January 2011

I can’t remember when or where I saw Gran Torino originally, but I remembered it being a great film. I was round a friends last night and I suggested we watch it. It really is a great piece of work. Some people have just got a gift and Clint Eastwood is one of them. I did a search through my blog today to see what my review said about it and I couldn’t find one. This leads me to believe I probably saw it on a plane and the review got lost in the confusion of the trip. Anyway, it’s a great film. Well worth checking it out.

One of the reasons I bought an iPad was to use it as a book reader. I figured I could save a few trees and save a bit of money as some Kindle books are a little cheaper than the paper equivalents. Fast forward a few months and I’ve not completed a single book on the iPad. In fact I’ve struggled to read more than the odd page of any novel. The iPad just isn’t working out for me in that role. I find it a little heavy, the screen reflection is shocking and I’m not particularly happy about doing things like reading in the bath or in bed with it. It just doesn’t work for me. Added to that, a comment Gwen Shapira made at OOW 2010 has come back to haunt me. It’s just too easy to get distracted on an iPad. How wise you are Gwen.

I’m toying with the idea of buying a kindle. It would certainly solve the weight, screen reflection and distraction issues. Whether it would feel “natural” to me is another issue.

I had a bunch of gift tokens from the last couple of Christmases, so I went out a few days ago and bought real paper books. Instant satisfaction and I’ve started reading again…

Cheers

Tim…

I got an alert from Google yesterday telling me some pages from my website had been stolen. This morning I had a quick look and I can see that actually my whole website has been ripped and published on someone else’s domain. The someone in question happens to be an independent Oracle contractor working in the European Union. I really don’t understand why in this day and age someone involved in our industry thinks they can do this without being noticed. As a contractor, gaining a reputation for copyright theft must be about the worst thing you can do. I can’t exactly see many employers welcoming you with open arms knowing you might steal from them.

I’ve sent a friendly notice asking the person in question to remove the stolen material. Let’s see how that works before I start any strong-arm stuff…

Cheers

Tim…

Update: The site has been removed so the matter is closed an the person’s name remains my secret.

Coming soon to San Diego, Los Angeles, Seattle and Phoenix - A Day of Real World Performance. I and two of my cohorts will be presenting day long seminars (all three of us, at the same time, on the same stage) in those four cities.