My 2007

I have just finished A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, and I have a whole range of thoughts and emotions going through my mind. This is one of the best books that I have ever read, which is all the more surprising given that I really wasn't that interested in when I first picked it up (continuing my approach of reading anything and everything that comes to hand), and the initial pages didn't grab me at all. Unbelievably depressing it also managed to make me feel angry at the way people treat people, but also filed me with admiration for how people cope. A truly tremendous insight into the human sole and the characters are a joy to spend time with as you live through their ups and downs - and trust me I use the word 'up' in a purely relative sense, their 'ups' are enough to depress all of us. If you get a chance read it - I don't think you will regret it at all!

Since it's beta launch Pownce has quickly grabbed the attention and interest of many people and has been compared to Twitter. One area the Twitter currently 'outscores' Pownce is in it's ability to show your recent tweets on your blog, and post your recent posts to your twitter account. Now with the Pownce plugin from Tom Hancocks you can show your Pownce posts on your blog. So long as you have the Dynamic Sidebars plugin by enabled the Pownce plugin will show up to 9 separate users Pownce posts, in 9 separate sidebar panels, each one generated from their individual feed, in your sidebar. You can see the Plugin in action on a couple of blogs already: - Tom Hancocks - Almerimar Life Installation is easy, just make sure that when you set up your account in the Sidebar Widget you type in the user name correctly i.e. AlmerimarLife wont work, almerimarlife does as that is how the user name is set up.

The recent iPhone launch got me thinking - not about the iPhone but about what seems to be a relatively new concept of waiting in line for 24 hours to get your hands on a product. It is bound to be my age, but growing up during the late 60's and the 70's and going through college in the early 80's I am not aware of one product launch that people waited in line for. I am vaguely aware that a kids toy called a Transformer was all the rage in the UK in the mid 80's and that parents were known to be worried about not getting them for Christmas, and I can certainly recall the Windows 95 paunch when everything in the world seemed to be blue. In later years the PSP and Xbox 360 seem to have caused near hysteria, but again I couldn't say for sure. Concert tickets I discount - they have always incurred this hysteria and always will, it is the gadget, the toy, the latest 'my world will end without' products that I am interested in. So what I would really like to know is what if anything you have waited in line for, in what country and would you do it again. Having heard that people were paying people to wait in line for them overnight I am considering this as a career move, so your feedback will be invaluable!

One feature that I am particularly pleased with on the new site, and which has received a lot of positive comment, is the code that Tom produced for the Vaults page. I am not alone in liking this a lot, and have received a lot of requests to make the code available, so here it is! The code initially was specific for this site, so Tom has done some work on making this current beta code more 'universally safe'. I am currently using it on my Almerimar Life blog and Tom is using it on his own blog, so you can see how it will look on your site on either of these blogs. Other sites where it has been installed and is working OK are Al-rruz and Al-rruz UK. If you would like a copy of the code then all you have to do is email either Tom or Chris and we will send it along with the installation instructions and a short post that we would like you to use on your blog to help spread the word about the code in case other people want it. The code is free, but as you would 'expect' any donations would be appreciated. We would also like to receive the URL for your site once you have installed the code so that we can a) see our work in action and b) use it to show other people the code in action, and please leave us comments below on your experiences, issues and thoughts for improvements. If we take one of your suggestions in the future we will happily send you a free copy of either TuneBar 2 or CastCount. We have a few general ideas regarding a subsequent release, primarily based around a Ajax drop down menu on the Months page to accommodate sites with a large number of posts. To ensure there are no surprises this is what the post text that you will receive says: New Archive Page You will see that I have recently added some new code to the site for the Archives page. This is free, and was developed by Tom and Chris and was first seen over on Chris's new site on his Vaults page. In addition to my own site you can also see how the page looks over on Tom's blog and the Almerimar Life blog. The code is free, although you can donate a contribution should you feel so inclined, and all you have to do to receive the code and installation instructions is email either Tom or Chris and they will send it along with the text for a short post that they would like you to use on your blog to help spread the word about the code in case other people want it.

Yet again a 'new' Web 2.0 service has got off to a flying start. I am talking about Pownce (well I would 'talk' about it if I knew how to pronounce it). Anyway since the invites started flying around at the weekend, many of them on Twitter ironically, it has been amazing how popular it has become - well popular with the same group of early adopters that you would expect to jump on the bandwagon. I am guilty as charged - have been looking at it far too much over the weekend. The most impressive thing? It knocked the iPhone off the top of the "What do you think?" questions that came flying my way. So far I am impressed, especially with the grouping of friends into sets, which seems to be a feature missed by just about everyone I have spoken to. For me this is probably going to be the single most attractive feature. I can see a number of promotional benefits of Pownce, but somewhat ironically the sharing of files isn't high on my list of priorities. Twitter or Pownce? Already a frequently asked question, and probably inevitable that it will come down to that for many. Twitter has the simplicity and reliability (hard to imagine I know but currently Pownce's desktop application is as flakey as can be) and I love the way I can use it on the header on my blog. I would like to be able to set up a set in Pownce called twitter (which I have done) and to then send that Pownce Post (PP from no onwards I think) to my twitter account, and for that particular PP (so that would be a PPP) to show up in my header as it does now. Anyway if you want a Pownce friend go ahead and invite me. My name is Chris Marshall ........ and I am a Pownce addict! And let me know. If you had to chose right now would you go with Twitter or Pownce (or indeed both as I think I will be doing)?

Moreno is fine - in fact he is more than fine, he is brilliant. He is so good in fact we set him up with his very own web site:

http://morenosworld.com

I need to do less and do it better! It is somewhat ironic but in many ways the more time I have the less I get done - there is always tomorrow right? Must be that mañana culture! Well enough is enough. Starting today and for the next three months I am going to focus on three things and three things only: - Fitness - Spanish - Almerimar Life. I will still do other things, including this blog naturally, but only after I have focussed on the above three. By focus I mean I will spend at least 2 hours a day on each specific area. Why these three: Fitness I used to be really fit. I have no allusions that I can get back to my previous levels at my age and with my injuries, but I can be a lot fitter. Apart from the obvious long term health benefits and short term vanity appeal, what I really like about being fit is the day to day focus and sense of purpose that it brings to life. For example, knowing that I am going to run in the morning helps me eat healthier and go to bed earlier the night before. As the weather is getting much hotter now I have specifically decided to spend the next three months getting fit as it will make me get up and run early every morning. So what does getting fit entail mean for me? First off it means eating very healthy foods - predominantly vegetarian, no 'treats' and as much low GI food as possible. Second it means rest, plenty of it to give my body the chance to maximise it's energy. I will run at least five mornings a week, and lift some light weights and do some pilates five times a week. Only 'golden rule' is to never exercise on a Sunday - always give myself that day to recharge for the week ahead. Spanish To be blunt my level of Spanish is embarrassingly poor considering how long we have owned a property here. I could trot out a lot of reasons, not least the fact that I genuinely really struggle with languages. Still at the end of the day there can be no valid excuse so I just have to focus on it. I am going to listen to one 30 minute lesson every morning when I run, and again later in the day before/after the siesta. The other hour will be spent consolidating - going over the verb sheets, communicating with Spanish friends only in Spanish, using Spanish around the house for the day to day phrases. Almerimar Life Not only is this site a great opportunity in the short and long term, but it is also a great way of improving our spanish and developing/using our skills. It is already paying for itself but it holds way more potential both in it's own right and as a 'shop window' locally for the services I can offer. It is also something that I can do with Sandra which I am really enjoying. Over the next three months we want to build up the content, add a lot more information, develop a unique Version 2.0 of the site, and use it as a 'spring board' for our Spanish. We will be approaching this as if it was a business - in fact yesterday we spent a great hour or so over coffee and tostados in the marina discussing this weeks content, some design ideas and general ideas for the future. It was a very rewarding discussion. Where does this leave this blog? Well to be honest I sort of see this blog as a 'way of life' so I don't intend to change much at all! I have finished tinkering with Version 3.0, and while I have some ideas already for Version 4.0 that is very much in the future. One thing I do need to look at as a result of the renewed focus is my daily work pattern. I am pretty sure that I have worked it out, but give me a week or so and I will be able to share it with you. As these aren't objectives I don't have specific targets in mind; sure I want to be fluent in Spanish but by when I don't know. I want to lose some weight, but I don't have a target weight. What I am hoping is that the revised focus will 'jump start' a revised lifestyle which will be sustainable in the long term. As you would expect I will share my progress with you from time to time. And yes - the fact that I need to a) save money and b) generate money to fund the planned Mac Pro is a significant influence behind the timing of this - that plus the fact that I will be 44 at the end of the month. If you have anything specific that you have decided to focus on let me know - maybe we can help motivate each other.

Have just watched the movie United 93 which was somewhat strange given the events yesterday in London and today in Glasgow. I really am not sure what I felt about the movie? At one level I thought it wrong to be looking in on so much tragedy and fear, on the other hand I found it totally gripping and especially towards the end sort of 'lost' myself and thought they may pull out of the dive at the last minute. The cynic in me couldn't help thinking that they should have rushed the guys earlier as they came so close to saving themselves, and at times I had to remind myself that this wasn't a fictional story. So with that many varying emotions it must be a good film - it was certainly gripping to watch, and I am really glad that I watched it. Of course no one will ever know the inside story but the story from the outside really didn't show the authorities in a good light. I am no expert so don't know how they could have done it better, but it seemed like the left hand didn't even know there was a right hand never mind what it was doing. I am still unsure how comfortable I am with these 'true story' tragedies and would be really interested in your views if you have watched the film.

Well if this works I will be impressed, not just that it works but that I remembered reading about it in the past!

Has been a long time. I have been setting up and concentrating on http://chrismarshall.ws

Am still undecided about continuing with this site - if only my neighbourhood were subscribed to the above blog I wouldn't have the dilemma.

I read somewhere that MarsEdit could now post to vox so I will look into that as that way I could cross post the personal stuff from my blog.

What I really need is the neighbourhood to all use RSS option so that I can stay subscribed to the blogs that way, as I struggle to visit the vox site as much as I would like.