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One of my FAVE Eddie Izzard bits, only improved by the wicked lego animation
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"Here’s a list of ways that I’ve almost killed FreshBooks over the years"
Some interesting stuff here
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"… this pretty much sums up my entire life. Other bloggers get invited to go on CNN or get free furniture. I get an angry transvestite army." ROFLMAO!
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“A German nursing home has come up with a novel idea to stop Alzheimer’s patients from wandering off: a phantom bus stop.”
(Cross-posting from Geek | Manager)
I’m pleased to announce that one of my own projects has just come to fruition. My new book, The Principles of Project Management has just been published by SitePoint. It’s a short book aimed at folks like myself who have come from a technical background and are increasingly finding themselves in need of project management skills — whether to officially take that role or to help make the hard work they put in as developers or designers actually mean something, by ensuring the project is delivered properly.
The book was expert reviewed by Kevin Lawver and Drew McLellan who both did an admirable job of ensuring that the content stayed applicable to all sorts of projects and teams, both big and small. They also bravely took on the role of managementese-weeding and survived with remarkably few lasting scars 
Drew has written some thoughts on the book on his own blog. I thoroughly enjoyed working with both Drew & Kevin, as well as the team at SitePoint.
If your interest is piqued, then check out The Principles of Project Management book page or download a sample chapter.
In the interests of full disclosure, I would highlight that all the links are affiliate links — i.e. if you buy the book via that link I will both be able to track it and get something back 
Here is the list of cities I visited in 2007 — please take it both as a long-overdue post to the blog and an apology/explanation of why posting frequency is so low at the moment!!
It’s also the reason that Dopplr is firmly entrenched as my favourite new application of 2007. Flickr also remained a firm favourite, even if I don’t always upload as regularly as I ought to… You can see photos from some (but sadly not all) of these trips here.
OVERSEAS:
- Cincinnati, OH, USA*
- San Antonio, NM, USA
- Albuquerque, NM, USA
- Austin, TX, USA
- Hong Kong, SAR, People’s Republic of China*
- Manila, Philippines
- Sydney, Australia
- Melbourne, Australia
- Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Cape Town, South Africa**
- Port Elizabeth, South Africa**
- San Jose, Costa Rica
- Playa Jaco, Costa Rica
UK:
- Newcastle upon Tyne [Home]
- Exeter, Devon*
- Tiverton, Devon*
- Bath, Avon*
- Bristol, Somerset*
- Weybridge, Surrey*
- Woking, Surrey*
- Market Bosworth, Warwickshire
- Cambridge
- London
For reference, I also wrote a similar summary in 2006.
* Denotes multiple visits
** And everywhere in between. We visited Durbanville, Darling, Simonstown & Boulders, Knysna, Mossel Bay, Plettenberg Bay, Stellenbosch, Franschoek, Hout Bay, Cape Point and numerous other smaller destinations. Photos available on Flickr
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“It is a perversion if you say to me that a person chooses to be homosexual. You must be crazy to choose a way of life that exposes you to a kind of hatred. It’s like saying you choose to be black in a race-infected society.” Mr Tutu, you are THE MAN!
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Dear BBC - do you really think that is an appropriate headline? He isn’t abandoning cloning, just cloning via human embryos. Tabloid, much?
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Samuel L Jackson is even better as a bunny.
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“But then there’s the dykes! The other white meat!”
I can never decide whether Joe is hilarious or deranged. I love this article though. Will have to go tap him on the shoulder and remind him some of us are already here! -
Corporate cat is not amused.
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Anyone used these guys before? Considering a move away from Dreamhost, given they keep blocking Googlebot from my sites ::rolleyes::
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This is amazing. Man, I miss maths.
Last night I attended my first Women in Technology event. It was quite interesting, but more importantly inspiring to meet so many women from the industry.
When I think back to the ongoing “Where are the women?” conversations in the geek conference space, where some claim it’s impossible to get women to attend, it was wonderful to see a mid-week evening event with an attendance approaching 400.
Sadly I’m not down in London frequently enough to make it to many of these events, though I still hold out hope that I’ll make it to a Girl Geek Dinner!
A few weeks ago I travelled down to Bath from Newcastle. Sitting in the sushi bar in Bristol Temple Meads train station (yes, how times have changed, eh?!) having breakfast, a middle-aged backpacker struck up conversation with me. I evidently have a “ask me about sushi, I’ll explain” aura about me - every time we go NEAR the Yo Sushi! in Newcastle I end up explaining what the food is and how the conveyor belt system works to every 50+ in Fenwicks - but I digress.
Having had me explain that sushi is really rather nice, Mike (the backpacker) started telling me about his life. He’d given up his house, his work and (I presume, though he shied away from the subject) his family a few years before and started travelling around the UK, camping as he went. That day he was on his way down to Weston Super Mare to see a friend. He talked about long evenings spent alone in his tent and how he was thinking about getting a dog, perhaps a Jack Russell, to keep him company.
Then I noticed his t-shirt, yellow with “Better to burn out than it is to rust” emblazoned across the chest in bright red letters. For those of you who perhaps didn’t have the same 70s protest song upbringing as me, that particular line is from Neil Young’s iconic song Hey Hey, My My. An enthusiastic conversation about the great man followed, right down to naming our favourite song. We both picked Powderfinger, which was spooky to start with. The fact that we both had the same reason — a belief that “And my face splashed in the sky” is one of the most beautifully disturbing and visually evocative lines of poetry ever written — was downright weird.
Sitting there, mid business trip, about to go back to my old university to represent the multinational corporation I work for at a Careers Fair, I realised what an odd pair we must look sat there in the station. You’d never guess that our commonality ran so deep.
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“80 percent of managers in the US under the age of 35 had significant video game experience and that gamers had a more positive outlook on life than non-gamers. Gamers tended to prefer multitasking to individual assignments, to stave off boredom.”
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This breakup letter written to PowerPoint is hilarious!
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“But they later extended their pickets to the funerals of soldiers, who they say are being punished by God because of America’s tolerance of homosexuality.”
Wow, if that’s their attitude, imagine what would happen if the US actually WAS tolerant! -
I’m with Nat on this one. I hate it when people tell me I’m a good “networker”. Networking is Machiavellian. I just like talking to people.
Elly & I just sent the new Heddon Holistic Therapies Centre website live.
The centre itself was founded by Val Lockey, who is an amazing therapist. Since we moved up to Newcastle 18 months ago I’ve been going to Val for help with my RSI. Even with all the crazy travel I’m doing these days, she helps to keep me pain-free and so I can heartily recommend her services!
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“Dear God” - “YES, MY CHILD?” - “I would like to file a bug report.”
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“At this rate, in a few years a vague notion will be the release version!”
All over web2.0, marketers are grinning and rubbing their hands with glee.
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“Effective today, DreamHost is now a carbon-neutral company.”
Nice move and a nice discussion of how they’re doing it. -
Tim Bray has some gorgeous photos and interesting commentary from his recent trip to London. I find it really interesting that we’re starting to see crossover from Web2.0 to more traditional/hardcore IT like what you see in the city.
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“It’s my firm belief that the inclusionists are winning. We live in a world of infinitely searchable micro-content, and every contribution, however small, enriches all of us. Obscurity sucks. But obscurity by choice is irrational. When in doubt, make it public.”
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Great example in here of why sometimes addressing human factors first is the way to go:
“..they had the hotel install mirrors in the hallway where the elevators were. By the time the visitors were done preening, the elevator had arrived. Human engineering at its best.” -
“That’s really what this is about. It’s not about competing with Flash. Microsoft is thinking much bigger than people seem to be giving them credit for.”
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“Nowadays I’m reduced to nothing more than Grey’s-Anatomy-esque catchphrases. Seriously? Seriously? Do I really have to explain why this is a bad idea? Again? To a bunch of technological virgins who haven’t been fucked yet? Seriously?”
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“MBAs Without Borders (MWB) is an organization that is sends MBA professionals all over the world to developing nations. Highly educated individuals donate their time and expertise to train entrepreneurs and business owners in the developing world.”
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I love this map of online communities. Check out the fine detail — particularly the compass is very cool.
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Would you rather be an amateur, a professional or a guru? I love this chart.
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Interesting to see that even the City is getting better from a diversity point of view.
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This is cool — a mashup of two of the modern geek’s favourite things: moleskin notebooks and notebook harddrives.
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“The cost of the remedial work looks likely to approach if not exceed the cost of the original development. A perfect illustration of why you build accessibility in from the very start.”
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“Aunty Maiduguri, 45, reportedly married four women at a ceremony in the city of Kano. The multiple marriage was witnessed by 2,000 guests and was followed by two days of feasting.”
Much as I don’t personally agree with polygamy, you have to admire her chutzpah! -
If you live in the UK (or have the right to sign these petitions as an expat), please sign this petition. Without monitoring, it’s easy to dismiss the views of the LGB community — help us have a voice.
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“Sure I can overpower it NOW, but it feels like a few short steps from here to the robot war.”
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“To get them to actually understand what user centred design is about - you need personas.”
Great perspective from Leisa about the value of personas. I have to agree that the value lies more in requirements definition and aiding understanding than in design. -
Interesting — I wonder how many RSI sufferers like myself would fail to authenticate though. I’m pretty sure my typing patterns and speed vacillate a lot when my hands are hurting.
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Wicked, another Freakonomics book! Stephen Dubner is talking at a conference I’m attending next month, hopefully we’ll get some new anecdotes
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Presentations and podcasts from the recent Refresh Edinburgh event are now up.
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“You are what you pay attention to.”
Great productivity advice from Brian.
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I wonder how many Flickr photos will turn up now with the tag “chessonarollercoaster”.
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This is verging on scary… the things students will do for stress relief.
The “N.O.E” mission in San Andreas was really kicking my ass, until Elly suggested a great strategy: rather than trying to go overland, where you have to avoid all the trees, buildings, hills, etc whilst staying “under the radar”, just go the indirect route and fly over the sea. Much easier to stay at a lower altitude and nothing to crash into!
