2011
Argus Apostrophe Ouch
I can’t help thinking that this frankly awful error is the result of Newsquest cutting staff, especially those wonderful sub-editors who are fastidious as a class. Hear me now. You can’t run a newspaper on a shoestring and maintain your reputation and readership. The cracks are showing at the dear old Argus. The Argus hacks …
Reading List: January 2011
(I’m sticking to my 2010 resolution to read a book a week. Here’s what I read in January 2011. And excuse the tardiness, I’m clearing out scribbles that I haven’t blogged yet.) Instinct, Ben Kay. Insects. Bloody big insects and bloody thousands of them. I grabbed this in December because I’d met the author at …
All not well at the Royal Alex
You can often hear me grumble in the saloon bar, or as I stroll past the place, that the Royal Alex hospital on Dyke Road in Brighton risks becoming “our next West Pier.” Despite the fact a plan is in place and development is supposed to start soonish, it’s still a discarded site with all the …
PayPal Twitter hack: won’t someone remember the Community Manager?
Several hours ago, the @paypaluk Twitter account was hacked. Whoever took control of it had fun, and Tweeted PayPal criticism and promoted that most critical (and frankly blind and obsessively anti-PayPal site that I’ve known for years whilst only feeling utter pity for the craziness of its contributors) PayPalsucks.com for a while. Those tweets made …
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Reading List 2010: Entertainments
Back in at the start of 2010, I resolved to read a book each week for pleasure over the course of the year. My total at the end of the year was 48, which isn’t too bad. The general election campaign gave little time for reading and I blame that for my falling short. That …
Brightoniana: Beautiful Pedantry
I love this. Chortles galore. I think it’s a boyish effort at flattery, attached as it was to a fence. I salute that. A reckless, rather romantic gesture. No? Then someone comes in and goes all Truss in a most amusing manner. It’s like a Twitter row. But better. Look carefully for the biro contributions.
Some Regency buzzers
I could write a very long post about standing for election and getting beaten and what a Green council might mean for Brighton. But who really wants to know my ramblings about that? So instead here are the buzzers. Every candidate knocks on doors and Regency ward is tougher than most. So many shared front …
Brighton Fringe Festival: Kemble’s Riot
If you’re looking for a Brighton Festival fringe tip, I suggest you get along to Kemble’s Riot. It’s running for three nights this weekend at the Old Courtroom. Let me declare my interest: it’s a new play by my friend Adrian Bunting and I’ve offered a few modest pearls of wisdom on the script. But …
Blogging 2011
I’ve been blogging in various forms, and on different sites and platforms, for pushing a decade now. I’ve blogged as myself, helped others blog and also ghost written bloggery (usually in a corporate context) too. This site has been my personal blogging home for more than a few years but I am deeply conscious that …
Prices: Cash Converters vs eBay
The News of The Screws is now behind a paywall, so please excuse the slightly crap snap. It proves something we’ve know for a while, that eBay is a better way of liquidating your belongings than Cash Converters or the like. The results are stark.
BHCC Budget: Why Labour abstained
A few people have asked me why Labour abstained last night on the budget vote for Brighton and Hove City Council. Here’s my best stab at setting a context and explaining the decision. I must say though, that over the last few years, as I’ve learnt more about local government, there are lots of things …
Worst Royal Wedding? George IV and Caroline of Brunswick
(A little guest post I did for someone else as a favour. Shameless recycling) The prize for the worst Royal Wedding ever could easily go to the man who would become George IV. He was Prince of Wales at the time and later Regent. George married his first cousin, Caroline of Brunswick, in 1795. It …
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24 ways to start: The hunger of a real start?
In December I was invited to write a blog post for a site called “24 Ways to Start“. A sort of advent calendar for entrepreneurs. Here’s what I wrote: My first start-up was eBay.co.uk way back in 1999. eBay was already a public company and also profitable. International expansion was eBay’s focus with Germany and …