UK-based innovation consultant at Tribal Labs. Mobile tech blogger at Wireless Worker. Podcast producer of 361 Degrees. Defender of bloggers in suits.
Having written a brief summary as @uktrains shut-down yesterday, I was surprised that the numbers I'd been keeping track of casually (and manually) were a lot higher as I checked them 'properly' for the final time...
I'm sad to announce that @uktrains - my side-project for the last two and a half years - is closing down today as the BBC withdraws the Backstage services which powered most of the tweets it published.
The service operated for approximately two and a half years, was followed by over 10,000 almost 20,000 people at peak and issued over 50,000 over 85,000 travel tweets. [Updated]
I'd like to thank all those who supported it - especially those who submitted crowd-sourced reports and wrote about it. I'd also like to acknowledge the enthusiasm of the team at National Rail Enquiries who were keen to use the lessons learned in the creation and growth of their set of official Twitter accounts providing disruption alerts.
There's more details and a comment on the work still to be done on the service's Wiki. I've also created a Twitter list of 'tweeting train companies' to track those also offering customer service via social media.
I'm a bit of a closet stationery geek and in amongst the predictable Moleskins and a Behance 'Actionbook' (which makes looking at my otherwise depressing to-do list a joy) I rather like my Whitelines pads for jotting notes and diagrams. They have a very 'easy on the eye' light grey colour with a white lined pattern on which also scans well (for archiving in Evernote).
Sadly these pads aren't widely available and a quick look on their website has yielded only 2 stockists near me - John Lewis on Oxford St and Foyles Bookshop. However, in both places the displays are a mess with damaged, dirty products looking very unloved. It took a great deal of sifting to find a few of the type I wanted that were in purchasable condition...
The white covers are prone to collecting dirt anyway, but I think they need some kind of protective packaging (just as Moleskins do). These are (deservingly) premium-priced products, but they look anything-but on the shelf - its sad to see a brand I love looking so shabby.
Update: Forgotten I had tweeted about this the first time I bought these pads too (over a year ago)... @whitelines_uk responded the Foyles display was to be re-done - from the pictures above (that's it) I'd say it's still in need of some TLC.
The option to activate my key online didn't pop up when I logged on, but the phone support was rapid and helpful when I called to do it instead. Now my activated key is showing on my account too.
Looking forward to trying it out.
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Update: Snagged a few picture of the bikes ready to go in their docking stations too.
Dear Sir / Madam
Greetings,
This is to bring to your Kind Notice that we are experiencing certain Schedule Change in your Schedule Flight, made by the Airline.
We wish to take an advantage of advising you to kindly get in touch with us at 0844 xxx xxxx on an Urgent Basis, as it require Immediate
Attention & necessary action.
Kind regards,
...
That's an email (formatted like that) I just received from a travel agent we've used to book some long-haul flights for October. I almost hit the spam button on seeing the scammer-esque language before I remembered the name (this is our first time using Southall).
I'm trying hard not to be a language snob... honest. The sender probably is in the UK, but may not be a native English speaker and I make plenty of mistakes in my writing. But this is a big-name firm informing me of an (apparently) serious issue with a transaction worth over £1000... and this doesn't inspire confidence.
How bad is too bad?
I was very reticent to stop taking my BMW to the dealership for servicing, but some excellent service and even better pricing now means it only goes to Terry at TT Autosport.
It's a tiny place, but Terry treats his customers well and gives great advice freely. Recommended.
No... Neither would I to be honest. What were we all thinking?
This snap featuring the Novophone - a slice of old-school awesome.
Engineering a World Cup winner
In June the best football players from across the globe will come together to compete in one of the sport’s greatest tournaments – the FIFA World Cup. But what links this internationally adored competition to Loughborough University?
The Sports Technology Institute (STI) at Loughborough University is a hive of activity. It was established in 2008 to bring together some of the country’s top engineers and the world’s leading sporting brands, working on the design, simulation, testing and manufacture of cutting edge sports equipment.
Very proud to see my University instrumental in the creation of the World Cup football.
