Friday, November 17, 2006

It's BIG alright!

Having decided to make the most of what little I gained from our commitment to appearing in the BIG Idea, I recently sent some Plug:Jugs to the judges, organisers and MCs. No replies as yet, oddly.

I think my next move will be the media, who are shaping up to being about as impressed as a lot of the participants are, if the Forum pages are anything to go by. Though I must say I have seen almost no mention of the show, good or bad, in most usual places, which is odd. And, I suppose, deadly for the orgnaisers. 'No such thing as..' as Simon Cowell would say, still dripping from Mrs. Ozzie's last attack.

There are also more than a few concerns on IP, which may or may not be legally an issue, but if the winner turns out to be one of these (and I don't think they (see Safe Shopper and Sticmatz) are in the market yet to actually be what's being pitched) it might be fun.

You pays yer money and yer takes yer chances with such things, but having, with many others, invested a lot in trying to make this a fair and exciting and interesting competition to find something special that qualifies for the title, I must say I feel badly let down by a very superficial, and not a little bit on the unethical... world.

Online. Under Cover. Off The Road?

Gives new meaning to shop 'til we drop. New shopping centres could be a waste of space

"Thanks to a new generation of "internet" shoppers who are more than happy to try out [stuff] in the store before ordering it to be delivered to their homes."

But bad news for landlords. Altogether now... 'Ahhhhh'.

Good or bad? No more traveling for us, unless you need to visit to look, in which case that makes trips for you and the delivery. Hmnn.

Damn site cooler than a Prius, eh?

I like hydrogen. So why does the way this - hydrogen car: beauty or beast? - seem to be heading in the wrong direction?

PROs?


BMW has already received plenty of offers from politicians and executives, scientists and athletes, rock stars and TV personalities, all eager to help "create visibility for hydrogen".

Madonna, David Suzuki, Al Gore and Arnold Schwarzenegger are said to be among a long line of celebrities queuing up to endorse the car, and perhaps further enhance their own green images in the process.

CONS!

The problem is that currently most hydrogen is generated from fossil fuels, since the cost of generating it from, say, solar energy can be up to four times higher.

And when hydrogen is produced this way, well-to-tank and tank-to-wheel analysis shows the overall carbon dioxide emissions from hydrogen powered cars can be higher than that from petrol or diesel powered vehicles.

Thank you Nick. This could so many places, but certainly here. Thre's also one more kink I didn't know:

"It seems that image is everything. I hear that various green-tinted celebs are being sized up by BMW to run the new hydrogen powered 7 Series, the "zero emission" car. There's just one small problem: the absence of any hydrogen filling stations means that they're going to have to be refuelled on site with the H2 delivered in an ordinary, diesel-burning truck. At risk of sounding like the Daily Mail's Richard Littlejohn (and keeping up the tangential Robin Hood connection), you couldn't make it up."

If you can't stand being in the kitchen, fine the cook

Turn Up The Heat - Guardian

I was a tad worried when I saw "Now it may be starting produce action as well. The Queen's speech included plans to legislate against rising carbon emissions," and precious little by way of legislating FOR anything.

Sure, enough sticks to make that Roman symbol of authority (now what was it called again?) will be needed in a lot of areas, but there are surely some others where the great and good of our Dear Leaderships can try for a few carrots, too.

Not from the waffle I've heard from Ministers on breakfast TV lately.

People need mates as well as nannies!

Barking

Those who walk under trees are at risk from these terrorising inspectors - Guardian

See you in hell, Dell

I don't know why I say this, surrounded as I am by Dell PCs and printers, and with them doing a lot more than some to mitigate their e-footprint, but what goes around comes around: Dell delays filing results as inquiry is stepped up

Of course the fire alert was not their fault, and really I have no real complaints about the machines, other than our massive hard drive failure that cost us so dear.

And this enquiry, which seems so damaging, is nothing to do with my big beef: their customer service. The arrogance was breathtaking.

I could have been fighting their corner. Now I'm waiting to laugh as the redundancies bite, but only at senior level. The poor sods at ground zero always seemed OK and are the ones who will really suffer.

Trust me, I'm in blogging

You gotta love the public:

"This... is astounding.

I use blogs (perhaps too much for my RSI and sanity) both ways, and love what they can do to round out what’s out there.

But... trust them more than ’newspapers, TV advertisements or email marketing campaigns’???!!

These are tightly constrained, monitored and controlled media, subject to censure and fines.

Blogs are the wildest, woolliest West.

It’s a sorry commentary on our faith in media these days.

But maybe blogs are not having it all their own way (via me and some others), even BBC’s Newsnight:

“Where there is any form of shortlist*, agendas come into play, making both the process and the result immediately open to... 'concerns'. Even with no editing, what stays in and what is kept out shapes the story.’

*Substitute selection, moderation or any other similar word you fancy here."

Just added this to Newsnight:

You gotta love the public:

"This - "Public trust blogs over marketing" is astounding:

http://www.precisionmarketing.co.uk//Articles/252203/Public+trust+blogs+over+marketing.html

But maybe blogs are not having it all their own way; just look on these pages.

Some of mine appear. Some do not. And it's not because I use naughty words. If not, why?

At least they always end up on my, totally trustworthy, blog:)


The Guardian is on it, too: Should the BBC pay for user-generated content?

Plus another, related topic I added to.

A Right Royal..?

No, that's it. I just pose the question.

Inspired by Get on your bikes, the green Prince of Wales tells his staff , I sense a double dose of 'Damned if you do'... plus 'Nothing green can be black and white'

Gawd knows why, the guy is a role model. What he says, and does is news. And he says and does a lot, and has a bevvy of equerries to let us know about it. And where he goes, some folk may follow.

My first thought was 'here we go again'. I guess bus and tube doesn't cut it. At least he bought the bikes. I just hope they have places to park each end. And non-energy consuming ways to dry off when it rains. I notice they are 'available'. This could be fun. A bit like who leaves last at night (and switches the lights off... yay!).

What is interesting is this - "Royal accounts show that it costs taxpayers £13 per mile to transport a royal by air, compared to £41 per mile by royal train." - which is the dilemma I raised in the Newsnight blog the other day. How do we as taxpayers feel about footing his eco-desires... and example, when it is quite a lot of dosh for very little actual result.

And lo, it came to pass: Noblesse Oblige, in the Gaurdian