Does technology offer a solution to my lack of focus?

Ten years ago, I got myself a Fitbit and started walking 10,000 steps each day. And, apart from a brief, food poisoning induced, hiatus in February 2016, I haven’t missed a day since.

The Fitbit kept me on track, reminding me to walk, and congratulating me when I reached my target, which feels like the right sort of motivational tool for someone like me. The calendar on my smartphone reminds me of events to attend, and sometimes I’m even prepared for them.

But my organisational capability has, up until now, relied on my fairly reliable memory. And, whilst it is generally good, I do tend to be easily distracted from carrying out essential tasks. And so, I’m trying out an app-based reminder system, which offers me an e-mail highlighting the tasks to be carried out that day. So far, I would have to say that it hasn’t entirely dealt with my tendencies to prevaricate, but I do have a sense of mild progress.

I’m also working with a shopping list app that Ros can add things to, reminding me to pick them up on my lunchtime walk around the town.

Think of it as less “building a bettter walrus” than “developing a more organised walrus”. Wish me luck!

Handforth Parish Council - a reminder that technology is not without its perils

https://youtu.be/lgGmYeAm0jk

It's not common for the deliberations of a Parish Council to go viral - in truth they're generally not that interesting. However, the unfortunate events during a Zoom meeting of Handforth Parish Council's Planning and Environment Committee have led to the video being watched more than a million times. Given that the population of Handforth was just over 6,000 in 2011, that's rather impressive.

Unfortunately for the Parish councillors concerned, their struggles with technology and, in some cases, basic courtesy, have made it look like a bit of a shambles (I paraphrase in order to protect the innocent). In the midst of the mayhem, the acting Clerk, Jackie Weaver, attempts to create some structure, whilst councillors walk away from their cameras, attempt to speak whilst muted, and talk over each other.

From an outsider's perspective, it does look as though the Parish Council requires the mediation skills of a senior United Nations diplomat, although once Jackie (who is the Chief Officer of the Cheshire Association of Local Councils) had started excluding those behaving badly, the meeting did seem to be rather more cordial.

But, regardless of the circumstances that surrounded the meeting, it is a reminder to those of us in a similar position that, when you're in a virtual meeting, especially one where there are opposing factions, you need to be on top of your game or, at the very least, paying attention to the picture of you that everyone else is seeing.

That can be a challenge, especially in areas where broadband speeds are less than optimal, and where you have councillors who are unfamiliar, or uncomfortable, with technology. And sometimes, people behave as though there is nobody watching, which can produce some rather bizarre moments, as Handforth councillors demonstrate vividly.

The role of the Chair is criticial. Not only do you have to steer the meeting in order to complete the business, but you need to watch the screen to ensure that people can contribute. And, for most of us, that's a relatively new challenge, one that most of us aren't trained for, and it's a real test of your skills as a Chair.

I'm very fortunate in that, having served on far more committees than is really healthy over the years, I have a reasonable sense of what does and does not work. My colleagues have re-elected me twice, so I'm hoping that that represents an endorsement. But I wouldn't call it easy, especially if it's what one might describe as an "open mic session", where it's necessary or useful to open the discussion beyond just the councillors.

For those with less committee experience, there is training available through your County Association of Local Councils, and I would strongly recommend it, although whether or not the training material is designed to cope with virtual meetings is a question I can't personally answer. The basic skills don't change, however.

The basic courtesies don't change either. Allowing people to finish before you speak, keeping your interventions brief and to the point, judicious use of humour and encouragement and staying muted unless you want to intervene, help the Chair and the Clerk in their roles.

I hope that Handforth Parish Council finds a resolution to the problems it clearly has, but when Parish Councils go sour, it can be a hard road back...

Technology really can be your best friend sometimes

I have been somewhat distracted of late. The unexpected loss of an uncle in Mumbai, combined with a pre-planned break, meant that I was absent for a fortnight in total, covering the initial stages on a General Election campaign. As a result, I don't really feel attuned to what's happening around me, which in itself feels a bit odd.

Nonetheless, life goes on. So, what have I been up to?

Last week was about travel, but the week before was all about family. I've already covered the key events in sufficient detail, but having reflected a little, I should note how technology has made life in the diaspora slightly less isolated.

My family is just one of untold families who, for economic opportunities, have left their homeland and scattered across the globe, leaving an older generation behind them. In the past, distance made personal contact difficult and expensive, and with international telephone calls expensive and unreliable, it was difficult to keep in touch, both actually and emotionally. If a loved one at home died, or was seriously ill, you needed to be wealthy and extremely well-organised, if not a bit lucky, to be able to return home in time.

Now, with Skype and Facebook and all of the other media that enable easy contact at low, or no, cost, you can share experiences across the globe in a way that we are in danger of taking for granted. So, when I was sitting at my computer seventeen days ago, I got a message from my cousin, Kim, in Auckland, telling me that my uncle, in Mumbai, was in hospital and then, soon afterwards, that he wasn't going to make it.

Thirty years ago, that would have meant finding a travel agent, organising a visa via the High Commission, finding somewhere to stay, getting currency, all of which would have involved journeys to do things in person, assuming that you could find out what you needed to prepare.

Now, I was able to book the flight online, pay for it with a credit card, arrange a hotel, tell everyone what I was doing and how, all in less than an hour. Yes, it wasn't cheap - immediate, last minute arrangements seldom are - but it was easy enough. Meanwhile, in London and Toronto, Auckland and Boston, similar arrangements were being made and within sixty-five hours, everyone had arrived in Mumbai.

It is, on reflection, quite remarkable, and a reminder that whilst we may be far apart, technology offers us, and every diaspora community, the means to maintain those connections of kin and community that are so core to our very being...

A technology upgrade for the view from Creeting St Peter

I have been increasingly frustrated with my mobile technology of late. The BlackBerry which had already failed me twice in eighteen months recently started to suffer from catastrophic battery rundown and it was indeed fortunate that I became eligible for an upgrade this week.

And so, it gives me great pleasure to blog this from my new and pleasantly shiny iPhone 5S, chosen to colour co-ordinate with my iPad Air.

This means that I may be a bit more active in the blogosphere and on Twitter, although I've said that in the past...

I've got a brand new ringtone...

We're very keen on technology, here in Creeting St Peter. Admittedly, I understand far too little of it, but one must try to keep up. Ringtones intrigue me, following exposure at work to a colleague who is a pretty serious musician. Andrew hated my ringtone, describing it as sounding like an enraged wasp, and I admit that the usual tinny ersatz tunes that you get are a bit annoying.

Accordingly, having discovered that I could upload music onto my BlackBerry, I changed the ringtone to a Bach fugue. Instantly distinctive, there could be no doubt that it was my phone ringing, and given that Andrew is a pianist, keyboard music was tolerable to him - I'm so considerate like that.

Following my promotion and change of job, we have been separated now, so he doesn't have to endure my choice of ringtone. Despite this, I have maintained the habit of keeping my ringtone as real music, and pleasantly obscure. So, here's a performance of my new ringtone by La Compagnia del Madrigale. Enjoy...

The divine purpose of the iPhone is finally revealed to us...

The news that there is a new 'app' for the iPhone that allows users to make confession with a virtual priest over the internet, comes as no great surprise. Indeed, I am amazed that it has taken this long.

There will, I suppose, be those who condemn the idea of 'instant confession', and will see this as another step towards the breakdown of the Catholic Church. I'm on the opposite side of that particular argument. If the app is faithful to doctrine, and encourages individuals to ponder over the morality of their actions, it can only be a force for good.

It does list Acts of Contrition in English and Latin, it is approved by senior church figures in this country and in the US, and the words at the end of the confessional process carry an implicit invitation to visit a priest. And when you're done, you get a spiritual quotation from a saint, some of them female (and that's pretty radical for Catholics). For those Catholics far from home, or in places where professing your faith is potentially dangerous, this advance may well be very gratefully received.

And quirkily, it is in tune with the words of Pope Benedict XVI, urging Catholics to make good use of their presence in the digital world. Consider it done, your Holiness...

CSI: Creeting St Peter - move right along, nothing to see here...

A new website allows you to type in your postcode, and discover how much street crime and anti-social behaviour has taken place in your area in the most recent month for which records are available. 

So, your intrepid researcher had a look, entering IP6 8QR, i.e. the heart of Paradise-sur-Gipping, and here are the results;

• burglary - zero
• anti-social behaviour - five
• robbery - zero
• vehicle crime - zero
• violent crime - zero
• other crime - zero

So, where's all of this anti-social behaviour then? Closer examination indicates that the figures are for an area covered by a circle with a radius of one mile. As it turns out, the Parish boundary is less than a mile away in some directions, and every incident took place in Cedars Park, part of Stowmarket.

But I'm not taking any chances, we've got the mobile police station coming to the village next month...

Thoughts from the Train: does technology simply make us more stressed?

I have a new gadget in my hands, a BlackBerry 9700 Bold. It is something of an upgrade on the BlackBerry 8700 I had before and, whilst I am struggling to make it do all of the things I could get its predecessor to do, I'm sure that it and I will get on swimmingly in due course. However, it does serve to remind me that technology is not altogether the boon that we are often told it is.

When I was Secretary of the Young Liberal Democrats, many years ago when I was a much smaller, more evenly furry mammal, I produced the minutes on a primitive electric typewriter, photocopied them and posted them to each Executive member. It took time, but expectations were proportionately low. If anything was urgent, you picked up the telephone and rang the relevant person. You only posted something if you needed to, and the flow of information was very manageable.

Nowadays, technology allows me to transmit information in any direction quickly and easily. Unfortunately, it allows other people to do the same. Now, whilst I like to think that I only tend to do so if it is necessary, not everyone else is the same. I often find myself caught in an avalanche of e-mail, most of which is of little interest to me, because people feel that they must make their contribution, regardless of relevance, value or originality.

That might not be particularly stressful, but I do have to check it to see if it is important, or requires me to do anything. It is, however, nothing compared to the pressure to reply to e-mail directed at me.

At work, I have external e-mail, a rarity indeed. I used to include the e-mail address in my correspondence because it provided another way of reaching me. However, I learned over time that this was a bad idea because the fact that e-mail was immediate led correspondents to assume that they would get an early response. The fact that, regardless of means of communication, I deal with it in order of receipt, didn't stop a stream of e-mails along the lines of 'I e-mailed you yesterday and you haven't replied...'. Indeed, one taxpayer rang me fifteen minutes after e-mailing me to demand to know why I hadn't replied yet!

There is a tendency to assume that the use of e-mail telescopes the time required to respond to questions, yet there is little evidence that people apply the same sense of urgency when they are responding to an exchange that they do when initiating one.

That potential immediacy also helps to harshen the tone of our discourse. As I learned during last year's Liberal Youth elections, it is too easy to react hastily, thus prolonging vitriolic exchanges when having to work harder to communicate might allow a cooling off.

Our politics is also more febrile, with a flood of comment often made on the basis of a partial set of facts, which seeks to pressurise opponents into a response. Especially in the Westminster village, and the blogosphere in particular, there is a sense of urgency that drives debate along without a chance to stop and reflect. The expenses scandal saw a number of incidences of 'kangaroo courts' finding individuals guilty and calling for sanctions without waiting for the facts to fully emerge. Had those calls been heeded, the consequences might have been grave indeed.

Technology allows us to do things that would have amazed our parents twenty years ago, and our world is the better for it. But there is a price to be paid, and we need to understand that paying it isn't always easy...

Thank you Ryan...

Small teething problem with the blog feed over the past few days. Not being in any way technological apt, I puzzled for a while before e-mailing Ryan, the Lib Dem Blogs founder.

He very graciously referred me to the FAQ section, noting that I was using Feedburner (which is a bit rubbish, it seems). I hadn't been aware that I was but, finding a moment, I went into Blogger and discovered that, indeed, there it was. it was the work of a second to remove it, and now all is well.

Good, isn't he?

Liberal Democrat Voice - just like a big, extended family

The internet is a wonderful, terrible thing. It allows us to exchange information, communicate with people around the world, abuse people that we've never met.

Yesterday, however, it had a benevolent air to it, at least as far as this Suffolk-based Liberal Democrat is concerned. I had produced the leaflet, and only needed to send it to a friendly printer. The only problem was, I rely on mobile internet, signal is weak and variable, and the file was pretty big. How to resolve this? Well, what else is Liberal Democrat Voice for if not to provide a means of tapping the knowledge of friendly others?

So I post what, if memory recalls accurately, is my first topic in the members forum, in an attempt to get an answer. And, as I hoped, Chris Keating and Anthony Fairclough give me the benefit of their experience. I do as they suggest, shrink the file, send it, and I have completed a task.

Hoorah for the internet!

Technology back up and running

I've been having problems with my BlackBerry of late, culminating in the loss of the downward scroll function, making the gadget pretty useless.

So, the weekend before last saw me in Ipswich, talking to an incredibly helpful young man from Carphone Warehouse who said, "Why don't you just buy yourself out of your old contract, get a new gadget, a new contract and, best of all reduce your monthly charge? Oh yes, and we'll give you £100 for trading in your old BlackBerry.". Suitably pleased, I went through the paperwork, saw that it was good, and tied up the deal.

All was good, except that I was having problems accessing Blogger. Until today, that is. I was trying to read Jennie's blog entry about her dogs and got a message telling me that the site had been rated as suitable for over eighteen year olds only (I really ought to take a closer look at your blog, Jennie, I've obviously missed something). Time to ring Orange, I think...

So, I had the child protection wall removed, and a helpful young man finally worked out that my default browser was set to Orange World. A quick change later, and all is well. Best of all, he worked out that he could cut the cost of my monthly contract by £5.

And so blogging should return to normal from here on in. Let the blogosphere rejoice?