So after much waiting the PSN network is back with us and playing games on a Playstation 3 can return to some degree of normality. Then you read that Andrew Lloyd Webber songs are available for SingStar and you have to think that there must be some better options than that. So with that in mind here are three better ideas (at least in my opinion, if you disagree please suggest something different in the comments).
SingStar at the Movies
Wouldn't this work? If they can have other vague categories along with more structured ones like Motown then why not go down this route? You could easily find 25 great songs with cross male/female appeal from movies, or if you like 24 and John Waite's "Deal For Life" from "Days of Thunder" (I think I'm the only person who likes that and thinks it should be used in a cheesy party political broadcast).
SingStar: Beautiful South
Extensive back catalogue, and arguably even bigger if go back to the Housemartins and include them as well. Mixture of songs sung by men and women, quirky, funny stuff, and more than a few songs that a lot of people know. Certainly more than some that you see on the SingStore, mentioning no names (*cough* Eoghan Quigg *cough*)
SingStar: Eagles
My ultimate choice for the a new SingStar addition. An extensive back catalogue, full of classics, and also the ability to go into the solo work of the likes of Don Henley and Glenn Frey as well. Okay, so you're not getting any songs with female lead vocals, but that didn't stop them making SingStar editions for Take That or Queen, and arguably the songs are universal enough to appeal to everyone. I think this is clearly the the one which could have the most universal appeal (and unquestionably more than anything by Busted which presently exists in the SingStore).
Have any better ideas? Suggest them in the comments.
Tuesday, 31 May 2011
Friday, 29 April 2011
Thoughts on the PSN Security Breach
If, like myself, you own a PlayStation3 then it is more likely than not that you are on the PSN Network. Having seen what has happened in the last week, like me, you might be somewhat displeased with what has occurred.
To summarise Sony's own posts on the matter they experienced an intrusion into the PSN network between the 17th and 19th of April. Then on the 26th of April they informed us that there had been a loss of personal data, including user's addresses, passwords and possibly credit card information. Seemingly it appears that passwords and credit card information was stored in an unencrypted fashion.
When I look through comments on Sony's official blog I am amazed by two things. Firstly, some people's first concern seems to be when the network will be back up and running. Secondly some people are surprised that people are upset with Sony. If a network is unsecured they cannot possibly reopen it as yet, and if that unsecured network has critical unencrypted data on it then I think people have a right to be upset.
Personally I am amazed that Sony did not at least encrypt passwords and credit card information. Looking into encrypting these details is not difficult. I am not careless with my own data and security details and I am personally appalled that a company the size of Sony should be careless with this in this manner. It is an astonishing abuse of trust in my opinion.
At this point in blog comments someone will say that the hackers are to blame. I don't think they're angels in this, but the responsibility to at least encrypt data starts and ends with Sony.
When the network comes back up will I stop playing on it? In all likelihood no, but I'll not put credit card details on the system again. It has also prompted me to carry out a further password audit on every account I have on every site and service I have on the internet. Unfortunately it seems that my details are not safe with anyone, and that if other companies will not take responsibility for it then I have to do my utmost to protect myself, and by association, my family.
To summarise Sony's own posts on the matter they experienced an intrusion into the PSN network between the 17th and 19th of April. Then on the 26th of April they informed us that there had been a loss of personal data, including user's addresses, passwords and possibly credit card information. Seemingly it appears that passwords and credit card information was stored in an unencrypted fashion.
When I look through comments on Sony's official blog I am amazed by two things. Firstly, some people's first concern seems to be when the network will be back up and running. Secondly some people are surprised that people are upset with Sony. If a network is unsecured they cannot possibly reopen it as yet, and if that unsecured network has critical unencrypted data on it then I think people have a right to be upset.
Personally I am amazed that Sony did not at least encrypt passwords and credit card information. Looking into encrypting these details is not difficult. I am not careless with my own data and security details and I am personally appalled that a company the size of Sony should be careless with this in this manner. It is an astonishing abuse of trust in my opinion.
At this point in blog comments someone will say that the hackers are to blame. I don't think they're angels in this, but the responsibility to at least encrypt data starts and ends with Sony.
When the network comes back up will I stop playing on it? In all likelihood no, but I'll not put credit card details on the system again. It has also prompted me to carry out a further password audit on every account I have on every site and service I have on the internet. Unfortunately it seems that my details are not safe with anyone, and that if other companies will not take responsibility for it then I have to do my utmost to protect myself, and by association, my family.
Thursday, 31 March 2011
My Top Three Twitter Peeves
Had to mention something this month, and as I'm running short of time this topic will do, especially as it is fresh in my head.
Up until the last few days I have had two big Twitter peeves, but upon further thinking that has become three. In reverse order they are:
3) Duplicated Content
Frequently caused by users who have some kind of automatic feed publishing to their twitter account. While slightly irritating when journalists posting a blog post which is repeated shortly afterwards this is worst of all when some companies use this. I had to unfollow one online store recently which for some reason was tweeting every entry to one of their competitions. It all became a lot of clutter, so unfollowing became the only choice for me.
2) Tweet Chats
A slowly growing, very annoying trend, especially when they take place overnight (UK time). I typically wake up to 80-100 tweets, given that my interests lead to me following people in America. However when one of those users has a tweet chat which single-handedly increases that count by about 50 it reaches overkill. For me this is what chatrooms were invented for, not Twitter. If I want to follow up later I can hopefully get a transcript somewhere.
1) People Retweeting Secondary Accounts
This really winds me up, because frankly it looks desperate. There is nothing like an account mentioning another account (whether it be personal cause/business/etc.) in a casual way, only once they've done it five or six times you follow that link and find they have less than twenty followers. If I haven't followed within one or two mentions I'm not likely to, why continue to try to blundgeon me with this?
Of course they can't stop there, so they still pound away with repeated mentions of the second account, and even get to the point where they retweet their own tweets from the secondary account. What is it they say about people who talk to themselves?
(I know, it's the one way to guarantee you get a sensible answer. Ignore me.)
Up until the last few days I have had two big Twitter peeves, but upon further thinking that has become three. In reverse order they are:
3) Duplicated Content
Frequently caused by users who have some kind of automatic feed publishing to their twitter account. While slightly irritating when journalists posting a blog post which is repeated shortly afterwards this is worst of all when some companies use this. I had to unfollow one online store recently which for some reason was tweeting every entry to one of their competitions. It all became a lot of clutter, so unfollowing became the only choice for me.
2) Tweet Chats
A slowly growing, very annoying trend, especially when they take place overnight (UK time). I typically wake up to 80-100 tweets, given that my interests lead to me following people in America. However when one of those users has a tweet chat which single-handedly increases that count by about 50 it reaches overkill. For me this is what chatrooms were invented for, not Twitter. If I want to follow up later I can hopefully get a transcript somewhere.
1) People Retweeting Secondary Accounts
This really winds me up, because frankly it looks desperate. There is nothing like an account mentioning another account (whether it be personal cause/business/etc.) in a casual way, only once they've done it five or six times you follow that link and find they have less than twenty followers. If I haven't followed within one or two mentions I'm not likely to, why continue to try to blundgeon me with this?
Of course they can't stop there, so they still pound away with repeated mentions of the second account, and even get to the point where they retweet their own tweets from the secondary account. What is it they say about people who talk to themselves?
(I know, it's the one way to guarantee you get a sensible answer. Ignore me.)
Tuesday, 22 February 2011
Remember the era of great All-Rounders?
I had to write this, as looking this up on the internet found next to nothing. Nothing! There were thousands of people there, and I was one of them, back in September 1985 who gathered in Arundel to see the world's best Cricket all-rounders compete in the Silk Cut Challenge to see who was best all-rounder in the world at the time.
This was the second such event like this. The previous one took place in Taunton in 1984, where I lived with my parents at the time. For some reason we ended up seeing the one hours away from us in Arundel. I know, it makes no sense. If we'd have waited a few more years we could have just seen this in Hong Kong, where the event eventually moved to.
This one took place on Friday 20th and Saturday 21st September 1985, and I was there on the Saturday with my parents. My parents wouldn't have me missing school for anything.
So who was in this?
Only the cream of the crop of a class of All-Rounders. Ian Botham, Kapil Dev, Richard Hadlee, Viv Richards and (with supporters who annoyed everyone else), Imran Khan.
Khan's supporters annoyed everyone?
Oh yes, running on the pitch, being noisy and generally acting in ways that weren't seen as gentlemanly. For some reason they wound me up, to the point that eighteen months later I gleefully remember Philip DeFreitas hoisting the smug Oxford graduate into a stand full of his supporters at Edgbaston. And I still remember that moment, nearly 24 years later. Joyous.
No Australians?
Australia were represented by Simon O'Donnell. Not exactly a great era for Australian cricket this. However I do remember one O'Donnell six ending up in the beer tent over my left shoulder with a resounding smash.
So who won?
The possibly least likely candidate, South African Clive Rice. He won the year before too, so it was hardly a fluke.
How did he win?
This is what is hazy, because for the life of me I can't find my programme, so I can't verify the rules. I think the basic gist of it was that each player bowled two overs to each batsman. Therefore each batsman got either fourteen or sixteen overs to bat (sorry, can't remember the full entry list either).
I do remember that when Rice batted last it was likely that he had to score well and not get out to win. I don't remember the exact formula of this but basically runs and wickets were good, dismissals while batting were not.
Anything else of note?
This was around the time that Botham and Richards were being represented by Tim Hudson, and wore a striped black/green/yellow/red wristband to signify this. For some reason my parents were sure that something had happened between Hudson and the pair this weekend, as Botham and Richards were somewhat edgey while signing autographs during a break at the event. I don't know if Botham and Richards were any different from their usual persona (Botham's autobiography, "Don't Tell Kath", doesn't appear to mention anything taking place at Arundel), but Richards wasn't keen on people standing behind him, ushering kids to the side of him as he expressly didn't like "people standing behind me". (Personally, knowing this would have made me bowl more spinners to him. It probably would have been futile, but who knows?)
So you were a stalky kid? Get any other autographs?
Robin Smith was a fielder that day, and I got his autograph. The fielders had numbers on their shirts, which I certainly don't remember seeing before that point.
Anyone else acting up?
It's the only time I heard Dickie Bird in person, and he didn't strike me as being particularly friendly either. I guess he had business to attend to though when walking through a crowd.
Any other observations?
That Cricket ground in Arundel is beautiful. One of the most scenic sporting venues I have ever been to.
Would this event be worth resurrecting?
I'd say so. If every form of Twenty20 can be foisted on Cricket fans then why not? The all-rounder pool might be even more shallow now, but I'd suspect it would be just as fun as this event was.
Any other reasons for remembering the event?
Yes, but that's for another time...
This was the second such event like this. The previous one took place in Taunton in 1984, where I lived with my parents at the time. For some reason we ended up seeing the one hours away from us in Arundel. I know, it makes no sense. If we'd have waited a few more years we could have just seen this in Hong Kong, where the event eventually moved to.
This one took place on Friday 20th and Saturday 21st September 1985, and I was there on the Saturday with my parents. My parents wouldn't have me missing school for anything.
So who was in this?
Only the cream of the crop of a class of All-Rounders. Ian Botham, Kapil Dev, Richard Hadlee, Viv Richards and (with supporters who annoyed everyone else), Imran Khan.
Khan's supporters annoyed everyone?
Oh yes, running on the pitch, being noisy and generally acting in ways that weren't seen as gentlemanly. For some reason they wound me up, to the point that eighteen months later I gleefully remember Philip DeFreitas hoisting the smug Oxford graduate into a stand full of his supporters at Edgbaston. And I still remember that moment, nearly 24 years later. Joyous.
No Australians?
Australia were represented by Simon O'Donnell. Not exactly a great era for Australian cricket this. However I do remember one O'Donnell six ending up in the beer tent over my left shoulder with a resounding smash.
So who won?
The possibly least likely candidate, South African Clive Rice. He won the year before too, so it was hardly a fluke.
How did he win?
This is what is hazy, because for the life of me I can't find my programme, so I can't verify the rules. I think the basic gist of it was that each player bowled two overs to each batsman. Therefore each batsman got either fourteen or sixteen overs to bat (sorry, can't remember the full entry list either).
I do remember that when Rice batted last it was likely that he had to score well and not get out to win. I don't remember the exact formula of this but basically runs and wickets were good, dismissals while batting were not.
Anything else of note?
This was around the time that Botham and Richards were being represented by Tim Hudson, and wore a striped black/green/yellow/red wristband to signify this. For some reason my parents were sure that something had happened between Hudson and the pair this weekend, as Botham and Richards were somewhat edgey while signing autographs during a break at the event. I don't know if Botham and Richards were any different from their usual persona (Botham's autobiography, "Don't Tell Kath", doesn't appear to mention anything taking place at Arundel), but Richards wasn't keen on people standing behind him, ushering kids to the side of him as he expressly didn't like "people standing behind me". (Personally, knowing this would have made me bowl more spinners to him. It probably would have been futile, but who knows?)
So you were a stalky kid? Get any other autographs?
Robin Smith was a fielder that day, and I got his autograph. The fielders had numbers on their shirts, which I certainly don't remember seeing before that point.
Anyone else acting up?
It's the only time I heard Dickie Bird in person, and he didn't strike me as being particularly friendly either. I guess he had business to attend to though when walking through a crowd.
Any other observations?
That Cricket ground in Arundel is beautiful. One of the most scenic sporting venues I have ever been to.
Would this event be worth resurrecting?
I'd say so. If every form of Twenty20 can be foisted on Cricket fans then why not? The all-rounder pool might be even more shallow now, but I'd suspect it would be just as fun as this event was.
Any other reasons for remembering the event?
Yes, but that's for another time...
Monday, 17 January 2011
The Custom Music Monster
I have a slightly hazy recollection of this, but if my memory serves me rightly Madden 2004 for the PC featured a little nugget which I still appreciate to this day: the ability to add your own music to the game. Sure you had to move music to a particular directory, but it really wasn't a big hassle. The ability to customise had begun!
Of course this meant much more to those with a keener musical ear, like my best friend Neil. He soon good a music converter that Electronic Arts offered and was putting custom music in everything, from various Need For Speed games to his own organ music in the NHL series.
Just over two years ago I bought a PS3. I slowly but surely built up a small collection of games, replacing those which I had for years in different guises on the PC. I thought the launch of NHL 10 would be the ideal time to replace my trusty old copy of NHL 2004, and wow, how pleased would I be with the final version. While I would ideally prefer commentary from Jim Hughson I could overlook that for the most complete custom music solution I had seen to date.
NHL 10 allowed custom music for menus and - for the first time that I could see - individual game events. This sent me scurrying to my .mp3 collection and Audacity, ready to pare down the Three Amigos' "25 Miles" in the style of Rob Fox and all kinds of blue songs for my best friend with a St. Louis bias.
Now FIFA 11 has followed suit (eliminating the need to rid FIFA 09 of any evidence of Duffy) and Gran Turismo has done likewise (in admittedly clunky fashion). Does it get better than this? The difficulty now is in making the choices, not in putting up with what comes with the game. Some examples of individual events/playlists are as follows:
FIFA Menu Music
The Lightning Seeds - "Life of Riley (Instrumental)"
Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean - "Hips Don't Lie"
Black Eyed Peas - "I Gotta Feeling"
Bubba Sparxxx - "Back In The Mud"
Maroon 5 - "Wake Up Call"
NHL Blue Playlist
Eiffel 65 - "Blue (Da Be Dee)"
Chris Isaak - "Blue Hotel"
New Order - "Blue Monday"
Elton John - "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" (my best friend hates this)
Erasure - "Blue Savannah" (see above)
NHL Off Ice Mix
Blue - "Song 2"
The Doors - "Light My Fire"
Franz Ferdinand - "Take Me Out"
Girls Aloud - "Wake Me Out"
Guns 'N' Roses - "Sweet Child O' Mine"
The Lightning Seeds - "Sugar Coated Iceberg"
Monaco - "What Do You Want From Me?"
Spaundau Ballet - "To Cut A Long Story Short
What custom music do you add into the games you play?
Of course this meant much more to those with a keener musical ear, like my best friend Neil. He soon good a music converter that Electronic Arts offered and was putting custom music in everything, from various Need For Speed games to his own organ music in the NHL series.
Just over two years ago I bought a PS3. I slowly but surely built up a small collection of games, replacing those which I had for years in different guises on the PC. I thought the launch of NHL 10 would be the ideal time to replace my trusty old copy of NHL 2004, and wow, how pleased would I be with the final version. While I would ideally prefer commentary from Jim Hughson I could overlook that for the most complete custom music solution I had seen to date.
NHL 10 allowed custom music for menus and - for the first time that I could see - individual game events. This sent me scurrying to my .mp3 collection and Audacity, ready to pare down the Three Amigos' "25 Miles" in the style of Rob Fox and all kinds of blue songs for my best friend with a St. Louis bias.
Now FIFA 11 has followed suit (eliminating the need to rid FIFA 09 of any evidence of Duffy) and Gran Turismo has done likewise (in admittedly clunky fashion). Does it get better than this? The difficulty now is in making the choices, not in putting up with what comes with the game. Some examples of individual events/playlists are as follows:
FIFA Menu Music
The Lightning Seeds - "Life of Riley (Instrumental)"
Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean - "Hips Don't Lie"
Black Eyed Peas - "I Gotta Feeling"
Bubba Sparxxx - "Back In The Mud"
Maroon 5 - "Wake Up Call"
NHL Blue Playlist
Eiffel 65 - "Blue (Da Be Dee)"
Chris Isaak - "Blue Hotel"
New Order - "Blue Monday"
Elton John - "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" (my best friend hates this)
Erasure - "Blue Savannah" (see above)
NHL Off Ice Mix
Blue - "Song 2"
The Doors - "Light My Fire"
Franz Ferdinand - "Take Me Out"
Girls Aloud - "Wake Me Out"
Guns 'N' Roses - "Sweet Child O' Mine"
The Lightning Seeds - "Sugar Coated Iceberg"
Monaco - "What Do You Want From Me?"
Spaundau Ballet - "To Cut A Long Story Short
What custom music do you add into the games you play?
Wednesday, 20 October 2010
The Problem With Joan Harris
Disclosure: At present I'm in the middle of watching series 4 of Mad Men on BBC4. I'm behind America and anyone who has been watching on torrents by quite a way.
Since I first heard about the drama series Mad Men (BBC4 if you're in the UK, AMC if you're in America) I have consistently heard one character mentioned above all others. Whether she's referred to by name, hair colour, her job, or - most likely - her figure, you'll probably know who I'm speaking about. The curvy one, the office manager, the redhead, Joan.
Call me odd, but she doesn't do anything for me. Now this isn't anything against Christina Hendricks, the actress who plays her. The appeal, or lack of it, comes from the character herself. Joan is sure of herself. She gets what she wants. She is determined, forthright, rarely smiles, bitchy to people who she either doesn't like and who she doesn't have time for. She knows she's popular, and has that cocky, hip-shaking swagger that goes along with it. Furthermore she doesn't look as if she would be easy to get along with. In other words, she's the kind of girl who used to make my life a misery at school.
Is Joan without appeal? No, and she's certainly a character who plays her part in the rich tapestry of the show (as her brief absence in the latter half of series 3 showed), but in my mind this has been shown when the outer veneer has been removed and what lies beneath the surface is shown in greater detail. There are several examples of this, the most notable being:
And I know I advocate Betty "I didn't even cry when my father died" as a more attractive reason for watching this programme. I can't explain that. Sue me (unless you live somewhere where you can actually sue me, in which case I'd prefer that you didn't).
Since I first heard about the drama series Mad Men (BBC4 if you're in the UK, AMC if you're in America) I have consistently heard one character mentioned above all others. Whether she's referred to by name, hair colour, her job, or - most likely - her figure, you'll probably know who I'm speaking about. The curvy one, the office manager, the redhead, Joan.
Call me odd, but she doesn't do anything for me. Now this isn't anything against Christina Hendricks, the actress who plays her. The appeal, or lack of it, comes from the character herself. Joan is sure of herself. She gets what she wants. She is determined, forthright, rarely smiles, bitchy to people who she either doesn't like and who she doesn't have time for. She knows she's popular, and has that cocky, hip-shaking swagger that goes along with it. Furthermore she doesn't look as if she would be easy to get along with. In other words, she's the kind of girl who used to make my life a misery at school.
Is Joan without appeal? No, and she's certainly a character who plays her part in the rich tapestry of the show (as her brief absence in the latter half of series 3 showed), but in my mind this has been shown when the outer veneer has been removed and what lies beneath the surface is shown in greater detail. There are several examples of this, the most notable being:
- Her exit from Sterling Cooper in a flood of tears when her idyllic future was seemingly falling apart in series 3.
- Her frustration at being separated from her husband at the start of series 4 (N.B. Bonus points to Mad Men for not showing him to be a complete scumbag in this episode as it would have been so easy to do - lots of shades of grey in this programme that I love).
- Her genuine distress as Roger Sterling's two heart attacks in series 1.
And I know I advocate Betty "I didn't even cry when my father died" as a more attractive reason for watching this programme. I can't explain that. Sue me (unless you live somewhere where you can actually sue me, in which case I'd prefer that you didn't).
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
Getting Back the Writing Bug
Not that you would ever know it from here, but I've regained the writing bug again. I'm trying to write various different pieces here and there, whenever time allows, mostly for the fun of it. I still really enjoy writing and when I get back to it I wonder I don't do it more often (with the usual reasons coming to the fore: family, job, commuting, other commitments).
So with that in mind I thought it might be interesting to put in some writing tips from some of my favourite writers. Here they are:
Mark Twain (19th Century American author, writer of "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"): To get the right word in the right place is a rare achievement. To condense the diffused light of a page of thought into the luminous flash of a single sentence, is worthy to rank as a prize composition just by itself...Anybody can have ideas--the difficulty is to express them without squandering a quire of paper on an idea that ought to be reduced to one glittering paragraph.
Peter King (Sports Illustrated NFL writer): Write every day. Write unpaid at local weekly. Then write some more. (source)
Bill Simmons (writer for ESPN.com, author of "Now I Can Die in Peace"): Work in a bar or a restaurant. Learn about people, get up at noon every day, go to bed at 4 a.m. every night, hang out with people who are just as confused and directionless as you are, drink and smoke as much as possible, throw wads of money around after shifts like you're a drug dealer, date somebody with no long-term potential, and live like that for six months. It will be the best thing you ever did. (source)
N.B. I'm pretty sure he also made a point that he asks prospective writers who they are reading, and then bemoaned how no-one reads anymore. Can I find this point anywhere? No, of course I can't. (And I probably don't read enough, especially fiction.)
Will Leitch (former editor of Deadspin, author of "Life As A Loser"): I'll give you the same advice Roger Ebert gave me in college: "Just write, get better, keep writing, keep getting better. It's the only thing you can control." (source)
And although I couldn't find anything definitive by them on the subject, I'll throw a mention out to a couple of my favourite other writers, J.D. Roth (Get Rich Slowly), David O'Brien (Braves beat writer for the Atlanta Journal Constitution), Nigel Roebuck (formerly of Autosport) and Gina Trapani (formerly of Lifehacker, now of Smarterware.org).
So with that in mind I thought it might be interesting to put in some writing tips from some of my favourite writers. Here they are:
Mark Twain (19th Century American author, writer of "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"): To get the right word in the right place is a rare achievement. To condense the diffused light of a page of thought into the luminous flash of a single sentence, is worthy to rank as a prize composition just by itself...Anybody can have ideas--the difficulty is to express them without squandering a quire of paper on an idea that ought to be reduced to one glittering paragraph.
Peter King (Sports Illustrated NFL writer): Write every day. Write unpaid at local weekly. Then write some more. (source)
Bill Simmons (writer for ESPN.com, author of "Now I Can Die in Peace"): Work in a bar or a restaurant. Learn about people, get up at noon every day, go to bed at 4 a.m. every night, hang out with people who are just as confused and directionless as you are, drink and smoke as much as possible, throw wads of money around after shifts like you're a drug dealer, date somebody with no long-term potential, and live like that for six months. It will be the best thing you ever did. (source)
N.B. I'm pretty sure he also made a point that he asks prospective writers who they are reading, and then bemoaned how no-one reads anymore. Can I find this point anywhere? No, of course I can't. (And I probably don't read enough, especially fiction.)
Will Leitch (former editor of Deadspin, author of "Life As A Loser"): I'll give you the same advice Roger Ebert gave me in college: "Just write, get better, keep writing, keep getting better. It's the only thing you can control." (source)
And although I couldn't find anything definitive by them on the subject, I'll throw a mention out to a couple of my favourite other writers, J.D. Roth (Get Rich Slowly), David O'Brien (Braves beat writer for the Atlanta Journal Constitution), Nigel Roebuck (formerly of Autosport) and Gina Trapani (formerly of Lifehacker, now of Smarterware.org).
Tuesday, 31 August 2010
I've Been A Busy Boy
I need to make a shout out. Bill Simmons, irreverent sports journalist, you were the only person who even hinted at how different it was having two children in comparison to having just one. Simmons pointed out, in sports terminology naturally, that going from one child to two meant that he and his wife switched from running a zone defence to a man-to-man defence.
And that's certainly the case. Lorraine and I had really become used to having one child around, worked with it, and ran everything accordingly. Now things are a little bit different, as this blog post testifies!
I'll have something bigger and better next month!
And that's certainly the case. Lorraine and I had really become used to having one child around, worked with it, and ran everything accordingly. Now things are a little bit different, as this blog post testifies!
I'll have something bigger and better next month!
Thursday, 22 July 2010
Facebook By Numbers (Redux)
About eighteen months ago I tallied up my then 40 friends on Facebook and broke it down. Now I've crossed 100 friends I'm doing it again, and probably never again because it is getting tricky and time-consuming to compile now. Anyway, here goes:
By nation:
Scottish - 65%
English - 21%
American - 13%
Other - 1% (Hi Sally!)
Male/female:
Female - 67%
Male - 33%
Other - 0% (insert your own joke here)
I know you all so well:
Not met 4%
Met once 2%
Where I know people from:
Former work - 52%
Former church - 35%
Current workplace & current Church - 0% (nice!)
Fellow supporter of by far the greatest team, the world has ever seen - 6%
Met through my parents - 3%
Uni - 1% (Hi Gill!)
School - 1% (Hi Simon!)
Own family - 1% (Hi Charlotte!)
Other - 1% (Hi Pat!)
I'd guess that about 60% of my best friends are now on Facebook, although one of my friends did take the decision to close his account there (which at least got us in touch with each other - I was worried I had offended him!).
By nation:
Scottish - 65%
English - 21%
American - 13%
Other - 1% (Hi Sally!)
Male/female:
Female - 67%
Male - 33%
Other - 0% (insert your own joke here)
I know you all so well:
Not met 4%
Met once 2%
Where I know people from:
Former work - 52%
Former church - 35%
Current workplace & current Church - 0% (nice!)
Fellow supporter of by far the greatest team, the world has ever seen - 6%
Met through my parents - 3%
Uni - 1% (Hi Gill!)
School - 1% (Hi Simon!)
Own family - 1% (Hi Charlotte!)
Other - 1% (Hi Pat!)
I'd guess that about 60% of my best friends are now on Facebook, although one of my friends did take the decision to close his account there (which at least got us in touch with each other - I was worried I had offended him!).
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Another Family Announcement
To let you all know about the birth of our second daughter, who we've named Jemma Leah.
She was born at 1.34am on Friday 25th June and weighed 5lbs 12oz when she was born.
Beautiful at birth, just like her big sister.
She was born at 1.34am on Friday 25th June and weighed 5lbs 12oz when she was born.
Beautiful at birth, just like her big sister.
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