04/03/2012 by admin.

I have never known what note to strike in this blog, nor are there many signs of readership, so please please email me if you are reading this at webmaster@research-network.org.uk

What I wanted to do in this blog was just to guide you to some interesting places on the net. I wrote some time ago about the direct government website. This is now in course of revision and is available in a beta version at http://www.gov.uk/ with all kinds of understandable warnings about the fact that it is in beta form. The exciting thing is that there are frequent updates available from the people working on the new site and an opportunity to comment and interact with them. Surely if one set of the community should want to participate in this exercise it is market researchers with some spare time to give to help make this the best comprehensive and consumer-friendly government website in the world. Please visit the site and see what you can do. The present “official” governement website is of course stiil up and running at http://www.direct.gov.uk and you can visit it and compare it with available sections of the beta site

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09/02/2012 by admin.

I haven’t blogged here for some time. largely because I write other blogs that people read whereas, so far as I can gather, not many if any read this. I like blogging and have written some useful articles in this blog but have never had much feedback, with one notable exception.

You might have read an earlier blog on the alpha version of the new ”direct government” site (Blog 21/08/2011) If you go there now you will be redirected to a chance to participate in the beta version and to contribute to the way in which the new government website will be constructed.

If you DO READ THIS please email me just to say you have - any comments or observations will be welcome. Email me at webmaster@research-network.org.uk

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26/12/2011 by admin.

Long ago in the film “White Christmas” we were introduced to the American greeting, devised we assume  not to offend. at that stage the large Jewish population. Now it is universal - I even had a “Christmas” card saying “Winter Greetings”. What is in doubt is whether those in other Abrahamic faiths are in the least offended by being wished a  Happy Christmas and those of no religion even less so. So Happy Christmas everyone.

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23/10/2011 by admin.

I have been concerned, throughout this year, with improving my eyesight. It started with my optometrist advising a cataract operation on my left eye. It was soon pointed out by the surgeon that this inevitably meant the right eye as well because of the combination of long-sightedness and astigmatism. For those of you who don’t know about cataract ops. these are carried out under local anaesthetic usually administered by drops in the eyes though occasionally injection. The old clouded lens is first destroyed using ultrasound and a replacement plastic lens inserted in the empty capsule; the exact techniques used for doing this vary.

The operation is painless, at the most slight discomfort is experienced partly because, in my case, of having to lie flat and absolutely still during the procedure. The results, after a few hours of having the eye shielded, are spectacular and the improvement in visual acuity and peripheral vision immediately apparent. The eyes are of course done one-by-one with an interval of four to six weeks between operations. After the final assessment roughly three weeks after the last operation you are given permission to see an optometrist again with a view to he or she writing a new prescription. Sometimes, as was the case with me, the eyes need a week or two longer to settle down.

Finally - and I haven’t completed this stage yet  but am about to - it is possible to assess the final effect on one’s eyesight. A few lucky people get away without having to wear glasses at all but usually these are people who didn’t before the op or suffer only from mild short sight.

The whole thing is quite a saga and I look forward - after much expense in getting the right glasses though the ops were done thanks to our still marvellous NHS - to seeing how well I can see but I may still fail to recognise you next time I see you but this is probably a cognitive rather than a visual problem. The ops were carried out at a small day hospital partly. owned by and attached to my doctor’s surgery. More of this one day in the context of projected NHS reforms. Part Two will follow if you are interested. If you would like to comment or add to my account please email me at webmaster@research-network.org.uk.

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06/09/2011 by admin.

Just recently we have been getting slightly greater attendances at the AGM by advertising it as something like “Christmas Drinks Followed by AGM”. I wish I could find some way of providing the equivalent of Christmas Drinks to encourage use of  the various opportunities given on the website for feedback. There’s the Feedback Page where, confidentially, you can enter your opnions of the Network, its organisation, lunches, parties, suggestions for improvement and so on.

The whole point of the website was to try and stimulate greater participation in the affairs of the Network. If you don’t want to use the Feedback page there is a simpler way of connecting with individual members of the Steering Group by emailing them, either from the links given in the Steering Group section of the website or the addresses given in the confidential Directory of Members .

Why is feedback so important? It encourages participation in the affairs of the Network over and above attending lunches and parties. Now doubtless these - and smaller get-togethers of some members between lunches - are perhaps the most important way of participating. But what happens if we lose momentum. don’t know what members are thinking - apart from the handful who turn up at the AGM? What happens when existing Steering Group members get too old and tired to bother much about the future of the Network, not that this is imminent I hasten to say but even SG members are mortal. Then the Network will atrophy and we all want to keep it lively don’t we and attractive to new members don’t we? It would be a great pity if this wonderful idea thought up by Peter Bartram and carried forward by a meagre 3 or 4% of members (many of whom started 10 years or almost 10 years ago) were somehow to lose its attraction.

So I appeal to you take a bit more interest in the future of the Research Network even if only to tell us that we have got the whole thing wrong. We’ll never know unless you do tell us and there are plenty of simple ways of doing this,just once or twice a year maybe. Is this too much to ask all of you out there?

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24/08/2011 by admin.

I have placed a short video on the website  and I hope it might increase page traffic for this blog. If you haven’t seen it please take a look at it. If you have seen it and that is why you are reading the blog right now please just send a short email to the webmaster at webmaster@research-network.org.uk . It need only be short with just “Video” in the subject line and any remarks you want to make or just the word “Seen” in the body of the email. Thanks

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21/08/2011 by admin.

Many of you will know the official government website. This site is excellent and contains much information on things you might need to know (OK - I didn’t say want to know!) about subjects such as pensions, taxation and so on. This site, which I have described in earlier posts, is at this address www.direct.gov.uk and you can access it from here by clicking on the blue URL.

But there is now also an experimental prototype government site which has the purpose of trying to bring together all information about politics, departments of state, pensions, taxation, the law as it affects us all, and so on but also on our local services.Thus the site has a safe method of detecting where you live (or you can volunteer this) and will ultimately be able to bring you local information relevant to you. The ultimate aim is to provide an all-inclusive, simply-worded site which everyone using the web will be able to use to get information on their connections with government at both a local and national level.

Because the site is in prototype stage although much actual, verified information is there - for instance a list of the cabinet and other government ministers with their pictures and biographies - other pages contain “placeholders” for unverified , or just a brief outline of, information but there are clear warning signs on the site where this is so. The idea for the site rose out of Martha Lane-Fox’s view, not only that people of every age and social class could be encouraged to use the Internet but that information should be presented in a simple but interesting way. The site is excellent as it stands but needs your feedback so it can be developed. PLEASE visit this interesting experimental site and give them the benefit of your views. As experienced researchers with some time on our hands surely we can play our part in this. THE LINK TO THE SITE FOLLOWS. Again you can get access by clicking on the URL. Note that the address excludes the usual www.

The link is http://alpha.gov.uk and a visit and also your feed back will richly contribute to this laudable experiment.

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16/08/2011 by admin.

Sometimes I get strange and contradictory messages about the website - for instance the text is too large, too small, too full of information, not enough  (new) information etc.

The first category of comment sometimes reveals ignorance of what  you can do with your browser and/or your ability to use an alternative browser. Most of us will be using some version of Internet Explorer, the latest version of which is IE9. If you wish to see more at a time on your PC/laptop screen you can vary the zoom by clicking on the “Tools”  function , or the icon the the top right-hand corner that looks like a gear wheel , and then indicating the percentage zoom you require. In this way you can enlarge or reduce the size of the text you see on the screen without interfering with your basic text settings. I used to think everyone knew this but comments I received told me this was not the case. If you did know it my apologies!

Also you can choose other browsers - Safari (most suitable for Apple-based systems), Chrome and so on and you may find that the website looks different, and maybe more to your liking , in another browser. I try the website out in various browsers and, optimistically, you will find it works well in any but it is a matter of personal taste.

As for the second category of comment I can’t put in your latest news unless you tell me. On a more general point I try to provide interesting pages on the website and try to update the photo pages after each social event as quickly as possible and, for more recent events, provide a video of the Steering Group Chairman’s speech which you may want to refer to, particularly if you were not there or you were there but missed hearing something clearly.

Finally I include a few pages of general interest, for instance technology news. But if there is anything else you would like to see on the site for goodness sake tell me - the website gives umpteen ways of communicating with me or relaying your views to the Steering Group.

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07/08/2011 by admin.

Well it might be unless I can get more people interested in it and in other website aspects such as the feedback facility.

I don’t expect members to visit the website all that often - maybe once a month would be nice though.So if you are reading this please send me a friendly word of encouragement,

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18/07/2011 by admin.

Does no-one read this blog? If by any chance YOU do then either register or email me at

webmaster@research-network.org.uk

and you’ll make a lonely blogger very happy (well happier anyway).and I will post more useful information

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