A broken mobile phone is as painful as one lost
I've been having a mobile-free couple of days due to my Nokia E71 deciding to stop working. It's surprising just how nice it is. I guess the mobile bill will be a bit cheaper, but I could be faced with a couple of day's worth of missed calls, texts and voicemails. How on earth did we cope without mobiles 10 years ago, or even 100 years ago? Maybe they ready did say back in the day...
Faced with a broken Vodafone phone, I had to decide whether to go and buy a cheap pay as you go mobile. The cheapest on the high street was a £9.99 generic phone with the requirement of a £20 top up on a network. However as it's a generic mobile it is unlocked so I could whip in my SIM and it will work. As for the £20 credit, I'm assuming you'd want to run this down phoning landlines in order to avoid telling the story to friends that you have a new number. £30 though for the luxury of being able to make a call once again? There must be a cheaper option.
The staff at the Vodafone store I went into today were great. The phone would be covered by the Nokia warranty, and 10 minutes later I was told it will be back on Monday next week. Awesome. However I had to sign the waiver to confirm that I know that it will come back with no data on it. Not awesome.
Fear struck in. Arse, what's on the phone? Am I going to lose the photos, videos, music, downloaded apps, special texts, etc? Thankfully I save multimedia files to the 2GB Micro SD card. I recommend you change the automatic setting from phone memory to card memory. I did end up paying £10 on a card reader specifically for mobile memory cards. But I'm not too convinced that my contacts will be saved.
Tomorrow I will have to bite my lip as I go into the very dodgy looking "unlock your mobile phone here" shop with an old PAYG Vodafone Sagem 527 . With the flashing neon lights in the window, and an array of phone covers hanging in the shelve, you just feel a bit ashamed you have to be asking them to unlock your mobile, let alone paying for that privilege. But for 7 quid, I'm hoping that the seconds this will take, will be worth it. I see this as a convenience fee. Coupled with the purchase of the memory card reader, it will be at last a tenna cheaper than buying another phone.
Hopefully the main people I call are stored in the SIM card. If not, it could be a very painful exercise to text, email, and be one of "those" people asking the "what's your number, again". Fingers are crossed that the last data syncronisation also copied over the contacts to the PC. If not, then at least I know one mobile number off by heart, the all important one 
.
A broken phone seems to be just like losing your phone; when it's gone you realise just how much you miss it. Although I'm quite enjoying the silence. Once I get the spare phone unlocked or the E71 back, if there are no messages, voicemails or texts, and Billy comes to mind, I might just keep the damn thing switched off instead!
Celebrity spotting at BBC Children in Need party for free beer
Last night I had the very good fortune to attend an invite-only private Children in Need 2009 party in the studio next to the one with the filming at the BBC television centre. The annual fundraiser by the BBC, hosted by Sir Michael Terence Wogan, yes the veteran most commonly known as Terry Wogan, climaxes with the Friday night "Pudsey's Big Night In" programme full of comedy, music and entertainment.
After a very nice meal at Balans restaurant at the incredible Westfield London shopping centre, two colleagues from work and myself walked up Wood Lane to the BBC's studios. On entering the grounds of the studios, the lights were circling the skies once and we walked past the Helios statue in the centre of the courtyard which used to be a fountain. It now has this 3 metre high gilded bronze figure designed by TB Huxley-Jones, which symbolises the radiation of television light around the world and below it two reclining figures which represent sound and vision.
Once inside, the party was already in full flow. We were in Studio 6, next to the studio where the filming was talking place, and featured a stage which the Nolan Sisters performed on later in the evening. We mingled amongst the crowds of people from the third sector, partners of Children in Need, employees of the BBC and a whole host of celebrities and famous people.
Earlier in the day, I'd been challenged by a client via email with the following;
This is formal notification that should one, Jim Haysom, encounter a celebrity that has featured on either a) Hello! b) television and (but not limited too) a radio program, photographic evidence is required. If this evidence is to be of substantial quality (i.e. no cardboard cut outs apply), Jim will be rewarded with several free beers (happy hour prices only apply) on Monday the 23rd of November.
I couldn't resist that challenge, so below you will find my collection of celebrity photos.
Theo Paphitis - click for more info
Jim Haysom and Theo Paphitis at BBC Children in Need 2009
Deborah Meaden - click for more info
Jim Haysom and Deborah Meaden at BBC Children in Need 2009
Calum Best - click for more info
Jim Haysom and Calum Best at BBC Children in Need 2009
Justin Lee Collins - click for more info
Jim Haysom and Justin Lee Collins (JLC) at BBC Children in Need 2009
Ricky Whittle - click for more info
Jim Haysom and Ricky Whittle at BBC Children in Need 2009
Bill Turnbull - click for more info
Jim Haysom and Bill Turnbull at BBC Children in Need 2009
Pudsey Bear - it wouldn't be complete without this photo!
Jim Haysom and Pudsey Bear at BBC Children in Need 2009
There was a bunch of celebrities that I'd spoken to during the night but didn't get a picture of. The most well known was Peter Jones, from Dragons' Den. Jeez, he was so tall - 6 foot 7 inches in fact.
One of the famous people mentioned in conversation his website, and it made me think... How many of them actually have their own websites? The links above, if you've not already clicked on them, take you to Wikipedia pages of them proving that they have some fan base at least or some interesting information about them.
But to have your own "official" website puts you in another league and up another character in the alphabet-list rankings;
Official Celebrity Websites
- Theo Paphitis: http://www.theopaphitis.com and on Twitter
- Peter Jones: http://www.peterjones.tv and on Twitter with very cool background
- Deborah Meaden: http://www.deborahmeaden.com
- Calum Best: http://www.calumbest.co.uk and on Twitter
- Justin Lee Collins: No website (that's really surprising, sort it out JLC) but on Twitter
- Ricky Whittle: http://www.rickywhittle.com and on Twitter
- Bill Turnbull: No website either but on Twitter
- Pudsey Bear: Doesn't seem to have his own dedicated site but is on Twitter. You can also add Pudsey bear to your avatar on Twitter here, and show your support for Children in Need. Pudsey bear will be in the corner of your profile photo.
The appeal had raised £20,309,747 at the end of the show, a ridiculous amount of money, but all for good causes. If you missed the show, you can watch BBC Children in Need 2009 on the BBC iPlayer. I will be taking some time next week to watch some of the highlights.
Finally, a thank you to both Nick's for the invite and the celebrities who were ever so kind to have their pictures taken and tell me what the last thing they bought on eBay was. I will make sure that I cash in my free pints on Monday next week, but in the meantime I've also done my bit and donated via PayPal with a £15 donation. With the average price of beer being £2.05, I've donated the equivalant to 7 pints - a pint for every photo above.
Or why not bid on a celebrity signed Pudsey Bear on eBay...
Duty Free rip off for Dom Perignon & Cristal Champagne
I like shopping, that's a fact. I also like shopping and getting a deal, like most people. I don't like going to Duty Free at the airport to later find out that I could have got items cheaper on the other side. So the concensus is pretty obvious, I got ripped off at the Duty Free shop at Berlin airport last week, and it has left a bitter taste in the mouth.
The items I endulged in was two bottles of champagne, a Dom Perignon 2000 Vintage 75cl and a Louis Roederer Cristal 2002 Vintage 75cl. Quite a luxury purchase of champagne, I'm sure you'd agree. You'd expect to save some money at the Duty Free shop wouldn't you. As I passed through the Duty Free shop at Gatwick airport, yards from exiting the final doors, I took a quick glance to see what the Dom was priced at. Horror, a quick mental calculation of Euros to British Pounds meant that I was likely to be ripped off.
My suspicion was correct. Although the Dom was cheaper UK side, it was vastly cheaper than what I paid in Germany. They didn't sell the Cristal champagne, so I had to check the web to get the truth, and it is apparent that buying champagne online can save you money.
So I paid €127 (about £114) for the Dom Perignon 2000 Vintage champagne in Berlin, and at Gatwick is was offer for £85. But the cheapest I could find it on the web was around £90. But thegift box for the Dom was pretty cool, and found an example of this here. So I paid about 20% more for the luxury of sticking it in the overhead cabin the easyJet flight.
As for the Louis Roederer Cristal 2002 champage, I was actually pretty lucky with the price conversions. I paid €169 (about £152) and as mentioned it wasn't in the Duty Free in the UK, so that made me happy. The cheapest I could find online was £150 and up to £175 at Harrods!
The total spent was £266 but I could have paid as little as £240 online, so I overpaid around 10% in total. I find that hard to swallow. I just have to store these two bottles for a very special occasion now. With the Cristal at £25 a glass, it's certainly not sparkling wine to enjoy over a Sunday roast.
Next time, I think I might go prepared with the online prices before my next business trip abroad.
Michael Jackson and Number 13: The Good, Bad, Ugly and Odd
Today is Friday 13th, a day in which most people when doing something, might err on the side of caution. It's also known to be a day of good luck and not just bad luck, but as it nears midnight I am undecided on that one.
However, the number 13 does seem to be synonymous with pop legend Michael Jackson. Being a MJ fan since a small child, I was ever so excited to have bought a ticket for his 'This is It' O2 show in London. But looking back at some recent dates around actually buying and receiving the ticket, I'm convinced that the number 13 was both good luck and bad luck for Wacko Jacko. Below is a highlight of my findings, which I'm sure you will find really odd.
The Good - Legend and King of Pop
Undoubtedly the greatest pop star and musicial of modern times, Michael Jackson was a legend. His personal story touches the hearts of millions, from the Jackon 5 days right up to the current day, but his musical genius is evident in what he achieved;
13 Grammy Awards won with 8 for Thriller
13 #1 Singles in the U.S. Billboard 200 Albums Chart
13 Number One singles in his solo career, more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era
13 Million copies of his Invincible album approximately sold worldwide, debuting at the top of the charts in 13 countries.
13 Countries pushed Number Ones album to the number one spot on their iTunes chart. The singer's albums were also dominating Apple's iTunes download charts with a Jackson album topping the chart in 13 different countries.
13 songs in the UK singles chart
That's quite a lot of 13's for my liking. Is that just luck, or is someone trying to tell us something?
The Bad - 'This Is It' concert at the O2 Arena, London
My experience of the last planned concert to see Jackson seems to be riddled with the number 13;
13 March 2009 - I bought my tickets from Ticketmaster for the O2 concert that was scheduled for Monday 3rd August 2009. Having got up stupid early, I was fortunate to be one of the lucky ones who got a ticket albeit queuing online and getting the confirmation after a 4 hour shopping ordeal on the 13th March 2009. It was meant to be only a 10-night stand, but as it was extended to 50 dates which eventually sold out. My ticket was for the 13th concert. In the end, 4 shows got cancelled and re-arranged due to the delays for the opening night, with all the This Is It concert dates shown here on The O2 website.
13 April 2009 - With all the buzz in the run up to the This Is It concerts, and the publically known debts that Michael Jackson was crippled with, some of his personal items were going to be put up for auction. The items go on display at 'The Collection of the King of Pop - Michael Jackson,’ exhibition on the 13th April 2009. Now it gets pretty wierd that the exhibit also includes 13 gloves, each one covered in 'iridescent Swarovski loch rosen crystals.'
13 July 2009 - This was meant to be the Opening night. Gutted. I really did feel sad on this day, and I'm sure the thousands who staged a mass vigal event for Michael Jackson outside the O2 publicised on Facebook also felt the same.
13 August 2009 - Trying to get any information from Ticketmaster related to the refund status or information on the souvenir tickets is like getting bloody from a stone. It's one of the worst customer service experiences I have ever had. No telephone numbers or email addresses, just an online form which creates a support ticket. I was so annoyed, I even set up an online Twitition asking them to hurry up with sending the Michael Jackson souvenir tickets, but no-one voted. I finally received an email from Ticketmaster on the 13th August 2009, with the opening line, "Recently you requested personal assistance from our on-line support centre. Below is a summary of your request and our response." It was not a summary, but more a dump of all information related to the event, no personalisation at all. In the email there was a section saying, "No souvenir tickets have been dispatched yet. We are aiming to send all tickets out within 30 days." It's no surprise that the BBC programme Watchdog editor investigated 'Where are those Jackson tickets?'.
13 September 2009 - Just as I sit at home at the weekend, thinking that vastly overdue souvenir ticket should arrive tomorrow, more salt is rubbed in. Sony Pictures have worked with AEG to release a movie which includes the footage of MJ rehearsing for the O2 gig. And it's the bloody 13th of the month when they premiere the 'This Is It' movie trailer at the MTV VMA's (Video Music Awards).
13 October 2009 - Hooray, my souvenir ticket arrives and OMG, it's the 13th! And not only do I get this holographic ticket, but I also got a commemmorative booklet too! Priceless.
Below is a video from ITN that shows you limited edition Michael Jackson hologram concert tickets that Jacko actually helped design. Not surprising some people thought it was a rip off to offer a souvenir ticket instead of a refund.
13 November 2009 - Well, I have to say this was a semi-coinscidence. Writing this blog post today or all days.
The Ugly - The Accusations and Trials
Unfortunately for Michael Jackson, his private life almost upstaged his professional life. Whether it was Bubbles the chimpanzee, his bizarre treatment and public showings of his kids in masks, the dark days really were the child molestation accusations. 13 really is an unlucky number if you consider the below to be true, but lucky for the outcome for Jackson;
In the summer of 1993, Jackson was accused of child sexual abuse by a 13-year-old boy named Jordan Chandler. After a major pay off, recent stories are saying that this accusation was simply a lie;
In a series of interviews with Martin Bashir, broadcast in 2003, as Living with Michael Jackson, Jackson was seen holding hands and discussing sleeping arrangements with Gavin Arvizo, 13, who also later accused him of sexual abuse;
Jackson was indicted for four counts of molesting a minor, four counts of intoxicating a minor, one count of abduction, and one count of conspiring to hold the boy and his family captive at his Neverland Ranch. He denied all counts and asserted that he himself was the victim of a failed extortion attempt. On June 13, 2005, the jury found Jackson not guilty on all charges.
The Odd - Conspiracy Theories
And finally...
13 June 2007 - A hardcover book is published called Michael Jackson Conspiracy, and I might just buy this on Amazon to read.
And the Michael Jackson Conspiracy Theory #13: Time Travel - Check out the link and realise that Jackson actually died thousands of years ago and not on 25 June 2009.
Freaky isn't it!
Please leave a comment below, as I'm interested to know what people's thoughts are about this wierd phenomenon.
Modern art and gin, gatecrashing Microsoft party in Berlin
Just a quick thank you to the kind folks at Microsoft for the free Bombay Sapphire gin and tonics at the Solar lounge bar in Berlin last night. Launching Windows 7 is surely an event to be proud of, but equally the hospitality extended to myself and colleagues was very much appreciated.
The negotiation from the group was quite outstanding. I am still amazed at how we got past the huge bouncer with the "I have Microsoft on my computer" in poor German, and proceeded to the 17th floor in a glass lift to enjoy the party.
Below is a video of us travelling up in the lift [note, YouTube video to be upload].
Views across the former West and East Berlin at night was spectacular and certainly you found yourself pointing at the glowing lights and architecture of this buzzingcity.
But fingers were also being pointed at the colleague wearing an eBay branded shirt. Honestly, how did this guy get in? We're still keen to find out how many Microsoft employees approached him and asked why he was at the party. I'm certain he did not respond with "Ich habe Microsoft auf meinem Computer".
This bar was pretty swanky, but the price of the drinks were pretty wanky. 2 gin and tonics was €17, around £15. But when asked for the next round if they were on the "tab", how could you refuse that opportunity.
Maybe all the beer at the Modern Art of Asia (MAOA) restaurant in Berlin was to blame for feeling a bit "tired" this morning, or leaving Solar at 2am (I think). This and early starts for a taxi ast 8am to the office (7am UK time) don't mix.
The restaurant was brilliant. It was an asian restaurant, but the real uniqueness was the fact that you get a bowl, choose a marinade, and then go fill up your bowl with the food you want the chef to stir fry up. Child in a candy shop comes to mind. It was "eat as much as you want", and customers can fill their bowls with as much or little as they want.
It was clear that the vast selection of vegetables on display, noodles, bean sprouts, etc was evidence that you could mix and match the food in line with the marinade you had selected. The key was when you got to the end of the line, and saw the selection of meat and fish.
OMG. First choice for me was kangeroo and osterich, with a base of bean sprouts, mixed peppers and a healthy spoon of chillies. The marinade was fennel and garlic, but couldn't taste any of this as my mouth was burning up.
Having to run at a slower pace of eating and drink more beer was the only way to cope with this. Then when it was bearable, I dived into the 2nd dish and went for some pork and chicken. Finally, the 3rd dish was a real treat. The king prawns would have been almost half the bowl. I had finally caught up with the eating, and the drinking was in full steam.
But the conversations only seemed to get more random with the more we drank. I remember "if you had to do a mixed music group, who would it be?" and "if you could be a fictional character who would be be, and which fictional bar would you drink at?". I remember someone mentioned the Corrs, get the brother out the way first. But by the time of leaving Solar, whoever asked "The Queen, would ya?" should've been shot.
Euromillions winners at BT call centre: it’s Good to Talk in Liverpool
The revealed EuroMillions lottery winners of the £91 million rollover jackpot last Friday, must be ringing those BT phones off the hook! Reports are saying that the two winners of £45.5 million each, were a syndicate in Liverpool of BT call centre staff, and a married couple in Newport, South Wales.
Apparently, about 25 per cent of winners opt for the publicity, with the rest staying anonymous. But the group of workers in the syndicate who pick up around £5.5 million each, couldn't contain themselves. An unnamed worker had told the Liverpool Echo that they'd heard the workers just went mad, screaming and shouting. Err, I wonder why. Shame, being a syndicate it's going to be difficult to keep that one quiet! Check out the photo on The Times Online, "I'm minted" on a hand-written sign in the office window. Classic.
But will this be encouraging more syndicates to start up? The National Lottery have now launched the EuroMillions Millionaire Raffle, which means that tickets for the standard draw are going up from £1.50 per line to £2.00 per line. With this increase, they will guarantee a UK millionaire winner each Friday.
But if you do not have an online account with the National Lottery already, you can fund your account and get a £3 free token to play with this special eBay offer. Terms and conditions apply and offer is valid until 30th March 2010. What a great deal, especially if you won the jackpot!
As for that married couple in Wales, they are the seventh lucky lottery jackpot winners from Newport, or "Golden Gwent". Statistics might say, it's lucky to live in Newport. I'd say, no. Just go there to buy a lottery ticket.
Advertisers: Don’t be stealing photos of MyFaceTube, please ask first
Read today an interesting article about how Toyota had taken a photo from a user on Flickr without asking, and published it on their website promoting one of their new models, 4Runner SUV. It's opened up a whole string of user-generated concerns around ownership, licences, and permissions.
You can read how this started on Michael Calanan's Flickr account, and he is quite honest, giving his views, comments and updates on the site. This user-generated commentary is great to read, as it engages the rest of the community around the issue and creates an interesting debate.
My dad, John Haysom is a very good photographer based in Dorset, and has had images even shown on the Meridian TV weather updates behind the presenters. He recently mentioned to me someone had ripped one of his photos off his site, or one that he uploads too. How bloody rude, even if they put a link back to his website.
So whilst this website has few images on it, mainly as I've been far to busy to get around to adding them, or have written the blog posts via my iPod Touch, I have a word of advice for advertisers;
"Don't be stealing photos off MyFaceTube, please ask for permission first and contact me. Thank you."
Selecting a Retirement Age when I’m 65
Today I received in the post my latest Pensions Update, the second edition of the member newsletter from my pension plan provider. Not too sure why it's Summer 2009, the postal strike hasn't been that bad has it? Anyway, surprisingly I have given this single sheet of pension news 10 minutes of my evening.
The pretty graph showing Pound Cost Averaging was surely a tease, in this period of financial markets doom and gloom. Of course when the unit price is high, you would expect to purchase fewer than when the unit price is high, when you'd knock yourself out. And hopefully this averaging nets a healthy gain when markets pick up and you ate holding more units. Investing regular monthly payments seems to have some positive benefits then.
But the more shocking news I got was not about optimal performance of my pension fund, but the issues of selecting my retirement age!
I believe I have selected the default of 65 years, but didn't realise that under current rules you can take your pension between 50 and 75. 75, WTF?
The cheek of them assuming I would be hanging up the work boots at 50. Even if this changes to 55 from 6 April 2010, this is still 10 years earlier than the default age. And to rub it in, it goes on saying that although I am entitled to take my pension between ages stated, I don't have to stop work!
Just imagine that, aged 75 and still working because the pension pot is not maintaining the lifestyle I would be accustomed to. I dread to think what type of employers are still going to be employing people at this age.
Wouldn't it be nice to retire early though. Interestingly, the closer you are to the selected retirement age, the possibility that funds are moved to different investments to protect your money from volatility in markets and losing a stack of cash just before that final payment on the around the world cruise is due.
It does make you think doesn't it. First challenge is paying off the damn mortgage. Biggest regret is not starting to contribute into a pension early enough, but hey, same can be said for many things. Whether I start to think about retirement age more in my 30's, 40's or 50's, this simple newsletter has prompted me to at least give it some thought.
