This week I’m cheating a bit, in that I am using the same, or at least very similar blogs in two places but last week’s launch of the North East Initiative on Business Ethics’ (NIBE) Ethical Business Toolkit was a momentous occasion and one in which I have played a significant role. The following blog … Continue reading Ethical Business Toolkit
What is wrong with Zoom?
I’m picking on Zoom as it is the online meeting platform that has captured the zeitgeist. Although there are others and despite its poor initial reputation for security it seems to be the most widely used. You see, I don’t like them. I am sick of being on them. I am fed up with being … Continue reading What is wrong with Zoom?
The river Coquet
For some time now I have been thinking about a book I want to write. Fiction rather than non this time. It involves canoeing up the river Wansbeck, the river that runs through my hometown. I have the plot laid out and have even written it down but can’t find a way into the story. … Continue reading The river Coquet
Prosumer
These new jargon words pop up from time to time. They interest me in two ways, firstly they are a demonstration of the development of the English language. Purists may complain yet our language is changing all the time, new words popup and new meanings are attached to words that have been around forever. Secondly … Continue reading Prosumer
Happy New Year 2019
At the start of last year I decided to publish a list of resolutions. This is something that I don’t normally do but I felt it would be good to keep them fresh in my sights. So how did I do? Here is my 2018 list: Publish my second book ‘Paradigms Lost’. It’s out there … Continue reading Happy New Year 2019
Corporate Social Responsibility
‘We never use the phrase Corporate Social Responsibility, or the initials CSR at Ringtons.’ said Richard from the Newcastle based tea and beverages company. ‘It sounds too much like a crime. Instead we focus on our business doing good things in the community.’ I was at Muckle LLP for a breakfast event as part of … Continue reading Corporate Social Responsibility
I am an artist
What is art? Not that old chestnut again. Such open questions are almost impossible to answer. Even artists themselves have been struggling for millennia to come up with an explanation and in the end usually resort to saying ‘if I need to explain it to you then you won’t understand.’ Allan Kaprow put it that … Continue reading I am an artist
The world according to me
I used to think of myself as a liberal, of the bleeding heart kind until I read ‘Sapiens, A Brief History of Humankind’, or rather listened to the audio book by Yuval Noah Harari. What made me stop and think, figuratively rather than literally as I was driving at the time, was that liberalism included … Continue reading The world according to me
The thrill of your own book
It is a strange feeling, unwrapping the package that has come through the door to find a copy of your own book in your hands. All those months of effort are starting to finally come to fruition. I say finally as, even though this is my second book, it was only a proof version. It … Continue reading The thrill of your own book
The Gardinator Machine
The internet is a wonderful thing. It gives us the power to do things that would have taken us a lifetime to master. Everyday we come across new applications that we were unaware of or are reminded of again. One such application is the ability to recognise a plant from its picture. I first came … Continue reading The Gardinator Machine
