The Gorse Fox does not have a great deal to say today. That probably comes as a great relief to many of you.
He has spent the day working at home and making use of various collaborative tools to share information across the ether. The tooling he uses now includes a file store, discussion forums, a bookmark manager, and a wiki. It seems to work really well and its benefit is that it provides good traceability of decision making.
GF has to head up to London to visit Starfleet in the morning.
The Gorse Fox is both amazed and impressed by the news from South Africa today. According to the BBC:
Fifa president Sepp Blatter has apologised to the Football Association over Frank Lampard's disallowed goal in England's World Cup defeat by Germany.
Well that was amazing. But even more so the GF is impressed that he went on to say:
"It is obvious that after the experiences so far at this World Cup it would be a nonsense not to reopen the file on goal-line technology," stated Blatter.
The man was not as entrenched as expected and was big enough to admit he may have been wrong. The Gorse Fox salutes him, at this point, and trusts he will do the right thing.
The Gorse Fox would like to take a moment to wish his ageing sister a very, very Happy Birthday. Obviously she has had plenty of experience with such occasions, but that doesn’t mean she shouldn’t enjoy them still.
Happy Birthday, sis. I said HAPPY BIRTHDAY, sis!
( For the rest of you, I didn’t mean to shout, but you can’t be too careful).
There is a growing trend for targeted advertising.
Since passing 50, the Gorse Fox has noticed that SAGA have suddenly become interested in him and in his travel and insurance plans.
Now, he knows he may not be in the peak of physical fitness and may not have been chosen in the England World Cup Squad and he acknowledges that the Silver Vixen may not compete at Wimbledon this year, but it’s a pretty rum affair when “English Heritage” target you with a periodical entitled “The Romance of Ruins”.
Just saying.
Apparently, according to the web, the FIFA highlights of the Germany-England game omit the Lampard goal. FIFA desperately trying to save face and re-write history. How pathetic.
So let’s just have a moment here:
Sepp Blatter and FIFA are an embarrassment and should resign, or stand against a vote of No Confidence.
Grow up. Admit you are wrong. Call for technology support… NOT extra refs (there are not enough referees at the moment – where are extra refs coming from – but let’s not confuse matter with facts).
The advantage of living by the coast is that DIY projects that require access to large bodies of water become possible. Tonight, the BBC start a series “How to Build a Nuclear Submarine”.
The Gorse Fox has decided to record it as something to consider when he retires.
It is with a degree of relief that the Gorse Fox reports – because you may have missed it – that England were unceremoniously dumped out of the World Cup by Germany this afternoon.
Relief? you might ask.
Well yes. The Gorse Fox can now enjoy the remaining games without the continual threat of disappointment, without the continual hype from the media, without the tension of the build up, and without the despair at end of a game.
You may say this is not very patriotic.
The Gorse Fox would beg to differ. To watch your country – like a loved one - being humiliated by one poor performance after another is an embarrassment and to see an end to it is much kinder than watching it suffer to the end.
The Gorse Fox fears that the resulting media furore will see the end of Don Capello and his replacement with Harry Hotspur. This would be a sad day for Spurs. He also fears that the furore, the opprobrium, and the forthcoming ridicule from the media will put off a lot of up and coming players from this ultimate honour. Indeed I think that the hype from the media is a very significant contributory factor for the disappointing display. The team had been told they would win the tournament and believed it. The stress that put on them when things were not going well was too great.
The disallowed goal was a travesty and should be a severe embarrassment to Sepp Blatter. It would not have changed the end result – but it shows that FIFA are not really interested in fair play – only the ongoing collection of money from around the world. Sepp Blatter should resign over his stance on goal-line technology – but won’t (that would take a man of principles).
Right. That’s enough for now. Its Argentina against Mexico next.
Every now and again a batch of emails drops through the virtual letter box and contains transcriptions of calls received by various call centres. Without replicating reams of these there are always a few that make you chuckle:
Customer: My new keyboard is not working.
Tech support: Are you sure it's plugged into the computer?
Customer: No. I can't get behind the computer.
Tech support: Pick up your keyboard and walk 10 paces back.
Customer: OK!
Tech support: Did the keyboard come with you?
Customer: Yes!
Tech support: That means the keyboard is not plugged in. Is there another keyboard?
Customer: Yes, there's another one here. Ah...that one does works...
Bless!
Customer: I have problems printing in red....
Tech support: Do you have a colour printer?
Customer: Aaaah.....................thank you.
Doh!
And finally:
Tech support: Good day. How may I help you?
Male customer: Hello... I can't print.
Tech support: Would you click on "start" for me and....
Customer: Listen pal; don't start getting technical on me! I'm not Bill Gates.
As the working week draws to a close the Gorse Fox found himself on the early train to London. Friday always appears to be a quieter commute, but this was exceptional on both the train and the tube. GF was quite unflustered as he arrived at the Broadcaster early enough to grab a coffee before the planned meetings.
The diagram that GF has developed to show the nature of the Boroadcast business and its supporting IT has proved to be a bit of a winner and he is being encouraged to flesh it out. He suspects that it may, in the long term, prove to be a good reference model for the industry (once sanitized).
The Gorse Fox’s sister is approaching another birthday. Today seemed like an ideal time to meet up for dinner at The Crown Inn at Chiddingfold. The weather was gorgeous and the drive across country through Arundel, Fittleworth, Petworth and Northchapel was just beautiful. The restaurant struggled to keep going as they suffered several power cuts during the evening, but our meals were excellent and the service was superb.
As the sun went down it hardly seemed to darken as a huge full moon rose and continued to illuminate the countryside with astonishing clarity and made the drive home quite magical. All in all one would conclude it was a splendid day.
A Monsoon is forecast. A monsoon is forecast.
The monsoon with a small “m” disrupted communications with Koh Lanta and so the Gorse Fox has been unable to talk with Cousteau-cub… but hopefully will catch up with her during the week at some point.
The Monsoon with a big “M” is the Indian Restaurant where Urban-cub has booked us a table for this evening. GF has been looking forward to this and avoided spoiling his appetite by not eating since this morning’s cereal.
The Silver Vixen has again been busy with the blue paint and the Gorse Fox has been creating sawdust in his own particular fashion. This was part of the trellis re-design mentioned yesterday. It’s all looking very promising, but GF is hampered by the need to use some power tools – which are (quite rightly) banned at the weekends here in this little haven of peace and quiet.
World Cup continues to astound:
Against all of this the fact that the England team continues to underwhelm is almost a relief!
What a disappointing England performance.
It was a good working day and GF was happy to get home just after the game started… but really need not have bothered.
No real theme to the Gorse Fox’s ramblings today.
Ronaldo – referee got the measure of him and stopped the diving in the Portugal game. North Korea putting up a spirited show against Brazil. Kaka obviously took diving lessons from Ronaldo when at Real Madrid.
Another new project bubbling up at present – this one may need to be just a watching brief as GF can’t really commit to a fourth overlapping piece of work.
Urban-cub back from a weekend in the Lake District – some nice photos and obviously enjoyed the walking and scenery.
The Gorse Fox has just received an email “5-day Cruise Ship Sale”… he thought about it for a while then decided he had nowhere to keep it.
The Gorse Fox was watching the World Cup when he saw that there had been 7.5 magnitude quake in the Nicobar and Andaman Islands. Knowing this was close to where Cousteau-cub lives he texted her. It was the middle of the night for them, but the alert was quickly down-graded.
Interestingly, he has managed to exchange messages with her today and she explained that people have been forecasting the quake on the 12th for about two weeks now, and Koh Lanta has just run an exercise to test their preparedness.
The football has been disappointing. South Korea were ok against Greece, Argentina had their moments against Nigeria, and England (as usual) led us on a roller-coaster in the game against the USA. A draw was not satisfactory.
A brilliant piece in today’s Telegraph from Jeff Randall. No wonder Jeff didn’t last at the BBC with such views.
Faced with the horror of exclusion from office for at least five years, former ministers – Ed Balls, Lord Myners and others – are rewriting their part in the policies that helped wreck the United Kingdom's social cohesion and financial solidity. Not since Shaggy's chart-topping song It Wasn't Me have we been treated to such a ridiculous attempt at self-exculpation.
We’ve certainly seen comments in this week’s press claiming that this Minister or that Minister didn’t agree with the party-line.
With the repudiation of Gordon Brown's locust years by his erstwhile henchmen gathering pace, it can be only a matter of time before one of the candidates to replace him calls for a truth and reconciliation commission.
and
As for the nation's finances, only now, it seems, when the damage has been done, and the taxpayer condemned to long-term impoverishment, do we hear voices of dissent emerging from the ranks of Labour's placemen.
The Gorse Fox doesn’t feel as if he can add much to the original article – it is a masterpiece. Go read and enjoy this demolition of last few years of financial and social destruction.
Whilst GF was busy working in his home office, Skype buzzed. He hit the answer button and there, 9500kms away, was Cousteau-cub and the Coventry Hobbit calling in for a chat. This time she had the video working so it was nice to see them both as we caught up on her recent passport run and the exploration of the dive opportunities among the southern islands.
What a start to the World Cup – the opening goal was such a beauty. The Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen are really looking forward to the next few weeks.
The Silver Vixen has gone to a meeting with her coven this evening, so GF will watch the France –vs- Uruguay by himself. The beauty of games like this are that GF doesn’t mind who wins – so can just sit and enjoy the game itself.
Very fruitful day in Starfleet’s London office. The morning started with a briefing for risk controllers and then moved on to a workshop to shape the upcoming work for the main client. Afternoon was spent looking at some of the tooling we may use and Rationalizing, that despite what people think, irony is not wasted on our American cousins. :¬) Just look at some of their branding.
Plans for next week look slightly muddled but that is becoming a normal state of affairs.
A fine tray of sushi and glass of red wine seemed like the ideal reward at the end of the day.
The Gorse Fox’s study was a hive of activity throughout the day. Phones buzzing, papers flapping, and, having combed through a mountain of ideas and thoughts, honeyed words dripping from the keyboard into the documents and wikis that were the focus for the day. The Gorse Fox bumbled on through the day and feels highly satisfied with the progress.
Tomorrow will see him back in town. If only we could us the teleportation devices instead of trains!
The Gorse Fox is lucky to be in a community considered to be the top 150 technical troops in Starfleet UK. Today was one of the few opportunities for this group to get together to discuss what is going on in business, in the country, and the galaxy as a whole and also a chance to look at any initiatives that may disrupt what is forecast.
The Gorse Fox has finally finished uploading various photos from the recent Thailand trip. These are nestling on Flickr and you are welcome to have a browse.
The complete set can be found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gorsefox/sets/72157623945832023/ but is not recommended as it stretches to nigh on 1000 photos!
There are also some subsets:
The transfer market is buzzing that Jo Cole may be leaving Chelsea for Arsenal. GF is confused – as far as he knows Jo Cole is English so what chance would he have of getting a game? How would he understand the dressing room chat?
He’s obviously planning to wind down to retirement.
The Silver Vixen was out with her coven. The Gorse Fox was left to his own devices (and several of them were in working order). The brilliant day forecast did not quite live up to expectations with a haze masking the sun for parts of the day.
The Gorse Fox used the time to do some more work on the photos from the holiday and get them uploaded to Flickr. He also spent time on a WiKi for work that was to have a limited audience. Unfortunately, this meant each participant had to be entered by hand using a really, really slow tool.
The news reported that Michael Dawson had arrived in the England training camp in South Africa to replace Rio Ferdinand. Hopes dashed, the Gorse Fox stopped waiting for a call-up, but wishes the team well!
When the Silver Vixen swooped back from her coven it was clear that most of the time had been spent on spells and very little on sewing. Deciding that we were still in a holiday mood we headed out to Lemon Grass – the excellent Thai restaurant in Rustington.
The week finished with a day working from home. After a few days in London the lure of the coast was too much to resist. Unfortunately work kept the Gorse Fox in his home office and not on the beach.
Projects seem to be in a state of flux again… but building up. GF wonders if he may be destined to be plugging holes in several metaphorical dykes.
