As ever with the turn of the New Year I convinced myself I would catch up with paperwork, finish some outstanding administative tasks and generally make some organisational improvements.  One of the first areas I looked at has been Personal Financial Management and the increasing move (as with so many things) for this activity to move into the cloud and away from the desktop.

It's been a funny old couple of weeks.  As the month end approaches its time to update the blog but I'm really not sure what to write about this time.  It's not like I haven't been busy!

I've been fortunate enough to have some time to do a little more detailed evaluation of Microsoft's SharePoint recently and I've been pleasantly surprised how much it's come on since the last version I looked at in detail. I don't get the time to do any 'proper' programming these days but I like to keep my hand in with various technologies just so I understand what developers are saying to me in progress meetings.

Whilst I'm adding Applications to my new HTC Desire (Google Android Smartphone) It struck me that we are soon to be defined by the apps we use (some more frequently than others)...

No longer do I start a program and 'do' something with it - I now start an app designed specifically for that task - I have a BBC news App running all the time - i don't launch a browser and navigate to news.bbc.co.uk... I don't open a calculator I launch a currency converter App or a Add VAT App...

So I am Google mail, Google Calender, people, translator, Layar, maps and weather... 

Here at Continuity we have always had a bit of a thing about remaining impartial.  This has led to us turning down some lucrative 'deals' to recommend suppliers products and is a key reason that we haven't travelled the road to Microsoft partnership.

The issue arises again when looking at smartphone platforms.

For those of you who remember the days of video recorders: that was a prime example of the best technology losing out.  The ultimate victor in that platform war was of course VHS, yet many, better qualified than I, would argue that it was far from the best technical solution.

The title says it all... will be spending the next few days playing and will update the blog later

off to find my board shorts...

Back in April I removed a dilapidated shed from my back garden and decided to replace it with two smaller bike stores.  Two suitable bike stores were purchased but six months  later one of them remains in pieces and I am continuing a battle with B&Q to obtain the missing fittings kit for one of them.  This isn't a moan about quality of the product or price - with sheds I find you get what you pay for - but I have been stunned that in these days of technology B&Q's customer service doesn't seem to have anything more advanced than a scrap of paper and a pen on which to note my various enquiries.

There is clearly a fuss about Google Wave.  People appear desperate for an invite to the 100,000 user trial as they assume it will be the next big thing.  For me it's a nice idea that will unfortunately not surmount my greatest issue for on-line collaboration - the corporate security policy.

I spend a lot of time on the train.  Not as much as some but more than I care for.  Anyway, when all the email is processed and I feel I can work no more I have been known to catch up on a little TV courtesy of the BBC's iPlayer.  As long as I've remembered to download something of interest in the last 7 days I can pass the time with a little light comedy or something more educational.  Or at least I could until the BBC felt the need to improve things and therefore upgraded the iPlayer Desktop.

If you're familiar with the criticism of some 'Z list' celebrities that they would turn up at the opening of a paper bag then you may think it applicable to my business networking strategy of old.  If there was a networking event going on then I'd be there, even if there was no free lunch.