How to make a web site for your small business

29 Jan 2007: Before You Launch that Local Small Business Website is the best concise guide to the stuff you need to consider before creating a web site for your small business. I mention it here because it deserves wider exposure than just being in my bookmarks.

Habitat web site: the worst retail site ever?

25 Jan 2007: It’s at www.habitat.net and it’s the most frustrating pile of poo I’ve ever had the misfortune to have to use, ever. First you’re presented with this screen of small print, asking you to install “Flash” (which I’ve already got, thanks): After reading the small print, you have to guess that the next thing to do is to click “United Kingdom” at the bottom, which takes you on to a page where things scroll up, down and around, and irritating jingly noises play. From there things improve: you can at least search for things sensibly, but try going “back” in your browser to the last product you were looking at, and you’re dumped back to the page above instead. Nice. Some [...]

The Appliances of, er, Sciences

21 Jan 2007: View from the utility room door Allan the kitchen fitter (another top man!) has had a pretty good week. OK, it’s mainly been spent opening boxes and discarding packaging, then discovering the wrong kitchen units have been sent, but in between he’s got the bulk of the carcasses in, and subsequently most of the appliances. So we now have a working dishwasher, sink, fridge and main oven. Apparently the hobs will work too, although with no worktop , we haven’t had the nerve to try them, balanced on pieces of wood. The combi oven hasn’t arrived yet, but apparently it needs a degree in computer programming, so we might need the extra time. Tony has been a real trooper getting [...]

The Extension is Finished. Now the Kitchen begins…

13 Jan 2007: OK, the builders are just about done, inside at least, and Dawn has diligently done a lot of the painting (a nice creamy yellow). On Monday morning the kitchen fitter will be here. Indeed, the boxes are already arriving (below). Tony the electrician, my hero, has just about finished wiring in all 29 downlights and connected up the incredibly jazzy Lutron controller. It’s all coming together, it would seem! Kitchen Extension series: Part 1 Kitchen Extension series: Part 2 Kitchen Extension series: Part 3 Kitchen Extension series: Part 4 Kitchen Extension series: Part 5 Kitchen Extension series: Part 6 Kitchen Extension series: Part 7

The 2006 Music Anthology

6 Jan 2007: Bugger. I returned from a new year break to a CD in the post from the infuriatingly efficient Peter Swanson with his selection of best tracks of the year, so naturally I had to drop everything (bags, small children, etc) to get my own one put together. I decided to choose my favourite new albums of 2006 and then include a track from each, so that means no standalone singles (and therefore no Touch the Sky by Kanye West). More importantly though, I had to leave off anything Peter had included on his CD, otherwise the list below would have included the albums from The Arctic Monkeys, Seth Lakeman and (possibly) Neil Diamond. So here goes with my albums of [...]