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Travel back to 1979 with Question Time

Permit yourself a trip back to 1979. I commend you to the first episode of Question Time currently available on the BBC iPlayer. It’s a wonderful show and maybe, maybe, something to make you hanker after a better, more gentle and more personable age. And blimey, in some cases: how little has changed. Thirty years on we're still hearing some of the same arguments. Robin Day is a deliciously acerbic and yet lovable host. The audience questions are less pointed but still uncompromising. The answers are less spun. In fact both Teddy Taylor and Michael Foot offer some quite complex, nuanced ... Read more »

What has eBay UK ever done for us?

What has eBay UK ever done for us?

When Tamebay broke the story with details of eBay European streamlining and, specifically, the abolition of a UK-based team in the UK solely focussing on eBay.co.uk, I certainly didn't expect weeping and mourning. Customers shouldn't really, quite rightly, care about the staff of a ... Read more »
The Last.FM geeky white boy hit parade

The Last.FM geeky white boy hit parade

When I was at dConstruct earlier this year (and as I write this I realise that I never published the post I wrote in my papery notebook, which is probably just as well as I wasn't entirely positive), I was struck by how white it was: there were very few black, asian or 'other' (as those crass ... Read more »
I'm gonna spend my Christmas with a Dalek

I’m gonna spend my Christmas with a Dalek

Happy Christmas everyone. This is my favourite Christmas ... Read more »
Things I love about the London Underground*

Things I love about the London Underground*

For my money, there are few British institutions as marvellous as the London Undergound. From humble beginnings as a cut-and-cover route between Paddington and Farringdon as the world's first underground railway, to the major engineering feats of the deep tunnels of the Northern line and the ... Read more »
Caught Bending at Hastings

Caught Bending at Hastings

Inspired by Sue Bailey's love of Victorian Porn, I must confess a love for vintage innuendo. Maybe I'll dust off some more of my old saucy postcards but one confuses me. I bought this on eBay a while back. It made me titter. But I don't really get the gag. Do you? It's dated ... Read more »
Arrington isn't wrong

Arrington isn’t wrong

Michael Arrington of Techcrunch is making waves again: this time about how he intends to break embargoed press releases from now on. When I first heard about the idea of an embargoed press release, back in my early days as a junior internet marketing drone many moons ago, I was totally ... Read more »
The Problem with Recruitment Consultants

The Problem with Recruitment Consultants

File this post under 'career limiting moves'. The problem with recruiters isn't just a general lack of imagination, it's the overly serious and humourless way they undertake their job (I can think of only one tremendous exception). Very few seem to have a maverick streak of human understanding, an ... Read more »
A year in Brighton

A year in Brighton

Can it be a year already? Well, it isn't really, but a year ago today I signed the papers and took a flat in my hometown of Brighton and even though I didn't completely relocate until after Christmas, it's pretty much one whole year. Wow. No regrets. I can hardly imagine moving back to the smoke ... Read more »
People I don't look like

People I don’t look like

Someone said I look like Robert Scoble today. Not sure. But I know for a fact that noone has ever seen Robert Scoble, Boris Johnson, Philip Seymour Hoffman and me in the same room. I think we should be ... Read more »
Brighton Scenes #5

Brighton Scenes #5

Overheard. Two men and a woman in a pub: both fancy their chances with her. There has been much flirtation and a bit of bawdiness. Woman: So you're a plumber. Man 1: He's a heating engineer, there is a different. Woman: (Chastened) Oh. How's business? Man 2: Shit. Man 1: He's going to become ... Read more »
Dan Wilson Links 16/12/2008

Dan Wilson Links 16/12/2008

Here's some of the stuff I've been reading lately: - Ivan Croxford looks at the problems of user reviews and star ratings. - Better Business Blogging provide a useful perspective on Why Negative Comments are Positive. - Quite liked these 3 absurdly easy ideas for tying together social ... Read more »
EmPwrOnline Links Page

EmPwrOnline Links Page

Eyes down. Look in. I've published page about EmPwrOnline where I've gathered together a slection of links regarding this company as per my previous post. I'm concerned that people are being mislead, attending these seminars and getting sucked in by the plausible (but incoorect) story they tell. ... Read more »
eBay Europe vs eBay.co.uk

eBay Europe vs eBay.co.uk

TameBay have confirmed what's been rumoured for some time: eBay offices across Europe will close, teams are merging, jobs will be lost and operations are being streamlined and centralised in London and Switzerland. eBay Inc. announced in October that circa 10% of jobs would be cut from a ... Read more »
Question Time: Good News from Ulster

Question Time: Good News from Ulster

Finally, I managed to catch Question Time last week. It came from the Northern Irish city of Newry in County Down. Newry is a charming place set in a wondrous, sadly underrated, landscape. Close to my heart, it's from Newry and thereabouts that my mum and her family come from and I spent a lot of ... Read more »