Strange things online

Don’t you just love the selection of things you can purchase online. I’m not referring to the standard things like groceries, white goods etc, but to the more exotic goods that you would not normally find in any store down the road. For example, I recently bought a USB powered Plasma Ball; I bet you’ve never seen one of those.

And the list is really endless; you can find anything you like online. From cutting edge technology to grow lights, from stink bombs to antique sewing machines. All you have to do is search and you’re bound to find what you’re after.

So, what was the strangest things you ever bought online?

Getting a new car

Well, we've decided we're going to have to upgrade a to a new car. It's a 2 factor choice based on the fact that we have twins on the way and that we often have family visiting us. A 5 seater is no longer suitable so we're going to have to go for an MPV, one of these 7-seater vehicles where you can get everything and the kitchen sink in.

We used to have one of these in the past, a Toyota that used the the best thing ever; while we were running The Joke Shop. When you have to take 50 ballons to a client, you need to be able to pack stuff up in a space where they don't get squashed; and fitting them into a car was nigh impossible. So the MPV doubled up as a family car, and as a work vehicle. We didn't have kids back them though.

What's with these banks?

Have you noticed how some banks are easier to log into than others? It all boils down to the authentication scheme they are using. Some use a login name and password; others require you to memorise a 100 digit number and provide bits of DNA in order to access you account. OK, that's stretching it, but it does feel like that sometimes. I think the ones that annoy me to most are the ones that have a random number generator just like the SSL VPN authentication tokens we use at work. Not that I have a problem with the number generators, it's just that I never have one with me when I need it.

It's only a matter of time I guess before biometrics are used and you're really have to provide some DNA to access you data. We'll see about that!

How do you look on camera?

Do you ever notice how different we all look on camera? It's all down to how you perceive yourself and how you really look, but sometimes that image is different from our expectations. The great thing is that it's pretty easy to see what you look like. I'm not talking about investing in live video casting solutions; just get yourself a video camera and record some snippet of yourself, then just pop them on your computer and see what you look like.

The reality is that people always see you as different to the way you see yourself; you'll never notice if your shirt is untucked and your hair all over the place. Filming yourself helps you spot these things.

Off to watch Titanic the Musical

RT @cmallia: Accessibility Experts meeting in Brussels;how to meet then 2010 deadline to make all public service websites accessible

Ok .. where did Spring go ?

Morning all .. here's to another week

Getting round to booking out trip to EuroDisney for our 10th anniversary

Gah .. don't you hate when you're browsing a site to buy something and it just breaks. Major FAIL Disney: http://twurl.nl/xht2wp

Any marketeers out there should be reading Scoble's latest post: http://twurl.nl/r1af25 - Don't use Twitter to broadcast, but target instead

Watching Monsters Inc .. again ...

Happy Mothering Sunday .. (that's if you're a mom) .. otherwise Happy Sunday ;)

heading out Connister's Ladies Night ... don't believe anything I tweet when I get back ;)

Getting some design done

It's nice to use a specialist sometimes and one thing I definetly need help with is web design. I can make a web site jump through hoops, but can't draw a picture to save my life. I've seen the work of different designers, from a company based in Iceland to an Orange County web development firm and there a number of different designs I like online.

I think my favourite designs thend to be those that have a highly visual element. I like the different mechanics of how the page works, but the look is quite important for me. Anyway, let's see what I can do for this blog.

Getting tech help today

It’s great that it’s so easy to get the support you need online. All it takes is typing a question into Google and before you know it you have your answer. Not that you’ll find it hard to find people to help you, From Orange County tech support companies all the way to tech support in far flung places like the Shetland Islands, it’s great that you can find support wherever you are.

The truth is that there are more people out there whe are familiar with technology, more people who are happy to help deal with a technical issue than ever before. It’s great really, though I do pine for the good old days when men were men and sheep were scared

Mother's Day weekend

Well, it's Mother's Day this weekend and we should be making something for her tomorrow. There seems to be loads of ideas of things to do, make or buy on the Internet, but one thing is for sure, Camille prefers if we make something for her. So I'm not going to make the mistake of getting one of those artcarved mens rings or anything expensive; though I have bought her a little something something.

So, what shall we make for her? Watch the blog; we may have some photos up soon!

Restarting again because of IE install .. I think it's the only browser left that needs a reboot as part of the install

Installing IE8 again .. the one I installed this morning was the RC

Check out everyone at our #ThirdThursday meeting today: http://twitpic.com/28v9h

Okey dokey .. IE8 installed .. let's see if it breaks anything

Heh .. I'm seeing "Download the new IE8" everywhere on MS website. Only one reference to the fact it's a RC so far

RT @TheDigitalLife: Today is National Poultry Day, for those of you in a fowl mood.

RT @Amadeus_IOM: http://twitpic.com/28s5y - At the meet :-) Photo from our #ThirdThursday do. Great time guys. Thanks for coming

Off to meet @ProgramX @derekrichardson @robmercer and others at Paprazzi - Come join us

RT @guardiantech: Google launches Street View in UK http://bit.ly/1JMJOU

Any Manx Tweeters joining us for lunch today? http://www.u-g-h.com/2009/03/18/social-media-events-in-the-isle-of-man-19th-march/

Cool .. I got featured on Zemanta's blog as a power user: http://is.gd/nUvC - well it *is* one of my favourite plugins ever

Ohh .. Microsoft Web Platform can be used to provision PHP applications like WordPress - http://is.gd/nT4m - from #mix09

Heh .. considering #mix09 is about UX, you'd expect them to inlay slides rather than switching video in and out

the holding music at #mix09 makes me feel like I'm holding on a phone call. Watch the keynote here: http://live.visitmix.com/

Waiting for the #mix09 keynote to start: http://live.visitmix.com/

RT @shanselman: Keynote for #mix09 coming up LIVE at http://live.visitmix.com/

Based in the UK? Fancy a free holiday? Check out @fuelmyblog's latest competition: http://is.gd/nSsA

Social Media events in IOM tomorrow:Third Thursday ( http://is.gd/nSqO ) lunch and Podcasting in the evening ( http://is.gd/nSro ) Coming?

Hey cool .. there's a "Cisco Fatty" meme ;) http://search.twitter.com/search?q=cisco+fatty

RT @cpierret: Getting a WOW factor on cut&paste and MMS support for iPhone ?? Apple marketing team is REALLY good ! :) *chuckle*

RT @Isleofmantravel: Well done Isle of Man Tourism on getting a silver award.....read more here http://isleofmanbreaks.blogspot.com/

Morning all, how's everyone tweeping ?

Watching Airplane

Spent the evening watching Airplane, probably one of the better slapstick comedies of the 80s. I think I'm a bigger fan of slapstick than I would admin; probably because I love spotting the small incongruencies that make the show funny (or not; depending on how you look at it). Well, Airplane is a classic and few comedies make it to those dizzy heights. As you might know, it was followed by a number of sequels and parodies; but nothing quite compares; can you imagine teryx suspensions on a plane? Well, neither can I.

My 3-year old's favourite letter in the whole alphabet is Y .. he keeps asking WHY every chance he gets! (he won't stop actually)

Firefox FF 3.1b3 crashed again .. pretty sure Firebug is causing it now. Anyone else experiencing the same behaviour?

FF 3.1b3 seems stable now. It hasn't crashed since I disabled Firebug

Hmm .. some of my GTalk contacts don't appear on Digsby .. strange

Morning all .. sunny Sunday here in the Isle of Man

Peter: This is more embarrassing than having sex with a rhinoceros would doesn't love you any more .. guess what show I'm watching?

FF 3.1b3 crashed again .. I wonder if one of my plugins is misbehaving

SEO is really SEM (Search Engine Manipulation) isn't it ?

Watching WIll Smith in I, Robot (again)

Online Shopping

I've been pretty busy this week with online purchases. I've bought a mobile phone for my wife, well, it was her Valentine's present from last year, but we finally managed to get it chosen and purchased. I bought a couple of books from Amazon, second hand, but 2 books I've been meaning to get for some time. And I also bought a T-shirt from Iffyton High Street. I really wanted to try and get some kids clothing for the twins (though there's a few months left), but didn't really find anything siutable.

Maybe next week huh?

What's in a bedroom?

I’ve just been looking around our bedroom and realise that I could possibly add a bit to the decor. It’s a typical bedroom, you know, with a bed, wardrobe, drawers and all the other bits, but it doesn’t seem to have the character you tend to get in some bedrooms. You know, some bedrooms have that elegant touch, with throws and lights in the right places. Others have softball trophies in the corner and No Fear clothing strewn on the floor.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that there’s anything wrong with our bedroom. The walls have a lovely pattern on them and everything is nicely colour coordinated. We also have great lighting with uplighters on the wall, separate lights on each side of the bed and a chandelier in the center of the room. Each of these can be turned on or off separately, which gives loads of lighting options.

What is your bedroom like?

Ohhhh.... @robertjmercer is a Haiku expert. How's that for 140 characters!

Sitting on a LAN with @robertjmercer

RT @govim: Gov.im News: Isle of Man TV Advert Nominated For Award http://tr.im/hhwi

Wife asked what I wanted for our 10th anniversary (tin). Looks like I might be getting me an Android phone ;)

RT @Isle_of_Man: JPress: Envy and bullying led to tax haven slur, says MLC: Bbully tactics led to the Isle of Man .. http://tr.im/hhkZ

Woohoo .. serving 110 widgets per minute down at TweetRoll: http://tweetburn.com/tweetroll-stats/

RT @thedailydust: More good UK news : Red Dwarf update - Dave spills the beans on the new episodes: After a qu.. http://tinyurl.com/aftzll

Dear Live Search .. when I search for Ars Technica .. I want Ars Technica's website .. not the Wikipedia article about it!

*grin* didn't know the name of local AD box, so used NBTSTAT to make an educated guess! Worked first time ;)

MSCRM is like Access on steroids

RT @iomweather: Cloudy, 7C with 100% humidity. The wind from SSW at 12mph. Sun rose at 6:43 AM and sets at 6:15 PM.

Oh, and by the way, we're having twins!

I'm not sure if you picked up the news on my main blog, but we're having twins! We're still a bit of a way off, still in the first trimester, but it's great news anyway, and I wanted to make sure readers of this blog knew about it too. Both of us are pretty excited and Arthur's happy he's going to be a big brother and have more kids to play with.

In the meantime, there's time for planning, cleaning out and getting ready for the new arrivals. Guess I won't be getting my new Adams golf drivers anytime soon huh? Still, it's a cause for much joy and we're over the moon!

RT @TheJokeShop: Somebody actually complimented me on my driving today. They left a little note on the windscreen saying "Parking Fine"

My cough is finally dying away ... *fingers crossed*

RT @RussB: "Statusphere"? Really? Seriously, really?

24 hours of comedy for Red Nose Day: http://tr.im/hcFS

Ohh .. just came across IE8's Developer Tools .. sweet!

Woohoo .. Dynamics CRM 4.0 up and running .. that was fun

Fudging SPNs to make CRM work

Still coughing this morning. Avoiding the gym for today ..

Time for bed everyone .. need to wake up early to head to the gym tomorrow

FireBug is frickin' awesome

Can anyone recommend a good online source for energy saving bulbs in the UK ?

I love waking up late on Sunday

k .. back to some more coding

Read this "He was taking iron supplements and when he started taking viagra, he would suddenly spin round and point North.... "

Actually the biggest challenge with CSS (as with all code) it understanding why some people did things the way they did

I think I'm starting to *get* CSS .. It's more than just about styling tables huh?

Me: Did you wash your hands? 3-year old: Yes Me: When? 3-year old: Tuesday!

RT @Amadeus_IOM: Tweet-a-Watt - Green gadget thingy. Weird, and interesting... http://tinyurl.com/cqu7m3

Time for bed .. I must say I did enjoy #followfriday today

Some more great tweeple to follow this #followfriday @alexgrech @AndrewJames57 @tericee @thewikiartist @kevindixie @RoryTweet

RT @iom: Manx hold strong position to avoid tax haven blacklist: CHIEF Minister Tony Brown believes Isle of Man http://tinyurl.com/cpw56z

Family Guy

I'm watching Family Guy at the moment and I must say it's one of my favourite TV shows at the moment. I can't quite decide who my favourite character is, but they're all a great bunch. Stewie cracks me up and so does Peter (of course). It's interesting to see how they stick in references to Fox or NFL products every now and again .. it's almost as if there's a sponsorship deal in there somewhere ...

Settling Down to watch MIB II

RT @bbcnews: Bank of England plans to inject £75bn of new money into the financial system + cuts interest rate.. http://tinyurl.com/anvpsd

Sick at home today. Man I feel like crap

heading to bed .. feeling like crap .. hope I'm not coming down with something :(

I don't think any other show on TV amuses me as much as Family Guy ...

We've served almost 1.5million TweetRoll widgets. Get yours and check the stats at: http://tweetburn.com/tweetroll-stats/

RT @ManxQueenie: Isle of Man Queenie Festival now on Twitter follow us now for news, updates and all thats great about Manx Queenies!

Heh .. wife came in from outside covered in snow! .. It's actually snowing!

Hmm . I think I might be coming down with man flu again .. http://www.cutajar.net/owen/2008/01/nursing-a-cold/

Hmm .. I seem to be receiving more spam than usual today .. *sigh*

Yeay .. Twistees: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1502146855

Yeay .. Twistees! http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=1502146855&ref=nf

Watching the finale of Growing Human

Here's an interesting service. USUnlocked lets you shop in the US and get stuff shipped to the UK. Might try it - http://www.usunlocked.com/