Sites and Blogs relating to British Politics

Iain Dale's Diary
Guido Fawkes Blog
Nick Robinson's Newslog
Deficient Brain
Politics.co.uk
Pickled Politics
Epolitics.com

Various Interesting Links

Here are a few interesting links, I hope that they are to you!

Fossils
The UK Fossils Team
UK Geological Equipment

Minerals
Mindat.org - The Mineral Database

Books
Abebooks: an on-line book search service for used, rare, and out-of-print books from over 12000 booksellers

Green Issues
Friends of the Earth
GreenPeace
Soil Association
The Meatrix

Archaeology
Megalithic Portal
Time Team
Northern Archaeology Group

Dyspepsia Sufferers

Several of you, may suffer from Dyspepsia, I have, at a few times in the past.

I would like to recommend the following:

Avoid or reduce the intake of: -
Alcohol, coffee, eating late at night, fatty foods, heavy carbohydrate meals; if you smoke, stop that as well.

This will certainly help: -
Drinking pure water before meals and the frequent eating of small meals, chew your food more carefully.

Eat more: -
Garlic, Ginger, Grapes, Mint, Oregano and Slippery Elm.

IT Quotes

I have worked in IT for over 16 years. I think that these quotes are very appropriate! Let me know what you think.

IT Quotes

• Where is all the knowledge we lost with information? - T.S. Elliot
• The telephone wire, as we know it, has become too slow and too small to handle Internet traffic. It took 75 years for telephones to be used by 50 million customers, but it took only four years for the Internet to reach that many users. - Lori Valigra
• 640K ought to be enough for anybody.- Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, 1981
• There are three roads to ruin; women, gambling and technicians. The most pleasant is with women, the quickest is with gambling, but the surest is with technicians. - George Pompidou
• Technology is dominated by two types of people: those who understand what they do not manage, and those who manage what they do not understand. - Anonymous
• Computers make it easier to do a lot of things, but most of the things they make it easier to do don't need to be done. - Andy Rooney
• In the old days, people robbed stagecoaches and knocked off armored trucks. Now they're knocking off servers. - Richard Power
• I think there is a world market for maybe five computers. - IBM Chairman Thomas Watson, 1943
• In a few minutes a computer can make a mistake so great that it would have taken many men many months to equal it. - Anonymous
• If computers get too powerful, we can organize them into a committee. That will do them in. - Bradley's Bromide
• At some point...we must have faith in the intelligence of the end user. - Anonymous
• There are two major products that came out of Berkeley: LSD and UNIX. We don't believe this to be a coincidence. - Jeremy S. Anderson
• One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man. - Elbert Hubbard
• Any teacher that can be replaced by a computer, deserves to be. - David Thornburg
• We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology. - Carl Sagan
• If you tried to read every document on the web, then for each day's effort you would be a year further behind in your goal. - Anonymous
• There might be new technology, but technological progress itself was nothing new - and over the years it had not destroyed jobs, but created them. - Margaret Thatcher
• The most overlooked advantage to owning a computer is that if they foul up there's no law against whacking them around a little. - Porterfield
• Everything that can be invented has been invented. - Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899
• Computers are magnificent tools for the realization of our dreams, but no machine can replace the human spark of spirit, compassion, love, and understanding. - Louis Gerstner, CEO, IBM
• GARBAGE IN---GOSPEL OUT - Fairchild Research and Development, 1969
• Any science or technology which is sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from magic. - Arthur C. Clarke
• Never let a computer know you're in a hurry. - Anonymous
• A year spent in artificial intelligence is enough to make one believe in God. - Alan J. Perlis
• I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. - Thomas Edison
• Get your feet off my desk, get out of here, you stink, and we're not going to buy your product. - Joe Keenan, President of Atari, in 1976 responding to Steve Jobs' offer to sell him rights to the new personal computer he and Steve Wozniak developed
• The Internet is a great way to get on the net. - Senator Bob Dole
• Computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and perhaps only weigh 1 1/2 tons. - Popular Mechanics, 1949
• From then on, when anything went wrong with a computer, we said it had bugs in it.
• - Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, US Navy
• Technology is like fish. The longer it stays on the shelf, the less desirable it becomes. - Andrew Heller, IBM
• AOL is like the cockroach left after the nuclear bomb hits. They know how to survive. - Jan Horsfall, VP of marketing for Lycos
• How could this be a problem in a country where we have Intel and Microsoft? - Al Gore on Y2K
• The modern computer hovers between the obsolescent and the nonexistent. - Sydney Brenner in 1927
• The Linux philosophy is 'Laugh in the face of danger'. Oops. Wrong One. 'Do it yourself'. Yes, that's it. - Linus Torvalds
• Windows is just DOS in drag. - Anonymous
• There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home. - Ken Olson (President of Digital Equipment Corporation) at the Convention of the World Future Society in Boston in 1977
• During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. - Al Gore describing his 1986 legislation to interconnect five supercomputer centers (17 years after the first Internet servers hooked up)
• If Gore invented the Internet, I invented spell-check. - Former Vice President J. Danforth Quayle
• The day I made that statement, I was tired because I'd been up all night inventing the Camcorder. - Al Gore attempting damage control

Deming's Management Theory

In Business Management, Deming's theory is a great example to follow:

Deming's 14 Points of Management

1. Create constancy of purpose over the long term. Innovate and put resources into research, equipment and training.
2. Learn new attitudes, reject complacency. Learn to be smart
3. Request evidence of process controls from suppliers - don't rely on inspection
4. Reduce the number of suppliers. Hook them into co-operative relationships. Trade off price for quality, design and reliability.
5. Use statistical process control - find the source of faults
6. Make major changes in training for fully trained, motivated staff
7. Improve the quality of supervision and information to supervisors
8. Emphasise participation over fear and insecurity.
9. Remove inter-departmental barriers and bureaucracy
10. Get rid of empty slogans and carping posters - lead by example
11. Focus on the quality of work standards more than crude numerical, MbO targets which take quality for granted
12. Train staff to use useful statistical methods so that they can investigate and communicate. Have experts in support who can give guidance
13. Re-train in new skills to parallel developments in processes, materials, products, equipment, procedures etc
14. Create a top management focus to push the first 13 points. Every manager to accept responsibility for change

Deming Quotes

"Everybody here has a customer. And if he doesn't know who it is and what constitutes the needs of the customer...then he does not understand his job."

"Your study of the consumer--what he finds right and what he finds wrong--and your innovation are all bound up together. It will affect design and redesign of your product or service."

"Inspection with the aim of finding the bad ones and throwing them out is too late, ineffective, costly. Quality comes not from inspection but from improvement of the process."

"Price has no meaning without a measure of the quality being purchased."

"People are entitled to joy in their work and a sense of ownership."

"Purchasing should be a team effort, and one of the most important people on the team should be the chosen supplier-if you have a choice-- picked on the basis of his record of improvement...

"Putting out fires is not improvement. Finding a point out of control, finding the special cause and removing it, is only putting the process back to where it was in the first place. It is not improvement of the process. You are in a hotel. You hear someone yell fire. He runs for the fire extinguisher and pulls the alarm to call the fire department. We all get out. Extinguishing the fire does not improve the hotel. That is not improvement of quality. That is putting out fires."

"There is no excuse to offer for putting people on a job that they know not how to do. Most so-called 'goofing off'-somebody seems to be lazy, doesn't seem to care--that person is almost always in the wrong job, or has very poor management."

"Education in simple but powerful statistical techniques is required of all people in management..."

"People work in the system. Management creates the system."

Marsland Genealogy

Family Name Origin

The surname of MARSLAND was a locational name' the dweller at the marshland' from residence nearby.

The name is familiar to the north of England.

Local names usally denoted where a man held his land, and indicated where he actually lived.
Almost every city, town or village existing in the middle ages has served to name one or more families.

Where a man lived was his means of identification. When a man left his birthplace or village where he had been known, and went elsewhere, people would likely refer to him by the name of his former residence or birthplace, or by the name of the land which he owned. The name was derived from the old Old English word MEARCLANU.

The Normans had three kinds of names from different sources. First were names their Viking ancestors brought from Norway to France (8th Century). That's why they were Normans (Northmen).

Second were names they found in France. The Franks (French) had come from Franconia in Germany and had crossed the Rhine to occupy the Roman Province of Gaul (5th Century) and called it France. They mixed Latin and German to creat French, translating old Germanic names into it, ignoring existing Latin and Celtic (pre-Roman) names.

The Viking Normans who also ditched their own language (except for the names) adopted French names as well. The 3rd kind of Norman names were religious. They became Christians and the most religious of them used Saints names.

The Normans between 1066 and 1170 conquered England, Southen Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Sicily and Southern Italy. They were followed everywhere by other French families and some Bretons (the pre-Roman Celts left in north-west France).

To this day their names are found in Royalty, Politics and Big Business in these countries and in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States which their descendants colonised.

Early records of the name mention MARSLANDE (without surname) who was documented in the year 1185 in County Essex. Ricardus Mersland, listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379. Joshua Kelly and Patience Marsland were married at St.Michael, Cornhill, London in the year 1742.

Markets in Brittany

We holiday in Brittany at least once every year, and we love to shop at the local markets, below is a list of the Brittany markets.

At these markets, local traders bring their fresh produce, many of which are organic.


Market days are:

• Auray - Monday morning, Sunday
• Baud - Saturday
• Becherel - Saturday morning, 1st Sunday in the month (book market)
• Cancale - Sunday morning
• Concarneau - Monday and Friday morning
• Dinan - Thursday morning
• Douarnenez - Monday, Wednesday morning, Friday, Saturday morning
• Erquy - Saturday morning
• Fougeres - Saturday morning
• Guingamp - Friday and Saturday
• Josselin - Saturday morning
• Lannion - Thursday
• La Clarte - Sunday
• Locquirec - Wednesday
• Malestroit - Thursday morning
• Moncontour - Monday morning
• Morlaix - Saturday
• Paimpol - Tuesday
• Penbenan - Saturday
• Perros - Friday
• Plestin - Sunday
• Pleubian - Saturday
• Plougasnou - Tuesday
• Pontivy - Monday
• Port-Louis - Saturday morning, Tuesday evenings in July and Aug
• Quimper - Wednesday, Friday afternoon (organic), Saturday, Sunday morning
• Rennes - every day except Sunday and public holidays in the central food halls, Saturday morning "aux Lices"
• Roscoff - Wednesday morning
• Saint-Malo - Tuesday and Friday mornings
• Saint-Pol-de-Leon - Tuesday
• Treburden - Tuesday
• Tregastel - Monday
• Treguier - Wednesday mornings
• Vannes - Wednesday and Saturday mornings

Update on Passat brake problems

Today, I called the AA breakdown recovery service, which efficiently towed me to my local VW garage, E & S Swifts of Carlton.

Here the problem was rectified and my vehicle is now 100% OK.

External corrosion had eroded the aluminium banjo seal on my rear nearside brake unit; this has probably been caused by rock salt corrosion.

I do wish that the UK used urea, like the French and Belgium authorities to de-ice roads.

Urea does not corrode metals.

General Ground Rules for Website Design

1. Overall Look
It should look:
Clean
Uncluttered
Professional
Attractive

2. Message
Information
Advice
Help with a problem
Opportunities to contact similarly minded people
Links to useful sites

The information about your site should be:
Easy to follow
Easy to find

3. Speed
· Ensure that the home page at least, loads as quickly as possible. Web visitors are 'flashing past' as well, so the front page has to be simple and fast.

4. Graphics and Layout
· No cartoons to be on the site.
· Images sizes should be kept to a minimum.
· No Flash Pages

Graphics:
Faces should 'look' to the centre of the page.
Cars should be 'parked' facing towards the centre of the page.

5. Text Readability
· The words need to stand out on the page -- surrounded with plenty of white space.
· No dark backgrounds.
· Avoid certain coloured backgrounds that make it very difficult to read the text; purples, orange toning and reds dazzle the eyes.
· Plain fonts such as Arial, Times New Roman, Garamond and Courier are preferred. No fancy fonts such as Gothic, Script, Westminster, or Cloister.

6. Page 'readability'
· Pages must be easy for visitors to read
· Use key points on each page.

7. Fonts
· A standard font required for all the headings and sub-headings.

8. Navigation
· The main navigation bar should run down the left or right side of the page.
· On a long page a brief navigation bar along the bottom of the page or a home top of page option.

9. Words
· Avoid poor spelling, careless grammar and punctuation, ensure that text is proof-read.

Mining Links

Below are some Coal Mining links

• Miners Reunited
• Mining in Rotherham
• Mining 2000

Dog Friendly Trip to West Yorkshire

Today was a horrible day in South Yorkshire, blustery showers and quite miserable. But we decided to go for a run in the car into West Yorkshire. As it happened it turned out rather good.

First, up the M1, past the outskirts of Leeds, the weather changed to sunshine, and then on the A1M to Wetherby, where there is a large free car park, with picnic benches, next to the river Wharfe. It is very interesting to walk round this historic town. We also noticed that Roman stones, with their Lewis holes, ware present in the river bridge and also there may be remains of a Roman ford just above the more modern weir, as many Roman style stones are visible at low water.

The next leg took us via Knaesborough to the pretty village of Ripley, where there is a large free car park with clean toilets. This is the home of Ripley Castle and the Ingilby family, with lovely village and gardens. Here we had a picnic lunch and a short walk.

In the next field at Ripley, at the moment, is a camping display from Yeoman’s.

We then went via the A59 to Blubberhouses, past Menwith Hill; and then over the moor to Otley, where a quick visit to Waitrose was made to stock up on organic food, and then we travelled back home via Leeds.

Just as we were driving onto our house drive, a warning light and alarm sounded on the Passat. It informed us that we were low on brake fluid, upon examination, the brake fluid reservoir was half empty and a large patch of brake fluid had been deposited on the drive. It looks like a brake cylinder had just failed, at least we're home safely, it could have happenned down the steep hill into Otley. Ce la vie!!

Back in the late 1970's, I had a brake failure in a Mini, a very hairy moment indeed, no visible or audible warnings were available in those days, thank goodness for today's technology!!

About Brittany Ferries

Since its formation, in 1972, largely in order to transport cauliflowers and artichokes from Roscoff to Plymouth, Brittany Ferries has grown into the leading maritime carrier on the Western and Central Channel.

When Great Britain joined the Common Market, the local farming co-operatives joined with the North Finistère Chamber of Commerce to form Brittany Ferries. It was recognised at the time that the UK represented a huge market for both the strong Breton farming community and Brittany as a tourist destination. In other words, Brittany Ferries could ship fresh produce north and bring tourists south.

Thirty years later the French farming co-operatives remain majority shareholders. Indeed, the split between the various categories – pension funds, banks, individuals and so on - has changed remarkably little since day one, as has another feature of Brittany Ferries’ ownership – the French State has no financial stake.

In 1978, less than 10 years after it had started, this fast-developing ferry company took the brave step of starting services to Santander in Northern Spain, at the same time entering the Irish market with the Cork-Roscoff route. Both have grown steadily and continue to do so today.

As Brittany Ferries has matured, so has its significance to tourism in Western France and Northern Spain, with its influence reaching far beyond simply Brittany and Normandy. Not only is it a ferry operator, but it acts as a tour operator as well, supplying a vast range of self-drive holidays throughout France, Spain and, to a lesser extent, Portugal.

Today, Brittany Ferries operates one of the most modern fleets on the Channel, with 9 ships and over 2,500 employees. It accounts for over 50% of the traffic on the Western Channel, carrying in excess of 2.6 million passengers, 780,000 cars and 170,000 lorries a year.

Weblink - http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/

IT and software news

To keep up to date on IT news, freeware etc., look up these sites:-

• http://www.theregister.co.uk/
• http://www.computerweekly.com/
• http://www.freewarehome.com/
• http://www.freeware-guide.com/

Vegetable and Bean Casserole by Gino D'Acampo

Vegetable and Bean Casserole by Gino D'Acampo from Saturday Kitchen BBC

This is a superb recipe which was on today's programme, we tried it for tea and enjoyed it.

Serves 4

Preparation time less than 30 mins
Cooking time 10 to 30 mins

Ingredients
For the sausage and bean casserole
150ml/5fl oz Italian olive oil
8 Italian pork sausages (available in most supermarkets or good delis)
4 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
2 cloves garlic, cut in quarters
1 tsp finely chopped dried chilli
4 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
4 celery sticks, finely chopped
2 x 400g/14oz tinned borlotti beans, drained and rinsed
2 x 400g/14oz tinned cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
salt to taste
400ml/14fl oz boiling water
20 cherry tomatoes, halved
For the garlic bread
crusty bread of your choice
extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic

Method
1. For the casserole, in a large saucepan, heat the olive oil until hot. Shallow fry the sausages, rosemary, garlic and the chilli for one minute.
2. Add the carrots and celery and fry for a further three minutes.
3. Add the borlotti and cannellini beans and season with salt.
4. Add the boiling water, cover with a lid and leave to simmer on a low heat for 20 minutes.
5. Remove the lid, remove the sausages and cut into three pieces.
6. Place the sausages back in the casserole with the cherry tomatoes and carry on cooking without the lid on a low heat for another 10 minutes allowing the sauce to thicken.
7. For the garlic bread, slice the bread approximately 2cm/¾in thick. Brush with extra virgin olive oil and place on a hot griddle until both sides are crusty.
8. Once ready, rub the garlic over the warm bread.
9. Serve the garlic bread immediately with the casserole.

The power of the human mind

This is an unusual example of word association and interpretation.

The power of the human mind....

The paomnnehil pweor of the hmuan mnid.

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a tatol mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Boldoy amzanig huh?

Celtic Calendar

We are approaching the Christian Eastertime, can we forget our Celtic heritage?

This is the ancient Celtic Calendar

Samhain: November 1. New Year, winter begins.
Winter Solstice: December 21
Imbolc: February 2. Feast of Brigid
Vernal Equinox: March 21
Beltane: May 1. Summer begins. Hypothetical Feast of Beli
Summer Solstice: June 21
Lughnassadh: August 1. Feast of Lugh
Autumnal Equinox: September 21

Foods for Life!

Here is a list of super foods, teas and herbs, this is a personal list, which I find helpful.

You may wish to use some of them on a regular basis, as part of a healthy regime. But please research which may be suitable for your own requirements.

– Only use organic foods; avoid all e-numbers, processed foods or hydrogenated fats.

This is the list:-

• Alfalfa
• Almonds
• Apple
• Apricots
• Artichokes
• Asparagus
• Avocado
• Baked Beans
• Bananas
• Barley
• Basil
• Bean Sprouts
• Beef
• Beetroot
• Bilberry
• Blackberry
• Blackcurrant
• Blueberry
• Brazil Nuts
• Broad Bean
• Broccoli
• Brown Rice
• Brussel Sprouts
• Buckwheat
• Butter
• Butter Beans
• Cabbage
• Camomile
• Carrot
• Carrot Juice
• Cashew Nut
• Cauliflower
• Celeriac
• Celery
• Cheese
• Cherries
• Chestnuts
• Chicken
• Chickpea
• Chicory
• Chili Pepper
• Chives
• Chocolate
• Clams
• Cloves
• Cockles
• Coconut
• Cod
• Coffee
• Comfrey
• Couscous
• Crab
• Cranberry
• Cream
• Crème Fraich
• Cucumber
• Dates
• Eggs
• Fennel
• Figs
• Flax Seeds
• French Beans
• Game Meat
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Globe Artichoke
• Grape Juice
• Grapefruit
• Grapes
• Green Teas
• Haddock
• Hake
• Halibut
• Haricot Beans
• Hazel Nut
• Herring
• Honey
• Kidney Bean
• Kippers
• Kiwi Fruit
• Leeks
• Lemon
• Lentils
• Lettuce
• Lime
• Lingonberry
• Linseed And Oil
• Liquorice
• Lobster
• Macadamia Nuts
• Mackerel
• Mandarin
• Mango
• Meat Offal
• Melon
• Milk (full fat)
• Millet
• Mint (tea)
• Molasses
• Mung Bean
• Mushrooms
• Mussels
• Mustard
• Nettle
• Oats
• Oil of Evening Primrose
• Oily Fish
• Olives
• Olive Oil
• Onion
• Orange
• Oregano
• Oysters
• Palm Heart
• Papaya
• Parsley
• Parsnip
• Peach
• Peanuts
• Pear
• Peas
• Peppers
• Peppercorn
• Pilchard
• Pine Nuts
• Pineapple
• Plums
• Pollen
• Pollock
• Potatoes
• Prawns
• Propolis
• Prune
• Pulses
• Pumpkin
• Pumpkin Seed
• Quinoa
• Radish
• Raisins
• Raspberry
• Red Cabbage
• Red Wine
• Rocket
• Rosemary
• Royal Jelly
• Runner Beans
• Rye
• Safflower Oil
• Saffron
• Sage
• Salmon
• Sardine
• Scallops
• Sea Salt
• Seaweed
• Sesame Oil
• Sesame Seed
• Slippery Elm
• Soya Beans
• Spelt
• Spinach
• Spirulina
• Squash
• Squid
• Strawberry
• Sultanas
• Sunflower Oil
• Sunflower Seed
• Swede
• Sweet Corn
• Sweet Peppers
• Sweet Potato
• Tea
• Tree Oil
• Tangerines
• Tarragon
• Thyme
• Tofu
• Tomato & Juice
• Trout
• Tuna
• Turkey
• Turnip
• Venison
• Walnuts
• Watercress
• Wheat
• Wheat grass
• Wholegrain
• Wild Rice
• Witch Hazel
• Yams
• Yoghurt

Megalithic Links

These are a couple of megalithic links that are of interest

Megalithic Portal
The Modern Antiquarian

Organic Dog Food

We eat organic food all the time, and also we don’t want to feed our dog, Pepe, food full of unnecessary chemicals and crap.

So he also has a very healthy diet of only organic food. Most of the time we cook him various meats with vegetables and pasta, all organic of course.

But we have been trying him, with various organic complete dog food meals from the major supermarkets as well.

We can now let you know that the only meals that pass the Pepe test are the organic dog meals from Waitrose in the Lamb and Chicken varieties.

Trip to County Durham

We went on a trip up to County Durham a few days ago, which included en-route, the beautiful Yorkshire coast including Whitby, Saltburn and Redcar. We also called at the Organic Farm shop at Pickering, which has an extensive stock of Organic Foods.

Whitby especially is a wonderful holiday location, with dramatic coastline scenery and of course is the home of Captain Cook.

The weather was very wintry, although it is now supposed to be spring, but we managed to dodge the wintry showers.

We stopped at the Travelodge hotel in Sedgefield, the town where the Prime Minister, Tony Blair has his constituency.

I would like to tell you about the travel deal at Travelodge, where the supersaver room deal costs only £10 per room for up to 4 persons. (Pets are extra at £10).

The deals are at certain hotels only and on certain days of the week, and have to be booked 3 weeks in advance on the Internet, but they are brilliant value for money for good clean comfortable accommodation.

See their website - http://www.travelodge.co.uk/ for further details and availability.

Coming back we visited West Auckland and the Roman Fort at Piercebridge, and then visited the Piercebridge Organic Shop, which is a superb shop for all things organic, give it a visit.

IT and IS Strategy

For many companies, understanding IT and IS Strategy is a major task.

The main aims to consider are: -
· Understanding what the business/customer really wants.
· Giving the business/customer the services and solutions they actually need.
· Keeping up with technology, to give the business/customers the edge.
· Give high quality service and software systems
· Information is an asset!
· Identify the information assets in the organisation and decide which are important and valuable and which are not.
· Determine the quality of information used in the organisation. Do people have the necessary information to do their jobs? Is there too much information? Is it reliable and consistent
· Get away from ‘Islands of Information’, make the information flow to where it is needed, for the benefit of the organisation
· Ensure that the people in the organisation have the right training and the right skills.
· Protect information from disaster, wrongful access, loss and misuse
· Ensure that the organisation encourages innovation.
· Inform and encourage the senior management to take an active interest in change, using information systems

What is IS/IT Strategy

It is getting from where we are now, to where we want to be.

IS/IT Strategy Notes

Develop and maintain an IS/IT Strategy based on: -
· Define the corporate objectives.
· Align the IS/IT strategy with the business strategy.
· Allow the IS/IT strategy to challenge existing business processes and re-engineer these where necessary.
· Do not choose the system based on what is happening currently. Think about what might happen in the future.
· Do not disregard an option because it is not in vogue. It might be the best option in the short term.
· Think about the payback period and the company's financial policies.
· Look for packaged software solutions before committing to bespoke software.
· Consider whether the requirements be served best by different types of solutions.
· Ensure sponsorship from the highest level in the company, any relevant managers and where feasible, affected staff.
· Make time for internal and external PR.
· Understand the change curve in the company. How long will it take for staff to learn to use this? How many stable periods do we need to allow stragglers to catch up? Build these into the strategy.
· Do not underestimate resources to do the job.
· Be cautious about employing too many people who will not be needed.
· Do not believe promises to deliver the earth. Distinguish between a tool to achieve an end and a solution to the problem.
· Do not be obsessed with projects. Keep your eye on the total picture.
· Do not accept development plans that are longer than nine months because end-user requirements will change.

Buchan Spells

Weather Information

Buchan's 'warm' and 'cold' spells

If you live in the UK, have you noticed how, no matter how joyfully you banish Winter and welcome Spring at Imbolc, 1st February, there is often a cold spell, sometimes with snow, just after it?

The days between Feb 7th and 14th are usually colder than normal for the year. This period is known as Buchan's First Cold Spell. Alexander Buchan observed the weather patterns for about fifty years prior to 1900, and found that there were six periods in the year when lower than normal temperatures could be expected, and "also" three periods where the weather would be "higher" than normal. The other dates are thus:

• 1st Cold Spell, Feb 7th and 14th
• 2nd Cold Spell, 11th - 14th April, often called 'Blackthorn Winter'
• 3rd Cold Spell, 9th - 14th May
• 4th Cold Spell, 29th June - 4th July
• 5th Cold Spell, 6th - 11th August
• 6th Cold Spell, 6th - 13th November

and his warm spells

• 1st Warm Spell, 12th - 15th July
• 2nd Warm Spell, 12th - 15th August
• 3rd Warm Spell, 3rd - 14th December

See if he is correct this year.

Original article by John Harper for Diarmid's Observatory

Why Organic?

10 Reasons to go Organic

Change your lifestyle and eat organic food.

1. You protect future generations throughout the world
2. You pay the real cost of real food
3. You have an independent guarantee with Organic certification
4. You protect water quality
5. You enjoy great flavour and nutrition
6. You keep chemicals off your plate and out of your body
7. You reduce global warming and save energy
8. You prevent soil erosion
9. You help small farmers
10. You help restore and maintain biodiversity