UCD vs. SEO - responses

Following my blog posting (and email to uk-usability) regarding search engine optimisation (SEO) and user-centric design I have had some thoughtful emails and just wanted to take the opportunity to respond to a selection of the issues raised.

‘Looking for’ vs. ‘expecting to find’
There is an argument that these are one and the same, that people search for what they want to find on the page, but is this always the case. Anecdotally I know I often search for things in Google when I don’t really know what I’m searching for … today, for example I searched for “networked external storage” but when the results came up and I clicked on one I realised I should have been looking for “ethernet ide drives”. Alastair Campbell of nomensa also mentioned this frustration when searching in an area who’s terminology is unfamiliar. Site developers thus need to consider not just what their page contains but the quite different ways in which people may look for that content.

A similar frustration was cited by Lola (from Agency.com) – the effect of being dumped on a landing page rather than directly at the point where the searched-for content resides: “if I search for something the last place I’d want to land on is the home page or some other page where I have to navigate and think a bi more to find the info I want” … and earlier “when a user comes to your site intent on finding a keyword she has in mind, you’ll be meeting her needs more readily if her keyword is easy to spot”. I have found the Google bar ‘highlight keywords’ feature invaluable in this instance.

The Team Issue
My original post was concerned with whether putting the SEO team and content development teams together was counterproductive. Ashley, CEO of e-consultancy asserts that we need to “achieve the optimal balance of what is right for the user AND the search engine” and in this regard “usability people need to understand SEO better and SEO people need to understand UCD better” which is a pretty decent summary and points at a collaborative blend of skills.

Ashley also exposed my naivety in terms of the way that spiders actually work (and thus indicated my need to work closer with spider-savvy SEO colleagues) by informing me that they actually “try to be as human-like as possible”.

Other SEO and usability mutual benefits can be seen by taking a look at “What’s good for the search engines AND good for the user?” and the more recent (but broader in scope) “From paper to page – what’s the ideal web design process?”. Both of these articles were produced by Ashley.

Many thanks for everyone’s responses to the question.

Technorati : usability

iPod video

The rumours were right, an iPod video, the long-awaited enhancement to the 'daddy' iPod (i.e. not the Nano which replaced the mini iPod ... got that? right :) ) In the UK we'll pay £219 for the 30GB version (black or white) and £299 for the 60GB version (again, black or white). These prices are direct from Apple's UK store iTunes 6 is to be released though I suspect this will benefit US consumers primarily with its movie and TV download capability. There's a new iMac too, you might as well read about that on the official site. See my earlier posting for other sites with full details of the announcements today.

I'm not sure where Apple go from here. The iPod is about as functional as it could be now. Only revisions that keep it in the portable media device and not a mini personal computer are reductions in size and increases in capacity - specifically in solid-state memory. Even so, the 15,000 song capacity that the 60GB version now achieves represents most people's entire music library so capacity has an effective consumer limit if not a physical one.

I suppose the innovations now start with the Intel-chipped Macs but as rival manufacturers charge to introduce their own portable video media players Apple will have to be careful to continue with appropriate bold innovations in their flagship device in order to avoid dropping the ball that has so far seen them achieve their most impressive financial results in the company's history.

Search Engine Optimisation: Increased Usability?

A simple question, does search engine optimisation (SEO) improve usability? [a later post with answers is now available]

The reason I ask is that I’ve just been hearing some arguments for restructuring a team to include the SEO guys in the initial content authoring stage to clear the blockage that occurs when content is written and then sent to SEO for amendment. My fear is that if this is taken too literally, that copy on pages resembles the most appropriate for SEO but doesn’t actually work as effectively for the user. Effectively the pages become a long list of keywords and we return, in part, to the days where everyone buried ‘Britney Spears’ in the footer of their pages to score more hits.

In Trenton Moss’ article he asserts that “write your site’s content using the keywords for which users search and you’ll literally be speaking the same language as your visitors”. Well, technically yes you will but most people’s search terms do not reflect good copy. It should be the case, should it not, that search engines reflect the content of the pages they index, not the other way round? Writing page content that engages the user and speaks their language should not be borne out of a need to fit within Google’s requirements but rather a need to fit the users’ requirements.

I accept that other elements of his article ring true, page sizes, CSS in place of tables, descriptive links (a real passion of mine and something which blogging and hypertext rich experiences such as Wikipedia has bought back to life).

However, his last point, ‘Provide Quality Content’ is exactly why I would not like to see the team structured around SEOs. Again we need not to satisfy the SEO drum-beaters but to satisfy the users. To my mind this can only be done by experienced copywriters and people with a genuine nose for what visitors want from a site, people who tested, questioned and researched the user community. So, by all means keep an SEO check at the end of the process but don’t consider it the foundation on which to build a page, right?

[this item has been shared with mailing list uk-usability]

iPod Video Launched today?

Very excited today. More than I should be. A friend alerted me to Mac Rumors (sic) which I have browsed in the past but since the Nano had just been released I'd assumed Apple had played its cards for Q4 2005. Then this rumour appears about "One more thing..." and the visual effect of movie theatre curtains suggests a iPod video with associated iVideo database to download films, TV shows etc. Of course, this is all speculation but this blog reports a significant video blog site has been asked to be part of the presentation.

It all takes place at 10am EST (18:00hrs BST) in San Jose and I for one will be scouring the net this evening to obtain news.

Having just announced their best year ever, Apple are in the ascendant and whilst many would want the delivery of new Power PC versions of the G5 and PowerBook before the switch to Intel chips, I believe that the best people to steer Apple to even greater heights are already in Apple HQ (ASIDE: interesting articles about MSN removing the Apple building at Cupertino from their maps and another one refuting that suggestion)

Technorati tag: video ipod

Update: This blog will probably have the news ahead of me... Nick Starr seems to be covering the rumors comprehensively

Driving in Greece

I am aware of course that this blog is turning into something quite different from the intended eloquent and considered analysis of web usability but I do have some hope that (due to forthcoming changes in my career) there may be scope to return to these subjects later. In the meantime I find it enjoyable to sit and write about subjects which continue to capture my imagination. And what better place to start than with Greek driving?

Of course this is borne out of my recent driving experience on Samos but a timely article in the Saturday Telegraph has put it firmly on my blog agenda. I feel I should declare an interest, my long-suffering fiancée is half Greek and thus blessed with the temperament of the warm bloodied Mediterranean but, being a British learner driver, she is likewise blessed with a healthy terror of the British driving experience. As a passenger in our rented (and dented) saloon Megane, she found herself looking not so much at the mountain scenery as crossing herself and squirming as we forcibly took another switchback hairpin on the wrong side of the road.

You see the problems are two, three, maybe even fourfold. The fabric of the roads is dire, the presence of road signs and signals erratic, drivers’ obedience to them non-existent and finally, the drivers are under-skilled and fearless. Of course, this is not to imply that us phlegmatic Brits are the pariahs of cautious driving or indeed that our road etiquette is exemplary, far from it, merely that judged by Greek standards one has more of a chance over here than we do over there.

In anticipation of the poor state of the islands roads, I requested Europcar provide us with their smallest runabout, the intention being that this would provide the best visibility and manoeuvrability on mountain switchbacks and through town. When on holiday I’m never really in a rush so a 1 litre engine is fine, if it takes all day to climb up the mountain, so be it. I’d rather have that than be in a 2 litre wide-bodied saloon (sedan) when a coach comes round a blind bend. When I ended up with the free upgrade to the Megane I was miffed rather than delighted.

What amazes me most about driving in Greece is the propensity to overtake where there is no conceivable benefit in terms of time and where the current conditions (blind bend, up hill, driving rain, oncoming traffic etc.) would suggest the only possible outcome is to end up as another shrine and cross on the side of the road. These little shrines are abundant on the roadside, a regular reminder of those that didn’t fare well on the Hellenic highways.

Author of the article Essex University professor Anthony King talks of the white lines painted ostensibly at the edge of the road. In Samos even these are a rare sight. After a ferocious downpour we ventured into the island up the principle roads from Ireon to Mitilini. It was littered with boulders and the previously indistinct tarmac edge had all but disappeared under a sea of red earth and rocks. We did see earth movers scraping some of it back to the edge but you just knew that this was a token gesture and after a few hours the job would be considered complete.

We had been out during this storm, visiting the ancient temple of Hera just outside Ireon and on the desperate limp back to Pythagorio in the downpour I was lit up like a Christmas tree with dipped headlights and fog lamps. In front was a rusty pick-up, in the middle of the road (avoiding puddles) with no lights. Despite being no more than 20 metres in front I was barely able to see him as he swerved right to avoid oncoming traffic and veered left to return to the centre again. He’d have been safer if he’d have driven blindfolded I’m sure. People talk of European standardisation and harmonisation yet in Denmark and Sweden cars have permanent sidelights on by law and in Greece no-one will turn their lights on unless the sun has set?

It’s comforting to know I’m not alone. In the land where one can (as we did) see a standard Daewoo Lacetti cruising the strip with vinyl lettering all over the side and Sakis Rouvas blaring from the stereo, many of us Brits are clearly terrified of driving. 50% of Britons who have driven in Greece describe the standard of driving as poor or very poor. Interestingly, the problem is not one of speed. The Greeks, on the whole, drive relatively slowly - the recklessness comes from people overtaking between 40 and 60 mph to gain one car length. Given that most island drivers are driving heavy old cars with engines under 2 litres on roads like the surface of the moon, this is unsurprising.

Interestingly the YouGov poll, to which the Telegraph article refers, omits Portugal, India, Morocco, Egypt and others meaning that the Greeks may yet have to settle for a (posthumous) bronze in the Olympic sport of dangerous driving.

For all the criticism, here is some practical advice for driving in the Hellenes.

Back from Samos

Finally got round to reading Mitch Albom’s ‘Five People You Meet in Heaven’ , a recommendation by one of my directors at work and it proved to be an eminently digestible and, ahem, spiritual book. I have read reviews of it which describe it as slushy Hallmarkesque sentimental nonsense and I would agree that it walks a very fine line between schmaltz and thoughtful prose. The premise is that, upon our death we meet five people on a journey to heaven that make sense of our previously physical life. (I can hear people beginning to make moves to navigate off this blog already.) If you read it expecting it to be crap sentimental rubbish you might find yourself surprised, if you’re expecting an inspirational cerebral analysis of theological and spiritual exploration you’ll be disappointed. It was perfect for a sunny couple of days poolside and I found myself thinking about its themes for days afterwards (and will continue to). I am resolved to read Mitch’s first book ‘Tuesdays with Morrie’ in an equally relaxed frame of mind. Please do give it a few moments of your reading life.

Aside from that I tried to re-read ‘The Moral Animal’ but gave up (I didn’t want to think too much in between Fanta Lemon and UV-roasting my dermis), but did tuck into Steven Johnsons ‘Everything Bad is Good for You’ and finish the last chapter of ‘The Essential Difference’ which I had somehow neglected. As far as I’ve got with Steven Johnsons’ book I’m quite impressed. It’s a little weak on the empirical psychology (and I doubt this improves in later chapters) but provides a compelling alternative to the negative column inches that so-called ‘dumbing down’ occupies in the popular press.

I missed two things whilst abroad: Earl Grey and Lost. I gained a peculiar interest in beach volleyball, regained my enjoyment of gym workouts and developed a huge chip on my shoulder about being unable to speak much more than a few words in Spanish, Greek, German, French and Italian especially when our Italian animation chums Alberto and Fabio seemed to speak five languages to conversational level. On the plus side, I only came back to 55 emails at work and 70 at home.

Now, some quick questions: Why don’t the Greeks seem to finish buildings? Everywhere you look there are empty concrete shells or houses with reinforcement rods protruding from the upper floors [answer: see below]. What are the advertising criteria for BBC World? It seems to be one of three things: airlines, national tourist boards or energy companies. Finally, why should one have to pay to use a safety deposit box for two weeks? What cost does a hotel incur for the use of such a box on a daily basis? Surely a deposit for the key is enough?

The sum total of my greek vocab: kalimera (good morning), - spera (afternoon) and nihxta (night), parakolo (please), efharisto (thanks), the numbers 1-10, endaxi (ok), neh (yes), oghi (no), signomi (sorry, excuse me), nero (water), malaka (wanker etc.), spasta mutra (I’m not really sure… but I think it’s something like ‘shut up’).

Why the Greeks don’t finish buildings:
The Greeks often build what they need for the moment and leave the rest of the building unfinished for completion some time in the future. Breaks in the building schedule may therefore be either scheduled, bureaucratic or financial – possibly all three! Greeks are constantly building over long-terms: a significant reason for this is that parents build houses for each daughter, (sons are intended to marry a girl who’s got a house from her parents having had one built or passed to them through inheritance). There is a bit of a myth about taxes only being levied when the roof is added hence the proliferation of iron rods exposed from the tops of buildings ostensibly ‘unfinished’ but this is simply not true.

John Is On Holiday

I know it's been a while but I'm on holiday now. I have departed to the shores of the (as yet) unspoilt island of Samos in Greece.

Various jealousy-inducing links:

• The inevitable Wikipedia guide to Samos
• Daily photos of Samos
• The hotel i'm staying at, the Doryssa Bay

The hotel apparently has an 'internet corner' so I might be able to submit the odd blog entry and post some pictures to Flickr. In any event, I look forward to blogging when I get back. Cheerio,

John.

PS. If anyone wants to send me an iPod nano to celebrate my birthday (which was on the 10th September) then contact me through my website.

PPS. If you need something to stave off the boredom in the meantime, check out Steve Job's Special Event webcast ... some really entertaining stuff.

Ashes, Dyslexia, Countryside, Moyles, Robbie Williams & BMW 130i M Sport

Cricket
Good-ish start yesterday to the final Ashes test. I’ve never been a cricket buff, maintained an interest since school and always been a bit envious of people, like baseball nuts in the US, who are able to quote stats and talk comprehensively and insightfully about cover drives, reverse swing and silly mid-off. For my part I love the drama and tension of a four-day sporting occasion played out under English sunshine, somewhat more engaging than a petulant over-paid teenager getting narked at Windsor Park in Belfast …

In terms of keeping up to date I have tried both theirs and the BBC’s I’m happiest with Channel 4’s Desktop Scorebox.

Dyslexia
Delighted to see Professor Maggie Snowling on TV last night in the Dispatches programme which re-evaluated our understanding of dyslexia. Professor Snowling is a specialist in child linguistic development at my alma mater, the University of York. For many years I’ve believed (anecdotally I must add) that dyslexia was over-diagnosed and misunderstood by psychologists, education professionals and parents. Last night’s programme presented a raft of evidence, collated over many years and studied by the foremost centres of Psychology at York and Durham that essentially presented dyslexia as a condition that has some genetic basis but is significantly exacerbated by developmental problems. They continued to debunk the myth that dyslexia is an intelligence issue but, most importantly, they identified a shocking failure in traditional therapeutic responses to this wide-ranging condition. Essentially there have been limited improvements in childhood literacy despite massive amounts of investment. Fortunately there is now a proven and robust way of educating and improving individuals with dyslexic-type problems – though it is used only in Cumbria and North Yorkshire.

There continues to be a hot debate on this subject and the anxiety felt by parents and teachers at being told that our understanding and treatment of dyslexia is misguided must not be underestimated. Taking this into consideration I feel considerable pride at having been educated under Professor Snowling and her colleagues in the Psychology department at York, particularly because they have not simply identified a problem and shortcomings, but have proposed, developed and proven an alternative. British education policy-makers should stop blindly issuing laptops and extra time in exams (of which they have kept no record) and sit up and listen to this evidence.

Countryside
BBC’s effervescent Breakfast News programme this morning spoke to a chap who was attempting to counter the CPRE’s assertion that we’re losing more and more countryside to unnecessary development. This bullish individual (whose name I forgot to note down) maintained that this was simply an attempt by “posh people” to protect “their own back yards”. Why do people like this continue to believe that the countryside is populated by Posh Toffs in country estates? Liberal middle-class Blairite metro urbanites in their deluded world fail to see the rural hardship, the modest dwellings and the dwindling community social structure in the countryside despite scouring the papers to purchase second homes and price out the very people they now claim are looking for affordable housing which should be built on greenbelt land. In his impassioned rant he maintained that a massive proportion of land was still green and much of it assuredly protected by greenbelt and AONB designations. This seems to have no basis in fact. Such designations have not prevented the development of thousands of houses in the South East following Prescott’s demands to build all over Kent.

What needs to happen (alongside my theories for the return to sustainable high-quality agriculture) is development like that taking place in Ipswich. A run-down industrial dock area is being transformed (the demolition teams started work this week on the Cranfields Flour Mill for Wharfside Regeneration’s major project) into a mix of affordable and luxury development. There are thousands of acres of undeveloped brownfield sites across the UK which would serve the needs without desecrating more countryside. The countryside is not, as this chap seemed to believe, simply a place to look at and take walks in. It provides, broadly, food, forestry, oxygen and sanctity. It is, in short essential.

Whilst on the theme of development, I see from local papers that Sittingbourne (subject of recent disparaging comments from David Baddiel) are considering plans for a major new development away from the High Street or in the woefully neglected Forum centre. In a town centre which has already see independent butchers, fishmongers and other such stores close in recent years as a result of a supermarket invasion, why would planners consider anything other than re-developing a centrally located shopping mall to attract major national brand interest? This, combined with an effective strategy to encourage quality local independent traders would encourage people to visit the town again. What the town does not need is a major new supermarket in the middle distance drawing people in cars away from the traditional heart of the place. Another supermarket, even one like Tesco, will encourage nothing other than more generic stores already very well represented in Maidstone, the Medway Towns and Bluewater.

Moyles
Have been amused by Moyles’ ongoing campaign to Say No To Wogan. However I’d like to hear Wogan’s reaction but listening to two stations is, if not impossible, wholly impractical. Might be best to get a bit of Wogan during the week and listen to the Best of Moyles Podcast on Thursdays…

Robbie Williams
New single, “Tripping” I think, is excellent. Didn’t like Radio (but appreciated the post-Chambers change in direction) but this one is brave and different again. He might not get the perma-tanned 30 something’s weak at the knees anymore in the same way Angels did but he knows his audience better than his critics do. His recent (vaguely bitter) handling of a press conference showed a greater intelligence than many might give him credit for.

Other stuff I’ve been listening to: Shakespeare Sister and P J Harvey, makes a change to get some thoughtful lyrics through my headphones. Steve Wright in the afternoon has made a change too, I’ve not listened to him since he was on Radio 1 – and this show is very similar – but I think the repetitive nature of it means that it’s only worth listening to on two or three days a week.

BMW 1 Series
A new 1 series M Sport version has been announced. Not technically an M1 but more an improved petrol range-topper with a bit of an M-range styling makeover. As Andrew Frankel pointed out in the Sunday Times Driving supplement though you could get a 330i for £2,310 more which seems to make more sense. I’m prepared for BMW to lend me one to change my mind though. Get in touch BMW UK …

International Arrivals

Neglected to add international visitors:

• Forty visits: USA


• Four visits: Canada


• Three visits: Germany, Netherlands


• Two visits: Australia, Denmark, Singapore, Malaysia, Spain, Sweden, Belgium


• One visit Portugal, Taiwan, Nepal, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Argentina, Slovenia, France, Philippines.

Humble Pie

Sometimes you have to eat humble pie. Last night as I travelled down to Hampshire in what must have been one of the most delayed motorway excursions I’ve ever had, I had the fortune to be listening to various BBC radio reports about New Orleans. Coupled with a flick through the paper on the train back from Norwich that evening, I began to realise that yesterday’s post on the situation there was bordering on the offensively naïve.

In the same way that the world has had to re-asses America’s political integrity and foreign policy in the wake of the disasterous ‘occupation’ of Iraq, so we are having to re-asses America’s socio-democratic integrity following the scenes of physical and social devastation in the flooded Southern States.

How can it be that this beacon of global development, the “land of the free and the home of the brave”, sends National Guardsmen to randomly drop water supplies on citizens and let an anarchic mob control the distribution? How can rows of gun-toting soldiers stand by in silence and inaction as scores of desperate people are jostled, anxious and confused in conditions of mediaeval squalor? I simply do not understand how this stellar country has failed to prepare adequately for such a well-forecast disaster. School buses, for example, remained un-moved when they could so easily have been used to ferry the impoverished and infirm from the danger zone.

I read also of the elderly, abandoned and dying in wheelchairs. A conference centre packed with people of all ages expiring through neglect, whilst across town the Superdome is terrorised by armed and violent gangs who are raping and beating fellow citizens, all the while the World’s cameras buzz overhead.

I (often wrongly) draw comparsions with our own country. What if Manchester was plunged into similar circumstances? Would the notrious gangs of Salford be so violent, disrespectful and armed with guns? Would efforts to bring law-and-order by our police and servicemen be met with similar armed resistance? Would our troops, famous for their ‘hearts and minds’ approach, be successful with that strategy or would they too fail to distribute aid with any sense of priority? My belief is that this would not be the case and the American response is a simple reflection of the proliferation of guns and a misguided notion that this heavily evangelical region is a community with unquestionable Christian morality and integrity.

The situation in the southern states (ironically as it was in post-invasion Iraq) has been handled abysmally. Hindsight is indeed a wonderful thing and it is easy to criticise from a distance but the facts remain. The majority of the wealthy and the able escaped the city. The poor and infirm were trapped. Officials knew for some time the threat Katrina posed and provision was made with neither time nor skill, to evacuate the city comprehensively. It is obvious (and accepted by the gorvenment) that relief was too slow, too disorganised and did not consider the security situation.

America needs to wake-up quickly. On the one hand we said America was too insular and needed to think global to address foreign policy. Now Americans will be wondering how it is troops can invade a country but can’t prevent anarchy in their own backyard. Whether the country is introspective or has Imperial aspirations it seems to approach both inadequately. Things have to change and it’s unbearable to think that this Administration has just secured “Four More Years”.

But now is not the time to pass judgement, it is time to put aside objections about policy. America, so often first to help, needs the world’s attention and comprehensive assistance. Britain should contribute in money and in manpower. Those who say otherwise must consider whether this would be forthcoming were the reverse to be true. The answer is “of course it would”.

• Here's a blog from the 'Eye Of The Storm' which is somewhat better at reflecting the conditions than I am
  

Katrina's Wake: A Humanitarian Disaster?

A body floats in floodwater in New Orleans(image from Flickr)

I’ve got a page in my FiloFax which is filled with Blog topics but Katrina is begging to be discussed. As most armchair-analysts do, I have spent the last few days watching the footage on TV and passing ill-informed comment. My initial reactions were “they shouldn’t have stayed, it’s their own fault”, “looters are scum, there’s no excuse”, “the Authorities are doing all they can” and so on.

It transpires that, despite being given plenty of days notice, many of these people – predominantly black ‘African Americans’ - couldn’t escape the city. The cost and logistics of public transport meaning that options were limited. I’m not sure how much of this I believe. Everyone in America has a car and gas costs less than Pepsi. If you couldn’t get out, you must have known someone who could and would. The reasons people have stayed therefore are multi-faceted.

» A belief that the storm wasn’t as serious as officials predicted.
» The assumption that it would be 48hrs of wind and rain – not that the levees would break and cut them off.
» To protect property from looting (a popular view, easily proposed with hindsight)
» Infirm, old, disabled or incapacitated in any way.

Whatever their reasons, a proportion did stay and the dramatic scenes on TV and documented on

Flickr show the fragility of the society they created. In particular the result of their impoverished layer of society. I can’t assume that middle-class educated citizens would behave differently of course but in the absence of any comparison scenario I am unable to see these events as anything other than the product of an ill-educated strata of society that has always been living perilously close to anarchy.The actions of looters are deplorable aren’t they? Where does one cross the line though? Is breaking a shop window to get to food and water looting? Is it material gain or a simple act of subsistence? Are property rights sacrosanct in such an environment? I would say that taking anything other than that essential for human survival is looting, the media is debating this furiously. The images of dreadlocked men floating out of supermarkets with beer cannot be excusable on any level. However, is this another race issue. Does it matter if the “looter” is black or white (alternative interpretations of that picture)?

A hungry survivor? Or a starving survivor? You decide…

People are sitting there on TV sobbing and screaming about people suffering from hunger when they’ve not eaten a full meal for all of 48hrs. These are people used to (albeit nutritionally-poor) above average amounts of food on a daily basis, any enforced fasting is going to seem like a big deal. People aren’t likely to go un-rescued for anything longer than 3-4 days, whilst very very difficult for people this is hardly a case of people dying of malnutrition. I saw one guy, about 230lbs, in a clean white t-shirt waving his hands at the camera pleading starvation, I may be cynical but this guy is hungry having not eaten for a few days, not starving. Given that a film crew got in, he can get out.

To finish I accept the situation is critical, deplorable even. But it is not a humanitarian disaster in the same way that the Asian Tsunami was, or the Sudan is. This is America, the media love images of gun-toting looters and the distressed public and this is what we’re being fed. In less than 24 hours the

Superdome will be cleared, the choppers will have deposited enough guardsmen to enforce law and order and people will begin to focus on what’s really important in New Orleans – whether there’ll be Mardi Gras.

China Crisis

Trying to get my head round this Chinese import problem. It seems the focus of the newsmen’s ire is the fact that there won’t be as much cheap tat on the shelves at Asda, Tesco and Primark as there should be because Peter Mandleson and his Euro cronies are being a bit mean and not letting Chinese goods in because they’ve made more than their import quota. The point is (and for once I’m right behind the French on this one) we should be protecting the fragile European textile industry.

[hypocrisy warning: this post might contradict some elements of this one]

Here in the Kingdom of the East Angles (that separate state that Jade referred to as East Angular) there is evidence all around of the boom years in the textile industry. You only have to look at the grand buildings of Lavenham and Norwich to see what a bit of wool and factory labour could do. I’m not saying that these were great times for everyone in society and I’m no historian but I see no reason as to why we couldn’t force ourselves to produce more stuff in this country. The way I see it, impounding half a billion pounds worth of jumpers, bras and trousers isn’t going to derail the Asian economy but this emerging wave of cheap imports could substantially damage Europe’s. Everyone seems to hate the US these days but their economy has grown, in part, due to their clever use of quotas. Look at the efforts made to protect their steel industry. If Europe is to survive as a trading bloc it needs to be clever in the same way, ensuring member states’ economies can provide for each other without having to rely on Asian goods to fill the ‘budget’ market.

That is not to say we shouldn’t trade with the East or the West but that we should leverage our position in the world to ensure we get the best of both. What’s the alternative? We’ve replaced traditional primary and secondary industries (mining, fabrication etc.) with low-level tertiary ones (call centres) and yet these are now leaking out to the Indian sub-continent. Whilst nature abhors a vacuum and the sensible answer is to assume ‘something’ will fill their place, it’s difficult to see what. For my part I think a few more intelligent industries, high-tech cost-efficient production (of which textiles could be one) and such like would be a good start. Agriculture is another one. With the climate apparently shifting toward a Mediterranean one for Northern Europe, is now the time for us to re-visit our agricultural leanings? We could become a net exporter of food to the developing world and the rest of Europe, improving our own health with a supply of locally grown produce at the same time. The knock-on effect of greater scientific research into cost-efficient, sustainable high-tech agriculture could benefit us all too. I’m not advocating a return to the ecologically damaging deforestation and hedgerow removal of the last 30 years, but more of the intelligent organic farming (c.f this debate) that, at the moment is too low volume and costly.

I risk verging on to topics I don’t quite understand but that’s the beauty of blogging. You rarely get challenged! I just think that instead of moaning about the likelihood of paying a few more quid for a jumper (which I conceded in an earlier posting might actually be keeping our inflation in check) could be offset by a general boost in our economy by an emphasis on more home-grown production. I know Clarkson always bangs on about the fact that it’s British engineering that we should be proud of and that ingenuity in this area is being ignored, I would add that this woeful neglect of our own national potential has a great opportunity to shine in the next few years as we move towards becoming an international showcase. After China in 2008 will flex its muscles as an (emerging) superpower we have a chance to show, in 2012, what a traditional superpower once was and that in the first decades of this millennia, there’s more to a nation than sheer weight of numbers, that democracy, human rights and the environment are more worthwhile than the numbers of jumpers you can produce in a year.

I really would be interested in comment on this. Feel free to add comments by clicking the ‘comments’ link at the bottom right of this post.

Abercrombie & Fitch store in London: Details

OPENS MARCH 22nd 2007 CONFIRMED

Thanks to the (honestly) thousands of people that have viewed and the tens of people that have emailed or commented on this post. The wait is over.

MOST RECENT UPDATES AT THE END OF THIS POST (AND IN COMMENTS)

-----original post follows-----

An update on my Abercrombie & Fitch posting (currently the most popular posting on this blog) … A&F are set to take-over the Jil Sander store at Burlington Gardens in London with plans to open more stores across the UK.

At present it’s anticipated that these will be the only outlets – i.e. Not through wholesale agreements and in-store franchises. Presumably they still want the brand to keep a level of exclusivity in the UK.
10th November 2005 ... read about some problems they appear to have had with recruitment
The Burlington Gardens store was anticipated to open in 2006 if this letter regarding recruitment of London Abercrombie & Fitch staff is to be believed.

:: Update 25.November.2005
This post continues to draw traffic from Google and so I'm duty bound to update it. According to Kiplinger's Personal Finance the Abercrombie & Fitch London store is due to open in 2007. This information is repeated on PR Newswire. and seems to have stemmed from their official Q3 2005 fiscal annoucements.

Old Sources
There’s an article in Vogue, “The Fitch Pitch” And on Fashion United

Update 11.FEB 2006
Here's an application for planning permission to Westminster City Council to amend the current Jil Sander store in Burlington Gardens for the use of Abercrombie and Fitch. I don't know the status of this application however.

Update 24.MAR 2006
Another bit of detail on the applications for planning permission to Westminster City Council, there are a range of applications that have been submitted. This is the most recent one to change first floor use at 1 Old Burlington Street from class B1 (Offices) to class A1 (Retail) and perform interior refit. This was submitted on 17th February 2006 by their appointed architects, Househam Henderson. If anyone knows more about this, please let me know.

Update 05.SEP 2006

Michael Page posted this ad for a payroll manager at the new store. There are additional planning applications lodged with Westminster City Council too...

Update 13.NOV 2006

March 2007 is the most likely date for the opening of the Abercrombie & Fitch London store according to an email I received recently and this response on Yahoo Answers. If anyone from A&F wants to invite me to the opening for being the top blog search response for A&F london they can contact me here. Added the image of the hoarding from Bello on Flickr, thanks very much!

Blogging at 115MPH

Sat here on GNER's Mallard service to Leeds and blogging as the train departs Doncaster ... amazing really as I'm fully connected through the wonders of wireless. GNER were the first people in the UK to offer this service on the move and it's fantastic ... now, if only I could access the work network through VPN, then that'd really be something. Will just have to do some 'offline' work instead ...

Piano Man 'Sham'

As if to confirm my assertions that this part of North Kent is a bit of a peculiar place, the Piano Man ‘mystery’ was solved today when it turned out the guy was a German, never played more than one note on the piano and simply discharged himself and flew back home to a family farm. Great. The only mystery now is the West Kent NHS and Social Care Trust’s sudden insistence on patient confidentiality when previously it was more than happy to let the media print what they liked about the whole daft affair. I also have absolutely no idea why the Mirror thinks it’s relevant to mention the fact he’s homosexual. There’s an element of venom in their sentence that he’s ‘a gay German’

Various sources
:: The Mirror’s ‘exclusive’ .. Piano Man Sham
:: The Times takes a more considered approach and
:: BBC News post their first effort around mid-morning today which lacked any of the Times’ detail.

Technorati Tag: piano man

Nuts, Gillette build on the Everyman momentum

Like most men I need to shave regularly and, like most men in their twenties, I need to check for lumps regularly too. I’d never put the two together but Gillette have. Opened a pack of new blades this morning and a little leaflet feel out from Cancer Research. What a great idea. Now, I consider myself pretty well-informed on the issue, as an educated rational male I don’t see the sense in being all coy about such things but here was a great way of pushing the issue into something routine. A piece of advice (sadly left to the back of the leaflet) suggested checking yourself when you refill your blades on your razor. What a neat little idea. The leaflet wasn’t patronising, was positive and contained all the stuff you’d want to know and links to more if you’re a little more curious.

There have been some great successes in breaking the stigma of testicular cancer in the last five years:

:: Lance Armstrong. The book, the success, the wristbands. No-one epitomises human victory from testicular cancer the way Lance does.
:: Robbie Williams’ cinema/TV ad which aired a few years ago. No-nonsense and raised awareness, first outing for the Everyman group.
:: Rachel Stevens … a personal favourite and another Everyman idea … take a look at her cheeky ad

As far as I was concerned, the message had got through, “check yourself” but this Gillette idea really made me think about keeping up a regular pattern of examination and for that to come from such a simple device is particularly impressive.

Sunday Supplement

Excuse me for filching the title of Parkison's show on Radio2 but a long journey back from Reading this morning got me thinking about plenty of things to blog about and MP was nattering on in the background. Thought it was odd that he uses his TV show theme to introduce the show. Would have to assume from that that he's got the rights to it. He did play a new track from Cullum’s album ‘Catching Tales’, it was ‘On Day Will Come’ and I wasn’t much impressed I have to say. At least he'll get in the charts which is something that appeals to Jamie who's a bit less cynical and peculiar than Madeleine Peyroux who's gone missing just as he album sales climb.

Anyway, I'm going to do these in bullet points as I remember ...

1. Read an interesting article on using MindJet's MindManager to blog ... not got round to it yet, assume things flow by typing (see previous post regarding scepticism about MindMapping)

2. Started to read THISISVILLE! and realised my posts aren't always as cerebral as they could be. Lead me to some interesting stuff on Britishness which is worth a read if that sort of this interests you. Not sure on his slating of Michael Buerk by the way, from what they were saying on the radio this morning it seems his RT interview has been misquoted. I think gender debates are fascinating though, I really do. Having been at York and now being engaged to someone who studied under de Groot and Rendall there, I have to listen to an awful lot of gender politics and I always try and think of this stuff in relation to my interpretations of Sacha Baron-Cohen and some of my evolutionary Psych reading, it's not always easy and the only certainties are that such debates will continue ad infinitum. THISISVILLE! also one of many sites around the web praising Mo Mowlem. How weird that we've lost Mo and Robin Cook in one month? Two labour stalwarts and (particularly in the case of Mo) two politicians that were as shrewdly aware of their plublic image and how to play it as Tony himself. The only two that could match this in the Tories were Ann Widecombe and Boris Johnson though notably neither has had the same governmental success. Perhaps their excentricities went too far.

3. Despite my optimistic postings, it seems that the demolition and development on the waterfront in Ipswich isn't quite progressing as nothing's been done since the banners went up. In cyberspace (eugh!) this is mirrored by the fact that a cheeky lifecoach has registered the url http://www.ipswichwaterfront.com to cash in on his business. You have to wonder why? If someone's looking for leisure and entertainment on the Ipswich Waterfront or accommodation etc. why would they then think 'oh, a life coach, actually let's have a look and book up some sessions?' this sort of URL hijacking is idiotic. No doubt he'll now expect the council's marketing department to stumble across this URL and pay him 000s for it out of our council tax. Pillock.

4. Had a trawl through some bookmarks today in my browser. I've got loads of the damn things and many of them link to things I was planning on looking at again but I can't for the life of me remember why. It's a revelation looking through them to see what, at various browsing stages, interested you. Why not have a look through yours in a spare moment.

5. The economy. Why is it that petrol prices are going sky-high, my electricity bill is significantly more than last year and eating and drinking out seems to cost a ruddy fortune ... yet inflation is peanuts? well, it's because other prices are sinking and cancelling out these rises and we're all getting paid more too. The cost of clothes, consumer electricals and furnishings are all sinking at a ridiculously fast rate due to the emerging economies of the East being able to produce these items much much cheaper. In tandem with this, their demand for resources - coal, oil and financial services - are pushing those costs higher and higher. These economies (and I'm thinking particularly of China and India) have grown so quickly that they either don't have the material required (oil) or haven't had time to put it in place (services) hence the need to import these in massive quantities. In the developed world this is pouring money in to financial centres inflating wages and keeping price rises in energy in proportion. Perhaps this is an over-simplified model but it helped me to understand why - when I feel that I'm pouring more than I should be away in petrol and bills - I do not seem to be significantly worse off because of it. (Read this and some comment on another site)

6. Lost. Should finally get round to watching these this week on tape.

7. Danny Wallace, I will blog about this eventually...

Right, all done. If I remember more stuff I was supposed to blog about I'll let you know below...

Technorati Tag : ipswich waterfront

XFactor Heralds Month of Nonsense

Sat here on the train on the way back from antoher Friday drinks session with Anna, Chris, Helen and Anthony and the easy thing to blog about would be our conversatios about the Norwich accent and the general ephemera of life around Norfolk’s country town. But I’ll dare to be different. This time I’ll get cerebral. The prose might not be the best I’ve ever produced but the benefits of a few pints and a bit of iTunes shuffle should mean there’s some coherence to my rthoughts.

Laura mentioned today at work that the new series of Xfactor starts on Saturday night. Worryingly I had no awareness. I prided myself on the fact that I’d avoided Big Brother this year. Don’t get me wrong, having watched four seasons of it, I was b ound to pick up an idea of what was going on and who the major players swere but I had no real understanding of each member of the house. I was amazed really at my own nonchalence. This was only ever challenged at the vweekends duering the eviction shows. Anyway, I watch Xfactor only for the voyeuristic enjoyment of watching peculiar Britons exposing there tragic lack of talent in a faceless conference room at a second-rate hotel. That’s what’s so appealing about Saturday’s show. Not the thought that we’ll stumble across some amazing vocal talent or the glitzy production and backstage gossip but the feeling that your watching someone hurl themselves at the pages of Closer/Heat/Now with everything they’ve got. You see the thing is these woeful wannabees used to be a sideshow as we romped towards the reveal of the final contestents. These days the tragicomic warblings of the socially outcast are the main attraction for the first few weeks. Surely we can expect literally minutes of ITV2 and GMTV footage to be devoted to the poorly costumed, vocally challenged and socially inept of society in the next few weeks.

These shows invariably now take a turn for the worse as we tumble inexorably toward the Christmas climax in a studio of Coke-addled pre-teens presided over by a perma-tanned Kate Thornton. You ended up pinning your colours to the mast of one act in the vain hope that it will say something about your musical taste and social class at the the coffee machine in the office on Monday. “I like Steve, he can hold anote and seems to be quite diverse in his output”. Bollocks. You can’t identify with the camp-as-christmas interior designer from Hitchin and the urban funk of Chantelle from Streatham seem to have passed you by, the middle class nu-soul of Steve is safe and at least you recognise some of his act.
By Sunday we’ll have an idea of where this show is headed. Is it destined to be the awkward second series or does the amount of dross.

one opportunity to shine ... missed

Another bit of dialogue between myself and one ...

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Email to Customer Relations
customer.services@onerailway.com

Dear Sirs,

A quick enquiry as to your revenue protection strategy, otherwise known as fare enforcement.

For the past two weeks I’ve noticed a particularly irritating trend. Passengers boarding the train at Ipswich without tickets and then waiting for the conductor to ask them for a ticket before buying a single to Stowmarket … as the conductor takes time to do the rounds they are being asked to pay for their tickets just as the train arrives in Stowmarket. They then concoct a story about ‘are you sure that’s the price’ or similar and as this takes enough time they have to leave the train for their stop before a ticket can be issued. Even if they get their ticket, I can’t help but feel that should be charged a penalty fare.

I always understood that you need a ticket to travel, in fact, you should need at least a ticket-to-ride before stepping on to the platform (a so-called ‘compulsory ticket area’). On commuting lines in the south east and in many other areas there are revenue protection barriers – Colchester seems to be the last point on the one line where these are used. Surely improving your revenue protection will increase your income and enable you to invest in more station and service improvements? Why is it that idiots like those doing the shuttle-run to Stowmarket are so able to get away with cheating you out of revenue and (by implication) increasing the need to raise standard fares to compensate.

I know there is a cost implication for barriers – as a commuter on the South Eastern lines from Kent a few years ago, Connex produced a figure to show the cost per barrier and per member of staff to supervise these barriers. This cost I recall seemed more than manageable when taken into consideration with the fares being lost by customers evading them at unmanned stations or by duping the conductors such as is happening daily on one.

The occasional ‘show of force’ that one put in place every couple of months with inspections at Norwich and Ipswich stations does little to deter people. Again, the public know they could arrive at the station and just pay the fare with no penalty. If we all just ‘took a chance’ then we’d only ever have to pay 50% of the time and, even then, only to/from the nearest stations.

One is lagging far behind in modernising its practises. A new ‘virtual assistant’ on the website is going to do nothing to improve journeys on the line, more money in your coffers from dishonest travellers definitely would.

Please explain.

Yours sincerely,
John Gibbard

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Email from Customer Relations
customer.services@onerailway.com
reference: 143988

Dear Mr Gibbard,

Thank you for your recent email.

Ticket inspection is carried out by Revenue Protection Inspectors (RPIs) on a 'spot check' basis - both at stations and on trains.

We do not aim to have an RPI on every train: indeed, it would not be cost effective to do so. However, the fact that we operate a Penalty Fare system and have automatic ticket gates at eight of our busiest stations is sufficient to deter a substantial amount of fraudulent travel. However I have passed you comments to the Revenue Protection Team based at Norwich who are responsible for this service.

Since 1992, the level of ticketless travel has been reduced from approximately 4% to about 1.2% - although this still represents a significant loss of revenue on an annual turnover of over £300m.

Although I am sure you will appreciate it is not possible to eliminate fraud altogether, all revenue protection data is analysed by computer so we can identify and target specific trains and stations where there is a higher risk of revenue loss. Also, we are always willing to follow up on specific reports from passengers who have believe that someone is travelling fraudulently. Such information is, of course, treated confidentially.

I hope these comments reassure you that we do make serious efforts to protect our revenue.

Yours sincerely,
xxxx, Customer Relations Advisor

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Email to Customer Relations
customer.services@onerailway.com
Reference: 143988

xxxx, I'm afraid your response is rather disappointing. It appears you only read my email in a cursory manor and sent something like a stock response which read more like a corporate statement than an attempt to address specific concerns.

You, rather optimistically state: "the fact that we operate a Penalty Fare system and have automatic ticket gates at eight of our busiest stations is sufficient to deter a substantial amount of fraudulent travel" However my issue in the original mail was that the penalty fare was not being charged. When the conductor on the service discovers someone without a ticket they are invited to pay the standard open single fare and allowed to continue their journey. Whilst this is the most expensive fare it is, in the case of the travelers to Stowmarket I mentioned, just £3.20 and therefore hardly a deterrent. Likewise, there is little to stop me traveling to Norwich from Ipswich without a ticket and, on arrival at Norwich if presented with a spot-check, simply paying the price of a single from Diss. Granted I may be approached by a conductor on the train but it would pose no problem for me to ask for a ticket from the most recent station. The point I am trying to make is that every passenger should have a ticket before travel. If it is discovered they do not have one when already traveling they should be charged a penalty fare on top of the ticket price.

How much would it cost to install barriers at the mainline stops at Ipswich and Norwich? Ipswich has one major platform exit and that could easily be served by 6 barriers in the ticket hall. Norwich could have 4 or 5 per platform. As most people North of Colchester are traveling to these hub stations it makes perfect sense to install barriers here. Doing so would be a highly visible deterrent and make the opportunistic fraudulent traveler almost extinct. Granted, it would not solve the short-trip fraud I've witnessed in recent weeks between Ipswich and Stowmarket but it does send the signal that one are more serious about ticketless travel.
Sincerely,
John Gibbard

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Email from Customer Relations
customer.services@onerailway.com
Reference: 143988
Dear Mr Gibbard

Thank your for you email, although I am sorry if you were disappointed with my response.

Although my reply was certainly the company stance regarding Revenue Protection, I can assure you that we do take concerns such as those you raised very seriously. I also stated in my reply that I would send a copy of your e mail to the Revenue Protection Team at Norwich responsible for the route.

You are right when you state that to travel, a valid ticket should be held (with a few exceptions applicable ie unmanned stations). As a company it is certainly in ours and fare paying passengers interests to maintain a constant revue as to how effective our current methods of revenue collection are. Although any alteration in the scheme that we currently operate would have to be agreed by the Strategic Rail Authority.

Once again. I can confirm that your concerns have been forwarded to the relevant department and thank you for contacting me.

Kind regards
xxxxxx

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Email to Customer Relations
customer.services@onerailway.com
reference: 143988

xxxxx,

Once again I appreciate you taking the time to write to me and once again I have to smile at your complete avoidance of the issue of penalty fares. My point is simply that your policy (which, if you are unfamiliar is available on your website at http://www.onerailway.com/contents/download/penalty-fares.pdf) states that you'll be charged a penalty fare "if you travel on a penalty fare train from a penalty fare station without a valid ticket for your entire rail journey, ‘Permit to Travel’ or other authorisation." I have since discovered from this that the section from Ipswich to Norwich is not a penalty fare route. This answers my question and would have been the simplest way to rebut my response. Of course, it does raise another question, "why is this route not a Penalty Fare route?" and I believe you may have answered this in a previous email with some reference to statistics on fare avoidance/evasion.

It might surprise you to know xxxx, that you can not know how many people are travelling without tickets on this section of the line as by virtue of the fact they are avoiding fares they avoid any opportunity for 'one' to collect statistics - no-one from 'one' is standing at Norwich or on the train saying "no ticket? Ok, thanks for letting us know, I'll note that down for our statistics".

So, to finish up, I re-assert that 'one' are incompetently missing a trick by not being diligent with revenue protection in the apparently 'lawless' wilds of North Suffolk and Norfolk. Combine this with my earlier correspondence surrounding a fire on the train in May, the broken air conditioning, regular delays and rolling stock from the 1970s and you've got an over-priced shambolic regional train operator that no-one in this region has any right to be proud of.

Don't worry xxxx, I'm not after a response as I think I've pretty much exhausted the talents of your customer liaison team and will revert to writing to other people to moan about why the burgers in McDonalds don't resemble the pictures and why my Blue Nun comes with a screw top and not a cork. I'm sure you'll understand how busy this keeps me.

Lance in the Bush

Well, technically, ‘Lance in the Bush Ranch’ but then that doesn’t make a good headline. What does make a good headline is “Rabid Rabbi Runs Amok” which was what a paper in Dunstable recently ran with after, surprisingly, a rabid Rabbi did indeed run amok. But I digress, whilst that headline may have written itself, this blog will not.

I opened my pocket (if it was a clown’s pocket) sized Times today to find a story about (multi Tour-winning) Lance Armstrong spending some time at the Bush family ranch in Texas. It’s hardly a revelation to me that a fellow Texan is being invited to share campfire stories and herd cattle but what is a revelation is the President’s apparent level of fitness. Having heard about his mountain biking accident at the G8 and various mishaps in the past I was shocked to discover he has a resting pulse of 47 and can run 3 miles in under 20 minutes. I used to be reasonably fit and strong and am hoping to regain that and more in the run-up to our wedding in 2007 but I’m fairly sure that reaching those levels of fitness could take some considerable work … and I’ve got 31 years on the President. Ok, so he might be a bit clueless at times but you can’t dispute those figures. He must ensure his security team have similar levels of stamina to keep up … unless he supplies them with horses. (aside: more about the Prairie Chapel Ranch)

Oddly, the article goes on to describe that Lance is actually a bit left of centre. How odd that we are even made aware of a sportsman’s feelings on abortion, the Iraq war and so on (more about Lance's political aspirations)… does this affect the ordinary man? It says more about the long hours spent in the saddle pondering the Big Questions than it does about the political aspirations of sporting champs. In the UK I can’t imagine asking Paula Radcliffe, David Beckham, Ellen McCarthur or Steve Redgrave where they stood on such issues. But it’s not unlikely that a tabloid paper could discover and discuss Tony Blair’s resting heart rate. I’d wager that our premier isn’t in quite as rude health as his Cowboy chum. Best he gets Paula round to Chequers post haste.