Going nowhere, faster

Good heavens! Maybe the DVLA aren't that bad after all!

2010-03-04T01:04:00.000-08:00

Got my new V5C back for the Corrado yesterday, with the new, correct ABF engine code on the document.

Bear in mind that I sent the address change document in with a letter explaining where the engine was from, giving full details, including the registration number of the Toledo it came out of and my address when I had the Toledo.

It looks like if you provide plenty of documentation that things *can* go smoothly.

Now, on to the main event - getting the Golf sorted...

A prompt call-back

2010-02-18T06:14:00.000-08:00

Blimey, Gareth called back within moments of me putting the last post up.

Unfortunately he's not the right person to speak to, as he's in DVLA and they deal with licenses for vehicles and people, not construction and use.

I now need to speak to an Engineering Grade on 01792 458888. Apparently I should speak to one of the male advisors (!!).

So, that'll be the next call I make on the Golf.

In addition to this, as Gareth said he dealt with licenses I bought up the sore subject of Mrs Hell losing her motorbike entitlement when she moved to Bristol. He's said I should send both parts in, with an explanation of what's happened and he'll sort it out. This could be a huge and totally unexpected win!

2010-02-18T05:49:00.000-08:00

After mailing TTS Enquiries I got a response back from Martin, which said:

Thank you for your enquiry. Because it is a registration matter, this is for the DVLA and not us. We cover technical engineering matters only. if you call 01792 766 xxx you should reach a real person at the DVLA.

The number above went through to a Gareth's voicemail, so I've left a voicemail. Hopefully Gareth will call me back in due course, to discuss this sticky subject.

Can't wait.

Not had the documents back for the Corrado. No doubt they're bouncing from desk to desk at the moment, looking for an official line to cling to.

Into battle with the DVLA - this won't be pretty or simple

2010-02-11T15:41:00.000-08:00

OK, I have two significant changes to make to my vehicles.

These are in addition to the changes to all of my registered vehicles which I have to make now we've moved house.

Those are the simple changes.

The complex changes are to the Corrado and even more seriously, the Golf.

The Corrado has a replacement engine, which is the same size and fuel type. I've sent in the V5Cdocument, with the new engine number on it and a letter attached, which says, the engine came out of the Toledo I owned and scrapped and was last registered at my old address. I've not got any documentation covering the engine fitment, as I did it myself. We'll see what happens on that score.

The Golf I've gone in at the administration level in the DVLA. I completed what I thought was the right enquiry form on their website and submitted it.

Here's the text from the form:

I am about to update the registered address for the vehicle listed above.

As part of this I need to also update the engine number and capacity (change from 1781 to 1984cc).

Further to this work, which I completed myself on the vehicle there is a change regarding which I need advice.

The Golf is 4WD. The biggest limitation on the standard car is the restrictive exhaust downpipe. This is due to the space limitations in the area behind the engine and in the transmission tunnel.

To get around this problem I fabricated a much less restrictive replacement downpipe. The compromise to making this modification is that I needed to cut out a section of the bulkhead and transmission tunnel. As an experienced welder I then trimmered around the area I had cut away with plate steel and fabricated a box to clear the new exhaust. The replacement steel was of heavier gauge than the original and the box was seam welded on to the trimmers, which were seam welded into the monocoque.

This change is a relatively small modification to the shell of the car, but in a key structural area. I am happy that I have not lost any of the structural integrity of the shell from this modification. Later this year I plan to fit a full rollcage to the vehicle, as it is used on racetracks as well as on the road. This will further stiffen the shell.

As an experienced and competent welder and vehicle modifier I have satisfied myself this modification is sound. I now need to know what steps (if any) the DVLA require me to complete to ensure my vehicle remains legal.

I have attached a photo of the inside of the vehicle, which shows the modification. Please feel free to contact me by phone, should you need to discuss this situation further.

regards

TC

I got a message back from them today (quick turnaround there). It brushes off the big change and hits on the engine change. Here it is:

Thank you for your email received on 11/2/10. Your email reference number is 244563.

Firstly with regard to the changes made to your vehicle you will need to contact the Agency given below.

The Department for Transport
Transport Technology and Standards Division (TTS) 4
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DR

Public Enquiry Telephone Number 0207 944 8300
fax: 0207 676 2166
email: tts.enquiries@dft.gsi.gov.uk

With regard to your change of address, unfortunately it is not possible to notify a change of address via the website or email, as a signature is required.

For the vehicle record to be changed and for a new Registration Certificate (V5C) to be sent to you, please fill in the appropriate changes section on your Registration Document V5/Registration Certificate V5C and send it to DVLA. Notes on the document/certificate explain how to use it and where to send it.

If you also need to tax the vehicle, you can do this at the Post Office® using the V5C. The Post Office® will then return the certificate to DVLA for you.

If, however, you do not have a V5/V5C, you can apply for one by filling in a form V62. The V62 form is available at the Post Office®, DVLA Local Office or to download from our website listed below. Please be aware that there is a charge of £25 for a V5C, unless you are in possession of a V5/V5C or the green V5/2 or V5C/2 "new keeper supplement". You should have a new certificate within 20 working days of our receiving your application.

If the V5/V5C is not available and you are the registered keeper on DVLA records, you can apply to tax your vehicle at any DVLA Local Office using forms V62 and V10, notifying the changes on the V62. You can find the address for your nearest DVLA Local Office by telephoning 0300 123 1277 (you will be asked to give a post code) or at www.direct.gov.uk/dvlalocal You will also need to provide original evidence of the changes, i.e.

• change of address supporting documents such as a recent gas, electric or telephone bill
• change of name marriage certificate, confirmation by deed poll

You should receive your updated V5C within 20 working days.

Do not reply to this email. If you wish to contact us again about this response then please use our Reply Form or copy and paste the following URL in to your browser:

https://emaildvla.direct.gov.uk/emaildvla/cegemail/directgov/en/reply_form_vehicles.html

When filling in the form the email reference number 244563 will be required.

Regards

J G

Blah blah blah - form letter mostly. I especially like the bit that says DO NOT reply to this email. There will be no coherent or ongoing discussion, thank you.

So, I clearly need to contact the TTS. I've pulled the email address and stuck an enquiry in to them. Here it is (you may notice some similarities - we can all use form letters):

Hi,

From a regular web enquiry I have been asked to contact your department.

I am about to update the registered address for a Golf Syncro

As part of this I need to update the engine number and capacity (change from 1781 to 1984cc).

Further to this work, which I completed myself there is a change regarding which I need advice.

The Golf is 4WD. The biggest limitation on the standard car is the restrictive exhaust downpipe. This is due to the space limitations in the area behind the engine and in the transmission tunnel.

To get around this problem I fabricated a much less restrictive replacement downpipe. The compromise in making this modification is that I needed to cut out a section of the bulkhead and transmission tunnel. As an experienced welder and fabricator I then trimmered around the area I had cut away with plate steel and fabricated a box to clear the new exhaust. The replacement steel was of heavier gauge than the original and the box was seam welded on to the trimmers, which were seam welded into the monocoque.

This change is a relatively small modification to the shell of the car, but in a key structural area. I am happy that I have not lost any of the structural integrity of the shell from this modification. Later this year I plan to fit a full rollcage to the vehicle, as it is used on racetracks as well as on the road. This will add to the rigidity of the shell further.

As an experienced and competent welder and vehicle modifier I have satisfied myself this modification is sound. I now need to know what steps (if any) the DVLA require me to complete to ensure my vehicle remains legal.

I have attached a photo of the inside of the footwell of the vehicle, which shows the modification. Please feel free to contact me by phone, should you need to discuss this situation further. I have plenty of other photo documentation of the work completed, if you need to see this.

regards

So, let's see what comes back from this department of the DVLA. I'm expecting to wind up going through several hoops of administration before I get to someone who has sufficient nouse to actually respond intelligently. More news as it unwrinkles....

Oi! Technical people! No!

2008-02-11T14:45:00.000-08:00

Ahhhhh, the humble curriculum vitae. The sales document we all need to create and maintain. It's pulled out and dusted off whenever we think about getting a new job, or if you're a contractor, or freelancer it's wielded to agencies at the drop of a hat.

In the professional services organisation where I work I get to see a lot of CVs, mostly from 'technical' people. Consultants and engineers who are applying for a permanent job with us, or people who might be coming to work for us on a contract basis. Sadly, almost without exception these are truly dreadful documents. In fact, no they are awful in the truest sense of the word - I am have awe inspired in my soul at how anyone could possibly hope their skills might be sold using this document.

'of course they're bad' I hear you say. 'These people aren't sales people, they're technical'. That's not helping here. The CVs that cross my desk have already been vetted by an agency and then the worst ones have been weeded out by the first point of contact within Applicable - our consultancy team leader. These are the BEST of the technical person sales documents.

So what's the big problem?

1. Spelling.

Even the most basic word processor has a spell-checker. Use the sodding thing. There is no excuse for bad spelling in this document. It is for presentation to potential employers - this is your best and possibly only opportunity to present you and your skills. Don't screw it up with poor spelling. Things like 'consultacy' and 'implementated'. These are elementary cock-ups the like of which professionals should not be making. What if I ask you to write a client-facing document? How impressed will they be if it's rife with spelling mistakes. Sort it out.

2. Sentence construction

When you've finished your CV, if you're not sure about your english skills, print it and take the document and a pen into an empty room and read it out loud - you will pick up a multitude of errors that you would have missed this way. I've seen documents with paragraphs that are a single sentence; a whole CV made up of bullet points. Read what you write and speak it. The quality of your document WILL improve.

3. Length

I have seen CVs 12 or 14 pages in length. Only a navel-gazing, self-important, self-absorbed idiot with no social skills would consider that their skills and experience were of such great significance to a potential employer that someone would read past the first couple of pages. Where were you people during the lesson about CV building where the teacher said 'a CV should never be longer than 2 or at most 3 pages? This is a sales document, not a bloody essay. There is no word count to fill here. Summarise your experience succinctly. Your most recent experience is far more interesting than that of 10-15 years ago.

4. Currency

On the subject of summarising things. When you add new experience into your CV also take the time to review and compact down your prior engagements - they become less interesting and thus space-worthy with each new position. You should not leave these extended essays squatting in your documents, like unwanted turds. These are the reason that your CV bloats out to 10-12 pages. Quit the jibber-jabber and get to the point. If you have large chunks of short engagements doing a particular sort of work, summarise that period in one hit - yes it's important that it's accounted for, but not in minute detail, 10 years later.

That's it. Four points: Spelling, currency, sentence construction and length. Now quit making such a bloody meal of it and get me some documents I don't need to spend a whole day getting to a situation where I'm happy sending them out to customers.

Random post - tuned headers

2008-01-09T02:48:00.000-08:00

Found a great page about tuning exhaust headers here

Useful background information, if you like that sort of thing.

When not in the workshop, or trawling the net for petrolhead information I've also managed to read a considerable portion of Now Is Gone, which is excellent and I'm going to be annoying those around me by recommending they read it, ne thrusting it into some of their faces and telling them to read it!

I will get people to let of of the message!

Annoying apps 'n' stuff

2008-01-02T08:47:00.000-08:00

Found this post through techmeme, which made me chuckle - comparing various applications to characters is entertaining.

I guess Joomla would be a really good handyman with a funny accent.

At the moment in work we're pushing for more comments on blogs - looking at Google results it appears that if you comment on blog sites and leave your URL with the comment this is counted as an inbound link, which will boost your Google pagerank - this we like a lot and I think it's worthy of further exploration. As a simple marketing type I'm not really in a position to contribute much in the way of comments in the messaging environment, so it's over to the techies etc to make informed comments on any blogs they read.... I'll wait to see if this has any effect, I guess.....

dropping an engine and gearbox and trimming a hedge with a chainsaw - what more could one ask for from Christmas?

2007-12-28T03:43:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2007 has been very low-key and I've had a good time. We headed to the Diamond Hell for six days and were mostly immersed in family.

I managed to duck out on the Saturday and it took me about two hours to drop the engine and gearbox out of Simon's Poleizi VW bus. This vehicle is the reason for the GTI languishing on my drive. The bus has been blowing water out in the engine bay. Given that it's a waterboxer motor it could have been for a variety of reasons - sheared head stud, blown seals etc etc. As it turns out there was a filthy great crack in the head. As I'm not prepared to work on the street, or flap about trying to a) figure out what had happened and then b)resolve it on the street, after a cursory inspection I chose to drop the engine and gearbox out. This went fine up until the van made a bid for freedom off the jack, on to the axle stand, which then broke. Did I mention that it was on a bit of a slope?

The engine and 'box were half out at this point. It seems the starter solenoid took the brunt of the fall, so I've bought it up to Bristol to get that part replaced. Once I've MOTed the Golf it looks like I'll be selling that now. This makes me feel slightly guilty about taking it in, as it was due to go to a good home, now any home with a small quantity of cash will do.

The second 'project' over Christmas was my parent's Seat Leon, which rides like the dampers are sticking. This is sub-optimal on the IOW's roads, so after some mithering about whether the Leon wheels would fit (thanks to ChrisS for making my mind up!) I swapped the wheels on the Passat on to it, to see if the taller profile tyres would make any difference. They didn't, so I spent another hour swapping all of the wheels back. Unfortunately there are no suitable jacks at my parent's place, so I was working with a pair of widow-makers. Thankfully this was on level ground, so nothing untoward happened, but I wouldn't want to spend too much time with the jack out of the Leon!

The 16" wheels resolved the Passat's looks a lot better, but the ET50 vs ET37 offset made the car look quite 'pinched'. There are pics in the photos section on diamondhell.com.

without wanting to dampen this post too much with work stuff I now have Now is Gone and Wikinomics, which I'll be reading shortly. I'm hoping they're not just common sense with a dash of hyperbole as I'd like some pointers either to indicate that I'm working in the right direction in work, or to point me in the right direction!

Free GTI update

2007-12-20T23:51:00.001-08:00

Did it pass the MOT? Did it heck.

Last night, before I posted the last entry I had removed the stupid pressure-reducing valves that had stopped the heater working (more for driver comfort than anything else - it IS very cold at the moment!) . I then extracted the leaking radiator and put in the nice new one out of the Syncro and sorted the non-working dip beam light by servisolling the connector and pushing it back on! Obviously the new screen went in this morning..... eventually.

I did try and get new plates at lunchtime, but there was some argey-bargey about documents, so I came away annoyed and empty-handed.

MOT fail this afternoon on the following:

numberplates
numberplate lights (same reason I took off the non-working rear wiper last night)
OS front brake hard line = corroded
OS CV boot split
Brake bias valve seized
welding required to shell near rear beam bolt-up point.

I guess about 15 miles being driven with a gentle foot on the brakes cleaned 'em up quite well - I was rather concerned about it failing on them!

Fanbelt also to be replaced as it was squealing like a stuck pig this evening.

Still up-beat about it though - it's dead easy to work on, too!

I've got 10 days to 'have Christmas' and then get this sucker MOTed with no re-test fee. The rear beam and bias valve are already off and I've got the CV boot that needs replacing. I'm also going to replace the flexi-hoses on the beam as the existing ones are pretty crusty.

Chop chop.

An unmanaged expectation is a dangerous thing.

2007-12-20T02:55:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting in my kitchen. I'm not supposed to be sitting in my kitchen. I should be in work by now, really but thanks to the wonder of the interweb I can still work sitting here, Mini-Hell is trying to stop me though. Not ideal.

I'm here for two reasons - 1. Mrs Hell is unwell, so needed a slow start to the day 2. The free Golf GTI (more of which in a mo) needs a new windscreen before it goes for MOT later today. A windscreen fitter was booked for 9:30, so I'd be able to pick up the Golf at lunch and get it tested. We have no windscreen fitter here at this time (11:01). I am now annoyed. I couldn't get hold of the guy on the phone at 9:45, to try and find out where he was - his numbers all went to voicemail. Eventually Mrs Hell got him at 10:30, when he explained he had been 'tied up' or something. That's fair enough - I can deal with someone having issues, provided I know they're having issues. When I can't get hold of them I'm annoyed because I can't put a time on whether they're going to show or not maybe they've been in a shunt on the way here, maybe they're ill - I'm left hanging with no idea and totally unmanaged expectations and I bloody hate that!

So anyway, the free GTI. My mate Simon has an ex-German Poleizi Transporter T25, with a petrol engine, this has recently started doing a beautiful impression of a gurgling brook out of the head, so he needs a stand-in until ~~he and~~ I get his van sorted. Someone pinged me about a 1987 Golf GTI that was for sale for £100, no tax or test and it had been standing for a while, so I went along and had a look, after the vendor contacted me (secret squirrel stuff). I took a battery and some fuel.

When I got there it turned out that the car had been standing for over a year- bad - but it looked pretty solid (in the dark) - good. Sadly when I climbed into it and looked through the condensation on the screen I could see a dirty great crack on it. 'Oh dear, that won't pass an MOT' I said. 'Oh, I'd forgotten about that' he said. I climbed out and he said 'you could just take it?'. 'we'll see if it starts' I said.

So, I got a price for the screen, collected the car last night, spent some time driving with the brakes on, to try and bring the discs and pads back to life, while doing this I froze my ass off - the heater wasn't working. When we got back here I removed the pressure-reducer valves that were preventing the heater from working, then spotted a leak in the radiator, so that had to come out and be swapped for the one that was being used previously in the Syncro. There were a couple of other fiddly jobs and then I took it out to just make sure everything was OK - it kinda was, but the brakes still aren't all together right - it'll cope, hopefully, but I think it might need new numberplates.

Never mind cope - will it pass an MOT?! Tune in later to find out.

A pair of long days

2007-11-30T13:05:00.000-08:00

OK, so I worked yesterday and today I took a day off and went to Wales to see the WRC circus.

Thursday I went to a session held by one of the darlings of the UK PR and marketing agencies. It was all about e-marketing.... well that's what it was sold as.... sold as £100'S worth of session that was going to get us all squared away and up to speed with a range of techniques that would enable us to compete in the UK online market.

So, two sessions. The first delivered by Dave the Digital Guru. Now if I was setting myself up to deliver sessions as a digital guru and I was trying to deliver value to an audience I'd make sure as hell that I got busy telling the audience how they could get business value out of each of the techniques I was talking about. These were the key messages that were missing from each of the techniques the man was talking about.

It's immaterial that I know what blogs are, what viral marketing is, and what white papers are or do, if I can't go back to my business and tell them how it's going to deliver prospects, new contracts and cash into that business. Want an example? Tell us about white papers, Dave. Oh they're great - they 'deliver intelligence into customers' so you'd better put them on your interactive website. So you're there delivering intelligence into your customers (I dunno what it is - how to refine uranium or something).... so what? They've downloaded your white paper and you've off-loaded your intelligence into them..... so what?

You don't know who they are, do you? Unless you gate the content and they have to give up their contact details to get the paper then it's worthless to you. Gate it and pull their contact info through a form that hoses it into your telemarketer, who then calls them while they're reading your white paper and WOW - that might actually make them speak to someone and find out why they pulled the white paper and what problems they're looking to solve - BINGO - you've got a new hot prospect, who might become a paying customer, cos you paid them some timely attention - you demonstrated you were sharp and you were cute.

The problem with Dave is he didn't dispatch these 'follow-through' tips - hey a white paper plugs intelligence into your customers. Well done, you've offloaded that information - that'll be a weight off your mind.

So, having sat through this a guy from Doubleclick came in - a slick, smooth-talking salesman. He told us how big Doubleclick was - it's HUGE. Really huge, they deliver TRILLIONS of adverts. Their customers are big - HUGE customers, it's incredible to hear just how big some of their customers are. They can deliver loads of data about their campaigns. They can deliver so many ads that smallest amount of money you can spend with them per month is £1,000 per month.

So what?

This guy's just vomited about an hour's worth of stuff about BIG into an audience of 30 delegates who, as far as I can make out are all from SMB sector - they aren't interested in big, because they can't afford it

So, one pitch that didn't connect through to deliver any business value and another pitch that was a totally inappropriate sales pitch to a paying audience. Way to go PR agencies - further vindicating Brian Solstice's world view. The pitch is dead and those two were stone cold, too.

The afternoon I spent down in IBM Hursley, listening to a guy deliver an excellent three hour session explaining how to sell Connections - he talked about IBM Lotus's social networking tool designed to enable the use of social networking tools in business, to deliver more innovation and value into business - kapow - business value, all the way. IBM's supposed to be a big, dumb giant, it's not - it's moving with the times and it's pretty sharp, actually. Let's hope their software can deliver on their marketing promises. I actually really want it to.

So, that was yesterday. Today was spent in a forest, in Wales, with some colleagues, watching rally cars tearing through what's known as Walter's Arena. It's been over a year since I was in the Neath valley. Last time I was there I was driving rights of way, now extinguished by the NERC Act. We stopped in a McDonalds in some services, it was only when we'd parked up that I realised it was the place we stopped on the way to drive Sarn Helen and The Gap, the evening the lower part of Sarn closed in Autumn and then moved on to The Gap after midnight, when that opened, after midnight. This was the last occasion when it was possible to do this legally and that's a great loss because those people using the rights of way legally weren't doing any appreciable damage, it's the people driving with no knowledge of the rights of way who will continue tearing up ground, off rights of way and illegally.

I wouldn't have thought a McDonalds could be such an evocative setting, but it took me back for a moment.

The rally was OK, but not a patch on getting out and driving stuff in person. After the first stage had been run, it being Wales it started raining heavily. Eventually, we realised it was serious about the rain and it wasn't going to stop, so we went home. I was missing my daughter anyway.

The internet - what a load of rubbish, is it? maybe not, don't know.

2007-11-21T01:56:00.001-08:00

According to an article on the BBC news website here only half of UK small businesses have a website. That's an astonishing number of either 'refusniks' or 'can't be bothered'.

As an example, my parents, who run a number of holiday houses have had a website for about the last 2-3 years. As you may/may not know holidays are where Britons spend the most of their online cash. To improve their reach, they've signed up for various sites that actively promote the sort of holidays they offer. They've also signed up for a Google Adwords account (well, actually I did it for them). They spend a few quid each month and probably get a few enquiries as a result - I'm yet to get them on to Joomla and get Joomlastats up and running so we can close the loop on this, and then see proper ROI - it's on the cards.

On Busgoons I spend quite a lot of time analysing where people come from, using Joomlastats - the amazing thing is how linear the cause and effect is within the traffic stats - post on a site, with a link in your signature and people come calling. Post a link in a post and generally even more people come calling!

The key take-away message from the BBC article is that you can't expect to just slap up a website and sit back and wait for business to roll in - you've got to work hard at promoting it to make it work (just like people have always had to in business). This means creating a search engine friendly website, doing stuff like Google Adwords, creating gated entry points for valuable content like whitepapers, so you can gather visitor (marketing) information and so on.

A lot of the issues with websites is that they're created by enthusiastic developers, who generate a beautiful looking site, that isn't as focused on the business aspects of the site. A close friend has recently set up a business to deliver business-focused SME sites and is having a lot of success, simply because he focuses on providing solid business-focus and ROI.

With this sort of business accumen the internet can and does work - it changes from 'brochures on a shelf' to people on internet street corners shouting about your business and handing out virtual flyers all over the place and however annoying that may be - it works.

Old news, caught in a bubble - Solent.tv

2007-11-20T15:43:00.000-08:00

I was reading up on the Isle of Wight Act (it's about fesitvals) as part of responding on VZI about something called Dub Island when one of the links took me to the Solent.tv website. Just in case it's not still up (in which case it'll be self-explanatory exactly what it is) - Solent.tv was a local TV station broadcasting to the IOW and surrounding areas. Sadly the idiots running the parent companies managed to run them into the ground and the whole lot fell apart at the end of May 2007.

I found this company going into administration very sad. I've been involved on the periphery of Solent.tv pretty much since it's inception - I drove the Head of Production there around the IOW so he could film the round the Island race before the station was on air. Shortly after that he became one of my lodgers. I then got involved with the 'Island Broadband' project - we did roadshows and there were information shorts on the station about broadband at a time when it was a relative mystery and not available in such a ubiquitous manner as it is today. A while after that one of the editors became my other lodger.

Both of these guys were exceptionally dedicated and professional people, who worked incredibly hard and produced genuinely professional television that they were very proud of. When they lost their jobs I lost a tennant and a close friend lost his raison d'etre - annoying and sad respectively.

Probably the saddest thing about stumbling across the solent.tv website randomly and so many months after it was shut down in such an abrupt and stupid manner is how professional and positive it still looks, with various programmes on there still available to watch and my friends waving nervously in the final news show. What a waste and what an insult to such a dedicated team - I take my hats off to you guys and still feel sick to the pit of my stomach towards the idiots who robbed the IOW of such a fantastic media flagship.

More blogging noise

2007-11-19T07:25:00.000-08:00

I forgot this link, so thought I'd better post it up.

While I'm here I'd better post up some more useful blogging references, or this might be a bit of a short entry....

Old public relations vs new public relations

How to do PR without press releases

Top 10 reasons PR doesn't work

Destructions on corporate blogging

Blogging ethics code

More blogging ethics

A veritable feast of new-media-douchebags

Clever quotes

2007-11-19T02:29:00.000-08:00

I love 'em.

Alan Kay once said, "technology is anything that was invented after you were born."

This week could be quite an interesting week in work - I've got the go ahead on a corporate blog, so now I just need to make it work. Now I need to sell the idea for this internally. Should be fun.

I've picked up some really useful tips from here - which is actually a really useful PR-type blog. I've also been digging around here where there is loads of really interesting stuff and great links, too.

Meanwhile I've been walking through treacle for the past few days, as my parent's have been visiting.

Did you ever?

2007-11-08T01:51:00.000-08:00

Just reading Ed Brill's blog and this quote jumped out at me:

A customer who is looking to integrate a .NET application with Notes and hold fast against users demanding Outlook...

When d'you ever hear about users demanding Notes? H'mmmmm. Is IBM doing as well as they say? I'd kinda like them to as in many ways the Lotus crew come across as a world weary lot and I'll normally root for the underdog. Also I'm using ND8 and it's one helluva lot better than the previous antiquated UI. There are still sucky things about it, especially the horrendous crashes that occur sometimes, but there are also some cute things about it, which I like a lot.

Just in case you wondered, I didn't get the singlecab fit last night. Of all things it's the horn that's stopping me taking it in for MOT - I'm getting no volts at the push button and it seems to be the ring on the wheel that's at fault. I didn't have a suitable switch in the hole that is my workshop, so I'll be off to an auto-factor soon to remedy that. To stop myself descending into a pit of despair I cleared out a few more bits from the Passat shell outside the front of the house - stuff I could see myself having to buy, or get made up if I'd let it go with them still attached. I came in at about 11:30, after I dropped a spanner and a neighbour screeched 'for f*cksake!'. Don't know whether it was at me, or someone else, but it was enough to make me realise how late it was!

On the subject of Media.....

2007-11-07T07:30:00.001-08:00

While I'm examining stuff like Blogs and their impact in the PR media-sphere, I watched this last night on BBC2 and didn't want to forget about it, so I'm mentioning it here: http://www.rts.org.uk/Information_page_+_3_pic_det.asp?id=2443

Blogging - is this something I should be doing?

2007-11-07T02:40:00.000-08:00

I've just been reading up on various blogs about 'doing PR' in the new media world of social software - Christ, that sentance needed more quote marks in it! I've always been terrible about keeping diaries - in many respects I'm just getting on with life, rather than writing about it. At least I'm having a good time doing it.

I'm all of a jitter right now cos I've just booked my long-term pick up project in for an MOT and now I'm wondering just what I've forgotten to sort out on it and what it's going to fail on - ah well, it'll be fine, I'm sure.

So how do you 'do PR' these days? I'm kinda struggling to find my feet. When I was last doing it (about three years ago) it was all press releases and chatting to editors, but who reads magazines these days, eh? It's all blogs and social networking sites. Go figure.

More probably months later ;-)

Test Blogger post

2007-08-16T02:28:00.000-07:00

I'm testing this for work purposes, not for me, thing.