emmaswift.com

New Blog - new bike!

2009-07-26T19:10:00.003+01:00

Well, it took me some time to get around to this, but I now have a fully functioning Blog, rather than the half-hearted effort that previously adorned these pages... no difference should be seen from your side, but the mechanics behind have changed.

So what does this mean?

Well, hopefully more blog entries on a more timely basis... but then there are always many, many things to do, so possibly not.

So along with the new blog, is the new bike - a nice little number (Giant Hybrid) that has finally made me feel "at one" on 2 wheels. I never learnt to ride until I was embarressing old (okay, perhaps I'd term it young these days - 17), so I have alot to learn. Haven't had too many near accidents yet, and, am actually cycling the 10 mile round journey to work... once a week. I'm loving it though, and it's so nice to use your own steam to get around. The best thing being is my back feels so great - not that it was perceptibly un-great - but the cycling seems to elongate and relax my spine. Altogether I am enjoying this (almost as much as when I discovered running in 2000). Let's hope it lasts longer than the running (hmm, last race was May 2008 for a 5k).

Anyway, I am about to go and watch the Hungarian Grand Prix - I "taped" (or digiboxed) it this afternoon so I can indulge myself this evening...

And one special message to my niece - Hi Holly, I've finally updated my blog!

Fancy a holiday in Turkey?

2009-06-01T09:00:00.002+01:00

Finally, after some months in the making the latest website has gone live - a chance for some shameless self-promotion. If you fancy a holiday - go and take a look - My Holiday In Turkey

FOWD 2009 - Here I come!!!

2009-02-10T15:00:00.001Z

I got my early bird ticket last month and am beginning to get very excited about being at FOWD again this year. Apparently, there are less than 400 conference passes left so if you want one you had better visit Future of Web Design and get one mighty quick.

Future Of Web Design - London 17th April

2008-04-20T17:57:00.002+01:00

Well, I'm a little late in making my post - but I think the best money I have spent this year is going to this. I was a little nervous about (a) plunging so deep to pay for a ticket and (b) wondering if I would enjoy the conference. I need not have worried - and I shall watch out for those early bird tickets next year.
There were some excellent presentations - in fact, all bar one (Mr Aston Martin - you know who you are) were inspirational works of art - I jest not! Heck, even Mr Aston Martin was impressive too, if you like cars and, more specifically, changing colours of cars....
I knew from the opening when Paul Boeg asked if anyone in the audience had trouble pigeon-holing themselves as a designer, developer, marketeer, SEO specialist or accountant, I knew that I was in safe hands with an audience that shares the issues and passions that I do. Every single presentation had some direct relevance for me, and I learnt something from every one.

The presentations were:

Finding Inspiration for Design by Patrick McNeil

User Experience vs. Brand Experience by Andy Clarke and Steve Pearce

The User Experience Curve by Andy Budd

Adtime(!) - Aston Martin - Microsoft

Getting Your Designs Approved by Larissa Meek

Photoshop Battle : Jina Bolton and Hannah Donovan vs Jon Hicks and Elliot Jay Stocks, umpired by Andy Clarke

Print is the New Web by Elliot Jay Stocks

From Design to Deployment by Jon Hicks

Adtime(!) - Flex - Adobe

Unconventional Ways to Promote Your Site by Paul Farnell

Iteration and You by Daniel Burka

What glitterati for your money! I was actually a tad embarassed as I got particularly star-struck at one point...
I'd be hard pushed to vote for a favourite - but... Jon Hicks was excellent. I thought I knew all about this but I got some fun ideas to try out next time, and I felt he gave some structure to what can be quite a difficult process. Plus, I am a cheese-maniac so the illustration of the process via a cheesophile website went down very well.....
The least enjoyable was the adverts (as I call them) - Microsoft and Adobe (Adobe faired better on this). I was rather surprised that the sponsors did not seem to be trying to 'draw people in' to talk in the foyer - quite different to a Gartner conference I went to in 2003 - where even breakfast was delivered in the centre of the room surrounded by vendors. But having said that, I don't really like it when it has an "enforced selling" atmosphere - and I was pleasantly surprised as this one made me feel very comfortable.
Any improvements? It would have been nice to see more female presenters - Larissa/Jina/Hannah were good - but it would have been nice to see them take centre stage with a design-inspired talk.
Cheap accommodation offer with the ticket would be good - I kept the cost down by staying with my in-laws the night before. I would have loved to go to the party afterwards - but alas - I had a date with the ticket inspector to get to (don't ask - just don't ever try to travel on the underground with a ticket labelled London TERMINALS)...
Counting down the days until the next one...

Yellow Pages, Holland & Barrett and Beautyzone TV

2008-03-04T21:36:00.005Z

My Yellow Pages arrived last week and I remarked to my husband that this must be being delivered more frequently, as it seemed only a few months since the last one. He laughed, and reminded me that it is just the passing of time getting quicker and quicker as I grow older - thanks!!
But it got me thinking (no, not about my age) that perhaps the humble Yellow Pages days are numbered. Yellow Pages has it's online equivalent Yell.com so who needs a paper version? Well, of course I think the older generation probably still want a paper copy. So how about allowing you to opt-out of the yellow book delivery? To me, it would make good business sense - since less deliveries should mean less cost. But would people want to advertise there still if they knew it was going out to less people? Possibly, but inclusion in the online version as well as the paper copy probably mans exposure is more. Plus they have the brand recognition to fall back on. Come on Yellow Pages - think of the good publicity it would bring - you would be environmentally friendly!
Two other points of note - www.hollandandbarrett.com - get your website sorted - I could have run a mile in the time it took for a page to upload - and when I click on a label to view (which is an idea I liked) I don't expect it to be 1.6Mb big.... optimisation required, me thinks???
Which made me think my internet speed must have been playing up as the site was so slow... but I then went onto www.beautyzone.tv (the passing of time obviously requires halting) and discovered it was fine. All the high-res clips were beautifully executed and took no time to load. The only irritation with that one was the ad breaks.... ah well, can't have everything but I learnt some great eyeliner tips!

IE8 - why bother?

2008-03-02T15:15:00.002Z

I was reading today about IE8 and all the controversy about the default mode which will make it behave as IE7 unless you activate the "non-default" options.
Life always seems to be like this - you want to automatically "opt-out" as the default for marketing purposes but some companies still, unfortunately, think it's a god given right for you to be "opted-in". Similarly, I had a right nightmare with my web hosting/WHO.IS to get my details removed - which, happily, has been sorted out.
Why is it that so commonly the wrong "default" option is chosen? I can't see why Microsoft have gone down this route - it is hard enough to believe that they left such a gap between IE6 and IE7 but to redevelop IE8 but effectively "switch it off" seems unbelievably silly.
I'm hopeful that they will see sense - but until then, I guess at least we know how to turn the new functionality on! Goodness knows why people bother with IE at all - give me Firefox every time.

Facebook - it's no revolution!

2008-02-15T18:23:00.004Z

I was really excited when Facebook landed on the scene last year. I thought, wow, here is a useful social networking tool. How wrong was I?
Since signing up last year, I've seen my email rocket by 50% and I seem to miss any important communications from friends, as they seem to assume that now I am a Facebooker, my old email address is actually irrelevant.
I'm fed up of being poked, asked quizzes, comparing friends, gathering an entourage, growing a garden, testing my IQ and being tagged in lots of photos... ok, I don't hate all of them, but, it can be a significant "time bastard" when you are trying to get things done.
So, why don't I delete my account - well, apart from the fact Facebook makes sure you can't remove your information from their grubby little hands - I remain fearful I might miss out... sad, but true.
Oddly the web development group I joined hardly does anything.... which leads me to conclude that you can't beat good old fashioned conversation....
Which nicely brings me around to my next subject - some firms are apparently have "no email" days - what a great idea! One thing I hate about working in the IT industry is the habit of emailing rather than talking (phone or face-to-face). Sometimes, it is unavoidable or encouraged (for example we have a ticket system to deal with helpdesk calls and their resolution - invariably this means you email what you would say on the phone, so you can copy and paste it into the software that keeps track of the original call). But it would be nice to go back to - I'll pop over in 10 minutes, and then you could just click on "case closed" thereafter. I hope this "no email day" initiative grows in popularity... it seems a novel approach.

Go live for SLRO

2008-01-25T14:41:00.001Z

Finally, the SLRO website was launched today. Go and have a nose at http://www.south-liverpool-orchestra.co.uk/. It's function is to give the orchestra a web presence and ultimately encourage people to join up. There are still things I will develop further in due course, but it is 90% there. That's the problem with being a perfectionist - you can never accept anything that isn't 100% - but I am learning....

February sees me travelling to Edinburgh and York, purely for pleasure although I have a horrid cold - the one that EVERYONE seems to have had over Christmas. So I hope I feel better soon.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!!

2008-01-01T10:07:00.001Z

And all too soon, 2007 is over.

Whilst it may look as though it's all been "quiet on the web front", this isn't true. I have been busy producing a website for the South Liverpool Rehearsal Orchestra, which will go live in January 2008. It is a fairly simple site, but fully accessible using xhtml and css. I have been expanding my talents too, undertaking a Flash course over November and December. Not to mention the raft of web design books I was bought for Christmas. 2008 is going to be a fun year!
There will be a redesign to the website in 2008 (once I get time to dabble...). I have various plans for the site, notably upgrading my blog to allow comments, and a following up a few points that my niece Holly advised me on over Christmas. It's nice to get feedback so thanks Holly!
Life as a systems designer goes from strength to strength, it's hardly as if I have sat still since September. I have had the delight of learning Unix, formalising my Oracle PL-SQL knowledge, and finally, and not least - learning about the joys of Name & Address matching. I can honestly say I will never fill in a form half-heartedly or unclearly again - I now know first hand the problems it can cause.

Where did the summer go?

2007-10-01T12:47:00.003+01:00

What happened to the British Summer - it seems even September couldn't make up for the damp dreary time we had. September has been busy. I have moved the day job from Marketing to IT(I am now a systems designer). As with all these things, everything comes along at once, and a few design projects have been keeping me busy. However, it's nice to have the advantage of being in the techy world 24/7 and I have almost forgiven people for the continual "IT Crowd" jokes I have endured.
Facebook has almost driven me mad, increasing my personal email by five times its normal amount. And, it seems to be getting bad press over privacy - not the privacy control, but what is being given to "big brother". At the moment, I see it as harmless fun. I'd love to say it was an invaluable networking tool, but that is just not true. Meeting people and retaining relationships need more than just Facebook to keep them going, I'd like to think.
I also came across an interesting forum on the web regarding web design and development and it's future. It was commenting that advances in development will be so easy in the future, us developers will not be needed. Whilst I can see this to a point, it isn't exactly true, since complex bespoke development is always going to be a requirement of a proportion of projects (and those on the cutting edge). Design talents are much harder to learn, and will always be required. Wishful thinking on my part do you think?

Canada and reading...

2007-08-12T20:04:00.004+01:00

It's been a long time since I have had a chance to write on the blog. It's been a busy time both at work and play! Workwise, I am about to move into a systems designer role in September, and I have three projects on the go from this website. One of these is my own, as I am a bit of an artist on the sly, and it's time to get my genuis out there!
At play, I have had a trip to Canada since I last wrote which was fantastic - everyone says this and it is true. Had a great time in Vancouver browsing all the Indian Art exhibits - it gave me an idea for a new painting in fact. The other two things worthy of mention from my travels was the NATURAL hot springs and Lake Louise - kayaking was superb!
All of these things meant I returned to a backlog of .net magazines, so I have been busy catching up on what is going on in the web world. Keeping an eye out for new gadgets, I am going to be retuning my home page to NetVibes and I have at last got myself on FaceBook which actually the type of social net-working that appeals to me!

It won't replace conversation though in my book. Finally, I plan to upgrade this blog to allow interactivity with my audience. Probably something I should have originally done, and I have a few other things planned for the site too - so watch this space! (Note this is now done! - February 2008)
Until next time, ciao!

Hello and Welcome!

2007-05-25T14:27:00.003+01:00

Well, here it is - my first blog on my own website - I was wondering what on earth I could say that would adequately introduce me... it's quite a tough one! Then I came up with an idea after reading the Observer on Sunday. They have a section where they get someone to answer a series of questions - some serious, some funny. But I do think it gives you a more rounded view.
Where would you most like to live?
The Lake District. I love being there out on the fells. Just got back from there the other weekend actually - in Buttermere. We bagged Haystacks, Red Pike and High Stile - wonderful!
What makes you depressed?
Celebrity culture twinned with reality TV. TV companies think they can put on any old rubbish and people will watch it - what was it last year - Only Fools ON Horses?? What was that about? And don't get me started on Big Brother. The really strange thing is that the celebrity version of that is seen as a way of kick-starting your career - in which case, are you a celebrity in the first place? What is celebrity anyway, there are a lot of people who are, frankly, a waste of celebrity space!! Rant over...
Cat or dog?
Dog. I wanted a cat once upon a time, but I only got as far as putting a cat flap in, and now I own a leather sofa, I can simply kiss goodbye to those dreams. My family and in-laws have dogs, so I get my fill of doggydom there!
What is your favourite word?
Character-building.
What is your favourite smell?
Vanilla.
Aside from a property, what is the most expensive thing you have ever bought?
Aside from my car, tickets to see a Madonna gig in London! It pains me as I have done this twice. You'd think I'd learn... I'm a keen concert goer, and I'm off to see Prince in August which I am very excited about. I also go to the odd classical concert too - I'm quite into Mahler thanks to my husband.
What's your most treasured possession?
Not quite 'possessed', but my husband is a treasure.
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Not continuing to draw and paint as often as I should have in my early twenties. I relieved to say you don't lose your talents!
What has been your biggest achievement?
Three years ago I did the Keswick to Barrow walk. It's nearly 40 miles! Rather stupidly, I only decided to do it a couple of months prior to actual event, didn't train at all, I just woke up and did it. My husband did train and did the whole thing in 6 hours 21 minutes. I was a little later at 13 hours 20 minutes or something... It was very strange to get the call from him to say he had finished it and I was halfway at Coniston. But the sense of achievement was amazing. I have done 5 Great North Runs in my time too. I haven't been running for a year or so now, but hope to get back into it later this year.
If you could edit your past what would you change?
Absolutely nothing. It's made me who I am.
If you could go back in time, where would you go?
1960s - I'm curious to know if you knew were living in a mighty cool era, or did it feel perfectly normal and unremarkable?
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
If you want something badly enough and work hard, you will get there in the end. And that you should enjoy the journey - I am!
Where would you most like to be right now?
Either camping in the Lake District, or at home with a cup of Earl Grey tea