Web Life

How Hard Can Love Be?

Posted on 25 October 2011 | Comments Off

I love the outdoor life here in the Perthshire hills, as it keeps me in touch with nature and it’s abundant wildlife. It is a wonderful counterbalance to my sedentary working life in front of a computer screen which I also enjoy very much.  When I am with the horses all of life’s challenges, work issues and general concerns fade away.  I play with them in their field, sometimes online, sometimes at liberty, and watch as the bond between us starts to show itself.  This is how we learn to understand each other through love, patience, fun and trust.  It is times like this that make life worthwhile, that make the days special.  They are my family and we will be together for all our lives. I cannot imagine life without them.

I have a great interest in human development and have to stop myself from getting too dispondent over how slow human beings seem to grow, and how it takes making the same mistake over and over, to learn that something doesn’t work. I know this from personal experience but also from observing others, particularly loved ones and friends.  We as humans are all creatures of habit and the old maxim “if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again”, is a dangerous concept that is misleading in it’s simplicity.  Yes, try and try again, but each time change something in the approach.  If you change just one thing each time you will understand what the missing ingredient was when it finally works.

I suppose I was lucky in some ways to have grown up with a family that I loved and loved me.  With parents that loved each other and stayed together their whole lives.  My father taught me many things but the 2 most esential things were; integrity, and never let the sun go down on a grudge, and I grew up with these firmly assimilated into my being.

I try to bring out the best in everyone I meet, not in a patronising way, but because I know that everyone is unique and I like the discovery process.  I think people can shine, every day, and that shine illuminates everyone and everything within it’s glow.  This is warm and heartening and every human being is capable of it and it can be frustrating and saddening when humanity succumbs to the capital vices – particularly, greed, envy and pride, that reinforce the illusion of seperation from nature and each other.

The less I have the richer I feel.  The less I have the closer to nature I feel.  Ownership is a false concept which creates a potemkin infrastructure that is ultimately doomed to fall, and I see this happening all around me, all over the world, as banks, insurance companies and other corporate bodies feel their achilles heel in the very foundations of their existence.

I do not subscribe to the biblical stories of the creation of the world nor the idea of Jesus being the son of God.  To accept that there is a divine principle greater than my own spirit steals from me the chance to be the master of my own destiny.  I like to think that God is not so much a divine being, but more a “collective experience”.  An experience that can only be realised on another plane of existence.  A plane not so far removed from this one, where earthly trappings and existential needs are not only unwanted but also unneeded.  It is there that the true and full experience of love and compassion is realised, where we can feel the joy, warmth and sanctity of interconnectedness with everything.  I have a feeling that this is where horses go when they die, as do all animals, and is a natural progression for humans as we awaken to each others true needs and see the reflection of our own in each other.

It is a sad indictment of the world that great pain is inflicted in the name of love and religion, which merely goes to prove that both are saddled with conditions.  Both have very narrow precepts and are understood to be limiting and binding, concepts that the human being by nature would consciously or sub-consciously always try to escape from.  Do not priests, monks, rabbis, muslims, bhuddists, hindus etc all talk of “sacrifice” when embracing their chosen religion?  Has not every army in all of history hailed “God on it’s side” just before breaking his most sensitive commandment?  All testimony to the conditions that we need to place on love and religion in order for us to remain detached from one another and nature, and express personal independence; only to find ourselves exposed to the visitudes of the world and forced to hide our fear and sense of vulnerability that is the direct result of this seperation from each other.

Integrity is the only true path in this life, in this world.  Even though it will sometimes hurt loved ones and friends, complete honesty is how strength, courage and trust can be found.  Strength to carry the burdens and challenges of life, courage to find and express my uniqueness and truth, and trust from those who feel safe in my company.  This is the road to unconditional love. And my journey through life will be unencumbered by fear or regret.

This is what I like to think.  This makes sense to me in a mostly sensless world.

I feel safe when I am with my horses because they allow me in.  There will always be a small part of them that will remain wild.  Out there all day and every day, all night and every night, no matter what nature throws at them.  Their spirit and their strength is their home and their sanctuary and though they don’t need us, they are willing to help us, to be with us, to do our bidding.  This to me is virtuous, true greatness and I am thankful to be a small part of their lives.

A Solution to Halt the Stampede to Disaster!

Posted on 12 June 2011 | No responses

On Wednesday, June 15, at 3 p.m., at the BLM Ely District Office, 702 N. Industrial Way, in Ely, Nevada the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will conduct a public hearing to discuss the use of motorized vehicles and aircraft in the monitoring and management of wild horses or burros on public lands in Nevada. Check here for more details.

It will be interesting to see the outcome of this meeting, as the BLM do not seem to take any notice of any objections or suggestions when it come to aspects of their roundup campaign.   For example, 54 members of congress have requested a halt to the roundups in order to re-assess their merits based on an independent scientific and ecological study. The BLM ignored this and are going ahead regardless, stepping up their agenda in a bid to clear as many horses as they can before being stopped. They also ignored a federal judges ruling that the holding pens were illegal and his suggestion that the roudups cease until this issue was resolved.  Were it not a legal requirement this meeting would probably not even take place.

The following is a summary of the video in the previous post and an encouraging step forward in finding a solution to the imminent extinction of the wild mustangs and burros from the plains of midwest America.  This may be a last chance.  If the BLM refuse to embrace this and have their way  the wild horses will disappear forever and the plains will be filled with cattle.

Jim Kudina is the owner of Soldier Meadows Ranch in Nevada, over half a million acres including the Callico herd management complex. This area was designated a protected wild horse area in 1971. In conjunction with Neda DoMayo Founder of Return to Freedom Wild Horse Sanctuary in California, their plan is to set up a wild horse preserve on Soldier Meadows Ranch and to actively participate in the management of the herds. There is plenty of forage there and they want to manage it in such a way as to rebuild the wildlife population.

BLM director Bob Abbey denies that the Callico range is in good condition, but on balance, I am inclined to trust Jim Kudina’s word more as the land is his and Bob Abbey is under huge pressure from cattlemen and the gas and oil industries to rid the plains of wild horses altogether. Jim Kudina says that right now the range could easily support 5,000 horse and more with management. There is 24/7 running water and BLM conducted research into existing water supplies on the range in 1981 concluding that there are around 1,000 water areas of which just under half are now functional.

There suggestion of on-the-range management would save massive amounts of taxpayers money, eliminate the need for holding pens altogether, and more importantly would stop the break up of herd families, the seperation of males, females and yearlings and allegedly illegal relocation to places thousands of miles away that are completely alien to their physiology and psychology fracturing their genetic inheritance. As part of the plan there could be observation points where people from all over the planet can come and see for themselves how these horses live and thrive on the open range which ultimately could support 10,000, maybe even 20,000 horses.

Since the 1950′s the BLM has been criticised for it’s treatment of the wild horses. Critics claim that the BLM favours powerful special interest groups such as cattlemen, oil and gas over the welfare of the mustangs and this is even clearer in the light of new evidence in the form of photographs, video and supposedly factual statements by BLM representatives that have later proved to be fabrication and contradictory. Since the 1970′s the BLM have taken away over 20 million acres guaranteed to the mustangs in the 1971 law.

Setting aside the conflicts of the past, there is now a plan on the table that is good for the range, good for the wildlife, good for the mustangs and good for the taxpayer. What happens next is a concern for many Americans.

Sound Proposal But Are The BLM Listening?

Posted on 11 June 2011 | No responses

This video is an eye opener!  I don’t how recent it is but it shows a unique partnership with a sound and common sense idea that is a win win situation for everyone and most importantly the wild horses.

But are the BLM even listening?

BLM Speeds Up Disposal of Wild Horses

Posted on 11 June 2011 | No responses

What is happening in America, and in particular to the Wild Horses and Burros has probably gone un-noticed by most of the population of the UK. God knows we have our own problems to deal with, but that’s another tale of woe! The plan appears to be to eliminate all the wild horses and burros to clear the way for cheap cattle grazing and eventually oil and gas.

The BLM (Bureau of Land Management), a US Government Agency, recently received a 50% increase in it’s annual budget specifically to mount a campaign for the removal of Wild Mustangs and Burros from Public Land. The 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act giving them freedom to roam was surepticiously amended without disclosure or consultation to accommodate this agenda.  This decision was based on a fabricated report by the BLM that the wild horses were suffering on poor pasturelands and needed proper management if they were to survive.  This report had no basis in reality.  The horses were visibly fit and healthy, pregnant mares and foals were thriving and with, on average, around 2,000 acres per horse, there is enough grazing and water to accommodate growing herds comfortably.

As various reports, photos and videos began to expose the BLM methods as harsh, cruel and even fatal, last year a letter sent to Ken Salazar, US Secretary of the interior and signed by 54 Congressmen called for the roundups to be shut down whilst an independent environmental study was carried out to determine the truth behind the BLM’s pretext for disposing of the wild horses.   The study is now in process and is expected to take up to 2 years, but the BLM defiantly refused to stop the roundups and continues unabated with an even more aggressive agenda of clearances.

In order to carry out the roundups they use helicopters, stampeding panicking horses and burros including pregnant mares and foals, in the heat of high summer across great distances to the point of exhaustion and beyond. Common results of these roundups are the breaking up of family groups, spontaneous abortion in mares, foals stampeded so hard that their their hooves separate from the bone and ultimate death of many but the hardiest. Their desination, temporary holding pens from which they are loaded into lorries and dispatched to various short or long term holding facilities or slaughter.   In the light of growing public objection and national contraversial media coverage the BLM has stepped up it’s campaign of roundups  in order to gather as many horses as they can before being shut down.

The BLM are largely responsible for managing the nation’s public lands and are foremost the managers of wild horses and burros despite their complete lack of expertise or knowledge of horses and horse behavior. Handling is often brutal and deliberately cruel. One stallion threw himself so hard at the iron gate in an attempt to free his mares that he broke his back and died on the spot.

BLM’s responsibilities also include issuing public land grazing permits to cattle ranchers. These grazing permits cover areas of public land that are available for lease.  So, for every wild horse removed from a grazing permit allotment, a fee-paying cow gets to take its place, and a public land rancher gets the benefit of public land forage at bargain rates. This is the number one reason wild horses are removed from public lands, and makes a mockery of the BLM’s original claim that the horses need to be removed and properly managed due to poor pastureland.

From over 2 million in the 1800s, America’s wild horse population has dwindled to fewer than 33,000. There are now more wild horses in government holding pens than remain in the wild, with many of the remaining herds managed at population levels that do not guarantee their long-term survival. Still, the round-ups continue.

This initiative is moving along unhindered and at an alarming rate. It is questionable whether any effort will prove effective to slow or halt this tragic injustice despite the pleas of Congress.

In 1971, more letters poured into Congress over the threat to their nation’s wild horses than over any issue in U.S. history except the Vietnam war. This resulted in the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act.   This is the kind of overwhelming public reaction that is called for now to stop the BLM who seem defiant in their plan that clearly supports the cattle industry and the silent agendas of the oil and gas corporations.

If you want to know more see the other blogs on this subject where you will find external links to news, features, video and extensive reports.

Saving America’s Mustangs on CNN

Posted on 8 June 2011 | No responses

This needs to be seen by thousands more people, millions if possible. More aggressive objections should be presented, relentlessly. This is a money issue and the wild horses are suffering as we speak because the voices of those who want to help them is not yet loud enough.

Osama Bin Ladin is Alive and Well!

Posted on 3 May 2011 | No responses

The world’s worst act of terrorism was just beginning to fade a little into history and this assassination has restored it right up to the present day and when the mock-celebration dies down, it will re-awaken the horror and fear for what comes next, all over again.  By killing Osama Bin Ladin they have brought him even more to life!

America are the only nation in the history of the world to drop weapons of mass destruction on densely populated areas.

On Monday, August 6, 1945 an Atomic Bomb  was dropped on Hiroshima by an American B-29 bomber, directly killing an estimated 80,000 people. By the end of the year, injury and radiation brought total casualties to 90,000–140,000.  Approximately 69% of the city’s buildings were completely destroyed, and the rest severely damaged.

On August 9, 1945, Nagasaki was the target of America’s second atomic bomb attack when the north of the city was destroyed and an estimated 40,000 people were killed.  The death toll from the atomic bombing totalled 73,884, as well as another 74,909 injured, and another several hundred thousand diseased and dying due to fallout and other illness caused by radiation.  The intention was to be more destructive than Hiroshima but the bomb was dropped in a valley missing it’s intended target.

How easily and conveniently we forget!

America is even more arrogant today than it has ever been with money and wealth its God and its goal.  Their dancing in the streets and jubilation a kind of dumb insanity and crass self-deception that their world is now safe with OBL gone.

There has been some contention that the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq was not merely the first steps in the “war on terror”, but the initiation of achieving a military and political foothold in an oil-rich nation at a time of depleting domestic stocks.  The invasion of Afghanistan rendered literally millions of innocent people homeless, killing hundreds of thousands over the following years, dying of malnutrition, cold and disease.

I am not well-informed.  It is hard to be in a media driven world where there is an angle or a hidden agenda on every piece of news that’s reported.  These days you have to see a movie made by a socially concsious film director to get anywhere near the truth.

There is no justification for killing all those innocent people in the WTC that day and to call it a declaration of war on western arrogance makes it a lame and cowardly act.  God only know why the US decided now was the time to send in the special forces.  They have their agenda which is not in any way rooted in altruism or social conscience.  But killing is wrong and there is not a religion in the world that condones it.  It has always amazed me that armies talk of “god on our side” just before a mass killing spree.

The US jubilation over the death of Osama Bin Ladin and his son will inevitable turn to trepidation and fear for a reprisal that will yet again wound a nation that has arrogantly considered itself untouchable and invincible.  A reprisal that may again take innocent lives and demonstrate that the so-called “war on terror” is in fact the fuel that ignites terrorism in the first place.  By killing him they have brought him and his awful deeds fully to life again.

I cannot say it any better than Martin Luther King, Jr. – “I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that”.

As the concentration of al-qaeda operations has shifted from Afghanistan and Pakistan to Yemen, for the new and determined leaders, Osama Bin Laden has been more of a figurehead in recent years, now more useful in death, as a martyr and rallying cry for recruitement.

Help Save America’s Wild Horses

Posted on 5 April 2011 | No responses

“A band of eight horses enters the chute after being chased for a long distance.  They run for a distance before an older mare collapses in the snow, her legs buckling beneath her, utterly exhausted from the long, terrifying run.  She lays there helplessly as the helicopter hovers over her.  She is too exhausted to move.  Two wranglers run toward her waving whips with plastic bags tied to the ends, forcing her to struggle to her feet.  Incredibly, the helicopter continues the chase. Read more…

Being a horse lover it tears my heart out to see the callous, so-called “horse management” carried out by the BLM.  I doubt that any of the BLM work force have any real interest in the horses’ welfare.

The publicity over the lies and cruelty perpetrated by the BLM is gathering momentum and with it costing $40 million a year of taxpayers money, mainstream media coverage may be just around the corner.

Valerie Stanley, a lawyer from Colorado has done what no one else has in stopping a roundup via the Federal Court.  She has promised to devote her practice to continue halting roundups for as long as it takes.  This is great news.

I could say a lot more but at this stage, when it’s all so fresh in my mind it’s likely to be lots of emotional ramblings.  So I’ll refrain and instead pass on some links that will provide more news and videos about what exactly is going on.

www.madeleinepickens.com – Lots of interesting articles here.

www.8newsnow.com – There is a lot of video news coverage here about the BLM.

American Wild horse Preservation Campaign – This is where you can help, be a voice.  Please visit this page and use the form to spread the word.  Really!  Anyone who feels anything for horses please spread the word befor the BLM destroy the wild horse culture forever.

Wild Horse & Burro Alliance on Facebook – This Facebook page is worth adding to your favourites.

The Twin Peaks wild horse management area was the site of a controversial late summer roundup that attracted national attention and lead to the exposure of the BLM’s inequitable and unlawful violation of the public’s first amendment rights.  Witnesses at Twin Peaks documented that the inhumane helicopter stampedes left virtually no wild horses on the range while thousands of privately owned cattle and sheep remained.  Read more…

The BLM is instigating an aggressive immunocontraceptive campaign designed to suppress the growth rate of wild horse herds in the American West. This initiative is supported by Secretary of the Interior Salazar and has been spear-headed by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) who must first give their approval before BLM can administer these experimental drugs to wild horse mares. Read More…

Eulogy for Chris

Posted on 19 February 2011 | No responses

When I was a boy, about 14 or 15 I fell in love.  With a girl I met on holiday in Lido di Pomposa, a place in Italy we used to go to for summer holidays.  When after 3 weeks it came time to leave, I felt my whole new world was coming apart, that this wonderful delicate, powerful, selfless desire had to abruptly end.  I was devastated.  On the journey back I cried and cried, sobbing with emptiness and defeat.  Read more

US And The Muslims – Bound For Life?

Posted on 8 September 2010 | Comments Off

On the eve of the anniversary of 9:11 I feel compelled to say some things that have risen from the witches brew of information over the past 9 years.

It would be naive to imagine that the America Government, or any Government for that matter, would do anything that cost them money, purely out of a sense of altruism.  Reality and history both dictate that there has to be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow in order to motivate any kind of action.  In the case of the so called “war against terror”, the motivation is oil.

The invasion on Afganistan resulted in millions of innocent homeless people dying of starvation and disease, still, to this day.  The media simply avoid the subject.  The invasion of Iraq on the pretext of the threat of “weapons of mass destruction” gave America the foothold they needed for a large and formidable presence in an oil rich country.  They never found the weapons but that was a minor embarrassment compared to the massive political and military advantage.

The implication that the US Government conspired to destroy the World Trade Center for the purposes of gaining a foothold in the middle-east oil resources is made even more believable following convincing dialogues presented by Barrie Swicker – The Great Conspiracy and Dylan Avery – Loose Change: Final Cut. The information is out there beyond the fringes of the world most of us live in, but even if it was in the mainstream media, who’s going to do anything about it? Who can do anything about it?

I think of my brother trying to make his way down from the 98th floor soon after the plane hit the south tower and the building started burning.  How he was waiting somewhere dark and smoke-filled, hearing frightening noises from twisted metal, breaking concrete, the distant roaring flames and the stench of burning fuel, people screaming and panicking, and in his way trying desperately to stay calm, figure out a solution, waiting for help in the vain hope that it would arrive before anything worse happened.  And the fate waiting for those who escaped vapourisation, or being burned alive, or hurling themselves over the sides,  was a masterfully orchestrated demolition that tore everyone left alive to pieces.

The twin towers are gone, they went down, and they stayed down.  The efforts of the American government in their so-called “war on terror”, have achieved nothing. Indeed, with Osama Bin Laden still alive and living free it is questionable whether a “war on terror” was ever really intended. I don’t want to believe that the US had a hand in the annihilation of thousands of their own people, but the desire for power is a virulent infection and whether it was the US or Al Qaeda the mass murder of so many innocent people is a glaring demonstration of the sickness of greed.

The age of Aquarius never came. We are all hopelessly lost children in a world that we have messed up so badly.  Corporate power unstoppable, the media driven masses are injected daily with soporific and innocuous news, sparks of sensationalism, soaps, sport and crime.  Road rage, rent rage, supermarket rage, debt rage! Everything taken from us more and more until we have nothing left, frustrated and powerless in the face of truth and irretrievable entrenched in denial because we accepted it all with slothful complacency. Now we are all tagged and logged, ruled by the institutions that once served us.

Sometimes I envy my brother.  He’s out of it now.  Beyond the epidemic of greed that grips the so called “civilised world”.  God has been replaced by the dollar and the gun, because he just doesn’t answer our prayers fast enough any more.

Nine years later terrorism is no less a threat, no less organised. Neither the US Government nor Al Qaeda are any closer to a stable or productive solution. Both with God on their side they continue to claim religious and social superiority with righteous indignation for each others beliefs and traditions.  So how does it change?  How will the Muslim community ever disassociate themselves from the the violent assualt on the US back in 2001 that will be indelibly imprinted on the minds of all Americans?  And how will the middle east countries so brashly invaded and assualted by the US military ever recover from the social devastation that this has caused? Have both gone too far? Resentment towards each other binds them with an emotional link that is stronger than steel.  Freedom from this is only possible with unconditional forgiveness, and this requires a measure of strength and courage yet to be seen in either party.

I Wish I Could Be Ernest Jones For A Day!

Posted on 23 April 2010 | No responses

Despite truly heroic efforts, madaboutjewellery.com remains stubbornly on Page 2 for that most important of key words “jewellery”.

A pretty impressive position for a small independent, I know, but sales – and therefore life – was so much better when we were on Page 1! Read more

Horse Revolution

Posted on 6 March 2010 | No responses

Illuminating and edifying video.  Competition has a lot to answer for.

Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Statement on Captive Orcas & the Trainer Killed at Sea World

Posted on 6 March 2010 | No responses

This video speaks for itself.  This particular killer whale has killed a human twice before, so you would think these people would learn their lesson.  The “prisons” they are kept in are outrageously small and hopelessly inadequate for the space needs of such a large creature.  If you were locked up in a 10 by 8 cell for 23 hours a day would you perform without question for your jailers pleasure and profit?  The main problem is that animals cannot speak so we assume everything is ok.  Until something like this happens.  And then we’re surprised and usually blame and label  the animal.  Anyway, I get too emotional about these things so I’ll let Jean-Michel Cousteau say it.

Vista Tip To Reduce High Memory Usage

Posted on 10 February 2010 | Comments Off

I have a high powered laptop that has 2 gigabytes of RAM and yet, when I  run just two pieces of software I am interrupted by a message saying I am running low on memory and should close some programs before I continue.  Is this Bill Gates’ ideas of a joke!  My old desktop with Windows XP performed ten time better on half the memory. Read more

Water or Coke?

Posted on 9 February 2010 | Comments Off

This information, found by a good friend of mine is positively illuminating.  I have to say that as a result of this I started a regime of drinking several glasses of water a day – previously, not even a drop of plain water passed my lips other than to make coffee, tea of fizzy orange – the results were immediate and amazing.   My daytime fatigue, pretty much disappeared, I felt energised, stronger and more focussed.  Also, my aching hip from osteo-arthritis (caused by a sports injury earlier in my life) stopped aching all the time.  I can hear you saying “it’s just the placebo effect”, but if you don’t ever drink just plain water, try it and judge for yourself.

Check it out… Read more

Amazing Speech by Iraq War Veteran

Posted on 12 January 2010 | 1 response

I think this soldier has tremendous courage to say what he says here. More courage than being sent to the front line to face someone elses enemy. At last someone is saying, loud and clear what we all need to hear. It is hard to know what to do to change the rampant greed and indifference to humanity that grips the banks, the government and large corporations. Their narcissistic pursuit of wealth and domination is becoming increasingly transparent, and this soldier’s words are a poignant reminder!

How To Stay Afloat In Shark Infested Waters!

Posted on 7 November 2009 | No responses

Had a lengthy discussion with my business partner today about the state of play with our business and how exactly to proceed. This conversation was sparked by a call from a media company who specialise in writing and distributing professional articles for the purposes of increasing website exposure and popularity. Read more

The Google Idiot-Bot

Posted on 21 October 2009 | No responses

Our site has been established since 2001.  We have been on the first page of google’s search results for our main keyword since I can’t remember!  Years.  Over those years we have been growing steadily.  We complied with the “Which Webtrader Code of Practice” which shows our age and provides an indication as to our trustworthyness.  We have hundreds of reciprocal links, but in truth this is an area that has been somewhat neglected due to a massive workload on a skeleton staff caused by rapid growth and the need to survive.

The big google algorithm change a few months ago knocked us back to page 3/4, and that combined with the deepening recession has taken it’s toll. Read more

Cheers To Getting Your Priorities Straight!

Posted on 9 October 2009 | No responses

I can’t remember where I found this great story.  It is so “zen” to me, and laced with a little humour.  I think it puts things in order.  I really want to share it because this sort of stuff is invaluable. Read more

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Posted on 28 September 2009 | No responses

Here are a few tips to help you get on with others under pretty much any circumstances.

1. Learn to remember names. Inefficiency at this point may indicate that your interest is not sufficiently ongoing.

2. Be a comfortable person so there is no strain in being with you. Be an old-shoe, old-hat kind of individual.

3. Acquire the quality of relaxed easy-going so that things do not ruffle you. Read more

Triple Your Efficiency, Productivity and Profit.

Posted on 15 September 2009 | No responses

Expect twice as much from others as you expect from yourself. Be shameless. And don’t hold your productivity back by assuming your team won’t or can’t do twice as much as you can. Let go of any fear of consequences. Get used to hearing people say no to you. Read more

Ten Traps To Avoid at Work

Posted on 15 September 2009 | No responses

There is no real mystery to these tips.  Most are common sense combined with a positive outlook.  However, it’s always useful to state these things as sometimes the obvious isn’t so obvious! Read more

Guidelines to Present Yourself as a Professional!

Posted on 15 September 2009 | Comments Off

The following excerpt is from a longer document submitted by my father in 1976 called “Should Creative Directors Be Middle Class?  This extract includes guidelines for said Creative Directors, but in my view, may be applicable to any professional who wants to present themselves as such, and remains highly appropriate today, over thirty years after writing. Read more

Am I a Twit to Tweet?

Posted on 14 September 2009 | No responses

Does anyone really understand what’s going on at Twitter? If so I would welcome some enlightenment.  I have been perusing my email confirmations of followers and direct messages and I just can’t seem to make sense of it.  Is that resounding laughter I hear echoing over the hills and valleys at the ridiculousness of my confusion? Read more

Instructions for Life from the Dalai Lama

Posted on 7 September 2009 | 1 response

These words came to me some years ago but I think they are timeless.  To me they are an invaluable reminder that the answers to creating a more sustainable and harmonious world truely are simple and start with each of us as individuals. Read more

Habits of Highly Effective People

Posted on 6 September 2009 | No responses

I feel sure that living with a highly positive outlook and having a deep inner knowing that I am already a success, I will invoke the abundance that success brings.

I came across this recently while searching for symbols of success and would like to share them with you. Read more

Tips for Buying a New Computer

Posted on 5 September 2009 | No responses

Reviews before you choose.
Editors, Users and Manufacturers all have a different perspecive.  Editors are completely unbiased and generally speaking magazine tests are rigorous and results are detailed.  Check zdnet, pcworld.com and cnet.

Users reviews are useful from the point of view of long-term use and can highlight flaws that reveal themslves through longevity.

Manufacturers will of course lean towards promotion, but they will tell you what the machine was designed for whether it be business, gaming or light use like surfing and email. Read more

A Happy Machine is a Clean Machine

Posted on 5 September 2009 | No responses

How many people in the world have computers?  At least 365 million – not much when compared to the worlds population (just over 6.7 billion)! Interestingly, half of the worlds population has NEVER seen a telephone, nor used one!  I wonder how many homes now have books!  But I digress.

I find it quite unnerving that viruses and trojans are so prolific these days.  Although, you have to be extremely unlucky to contract a deliberately malicious and destructive virus, most are a downright nuisance and have to be eliminated. Read more

A Journey of a Thousand Miles begins with the First Step

Posted on 4 September 2009 | No responses

It doesn’t take much to put pen to paper but when it comes to it, I’m always trying to think of something else to do instead!

I think to myself that if I am to make this huge effort to write, then it has to interesting, easy to read and above all, useful. Read more