Adventures of a taxi driver blogger
It's probably an unusual thing to make somebody else's blog the subject of an entry in your own weblog, but me thinks this is one that merits a mention.
Adventures of a Taxi Driver: Stories from the rank is a true-to-life account of the work of a cabbie while he goes about his daily - and nightly - business in a UK city.
It's thoughtful, and sometimes humorous, and provides a very accurate insight into the life and times of a taxi driver in the 21st century.
Drunks, football fans, fare-dodgers, celebrities and potholes are all subjects which have been covered in the few years that this blog has been going.
Entries are generally well-written and are complemented by large and high-quality photographs which are taken by the author during the course of his work.
A lot of blogs are overly-opinionated, very bland and essentially useless - but Adventures of a Taxi Driver: Stories from the rank does exactly what it says on the tin in an honest and engaging way.
Published Date:
10/02/2010
Modified Date:
10/02/2010
Broadcast live to the world
If you have a good quality mobile phone, eg a Nokia N95, N96 or N97, and a decent data connection, then you should be able to stream live content onto the web and share it with the world (if you are that way inclined).
You simply sign up to a website called
qik.com, download a mobile application from there onto your phone and then use that bit of software on the phone to stream through Qik.
It's a great way to share every-day life experiences with your friends and family - as they happen. And you can sign into Qik using just your Facebook and/or Twitter log-in. There's also an easy way to send your video to YouTube from the phone.
When you sign up, you are given your own page where all the videos you take are stored - the footage can also be seen by people visiting the Qik website. You are given code which means you can host the video on your own website, too.
You may even end up record a major breaking news event live if you have your mobile handy - and become an international broadcaster overnight!
Published Date:
15/01/2010
Modified Date:
15/01/2010
National Football Museum - Preston or Manchester?
Wednesday, November 18 is a very important day for the city of Preston.
It is when a decision is likely on whether to move the National Football Museum, which currently sits proudly next to Preston North's Deepdale Stadium, to the Urbis exhibition centre in Manchester.
Financial stability is meant to be the main reason behind the possible switch of venues, but it smacks more of a major city trying to increase its number of attractions at the expense of a smaller place struggling to keep the few gems it has.
Webwatcher is not from Preston and in fact lives far closer to Manchester, but in this case the heart far outrules the head and I genuinely believe that the museum is doing very well in Preston - one of the founder members of the Football League - so leave it there!
Football legends like Sir Tom Finney - Mr Preston himself - and Sir Bobby Charlton - a Manchester United stalwart - are keen to see the museum stay where it is.
Register your support for Preston's bid to keep the museum by signing the Lancashire Evening Post's online petition.
And you can find out more about this great attraction here where you can take a virtual tour and watch a slideshow of photos.
Football coming home? After Wednesday, it may be leaving home...
Published Date:
13/11/2009
Modified Date:
13/11/2009
9/11
It's eight years since the world - and in particular the United States - was rocked by one of the biggest attrocities in history.
On September 11, 2001, a series of co-ordinated suicide attacks by Al-Qaeda ended with the death of nearly 3,000 people.
Nineteen terroists hijacked four passenger planes. Two were intentionally crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and hundreds working in the buildings which both collapsed within two hours, destroying nearby buildings and damaging others.
The hijackers crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington DC. The fourth plane crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania after some of its passengers and flight crew attempted to retake control of the plane, which the hijackers had redirected toward Washington DC. There were no survivors from any of the flights.
A total of 2,993 people, including the hijackers, died in the attacks. The overwhelming majority of casualties were civilians from more than 90 countries. The United States responded to the attacks by launching a 'War on Terror', invading Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, who have been closely linked to Al-Qaeda terrorists.
The National September 11 Memorial & Museum is a not-for-profit organisation, responsible for overseeing the design, raising the necessary funds, and operating the memorial & museum which is being built at the World Trade Center site.
It has a very interesting website which explains all about the site where the Twin Towers once stood.
There are real-time images of the construction of the memorial and museum, and there are news and pictures of a 9/11 comemorative car (above) which is racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on September 11, 2009 in Richmond, Virginia.
The site also contains a collection of examples of citizen journalism of the tragedy and the museum is appealing for more 9/11 stories. It has photographs, video and audio recollections by professional photographers, fleeing Trade Center workers and witnesses who recorded what they saw with mobile phones and digital cameras. Each photo is placed alongside Google "Street View" photos of various locations. Users can click on locations, themes or time of day to view the footage or images. The graphic images of hijacked jets crashing into the towers are among the accounts which will become an exhibit in the 9/11 museum when it opens in three years' time.
It's worth a look, particularly at this topical time.
Published Date:
10/09/2009
Modified Date:
10/09/2009
Unsocial networking...
Social networking websites like Facebook are meant to connect people, encourage communication, link up groups, foster friendships, renew old acquaintances, blah, blah, blah.
However, it appears one worker decided she would like to tell all her friends about her boss - whom she obviously didn't like.
But you could say her plan backfired somewhat...
Published Date:
14/08/2009
Modified Date:
14/08/2009
Phone a stranger - for a price
A newly-launched mobile phone directory service allows people to contact complete strangers - for a price.
Connectivity, which owns 118800, already had 16million numbers in its database when it launched this week.
For the princely sum of £1, you can request contact with listed people from their name and location via the 118800 website or for 69p over the phone. 118800 calls the number up and asks the person if they want to receive the call.
The mobile phone directory has been cleared by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), as the numbers have been obtained legally obtained from market research companies, online businesses and brokers, though understandably privacy campaigners are concerned at how accessible the numbers are.
You can opt out of the service by texting the letter E to 1118800, though bear in mind that technically you are handing them your mobile phone number on a plate!
If you want to check out the website, which boasts to be "the only directory with millions of mobile numbers", then go to http://www.118800.co.uk
I checked out my own details and, after initially getting an error page as the result, it then said "we've found them", adding: Please enter your details so we can let them know you'd like to get in touch. If you've registered with us previously, please sign in opposite. If not, please complete the 'New Customer' details opposite. Once you've done this, the person you're contacting will receive a free text message with your contact details and you will be charged £1".
We could all be getting - and making - some interesting phone calls in the future...
Published Date:
16/06/2009
Modified Date:
07/07/2009
Hotel room for £9 a night?
I don't see this entry as an advertisement (as I own no part of Travelodge), but more an attempt to try to save people some money when booking a hotel room around the UK, Spain or Ireland.
Occasionally, Travelodge have a sale of (extremely) cheap room rates and their latest - as low as £9 a night - starts at 6am on Thursday (June 18).
Stays would be between November 1 and January 31 2010. Rooms are also available in Spain (10 Euros) and Ireland (nine euros).
It obviously means you would have to get up early to have a chance of getting a bargain, but it could be well worth the dawn start as I found out to my benefit last summer when I booked nine people into a hotel in south-west London for two nights for less than £150 in total (including breakfast and car parking).
If you miss this one - or fail to get on the website at all as not surprisingly it does tend to get very busy - and want to know about these kind of offers in future, you can get regular (but not too regular) emails sent out to you.
Ready for that great deal? On your marks, get set and go to
http://www.travelodge.co.uk/saver_rooms/landing.php
Published Date:
16/06/2009
Modified Date:
16/06/2009
Wonders of the sky
I don't particularly like promoting a book, unless I am on commission.
But I somehow managed to stumble upon a website about a book called Kaleidoscope Sky by an author called Tim Herd.
It is billed as "a magical, illustrated tour of nature's wondrous, almost supernatural skyscapes" - and from having just seen a few of the photographs, that is a pretty accurate description of the book.
Herd explains the background causes and conditions that produce heavenly phenomena like include auroras, halos, mirages, arcs, and moonbows (night-time rainbows often too faint to see).
And he gives advice on the best ways to predict, locate and see these spectacular sights.
There is a picture gallery, photography tips and more about the book and author here
Published Date:
08/05/2009
Modified Date:
08/05/2009