Mont Blanc climb
 In just a few days I, and 4 other chaps, head down to the south of France and attempt to scale the highest mountain in Europe. Mont Blanc stands at over 4800m and for most people is a 2-day climb, with an overnight stay (3-4hrs) in a mountain hut. The challenges we will be facing are altitude sickness, extreme exposure, avalanches and rockfall, changing weather, and a long test of endurance. To increase the challenge, this is a self-organised trip without the use of a guide, but there is basic experience of mountains and climbing in the group and we have been training to increase our fitness levels.I’m raising funds for a great charity called ACET (AIDS Care Education and Training) that works at grass roots across the world to bring education and a compassionate response to the AIDS/HIV epidemic. Thousands continue to die of AIDS every day and this is particularly relevant at the moment as South Africa, which has one of the worst AIDS and HIV rates in the world, plan to host football fans from across the world. You can sponsor my climb at www.justgiving.com/BenPopplestone, or using the button to the right – all donations, small and large will be much appreciated. I aim to bring back plenty of photos, including a summit photo with the ACET flag, and hope to be tweeting my progress up the mountain (dependent on connection). You can follow me on Twitter at @benpopps. |
The blog is back!
It’s been far too long since I last posted, and from my last post, you’d be forgiven for thinking that I’d dropped out, packed up and headed off on an infinite circuit of music festivals! Alas, the truth has been slightly more office bound …… except that things are starting to change and 2010 is proving to be a year of adventure! Updates coming soon.
Summer Concerts
Other than walking in the mountains, for me, there is nothing that stirs the soul more than live music. Not particularly genre specific – I have a large and eclectic music collection – but I have to admit, blues and jazz really gets the juices flowing!
Summer’s always great for live music – you have all the festivals, the proms, the concerts in Hyde Park. Here’s what my summer looks like musically: READ MORE … »
Watch out Bing … the Wave is coming!
Ok, I’ll be the first to say they’re not the same thing. Microsoft Bing is a new search engine with interactive functionality and Google Wave is described as a replacement technology for email. But, strange coincidence that they were both announced within a day of each other at the end of May. Bing was presented by Steve Balmer to an audience of executives at the SMX Advanced event and the following day, Wave was demonstrated by the charismatic Rasmussen (of Google Maps fame) to a community of 4000 developers at the Google I/O conference.
So, these two giants of technology, who have been looking for ways to eat each others market over the last few years (Google creating apps to rival MS Office and Microsoft attempting Yahoo! takeover for greater web search / advertising presence), decide to innovate and strike a blow to the other company.
Will their new developments succeed? And how do they compare as competitive strategies? READ MORE … »
A few digital events …
I love hearing about new technology developments and I’m generally a sociable guy so enjoy meeting fellow digital and web enthusiasts, but I’ve never been one that has to be at all the happening events going on. I decided to miss Media140 a couple of weeks ago as it seemed at the time to be aimed more at journalists, however the live tweeting was pretty extensive and I managed to follow some of that. That said, there are a couple of events within a week of each other that I’m planning to go to in the next few days. READ MORE … »
Parenting in a Digital World
Today, Sir Jim Rose, the former head of Ofsted, has released a review of primary schools, encouraging more teaching on technology and ICT. According to Becta, the government’s technology agency, there is a risk that if ICT is not included on the curriculum, even at this young age, a “digital underclass” will emerge. However primary schools only have responsibility for children 24hrs per week, so there is an obvious challenge here for parents as well as schools in bringing kids up in a digital world with all of the associated opportunities and ‘dangers’.
Yesterday, I attended a primary school parents evening, not to evaluate children’s progress in classes, but to learn and discuss the growing implications of raising kids in a digital world. I was there as a techie advisor on the panel and answered questions about blocking/monitoring content online, but not being a parent myself, it was a learning process for me too and thought I would comment here about some of the best practices I’ve picked up from the evening and various other places. READ MORE … »
Ealing Whisky Tweetup – 18th April
Several of us Twitterers in the Ealing area are holding a whisky tweetup. If you fancy sampling and imbibing a variety of single malts from across the Scottish regions, comment to this post with your twitter username and the bottle (single malt please) you’re bringing so we get a nice selection. One other thing – you need to bring a poem … of your choice … poems and whisky go together. READ MORE … »
5 reasons to keep chickens … and 5 considerations before doing so
After chicken-sitting for our friends when they went on holiday, we decided to buy some of our own last year … and we love them. It’s a growing trend, and here are some of the reasons why … READ MORE … »
What does great ecommerce look like in 2009? (Case study)
2009 is already proving to be an important year for online retail sites. The figures show that whilst high street sales are suffering, online sales are still on the increase, and promising to buck the trend of the global recession. On the other hand, small businesses trading online in niche or competitive markets are feeling the pinch and may be pushed out of business. READ MORE … »
New Year 2009 resolution #1 … done!
Starting a blog was one of my resolutions for this year. New posts coming soon!