Ok, it's the last hole, I've had a good drive and mess up my second shot to leave me the wrong side of a right-hand dog leg.  I can take another shot to leave me a clear line to the green or I can chance it and go through the trees and over the bushes to try and save a shot.  I'm 130ish yards from the pin if I cut the corner.

So far, I've played a lousy round but I think I'll chance it and cut the dog leg off.  I prepare myself and remember what I'm supposed to do to take a good shot.  I line myself up, not too much back swing, head still and concentrate on my follow through.

The ball takes off nicely, lands short of the green with some pace and is rolling fast towards the flag.  The ball hits the flag absolutely square on and drops in the hole.

As long as I live, no matter how good I get, I don't think I'll ever play a shot like that again.

I know this is jumping the gun but this week will see the launch of one of the best projects that I've been involved in.

Why was it good?

1. The client had a proper budget which meant that we could give them exactly what they wanted and allow for changes.  Yes, it means we ate into our profit a little but the costs were covered, the client is happy and it's been a very satisfying piece of work
2. The client was comfortable with the fact that he's paying us because we know what we're doing and has left us to come up with something that we know will work
3. The client has been ultra efficient in providing clear and concise instructions when it comes to content and then feedback when we've needed it
4. We've learned an enormous amount

What does the site do?

The site is the UK version of a site for a large multi-national and, in very brief terms, encompasses the following:

• Brand guidelines adhered to with a fantastic design
• E-commerce
• Download management
• Integration of forms into SalesForce.com
• News
• Mega Menu
• Full content management system
• 150 pages of content

I want all our projects like this.  It's been a huge challenge and a big undertaking to turn out a project like this.  We started it at the beginning of July and it should go live this week.  So that's 7 weeks from start to finish.  This is where we excel.  When clients are totally serious about their website, we step up to the plate and will meet or exceed their expectations.

For now, the site will have to remain under wraps but please check back and I'll post again when it goes live.

"Mackerel sky, mackerel sky. Never long wet and never long dry"

So the saying goes.

In simple terms it means that things are a bit unstable at between 8000 and 20000 feet up.  If the air beneath this level stays dry then the weather will stay good.  If moist air moves in then it'll probably rain.  These clouds are altocumulus which means medium-high (alto) and heaped (cumulus).  They get their name as they resemble the markings on a mackerel as the images below will show.

There's a mackerel sky out tonight and I'm playing golf in the morning so I'm hoping that this means that it'll stay nice and dry for me.

Thanks for taking the time to contact us. We'll get back to you as quickly as we possibly can.  In the meantime, if you want to send any further information then please e-mail it to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

What would be a help is if you could do one final thing and use the poll on the right to give us an idea of when you want your project to start.

Best regards

The Insight People

If anyone in the Portsmouth or Havant area wants some really nice quality office furniture then please have a look at the images below.

This is amazing quality stuff that we bought from the previous occupiers of the office we're in at the moment and there's just too much for us really. The sale is being used to buy food and shoes for my poor starving children, or maybe some nice leather sofas, a Wii and a flat screen TV for the office so it's all in a good cause!

The total of all items is £235 but I'll do the whole lot for £200, used fivers, no questions asked.

Just call me on 023 9245 3999 and you can come and have a look.

Desk with Overhead Storage

This is a cantilever desk made up of the square end section and the curved return in a light beech effect laminate.

• Left edge approx 80cm
• Length along wall approx 200cm
• Right edge approx 120cm
• Desktop depth approx 3cm

The roll top storage is lockable and has a single shelf inside.

It would need dismantling before transporting but it's really easy to take apart and put together again. I'd help take it apart but the buyer would need transport.

Price: £100

Storage Cabinet

This matches the desk and is a big storage case with 2 shelves (The base and one shelf half way up). It has roller doors on the front to keep the space needed to a minimum and is very rugged.

• Height approx 100cm
• Width approx 120cm
• Depth approx 45cm

It is very heavy and you'd need a van to move it but we have a lift here to get it down to the car park.

Price: £75

Under Desk Storage Cabinet on Wheels

Again, this matches the other furniture. It's a storage pedestal in wheels with 2 drawers. The top drawer also has a slide out storage tray for all your paperclips and pens, etc.

• Height approx 55cm
• Width approx 45cm
• Depth approx 55cm

We have a load of these and they just slide under the desks on wheels but are kept out of the way.

Price: £30

Leather Chair

All the usual features: goes up and down, backwards and forwards, etc.

Price: £20

Fabric Operators Chair

Again, goes up and down, backwards and forwards, etc.

£10

Now I'm not overly suspicious about these things but we've had some weird goings on in the office this week.  We have 3 big photos leant against the wall on a cabinet.  They are big canvas prints with wooden frames.  When I came in on Monday they were on the floor in front of the cabinet.  The plates and tray and everything that were in front of them hadn't moved, just the pictures.

Then, today, I was having a look at Google Analytics for our own site.  The image says it all!  Anyone know any good exorcists?

When used appropriately, technology is a wonderful thing.  When it's used to create efficiency or to help your clients deal with you more easily then it's great. When it's used to cut costs at the expense of your clients then it's a killer.

I'm on hold to BT at the moment so I thought I would have a rant.

A couple of weeks ago I parked at Chieveley Services on the M4 for a meeting with a potential client.  If you want to park for more than 2 hours you have to pay £10.  The only way you can pay this is using a mobile phone.  The system that they use is so unfriendly it's not true.  It took me about 10 minutes to pay but I figured it was worth the effort not to get a parking ticket.

Last week, guess what I received? Yep, a parking ticket.  I called to get it cancelled and it had, indeed, been issued in error.  It had already been done as I lease my car and they have to reassign the debt to me instead of the lease company.  I have to wait for a new ticket to arrive and then call in again.  That arrived this morning and after a long wait I managed to get it sorted.  I've now got to wait for notification so that I can send that to Lexus to get a refund on the charge that they make for having to administer an unpaid fine.

All is all, probably about £100 worth of lost production time because technology was used badly.

Then I have to get through to BT to reduce our DD as our account it always in credit.  The first time I called I tried to use their automated system.  I entered the phone number and then the account number but it complained that they didn't match.  I then called back to get to speak to a human.  I had to enter my phone number and account number again.  It didn't complain but I still had to wait over 10 minutes to speak to someone, all the time being reminded by a message that they were very busy and that I should try their automated system.  Guess what, BT, I'm very busy as well and your automated system sucks.

So, eventually I get through.  Of course, one of the first things she asks is what my account number is.  Didn't I just enter that?

The moral of this story is that we need to make it easy for our customers to do business with us.  With BT and the parking company, I don't suppose they care, but most of us don't have that luxury.

We've been talking to a company called K R Associates, an independent environmental testing and consultancy service specialising in building noise control, efficiency and safety, about rebuilding their website based on a design by Spitfire Marketing in Southampton.

We're taking the design and putting the content management system in place to allow them to take control of the site themselves.

We had a meeting this morning to finalise some of the aspects of the site as they want it completed by the 28th February. They're highly motivated and serious about their site which is great for us as we'll get everything we need from them to support their deadline.  This is something we often struggle with when clients take months to get us what we need.

On top of this, they gave us this great tray. We can write on the tray what people are having when we make them drinks. As one who hears the microwave 'ding' and opens the fridge, wondering what it was I needed, something like this will go down well in the office!

The doughnut is mine, by the way.  It was meant for when I'd made the coffee but didn't make it for even as long as it took to boil the kettle.

Usually the only green life in our office is mould in a cup that someone's left on a desk but we decided to go up market with our own plants for the office.

It's quite surpising how much difference a bit of greenery can make! I'm thinking of building on this and turning the office into a bit of a jungle.

Apart from that, it's busy, busy, busy with several sites coming to an end and several more starting or part way through. I think I have 4 or 5 content management systems to install, configure and integrate with the design. So far, it's been a fabulous start to 2010.

Here's to everyone else out there trying to recover from the last couple of years and I really hope it picks up for everyone.

My 6 year old daughter is doing a project at school about planets and the solar system so I decided to do a bit of reading up on it. Most people will have heard about Polaris or the Pole Star and know that it's the easiest way to find North on a clear night without  compass. But would you know where to look?  I didn't but now I do.

If you know how to find Ursa Major (The Plough, Big Dipper, Saucepan, etc) then it's easy to find North by looking for Polaris.

Have a look at the image below and you'll see.