Paul Robert Lloyd

Social Media Icons

2009-06-28T23:18:09Z

A set of standardised icons for popular social networking services and tools. I've often found myself requiring icons when linking to or referencing different social networks I'm a member of. Whilst there are a lot of icon sets available that can help me do this, most seem to be oversized and highly stylised. In the past I've used site favicons, but these can often be visually inconsistent.

With that in mind, and taking inspiration from the gorgeous icons used by Tim van Damme on his address card site, and the Social Media Mini Iconpack by Komodo media, I've created a selection of 36 icons each available in 4 different sizes.

36 Icons

4 Sizes

48x48 anti-aliased PNG
32x32 anti-aliased PNG
24x24 anti-aliased PNG
16x16 aliased GIF

Download

Download Social Media Icons -- Version 1.00, 352kb

Please leave any feedback or requests for additional icons in the comments below.

Licenced under a Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales Licence. I claim no right of ownership to the company logos used in these icons.

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Historic Counties & Psychoville

2009-06-22T23:30:00Z

I've long been interested in the popular geography of Great Britain, but also annoyed by the continual government reorganisation that seeks to confuse it.

The passing of the Local Government Act of 1888 established county councils (or 'administrative counties') based upon the boundaries of existing historic Counties in England and Wales, but subsequent legislation has been far more destructive.

My interest in this topic is no doubt driven by my desire to organise everything, but it's worth noting that I grew up in Horley, a town that campaigned hard to remain within Surrey when the Local Government Act of 1972 sought to have it join neighbouring West Sussex.

This act was particularly far-reaching. Not only did it create new 'metropolitan counties' around the six major conurbations of England, and adjust the boundaries of remaining 'non-metropolitan counties', it also introduced several invented county names such as 'West Midlands', 'Merseyside', 'Cleveland' and 'Avon'.

Luckily for Horley, the passing of a subsequent act meant it remained in Surrey, but for the rest of England and Wales, it's geography had now become subject to political whims, no longer fixed or predictable.

In recent years, legislation has focused on the transfer of administrative functions from county level authorities to smaller administrate districts. For example, legislation passed in 1985 abolished the six metropolitan counties and passed much of their function to the individual boroughs. The present government favours the creation of one-tier 'unitary authorities' that work in a similar way. In short, the concept of a county as an administrative district is disappearing, suggesting that the redrawing of their boundaries was largely pointless.

Counties are important -- not only useful for way-finding, but as entities to affix local identities and cultures to, and help tell the story of Britain. Yet their continual reorganisation has left people confused as to their function, names and location.

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Such confusion was evident when I sat down to watch Psychoville last Friday. The first episode of this new dark-comedy series focused on letters being sent to five characters around the country, but it was striking how each location was referred to using these different understandings of a county.

'Salford, Manchester'

The first location shown was technically wrong (but no doubt commonly used) in that it should have read 'Salford, Greater Manchester'. Had it used an historic County, this would have been 'Salford, Lancashire'.

'Bristol, Avon'

This graphic is perhaps the best example as to why we should return to using historic Counties in addresses given that Avon no longer exists! Created as part of the 1972 reorganisation, it was abolished in 1996 and replaced with four unitary authorities, three of which returned to their 'ceremonial counties' of Somerset and Gloucestershire (whilst Bristol became a ceremonial county in its own right).

Use of an historic County would have resulted in the location referred to as 'Bristol, Gloucestershire'.

'Ilkley, Yorkshire'

The third location given is actually shown on-screen using an historic County, but if you watch closely you will see the actual letter has the address written down as North Yorkshire -- an unfortunate error as Ilkley is in the West Riding.

'Eastbourne, Sussex'

This location was also referenced using an historic county, with Sussex displayed instead of the current ceremonial county of East Sussex. I suspect this may have been due to the space available on screen.

'Wood Green, London'

Formally Wood Green was a municipal borough with the county of Middlesex, but is now part of the London Borough of Haringey, one of 32 London boroughs within Greater London. This is a bit of an anomaly, as Greater London is formerly classed as an 'administrative area' and 'local government region', but not a county.

Whilst Greater London assumed parts of neighbouring counties and lead to Middlesex being abolished entirely, this historic county still exists in the public consciousness. A tin of Heinz Baked Beans will show the company address as Hayes, Middlesex, whilst a can of Coke may list an address of Uxbridge, Middlesex.

Using historic Counties for addresses in London can be confusing, so the recommended form is to use the County followed by the Post Town, for example:

Wood Green
Middlesex
LONDON

Further Information

A whole host of information on this topic is available from the Association of British Counties, an organisation that is seeking to re-establish the use of historic Counties as the standard popular geographical reference frame of Britain. I've already taken them up on their advice of using historic Counties in addresses, and I'm sure membership will follow.

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Hello Clearleft

2009-06-21T16:30:00Z

Continuing the trend of this blog documenting events that happened several weeks ago, if you haven't yet guessed from my tweets, this month saw me become the ninth member of the Brighton based web agency Clearleft. My relationship with Clearleft goes back to 2006 when they were contracted by my former employer Ning to design a video sharing application. This was against some pretty rigid requirements, not least a set of style guidelines created by yours truly. Thankfully they liked what they saw and this placed me firmly on the companies radar.

Upon leaving Ning I decided to embrace the world of freelancing, with a number of US-based projects lined up thanks to a friend in the Bay Area. Freelancing was certainly a rewarding experience -- knowing that every penny I earned was down to my own hard work was definitely a kick. A move to the south coast allowed me to start freelancing for Clearleft, and I was soon working on high-profile projects for companies like Gumtree and Mozilla.

I was planning to use my trip around Europe in May to decide which direction to take next. I enjoyed freelancing, but was eager to do more local (perhaps agency) work rather than long-term contracts, if only to keep work within daylight hours!

Shortly before leaving for Europe, Andy asked if I would like to join the company full time. I'd been offered the opportunity to join Clearleft a few times before, but now everything felt right -- no doubt helped by having already worked alongside the team.

Without trying to sound too corny, I'm not sure I would have given up freelancing for any other company.

I love that they are a small yet multi-disciplined agency. Two well-respected conferences in the shape of UX London and dConstruct, workshops, a usability testing application and an internship programme demonstrate a desire not only to try different things, but contribute to the wider community.

I love that the three founders continue to innovate and guide the industry, whilst encouraging others in the company to do so as well: be it writing articles, running local events, or speaking at popular conferences. I have a lot to live up to!

I'm amazed it took me this long to say yes.

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Europa!

2009-06-13T00:39:10Z

As predicted, I was unable to blog during my travels across Europe last month, although less predictable was this being due to the death of my laptop mid-trip. I'll be posting reports and photos from the cities I visited over the coming weeks, but here are a few general thoughts to start off with. As a trip intended to give just a brief introduction to Europe, covering nine cities in three weeks, it's no surprise that I found it difficult balancing sightseeing with relaxation. Many of the cities I visited had so much to offer, that it was sometimes overwhelming trying to fit it all in.

I often find travelling to a destination more enjoyable than the destination itself (and partly the reason why I've become so enamoured with rail travel in recent years) yet happily I didn't find that to be the case during this trip. Rail travel remains unrivaled for me -- the level of comfort, ease of use and overall experience beats flying hands down -- but it's testament to the cities I visited that the train journeys became a secondary experience.

Travel related highlights did however include riding the sleeper between Madrid and Paris, and the sleeper-that-wasn't between Geneva and Barcelona. Due to maintenance on the line this service was replaced by a gruesome 9 hour coach ride, in which passengers were ushered around by a short Spaniard (with a passing resemblance to Robert De Niro) and included a 4am stop at a French motorway service station. Very bizarre.

Of the cities I visited, Lucerne and Innsbruck stand out as favourites, certainly in terms of their stunning landscapes and the fantastic accommodation (the Weissz Kruez in Innsbruck having once hosted a young Mozart for example). Both remain strong candidates for a return visit.

I'm also keen to return to Valencia in Spain, if not only because I wasn't able to meet-up with my friend Gerir this time round, but also because I spent most of my time on the beach and by the pool, when the city had so much to offer -- especially in terms of incredible architecture.

Throughout the trip I enjoyed toying with different languages, although I often felt embarrassed trying to use them. German was my favourite, and I would like to try and re-familiarise myself with it again.

This desire actually plays into a larger re-assessment of Europe (the people, their attitudes and our integration with it). I like to think I've become less euro-sceptic since living in the States, and this trip has only continued that trend, and I hope to write about this in more depth sometime soon.

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Possibly more for my benefit than yours, I'd like to finish up with a few lessons I learnt from this trip:

Preparation: Over the years, I've come to realise that preparation is important in making trips a success, and whilst I didn't manage to create itineraries for later parts of the trip, what preparation I did do meant I could hit each city running.
Be a tourist: I've often thought the best way to get a feel for a large city is by jumping on the metro (just get a day ticket, pick a destination and head towards it), rather than use the more touristy forms of transport, but this trip finally saw me embrace my inner tourist! The 'Batobus' along the River Shine in Paris (€12 for a hop-on/hop-off day pass), and Barcelona's open-top 'Bus Turístic' (€21 for a one-day ticket valid on all three routes) both turned out to be quite useful for getting an overview of these cities and seeing the main sights.
Pack half, and then pack half again: This tip is one I read a few years ago but still seem to have trouble perfecting. Each successive holiday I try to do this, and each time I realise I could have packed even less still. I spent most of this holiday carrying a laptop with a burnt out logic board, and a rarely used tripod, both of which I debated whether or not to take with me. The lesson here is if you're not sure if need something, you definitely won't. Keep to the bare essentials only.
Check roaming charges for data before you go: Guess who didn't. Ouch.

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Cologne

2009-05-15T22:23:18Z

The first stop on my nine city tour of Europe, was Cologne in Northern Germany.

Cologne is Germany's forth largest city, yet you'd never guess given its small town feel. I only had one day to spend here, so most of my time was spent in the immediate vicinity of the Cathedral and an area north of the Hohenzollern bridge. This bridge has become somewhat of an attraction in itself, as couples have recently begun attaching padlocks to it as a sign of their affection for each other. This is already quite a sight, and I'm sure even more so as more are added.

The Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathredal) dominates the city, and climbing the 509 steps was certainly the highlight of my time in the city. I was surprised to find a small office located at the top of the spire, where a guard keeps watch over everybody as they walk around and admire the city and the surrounding region from one of the two 320 feet high spires. Is this perhaps the weirdest job in all Europe?

The second half of my day was spent walking around the grounds of the Rheinpark, on the right bank of the River Rhine. Around the gardens, signs combine photos of the park as it was during the 1957 Federal Garden Show with a viewfinder onto the park as it is today. A few of the buildings seem to have fallen into slight disrepair, yet the sculptures and water features remain, giving the park a distinct retro quality. I headed back towards the city center via a cable car that crosses the Rhine, an experience that had me clinging tightly to my seat!

I ended this first day in Germany as would befit this beer loving nation, washing down a large Bratwurst sausage with the local tipple, Gallen Kölsch. This may become a favourite beer should I be able to find an importer in the UK.

All in all, Cologne provided a welcoming start to my trip, and even though the weather wasn't out to impress, I still enjoyed my day exploring just a small part of this impressive city.

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One Hour in Belgium

2009-05-10T16:18:24Z

Brussels will be quickly forgotten. Ill-located and badly sign-posted toilets that require a 50¢ coin to enter. Cash machines situated at the opposite end of the station complex that only dispense €50 notes, but change machines that only accept €5 and €10 notes. Five minutes remaining before I'm likely to soil my pants.

Luckily this first tale from my travels around Europe ended well, but it was indicative of the hour I spent in Bruxelles-Midi (Brussels South) railway station, where lounges are without departure information (yet on this occasion notable for a mumbling Belgian with a passing resemblance to Russell Crowe) and a distinct smell that makes you intent on departure.

I arrived in Brussels via the Eurostar service from St Pancras International. This magnificent building was expertly restored to its former glory in 2007, and requires further inspection on my return.

Throughout this trip I will be travelling first-class, yet I was still surprised by the offer of free champagne and full meal service as I made way towards the Channel Tunnel. The entry here was unspectacular as you might imagine, but even more so given that the new 'High Speed 1' line tunnels under a lot of London and the south-east before reaching it anyway. Upon exiting the tunnel, you could be forgiven for thinking you were still in Kent, if it weren't for the sight of buildings advertising cheap alcohol and cigarettes.

It fact, much of the landscape I've passed through has been unremarkable, but I expect this will change as I head down the Rhine Valley later this week. Tomorrow is my first real day of exploring Europe, with a day in Cologne. It's 13th century cathedral, the Ludwig Museum, and the Rheinpark (with a cable car that traverses the river) look set to be the first of many such sights and attractions I can look forward to over the coming weeks.

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A European Adventure

2009-05-09T23:33:58Z

After a number of years focusing my travels around big American cities, today I start a three week jaunt across Europe. I've been meaning to write about this trip for sometime (having been planning it since the beginning of the year) yet only now am I getting round to doing so, on this, the day that I leave. However, before I start posting entries from the various locations I'm visiting, I wanted to give a quick introduction to where I'm going and why.

The first thing to note, is that I'm again travelling by train. I really enjoyed my time on the California Zephyr last year, which not only ensured I saw more of America than I would have done by plane, but felt far more rewarding in doing so. This form of transportation is a little more environmentally friendly too, with less carbon emissions being produced than if I were to take the same trip by plane. It also proves to be more convenient as well, given that trains terminate in the centre of each city.

So which countries am I visiting? Europe is such a large continent, with many different cultures and landscapes, I was a bit overwhelmed at first as to which countries to visit. With a little help from the great team of advisors at railselect.com, I settled on the following itinerary, leaving and returning to London's new St. Pancras International terminal via the Eurostar:

My European Rail Destinations

May 10-11: Cologne, Germany
May 12-14: Munich, Germany
May 15-16: Innsbruck, Austria
May 17-20: Lucerne, Switzerland
May 22: Zurich, Switzerland
May 23-24: Barcelona, Spain
May 24-27: Valencia, Spain
May 28: Madrid, Spain
May 29: Paris, France

Each of these destinations promises to be exciting, with opportunities to learn more about each country and it's people. Better still, this trip will give my new SLR camera a proper work out, with opportunities to capture the Cathedral in Cologne, the palaces and Olympic park in Munich, the breathtaking Swiss landscape, and the many extraordinary pieces of architecture in Spain.

I hope to post entries providing my thoughts on each of these destinations as I pass through them, but past experience dictates that I'm unlikely to write these up until months after my return.

If you want to get a more immediate taste of my experience travelling across Europe, my Twitter stream is the best place to find it. You can follow me @paulrobertlloyd, where I'll no doubt be asking for advice on things to see and do, and undoubtedly recounting tales of missed trains, and embarrassing situations resulting from my lack of language and social skills!

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Le Corbusier, The Art of Architecture

2009-05-09T21:12:38Z

Yesterday I went to see the Le Corbusier exhibition, currently showing at the Barbican Art Gallery in London. I've long been a fan of modern architecture, even more so since I've been travelling and furthering my photography skills. Indeed, the highlight of my time in Chicago last October was an architecture boat tour, and I'm sure much of my travels around Europe in the next few weeks will be spent pointing my camera towards iconic buildings such as the Olympic Stadium in Munich, and the City of Art and Sciences in Valencia.

Portrait of Le Corbusier

Always eager to learn more about the discipline, this exhibition about Le Corbusier, a celebrated multi-disciplined practitioner and father of the International style of architecture seemed too good an opportunity to miss.

The exhibition is divided into three parts. 'Context' charts his early influences and features his early designs for villas in Switzerland and France. 'Privacy and Publicity' explores his passion and advocacy of 'type-objects' -- lights, tables, chairs and other items for which he furnished his buildings or endorsed in his periodicals. The final section 'Built Art' is the largest of the three sections and perhaps where 'The Art of Architecture' is most evident. With many of his paintings, tapestries and sculptures on display, this section also features his later signature buildings such as the Unité d'Habitation in Marsilles, the Philips Pavilion for Expo 58 in Brussels, as well as his urban planning and architecture in Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab and Haryana in India.

The Philips Pavilion at the 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels

The key story underlined throughout this exhibition, is that of his style and opinion changing and maturing as he got older, his designs becoming less rigid and more organic over time. With this in mind, I was left wondering what buildings he would have designed had he lived another 20 years or so.

I can't say I particularly liked a lot of Corbusier's work, I've never been that excited by buildings designed using such rectangular and grid-like styles (although oddly when it comes to skyscrapers my opinion changes -- the Aon Centre and IBM Building in Chicago are two of my favourites). However I do find myself immensely fascinated by the large scale urban planning and building projects here in Britain that were heavily influenced by his style.

It's no accident that this exhibition is housed in the Barbican Centre, as it and the surrounding estate, designed by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon in the early 1960's owes a lot to Le Corbusier, as do similar sites such as Park Hill in Sheffield and Cumbernauld Town Centre. Yet aside from a small 'resource room', little attention was paid to these and other buildings influenced by his work. Rather it would seem the topics surrounding his influence are only available in the related talks and events.

Le Corbusier, The Art of Architecture runs until May 24th.

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The Multipack Presents: Being Green

2009-04-15T00:34:34Z

After the success of the first 'Multipack Presents' event in February, so we return to the plush offices of One Black Bear, this time to learn how the web can help us become eco-friendly citizens.

This months guest speakers are both passionate about green issues, and have used the web to further their aims.

David Harte has been involved with the Act on CO2 campaign in Birmingham and will show us how he has been using the internet to measure his Carbon footprint. James Robertson leads the Birmingham Freecycle group, and promises to tell us how we can build websites that encourage people to act.

I will also be announcing a new green focused web-based initiative I've been working on with some members of the pack, which was spurred on in part by my disgust at the celebration of wastefulness that is the SXSW Big Bag. Still in its early stages, I hope to share some of my ideas with a larger audience, and start an open dialogue about how we can encourage our industry and peers to become more environmentally conscious.

The event kicks of this Saturday at The Old Crown Pub at 2pm, before moving to the offices of One Black Bear at 4pm. Of course it would be wrong to hold such an event without considering it's own impact on the environment, so we'll be sourcing locally produced food and beverages, once again kindly paid for by those lovely folks at Campaign Monitor.

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The event starts off at The Old Crown pub at 2pm, before moving to the One Black Bear offices where the talks begin at 4pm.
View Larger Map

You can find further details about the event on upcoming. This promises to be a really interesting event, and so I look forward to seeing you there!

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Tailored for England

2009-03-29T01:06:27Z

The appointment of Fabio Capello has brought about a more stylish and confident England. Now they have a kit to match.

From humble beginnings where teams wore different strips only to tell themselves apart, today football kits have become a huge revenue opportunity for clubs and sportswear manufactures.

Over the last twenty years, these once basic uniforms have morphed into a grotesque fashion accessory, designed not for the footballer, but for ardent fans willing to pay for their slightly modified designs year after year. The same is true of the national team, whose strip is refreshed every two years in the same evolutionary way, adding and rearranging design elements that typically result in forgettable designs.

This desire to appeal to the consumer rather than the football player is perhaps best symbolised by the infamous grey 'Away' kit worn by the England team during Euro 96. Abandoning the traditional bright red strip, it was replaced with a bluish-grey coloured edition apparently designed to compliment denim jeans. Yet on the pitch it had the effect of making players harder to pick out, and arguably contributed to England's defeat to Germany in the semi-finals.

With this in mind, I imagined the 2009-11 kit to be in much the same vein, perhaps reflecting the current trend for eighties retro-styled fashion (and no doubt bringing with it horrible memories of Kevin Keegan's perm and Chris Waddle's mullet).

I was wrong.

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Instead designer Aitor Thrope has gone with a far more classical look, and a design inspired by kits from the 1950's. This has returned the strip to a far simpler, brilliant white design, one no longer adorned with a stylised St George Cross or other unnecessary trimming.

The star representing England's solitary 1966 Word Cup win remains, but now shares the same colour as the shirt, giving it a far more modest feel -- a wise choice given our recent lack of success in that competition.

Finally, the crest is based on that used on the 1953 shirt (meaning it no longer shares the FA's corporate logo), and players shirts will be embroidered with game insignias in the same way they were then:

I really admire the braveness of this new design, one which is clearly revolutionary rather than evolutionary.

Whilst I'm sure the design is still targeted at the consumer, perhaps it's telling that the new shirts will be custom tailored for each player. With a design that harks back to a more respectful age, let's hope it will remind players to perform to the standard expected of them, those few who have the rare opportunity to wear the three lions and play for England. Early indications look positive.

You can learn more about the new kit at umbro.com.

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Nothing Green About SXSW

2009-03-15T19:52:17Z

Friday saw the start of this years SXSW interactive, film and music festivals in Austin Texas, and once again they highlight the scourge of swag: the 'stuff we all get' that soon becomes the stuff we don't want. Whilst SXSW likes to tout its environmental credentials as a carbon neutral conference (largely by means of carbon offsetting) it amazes me that year after year this supposed concern results in the following familiar image:

SXSW Bags by drbrain.

These are just some of the thousands of 'Big Bags' offered to each conference attendee, and whilst you don't have to grab one, you are heavily encouraged to do so. As described by Allen Stern in this video at Center Networks, this years interactive Big Bag contains:

17 various sized flyers for software products, websites and events taking place during the week,
4 stickers,
A Microsoft 'Silverlight Essentials' CD (surely this could be downloaded from the internet),
4 magazines (most of which are old issues), whose combined weight is several pounds,
The conference programme,
The Austin Chronicle (included regardless of the fact you already have a copy, the newspaper having been left outside your hotel room in the morning),
and 7 other items including a snack bar, scratch card, 'Internet All-stars' trading card, a phone sock and a Crumpler camera bag.

Whilst there is a slight reduction in the number of items placed in the interactive bag compared to last year I question whether this was intentional, or due to the current economic climate -- I suspect the later.

This isn't a problem limited to just SXSW -- many other conferences exhibit the same sort of wastefulness -- yet SXSW is easily one of the worst offenders. This is especially true when you consider Gold badge holders get two big bags, whilst Platinum badge holders get three, one for each festival they've registered for.

I find it odd that these bags continue to prove so popular, even though they achieved infamy as bags of useless crap many years ago. I've often heard regular attendees explain to first time visitors that they should avoid the Big Bag and just pick up the mini fold-out guide, yet I've seen these very same regulars at the bag pick-up point the next year.

Ritual Stupidity

They and countless others go through a strange SXSW ritual. After getting their registration badge, they head down to the bag collection point and sneak round the curtain to snap a picture of the sea of bags (seemingly unable to recognise the wastefulness). Upon receiving the bag, they proceed to then throw out any flyers not of interest to them, before taking the remaining items back to their hotel (the bags being too heavy to carry around for any length of time). The bag is then forgotten until it's found at the bottom of the suitcase upon returning home.

This year the SXSW bag contains a small camera bag made by Crumpler, which seems excuse enough for some to continue this ritual stupidity. You probably already have a camera bag, and chances are your camera will either be too big or small for it to be of any use. Yet it's enough to persuade those who might not have picked up the bag to do so this year, for fear of missing out. This trend is reflected in a number of other 'viral' items such as the phone sock and 'Internet All Star' trading cards.

These free 'gifts' help contribute to the favourable attitude people have towards swag. Regardless of the actual value and usefulness of these items, they are perceived as a positive gains as they cost nothing to acquire. Whilst this may be true in a monetary sense, nothing is without cost, and ultimately it's the environment left paying the price.

Let me get this straight: bags of useless free shit are not cool. It's about time we started to recognise that.

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Do Something Funny for Money

2009-03-08T10:20:04Z

This Friday is Red Nose Day, the main fund-raising event in support of Comic Relief, a charity that supports projects in the UK and Africa.

As well as supporting a worthy cause, on another level, I think the event also promotes our nations better nature: the inventiveness of our fund-raising activities, our love of comedy and our willingness to support good causes.

The highlight of every Red Nose Day, is the live telethon shown throughout the evening on BBC One. Eight hours are set aside for a show filled with specially filmed sketches from popular comedy programmes, live musical performances and stunts performed by comedians upon reaching certain fund-raising targets.

If this isn't enough encouragement to donate, short films from Africa and around the UK demonstrate where your money ends up, and the difference to peoples life it can make.

Yet in our celebrity obsessed media landscape, I wonder if the novelty of such a star-studded night has worn off. In recent years the main show has typically involved the conclusion of special celebrity versions of reality shows (Fame Academy, Driving School, The Apprentice...), but these are formats already beaten to death throughout the rest of the year. Perhaps it's worth nothing that it was Comic Relief that introduced us to the format of celebrity-based reality shows, as the first series of Celebrity Big Brother was shown on the BBC in aid of the charity in 2001.

Regardless of the methods used to entertain us, I'll certainly be donating on the night, and I encourage you to do so as well. You can even donate right now on rednoseday.com, so what are you waiting for!

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British Triumph Coming Shortly

2009-03-01T22:39:26Z

It seems I have a new challenge for March. Americans are quite a competitive race, an admirable trait given the countless wars they've lost and their inability to build a desirable automobile. In fact, I'm inclined to believe the only American success is to be found at the all-you-can-eat buffet.

History may have told a different story had their pesky ancestors just paid their taxes instead of getting into a tizzy and declaring independence from us British.

Sadly, I have yet to convince my friend Kyle, who believes 1776 was his country's finest hour. I should mention that Kyle lives in Los Angeles, a city built on top of the San Andreas Fault. Just incredible.

If common sense and the passage of history aren't enough to prove that the Treaty of Paris was a colossal error on the part of our colonial cousins, then a challenge via the Nike+ website will have to demonstrate British superiority instead.

The challenge: who can run the most miles over the course of March. You can follow its progress with the widget on the right, and provide encouragement in the comments below. Bring it!

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28 Days Later

2009-02-28T11:24:34Z

February coming to a close means I can conclude my month long challenge to post to this blog each day. Having only written 14 entries, it's a challenge for which I only half succeeded. The blogging started to become problematic upon my return from America, where a days worth of flying (and my sleeping through most of it) meant I found myself scribbling down a few notes upon arriving at Heathrow, and publishing the entry (SFO/LHR) later that day. A day behind and eager to catch up, I wrote a few posts largely consisting of embedded videos, as these were quick and easy ways to accomplish the goal.

Yet by the ninth day I was still a day behind schedule, lying about the dates in which entries were posted, and postponing entries that required a little more time to write. I was able to write about the new logos for Walsall Council and Walsall College on the 10th, yet the fact I was up until 4am doing so, meant the desire to continue soon abated.

On the positive side, this month has easily been the most active month in my all my years of blogging, and it did get me into the habit of thinking about content, and posting to the site. It has also made me think a little more about how I craft content. Going forward I think collating a list of bullet points in the morning, writing a first draft at the end of the day, before editing it all down after a nights rest is the way to go -- trying to accomplish all three tasks in the space of a day is a recipe for disaster!

Next Month's Challenge

Given that I still have a number of topics I wish to write about, I'll be putting this plan into action over the coming months. Bringing stucture to how I blog will also be part of larger challenge for March -- achieving greater self discipline, and finally forcing upon myself a more stringent structure upon my day. I am capable of achieving great things (I have no shortage of ideas) yet I feel held back by my inability to contain my freelance work to the daylight hours, which would allow me to spend evenings on my own projects. The challenge for March is to change this behaviour.

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An Apple by Any Other Name

2009-02-27T17:28:20Z

Earlier this month I wrote about my love of organisation and systems. One such example is how I name the devices I attach to my Mac. Macintosh has been associated with Apple since the launch of its original all-in-one computer in 1984, reportedly named after the pocket-sized McIntosh apple cultivar. So when it comes to providing names for the external devices I plug into my Mac (backup drives, iPods and my iPhone for example) it seemed like a good idea to follow this convention:

Macintosh: Internal hard drives on new Macs are labelled 'Macintosh HD' by default, yet I always found the HD suffix unnecessary, so I remove it.

Cameo: My back-up drive is named after the Cameo cultivar. I choose this name as it also refers to actors making short appearances as themselves in film and television, and this seemed to fit somehow.

Elstar: My iPod Nano is named after a Dutch cultivar, a cross between Golden Delicious and Ingrid Marie apples. I just liked the name in this particular case!

Fireside: The iPod I owned prior to Elstar was named 'Fireside', a name chosen as it evoked the idea of listening to music by a fire.

Braeburn: My iPhone is the newest device to be connected to my Mac. The description of the Braeburn cultivar on Wikipedia seemed to fit well here: 'becoming increasingly popular in the UK'.

Discovery: Needing a name for my Mac for when it appears on different networks, I choose Discovery as it shares a name with HMS Discovery, and the idea of my Mac docking with different networks around the world.

If you're facing a similar problem finding naming conventions for use on a Mac, why not go with this list of apple cultivars. After all, there are plenty to choose from!

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