After drifting in and out of it during this period, I’m now properly back on Twitter. I had fallen away from it for a while, just as I had with the rest of social media. It feels good to be back though, I missed being plugged into the Matrix. There is one problem though – it is full of Apple disciples and Big Brother fans, so at certain times of the day or month, I will lay low until the dust has settled from whichever Apple or Endemol launch/scandal has happened on any given day. So for that reason, I will probably be a ‘floater’, dipping in and out of Twitter as it suits me.

I can’t believe we’re almost into February too – is it possible that due to all the issues with snow and cold weather, January has just passed us by completely? Possibly. Were we all too distracted in our efforts not to slip and break our necks to notice that Burns’ Night was approaching? Definately. Thank God Steve Jobs was on hand to snap us out of it by tempting us all with an iPad. He’ll be launching the more discreet iTampon in the summer.

By the way, I had a beta version of the iPad a few years ago. Back then though, they called it an Etch-a-Sketch.

It’s always interesting starting a new job. Meeting new people, remembering their names, finding out what they like/dislike… just being sociable in general. Luckily, I’ve gone full time in a place where I have been temping. Same department, different job, and different location, so the transition from old to new hasn’t been the upheaval it might have been if I’d switched employers. By and large, I’ve managed to hit the ground running.

I appear to have found a niche in the work that I do, but I’m not going to allow myself to become to comfortable. After all, this is only a 12-month contract. I need to push the boundaries and go beyond my comfort zone if I want to pick up new skills. New skills which may help be find a new job if, after 12 months, this temporary position isn’t made permanent. Intertwined with that, I need to start studying again. I’ve been talking about it for long enough, but it’s time that I actually got that Microsoft certification I’ve been planning. I’ve got all the training materials – I just need to start using them.

I’ll be tough not to let this diminish my other interests. I’m still a keen photographer, and I really want to forge ahead with some radio work. After all, the long-term goal is to move abroad with the missus where she can get a nursing job, and I can proceed in radio. However, I need to pay the bills now, and the IT industry is paying. Radio is not (for the most part).

So that’s about it from me for the moment… I’ll try to write again soon, but as you’ve already seen, that may be a problem for me.

I’ll leave you with the video on the right. Courtesy of @RadioPaulo.

I wish to register my disappointment in the ‘Boycott Scotland’ campaign you are currently running. Not because I believe that the release of Abdelbasset Ali al-Megrahi was right, but more that you are attempting to penalise the people of Scotland – most of whom were against the release of this terrorist – myself included.

I believe that Kenny MacAskill should not have had the power to take this decision in the first place. Matters such as this should never be in the hands of politicians, as they will always be politicised. This descision should have been made by our Law Lords, and I will be writing to my MSP regarding this matter.

I believe that there is a lot more to this disaster, but the British and United States Governments have both resisted calls to hold a public enquiry. You may wish to add to your website, an appeal for a public enquiry, as this is really the only way the families will get the justice and closure they deserve.

Finally, I wish to state: “THIS WAS NOT DONE IN MY NAME”.

Yours faithfully,
Stewart Priest
Glasgow, Scotland

Today, I’m calling on the readers of my blog to help a charity which is very personal to me: No Strings Attached (Scotland). The reason I’m using my blog to promote this charity is because I’m trying to drum up enough votes to enable them to be appointed as the official charity of the Glasgow Twestival. What’s a Twestival? It’s a Twitter Festival. Basically, there will be an evening of music and fun at a venue in Glasgow city centre which will hopefully raise lots of money, and I’d love for No Strings Attached Scotland to be the recipient of the proceeds. It’s a very worth charity.

No Strings Attached (Scotland) aims to help children and young people with asthma better control their condition through playing wind instruments like the flute, clarinet, etc. It helps increase lung capacity and stamina, and I know from personal experience that it works. They also aim to educate children and young people about their condition, and steps they can take to help themselves.

Please vote for No Strings Attached (Scotland) here, and you can listen to my personal plea on the charity’s website here.

It’s been a bit of a journey to get them, to be honest. I had to wait A-G-E-S to get served in the shop, so I whinged about it on Twitter, and immediately got a follow from Richer Sounds. They’ve offered me a tenner for my trouble, but I can’t imagine what else I’d buy out of there.. I’m poor AND I’m getting married!

Moving on from that, I decided to mount them on the wall yesterday, and the first speaker went up fine. The second speaker however, did not. It lasted all of two minutes before all 1.4kg of it started to come away from the wall. There was nothing else I could do but curse myself for making four bloody big holes in my nice, newly decorated wall.

Fast forward to today, and a chat with one of my colleagues, Brian. He’s an Active Directory wizard now, but he’s a joiner to trade. He suggested larger rawl plugs, so off I went to B&Q after work, and I bought the next two sizes of rawl plugs. I got home, tried them out, and BINGO! I now have a pair of speakers on the wall, not just one lonely speaker. I was on a roll, so I got my nice glass shelves from Ikea – which have been sitting in their boxes for weeks – and stuck them up on the wall. Now I think I’m a DIY god!

I’ve christened my speakers by playing The Jam Song, and I’m now load-testing the shelves! Woo!

Oh, and before I forget, check out ‘AutoTune The News’ on YouTube! It’s excellent!

It seems, however, that everyone knew but me. That’s not strictly true, but it certainly felt like that last night. Yesterday was also her birthday, and a group of her friends and I were summoned by Robert to be at a restaurant for a surprise party. When I say ’surprise’, I really just mean it as a figure of speech – again, there was some amount of hinting during the weeks in the run-up to this meal.

Anyway, I digress. We had a lovely meal, and when the meal and birthday cake were dispensed with, Robert stood up and started to make a speech. I thought it was odd that he would be making a speech at my sister’s birthday meal, and then it clicked. It wasn’t long before the ring box came out, and he’d dropped to one knee. She naturally said yes, there was much applause and serving of chapagne, followed by a few people asking me if I knew this would be happening. I did not. It turns out though, that a few of her friends did.

Why not me? Well, family wasn’t to know. My mum didn’t know, but this was also true of my dad. Oops. He doesn’t look that bothered, but I think he might have liked to have been asked beforehand. It turns out Robert’s dad knew though, so I guess I’m feeling bad for my dad at this stage.

It wasn’t quite like this video though..

Anyway, AudioBoo is the latest Web2.0 craze, and to be honest, its one I can totally get on board with. It is audio-based, after all. The only complaint I have had with AudioBoo in the past is that it’s an iPhone-only app, and it has been since launch. However, the nice guys at AudioBoo are planning to launch an API on 11 July to enable others to build cool stuff. Some of that cool stuff, I’m hoping, will be applications for the Symbian S60 OS. Creating apps based on this API will allow me to use AudioBoo properly, and in higher quality.

Now, I know that I said it was an iPhone-only app, and that’s true, but as part of the internal testing of the API, an AudioBoo developer created PhoneBoo – a version of AudioBoo which allows you to call a UK-based number and create your Boo that way. This is how I plan to use AudioBoo until the Symbian-based apps start appearing. Roll on 11 July!

Anyway, just for giggles, here’s my very first Boo:

UPDATE:

The iPadio folks have been Twittering me since I posted about AudioBoo, and have convinced me to give it a try. I’ve given it a go, and so far, it’s much the same as AudioBoo. However, they are working on an MP3 upload service which will post audio to Twitter in much the same way as TwitPic posts images. It just goes to show what a chance email can do, eh?

Unlike AudioBoo though, iPadio is creating apps for mobile handsets other than the iPhone. They have indicated to me that there will be something much better coming for Nokia handsets, but due to a Non-Disclosure Agreement with Nokia they couldn’t go into anything substantial with me at this time. I’ve asked to be a beta tester for the service, and they’ve agreed, so if I can talk about it, I’ll post it here.

Just for laughs, here’s my iPadio phlog:

So it appears that everyone around me is coming down with Swine Flu. My sister, last night, was one of the latest to become a confirmed case, and my mum was swabbed last night by a nurse – we’re now waiting for the results of that test.

I’ve been lucky – so far. I’m not displaying any symptoms, and I don’t really intend to put myself in harm’s way. I’m currently working from home because I’ve become the office leper (you see, I’m not ill, but they don’t want to take the chance), so I’m holed up in my bedroom with my laptop, TV and Xbox. I could do with a small fridge and a microwave – then I’d be truly self-sufficient. I’m pretty much ready for a nuclear holocaust – my room has become my own personal nuclear bunker – now, where did I put my shortwave radio?

It’s pretty bizarre being thrust into the middle of a Swine Flu zone. Up until now, it was something which was happening to other people. It was happening in other parts of the country, other parts of the city, but it wasn’t happening to anyone I had met or anyone I knew. Until Sunday. If you’ve read my last blog entry, you’ll know that I went to Glasgow’s West End Festival. It was there that I came into contact with someone who’s now been confirmed as being H1N1 positive. Unknown to me, my sister had been in this person’s company a lot over the previous couple of days, and I suspect that’s how she ended up with the virus. In turn, it would seem logical that this is how my mum ended up with symptoms.

I feel a little let down by the public health authorities in Glasgow. I understand that this pandemic is a living, breathing, evolving entity, but NHS Scotland (via NHS24) and NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde don’t appear to be singing from the same hymnsheet. My GP informed me that it was my decision whether I attended work or not. He also stated that they were no longer conducting swab tests for suspected cases. This was directly contradicted by the NHS Scotland nurse who came out to test my mum last night. This, coupled with the fact that other GPs in the same area are testing patients, etc., I am forced to ask the question: If different public health agencies are not approaching the pandemic situation in a uniform way, how do they plan to minimise the impact it has on the country? In other words, how do they plan on minimising the risk of me getting it?

So, I await the results of my mum’s test, and we’ll see whether I eventually succumb.

Image by rumpleteaser on Flickr. Used under licence.

It all started when Mrs. Stewart said “let’s go to the West End Festival”. At this point, I thought that was a good idea. We’ll walk along to Byres Road, have a nice brunch at AdLib, and then head along to Kelvingrove Park for the Mardi Gras parade.

So, we set off at 12:30 and enjoyed said brunch. I had the All-American Breakfast minus the tomato and mushrooms, if you’re interested. I also got baked beans as a substitute for that less-desirable veg. All-in-all though, Ad Lib is a very nice place to brunch. Particularly on a nice day like today.

Once we were done with the brunch, we made our way along to Kelvin Way and Kelvingrove Park. There were plenty of stands, fast food places and ice cream vans, but my favourite stand was at the skate park. They had a BMX stunt display which was very, very impressive. A true testament to the skill of the riders - I want to say artists, but I’m not really sure if BMX stunts can be defined as art - and to the technology employed to build the bikes these guys ride. Death-defying leaps from platforms showed that not even these guys are able to escape the forces of gravity.

The Mardi Gras parade was only OK – it wasn’t great. There were loads of colourful costumes, and the band leading the parade, like last year was outstanding, but overall, it was average. There weren’t as many groups in the parade, and in my opinion, the organisers made a mistake in having the parade proceed down Kelvin Way. If anyone from the organising committee happens to be reading this, please switch back to Byres Road. There was much more of a community spirit in previous years.

We finished off the day sitting in the park before stopping for a drink in The Goat. It was at that point that I realised my foot was sore. However, not being one to remove my shoes and socks in a pub, I elected to keep my feet in my trainers until I got home. Which is now.

My feet are swollen, and I have a H-U-G-E blister on the heel of my left one. I suspect that this may be due to the fact that my trainers are completely done and ready to be thrown out, but I love them so. I’m not one to complain too much though, so let’s just leave it at that.

I’ve had a great day, and I appear to be a bit burnt (in a Close Encounters of the Third Kind) sort of a way, so I think I may be keeping a low profile for the next few days.

This is and idea I’ve toyed with for a while now, but two things have been stopping me: the lack of a home for the blog and the the will to do it. I’ve managed to muster up the will now, and thanks to those nice people over at 1-2-3 Reg, I managed to score myself a .info domain for the measly sum of 88 pence.

Yes. 88. Pence.

So here I am, this is me. I’m not really sure what form this blog will take, and I’m hoping it’ll just ‘come together’ over time. It may be that I end up posting a series of links/photos/videos I like, but equally, I may produce award-winning literary works (although that’s unlikely).

Anyway, to start us off, here’s a video I produced recently. It features my good friend Steven Scott. The joke here is that he’s visually impaired. Enjoy!