the-warren.com

I’ve been playing around with a few bits of software that might be of interest if you have data you want to manage - photos, music, etc.

I use Mesh, which is currently free from Microsoft and will play a part in Microsoft’s future strategy. Basically it is an online desktop with storage. You can simply upload file there or you can use it to sync data between multiple computers - PCs and Macs. I’ve been using it since it was released and it works really well.

Of course Microsoft have Live which is a host of online apps and tools and this includes SkyDrive. SkyDrive has recently been upgraded so the storage is now 25GB rather than 5GB. This is free to anyone with a Windows Live login.

Two other online backup options are Dropbox and Syncplicity. Dropbox looks great although it is only in beta at the moment. Syncplicity also looks good but has limited free space, once you exceed the free space you need to move to a payment option. That said, it is quite cheap.

I’ve also been running Windows 7 Beta and so far so good. There are no massive changes from Vista but it is better, far fewer annoying messages. It’s still not as good as OS X on the Mac though.

It’s been quite some time since we last posted any entry here so let me see if I can give a quick update on what we have been up to.

I’ve still been traveling quite a bit, Moscow has been a frequent trip and I’ve also been to Johannesburg. I seem to be traveling up to the North West quite often too, mainly because one of our clients is based there. Business has been going well but we are finding it tough right now. Most of our big clients have postponed or cancelled programmes. It is really the smaller clients that are still going ahead. As a result there is not too much travel coming up, Moscow again and hopefully Istanbul.

The boys have all been doing well. Joshua copies his brothers which could be good and bad. James is starting to really enjoy his swimming now that he has moved into the largest pool. Kane just keeps getting taller and taller.

Christmas was great and at New Year we went Wales. Together with two other families - great friends - we hired a cottage. All 13 of us had a great time out in the middle of nowhere. We were actually just on the border of Snowdonia.

Both Vicky and me are working very hard trying to whether the current economic storm which is why there haven’t been many updates. We will try to post more regularly. Of course we still upload photos on a regular basis.

We’ve uploaded the video from Joshua’s Christening and it can be viewed or downloaded here.

Joshua was Christened on Sunday at St James Church. It was a great day - excellent weather and great reception.

It was a joint Christening with Ashton Macklin which made the ceremony even better. Two families who happen to be good friends with lots of mutual friends.

Another good friend of ours, Lisa Jones, kindly took photos and these are now online. Click the link in the right hand panel.

The reception was held at the Queens Oak right next to the church and the whole team at the Queens Oak really made it a great reception. This was also there last day in the pub before handing over to new owners. It was good that they were able to share the day with us.

As I opened our back doors on this fine Thursday afternoon James and I were greeted with a screeching from the bushes! Quick to investigate we expected to find a bird or mouse but to our complete horror (well my horror) there in full view was a SNAKE with a frog in it’s mouth! I of course hand a complete break down whilst James was almost in the bush with it.

I quickly phoned a friend of ours who runs a pest control company who advised “let him have his dinner in peace and then he’ll slither away” smashing! So James and I then calmly whatched it devour the frog before slipping off deeper into the bushes.

Once calm I took a couple of photo’s and said to James he was very lucky to have witnessed such a thing.

Think I’ll leave the rest of my gardening for another day

When most people want to find something on the web they just go to Google and enter a search term. Goole is incredibly good and it’s hard to see how anyone could compete with Google. Even Microsoft and Yahoo continue to struggle to gain market share against Google.

One way to enter the search market is to try something different. There are three search engines I want to share with you to see how others are approaching search. Two of these are from Microsoft and the other is independent, it’s this one I’ll start with. The search engine is viewzi and it attempts to make search more visual. It’s a great interface and rather than trying to do its own search it pulls results from engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc. so you know the results are going to be good.

The two Microsoft search engines are Tafiti and MsDewey. Tafiti attempts to make it easier to bookmark interesting links while continuing the original search. MsDewey is probably one for the guys. It uses a more human interface to present your search results.

Get free stuff (and me a Mac Book Air) by registering at http://gifts.freebiejeebies.co.uk/8791and take advantage of one of their free offers.

Don’t forget to cancel the offer once the free trial has ended.

No posts for sometime, but we’re back. The last few months have been pretty hectic. The business is continuing to grow and we’ve both been tied up in that. Vicky has been making sure the backend of the business - the money part - has been going smoothly and she’s doen a great job. We’ve just changed accountants too which took a little time.

I’ve been travelling quite a bit; since the last post I’ve been all around Europe including Budapest, Vienna, Moscow and Brussells. I can honestly say I have not worked so hard for years and it’s great. Certaintly have no regrets setting up the business.

I keep updating the photos so you should be able to see semi-regular updates to these if you keep checking.

Both Vicky and I are also on Facebook too if you want to find us there. There’s also the business blog too.

More soon!

No post for a while and that’s simply down to being so busy. There has been a huge amount of travel this year, including Prague, Milan, Munich, Tel Aviv and now Dubai.

Tel Aviv was an experience if only for the way it was so difficult to leave the country. I breezed through passport control when I entered and then spent 2hrs with four Israeli security personnel when I tried to leave. Fortunately Dubai is much easier. The only downside to Dubai is that it’s 37c in the shade and way over 40c in the - honest, it’s a downside.

Budapest is next, I’m expecting it to be a little cooler.

More photos are being added all the time so keep checking them out.

Dubai Airport itself is pretty good as airports go. That is once you get through the security checks and check-in. The shopping is great although the prices aren’t that much better than in the UK.

The Business class Lounge is great. Full meals, full bar, big leather seats and loads of space. Like just about all of Dubai, the internet access is free too. Good facilities to freshen up too or have a shower. Next time I’ll have to blag my way into the First Class Lounge.