Saturday, June 27, 2009

Head 2 head with Mr. Ed

Post your questions for the energy and climate change minister Ed Miliband

They have their flaws these efforts (esp. what gets chosen to be answered...Michael Jackson's passing???!), but can still be enlightening. I did note this:

Q - Have you read David MacKay's book Sustainable Energy - without the hot air? How will you ensure arithmetic is at the heart of energy policy given it doesn't seem to have been up to now?

Ed Miliband: MacKay's a smart guy. His book is by my bedside and my permanent secretary keeps telling me I have to finish it!

Actual answer seems to be.. 'No, I haven't read it and I just do what other folk tell me'

Explains a lot.

No excuses

I just happen to like the song.

And this now allows me listen to it whenever I want. And the emotive imagery is effective.

Michael Jackson's biggest selling UK single wasn't Thriller or Billie Jean — but a song about the environment

A major talent with a troubled life. Worth acknowledging the contribution, but the flaws cannot be ignored. Especially those of a 24/7 media-dominated world that has lost ALL perspective. This did not warrant a news blackout in the UK on any other topic.

I must get back to writing again with the missus. But our protest stuff was not wanted so much back then. Now...? For now there's always Junkk.

Plus ca change

After my Monthus Suckius on personal matters, I am starting to get my head around getting various ongoing projects back on track.

For Junkk.com there is the reuse competition, which I had left woefully to its own devices.

There are still not that many entries, but a few more have come in, and one is, frankly, excellent. And it only just came in.

Hence I have asked for and got permission for another extension of a month from the Guardian's organisers. And will try and promote it more.

In complement, and with luck soon, we will also be improving the Junkk.com website with a few new features, added at the same time as trying to sort out some persistent glitches. Frustratingly, these latter seem to pop up without warning, rhyme or reason and are as hard to cure as they are impossible to predict.

And to share all this I will try and get the next newsletter out early July, and will be using a new improved creation system from dotmailer to do so.

And I will also be be trying to relight the fire under RE:tie. The international patents are well underway, so a major sales push is needed.

But as money is now really tight, I have to be even more careful, and ruthless.

A few days ago I mentioned a post that highlighted a website called quirky.

It looks fun. But so do many others. The trick is to try and guess the ROI on this potential avenue to....what?... more PR?...investors? ...an audience? It looks cute and slick, and that's the danger of the internet. There might only be six people using or viewing it.