It's not that I've been doing nothing, but that I have been doing a lot which has prevented me from updating my news.  It didn't help when I discovered that I wasn't able to log in to write an entry.  This was finally resolved when I worked out that the web host had changed security settings on my site.

Gothla happened in June.  I wrote originally about the positive interaction we were having with Internet marketing and social networking back in February. 

The event itself was a great success, and we are looking forward to repeating it next year, this time in a specialist performing arts venue in Leicester.  Over 100 people thronged to the hafla on the Friday evening.  The workshops were fully booked, such that Sashi repeated her Gothic Tribal Bellydance workshop on the Sunday afternoon, and even that was over-subscribed.

The website has been updated with video and links to a photo gallery on Flickr. 

No sooner had I finished, temporarily, with Gothla, then I was organising the John O' Groats to Lands' End bike ride on behalf of my son and four of his friends.  Seventeen year old lads have the energy and fitness levels to do the ride, but lack the organisational know-how.  More sombrely, we discovered that they did need adult backing anyway to be able to make bookings at campsites.  Several campsites demurred at the age of the boys and only accepted them when they knew that they would be accompanied by adults.  I was surprised to find out that most campsites will not accept bookings from same sex parties.

Notwithstanding, the ride went ahead and was hugely successfull and fulfilling for all involved.  I have written up the story of the JoGLE on the web, which we hope will be a useful resource for anyone else wanting to undertake the journey.  Furthermore, the boys raised sponsorship of £1180 in aid of Cancer Research.  The cheque presentation took place last week during half term.

Finally, I researched, scripted and starred in an entertainment at The Richard Attenborough Centre in Leicester at the end of September, entitled, How to Get On in Society! John Betjeman revealed in his poetry and song. I had fantastic support from friends and was pleased that we managed to get around 60 people in the audience, including members of The Betjeman Society.  Again, I'd had to trudge the streets of Leicester to distribute leaflets and talk to media outlets.  It's not enough to send press releases by email.  You have to get on the phone as well or meet people directly.

And I took my Open University exam in Economics a week later.

First published 28th October 2007.

Inside Edge, issue 7

I was awarded a job late last year, to produce print-ready copy for The Intrepid Repairer, the magazine of the National Association of Musical Repairers (NAMIR).

Although I've developed web-building skills over the last few years, I hadn't actually worked with page layout software, other than Microsoft Publisher. A job like this deserved the right tools for the task. So I bought QuarkXpress 7, and taught myself double quick. I really do have to acknowledge the online video tutorials at Lynda.com, a US company which specialises in teaching use of software I couldn't have done it without those tutorials, if only because print production is so very different from web-building software.

Inside Edge - issue 8

It took me a while to discover the resources for obtaining certification in using QuarkXpress, from a Florida-based company called Against the Clock. If I ever get the chance, I shall work through the documentation.

I produced my first issue of the magazine successfully, and was gratifed when members told me that they liked the clarity and readability of the layout.

My skills have also been pressed into use at Shepshed Town Cricket Club, for which I am producing Inside Edge, a 4-page newsletter, at regular intervals this cricket season – view the photos.  Not only that, I also wrote all the copy with the exception of the captain's column! If you'd like to see more examples of my print work, please download the files to view as pdfs

Inside Edge no. 7 (360 Kb) and Inside Edge no. 8 (490 Kb).

My first print catalogue using QuarkXpress can be seen at a client's site, Blazewear Heated Clothes. (1Mb)

Please contact me if you would like a quotation for print-ready work.

First published 1st June 2007.

Girl blowing dandelion - emblem of the British Lung Foundation

My father Percy, died of asbestosis three years ago yesterday. Donations made at the time of his funeral were used to set up a 'Breath of Life' fund by the British Lung Foundation. I have supplemented this over the last two years with proceeds from my recital in October 2005 and sales of my CDs to friends in 2006. If you visit that page, you will see a photo of Percy giving the thumbs up, just 36 hours before he died in his sleep.

Speaking to a representative at the British Lung Foundation, I decided that the money collected in Percy's name should go to asthma research.

Asbestosis is a terrible disease. It crucifies the lungs, making them stiff and rigid so that they can't move to breathe air in and out. Some days when I visited Percy in hospital during his final weeks, he would say that he'd had terrible mornings, but would never explain why. I think his lungs must have just stopped. Even the constant oxygen supply wasn't enough to get the muscles working. It was almost as if he had to be primed like a pump.

Why did Percy get asbestosis? He worked for firms in the 1950s and 1960s which used asbestos as fire-proofing materials in partitions. The workers were told to use masks, but probably didn't because it was held to be namby-pamby. We think that one of Dad's favourite friends, Len Watkins, also died the same way.

But I hope that asbestosis will be a disease on the wane, now that society is aware of the dangers.

Therefore I agreed that the funds collected for Percy should go to asthma research, since the incidence of asthma is actually increasing. My daughter Rosie has asthma. Asbestosis is a disease of the past, I hope. Asthma is a disease now. I think that Percy would have wanted it that way. He was always looking forward, while remembering the past.

It's awful to know that he was told in 1979 that he had pleural plaques on his lungs which would probably lead to asbestosis and his death. But he never told us, and he never let it get in the way of enjoying his life.

Here are some words from the British Lung Foundation about their work.

"The British Lung Foundation is the only UK charity working for everyone affected by lung disease. The charity focuses its resources on providing support for people affected by lung disease today; and works in a variety of ways (including funding world-class research) to bring about positive change, to improve treatment, care and support for people affected by lung disease in the future.

Asthma is probably the UK's most common lung condition, affecting about five million people in the UK. Although the causes of asthma are unknown at present, we do know that various factors contribute. The airways of someone with asthma are inflamed, which makes them more likely to become narrow and so making it harder for air to get in and out of the lungs. The symptoms of asthma are shortness of breath, wheezing and a tight feeling in the chest.

Certain factors – known as "triggers" – are known to make asthma worse. When asthma gets worse for no apparent reason, this is known as an asthma attack. Some of the triggers include the common cold, allergies such as grass pollen, house dust and animal fur, irritants like tobacco smoke or a dusty atmosphere, strong emotion and pollution.

There is no cure for asthma, but with treatment, most people can lead normal lives. Many treatments are available, given either as an inhaler or in tablet form. The British Lung Foundation is currently funding a number of research projects into asthma. Dr Graham Roberts at the University of Southampton is investigating whether pregnant women's diets affect their babies' chances of developing asthma and other chest problems.

Dr Andrea Venn at the University of Nottingham is conducting research into whether living close to a main road increases the risk of developing asthma, allergies or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. lthough there is already evidence that pollution can worsen the symptoms of people living with lung diseases, it is not known whether traffic pollution can cause these conditions or cause a longer term decrease in lung function."

If you have been moved by Percy's plight and his bravery, please consider making a donation to the British Lung Foundation.

First published 20th March 2007.

Designers who are used to using pixels for sizing fonts on web pages, should find this pixel to em converter a very handy tool.  My only query is that it doesn't tell me about the relationship to different fonts.  For example, text written in 12pt Arial looks bigger than 12pt Times New Roman.

But it will save me time in future.  I can spend a lot of time compared to my present practice of changing values in CSS, uploading the file by FTP and then reloading a page to assess whether the font size is acceptable.

Why use ems rather than pixels?  Pixels specify the font on a web page at a fixed size which cannot be resized by the browser, whereas fonts specified in ems can be resized by the browser. This is extremely useful for people who prefer to read font on a screen at a larger size.  In fact, it is a crucial strand in accessible web design.

The link to this tool came from web accessibility experts, WebCredible.

First published 1st March 2007.

I have joined a cooperative of enterprising ladies, including my daughter, who are organising a gothic bellydance event in Leicester in June 2007.  We've found that we've been able to do most of our PR and marketing via the web so far, using niche groups at Tribe.net and LiveJournal.

The website was created with one page initially to which the MySpace diverted enquiries.  Our aim was to collect email addresses of people who were interested in attending the event.  I use List Messenger Pro to manage the database and to send out email newsletters.

List Messenger also allows people to confirm their subscription and to opt out.  I haven't used the facility to design forms to collect preferences yet. 

Paying for the software meant that I did get a personal reply from the creator, and I can use the ticket system to get priority support but otherwise, I have to use the forum just like everybody else.  A free version of the software can support 100-200 subscribers.

The Gothla website is designed for a specific event, and thus is likely to have a limited lifetime – unless the weekend proves so successful that the organisers decide to do it again.

Thus we have focused on just the information likely to be required by attendees.  We've used PayPal for bookings, but also allow people to download a booking form to send with a cheque if they prefer.  We've used a Google map to highlight the whereabouts of the different venues, bus and rail stations and hotels.

Each member of the cooperative has her own email address.  One of the benefits of doing the website is that it seems to have focused the organiser's attention on their specific roles – a great aid to management of the project.

I commend Compila, the webhost, which was in turn recommended to me, for the facilities it provides for just £20 a year, with second year free.  250Mb web space, unlimited POP3 email addresses, 2 MySQL databases and unmetered bandwidth.

We have also used MySpace and YouTube to garner interest.  And I have learnt how to convert a video in DVD format to something that you can see and hear on the web.  Every web project pushes the boundaries that much further.

First published 15th February 2007.

I discovered that Sooz Nooz had vanished on 26th December 2006.  All entry files and templates had disappeared from my web folders.

I still haven't had any reply from the web host intimating how this might have happened.  I think it may be time to consider moving my domain hosting elsewhere. 

There's a strong possibility that the site was hacked.  Or it could have been a security issue.  Following discussions with the web host, I did try installing a .htaccess file using a different FTP client called SmartFTP, which turns off an unsafe php setting, and that does seem to have worked.

Meanwhile, Pivot has released an updated version of its software.  One of the reasons it's taken me this long to get back up and running is that I had to compare old files with new.  The template layout and CSS values had changed very significantly.

I'm reasonably satisfied with my efforts to restore the look and feel of Sooz Nooz.  I still have problems with CSS values for container width in IE 6 and earlier, but that is comparably a minor irritation.

By great good fortune, Google had spidered the website just three days before I discovered it had gone.  As a result, I have been able to restore all the entries from Google's cached versions of the blog.  I would have been quite devastated if I had lost everything.

So now, all entries are being copied into files on my PC as well as into the blog, and backups of the database and configuration files are being rigorously applied.

First published 14th January 2007

I refurbished the Buckles – classic shoes for ladies with small feet website in October and November, launching the new look in the second week of November.

Buckles, the shop in Loughborough, closed finally in October. With access to Biggin Street closed by pedestrian access and council works that seemed to go on for months, the customer base had dropped. The proprietor also had family reasons for closing.

The problem was what to do with the outstanding stock.

Firstly, the company decided that it would sell only its smallest sizes online, since this was a niche market. That means British shoe sizes from 13 to 3, or Continental sizes 32 to 35.

I was instructed to use PayPal as the purchase mechanism. There were several reasons for this.

1. The company already had a PayPal merchant account, and did not want to make the commitment of subscribing to another payment system. PayPal takes a percentage of a sale, and does not require subscription.
2. It's relatively easy to set up payment options on a website using PayPal, providing there aren't too many items. Otherwise, it becomes very time-consuming to list the items and obtain the code.
3. It's now possible for anyone to make a payment using PayPal using a credit or debit card. Customers don't need to have a PayPal account.

My reservations are that PayPal, partly, at least, from being owned and used by eBay, has a mixed reputation. Personally, I have never had any problems with paying via PayPal, but some people have. You only need to hear of one or two bad experiences to begin to distrust an agency or organisation.

The problems probably come from tales of 'phishing', and from the vast anonymity of using the mechanism.

Let's consider 'phishing' first. Phishing is the name given to the practice of deceiving people online to give personal financial information, which is then exploited to defraud the unsuspecting individual of income from a transaction and also to clear out all funds in bank accounts. I am surprised that so many people never seem to question emails that they might get which they are not expecting, which urge them to yield up their personal information, and which they answer. There's a dearth of shrewd judgement in the world. And yet, I have received phishing emails from scammers purporting to be from eBay, and these emails have looked unnervingly real. Click on any of the links and you are taken to a website which can rake in all your details without you even realising.

If you get such an unexpected email apparently from eBay or PayPal, you should forward the email to spoof@ebay.com or spoof@paypal.com. Here's the relevant eBay page with information on how to avoid being defrauded and which will enable you to report phishing websites too. All other financial institutions which practice online will have similar policies and procedures to deal with phishing.

I found a dedicated anti-phishing website at Millersmiles.

With regard to the anonymity of PayPal, everything is fine providing the transaction does what is expected. But what if you have a question, or what if you want to return goods? Both customer and merchant could lose out by not knowing exactly how to complain or who to complain to. At least with a bank, you can always call in at a high street branch and demand to meet a manager.

My own feeling about the Buckles website is that it doesn't offer enough stock at the moment and maybe not even the fashions that people seek, even though it's very difficult for women with small feet to find shoes that both fit and really look good. One reason why we never trod the ecommerce path before was because many of the customers were not, then, knowledgeable about online transactions, and there's nothing like coming in to the shop to try on the stock. I'm hesitant about buying shoes online myself because I can never be certain about the sizes and the fittings. In which case the idea of having an online showcase seemed to make more sense.

It isn't enough to have a website. You need to be able to interact with visitors, try to define the customer base and keep them up to date with offers and new stock via email newsletters. At the very least, you need to examine your website access logs.

And you need to be able to offer a variety of payment options. An ecommerce solution such as OSCommerce or ZenCart might serve the purpose better which would make it easier for the clients to update stock levels themselves and also to offer direct credit/debit card payments as well as PayPal. Pay-per-click advertising is also an option. At this stage, it may not be worth the expense of an ad campaign given the value of the stock. In which case, we have to focus on natural language searches using the keywords that we have identified.

This item was first published on 8th December 2006.

The $100 laptop computer has been launched in Brazil. Read more about this at Global Voices Online.

Global Voices Online summarises the reactions to the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative in Brazil, from various bloggers in the country, and provides translations into English from the Portuguese.

Naturally, reactions vary from those who think it's WOW, to those who, understandably in my view, suggest that more investment in teachers might better meet the objective of improving educational attainment, to those who believe the money might have been better spent in combating poverty and providing food and water.

And then of course, who will the laptops go to? One blogger queried this after supposing that the launch machines would be given to President Lula's grandsons.

The $100 laptop uses a different hardware configuration from that which we are used to, and also a different browser, called OLPC, after the name of the initiative. Watch the YouTube demo of OLPC in action.

Also see this article entitled Clever kit to benefit the poor in London's Financial Times.

Update on January 5th 2008: An article in The Economist reveals that the OLPC laptop is clumsy, cumbersome to use, and crashes frequently. It’s more likely to deter kids than encourage them. The Economist says that this has been largely due to “the hubris, arrogance and occasional self-righteousness of OLPC workers. They treated all criticism as enemy fire to be deflected and quashed rather than considered and possibly taken on board. Overcoming this will be essential if the project is to succeed past its first release.”

All is not doom and gloom however. Laptops are getting cheaper and there are other options. At least the OLPC initiative has pioneered a trail.

This item was first published on 4th December 2006.

I've just come across the Foreign Direct Investment Promotion Center, which has been developed by the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), an arm of the World Bank Group.

The website is available in English, Russian, Arabic and Serbian, (yes, Serbian), offering toolkits, research resources, e-learning and opportunities to promote oneself.

It has an impressive list of members, and the service is currently free. You have to register to access the resources for market research for prospective investors. 571 are listed currently. Short movies of testimonials from users suggest that the toolkits have been very useful to government agencies in setting up investment promotion agencies.

Registration was a bit awkward when it came to choosing an organisation. The process would have lost marks in a usability test, but I did succeed.

This item was first published on 4th December 2006.

From the Heart - my CD

I've just released my first album. Here are details and edited sound files of four of the tracks.

I'm sending the profits to the British Lung Foundation which created a 'Breath of Life' campaign in memory of my father, Percy Akehurst, who died of asbestosis in 2004.

After singing my recital last year, I was able to add £55 to the donations sent for his funeral.

The money will be used for asthma care and research.

This item was first published on 29th November 2006.