This was on the till in a hardware store. I like the now embedded assumption that a new computer will just cause problems.
me me me
I forgot to respond to YPMOYB's meme tag. Sorry. So here it is. I'm not tagging anyone else because I don't want to impose. But if you'd like to dive in consider yourself tagged.
I'm supposed to write 5 things you didn't know about me. But I've been doing this blog for three years so I'd be surprised if there's anything new left. Er. So. Here's some stuff I might not have mentioned for a while:
1. I used to write gags for the News Hudlines on Radio 2. This was a very poor topical comedy show (sorry Richard). I had to comb throw loads of newspapers every day to try and find material, then send off a bunch of gags. I think I got about two on the show. The effort to reward ratio was not good so I gave it up.
2. I used to be in this band. The description they give it on this site is probably fair enough. (Brief clip here)
3. I'm allergic to yeast. Especially brewer's yeast. So I don't drink beer. I hardly drink at all in fact. And I've never taken any drugs. Or ever smoked a cigarette. I was quite concerned a while ago that I didn't have any worthwhile vices so I tried smoking cigars. I liked all the paraphernalia but didn't actually like the smoking. So I've not bothered again.
4. I used to be in Derby Cathedral Choir.
5. When we lived in Portland I built a huge, elaborate, Garden Railway (G Scale) using lots of LGB and Accucraft track, locomotives and rolling stock. I implemented hand-held radio remote control of three separate engines and was especially pleased with an entry system I built that took the track from the garden into the basement so all my trains could be stored inside overnight. (A contraption that was inspired by Roland Emett's design of The Far Tottering and Oystercreek Railway for The Festival of Britain). I think I'm more proud of that railway than anything I've ever accomplished as a planner. Arthur would have loved it, unfortunately we left Portland before he was old enough to appreciate it. And now we don't have a garden.
best mistake error
The crazy folk at Nabaztag are moving their wifi rabbit servers and it's causing all sorts of confusion which they're documenting on a special blog. This is just a brilliant thing to have gone wrong:
well?
There's so much to admire about this Fox News poll highlighted by Kevin Rothermel. I think though, that my favourite bit is that disclaimer - this is not a scientific poll. Oh right then. I wasn't sure.
(And, if you're wondering, here's some context.)
looking out from your blog
Yesterday Ben made a little mistake in his Day In The Life Of A Graphic Designer thingy. He described his 'about page' as being on the right of his blog when actually it's on the left. This is obviously not a huge deal. But it's a mistake I often make too. I'm always getting the sidedness of my blog confused when I'm describing it to people. Does that happen to anyone else?
I'm just wondering if it's because we all have a slight sense that we're looking out from our blogs at the world, i.e. in our heads we're in the screen, facing out and have a reversed handedness because of that. Or not. Obviously. Could be or not.
insulting CAPTCHA
I think typepad is saying I'm fat. Or possibly a fatty. Do you think they filter the CAPTCHA thing to ensure rude words don't get presented to the automated robots?
blogging and stuff
Someone asked me these questions via email. And sharing is good. So I thought I'd share the answers:
1. Why do you blog?
The usual reasons: Ego. Because I like sharing stuff (and you discover that if you share stuff you get stuff back.) To practice writing. To practice thinking. Because it's become a habit. To keep a tab on things that I've thought or noticed. To make friends and influence people. To write fewer emails. To show off. To poison the minds of young planners all over the world. To earn upwards of $100 a year in advertising revenue. Because if I didn't I might have to get on with something worthwhile.
2. How has having a blog affected your career?
My career used to be based on my early discovery of the feature that let you put pictures in PowerPoint. Once this became commonplace I had to find a new gimmick. Hello blogging.
3. What kind of relationship do you have with your community? and how do you go about developing it?
I hope that I have the kind of relationship with my community where I wouldn't call it 'my community' and I wouldn't go about 'developing it'. I think of the blog as a place where people visit or hang out. That's about it. I also like that it's a place in a distributed village, there's a whole loose group of people who visit each others blog, chat about stuff, share ideas and are even starting to meet up and talk in real life. I think that's the best 'professional' thing I've ever been involved with.
4. What do you perceive to be the future of blogging in your profession?
Before long the blog will have replaced the resume/CV. Or whatever the next evolution of the blog is. If your job is having public ideas I suspect it'll become very surprising to people that you're not doing something like a blog.
help faris's friend
Faris has a friend looking to plug into Latin America planning blogs and stuff, I know there are some of you out there, so please visit Faris and make some suggestions. If you'd be so kind.
