The war is already happening

Fortunately it’s not a war that will set Nation against Nation. But it may well change your lives.  It’s being waged all round you, and you are already siding with one protagonist or the other.

It’s a War that doesn’t respect your Operating System.  (Yes it is a cyber war). IoS, Android, Windows, it doesn’t matter.  Each side is vying to win you over.They are simply the Theatres of this War. So what is it?

Well, most people call it the war between the Web and Apps. And at this time, Apps are in the ascendancy.

Why is this? Well the future of the Internet (or I should more correctly say the future of data sent via HTTP, HTTPS and emerging technologies) is Mobile. By Mobile I mean smartphones, windows phones, iPhone, tablets, phablets and whatever else they invent that you take with you everywhere. And folk prefer Apps on their Mobile device.

So why should this concern you?

Firstly it should maybe make you think about whether to buy that new laptop or (God forbid) Desktop.

Secondly if you have a website, you will almost certainly find that you are going to have to add or maybe totally replace it, with an App. One for IoS, one for Android, one for Windows and maybe more. App designers love this.

At least get your web site responsive. I happen to know someone who seems to be quite good at responsive sites.

Me. Shameless advertising But I too am going to have to learn how to make apps….

Engagement today; Profit tomorrow

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube – the list is very long. They and so many others use the business model: Engagement today; Profit tomorrow. Get ‘em hooked with free services, then offer paid-for services, extensions and add-ons.

It’s a very effective model.  If you can afford to put the up-front investment in.

But I’m not using this model in connection with business. There’s another implementation of this strategy that you should be using.  If you are a parent.

The engagement you have with your child today will profit you both tomorrow. Talk with them, play with them, educate them as to what is right and what is wrong.  Give them your time – that’s your investment in preparing your children to become independent adults.

That’s all I have to say. I’m off now to adopt a donkey. Or a snow-leopard. I reckon I could fix their problems by sending the donkeys over to the snow-leopards.

And they say I don’t have a heart…

Getting out of touch with my female side

The way I’m looking at it is that it’s been a great privilege. It hasn’t fixed anything, but the Hormone Therapy has given me a deep insight into what it must be like to have the chemical make-up of women.

Now, I’m not saying I “get it completely”. Oh no. It’s been like a journey round the Périphérique: I’ve skirted round all the intense and interesting bits, been frustrated and annoyed, but never confronted the sensory highs and lows of Paris.

I’ve had a taste (no pun intended) of morning sickness; I’ve felt the bodily changes including a nice pair of moobs; hot flushes that have stopped me in my tracks and made me feel like someone was boiling a kettle in my stomach and all the steam was collecting in my head; intense and uncontrollable mood swings; and on  top of that I’ve ballooned.

It’s not been pleasant. So I can only extrapolate how these symptoms might actually feel if they are the cause of natural hormonal changes.

The only thing I can recommend, if you can have it, is HRT. 

Now comes the interesting bit for me: I’ve stopped taking the Hormone Therapy. Don’t worry, the Wizards tell me that it’s fine to do that.

So far it’s been a bit like (I imagine ) taking psychotropic drugs. Manic mood swings; behaviour that is incontrollable; sickness; diarrhoea and vicious acid reflux.

Having a baby it ain’t, so I make no comparison with that, or any other hormonal effects being suffered now by women.   I just doff my cap in respect.

On the plus side: my hair’s never been so shiny….

Scottish Independence

I can understand why the debate on Independence is so polarised. Supporters on both sides are trying to sway us to their view.

I’m just expounding my views. I don’t want you to accept them as “the one way”. But clearly I’m not posting these words in the hope that no-one ever reads them…

#1 Independent Scotland will be one of the richest countries in the world.

Most decisions human’s make are based on the simple test “What’s in it for me”. So it may well be a temptation for people to be part of one of the richest countries in the World.

But here’s another view. We’re now in the 21st century. The World is getting smaller.  What good will it do us to be in the top echelon of financial wealth when Global Warming properly hits; When water supplies start to run out; When food supplies start to deplete; When “Our” gas runs out? For me it’s a question of “What’s best for the World is best for me and my children”. I don’t want to see a World that strives for even more inequality. I actually do imagine there could be a day when we are all citizens of one country, Earth, when we don’t want the rich to become richer, but we want the poor to share equally in Earth’s resources.

 

#2 It’s the birth right of Scots to rule themselves.

The idea that any “Race” is unique is simply not right.  The inconvenient truth is that we are all descended from the same furry animals. The composition of our blood and the location of our birth is an act of pure luck. Even the most isolated of Races have come from the same beginnings and nowadays it is common (in my view thank goodness) for people to have children with mates outwith their local areas.  And of course you can also refer to my comments under #1 above….

 

I’m not saying that my views are the best way.  There’s dangers everywhere in our Environment – and our Environment includes the Milky Way, and apparently Andromeda too. I think it would be better if the World  had less government and separation and that the people of the World would be better prepared for the future if we all started acting in the best interests of Majorities, NOT Minorities.