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.
Sunday, 31 July 2011
Why collecting garden waste is ludicrous.
The residents of Kirklees are not happy. Their council is now going to charge for the collection of garden waste as part of a major cost cutting initiative. Householders will pay £1 for a bag and will have to buy at least 5 bags at once.
Household waste sites will still take the waste but in my view this is still not the correct solution.
Noreen Logan of the Huddersfield and District Pensioners' Organisation calls this "ludicrous". She states that this will hit the disabled and the elderly.
Aside from any obvious arguments along the lines of people not being so disabled that they can still do the gardening but when it comes to taking the waste to the household waste site they are incapacitated, having garden waste collected is ludicrous full stop.
Let's look at what is needed for people to have their garden waste collected.
1) A separate wheeled bin
2) Bin lorries to collect the garden waste
3) An industrial composting facility
4) Somewhere for the used compost to go.
The alternative is to compost at home.
1) Compost bins cost less than £20 via the council
2) The material does not need to be collected saving CO2 emissions, lorries and extra bins
3) There is no need to an industrial composting facility with the associated energy consumption and CO2 emissions, space needed and odour problems to those nearby
4) The compost is made at home and dug in at home. This completes the carbon cycle and can actually reduce CO2 rather than the collection method which only increases it.
Anyone serious about gardening should be composting at home - end of story. Kirklees have got it right. There is a clear financial incentive for home composting and their plans will save £250,000. Other councils are following suit and good for them.
So, Ms Logan, it is you who are ludicrous. Stop this crusade against what is best for the environment and get composting!
Household waste sites will still take the waste but in my view this is still not the correct solution.
Noreen Logan of the Huddersfield and District Pensioners' Organisation calls this "ludicrous". She states that this will hit the disabled and the elderly.
Aside from any obvious arguments along the lines of people not being so disabled that they can still do the gardening but when it comes to taking the waste to the household waste site they are incapacitated, having garden waste collected is ludicrous full stop.
Let's look at what is needed for people to have their garden waste collected.
1) A separate wheeled bin
2) Bin lorries to collect the garden waste
3) An industrial composting facility
4) Somewhere for the used compost to go.
The alternative is to compost at home.
1) Compost bins cost less than £20 via the council
2) The material does not need to be collected saving CO2 emissions, lorries and extra bins
3) There is no need to an industrial composting facility with the associated energy consumption and CO2 emissions, space needed and odour problems to those nearby
4) The compost is made at home and dug in at home. This completes the carbon cycle and can actually reduce CO2 rather than the collection method which only increases it.
Anyone serious about gardening should be composting at home - end of story. Kirklees have got it right. There is a clear financial incentive for home composting and their plans will save £250,000. Other councils are following suit and good for them.
So, Ms Logan, it is you who are ludicrous. Stop this crusade against what is best for the environment and get composting!
Monday, 25 July 2011
The United Bank of Carbon
The article below was posted on the United Bank of Carbon blog about the work Straight plc has done on carbon offsetting. This was to offset all 2010 emissions associated with our Steelybin product. The article was written by Jonathan Wild, former Chairman of Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate. Straight plc is delighted to be associated with this project and we thank Jonathan for promoting the work we are doing.
Congratulations to one of our project sponsors, Straight plc, which has recently enjoyed a couple of notable business successes. The Yorkshire-based recycling company has won a contract for the largest single order to date of its Steelybin containers. Straight will supply the London Waste and Recycling Board with over 1,000 Steelybin four wheel recycling containers as part of the Board’s recycling programme.
Straight also celebrated being awarded the right to display the Carbon Trust’s Carbon Reduction Label on all its polypropylene recycling containers, showing that it is committed to actively reducing the carbon footprint of its products over time. Products must have undergone an assessment of their total greenhouse gas emissions at every stage of their life cycle in order to display the label.
This business vision is complemented by Straight’s investment in a UBoC project in Uganda, Trees for Global Benefits, which links small holder farmers to the international carbon market, sequestering carbon through reforestation and agroforestry. The company has purchased 1,000 Plan Vivo Certificates (voluntary carbon credits) from Ecotrust.
Straight’s partnership with the Ugandan rainforest project gives its environmental work a ‘completeness’ and demonstrates its leadership intent. As one of the UK’s leading suppliers of waste and recycling products, the company is committed to continuing to be at the forefront of innovation and setting the benchmark for others to follow. Straight’s success is another a great demonstration of how a commitment to the environment delivers real business benefits.
Congratulations to one of our project sponsors, Straight plc, which has recently enjoyed a couple of notable business successes. The Yorkshire-based recycling company has won a contract for the largest single order to date of its Steelybin containers. Straight will supply the London Waste and Recycling Board with over 1,000 Steelybin four wheel recycling containers as part of the Board’s recycling programme.
Straight also celebrated being awarded the right to display the Carbon Trust’s Carbon Reduction Label on all its polypropylene recycling containers, showing that it is committed to actively reducing the carbon footprint of its products over time. Products must have undergone an assessment of their total greenhouse gas emissions at every stage of their life cycle in order to display the label.
This business vision is complemented by Straight’s investment in a UBoC project in Uganda, Trees for Global Benefits, which links small holder farmers to the international carbon market, sequestering carbon through reforestation and agroforestry. The company has purchased 1,000 Plan Vivo Certificates (voluntary carbon credits) from Ecotrust.
Straight’s partnership with the Ugandan rainforest project gives its environmental work a ‘completeness’ and demonstrates its leadership intent. As one of the UK’s leading suppliers of waste and recycling products, the company is committed to continuing to be at the forefront of innovation and setting the benchmark for others to follow. Straight’s success is another a great demonstration of how a commitment to the environment delivers real business benefits.
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
On seaweed
I was visited a few days ago by the inspirational Dr Craig Rose from the Seaweed Health Foundation. Seaweed is interesting stuff. I eat Japanese seaweed from time to time, there is one call arame which is really good. Also, anyone who likes sushi will be eating nori which is the green wrapping.
Seaweed is not really the right word for these type of foods. It would be better to call them sea vegetables or even marine vegetables.
What is really interesting is that some species are very high in protein. WRAP advised that if we are to hit our carbon emissions targets, meat consumption needs to fall by 50-75% over the coming years. Innovative sources of protein will be important and I think that some seaweeds might just fit the bill. And with over 70% of the earth's surface covered by sea there should be no shortage of space to farm it.
But it doesn't stop there. A team at Sheffield Hallam University has been experimenting with a seaweed derived salt substitute. We all know that too much salt is bad for the blood pressure. This product is only 3.5% sodium but has all the taste. Seaweed it truly a wonder food.
And just when you thought it couldn't get any better, Dr Rose believes that seaweeds could be used to generate electricity through anaerobic digestion. Again, we are not short of space to farm the stuff.
I'm off now to think about seaweed-based vegeburgers. I think seaweed will play a big part in the future.
Visit www.seaweedhealthfoundation.org.uk - they even have recipes!
Seaweed is not really the right word for these type of foods. It would be better to call them sea vegetables or even marine vegetables.
What is really interesting is that some species are very high in protein. WRAP advised that if we are to hit our carbon emissions targets, meat consumption needs to fall by 50-75% over the coming years. Innovative sources of protein will be important and I think that some seaweeds might just fit the bill. And with over 70% of the earth's surface covered by sea there should be no shortage of space to farm it.
But it doesn't stop there. A team at Sheffield Hallam University has been experimenting with a seaweed derived salt substitute. We all know that too much salt is bad for the blood pressure. This product is only 3.5% sodium but has all the taste. Seaweed it truly a wonder food.
And just when you thought it couldn't get any better, Dr Rose believes that seaweeds could be used to generate electricity through anaerobic digestion. Again, we are not short of space to farm the stuff.
I'm off now to think about seaweed-based vegeburgers. I think seaweed will play a big part in the future.
Visit www.seaweedhealthfoundation.org.uk - they even have recipes!
Monday, 18 July 2011
Marcus Brigstocke
Thank you to the lovely Louise Simmonds from
MRW for sending me this great photo of the
wonderful Marcus Brigstocke admiring my moustache.
My specs are KH by Eyewitness.
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