… My extensive background in Psychology gives me an insight into human behaviour, in particular online, which will be of great use to me during my work at RedFly, which I am very much looking forward to starting.
I just published my first blog post on the Redfly Marketing Blog.
I’m over the moon to have moved into an industry I can be proud to be apart of and a company I know has a fantastic future ahead of it.
At least he didn’t slice and dice me…
Here are the rules:
1) Put the link of the person who tagged you on your blog.
2) Write the rules.
3) Mention 6 things or habits of no real importance about you.
4) Tag 6 persons adding their links directly.
5) Alert the persons that you tagged them.
1. My alarm is always set for 6.45am but I don’t get out of bed until 7am – it’s a fake 15 minutes extra sleep, or sometimes I just lie there listening to the radio thinking about what I’d do if I had the day off.
2. The first thing I do when I get home from work is go to my desk and press the ON button for my radio – which is always tuned to PhantomFM and doesn’t get turned off till around 10pm.
3. I always get a Metro in the morning, despite knowing that it’s total drivel. I save it for lunchtime to give myself a break from the computer and I always read my horoscope, just so I can scoff at it.
4. The only personal items on my work desk are a “Word Origin of the Day” calendar and an uneaten candycane stuck between some pens in my organiser.
5. It still surprises me when a friend says “I can’t imagine you with long hair”, like I’ve forgotten they’ve not known me forever.
6. I can’t stand the smell of bananas, and it makes me gag to look at them when they’re black.
Tagging Noel-y Pie, Stacey Face, Smiley Eily, Will Knott, Phil and Tommy.
I really liked Jentertainment’s one, especially the part about Elephants – it’s her first meme!
Roblin Blandford had this great idea to input his CV into Wordle to create a tag cloud – which is a visual representation of the most commonly found words in a piece of text. In mine you can clearly see that the most dominant word is Psychology. You can click it for a bigger version. Elly has created one too.
Another Science Week submission…
The Filofax
I’ve given up searching for the perfect electronic organiser or PDA and rather than continue to struggle with my data being scattered across wall calendars, notebooks, post-it notes, smart-phones, my laptop, my desktop in work etc., What with going back to college and working full time I’ve had to make sure that I am very organised, so I’ve recently started using a Filofax. It is a godsend.
I don’t have to worry about charging or syncing my Filofax. I don’t have to worry about the screen cracking if I drop it. I didn’t have to spend hundreds of euro on a device that would only partially suit me and would be replaced in 6 months or so by a slicker and better value for money piece of kit. Really the only worry I have is that my writing might not be legible after jotting down notes on a speeding bus. Although, now that I think of it, I wouldn’t mind if I could put some kind of password or lock onto it, to stop a certain someone trying to figure out what she was getting for Christmas.
My favourite feature of my Filofax is that there are no constraints to what kind of data that I can enter. As I am writing this I realise that it’s strange to apply these types of observations to something that is, on the most basic level, really just paper and pen. No matter how advanced technology has become nothing can change how satisfying it is to quickly jot down notes and drawings or doodle stars and Santa Claus around your daily calendar entry for December 25th. Simply being able to do anything I want (if I can draw it, or stick it, it’ll end up in there) is very productive for me.
It is the built-in software constraints that are there to stop users making mistakes that have stopped me from really embracing any kind of electronic organiser. Nothing exists that can imitate the physical aspects, the tactile sensations and visual guides that I employ. For instance, multicoloured page markers (flags) – the different colours represent different important events. They are physically placed to open the appropriate page, and they also indicate when similar events are taking place over a certain time frame (importantly though, this information can be discerned without flicking through the pages). Even something so simple like being able to put an already written post-it note straight into the Filofax saves me time during my day (be it in college or work). Sometimes I like to jot down quick notes about a project I’m doing, these are usually really messy (but yet very organised at the same time) mind-maps and diagrams. I am a very visual person and I like my data to be visually appealing – I can’t use pink, green and blue highlighter pens in a PDA now can I?
A really great addition to my Filofax has been a template I created in Microsoft Word to print out pages of information (timetables etc.,) that will fit, and also a Filofax hole puncher so I can place the pages perfectly. So no, I haven’t turned my back on technology all together (as if!).
You can read the other submissions to this competition here.
The new job is going well, a change of scenery is definitely something I needed. I feel a lot less stressed out. Working for 3 as a sales associate means I am completely focused on selling products and hitting my targets, rather than stressing out about the store paperwork and deadlines. You would think that I’d be happier now… but I’m actually bored. Selling 3 handsets is easy, they practically sell themselves. I’ve come to the conclusion that I was stressed out in 3G because I wasn’t being paid to BE responsible, but it was part of my job to be, but no-one else on the same wage had any of the management duties that I did. I’m craving a little responsibility now that I find my brain switching off and my automatic “robot selling phrases” kicking in. The only aspect of working for 3 that is keeping me interested is talking to customers about the X-Series.
X-Series is a sexy name for access to the “Internet” on your phone, or rather 3s version of the Internet. They have partnered with Skype, Yahoo!, Orb, Sling, Google, Ebay and Windows Live Messenger to bring features of these online services to X-Series compatible handsets. You also have FULL, free web access. There will no longer be a “walled garden” – if you connect to the “Internet” from any 3 handset at the moment, you’re only able to access a selection of mobile sites that are compatible with your phone, but the handsets due to launch on X-Series are highly sophisticated devices.
There is a massive interest in the Nokia N73, due to launch on the network sometime in January, I’ve got my eye on one of these bad boys. This will be the first X-Series handset launched, with the Sony Ericsson W950i following later. While most consumers I’ve spoke to are dying to get their hands on a Nokia handset with a 3.2 mega-pixel camera and Carl Zeiss lens, don’t be under any illusion that this is a “camera phone”, this is a truly portable multimedia and communication device.
With an X-Series handset you can check your e-mail, logon to Windows Live Messenger, make voice calls over Skype (currently limited to other Skype users), bid for items on Ebay and even use Google to search. You also can browse online, check your Myspace profile or your Bebo page. Your profile that you labored over for hours will still look a lot better when viewed on a pc screen though, as the Internet browser from 3 modifies webpages to look “better” on the handsets small screen, in order to improve legibility.
For all these features, you’d expect there to be a massive monthly fee, it makes sense right? Granted you’ll need to take out a 12 month mobile phone contract, as the service isn’t available on 3Pay, but the X-Series subscription is cheap and for a flat-rate monthly fee you have “unlimited bandwidth” (although there IS a fair usage policy, stating that 1gb is sufficient for each user).
In the UK the monthly fee for full services is €15 a month, or you can access services for €8 a month which excludes Orb and Sling only. Orb allows you to connect to your home computer, and Sling allows you to connect to your home television subscription (such as Sky Digital) both via your home broadband connection. These two features are probably the most impressive and yet the least accessible to non-geeks as they require a complicated technical setup (they’ll also drain the battery life out of your handset).
Overall X-Series sounds rather impressive, as the service hasn’t launched in Ireland yet I haven’t had the opportunity to test the above features out. As soon as I get my hands on my very own N73, I’ll post a full usability review. For now, there is a fantastic review of the UK version over on Digital-Lifestlyes.info.
Since my last post I have officially graduated from college, you can see all the embarrassing photos of myself and my classmates in our graduation gowns and caps over on my bebo page. I spent some time in cork working/training in the 3Store on Patrick’s Street, and other than that I’ve just been playing around with my new toy. I finally got my dream camera – the Fuji Finepix S5600 – it was a graduation gift from my parents, and by gift I mean they handed me money and said “We were afraid of getting you the wrong one.”
So far, I’ve yet to master the finer “complicated” functions of the camera, which is frustrating but also makes me realise that for once in my life I should probably read the manual. The camera takes fantastic photos and it’s really quick, making multiple shots very easy to take. The 10x zoom is incredible, it makes you feel like a spy. It’s a lot of fun. Getting clear close-up shots of small objects isn’t easy though, having tried to take shots of a bearded dragon at the weekend I’ve come to the conclusion that I must (yes, must!) purchase a fisheye lens and macro, for panoramic and close-up shots. I don’t have any other negative comments, I’m very happy with my purchase, I did have one small problem with it though.
After less than a week of it being in my possession there was one very annoying problem – the additional memory card I purchased with it was faulty. I lost all of the photos I took at the weekend. However, I was pleasantly surprised to come up against no hassle whatsoever in Pixels, where I purchased the camera. When I explained the situation, they simply gave me a new memory card, none of the usual arguments or “I’ll have to talk to the manager” bull that I’m used to from sales people.
So, to make sure it was working perfectly with the replacement card, I took some shots of my dog Ben, who is definitely no stranger to the camera, in fact he is quite the little poser as you can see below.
If there’s one thing about “chiq” fem-phones that I’ve hated in the past, it’s that they are often feature-filled yet lack the ability to expand the memory. Take the Nokia 6111, great looking phone, fantastic features like bluetooth and a megapixel camera – yet, what’s the point of a megapixel camera phone if you can only take about 20 photographs at its highest resolution? The new Benq-Siemens E51 is a big change to this annoying trend. From the outside it appears to be the successor of the popular Siemens CL75 (the “poppy” phone) but there are some major differences, for instance the 1.3 megapixel camera instead of vga, it’s bluetooth enabled and also has a micro-sd slot so you can expand the memory. Siemens haven’t launched a new phone in a long time, the reason being that it was bought out by the Taiwan based Benq group. Rebranded as Benq-Siemens, and with the launch of the E51 into the Irish market also comes the E61, a “music phone” which boasts a 512mb miniSD card and dedicated music buttons. Both of these models are due to launch on the O2 Speakeasy range and will retail at approximately €150.
I had the opportunity to play around with both phones during the week, both phones have the same user interface which seems straightforward enough, easy to navigate, but with it’s bright colours it’s probably more suited to the teen market. Personally, I really like the style of the E61, its slick black with red/orange stripe reminded me of the A-team van. The dedicated music buttons are easy to use, and although it only has a vga camera I can definitely see this being a popular alternative to the more expensive Sony Ericsson “music phones”. With regards to the E51, it’s nice to see a phone that’s being marketed towards women that has excellent features such as bluetooth and a micro-sd slot. It borrows from the CL75 quite successfully, with its integrated compact mirror but also comes pre-loaded with a “5 minutes to fabulous” java application that shows you how to do your make-up in five easy steps. It’s this feature that made me take 5 steps away from this phone. I’m sure it’s not for everyone (me included) but it’s a nice gimmick and along with its low price, and with Christmas fast approaching it’s sure to be a big seller.
In personal news, I’ve had no feedback yet from Google about the Adsense position. So don’t ask. I’ve been told it will be sometime this week, possibly tomorrow, before I hear anything. At least in the meantime I can distract myself by trying out the “5 minutes to fabulous” java application to see if it can turn a butch like me into a pretty chiq girl… the odds are pretty slim though.
The interview with Google on Monday went really well, both team leaders who I met with were really nice, educated and nerdy. Despite feeling extremely over-dressed, it seems that everyday is “Casual Friday” at Google, I was comfortable and confident throughout the entire hour of interviews and simply being able to walk through the offices themselves was an interesting experience. I don’t want to overanalyse for now, but I’ll tell you one thing – the Google offices themselves are really funky and cool. I think I would fit in perfectly there. In a weird coincidence though (or maybe just the work of a certain search engine) there’s a comment on my previous post from someone who is competing for the same position as myself. Weird.
While I’ve been off contemplating moving jobs I’ve also been in the process of doing Apple Sales Training (I’ve gotten Silver Status, half way to Gold! Hurrah!), even I don’t use the knowledge to sell the products it’s a great way of finding out about Apple technology. Although, I still haven’t found the answer to why Jen’s new iPod Nano keeps freezing randomly and needs to be reset. I’ve been assured by one of my colleagues that all Nanos go through a “phase” where they need to be reset occasionally, Jen seems to think it’s going through puberty and it’s acting out against her.
Speaking of Ipods… the best time of the year to buy one would be right now. What with Apple launching the new iPod Nano and 80gb iPod, all the iPod range has gone down in price (so the old stock gets shifted quick) – you can actually pick up a 30gb/60gb Video iPod for €290/€340 here in 3G on Henry Street. Which I think, is a bargain. Although, I’ve heard a rumour that you can get the 30gb for only €270 in Spectra Photo on Grafton Street. Even nicer!
Seeing as there has been a price drop in the iPod range, it’s only natural that the Creative Zen Vision M will have to drop in price to compete and there is even rumour online that Creative will be upgrading the capacity of the Vision M to 80gb, they’ve also launched their new widescreen mp3/video player the Vision W. Since my Micro Photo got stolen I’ve been using a 1gb Creative player, which is fine by me, at least in the short term. If those Vision M players go down, I think I’ll invest in one of those rathar than an iPod.
I just had the wonderful pleasure of doing some market research with a representative from Creative, who let me play around with their new range of Creative Zens, the Creative Zen V. It’s basically a mini Creative Zen MicroPhoto, but they will also have a version that can play video. On a screen that small, I can’t see why they would include that feature…
It looks like Creative are targeting the iPod Nano market with this little number, and if they market it correctly (and Apple don’t release a new type of Nano) they’ll be onto a little winner. Emphasis on the little.
It will come in 1gb, 2gb and 4gb. Creative have removed the FM Radio feature, which will only feature on the V Plus model (for an extra €20), I think this is an error on their side as one of the benefits of owning a Creative Zen over an iPod is the ability to switch to the radio function. It looks cool (it’s completely black this time, no white battery cover this time thank god) and it feels nice and snug in your hand – and it definitely feels more sturdy and reliable (if you per chance drop it) than the iPod Nano.
Instead of the touch pad there is now a small joystick, which reminded me of the joystick on the Nokia 6600, it’s soft under your thumb, unlike other joysticks that feature on mp3 players such as the Cowan iAudio X5. They’ve added a volume control button to the side of the player, which definitely makes it more user friendly in comparison to the Zen Micro Photo.
A stand-out feature is the abilty to rotate your screen to orientate it to your preferred viewing point. It also features line-in encoding (so you can record music directly from a CD player or other playback source with the supplied line-in cable) technically you don’t even need a computer to store your music, and of course they’ve included the voice recording facility.
I do have some negative feedback, however.
4gb is not enough, personally I like carrying a full 8gb (or more) worth of music with me. The headphones you get with Creative mp3 players are horrible. They’re just so 90′s. They don’t fit into your ear snuggly and the sound quality is dire. Also, asking consumers to pay an extra €20 for a radio and video function is laughable, not many people are likely to want a video function on a screen so small and with a player with such a small capacity. The extra brings the price closer to the price of an iPod Nano and some people may opt for the iPod because of their popularity and “reputation”. Despite these drawbacks, it’s a possibility that I will actually buy one, or buy one as a present.
It’s set to hit the Irish market just on time for Christmas, but with the 1gb model retailing at around €100 it should be a fast seller.
I didn’t get the job in O2 Retail. I was “shortlisted” but based on my references I wasn’t the person they chose to fill the position. I’m disappointed, but I have started working more hours in work, with some extra hours in the Ilac Shopping Centre (which is disgusting!) Ohwell… at least I’ve something to look forward to…
Jen and I are heading off to Oxegen this weekend.
The line-up last year was actually amazing – Green Day, Foo Fighters, Audioslave, Queens of the Stone Age, Keane etc., I had an amazing time. This year the line-up isn’t half as good, only because I’ve seen most of the headline bands already – James Brown, The Strokes, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs and Placebo. It shall be fun and frolics in the campsite though, and there are a few bands I’m really looking forward to seeing for the first time – The Feeling, We Are Scientists and Artic Monkeys for instance.
Right now I’m trying to figure out how to fit camping gear for 4 people into a 2 door sports car. How very annoying. But driving there is far better than having to break your back carrying camping gear to a bus stop. Horray! for Christine who shall be our chauffeur for the weekend, she has even promised a trip into Naas for breakfast on Sunday morning. How delightful!