Yearly Archives: 2003

Home again

I have been North – both for pleasure and business – which was an enjoyable break from London. On my travels I took in a great restaurant in Halifax, The Lowry at Salford Quays and the countryside around Burnley. Sometimes, it’s a shame you have to come home. I may post pictures soon.

So, what have I missed? Well, to be honest, not a great deal thanks to the wonders of Google News and the advanced search feature (how did I miss that before?). I was able to keep in touch thanks to the blog aggregator service at Bloglines – which I can’t help but recommend to all. I also managed to buy a walking hand (which pleased me greatly) and solved a birthday present problem. And, before I forget, Jason Kottke came up with another entry that deserves a link (Another? It’s the second I’ve linked in as many weeks).

On a more serious note, I paused in my ranting about Blood on Blair’s hands after reading a very considered piece by David Aaronovitch in Tuesday’s Guardian:

Perhaps their authors would like to speculate on the other 4,500 people who committed suicide in England last year, and who – exactly – drove them to it. It might help the coroners

[Source: Why suicide? Only one person knows, The Guardian]

I was irritated by Peter Cuthbertson’s piece on Michael Moore – who I do believe does some good work – but, after consideration, accepted that Michael Moore is not only an astute political commentator but also in the business of selling books and TV shows. Therefore, I concede, he may be prone to some exaggeration for effect on occasions. I don’t think what Peter has written (or quoted) really proved that anything was fabricated in Stupid White Men or, my personal favourite of Moore’s work, Bowling for Columbine. Of course I only read Cuthbertson’s Conservative Commentary to be irritated so I’m not sure why I was surprised.

Cuthbertson also pointed me to a piece at National Review Online about gay marriage – which I feel compelled to comment on, but not now.

On this day…

2005: Button On The Podium
2002: City Hall

Britain’s Net Pioneers

Finally, I’ve just uploaded my review of the ‘Dot.Bomb: The Rise and Fall of Dot Com Britain‘ and posted it to Amazon. We’ll wait and see if they publish it.

For a couple of years, so-call ‘dot com’ fever landed on Britain’s shores. The city money men went mad for anybody with a web-based idea: it was the future. By the middle of 2000, this future was collapsing in recriminations and losses. There do not appear to be many authors who address this from the British standpoint but BBC journalist Rory Cellan-Jones does just that and brings an interesting take on the events of those years.

Watching the bubble grow and burst from his journalist viewpoint, Cellan-Jones saw the rise (and fall) of Boo, lastminute, Firebox and First Tuesday. With a little distance he is able to get some of the founders of those organisations to speak of the madness of those times.

Dot Bomb is an interesting tale of new business where, almost to a person, the CEOs were under-forty with little or no experience running multi-million pound ventures. Cellan-Jones observes that, in Britain, ‘many of the people who leapt on the bandwagon had a head-start in life’ and that they key skill was not the software – or even the idea – but ‘it was the networking skills of the old establishment that flourished’.

I’m not sure that the books really gets to what was happening behind the scenes and time has allowed people to find convincing reasons why events happened. It is, however, written by a journalist who was covering events at the time and witnessed some of the ups and downs at first hand.

If you’re fed up reading about entrepreneurs from the West Coast of the US and want to see how the ‘dot com’ money hit Britain then this is the book that, refreshingly, puts events into a British context.

On this day…

2002: We just want to stop being ripped off

40 Days and 40 Nights

Josh Harnett in 40 Days and 40 NightsLast night PY and I watched Josh Hartnett in 40 Days and 40 Nights – thanks to the delights of Sky Box Office. It was a well-made film and I enjoyed it as a movie that can be watched on an evening when you want to say in a watch a film that doesn’t make you think too hard.

The premise is that Matt is tired of his sex life and the way it seems to run his life. So, he gives up sex for lent and, of course, meets somebody in that time. It was OK but I think it was supposed to be either satirical or out-and-out funny (I believe there’s a difference). Yet I didn’t really laugh. Which is a shame because it’s OK.

Verdict: Watch when you don’t want to use any brain cells. Watch if you want to see Josh Hartnett with no shirt on!

On this day…

2005: Fans Vote On Qualifying Rules
2003: Consumers Around Your Product
2003: No More Netscape
2002: London Life Underground
2002: 50 things
2002: I say “medieval” – You say “medireview”

Consumers Around Your Product

If you can build the trust of your customers it is a wonderful thing. I was about to post a link to Jason Kottke’s wonderful donut man piece (and there, I have done) but then I found this from Matt Haughey which I thought was an interesting twist:

The story of the donut man reminds us all there are two ways a business can view people crowding around their valuable products: either as thieving pirates that must be stopped at all costs, or as potential customers that can bring in a lot of money

[Donuts ‘n Porn]

On this day…

2005: Fans Vote On Qualifying Rules
2003: 40 Days and 40 Nights
2003: No More Netscape
2002: London Life Underground
2002: 50 things
2002: I say “medieval” – You say “medireview”

No More Netscape

I am only posting this for the record.

You could argue that yesterday was the day Netscape died and, as that browser has played an important part in my working life, I thought I would note the moment.

On this day…

2005: Fans Vote On Qualifying Rules
2003: 40 Days and 40 Nights
2003: Consumers Around Your Product
2002: London Life Underground
2002: 50 things
2002: I say “medieval” – You say “medireview”

Rain Breaks Heatwave

Picture of Piccadilly Circus, London, 17 July 2003

It’s been very hot in London recently which has been lovely really but a little sticky if you happen to be working in an office that has no air-conditioning. Today, the rain has properly broken through – which will be good for my garden – and forced tourists and office workers to put up their umbrellas. Looking around Piccadilly Circus at lunch time I was struck by the grandeur of some of the buildings. The dome on this one – not sure what it houses – is something I’ve never noticed before. Isn’t it fantastic how, just by looking in a different direction, you can see a city in a whole new light?

On this day…

2005: links for 2005-07-17
2005: In Case Of Emergency
2003: Gay Consumers Are Good
2002: Amazon Light

Gay Consumers Are Good

I always knew that I was desirable to marketers. It must explain the excessive junk snail and e-mail that I get, those telephone calls in the evening offering me deals on kitchens and the voice mail advertisements on my BT1571 service.

Gay men and women are among the first to adopt new devices and online tools, making them an important demographic for online marketers. [Forrester Research Finds That Gay Consumers Are Among The Earliest Technology Adopters – from Business Wire]

I wonder if this means anything at all or is just another piece of research that will be buried.

On this day…

2005: links for 2005-07-17
2005: In Case Of Emergency
2003: Rain Breaks Heatwave
2002: Amazon Light

A 4 Minute Warning

Since I opened comments on the Man of the Moment section I have been wondering about their validity. Not that there is anything wrong with fellow fans declaring undying love for Dermot O’Leary, Mark Owen or Justin Timberlake. I had hoped, however,Mark Owen 4 Minute Warning there may also be some useful fan information that comes from opening the comments up.

I was, therefore, delighted to see the recent increase in activity on the ex-Take That member and Celebrity Big Brother winner Mark Owen’s page. It is through the comments on that section that I know Mark’s new single Four Minute Warning is out soon (in fact on 4 August 2003 for those that may have an interest in such things).

So, on the back of all this comment I ventured across to the Official Mark Owen site – where I was pleased to see there has been a major re-design and the announcement Mark will be playing the G.A.Y. club on 2nd August (why is it that anytime I want to see a band there I am always doing something else?).

Anyway, it’s very good to see that the single, Four Minute Warning, picks up where the album Green Man left off. It’s fashionable to knock the solo efforts of ex-boy band members but Green Man was a superb album. The teen music-press seemed to dismiss it as the more indie/rock sound was not quite so fashionable then amongst their market and the adult music journalists dismissed it because Mark was an ex-boy band singer. I still believe they were wrong and it sounds like the new single is very much in the same vein – perhaps a little more rounded and mature but a natural progression nonetheless.

Picture from the Official Mark Owen Site.

On this day…

2006: Changing The Face of Pop
2005: Trafalgar Square Vigil
2002: Spending Money At Last

1789 And All That

And before I forget, in 1789 the French stormed the Bastille an event which started the French Revolution and lead to the formation of modern French democracy. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to visit the Bastille on my trip but I think we should be celebrating with the French today. Happy holidays.

On this day…

2005: Two Minutes Silence
2003: Wind Power
2003: Power of the Idea
2002: Number One
2002: Ask Homer (and remember HotWired)