Asus Transformer Prime TF201 available in the UK

The #2 tablet after the iPad, the Asus Transformer has been updated and many reviews of it are saying that this could be the game changer for Android tablets in the same way that Android phones are now outselling iPhones.

The replacement to the Transformer is the Transformer Prime and as of 17th December, it is available to order on Amazon.co.uk, see the following link:

Asus EeePad Transformer Prime TF201 10.1 inch Tablet with Keyboard/Dock


Where does this win over the iPad 2?

1. It has a bigger screen with higher resolution (1280 x 800) 
2. It's 5% thinner
3. The tablet without the keyboard is lighter than the iPad
4. For more or less the same price  as an iPad it comes with a proper (detachable) keyboard so you can use it like a netbook, if you want.
5. Without the keyboard, you get 12 hours of battery life. The keyboard gives you another 6. That's a whole day of constant use without needing a power supply, a first for a tablet.
6. It has a quad core 1.3GHz processor, as opposed to the iPad's dual core 1GHz.
7. It has 1Gb of memory, the iPad has 512Mb.
8. It has expandable memory, you can add another 64Gb to the base configuration of 32Gb or 64Gb. NO mobile Apple products have expandable memory.
9. It can play blu-ray quality video at 1080p (ten-eighty-pi)
10. It is the first tablet to support the Tegra 3 processor, with 12 GPU cores and hardware support for games consoles. This makes it around 1/3 faster than the Samsung Galaxy Tab
11. It has a standard USB socket (no need for adaptors)
12. It has an 8MP camera with flash and autofocus on the rear and a 1.3MP camera on the front.
13. The display is brighter than anything else on the market 584cd/m², so you can use it outdoors with ease and read it in sunlight
14. It's got gorilla glass, making it very resistant to scratches etc
15. It runs Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich really well.
16. It runs flash, if you want.
17. It has GPS. iPad doesn't.
18. And of course, it isn't made by Apple so you're not locked into their one size fits all ecosystem.

The main drawback of the Asus versus the iPad is the lack of built in 3G. However, consider this.
1. It has Wi-Fi so with a Mi-Fi type device you can share your data connection across multiple devices rather than paying for a contract on each of them separately.
2. It has a USB port, people have got USB modems to work on the original transformer.

This page is also available via the memorable http://www.TF201.com or http://www.TF700.com

But DONT FORGET TO REMOVE THE RUBBER STOPPERS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXXOpmS8Tr8 as the instructions on doing this are non existent and they are very hard to remove.

Here's a link to the PDF of the English Transformer prime user manual as ironically the Asus site javascript doesn't support the Asus browser for downloading the manual
Once again, the Amazon.co.uk product link is at
Asus EeePad Transformer Prime TF201 10.1 inch Tablet with Keyboard/Dock

Enjoy!

Craig

Disclaimer re Apple: Apple once paid me some money when I won a top prize in their national UK competition "Young Programmer of the Year". That was back in the day when you could take Apples apart and mess about with them.

Agile and PRINCE2

In January 2008, I posted an article on PRINCE2 and Agile which it seems has been #1 in Google for those search terms ever since and consequently has received a great deal of attention, comments and traffic.

More than 3 years later I have worked on 4 agile projects, become a PRINCE2 and MSP practitioner and qualified in DSDM (the Agile project management method mentioned in my earlier blog). I've also got a lot more experience - see my LinkedIn profile at http://www.CraigCockburn.com for further details - including 3 projects for Central Government (BERR, CIO Council and DirectGov).

Given the recent push to have Agile more accepted in government circles I thought it was time to update the blog.

A few things have been happening recently

1. The Agile Delivery Network are hosting a meeting later today. I am attending - the ADN appears to be a small developer led community promoting the use of Agile in government, especially from the software development perspective and working with the Institute for Government
2. This week we have seen reports in the IT media about the Government turning to small companies for help in introducing Agile and a number of important blogs such as Agile can fix government IT calling for agile to be taken seriously as a delivery method.
3. There has been a fair amount of debate about Agile in Government on the DSDM Group on LinkedIn and the DSDM group itself is also responding to the System Error report 
4. The government ICT strategy (March 2011) also states "Additionally, the application of agile ICT delivery methods, combined with the newly established Major Projects Authority, will improve government’s capability to deliver projects successfully and realise benefits faster. "
5. Increasingly organisations outside of government are deploying DSDM as a project management method rather than PRINCE2 as DSDM not only incorporates the benefits of Agile, but is also suitable for an environment that is regulated, compliance driven and is interested in meeting CMMI standards. Swiftcover (part of the AXA Group) won the award for "Most Agile aware organisation" at the inaugural UK agile awards in 2010.

So lots of change it seems. So where does that leave Agile, PRINCE2 and the appropriate choice of project management method in the new world of Agile government.

I am project management method neutral. I am not pro or against PRINCE2. What I am against is using PRINCE2 when it is either unsuitable for the project in question or that it is suitable, but there are more suitable methods. There is nothing in the PRINCE2 manual about producing reams of documentation although to be fair DSDM as an Agile project management method does go further and state that documentation should only be produced where it adds value. Neither am I going to recommend Agile when there are certain projects (especially those with risk to life) where you cannot adequately timebox testing and for which a pure Agile approach would be less than ideal.

PRINCE2 by itself assumes a waterfall like approach where the requirements are signed off at some level and then handed to development. There's no principle in the usual PID of fixing the time, cost and quality and flexing the scope. However, PRINCE2 does afford the project manager quite a lot of freedom and flexibility. The project manager works within the tolerances of time, cost, budget (and possibly scope) that are set by the project board and these can be as wide or as narrow as is appropriate for the project. In that regard, PRINCE2 gives the project manager the flexibility to get on with the job as best they see fit within those parameters. I was programme manager on the BCS "IT Project Team of the Year 2010" award winning programme. This was run along these lines of light touch management and working within agreed parameters - something common to both Agile and also a sensibly run PRINCE2 project. PRINCE2 really can have as much or as little ceremony as you like, it doesn't have to be a bureaucratic monster that some make it out to be, but in differentiating it from Agile, PRINCE2 does assume you know a lot more up front and are prepared to spend longer in analysis having detailed requirements to "sign off".

DSDM, like PRINCE2, had its origins as an IT Project management method but has now become a generic project management method capable for delivering both IT and non-IT projects. DSDM does have a lot more to say about day to day activities at the delivery team level (e.g. daily standups) and as such is more of a how-to manual rather than PRINCE2 which is more of a process guide for managers.

There are therefore a few potential options in choosing the appropriate method:

Choice of Development methods:

1. PRINCE2 with a waterfall development method (the traditional way)
2. PRINCE2 with an Agile development method (quick win for the PRINCE2 advocates)

Choice of Project Management methods:

3. An Agile Project Management method with PRINCE2 and one of the development methods above - -- Hybrid as put forward by Keith Richards  - author of Agile project management: running PRINCE2 projects with DSDM Atern published by The Office of Government Commerce and Agile Project and Service Management: delivering IT services using ITIL, PRINCE2 and DSDM Atern (by Dot Tudor and also published by the Office of Government Commerce. 
4. An Agile Project Management method without PRINCE2 and one of the development methods above. Agile project management with a waterfall development method makes no sense, so the alternative here is a full top to bottom Agile Project management and development method such as DSDM Atern. (published by the DSDM consortium, not the Office of Government commerce!)

I am dismissing 3 as not very useful. I've read the first book. It flips between one method and another not particularly blending them in any coherent way and comes up with a management structure that has BOTH the PRINCE2 board and the Agile project management team - 5 managers. This seems like a double headed monster. Besides not combining the "Senior User" and "Business Visionary" and also the "Senior Supplier" and "Technical Co-ordinator" there is still the conflicting philosophy of Waterfall and Agile to deal with. The only merit I can see in this split personality approach is for people interested in Agile management but who can't or won't take the leap and abandon PRINCE2 completely. DSDM by itself is enough. It doesn't need to be helped or hindered by PRINCE2 to be a success. The DSDM manual states although the method can be combined with the likes of PRINCE2, "For most organisations, Atern is all that is needed" (P29).

So the front runners for project management techniques emerge as :

1. The existing practices of PRINCE2 and a waterfall development method
2. PRINCE2 incorporating Agile techniques
3. DSDM Atern (or equivalent) Agile project management with Agile development techniques

There is no particular good or bad here; the skill is in choosing the technique most suitable for the project, people, skills, organisational culture, involvement of 3rd parties and so on. In the main however, I think in the new world of government project management we should be starting with 3 as the default position and then move to 2 if there are good reasons not to use Agile project management and to 1 if there are good reasons not to do Agile development. I really think there are few projects which are genuinely in the last category of requiring exclusively waterfall developmentl however. For further information, please see the Agile suitability filter paper [PDF] or the Project suitability filter. Note that both DSDM Atern and PRINCE2 can work alongside methods such as CMMI, see this paper on CMMI and Atern. 

Once we have got a culture that is comfortable choosing the most appropriate techniques for a project, we should revisit the procurement process. This still seems to favour a waterfall like approach of fixed scope rather than an agile like approach of fixed time, cost and quality and having scope as the variable. Once that is sorted I think public sector project management will be in a much better place.

Comments welcome. See also the follow up article.

Craig

Fed up with rip off hotels

A rant at the hotel industry and their standards.

I am fed up being ripped off with crap food, especially crap food that is overpriced and you take all evening to serve me.

Where do I start? Cereal loaded with sugar. Muesli is supposed to be healthy. So why only serve varieties with sugar in? This makes as much sense as automatically putting sugar in everyone's tea or coffee and makes no sense for anyone trying to eat healthily or on a low sugar diet. In 1997 I suggested this to Benedict's of Belfast and they got in muesli with no sugar. I stayed in that hotel in a contract for 7 months and when I returned for a random visit last year they were still serving it. Must have made sense I guess and maybe more people than me liked the sugar free muesli, you can even leave a bowl of sugar beside it for the sugarholics (add to taste).

Bacon. It's supposed to be reasonably crispy. A pile of bacon drowning in its own fat that looks like it has been steamed and has more fat on it than bacon just doesn't do it for me. This isn't just me, the other guests were complaining about it too. Why do you think it's acceptable to put out such inedible crap? Shall I call Gordon Ramsey up to tell it to you straight?

Coffee. It's supposed to be fresh and tasty to wake up guests in the morning. Usually however you have instant chemical coffeesoup in your room with a barely adequate amount of milk unless you are sad enough to be staying by yourself. Alternatively you could venture to the breakfast area where I'm sure it's been stewing since 6am. Why don't you do a deal with one of the semi-reasonable high street coffee chains who I am sure would welcome the expansion opportunity or at least have a cafetière available in the room so I can make it myself.

I also know that £5 bowl of soup probably cost you less than £1 for ingredients and 2 mins to heat up so unless your waiter earns £4 for 2 mins work (£120 an hour) I don't buy the rip off. I also don't get the £10 min for a main course either, nor the £3 for a pint, all of which I frequently decline in preference to an entire meal with food and drink, no hidden service charges AND a proper VAT receipt correctly itemised from a Wetherspoons pub with change from £8 (usually less). They can deliver decent food on a budget, why can't you? They also take 10 mins to serve me usually rather than the best part of an hour unlike hotel restaurants while I get bored waiting and wondering how much the hotel will charge me for the 'service'.

I had completely had it tonight when I thought I would try the restaurant. I had to ask especially for the menu. Clearly a tactic that you use so that when people sit down and ask for a menu, you've already 'got them'. Most normal (not hotel) restaurants have the decency to put a menu on public display so you can make your mind up first. Having thought it overpriced, I was just going to have a starter (the famous £5 soup) but then ventured to the bar to see what they had there only to be told they didn't serve food. Except the nuts I spotted and then had to ask if there were any other edible items they sold also not classified as food, such as crisps etc. I then popped out to the car for 5 mins then returned to the restaurant only to find it closed. No warning when I was there 5 mins earlier, no clearly indicated signs indicating their hours, nothing. However, I could get exactly the same food on the menu delivered as room service to my room. I was going to ask if having then had it delivered to my room I could bring it back to the bar, be sociable and annoy all the other hungry guests being told by barstaff that they didn't serve food.

So tonight as I was hungry and actually needed more to eat than nuts (even if the bar didn't classify them as food) I went to Tesco, bought long life milk, sugar free cereal, plates, cutlery, juice, bread, fresh fruit (not available in your restaurant, why?), coffee, cafetière (so I don't need to drink instant chemical soup) and a bottle opener for less than the price of two meals in your restaurant, thus saving me eating breakfast with you indefinitely and at least the next two evening meals. Saved a fortune and of course I can also eat whenever I like. Result. Healthy eating for a 1/3 the price of overpriced unhealthy food. I have also considered buying a microwave for £30 and putting it in my room so that I can enjoy a Tesco curry and rice for an amazing £1.50 rather than the £15 and long delay with it would take you to serve up pretty much the same thing. After 3 days, I'm already in profit (and I can eat my food in less than 10 minutes).

Look this isn't just a stereotypical stingy Scotsman story. There's a number of points here - one is that when I'm in a hotel I actually want to eat healthily and 'normal' food, not joints covered in unpronouncable incomprehensible French names trying to be pretentious. Nor do I need huge portions, starch, carbohydrates and overcooked vegetables. I actually want food that's reasonably close to what I would eat at home, portion size and with tasty fruit and vegetables. I also don't want to wonder why you charge 3x the price of Wetherspoons, your food is nothing special and by the way your beer is probably crap too. Serving 6 types of lager and no ale isn't much of a choice really. As someone in a hotel on business I also resent my week being whittled away waiting for a table, waiting for my order to be taken and waiting for my food to arrive. Once in a while is OK for a special occasion, but when it becomes a regular nightly event because I travel a lot, it eats in not only my time when I could be catching up on work or getting an early night but also when I might like to go for a walk and enjoy the local sights. Wetherspoons can take my order and serve me in 10 mins, why does a restaurant like to block a table out for over an hour with slow service the main cause?

Anyone else think the hotel industry needs a good kicking? As a starting point, if you want the lowest prices for a bed, try this remarkable Hotel search engine which I use very regularly and which makes finding hotels a lot easier.

End My Credit Crunch explained

People have been writing to me about End My Credit Crunch (http://www.endmycreditcrunch.com) and how it works, so here's a quick explanation.

There a twitter account @uncrunch, with a supporting website at the URL above hosting banner adverts and more info.

The adverts are sold at 5c per follower per month. With 220 followers, this means that an advert for a month in the twitter account and on the website would cost $11, i.e. $11 to reach 220 followers plus be seen on the site. Compare this to www.tweetvalue.com which values twitter accounts and at the time of posting, it values the uncrunch account at $125 per tweet. We're less than a 10th of the cost, and you get two tweets and a substantial standard size banner advert too, surely excellent value - and you're helping others too.

We're assuming worst case scenario that overheads including corporation tax, VAT, hosting etc will be 50%, so that leaves 50% profit. Out of the profit I'm hoping to take 1/3 to help my family through the credit crunch (debts due to loss of job; 2 family members with terminal cancer; two children at sick kids as well, one due an operation next month; having to sell house) and give away 2/3 to help others. The others will be in 3 forms - 1: a proportion as a winnings pot for anyone following the twitter account - win for free and an incentive to follow. 2: A proportion for people who refer advertisers and 3:a proportion for charities.

If we get 1000 followers and sell 150 adverts then this would mean we'd be giving away around about 1000 * 0.05 * 150 * 50% * 2/3 or about $2,500 per month - as the number of followers goes up so does the amount we can give away. The cost for advertisers to reach people stays the same at 5c per follower.

This could easily scale up to much bigger numbers once the momentum builds, there's twitter accounts with millions of followers out there. Feedback from the press has been really positive we just need more people to get the word out and to reach more people via blogs, newspapers etc. Even Max Clifford's PR company thought it was a good story but unfortunately couldn't take it on just now. The account is being followed by lots of media companies, including The Irish Times, The Times (London) and the Los Angeles Times amongst others.

I'd like to give away $250,000 which would represent 10 months work if we get 10,000 followers and sell the advertising space. It would be disappointing all round if it was a lot less than this and a dream come true if it was more.

thanks

Craig

End my credit crunch launches

We are now live at http://www.endmycreditcrunch.com
Visit. Follow. Win.
Help me. Help charities. Help yourself.

Government adopts common sense approach to credit crunch and interest rates

It was announced today that the government would revise credit card terms including importantly stopping the unfair practice of forcing people to pay off the lowest interest rate first, leaving them on a potentially crippling high rate until the entire balance is cleared. Long recognised as unfair, I proposed this to the Department for Business last year and they rejected the idea. Here is the response received.

I'm glad to see that a year later, common sense has finally prevailed.

Craig

Dear Mr Cockburn

Thank you for your enquiry regarding the regulation of financial
services interest rates.

The Government has no plans to make regulations regarding the repayment
of loans having differing rates of interest. However, the Government
has introduced strengthened information requirements under the Consumer
Credit Act 2006. Lenders will be obliged from October 2008 to give
their customers clearer and more regular information on the state of
their credit accounts in order to help them identify potential problems
before it is too late. From October 2008, statements must also include
information about the consequences of failing to make payments or of
only making minimum repayments. In addition, lenders are already
required to provide a summary box, as part of the pre-contractual
information, giving consumers a consistent and succinct summary of the
key features of the credit card they are considering and enabling them
to compare different products more easily. The summary box includes APR
and other rates; the interest free period; interest charging
information; allocation of payments; minimum repayment; the amount of
credit; fees; charges; and default charges. Furthermore, lenders have
agreed voluntary post-contractual information guidelines for summary
boxes to be sent with monthly credit card statements. This means that
consumers will be better informed about their financial commitments and
able to check the features of their credit card on a monthly basis.

The OFT recently conducted a study which rejected the idea of forcing
lenders to move to a standard system for interest rate charging.
Instead, it recommended the establishment of a comparison website to
enable consumers to compare the costs of different credit cards based on
their likely patterns of usage and the way different providers calculate
and charge interest. FSA have agreed to host this site on their
'MoneyMadeClear' website, http://www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov, alongside
existing price comparison functions for insurance and other products.
Furthermore, APACS, the UK trade association for payments and for
institutions that deliver payment services to customers, has set up a
website at http://www.choosingandusing.com/ to help consumers understand
how credit cards work, the factors that they should consider when making
their choice and the best ways to use their card.
I trust this response is helpful.

End My Credit Crunch campaign

All

The End My Credit Crunch group has now launched, please visit the group, check out what we're about and watch the group for imminent news of our launch. Free prizes, no purchase necessary and we help charities too.

many thanks

Craig

End My Credit Crunch

This post is to announce the holding page for End My Credit Crunch.

The site announcement is being made on 19th July at 19:48, exactly one month to the minute after having the idea. This moment was captured on twitter as I stood at Dublin airport.

The background is that a week or so previously I had been preparing an article for The Times following a tweet from Times Money about how the credit crunch had affected my family and the various problems with jobs, income and working extensively away from home we were having as a result.

That article was supposed to appear on 13th June but unfortunately, got knocked out by other news even though they thought the article would work really well and they felt my situation was really tough. However, such is the way of newspaper articles. Hopefully this one will get a lot more coverage :-)

So after a few days thought following that setback, I tried my hand at coming up with an innovative way of getting out of the Credit Crunch rather than having the story printed in The Times. A month later, here we are and the site behind the scenes is nearly ready.

We are now building the user base ready for a successful launch. Please visit endmycreditcrunch.com and follow us on twitter or drop me a mail on info@endmycreditcrunch. We would be particularly keen to hear from anyone wishing to advertise on this novel twitter related site, we hope to successfully monetise twitter to generate income that can be effectively shared out to good causes and people affected by the credit crunch. Our aim is to give away $250,000.

If this gets to be as popular as the Million Dollar Homepage then you will be glad you got in early. Unlike that site however, we are taking standard banner adverts 468x60 that make an impact. Also unlike that site, our aim is to give away a large portion of what we raise to help as many people as possible.

End My Credit Crunch - a British business helping charities and people world wide out of the crunch, let us uncrunch you!

Craig

Business plan tips for angel finance

I'd been looking around for a while for tips on how to write a good business plan to attract angel finance and finally found this useful guide on bytestart. Would welcome comments on this and any additional guides like it that people know of.

many thanks

Craig

Scotland is the place

My recent interview with Scotland is the Place, Scottish government website.

Hope you like it, the space was a bit limited. There's so much more I'd like to say.

Craig

Fulltiltpoker.com, stickiest site on the Internet

Figures according to Nielsen on-line, February 2009. see here for full breakdown.

Craig, Web project manager, Full Tilt Poker.

Available from mid April for my next opportunity, LinkedIn.

The Fred Goodwin pension problem

OK, so the Government and most sane people reckon that Fred's £16m pension reward for the biggest failure in UK corporate history is unjustifiable. I would agree it's an outrageous reward for the biggest fail ever in UK corporate history, however if it's in his contract what can be done?

1. First of all the government should realise that by trying to weasel around contract law and pension law by claiming back his legal entitlement, it opens the floodgates for all those hard-done-by benefit claimants that really need the government's support and are all too often eliminated from the basic money they need by government red tape. I know, I've had the chancellor of the exchequer tell me so personally (he used to be my MP). The government all to regularly hides behind legislation that results in the needy being denied money because of red tape (e.g. form says "please return this form within a month otherwise your claim may be delayed" without informing the claimant that the underlying legislation requires the form to be returned within a month otherwise the claim will be invalid and so on). If the government can twist and bend the legislation to get back some of Sir Fred's pension then it should certainly have a thought for the hard done by citizens of this country, struggling in a recession on a lot less than Fred's feather bed nest egg and who the government is all to happy to exclude from a basic minimum entitlement, despite paying national insurance etc. If the government can bend the rules to rake in money, it can surely bend the rules to pay it out to those who need it most.

2. If the government is adopting the new found stance of ensuring that failure isn't rewarded and that people don't want away from failure with large fat-cat salaries then we really need to question what example MPs are going to set. After all, Gordon Brown has presided over the biggest economic failure this side of the great depression yet in 2 years will walk away from that failure with a well paid job in the city and a pension that even Sir Fred Goodwin would enjoy. Surely if bankers are to be penalised for failure, the same rule should apply to the politicians which allowed the bankers to be so reckless in the first place. The buck stops with government. I'm sure the politicians that preside over failure would be a lot less keen on calling for Fred to pay back some of his pot if the same politicians were having their pension pot culled by the same percentage and for exactly the same reasons.

That's what I don't like about Labour. One rule for them and another one for everyone else.

Shoe on the other foot, Gordon Brown?

Aer Lingus cheaper than Ryanair

How Aer Lingus is cheaper than Ryanair. This'll annoy Michael O'Leary.

This is my weekly flight, so these are real figures based on looking at the relative websites today and booking my usual route with my usual baggage allowance and my usual credit card. I have excluded seat booking costs from this as I don't need to choose my seat in advance. Both airlines of course are guilty for advertising headline air fares without including all the mandatory charges (including tax and any booking fees).


Cost Aer Lingus = £109.75. Cost Ryanair = £194.20
Aer Lingus markup over flight cost = 214%
Ryan air markup over flight cost = 285%

Ryan Air are not only more expensive for my journey option but there's no loyalty scheme and I would have to queue at the airport to pay the excess baggage fee.

Booking parameters:

Route Edinburgh - Dublin on 02 March 2009 (need to fly from Edinburgh as it's an early start)
Dublin - Edinburgh/Glasgow on March 06 March 2009 (can fly back to either Glasgow or Edinburgh, doesn't matter to me).
Flying with 17Kg of hold bags
Compared on Sunday afternoon, 22nd Feb 2009


Aer Lingus Edinburgh-Dublin-Edinburgh

Flight £19.99 + £74.99 = £94.98

Including taxes and charges (except the processing charge) = £141.75

Handling charge = £8
Total to fly = £149.75
Bag charge £20
Total to pay = £169.75

cost for mandatory extras on top of the flight cost = ((169.75-94.98)/94.98)*100 =78%


Aer Lingus Edinburgh-Dublin-Glasgow

Flight £19.99 + £14.99 = £34.98

Including taxes and charges (except the processing charge) = £81.75

Handling charge = £8

Total to fly = £89.75
Bag charge = £20

Total to pay = £109.75

costs for Mandatory Extras on top of the flight cost = ((109.75-34.98)/34.98)*100 = 214%


Ryanair Edinburgh-Dublin-Edinburgh

Flight £0.49+£49.99= £50.48

Including taxes and charges = £96.20

Add bag handling = £28.50

Add Mastercard fee £9.50

Add excess bag costs 2Kg (over) * £15 per kilo * 2 (per flight) = £60

Total Ryanair costs = £96.20 + £28.50 + £9.50 + £60 = £194.20

Even without the £60 extra bag charge, this is £134.20

The costs of the flight were £50.48.

Cost for mandatory extras = 166% extra on top of the flight costs.
Plus the bag charge its 285%

Banking ignorance

I liked this quote from the recent Davos conference:

One top money market manager said: "If you believe that the world economy will turn the corner at the end of this year, or in [the first quarter] of 2010, I tell you we have not turned the corner, we can't see the corner, we don't even know where the corner is."

Once again, as I have said repeatedly on this blog bankers seem to be completely out of touch with customer service, a vision of improving the quality of their products and are constantly engaged in an endless cycle of making as much money as possible and no consequences for either customer service or indeed the global recession their greed has now caused. The above is simply another statement of their ignorance of the real world. Put the bankers into an environment where it's about more than just making as much money in a risky a fashion as possible and it's into headless chicken mode.

Still, one thing appears clear - the above quote does at least indicate that in the last year months they have learnt something about honesty.

Top tip for banks: Now is the time that you need to start thinking out of the box and investing in startups that have a solid business model which works in a recession. That's where you'll get the great growth rates, not in buying other banks laden with sub-prime debt (Royal Bank of Scotland etc take note)

Craig

Microsoft project rubbish

I attach a dump from the hated Microsoft Project.

This is the start of a plan, i.e. the top line is task #1. Why does project insist on taking tasks which are a round number of days or zero for a milestone and then rolling them up into fractional days? For the two rolled up tasks in the image, one is a whole number of days and the other isn't. Why is this?! All the tasks are using the same standard calendar.

thanks

Craig

Royal Bank of Scotland incompetence

I have always been a bit surprised by the banking industry. It must be that there is a special set of skills you can only get when working for banking that is completely unavailable anywhere else. The vast majority of banks (when they used to hire people) only took on people with previous banking experience. You might be the best web project manager going, but if you haven't worked for a bank they won't interview you. You might have all the relevant qualifications, but if you haven't worked for a bank, they won't interview you. You might even have extensive payments, e-commerce experience and been security vetted, but if you haven't worked for a bank they won't interview you. Although I have worked in financial services, retail, government and a wide range of sectors, banking is unique in that they require previous experience and will wait forever for the right person and pay over the odds for them rather than take someone who is capable of doing the job. Even government has realised that just employing government people to top jobs is a loser and is keen to recruit from outside. Not so the closed and incestuous world of banking which being so far shoved it own backside is now up the proverbial creek without a paddle and in the biggest mess for nearly a century. Led of course by people who are lifelong bankers, rather than well rounded individuals with a breadth of experience.

I turn now to the fiasco which is Royal Bank Digital Banking which has been the biggest disaster of a service imaginable ever since it first launched, failing of course to casually ignore the bank’s obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act to provide an accessible service for many years.

7 years after the likes of Egg and Intelligent Finance implemented online secure messaging, Royal Bank (they like to claim they are a leader) still doesn't have it. The "alternative" is a long phone call, possibly at expensive rates overseas from a mobile. Not very much of an "online" service then.

They also used to have a very useful financial planner application online. This service was withdrawn.

Recently, and completely unannounced, they made some changes to online banking such that even amending a payment to myself requires a card reader and a card with PIN. Being a business banking customer, my account had no card as all my transactions are online. I write a cheque about once a month and since it's posted, there is no requirement for a card, nor does my account come with one. So in order to do my transactions online I had to have a special online-only card issued. I also need a PIN and a card reader and I have to pack the card and reader as additional extras when I travel just so that I can pay wages into my own account. The alternative (having done it twice now) is a long conversation lasting about 20-30 minutes on the phone to do exactly the same thing but at great expense if I was calling from overseas.

I won't debate the merits of how secure or otherwise this recent change is nor indeed why they would need to implement all that security online when the phone system is as insecure as ever and of course is over an open channel, anyone within earshot can hear it etc. Bit like having 1 lock on your front door and 2 million locks on your back door then saying "we just added another million locks to the back door; our service is really secure now". Burglars aren't stupid. They break in at the weakest point; therefore the security of the back door is irrelevant until the front door is up to the same standard.

So now I turn to the latest set of problems with online banking. They sent me a card, PIN and reader for use with the online banking service over a year ago. However, at that time I had no need for them. The service didn't require their use either for regular payments. A year passed and in all that time I didn't need them once. Then all of a sudden without warning RBS changed the website behaviour so that paying myself via the same payment I had successfully been using for years was now deemed as high risk as setting up a brand new payment to Nigeria in response to a possible scam. Both transactions now need the card, card reader and PIN. No problem I thought and dug out the card and reader I'd got a year ago.

Went to set up transaction and the system said I would need to order a card reader. Funny that, I wonder what the system thought the thing I was holding was that was called a "card reader". There was no way to reset the flag in the system to say I already had one other than to order another one and wait several days until the system thought it had arrived, by which time I could then use the one I already had.

Then I went to use the card I'd had for a year and realised that since I'd never used the card, I couldn't remember the PIN. I called RBS and asked them to send me a new PIN. No can do, that type of card can't have its PIN reset, they had to order a new card instead. However, there's a problem with the supplier and the new card might take up to 3 weeks to arrive. 4 weeks later, I still have no card, no PIN for use with new card and therefore no on-line service. This remember is from a so called leading bank. Buggy websites, poor card functionality and supplier problems too.

On 15th October I put in the following complaint:

1. That the on-line system was changed without warning and for customers like me who required both a card and PIN we needed a 3 week warning at least to ensure no loss of service. This advance warning was not given.

2. I need a card and a PIN to do trivial on-line transactions between my own accounts that have never been a problem, if you are going to change the service to require cards and PINs, you need to check that these cards and PINs are actually available and there isn't a supplier problem. If there is, you need to either delay the upgrade or have an on-line workaround.

3. My wife and I share the same bank account. It isn't possible to set up pay from the business account to our joint account so that my pay goes through as one transaction and her pay goes through as another transaction without endless security checks. Paying a husband and wife who share a common account is such a basic item it is astonishing that it is impossible with direct banking to set up two payments to the same account but with two difference references (e.g. Craig pay and Joscelin pay). Never mind the "Craig dividends" "Joscelin dividends" and expenses payment references I might need as well - one account can only have one reference at a time.

4. When logging the above complaint on 15th October I was passed between several agents all of whom re-requested my details verbally. This is a security risk when I am calling from a phone as it increases the opportunity of people overhearing the conversation. RBS should implement an internal secure call transfer system, just as they already have when transferring from the telephone banking system to when you speak to an agent.

Points 1,2,3,4 were logged as a complaint on 15th October and I was told I would receive a response by 17th October. On 19th October I complained that no response had been received. On 21st October they wrote me a letter saying that they had tried to call me on the 21st but were unable to make contact. My phone has no record of a missed call or otherwise from the bank on 21st October. The response to my complaint was to explain that a card reader order was pending (which I knew) and that I could order a card reader on-line (which I don't care about as they've just acknowledged one was on its way). The letter then said that the changes were introduced to safeguard customers from possible fraud. No explanation as to why no notice was given, no explanation to explain why the loss of on-line service was not considered any explanation as to when my card and PIN which I am still waiting for would actually arrive, no explanation as to their poor call handling and complaint response times.

So I thought I would document the problems on-line just so they have a written record they can look up in case they lose the details again. I also find that telling an organisation I have put my comments on my blog generally results in a better response than the usual stock half-hearted template reply.

Maybe the next time I think of applying for a bank I should put "I want to work for an incestuous company that has no concept of customer service, technical capability or approach to delivering a high class product" and I might stand more of a chance in future. On the other hand, I might just put "Previous banking experience: UK taxpayer. Through your own incompetence taxpayers like me own a part of you. We bailed you out."

Surely an organisation that used to make billions of pounds profit a year and was bigger than Coke could actually deliver a basic on-line service and help desk that is better than this?

Estate Agents and the no commission model

So the property market is now at the point where estate agents are selling houses with no commission charges (This is London; 20th October 2008)

Hardly news for me however, I wrote about this in the Linlithgow Gazette on 17th October and on this very blog almost 5 months ago.

How many more estate agents will go bust before they realise the commission model driven on a low number of high profit sales is no longer viable?

These days the main source of house sales is the Internet. If websites didn't run a closed shop estate agents only model, then members of the general public could sell their own homes for a tiny fraction of the present commission driven cost.

The longer that estate agents cling to the 1%+ sales commission model, the more incentive there is for some real competition from the likes of House network - commission free selling.

I should not more have to pay an estate agent several thousand pounds for picking up the phone and sending a seller my way than I should pay autotrader a commission for selling my car. Even eBay don't charge a commission for selling property.

Conventional estate agents pay attention! Time to wake up and smell the coffee.

Craig

Letter from Linlithgow Gazette 17th October 2008:

A challenge

Sir,— I have lived in Linlithgow for over seven years and during that time have seen businesses close in the High Street and seen a reduction in diversity in the High Street, including no toy shop, more sandwich shops and properties lying vacant. Coming from the other side of the argument, I worked for Tesco and was IT manager of the grocery website at their corporate HQ in Hertfordshire last year. Yet I feel that another out of town shopping centre is the last thing the town needs – I would rather have Tesco where it is than a larger supermarket that you need to get in a car to drive to.

The £10 minimum charge levied by retailers on credit cards doesn't apply at Tesco and if the small retailers don't want to alienate people they need to drop this requirement – even small retailers can use credit card clearing facilities that charge a flat amount per month (just like Tesco) rather than a per transaction fee.
My job as an e-commerce consultant takes me all over the UK. When I work in London, I see that small traders get more passing custom yet seem much more willing to capitalise on the internet to supplement their passing trade.

With online shopping continuing to rise, the efforts of the Linlithgow High Street to reach out to anyone wanting to shop on line are woeful by comparison. Even something as basic as a one page website listing the company name, address, email address, products and services and opening hours is missing from most of the High Street traders and instead people searching often find traders in Livingston or Falkirk instead – for example enter Linlithgow Plumber in Google and the first site returned says there are none.

Enter West Lothian computers and Google maps returns nothing for Linlithgow either. Most of the time entering generic search terms, for example Linlithgow pubs or Linlithgow restaurants such as tourists would use, simply results in generic listing type sites over which local businesses usually have little or no control – actually returning the site belonging to a local business or Linlithgow.com would be far more useful.

Whilst Linlithgow.com is a useful first step, in times of a credit crunch and competing with out of town shopping, the woeful presence of Linlithgow on the Internet does not help businesses reach out to new customers who would rather look online.

Indeed even those with the most developed websites, that is estate agents, now face challenges from online-only estate agents who list property for sale on the same websites and at a tiny fraction of the price charged by Linlithgow High Street agents. Even the might of Tesco.com can't tell me what's in stock at my local shop in Linlithgow.

The challenge of out of town shopping, online searching for businesses and online shopping presents a problem for businesses from local high street shops to major retail groups, and the people of Linlithgow. In difficult economic times we need to come together and do everything possible to reach as many customers as possible.
Not having an adequate Internet presence in this day and age is like not having a phone number 30 years ago.

Making Linlithgow at the heart of Silicon Glen fully connected with modern shopping trends would not only complement Cittaslow status, but would help businesses of all kinds to combat the challenges posed not only by Springfield's development but also global shopping trends.—Yours etc.,
CRAIG COCKBURN, M.Sc.,
Chartered IT Professional

Correct VAT receipt

I've blogged before about VAT receipts but just for the benefit of the 90%+ of restaurants who seem to think that a total and a VAT number constitutes a VAT receipt, here's the news - it doesn't.

The two things that most restaurants leave off is the separately itemised amount of VAT included in the bill and the rate of VAT applicable. If any restaurants are reading and want to know what you need to put on a VAT receipt, please check out the HMRC website.

thanks
Craig

bengal indian restaurant bayswater paddington

Great Indian food, competitive prices. You need to remember to prod the waiter after they've collected your main course plates otherwise you get ignored. Also, no proper VAT receipt either just a total and a VAT number.

What must be on a VAT receipt.

How Africa can be richer than the Middle East

I was reading about the completion in Dubai of the world's tallest skyscraper. Evidently no shortage of money in Dubai then to build tall or extravagant structures, funded of course by oil. Oil being of course a valuable commodity sold worldwide. Africa has a very valuable commidity, available in almost limitless quantities throughout most of the continent - solar power. Why can't we get our acts together and bring forward schemes for solar power in Africa, this one being even cheaper than oil with the potential to power Europe and 2/3 of the Middle East and North Africa countries. That's just one power station as well and using just 0.3% of the desert space. Why is the EU dragging its feet on this? Surely being able to generate electricty from a green source of energy and sharing the profits in Africa then Africa can not only enjoy the sort of spending power Dubai currently has, we can begin to address issues such as poverty in Africa, famine and disease - none of which seem to be major factors in Dubai.

With such a valuable resource, maybe Africa will become the New Middle East, not only in terms of power and wealth, but also wars and conflict involving the West.

Craig