Simon's Jamjar

European Sterotypes

2012-01-26T17:02:00.001Z

Whenever I work on multiple market projects at work, there is usually some sort of collaboration with people in our offices in Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Soon enough, email chains and phone conversations will eventually end up with fun-filled niggling stereotypes. Let me give you an example. Last year we pitched - successfully - for an automotive company, and the stereotypes quickly began to infiltrate the conversation, in this case between Germany and Spain. This is an accurate transcript of a Skype conversation about the client. For the purposes of this example, let's call them DE and ES.

ES: "We need to stamp these documents with our company logo. Do you have a stamp in the UK?"
Me: "No, stamps went the way of the dodo in 2007"
DE: "We have two stamps here, one for the Munich office, and one for Cologne. Brilliant stuff"
ES: "Good old, efficient Germans"
DE: "Stamps are fun. I started stamping everything"
ES: "We don't have stamps, or even a scanner. But we do have a smartphone. Improvisation is very important in Spain"
DE: "By the way, [car manufacturer name] is German"
ES: "They're not, they are Spanish"
DE: "All cars are German"
ES: "...ok, you're right".

European stereotypes always amuse me. Especially what other Europeans think of the English (drunks, hate them), Scottish (love them), Irish (fun guys) and Welsh (who?), and especially what we, the Brits, think of Europeans. If we played word association and I said 'French person', how many of you would think of a mustached gentleman dressed in a black and white striped top, wearing a beret, sat on a bicycle with French stick in his basket and garlic round his neck? Thought so.

With the Eurozone in crisis, all the European countries are looking at each other, and some of the perceptions and antagonisms are going right to the heart of what each country stands for. Their stereotype. Earlier today, the Guardian published a list of European stereotypes, and it makes interesting reading. Do you agree with them?

There is also a brilliant, visual collection of European stereotypes and American stereotypes, that were produced by Alphadesigner.com. Here's a few which will make you chuckle:

European stereotypes according to Germans:

How Americans see Europe:

European stereotypes according to Spain:

European stereotypes according to France:

European stereotypes across to the British:

Feel free to share any stereotype stories you've come across :)

How would you feel if someone just turned you on and left?

2012-01-20T16:32:00.002Z

Saw this, conserved energy.

Camera+ meet New York. New York, meet Camera+

2012-01-18T16:52:00.000Z

I was introduced to the Camera+ app back in November, a few weeks after getting my new iPhone 4S. Less than 2 months later I tweeted saying it's the best 69p you could spend on an app.

I was never really interested in photography with my other phones. Either the picture quality was poor, the memory was insufficient to hold several high resolution images, the flash was so powerful or so weak it ruined the photo, or all of the above. Then, when I got the iPhone 4S, I started playing around with the 8MP camera. The photos were crystal clear and sharp. Then I was introduced to the Camera+ app, and my photography interest was taken to a whole new level.

I'm not getting paid to write this post. I simply believe that great tools should be shared for everyone to experience, and this app is one of those tools. Every time I shared one of my Camera+ photos online, my friends and colleagues couldn't believe it was taken using my iPhone. They encouraged me to show you - the mobile photograph loving internet user - the real quality of the app. So, I figured a blog post was in store, and since I would be in New York for New Year, what better opportunity to take some amazing photos.

The following pics are in no particular order, they are just some sights and images I found interesting, as captured using the Camera+ app.

Brooklyn Bridge

Flatiron Building

View from the Empire State Building, looking South

Steps leading to the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park

Outside the Guggenheim museum

Sat looking pensive

Brooklyn Bridge

As I read on this Nokia blog, most of us walk around every day with an amazing tool in our pockets, but how many of us actual use it to it's full potential? How many random sights do you pass everyday and find interesting, but never take a photo? Tomorrow, take that photo.

If I had $1 for everyone that downloaded the Camera+ app, I'd be able to convince US coffee shops to start offering flat whites (why has that still not happened?!).

I hope this post opens your eyes to the fun world of this super cool app. Give it a go, let me know how you get on :)

Victory Dance

2012-01-11T00:56:00.000Z

No matter who you are, always have your victory dance ready, for the big and small triumphs in life :)

Got a victory dance you want to share? Let me know!

Ski Service Edinburgh

2012-01-10T22:51:00.000Z

It's that time of the ski season again. Ski servicing time. Christmas has passed, and if you haven't managed to hit the snow early, next on the holiday calendar is the ski holiday. You go the cupboard or garage, grab the bag containing your skis or snowboard, and get all excited. You examine the bottom of the skis, look at the nicks and gores taken out of the wax and reminisce about hitting those rocks on the slope. That excitement drops a little. They need repairing. Time to get them waxed, edged and serviced.

If you live in the Edinburgh area, where do you go to get your skis serviced or repaired? You've got a few options, but remember to leave yourself at least 2 weeks for the service!

Lothian Ski Services - based on Rodney Street, down the hill from Broughton Street. Blink and you'll miss this little ski service shop. They also provide ski hire and ski sales. Full details - 50 Rodney St, Edinburgh, EH7 4DX > 0131 557 9072
Freeze Pro Shop - located at 107 Hanover Street in the centre of Edinburgh, the guys at Freeze offer a range of options from a simple wax and basic service, through to to binding mounts and re-mounts. Full details - 107 Hanover Street, Edinburgh, EH2 1DJ > 0131 260 9677
Tiso - the place I usually go to get my skis serviced in Edinburgh. Based in Leith, Tiso's ski repair workshop is operated by their trading partner, Blues. Skis and snowboards can be patched, repaired, serviced and sharpened. Specialist tuning is also available. Costs range from £20 for a general service. Full details - 41 Commercial Street, Edinburgh, EH6 6JD, 0131 554 9101

View Ski Service Edinburgh in a larger map

If you can't make it to either of these Edinburgh locations, you can also drop your skis or snowboard into any Tiso store and they will be forwarded to the Blues workshop for servicing. For further information on the services offered contact Blues directly on 0131 225 8369.

You can also find ski and snowboard products such as wax, bindings and other accessories at Snowlines.co.uk, based at 14/17 Bruntsfield Place, Edinburgh, EH10 4HN, or at Freezeproshop.com.

Human Evolution

2012-01-10T13:13:00.001Z

Greed, recessions, Eurozone in crisis, obesity, rioting...you get the idea.

Flight Seating Strategy

2012-01-09T17:29:00.000Z

I do this. If you've flown easyJet or another airline that doesn't allocate seats, I bet you've done it too :)

Image courtesy of The Oatmeal

Re-cap of 2011!

2011-12-22T15:05:00.000Z

2011 has been quite a year! If I thought 2010 was busy, 2011 kicked it well and truly into touch. Here's my 2011 year in review. In no particular order - the good, the bad, the skiing, the partying, the work, the travelling and the growing up :)

Took 100 flights exactly - top destinations included New York, Thailand, Abu Dhabi and Copenhagen
First video production - Visualising Foursquare Check Ins
Shot the second most powerful handgun in the world, the Smith and Wesson 500;

Jumped the fence from Windows to an Apple Macbook Pro
Jumped the fence from Android to an Apple iPhone S
Went to my first burlesque-themed party;

Stroked a tiger;

Skied in a kilt
Skied twice in a season for the first time ever (Tignes, France and Sauze d'Oulx, Italy)
Became a fan of Pippa Middleton's derrier
Attended 5 weddings
Grew a beard
Attended the Royal Highland Show for the first time, saw this: http://twitpic.com/5glmi0
Celebrated 4th July independence...in New York
Played 9 holes of pub golf for the first time since University...managed a hole in one for every hole
Played one of the top 100 golf courses in the world in Abu Dhabi, though I don't play golf
Discovered how much fun Brighton is for a night out
Won the Halloween team fancy dress competition at work, dressed as Crayons;

Wrote more blog posts than 2009 and 2010 combined
Became a godfather for the first time
Surpassed 1000 followers on Twitter
Met some unbelievable people, some of whom may mould my next 12 months (you know who you are!)
Won a one-on-one xmas jumper competition through a public Facebook and Twitter vote off;

I hope you also had a great, memorable 2011! Now time to put your feet up, overindulge and come back fresh for 2012. All the best for the festive season folks!

4 Skiing Tips - Video Tutorials

2011-12-01T13:55:00.001Z

It's getting to that time of year again. Blow the dust of the skis, get them edged and waxed, throw them in the bag, and head to the slopes. Straight out of your hotel or chalet, you're more excited than a kid at Christmas. You do up your jacket, drag your skis out onto the snow, do up your boots and hop onto the skis. Always makes you out of breath that part, doesn't it? Then you have your first ski run. Like a formula 1 driver warming up the tires on the practice lap, you take things nice and slowly, getting in your turns (or 'getting your legs in', as we say), and remembering how to ski.

If you want to get a head start before you even leave for the slopes, help is at hand. Check out the series of videos from @SkiSchoolApp, which provide handy hints and tips,and should help improve your skiing technique

Video 1 - Don't get lazy!
I put my hand up, I'm guilty of this. You know the situation, you've been skiing well and hard all morning, then you reach a gentle slope. The hands go by your side and your stance becomes upright. You're not really trying. Here's why you shouldn't do that.

Video 2 - Stay Stacked
Keep your arms out, keep your upper body facing down the slope, and stay 'stacked'.

Video 3 - Plant those poles!
Pole planting helps keep your body position and turning technique correct. Don't get lazy, get pole planting

Video 4 - Carve, don't skid
Something most skiiers are guilt of, sliding across the snow rather than getting those edges in and letting the skis do the hard work. Hit a patch of ice and sliding or slipping won't seem so clever.

Do you have any other hints or tips you'd like to share? Feel free to let me know! Safe skiing folks!

Owned Media is more Loaned Media

2011-11-28T10:08:00.001Z

Anyone working in digital marketing or for an advertising agency will use the words Paid Media, Owned Media, and Earned Media. But is Owned Media really Owned Media?

PEO Model - should Loaned Media be part of the mix?

I was reading an old Forrester blog post last week on Paid, Earned and Owned Media, and the author split Owned Media into 'fully-Owned Media' (your website, your blog) and 'partially-Owned Media (your Facebook fan page, your Twitter account etc).

Owned Media is essentially something you control as a person or as a brand. I would argue that much of Owned Media is actually Loaned Media. Most blogs are powered by Blogger or Wordpress. If either of those platforms makes a significant change or ceases to exist, your blog will be affected. Thus, you don't control it. Same with Facebook or Twitter or other 'Owned Media' platforms.

Loaned Media - the new model?

Therefore you don't control those platforms outright, you simply control the parts that are loaned to you. Go on, throw Loaned Media into the mix, you know it makes sense.

7 Life Lessons from LOST

2011-11-24T22:31:00.000Z

I've written a few previous posts about LOST on this blog, but with no real takeaways. The other posts were more a recommendation, an arm twist is you like. "If you're not watching LOST, you should be!!", type posts.

18 months after the finale, I'm still introducing people to LOST, who love it. They were late to the party, and some felt it was too late to catch up, but if like them, you like twisty, character development-based, unorthodox shows, it's never too late.

When LOST launched onto UK screens back in 2005, it attracted six million viewers. Even from the trailer, there was a sense that LOST was fresh, something different. It wasn't a medical show. It wasn't a law and order show. It wasn't even a sci-fi show. That, for me, made it very compelling.

Shift forward through the six series, and and that lure never wained. LOST kept me hooked - inpart - because the writers always left me guessing. Answers to the story were drip fed, butnever given in full, which always kept the audience wanting more.

OK, I confess, my name is Simon and I'm a LOSTaholic. I’m still in withdrawal. Twitching. Shivering. Wanting more. But there are no more fixes to be had. So this shall be my closure. My attempt examine what I think made this show phenomenal, for all those who watched it, and for those who have yet to start or complete the experience.

Lesson #1 - Everything happens for a reason - there was a big debate of science versus faith all the way throughout the show, but in the end, faith and destiny prevail. Cut to real life, and I'm a Yes man, a positive thinker, and make decision based on what I think is best at the time. Eventually those decisions and choices place us where we are today. Tomorrow there will be more choices, big and small, and that moves us along the life path again. Sometimes we’re led down a path, and we’re not sure where it will lead. Embrace it, enjoy the adventure.

Lesson #2 - Humans are, generally, inherently good by nature - Light versus dark, white versus black - throughout LOST there was a tug of war between Jacob and his brother. Jacob saw the good in people, his brother believed they came and destroyed each other. Despite the rioting, racism, crime and hatred that occurs in life, there is more human good which outweighs the bad. Charity work, a minutes silence at a football match, love - this list is endless.

Lesson #3 - The little things in life help us to see the Big Picture - I'll leave this to Carlton Cuse: "We were enriched along the way by what welearned as we delved into these characters. As we got deeper into thecharacters and as we got deeper into the story, it told us a lot about whatmade the show more complex...so I think we would look at it and go, ‘The superstructure is the same, but ohmy gosh, I’m getting such a rich character experience,’ and that was onlypossible by doing the hard work of making the hundred and twenty episodes thatled up to it."Most of us have visions, goals and dreams, but it's only possible to reach those goals through day-to-day experiences. Those experiences build up, we learn from them, and that helps to view the big picture.

Lesson #4 - Do things based on gut feel - That feeling you get when you know you should pursue a particular course of action. Do it. Do it because deep down, it feels right. That tripinto the jungle to find water, blowing up the hatch, pushing the button every 108 minutes. Taking that trip to the place you've never been. Hiring that person who will sweat blood and tears for your company. Twirl or Crunchie. You get the idea.

Lesson #5 - Everyone gets a second chance - everyone who was brought to the island was struggling in some way. The island gave them a second chance to be the person they were struggling to be. Everyone makes mistakes, some big, some small. We're human after all. Human nature is generally good (I said so above), and will permit second chances. So no matter how much we screw up in life, there's always a way out, a second chance.

Lesson #6 - Why do we fall over? So we can learn pick ourselves up - OK, before you start Googling, that's a Batman Begins quote, but it applies to LOST too. John Locke has many a tale or story to spin to help the other Losties cope with life on the island. "That’s a moth cocoon. It’s ironic – butterflies get all the attention, but moths, theyspin silk. They’re stronger. You see this little hole? This moth’s just about to emerge. It’s in there right now, struggling. It’s digging its way through the thick hide of the cocoon. Now, I could help it – take my knife, gentlywiden the opening, and the moth would be free – but it would be too weak to survive. Struggle is nature’s way of strengthening it." Let's calling it building strength through adversity. Using experiences - pain, hurt and suffering - we make ourselves stronger.

Lesson #7 - Learn to let go - sometimes life doesn't work out the way we want. We lose friends and family. We lose loved ones. If you don't let go, you can't move on. Christian Shepherd, LOST finale: "Everyone dies sometime, kiddo. Some of them before you, some… long after you....the most importantpart of your life was the time that you spent with these people. That’s why all of you are here. Nobody does it alone, Jack. You needed all of them, and they needed you."

Whether or not you watched and loved LOST as I did, I'm sure you all have life lessons you've taken from other shows and books. What are they? And if you loved LOST and just want closure too, sorry, you'll have to find it in your own way :P

Visualizing Foursquare Check Ins

2011-11-21T16:49:00.001Z

As of June 2011, Foursquare has 10 million members. I am one of those members, and am a big advocate of Foursquare. But recently more and more people I chat to about Foursquare say they are bored with it, and don't see the point in using it any more. "I don't care if someone checks-in at a McDonald's drive-through", said one colleague. According to many sources, Foursquare are shedding users faster than they are gaining them.

Let's not forget, Foursquare was created as a game. Get points for check ins to different places, and pit yourself against your friends and colleagues. But for many, the boredom factor has kicked in. Check in at the same place over and over, and the points dwindle. If (like me) you travel around a lot, mayorships are stuff of dreams.

So what's left to play with if you're stuck for points and over the mayorship honeymoon? At the end of the day, each Foursquare check-in leaves a data footprint. Strip it back to it's basic function, and Foursquare is essentially a location memory system. It tracks how many times you check into a particular place, and your most popular categories. This leaves a nice potential for data visualisation.

Step forward Weeplaces.com. WeePlaces makes use of your Foursquare data by creating geoprofiles, a personal page of your check in experiences. That way, they can store and organize your geodata to create an amazing Foursquare visualization. Here's the visualisation I created back in May;

A Year of foursquare Check Ins from Simon H on Vimeo.

Give it a go yourself!

Yas Island Links Golf Course

2011-11-16T17:30:00.002Z

I don't play golf. I'm a sales guy, so you should think golf should come naturally. I'm also very sporty, so again, a quick few athletic swings of the club and good eye for distance should see me right. The truth is, I've played only two rounds of 18 hole golf in my life. That said, I have a mean pitch and putt game.

So when I was over in Abu Dhabi recently, a colleague suggested we play the Yas Island golf course. "It looks like an amazing links course!", he said. I didn't really know what that meant. We were staying at a hotel that overlooked the golf course on Yas Island, and to give him credit, when I looked out from the balcony, it did look amazing. He began Googling. "Si...this is one of the top 100 golf courses in the world. And it was designed by a Scot. We have to play it". I couldn't really argue. Despite my lack of golf experience, playing one of the top golf courses in the world was too good an opportunity to turn down.

What an experience it was, and surprisingly enjoyable. Despite me losing and getting verbally abused for the rest of the trip, it was a fantastic experience, set next to the water, and next to the Yas Marina Circuit, home of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

I've attached some of the photos I took around the course, including an amazing 17th hole (which I'm proud to say I parred).

The view with Yas Marina circuit and Ferrari World in the distance;

On the back 9 as the sun sets

The 17th hole. Choose your club wisely!

Safe to say, if you get the opportunity to get out to Abu Dhabi, stay on Yas Island and give the golf course a run for its money.

What's that song from the O2 advert?

2011-08-14T09:34:00.003Z

That song from the O2 Priority Moments advert would be Pumped up Kicks by Foster the People. You can download it on iTunes here.

I discovered Foster the People playing the acoustic version of Pumped up Kicks at the Latitude Festival, and I think the acoustic version is much better! What do you think?

I Grew a Beard

2011-08-05T22:37:00.001Z

I did. I grew one. A full beard from the neck upward. People keep asking me: "why have you grown a beard?". Well why not? I've never had one before, and I decided I'd like a change. That's the only reason I can give. Did I get lazy and only wanted to shave my neck? Maybe. Was it to give two fingers to all the other industries where I couldn't grow a beard in the workplace? Maybe.

It's now been two months and my beard seems to have become a minor tourist attraction. Not sure why. Judge for yourself. Like? Give me a thumbs up if so.

Alternatively, you could match my beard to one of the beards below.

Switching Off means Switching On

2011-07-19T20:37:00.000Z

I've worked in digital marketing for 7 years. I'm online for approximately 13 hours per day, split between desktop and mobile. I had a conversation with a friend recently who told me I sometimes need to 'switch off'.

For many the idea of 'switching off' involves going and sitting on the beach in the sun, with a book or two. Or watching TV. Or doing something athletic. But what many non-Digital natives don't understand is that sometimes the best way to switch off is to switch on. Write a blog post, update Facebook, buy something, play a game, learn something new.

I like sunning myself on a beach. I play a lot of sport. But sometimes the easiest, quickest way to switch off is to switch on.

Apple announces iMessage for iOS 5

2011-06-06T18:24:00.000Z

Apple has announced the launch of their own iOS messaging system with iOS 5; iOS iMessage. iMessage is a Blackberry messenger equivalent...and much more. It's a new unified messaging service for all iOS devices. Text message, photos, video, contacts, group message..you name it.

Even better, you can IM between iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

More news to follow - keep an eye on updates about iMessage here.

New Google Chrome TV Advert - Dear Hollie

2011-06-05T00:49:00.001Z

It stands to reason that Google have never been big on print or TV advertising, but the digital giant finally debuted it's first UK TV advert for Google Chrome, entitled 'Dear Hollie', on May 28th.

Tonight, during tonight's final of Britain's Got Talent, which had a much larger viewing audience, Google showed the 'Dear Hollie' TV advert again, and according to many sources, it was the best part of the final.

Here's the Google Chrome 'Dear Hollie' TV ad in all it's glory;

Google is also rumoured to have released a follow up TV ad entitled 'Dear Sophie'.

Maru Cat Boxes

2011-04-28T16:47:00.000Z

It's been a while since my last post. I've been busy. To help you escape the Royal Wedding fever, let me introduce you to an online feline phenomenon. You think that intro was too strong? Think again.

Maru the cat is possibly the most well known cat on the interweb. This Japan based cat loves boxes. Small boxes, big boxes, even small packaging it can get it's head into. Yes, Maru the cat is certainly unique. Here's some of Maru's best bits :)

See, he's funny / cute / quirky / fat / all of the above. Want to see Maru the cat take on a really big box? Not a problem for this Japanese wonder:

It should therefore be no surprise that Google searches for [maru] peaked at the same time as searches for [japan earthquake].

Everyone wants to make sure Maru is ok! Enjoy his videos :)

Returning to Tignes

2011-01-20T14:50:00.001Z

As a group we haven't skied in Tignes since 2007. Now, we've booked to go back. Nic and Karen of La Brasero - brace yourselves...the bar is about to be decorated with fancy dress characters from 6th Feb.

Could you also please get some snow on the slopes? Thanks :)

Here's a quick video and pic of last years outfits in Verbier:

3D Display Advertising

2010-11-07T14:27:00.000Z

We're rapidly moving into a 3D generation, with technology companies and entertainment houses developing a whole host of 3D consumer products. With that in mind, are we far off 3D display advertising?

BSkyB launched their 3D TV service in October this year, with consumers at home and in pubs round the country watching their favourite TV shows and sports behind 3D glasses. In terms of 3D TV advertising, Courvoisier secured its place in 3D advertising history as the first brand to create a 3D TV advert, which screened on Channel 4 in late 2009. With Google TV now launching across Sony's TV's, surely it wont be long until Google roll out their display advertising model to TV searches, followed by the potential of an exciting 3D display model.

Moving onto laptops, there are already several 3D laptops available to buy, with Acer, HP and Toshiba leading the way. Many believe it will be the games industry that drives 3D forward in the UK. For Macbook users, Apple announced the Macbook 3D earlier this year, with many believing the race for 3D content is already underway. With a more mobile internet population these days, the ability to watch 3D movies on the go will be equally important for growth, so the iPad will also play an important roll. If 3D display advertising is to hit the UK soon, 3D laptops and desktops will be the heartbeat of Google's revenue model.

Lastly, let's look at mobiles. I'm a big mobile advocate, so it caught my attention when Sharp unveiled the first Android smartphone with a 3D Screen. Display advertising has been slow to take off on mobile, but Admob are leading the way and showing some good results to prove this advertising medium is starting to simmer nicely. With that in mind, 3D display advertising now has the foundation stones to roll out to mobiles in the future.

To summarise, the thought leaders 'three screen' marketing strategy is all set to take advantage of engaging 3D advertising. It's also no surprise that Google acquired Bump Technologies (they provided a 3D desktop interface) back in March 2010. All the pieces of the 3D display advertising puzzle are in place. I can't wait to see some of the ads digital agencies come up with.

Theft Proof Wallet

2010-11-05T17:32:00.001Z

No-one can make a 100% theft proof wallet, but it doesn't stop companies trying. Q might have come the closest.

The clever chaps at Dunhill and TungstenW have created the closest thing to a theft proof wallet. They call it a biometric wallet.

iWallet

The wallet is opened using personal fingerprint scanner encryption, so even if someone does run away with it, they'd have trouble getting opening it. The 'theft proof' wallet also has a carbon fibre exterior, which means it's water and scratch proof as well as unbreakable and lightweight.

The best part is the wallet connects to Bluetooth on your mobile phone. Thus, if the wallet and your mobile phone stray too far apart, you'll be alerted through your phone. Nice touch. Unfortunately, these wallets don't come cheap. The Dunhill biometric wallet retails at $700, with similar wallets not far behind at around $600

But for me, there is so much more you could add for that price - GPS tracking technology for a start. So not exactly cheap theft protection, but definitely a step forward in the right direction. [Read more at Aquiremag.com]

World’s Largest Water Balloon Fight

2010-11-05T17:04:00.000Z

One word: Awesome.

[via. Yarsley.com]

Facebook File Sharing Service Coming Soon?

2010-11-01T22:40:00.000Z

Sometimes email inboxes are simply not big enough to cope with the big attachments I send. This makes file sharing problematic. Occasionally I use the companies extranet, but that often gets complicated with usernames and passwords. So more often than not, I'll use Drop.io. It's a neat cloud file hosting sharing service that lets you upload big files and share them privately using the equally neat tiny URL function they use.
I was planning on uploading a 12MB file this evening, when I came across a message from their blog that they had been acquired by Facebook. Curious. As a result, good old Drop.io will be closing down. No new drops can be created or shared, and existing content from live file shares can be collected up to 15th December. After that, no more Drop.io. No more neat file sharing.

This begs the question - with Drop.io's assets, technology and founder, are we soon to witness a Facebook file-sharing service? If so, does this open up yet another chapter in Facebook's privacy saga? Drop.io says that post Dec 15th all drops will be deleted, and no user data or content will be transferred to Facebook.

If Facebook does introduce a file sharing service, will they be bold and daft enough to try and claim rights on any content shared? Surely not. You don't see storage companies wanting a stake in your furniture, do you? It will be interesting to see what Facebook does with Drop.io.

Oh, and I eventually used MediaFire. Seems ok, but isn't as simple and cool as Drop.io.

Blog Redecoration

2010-10-22T10:29:00.001Z

I feel I've neglected the Jamjar blog for some time. In fact my last post was on 23rd December, 2009. For someone who works in Digital Marketing, and closely with other bloggers, I actually feel quite bad about it. I have been incredibly busy though. I'd liken the neglect to a builder who looks after everyone elses home except his own.

So instead of simply writing and publishing another ramble, I thought I'd get the painters in and give the place a makeover. Hopefully it's now cleaner and more usable, so I hope you like it. Feedback is always welcome of course.

It seems only fitting to restart where I left off. With LOST. Lost was a big series for me for 4 years, and despite my loyalty, it was quite a poor yet emotional end for what was a great show. Following LOST, I jostled with Flash Forward, which got cancelled after the first series, and I've already ploughed my way through Entourage, The Sopranos and The Wire. But now, finally, I think I'm all set to move on from Lost purgatory.

The Event premieres on Channel 4 this evening at 9pm. It's already underway in the US on NBC and has collected some good reviews on it's first outing. I'll leave you with the trailer to decide for yourself.

Lost Season 6 Posters

2009-12-23T16:39:00.005Z

Since the end of Lost Season 5 there has been a lot of debate on forums and blogs about how Lost will end. There's no doubt in my mind that Lost is one of the best written shows on TV - what other series can you think of which leaves so many questions to be answered until series 6, but still has millions of watchers? Kudos to all the writers of the show - especially since they has the end of the show in mind right from the start.
As we near the beginning of Season 6 I had another look at the official Lost Season 6 poster, which I first saw over at SL-Lost.com (via. DarkUFO).

Not long after this poster was unveiled, there was much discussion about it. Then came another poster, from the Lost Underground Art Project ARG (click here to open in a new window).
The writers have said the following about both posters - everything is deliberate. "You should look at the poster and think of the things you've seen on the show, and then whatever else is left, that's a clue for Season 6", says Damon Lindelof, one of the Co-Creators of Lost.

So now for my points/comments.
1) In the first poster, Aaron is missing....as are the numbers. According to some theories, Aaron is central to series 6
2) Hurley holding the Flaming Ankh - not sure about this. Hurley obviously has some big connection to the final plan, but I'm not sure why the Flaming Ankh is important. Yet.
3) All the characters are back. Could it be the plan lands at LAX after all at the start of Season 6?
4) Could be interesting to see how the Monster and/or Smokey manifested itself during seasons 1 - 5. We know it took the form of Yemi and Alex....but could this also be Christian and several other characters, designed to influence the course of destiny. Hope so.
Bring on Feb 12th.

Lost: Season 5 Finale

2009-05-18T12:04:00.025Z

(SE05E16/ SE05E17) - "Are you sure I'm the one who doesn't believe in you?" - Christian.

I've not blogged for months, and the last time I blogged about LOST was back in July last year, but the season 5 finale of LOST has left me mind boggled. So I thought I'd throw my thoughts and opinions down here....although I might ramble a bit, sorry.

There's so much new information to get through, and lots of new theories to validate and discard. Lets start right at the beginning of 'The Incident' where we are finally introduced to Jacob and Jacob's Adversary (which I'll reference as JA for this post), whom many are calling anti-Jacob. The first thing that entered my head when I watched this was the symbolic reference between light and dark, good and evil. Jacob was wearing a light coloured top, JA a dark coloured top.

There have been many theories as to who Jacob and JA actually are, including Apep and Ra, from Egyptian mythology, or Jacob and Esau. The key point for me is the theme of immortality and eternal life. This is a constant theme throughout LOST.

Continuing along this line of thinking, if Jacob and JA are some kind of immortal beings, this would mean they don't age, and can live in a physical OR spiritual form. Two things here - one, JA could be a shape-shifting immortal, in that he can take the form of dead beings. You could therefore logically apply that JA could also be the smoke monster (who has taken the form of Christian, Ben's daughter and now John Locke, amongst others) to help manipulate situations to his advantage. Secondly, I'm sure there is some myth which states two immortals cannot kill each other, and immortals can only be killed in a certain way. Hence why JA recruits Ben to kill Jacob.

Looking at Jacob's side of this, he visits Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, Sayid, Sun and Jin and Locke at different points throughout their lives. Many questions here. Does he indirectly cause Nadia's death? I think Jacob brings Locke back to life after his window fall too.

On the latter point, Jacob touches each of the Oceanic 815 survivors he visits.....angelic touches perhaps? If he gave Richard eternal life, he possibly passed some sort of power onto the Oceanic survivors. In fact it's been noted on many blogs that the only flashback that didn't contain Jacob, was Juliet's...who Jacob never physically touched. Is this also why he didn't try to touch Ben before he stabbed him?

The book he was reading on the bench by the way was entitled 'Everything That Rises Must Converge', by Flannery O’Connor. "The story exemplifies her ability to expose human weakness and explore important moral questions through everyday situations." This relates to Jacob's initial conversation with JA at the start of the episode.

Fast forward to scene with Ilana and 'Jacob's' cabin. I don't think this cabin was ever Jacob's. I think it was JA's. And I think the circle of ash was a formed some sort of containment for JA. This can be backed up from commentary by the producers from the episode "The Man Behind the Iron Curtain". From what I can remember, the circle of ash was never broken until the 316 crew encountered it.

I'm guessing this means JA found his "loophole" and escaped when the ash was broken - either when Locke died, or when the Ajira flight crashed, and JA took the form of John Locke.

Fast forward again to Ben and Locke (JA)'s encounter with Jacob beneath the statue. The statue by the way has been confirmed by ABC as being the statue of Taweret, the Egyptian goddess of fertility. Did you notice the look of sarcasm/irony on Locke's face when Ben said "...like he's Moses or something"? Which leads you to think Jacob and JA knew Moses in some way....

Right before Jacob died (this also seems to be confirmed by ABC), he said: "They are coming", and JA looked fearful. Does that mean the other Lostie's are coming back, or is it more sinister (i.e 'the war')?
If the Sawyer, Jack and Co. do make it back to 2007, it shouldn't take long for them to discover the walking talking John Locke is not John Locke. I'm thinking we'll have an episode in Series 6 which shows Miles talking to a dead John Locke....

I agree with Ryan's comment that JA has been manipulating Locke since the first season, and all the time Locke thought the island was communicating with him, it was actually JA/Esau.

Getting to the Incident itself, I'm going along the lines of what happened, happened in that the drill hit the pocket, but Juliet's detonation of the bomb quite possibly changed the past. Saying that, how was the Taweret statue destroyed? Great point by Miles too - perhaps the efforts of Jack to stop the events that caused the Oceanic 815 crash actually ensure that they do happen. I'm in two minds on this one!

Lastly, on a more sober points to note - one: I quite liked the Rose and Bernard interlude. You guys always have a drama....running round shooting people and burning things...me and Rose? We're retired from all that. We're happy regardless, even if we die together.

Two: Sun finding Charlie's ring with the initials 'DS'. Charlie named Drive Shaft after the initials on the ring.

So there we have it. January can't come round soon enough!.....

Recession Sale Anyone?

2008-10-21T15:59:00.003Z

When it comes to sales, for me, it's a case of the good, the bad and the ugly. Good in that you can pick up a great bargain, bad in that the stores are packed, and ugly in that I've seen women come to blows over a dress.

Recession sale anyone?

As I was walking around Manchester at the weekend I felt there was something amiss amongst the window sale advertisements. I saw a double discount sale, a closing down sale and I even saw a store re-building sale. But why has no-one taken advantage of the current economic climate and through about launching a Recession Sale?

It makes sense to me. Consumers are strapped for cash so why not advertise a sale that strikes a cord with the majority of credit crunch articles they've read in the news over the last month? In addition, online retail sales from September 2008 are growing at a fifth of the rate compared to the same period last year, so it's the perfect time to do it. Ok, it's cold, but winter fashions are here, so a Recession Sale would work a treat!
More local to home, a local sandwich shop round the corner from my office is currently running a 'Credit Crunch Pasta' offer. It's going down a storm.

Friends Like These

2008-10-06T12:33:00.006Z

I don't read many books. In fact the only time I get chance to read a book or two is when I go on a beach holiday. I was in Cyprus last week getting some early autumn sun and read a superb book called Friends Like These by Danny Wallace.

Friends Like These by Danny Wallace

A mate of mine told me how good Friends Like These was, and he confessed to laughing out loud when reading it. Like me, he doesn't laugh out loud at books so I was intrigued. A week before I went away I bought Friends Like These and read it in Cyprus. It is brilliant and I was caught laughing out loud on several occasions.

The book is perfect, if like me, your heading towards the age of 30. It is about re-connecting with old friends at primary or secondary school who you've lost touch with and seeing what they're up to. In the case of Friends Like These, Danny travels the world to find his old mates (many of whom work in IT), with hilarious stories along the way.

If you're looking for a good book, and approaching 30, this is the book to read. Look out for the boy who passed his cycling proficiency on a tricycle, and the giant rabbit head.

High oil prices twist the knife into the airlines

2008-07-30T12:51:00.006Z

With oil prices lingering between the $100 and $130 a barrel mark, airlines around the world are on red alert as fuel costs soar.

On Monday Ryanair announced it's profits has plunged by 85% and blamed the high oil price for doubling its fuel expenses. Last week easyJet admitted that fare increases were inevitable in order for them to counteract the issue of fuel costs. At easyJet the increase in fuel price is costing around £7 a seat on every flight.

In addition, both Ryanair and easyJet have anounced cut backs to their winter schedules, whilst British Airways and BMI are expected to deliver timetable cut backs over the next few weeks.

Coupled with an ever slowing economy the outlook for the airlines looks bleak. With many airlines in the US falling foul of the fuel crisis, easyJet CEO Andy Harrison said that continuing high fuel costs will undoubtadbly cause some European airlines to go out of business;

"If oil prices remain high a lot of airlines will cut back capacity or go out of business, leading to higher fares."

Many airlines are also looking at other ways to offset the high fuel costs. easyJet for example is attempting to offset the £7 per seat rise through their introduction of hold baggage charges earlier this year. On a different strategy Brussels Airlines announced it is slowing flight speeds and lightening loads on some of its aircraft in order to reduce fuel costs.

This 'go slow' strategy has also been adopted by many other forms of transportation in the UK. Planes, trains, ferries, buses and cars are all starting to travel at slower speeds, according to the Guardian.

Lost Time Loop Theory

2008-07-18T11:38:00.006Z

A while ago I wrote a blog post about watching LOST. Now Lost has just finished it's fourth series, and I can't wait for the fifth. Lost is one of those TV programmes where people either love it or hate it. For the latter, they usually get bored and confused by the third episode and never watch it again. More fool them.

Early last week I was passed a great website which attempts to shed a little light on the theory behind Lost - and it's a superb read. As a synopsis, Jason Hunter (the author) believes LOST is based on a time loop theory.

The illustration of the time loop theory can be seen here, but for any Lost fan I would strongly advise giving his site a read. It can be found at Losttimelooptheory.com.

His theory is based around time travel, with the island at the centre of a time loop - hence the time loop theory. Ben and Richard play centre stage is all this (as does Locke later on).
It provides insight into the black smoke as a means of 'course correcting' and provides a good explanation as to why people are 'healed' from illness when they are on the island. Here's a time loop theory example - how Locke can walk on the island.

Locke's 'father' pushes him out of a window. He is crippled and cannot walk. This is part of a real world timeline. Ben and Richard travel back in time to 1996 to kill off the Dharma Initiative. Once Ben and Richard start a time loop (the reason the island can't be found) the plane crashes on the island in 2004 - real world time. BUT, because of this second time loop the crash survivors are actually living life in island time - 1996. So when the plane crashes, Locke can walk again because in his orginal timeline, Locke's spine wasn't crushed until around 2002.

Genius. Bring on series 5.

Bothies in Scotland

2008-07-03T18:15:00.009Z

I recently tooks a weeks holiday to go and discover the Scottish Highlands. Although I've lived in Edinburgh for the last 4 years, I have never travelled to the West of Scotland, or up North towards Aviemore and Inverness. That all changed when I took part in Maggie's Monster Bike and Hike in May and I decided to explore some more of the Scottish wilderness.

Key to the plan for our week of walking was to stay in a bothy, usually found in the middle of nowhere. So what is a bothy? A bothy is a basic shelter usually formed from old farm buildings or ruins that have been restored to a simple standard with maybe two or three rooms and a roof made from corrugated iron. They were once provided shelter to farmers and shepherds to look after livestock.

A bothy is usually waterproof and windproof and provides simple accommodation. There are no beds or mattresses provided, no tap water and no toilet. Staying in a bothy means you go back to nature. Bothies usually contain candles, a spade (shouldn't need explaining), a fireplace and maybe leftover pasta from previous guests.

We decided to explore the 'Mammores' area of Scotland, a series of mountain ranges which lie to the east of Fort William, and north of Kinlochleven.

The first bothy we stayed in was the Meanach bothy in the heart of the valley and 10km from the nearest tarmac road. A very useful base if you want to conquer The Grey Corries.

A couple of nights later we stayed in the Staoineag bothy, which is another 3km east of the Meanach bothy. On a good day, this bothy provides stunning views....thankfully we were there one of those days.

The last bothy we passed on the walk was the small Lairig Leacach bothy.

I confess I was a bothy virgin before this trip, but it really was superb. BUT, some advice.....

If you are planning to stay in a bothy, be aware there is a Bothy Code and 'etiquette'. Bothies should be respected and not abused. Volunteers look after the bothies and misuse can lead to disrepair. For more information, visit the Mountain Bothies Association website.

ICANN Opens Up Internet Domain Free for All

2008-06-26T16:12:00.004Z

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), who oversee the way internet addresses are assigned, signed off a policy that will set a milestone for the history of the internet.

Historically top-level domains (TLDs), such as .com, .co.uk.org etc could only be bought by those looking to set up a new website. The new internet address shake up now means that people can apply for a website that ends in any collection of letters......but there are catches.

Firstly, the new domains will cost $100,000 each. They don't come cheap, but once you own the TLD domain you can then sell web addresses that fit within that domain. For example, if I purchased .man, I could then sell www.tall.man, www.thin.man, etc.

This will no doubt spark an internet land rush, with entrepreneurs and companies snapping up the domains faster than you can blink. So what will be the most valuable domains? The list is endless, but generic names that have already proved popular in exisiting domain names are likely to go first. Here's a shortlist;

.card
.hotel
.flight
.holidays
.jobs

If had a spare $100,000, I'd be straight in there. You can apparently write to Icann from April next year, but you need to have a business plan and demonstrate how you would make money from the domain, and how you would support the domain.
The reason for the hefty price tag is that Icann wants to keep demand low to begin with. They say they simply want to recoup the cost of developing the web's infrastructure to cope with the new domains.
Disputed domains will apparently enter into a auction system, and will be sold to the highest bidder.
So let the land rush begin!

Rapid Google Indexing

2008-05-29T13:03:00.008Z

In August 2007, Matt Cutts (a Google software engineer) wrote a post about Google's minty fresh indexing picking up new content within a matter of hours. This was a good read and a good way to read how Google's indexing has changed over time.

I have to admit I thought this applied to more authoritative sites - not smaller blogs like this one (good things come in small packages though) :-).

So I was pleasantly surprised to see my last two blog posts being picked up at lightening speed.

My post on Burger King's 6 Pack launch was picked up in the hour, but my post this morning about Honda's skydiving advert was picked up in just over 30 minutes.

Here's the proof. You can see the post went live at 9:36am...

....and Google picked up the new post in 34 minutes....

Now that is minty fresh indexing!

But alas, the last screen shot also highlights one of my personal bug bares. Blogger doesn't allow you to provided unique META tags for individual blog posts. Instead, Google picks up the main description tag in the template which then gets used for every blog post. Blogger/Google team, if you're listening - please make this happen! It will only help the user experience!

Update!.....I've been doing some testing with a few recent posts, and Google has lived up to expectations once again. My most recent post on high oil prices hitting the airlines has been indexed in 9 minutes;

Round of applause Google.

Honda Jump Skydiving Advert

2008-05-29T09:36:00.006Z

Honda looks set to take TV advertising to a new level this evening, as they attempt a live skydiving ad.

They skydiving ad, which looks set to be unbranded is meant to build interest ahead of a new Honda car launch. There are snippets of information about the skydiving advert, including a teaser blog - Difficultisworthdoing.

Honda has been promoting the strapline "Difficult is Worth Doing" on outdoor media, but still provides no clue as to what the advert is actually for.

The ad is set to air live on ITV1 and Channel 4 tonight. It is believed the jump will be taking place in Madrid, but Honda also have a follow up advert - aptly named Jump - which was filmed in California.

I guess we'll keep an eye on the TV for more info!

PS. Anyone seen the Brains advert that advertises Drench water? Yet another YouTube hit. As you can tell I like my quirky adverts, from the Cadbury's Gorilla ad, through to the Sony Bravia bouncing balls advert.

Burger King launches 6 Pack

2008-05-20T09:22:00.004Z

One of the first stories I read this morning caught my eye. Burger King is set to launch a burger that can be shared between 6 people.

Affectionately called the 6 Pack, Burger King is rolling out what it claims to be the first burger made for sharing in an attempt to take on the fast-food pizza chains.

I know the Burger King 6 pack is meant to be for sharing, but at £4.49 by itself or £5.69 as part of a meal I know plenty of people who will have this for themselves. Surely Burger King is simply aiding obesity, not trying to prevent it?!

Looking for flights? Use Kayak

2008-05-19T13:06:00.009Z

I travel. A lot. I've taken 32 flights so far this year (thanks Outlook Calendar) and probably visited the easyJet and BA websites more times than I care to remember.

On the plus side, it also gives me license to promote a site that makes my life easier. Kayak.co.uk is a travel search engine with a difference. It's simple, clutter free and designed on cool technology rather than just a profitable business plan. Kayak searches across all the major airline websites to find the best possible fares.

Kayak.co.uk is accurate. Flying from Edinburgh I know which carriers fly to which destinations and at which times (sad, I know). Kayak hasn't been wrong on price once. That's a good track record.

I also like their Fare Buzz which shows the lowest fares to a particular destination. Equally as useful is their Best Fare Trend tracker which shows the highs and lows of a chosen flight route for the previous 90 days.

Check out the screen shot below. It shows the date for which the lowest fare was found for a return flight between London and New York;

And even better - the screen shot below shows the best fare for the same journey throughout June. Those of you looking to travel to New York - go on the 19th June!

Last but not least, if you have a iGoogle page or another RSS reader you can keep track of your favourite or planned trips with their customised RSS feeds. If you're planning on a trip from London to New York in June, I'd suggest you subscribe to and keep and eye on this RSS feed!

Monster Bike and Hike Training

2008-04-14T18:13:00.008Z

Something I forgot to mention. I signed up...no.....my colleagues signed me up for an event called the Monster Bike and Hike. At the time I didn't take much notice about what it was or what it consisted, but I'm certainly taking notice now.

The Monster Bike and Hike is a 30 mile cycle followed by a 43 mile hike along the Scottish Great Glen Way.....all in 24 hours. The bike and hike is a fundraising event for Maggie's Cancer Care centers.

Naturally when it finally sank in what the Bike and Hike entailed I decided some training was in order. As a kid I rode a bike all the time. Over the last few years the cogs have got rusty...and I'm not just talking about the bike. So I decided now is as good a time as any to get my backside used to the saddle once more.

Thankfully 12 of my colleagues are also taking part, and I'm fairly certain I won't be last to finish :)

Our first training session was a 12 mile hike over the Pentlands which was achieved pretty easily. That however, was nothing compared to the training session on Sunday. The route for the Monster Bike and Hike is relatively flat (alledgedly) so we thought this time we'd go for distance and speed.

Here's the route we took;

View Larger Map

The power of technology told us we were averaging 13 minutes per mile. We completed the first half of the hike in a little over 3 and a half hours. The pace was quick. The return journey was equally as quick...although a couple of pubs got in the way at the end. Well deserved I say.

And today my feet, calves and thighs are all fine. The back of my knees are not. It feels as though someone is boring a hole in the back of my knees. If that was result after 22 miles I dred to think what the result will be after 43 miles. Thankfully I've attended Monster Bike and Hike two training sessions. I'm worried for those who haven't started training yet.

Essentials for the Bike and Hike

This is more of a list for me than anything else, but if you're planning on doing the Monster Bike and Hike, here are my suggested necessities;

2 pairs of walking boots / shoes
Several pairs of breathable socks
Talcum powder
Blister packs
Energy bars
Haribo
Lots of water (suggest a Camelbak)
Vaseline
Breathable waterproofs
A rucksack that allows your back to breathe (Berghaus do a good Freeflow range)

If you think of anything else, let me know! This years Monster Bike and Hike takes place on the 3rd/4th May.

IKEA Train

2008-04-10T10:19:00.007Z

In an interesting PR/advertising stunt, retail giant IKEA has fitted a train in Kobe with sofas and curtains. The 'IKEA train' looks comfy, but if this was done in the UK our Health and Safety boffins would have a field day :)

The IKEA train photos below are from Gizmodo;

Unfortunately the IKEA train makeover is only temporary to mark the opening of a new store in Kobe

A Door and a Mirror

2008-03-25T18:42:00.006Z

I've been meaning to write this post for months and FINALLY got round to it....all work and no play makes Simon a dull boy.

Over the last 12 months I've been to a number of places around the globe, including France, Germany, Spain, Greece, USA and Canada. I usually carry a camera around with me, but there's always one or two situations where I didn't carry it with me, and wish I had.

Cue smoke and Enter stage left: the mobile phone camera.

My ethos? If in doubt, take the picture anyway.

So here we go. The first picture below was taken in Munich. You'd think by the content that this mirror was situated in a brothel. Wrong (and besides, I would never frequent such places). A strip club? Nope. Believe it or not this picture was taken outside a window looking into a shoe shop.....

The second photo was taken in Whistler, Canada earlier this year and had me laughing for longer than a Bushism normally would. You could almost see this sign appearing in a Wile E Coyote cartoon;

I was glancing through StumbleUpon last weekend, and came across a similar post from Blingit. The post was aptly titled Pictures - Taken at Just the Right Time. I'd head over there if you want to see some more amusing pics. Real or not, my favourite is number 9.....

Pandora closes its doors to UK users

2008-01-09T13:33:00.000Z

Online music provider Pandora is getting ready to block UK users from it's service due to "unworkable" license rates.

'Listen to music with Pandora' was one of my first blog posts back in 2006, and I'm sorry to hear Pandora has to pull the plug.

Tim Westergren, the Pandora founder, emailed UK Pandora listeners to convery that royalty collection agencies PPL and MCPS/PRS alliance have demanded absurd rates that Pandora simply cannot meet.

Tim said;

"We have been told to sign these totally unworkable license rates or switch off, non-negotiable...so that is what we are doing."

"We're going to keep fighting for a fair and workable rate structure that will allow us to bring Pandora back to you."

Online radio services such as Pandora and Last.fm have been struggling to survive after the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) decided to raise royalty fees for web broadcasters.

Pandora was hoping to keep the UK service alive after it closed all of it's non-US operations after the fee increase, but to no avail. Keep fighting the US Pandora, and hope to have you back soon.

Most Watched YouTube Video Clips/Videos 2007

2008-01-08T21:14:00.000Z

Happy New Year!

YouTube had a storming year in 2007, so congratulations to all the team on their success.

After doing a couple of searches over New Year I noticed YouTube had published a list of the most watched videos on their blog. The top ten makes interesting viewing, and had a couple of my favourite videos from 2007 on the list. The top ten was based on number of views and shares.

**All the videos can be seen in the embeded YouTube compilation below**

Here's a run down of the top ten most watched YouTube video clips from 2007;

Battle at Kruger - a simply amazing piece of filming which captures a fight between a herd of water buffalo, a pack of lions and a crocodile. More details below.
"Chocolate Rain" Original Song by Tay Zonday - Tay Zonday sings Chocolate rain. Self explanatory really!
Chris Crocker; Leave Britney Alone! - Devout Britney fan Chris Crocker provides a passionate (and slightly scary) defence of Miss. Spears.
Thriller in Prison (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o) - a large group of inmates dance to Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'. One of my 2007 favourite videos.
Esmee Denters sings "What goes around, comes around" by JT - again self explanatory, but awesome singing.
NORA: Practice Makes Purr-fect - a piano-playing cat grabs over 7.5 million views
Obama Girl - "I got a crush...on Obama" - an avid fan promotes Barack Obama through the medium of song.
Otters holding hands - the third animal based video to feature in the top ten.
Paris in Jail - a spin on Paris Hilton's single 'Stars are Blind'. Very amusing!
Spiders on Drugs - starts out serious, then gets very silly. Amusing all the same.

YouTube have also released the top 5 viral videos of 2007, and top spot goes Cadbury's Gorilla advert, which I blogged about back in September 2007.

The top 5 viral videos can be found at Marketingcharts.com.

Blackle - The Energy Saving Search Engine

2007-11-28T20:18:00.000Z

I've been meaning to blog about Blackle for months, and finally with a bit of free time (and jet lag) I finally can.

Blackle was brought to my attention when I was travelling round London and a couple of guys on the tube were talking about an "energy saving search engine". At first I tried to figure about how it would work, and then decided to find out more about Blackle over a Starbucks Gingerbread Latte (very good and only available over Xmas - try one!).

Blackle is powered by Google Custom Search, but provides results against a black screen with white writing, so as to save energy. Great idea.

According to ecoIron, a white web page uses around 74 watts to display, whilst an all black web page uses around 59 watts. Depending on the level of usage, the Blackle team hope to save 750 Megawatt-hours a year.

As I write this post Blackle has saved 328,314.890 Watt hours. Good work guys!

Each time Blackle is loaded vs another search engine, you save energy. Whilst this is good in theory, I doubt many will step away from the main Google search engine.

Wonderbra Spoof of Cadbury Gorilla Advert

2007-11-28T19:50:00.000Z

Nice bit of piggyback marketing from Wonderbra.

My colleague told me about this advert, and I had to blog about it......for obvious reasons!

My original post about the Cadbury Gorilla advert back in September is fairly lengthy, but I don't need to say much about the Wonderbra version.

Enjoy!

English Football needs to Evolve

2007-11-25T21:45:00.000Z

England have not missed a major footballing competition since 1994. Arguably, English football has come on leaps and bounds since then and is now one of the most exciting leagues in the world.

Yet, as is usually the case over the last 13 years, England fans prepare themselves for a successful competition where the English world-beaters finally bring home a trophy (again). But with each competition we're on the plane home way before the final.

The most recent catastrophe of England not qualifying for Euro 2008 is exactly what the country needed to give it a kick up the backside and sort the whole system out.

For the players, sort out the desire and the egos. Find a manager with hunger and experience, and for the fans, give them something to aim for.

So where did everything go wrong? In my opinion Steve McLaren was ripped to shreads for his tactics against Croatia. But he would have been labelled a genious if we'd won. For me, the problems lie much deeper.

Here's my take of the major issues;

1) A Gruelling Schedule

The top English players are constantly burned out. Far too many games over the season means they are no where near their best for a summer competition. A winter break needs to introduced imminently.

2) Egos

As Roy Keane touched on earlier this week, there are far too many big egos in the England team. We need a bunch of players who respect and work for each other. Take a leaf out of the English rugby teams book.

3) The Media

We give them credit for great stories and coverage, but the English media has created a PR monster. The pressure piled upon the team and manager at every opportunity does not help whatsoever, and one of the key reasons for top managers not wanting the job.

I was one of many England supporters who was glad England didn't qualify. It gives us time to put our house in order. Fingers crossed the FA make some sound decisions over the next few months.

Cadbury Gorilla Advert

2007-09-19T16:38:00.000Z

The new Cadbury's Dairy Milk (CDM) advert is a stroke of genius. I haven't written a post in a while (v busy) but though that the new Cadbury's gorilla advert was worth writing about.

Being in the advertising/marketing industry, I now have a new found mark of respect for Fallon, the company behind the new advert.

TV advertising is becoming more and more difficult, as there are more critics than ever to shoot down would-be ad award winners. TV ads in the modern day need to be quirky, as opposed to the old school 'in your face' ads. This is what Fallon have done so well.

The new gorilla ad was slated in marketing circles, but now that first wave of dust has settled, it has become a phenomenon. Why? A quirky video ad like this does well in front of two audiences. First, your typical armchair audience who view it on TV, but most importantly viewers of YouTube. It is no surprise that this video is one of the most watched on YouTube over the past two weeks.

The best part? The advert does not mention Cadbury's. It does not show people eating Cadbury's Dairy Milk. Instead it shows the new face of CDM - the musical gorilla. In the main Cadbury gorilla advert it shows the gorilla playing the Phil Collins hit "In the Air Tonight".......

Taken from the Independent online; Laurence Green, planning director of Fallon adds;

"Advertising can be effective without a traditional 'message', 'proposition' or 'benefits"

I have also posted about some of the other great adverts of the last few years, including the Lynx clicker ad and the Sony Bravia advert.

Check out the new Ask!

2007-06-13T11:33:00.001Z

Ask.com (formerly Ask Jeeves) has just got sexy.

I have to give a round of applause to Ask for their new search layouts, and I firmly believe the new changes will have a great response from the online community.

So what has changed?

Firstly Ask has added a new 'Skins' application to it's homepage where users can choose different images as the background rather than just a plain white background. Simple, but effective.

Secondly Ask has developed a way of displaying search results to rival Google's Universal Search. Take the screen grab below for example. A search for "jessica simpson" brings up her Wikipedia page with the main search results below.

More interestingly are the left and right sidebars. Ask.com will also provide other search suggestions such as "jessica simpson songs" and also an Expand your search section which provides other details such as what films she was in and similar celebrities.

What I really like though is the right sidebar. Ask will provide image and video results where applicable and also any mentions of Jessica Simpson in online news or blog posts. The layout is much cleaner than Google's Universal Search and all the main information required is 'above the fold' - i.e. you don't have to scroll down to find more relevant information.

Ask may have a search engine market share of around 5% but I've got a feeling that might increase on the back of this new launch. Top marks.

Beckham is Back

2007-06-01T11:59:00.000Z

After a short absence, David Beckham has finally returned to the England squad to face Brazil and Estonia. Following my last post about bringing Beckham back, Steve McClaren has finally had to give in to Beckham's superb form of late.

Many congratulations to my former colleage who set up the site Bringbackbeckham.com - he (and thousands others) finally got their wish.

I am one of the lucky ones who will be at the England v Brazil game and am looking forward to what should be a great game. Beckham starts of the right with the skilled trio of of Gerrard, Lampard and Cole next to him. Not forgetting of course that Owen makes his long awaited retrun to the England fold also.

There are still question marks over Beckham's England future after his move to LA, but let's just savour the next two games and take it one step at a time.

The Power of Google Images

2007-05-06T13:38:00.000Z

Simon's Jamjar went live on 1st January 2006 and over the course of the last 18 months my unique visitor levels have been pretty good.

I try to write topical and humourous blog posts that are succinct with recent events or news. On average I receive around 20 unique visitors per day - not bad for a blog that is only updated 3 or 4 times a month.

Looking back, there were a few posts that did pretty well in boosting my unique visitor levels. My Lynx Clicker Advert post back in March did well, as did my post on the Sony Bravia Advert with the bouncing balls in San Francisco. What do these posts have in common? They include images and a video, allowing better interaction for blog readers.

Then on the 7th April I wrote a post regarding Paramount Comedy's 'Where are they now?' section, which seeks to find old movie stars and celebrities. As well as being fun to read, I included a link to an image of Kelly Kapowski in the post - which has gone like wildfire.

The image below shows my unique visitors and page views since the post was made.
So what is the real reason behind the hike in traffic? Well, as with any website, traffic is reliant on the website being visible on the search engines. However, the Paramount Comedy post doesn't appear anywhere on Google's main web results, but does appear on Google Images.

Over the last month, Google Images has provided 90% of my site traffic which just shows that simple content is good, but videos and images are the leading light for successful blogs.

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A Busy Week

2007-04-22T10:38:00.000Z

Finally time to relax. The week just gone is possibly the busiest week I've ever had - spanning work, sport, travel and (a little) drinking.

Here's how my week panned out, starting from Monday;

Monday

0730 hours - wake up, shower, head to work
1830 hours - finish work and head for football training
2100 hours - finish football training, head for home
2300 hours - have some food and get to bed

Tuesday

0430 hours - wake up, shower, get a taxi to the airport and fly to London
0830 hours - arrive in Kings Cross and head to the London office. Work and travel to two meetings in and around London
1830 hours - flight back to Edinburgh
2000 hours - land back, quick change then out to a work related event for some drinks
0100 hours - get to bed

Wednesday

0730 hours - wake up, shower, head to work
1700 hours - finish work and head to play a football match
1954 hours - sprinting down the line I pull my hamstring and now limp around like I've been shot in the backside.
2030 hours - arrive home after driving all the way back in 3rd gear (I pulled the hamstring of my left leg, so have trouble using the clutch)
2130 hours - nurse the hamstring, have some food and head to bed

Thursday

0730 hours - wake up, shower, head to work
2045 hours - finish work and head home
2100 hours - get forced to go food shopping alone (still limping)
2230 hours - unpack food, have some supper and get to bed

Friday

0430 hours - wake up, shower, get a taxi to the airport and fly to Paris
1000 hours ( GMT+1) - arrive at Paris CDG airport and head to a meeting in the south west of Paris.
1330 hours - have lunch next to the Eiffel Tower in the heat of Paris
1500 hours - head to the Paris office and work for three hours
1830 hours - get a taxi back to the airport and fly back to Edinburgh
1030 hours (GMT) - land back in Edinburgh and head home
2330 hours - get to bed after some food (still limping)

This blog post acts as a reminder that 'me time' is important! Hopefully this week won't be as bad....and the hamstring is one the mend, although I'll be out for another 2 weeks yet.

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Find old Movie, TV Stars and Celebs

2007-04-07T10:45:00.001Z

I've always wondered what happened to loads of my old favourite TV and movie stars. Remember Saved by the Bell? Remember Kelly Kapowski? You know where I'm going with this.

Comedy Central has a great section in its site called 'Where are They Now?' which seeks to find out what old TV and movie celebs are doing now. Ever wonder what happened to Short Round after his apprearences in The Goonies and Indiana Jones? Find out at Short Round's page!

This is a great archive and one I know Comedy Comedy are going to put time and effort into expanding. I've already submitted a request to find the whereabouts of Tom Wilson - aka'Biff Tannen' from Back to the Future.

Looking through the current Where are they Now archive there are some great finds. Ever wondered what Anna Chlumsky (My Girl) looks like now? Well now aged 28 she's a hotty.

Others in the archive include the Karate Kid, Fred Savage from the Wonder Years and Mrs. Mangel from Neighbours.

If you want to suggest an old celeb that you want dug up (hopefully not literally) submit your request at the bottom of the WATN page.

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Drop the Hard Sell Phones4u

2007-04-02T16:17:00.000Z

I consider myself a patient and tolerant guy. I never get annoyed by small things. However having been hammered by the sales team from Phones4u several times over the last 6 months I have to finally vent my frustration....and it seems I'm not alone. Dean Bubley also has a rant in his post here.

It's worth noting that I am a salesperson too, which may mean I notice the 'hard sell' tactics more than others. But for their sales team to stand in their shop doorways shouting "alright mate, you lookin' for a good deal today?" is not going to entice me in - in fact it has the opposite effect.

Just let customers look round and then (if you feel the need) descend on them like a hungry vulture. Standing someone outside the shop won't give you a competitive advantage.

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Skiing Down a London Tube Escalator

2007-03-30T13:49:00.000Z

Ahh it's almost March and I have no posts! Time to make up for it.

Firstly check out the video below. Some crazy chap decided to take it upon himself to find the longest escalator in Europe (at Angel Tube station), ride the escalator to the top and then ski all the way down. Madness. Just wish the video could be slightly clearer. A comedy fall at the end wouldn't go amiss either.

Would have loved to have seen him try and snow plough his way out if he lost his balance.....

Just one of the many videos at the moment that are making the rounds. Another story I read in the Metro this morning was one of President Bush's aide's appearing to do a rap at a black tie dinner in Washington. Needless to say the President didn't look too amused. Or maybe he was just reminiscing about his student years.

For more amusing skiing stories, check out my previous posts about my Tignes ski holiday 2007, and 2006. Enjoy!

Top 10 UK Brands

2007-02-22T19:10:00.002Z

The latest top UK brands survey, published by YouGov can be seen at the bottom of this post.

Data published this week has revealed more organic brands are making inroads to climb rungs on the UK's top brands ladder.

The UK report, jointly compiled by Checkout and market research company Nielsen suggest that consumers are leaning more towards healthy foods. The list of the top 100 brands was compiled based on sales data recorded by Nielsen across over 74,000 grocery stores and supermarkets.

Top of the list again was Coca Cola, although their top position was cemented with strong sales on the 'no sugar' drink Coke Zero.

More interestingly, the fastest growing brand was Innocent Drinks who's healthy, organic smoothie sales have taken the UK by storm. But not only do they provide a great product, they also have a great brand which is slightly quirky. The first time an Innocent smoothie caught my attention was when I was reading the ingredients on the side of the Strawberrys and Bananas 1 litre smoothie packaging. I read all the usual ingredients but didn't expect the word 'pebble' to be included. They were joking of course, but the quirky brand image has no doubt helped them become the UK's fastest growing brand.

And what about the top 10? These are listed below, with each brands annual turnover for 2005.

1. Coca Cola - £942.4m
2. Warburtons - £514.3m
3. Walkers - £424m
4. Hovis - £403.1m
5. Cadbury's Dairy Milk - £361.5m
6. Nescafe - £331.3m
7. Andrex - £326.6m
8. Lucozade - £296.2m
9. Kingsmill - £282.3m
10. Robinson - £277.3m

Innocent Drinks entered at number 63 with £96.3m. For a full list please see AC Nielsen

Update - Brandz Top 100 Survey, published April 2008.

The following list are the top 10 UK brands based on brand value;

1. Vodafone - $36.9m
2. Tesco - $23.2m
3. HSBC - $18.5m
4. Marks and Spencer - $11.6m
5. Barclays - $7.3m
6. Standard Chartered Bank - $6.85m
7. BP - $6.3m
8. Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) - $5.78m
9. Asda - $5.62m
10. Natwest - $4.97m

In terms of the top world brands, the global top 5 brands are as follows (again listed by brand value);

1. Google - $86m
2. General Electric (GE) - $71.3m
3. Microsoft - $70.8m
4. Coca Cola - $58.2m
5. China Mobile - $57.2m

The full list of top brands, broken down by region and other metrics can be found at Brandz.com.

## YouGov Top UK Brands Survey - July 2008 ###

Google has become the UK's top brand, moving up two places from last years poll. No supermarkets made it into the top 100. Asda dropped 253 places, Tesco 230 places and Sainsbury's 194 places.

Top Brands in the UK

1. Google
2. Microsoft
3. Mercedes-Benz
4. BBC
5. British Airways
6. Royal Doulton
7. BMW
8. Bosch
9. Nike
10. Sony

Ice Diving

2007-02-08T19:15:00.000Z

Do what now?

Whilst on our Tignes ski holiday a mate of mine decided to have a go at diving. But not just just any old diving. Ice diving. And not just any old ice diving. He did a night time ice dive under the frozen lake at Tignes Le Lac.

Mark Slater ice diving

The bloke is fairly experienced having done over 40 dives previously, but that didn't stop the nerves!

Pull on a dry suit, be well briefed and breathe slowly. Covered in hood, gloves and a full face diving mask and equipped with a torch he submerged himself and began the ice dive. Safety ropes beneath the ice were using to mark escape holes.

Ice diving is a great experience aparently. Having said that I'll just wait for a PADI course and stick to scuba diving in warmer climates. The only drawback for ice diving at night means visibility is limited. Well done Slater!

Yet another Tignes Ski Holiday!

2007-02-04T18:23:00.000Z

It's that time of year again. The boys have returned from another jolly to Tignes, a year on from the epic ski holiday that made us famous amongst the locals of Tignes le Lavachet.

This year the numbers were cut to just three - but that didn't stop the banter, abuse and 'professional chat'. Yes the boys were once again let loose on a boozy week, free from their oh-so responsible jobs.

As with last years Tignes ski holiday, this was again booked as a late deal through Ski World. Although not as professional as Ski Olympic (it was £100 less) the chalet was nice and the 3 course meal each night filled an energetic stomach.

If last years ski holiday set the standards for drinking, this holiday surpassed last years. Free wine all night with dinner didn't help.....neither did the task of beating the chalets drinking record - 80 litres of wine in one week. It was only rude not to try.

Speaking of records, we were not alone in Chalet Les Martins this year. Accompanied by a another group of 3 and a group of 4, this all blokes chalet gave the 80 litres a good shot (we couldn't be beaten by Auzzies or Kiwi's - leave that to the cricketers). Anyhow back to the records. This year it was alledged that one of our fellow chalet guests holds a Guinness World Record for the Longest Nipple Hair. No joke.

We'll come back to the booze in a second. First let's concentrate on the snow conditions. Prior to setting off we chose Tignes again because it is a snow sure resort. The coach transfer from Lyon is always a good indication of how much snow we are likely to see as you can check the level of snow at Bourg St. Maurice (the final station on the snow train line). There was none. Oh dear.

Needless to say the first couple of days in Tignes was not the best skiing, although the piste bashers did their best to sure up the slopes. Then, as predicted, the clouds moved in and the snow fell non-stop from Monday afternoon all the way through to Tuesday morning. Our first run down to Tignes Les Brevieres was very deep powder, and most enjoyable run of the week. Sorted for the rest of the holiday!

As it happens we also planned a couple of fancy dress nights out - well, it would be rude not too as it was Burn's Night on the 25th January and Australia Day on the 26th. So we came prepared.

Each morning (even at the airport) we started breakfast with a Bloody Mary, and the morning of the 25th was no different - except we wore kilts and Jimmy hats to breakfast. In fact we skiied in Jimmy hats and kilts all day. Great stuff. I must point out we didn't ski in just kilts - falling over into snow wearing nothing but your kilt could be very cold on you crown jewels. Instead we skiied with the kilts over the salopettes - which leads into the story of the holiday....

Up to the Thursday the week had been relatively uneventful on the slopes. The second lift we took was the Aiguille Percee and at the top my kilt somehow got caught on the chair! As the others skiied off I tried to wriggle free and ended up ripping the kilt and tripping the safety bar before being dragged off the mountain. If that wasn't bad enough I had to wear the kilt like a nappy the rest of the day! Shameless.
One of our party (who will remain nameless) was given a 'deep tissue' massage mid-morning on the Thursday. He was so 'relaxed' apparently that he had to abuse himself and then sleep for the rest of the day! The masseuse was called Robbie.
Onto the weeks nightly entertainment. Following copious amounts of wine over dinner we headed out into Tignes le Lac. This year Angelbar and Yeti bar were top dogs, but Le Brasero again takes the plaudits for Apres-Ski bar of the Year 2007. Thanks again Nic and Karen!

As with one of our previous ski holidays, Roehampton University ski club were on their annual trip, which was always nice for banter and drinking sessions. Shame about the projectile vomit photo though eh?!

Drink of the week has to be the Mint Aero, discovered and served in Jam Bar. Vodka, Kahlua, Creme de Menthe and topped up with milk. Delightful.

Joke of the Week (and told to various strangers on ski lifts);

It's bin day at the Close and number 26 has forgot to put his bin out so the bin man knocks at the door and a Chinese man answers.

Binman: "Where's your bin mate?"
Chineseman: "I been on toywet.."
Binman: "No, no. Where's you wheelie bin?"
Chineseman: "Orr, you got me, I wheelie been avin w**k"

Chuckle. The best wheelie bin joke ever. And so another Tignes ski holiday comes to an end. Bring on next year!

Keyword Suggestion Tools

2007-02-02T17:16:00.000Z

Maybe internet users have finally had enough of the tortoise-like Overture keyword tool. Maybe the Google Keyword Suggestion tool was too vague. Or maybe it's the week for releasing new, free keyword suggestion tools for search marketers and online search managers to analyse and ponder over.

Here's a quick overview of the free keyword suggestion tools on the market;

Overture Keyword Assistant - UK.overture.com

Probably the most well known tool around. Unfortunately due to the high volume of usage this tool moves as slow as a slug. Although fairly useful the data provided is only relevant to the number of searches conducted on the Yahoo! engine. It also has 'singular' and 'plural' issues in that it may provide volumes for 'cheap flight' but not 'cheap flights'.

Google AdWords Keyword Tool - https://adwords.google.co.uk/select/KeywordToolExternal

Google's tool is more widely used for Paid Search (PPC) campaigns, but is useful to inform keyword selections for an organic search campaign. This tool will provide rough search volumes, and even search trends but will not provide exact figures on the number of searches conducted on Google.

Like the Overture keyword suggestion tool, the Google Keyword Tool can be used across many different markets and languages. It can even analyse the keywords used across a particular site.

Wordtracker - http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/

This was a new tool unveiled by Wordtracker earlier this week. Wordtracker are famous for having a paid-for keyword suggestion tool, so it was nice to see them provide a free tool.

Similar to the Overture keyword suggestion tool in terms of layout, Wordtracker uses a specific formula to track the estimated daily search volume of keywords. More information on their methodology can be found here.

KeywordDiscovery (Trellian) - http://www.keyworddiscovery.com/search.html

Last but not least KeywordDiscovery have launched their free version of a keyword suggestion tool this week. The main Trellian tool is popular across the pond and this tool is possibly my favourite of the three.

KeywordDiscovery generates the top 100 keywords from data collected from across 180 search engines worldwide, providing a more global slant on its results.

The main Trellian keyword suggestion tool also organises keywords into industry specific categories - very useful but requires a subscription.

Yahoo! Site Explorer Badge

2007-01-30T22:00:00.001Z

That's right folks, blogging is back. After 2 months solid work (ok, and some play) be prepared for many a blog post!

First of out the blocks this week is Yahoo's update to it's Site Explorer tool. Yahoo have provided a list of updates and new tools at their blog.

The cool new tool (to drive links naturally) is their new Yahoo! badge which shows the number of links pointing to a particular page or site.

For example, the number of links pointing to the Simon's Jamjar site is...

Links to Site

Hmmm. Seems to be a few teething problems. Keep it coming though Yahoo!

How to Fail an Exam

2006-11-28T20:22:00.000Z

I got send this through a guy at work yesterday - very amusing! Even tempted to add this to the quirky phrases page! Admit it, we all knew someone at school who would do something stupid like this, just for the laugh.

Lets be honest answers like this won't get you into Harvard and on nice luxurious ski trips!

So let's see exactly how to fail an exam.

Here we see a fantastic description of...well...a graph.

Not bad. Next is a typical science question....or was this mistaken for a receipe-writing cookery exam?

And finally this has to be the answer to many of those unanswered questions. Those pesky aliens.

Recall Beckham?

2006-10-11T12:17:00.000Z

Do we want to? Really? It's a question that has been on many an Englishmans lips after the stuttering Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.

And now there is a site designed to question the football loving public - should McClaren recall Beckham?

Vote to recall Beckham now at http://www.bringbackbeckham.com

Can Beckham really still add benefit to the England team? Look at the World Cup finals in Germany this year - Beckham assisted or had a hand in most of Englands goals. On the other hand his aging legs are beginning to get the better of him.

McClaren wants his England team to play with 'pace and penetration' something Beckham certainly can't provide. In my opinion he is still one of the best 25 English footballers. Should he be recalled? I think now is the time. One last swan song for Euro 2008.

Let's see how many votes roll in!

Update!

Since the site went live on Sunday evening there has been a huge response from those wanting to Bring Back Beckham! So much so infact that the sites owner and webmaster has had the story published in The Sun newspaper and online!

To give you the true scale of the uptake of the site, there was only 428 recall votes as of this morning (13th October). There are now over 2,400...

Looks like Golden Balls still has a few fans! I wonder if McClaren has voted?.....

Carphone Warehouse buys AOL UK

2006-10-11T11:04:00.000Z

Breaking news this morning - and it's a biggy in the internet world! The BBC Reports Carphone Warehouse has bought AOL UK for around £370 million.

The Carphone Warhouse has an aggressive internet strategy already and currently runs the largest chain of mobile phone stores in the UK. The Carphone Warehouse has said that it will be keeping the AOL name.

AOL will provide provide a co-branded portal and will manage the online advertising sales for the Carphone Warehouse's broadband customer base through a revenue-sharing deal.

After the deal the Carphone Warehouse will become the third largest broadband provider in the UK, behind ntl:Telewest and BT.

The other short-listed bidder is thought to have been BSkyB. The deal will be officially concluded in December this year.

Xabi Alonso Goal against Newcastle

2006-09-21T19:00:00.000Z

Football's a funny old game - one day talking about football bungs, the next day talking about goals of the season.

I only just saw Xabi Alonso's goal earlier today and what a scorcher. A bit fortunate with the Newcastle goalkeeper slipping, but full credit to Xavi Alonso nonetheless!

For those who haven't seen the goal yet, check out the clip below;

Great goal. Now here's a question. Which goal is better - Xabi Alonso's goal against Newcastle, or David Beckham's goal against Wimbledon in 1996...

For me Beckham wins as the Wimbledon keeper doesn't slip. Great to compare side-by-side!

What do you think? - Alonso or Beckham??

Tags: Alonso goal Liverpool football

Football Bungs - BBC lifts the lid

2006-09-19T21:56:00.000Z

BBC 1. 10:15pm. BBC's Panorama programme has just finished and the lid on football's bung culture looks to have been lifted. Programme clips are even making the evening news. This looks like the start of something big, and could have a devastating effect on the shape of football.
Perhaps surprisingly was the level of involvement from Bolton Wanderers, not just surrounding manager Sam Allardyce, but also his son Craig Allardyce and Chief Executive Phil Gartside. From the sting set up by the Panorama undercover 'agents' it looks like Bolton have been well and truly caught with their pants down.

The whole issue of bungs in football was mainly thrown into the media spotlight earlier this year by Luton Town boss Mike Newell. Newell also played a part in the programme and looks looks to have rigged the explosives that the BBC have detonated.

Three main football agents were also highlighted as having dodgy, back hand dealings in the game with managers. Charles Collymore (the surname alone should ring alarm bells!), an agent of Fadiga at Bolton, Craig Allardyce, son of Bolton boss and agent for the likes of Hidetoshi Nakata and Ali Al Habsi (both at Bolton) and finally Teni Yerima, who again claims to have done illegal bung deals with Sam Allardyce.

But the main football agent caught in the act is Peter Harrison, a well known football agent with clients such as Andy Todd and Lucas Neill of Blackburn. He was also involved in the deal which saw Eidur Gudjohnsen move from Chelsea to - yep you've guessed it - Bolton Wanderers. Bungs involved? Who knows.

Harry Redknapp and former assistant Kevin Bond were also secretly filmed, along with Liverpool's scouts. All three escaped relatively unharmed, but even being part of the programme will no doubt cast an eye over their recent transfer dealings.

And lastly good old Chelsea were back in the limelight AGAIN, this time with Frank Arnesen caught tapping up Middlesborough youngster Nathan Porritt.

Oh dear oh dear. Looks like one hell of a mess, and with the former Met chief leading an official investigation this looks like the beginning of the end for football's bung culture.

What do you think? Allardyce to be sacked and stripped of a coaching license? Chelsea to be docked three points? More? 5 or more Premiership clubs to lose their manager to bung related allegations?

Answers on a postcard please....

Tags: Football bung panorama yerima

Nabaztag Rabbit - Beats the Duracel Bunny

2006-08-31T17:40:00.000Z

A Nabaztag what I hear you cry? A nabaztag bunny rabbit is a quirky new invention designed to liven up your workplace or your home (if your very lonely).

Nabaztag is a Wifi connected 'smart rabbit' which will convey messages sent to it by email or mp3 file. Sounds a little dull, but is actually quite amusing if your on the move and want to spark a little office humour! The best bit is you can choose the type of voice you want your message read out in. At the moment this is limited to American and French (there's a joke there somewhere) but messages can still be hilarious depending on the content. Beats a WiFi lamppost anyway!

Thinking out of the box, Nabaztag is actually a pretty useful gadget. If you want a message conveyed quickly without relying on your message recipient reading their email, then the nabaztag rabbit can pass on the message for you and alert your unknowing recipient.

Think of Nabaztag as a Duracel bunny, crossed with a Tamagotchi, crossed with a wireless device, crossed with an email reader, crossed with a hormonal French-American and you might get somewhere near an accurate description.

No doubt this gadget will remain cool for a whole month and then users will become bored, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts. It is quite amusing getting the Nabaztag rabbit to read out random quirky phrases too - especially since the senders name is anonymous....

Have a look through Nabaztag.com for more information!

Tags: Nabaztag gadget

Idiotwork Videos

2006-08-25T19:35:00.001Z

For those who haven't seen one of the 'mash ups' from Idiotwork, you're missing out on the best waste of a lunchtime! Idiotwork video clips are hilarious. The guys at Idiotwork produce short film clips by merging the dialgoue of a film with a cartoon. Sounds corny, but that all depends on the dialogue!

This is the latest in video virals so check them out at Idiotwork.com.

Two of my favourite mash ups are the Big He-Bowski (a mash up of He-Man and the Big Lebowski) and TPS (shown below).

T.P.S (This Place Sucks) is a mash up of the comedy Office Space with the all the superheros. Check out the TPS mash up below, courtesy of YouTube.

For those who have seen Office Space, wait for the moment when Drew is introduced (around 02:57). Brilliant.

Tags: Idiotwork tps viral

GNER WiFi - Blogging on the Move!

2006-07-27T16:58:00.000Z

This is quite a revelating experience, and one I felt I had to share. Constructing a blog post whilst sitting on a GNER train travelling between London and Edinburgh. At the same time I'm using Wifi whizzing past fields of sheep - slightly surreal!

No doubt this is the technology of the future and sooner or later some clever chap will produce Wifi on aeroplanes (heck, they've started putting wifi into lampposts!), but for the moment I'm enjoying my GNER Wifi.

GNER are currently promoting a free Wifi trial that will soon become a payment service for all. £2.95 isn't too bad for 30 minutes - and it is pretty worthwhile, for the pure experience if nothing else!

No doubt the easiest way to travel between Edinburgh and London is by flying. easyJet and BA have regular flights and if you book well enough in advance a flight will cost around £80 return. With easyJets online check-in service it means I can also spend an extra 30 minutes in bed. Glorious.

Anyhow, a big thumbs up to GNER for their wireless service - not lost the connection once and the speed is pretty quick too. GNER WiFi - A+.

Tags: WiFi GNER

Frolics at the Frankfurt Fan Zone

2006-07-02T15:31:00.000Z

Travelling again? Yep, and thoroughly enjoyable once again! Having travelled only once to Germany before, I decided that it would simply be rude not to grace the fatherland with my presence once again. And what better time to do it than during the World Cup.

With friends based literally 400 yards from the fan zone in Frankfurt we had a great base to join in the festivities (and drinking).

The focal point of the fan zone in Frankfurt was a giant screen that was erected in the middle of the Main river, providing an ideal viewpoint for all the World Cup games.

Although there was no game in Frankfurt whilst we were there, we managed to catch all the Germany vs. Sweden second round game at the fan zone, with the Germans brushing aside the Swedes in a 2-0 victory.

As usual I did manage to do a few touristy things too (as well as drink myself silly with German beer and Jagermeister) and can't emphasize enough how nice the German brunches are in Frankfurt. Having a few too many pints the night before prohibited my food intake the next morning, but even still the food was great!

Catching up with my old buddies from UNCW is always a laugh from swapping old (and still embarrassing) stories to exploring the ever-so-gay centric erotic shop at Frankfurt-Hahn airport.....the less said about that the better.

Being English it was slightly against my morals to be stood in a crowd of German supporters in Frankfurt during the second round game, but I wish them all the best. Heck, they've done better than England - again. We should take some penalty taking lessons from them though. It's a sore spot.

Tags: frankfurt football

BBC Interview Blooper

2006-05-20T14:48:00.000Z

Laugh. Lots.

I credit the BBC for being one of the best news portals on the web, but it just so happens that each time they make an error on live TV, they do it with style.

For those who haven't seen this yet, this is a great blooper involving Guy Goma. The interview was meant to talk about the legal battle between the Beatles Apple Corp and Apple over the use of an apple logo.

The BBC were meant to be interviewing Guy Kewney, a technology expert. Instead, Guy Goma a cabbie with an apparent French accent was interviewed instead.

For the best laugh, watch the video, paying particular attention to the mans face when he gets introduced.

Tags: blooper bbc

A short and sweet trip to Lyon

2006-05-18T19:38:00.000Z

'Vive la France' as they say. Yet another business trip, and yet another country and this time my travels took me to the lovely city of Lyon in France.

Although I spent less than 24 hours in the city of Lyon, it is so compact that you can get from one end of the city to the other within 40 minutes. So here are some plus points for those looking to take a long weekend break, but don't fancy the usual weekend retreats.

The only other time I've travelled near Lyon is earlier in the year when we passed through the airport to go skiing. I guess the only negative point is the airport is around a 40 minute drive from the city centre, but if your in no rush then soak up the tarmac.

Lyon is split into many parts, and is intersected in various locations by the Rhone and Saone rivers. The original medieval city (known as Vieux Lyon - Old Lyon) was built on the west bank of the Saonne river and houses some great views from the Cathedrale Saint-Jean.

Ok, enough of the geography lesson. Lyon has lots of museums and galleries if that floats your boat, but I'm more interested in food and drink.

For great restaurants, head between the rivers to Rue Merciere - a narrow cobbled street with nothing but restaurants on both sides. I had a fabulous three course meal (with steak and a bottle of red, of course) at Le Bistrot de Lyon for 25 euros. Makes Edinburgh look highly expensive...

For great beers, there are lots of little hideaways from the Eden Rock Cafe (also on Rue Merciere) to the Smoking Dog pub which is in Vieux Lyon (great pints of Guinness). Although I only had a couple of beers, I have been informed the nightlife in Lyon is not bad either, but save it for a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night.

Lyon is certainly on the travel agenda for the future, but next time Ill probably make it a long weekend....

Tags: lyon

Metatarsals and Penalties

2006-05-01T11:22:00.003Z

The downfalls of England's last few European and World Cup attempts.

The latest victim of the broken metatarsal disease is Wayne Rooney, on whom much of England's World Cup hopes are pinned. Rooney has broken a metatarsal in his right foot, and will be out for at least six weeks meaning he will miss all England's group matches. Rooney also suffered a broken metatarsal against Portugal in the Quarter Finals of Euro 2004.

Ledley King is also said to be suffering from a metatarsal injury, but again hopes to be fit for the finals.

Fractures of the metatarsal bone may look minimal, but the pain and discomfort that come with a small fracture is incomparable.

Back in 2002 (again just before a World Cup) David Beckham broke his second metatarsal in a Champions League quarter final. This was 2 months before the start of the World Cup, and we all now know that he was nowhere near fit enough to undergo 90 minutes.

England are good enough to go a considerable way without Rooney, but lets still hope his metatarsal recovers in time for the latter stages of the World Cup in Germany.

And then there's penalties. Not meaning to sound like a Carlsberg advert but England's penalty dramas have probably caused more heart attacks than scary ghost tours.

Waddle and Pearce in 1990, Gareth Southgate in 1996, David Batty in 1998, and David Beckham and Darius Vassell in 2004. So lets hope with or without metatarsal injuries England have been practicing their spot kicks.

PJ Tracy. Great Author, Great Books

2006-04-14T15:37:00.000Z

Have you ever asked a barber who cuts their hair? How about asking a dentist who looks after their teeth? Right now, if I was an author and I wanted a thriller writer to write a book, I'd turn to PJ Tracy.

If the truth be known, I'm not much of reader. Granted I will read on a relaxing beach holiday, but there needs to be more hours in the day if I am to get through a tree-worth of books in my lifetime.

PJ Tracy however are books I cannot put down. For those not in the know, PJ Tracy is a pseudonym for a mum and daughter writing team - one based in Minnesota and one in Colorado.

I was hooked by their debut hit 'Want to Play?' (read on Fort Lauderdale beach) and was equally as enthralled by 'Live Bait' (read on a beach in Cornwall). The books are simply slick and engaging.

Now I'm onto PJ Tracy's third offering - Dead Run (being read in cold Edinburgh, Scotland). A thriller about a little fictional town in Hicksville where an accident leads to bloodshed, and the usual characters are intertwined in an ever thickening plot. For those who have never read any of the PJ Tracy books, I will not elaborate on any of the stories but strongly urge you to pick up one of their books and give it a try.....you won't be disappointed!

The best part is it's winter (ish) and there is no beach in site, so if this blog post isn't enough of a testimonial to the talents of PJ Tracy, I'm not sure what is!

Their latest offering, Snow Blind, will be available from September 2006.

Lessons in Choosing Domain Names

2006-04-07T17:11:00.000Z

For the average internet user, it's not difficult to choose a URL or domain name. Heck if I can be creative enough to think of good blog name, anyone can do it.

The great thing about my job is that I get to look at about 20 new websites per day, ranging from large Blue Chips through to start-up companies. Pandora for instance is a superb site that is quickly becoming bookmarked in the online community.

So I thought I'd share with you some sites with deplorable domain names. If Whoopee Goldberg married a chap called Tim Cushion, do you think she'd keep her maiden name? I'd put my house on it.

So here's a small collection to convey just how simple domain names could be construed as something completely different...

www.expertsexchange.com
That's right. Experts Exchange is a knowledge base where programmers
can exchange advice and views, not for those looking for a different direction in life.

www.whorepresents.com
This is a database for agencies to the rich and famous, not a specialist Christmas shopping site.

www.penisland.net
Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island....

www.powergenitalia.com
There is the Italian power company. Bodybuilders need not get excited by this site.

I think it's safe to say be careful what you choose as your domain name. And from a search engine perspective, you don't want to found under a unexpected keyword....

Tags:domains

Smoking Ban Scotland - Breathe Again!

2006-03-25T11:59:00.000Z

From the 26th March smoking in public places in Scotland will be banned. No cigarettes. No cigars. No tobacco. Smoke free, clean air.

From my point of view this is not before time. I am a non-smoker and have lead a very active, sporty life without being tempted to smoke by social peer pressure. For me the smoking ban in Scotland will mean going to the pub in the evenings, or on a night out and come home smelling smoke and tobacco free. But rising above all the political talk of saving lives and improving Scotland's woeful health record (what's wrong with a black pudding supper??) it is also likely to have a profound financial effect on pubs. Debate has been raging for months about whether pubs will survive the smoking ban. The truth is pubs will close and jobs will be lost. Being realistic though smokers will have to embrace the ban - they have no choice. Besides how are folk like me able to tell if a pub is busy or not from now on? Just check the number of smokers huddling outside!

This was a great way of pub spotting when I was in New York, which has had a smoking ban for many years.

Although I have a feeling talking about the smoking ban in Scotland and actually conforming to the ban may be the real talking point.

I was talking to a taxi driver who had a great point about working mens clubs. Guys well over the age of 70 have been going to working mens clubs for a pint and a cigarette for years. Now - is the same barman who has been serving these guys for years now going to tell them they have to go outside for a smoke? No chance!

I think the same can be said for many other pubs and clubs too. Enforcing the ban may be the real issue.

Nonetheless, I am going to enjoy a smokeless Scotland! If the Irish can do it...We'll just wait and see how long England takes to catch up!

Tags:scotland smokingban

Favourite Quirky Phrases

2006-03-24T20:28:00.000Z

The English language is fantastic isn't it? There are so many dialects and so many accents. Even travelling for as little as 30 minutes between one city and the next and you can notice the difference. Liverpool and Manchester, Yorkshire and Lancashire, Suffolk and London.

And with these accent and dialect changes comes a wealth of different phrases. Some music to your ears (how I love the Irish accent), and some not. For those who have lived in different locations around the UK you will notice the differences in not only how people talk, but the way they talk.

I have heard some quality quirky phrases recently, and some certainly worth sharing in the public domain so they can be picked up and talked about in the local pub.

So - top three favourite phrases plucked from TV and good old fashioned banter.

At 3 a nice one by Oscar Wilde used in the corporate world and even by posh toffs. Best used for those who have a 'lively' persona.

"The only thing worse than being talked about, is not being talked about"

It was a close race for number two, but in the end it had to go to the quirky one. I first heard this phrase during our Tignes ski trip, and it makes me chuckle each time I think about it. Not sure where it came from, never sure when to use it but still funny.

"....wetter than an Otter's pocket....."

Having done a little more research however, it seems the Urban Dictionary can shed more light on the phrase.

And at number one a phrase that is used by many....and....well...is just superb. Whenever someone pulls a face for something they don't like, pull this out of your personal vocabulary and it'll have your audience is stitches.

"He's got a face like a bulldog licking piss off a nettle"

Funny though how when we Brits are abroad, foreigners generally won't notice the accent differences between one British city and the next. And vice-versa. I'll be the first to admit that I couldn't tell the difference between a Lyon accent and that of a Parisian.

Could you imagine trying to translate 'wetter than an Otter's pocket' into French? Good luck with that one.

And that's why English is great.

July Update - just heard another brilliant phrase that had be rolling around on the floor, howling with laughter. So not to offend this is a small disclaimer to say I have nothing against ladies who like to have lots of children...

Anyhow, talking briefly during pre-season training about a chap who is now engaged to a lady who has had 6 children already, it was proposed that the lady in question had "a fanny the size of a wizards sleeve"

October Update - there are just so many quirky phrases it is difficult to fit them all into one blog post!

Here are a few more to wet the appetite!

"Tis far better to be pissed off than to be pissed on son"

Always a common one at Uni for those in need of 'number two';

"I've got to go and drop the kids off at the pool"...

Why not help me out! Send me some of your quirky and amusing phrases!

A Wicked, Wicked Musical

2006-03-14T17:44:00.000Z

I'm getting excited about a musical again - I think I should be worried. This time its Wicked the Musical, a musical about the wicked witches from the Wizard of Oz. I have said in previous posts that its takes a lot for me to go 'wow', but I was lucky to be at the press launch of Wicked the Musical, and it had me charmed!

Wicked covers the untold story about the witches of Oz and will be performed at the London Apollo theatre from September this year.

So why am I getting excited? I guess it's because I had a first hand glimpse of the history of the show, its huge success on Broadway and the fact I had a lovely girl sing some of the music and lyrics to me. Well - not just me. Sigh.

The New York Times has said that Wicked the Musical is "Broadway's biggest Blockbuster", which is a very large shout considering their are some fantastic musicals on the circuit at the moment. So I think I'll take a trip to the Apollo theatre and judge the musical for myself in September.

Tickets are going fast too - apparently Wicked sold over 100,000 tickets in just one hour when they went on sale at the beginning on March. I have vivid images on this being pretty big when it comes out...

Tags:musical wicked

Lynx Clicker Advert

2006-03-12T13:17:00.000Z

Fantastic advertising by Unilever. The new Lynx clicker advert has taken the UK by storm, and on an average night out you'll probably find groups of guys going round with their very own Lynx clicker, clicking each time a girl makes a pass at them. Genius piece of marketing.

For those who haven't seen the Lynx clicker ad, it stars Ben Affleck who goes about a typical day shopping and eating etc, but each time a girl gives him 'a look' or the eye, a click gets counted. At the end of the day he gets into a lift with another guy and they compare the total number of clicks. Ben Affleck's is around 239, the other guys is over 2000. Why? Because he uses Lynx (the deodorant, not a Lynx test browser).

And now the Lynx clickers are available to buy on eBay, nights out in a club are filled with groups of guys going round clicking their Lynx clicker, totalling the number of passes they've had during the night. I'm thinking of buying one for a few of my mates, but making sure the clicker doesn't pass the tenth click....

Lynx clickers are selling for around £6 on eBay, so get one and sell it on - they're hot property!

Better than the Sony Bravia advert? No chance.

Have a look at the Lynx Clicker advert below...

St. Patrick's Day - Its Guinness time!

2006-03-09T21:30:00.000Z

St. Patrick's Day - one of my favourite days of the year. Not that any of us need an excuse to drink copious amouts of the black stuff, but three of four pints of Guinness does not go amiss on St. Patrick's Day!

So let the preparations begin! Funny how the real Guinness drinkers sup the stuff all year round, but when it comes to St. Paddy's Day the part-time Guinness drinkers are always noticeable; they are usually slumped asleep by the bar after five pints. Pah. Amateurs.

I might even go wild and bake a Guinness cake - pretty tasty, but then again the taste buds go numb sometime around lunchtime on the 17th March each year...

And this year St. Patricks Day is on a Friday, so I'm going to take a stab and say the average number of people who call in sick next Friday will increase by 110%. 'Slainte' guys!!

So, the best things to do on St. Patrick's Day, 17th March;

Go to Dublin - what better way to celebrate St.Patrick's Day than with the Irish on the Emerald Isle, drinking the proper black stuff.
Take the day off work and have an all-day session. Come on, its Saturday the next day.
Get a Guinness hat and act like a fool. Same as any other day, but now with a hat.
If your lonely, turn on your computer, hook up to the internet, listen to music online with Pandora, get absolutely BLOTO with Guinness then go and stupidly buy a Nabaztag Rabbit and pretent it's your new best friend.

Finally, lets get the pint of Guinness joke of of the way. It lasts for about two weeks after St. Patricks Day each year, but is necessary. Just because.

So, a pint of Guinness is blonde on top, but the

body is generally darker.

Enjoy the drinking!

Dubai - A Cultural Delight

2006-03-05T17:08:00.000Z

After recently returning from a short trip to Dubai, I have to confess that I was truly amazed by the place and the cultural merge between Western and local Arabic civilization.

Although I wasn't in Dubai long I had to get a sense of what the 'real' Dubai was like. Many of the new and popular hotels house a Starbucks, a Costa Coffee and other famous Western brands - all nice, but not for me on this trip. After business was finished I was told to get away from central Dubai and the Jumeira area, and head into the desert.

Great advice. Only a 45 minute drive from the Dubai coast puts you in the middle of the desert, with only the distant Bedu village preachers to be heard in the distance. Ok, I'm lying. The increasing tourist trade means that venturing out on a desert safari ensures you probably won't be alone for long. Nonetheless, its quiet enough.

You, friends or strangers, a guide, a 4x4, water and away you go! Above all else a desert safari in Dubai is one of the best experiences. Powering over sand dunes, camel riding, quid bike dune jumping and soaking up desert camp like. Even sandboarding is great fun - if you've got good balance (and nothing valuable in your pockets!). Finish off the evening with a great meal, smoking a shisha and boogying with a professional belly dancer. I thank you...

HOTELS, HOTELS and more HOTELS. It is fact that Dubai currently has 20% of the world's cranes. No surprise. Development in currently underway on the Burj Dubai - planned to be the world's tallest building. But there are many exceptional hotels to look around in Dubai, many of which are owned by the Jumeirah group. The Jumeirah Emirates Towers epitomises the Dubai skyline, with two tall pointed towers the focal point for one of the central regions. Its also houses two great bars! Vu's Bar on the 51st floor has one of the best views of the city and has been votes one of the best bars in the world, and Scarlett's Bar in the shopping centre is also a popular place during the week.

The hotel that normally grabs the attention though is the sail-shaped Burj Al Arab hotel, further down the coast. Amazing place, and somewhere I'll never be able to afford!

I only wish I had more time to explore, but it could be interesting to go back in 5 years time and see the difference the developments have made. Expats that have lived in Dubai for over 3 years will tell you how fast the city has changed. Dubai - development central. If you ever get the chance to go - don't turn down the opportunity!!

Dubai Information - see TimeOut

The Sony Bravia Advert - Funky and Fun!

2006-03-02T19:53:00.000Z

View the Sony BRAVIA advert at the bottom of this blog post! The Sony BRAVIA advert that was aired in the new year is fantastic. Adverts normally bore me senseless, but you couldn't help but gawk at the TV screen when this advert came on.

If you haven't seen it, it was set amongst the rolling roads of San Francisco and Sony released thousands (250,000 to be exact) of bouncy balls down a steep, empty street. What a sight...

And it gets funnier. Releasing 250,000 bouncy balls down a street can be pretty destructive, so even the camera crew had to wear protective clothing to ensure they didn't get hurt! Imagine the insurance claim - 'Cause of Injury: impact by thousands of bouncy balls'. Nice.

There is even one frame in the Sony BRAVIA advert where they catch a frog jumping out of a drainpipe - nice touch. At first I honestly thought the advert was done through clever graphics, but the Sony BRAVIA team have released brief footage of how they filmed the advert - well worth a look!

Without doubt this is one of the best adverts around, but as usual, it's not just the images and footage that made this ad. The song 'Heartbeats' from Jose Gonzalez was the perfect complement to the advert and really made it superb.

It's been said before, but I'd like to see more adverts like this, more often. So a big round of applause to Sony BRAVIA for making adverts worth watching again!

UPDATED
------------

Thanks to the wonder of Google Video, the Sony BRAVIA advert can be seen here - so if you haven't seen it yet, have a peek!

Listen to Music Online with Pandora!

2006-02-16T13:44:00.000Z

Now this is an impressive music site. For those who get bored trying to fiddle around with online music from Yahoo! or NME then you'll be pleased to know that this site is a breath of fresh air. Pandora.com is marketed as the 'Music Genome Project' where the average Joe can find and listen to music online, or through a stereo.

In simple terms, you can pick one of your favourite songs or musical artists and Pandora will search its ever expanding music catalogue and present you with music that is similar in genre or musical style to the artist or song you chose. The best bit is that Pandora will highlight bands and songs that you've NEVER heard of, but it will keep churning them out for you to listen to all day long! So, if like me you want to listen to some background music while you work, Pandora is the perfect accompaniment to get you through the day.

In essence, Pandora's aim is to let you discover new music and listen to it whenever you want. They also welcome positive feedback on their blog and there are now ways to let you play the online music through your stereo. Look over their blog for how to do this.

You'll have probably guessed that this blog is all about quirky and innovative products and services, but Pandora is one of the best so far. It beats the WiFi Lamppost, but not Siemens' paper TV's!

Pandora also work with iTunes, so any great songs you discover can be stored in your 'favourites', and can be bought and downloaded at iTunes for you to burn to CD, or simply expand your personal music collection. Mine certainly needs expanding, and I don't listen to half the music.

Pandora.com is currently being developed in the USA, so if you do want to listen to music after the free trial then don't be out off by the USA address you have to enter. According to their blog, it will soon be developed specifically for the UK and other countries in the near future.

What impressed me is that Pandora's music library is much more extensive than Yahoo! For instance, a small band such as the Thirteen Senses would not be recognised by Yahoo!, but Pandora picks them up no problem and will provide you with similar music to listen too. Great stuff!

I thinks its so good that I've added a link at the bottom of this post for people to try it our for themselves. Just type your favourite musical artist or song, and see what music Pandora comes up with!

Needless to say, this is becoming a hot topic online as more and more people are discovering its innovative approach to discovering and listening to new music. Sign up while you can, and keep an eye if they go public - it could be a good investment. In fact I'd put my money on Google buying this in the future for one of its music projects....

Enjoy Pandora!

Team Building by Paintball - its absolute Bedlam!

2006-02-11T12:41:00.000Z

Paintballing is now my new favorite past time. There is nothing more satisfying than hearing the yelp as you plant a perfect sniper shot on one of your colleagues backsides!

Bedlam paintball was a great laugh, and something I'd certainly do again. There are different games from skirmish and capture the flag, to everyman for himself or last man standing. No matter what game, if you've got to get rid of 600 paintballs its fairly likely you'll get trigger happy!

I'd recommend Bedlam Paintball for a group of 12 or more, but just be patient with the guns as the paint can clog them!

Jamjar Home

Google lays down the law to BMW Germany

2006-02-07T19:30:00.000Z

Oh dear. The latest big name to fall under the knife of the irrepressible Google.

Last week it was revealed that Google had removed the BMW.de site from its algorithm because of 'unethical' techniques that are non-compliant with Google's website guidelines.

According to Matt Cutts, one of Google's bloggers it is down to the search giant ramping up its crackdown on international webspam.

BMW have now tried to rectify the issue, however I hope they were not too reliant on search engine traffic.

And the moral of this story ladies and gentlemen? Google doesn't give a stuff if your a big brand or a new start up company. In it's quest to provide the most relevant search results you need to obtain results ethically. Google's notion of 'Don't be Evil' certainly takes presidence in this case.

It could also be useful to discover if, and when, BMW Germany get reinstated.

UPDATED
-------
It must be the fastest Google reinclusion in history! I think because this was such a high profile news story BMW benefited greatly. Welcome back to Ricoh also!

Google's BigDaddy data centres are on the march, so look out for a faster, deeper indexing Google over the next few months.

Jamjar Home

Whatto chaps! Lets ski, ski, ski!

2006-02-01T21:26:00.002Z

For those big and small, young and old, there is nothing more exciting than a lads ski holiday. A week away from work and time to relax (which in this case means ski, eat and booze. Lots).

This time it was a late deal booked through internet ski giant Iglu Ski. Although unimpressed with the booking itself and the almost invisible rep at the airport, this holiday in Tignes was second to none.

January is a fantastic time to go skiing - no kids, quiet pistes and you can get roudy without offending too many people.

Although Tignes is not the prettiest of resorts, it's a high, snow sure resport, with plenty of good bars. Depending of what kind of night your wanting (and which part of Tignes your located) there are lots of bars to suit all tastes. We were located in Tignes La Lavachet, one of the quieter areas, but the Brasero and Scotty's Bar kept us content with beer and shots!

After an afternoon's skiing (especially finishing off with Trolles, the ONLY run available to get you back to Tignes La Lavachet), there's nothing better than a pint of the cold stuff, and the staff and Brasero were always more than happy to help!

For accommodation we stayed in Chalet Petit Ramo, based in Tignes la Lavachet. The chalet sleeps 12 in total, but if you're like us and don't plan on sleeping much then the food will knock you out. A big 'thank you' to our Kiwi chef Emma, who worked her socks off and provided us with superb food all week. The highlight? Probably being able to sniff her little puddings....

Higher up, the scenery was absolutely superb as you'll see by the photos and the Espace Killy ski area provides a great range of skiing from wide blue runs to house-sized mogulled black runs such as Sache down to the village of Les Brevieres. Takes a while, but definately the run of the week for me.

So for anyone looking for a great ski holiday, try going with Ski Olympic. If you're going to Tignes, look out for the reps, they're a great bunch.

Great Tignes Ski Reources
http://www.endlesswinter.co.uk/espacekillymap.html - Tignes and the greater Espace Killy piste map area
http://www.tignes.co.uk - All about skiing, accommodation and the resort of Tignes
Tignes Snow Report

New York, New York so good I went there twice!

2006-01-15T22:01:00.000Z

Time for a quirky, personal blog post! Not been many so far, so it's a New Years Resolution to upload more.

The first time I ventured to the Big Apple was back in May 2003, when myself and the Big Man hit it hard for 5 days straight. This time round was a little more sedated however.

It was agreed that a last minute Christmas shopping holiday to New York would be the perfect tonic to a long, hard working year. It's a long way for a 5 day shopping trip, but well worth it!

New York? Fabulous. Weather in New York? Utterly freezing. On one hand you're extremities were numb, on the other a dump of snow and blue skies make a fantastic picture! Check out the one of Central Park.

In terms of accommodation, I can recommend the Big Apple hostel for the best no frills accommodation. If you're going as a small group grab a dorm room, or even a private room will serve you well as a couple. Its location is first class (just off Times Square) and rates are from a cheap $35 for a dorm room.

This time round we stayed further South - 23rd and 3rd Street. The issues? Cold room, with a cylindrical/rectangular heater which whistled and hissed more than the sinking Titanic. Not bad on its own, but its seemed we had the main heating pipes traveling through our room. It sounded like there was a boy with a spanner in each hand beating the hell out of the pipes through the night. Not the best. So if you're ever at the American Dream, NEVER take room number 9!

The best bits? I drove in New York! Am I mad - yes. Was it fun - yes. We drove out to a an outlet village about an hour North of New York, and got some superb bargains.

The Empire State building had to be climbed too, and got some good pic from the top too. Met with some mates from the UK that I'd met at UNCW, and went to see the Woman in White (one of the newer Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals). Just to reiterate, I am not a musical kind of guy, but thoroughly enjoyed this musical and can recommend it if you're not sure what to see!

With New York, you could be there 6 months and still not scratch the surface. With so much to do, 5 days felt like two weeks. Time for another holiday soon I think.....

Good TV? Get Lost.

2006-01-15T16:45:00.000Z

In all honesty, I don't watch a lot of TV. Not because I don't want too, but it seems that when I'm free, there's always some drama on that doesn't interest. But over the last few months there has been one or two exceptions.

LOST was a breath of fresh air when it took over from Big Brother last year. I've not known a series yet where you could miss 4 episodes and still keep up with the story line. Except LOST. Many people complain that LOST has too many quirky and unrelated sub-plots, but watch every episode and they'll tie in. In fact wait until the end, and I bet they'll tie in. Many say the sub-plots are unrealistic and silly - its a FICTIONAL programme, full of escapism and entertainment, which is what good TV is all about.

I've missed too many episodes throughout the season, so have just bought the whole series on eBay for a bargain £20. Might just have to make time to watch it all.

And finally boys, lets all give a round of applause to Evangeline Lilly.

Wetherspoons to seduce commuters with coffee

2006-01-11T09:38:00.000Z

The world is going barmy. Relaxed licensing laws have meant that pub chains can now compete for the £200 million-a-year commuter coffee business. J.D Wetherspoon are going to start offering coffee at a promotional offer of 49p, rising to 69p after the promotion. When, what and how?

The pub chain is going to attempt morning commuters away from the likes of Starbucks and Costa Coffee by opening at 8am and offering cut price coffee that they believe will taste much the same.

Hold your horses. Will the average commuter be lured into a pub to wait for a coffee at 8 in the morning, as opposed to the relaxed and more regular coffee bar atmosphere? Not me.

As much as I admire Wetherspoons (despite the 'no music' thing) I don't think it'll take much market share away from the big boys. Much of its success will depend on location. People today like convenience, and are willing to pay for it.

Oh and one last point - no more smoky pubs from March 26th!! Woohoo!

Blog Links - Just Enough to Fill a Jamjar

2006-01-08T15:31:00.002Z

I'm on a mission. To make my quirky, personal blog one of the best around. BUT in order to do that I need to be visible. So, this page will be dedicated to reciprocal links (for those not privilidged enough to gain a link from the Jamjar homepage. )

Simon's Jamjar - Links on the Blog

Blog Sweet

Search4Blogs - Blog Directory
1Any Links
Blog Directory

Total Blog Directory

Spartans reach Scottish Cup 4th Round

2006-01-08T04:15:00.000Z

Congratulations to Spartans who made it through to the fourth round of the Scottish Cup this afternoon. Spartans beat Scottish Division 3 side Queen's Park 3-2 at their home ground at City Park, Edinburgh.

Nothing like a spot of irony...

2006-01-07T21:59:00.000Z

Having been a short-term dweller in the quirky USA, and part of an international house full of foreign students, I got continuously bombarded with weird and wonderful stories from my international house mates.

But if ever a story has an ironic twist, non could better the recent tale from Santiago, Chile. A newly opened restaurant aptly named 'Car Crash' had to shut down after a car crashed into it. The area is anaccident blackspot

Now, if you're anything like me, you simply wouldn't re-open. But full credit to the owners. They expect the restaurant to re-open within a week.

Full Story - Ananova

The all new WiFi Lamppost...

2006-01-06T09:02:00.000Z

It has to be a flop. Moving internet users away from the comfort and warmth of a WiFi coffee shop? And getting them to stand next to a lamp post??

What am I blathering on about? Well a company based in Scotland have designed 'smart lampposts' that could provide internet access. Apparently the idea will combine solar energy and WiFi wireless internet access.

Being based in Edinburgh I'm all for Scottish innovations, but the idea will be piloted in Dundee. The only city where you have to pay to leave.

But it could be a good idea. Enabling more users to get online in more accessible locations. Not as good an innovation as paper-thin TV's, but I wish the project all the best.

TV as thin as Paper? Don't Talk Rubbish...

2006-01-04T17:53:00.001Z

With soooooo many innovations being produced in the technology world, its difficult sometimes to imagine how we can go one better. But never underestimate to power of the human brain.

It generally takes a lot for me to say;"Woah - now that's cool" - especially when it comes to technological innovations.

For those who weren't at the 2005 Plastics Electronics trade fair in Frankfurt (don't blame you) you would have missed that Siemens are currently in the process of developing paper-thin TV screens that will be pretty cheap to produce.

These paper thin TV's could revolutionize the way we read newspapers and magazines. Imagine reading FHM where the women move before your very eyes.....but don't stop on
that thought too long.

It's almost like we'd be living a real life Harry Potter movie, where the newspapers come alive. So forget big LCD screens or typical Flash on a web site - Siemens have apparently reinvented the word 'innovation'.

These new paper thin TV screens will no doubt revolutionise advertising and will be on our shelves in early 2007.

Woah - now that's cool.

Update - May 2007

My first blog post about paper thin TV screens was back in 2006, and they still haven't hit the mainstream market as yet. A few of you have asked when the flat panel technology will reach our shelves, and it seems companies like Siemens and Sony have yet to decide on commercial products using the technology.

In Japan on May 25th Sony entered the race for paper thin TV displays. Sony's offering - first shown in Japan - is a razor-thin display that bends like paper whist showing a colour video.

So what would be some good ideas for products that could use the technology? Here's a few of my ideas;

Newspapers & Magazines - Harry Potter newspapers may not have been fictional after all
Wallpaper - when I was a kid I had wrestling and football posters in my room. The kids of tomorrow may have the same - except the posters will come alive!
Portable TV on your Wrist - TV's are already moving to mobiles, so why not take it further and make 'TV watches'
Clothing - the future of designer clothing could have adverts embeded in the clothing on the back on the front

Other companies including LG, Philips and Seiko Epson are also believed to working on a different kind of 'electronic paper' technology. So when will it hits the shops? I'd give it at least another 12 months.

Born into the World of Blogging

2006-01-02T13:23:00.002Z

Welcome me! It took me a while, but I now have my very own blog to shout about. I can talk about the wonders of eBay and Family Guy, and moan about high maintenance women.

Above all else this blog is about me. Me me me. So let me start by bringing you all up to speed as to where I am, what I'm doing and whom I'm doing it with....without making it sound like a corny Friend's Reunited post.

I currently live in the New Town area of Edinburgh in bonny Scotland and work for a digital marketing company in the city.

Although not as sporty as I once was I still play football in the East of Scotland league and try and get on the ski slopes as often as I can. It usually comes down to the same two issues of time and money. I'm sure I'll moan about that in future posts.....

Anyhow, lets cut the chit chat.

Preston - my home town with a football team that may reach the Premier League by the time I'm 50.

UNCW - best 10 months of my alcohol-filled student years, and made many friends for life. Wilmington is quoted by many as the best place to visit in the USA if you want to travel and enjoy quiet beach locations.

Email - the number one activity for internet users. Search engine usage is the second. The combination of the two leads to me sending and receiving many funny emails.

So its a big welcome to me, and a big hello to all those priviliged enough to read and find this blog!