It’s easy, I promise.

I’m currently three days into a six week work placement for my university degree.  Typically, they’ve got me doing all the really fun stuff like market research, and so I have taken the decision to create a survey and see what my readers think.  For the sake of impartiality, I can’t tell you which company I am working for, but it’s one of the fiv

e mentioned in this survey.

If you are going to do the decent thing and help me with my survey, the sites you need to take a very quick look at are:

• Ideasbynet
• Arcadia Online
• Dowlis
• 4imprint
• Outstanding Branding

Many thanks go out to those of you who do the survey!

Freud Communication Screenshot

This is a screenshot of the website of Freud Communications, a PR agency from London.  In order to assess how well the website presents Freud as a business and how well it works as a website in its own right, I chose to extensively review it.  You can find the full review here.

The anticipation and interest in this election is my far the highest that this side of the Atlantic has ever seen.  However, at the end of it all, how much will it really affect us?  Will we notice a change?  Will our lives be bettered (or worsened) by the choice we make today?  No body knows the answer to these questions just yet.  It’s looking at the moment like Cameron has got his shiny face just in front of Brown’s and Clegg’s, but nothing is decided as yet.

Let’s just be thankful that we do live in a democratic nation, meaning that it’s up to us, the Brits.  The wait is nearly over and we will soon know which one of these dashing young gentlemen will be sleeping in number 10 this evening.  Who’s your money on?

Brown, Clegg and Cameron - The Three Musketeers

Oh and don’t forget the underdog…

Nick Griffin - Monster Raving Loony Party, I mean the British National Party

Blackberry Bold - a very popular model

People have been Blackberry picking.  In this, the age of the iPhone, everyone wants to get their hands on their very own cleverphone.  Sorry, I mean smartphone.  But why the Blackberry?

I, for one, have no idea.  Yes, they are a bit different and yes, they are good in the email department.  But there’s a lot more you can get from other devices without having to sacrifice any more money.

For me, the best bet has to be the wonderful HTC HD2.  I have been wondering about what phone to get when my contract comes to and end, and this one is a surefire contender.  This is a true smartphone.

HTC HD2 - like the iPhone, but not

I’m sure you’ll agree its a wonderful looking piece of equipment.  The HD2 runs on Windows Mobile’s operating system, which is still very much up-and-coming and constantly improving.  But don’t be put off, for there are new ‘apps’, or applications being developed and added every single day.  Not only does it do emails (and it does them very well), but it does a heck of a lot more.  It can be a sat nav, it can be a Twittering device, it can take you to any webpage on the internet, it can be used as a device to watch YouTube videos.  Many see this as a big threat to the iPhone and some see it as an alternative to the iPhone.  However, I think that it is a great phone in its own right and should be recognised as such.  And the best thing of all is that you can even use it if you have fat fingers. (Something you can’t do with those miniscule buttons on most Blackberry phones!)

You can see a full review of this phone here on Tracy and Matt’s technology blog.

There’s quite a view.

Hut?

It’s even got ‘Amusements’!  Which are… amusing.

But remember, the birds are attention seekers.  Always trying to get in on a photo…

What more could you want from a beach?

Yesterday, I travelled in the first class carriage of the train back to Bournemouth from seeing my girlfriend in Winchester.  Not because I’m a snob and not because I’m a ‘Surrey boy’ (I’m actually not that posh).  It’s simply because  I always buy my tickets in advance (because I’m cheap) and, this time, the cheapest option was to go first class.  I wasn’t going to complain.

You should see it;  six-inch wide arm rests, enough leg room to rear a small cow and a personal butler who doubles as a full-body masseuse.  Well, the butler part obviously isn’t true, but the rest is genuine.  And it’s glorious.

However, even though I had all this luxury to swathe myself in, I couldn’t help feeling I was a touch out-of-place.  There were four other guests (sorry, passengers) in the carriage with me, all of whom were very middle-class business-type people and all of whom looked at me with the same shock as they would if I were naked when I clambered on board their precious first class carriage.  There just seemed to be a stigma surrounding a first class passenger who didn’t look to be earning a six figure salary.  I like to think I do, but I don’t think you’re supposed to include the pennies…

If you get the chance of first class travel, go for it!  It’s quite an enjoyably schadenfreude-type experience to be able to look for ‘coach A’ as the train arrives at the platform.  Be prepared, however, for some confused and disapproving faces as you take your (extraordinarily comfy) seat.

Bird at the Beach

Originally uploaded by jonny harvell

Bournemouth beach really can look quite nice! This is a photo I took back in early 2009. The picture is deceiving, though. The sun was having no warming effect whatsoever. It was freezing.

Quite pretty, though, don’t you agree?

Craig looking surprisingly clean shaven

Q:  Craig.  We’re both here today because we have one thing in common.  We both chose to study at Bournemouth University.  What made you make this choice?

A:  Basically the beach.  I wanted to go to Cardiff University originally, but after not being accepted there because of predicted grades, Bournemouth was my next choice.

Q:  Are you pleased you ended up here?

A:  Yes and no.  I wish I’d done a different course.  Something a bit more creative would have been good for me.  I’m not such a fan of essays.

Q:  Understandable.  What aims or ambitions do you have after your three years are up at Bournemouth University?

A:  There’s so much I’d like to do.  Realistically, something creative in TV or film production.  Or maybe comics.  Essentially, something geeky.

Q:  So would you say you are a geek?

A:  ’Geeks’ are smart, so probably not. However, I have a love for comics and video games, I’m single and live with my parents.  I’m more ‘geeky’; like a geek, but not so clever.

Q:  Do you have any particular idols?

A:  Jonathan Ross.  Not so much an idol, but I’ve grown up with Jonathan.  He’s like part of the family.  The writers of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, are my real idols.  South Park is my bible.

Q:  What do you value as your most prized possession?

A:  My PS3.  I use it for everything.  TV, films, pornography.

Q:  Interesting.  Do you have any big regrets?

A:  I wont tell you my true biggest regrets; they’re too grizzly.  But I do regret bullying my brother when we were younger.  I feel bad about that now.

Q:  All brothers are the same… Do you have a most awkward moment?

A:  I was working at Nationwide and someone had messed up a customer’s bank account.  I really had a go at them.  But after a short while, everyone realised that the mistake occurred on the day I was filling in for them…

Q:  I bet you’ll think twice about having a go at someone next time something like that happens.  If you could change anything at all in the world, what would it be?

A:  My face.  Money would be nice… but my face is numero uno.  My primary concern.

I think you’ll agree that despite the speed of it, this interview seemed to reveal quite a bit about Craig.  To read Craig’s interview of me, visit Craig’s Corner.

1. Peckish Pelican – BBC brings us this wonderful story from an Australian news broadcaster whose weather reporter decided to go to a zoo for the day’s forecast, and I, for one, am grateful that he did!

2. DIY Winter Olympics – The world’s recently been graced with massive snowfall (seemingly in every place apart from Vancouver), and this report shows one father who has taken it upon himself to create his own luge course in his back garden.  If this video doesn’t make you want to have a go, you need your head checked!

3. Smash and Granny - This really is something quite spectacular.  A pensioner who looks to be on the good side of a century thinks on her feet and gives a shop robber a good belting with the hand scanner.  Sadly he got away, but what a hero.

4. Do Not Rebuke the Duke of Uke – What an instrument!  The ukulele is on course for a comeback according to this story, and I’m all for it.  I want one!  Just the word itself is special.

5. (Don’t) Be My Valentine - The ukulele is an instrument, but this man seems a bit of a tool…  He’s a farmer literally trying to sell excrement.  I’ll pass.

And just for luck, here’s one more story about a heroic family of lucky ducks… I wonder if not much else happened on the day this news report was broadcasted!

I hope that one, if not all, of these news stories managed to bring on a little chuckle or a slight smile.  At the very least, this shows that the world isn’t completely filled with the usual gloomy news which usually litters our TV screens!  Thank goodness.