Mark notes that I am back from the shadows on his blog. Must make it clear that I had a lot of fun at Eastgate:) And the Tinderbox seminars took me all over the US which was an incredible experience. Plus the amazing and strange staff excursions we had - unforgettable!

I've been very lucky this fall.

Just before the economical crisis hit poor old Blighty and the rest of the world with full force, I found my dream job. I was nearly ready to accept that such a job did not exist - that I'd never find that workspace where everybody gets along, collaborate on fun social media projects, love challenges, carry laptops with glowing apples and message each other from iPhones, drink free latte all day long, attend great conferences and party at the secret policeman's ball in Royal Albert Hall.... sounds like a fantasy, right...? But a job just like it was out there, and since August, I've been waking up every single morning happy like a lark.

I just can't describe what it feels like to be working for the coolest little agency in town, voted this years "ones to watch" by NMA. The toughest bit to tackle at work is not feeling guilty when I browse the web for smart fashion sites, great bloggers, photos on Flickr or when I sit down to write.....a blog post.

Yes, the hardest part of my job is getting used to the fact that work now doesn't feel like work. What can I say, I'm trying my best. 

Mr. Teen has urged me to get a new pet insurance for Flint, the wheaten terrier. For those of you who have followed this blog since years ago, you've never really been properly introduced to Flint. We had to say goodbye to Sir Orange FlaggyTail as we left the US, and we still miss him dearly. So we were pet less for about a year and a half, before Flint came along. He is our first dog in a long line of cats. It's been an incredible experience, and although a dog ties you up in ways you never imagined (I don't mean that in a naughty sense, in case you wondered). Flint has been a gem. But let me tell you, pet insurance is e x p e n s i v e.

So when Mr. Teen found out that Tesco offered 40% off their insurance if ordered online, we sat down to investigate. A bit of google flimsy gave us Compare Pet Insurance This site gives you a ranked list of pet insurances for you to explore. Tesco is number one on the list, with five shiny, golden stars.

Now, Tesco isn't traditionally know for offering the best insurance service after you pay, so this impresses me. "Wow," I say, "Lots of people actually like Tesco's insurance?!" Maybe I've been a snob. Maybe Tesco isn't bad after all? Let's see. I click "Get a quote". Now you're sent off to Tesco's own site. Getting a quote involves giving away all your personal details, like address, age, marital status, email address, pet's name and number of lovers (just kidding) etc. After much ado, we were told that Flint, the wheaten terrier, could be covered for up to £4500  a year for a monthly fee of £18. That's almost half of what we've been paying. Although his other insurance is way better, we haven't used it ever so this is very tempting indeed!

But hang on a moment. Mum's a social media designer. So she wants to know what those stars marking the rating of this insurance back at "Compare Pet Insurance" were all about. Who exactly  rated Tesco's pet insurance....? This matters to me.

"Tesco" says Mr. Teen, before I even hit back on the browser. I want to know how he knows this. "They probably own the site" he jokes. So we poke around the site for a bit, but there is no explanation how this rating came about. It certainly wasn't from you or I. Because we've given no tools to rate anything on this site. So where, then, did Compare Pet Insurance get these ratings from?

www.compare-pet-insurance.com has been setup to allow insurance customers and potential customers to compare the many services currently available and to see offers listed for the various merchants and policies on our site.

www.compare-pet-insurance.com operates independently of all the insurance providers that are displayed on our site. This site is run in order to allow potential customers to compare companies, products and services.

Alrighty then. So we can compare, but not rate. Once again, where does these ratings come from, then?

Looks like fraud. Social media fraud. Obviously Compare Pet Insurance is not claiming to get their ratings from you and me, they're just conveniently avoiding telling visitors where they're getting their ratings from. By visually using stars to rank the services in the same way as social community sites will do, they're tricking customers into thinking that other consumers where already here and left their feedback. Is that fair? A dirty sales man's tactics? No, it's fraud. Social media fraud.

These kind if issues are going to be huge when brands fight for credibility in the future.
 
Friend: "Oh, did you see that site with the pet rankings insurance? I'm thinking of changing my cover to Tesco"
Me: "Yeah, saw that, it's FAKE. "

So, was Mr. Teen right?

A quick whois search show that compare pet insurance is registered to UK Web Media.
A quick google search show that the Tesco Insurance website is...

....run and operated by UK Web Media Ltd, and UK Web Media is a registered company in England & Wales

Shamefully independently run, if you ask me.  I'm sure Tesco/UK Web Media when asked can explain how the ranking on Compare Pet Insurances were calculated, but while we wait.. have a look at these real customer's experiences.

I'm completely charmed by this inventive Flickr Moo card usage....

Not a wifey woman

Friday afternoon. I've just come out of two interviews with two really good companies. I guess I should have been completely drained for energy after all the preparations and consentration, but I'm peppered with excitement as the afternoon progress. I'm so super excited about next week and eager to find my next role, besides, Britt is here from Norway and would like a Chinese foot massage. We trot along to the Chinese district, where we're both sent into foot bliss for 30 minutes. Britt is an expert in this, I'm a newbie.

"My God, that was FANTASTIC!!" Britt exclaims. She glows, and so does our feet. Now it's my turn to pick some fun. "How about a fortune teller?" I suggest.

We end up in a little alley full of peculiar little bookstores. In one of the more alternative kinds, there is an Indian fortune teller in the window. "Let's go," I say, pushing Britt in the door. "Can we book some time with the man in the window," I ask the clerk, pointing towards a little room hidden behind some see through curtains. "He's free in 20 minutes" she says, and so we raid the bookshelves in the meantime. "How to find your inner peace", "Get rich the alternative way", "On women men and chocolate" - there is a well of titles, most of them with an eastern tilt. I pick up the last copy of Tony Buzan's The Ultimate Book of Mind Maps just as the clerk taps my shoulder to tell me it's my turn.

"Hello and welcome" says the fortune teller. He wants to know my name, and my birth of date. Then he wants my hands. He's pinching my palms, looking, pinching, looking. Ahhh... another massage? I'm just about to enjoy the treat when he looks at me behind his glasses with a serious mine. "You are not a wifey woman" he states. My jaw drops, what on earth does this mean? Not a wifey woman? My self image is shattered!! He reads the confusion in my face and quickly explains: "You are very strong willed. Not a wife, but you will not be happy if you won't be something in the world."

"But I still want to find the one love," I tell the reader. I want my cake and eat it too. He isn't impressed and shakes his head. "You will have many loves. Just like flowers on the way - pick them, enjoy them, but don't commit, they will dry up and then you won't be free to enjoy the next love when he comes around, keep your options open" he advises. "Many women pick husbands with houses and cars, " he continues, adding that this is not my style. Then he suddenly quiets, and examine my hand intensely. "Do not have children," he warns. "It will not be good for you."

I'm starting to realize that my fortune teller has a very conservative view on both marriage and children, so I decide not to tell him about poor Mr. Teen. Instead, I smile politely, trying to change the topic. "But how about my job?" I ask.

Now he finds a stack of tarot, and we distribute the cards on the table. We're both quiet as he asks for a blessing of the cards. I pick a number of cards, and they're left on the table, upside down. As we turn them, he asks me leading questions about what's going on in my life. Who am I seeing? Anybody? Where are they? Are they important to me? How do I feel about them? Did anything happen in June? Any changes in my life?

"I'm spending all my free time finding the job that's right for me" I volunteer away. He wants to know about my qualifications as we turn the card representing my current state. Holocaust. "Lots of chaos, change" he explains as we turn the next card. Roses. "Time is ripe!" he declares. "For your job, and for love," he adds. Another card is turned. Bubbles. At this point, I am thinking these tarot cards are nothing like I've ever seen. Bubbles?? The design brings me back to Goa this past December, a treasure for retired hippies and lovers of magic mushrooms and the psychedelic. I wonder where my reader is from.

"Love is like bubbles" he says, "they burst, then find another one. Be free! You should travel. There are four countries in your hand." "But then I'm done!" I say, "I've already lived in four countries!" Well, that's if the 6 months in the Netherlands counts. I'm suddenly not sure. In this particular case, I'd like to keep my options open...

"Anyway, there will be travel, lots of travel" says the fortune teller. "You will be more than 90 years so you've got at least 50 years left on this earth!"

But I still want to hear about my job. I try changing the topic away from love and travel and turn the next card. The Earth. Security, accomplishment. "TIme is ripe!" he says again.

Now the reading is over. He looks at me. I wiggle my nose, I'm not sure what I was expecting from all of this. I wanted to hear about my career. "Do you have another question?" he offers.

I pull another card. "What will I be really, really, reeaaaalllly good at," I ask.
The Wise Woman. "You have many things to give," he says. "Also, your palm shows that you are good at very, very many things".

"But can I not be even better in at least ONE thing," I beg. He let's me pull another card.

The Key. "You are searching," he says. "You want to find. You are looking, examining, exploring. You are searching for the answers to questions. Solutions. You are the wise woman, and you will find them."

"Ahh," I sigh. "I understand now."

"And one more thing," he offers, just as I am about to unveil the curtains and step out. "Stop preparing. You are preparing too much. You must just go, go and be you, and then you will shine. Don't prepare. Not even for your job. Just go in the interviews and be there."

I thank him, pick up my bags and pull the curtain away. As I leave, he smiles: "Pick the flowers on your way."

Britt is next in line. "How was it!" she asks quickly before her turn. Well, I'm not sure how I feel about no longer having the potential to be a wifey woman, but hey. At least I am an exploring, wise one.

UX Intensive is being held in Denmark!

This intermediate-to-advanced workshop series examines the four key elements that contribute to a successful interactive experience: Design Strategy, Design Research, Interaction Design and Information Architecture. Workshops are led by Adaptive Path's team of experts, including: Dan Saffer, Chiara Fox, Brandon Schauer and Todd Wilkens

I'd gladly swop my holidays for this!

Drama 2.0

Some months ago, I discovered this little angry pot of a blog. I quite like this blog. But let me warn you before you click that link: it's steaming hot & angry.

"The Drama 2.0" log is written by an expert on "anything", combined with an "impressive track record in the financial world", after landing a $5 million deal to write his own blog (why he needed the $5 mill to start writing with his amazing background is a mystery to me).

To me, he's part of the new type of blogger we've seen emerge in the last few years. While blogging was merely an academic or personal exercise in the past, it's now also the fortunate few's  luxury job. "Drama 2.0" writes:

When he's not busy making the world a better place for himself, Drama 2.0 enjoys Cuban cigars, fine dining, wine and liquor, yachting, fast cars and foreign women. Drama 2.0 currently spends most of his time in Punta del Este, Dubai and Prague
but is sometimes found in Monaco, Moscow and St. Kitts.

The luxury blogger loves drama. Gossip, fame and deconstruction. While they're jet setting about,  they share with us all the wrong doings of the world (some in a more intelligent way than others).

Drama 2.0. is after the wrong doings of the early web community. Maybe because of his strong financial background, it becomes extra obvious to him that there is a lack of monetization of today's web? So while he's leaving the following note to Tim O'Reilly:

"..next time you decide to cash in with another conference that piggybacks on an overhyped "industry," give it a generic name so that you save yourself the embarrassment of having to spew a bullshit rationale for a new focus when that "industry" declines. My suggestion for your next conference: Circle Jerk 2009. The motto: "Everybody gets a turn."

...it's worth noting perhaps, that thanks to the early community's "hyped up" web, Drama 2.0 is able to surf a $5 mill wave as a blogger?

Yes, everybody gets a turn. Clearly when looking at the bigger picture, the old boys added value somewhere after all.

I’m seeing some friends this Friday. Email’s have been flying back and forth about such things as our choice of place, dancing possibilities, food, where to meet up first for drinks, tendonitis and plastic shoes.
After work this Friday, we’re now trotting along to the Greyhound – a pub near our final destination.

This is something I have thought about for a while: Why does the British have such an obsession with naming their pubs after animals?

The Dog & Fox, The Green Dragon, The Swan, The Swan with TWO Necks, The Dog and Duck, The Bull, The Red Lion, The Dancing Newt, The Blue Boar, what have you. Note that they’re particularly fond of dogs. Sometimes they mix fruit into their naming conventions, so if thirsty one late evening, you might end up at The Fox and Grape.

It’s said that the reasoning behind this is to make it easier for the poor taxi drivers to understand the drawling, drunken Brits when they’re pub hopping. To this story, is also attached a belief that it was easier for the pubs to use visual signs to attract customers (a dog and a fox) - as the Brits could not read or write.

I find it charming. Some even allow dogs!

So why is there no pub called The Wheaten Terrier??