't go kablooey.)

Here's what we found after running down our iPad 3G several times—netting a damned impressive 6 hours and 30 minutes of battery life while continuously streaming Netflix videos over 3G—and then charging it back up to the 80% mark. We were a little surprised at the variations when it came to recharging:

The PowerBlock proved to be very slightly faster than the standard iPad 10W power adapter, getting us to 80% after just 2 hours and 30 minutes of charging, but it's sharply downhill (or rather, uphill) from there. While that doesn't mean you should toss your iPad adapter and buy a Griffin straight away, it does mean that if you need a spare or a replacement charger, you could skip the Apple-branded one, and hunt down a PowerBlock, preferably on sale for less than the $30 list price.

Just be careful: Griffin didn't change the PowerBlock name when it updated the product to 2.1 amps for iPad. If it doesn't say "iPad," it's probably the older version that's currently selling on the cheap.

The poor performance of the MacBook Pro USB jack teaches us another thing: Direct juicing is better, if given a choice. Still, some USB wall plugs meant for iPhones and other cellphones won't even support an iPad, so you may be stuck. If so, set aside several hours for a good power-up.

One last thing about iPad battery management: It's worth taking a peek at Apple's recommendations for optimal iPad battery lifespan. Of note, you ought to take your iPad through a full recharge cycle once a month. That means running it down completely, then charging it to 100 percent. It's actually the first part that's hardest, as we found out while trying to test all of these charging techniques.

Links:
Original GIZMODO article
Griffin's PowerBlock for iPad charger

Weather reports

2010-08-27T08:18:00.003+01:00

Is it me or are the weather reports getting less accurate every day?

I am working in central London at the moment, so traveling in from outside Guildford gives me a couple of choices regarding getting there. The first option is to travel by train which costs £30, takes between 1.5 and 2.5 hours, and involves the dark and smelly Northern tube line. Option two is to take my motorcycle which costs £10 of petrol, takes between 1 and 1.5 hours, has free parking outside the building and is exempt of the London congestion charge. On the face of it, the choice is a no-brainer, however, the great British weather can stick it oar in the decision making process. So I have taken to watching weather reports.

Back in the day, Jack Scott really knew his onions!

Now, I can remember in my youth watching weather reports on the BBC, and on balance, believing what they said and acting on their advice. It would appear that things have gone terribly wrong in the forecasting world, because now it seems that you are better off looking out the window and having a guess yourself. Today for instance was forecast to be a grey but dry start, getting sunnier during the day. So I got my bike out, got on and set off, within a minute, it has started raining and I was soaked. Great, now I am changed and sitting at the rail station, late for work and blogging it out of my system!

What a great start to the day, thanks Met Office.

-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Normandy, Surrey

Email etc.

2010-08-26T12:57:00.006+01:00

Having got used to the way mail works on my MobileMe account, I have changed my business email account to IMAP to get the same functionality.

Historically, I have always used a POP3 account for my email. This basically sends copies of your your emails to any device (computer, smartphone etc) that has the account enabled on it. This is all very well and good, however it means that you end up having to deal with the same email on potentially several different devices as the email will have spread like a virus to all your connected machines. This can get dull very fast if, like me you work from several computers. I am currently frequently using a Mac Pro, MacBook Pro 13, MacBook Pro 17, iPad and iPhone...

The difference with an IMAP mail account (rather than POP3) is that although the emails are sent to all devices, if you action a received email (delete or archive) this action propagates back through all of your devices so when you check your mail on an alternative machine, the email is auctioned there too. Furthermore, all devices show archives and folders so you can easily reference old emails.

This functionality is also true of Calendars, Notes and Contacts. So any amendment you make to say your calendar on your iPhone, automatically updates all other calendars on all other machines. An example of this is that I have just set up this service on an iPad at home, so as I get work, I add the dates to the computer I am working on and Jo (my wife) can see instantly at home what is happening. Conversely, she can update the diary on the iPad and I follow her plans too. Separate but interlinked diaries can be kept in different colours so it is easy to keep track of different aspects of your life (work, home, kids etc).

It's like magic...

Another clever facility is the ability to integrate other IT systems into your devices. I have for example being given a Gmail account at the company for whom I am currently freelancing. I have loaded their log-in details onto my devices and the emails, and calendar events set up for their projects are automatically integrated into my own accounts.

Even more magic!

Links:
MobileMe
Gmail
iPad

Location:Charlotte St, London

National Health

2010-08-16T08:22:00.004+01:00

I just finished a 3 week project for the guys at UKS&V in Ringwood that comprised of 15 two minute videos for the NHS explaining their pension scheme for delivery on their intranet.

UKS&V's video department shot a to camera talking head of a news presenter in front of a green screen explaining various points of the pension which was edited together and supplied to me alpha keyed by Richard their editor.

I took this footage into After Effects and placed it into a template designed around the NHS' current printed pensions brand. Behind the presenter I animated various photos and graphic elements to illustrate the points being made.

Screen grab from one of the videos including sub-titles...

At the end of the project a second set of 15 videos were delivered with sub-captions for the hard of hearing.

As you can imagine, I am now an expert on the NHS' pension scheme, so if any of their employees need any advice they know where to come...

Link:
UKS&V

Round 9 - Laguna Seca

2010-07-28T22:04:00.003+01:00

I Finally got to watch last weekends MotoGP from Laguna Seca and was treated to another heroic performance from Valentino Rossi who managed to get on the podium, finishing third, despite still being on crutches and looking like death at the end of the race and cursing "F*** my left side is finished" live on BBC TV.

Valentino Rossi back on form

Third place was, to be fair, gifted to him when race leader Dani Pedrosa threw his bike into the gravel on corner five. A crash which has effectively handed this year championship to Jorge Lorenzo as Pedrosa was his only real competition after a convincing win in last weeks race.

Ben Spies also looked strong and appears to be at the top of Yamaha's list to get Rossi's bike if, as rumour has it, Rossi leaves for Ducati next season. If everything plays out as expected for the rest of this year, next year looks like it will be a classic...

Result:

Lorenzo

Stoner

Rossi

Championship standings:
Lorenzo: 210
Pedrosa: 138
Dovizioso: 115
Stoner: 103
Rossi: 90

Link:
MotoGP.com

Time

2010-07-26T15:57:00.006+01:00

Sitting in the passenger seat of my car, parked, doing nothing whilst Isobel (my daughter) is asleep in the back and Jo and Cormac (wife and son) are out watching the Red Arrows at the Farnborough Airshow has given me the opportunity to muse on time...

Nine things I didn't get to see...

It is an interesting fact that time is the one thing that appears to be entirely out of my control. I am either flat out at work (which is a good thing obviously) or running around after the kids which has left me with exactly no time for myself. Being busy at this time of year has come as a shock as events work traditionally dries up during holiday seasons (no point having a conference if your staff are on holiday) but it would appear that companies are making up for lost time, after postponing events during the recession and have gone mad booking them all now. Due to the dismal financial year that this caused for most events companies I can hardly turn the business away... So here I am, flat out busy and yet doing nothing at all.

It reminds me of a theory that explains why time seems to go faster as you get older. It is because of relativity; the fact that to a 10 year old, 1 year is a tenth of their life, whereas to a 100 year old 1 year is only a 100th of their life so it appears to be a shorter amount of time relative to their viewpoint.

This is why I try not to have spare time, my brain has started to hurt.

Location:Farnborough, Surrey

Can't wait any longer...

2010-07-23T20:05:00.001+01:00

Sadly, after waiting for delivery of my iPhone 4, I have had to give up...

Many an excuse and misdirection has been sent my way, but only when I called them as no one ever called me back. But after three weeks I have finally, due to the expiry of my old phone, had to say 'enough' and buy an iPhone 3GS again...

Never mind, it has saved me over £200 and to be fair that was about £200 more than I had, I had not realised that a careful eye on my expenses was a free service with a Vodafone connection.

So, disappointed but richer, I will solder on with last years technology - it breaks my heart.

Apparently not

He's back!

2010-07-20T20:15:00.006+01:00

The Sachenring was the venue for the early return of The Doctor and who would have predicted the performance that he would put on? Certainly not Casey Stoner.

The first surprise was that Valentino Rossi was in Germany for the race at all, having being expected to be out for at least two more weeks following the compound fracture of the tibia he suffered at Mugello six weeks ago. The second surprise was his performance in qualifying, considering he was hobbling around on crutches, second row on the grid was very impressive. Following a tentative start he surprised again by keeping pace with the leaders and placing himself in fifth place at the time of the races red flag.

Rossi on crutches during testing

A blown engine on Lorenzo's Yamaha during qualifying left an oil slick on the track that was found by, among other riders, Randy DePuniet who was thrown from his bike and injured. Randy however decided to race on Sunday, this turned out to be an error as he lost control during the race and caused a crash involving several other riders. Randy unfortunately came out worst receiving a broken tibia and fibula, potentially putting him out for the rest of the season.

DePuniets blazing Honda after his crash on Sunday

The re-start gave Rossi a perfect opportunity to show what he could do and deliver Stoner his last surprise (the race now being shorter and less arduous on his recovering leg). By the last five laps Rossi and Stoner were fighting it out for third place, swapping positions on a lap by lap basis and it took to the final corner for Stoner to reclaim the last spot on the podium.

Lorenzo was beaten again by Pedrosa, the only person who now has a realistic chance of keeping him form the title with an impressive performance from both Pedrosa and his Honda. And Honda have now confirmed that Stoner will be riding for them next year leaving an opening for the dream ticket of Rossi on a Ducati next season...

It would seem that not only is Rossi back, but he is right back on form...

Championship standings:

Lorenzo: 185

Pedrosa: 138

Dovizioso: 102

Stoner: 83

Hayden: 78

Rossi: 74

Link:

MotoGP

BT et al.

2010-07-14T20:57:00.006+01:00

What is it with telecoms support? It's like pulling teeth getting service and having worked on innumerable events for telecoms companies I know that at least some of them (Vodafone springs to mind) do actually put thought and effort into customer loyalty.

As I have just moved my office into my garden, I decided to upgrade my broadband connection. The reason I had to do this in the first place is that when a couple of years ago I moved my calls from BT to Talk Talk, BT helpfully downgraded my broadband connection to 1Mbps - cheers for that. Anyway, having swallowed my pride and gone begging back to BT for a faster connection, they, showing the forgiveness of the mighty gods they are, bestowed on me the start date of the 8th of July for my new faster web life.

Come the 9th, no change in access speed.

I called BT to find out why. "Apparently sir the order was cancelled, you will have to go back to sales and order again". No explanation was given. So after 25 minutes I have re- ordered the service and allegedly on the 20th it will start working.

We will see...

So, onto Vodafone, who I have to say I like and not just because they help pay my mortgage (I have also worked for BT).

Jo (my wife) needs a new phone, so I suggested an iPhone 4, so I called Vodafone. The most helpful and enthusiastic iPhone evangelist in the world helped me choose the same tariff I am on for her. The next day I got an email saying "Sorry we could not process your order" and suggested I call 191 to find out why.

So I did.

I spoke to a lovely person who said they could see no error with the order, but because the phone was out of stock, the order had been made by the original sales rep online as this was the only way to achieve this, therefor I needed to speak to a web sales rep. I was put on hold to speak to such a person. Ten minutes past and the web rep who spoke to me said it was nothing to do with them and put me back on hold which connected me with the same department I first spoke to.

The next person I spoke to said "No, the web sales department is definitely the correct department" and put me on hold to speak to them again.

25 minutes of holding later I hung up.

I then called customer support who apologised as said a manager with the uber power to speak to the web department would call me back with an explanation.

Two days later, no manager has called.

Bugger.

It would appear that the lovely folk at Vodafone who I get to listen to on events and the splendid sales folk who helped me spend my money are being rather let down by the support people who are supposed to make all the promises happen.

Oh dear.

Post From My iPhone (not the new one Jo doesn't have, obviously)

Total Football

2010-07-12T21:13:00.003+01:00

As a child I was in awe of the Dutch and their fantastic football team. They were the world's finest players and the creators of the concept of Total Football.

Having watched the World Cup final, I felt sick as I watched the current generation of Dutch stars take Total Football, beat it to death and bury it in South Africa.

Van Bommel, the dirtiest player in the World?

The build up for this match advertised a clash of the two finest footballing nations never to have won the World Cup and would be the crowning display for the beautiful game. What a disappointment and what a sham. The Dutch should hang their heads in shame for their cynical attempt to use violence in overcoming a team they clearly believed to be superior to themselves. As a Barcelona fan, I was waiting for the sickening crunch of a career ending tackle on on of my teams stars (Barca supplied the spine and ultimately the hero of the Spanish team).

The only good point I can take from this sham was that Iniesta, one of the most sinned against players on the Spanish team, was the man who fed the Dutch the perfect reply to their thuggery with an excellent strike, the single most important goal in Spanish footballing history and a goal that has made him a legend in Spain.

Spain, the best team in the world...

Long live Spanish Football because Total Football is dead at the hands of the team that birthed it.

Five apps for the conference-goer

2010-07-08T11:09:00.001+01:00

Here is a blog straight from TUAW with some app ideas for conferences.

Heading off to a conference? Here are five little apps you might want to consider adding to your iPhone before heading off to the airport. They all provide functionality that may come in handy when you're on the go.

SpeakerClock ($0.99) provides a bright easy-to-read display showing you exactly how much time you have left to present your paper and take questions. It's a deceptively simple application full of lovely little design touches. I used it at a recent conference and found it an absolutely valuable tool to have around.

SpeakerClock

This app works well both on the iPhone and the iPad -- as a conference organizer, it's really great to use the iPad's larger screen from across the room. As a speaker, the iPhone version works particularly well when placed on a small business card stand on the speaker's podium.

Want to easily share your contact information? Contxts offers a simple solution. You can sign up for a free account at contxts.com, where you can enter your details. Anyone with a phone (it doesn't have to be an iPhone) and an SMS plan can text a short phrase (like "demotuaw") to 50500 and they'll receive the information you set up at their website. Their free iPhone app lets you edit that information directly. What's more, when you turn the iPhone on its side, you can display a "HELLO my name is" contact sheet that instructs people how to retrieve your contact data. What's great about Contxts is that it's a solution that works with any group of people, whether they've hopped onto the Apple iPhone train or not (of course, if they have an iPhone or an Android phone, there's always Bump).

You can easily share your contacts with Mover+ ($1.99) as well, but there's a lot more you can do with this terrific application -- especially when you're at conferences. Mover+ lets you slide files and images from one iPhone to another, using ad-hoc Bluetooth networking. That means you can transfer data even when a conference's WiFi service is lacking, a situation that happens far too often in my sad experience. What's more, the user experience on this app is really slick (I believe it's been featured in an Apple commercial). If you like using apps that make people suddenly want to go out and buy an iPhone, this is one of them. Both users must have the app installed on their devices.

Need to track data while you're at your conference? Dayta ($1.99) is a sweet little app that lets you store pretty much any kind of structured information. Doesn't matter if you're logging miles walked, drinks consumed, food eaten, money spent, or hands shook. Dayta allows you to organize that information using free-form data logs -- and you can even graph that data. I really like Dayta's ability to adapt itself to multiple use-cases, an especially great feature for when you're traveling.

Dayta

Solve (free) offers a really cute way of doing math on the go. Want to calculate a tip or split a tab? Sure, you can use a standard tipping app, or you can pull out Solve and use its handwriting interpretation to do the same tasks on a standard calculator -- by writing with your fingers. It's a lot of fun, which is kind of the point when you're out with people at a conference and you want to just show off your iPhone to others.

Link:
TUAW

Black T-shirts

2010-07-07T22:50:00.002+01:00

How many black t-shirts does one man need?

One of the odd side-effects of working in the events industry is the unsightly build-up of branded black t-shirts.

All conference companies have their own branded black shirts that the crew are given, and apart from an odd period about five years ago when a few agencies started asking for their t-shirts back (all smelly are worn) they tend to come home with you.

This raises the question, what do you do with them? Do you keep them awaiting the next event you do for that company, or do you throw them away? The first option is difficult due to space issues and the second option is not madly environmentally friendly.

There is a great story of a big events company director, who whilst walking through London, spied a tramp lying drunk and unconscious in the street wearing one of his companies t-shirts. Having considered the image problems this caused he issued a ban on his freelancers giving their used t-shirts to charity.

This is very odd as in my experience, when I see someone lying unconscious in a pool of their own vomit wearing a show crew t-shirt, they usually are show crew!

Catalunya

2010-07-07T19:41:00.002+01:00

Despite Pedrosa overcooking the start at Catalunya this weekend and going off the track to rejoin in 9th place, he did sterling work fighting his way through the field to finish in second place, inevitably behind Lorenzo in first.

Lorenzo was surprisingly hard pushed for much of the race my Dovizioso, being passed at one stage, but Dovi was pushing past his limits to keep up and also left the track, Low siding his bike on a corner, though credit to him he got back on and finished the race on a rather sorry looking Repsol Honda.

Dovizioso briefly leading the race at Catalunya

Casey Stoner finished in 3rd place, having also left the track after going too hot into a corner, perhaps he decided against pushing Pedrosa too hard for second as it is rumoured that Casey will be leaving Ducati at the end of the season to join Pedrosa as his teammate, taking Dovi's place on the second Works Honda machine... Other rumours have Valention Rossi (the current champion, out injured) leaving Yamaha to go to Ducati at they have offered him an alleged 15 million to race for them next year, compared to nine million being offered to stay at Yamaha, (Lorenzo is being offered eight million to stay at Yamaha).

The upshot is that Jorge Lorenzo is running away with the championship, hopefully when Rossi returns we will get some more battles to watch at the front...

Championship standings:
Lorenzo: 169
Pedrosa: 113
Dovizioso: 91
Hayden: 69
De Puniet: 69

Link:
MotoGP

Log cabin

2010-07-07T19:13:00.004+01:00

I have finally moved my company from serviced offices into my new shiny log cabin in the garden!

It was a good stop gap solution, being based in Cedar House in Frimley (thanks Kelvin), but given that my family have a company (Sharp's World of Wood) that imports and builds log cabins, it seem crazy not to get one.

The best bit is the fact that you can erect a wooden building on your land so long as it fits within some fairly simple legislation without the need of planning permission as wooden buildings are classed as temporary structures. The main points to bear in mind that the building needs to be less than 15 square meters in ground space and less than 4 meters tall.

The structure is very sturdy with 75mm thick solid walls and lockable double glazed windows and doors. Plus there is a layer of insulation in the roof and floor so it should stay fairly cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

The cabin being built

The install took about a week including painting inside and treating on the outside and all in cost about £10,000 - less than 3 years rent for a room which is half again the size of my previous office...

Amazingly, Steve who was helping with the install fell from a step ladder, landing awkwardly and despite being hurt insisted on working on till the job was done, it turns out that he broke three ribs! That is dedication for you.

We also built a nice play house for Isobel and Cormac so they didn't feel too left out...

Links:
Sharp's World of Wood
Cedar House Business Centre, Frimley, Surrey

Belatedly Assen

2010-07-04T07:31:00.003+01:00

So after a crazy week, I finally got to watch the Assen MotoGP and finally it appeared to be situation normal with the big guns fighting it out for the top three places.

Randy DePuniet once again tried to put a fly in the ointment with a fantastic second on the grid following an inspired qualifying but had a poor start and was left trying to get back into competition for the whole of the race.

DePuniet ahead of Dovizioso in Assen

By contrast, Pedrosa has a shocking time setting up his Honda for qualifying but his team managed to get it together for when it counts and he was right in contention from the start.

Lorenzo led the race from beginning to end, only being caught for a short time by Pedrosa and finally Casey Stoner on his Ducati, but soon got away from them both when they got caught up racing each other and the race ended Lorenzo, Pedrosa and Stoner in that order.

Ben Spies had a great fourth place and Dovizioso finished fifth after holding of a maniacal DePuniet on his charge from his poor start.

Championship points after Assen:
Lorenzo: 140
Pedrosa: 93
Dovizioso: 89
Rossi: 61
Hayden: 61

iOS4 available now

2010-06-21T19:53:00.006+01:00

Apple's new operating system for their mobile devices 'iOS4' has been released and is available for download from the iTunes store.

iOS4 for iPhone home screen

This free update is well worthwhile downloading as it brings iPhone 4 functionality to existing iPhone 3 and 3GS users, though functionality differs depending on what generation of iPhone you are updating and some functions are not supported at all as they need the iPhone 4's hardware for implementation. What is supported on 3GS, however is multi tasking, folders and a unified inbox for multiple email accounts; all things woefully missing from previous releases of the iPhone.

One word of warning; the update backs up and restores the content of your phone, so if you have a full 32GB iPhone 3 then is may take a couple of hours to complete...

One thing that I am not sure about is the default 'wet look' home screen for the new OS, to my mind it does not fit in with Apples usual slick look and is a bit gimmicky, it's something that is easily changeable though so perhaps my thoughts are irrelevant (as usual).

You will also need to update to the latest version of iTunes (9.2) before you can update your Phone to iOS4.

Link:
iOS4 software update

Silverstone

2010-06-21T09:53:00.002+01:00

Silverstone has just been redeveloped so this years MotoGP was billed to be a level playing field for all of the riders, and in a way it was, but in the more precise meaning of the word level, it certainly was not.

It appears that the track is bumpy, and bumps on a corner in a motorcycle race are never a good thing. This caused several crashes in practice until the riders worked out the worst offending corners and where to back off on the speed. The biggest down side for the spectator was that Pedrosa, the main competition to championship leader Lorenzo, fell and it transpired from watching his race, that he was not 100% fit.

Lorenzo celebrates at Silverstone

As it turned out the race was a run away win for Lorenzo, pushing him further away in the standings. What with Rossi out from his crash last time out it is certainly looking like the only person who can beat Lorenzo is Lorenzo himself, and the way his riding has matured added to the lack of immediate race competition makes a spectacular Rossi style crash unlikely.

Before the race there was a real risk of it being a relatively boring affair with no real cut and thrust at the front and after Stoners woeful start (last into turn one) it looked like this was going to be the case. Step forward, Randy de Puniet. Randy rode like a maniac creating a fantastic race for second place first with Dovizioso, then when Dovi got away from him, Hayden and Spies, sadly the hammering he was giving his engine and brakes finally killed his tyres and he dropped off the pace before the end, apparently leaving the door open for Hayden to get 3rd place. This looked even more likely when, after working his way through the field, Casey Stoner (Hayden's Ducati team mate) appeared on Spies back wheel, relieving the pressure Spies was applying. However, Hayden made an error on the last lap and Spies took advantage, fighting off all attempts that Hayden could make to claim the last spot on the podium. A fantastic result for Ben Spies, claiming his first MotoGP podium in only his fifth race at this level and all done on a Tech 3 Yamaha (not a works bike).

So despite this season looking like a one horse race, perhaps Spies can build the knowledge and skills to make next year a battle royale!

Spies, making good on his potential

Race result:
Lorenzo, Works Yamaha
Dovizioso, Works Honda
Spies, Tech 3 Yamaha
Hayden, Works Ducati
Stoner, Works Ducati

Championship standings:
Lorenzo 115 points
Dovizioso 78 points
Pedrosa 73 points
Rossi 61 points
Hayden 52 points

Link:
MotoGP website

Culture

2010-06-19T20:42:00.002+01:00

It is a wonderful thing, working in an industry where you have the chance to take in the culture of different countries and civilizations...

Here we see the AV crew out of their natural environment (in the dark) on one of their rare escapes into the 'real' world. See as they are astounded by simple day to day things such as 'the Sun'. The sponge like way they take on culture and leap at every chance to better themselves is a wonder to behold!

From left to right:
Jeremy Shakerley - Producer
Cris Sharp - Graphics
Jon Langley - Lights
Richard Baker - Projection
Gary Dixon - Sound

On second thoughts, perhaps this is not a good example.

Location: Monte Carlo

More ways to spend!

2010-06-17T15:57:00.003+01:00

Apples latest method of separating people from their cash has been launched:

This comes in the form of a new iPhone/iPad app. This neat little program links directly into their web store and allows you to easily brows for and purchase their products directly from your phone. Speaking as someone with a clear addiction their products and a lot of time to fill (a conference is a lot like being in the army, lots of boring waiting followed by frenetic activity) this will test my resolve not to purchase an iPad to the limit!

Fortunately for my bank balance, the app is only available for use with the US store, however, I am sure a global roll out won't be long in appearing...

The new Apple store app

Location: Monte Carlo

Content

2010-06-17T15:56:00.005+01:00

One of the more frustrating elements of events is getting the content for the presentations from the presenters.

It never fails to amaze me that, given that the presenter is the person on stage facing the audience, that they so frequently don't appear to be thinking about their content until the event is looming large in their diaries. I realise that people have busy lives, and time is a precious commodity, but I would want to know that I had as much support assets in place and checked for any presentation I was making before I got on site!

A great example of leaving things to the last minute happened on my current event. Having received and formatted all of the expected content, I was given a memory stick with some slides for a presenter on the last day who was not expected to be using any speaker support. Not only were these new slides not on the event slide template, but they were the wrong aspect ratio (4x3 rater than 16x9), and the most complex slides yet submitted for this event but they were also given to me as a PDF document, so I could not format them even if I had time!

Memory sticks - presenters will insist on walking into events just before their presentations with a re-designed slide deck on one of these terrible things... It does make life very tense.

Fortunately, after pointing out the issues involved in fixing these problems the show's producer, re-sent our PowerPoint template to the presenter's office in the US and magically, formatted slides were returned to us the next day. Amazing, with the right will and a reasonable explanation, these things can get sorted without that death of the graphics operator.

The one saving grace of Conferences, from this point of view however, is the fact that they have a definite deadline. So, all content must be provided at least before the presenter finishes speaking. This is one thing that certainly can't be said for web site design. I would say that getting the content for a site is the single biggest issue for web creation, an issue that I really don't have an answer too, so any ideas would be welcome!

So if you are presenting at a conference, or in the process of having a web site built; please put aside some time and think about what you are going to say, and what text and imagery you will need to say it, then give that information to your graphics company. We are only trying to help!

Location: Monte Carlo

White gloves

2010-06-17T15:53:00.002+01:00

There is an outrageous belief among event crew that graphics operators never actually get their hands dirty and we are accused of being 'white glovers'. I would like to take this opportunity to refute this and offer up this photograph of my hands taken during the Monaco rig, as evidence...

That said, this was an extreme circumstance and I wouldn't want people to get the wrong idea!

Link:
A good cheap source of white gloves

Location: Monte Carlo

Flying: How difficult can it be?

2010-06-17T15:50:00.004+01:00

This week I am working on a conference in Monaco. Flying from London you would think that this would not be the most taxing proposition in the world, this however does not take into account French air traffic control...

After enjoying breakfast at Frank and Benny's at Gatwick Airport, we (the show crew) decided to meander down to check on which gate our flight would be leaving from. Alas, next to the flight number is not the gate reference, but the dreaded word CANCELLED, French air traffic control was on strike. As we were flying Easy Jet (this carrier is being used more and more as budgets are squeezed) we were basically left to mill around airside in the terminal until an airline representative came to lead us back to our luggage, where we were abandoned.

Given that we were supposed to be starting the get-in on site at 15.00 that day and the time was now 10.30 and we had no way of getting to the south of France, this was considered a 'bad thing'.

The next step was to call back to the office to see what alternative travel plans could be made. After much discussion regarding Eurostar and trains in France, we chose to fly to Italy on British Airways and get a mini-bus to drive us back to Monaco. This decided, a taxi was ordered, we drove round the M25 to Heathrow's terminal 5 where we awaited out flight. Once we were loaded onto the plane, an announcement was made that, due to the need of all flights to avoid French airspace, the flight would have to await a take off slot in an hours time. Anyone who has been stuck on a modern airliner on the ground will know how delightful this was.

Once underway the flight was fine and a couple of hours later we arrived in Milan. Fortunately our driver was waiting for us and we set off, the journey taking about four hours (after stopping for a small meal at a transport cafe on the way) and we finally arrived on-site at 23.15.

We did not start the get-in.

The second reason (after cost) we were not initially flying BA is the fact they their staff has been striking on and off this year, so this carrier was too much of a risk to use, making EasyJet a more attractive option. Add to this the Volcano in Iceland as another source of flight disruption and thing are really getting quite difficult for event logistics...

To be fair to the logistics team, they had in our absence unloaded the AV equipment for the truck and placed it all in the plenary room - big respect for that - lots of people would have baulked at the weight of some of the kit. Particularly as the hotel porters were extremely reticent to get their hands dirty.

Anyway, after a short sleep and an early start, the set was built, the audio, video, lighting and graphics hardware was installed and the show started on time - well done us!

Location: Monte Carlo

Mac Mini

2010-06-17T15:49:00.004+01:00

To my mind, the Mac Mini has always sat in an odd no man's land in the Apple line up between the iMac and the MacBook, being a home computer that is laptop sized but has no screen. To be honest, I have not seen the point of it. That opinion however, with the release of the new updated Mac Mini, has changed.

The single most important modification that Apple has made is to add an HDMI audio visual adapter to the machine. The reason that this is a great move is that HDMI is the standard adapter on modern televisions. This means that this small box can be attached to, (in my plan, bolted to the back of), a home HD TV giving the television set the potential of true web connection. The issue of family internet connection on the home TV is one I touched on in an earlier blog as the reason that iPad's make good home computers, in that the internet operability of most "Web TV's' is very poor using as it does proprietary user interfaces, driven by clumsy TV style remote controls.

With the use of a bluetooth Mouse and Keyboard, the Mac Mini neatly sidesteps the issues with remote controls and gives the user the sort of controls that they are used to using at work. The machine can use a wireless network to connect to the internet, or alternatively I use Netgear adapters that turn the houses power sockets into network ports, a great system worth checking out...

So, now at home, you will be able to change channels on your TV set to an Apple computer and surf the next efficiently using Safari 5, Apple's newly released update to their web browser, excellent!

The starting price for the new Apple Mac Mini is: $699

Link:
Mac Mini

Location: Monte Carlo

Spam, spam, spam, spam

2010-06-11T13:38:00.007+01:00

Due to the weight of spam, I have finally decided to turn off the forwarding from my secondary email addresses.

As I have an unusual spelling of Cris (no 'H'), I acquired the URL to several other web addresses as well as cris-sharp.com, for example; chris-sharp.com and cris-sharpe.co.uk, this has been quite useful as I have been able to setup mail forwarding from these domains to my primary email address so any clients who misspell my name (easily done) will still get their emails read.

However, the down-side of this is every spam email that is flooded onto the web gets sent to me a dozen times. This is all well and good on my main desktop system as the anti spam filtering is good, however, on a mobile device, such as iPhone, the filtering is not so great (due to the processing power and therefor battery life, that the process takes up).

So, due to my greater reliance on my iPhone as my primary email reader, I have finally reached the tipping point and decided to turn off my mail forwarding. This has had the immediate impact of cutting today's spam load to a tenth of yesterdays.

While I am thinking about it, here are some things I don't need so please don't email me about them anymore:

Viagra
Penis enlargement
Money from Nigerian Generals
Requests from my bank for my username and password
Viagra
Free iTunes vouchers
DHL tracking numbers
Pyramid selling schemes
Viagra

So, if you are not getting through to me, I am sorry but can you just check the spelling of my name?

I shall of course be sending this information to everyone on the web, eight times...

Thanks Cris (no H)!

(RED)

2010-06-10T14:00:00.002+01:00

Product Red is a business proposition that has been around for a while, but as I recently bought a new (RED) product, it reminded me to write it here.

The basic premise is that companies that are signed up provide (RED) branded products and give half of the product's sales profit to the (RED) organisation, who then invest that money in fighting HIV Aids in Africa.

I met Seb Bishop, International CEO of (RED) at the launch of Starbucks (RED) last year and was impressed by him and his passion for the project. He presented to the Starbucks audience and explained how (RED) was run as a business, rather than a charity, and attempts to add value to all of the partners in the transaction. That way the consumer gets the product that they want, the middle company gets the sale and (RED) get funds for their campaign, everyone wins!

Brands that are signed up include:
Dell
Nike
Apple
Starbucks
American Express
Gap

What did I buy? It was the (RED) branded version of Shazam's iPhone app, not the biggest contribution ever, but every little helps...

Shazam is an app that 'listens' to a music source and tells you what is playing (using magic I think).

Links:
Product (RED)
Shazam (RED)

Hyperfocal distance

2010-06-09T10:17:00.003+01:00

Hyperfocal distance is one of the facets of photography that generally no one has heard of, yet if you take landscape shots, and if you have been on holiday you probably have, then it is worth bearing hyperfocal distance in mind.

Basically when someone is taking a landscape, they set their lens to infinity (or the camera focuses itself on infinity) and press the button. The trouble with this is, if you have someone in the foreground, they will often be out of focus, as the camera is 'looking' at the landscape behind them. Or the camera auto focuses on the person in the foreground, and the scene behind them suffers.

Step forward hyperfocal distance! The idea behind this is that there is a sweet spot where you can manually focus your lens and everything from halfway to that point to infinity will be in focus, that point is the lenses hyperfocal distance.

The trouble is it is different for each focal length and changes according to the aperture you are using - so how can you work out what that point is for the shot you are currently taking?

First there is an online calculator here...
http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

Or if you have an iPhone you can download a handy app - far more useful if you are on a beach on holiday! Just go to the app store and look for DOF Helper, (59p) or DOFMaster (£1.19), after all , when you have spent a fortune on a camera, you might as well find a few pence for a tool that helps you get the perfect shot...

DOF Helper app

Links:
http://www.dofmaster.com/hyperfocal.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperfocal_distance

BACKUP, Backup, backup...

2010-06-08T20:16:00.004+01:00

Finally I think I may have got this backing everything up concept sorted.

Working in the conference industry I have an ingrained fear of data loss, there really isn't time to recreate a whole deck of slides when your computer has just died and the event is tomorrow, (or on one memorable occasion, happening right now!). I guess a conference is one of the definitive examples of an immovable deadline.

So, what system am I using to cover my ass? Basically, I have always made a copy of my project folder at the end of the day, this has saved my life on several occasions and you just can't beat it for security. As I usually work locally on a laptop these days, I generally copy my project to a projects backup drive on my server. That way there is a copy in the office and with me in my laptop bag. If push comes to shove, I can access this backup drive, and my archive drive that contains all the work I have ever done, using GoToMyPC, an excellent remote access client.

GoToMyPC allows access to your server (or any other PC on your account)

More recently, I have also started using Time Machine, this is an integral part of a Mac's operating system and uses an external drive to take a snapshot of your whole machine every hour, which it keeps for 24 hours. Then it keeps daily backups for a month, then weekly backups for before that until there is no more space. This is a great system and gives you leeway for files that accidentally get erased. The interface is a joy to behold, as is usually the case with apple products.

Time Machine's fantastic user interface

My next line of defence is another Mac product - MobileMe. This has an excellent facility, one aspect of which is basically storage space on the net into which you can load files. The magic part is, any computer (Mac, PC, iPhone or iPad) that is registered with your account gets a copy of these files automatically synced to it, (if you select that option). This is great for essential and day to day files that not only need backing up, but need to be accessed at any time.

MobileMe's iDisk

Of course, on site at an event I run a second machine with the show installed as a live backup, this is standard industry practice. A good idea but you get some funny looks at airport security...

And people say I'm paranoid?

iOS 4

2010-06-07T21:55:00.004+01:00

Following on from my earlier upcoming technology blog (again) it looks like the rumors about the new version of the iPhone OS were accurate.

I may not be able to finesse an iPhone 4 but the good news is that the update to the iPhone's OS will be freely available on the 21st of this month. This is great news as most of the functionality of the new phone will be supported on the 3GS including; multitasking, folders, unified mailbox and wireless keyboard support. In addition Apple have added iBooks (as seen on the iPad), custom play lists and spell checking.

Along with this new functionality comes a shiny new name for the phone's operating system: iOS 4. (Gosh).

Link:
http://www.apple.com/iphone/softwareupdate/

iPhone 4

2010-06-07T21:39:00.018+01:00

Well as everyone in the world expected, iPhone 4 was launched at Apple WWDC 2010 today. Here is Steve Jobs at the product reveal...

And here is what TUAW had to say about it...

As expected, and with a joke ("Stop me if you've seen this"), Steve Jobs announced the new iPhone 4 today at the World Wide Developers Conference.

That case we've all seen was more or less the final product. Steve called it "the most beautiful thing we've ever created." It's got glass front and back for durability and scratch-resistance. About that band of metal that surrounds the phone's edges? It's all a part of the antenna. Pretty neat.

The screen also got a huge boost. It's a Retina Display producing 326 ppi (pixels per inch). That's a full 4x as many pixels than the 3GS sports in same amount of space. As Steve noted, "...300 ppi is limit of the human retina when held 10-12 inches away from the eye." So, it's sharp, and now we know why it's called the "Retina Display".

Other new features include an A4 chip inside, which is the Apple-designed chip that powers the iPad. It's also got a larger battery, which Steve said will produce 40% more talk time (up to 7 hours), 6 hours of 3G browsing, 10 hours of Wi-Fi browsing, 10 hours of video, 40 hours of music and 300 hours of standby. Yowsa.

As for storage, it maxes out at 32GB, so those of you holding out for 64GB are out of luck.

This next feature was unexpected: iPhone 4 has a Gyroscope. When combined with the accelerometer, it gives the iPhone 4 six-axis motion sensing. Can you imagine games like Zen Bound with this? We sure can.

In addition to all of that, iPhone 4 features a new camera system. There's a 5 megapixel camera on the back witha backside illuminated sensor. What that means, if the demo is truly to be believed, that iPhone 4 produces impressive photos and in conditions that would have befuddled previous models.

Not only that, it's capable of recording HD video (720p at 30fps). That really makes us wish for 64GB of storage. A geek can dream, right? Now the question is: What will you do with all that video? Why, edit it with iMovie for iPhone! Using multi-touch gestures, the power of the A4 and what we suspect might be magic, Apple has released a version of iMovie for the iPhone.

Having watched the reveal and looked at the videos and images of the phone, i would say that it looks fantastic, as Jobs said, like an old Leica camera. The one thing that would have made it really stand out for me though would have been the whole front being a screen, rather than the central area as on the 3G, (maybe on the next version?).

I am really looking forward to the video calling facility, particularly the fact that you can switch to the front camera in-call so you can see what the person you are calling is looking at. This will be great as I work away a lot and not only will I be able to see my kids when I speak to them but I will be able to see what they are doing as if watching a live video as I speak to Jo.

All I have to do now is work out how to get one as I am only six months into and 18 month contract on my iPhone 3GS.

Hi, my name is Cris and I am an Apple junkie...

iPhone 4 will be available June 24th. Pre-ordering begins June 15th.
Pricing will be $200 for 16GB or $300 for 32GB version.

Links:
www.apple.com/iphone
TUAW

Autodesk's greed

2010-06-07T14:10:00.001+01:00

The outrageous cost of Autodesk's 3D Studio MAX subscriptions has finally forced my hand...

I have been a user of 3D Studio MAX since it was first launched as lowly 3D Studio back in the early 90s when I worked for Gee Broadcast Systems and we used to sell the software. I was the in-house designer who used to demonstrate the systems Gee's sold and was sent to evaluate this new 3D system and help decide to sell it or not in the UK and Europe. I later worked as a 3D animator also using 3D Studio. As you can imagine I have built up quite an emotional attachment to this software over the years and have kept up to date with the software with their subscription system.

Autodesk 3D Studio MAX (Booooo!)

However, recently they have changed their cost system and as this has coincided with the global recession, I have come to the conclusion that I cannot carry on forking out cash every year at the level Autodesk have set, it costs about £400 a year to keep the subscription going. Also, allowing the subscription to lapse means that you have to buy an upgrade for the next release that you require, this cost half the price of a new package, (about £1,500). This I am afraid is far too much money and demonstrates Autodesk's greed and lack of interest in their customers.

I have now decided not to renew my subscription and when I need to upgrade my 3D software I shall be buying an alternative system such as Maxon's Cinema 4D. This will cost about £700 (less than half the cost of two years subscription to MAX and a quarter of the cost of a MAX upgrade!

Maxon Cinema 4D (Hurray!)

Frankly, there is no real difference to the quality of the two products so I can't see any reason to carry on financing a greedy corporate. Furthermore a straw poll of other designers in my situation has revealed the same result; we will all be walking away from MAX and purchasing elsewhere. It is also a good opportunity to move my animation to the Mac platform as MAX is tied to the PC.

Links:
Autodesk 3D Studio MAX
Maxon Cinema 4D

'The Doctor' visits hospital

2010-06-07T10:50:00.004+01:00

The 2010 Mugello MotoGP has come and gone and was sadly somewhat overshadowed by Valentino Rossi's crash in practice.

Rossi highsided his Yamaha at 110mph when riding on cold tyres and suffered compound fractures of his right shin bone. The effect of this will be at least two months recuperation and leaves the championship open for team mate Jorge Lorenzo who pre-Mugello was leading the field from Rossi by nine points in the standings.

Rossi has a “very ugly fracture, with the bone exposed,” said Dr. Claudio Costa, head of the Mugello medical facility where the rider was first treated. Dr Claudio Macchiagodena, the MotoGP medical director, told the competition’s website; “It’s an injury more serious than we thought, because it’s an exposed fracture with the bone protruding from the skin. We have reduced the fracture, which fortunately has not affected any blood vessels or nerves. “It is serious, it could be a couple of months, but it is too early to say just yet,” he said.

Come race day however Dani Pedrosa appeared not to have read this script... He lead from the pole had soon put a seven second gap between his Repsol Honda and second place Lorenzo who was to have a race long dual with Pedrosa's team mate Andrea Dovizioso. The Hondas were still displaying their astonishing advantage in straight line speed, something that even the 'non-factory' Hondas are benefiting from. Given that before the race Dovizioso was 28 points and Pedrosa was 30 points behind Lorenzo, we can only hope that the Honda's power can continue to give the season some competition now that The Doctor's season is effectively over.

Pedrosa celebrates his Mugello win

Once again the Ducati team under-performed, this time is was Nicky Hayden's turn to lose the front end crashing out on lap 18 and Casey Stoner was entangled in the three way shoot out with Marco Melandri and Randy De Puniet finishing 4th, 5th and 6th respectively. Though the fact that the Ducati was battling these guys and not the factory Hondas and Yamaha shows the big red machine is still off race pace.

This leaves the championship standings as follows:
Lorenzo 90 points
Pedrosa 65 points
Rossi 61 points (but down and out)
Dovizioso 58 points

Links:
Official MotoGP web site
Valentino Rossi's web site

Upcoming technology

2010-06-05T22:46:00.012+01:00

A few things on the technology horizon to look forward to...

One of my more geeky pastimes is keeping an eye on what is new that may effect me in IT. As I am a sole trader, most of the functionality that Microsoft has been building into it's products has either made no difference to me or effectively made life more difficult. This is largely down to the fact that they have being concentrating on corporate customers, team working and integration. The thing that has caused me the most consternation was the new GUI for their Office suite with the release of Office 2007. Add to that the teething problems that came with Windows Vista and that was pretty much that for my relationship with Microsoft and the Windows environment and the final push for my migration to Apple and OS X.

So, what am I looking forward to at the moment? Well, I am still lusting after an iPad but have no immediate pressing need for one. However, the release of the new iPhone and specifically version 4 of Apple's operating system for iPhone will certainly have an impact as it implements multitasking and the merging of multiple email account inboxes so gone will be the need to click back and forth between folder structures.

Another great feature for me will be support for Bluetooth keyboards for iPhone as many of my blogs are written on my phone and a decent keyboard will make life much easier!

Apple's cool bluetooth keyboard

Link:
Apple Wireless Keyboard

I am also going to have to get to grips with Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 when it is released for PC, but more specifically, I am looking forward to the release of PowerPoint 2011 for Mac, as it will have better integration with the PC version so I can move closer to totally ditching the Windows environment.

It is interesting to note that Google has stopped using the Windows operating system after one too many security disasters and now anyone wishing to use a new Windows PC must get permission from Google's CTO! Allowed systems are Linux and Mac.

PowerPoint:mac 2011 main window (images from beta version)

Template list in PowerPoint:mac 2011

Rich SmartArt graphics in PowerPoint:mac 2011

Enhanced table styles in PowerPoint:mac 2011

Enriched themes in PowerPoint:mac 2011

Transition controls in PowerPoint:mac 2011

DSLR camera lenses

2010-06-05T12:17:00.010+01:00

This is an email reply to a friend regarding a question about Digital SLR lenses, I thought it was worth keeping as it comes up a lot. It references Canon lenses but applies to other makes as well.

The way that lenses work is that a standard EF (Canon nomenclature) lens is designed to work on a full frame 35mm sensor (same size as 35mm film), however, because most DSLRs have a smaller sensor than 35mm, only the centre area of the light of the lens falls on the sensor - the upshot of this is it appears to be making the lens longer. A 100mm lens will give you a 160mm lenses image on most DSLRs, this is great in that you can zoom in closer on things, but if you want a really wide angle, you can struggle to get it (your wide angle is not as wide as you would think).

EF-S lenses are designed with the back piece to glass nearer to the light sensor so this problem is addressed in that the lenses can cheaply and easily be made much wider than on standard EF lenses, (you can get a 10mm EF-S lens that gives you a respectable 'real' 16mm). Therefore, it might be worth getting a cheap wide angle EF-S zoom with the camera to give you a really wide angle shot that you won't be able to achieve with an EF lens.

Notice the bottom of the EF-S lens (left) is lower than the EF lens, when mounted this brings the back of the lens nearer to the camera's light sensor.

One thing to bear in mind is that the nearer end of the lens means that you can't put an EF-S lens on a full frame camera, as when the larger 35mm sized mirror flips up to expose the sensor it hits the 'nearer' bit of glass on the lens, (this is bad).

Links:
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Standard Zoom Lens
Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS UD Standard Zoom Lens

Really not very well

2010-06-03T20:38:00.004+01:00

No posts for a few days, one of the side effects of having children is 'The Dreaded Lurgy!'

So there we were, having just arrived at Duncan and Jenny's house to see Joshua, my new nephew when Isobel announces that she wants to go home. This is all very odd as she has been looking forward to seeing Joshua even more than me. Anyway, she was ignored and there we sat, on their new sofa (it arrived that very morning) gazing at the baby when blurgh! Isobel was as sicker than Regan in The Exorcist. Naturally this was on the sofa. This illness then carried on for the next eight hours, including the journey home in the car, poor little girl.

This was last Sunday. At about 2am on Tuesday, it was my turn. So much for working all day on the bank holiday Monday to get ahead for the week. I had to take all of Tuesday off, then Wednesday morning when Cormac fell sick, then Thursday morning when it was Jo's turn.

It is like having a little petri dish in your house, merrily weaponising every little germ that strays in and infecting you with it. Obviously this has happened on one of my busiest weeks at work... I was supposed to have made the opening sting to next weeks event. Oh, and the slides. Plus the slides for my other job.

Bugger.

Not all good news

2010-05-27T13:53:00.004+01:00

Apple may well be up on the stock market, but they are struggling in the corporate responsibility stakes. It appears Foxconn, one of Apple's major parts manufacturers in China, has been pushing too hard to get deliveries out of the door with ten employees committing suicide allegedly due to pressure of work. This is what TUAW has to say...

Looks like Foxconn's troubles are far from over -- hiring an exorcist must not have worked, because another worker jumped to their death last week. That's the 10th such employee death at the plant where many of Apple's parts are manufactured. Foxconn's CEO made a statement earlier this week saying that "we are not a sweatshop," and promising that the company will "soon be able to stabilize this situation."

The company has also starting hanging nets around factories to try and save jumpers (that's pretty grisly), and they've asked all employees to sign a pledge to help stop the problem, which Gawker has obtained. The pledge asks workers to seek help before doing something to harm themselves, and to help those around them who need it.

Foxconn claims it's not a sweatshop, but reports say the company is asking employees to work 60 hours of overtime a month (far over the legal limit of 36 hours of overtime), and paying only about $132 a month. Clearly something is wrong at the company that Apple depends on for much of its manufacturing labor." TUAW

Protestors from SACOM (Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour) burn effigies of Apple products during a demonstration near the offices of Foxconn in Hong Kong over the deaths of 11 workers.

Link:
Mike Schramm at TUAW

Apple beats Microsoft

2010-05-27T10:03:00.005+01:00

This is an article taken straight from TUAW, It is amazing that Apple, a company that not long ago, had almost been written off as an irrelevance outside of the design industry, has grown to such dizzy heights...

Apples old campaign looks quite accurate today

We expected it to happen eventually, but not quite this fast: Apple's market capitalisation now exceeds that of longtime rival Microsoft. As of the 4pm ET market close today, Apple's total share value bests Microsoft's by nearly US$3 billion -- Apple stands at US$222.5 billion, while Microsoft is at US$219.53 billion. You may see some further fluctuation in aftermarket trading.  

This means that, at least in terms of market capitalisation, the only US company worth more than Apple is Exxon, at US$278 billion. Apple surpassed Walmart's market cap last month, and Henry Blodget pointed out this morning that Apple was already ahead of Microsoft via the 'enterprise value' metric (accounting for the companies' relative amounts of cash and debt).  

Oddly, Apple's leapfrogging of Microsoft's market cap has had less to do with Apple's stock and more to do with Microsoft's; over the past 60 days or so, Apple's market cap has grown by less than US$10 billion, while Microsoft's has plummeted by almost $40 billion. No matter which way you look at it, though, Apple's surpassing of Microsoft's market cap is, just as the New York Times says, an absolutely stunning turnaround.  

Not bad for a company that was all but on its deathbed in the late 1990s." TUAW

Link:
Chris Rawson TUAW

Talking Carl

2010-05-26T22:22:00.009+01:00

Today I showed Talking Carl to Isobel, now it is her latest obsession.

This is an iPhone app that has been around for some time that usually becomes really funny after about six pints and it has really hit a chord with Isobel, (who is three years old).

Carl, repeats anything you say with an hilarious voice, he can also be poked and pinched and you can even make him laugh out loud." APP STORE

Just type Talking Carl on the Apple app store, it cost the princely sum of 59 pence and is worth every penny. Whether you are three or drunk, it is a hoot!

I'm Spartacus again

2010-05-26T21:55:00.006+01:00

Thank my friend Neil Kay for this one - Spartactus is back!

As Neil pointed out on Facebook, there is a new series called 'Spartacus: Blood and Sand'. It does look rather like the naughty homoerotic love child of 300 and Dallas, but there you go.

Not for the faint-hearted, the controversial Spartacus: Blood and Sand brings to life the bloody world of gladiators as the Roman Republic’s most brutal fighters clash in the ultimate arena, and depicts one of history’s most violent eras.

Betrayed by the Romans, forced into slavery and reborn as a gladiator, Spartacus (played by rugged UK-born actor Andy Whitfield) is a rebellious soldier in the Roman Auxiliary who is taken prisoner and torn away from the woman he loves. Lucy Lawless (“Xena: Warrior Princess”) is cast as Lucretia, who along with her husband Batiatus played by British actor John Hannah (“The Mummy,” “Rebus,” “Four Weddings and a Funeral”), own the slave Spartacus and the gladiator camp. The former soldier is then condemned to the ways of the arena fighter – under the brutal hand of trainer Doctore, played by Peter Mensah (“The 300,” “Avatar”) – where blood and death are primetime entertainment, and treachery, corruption and sexual allure will test him to the limit." BRAVO

You can find it in the UK on Bravo:
http://www.bravo.co.uk/shows/spartacus/

More cheese at:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=spartacus+blood+and+sand&aq=0

Social interaction

2010-05-26T12:52:00.004+01:00

Finally, after a couple of years I have turned by Facebook account back on!

I disconnected when things got so mad at home what with house renovations and Isobel being Isobel that I didn't have time to sleep, nevermind keep up with even a digital social life. So, now that Cormac is eight months old and sleeping better, I feel I may have the time again.

My blog has been the catalyst for going back online as it made me remember my old Facebook account and that prompted me to see if it still existed. Anyway, after connecting BlogPress on my iPhone to Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, I am now checking whether the uploading process works!

All very 20th century...

-- Post From My iPhone

Bats

2010-05-25T22:27:00.002+01:00

It is that time of year again; the night air is being filled with bats.

We have lived in this house for about five years now and every summer evening heralds the bats. Usually you can see three or four at any time and it is a fascinating aerobatic display of bats and moths in a duel to the death. I have realised that each year I look out for them and worry until they appear.

I'm not sure where their summer roost is but we are next to an oak tree copse so I assume they are in there.

Links:
http://www.bats.org.uk /
http://www.surreybats.org.uk/

Pipistrellus Pipistrellus or Comnon Pipistrelle

Being your own boss

2010-05-25T19:20:00.022+01:00

One of the best things about working for yourself is being able to take off the odd afternoon without getting fired.

Following a fantastic weekend today was another sunny day. So when Jo called after my lunchtime meeting and suggested taking the kids to Frensham Ponds I decided to go for it.

The Great Pond is a small lake with a sandy beach, so on a fine day it is a great place for the kids to play.

Frensham Common is owned by the National Trust, but most of the land is managed by Waverley Borough Council. The Common comprises a large area of heathland, together with some coniferous and mixed woodland, and two large ponds, known as Frensham Great and Little Ponds. While sailing and fishing are reserved for members, the banks of the pond are sandy and offer a natural inland beach for visitors to enjoy".
FARNHAM COMMUNITY WEBSITE

Here are some shots taken on my iPhone.

Links:
Frensham Ponds

My thoughts on Flash

2010-05-24T22:39:00.004+01:00

So, having read Steve Jobs' views on Flash, here are my much shorter thoughts on the subject.

No, not him...

Having worked in design for over 20 years, about the same amount of time that the computer, traditionally the Mac, has owned this area of creativity, I have seen a few programs and technologies come and go. When the web and more specifically the designers ability to create interesting web sites came onto my radar, I began experimenting with web design, soon after this Adobe purchased the company that initially developed Flash and it became the next big thing on the net.

My initial excitement was soon eroded as it became apparent that Flash, though capable of delivering many beautiful sites, had a serious overhead issue; a great many Flash sites, particularly in the early days, took ages to load. This may be something a designer will put up with to see their own creation but many ordinary web users will not. After a while I decided to ignore flash as a tool for whole site creation and simply use it for interesting site plug-ins and banners.

Because of these issues, among others, I was not surprised by Apples' decision not to support Flash on iPod, iPhone and now iPad. We will see how this plays out, but I suspect that Adobe will be feeling the pinch before Apple.

Steve's thoughts on Flash

2010-05-24T22:06:00.005+01:00

Apple and Adobe have been falling more and more out of love since Apple decided not to support Flash on the iPhone, here is the latest from the war of words, verbatim from the Apple web site, from the pen (or possibly iPad) of Apple CEO, Steve Jobs.

Apple has a long relationship with Adobe. In fact, we met Adobe’s founders when they were in their proverbial garage. Apple was their first big customer, adopting their Postscript language for our new Laserwriter printer. Apple invested in Adobe and owned around 20% of the company for many years. The two companies worked closely together to pioneer desktop publishing and there were many good times. Since that golden era, the companies have grown apart. Apple went through its near death experience, and Adobe was drawn to the corporate market with their Acrobat products. Today the two companies still work together to serve their joint creative customers – Mac users buy around half of Adobe’s Creative Suite products – but beyond that there are few joint interests.

I wanted to jot down some of our thoughts on Adobe’s Flash products so that customers and critics may better understand why we do not allow Flash on iPhones, iPods and iPads. Adobe has characterized our decision as being primarily business driven – they say we want to protect our App Store – but in reality it is based on technology issues. Adobe claims that we are a closed system, and that Flash is open, but in fact the opposite is true. Let me explain.

First, there’s “Open”.

Adobe’s Flash products are 100% proprietary. They are only available from Adobe, and Adobe has sole authority as to their future enhancement, pricing, etc. While Adobe’s Flash products are widely available, this does not mean they are open, since they are controlled entirely by Adobe and available only from Adobe. By almost any definition, Flash is a closed system.

Apple has many proprietary products too. Though the operating system for the iPhone, iPod and iPad is proprietary, we strongly believe that all standards pertaining to the web should be open. Rather than use Flash, Apple has adopted HTML5, CSS and JavaScript – all open standards. Apple’s mobile devices all ship with high performance, low power implementations of these open standards. HTML5, the new web standard that has been adopted by Apple, Google and many others, lets web developers create advanced graphics, typography, animations and transitions without relying on third party browser plug-ins (like Flash). HTML5 is completely open and controlled by a standards committee, of which Apple is a member.

Apple even creates open standards for the web. For example, Apple began with a small open source project and created WebKit, a complete open-source HTML5 rendering engine that is the heart of the Safari web browser used in all our products. WebKit has been widely adopted. Google uses it for Android’s browser, Palm uses it, Nokia uses it, and RIM (Blackberry) has announced they will use it too. Almost every smartphone web browser other than Microsoft’s uses WebKit. By making its WebKit technology open, Apple has set the standard for mobile web browsers.

Second, there’s the “full web”.

Adobe has repeatedly said that Apple mobile devices cannot access “the full web” because 75% of video on the web is in Flash. What they don’t say is that almost all this video is also available in a more modern format, H.264, and viewable on iPhones, iPods and iPads. YouTube, with an estimated 40% of the web’s video, shines in an app bundled on all Apple mobile devices, with the iPad offering perhaps the best YouTube discovery and viewing experience ever. Add to this video from Vimeo, Netflix, Facebook, ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, ESPN, NPR, Time, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, People, National Geographic, and many, many others. iPhone, iPod and iPad users aren’t missing much video.

Another Adobe claim is that Apple devices cannot play Flash games. This is true. Fortunately, there are over 50,000 games and entertainment titles on the App Store, and many of them are free. There are more games and entertainment titles available for iPhone, iPod and iPad than for any other platform in the world.

Third, there’s reliability, security and performance.

Symantec recently highlighted Flash for having one of the worst security records in 2009. We also know first hand that Flash is the number one reason Macs crash. We have been working with Adobe to fix these problems, but they have persisted for several years now. We don’t want to reduce the reliability and security of our iPhones, iPods and iPads by adding Flash.

In addition, Flash has not performed well on mobile devices. We have routinely asked Adobe to show us Flash performing well on a mobile device, any mobile device, for a few years now. We have never seen it. Adobe publicly said that Flash would ship on a smartphone in early 2009, then the second half of 2009, then the first half of 2010, and now they say the second half of 2010. We think it will eventually ship, but we’re glad we didn’t hold our breath. Who knows how it will perform?

Fourth, there’s battery life.

To achieve long battery life when playing video, mobile devices must decode the video in hardware; decoding it in software uses too much power. Many of the chips used in modern mobile devices contain a decoder called H.264 – an industry standard that is used in every Blu-ray DVD player and has been adopted by Apple, Google (YouTube), Vimeo, Netflix and many other companies.

Although Flash has recently added support for H.264, the video on almost all Flash websites currently requires an older generation decoder that is not implemented in mobile chips and must be run in software. The difference is striking: on an iPhone, for example, H.264 videos play for up to 10 hours, while videos decoded in software play for less than 5 hours before the battery is fully drained.

When websites re-encode their videos using H.264, they can offer them without using Flash at all. They play perfectly in browsers like Apple’s Safari and Google’s Chrome without any plugins whatsoever, and look great on iPhones, iPods and iPads.

Fifth, there’s Touch.

Flash was designed for PCs using mice, not for touch screens using fingers. For example, many Flash websites rely on “rollovers”, which pop up menus or other elements when the mouse arrow hovers over a specific spot. Apple’s revolutionary multi-touch interface doesn’t use a mouse, and there is no concept of a rollover. Most Flash websites will need to be rewritten to support touch-based devices. If developers need to rewrite their Flash websites, why not use modern technologies like HTML5, CSS and JavaScript?

Even if iPhones, iPods and iPads ran Flash, it would not solve the problem that most Flash websites need to be rewritten to support touch-based devices.

Sixth, the most important reason.

Besides the fact that Flash is closed and proprietary, has major technical drawbacks, and doesn’t support touch based devices, there is an even more important reason we do not allow Flash on iPhones, iPods and iPads. We have discussed the downsides of using Flash to play video and interactive content from websites, but Adobe also wants developers to adopt Flash to create apps that run on our mobile devices.

We know from painful experience that letting a third party layer of software come between the platform and the developer ultimately results in sub-standard apps and hinders the enhancement and progress of the platform. If developers grow dependent on third party development libraries and tools, they can only take advantage of platform enhancements if and when the third party chooses to adopt the new features. We cannot be at the mercy of a third party deciding if and when they will make our enhancements available to our developers.

This becomes even worse if the third party is supplying a cross platform development tool. The third party may not adopt enhancements from one platform unless they are available on all of their supported platforms. Hence developers only have access to the lowest common denominator set of features. Again, we cannot accept an outcome where developers are blocked from using our innovations and enhancements because they are not available on our competitor’s platforms.

Flash is a cross platform development tool. It is not Adobe’s goal to help developers write the best iPhone, iPod and iPad apps. It is their goal to help developers write cross platform apps. And Adobe has been painfully slow to adopt enhancements to Apple’s platforms. For example, although Mac OS X has been shipping for almost 10 years now, Adobe just adopted it fully (Cocoa) two weeks ago when they shipped CS5. Adobe was the last major third party developer to fully adopt Mac OS X.

Our motivation is simple – we want to provide the most advanced and innovative platform to our developers, and we want them to stand directly on the shoulders of this platform and create the best apps the world has ever seen. We want to continually enhance the platform so developers can create even more amazing, powerful, fun and useful applications. Everyone wins – we sell more devices because we have the best apps, developers reach a wider and wider audience and customer base, and users are continually delighted by the best and broadest selection of apps on any platform.
Conclusions.

Flash was created during the PC era – for PCs and mice. Flash is a successful business for Adobe, and we can understand why they want to push it beyond PCs. But the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards – all areas where Flash falls short.
The avalanche of media outlets offering their content for Apple’s mobile devices demonstrates that Flash is no longer necessary to watch video or consume any kind of web content. And the 200,000 apps on Apple’s App Store proves that Flash isn’t necessary for tens of thousands of developers to create graphically rich applications, including games.

New open standards created in the mobile era, such as HTML5, will win on mobile devices (and PCs too). Perhaps Adobe should focus more on creating great HTML5 tools for the future, and less on criticizing Apple for leaving the past behind.

Steve Jobs

Barca's 2010-11 kit

2010-05-24T20:34:00.004+01:00

FC Barcelona have revealed their new kit for the 2010-11 season with a return to red shorts when at home.

The outfits were revealed at the signing of David Villa's four year contract from Valencia. Displaying Villa's name and number 7 on the back of the shirt, the traditional Blaugrana stripes are thicker than last season and the trim is yellow with the Catalan flag on the back of the neck.

The away strip is green for next season, last seen in 93-94 and the goalkeepers will be in black.

The outfits are available from the Nike store with a home shirt costing £50 sterling.

Link:
Nike store

Apple's Dark Side

2010-05-24T16:55:00.010+01:00

Despite Apple topping Fortune's most admired company list for the third year running, the company still has some PR issues...

Apple is running the risk of tipping into paranoia and obsession with some of it's policies. One of the latest examples of this attitude is it's not accepting cash for iPads policy. This was created in an attempt to stop people from purchasing more than two iPads each due to supply issues (easy to track credit cards, difficult to track cash), but was overturned last week after a public backlash in the States, where it was seen as an infringement on civil rights.

Another example of their less than open mentality was the companies refusal to supply even key developers demonstrator examples of pre-release iPads so as to check their products compatibility, surely this is a self-defeating attitude as software glitches are going to harm sales?

These are just two current examples of Apple's intransigence, examples that have not directly affected me. However, anyone who has purchased an Apple product, myself included, cannot help but be annoyed when the next day an upgraded product is released with absolutely no warning, effectively out-dating the device just bought, surely product announcements a couple of days beforehand would not kill them...

Furthermore, Apple are currently trademarking the layout of their shops, which is crazy, surely there are only so many ways that a retail outlet can be arranged? If there is an optimum layout for shop design then as a consumer I would prefer other retailers to be able to use it as surely it can only enhance my shopping experience.

Apple's 5th Avenue store NY

These policies among others can be very irritating, but being an Apple user is a love-hate relationship where, fortunately for most people, the love outshines the hate my an order of magnitude.

Le Mans MotoGP

2010-05-23T22:41:00.015+01:00

The Le Mans Grand Prix turned out to be another shocker for ex-world champion Casey Stoner.

It is difficult to understand what is happening in his head as he managed to throw his bike down the road in a carbon copy of his Qatar crash. This leaves him so far off the points that it makes it difficult to see how he can build the motivation to be competitive, even if he can get back into form.

Casey Stoner

During an interview after his off, he appeared to be blaming the bike, claiming that it was prone to this type of accident and there was nothing he could do to fix it.

I’m really disappointed because the bike has felt great all weekend, I’ve been pushing the front wherever I wanted but for some reason when the race has come around it felt like it was going to fold. It’s something we have to get to the bottom of and we need to do it soon because it is not good to start the season with only one finish from three races. I haven’t changed anything with my riding style but if I need to do something then we have to work out what and I can do it. Maybe it’s because when I’m behind slower riders in the race I’m not able to put the same pressure on the front. I’m not sure at the moment, to be honest, so we need to sit down and work out what’s best for the next race.” CASEY STONER

However, the form of Nicky Hayden on effectively the same bike, puts a question mark next to that claim...

All this however cannot take away from Jorge Lorenzo's sparkling ride, his win putting him further ahead of Valentino Rossi in the championship standings. It looked like we were in for another classic Rossi Lorenzo fight to the last, but Rossi's shoulder injury (picked up on his moto cross bike) appeared to be slowing him down and when Lorenzo passed him he just let him go and settled for second place.

On a similar note, Ben Spies last year's World Superbike champion also crashed out, adding to the races disappointment. He did not finish last time out due to mechanical problems with his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 bike so is also dropping behind in the points tally.

It was left to the two Honda's of Dovizioso and Pedrosa to give is a thrilling last few laps in their fight for the last podium position. A battle that was joined by the Ducati of Hayden who finished in fourth pushing Pedrosa back into fifth.

Dovizioso and Pedrosa

So this years Le Mans GP was a good race but not a classic; perhaps if Rossi's shoulder and Stoners brain can be fixed, Mugello will be the race that we are all hoping for.

Link:
MotoGP official website

Sunny Sunday

2010-05-23T17:36:00.014+01:00

Finally, I have escaped! The motorcycle is out of the garage and the sun is blazingly hot.

Things are moving forward on the installation of my new log cabin. This is good news as it will be my office and I can finally stop paying cash out on rent. The cabin is costing about three years rent so it makes good sense financially in the medium term and furthermore it adds value to our house. On Friday we put in the foundations and now I am awaiting the delivery of the cabin itself, this is not scheduled until late June, but I have a large project coming up at work up so now was the only date to get this done.

We have had to use a novel design for the buildings foundations as there is a covenant on our land proscribing permanent structures adjacent to the road, so the cabin' suppliers, Sharp's World of Wood, have used a technique used on National Trust land where a frame is built and 'floated' on fence posts so as to minimise the environmental impact of the structure (no large concrete foundations).

The cabin's foundations

The biggest issue so far with transferring the business into a log cabin is getting insurance. It appears that very few insurance companies want to underwrite a business run from a wooden building. I could understand it if it was a simple shed but this building's walls are 7cm thick and the doors and windows are double glazed and lockable. It's easier to break into most houses than this cabin! Eventually, I got cover from Aon under their Media Insurance policy (the policy that BECTU, the entertainment industries union recommends).

So all in all, as I sit here in the pub's garden, sipping a cold drink, bike in the car park, waiting for Jo and the kids, I think that things are looking good for the summer.

My Triumph Thruxton

Links:
Log Cabins - Sharp's World of Wood
Aon Media Insurance
BECTU
Triumph Motorcycles

-- Post From My iPhone

Location:The Villagers, Blackheath, Surrey

Aubergine Print

2010-05-20T13:58:00.004+01:00

A great UK online printing facility.

I have just updated my business cards using Aubergine Print. This is a great company that takes your artwork as a PDF file, prints it and posts it back to you. This is the second time I have used them and they have lived up to my expectations on both occasions.

The order was for 1000x four colour, double sided, matt laminated and die cut cards. It was turned around in three days and cost less than £150. Highly recommended!

Link:
Aubergine Print

My new business card, front and back...

Lovely, lovely iPad

2010-05-20T11:26:00.008+01:00

I just got my hands on an Apple iPad.

I am currently working on an event in the Pavilion at Vodafone HQ Newbury England and they have a very helpful man with an iPad who let me have a play. I have to say that on first impressions it really is very good. The size seems about right, it is moderately heavy though not as heavy as I have been led to believe by other blogs and news sources. The screen is excellent; vibrant, bright and sharp and the interface is everything you expect from Apple.

The biggest problem I can envision for the average user, if they currently own a laptop, is justifying the cost to their partners, as like me, they will certainly want one...

What is iPad?

The Hive Mind

2010-05-19T21:13:00.006+01:00

The Hive Mind is a group of like-minded writers who share a love of the speculative fiction genre—in all its forms—including science fiction, fantasy, horror, and the supernatural.

The collective is a part of a new approach to online publishing made possible by the Internet, in looking to reach out to connect with their readers directly.

The aim is to share new works that have never been previously published or posted anywhere else. This content will include anything from: novelettes, short stories, flash fiction, chapters of serialized novels, and maybe even the odd podcast.

Link:
The Hive Mind

PowerPoint, PowerPoint and PowerPoint

2010-05-19T16:24:00.003+01:00

Too many versions of PowerPoint.

It's starting to get crazy how many versions of PowerPoint are currently in use in the business environment. I am currently having to use PowerPoint 2003, 2007 and 2010 on the PC plus PowerPoint 2008 on the Mac. Also, apparently there is a new version coming out for Mac next year, add onto this the need to use Keynote on Mac for awards shows and car launches where better video integration and cooler effects are required and you can easily see how things get confusing.

The most irritating factor, (after the differences in interface) is that the programs are ever so slightly not quite compatible. It is enough to drive you to drink...

PowerPoint 2010 - yet another interface to learn!

Ash clouds

2010-05-18T20:33:00.006+01:00

Further side effects of the volcano.

The impact of the Icelandic eruption is still being felt in the conference industry. Another example of this is an event I am working on in June. Steps are having to be taken to get the crew out to Monaco as if there is an eruption that disrupts our flights then the event will be compromised.

The wager is whether the ash cloud will become too dense to fly after the last day for driving to the venue has passed, or rely on air transport. Do you pay the extra money to guarantee your crews arrival, or risk no crew at all? I know what I would do, but it's not my money!

It's a boy!

2010-05-18T17:43:00.019+01:00

Congratulations to my sister Jenny and her man Duncan on the birth of their baby boy!

Joshua Dudley Tyler was born this afternoon and weighed 6 lbs 8 oz.

A perfect little boy...

Death by PowerPoint

2010-05-18T17:17:00.005+01:00

This would be funny if it was not one of the the worst things in my professional life...

It is essential that everyone who is about to undertake a PowerPoint presentation watches this video. It is pretty much universally true that everyone hates sitting through PowerPoint presentations as most presenters feel the need to fill every last inch of projected space with facts, frequently negating the need for them to be present as the audience can just read the slides without the annoying sound of the presenters voice distracting them.

This is WRONG, the best presentations I have seen (and I have seen a lot) have had no slides at all!

The worst thing is that after laughing at 'Death by PowerPoint' slide decks, a presenter, when it comes to their own slide decks will immediately fall into all of the same traps that they have just finished ridiculing.

So, presenters watch this video and don't laugh, take notes...

Jon Sullivan Art

2010-05-17T10:29:00.015+01:00

Following on from the blog on fantasy covers; here are examples of the new cover artwork for Neal Ashers' books, created by Jon Sullivan.

It's interesting that after a period when a more graphic look has been in-vogue, (see Alastair Reynolds Revelation Space), that a slick version of an 80's or even 70's look is being employed for these books. It harks back to a time before computers took over in the field of design and the airbrush was king, when an artist would visualise a key scene from the story. I have to say that personally, I very much like these covers and feel they really get across the content of the books, you are left in no doubt as to the type of book you are going to read...

So, if a picture speaks a thousand words, it may be better if I just show you the artwork!

Gridlinked

Cowl

Line of Polity

Orbus

Shadow of the Scorpion

The Skinner

The Voyage of the Sable Keech

Polity Agent

The Technician

Brass Man

You can see more of Jon Sullivan's work at:
http://www.jonsullivanart.com/

99 points

2010-05-16T19:59:00.015+01:00

Barca, once again champions of Spain!

With a 4-0 victory, Valladolid became the final victims of Barcelona's supremacy in La Liga. A victory that would have guaranteed the seasons result had Real Madrid not been held to a 1-1 draw at Malaga. Once again Lionel Messi was in great form scoring his 33rd and 34th goals in La Liga this season, (taking him to 47 goals in all competitions, equaling Ronaldos' club record), effectively killing the match for Valladolid.

Closing the season on 99 points, the highest ever in La Liga, and retaining their crown is a welcome result following Barca's crashing out of both the Copa Del Ray and the Champions League, allowing Pep Guardiola's team to put these disappointments behind them ending the year on a real high.

Of course this piles greater pressure on Real Madrid, who despite spending £136 million on Kaka and Christiano Ronaldo during the summer last year, have ended the year with nothing.

Messi celebrates his second goal and the teams Fourth.

Little Sparks

2010-05-14T20:37:00.015+01:00

Saturday morning is Little Sparks time.

Most weeks, I take Isobel (and often Cormac) to our local theatre in Guildford to watch this excellent children's show. It is run by a lovely couple called Jeff and Sue in the cafe area of the Electric Theatre and is a sing along and story telling bonanza.

There will usually be between ten and twenty children plus adults so it is very friendly and occasionally, like at Christmas, you will find only one or two children there.

Also, every now and then, there is a celebrity visit from Katy from the CBeebies I Can Cook program that the kids go crazy over.

It opens at 11am and runs for 45 minutes and costs £4 per child with adults and bays going free. Handily the cafe starts serving food at mid day so you can get a bite to eat afterwards plus they serve children's food. On top of all that, the bar is licenced when it all gets too much, you can turn to drink!

Link
Little Sparks

Isobel and Hollie with Katy

Vile Fantasy Covers

2010-05-14T12:00:00.034+01:00

After reading a post on Neal Asher's blog I was reminded of a similar conversation that was had on Amazon in their fantasy forum called Vile book design in fantasy titles.

Here's the whole thing as I thought it was interesting…

Initial post: 6 Mar 2009 17:20 GMT

Ms. E. C. Clayton says:

I can never understand why so many book covers for fantasy titles are so vile. it puts me off completely. and yeah, i know that's living up to a stereotype but it's true.. (i've published a study into it). fantasy covers that absolutely charmed me are the UK editions of the garth nix abhorsen trilogy (the content of which i also loved). who knows of fantastic fantasy that looks as good as it reads?

Yasimoto says:

Vile? In what way?

Must say, I despair of the current trend for having a single item, or motif, on fantasy books. I suppose it saves money by not having to pay for a proper picture. But come on...

Series that have suffered from this are Hobb's, Martin's, Feist's and especially Terry Pratchett's. The wonderfully humourous Josh Kirby covers (perfectly suited to the content) have been replaced by... banal... arghhh - words can't describe it.

The only series that seems to have gained is Jordan's Wheel of Time. Smart black covers with a great big number on the spine (just so you don't buy them out of order)! Nice.

My favourite cover was the original Magician paperback (1984?) From memory it was a pinkish blue shade and the enormous tower/fortress dwarfing tiny riders at the bottom hinted at an epic story that was duly delivered on the pages inside.

I was also a big fan of the Chris Foss sci-fi covers (Asimov in particular) of the '70s / '80s. Showing my age now...

Cristopher Sharp says:

This is an interesting subject and I suspect that the 'look' of a book cover is based on the books largest target audience.

I loved fantasy books as a teen/twenty something and gradually migrated to sci-fi after that and now have quite a large library of books - the covers of some make me cringe when friends pick them up these days, (I am 38 now).

These are usually books with muscle-bound warriors standing protectively over scantily clad maidens clutching their swords... (Any psychiatrists out there?)

However, there is definitely something to be said for J's point of view that the cover should represent the content so perhaps a Conan book should a Frank Frazetta cover...

Cool modern fantasy covers that split the difference between modern design and fantasy art:

The Crooked Letter - Sean Williams
The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch
The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie
Scar Night - Alan Campbell
Mainspring - Jay Lake

Off genre but still cool:
Quicksilver - Neal Stephenson
The Dark Volume - GW Dahlquist
The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters - GW Dahlquist

(I am referencing the Hardcover of all the above books)

Ms. E. C. Clayton says:

oh i do LOVE the G W Dahlquist covers - they were designed by the lovely jon gray. i adore period pastiche designs, like the End of Mr Y.

i guess when i say vile i mean like cristopher says, tired imagery of muscly warriors. i want to be proud to own the book, not embarrassed.. and sometimes the writing is so fantastic, the cover art just wrecks it. what really annoys me too is when the cover art has blatantly been done by someone who hasn't read the book, because it's factually wrong. i can never understand how artwork like that makes it onto the shelves because you'd think the editor and author would point out its flaws.

Martin Taylor says:

Speaking of bland covers check out The Last Order Of Hyda. It really doesn't do my book any favours as there isn't anything there except the title, my name and a symbol which has nothing to do with the book! For the next book I'm making sure I hire someone who can design a proper cover and send that in with my book to the publishers rather than let them do it. (What I really wanted on the cover was a picture of the meancing Dread Knight sitting on his skeletal horse with fog in the background showing spectral hands reaching out.)

Seeing as I'm here a shameless plug for my book is that it's about a medieval world plagued by strange anomalies that the Hydian Order has been set up to deal with. Thanks to a recent incident they look set to be replaced but before a decision is made a call for help comes from the town Ryn so off they go knowing this could be their last mission. What awaits them is something more horrifying than anything they've ever encountered. The story has plenty of plot twists and has a mixture of horror, fantasy, action, humour, suspense, tragedy and even a little romance.

Jax says:

I completely agree that the garth nix abhorsen trilogy covers are beautiful. I also quite like the covers for his Seventh Tower series. Also good covers: The Prophecy Keepers; The City of Ember (2005 paperback edition); The Inkheart trilogy in hardcover. To name a few.

HS says:

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Perhaps seeing things as vile is also.

Cristopher Sharp says:

Martin - well done you are the winner of the shameless plug of the year award!
However - I did check out your book cover and yes, you are correct, one double headed throwing axe to the chest for your publisher is recommended...

I was just discussing this with my wife (highly unusual) and it transpires that 20 years ago she worked at a publishers and she claimed that authors would usually push a design/artist that they wanted. However, if your book is the first of a series, the publishers will insist on the design staying the same so customers will recognise it...

As another thought - really awful spines on otherwise well presented book covers - what are they thinking?

Bd Hopkins says:

Martin's cover is stunning for all the wrong reasons! It really has to be seen to be believed. What were they thinking?

The UK covers for Julian May's Exile series (featuring the Many coloured land etc) were decent. I bought the USA versions of the books online for a friend (in the USA) recently, and they are of the less appealing. I hope my friend listens to my pleas that the the books are superb (they are, and i'm not Julian May doing a Martinesque plug under a pseudonym :o) and that she doesn't let the images on the cover of heroins with huge curly early 70's hair dos shape the characters in her mind, if she can bring herself to read anything with such awful covers at all that is.

Ms. E. C. Clayton says:

I must say that 99% of the time i think the UK design of a book is far superior to the US design (and what's with the constant need to put 'a novel' on the cover?).

Laura Phillipson says:

I think what Ms Clayton is saying is what I have been complaining about in the Fantasy Romance novel genre. Some have fantastic stories which are demeaned by naff covers of semi naked warriors who look nothing like the hero in the book. I find it embarrasing and wont buy a book if its cover is like this.

My favourtite Sci Fi coves are Anne McCaffreys Dragonriders and The Rowan books. The covers clearly depict the characters inside and scenes therein. Also good are Terry Pratchetts early books. I especially loved the Colour of Magic and Mort.

The stylised covers are innoffensive if bland but much preferred to said half naked men.

Cristopher Sharp says:

Any ideas why UK fantasy cover design is better than for the same book in he US?
It does not seem to hold true for mainstream books - for example The Historian looked fantastic in US hardback.

Perhaps US pubishers think that Fantasy readers are all 15 years old...

BookJumper says:

Keith Miller's excellent "The Book of Flying" I bought on the strength of the cover alone. Sadly I cannot think of any others; that's because you are right, fantasy covers can be so vile.

Cristopher Sharp says:

The Book of Flying is indeed an excellent cover - I have just purchased a copy on the back of your amazon recommendation.
One thing I have noticed is that if a Fantasy cover is really great - you usually can judge a book by its cover!

I have just noticed... The Joe Abercrombie book Just Served Cold, which has an attractive UK cover, has had a leather clad female blended into the US version.

Mr. A. S. Lally says:

Martin Taylor:

I've just seen it, although there's something to be said for the simplistic cover approach this one fails...badly.
As a keen typography I was shocked that the word "of" has a capital "O" and the second line of the title should have been Typeset properly.
And the colours!
It looks like a text book, a really dull history one.

Mr Taylor, (shameless plug coming up, but you set the precedent) I am a Graphic Designer currently working on several books and other printed material and I am offering you my services for your future publications.
I couldn't bear it if another of your books was released with such an unpleasant cover.

RavenLife says:

lol

completely agree with the OP, i have many books on my shelf that have truely terrible cover designs, i tend to take off the cover if its a hardback, as i dont like the "plastic" feel, and paperbacks tend not to be so outrageously designed.

it does tend to be specific to the fantasy/sci-fi genres, some of the worst ive seen, similar to the "muscled guy, sword, cowering-half-naked maiden" are truelly off putting, so there is something to be said about simple designs.

i also agree with others, where i believe a cover can often complement a book, some of terry pratchetts are great.

and what is it with putting "a novel" on the cover, how utterly pointless is that? i'm not sure i know anyone that is capable of reading a book, that would be suprised to find the book they just bought was in fact "a novel".... shocking.

Jeffrey Overstreet's book covers seem to work well and look nice, however i havnt actually recieved them yet so i cannot say for sure, also one of those books that say "a novel" on them

J. White says:

The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss the cover gave me tingles and the story didn't dissapoint either, can't wait for the next one (out in a few days). I also loved The Assassin's Apprentice, Tawny man and Ship of Magic trilogies by Robin Hobb, these are the best fantasy books i have ever read and everyone i have recommended them to agrees with me and the covers are understated but beautiful... a must if you've never read them! And Nine books in total... what a treat, I envy you the begining of the journey! But i have to agree with you a lot of the fantasy covers are at best stereotypical and at worse just gross.

Paul Tapner says:

I so agree with j yasimoto about the trend of putting a single object on covers. Although I thought the wheel of time looked better with the painted covers that it used to have. I think with those they were trying to make it look like the lord of the rings

Mr. B. S. Reynolds says:

Not really fantasy, but I find the US covers for Kim Harrison's books far better than the UK and have taken ordering from Amazon.com to get the right cover style.
Having said that, I do hate the trend on Urban Fantasy books to have book after book with the rear view of the usually leather-clad women staring sideways or various directions - often with a wolf in there somewhere. No imagination!!.
And while I'm whinging - my total pet hate is changing cover styles halfway through a series - the covers of Steven Erikson changed for no reason after 5 books and totally ruined the look of the series on my shelf!!

Ms. N. C. Cameron says:

Hi,

Yes I do agree that a lot of fantasy front covers are boring, but some are very good also. I think a lot of the time it is the publishers who chose the design of the cover and not the author. I'm about to bring out my first fantasy book and it was really important for me to have a good unique front cover. It's not finished yet but you can check it out on www.thetibianadventure.com. [This link is new defunct - Cris].

It would be nice to let me know what you think.

Dr. S. Rashid says:

Hi,
I've checked out the cover at www.thetibianadventure.com and I must say that it looks intriguing!
But I must agree with earlier commentors. The covers of fantasy books are very stereotypical. There has to be a scantily clad woman (often in leather) or a hero brandishing muscles. Why??? I quite bitter about this subject as I have been banned from reading some of my books at the hospital (I work on a children's ward) due to the lurid covers!

Dragon says:

Very saddened by the cover of an old edition of Octavia Butler's 'Dawn'. I think it was an old US edition. As I recall, the illustration shows the central character Lilith Iyapo releasing one of her compatriots from an Oankali 'sac. Lilith in the picture is shown as a white woman; the heroine in the novel is quite clearly black. It may be that when the original was released (20 years ago maybe?), the publisher's sensibilities regarding equality were somewhat different to what they are now? Thank god times have changed.

Despite the problem cover of that early edition, it's a fabulous series by an incredible author. Read it, if you haven't already.

Edit: oh I just noticed this cover in question shows as number 12 on an 'Octavia Butler' Amazon search!

Robin Oram says:

Covers of the Baroque Trilogogy, Neil Stephenson, are great. Also this: http://solomonsangel.com/cover-art.html

Ian Tapley says:

I've always loved books with covers by Geoff Taylor. He did ones for the Feist, Eddings and Kerr, among others.
My favourite style of fantasy cover is one which features small figures set amidst a dramatic landscape (something Taylor does very well). For this reason, I also really liked the semi-CG covers done for the Shannara books a few years back.
I've always hated ones which show close ups of ridiculous-looking fantasy warriors (the original Dragonlance covers were very guilty culprits) - they look trashy and, despite the warnings, people judge those books and the entire genre by the covers. I know people who've never read a fantasy novel and refuse to because the only image they have in their head is that of trashy fantasy. It frustrates me immensely!

On a final note, my favourite fantasy cover of all time (bucking the trend of my preference) is the single-volume 'Lord of the Rings' cover by John Howe. It's a picture of Gandalf the Grey striding purposefully through the countryside - which I think captures the spirit of the book perfectly.

C. Gordon says:

As someone has already stated, you just can't go wrong with the Frank Frazetta illustrated Conan covers. Excellent stuff.

Rolo Tomasi says:

I don't mind the more 'traditional' fantasy fiction covers, so long as they are well drawn. I personally prefer the simpler covers for George RR Martin's ASOIF because the alternative covers are hideous! Really really badly designed and drawn! If you don't agree, look at A Storm of Swords: Book 3 of A Song of Ice and Fire I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder though, and it's what is inside the book that counts etc etc

thepiratedog says:

The Josh Kirby cover's are still being used, the plain covers are for people who don't want others to realise they're reading Terry Pratchett.

If a fantasy book has one of those ridiculous muscle-bound man/big-boobed woman covers I can't bring myself to buy it, do publishers think that's the king of cover we want? On the other hand I don't think I've ever seen a Guy Gavriel Kay book cover I didn't like. Tolkein also always does well with artwork on the cover.

Link to original on Amazon:
Vile book design in fantasy title

Link to Forum on Neal Asher's Blog:
Fantasy Covers

Close to you

2010-05-14T10:29:00.007+01:00

Why do birds suddenly appear every time you are near?
Just like me they, want to be close to you.

Why do stars fall down from the sky every time you walk by?
Just like me, they long to be close to you.

On the day that you were born the angels got together and decided to create a dream come true, so they sprinkled moondust in your hair of gold and starlight in your eyes of blue.

That's why all the girls in town follow you all around.
Just like me, they long to be close to you.

Going Postal

2010-05-13T09:57:00.017+01:00

Exciting news, Sky have re-created Terry Pratchett's Going Postal (one of my favourite books) as a television series!

Also, it has given me a perfect opportunity to test the linking facility from YouTube, which appears to work fine!

I really hope they do the book justice, but it is very difficult to please fans of an author when making a program or film of one of their beloved books. An example of this being done well is Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Links:
The Going Postal page on Sky One's website
Get the book at Amazon.com

For those who have not met him yet, here is the hero of Going Postal, the improbably named Moist Von Lipwig (played by Richard Coyle).

He's behind you!

2010-05-12T14:00:00.008+01:00

Well it appears that finally we have a new prime minister.

The Kingmaker Nick Clegg has taken the traditional pantomime role of Grand Vizier (Deputy Prime Minister) and the Liberal Democrats have started a love-in with the Conservatives, sharing the cabinet positions. Considering that The Conservatives have 306 seats and the Lib Democrats only have 57, I would say they have done quite well out this hung parliament.

Furthermore, Gordon Brown has moved out of number 10, as apparently three is a crowd.

Well, lets see how long the relationship lasts, because as we all know, you are not safe when you ask "Where is the Grand Vizier?" and the answer is "He's behind you!"

After you. No, no, after you...

What are you doing today?

2010-05-11T15:48:00.009+01:00

The way of business since the beginning of the recession has definitely been 'What are you doing tomorrow?' Clients are afraid to commit to purchase orders and booking diary dates as their work is so fluid and tentative that they don't want to be caught out owing suppliers for projects that never appeared.

That is all well and good and I certainly understand the situation. However, things appear to have moved up a step to 'what are you doing today?' It is certainly not good for the nerves that is for sure. At least we haven't moved into the next stage which is clients 'pencilling' for work that is being pitched for as they are afraid that when they need you 'today', you are already working for someone else (and so is everyone else).

Pencilling is the work of the devil as, often they 'forget' to let you know that it is only a pitch and worse still that they didn't win the pitch and you are no longer needed.

Pencil bookings... Grrrrr!

Peppa Pig

2010-05-09T16:39:00.018+01:00

The flip side of Sky+, it's effect on children and anything for an easy life...

It's amazing the number of traits Isobel has picked up from children's television, particularly from Peppa Pig. From saying No! just like George Pig to calling biscuits 'bistics' like Danny Dog and red being her favourite colour because it is Peppa's, she has almost become a character from the program.

Jumping up and down in muddy puddles

Of course the reason this has happened is because unlike my childhood when children's programs were on once a day, there are twenty channels of kids TV all day. Also, in our wisdom, we have recorded her favourite programs on Sky+ and therefore she can watch them pretty much 24/7. Why is this? Because we (and I mean my generation) have weakened and, for an illusory 'easy life' allow our kids to sit goggling the TV to give us some time to catch up on our own lives.

The reason, I think this easy life option is in error is that much of what the children are learning is anti-social and not what we as parents would want them to pick up if we were still in charge. These mannerisms are giving the children tools that they are using against us to get their own way, which is fair enough, it's how kids work, but it doesn't end up making life any easier for us at all.

All very simple for me to say I know, but do I do anything about it? Of course not, as I too find it all to easy to do the thing that leads to an easy life...

Guitar Heros

2010-05-09T00:34:00.011+01:00

I Just watched a great program on the BBC about lead guitar players, mostly of the 70's before the death of the Guitar God.

Probably showing my age but it was great... Hendrix, Beck, Townsend then into Vai and Slash. It makes the hairs rise on your arms, I'm going to have to put some serious Rock on to get it out of my system!

I am reminded of a great book by Iain Banks called Espedair Street that records the life of an imaginary 70s rock star and what became of him. Definitely a good book to read whether or not you can remember the era. Anyway, it looks like turning into a night of wine and music!

Link to Amazon:
Espedair Street

Other good news, Barca are still looking good to take the league after beating Sevilla 3-2 tonight despite Real Madrid's 5-1 drubbing of Athlitico Bilbao.

Happy days, now where is that Tom Petty CD?

MobileMe

2010-05-07T22:35:00.012+01:00

With the introduction of MobileMe, Apple have finally begun to deliver on the promise of a connected digital world.

This year I bought into Apple's view of the world, ordering an iPhone to go with my Mac Pro and MacBook Pro. Having switched to Apple Mail, Calendar and Contacts, I decided to try out the two month trial of MobileMe.

This system uses a Cloud (web) based server to synchronise all of your personal data. In addition to Calendar, Contacts and photos, important files on your computer (in my case accounts files) can be synchronised too. The clever part is that any compatible device can be added to the system, therefore your iPhone, home mac, office PC, laptop and iPad can all be synced automatically as they connect to the Internet. This takes away the need for physically plugging devices together and having out of date data while you are out of the office.

This system has made a huge difference to the way I work and have therefore had no hesitation in signing up for the annual subscription to the service, (£59 a year) and certainly recommend MobileMe.

An embarrassing election

2010-05-07T09:02:00.017+01:00

It appears that in the middle of recession, when we are desperately in need of strong leadership and firm financial control, we have totally cocked up the election.

The final votes are still to be counted, but we may be relying on Gordon Brown (already an unelected prime minister) to resign. This desperate old man, like Margaret Thatcher before him, will never resign. He will have to be pushed as the Conservatives, despite getting the most seats and winning the popular vote, may not have won the election due to some silly constitutional shenanigans with a discredited Labour Party in bed with 50 Liberal Democrat politicians...

Furthermore, it appears a great many voters were disenfranchised by their polling stations closing before they had the chance to vote! Fantastic, there is a real possibility that we will have a hung parliament that will immediately collapse as we may have to be by-elections in all of the constituencies that have had these 'irregularities'.

It reminds me of George Bushes second victory, let's hope we don't end up with a joke leader like him!

Fill in your own captions...

Awake

2010-05-06T09:14:00.022+01:00

It is election day and it has already been one to forget.

Jo and I were kept up all night again by Cormac, he is in a phase of waking up every few minutes. There appears to be no reason for it, offering him milk will result in a couple of mouth fulls being drunk, then he goes back to sleep for ten minutes or so. Then the cycle starts again.

Still, we have voted by post so no more effort is required on that front. I would have liked to vote for the Lib Dems as a vote for change. However, I am afraid of a hung parliament with 5 years of weak leadership so this time the Conservatives have got my my vote.

It is amazing that our politicians have not realised that people don't vote for policies, or even personalities. We vote in a reactionary manner to get rid of the incumbent. Elections are not won, they can only be lost by a government who have pushed us too far. As a rule people don't like change, unless they are forced to it.

That is what I believe, I suppose I will find out tomorrow if I am wrong. I won't be finding out tonight as hopefully I will be asleep!

FC Barcelona

2010-05-05T23:10:00.015+01:00

Catching up on La Liga.

Barca are still looking good for the Spanish league despite falling down in the Champions league against Inter Milan.

Sky+ is one of life's luxuries that I would hate to loose as without it I would miss pretty much everything!

As an aside, here is Sir Norman Fosters vision of the re-developed Camp Nou. The 50 year old stadium is already the largest in Europe, but will be further expanded to accommodate 100,000 fans. The design is inspired by Gaudi's tile architecture, with the colours reflecting the blue and scarlet of the teams strip plus the red and yellow of Catalonia's flag.

Awesome!

Apple iPad

2010-05-05T16:32:00.021+01:00

I have been pondering the point of the Apple iPad. Initially I was sceptical about it's potential and a straw poll of friends and colleagues demonstrated I was not alone in this view.

Steve Jobs with his revolutionary new product

However, this new product has made me re-evaluate my own computer usage and I have noticed that I spend a great deal of time checking email, googling stuff and more significantly using my iPhone apps to keep abreast of specific subjects I am interested in.

The rise of the small application over legacy bloatware as championed by the iPhone has changed the way users and developers interact with the Internet and I believe the iPad will exploit this fact to great success.

Furthermore, the failure of the TV to add Internet access in a really usable fashion has left a hole in the market for a truly 'home' PC. Again a hole I can see the iPad filling nicely.

All I need now to test this theory are a few spare pounds to buy an iPad with. Sadly that is something lacking at the moment!

iPhone apps

2010-05-04T20:36:00.022+01:00

Sitting here updating my iPhone, it occurred to me to list my favourite apps.

First of all I wouldn't be able to conduct this exercises at all without the app I am using now: BlogPress, it is extremely useful as it allows me to blog in those moments when I have a spare few minutes, but no computer in front of me.

Other apps that I use a lot are:

FC Barcelona's official app which handily can display in English as well as Spanish and Catalan.

MotoGP Live Timing, cool for keeping up to date with standings as well as it's great graphic live timing function.

iFooty which keeps you up to date on everything football from around the world. League tables, results and live scores are just a few of this excellent apps services.

iFooty screen shot

TUAW The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Sky Mobile TV is excellent for keeping up with the footy while working on-site, though you really need a decent wireless connection to get the best out of it.

A2Z Pro, the easiest unit conversion app I have found so far.

AroundMe, a really useful tool for finding pretty much any service you may need while working away; petrol, parking, food etc.

I will no doubt add more in a future update!

Running a small business

2010-05-04T16:00:00.010+01:00

It would seem that as time goes by, running a small business gets harder and harder.

I have a small graphics company, specialising in conference content; slides, animated graphics, that sort of thing... At the moment I would say I spend as much time doing admin and accounts as I do making money.

Don't get me wrong, I have an excellent accountant. But the shear weight of form filling and general confusion involved in making the government happy does tend to drag me down. Given the current economic climate, it would be better I would have thought to actually be out selling my skills and attempting to put food on the table.

Enough ranting, onto other stuff...

I really must apologise for my earlier blog, claiming that spring had sprung and that it was motorcycle time again. The bank holiday weekend was a total wash out with rain so that put the brakes on that plan!

Still, the mighty Barcelona thrashed Villarreal 4-1 and the MotoGP is still promising to be great this year, (despite the Japan race being postpone due to Volcano). Jorge Lorenzo is looking good and is leading the standings from Rossi. The Hondas are looking fast and surprisingly Hayden is looking faster than Stoner! Shame that Ben Spies had technical issues an did not finish, but you can't have it all, (after all... where would you keep it?).

Jorge Lorenzo

Bank holiday weekends

2010-05-02T19:14:00.015+01:00

It is one of life's mysteries why it rains on bank holiday weekends.

Is it the rain that likes to rain on us, or the evil banks that chose the rainy weekends for their days off? After the last couple of years of recession caused by the banking crisis, I wouldn't put it past them...

Ah well, I tried to make the best of it by taking Isobel and Cormac out to 'soft play'. It turns out that it is quite hard to look after a three year old and a baby at the same time at one of those places as you can't play with one without the other kicking off. That's kids for you!

Anyway, had nice sleepy kids for the traffic jam on the way home...

Springtime

2010-05-01T20:40:00.015+01:00

It's springtime, time to get the Triumph out!

Yes, I have finally become a summer rider - I guess the biggest factor in this is my current addiction to listening to audiobooks in the car. Currently I am enjoying Peter F. Hamilton's Void trilogy. Only a couple if hours into the 60 hour marathon, I will let you know what I think about it at the end!

Headaches

2010-04-24T16:38:00.009+01:00

It somehow feels unfair to wake up with a blinding headache, particularly when you have not been drinking the night before.

So we arrived in Spain, rigged the event and are now in session and it would appear that listening to a conference on antidepressants is in fact a depressing thing...

There you go.

We had a bit of excitement when Justin's rope light started to set fire to the set. Personally I think he was upset because he wasn't allowed a smoke machine!

Smoke machines make for happy lighting designers...

-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Madrid, Spain

Madrid and Barcelona

2010-04-21T16:08:00.010+01:00

Arrived in Madrid at about 11am today.

The only downside I can see to travelling by bus for 24 hours is you get 'sea legs' and are convinced that everything is moving even when you have stopped...

Bad news - Barcelona got beaten by Inter Milan in the champions league. Hope they can turn it around in the second leg at the Camp Nou...

Jose Mourinho - happy bunny

Volcanoes and busses

2010-04-21T14:52:00.017+01:00

So when all Britons abroad are trying to get back into the country and the government has mobilised the Navy to aid this endeavour, I am heading on a bus in the opposite direction...

So here is the deal; the outpourings from the Icelandic volcano are still grounding all flights into and out of the UK so getting to the conference I am working on in Madrid has become problematic. So the crew are heading down on a sleeper coach.

Sounds horrible but actually it has been a lot more relaxing than a flight. Makes sense really as the airline industry has been so bogged down in security and cost savings that all the joy has been drained from the whole experience.

Now we just have to see if any delegates can join us...

The ash plume moving due south

-- Post From My iPhone

Location: Le Mans, France

Hang the DJ

2010-04-18T00:38:00.015+01:00

They at NOT playing Simply the Best, what is it about conferences and this song, is there no end to the horror that will be unleashed on us tonight?

This is the number one, most over played, hackneyed track used by companies on their events.
It is however, quickly followed in the ranking of shame by M People's Search for the Hero and Heather Small's Pride. Please if you read this, never ask for these tracks; you may be stabbed by a sound man who has been pushed too far!

Hall of shame:

Time to leave...

A dark evil from the past has once again reared it's ugly head

-- Post From My iPhone
Location:Constitution Hill,London,United Kingdom

On rehearsals

2010-04-15T15:02:00.012+01:00

Rehearsing awards ceremonies, conferences and events...

Why is it always the same? No content, no thought gone into it and generally no idea. Given that the presenters are paying a lot of money for an events company, you would think that they might actually listen to the advice we give them.

Probably been doing this too long!

The joy of iPhones and Sky+

2010-04-12T21:36:00.015+01:00

So, I missed the MotoGP but, hurrah! I had remotely set Sky+ to record it using Sky's app on my iPhone and watched it tonight...

Good job too, after Casey threw his Ducati into the graced trap, The Doctor picked up another victory. Great race, looks like a real three manufacturer season with Honda's turn of speed and Hayden's surprise fourth place on the Ducati.

Here's to the rest of the year!

Valentino Rossi - The Doctor

Ups and downs

2010-04-11T20:37:00.009+01:00

Been a funny weekend...

I got the dreaded DVDs done and had a good Saturday with the kids and Michael and Hollie. The only fly in the ointment was a touch of the lurgy - but the least said about the symptoms, the better...

Still great result in il Classico with Barcelona's 2-0 win at the Bernabeu and now I've got the opening race of the MotoGP season to look forward to tonight. So on balance, pretty good!

Isobel and Hollie

Death by DVD

2010-04-09T15:29:00.010+01:00

Today is a day for burning DVD copies of a conference I worked on recently.

Only the video is in the wrong aspect ratio and the lip sync is out by 5 frames...

Ho Hum

For those who are interested, I fixed the lip sync issue with a great bit of free software for Mac called QT Sync. It allows you to open QuickTime files, type in the number of frames you need to adjust the sound relative to the vision, then re-save the file.

Link:
QT Sync

Absolute beginer

2010-04-04T19:06:00.010+01:00

Just set up my first blog.

Baby under arm and footy on the TV.
Let's see if I can keep up 'finding time' for a longer blog soon...