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Premise One of the things that every leader is expected to do is to find ways to drive significant value from their teams. Good leaders are always trying to look for opportunities that can unlock significant value creation. If you know me at all, you know that I am a big fan of the work done by Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt, the creator of the “Theory of Constraints“. He had this …

Not really a 'question time' per se, as I know they are converted key-rings, and from the sculpting style, from the same stable as the PVC footballers we've seen here once or twice now, so Hong Kong originally, but these are actually solids in a dense polyethylene, so possibly a little earlier? I just wondered if - given the faces - they aren't trying, despite the garish space-suits, to be

Keolis Amey have been awarded a new eight year contract to operate the DLR by Transport for London. The company are expected to introduce improvements when the new contract starts on 1st April 2025 and have run the network for the past decade. Those upgrades include fully introducing and promoting Access DLR, a free travel assistance service for anyone over 18 who needs extra support, efforts to reduce fare evasion …

Note: this bag was provided for review by Bleu de Chauffe. Bleu de Chauffe is a relatively new brand, having started 2009, but they are doing something rather unique. They are hand making heritage-level bags in France with a focus on sustainability and quality. They sent over their ‘Business Woody’ bag for me to check out, and I’ve fallen in love this bag. It’s unlike anything else I’ve used before, …

Caitie Karasik’s story “Rob Bumble” contains a fabulous first date, roly-poly bugs, a favorite onion, and some deep longing .Here she shares just one thing about the piece:“More than one early reader thought ‘Rob Bumble’ was a memoir piece! It’s pulling from snippets of moments and feelings I’ve known, and I like using a very confessional style of writing, but I've never crashed a funeral. Yet. We’ll see how the …

I was thinking about these weekly things I write and whether there are themes are not. Mainly because I thought last week’s was pretty theme-y. Thematic perhaps. All about ones relationship with the ancillaries surrounding beer. Sorta. I tell myself that by writing these summaries I am tracing, following patterns. But I rarely go back and look. Behind the scenes, there are no graphs being added to every seven days. …

In this post, I’m sharing my personal thoughts on the Automattic vs. WP Engine trademark dispute. These views are my own and may not reflect those of my employer or anyone else on my team. Additionally, this should not be seen as a comprehensive retelling of the events from the past few weeks. Much has happened even during the period I’ve spent writing and rewriting this post. I wrote this …

Not long ago, Find a Grave added yet another way to search its memorial pages: By key words or names in the biography section.As shown above, I tested this search by looking for a name in my husband's family tree: Frank Bentley Curtis. Actually, I already knew this name appears in at least three generations descended from my husband's 3d great-grandfather, William Tyler Bentley (1795-1873) and 3d great-grandmother, Olivia Morgan …

It’s been even longer that we heard from Naked Roommate than from Dummy. Based in California too, but in Oakland, they put out their excellent debut Do the Duvet way back in the year of our pandemic 2020. Now they’re back with Pass the Loofah, recorded over three years and with the help of two new members Geoff Saba and Jeanne Oss. This time the record is only coming out …

Yet another lens that I bought because it was cheap and available. I had been shooting sports with an APS-C camera, so a lens that would act as a 600mm f5.6 was worth a punt. It’s an old-fashioned lens with a preset aperture. This means you dial-in the aperture you need and then, just before shooting, twist another ring that stops the lens down to this pre-set. This is about …

Krathon was my fifth or sixth typhoon in Taiwan, and the first that came with emergency messaging, starting at 7:28am today:The 12:01 message reads: “Kaohsiung Municipal Government has issued an emergency evacuation notice. Typhoon Krathon is expected to land in the Cijin and Siaogang areas of the city around 12:30. There will be disaster-level strong winds. Please take refuge indoors as soon as possible. If staying in temporary buildings or …

We couldn’t celebrate Ina’s memoir release week without a roast chicken! And Edy Massih’s Spatchcock Sumac Chicken offers a flavorful twist on this classic dish. The bird is generously coated with a rub of sumac, cumin, and Baharat – Edy’s version is a blend of allspice, black pepper, coriander, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cardamom. After roasting until golden brown and cooked through, the chicken is bathed in a zesty mixture …

It’s September 2023 and six students are preparing to start Royal Hastings University’s new Multimedia Art course. The course is led by Gela Nathaniel who has personally selected her students from different backgrounds to ensure a range of skills and artistic knowledge. There’s Jem Badhuri, an ambitious and enthusiastic young woman who works mainly in sculpture and sound; Alyson Lang, already an experienced and talented artist; Jonathan Danners, whose family …

This is going to be a book review and it is not going to be a nice one and I am definitely not going to be recommending this book. Not for the first time I have to serious ask why publishers don’t employ fact checkers and in this case whether the prominent authors, who glowing recommend this book in blurbs on the cover, actually read the book before writing those …

Launching a hang glider from McCarty's Bluff, Rising Fawn, Georgia. Clarence Spindler and his Rock City barn. U.S, Highway 41, Gibson County, Indiana. Goat herder, rural Bulgaria. What do the above photographs have in common?Answer: they are all scans from film originals.I've been a photographer for 56 years. For the first 35 of those years I shot film. And although I've done some significant work (to me, at least) since …