The Enigma that is and was Berlusconi

OK now he has decided to go but – What will life be like without Berlusconi?
Obviously from an Italian perspective, a more focussed and professional parliamentary centre piece will take his place  – but from your ordinary John Doe or John Smith in the UK, life will be a tad boring.

Berlusconi is a hero ( Fabbydoo’s opinion). A young lad who has never seemed to accept the miles on the clock.
Born in 1936 Berlusconi is Italy’s third richest man, estimated to own assets worth $9 billion in 2010, in the fields of television, newspapers, publishing, cinema, finance, banking, insurance, and even sport.[Berlusconi’s main company, Mediaset, comprises three national television channels, which together cover approximately a half of the national television sector; and Publitalia, the leading Italian advertising and publicity agency. His brother, Paolo Berlusconi, owns and operates il Giornale, a centre-right wing newspaper which provides a strong pro-Berlusconi slant on Italy and its politics. Il Foglio, one of the most influential Italian right-wing newspapers, is partially owned by his ex-wife, Veronica Lario. Berlusconi is also the owner of the European football club A.C. Milan which along with Boca Juniors has won the most FIFA recognized international club titles in the world.
With a past that has included playing bass in a band, performing on cruise ships and songwriting, Berlusconi has allegedly sang a more scary tune with alleged Mafia links.

Photo taken from metro newspaper 4th nov 2011

On top of this, his affairs are renowned, his wife divorced him. Berlusconi was explicitly named as a person involved in the “commercial sexual exploitation of a Moroccan child by the Us State Department in 2011.

So I’m afraid to say that without the man the daily newspaper will taste a bit dry.

Remember this? –
Promising to put family values at the centre of his campaign for the April 2006 general election:
“I will try to meet your expectations, and I promise from now on, two-and-a-half months of absolute sexual abstinence, until [election day on] 9 April.” He later insisted the pledge was “just a joke”.

“quod homo”

Malcolm McNeill
Fabbydoo

P.S.check out ll my domain names for sale including ItalyandRome @ sedo

10 Business Tips We Can Learn From the Animal Kingdom

A guide to new business start-ups

We have all heard the expression that in business “it’s a jungle out there!”.

Here are 10 pieces of advice that can be learned from our animal ancestors and can help a new business to survive those early years in the commercial wilderness

Keep One Eye On Your Competitors and Keep An Ear To The Ground

Sound like the trickiest yoga position ever! It’s only common sense, when you are growing your business, make sure you know what the other guys in the jungle are up to. They may have found a better way to bring home the bacon than you have.

Trust Your Sense of Smell

If something smells bad it’s time to walk away from it. In business there will always be the vultures tearing at the rotting flesh of some failed venture. Like our birdie friends, these vultures spend their lives picking up the crap that no-one else can stomach, and are admired by no-one

Never Wait Until You Are Hungry Before You Eat

Never put off to tomorrow what can be achieved today. It’s better to keep achieving your goals while the conditions are right. If a cheetah is weak with hunger, he won’t be able to go that extra mile to bring down his next meal.

Always Seek Out New Feeding Grounds

Companies should always look for new opportunities outside of their territory. If you build a business depending on a single product or a single group of customers, then these will disappear in time or some other more aggressive predator will steal the food from under your nose.

Don’t Waste Energy on Pointless Targets

An ant will never try to bring down an elephant, so don’t waste time and energy trying to achieve the unachievable. Choose your business and sales targets sensibly, and qualify your sales prospects before engaging.

Adapt to Survive

Whether it be the climate in the wild or the economic climate in business we have to learn to adapt to survive or we will end up being the last one, on our knees, at the dried up financial watering hole. Keep an eye on your reserves.

New Day – New Prey

So you had a bad day yesterday – just get on with it. Do you think Mr Lion gets all depressed because he was outsmarted by the zebra yesterday?  Never- he woke up hungrier and more determined to get a mouthful of that tasty wildebeest.

Be Brave

In the wild, as in business we have to take chances to survive. We sometimes have to come out of our comfort zone, but this is easier if we have faith in our abilities, our strategies and ultimately, our escape plans.

Moving In For the Kill

If you think you can close that new deal, then do it quickly and cleanly. You may not get another chance and some hungrier animal will be lurking in the bushes waiting for you to falter.

Learning from Others

In the natural world, the young learn to hunt from their parents. It takes time to learn the skills, and only when they are confident do they venture out and leave the pack. A young business should be treated the same. An experienced mentor is worth their weight in gold, and can help by pointing you in the right direction and achieving your goals sooner and with less risk.

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More about the author

Malcolm owns and operates car rental comparison site BestCarHire.com.

In his spare time he is also a freelance IT consultant, husband, father and guitarist.

Can Google Be Blamed for Contributing to the NHS Melt Down?

Being ill can be a pain – can’t it?

Over the recent weeks the press has been full of stories around the amount of patients and the severe waiting times at the UK NHS hospital accident and emergency departments – the so-called A&E Melt Down to give it the popular tag.

The increase has been blamed upon not enough beds, the growing number of elderly patients, the introduction of a new helpline with allegedly inexperienced call handlers, seasonal revelers tanked up with alcohol and drastic budget cuts.

But one other possibility is Google (and the other search engines).

In the good old days, if you got a sore back or a headache, you were sent to your bed with a hot water bottle and a couple of paracetamols. The chances are you would live – no doctor required, unless it persevered over the next few days.

Nowadays its a whole new ball game. As soon as we get the odd pain or lumps or bumps, we consult the oracle. We search for the diagnosis of our ills and worry at the mounds of medical information displayed on the screen. We don’t understand the medical jargon it in most cases, and only see the worrying, worst case scenarios. We believe we have the worst case of a disease known to man, based upon the search results. We sit there and worry, worry turns to panic, and panic turns to getting a second opinion. So we phone to get a doctor’s appointment, and guess what, it’s the Christmas and New Year period, with limited access to your local GP. So with the concern about the severe medical condition that you are now convinced is getting worse in your body, you phone the NHS help line 111.

Now it’s odds on that when you get through, the helpful assistant will discuss your ailment and allay your fears, suggesting a visit to Tesco to pick up some paracetamol, and you will live to fight another day.

But let’s not forget that some people will avoid the help line and go directly to the manic A & E department, convinced they need immediate treatment. The melt down gets worse.

I’m not suggesting that Google is directly responsible, but it’s our modern day obsession for instant information which contributes to the problem. Who is to say that the information returned by the search engines is correct anyway? I’m sure the doctors and nurses hate nothing more than the symptoms being described using web speak that the patient can’t spell never mind understand.

Just use the head folks. If you are genuinely ill consult a real doctor and avoid the web doctors like the plague – or as we know it – a virulent contagious febrile disease that is caused by a bacterium of the genus!

About the author – Malcolm McNeill is an IT consultant based in Glasgow, UK. He is also the owner of successful websites BestCarHire.com and HolidayCampervan.com.

Une visite des distilleries d’Islay Malt Whisky

Comme vous l’étape du plan à Islay vous faire une idée de ce qui nous attend.Le silence, l’odeur d’un feu de tourbe, l’odeur de l’océan Atlantique,à quelques mètres de la piste, à la dérive dans la brise persistante.Cri des mouettes, planant dans la brise comme les dérives Islay Mist vers leéloignés Paps imposantes du Jura.Islay est un lieu magique, à seulement 40 minutes de vol de Glasgow, ou pour leplus aventureux, 3 heures de route de Glasgow pour prendre le ferry à Kennacraig.Le voyage de 2 heures de traversier CalMac ajoute à l’expérience magique et améliorele sentiment d’éloignement. Occasionnellement, vous espionner les dauphins et les requins-pèlerinsnager avec le car-ferry.Glenegadale Airport se trouve approximativement à mi-chemin entre les villes principales de Bowmore et Port Ellen. Comme vous conduisez en direction de Port Ellen, sur l’une des droites les routes vous éprouverez jamais (ignorer les grumeaux et les bosses!) vous assisterez à un stérileriche paysage de marais, parsemé de banques de tourbe et les monticules de déblais de tourbe, le séchage,avant d’être brûlé comme combustible pour les longues nuits sombres de l’hiver, ou comme combustible pour la8 distilleries de whisky sur l’île.Port Ellen est une ville pittoresque port, l’Hôtel de sport, récemment rénové, Islayet un nouveau port de plaisance.Port Ellen est aussi la porte à 3 des plus anciennes distilleries à Islay, à savoirArdbeg, Laphroaig et Lagavulin.Comme vous vous dirigez vers Kildalton (la maison à un historique de l’église et croix celtique),la première distillerie vous venez à Laphroaig sera.Poursuivant le A846 étroite vous arrivez à Lagavulin, et plus loin, vousarrivera à Ardbeg.Laphroaig Distillery arbore un centre d’accueil, récemment rénové, où les membres deun lointain campagnes de marketing “Amis de Laphroaig» sont accueillis avec un petit verre etune bouteille miniature de Laphroaig, à titre de paiement pour le loyer. La campagne de marketing attribuéun petit carré de terre à chaque abonné, et le «loyer» est un merci de laDistilery.Lagavulin a beaucoup une ancienne école-en pensez mais toujours incriminés de façon égale accueillant, avecsalles de réception offrant de confortables fauteuils autour d’un bon feu de tourbe.Un endroit pour élever lovley un verre.Ardbeg fournit un centre d’accueil moderne situé dans un café / restaurant, qui sertun excellent choix de nourriture pour tous les goûts. Dégustez votre café pendant que vous naviguezles étagères de Ardbeg whisky et de marchandises.En rentrant à Port Ellen, vous verrez la distillerie Port Ellen (maintenant fermécomme une distillerie, mais utilisé comme un malterie pour toutes les distilleries d’Islay autres) sur votre gauche.que vous regardez en direction du phare.Effectuer sur le dos le long de la route en passant par l’aéroport jusqu’à ce que vous en viennent à Bowmore.Bowmore distillerie est probablement la plus avancée en ce qui concerne un centre d’accueil etmerchandising. La distillerie se recycle l’eau utilisée dans le whisky Bowmorela production par chauffage de la piscine adjacente et centre de loisirs. Laissant Bowmore, continuer le long de la A846 jusqu’à ce que vous venez de le pittoresque villagede Bridgend, où vous encore continuer sur la A846 jusqu’à ce que vous arrivez au port de ferryde Port Askaig. De là, la tête de la côte vers Caol Ila.Caol Ila est probablement le plus moderne des distilleries, situé le long de la riveof the Sound of Islay avec vue sur le Jura. Le whisky est généralement plus légeren couleurs que les whiskies Islay autres et est également utilisée comme partie de la mélangéswhiskies Johnie Walker et une bouteille noire.En continuant à remonter la côte est d’Islay, vous arriverez à la distillerie Bunnahabhain. Bunnahabhain est dans un endroit isolé, donnant sur le Sound of Islay. Cette rapidité avec laquelle unqui coule de l’eau entre la bande Islay et Jura, et la maison à plus d’un naufrage.De redescendre vers Bridgend, branchement à droite, vous apporte en arrière le long du Sudcôte d’Islay, donnant Lochindaal. De là, nous continuons le long de la A847 en direction Portnahaven évitant le pâturage du bétail par la route, où nous avons fini par voir leBruichladdich distillerie qui domine la route.Bruichladdich distillerie est décrite comme “progessive” en raison de son approche moderneà la commercialisation du whisky. Avec des marques comme “Yellow Submarine” pour commémorer la découverted’un ministère du sous-marin de la Défense, «ADM» pour commémorer une gaffe par la CIA,marques populaires comme des rochers, les vagues et la tourbe, le long avec une bouteille de whisky à la mode bio.Intitulé de Bruichladdich en direction de Port Charlotte, nous bifurquons à droite en direction dele petit nouveau sur le bloc Kilchoman. Construit récemment, en 2005, Kilchoman distillerieest construit dans une ferme, à côté de champs d’orge. Soyez prudent pour éviter le chevalet les cavaliers à cheval à côté école d’équitation.Alors qu’il était encore à ses balbutiements, cette lumière colorée de malt semble probable à devenir aussi populaireque les autres membres plus expérimentés car il mûrit.Alors levons un verre (ou 2!) À la belle île d’Islay et quel meilleur endroit pourlever un verre à l’Hôtel Lochindaal à Bowmore. Il porte une vaste gamme de whiskies de malt,le plus souvent d’Islay, mais aussi plus loin. Debout dans la barre vous pouvez entendreune grande variété de langues (même en anglais!), tous les discuter les avantages et les inconvénients dececi. malt et que le malt Une autre expérience magique!

Will the IT Industry Benefit if Greece Dumps the Euro?

It is alleged that the ancient Greeks had invented a computer more than 2000 years ago. In 1901, divers working off the isle of Antikythera found the remains of a clocklike mechanism 2,000 years old, for calculating the motions of stars and planets.

Wind on 2000 years and as the Financial crisis deepens in Greece and the threat of the painful extraction from the Euro, spare a thought for what this could mean to you and your fellow Technology Project Managers around the globe.

Any dismissal of the Euro will have a massive impact on financial institutions and businesses not only within Greece but also elsewhere.

I’m not talking about the destruction of the currency and the reintroduction of new notes and coins, I’m talking about financial system changes.

Since the Euro was set up on January 1st 1999, the computer systems have been adapted to run the Euro alongside the Pound, the Dollar and the Yen. Now with the possible introduction of a “new” currency, presumably named the Drachma, changes will be required.

In the past I worked on a project where we analysed the impact of the UK switching to the Euro, and made the appropriate contingency plans. These changes were not insignificant, and would have been costly to implement.

Global websites will need to change to accept the new currency. The large vendors (I’m thinking Oracle E-Business) will need to determine if they are currency-neutral or whether a new release would be required. Similarly with the Reconciliation systems.

If Greece falls we can also expect a domino effect with countries like Portugal and Spain in similar situation. Again think of the impact of having to introduce several new currencies.

I have blogged separately about the advent of the digital currency Bitcoin. If the Euro goes into meltdown we can expect to see a lot of work in this area, as pioneers look at a safer neutral transacting medium.

At this stage we cannot be certain that Greece will default and I’m not predicting Son of Y2K but I do think it would be wise to get ahead of the game and start the impact analysis now to avoid any last minute panic.

So if any of you Project Managers are thinking about retiring to go diving for lost treasures, then think again.

Update March 2015 – Since this was first penned back in 2012  a lot has happened within Greek politics, so this could be more likely now than it was back then.

Malcolm McNeill is a freelance Financial Services Project Manager as well as CEO of Fabbydoo.com. Additionally he owns car rental comparison website BestCarHire and Motor Home comparison website HolidayCampervan.

Why Are Project Management Standards Not What They Used to Be

Andy Sumners, lead guitarist with The Police once said “I don’t like playing standards. I like to do my own cutting edge work.”

Andy, you should have been a Project Manager in today’s IT business!

Is it just me or have standards fallen nay almost disappeared. Let’s face it a decade ago Prince was King (pardon the pun).

In today’s cut and thrust IT project management environment, standards have gone out of the window.

Nowadays you’re lucky if the project gets a RAID log (risks and issues), a one-page PowerPoint Terms of Reference (TOR), a cut down highlight report, the odd un-minuted PCC and a cut-down, non resource-balanced project plan.

But what about the Lessons Learned, the Stakeholder Management Plan, the Communications Plan and the Project Initiation Document? I hear you say.

Any chance if a Shared Projects Folder?

You’re having a laugh ain’t ya?

And why?

Well I’ll tell you why.

Most modern day PM’s work within multi-resourced departmental structures. The Business employ the Big Consultancies who refuse to use the client’s standards, tools and methodologies. It’s too much like hard work.

After all why should they give away their copyright templates for free?
Why should they toe the line and abide by the Paymaster?
Why should they make it easier to communicate with the Client?

By making it easy maybe, just maybe the Client could do it for themselves –

I can hear you shiver at the thought!

I would at his point like to state that I am not advocating that we go back to the days where if you did not have Prince on your CV, then you were persona non grata, however something’s gotta change guys!

So if there are any of the big boys out there who want to comment – bring it on!

I would love to hear your reasons for sharing the will but not willing to share.

As me old mate Sting once said “I’m Sendin Out an SOS!”

Malcolm McNeill is a Senior IT PM and CEO of http://www.FabbyDoo.com- and also played support to The Police on their 1982 UK Synchronicity tour. Additionally he owns car rental comparison website BestCarHire and Motor Home comparison website HolidayCampervan.

@FabbyDooGuy

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Project Manager

Running coach Bill Wenmark once said “You should run your first marathon for the right reasons, because you’ll never be the same person again. You must want to do it, not do it because your boss did it or your spouse did it.

In our case, the project manager and the marathon runner are a similar animal, separated at birth and the resemblance is staggering. Let me take you through the key milestones one by one.

Understanding the Scope – Even before the runner has signed up and committed to the 26 plus miles, he has to ensure that he understands what is ahead of him and believes it is achievable. Similary the PM; he must understand the scope of the project and have faith in his and his teams capabilities.

Confirming Resources – Before the start – just like a marathon runner is well fed and hydrated before the race, the project manager has to ensure his equipment is capable of lasting the distance. Has he enough budget and has got the right resources allocated?

Ready, Steady Go! – so the race is on, and like his running companion, the project manager has to pace himself accordingly, concentrate and visualise the end result.

Handling change – halfway through the race, the conditions change and the course gets tougher. The runner has to react quickly and adjust accordingly. Similarly with the PM, change is part and parcel of any project and he too has to react quickly.

Monitoring –  it is important for the marathon runner to constantly checking his body. Are his legs tiring, his knees on fire or blisters appearing on the soles of his feet?  If so, once again he analyses the risks or the issues and adjusts accordingly.  Who does that remind you of?

The run in – so the finish line is in site, and now is not the time to lose focus.One last burst, using the contingency you’d previously planned for. Any mistakes now could ruin months of planning.

You’ve done it! You cross the line to much applause. You accept the praise and feel good inside.

Closedown – But wait…it’s not over yet! You still have to unwind and close the project down. You need to release the resources (take the running shoes off!). You need to assess what could you have done better. What lessons were learned for your next race or project?

So now it”s over and you’ve achieved your goal there’s just one final task to complete  – Let’s go down the pub and celebrate – if you can still walk!

Malcolm McNeill is a freelance Financial Services Project Manager as well as CEO of Fabbydoo.com. Additionally he owns car rental comparison website BestCarHire and Motor Home comparison website HolidayCampervan.

Is it time for investors to look to Burma?

By Patrick Smith | Mon, 14/05/2012 – 12:27

Please read Patrick’s article below giving details of the new investment opportunities becoming apparent in the new Burma.

http://www.iii.co.uk/articles/35519/it-time-investors-look-burma

Malcolm McNeill is CEO of FabbyDoo.com

and has the following Burma business domain names available to purchase or lease.

www.FlytoBurma.com

www.HolidayinBurma.com

www.TourBurma.com

malcolm mcneill on Twitter Counter

The POAP – What’s to Become of the Plan on a Page

A plastic surgeon is asked if he’s ever been requested to do anything unusual.

“No”  he replies, “But I have raised a few eyebrows!”

Well when it come to being asked to developing a Plan on a Page, I’ve seen many an eyebrow raised.

So many different styles, shapes, colours, sizes, with and without text, with dependencies and without – depending on what organisation you work in.

I’ve even see some POAP’s that go to 2 or 3 pages – Doh!

The concept of the POAP is to provide a means of summarising a project plan for your stakeholders in a graphical and logical manner, in order to communicate the progress of the project. It is supposed to be simple but informative.  It is not supposed to be a substitute for a detailed Microsoft Project plan, which seems to be a global spreading malaise.

So isn’t it time to agree an industry standard POAP?

• One which has a view of the overall project timeline – or stage timeline.
• One which is meaningfully summarised
• One which is maintainable (most use Microsoft Powerpoint, Excel or Visio)
• One which is capable of displaying the percentage complete of each task
• One which includes meaningful RAG status icons.

So going back to our earlier cosmetic surgeon –

Maybe we could all do with a POAP facelift!

Malcolm McNeill is a freelance Financial Services Project Manager as well as CEO of Fabbydoo.com. Additionally he owns car rental comparison website BestCarHire and Motor Home comparison website HolidayCampervan.

 

For Fakes Sake!- Hermes makes a million

For Fakes Sake!- Hermes makes a milion

Cloud Project Management Tools – the future looks bright

Project management tools have been around for many years in various shapes and sizes.

We have all come to love the nuances of MS Project, namely it’s a cumbersome beast, intuitive, a hassle to keep up to date, difficult to share with stakeholders unless they access the same drives or share point – then the need to attach and be emailed, blocking inboxes, dull reporting facilities, expensive to own and lack of controlled usage leading to inefficient licence deployment.

…and then from out of the Cloud came a new fresh attitude to Project Management.

Suddenly projects begin to take a new shape. The plans become enjoyable to work with.
OK some folks (quite rightly) still have reservations about security – critical data being stored in some anonymous data centre, but the benefits outweigh the negatives.

Just think about accessibility – Cloud plans can be accessed from anytime, any place and anywhere. This is what is needed in the global society. No need to wait for colleagues to get into the office before giving their opinion on the impact of a new requirement.

Cloud-based PM tools are hardware-neutral, therefore a mixture of iPad, Android and pc users can access plans at the same time. Remember that these don’t all have to be existing project stakeholders, they could be new associates or vendors preparing to become involved Ian particular work package.

The cost of ownership of Cloud Project Management software is manageable – no need for expensive hardware or infrastructure, constantly in need of maintenance and upgrade. No need to install expensive pc client software, simply access the Cloud.

Remember what we spoke about at the beginning, the dull reporting facilities. Well how about photographs attached to your resources, colourful management information or even videos showing the percentage complete of a particular construction project.

The future is bright with our heads in the Cloud.

Malcolm McNeill is a freelance Financial Services Project Manager as well as CEO of Fabbydoo.com.

Additionally he owns car rental comparison website BestCarHire and Motor Home comparison website HolidayCampervan.