Standards of Service

So Katie has done me a favour!  Well thanks, Really I would have preferred a router in double quick time, or quick time.  Not 2 DAYS time...

 

In case you are interested, we qualify for £25 for being down for all that time.

 

I am bowled over.  NOT!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Venus Katie <Katie.Venus@thus.net>
Date: 2009/12/4
Subject: Standards of Service

Dear Mr. Papouis,

Further to our conversation today, please find below the link to the
Standards of Service for Demon Business ADSL, and the request form for
Service Credits:

http://www.demon.net/helpdesk/producthelp/broadband_sos/

I have requested the credit on this occasion and you will receive an
email once it has been added to the account.

A wireless router has been ordered and will be dispatched on Monday, due
for delivery on Tuesday. Once this has been received we will issue a
returns bag for the wired router so that this can be sent back.

I hope this information is of some assistance however please do not
hesitate to contact me should you require any further details.

Kind Regards

--
Katie Venus
Customer Relations Advisor
THUS, a Cable&Wireless business
Tel: 0845 270 0052
Fax: 0870 051 8740

It Has Arrived!!

Well the router arrived!  At just before 3pm  Almost exactly 2 days!!! since I requested it.

Guess what??  Yup.  They sent the wrong one!  Our previous router was wireless, this one isn’t! Good thing that we can survive without the wireless functionality (for the time being).

All excited (as I really don’t like lawyers shouting at me) I plugged it in and connected it up.  Guess what???  It did not work!

I checked that the correct password was entered, and finally gave up and called the Help Desk (Glutton for punishment that I am).  10 mins of waiting on the phone and a human answered.  Would you believe it the connection sprang into live that very second.

Great!

The chap on the phone said he would ask the supplier if they will send us another correct one.  He did not sound to hopeful.  If they do I suspect that they will want to swap the one we now have, on the spot.  That is a non starter, unless the office is empty.

I tried to call Katy to tell her.  But she has gone till 4:00pm.  Her colleague promised that she will call me.

So now we need to talk about compensation.

There is the 48 hours of down time.  There is the cost of my time chasing Demon for what should have been, at worst, a next day delivery (with no chasing).  There is the time the lawyers have wasted having to send long emails on Blackberry (actually I suspect some of them slunk off to a local internet Cafe, but even that costs).

I am now going to send a text to Stuart to let him know the current status.

Oh and by the way, the left hand needs to talk to the right.  I am now informed that the delivery cut-off time is 2pm.  Had they told us that 2 days ago I would have gone out and purchased a router and not gone through all this pain.  Shame that this information has not percolated round Demon.  Katy tells me that she did know this.  Nice of her to tell me.  Or is this all part of the Demon Fantasy land?

Katy has just called.  Apparently we can request “Service Credits” to compensate us for loss of service.  Apparently I have to go on their website and fill in some forms.  Bit of a cheek really, considering how much time they have wasted.  I asked her to do it.  Let’s see shall we.

All in all, this has to be the worst service I have received from a company, that I did like a lot, for a long time.  I used to recommend Demon to my clients, but I shall have to give this some thought.  Can I in all honesty recommend them?

Clearly Demon do not give a hoot about their clients.

Watch this space…..

The Boss Sends me a Text

Stuart Smyth has just sent me a text, telling me that the router should be here by 3pm.  And apologising.

I appreciate the gesture, but am not sure that it will placate the ravening hordes that have not been on the net for 2 days.

Before you ask, I am posting this from email on my phone.

The Clock Ticks…

How long does it take to get from Birmingham to London?

I always thought you could mask this journey in under 3 hours (on a motorbike so that traffic is not really an issue).

Well Demon Internet have taken 2 days to NOT get a router delivered from their Birmingham based router provisioning department (external supplier).

The story so far…

On Wednesday at approximately 2:00 I called Demon to tell them that our router had failed. Foolishly I called the standard fault line 0845 2720040. After about 15 minutes of talking to a lady she still could not find us on the system and would not discuss our issue. I got fed up and tried calling the number I should have used in the 1st place. Yes I know, it was my mistake, but it was a simple fault (viz the router had died).

I called the correct number 0845 2720054 and, after a further 15 mins waiting, spoke a knowledgeable young man that correctly diagnose that the router was broken. I explained to him that this was urgent and that we would happily pay for a courier to get it here ASAP. He said that the “Cut-Off” time for deliveries was 3:00 and he should be able to get it in for next day delivery. He promised to call back and confirm, if there were any issues. As we did not hear I assumed all was OK.

Thursday. Morning. No delivery. Wait… 12:00 No delivery. Call Demon.

Apparently even though we had made the cut-off time we had only done so by 5 mins and so our order had not been processed. Surely a cut-off time means that that items received before will be processed and items received after will not. Perhaps they should rename it “Cut-Off time’ish”. We will process stuff received before, if we feel like it. Or perhaps they should move the cut-off time forward to 2:30.

We again offered to pay for a courier and were told it would cost £175 and may get here by 8:00pm! (5 hours from Birmingham??). We were advised that we could have it delivered by 9:00am for free. We agreed, assuming it would definitely be here.

Friday. Morning. No delivery. 10:00 Start to chase.

1st Steven Costello (allegedly a manager – 01702 2446611) tells me that they had tried to deliver it this morning, but they could not find us. We are in the Lloyds Building in the centre of the City of London. It is quite a distinctive building and hard to miss (http://www.lloyds.com/About_Us/The_Lloyds_building/Pictures_of_the_building-exterior/)

He says he will chase it. 11:00 I get a call from Minesh. He is from the provisioning department. I tell him that I want it delivered by 12:00. He cannot do that so I request that one be put on a bike in Birmingham, he can’t do that either. I ask to speak to his boss (Sally Barton). She is not available so I said that I wanted the issue escalating. Apparently that is to Anastasia Carter. But she is not available so I get Katy Venus (0845 2700052).

This is like talking to a brick wall. She ignores the fact that it should have been here at 9:00 and discovers that the courier has apparently gone AWOL (http://www.hdnl.co.uk). If that is the case then how do they know that he had tried to deliver it and couldn’t?

I asked for the name of the Senior person at Demon. Apparently it is Stuart Smyth (0141 567 1234). I call and leave 2 messages.

Katy is chasing. I make repeat requests for the router to be put on a bike. All refused. She starts to quote SLA’s (Service Level Agreements) and I point out that regardless of what the SLA says 2 DAYS! is too long for a company to be down and to get a parcel from Birmingham. Silence.

1:00pm I get a call back from Stuart, he says he will look into it. I then get a call and a text from Katy telling me that the couriers are in the area and may get it here by 3:00pm. I asked “if they are in the area, can I go and meet him and collect the router?” apparently not. I asked about plan “B”. What do you mean? I mean what are you going to do if it is not here by 3?? Nothing. There is no plan B.

She gives me a tracking number and a website for HDNL. She does not seem to see the irony in this (i.e. How can I check the website when out router is dead!!).

A quick visit to an internet cafe and the lies start to appear…

03/12/2009 20:49:00 DROITWICH Sorted at our hub
04/12/2009 05:53:00 NEW CROSS DEPOT Received into depot
04/12/2009 09:24:00 NEW CROSS VAN Loaded on to the drivers van

If it only got put on the van at 9:24 this morning how could they have failed to deliver it BEFORE 9:00?

Draw your own conclusions.

OK, so it’s now 1:20pm… Lets see what happens shall we. I will not be holding my breath.

Watch this space…

Her Diary-- His Diary

Her Diary, His Diary
 
Her Diary

Tonight I thought he was acting weird.  We had made plans to meet at a bar to have a drink.  I was shopping with my friends all day long, so I thought he was upset at the fact that I was a bit late, but he made no comment.  Conversation wasn't flowing so I suggested that we go somewhere quiet so we could talk.  He agreed but he kept quiet and seemed so absent-minded.
I asked him what was wrong. He said nothing was wrong.  I asked him if it was my fault that he was upset.  He said it had nothing to do with me and not to worry.  On the way home I told him that I loved him and he simply smiled and kept driving.  I can't explain his behavior.  I don't know why he didn't say 'I love you too.'
 
When we got home I felt as if I had lost him, as if he wanted nothing to do with me anymore.  He just sat there and watched TV.  He seemed so distant and aloof.
Finally, I decided to go to bed.  About 10 minutes later he came to bed, and to my surprise he responded to my caress and we made love, but I still felt that he was distracted and his thoughts were somewhere else.  He fell asleep - I cried.  I don't know what to do.  I'm almost sure that his thoughts are with someone else.  My life is a disaster.

His Diary

I shot the worst round of golf in my life today, but at least I got laid.

Nokia Support

Let me start by saying that I am a long term Nokia fan.  I am also a big fan of Symbian (having owned many a Psion).   So you can imagine how pleased I was when I heard that the N97 would not only be Symbian, but would also be a new version.

You can also imaging how disappointed I am with the reality.

I shall not list the problems I have had with the N97 as many other people have had the same and you can find plenty of other write ups about it.  Basically I still like the phone and it does mainly do what I want (love having a “real” keyboard”).  I can live with some of the foibles, although the inability to answer some calls is getting a bit annoying.

The thing that has really started to wind me up is the corruption that is occurring in the music database (or more specifically the podcast database).

Basically what is happening is that the database is getting out of sync with reality and so some podcasts are getting “stuck”.  What this means is that I cannot play them, and I cannot delete them.  I cannot even re-download them, in the hope of clearing the blockage.  The files themselves are gone, but the music player program shows them as still present, and they are building up.

Now, as you may know, I am an IT person and have a good idea how this stuff works.  I have given this some thought and have come to the conclusion that the application must hold it’s own database of files that it builds from the real files on the disk.  So surely the cure must be to remove the corrupt file, rebuild the database.  Easy.

Now the fun begins.  I called Nokia support to see if they can give me some guidance. The 1st couple of people I spoke to seemed quite clueless, but then I managed to get through to Alex.  He seems quite knowledgeable, but alas his knowledge does have limitations.

The only cure he could give me is to reset the whole phone, back to factory default.  This does seem to be using a sledgehammer to crack a nut!

Nobody at Nokia UK seems to know how this phone works.  All they seem to know is how to reset it!

I have requested that the call be escalated, but he is not sure that he can do that.  I have been promised calls from a manager twice, but none has called.  I have asked if I can upgrade to the new 20 firmware, but apparently this has not been authorised by T-Mobile.

That is the end.  Bog off and bother someone else.

Nokia.  Here is some free advice…

Your flagship phone has to WORK AS ADVERTISED
Resetting back to default is NOT A REPAIR

If you want to compete with the likes of the iPhone You need to up your game and start to provide some service.  You are transitioning from a phone company to something else.  The Smart Phone is not just a phone it is a computer that forms the center of my data life.  My diary is there, my phone book is there (surprise surprise), my email is there and, as I find more useful apps, it is a very important tool in my work life.  It is not just a phone.

If I know that every time I have a minor bump in the road I will have to reset the pesky thing, I simply will move to a more reliable platform.

Oh, and one last thing.  Pretend that you care when a customer comes to you wanting to work through an issue!

del.icio.us Tags: Nokia,Phone,Issues

The Power Of A Great Story

This is great

 

click here

Here are a few pics from the past

Here are a few pics from the past
Originally uploaded by CosmaP

Here are a few pics from the past

Here are a few pics from the past
Originally uploaded by CosmaP

Here are a few pics from the past

Here are a few pics from the past
Originally uploaded by CosmaP

Here are a few pics from the past

Here are a few pics from the past

Here are a few pics from the past
Originally uploaded by CosmaP

Here are a few pics from the past

Here are a few pics from the past

Here are a few pics from the past
Originally uploaded by CosmaP

Here are a few pics from the past

Here are a few pics from the past

Here are a few pics from the past
Originally uploaded by CosmaP

Here are a few pics from the past

More Blasts from the past

More Blasts from the past
Originally uploaded by CosmaP

More Blasts from the past

More Blasts from the past
Originally uploaded by CosmaP

More Blasts from the past

More Blasts from the past
Originally uploaded by CosmaP

More Blasts from the past

More Blasts from the past
Originally uploaded by CosmaP

More Blasts from the past

More Blasts from the past
Originally uploaded by CosmaP

More Blasts from the past

More Blasts from the past
Originally uploaded by CosmaP

More Blasts from the past

More Blasts from the past
Originally uploaded by CosmaP

More Blasts from the past

More Blasts from the past
Originally uploaded by CosmaP

More Blasts from the past

More Blasts from the past
Originally uploaded by CosmaP

More Blasts from the past

More Blasts from the past
Originally uploaded by CosmaP

Here are a few pics from the past

Here are a few pics from the past
Originally uploaded by CosmaP

Here's some more pics from the wonder years.

Here are a few pics from the past

Here are a few pics from the past
Originally uploaded by CosmaP

Here's some more pics from the wonder years.

Here are a few pics from the past

Here are a few pics from the past
Originally uploaded by CosmaP

Here's some more pics from the wonder years.

Scottys Wedding

Scotty Senna

Race of Champions

Race of Champions
Originally uploaded by CosmaP

Race of Champions

Race of Champions
Originally uploaded by CosmaP

Race of Champions

Race of Champions
Originally uploaded by CosmaP

Can your pecker touch your ass?

A five year old boy and his grandpa are sitting on the front porch together, when gramps pulls a beer out of his cooler

The little boy asks: 'Can I have a beer Grandpa?'

Grandpa replies: 'Can your pecker touch your ass?'
The little boy answered : 'No Grandpa. It's just a little pecker'.

Gramps says: 'Well then, you're not man enough to have a beer'.

A little later Grandpa lights up a cigar.
The little boy asks: 'Can I have a cigar Grandpa?'

Once again, Grandpa asks: 'Can your pecker touch your ass?'
Once again the little boy replies, 'No, it's too little'.

Gramps replies, 'Then you're not man enough to have a cigar'.

A little later the little boy comes out of the house with milk and some cookies.

Grandpa asks, 'Hey there young feller, can I have a cookie?'

The boy asks, 'Can your pecker touch your ass?'

Gramps replies , 'Hell yes, my pecker can touch my ass'.

The little boy replies, 'Then go fuck yourself'. Grandma made these for me'.

http://www.freejokesrus.com

Free Jokes R Us

Free Jokes R Us

Shared via AddThis

Though for the day

Always be yourself because the people that
matter don't mind, and the ones who mind, don't
matter.

The special dish

A gentleman goes to Spain to watch the famous bullfights... He watched in awe and sheer thrill as the faena ended and the Matador killed the bull...
Post the fight he walked into a nearby Spanish restaurant for his lunch.. He noticed there was a Special Dish of the day, also the most expensive on the menu... He ordered the same and was served a delicious meal of two large meatballs on spaghetti with a delightful sauce... He enjoyed the meal, passed on his compliments to the Chef and went back to his hotel...
The next day, due to a packed schedule he missed the bullfight, but nevertheless makes it to the restaurant for lunch... He orders for the Special Dish of the day... And this time is served a meal with two very small meatballs on spaghetti with a delightful sauce... He summoned the head waiter and complained about the size of the meatballs in the meal...
The headwaiter listened to his complaint in absolute silence, and then said, " Si Senor, but you see, the Bull... he does not always lose"

New sites go live!

So after dithering for ages I bit the bullet and had my two main sites rebuilt.  I think that they have both come out really nicely.

http://www.cosmapapouis.com showcases my professional skills and the services I offer.  I think it has a great clean look and is modern, without being “in your face”.

http://www.freejokesrus.com makes it really easy for me to add new material and gives users the chance to add stuff as well.   I hope to add more features over time.  Currently the only comment mechanism is to email me (the owner) but I hope to add a comment system soon.

Thanks to Colin Jarvis of Jarvis Web and Graphic Solutions for all his work on this.

If you would like us to take a look at your web site or wish to have a web presence drop me a line and we will be glad to assist you.

del.icio.us Tags: Business-Webdev

5 Keys To Good Etiquette On Social Media

This is both amusing and a lesson to us all...

5 Keys To Good Etiquette On Social Media by David Weil

Thought for the day...

Loyalty Cards

 

Why is it that every store you go to has to have it's own Loyalty Card?  Frankly it is becoming a pain in the proverbial!

 

I realise that the point is to give you points for shopping regularly with them and to keep you coming back.  But why a card for each one?  I already have more credit cards and ID's than you can shake a stick at.  I really do not want to carry all these extra cards.  An a result of this, ivariably, when I go to make a purchase I have brought the wrong card with me and so I can either "Miss out" on the points or carry the pesky receipt with me in the hope that I will remember to add the points on next time I am in the store (don't think I have EVER actually managed to do that).

 

Tescos have quite a good idea in that they will give you a key fob as your card, that way I do typically have my car keys on me when I go there and do have my card.  Nectar, I see, are expanding to many of the shops I use regularly, therefore reducing the number of cards I must carry and bundling all the points in one place (rather than having small useless pools of points all over the place).  Perhaps a combination of a key fob card and a multi location card would be a good idea??  Don't you think?

 

Another alternative, that I would prefer, would be to link your points to your home address!!  That way all I would have to do is give my home address or my mobile phone number, and I could collect my points.  Get all the points systems rolled in to one and we may have a useful, beneficial, easy to use system!

 

Currently I have.....

 

• Air Miles - Almost enough to use!!!
• United Airways Miles - No good to man nor beast
• Lufthansa Mile - Will expire soon
• British Airways Miles - Nowhere near enough to use and will expire soon
• Homebase Points - Keep leaving the card at home
• Game points - Don't buy enough computer games to be of use
• Waterstones Points - Don't buy enough books from Waterstones to be of use
• Shell V-Power Points - These convert to Air Miles so I may be able to use them one day
• Nectar Points - The only one I use consistently
• Cyprus Airways Points - No way near enough to use

 

I could go on as I do have more, but it would become even more boring....

 

Please Guy's

 

GET IT TOGETHER!

 

I promise to be loyal.

 

Alternatively you could just stop wasting your time running these system and just drop the prices a bit! 

 

Cedia Expo 2009

Cedia Expo 2009

Cedia Expo 2009

Bath-O-Matic by Unique Automation

Food for thought.

It has just come to my attention that a friend (that I was at school with) has died.

http://www.wilfrid.com/people/andrew_parr.htm

Aged 42 (the same as me).  I had not seen him in years, but we had communicated via email a while ago.

He is the third person I went to school with that has died prematurely.

Every day is precious as you never know when it is your last.

Makes you think.

This is rapidly becoming a very connected world.  Make the most of it and contact that person you were friends with at school.  Don’t put it off.  Try and be nice to each other.

I am a GEEK!!!

Hundreds Attend Global Warming Protest

The Virgin Saga Continues

Well.  No sign of an engineer over the weekend, surprise surprise, so Monday I came home from work early (costing me 3 hours of billable work) and waited, and waited, and waited.  By 6pm I had not heard from the engineer so I called NTL, whoops sorry I mean Virgin, and after a 30 minute wait I get told that he will be here in 10 mins.

7pm comes and goes so I call again.  This time I am on the phone for 50 minutes and Sarah tells me that he has been delayed but he will definitely  be coming tonight and he will call me to confirm.

8pm no sign so I tried to call.  Guess what.  They have closed for the night!

8am and I am on the phone to NTL.  I am informed that errr..  a, They have no idea why the engineer did not come and B, My phone number is not in the call text and the engineers cannot see the customer record, so how was he to call me?

You would think that after screwing up so badly they would try to make amends, but no.  The best they can offer me is that an engineer will be round from 8am until 12pm.  Hmmm…  I said OK it will have to do.  Five mins later I get a call telling me “Make that 12pm until 7pm”!  Just like yesterday!

I expressed my dissatisfaction and was basically told (by NTL) yes this is rubbish, but we can’t get the staff!

3pm and an engineer arrives and swaps the box in 5 mins.  For reasons best known to himself he moved all the plugs around behind the TV, thereby messing up the energy saver that was installed.  I have just spent 30 mins putting it all back!

So I have spent about 8 hours of my life chasing and waiting for NTL to pull their collective fingers out, for a job that took 5 mins!!!  We have been without cable for 5 days.  Good thing that my internet access comes from else ware.

To add insult to injury I now have to call them, to get compensation.

As before Some advice for NTL.

a, Stop lying to your customers, It starts from a small lie i.e. You can choose your music on hold from a choice of 5 music types.  Problem is that all 5 choices just repeat the SAME 4 tracks!  Since when has “American Pie” been Blues?  and graduates to a big lie i.e. we care about our clients!

b, If an engineer is supposed to call the client GIVE HIM THE PHONE NUMBER!

c, Give your Indian staff post code lists and maps.

d, Man (Woman) the service desks after 8pm!  and at weekends!

e, Give your staff E-Mail!

I am sure I can think of more, but frankly this is getting as boring for me as it is for you.  Is it too much to ask for a little customer service?

Why is it that every time I have to deal with this shoddy company I have to deal with this rubbish?  Get your act together NTL.  You will not be the only game in town forever!

NTL (AKA Virgin) Drop the ball again

There we are, kids in bed, ready for a Friday night of chilling in front of the goggle box....

Ping!!!!

The box packs up. Oh C%^ now I have to talk to Customer Services. Before doing so I did all the usual stuff, reboot the box, attempt to reset the box....

Ok here we go. Call them and navigate the silly auto attendant. Get to support queue and wait....and wait.... and wait... and... get cut off!

Start again. Call them and navigate the silly auto attendant. Get to support queue and wait....and wait.... and wait...

Finally Cherry Jain answers (is that a real name?? Not convinced). Ahh.. Guess what?? She can't find my details Surprise Surprise!

She wanted to transfer me to Customer Services, but I said that I did not want to spend another 20 mins waiting in a queue. Solution? she spends 10 mins in the queue and calls me back. Hmmm... She still can't find me.... We spell out all the details again (letter by letter) and e find that she was looking for FE12 not SE12. Why can't they give them post code lists? Or a map of England may help.

She makes me repeat the same tedious tests before deciding the box is broken! Well Doh!

At least we have made some progress. So when can I have an engineer? MONDAY EVENING!!! between 4 and 7PM! Are you having a laugh? Nope. She is serious. This is clearly not acceptable. I put some pressure on her and she calls the engineering department. Guess what??? They are going home! What about tomorrow or Sunday? Nope, no chance. Can I speak to Customer Services now? Nope. They have gone home too! Complaints Department? Nope... They've gone home.

What kind of Mickey Mouse company is this?

I though that when NTL became Virgin Media things would change. NTL were renown for being rubbish, but I have always thought of Virgin as a company with some customer relations nous that cared about their clients. Apparently not!

A little bit of advice for Virgin.

Most of your clients (especially the TV/Internet users) will be watching TV in the evening at at weekends. Try having some staff on!

Bloody good thing that by broadband is from Demon, so it works, or I would be even more upset! Also a dammed good thing that I do not use the Virgin phone or I could not have called them!

Commentary

NTL had the worst customer service I have ever experienced. I have had run ins with them in the past but, ever the optimist, I was hoping things had improved (and I really do not have a lot of choice. Nothing has changed, well that is not true. They have out sourced the support. Bloody typical. What's my choice? Well I guess we could move to Sky? That is a definite option. We will see.

Do Virgin Media Care about their clients? I think not!

Bailout Mascot Debuts

Someone is ALWAYS watching.....................

DVDs, damned DVDs, and region restrictions.

Just seen this:

Meanwhile, it has been revealed that the gift Obama gave to Gordon Brown when he visited the White House last month - 25 classic American movies - was spoiled by a technical glitch.

When the Prime Minister went to watch one of the movies the other night, he found the films only worked in DVD players made in North America and the words "wrong region" came up on his screen. A Downing Street spokesman said he was "confident" that any gift Obama gave Brown would have been "well thought through": well, perhaps not *that* well thought through.

------------------------
Now, can we please get rid of that nonsense?

Dream on.

Putt's Law

"Technology is dominated by two types of people: those who understand what they do not manage, and those who manage what they do not understand."

George Carlin

"Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?"

What’s it all about Charlie Brown?

Hmmm…  Over the past weeks (and months) I have been deluged by a stream of firms that want me to resell or recommend their products.  Now I realise that it is nothing personal and that they are just mailing the world, but I find it rather interesting.

Products and services that, up until now, would have cost money, are being “given” away.  I say “given” as typically you get a reduced level of service, but still, I have been able to get some web sites hosted for nothing (thank you 5quid host).  This was good for me as it let me test their service and was good for them as I soon ran out of space and have started to pay for more, but I could have used the 40Mb they originally gave me forever and a day for free.

I get this mode of selling, with disk space relatively cheap the only cost to them is bandwidth, and I assume they bulk buy that so the trial uses are a drop in the ocean.

What I cannot see is how firms such as Twitter are going to monetise what they do.  You can get free, open source microblogging platforms that can be installed on you own server, that will give the same functionality.  The only thing that Twitter has is the head of steam it has built and the press it is getting.  But even with that “So What??”  Would I pay to be on twitter?  I don’t know.  It certainly has an impact on the traffic to my sites (not huge, but noticeable) but would I pay for it?  Would I tolerate someone else’s adverts on my tweets?  Probably not as they would likely be competing with whatever it was I was trying to say.

Certainly the podcasting/publishing industry has cottoned on (or at the very least is beginning to wake up) to the fact that giving away your stuff is a good way to success (ala Scott Sigler et al).  See, I like his stuff so much that I have plugged him and will probably buy the book that he is in the process of giving away.  But the big difference is that he has a “product” that he wants to sell.  I guess that the Twitter product is Twitter itself.  Are they just waiting for someone to buy them?  Or is there some other sinister plan? 

The only answer that I can see is that at some point they will start to inject advertising into the stream.  Much like Facebook has lots of info about you that allows them to channel ads, Twitter can see who you are following and hence what you like.  The stars such as Stephen Fry, Robert Llewellyn, and Adam Curry, ok may be not Adam :)  are attracting a large following, I’m sure that ads dropped into Brittany's stream must have a value.  Or will it have a negative effect?  Will people just jump to another platform that does not have ads?

Actually, I think the answer is slightly different.  I think that if they inject ads some people will move and some will stay.  As has been shown by other services, every dog has it’s day.  So though they may accelerate the demise I do not think that they will kill Twitter.  All that will happen is that something else will come along, as it would have done anyway, that offers other, better??  alternative functionality, and people will jump ship.

Ok, what has this got to do with the price of eggs?  Well it’s all just a comment on the state of the world.  To survive in the modern internet you need to have a level of faith in mankind, that you would not have in the real world.  You need to believe that, if you give your stuff away, people will pay for it anyway.  This is actually quite refreshing.

Maybe it will be a brighter future.

Syndication! Fame at last

I have just registered my blog with..



Not entirly sure what the benifit is, but we shall see....

Dispute Between Neighbours

Dispute Between Neighbours - this is a true story...

A city councilman in Utah , Mark Easton, had a beautiful view of the east mountains, until a new neighbour purchased the lot below his house and built a new home.

The new home was 18 inches higher than the ordinances would allow, so Mark Easton, mad about his lost view, went to the city to make sure they enforced the lower roof line ordinance.

The new neighbour had to drop the roof line, at great expense.

Recently, Mark Easton called the city, and informed them that his new neighbour had installed some vents on the side of his home.

Mark didn't like the look of these vents and asked the city to investigate.

When they went to Mark's home to see what the vents looked like, this is what they found...

Pollyanna communication and moaning

Bad telephone connection 
An Arkansas farm wife called the local phone company to report her telephone failed to ring when her friends called - and that on the few occasions when it did ring, her dog always moaned right before the phone rang. 

The telephone repairman proceeded to the scene, curious to see this psychic dog or senile lady. He climbed a telephone pole, hooked in his test set, and dialed the subscriber's house. 

The phone didn't ring right away, but then the dog moaned and the telephone began to ring.

Climbing down from the pole, the telephone repairman found:

1. The dog was tied to the telephone system's ground wire with a steel chain and collar. 

2. The wire connection to the ground rod was loose.

3. The dog was receiving 90 volts of signaling current when the number was called.

4. After a couple of jolts, the dog would start moaning and then urinate. 

5. The wet ground would complete the circuit, thus causing the phone to ring.

Which demonstrates that some problems CAN be fixed by pissing and moaning. 

Thought you'd like to know that. 

How to recognize a millionaire.