Green Apple
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Interesting to see Apple touting their “green” creds. Just a shame they cannot focus a little more on their quality control (he said speaking from experience!).
Pushing my recent bad Apple experiences aside, is green a real driver for a buyer? I’m not so sure it is going to be challenging features like OSX, the new construction and design. It maybe a factor for items like cleaning products, (Method being a good example), but for laptops? What do you think?
Tim Ferriss Answers some Questions and Hints of a New Book
A good few months ago, I was lucky enough to attend The Do Lectures organised by howies. I posted about it when I came back, but now, I’ve finally got round to writing up this - a small interview with Mr Tim Ferriss. Tim was talking at the do lectures and having read his book and subscribed to his blog for some time, I was really looking forward to meeting him.
Tim kindly spent half and hour talking about life, politics and the web, so read on:
What has been your best accomplishment in life so far and also 2008?
Not dying when I was 6 weeks old - I was premature and my blood volume was transfused 5 times.
In 2008, I’m still following my own advice after the success of the 4HWW.
What is your favourite city and why?
SF because of creativity, support for big ideas for even unproven people, pure natural beauty - you can drive to your season in one and half hours.
What are the best and worst parts of global travel?
The best - new cultures and new languages.
The worst - con artists on the road.
How could we improve global travel?
Do more global travel - more stamps in your passport - fewer problems.
What do you want to do for 2009?
Drop out of the limelight / media for 6 months and explore more of SF.
Mac or PC?
Mac - (even Macs have problems - “intuitive my ass!”)
McCain or Obama?
“Used to be a staunch Obama supporter - I think all politicians are liars, and Obama has waffled about too many issues for me to have the same level of confidence. I still favour Obama, but he is not a saviour to fix all world and US problems. Nor do I think McCain is the harbinger of doom. Difference in presidencies in either candidate are overestimated”.
Where do you see the web going in the future?
Inseperable from other items like watches, cellphones and TV. It will be inescapable.
What are your 3 favourite websites / blogs?
www.polygram.com
www.blog.pmarca.com
www.slate.com
How do you plan to change your blog / website going forwards?
Make the blog more interactive - allow visitors to contribute in a more visible way beyond comments.
Is there going to be a 4HWW 2?!
There is another book in development - nothing to do with work / life balance and productivity. Much more controversial and much more interesting than 4HWW. It probably won’t come out for 1.5-2 years, I’d imagine.
You have a small duffel bag and are going away for the weekend… what do you pack?
(There’s a great post Tim pointed me to on his blog here >> click.
He also said - athletic tape, Kerhsaw knife, headlamp, book or Kindle (excellent for travel but not used it enough yet), one change of clothes, sunglasses and cash.
Lastly what countries would you like to visit?
Vietnam - friendly people and great food experienced from best friend
Indonesia - would love to scuba dive there and see orangutans
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So, huge thanks to Tim for answering my questions. From a personal point of view, it was fascinating to meet someone who has had so much media coverage, especially online. From spending a little time with Tim, it was immediately apparent he practices what he preaches - he is very focused, very intuitive and makes the most of every minute and interaction.
I’m now looking forwards to the new book!
“Why is Hull a Broadband Blackhole?”
It’s a very good questions isn’t it? And one which is starting to irritate me more and more.
My friend James was kind enough to send me a link to the article on the Guardian Website, entitled exactly that.
“We are missing out on super deals offered by companies such as Orange and Sky,” say the 3,222 signatories of a petition lodged on the No 10 website earlier this year. “Scrap the monopoly that Kingston Communications hold in Hull for broadband users.”
The fact is, that Kingston Communications and not BT own the phonelines, so that means we, the residents only get one choice of ISP, Karoo. So, a monopoly. This is denied by KC, but the fact that a) no companies are offering alternative services and b) they charge very high prices for anyone showing an interest to providing a new service, means that nothing is going to change.
What makes me laugh is that Karoo is emblazoned on the Hull Football Team’s shirts, seen around the country on TV and in the national media. What is the point of advertising a service which is only available in Hull to people who don’t want it? I really do question their marketing, and whoever is doing the job of brand manager needs to have a plan in place 
As to WiFi, which is the other thing the article mentions:
Wi-Fi access in the city is also notoriously tricky to find. While neighbours in Leeds and Sheffield can sip and surf in their Starbucks, forget it in Hull. And its Wetherspoons remain the company’s only pubs in Britain without wireless internet. Paul Burman, area chairman for Hull’s chamber of commerce, says Hull needs a “good, core Wi-Fi area in the two square miles across the city centre”. It is left to McDonald’s, in a city with startling obesity levels, to install free Wi-Fi in all its branches.
it is non-existent. When will Hull and to be fair, the rest of the Uk realise that online connectivity at decent speeds is the way forward. Hull is never going to dig itself out of a business wilderness unless it invests in broadband (same for the rest of the Uk as well!).
KC COULD, and it is a big COULD, really take the lead and install fibre to the home for the whole of the area served by Karoo - great publicity, raises the city profile and means that businesses may find it a little more attractive.
Come on KC, pull you finger out and do us all a BIG favour.
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Wednesday Thoughts
Well, the blogging has been a little on the sparse side as late. Nothing drastically wrong here, just a tad short of time! Juggling a number of great projects is fun, but doesn’t allow much time for a lot else.
Organisation - perhaps I need to streamline my calendars, project management, to dos etc. One of the downsides of having a love for all things web and technology is that I am easily tempted to use the latest and greatest online apps, and also desktop apps. Having totted up the number I use, it’s actually quite a few, which, of course, takes time to manage.
I’ll write a post up on this in the near future….. I know a few of you are avid GTDers, and I’ve yet to really dabble in this area. Things is looking very promising, but needs to sync across multiple computers.
Air time - after 6, yes, 6 poorly finished MacBookPros 2.53ghz - all singing and dancing mobile powerhouse Macs, I finally through in the towel and said no more. To say I have had my Apple brand love dented is an understatement.
However, the new MacBookAir is superb (although was STILL not perfect out of the box - scratch on bottom, and small scuffs - tiny but noticeable to the Moss eye!). The 128Gb SSD seems to make the machine very snappy and so far, performing well. The iSkin Pro Touch FX keyboard cover arrived which will keep the keys pristine and a Radtech cloth is also on the way.
The only negative so far is that the fans do come on during video chat, something that didn’t happen with the old MBP.
Stockholm - last week I spent a hugely enjoyable couple of days in Stockholm, Sweden with the orbitsville gang. There were a number of things that really stood out - a superb welcome and really good to meet like-minded people, all with a passion about the web and marketing, the broadband speed (which is still making me chuckle in awe!), and finally the quality of the buildings and services. My initial view of Sweden is that they are getting an awful lot right. Just like the UK. Yeah right 
It’s late and I have an early telecon, so that’s all for now folks!
PS I have just installed the new Intense Debate comment system which you can read about here. Please leave a comment and let me know your honest thoughts!
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Total and Utter Madness
orbitsville Stockholm Broadband Speed, originally uploaded by JonnyMoss.
Just check out the speed of the web here in Stockholm, Sweden. I’ve been travelling since Tuesday and have had not a lot of time at all for blogging, but lots to come soon, well, next week some time!
Very impressed with Sweden and everyone at orb has been so friendly and welcoming! 
Skype Mayhem!
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SLIM ipod nano pouch
SLIM ipod nano pouch, originally uploaded by www.hard-graft.com.
Loving the Hard Graft stuff from Austria - iPod Nano case and Pull Laptop case for me
Virgin Media Cable Modem
Virgin Media Cable Modem, originally uploaded by JonnyMoss.
Not only is this modem looking smokin’ cool, but it also supports up to 50mb/s!
The full details of this most marvellous thing can be found on TechRadar here > click .
Calling Karoo, Hull’s wonderful ISP - I guess you won’t be in need of this for a while eh? Ever?!
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Do you sign up for stuff online?
The online world gives you an amazing opportunity to learn, and even more opportunity to get bombarded with all kinds if rubbish.
Giving out your email address whether for actually buying something, or signing up for a newsletter or mini-course is something that requires some thought. Many people are using different email addresses for different online functions. One for shopping, one for general sign ups and one as a throwaway address for getting one time access for something.
I have 2 questions for you.
Firstly, what do you sign up for online (and why??). The golden rule is that if you give someone your email address (this is usually what is given when you sign up for a newsletter / course / access to a white paper), you expect value / information / benefit in return. You also expect respect. You don’t want to be bombarded with rubbish, and there is that mutual understanding that if you do start getting irrelevant, uninteresting and useless communication, you are one click away from saying, goodbye and unsubscribing, or even worse, clicking that spam button.
Personally, I sign up for content that is going to increase my online marketing knowledge or provide me with access to something I am interested in. So, what about you?? What do you do?
The second question is around the sign up mechanism. This is something that has recently cropped up with client, and also got me thinking with this site here >> please have a look. I really like the way he has done this (you won’t know what I’m talking about unless you have a look!). It’s different, captures your attention and engages. I’ve tried to do this here on one of my sites, and used something called a hover box. This can be very irritating to some people but has been shown to give some excellent increases in sign up rates.
I’m interested to know whether innovative sign up mechanisms work for you or you prefer something fairly simple and not too pushy? I would be very grateful for some feedback here as I will be be able to use it in the near future. So, if you are reading this post, reading this blog, and usually don’t comment. STOP. Please take a couple of minutes and make your first comment now! Thanks!
The US Election Via the Web
4 years ago, when the US last voted, there was no twitter. There was no YouTube. The whole of the web, and the way that we consume media has completely changed in those 4 years. Where have people talked about the election and the candidates?
Online. On the blogs, the websites, on twitter, using the power of online maps to see what is happening. Using the reach of the web, so that a Mum in Ohio can broadcast what she wants to say, just as easily as a multinational news channel can.
I’ve been using some great sites like perspctv.com to watch real time tweets, blog posts and poll results. What will be fascinating is whether the UK election will have so much online activity. Will the Labour Party and Conversatives take adavntage of the web and really leverage it, to communciate with the online population? This slideshow shows just some of the ways that the web has been used over the past few weeks and months: from the excellent Read Write Web and flickr user SarahinTampa:
If I was Gordon Brown, (and he needs all the help he can get). I would be appointing someone now to help him fight the election online. Someone who knows the web and what it can do. Focus groups and engaging the different age groups. The UK online environment, like what happened in the US, is going to be the real battle ground in our next election.
I want to personally say a huge congratulations to Brack Obama - I have rarely been moved by someone who speaks so brilliantly, is so obviously thoughtful, caring, intelligent, and has such incredible maturity and poise. The US can now start to repair its worldwide reputation, where so many Americans have been ashamed of their past President.
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BBC News- You may like to read this...
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