I'm getting too much of Chris.

It's not that I don't want lot of Chris - I really do - there's just too much of him for me to cope with.

To be fair - it's not Chris's fault, it's a technology problem. Let me explain.

What I use...

I use Slidescreen on my G1 phone to pick up Twitter and Facebook updates when I'm not at my desk.

At my desk I 'switch over' to TweetDeck.

I use also then Google Reader for catching up on blogs/photos and 'proper' news.

And now... we have Buzz.

On Friday night Chris (not being at the Pub of course) finds Bubbles a nice wee youtube vid and shares it via his Tumble Blog.

The ONLY place I want to see this content (as it's a YouTube vid) is on my Google Reader. Chris doesn't know this nor should he. It's not up to him how I want to view his content.

So Bubbles get gets automatically posted to his Twitter.

This then automatically updates to Buzz and Facebook (and probably more!). This is good because not everyone is on his Twitter... not everyone is on Facebook.

So here's the time line:

Friday Night - Chris posts Bubbles to Tumblr.

Friday Night - I read that Tweet on my phone and ignore it for now.

Saturday AM - I read the same message on my G1, this time via Facebook.

Saturday PM - I do some work - so I see the same message again twice in my Tweetdeck.

Sunday PM - I check out Buzz again - and again I see Bubbles.

Monday AM - I log in to my google reader and - yup - finally I get to see Bubbles in the right context for me to view it.

DO NOT THINK I AM IMPLYING THAT CHRIS NEEDS TO CHANGE ANYTHING.

My point is, the addition of Buzz to the Social Scene is only making it harder for me to find the right content, at the right time, that's important to me. There was only one time when it was going to be technically and physically appropriate for me to view Chris's Bubbles!

Chris shouldn't have to think twice about where and when he posts what he does [Maybe he disagrees?] My point is that we need to get the mobile and desktop social network software all talking to each other. Mark as read on one device - mark as read on ALL.

Thereafter, ideally there would be just one Social Network, but for now though I am stuck checking all 3  of Twitter, FaceBook and Buzz. I just hope they can all work together to solve this re-posting overload this year. Not likely I know.

For now then, Chris, you can be assured that I'm getting all the Bubbles from you I could ever need ;-)

At the time of writing the new Google Buzz is not yet available in any of my accounts. I've had a lot of experience with, and somewhat of a fanboy of Google so I feel qualified to speak on this based on the videos I've seen online:

• Google have been pretty bad with social stuff in the past, they are aware of that, and wont be going into this without thinking it through very carefully.

• Filtering all the CRAP on Facebook is too hard. Farmville, Which Celebrity Do You Look Like, I joined the Group > "Facebook has too much crap going on...", yawn yawn yawn. One thing Google are the undisputed masters off is filtering out the crap and only giving you what YOU want. This will be their biggest strength.

• However - no Facebook integration is a real surprise to me. It's probably a clever tactic by Google though. Watch this space.

• Over the next few days you will hear: "It's shit", "I'm not using it - I don't see the point" and "I'm sticking with Facebook". These are the normal responses to a new product from your friends and you should ignore them.

• As with everything else Google have done it will not be perfect from the start. Gmail wasn't. Gtalk wasn't. It doesn't matter - If you don't like it now - come back in 6 months once they have massively improved it and just see.

• I suspect the real power in Buzz is going to be LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION. Chris Nixon has just published his timely thoughts on FourSquare and GoWalla. I think this will trump them both. Google know that in a few years there will be more people using the Internet mobile than on a PC or TV. To this end I'm going to make a prediction: 

Rather than let an old PC gather dust in my home-office, I thought I would try giving it a second life.

It's a 5 year old Dell PC and only has 256Mb of RAM - pretty crappy huh?

It had been running windows XP, but even though I had only the bare minimum installed (Anti-Virus and Firefox), it still took nearly 8 minutes to become 'usable'! Even then it really couldn't play youtube videos, never mind anything more intensive.

Instead I've downloaded and installed the free Ubuntu operating system. Installation was a peice of piss. Just download the installer here, tell it how much hard drive space to use and let it do it's stuff. I took about 60 mins to install - most of which was the "big" download.

It came pre-installed with Firefox 3.5, which auto-updated to the later version on the first boot.

It now boots up in 90 seconds. It plays full screen you-tube video without stuttering. I've got tweetdeck, dropbox and extremely fast chrome running... I've not even bothered with Anti-Virus software.

I'm really impressed with how easy this was and how an otherwise useless PC is now very much back-in-action. This is especially true since we are working more and more in the browser these days! You still have to wait a few seconds while it has the occasional 'think' but overall -  I recommend this idea to anyone it was SIMPLE.

After leaving school he has spent 2.5 years as a apprentice mechanic before deciding, as we all did at an early age, that this wasn't the career for him.

On the face of if it then producing a CV for him was going to be a challenge - he went straight from school and has had just that one job - so we plumped for a CV writing service at a cost of £15 from FutureStart.

After paying by paypal we simply filled out a questionnaire and two days later a great CV was returned. Two more email conversations and the finished article was printed and ready for sending. 

FutureStart did not simply 'pad out' his achievements .. they asked questions which led us to realise there are PLENTY of great things which can be said. Here's an example. My neighbour is extremely reliable - just one sick day in 2.5 years and always early to start. This became "I am a loyal, hard working and conscientious individual, highly reliable with an excellent timekeeping record."

He has also been completing online applications for jobs, and was able to cut and paste directly from his CV which was a real bonus.

My nod of thanks then to Dave Cotton at FutureStart who deserves recognition for helping many people substantially improve their chances of landing a very nice job. I can't see why anyone would NOT use his service!

Yup - A quick snap of me and Bruce taking in the iPad launch.

From left to right on my monitors:

• Pegasus (my server monitoring software)
• Engaget (live blog from the event - great photos - probably the best source)
• Twit.Tv - Live Chat room. (Full!)
• Bruce on Skype saying hi
  
• And twit.tv where Leo Leporte is breaking the rules by streaming the launch directly from his seat

[After going through a slurry of menu options I get to speak to a human]

Me: Hello - I'm wondering if you can tell me how much I am paying for me standard land line calls please.
BT Bloke: No problem - I'll just take you through security...

[We go through security]

BT Bloke: OK - For you land line calls you are currently paying 5.4 pence per minute during the day and 1.5 pence per minute in the evening.
BT Bloke: Also - There is a minimum of 9.3 pence per call.

[I'm now thinking that using skype will be waaayyy cheaper than using BT for my calls]

Me: Thank you. Before I go - can I ask is there a call allowance on my current package?

BT Bloke: I'll check that now Sir...

[Pause]

BT Bloke: Yes - there is. You're currently getting free and unlimited land line calls at all times.

[Pause]

Me: Right... Thank you.

BT Bloke: Is there anything else I can help with today?

Me: No - You've been very helpful - thank you.

Ironically I was late for the appointment because two number 5 buses didn't turn up. Brian Adam MSP is a very approachable guy, and listened intently to my complaints despite the announcement of the WPR being made during our chat. He is aware of the problems First Bus are having, and encouraged me to get my thoughts down on paper which he will then forward to Bob Dorr for comment. Brian was also keen to make a note of when the problems started (Feb 2009) and how the service has degraded.

Rather than write down some unproductive moaning Brian has suggest that I put down some positive ideas for how to fix the repeating problems - something I am going to do over the next 2 weeks. I should have a letter to be sent just after the Christmas break.

Whilst Brian can only have little influence on First, and I'm sure that my voice will not match the impact of, say, the Put Me First Facebook campaign, it felt really good to be able to actually speak to someone in a constructive manner rather than leave yet another voice mail complaint which First Bus will ignore. I'll publish my letter on here once it's been sent.

I have to write to my MSP.

I've never written to my MSP before, but now First Bus have actually ignored, and by ignored, I mean completely not responded to messages left with their "complaints department"... well... that's unfair to call it that - in actual fact its... "Mary who deals with complaints".

I had a shockingly bad experience on Friday night, and on Monday morning my girlfriend had abuse shouted at her by a driver. Its ONLY because he didn't swear that we cant put in a complaint with the Police.

48 hours later - no-one has contact us, because no-one cares.

The problem is, I've got so much rage built up inside that I keep putting off writing to my MSP as I really dont want to be in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

As much as I moan about everything, it's rare I feel the need to write about my disappointment in a TV program, but I have to get this off my chest.

I used to LOVE spooks. They pitched the program at an audience of people who needed a lot more realism than you get from, say, Doctor Who, but at the same time didnt want to watch something stuffy that would only get onto BBC4.

Things started going wrong in Season 7 when the writers expected us to believe that Harry might die. The long story arc during Season 7 saved it.

In season 8, episode 2 the producers crossed the line.

Doctor Who is a brilliant TV program, not really my bag to be honest, but I'm not the target audience. In Doctor Who they play around with country name, they use cheesy end-of-world dialogue, and they expect us to buy into relationships we've only been viewing for a matter of minutes. Spooks now do the same. Made up counties like  "Tasbekstan", dialogue like "The British gas supply runs out in 2 days, and we have to do everything in our power to save the country", and then the utterly PATHETIC 'special relationship' between the US "model" and MI5 "hunk". Give me a break.

All this is forgiveable. But here's what's not.

Spooks, I guess, is aimed at the semi-educated 25+ viewers, hence the BBC1 9pm timeslot. I think its fairly likely that those same people will know that the outcome of a major national energy crisis would NOT come down to whether one rogue MI5 agent could save the life of someone from TASBEKSTAN. The producers have screwed over their loyal core audience by utterly patronising us.

I feel genuinely sorry for the wonderfully talented cast and crew. The producers have let you down very badly. No wonder Spooks now gets less than half the viewers it did for the first 3 years.

Rant over.

You would expect to pay (buying in advance) about £100 for a return trip.

So here's my secret.

If you want to visit the West Coast say Kyle, Isle of Skye, Lochcarron and you are travelling from Aberdeen (via Inverness), you will expect to pay just £25-£30 RETURN!!!

That's right... from Aberdeen you can take one of the most visually stunning train journeys in the world, to the opposite side of the country, for less than the price of a return taxi into the city centre.

You couldn't drive there for that price, never mind back!

And my tip for the easiest way to find these readily available fares, is the use East Coast Trains brilliant matrix thingy-me-bob