He had whiskers on his chin again

For those of you even slightly concerned about my bus stop - I cooled off since the summer when they said they would take down the advertising panel on the shelter, so we could see and not knock people down when we drove out of the path. I waited. Months.

Along came the wind and blew them in again

Then I sent an email every so often to everyone involved. No reply. Then I cc'd my local councillor (whom I have met a number of times over this matter). Yesterday she replied - turns out everyone involved in this at London Buses and Camden has moved on. Start again again.

Poor old Michael Finnegan....Begin again.

Turns out Pure and Simple is neither pure nor simple [thanks, Courtenay].

So, fortuitously, on the way to a meeting in Camden, I saw a mobile phone shop that sells wire things. So I spent twenty quid on a generic piece of wire for my 7250i (120 pictures and climbing). I've installed the "software", so it recognises me, but I can't find the "software" to transfer the pics with. The Readme files has these helpful hints:

"The best step of using the USB Cable is to plug in USB Cable firstly, then to plug in Mobile Phone and work the software.
The sequence is opposite while closing. You have to close the software firstly, then pull out USB Cable . Otherwise, the
computer won??t be work normally or will be cut off.

The operation is probably different because the different model of Mobile Phone has different software to support. Moreover
, the software of different model which can support the functions and has the greatest difference. You will be clear the
detailed information if you check the assistant file of software. "

So, none the wiser, then. I do have a (new?) programme in my programme list called PL-2303 USB Serial Driver, which could be it, but the only option is to uninstall. Duh.

When did life get this hard?

I'm having "coffee" with so many people today that I feel like a cross between an insurance salesperson and Chief Marketing Officer for Costbucks.

I think it should be known that I made superlative butternut squash and sage rissotto last night. I'll post the recipe as soon as I get a chance, but I think the secret is (a) in the nutmeg, (b) cooking the squash in vegetable stock and then using that as the liquid for the rice (with some nice wine, of course), and (c) good company.

Why is no-one else worried about parabens in shampoos and hair products? Say something, please.

Some say baigel (bay-gull), some say beigel (buy-gull) - the capital's vanishing beigel trail (which I am convinced they're spelling wrong. Call me a Litvak, if you must.)

Nextbook.org - a gateway to Jewish literature, culture and ideas.

From yesterday's FT (and courtesy of my Dad) - Business logs on to blogging. I mean, enterprise blogging, isn't that just a shared network drive?

"Along with other potentially disruptive technologies, weblogs or "blogs" have come a long way in a very short time. Now some believe this new form of web-based publishing is poised to enter the corporate mainstream.

While some workplace weblogs are being set up by "rogue" employees, with or without official sanction, a growing number of organisations in both the public and private sector are recognising the potential of weblog technology to streamline communications, reduce e-mail overload and improve co-operation.

"We see this as an enormous potential market," says Greg Lloyd, president and co-founder of Providence, Rhode Island-based Traction Software, one of the emerging market leaders in the enterprise weblog tools market.

"Blogs provide the ability for individuals to be able to write directly to the web using simple Office tools techniques, no more complicated than e-mail, to basically have an archive of their thoughts and conversations automatically maintained in time order," he says.

"This has just enormous implications for how people handle working communications and business processes and we are really at the beginning of that."

Michael Gartenberg, research director at Jupiter Research, the US-based IT consultancy, agrees that weblogging has caught the attention of business, but he cautions that it is still early days. "Enterprise weblogging is attracting a lot of corporate interest as a way of streamlining communications," he says."

Sadly, you have to have a subscription, so there's not a whole point in my even linking. Sorry.

I'm never sure if your pronounce B3TA as Bee-tuh or bee-three-tee-ay. You know, like C3PO.

How retro. Clearly from the pre-suicide bomber era (remember the IRA on the mainland? How there were always evacuations? Five minute warnings? Don't you just wish for that now...) - French railways search for their threatened bombs on foot.

What do KMS HairPlay, Redken Soft Ends, KMS Curl Up, Modern Elixirs Styling Serum, Big Sexy Hair Conditioner,
and even the organic stylee Phytomist have in common?

They all have parabens listed as an ingredient. 100% of them. Sheesh.

A series of good hair days.

OK. Consistent, mild low-level panic all the time. Three unfinished projects? Great idea and no time to write? Time of the month? Slight sore throat, but could just be too many late nights? Mmmm.

Time To Move On?

I know there are geeks out there. Some of them might even swing by here ocassionally (I once had a boss who was always swinging by my office. I felt like Tarzan. Or Jane). Anyway, I need to move on from Micr$s$ft Outlook - it's terrible with IMAP, and it's upsetting me. I need something that looks nice, synchronises with a palm PDA, and does IMAP without breaking twice a day. Ideas?

So just yesterday I set my blog to email me everytime I post. Which is cool; I always think that I must make a proper backup. But now I - randomly - get the post when I post it, then about twelve hours later, and then sometimes some other time too. Gah?

Because you've probably always wanted to read my blog in Russian. At least, I'm guessing it's Russian.

Update: I guessed wrong. Shit happens. It's Greek, apparently (as in it's all Greek to me). Thanks M.

Autism: except I can't help wondering if Simon Baron-Cohen is Ali G's brother.

Milion Writers Award for Fiction.

the Blogosphere?a land where the smart get smarter, the connected connect to one another, and the losers go home: blogging on blogging again. At the Village Voice.