Things change..

Those were the days…

Have Start-up – Need Help

The secret project thing I have been working on has now sadly been delayed, hopefully with a launch in November. I have been lucky in that all supporters and people involved are still focused on it working, being a huge success and I am convinced that all the effort we have put in so far will bring that.

Organising this project has introduced me to some of the best people I have had the privilege of meeting. One has really stood out, not only as a huge support and help but a great bloke, and he always seems to be able to make time to talk, Stewart Townsend from Sun Microsystems, and he writes this blog.

Stew has a rather unique role, he helps Startup’s. He is in his own words “the man in the shirt that runs Startup Essentials in the UK”.

So what does Startup Essentials do? – (Visit the site here.)

Simply, it helps you interact with Sun and the power that brings.

*Sell servers at Startup pricing

*Hosting – again at Startup pricing

*Engineering Support – Do you have a scaling problem ? Have you thought about Scaling ? Help is there.

*Community events – Sun host and support events for the UK and Irish Startup community ?

*PR – As part of Startup Essentials customer base, you have access to our PR team to write a customer success story, that gets pushed out to Analysts globally.

And probably the icing on the cake:-

*Introductions – To Investors from Angels to VC, introductions to a larger network across different geographies.

So, what are you waiting for it is free to join, click here – Ok there is one more incentive:-

The chance to win a free exhibition stand at FOWA* in London, worth £2.5k – click here for more or:-

Are you based in the UK ?
Have you been trading for 6 years or less ?
Do you have 150 employees or less ? Answered YES to all, then SIGN UP HERE NOW and in the tracking code enter FOWA08, a draw will take place on the 22nd September and if you are the winner, then you will receive an email and telephone call on the Tuesday 23rd September with all the details required.

*FOWA – Future of Web Apps – If you have a website, blog or any interest in social media, this is a total and utter must visit and if you are going, let me know, we should meet up

I wonder..

This post was inspired by Regularjen and her new blog Boxofpostcards.

As a child I was fascinated by postcards, I collected them, still have them and a large box in my loft (attic).

I don’t know about you but I can never throw a postcard away, I simply feel the urge to keep it.

Around 20 years ago I went to an antique fair and there was a dealer selling postcards.  I saw the following and just had to buy it, what first attracted me was the old fashioned comedy, then I turned the card over and noticed the date, 2nd October 1904.  Reading the handwriting is pretty hard but I think it says

“Dear William, You look most fetching in full uniform especially about your little feet (looks like yards after) I should say. Yours (can’t read name)”

The address and sir name of William is

“Mr Horne, C/O Abbott Butchers, Fleet Street, Tourquay”

I would love to track down the real owner of this postcard, maybe son, daughter or grandchild.  Anyhow, for your pleasure:-

The heartbreak after hard work

I am a huge sports fan and for me, the Beijing Olympics have been stunning.

Watching the 100m final blew me away, I never imagined I would ever witness such a feat in my lifetime.  For Usain Bolt to destroy a World record is one thing, to destroy it whilst jogging is simply mind-blowing.  I have not missed watching a 100m final live since 1980 with Alan Wells conquering the World in Moscow.  My most vivid memories are when I woke at 3am in 1988 to see Ben Johnson destroy Carl Lewis’ dream of 100m gold.  This was swiftly followed the next day when we woke to hear of Johnson’s drug test failure.

With Team GB setting World Records in the pool and velodrome, it is clear we are in a great position going into the next Olympics in London 2012, let’s hope the athletics team find some investment so we can feature in the showcase events.

But after all of this, for me, the most endearing image was that of a broken man.  Liu Xiang, the Chinese hero, pin-up and megastar.  For the past four years, he has had the entire National look to him for inspiration and hope.  He would have won the gold in the 110m hurdles and been the story of the Olympics.  The poor guy arrived for the first race carrying a devastating injury.  The worst a hurdler can have, an Achilles tendon injury.

Seeing him prepare for the race, holding his ankle, almost praying it would magically fix itself is something I will never forget.  After putting in immense hard work and effort, dreaming of nothing else for years and looking at failure when you have absolutely zero control, it shows how cruel life can be.

I look at myself and things going on right now, and could easily be in the same position, just not so public.

Have you ever had a situation where you prepared so well, worked so hard etc but in the end had the dream taken away from you by no fault of your own?  I’d love to hear what happened to you after

Monday Madness?

Is John Dvorak trying to tell us something?

I listen to TWIT every single week, in fact I have to admit I am getting a touch addicted and have just started from episode 1 and listen to a show every morning before getting up (don’t tell anyone). The show is basically a weekly review of what has been going on in Technology.

Every week, the host Leo Laporte (who has just the best American radio voice) has a bunch of guests, the regulars are Wil Harris (from my side of the pond), Jason Calacanis (who just quit blogging), Kevin Rose, Patrick Norton and John Dvorak.

After pimping their twitter accounts for months I thought I’d take the bait and follow them all…and then I saw this:-

Is Dvorak trying to tell us something? (click on image)

So if dear reader you want to know what is going on in the World of Tech, tune in to this show.

As a side issue..

I am hoping to add someone to the team as a mentor or board member to help and advise with the project I am working on (it will be huge in the UK, I cannot express just how big), Jason Calacanis would be great, he runs Mahalo a search engine with no spam, just like fuelmyblog. Maybe I should just ask..

Typing with the iPhone 3G?

I know many people have now taken delivery of their new iPhone 3G.  I like the phone very much although I have a couple of issues:-

1. It takes too long to register a touch on the screen when typing

2. The little tiny letters to tap are far too small for my “man” fingers.

What i’d really like to see is a way to display larger letters, is there any way to do this?  Anyone know?

I recently met a lady in her 60’s who is losing her sight, she is a friend of my in-Laws.  She is slowly becoming blind and wants a cell phone that would enable her to not only type an SMS but to actually read them.

The iPhone can just about do that for her, I showed her how to zoom in on text and she totally loved it.  This phone could make her life so much better but is there a cell phone in the market that can actually help people with very bad vision?

If the touch keys on the iphone could be permanently larger it could revolutionise the way people live.  If there is a solution, please let me know, I know one person who would regain something she just lost.

Is a holiday always good for the morale?

I often hear of people that return from holiday with a touch of the blues.  I always get them one day after coming back.  This holiday was to be our first since moving to France in 2006, since starting Fuelmyblog I have not taken a single day off, I worked Christmas day, New Years Day, when sick, every day, not one has passed where I have not been working in some shape or form on Fuelmyblog.

When my mind flashes back to swimming in the warm sea with my kids, being the Father and Husband I wished I had more time to be, forgetting work and the bills for just a minute or two it feels great. Then..CRASH..back to reality.

Within two seconds of returning back home yesterday, I had six Skype chat boxes pop-up, text messages, 1300 emails flooding into the blackberry (that totally died whilst away and I managed to repair, and all emails I had already read whilst away) and list of telephone calls to make.  I had been on the road since 5.30am and ended up working flat out until 7pm on the final day of the break.  Totally immersed in the stress and back to where I was just a short week ago.

I do pile the pressure on myself to always create bigger and better things for Fuelmyblog and its users, working every afternoon in Greece certainly helped keep the “catch-up” workload down, but did it relieve the stress?  No.

So what now for fuelmyblog?  I think the next project I am announcing, shortly, will be great for bloggers in the UK and (hopefully) across the World soon.  Will all the sleepness nights, twitching eye and headaches and lack of real holiday be worth it?  I do sincerely hope so..

So my question dear reader is this, do you or have you ever worked whilst on holiday and did it relieve you of the post-holiday blues?  How do you cope with the blues?  I’d love to know

Apple gets it so right..

As many of you reading my tweets or coming here from Fuelmyblog will know that we are currently on vacation on a small island called Aegina near Athens (Greece).  The view from our room is incredible and simply breathtaking:-

Apart from spending a few hours on the beach there, we have visited a few ancient Greek Temples like the one below:-

The island is surrounded with beauty and is of course very hot, everyone with any brain will retire to their rooms between 1pm and 5pm as the temperature can be as high as 50C which is 122F..This gives me the perfect opportunity to work using the Hotel’s wifi.

Anyhow, back to Apple..

The day before I left for Aegina, I picked up one of the new iPhone 3G’s, I suspect I was the only one to do so to save money, I am currently paying over €250 per month with roaming data charges and sms’s etc and felt that the iPhone with unlimited data, 500 SMS and phone calls free would save me a fortune.  What I didn’t take into account was just how cool this “phone” is.  The camera is great, takes fantastic shots (no zoom but who cares) and the app’s, ipod etc is fantastic.  What I didn’t realise was how many people were interested in the iPhone 3G that are not on Twitter or read Techcrunch…

I was sat in a bar in a tiny town last night, taking photos of the kids eating an ice-cream.  Nothing unusual at all, then a guy tapped me on the shoulder and in his best English (he was Greek) asked if it was the new iPhone 3G?  I nodded, turned around and there were 6 men sat behind me all smiling and pointing “have you tried the maps yet?” They asked to take a look and using the wifi from the port, tried the maps out and were all smiling like kids as it showed their little island..

Apple managed to somehow reach this tiny island..they are truly the masters of marketing..

In the UK again..

Please everyone, tell me the truth about the weather, I always pack incorrectly!  It is not hot and sunny, it is cold and rainy..!

My Parents always act as the local weather station, this week is no different “OOh it’s lovely and warm, no need for a coat..”

So, dear reader, my workplace has gone overnight from this (not me I must add but I have the option!):-

Laptop on the beach

To this:-

Laptop UK in the Rain

Obviously that is not me, merely a picture of someone trying to enjoy the benefits of working outside..in the UK!