Friday Newsletter: July 13, 2012

It is another Friday the Thirteenth, traditionally seen as unlucky by many, but nothing bad is going to happen today so just take some time out and check out this collection of stories to ease you into the weekend.

And if you work online, or mainly online, don’t forget to try to take some time away from the computer this weekend – finding that online/offline balance is crucial.

Britain’s Busy Body Police Now Fine You For Looking At A Pretty Girl

Motorists have long suspected that the police see them as something of a soft target.

It is far easier to nick a motorist for some trivial offense than to catch some ‘proper criminals’ – or so the complaint goes.

I can’t help feel that there is often some truth to this suggestion. Take this recent example.

When motorist Doug Maclean, 26, spotted a pretty female pedestrian while driving in Buckinghamshire he turned his head round to get a better view as he drove past her.

Some may call this sexist, others may simply call it natural instinct, but I suspect few would call it a criminal offense…except the police who were following behind and had caught the whole thing on video.

They pulled Doug over, showed him the recording, and told him he had the option of accepting a £60 ($92) fine and attending a driving-awareness course or challenging the matter in court.

He had been accused of “driving without due care and attention” which is a kind of catch-all offense where even seemingly trivial matters – such as eating an apple while at the wheel – can land you with a fine.

Doug felt he had done nothing wrong. There had been no accident, he had not swerved across the carriageway and other motorists did not have to slow down because of him.

However he accepted the fine rather than fight in court and risk a larger fine and get points on his driving license.

Doug said afterwards: “Nicking a bloke for looking at a pretty woman is no way to earn a living.”

I feel that I quite agree.

Now You Can Make A Big Mac At Home…With Instructions from McDonald’s

Have you ever wished you could make a Big Mac at home instead of the regular burgers you usually serve up?

Well now you can give it a try thanks to an online tutorial video posted on YouTube by the burger giant.

I had thought that exactly how it put together its signature burger was something of a trade secret but it would appear not.

In the video, McDonald’s executive chef Dan Coudreaut prepares the Big Mac at home and tells you exactly what he is doing every step of the way.

Even the special Big Mac sauce turns out not to be a secret as the chef tells exactly how that is prepared too…all you need is mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish, yellow mustard, vinegar, garlic powder, onion power and paprika.

Now do you feel like creating your own Big Mac?

Video credit: McDonaldsCanada/YouTube

Thanks for the tea.

I got a pleasant surprise from PayPal the other day.

They sent me an email which read: “Have a cuppa on us – free tea for the Jubilee.”

It seems that to mark the recent Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, PayPal had teemed up with tea company Twinings to send out free commemorative tea to members.

It is a special blend of tea to mark the occasion and comes in a rather neat green and gold presentation box.

How Far Would You Go To Win A Game of Rugby?

People can take sports very seriously indeed.

Whether watching or playing, folks can be very passionate about their sport of choice and winning is what it is all about.

In the world of soccer there is the concept of the professional foul – a deliberate act of foul play performed with the sole intention of preventing the other side from scoring a goal.

Players will also often pretend to have been tripped up by an opponent in order to gain a penalty, with elaborate dives to the ground when there has been minimal or no contact at all.

Sometimes the referee sees what has happened but at other times the behavior is rewarded with the advantage which was anticipated.

Some say it is cheating while others say it is all part of the game.

Then yesterday a friend pointed me to the direction of a short news item which came from Australia which takes things to a whole new level.

There one player can make himself throw up at will in order to distract the opposition while another player has apparently taken to, er, wetting himself to put the rival team off their game.

If you can stomach it then watch the one minute news clip below.

Video credit: Buzz60/YouTube

You Can’t Be Friends With Everyone on The Internet

I was going to use this topic for a future Monday Moaning but the subject arose several times this week in various conversations so I thought I would visit it today.

Many people who come online seem to think that they can set out their stall on the internet and be friends with the whole world.

Or as one person put it recently: “I want to be friends with everyone on the internet.”

Friends with everyone on the internet?

How crazy a notion is that?

It is good going if any of us can say we are friends with everyone in our families…let alone the whole world-wide web.

The truth is that in the online world – just as in the offline world – it is simply impossible to get on with everyone.

No matter what niche you set yourself up in there will be people who will like you, there will be people who are indifferent to you and there will be people who dislike you.

If you really go all out to get noticed – and you really must go all out to get noticed if you want to make a name for yourself and create your presence online – then there are going to be people who end up being huge fans of yours and others who end up really disliking you with an intense passion.

Realize now that you can’t possibly ever hope to please everyone so, for the sake of your online efforts and for the sake of your sanity just try taking these three steps:

1. Be true to yourself, your beliefs and the kind of person you are.
2. Look after your customers and seek to provide the best that you can for them by working harder and/or smarter than your rivals.
3. Realize that as you do this some people will dislike you or even hate you with real passion…ignore these people. You have nothing to offer them and they have nothing to offer them.

Coincidentally Andrew Stark covered much the same ground on his blog yesterday.

Click on the link above, which is an excerpt from Andrew’s blog post, to read the full article for yourself.

Sometimes the headline really does say it all.

Headline writing is an art.

In newspapers some of the highest paid editorial staff are the people who write the headlines.

They have just a handful of words to pull you in, catch your attention and get you hooked on the article which follows.

Yesterday I read this headline.

“Prisoners ‘with cannibal instincts’ who disembowelled paedophile to eat his liver told they will spend rest of their lives in jail”

In this instance the headline writer has done such a good job of summing up the story that I really don’t want to read any more of the gory details.

Or as the saying goes: “Enough already.”

The tragic case of a young patient who died of thirst…in his hospital bed.

In our hi-tech modern world it is hard to believe that someone could actually die of thirst while supposedly under medical care in a British hospital.

But this is exactly what happened to 22-year-old Kane Gorny who died from dehydration in his hospital bed after nursing staff refused him a glass of water.

The patient, who was recovering from a hip replacement operation in a London hospital,was so desperate for something to drink that he even resorted to calling the police from his bed to see if they could help him…but he died the following day.

He had previously survived a brain tumor, but this had affected his pituitary gland and his body’s ability to retain water while other medical treatment he was undergoing had weakened his bones which is why he needed the hip replacement.

An inquest into his death was told that nurses ignored his requests for water and routinely failed to carry out basic tasks such as giving him vital medication and checking his fluid and sodium levels.

The coroner was so outraged that she referred the matter to police but no criminal charges have been brought against any of the medical staff involved in Mr Gorny’s care.

And finally…

I think Sitizens – the new project from TimTech – has the potential to change the way the world interacts with the internet.

There are no official downlines in Sitizens as such but if you want to sign up under me then let me know and I will give you a special Royal Invite to the game.

Claim my special CTP badge.

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Have a good weekend and God bless.

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