A faith promoting experience on the side of the road… June 14, 2009
Posted by Mark in Church Life, General.Tags: death, eternal family, faith, family, LDS, mormon
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This afternoon, as I was driving back from Sunday church services in Winchester, I passed as I have done many, many times the roadside memorial of two friends that were killed in a car accident driving between Hursley and Ampfield two years ago. As I came up on the spot where the memorial now stands, a plaque and messages attached to a tree, a car pulled up and a couple got out with fresh flowers to place there. I drove past but felt the urge and complusion to turn around and go back and just say hello and pass on my best wishes.
I am so glad I did, as I reached Ampfield I turned around and went back the couple of miles to the spot where I met with the couple who are the parents of one of the two friends who was killed on that day two years ago. We chatted together for a few moments and shared a smile and some thoughts together on the importance of family. I was impressed by the faith they both displayed in those few moments we spent together.
We spoke about how I as a regular commuter along that stretch of road, remembered when the flowers appeared and how they have continued to be there. The hope is that the flowers act as a reminder that life is precious and to take care.
What impressed me the most about this couple as we spoke on the side of the road is how even after such a tragedy in their life, they were able to express thanks and gratitude for their son and their other children to God. Today their faith strengthened mine, I have not had to endure that trial of losing a loved one in such circumstances and there are many who have. I don’t know if I could be as strong as that, if I didn’t have the knowledge that I have, of a plan of happiness that God, our Heavenly Father has for us all, that means that the family unit can be eternal, in fact is designed to be so. This knowledge through the Gospel of Jesus Christ as taught by his Church on earth, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has brought me great comfort in my life, which I hope can be a comfort to many others.
What has happened to Nortel? April 29, 2009
Posted by Mark in General, Transmission.add a comment
Ok so I am here in Montreal, Canada at the moment doing some verification testing with Nortel on some of their optical equipment. I was last here in 2006 and had a flying visit to the Ottawa campus in 2004 and the places are a shadow of their former self. It is horrendous to see what apparent & alleged corporate mis-management can do to a once giant of the industry.
Much the same could be said of Marconi who were “rescued” as such by my current employer Ericsson. Unfortunately the world is watching as other institutions this time in the finance sector are failing, perhaps also as a result of poor decisions in the past.
Perhaps there is a glimmer of light for Nortel in the future, their optical portfolio is strong, the technology is sound, but whether the company is as robust as the technology they are developing and selling is another question.
I normally refrain from these sorts of posts, in fact recently I have refrained from all posts on my blog! but being here this week and seeing the sea-change in the size and scale of the operation from just 3 years ago is somewhat disturbing. It makes me think, I hope my bosses are being prudent and not taking uncalculated risks with not just their livelihoods but that of thousands of others.
Perhaps a better sense of financial management is going to be the positive aspect of this Credit Crunch for both corporations and the individual alike.
MG
It’s been a while… March 23, 2009
Posted by Mark in General.add a comment
How ironic, – the times when I have something to blog about are the times when I have the least time to do so.
Perhaps this is why twitter is such a success as it is an easy way of posting little snippets when time is at it’s shortest. Anyway, I have started twittering now (in more ways than one) and see if that works. Apparently there is a way to include “tweets” in wordpress blogs but I haven’t got to that stage yet. I am sure I’ll work that out some time.
In the meantime if you want to follow along, I can be found twittering under the following usernames,
- mark_gilmour for all things work, social and life related
- PortsStakePres for topics and comments relating to my role as President of the Portsmouth Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Has the iPhone spawned a better generation of phones? October 24, 2008
Posted by Mark in 3G.add a comment
Almost a year to the day, I posted on this blog a quote I have found from Time magazine
Quote: “But when that day is over, Apple’s iPhone is still the best thing invented this year. Why? Five reasons:
- The iPhone is pretty
- It’s touchy feely
- It will make other phones better
- It’s not a phone, it’s a platform
- It is but the ghost of iPhones yet to come. “
Click on the link to read the full article http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1678581,00.html
I’d like to return to a couple of those points namely:
- it will make other phones better
- it is but the ghost of better iPhones yet to come
It will make other phones better: It’s been over a year on international markets so how have Apples competitors in this market responded.
In no particular order the following come to mind:
- Samsung Omnia
- HTC Touch & the operator branded versions
- RIM Blackberry Storm
- Palm Treo pro & Centro
- Nokia N96
- SonyEricsson Xperia X1
- Google G1
No doubt handsets are getting better! is it a result of the iPhone being on the market? Possibly.
The second point about it being a ghost of iPhone’s to come, well the 3G was released recently and this is by all accounts a better, quicker, smoother device. Even the iPod Touch is rumoured to be due an upgrade in hardware.
Time will tell, but the first year seems to be showing signs that the iPhone has indeed changed the mobile handset/internet market.
Software Update 2.0 August 8, 2008
Posted by Mark in Apple.add a comment
I can only comment as an ipod Touch user rather than as a phone user but I have been vastly impressed by the additions to the ipod as a result of software 2.0.
I have found the exchange mail support to be a real step forward which eliminates the need to sync my calendar and contacts through iTunes, improving integration significantly.
However something that would therefore have been a real benefit would be some integration with to do/tasks. So far I have not one of the numerous to do add on apps that I get on with, so I have resorted to scheduling appointments with reminders in order to get some sort of integration across my work pc, iPod & home pc. It’s working kind of but it’s not great.
So any suggestions are welcome.
IPod Touch made this post possible August 6, 2008
Posted by Mark in 3G, Apple, Handsets.add a comment
It’s been a while since I last posted on my blog as life has got a bit busy recently. However today I got an email from the wordpress team(the software behind this blog) that there is a wordpress application for iPhone and Ipod Touch.
Being a touch user I thought I would give it a go.
So ironically the iphone which I critisied when it was released, in a round about manner made this post possible. (albeit using a touch as I still disagree in principle with a 2G iPhone)
One of these days I’ll post my thoughts on the launch of the 3G iphone which is altogether a much better idea.
So anyway I’m back on my blog.
Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year December 24, 2007
Posted by Mark in General.add a comment
T’was the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring.
To one and all – Happy Christmas and all the best for a prosperous and joyful new year.
Fighting for Public Transport- who me? December 6, 2007
Posted by Mark in General.Tags: , Public Transport, Rail Link, South West Trains
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Ask any of my friends and collegues and they will tell you, if you wanted someone to come out fighting for public transport then you wouldn’t pick me. Since my formative years I have loved all things cars, annual trips (then bi-annual) to the British Motor show, walking around car show rooms, playing the what can I buy from the auto-trader game… all these things were fascinating to me as a child. I didn’t bother with a 50cc bike when I was 16, I wanted to go straight to the car when I was 17 and I did. Before the days of the theory test and multi-choice questions I passed my test as soon after my 17th birthday as I could get an appointment, 15 days to be precise. I have been driving ever since. Then last year, after 5 long years of commuting to Reading from Romsey, a daily mileage of just under 100 miles but with varying travel time between 1& 3 hours each way, I decided to ditch the car and take the challenge of using public transport. (more…)
So the I-Phone is now in the UK – is it the Invention of the Year?? November 5, 2007
Posted by Mark in 3G, Handsets.Tags: , 3G, Apple, iPhone
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This week the IPhone arrives in the UK and it seems that a lot of commentators are agreeing with my verdict on it when it was launched in the US in January , see my post here .
Last week I watched the Gadget show on Channel 5 compare it to the Nokia N95 in a series of usability tests in Rome. It was quite interesting to watch, not at all scientific, but probably more useful as it tested the phone in a real life user situation.
The Guardian’s article on the UK Iphone Deal was a particular eye opener, http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/sep/17/mobilephones.apple citing the bidding process that went in to trying to secure the deal. A deal that will be ”madly money-losing” for O2. It would seem that it will be Apple raking in a large proporation of the £899 that UK customers will be paying out for the device and it is rumoured that Apple will also see revenue from customers usage as well.
The Guardian this week is running a full review on a UK iPhone and it makes very good reading. Todays review is on the exterior and the mobile phone, tomorrow they will be covering the internet and wifi.
As I am not one of the chosen few to beta test one of these phones I shall post the links as they appear.
Some other interesting reviews of the IPhone can be found by a quick search on google. for example , The Guardian, The Observer, techcrunch, a very pro-iPhone site – iPhoneUKlaunch.com
However my favourite article is this one from Time magazine calling it the invention of the year.
Quote: “But when that day is over, Apple’s iPhone is still the best thing invented this year. Why? Five reasons:
- The iPhone is pretty
- It’s touchy feely
- It will make other phones better
- It’s not a phone, it’s a platform
- It is but the ghost of iPhones yet to come. “
Click on the link to read the full article http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1678581,00.html
FTTH – Would you pay? June 6, 2007
Posted by Mark in FTTx, Transmission.add a comment
Read recently in the telecommunications international magazine, an interesting comparison in the differing approaches of BT and France Telecom in approaching Fibre To The Home (FTTH).
quote: “The French and British often pride themselves on their differences. Flamboyancy and showmanship favoured by the French; restraint cherished by the British. When it comes to broadband access, the respective incumbents of these two countries are showing similar differences in style”
BT’s argument is that (more…)
