A thoughtful and thought-provoking comment on yesterday’s blog from Susann: ‘It depends a lot on what you actually do with your screen. Blogging is OK, in my opinion. But I’ve noticed that I spend a lot of time reading useless “news” or scrolling Facebook – and there are so many other, useful, things I could […]
Continue readingI had a fascinating conversation this morning with one of my bootcampers in our one-to-one session. She’s worried about my daily blogging habit (and to a lesser extent the running). ‘You need rest days,’ she said. ‘You need days when you put all the screens away and just disconnect.’ I genuinely can’t remember the last […]
Continue readingHere’s one of those bits of tech that you’re almost surprised doesn’t exist already. Just as Shazam tells you what a song is when you hear it and sends you to a buy link, and QR codes allow your phone camera to ‘read’ a URL, soon your smartphone will be able to tell you what […]
Continue readingFor many of us, 3D printing feels pretty cutting-edge. My daughter’s school has a 3D printer, which slowly, laboriously builds up layer by layer whatever design it’s fed. People are using it to produce prosthetic limbs, military equipmnent, works of art, My daughter’s class use it to create mini Minions. But as mind-boggling as it […]
Continue readingSlightly surreal evening at the Austrian Embassy with an eclectic mix of Austrian and UK publishers, publishing tech folk, and international trade envoys. Surreal but jolly, lubricated by Austrian wine (who knew?), Schnitzel and Sachertorte. The Austrian Trade Commissioner, Christian Kesberg, gave an introductory talk to kick off the evening and set the tone, in […]
Continue readingWe spent the afternoon at our local National Trust property, The Vyne, with friends who’d never been before. It’s a beautiful house, but right now they had to take our word for it, as the whole thing is encased in boards and scaffolding. They’ve effectively built a temporary house around the house while they work […]
Continue readingWhen I worked at Oxford University Press, an editor had cut out and stuck to the noticeboard by her office a cartoon. It showed an organization chart, cascading from the leader stick figure at the top through the ranks to a thickly populated bottom tier, which was circled. A bespectacled man was pointing to this […]
Continue readingI’m preparing Episode 61 of The Extraordinary Business Book podcast, which will go live on Monday (I’m sure you know that, since you’re probably subscribed on iTunes, I just mention it in passing). It’s a conversation with Tim Harford, The Undercover Economist, presenter of More or Less on Radio 4, and author of Messy. And […]
Continue readingThis is good. Reedsy, the online marketplace for writers, has launched a new charity campaign, #IWriteBecause. For everyone who uploads a video explaining why they write, Reedsy will donate $10 to Room to Read, a not-for-profit organisation promoting literacy and girls’ education in Africa and Asia. I’ve not done mine yet but I will – […]
Continue readingMore soundtrack insights: it turns out Daniel Priestly (author of Key Person of Influence, The Entrepreneur Revolution and Oversubscribed) also has a writing playlist, and while Caroline Webb (author of How to Have a Good Day) favours deep house (or Haydn), he is a fan of trance music. My musical tastes are eclectic but unsophisticated. […]
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