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 The TV and film industries places out of date and draconian copyright restrictions on the video service providers that force them to limit access to viewers located within their country/region.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...

Switching from Windows to Mac (my first ...

I’ve been a DOS and Windows user for 25 years, but yesterday I switched off my PC at home and turned on my new 27″ iMac. I’m not 100% sure why I’ve done this. I guess since I already have an iPhone and an iPad, I’ve learned that Apple products work better together.  I’ve also learned to love the level of design and quality in all Apple products.  The new iMac is no exception – it is beautiful.  I like to look at it.. I don’t think that was ever the case with my Windows PC’s. But I guess the main reason is that it no...

Google is an Artificial Intelligence Com...

Google is search – right? It has a big database of websites and other internet documents and is fantastic at letting you find what you are looking for within it.  It spends a lot of money crawling the web and on developing sophisticated algorithms that make your searches more and more relevant.  It also makes a lot of money from selling advertising on those searches. If you check out the company website, Google’s mission is to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” And then I read “In the...