Have Intel Bought a Pup?
I notice that the chip-maker Intel has just bought the anti-virus software company McAfee.
Now I have nothing against Intel and have used PCs powered by their chips for a long time. In fact except for the odd one powered by an AMD processor, I suspect it’s almost an exclusive relationship. I used to have the same relationship with McAfee, partly because I was an indirect investor in the company through a venture capital firm, but mainly because I knew I could trust their products. But recently they have tried and in some cases forced me to buy and/or install software that I have no need for, such as Site Advisor. So when my subscription to McAfee ran out, I searched for other software that was free to install and use. I now use ClamWin and I’m very happy with it.
There is other software too, that can do the same or a better job at a lower price than McAfee.
I hope Intel took note of these facts, when they worked out what they should pay for McAfee!
Here Come the Nimbys
They are going to announce the compensation scheme for the High-Speed Line to the North (HS2) today, so what does the BBC do? They get a stupid Nimby on the BBC Breakfast counch. Looking at her, she looks like a typical Home Counties woman, who thinks much more for herself, than the general population. I was uncertain about HS2, until I read an article in Modern Railways, which convinced me that the planned route, via the Chilterns was correct.
There are a lot of unpopular developments we need like nuclear power stations and freight distribution depots. Done properly and sympathetically, they can be to everybody’s benefit.
We must not let the Nimbys win!
Would a Private Firm Ever Buy Anything with Something Like PFI?
It’s grim reading about the problems the NHS is facing over bloated PFI deals.
No-one with any sense would ever have locked themsaelves into such deals. I’m sure people like Tesco have probably used design, build and maintain for stores and depots, but they wouldn’t have ended up paying six times the cost of the building. They’d have also used standard designs to save building costs. I bet each hospital is very different.
The problem is not with PFI, but with the politicians, civil servants and administrators, who pushed these deal through. In a banana republic, I would be smelling the pungent smell of bungs, bribery and favours. But here it’s just bad economics and incompetence. And who was in charge of the country’s finance at the time? So add this to a list of his big mistakes, like pensions, banks, renewing Trident etc. Gordon Brown must rank as the worst Prime Minister any country in Europe has ever had. let lone the UK!
How To Motivate Athletes
I read in The Times today, that quite a few of our successful athletes in Barcelona have not been given funds to help their training from Lottery sources. One, Andy Turner won gold and two others, Mark Lewis Francis and Christian Malcolm won silver in the two sprints.
I always remember when I was at ICI, learning about motivators and demotivators on a course. I seem to remember that money wasn’t a particularly good motivator, but lack of money was a strong demotivator. On the other hand status was a strong motivator. So perhaps to succeed in a major championship is a very strong motivator and nothing is going to stop you doing it, even if you’re a bit short of the readies. Remember though, that as team members, they would have all the support they need in terms of physios and coaches. Is giving people the right support another motivator?Andthey also have the status of being in the team.
So perhaps someone has been working on the status thing and being more careful with the money. Has it got results? After all we’re ahead of the Germans in the medal table. And that can’t be bad!
Perhaps we should apply this set of rules to other areas as well, like business and politics. We tend to pay people a lot of money at the top and they don’t perform.
The real losers over BP and the Gulf Oil Spill
So BP has posted a large loss, over the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. We can now see who the real losers are.
Those who live in the area of the spill are being fully compensated, but as BP is making a loss, they will not be paying any UK Corporation Tax. And as BP will not be paying a dividend, any pension fund or investor who holds their shares will not get any return.
In other words the British Government, pensioners and investors will be paying for the failure of an American blow-out protector made by Cameron Iron and dodgy drilling practices for which an American company, Transocean, were partly responsible. It could also be argued that American government policy, which promotes offshore drilling, rather than the much safer onshore is also to blame. Read this from Professor Mark Perry.
Hote that if you think onshore drilling is bad, search Google for Wytch Farm. This is the largest onshore oil field in Europe and it’s around Poole in Dorset in the middle of beautiful countryside. Many don’t even know it’s there!And who successfully manages the field? BP!
We are mugs in this country and total lap-dogs to the greedy Yanks, who won’t economise on fossil fuel. But should we pay for their profligacy, mistakes and arrogance?
Are Redundancies Responsible for a Surge in New Companies?
This was posed by Robert Watts in today’s Sunday Times, but I can’t find it on-line. Is this because The Times are restricting what they put on-line?
But it’s not even mentioned in othe web sites, that we are now having a real surge in new company registrations.
But this is understandable as recessions are one of the best times to start a business, as companies are trying to outsource goods and services, there is a good supply of quality people, machinery, premises and other things available. Often from companies that have gone bust! We started Metier in the depth of a recession and you can’t say, that that wasn’t a success!
The only problem with this recession, is the attitude of the banks, but then, it would appear that many are using redundancy money as seed capital for their businesses.
Another Tour Company Goes Bust
It has been announced this morning, that another tour company, Goldtrail, has gone bust. It does seem to happen at least twice a year.
What bannoys me is that a lot of people will not have travel insurance, so they will expect the CAA, i.e. all our taxes, to get them home.
Let’s have aaw which says that you can’t buy a holiday without either insurance or the means to get yourself home, if it all goes bust. I have insurance, but it didn’t cover my problems in Hong Kong, so I had to fund that myself.
But why should I have to fund people who make no provision? The CAA should publish how much they have had to pay out, over and above any bonds.
Especially, as most this time were to Turkey, which is somewhere I am very cautious of visiting as it is not very coeliac-friendly, unless you stay in five-star hotels.
Fraud from Russia Concerning Amazon
I have had a lot of e-mails purporting to say that I have ordered something on Amazon. I know they are not genuine orders, as they come to an e-mail I never use for orders, but watch for e-mails.
They are baed on a fake AMazon web site, with a Russian domain name.
Be careful, as if you are a regular Amazon purchaser, your account has a valid credit card.
So login to the real Amazon, change your password and if you can, change your e-mail to something that you reserve for purchases over the web.
A Gluten-Free Nut-Free Strategy for Business
These days businesses like to show that they are friendly, equal-opportunity employers, who are not-racist, sexist or homophobic and of course carbon neutral.
But do they extend this caring attitude to such things as food allergies, when they do business personally or perhaps entertain clients.
Let’s put a couple of facts in here. according to Peanut Allergy UK, it is estimated that 1.8% of children have a peanut allergy at school entry. Also, 4% of the UK ppulation is a coeliac, many of whom are undiagnosed.
So just as you wouldn’t serve meat to a vegetarian, is it not a wise idea to not serve gluten to a coeliac or nuts to someone with that allergy. In fact there is a big difference between veggies and some allergies, in that some allergies are very dangerous and others make you ill.
So why not startt by ensuring that your tea/coffee and biscuits are both gluten and nut free. Also remember that chocolate isn’t banned, so you can indulge your clients if that is your wish.
I’ve actually heard of a couple of companies in London, who do this and now only give away GF and nut-free biscuits with their coffee, as they find it avoids any problems and shows them to be a caring company! One was a financial services company dealing with a faddy actress. They got the business.
At least now corporate events at places like hotels, racecourses and football grounds have got a lot better in recent years. I know that Newmarket racecourse, Ipswich Town and Tottenham Hotspur can all cater, as can most decent hotels with a trained chef. But do at least check about allergies when you book. If they can’t cater, it might just be your luck, that your best client is a coeliac.
In these tough times, profits will be harder to grow or even make. But by applying lots of little details like this to your corporate strategy, you might help your business in the tight direction.
Why I Chose My Bank
I did this because it is in a convenient place in the High Street and I’d heard from people I trust, that the on-line banking worked well.
I also chose it because, I didn’t get too much spam purporting to be from the bank trying to get me to login to a fake site. This cut the chances of getting fooled.
Except fot two e-mails in the last week, which I knew to be very fake, as they were so obvious and lacked security check information, this is still the case.
But there are banks out there, for which I still get masses of phishing spam. I immediately delete them, as I have no account at the bank, so they must be crooked, especially as they go to undisclosed-recipients, which is a sure sign of fraud.
So are these banks ignoring these messages, which are an affront to their good name and a threat to their and their customers security?
The Anonymous Widower 