Congratulations Ian!

Congratulations to Ian and Lou on the birth of their little bundle of joy - Tireney

MS MossyBlog : Xobni is Inbox backwards (Outlook addon)

I'm back! New Year means ANOTHER resolution to blog more.

Anyway here's a first piece of goodness - what looks like a very cool analytics extension to Outlook.

MS MossyBlog : Xobni is Inbox backwards (Outlook addon)

I've signed up for the beta (naturally), so will report back when I get my download code. But watch the video - this could be an extremely useful productivity tool. Now if only they'd provide a plug-in architecture so you can integrate it with Facebook or LinkedIn.

I'm going to Mix:uk 07!

'Nuff said, really!

Roll on September 11th.

UK Windows Vista And Office 2007 Launch Tour

Props have to go to the UK Windows Vista And Office 2007 Launch Tour team ( Mike Taulty, Daniel Moth, Mark Johnston & Martin Parry ) for the great show they put on at MDDA yesterday.

Presenting 10 sessions, each of just 10 minutes each, on various aspects of Vista and Office 2007 from a developer's perspective can't have been easy, but they managed it - and managed to provide a something to peaque the interest of everyone there.

The "Manchester Geek Dinner With Developer Evangelists" at Shimla Pink's, organised by Phil Winstanley, was an excellent affair too - although I'm not sure there was any conclusion to the argument between Daniel and Julius over web vs smart client or whether there needed to be better support for Mobile devices! Oh and the curry was pretty good too!

Thanks guys - when's the next one?

Announcing the birth of Joshua Michael

More important news!

At 1024, Vicky gave birth to Joshua Michael. 9lbs 1.5oz, 58cm long with a 38cm circumference head. Mother & baby both very well.

Update (2006-12-11): Pictures of baby Josh are now available in the gallery. Both are home from hospital now, and the family is settling back into normality - or at least as close as we get!

Trying times... Moments of peace

Sometimes the pressures of life just seem to press you harder and harder.

Currently, I'm being pulled in opposite directions by the pressures of the lead up to the birth of our third (yep, that's right - we decided on another one - tho' this is the last) child, and but the unrelenting pressure at work to deliver the new product.

Which is why, I guess, I appreciate those small moments of calm when I've got time to myself to ponder. First thing in the morning, sat in the car park at work with my morning coffee is a daily ritual now. And sitting in the pub waiting for colleagues to arrive for the Friday pint provide a welcome break and the opportunity to blog.

Ahhhhhhh - peace.

Back to earth with a crash

35 minutes to get the kids to nursery...
35 minutes to get to work...
30 minutes to find somewhere to park...
15 minutes to walk BACK to work...

It can ONLY be the first Monday back after a holiday. *sigh*

If you've got small children however, I can throughly recommend Amroth Castle - an excellent little caravan park in South Wales (near Tenby) that's close enough to the beach for the little ones to walk there, but far enough away (and with it's own play area) that they won't try and escape on their own.

I do seem to be more tired after a week with the kids than I was before the holiday. Think I need another week!

Update: Forgot to mention the 45 minutes of swearing that ran in parallel with the last 2 items on the list above!