crn editors diary

Busy times

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:15:01 GMT

I've been off work for a few days - meant to be a holiday - but ended up being ill for most of it with this annoying flu-like illness. I now have an even deeper voice than normal which is...

Solutionisation

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:57:51 GMT

A new word was bandied around at our event this week - which made people shudder and think in equal measure. Sukh Rayat from Avnet mentioned Solutionisation as a new buzzword for the channel - rather than talking about commoditisation,...

RLF

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:45:08 GMT

I was supposed to write this yesterday - but was a little sidetracked! The CRN RLF was a real success. But you are bound to say that I hear everyone cry. To be perfectly honest none of us at CRN...

Pay Day

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:14:43 GMT

I have just read some research that has claimed it will be 187 years before women are paid more than men. This is a difficult subject to talk about without sounding extreme on either side. But I don't think it...

Time to panic?

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:10:13 GMT

This week has been pretty momentous in terms of the economy. First we saw the collapse of the 150-year-old institute the Lehman Brothers, which sent share prices plunging into freefall and thousands of jobs axed. Now, today, there are reports...

Difficult decisions

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 11:22:23 GMT

I am getting a lot of emails and phone calls from companies that are miffed about not making the shortlists for the CRN Channel Awards 2008. This is my first year of actually being involved in the judging process and...

Big Bang

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 12:05:31 GMT

Well, we are all still here then. The doom-mongers will have to revise their forcasts for the end of the world now, after the Large Hadron Collider experiment at CERN failed to send the Earth to oblivion. However some German...

Judging

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:23:44 GMT

I cannot believe that another year has rolled around already, but tomorrow is the Channel Awards' 2008 judging day. I spent over 14 hours reading through all the entries - a very interesting exercise indeed. I'm sure there will be...

Keep smiling

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:44:00 GMT

Everything is miserable at the moment. People. The weather. The economy. The TV. Even my cats have a sour look on their faces. Autumn is usually my favourite time of the year, but it just seems to be getting wetter...

Technology

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:40:48 GMT

I am always amazed when things don't go according to plan and you realise how reliant you have become on technology for your daily working life. Take web sites for example. When you have 'technical issues' the knock on effect...

Another HMRC victory

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:28:58 GMT

I received an update today about yet another mobile phone/components trader that has won its money back from HM Revenue and Customs, after a long drawn out battle over the government's extended verification anti VAT fraud process. The trader in...

Mini madness

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:48:24 GMT

Fujitsu Siemens has become the latest vendor to unveil its mini-notebook with the Mini Ui 3520. The notebook has a hard disk capacity of 60Gb and a whopping 120Gb is due out later this year. There is a definite war...

Wii-erd behaviour

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:19:10 GMT

I am one of a huge generation of adults to be hooked on the Wii. However it was very embarrassing recently when I had opened my new Mario Kart game and was finding it very hard to steer, when a...

Somebody IS out there (I know it)

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:13:18 GMT

I'm hoping that all you lovely CRN readers can do me a little favour. I need to get more people reacting to my editor's blog otherwise I really feel that I am talking to myself - which as everybody knows...

Losers

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:12:37 GMT

Another day, another data loss by the Home Office. This time it is details of thousands of prisoners, contained on a memory stick, that have gone missing. Apparently the person involved in losing the stick has 'left his job' now....

Channel Scandel

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:14:28 GMT

I was shocked to read a story on the Manchester Evening News webiste today about a well known former channel figure Dave Atherton, founder of Dabs.com. Apparently he has been charged with attempted rape and possession of cocaine and has...

Olympic bandwagon jumping anyone?

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:00:44 GMT

I love a nice bit of bandwagon jumping - in fact it should be an Olympic sport. See what I have done there? I have managed to get the word 'Olympic' in - just for the sake of it. A...

Victory

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:42:24 GMT

I have just been sent an email from a solicitor about an apparent victory against HMRC in its ever-lasting battle against VAT Carousel fraud. The trader, which has been subject to withheld VAT repayments for a significant amount of time...

WARNING!! Awards entry deadline

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:57:06 GMT

I really cannot stress enough that the Channel Awards deadline runs out at 5pm tomorrow. That is Friday 15 August at 5pm. Please, please make sure that all your entries are done on time - any received after 5pm will...

Tourists

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:47:49 GMT

I have just read a report from the Office of National Statistics that claims visitor numbers in the UK have dropped five per cent during April to June - another sure sign that the slowdown is here. It is no...

Piracy

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:00:23 GMT

Another day, another channel firm caught selling pirated software. We at CRN have been banging on about illegal software for as long as I have been at the title, but it doesn't seem to make a blind bit of difference....

What a (Rocky) Horror

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:53:28 GMT

I am in shock! I must protest! The producers of the cult hit Rocky Horror Show are going to be making a new version of the film according to the BBC. I have been a huge fan of the film...

Cheeky

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:23:03 GMT

I was out at a very informal business lunch the other day (it is a hard life but someone has to do it) and the meal went without a hitch - or any insects appearing in any form, which was...

Water Nightmare

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:52:48 GMT

When I first started this blog I remarked on how annoying the water mains replacement works were. Now they have become more than just an annoyance and are actually causing me to risk my life in stupid daredevil moves. Being...

Guitar Hero

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 09:47:20 GMT

I have found a new addiction in life. After a weekend with friends watching some of the guys hog the guitar on the Wii and occasionally letting the girls have a go, I made the plunge and bought myself a...