Skillett.com http://www.skillett.com Keiron's daily take on life, the internet and the world around us! Wed, 24 Feb 2010 11:32:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc en hourly 1 http://www.skillett.com http://www.skillett.com//images/favicon.ico Skillett.com Keironhttp://feedburner.google.com Try! http://www.skillett.com/news/sport/try/ http://www.skillett.com/news/sport/try/#comments Wed, 24 Feb 2010 11:32:12 +0000 Keiron http://www.skillett.com/?p=1283 Most people know I’m a big rugby fan… My father-in-law sent me this today, it surely has to be one of the best tries ever?

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]]> http://www.skillett.com/news/sport/try/feed/ 0 50 Android Games! http://www.skillett.com/general/quick-posts/50-android-games/ http://www.skillett.com/general/quick-posts/50-android-games/#comments Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:13:04 +0000 Keiron http://www.skillett.com/general/quick-posts/50-android-games/

via androidhd.blogspot.com

Now I’ve got my nice shiny new Android phone, I’ve got it working nicely for business use, but you definitely need some games don’t you?

This video features 50 for Android (and I was only complaining last night I hadn’t seen many games for it available!).

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]]> http://www.skillett.com/general/quick-posts/50-android-games/feed/ 0 This IS the DROID you have been looking for! http://www.skillett.com/technology/mobile-phones/this-is-the-droid-you-have-been-looking-for/ http://www.skillett.com/technology/mobile-phones/this-is-the-droid-you-have-been-looking-for/#comments Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:00:34 +0000 Keiron http://www.skillett.com/?p=1271 Most people that know me know that I love my mobile phone, and it has to be a good one – simply because I run the business from it!

I rang Orange the other day to enquire what was currently on offer, and as usual they don’t have a single phone that interests me… The HTC Touch Pro 2 I did fancy is available, but not as an upgrade. I’m not convinced I want an iPhone as I’ve got my iPod Touch and it really does lack a keyboard that I need. Even if they had got a phone I’m not sure I’d upgrade because every contract is 18 or 24 months – what happened to 12 month contracts?

Locking in for 24 months on a contract seems ridiculous to me, Orange did tell me that I’d had my current phone for nearly 2 years! I had to ask them what phone they thought I’d got, they were wrong – that one has been in a box for at least a year! Technology changes so quickly that I want a bit more freedom than a 24 month contract.

So I’m in deep discussions with them at the moment about moving to a low contract Business SIM-only probably with 30 day rolling contract for £15 and a huge data bolt-on, from there I can always upgrade with them at any point I choose…

However, to make sure I have a phone I want I’ve gone SIM Free and ordered the Motorola DROID (yes, I know – for those that know me they’ll know I’ve only just left the company!). So here it is…

More posts to follow on this subject I’m sure…

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]]> http://www.skillett.com/technology/mobile-phones/this-is-the-droid-you-have-been-looking-for/feed/ 3 ‘Snow Good At All! http://www.skillett.com/personal-diary/snow-good-at-all/ http://www.skillett.com/personal-diary/snow-good-at-all/#comments Sat, 09 Jan 2010 10:57:43 +0000 Keiron http://www.skillett.com/?p=1241 I don’t like the stuff – I make no secret about that… OK I do – but only for photo’s, everything else about it I thoroughly dislike!

We’ve had almost a week of it now and I have some observations…

  1. This country will never, ever, be prepared for this. Even people from countries that are used to digging their cars out of four feet of snow say it’s difficult in this country because we are just SO unprepared.
  2. By law in many countries you have to clear your path and pavement in front of your home and business, doing this would reduce the risk of people slipping on pavements (they don’t grit them, so if you’ve driven to work on wonderfully gritted roads you fall over getting out of your car!).
  3. Weathermen either don’t know how to react when reporting a high of –1, so they either act sarcastic or smug! Neither are appropriate – where’s that “Barbecue Summer” you promised?
  4. Stockpiling helps nobody (except yourselves!) and if it thaws you’ll go out again and it will all go out of date – what a waste of money!
  5. Britain does still have a sense of community and combined whinging seems to get neighbours talking!

Rant over – I’ll leave you with a photo of an igloo I found on my way home the other morning…

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]]> http://www.skillett.com/personal-diary/snow-good-at-all/feed/ 4 Snow : Be careful out there people http://www.skillett.com/news/snow-be-careful-out-there-people/ http://www.skillett.com/news/snow-be-careful-out-there-people/#comments Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:04:26 +0000 Keiron http://www.skillett.com/?p=1238

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]]> http://www.skillett.com/news/snow-be-careful-out-there-people/feed/ 0 Good Riddance 2009 http://www.skillett.com/news/good-riddance-2009/ http://www.skillett.com/news/good-riddance-2009/#comments Tue, 29 Dec 2009 13:22:16 +0000 Keiron http://www.skillett.com/?p=1186 New Yorkers (and visitors to the area who had the foresight to carry things around that irritate them!) have said goodbye to their bad memories from 2009 in a public shredding ceremony in Times Square.

Entering full on paranoia mode
Creative Commons License photo credit: Ben Brown

Items that got shredded included:

  • Letters from ex-lovers,
  • Photos of ex-lovers,
  • Redundancy letters,
  • and newspaper clippings of bad days for people’s favourite sports teams!

This is the third event of it’s kind!

One “shredder” placed a piece of paper into the shredder that simply said “Writer’s Block” – she hopes to write a musical this year.

For items that could not be shredded, the Times Square Alliance were most helpful in providing a sledgehammer and a large waste-container.

What would we have in the UK, maybe the “Pointless Kitchen Gadgets Destruction Day?” – Let me know in the comments!

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]]> http://www.skillett.com/news/good-riddance-2009/feed/ 3 Did I Read That Sign Right? http://www.skillett.com/jokes/did-i-read-that-sign-right/ http://www.skillett.com/jokes/did-i-read-that-sign-right/#comments Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:42:11 +0000 Keiron http://www.skillett.com/?p=1179 TOILET OUT OF ORDER. PLEASE USE FLOOR BELOW

In a Laundromat:
AUTOMATIC WASHING MACHINES: PLEASE REMOVE ALL YOUR CLOTHES WHEN THE LIGHT GOES OUT

In a London department store:
BARGAIN BASEMENT UPSTAIRS

In an office:
WOULD THE PERSON WHO TOOK THE STEP LADDER YESTERDAY PLEASE BRING IT BACK OR FURTHER STEPS WILL BE TAKEN

In an office:
AFTER TEA BREAK STAFF SHOULD EMPTY THE TEAPOT AND STAND UPSIDE DOWN ON THE DRAINING BOARD

Outside a secondhand shop:
WE EXCHANGE ANYTHING – BICYCLES, WASHING MACHINES, ETC. WHY NOT BRING YOUR WIFE ALONG AND GET A WONDERFUL BARGAIN?

Notice in health food shop window:
CLOSED DUE TO ILLNESS

Spotted in a safari park:
ELEPHANTS PLEASE STAY IN YOUR CAR

Seen during a conference:
FOR ANYONE WHO HAS CHILDREN AND DOESN’T KNOW IT, THERE IS A DAY CARE ON THE 1ST FLOOR

Notice in a farmer’s field:
THE FARMER ALLOWS WALKERS TO CROSS THE FIELD FOR FREE, BUT THE BULL CHARGES.

Message on a leaflet:
IF YOU CANNOT READ, THIS LEAFLET WILL TELL YOU HOW TO GET LESSONS

On a repair shop door:
WE CAN REPAIR ANYTHING. (PLEASE KNOCK HARD ON THE DOOR – THE BELL DOESN’T WORK)

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]]> http://www.skillett.com/jokes/did-i-read-that-sign-right/feed/ 6 Startups – Feeling Blue and Dr Hue! http://www.skillett.com/technology/websites/startups-feeling-blue-and-dr-hue/ http://www.skillett.com/technology/websites/startups-feeling-blue-and-dr-hue/#comments Fri, 27 Nov 2009 09:08:41 +0000 Keiron http://www.skillett.com/?p=948 I’ve had a really busy week this week, so busy that I didn’t notice it was the Business Startup show at Olympia yesterday and today, I debated getting on the road early this morning and coming back early but as I have family here for the weekend it seemed a little silly.. So a little blue yesterday I browsed the web for some startup information to make up for it.

That’s when I came across 24 Hour Startup, where a group of people from Nonsense have decided to build a web-based startup and launch it all in 24 hours.. I love this idea!!

At midday yesterday they didn’t even know what they would be building, as of this morning it has a name, a logo, code, and it’s own blog, AND it will launch in just 3 hours time! This is an amazing achievement and if Neil Cocker’s estimates are anything to go buy it could make a lot of money (hey why aren’t I doing this?!).

Now as I was feeling blue yesterday and they’ve brightened my day, I’m hoping they’ll let me have the Blue gift for writing this blog post and putting it out on Twitter! Plus I think was @dr_hue’s second friend!?

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]]> http://www.skillett.com/technology/websites/startups-feeling-blue-and-dr-hue/feed/ 2 If it looks too good…. http://www.skillett.com/personal-diary/if-it-looks-too-good/ http://www.skillett.com/personal-diary/if-it-looks-too-good/#comments Sat, 24 Oct 2009 12:47:44 +0000 Keiron http://www.skillett.com/?p=895 It usually is!

As usual, I’m always on the look out for a bit of a business opportunity and when one appears I give it serious thought, so last week when I spotted a website for sale for £995 I asked for further details.

The website in question was an information site in many ways, with Google Adsense Ads, Amazon links and Clickbank links… Sounds just the sort of thing I’m interested in and when I found out it had been making close to £2000 in the last six Months that really grabbed my interest!

I’m the sort of person that likes to mitigate as much risk as possible, and having just read Theo Paphitis biography this week I was determined to make sure this was the right deal for me! A few questions later and the seller had produced me a nice little spreadsheet that suggested he had only ever spent £200 on advertising… £2000 in six months, I’m very interested – so I asked him for some proof of those numbers.

At this time the price dropped to £695, great! I enquired about escrow and asked for the proofs I required… The seller agreed to escrow payments and provided me with a Word document of his bank statement – how very trusting.

I went a little further and did some research on the domain name, it appeared to only have been registered a month ago! The explanation for this was that he had just renewed it… I hate to say it but owning a hosting company the alarm bells started to ring!

I’ve asked for screenshots of Google/Amazon or access to the account (I’d accept doing it over VNC or Netmeeting) it’s not forthcoming, I’ve gone back to the bank statement this morning and noticed it includes very few other transactions than the one I’m interested in (does this guy spend no money?). The seller can’t produce statistics on visitors for me…

It’s a shame as I was genuinely interested, and would have been interested if it was making a lot less too…
(Oh and it’s £500 now!)

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]]> http://www.skillett.com/personal-diary/if-it-looks-too-good/feed/ 8 Oh so quiet! http://www.skillett.com/personal-diary/oh-so-quiet/ http://www.skillett.com/personal-diary/oh-so-quiet/#comments Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:28:00 +0000 Keiron http://www.skillett.com/?p=888 I realise it’s been quiet here again for some time (at least on the writing front)– I’ve not had much to write about…. I’ve been super busy getting myself all sorted out!

The hosting business is about to become a limited company, I’ve gone part time at work, I’ve demolished my Mum’s garden and somewhere in the midst of that I’ve found time to book a holiday!

I’ve got a busy couple of weeks until we’re away so don’t expect too much (see what I’m doing, apologising before I don’t post!) until my accounts are out of the way – I’m automating lots more this year to try to stay on top of them (he says very hopefully!).

The automation has taught me a lot though – I maybe ought to look for other people that need their Quickbooks life simplifying!

On that note – I have a list as long as your arm to start and I want to settle down with a beer this evening – so I shall catch up with you all soon…

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