Well, would you? I was asked to do this to raise money for charity and I must admit that initially I was not keen. After all, who in their right mind would walk over 20 feet of red hot embers?
I have agreed to do this on 30th October - just a couple of months away. Having researched it, I believe there is more science and less mind over matter and it is a combination of the poor conductivity of the coals, the insulating properties of carbon and the short time the feet are in contact with the coals that makes this possible. Nonetheless, I still expect it to be a challenging and somewhat daunting experience.
My part of the deal is to tell you all how I get on and possibly let you have some pictures. Your part is to sponsor me. Please do so at the link below.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/LJWB5
Thank you.
Tuesday 30 August 2011
Friday 19 August 2011
Keep taking the tablets
I am rarely parted from my iPad using it for a whole host of activities which it simplifies and makes more accessible. It is also a pleasure to be able to review e-mails whilst sitting in a chair rather than being at a desk in front of a monitor.
We should not forget, however, that the idea of a tablet PC is not new. I was an early adopter of this technology and I used one of these HP Compaq TC1000s which I bought nearly 10 years ago - in 2002. It was an amazing machine being compact and light as well as having a detachable keyboard. With its digital pen, I used it as an electronic notebook for several years. This was preferable to my many paper notebooks all of which I have had to keep in case I want to refer back to anything. Having digital notes was a dream.
The pen broke after a couple of years, but I still used the tablet for a while more - in fact up to 2007 when it proved to be just too slow. I looked far and wide to find something similar, but to no avail. There were some Fujitsu tablets but these were too heavy and got very hot whilst running. No one had what I wanted.
So the iPad was keenly antiricpated (bought on day 1 of availabilty) and whilst is not very good for taking written notes it is great at most other tasks. So the current travelling kit is an iPad and a Moleskine notebook with a real pen.
I read today that HP is pulling out of the tablet PC market. Having been a pioneer in this field, this is a real shame. But it is also a lesson about seeing the value in what you have available in your business. HP were years ahead of Apple but failed to recognise the true potential of their intellectual property. The rest, as they say, is history.
It I can take a positive out of the HP and Apple experience, it shows that you don't actually have to have a great idea to be hugely successful. Something which lacks originality but remains innovative can be great too.
Vertically integrating hardware and software has also been shown to work. HP was reliant on Microsoft's clunky Windows for Tablet PCs whilst Apple controls the lot. I think this demonstrates the wisdom in Google's purchase of Motorola as a platform for Android.
So whilst my HP tablet was a great piece of kit, not surpassed until the advent of the iPad - I would still rather have the iPad any day of the week.
We should not forget, however, that the idea of a tablet PC is not new. I was an early adopter of this technology and I used one of these HP Compaq TC1000s which I bought nearly 10 years ago - in 2002. It was an amazing machine being compact and light as well as having a detachable keyboard. With its digital pen, I used it as an electronic notebook for several years. This was preferable to my many paper notebooks all of which I have had to keep in case I want to refer back to anything. Having digital notes was a dream.
The pen broke after a couple of years, but I still used the tablet for a while more - in fact up to 2007 when it proved to be just too slow. I looked far and wide to find something similar, but to no avail. There were some Fujitsu tablets but these were too heavy and got very hot whilst running. No one had what I wanted.
So the iPad was keenly antiricpated (bought on day 1 of availabilty) and whilst is not very good for taking written notes it is great at most other tasks. So the current travelling kit is an iPad and a Moleskine notebook with a real pen.
I read today that HP is pulling out of the tablet PC market. Having been a pioneer in this field, this is a real shame. But it is also a lesson about seeing the value in what you have available in your business. HP were years ahead of Apple but failed to recognise the true potential of their intellectual property. The rest, as they say, is history.
It I can take a positive out of the HP and Apple experience, it shows that you don't actually have to have a great idea to be hugely successful. Something which lacks originality but remains innovative can be great too.
Vertically integrating hardware and software has also been shown to work. HP was reliant on Microsoft's clunky Windows for Tablet PCs whilst Apple controls the lot. I think this demonstrates the wisdom in Google's purchase of Motorola as a platform for Android.
So whilst my HP tablet was a great piece of kit, not surpassed until the advent of the iPad - I would still rather have the iPad any day of the week.
Tuesday 2 August 2011
The future of education
A letter arrived last week from the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove. It seems that it was sent to everyone who attended the Time CEO Summit back in June.
In the letter he asks if I (either as an individual, or through my business) would like to sponsor an academy. Gove does not want my money, he wants my expertise. His department will find an under-performing school and then it is up to me to choose a head, appoint leaders, set goals and apply my "skills" to put the school on a "path of sustained improvement".
The letter goes on to inform me that I don't need to know anything about educational theory. I should think about where I would send my children (the implication is that this will not be a state school) and then apply the qualities that establishment would have to a failing state school.
As a bonus, it I want to "embrace the challenge" I can meet the Prime Minister.
I could not believe this letter. I thought it was a hoax. This is not a Government policy I had previously heard about or read about.
Yes, get business people to help because we may have skills that are not evident in the public or educational sectors. But isn't this what being a school governor is all about? But giving someone with no experience in education whatsoever the responsibility to run a school? Just because we went to a high flying conference. These are real children with their futures at stake and it simply is not fair to experiment with their lives.
Mr Gove told us that at age 11 a child in Singapore has better skills in English than a child in England. So it it actually so hopeless under his regime that anything would be better or nothing would be worse? Or is it just when it goes spectacularly wrong that they can say that it was not their fault?
I'm waiting for more letters now, perhaps inviting me to run a battalion in the Army, a Navy frigate, a police station, maybe a hospital or a job centre. Perhaps HM Government would like us entrepreneurs to fight the war in Libya - after all we couldn't make much worse a job of it than they have.
In the letter he asks if I (either as an individual, or through my business) would like to sponsor an academy. Gove does not want my money, he wants my expertise. His department will find an under-performing school and then it is up to me to choose a head, appoint leaders, set goals and apply my "skills" to put the school on a "path of sustained improvement".
The letter goes on to inform me that I don't need to know anything about educational theory. I should think about where I would send my children (the implication is that this will not be a state school) and then apply the qualities that establishment would have to a failing state school.
As a bonus, it I want to "embrace the challenge" I can meet the Prime Minister.
I could not believe this letter. I thought it was a hoax. This is not a Government policy I had previously heard about or read about.
Yes, get business people to help because we may have skills that are not evident in the public or educational sectors. But isn't this what being a school governor is all about? But giving someone with no experience in education whatsoever the responsibility to run a school? Just because we went to a high flying conference. These are real children with their futures at stake and it simply is not fair to experiment with their lives.
Mr Gove told us that at age 11 a child in Singapore has better skills in English than a child in England. So it it actually so hopeless under his regime that anything would be better or nothing would be worse? Or is it just when it goes spectacularly wrong that they can say that it was not their fault?
I'm waiting for more letters now, perhaps inviting me to run a battalion in the Army, a Navy frigate, a police station, maybe a hospital or a job centre. Perhaps HM Government would like us entrepreneurs to fight the war in Libya - after all we couldn't make much worse a job of it than they have.
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