Bogey Wonderland

I've seem to have caught this kind of cold thing which is not very pleasant. I've not got a runny nose as such, but for some reason bogey production seems to have gone into overdrive. That, or I've been subjected to some ancient gypsy curse and the bogey man is coming every night with a hod (or whatever he carries them in) full of bogeys and emptying them into my head.

It's funny because I don't remember offending any ancient gypsies recently. It has done wonders for tissue sales in our area though.

I want to be a Dragon

I've decided what to be should I ever be allowed my time again on this earth. I want to be a dragon on "Dragon's Den".

Until recently I wanted to be a banker, in that no matter how stupid, greedy or idiotic I was my business was "too big to fail" and therefore my job (and large bonuses) would be secure for ever. But it didn't really give the opportunities for creative nastiness and acclaim that being a dragon on Dragon's Den seems to offer.

If you've not seen the program the format is that hapless entrepreneurs are given a chance to pitch their ideas in front of a bunch of rich people (the dragons) who can either enjoy themselves by mercilessly insulting everything in sight or enjoy themselves by backing the idea with some of their (to them) small change and walking away with a substantial profit if things work out.

I used to quite like the program, in that it seemed to me that it did provide a way that genuinely innovative people could get backing for ideas that otherwise might not see the light of day. But that was before it became big television. One of the laws of physics is that you can't measure something without affecting it in some way. TV shows are like that. Once they become popular they become an end in themselves and their original starting point becomes lost in the mist of ratings.

Nowadays the dragons have figured out that anything on the program has the benefit of a five minute prime time advertisement and is therefore worth backing on that basis. Furthermore, the pitchers have also figured out that appearing on the program (regardless of whether or not you actually make anything worthy) gives you a change to get on TV. Last week the only two ideas that got backing were a fairly indifferent rock band and a company which will provide you with a person dressed as a tree for a large fee. And these days only one of the dragons actually seems to be involved in making anything. The others are involved in things like "retail", "services" and "investment".

This week a fashion designer took full advantage of the platform to promote her (to me) sub-Primark dresses and of course one of the dragons jumped in to back her because even if only a few percent of viewers go for the outfits they are on to a winner. And the "as seen on TV Dragon's Den" label will go a long way. And of course they all  had a bit of fun raining on the parades of other's hopes and dreams and competing with themselves for the most offensive bon-mots that they could heap on the hapless punters.

I quite like the idea of being rich, appearing on TV as some kind of demi-god and being given the chance to be as offensive as I like in front of the cameras. So sign me up.

Everything Changes

I dunno. You go away for a week or so and all kinds of new stuff happens while you are out. I love this business..

The XNA Creators Club has moved on to the next level, in that there is now a way you can start to get money for games that you have created. This is really exciting, in that it means that it is now properly possible to write games in your bedroom (or even downstairs) and then get them out in front of a mass audience. 

If you want to create 3D models for your games you can head over here and get a free copy of Caligari trueSpace 7.6, which is a proper 3D authoring package. It also has some really neat tie-ins with Virtual Earth, so you can create things and have them rove around anywhere in the world.

If you are new to programming and want something to help you learn the principles (and produce some neat flowcharts of your code) you can find the Visual Studio Middle School Power Toy here. I've not played with it yet (just got back from 7 hours driving) but it looks interesting.

Anniversary Bash

My Uncle Tony and Aunty Iris have been married for quite a while. Apparently I was at the wedding, but I cried so much I had to be carried outside. Doesn't sound a bit like me actually, but my recollection of the event is a bit hazy to be honest.

Anyhoo, to celebrate this we were invited down for a do, and as soon as I heard the magic words "Free Food and Drink" it was out with the satnav and into the route planning phase.

The party was held at cousin Lindsay's super house, which has a wonderful view out of the back. And the weather was fantastic. Food was eaten, stories swapped, speeches made and champagne drunk. Fantastic.

I've hidden a clue as to which anniversary it was somewhere in this picture. See if you can use your skill and judgement to work out the answer.

One thing that came out of the do for me was that technology is now everywhere. Digital cameras were being produced and compared, there was talk of email and SMS and Vista and many things technical. I talked quite a bit of "shop" (sorry about that) and it turns out that my cousin Sue is actually an Internet entrepreneur (try saying that after a few glasses of champers).

She runs myblankets.com which sells personalised gifts, baby presents, even stuff for your horse (if you have one). She also does a roaring trade in "taggies" which are cuddly comfort blankets for the very young.

I really liked the colours on this one, but I've been told I'm a bit old for them.

Anyhoo, thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make the party great, and best wishes to Tony and Iris.

Kipling Country

We were down in the south of England for a family "do", but the place we were staying was in walking distance of "Batemans", where Rudyard Kipling lived. So we wandered out into the morning sunshine to seek it out.

I can see why Kipling liked the place so much.

They were having a historical re-enactment thing in the grounds of the house, which meant that there were lots of people in period costume quite literally living in the past for the weekend. We didn't have much time to take a look round, but I did make time for some pictures.

Old style family entertainment.

Then it was time to get suited and booted for the main event.