I’ll do the odd cross-reference when it makes sense. And hopefully the volume here will improve over the Spring as I get into a gardening groove. next post up is one on Jimmy Doherty’s “From Crop to Shop” which may be one of the most educational programmes about food broadcast in the past ten years.

So from Dec 29th to Feb 9th, I have lost 20 pounds.

How? No booze, no snacking, no sweets, normal breakfast, normal lunch, smaller dinner, fruit whenever I’m peckish and a small amount of treadmill Mon-Fri.

My BMI, body fat and visceral fat are all still atrocious but on the way down.

On advice from @adventsparky on Twitter, we invested in a body fat analysis machine (aka tarted up weighing scales) on Amazon. This Omron BF510 Body Fat & Composition Bathroom Scales has both feet pads and handgrips to give a much more accurate analysis of fat by running a small signal through your body.

I then track that in a spreadsheet in Google Docs.

Next major milestone will be the 2 stone mark. I figure about another 2ish weeks for that.

Eventual aim is 4+ stone reduction by mid-late summer. Fingers crossed.

#1 – The first rule of Fat Club is, you must talk all the time about Fat Club online.

#2 – The second rule of Fat Club is, you MUST TALK about Fat Club online.

#3 – If someone says stop, goes limp or taps out, the de-fatting has just begun.

#4 – Lots of guys fighting fat.

#5 – One kilo at a time.

#6 – Baggy shirts, running shoes.

#7 – De-fatting will go on as long as it has to.

#8 – Every night at Fat Club, you have to weigh yourself and Tweet/Facebook it

I’m in. Anyone else?

In association with Partnership for Change they are organising a Special Christmas Charity Screening for Bandon Flood Appeal on Wednesday 30th December 2009 in St Peters Church, Bandon at 8pm

The movie is one of my top 5 of all time, The Princess Bride, starring the angelic Robin Wright.

If you don’t live in Bandon, get into your car and drive here for this. If you don’t live in Ireland, fly here. The recent showing of the original Phantom of The Opera in St Peter’s was a tour-de-force.

Not only will you enjoy a genius movie but you’ll be helping by contributing to the Irish Red Cross and St Vincent De Paul.

Further Information Contact:
Declan Waugh Tel: 023-8841933 M: 086-3853363

I have ordered the Zappos Culture book he mentioned (just email ceo@zappos.com and they’ll post you a copy) and downloaded the Tribal Leadership audiobook from here (use California 90210 for your address in the registration screen). Wonderful stuff.

Most Irish businesses are still a decade behind the US exemplars when it comes to customer service. But one of our clients who really seems to get it is Louis Fitzgerald Hotels.

The PsiXpda handheld computer in action at Le Web from Conor O'Neill on Vimeo.

We were lucky. Apart from the inconvenience of no phoneline and some bad leaks in a bay window, we managed to escape pretty unscathed.

If you have any detour tips for those trying to get in and out of West Cork, please leave them in the comments. This route was still working at 2pm yesterday so hopefully it’ll work for you. (Click on it for larger size):

Bandon had been doing a large marketing push for November. Now more than ever, we should shop locally and help those businesses get back on their feet.

It’s on 29th Jan 2010 in Bandon.

They also need an audio system if you know of anyone willing to loan for the night.

Mail me on conor@loudervoice.com if you want to help out and I’ll pass on your details.

The most recent research by Internet Retailer tells you everything you need to know about how important reviews are to businesses.

In order to expand the operational bandwidth of the company and aggressively pursue our channel partner strategy, we are raising finance through the tax-efficient Business Expansion Scheme (BES). Argolon Solutions, the company behind LouderVoice, is fully Revenue approved for BES and we will be issuing our investor pack in the coming week.

If you are interested in finding out more and receiving a copy of the investor pack, please contact Conor O’Neill on +353-23-8878257 or conor AT loudervoice DOT com.

Can I suggest a Cork Computer History Museum?

What’s one of the biggest attractions in Silicon Valley? The Computer History Museum

What’s one of the biggest tourist draws in London? The Science Museum.

What’s one of Cork’s main tourist attractions now? The Butter Museum.

Where is the biggest cluster of successful tech companies outside of Dublin? Cork.

Randy Jordan has assembled one of the most incredible collections of classic computers anywhere. From IMSAI to Osborne to DEC PDP and Apple Lisa, he has it. Randy has offered the collection to be housed by those who should jump at the chance. They didn’t get it.

Those of us who do _get_ it have despaired when talking to Randy about his computers and the fact that they are almost never seen. The mini-collection he showed today at BarCamp Cork III blew our minds.

Watch this video:

Then think about the thousands of people who fly in and out of Cork every week and work for tech companies. Think about the brilliant but now sadly delayed idea of transforming the Cork docklands into a new tech hub. Think about all those tourists looking for something different. This could be the first step. A building full of technology that shows us the past so we can figure out the future.

Do you have a building lying idle and a vision for where you want Cork to be in 10 years time? Step up to the plate.

Ewan Spence is another regular at it and it’s pretty much the only time we see each other every year. He has a great post over on his blog about what computer to bring this year. It seems like we are all going more and more lightweight each time (well our computers are anyway).

It inspired me to take this set of photos.

Le Web 2006:

Le Web 2007/2008:

Le Web 2009:

Le Web 2010?:

It’s on in the Clarion Hotel in Cork from 3pm – 8pm on Friday and 11am – 4pm on Saturday and only costs €15. For that you’ll have over 100 international wines to taste and buy, delicious foods and gourmet treats on offer and prize draws for wine cases and food hampers.

This isn’t a show for wine gurus at all. If you like a nice glass of NZ Sauvignon Blanc every once in a while, you’ll enjoy it just as much as those who know the difference between a 1947 and 1948 Margaux.

You can buy tickets online right now or in any of the aforementioned Wine Merchants. We’ll be there on Friday and possibly on Saturday too, soliciting your feedback on everything so have your SMS thumbs to the ready.

The best way you can help the site is to make sure you let them know about everything that is happening in the town. It’s a resource by the community for the community.