Wifi interference caused by BTWiFi and B...

Ever since doubling down on my broadband connection by using both Virgin Media and BT Infinity my wired connection is amazingly fast.. almost supersonic.  But after a few days, my wifi connection really started to suffer.  And the problem wasn’t just with my wifi – my Sonos system started to drop out intermittently and it doesn’t use a standard wifi signal.  Everything pointed to some form interference.. I live in a city and so there are plenty of other wifi signals around.. here’s what I found: Quite a few access points – but the most...

My 30-day challenge

I started on new 30-day challenge today. I do this every couple of months. This one is to test the theories around intermittent fasting – and so it means I skip breakfast and limit when I eat to an eight hour “feeding window”. Nothing before noon and nothing but water after 8pm. I’m optimistic, albeit a little bit hungry. Over the past year I’ve run a number of these sorts of experiments. Frequently around diet, but not always. Here’s a sample: Atkins. Works, but not sustainable. 4-hour body – basically the “no white...

How to watch your home tv when travellin...

It’s great having access to so much content on your tablet or smartphone these days – especially all the video on demand services such as Netflix or BBC iPlayer and the like. But when you pay for cable and have all of your own content recorded on your TiVo / DVR – then sometimes it is preferable to be able to watch your own tv – with everything how you like it. Well, this is totally possible. I am currently in France and have been watching my home tv back in the UK without a problem – and no need to set up a VPN. All you need is a nice little...

How to watch Netflix, BBC iPlayer, etc w...

It always surprises me when I can’t access services that I pay for in the UK such as Netflix or UK TV (BBC iPlayer, itv, etc) when I am travelling. The TV and film industries places out of date and draconian copyright restrictions on the video service providers that force them to limit access to viewers located within their country/region. Which means that when you’re travelling overseas, you’re out of luck when it comes to streaming video from home. Or perhaps not. If you could access the services from a UK IP address even though you are overseas, then...

Making your home internet connection fas...

I have a love hate relationship with my broadband provider (VirginMedia).  Their products are pretty great… when they work.  When they don’t work and you have to suffer the hell that is their customer service (in particular the offshored parts), then you are willing to throw everything away and start again.  It’s even worse when they become oversubscribed in an area and don’t seem to have a plan for upgrading the hardware to keep up with demand. This is what happened to me in April of this year.  My internet went down on Friday night at 6pm.  I...

Sending emails to Evernote – now w...

I’ve been using Evernote for a while now and have been sending documents and blog posts by email to my Evernote account.. but it just dawned on much more effective I could have been. Your own personal email account First, let me make sure that you know about your free Evernote email account.  When you sign up for Evernote, you get your own private email address that is linked to your Notebook.  You can find this email address under “Account Info” for the desktop version and on the mobile versions, simply tap on your account name at the top left of the...

The Decline of Initiative

I was asked in a meeting yesterday how someone gets ahead at my company (and with me personally) – and the answer was pretty easy really – initiative. Those people who show initiative – who go the extra mile, who refine their craft, make changes, seek constant improvement, implement ideas and make an impact. These are the people who do well with me – and I suspect do well anywhere really. But then I started to think that this is not everyone and began to wonder if initiative is actually in decline today; and is this potential decline being shaped...

Meanwhile – how to use it for acti...

“Meanwhile” is a great word for helping you (and others) focus on action. Use it as a reminder that although one path may be blocked, there's usually something else that you can be accomplished. It also reminds you that not everything stops while you are waiting, or procrastinating with or without good reason. For example: “We need to meet with the customer to discuss our plans on this campaign” – meanwhile, there are actions that we could put in place today that could make a real difference. “The web site needs a complete redesign...