Time goes quick.
Tomorrow, in the morning… I’ll be attending the funeral of a young man who passed away.
Then tomorrow evening, have a wedding reception of a close family friend (who recently got married). I’ve known him since he was a little kid.
Got me thinking, how time goes so quickly…. And mostly around wanting to do things which unfortunately stay as wants and aren’t ticked off the list…
An old colleague recently reached out to me. He said, ‘Bal… I need some advice’.
I was more than happy to share whatever elements of wisdom I had and also provide him with not answers but questions for him to come to the answers.
You see, for me, I love to see people succeeding. It’s not a competition – it’s about everyone getting to where they want to get to and if I can help folks on that journey, then that’s only a good thing, right?
Summer is here! Well, the weather has been a mixed bag… some days have been awesome lovely sunshine, some cloudy.. but that’s ok.
So Summer is kind of here! and thank you to Koen, who part of this Summer Book Club, always sends me a book for the summer to read. He provides me with a list of great books – and asks me to choose one. I’ll be honest – look forward to the Summer Book Club email… because a) I know I’ll be going on holiday soon, b) I’ll have a book to read and c) it’s nice to be part of the club.
So which book did I go for this summer…. well it was a difficult choice! There were so many great books on the list. But the one I ended up going fo was ‘The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down’. It’s by Haemin Sunim – and I’ve already started reading it! It’s brilliant… my favourite part of the book is my Friday Thought for today. I shared it on my Insta and got plenty of likes… even Gurpreet Singh (aka Sikh Dad) privately messaged me reflecting on this.
Here’s my Friday Thought… a Buddha see’s Buddha, a pig sees pigs… what do you see?
I’m not going to apologise to the folk I spoke to for the last few days and kept referencing Ted Lasso.
It was the final show on Wednesday – and yes, one was a little emotional.
Absolutely brilliant! The best show ever! And if you haven’t had the opportunity to watch it – honestly, you should! There is so much we can learn from Ted. Like… be a goldfish!
Bal…. what’s your favourite quote or part of the show?
Well, there’s so many to choose from, but if you pinned me down and asked me to say one, it’d be the one below…
I’ve even got the quote saved on my phone.
Have a great weekend folks!
One snippet, one moment… is all it takes for someone to form an impression. To form that opinion. To form that picture by which they’ll judge you.
Usually, there’s much more going on. Much much more.
Social Media has made it so easy for us to assume from a persons single post or comment.
Whilst everyone chooses different things to share at different parts of the day, week, month… just remember, what we see isn’t always the full picture.
First and foremost – apologies.
I know a few of you have reached out to me, asking – where’s my blog posts, where’s my Friday Thought… can I share an update on particular tech, what do I think of the latest gadgets, etc…
I’ll be honest. It’s not that I had too much going on. It’s just someone, made a few comments, that seemed to suggest, I shouldn’t be posting as much.
I started this blog several years ago. I know I don’t have millions of readers – and you know what, that’s absolutely fine. Because, what I do know… is there are some readers. And they engage with me. And I know I’m making a difference.
So, I had to re-collect my thoughts. Think about, the purpose of this blog – and then do what I want to do.
And with that, I give you my Friday Thought… I’ve been following Steven for a while, and really do like his perspective on life…
Here we are. In 2022. Hoping, I suppose, that’s all we can do, is a better year than some of the previous years we’ve had.
Let’s be honest. We just want a bit of normality. We just want it to be stable, no drama – and letting us enjoy time with friends and family.
So, my Friday Thought, is in line with ‘The Out and Abouter’ who recently tweeted – let 2022 be like a Toyota Corolla.
It’s Friday. Usually I have Bal’s Friday Thought on a Friday. But today, it’s a 2021 thought. That’s right – I’m thinking about the year that’s just gone.
What a year. Let’s be honest. A alot happened, right? Whilst a lot happened, we were still restricted and a lot didn’t happen. Covid still lingers in the air. Mutations of the virus are with us – and we are still having to be careful. Flights, holidays, etc… not the ‘normal’ as we expected. But the main thing is, if you’re reading this, you’re alive.
Unfortunately, in 2021 – I attended more funerals than I actually wanted to. Sad times – and a few tears shed. Some were unexpected – in fact, most were unexpected. And that’s why I’m grateful, to be able to continue to do what I enjoy.
Now, whilst I don’t have a tech review of the year – what I do have, is a great review from Inc.com who share their ‘biggest business moments’ from 2021 – https://www.inc.com/steven-i-weiss/biggest-business-moments-2021.html
Whilst we all learnt a lot in 2021, and technology (and business) grew more advanced – with some super rich people going into space (the billionaire space race)… I took some time to reflect locally.
For me, I was on BBC Radio quite often, to share my thoughts on technology (and other topics when on BBC Asian Network). And it’s something I’ll continue into 2022. We often do an exercise at the end of a project – what went well – and what we need to improve. A lessons learnt type of exercise. So we can improve and get better. The interesting thing here is, I’m doing something similar for myself. What is it that I should continue… and what should I improve on.
One thing for this blog, which I’ve been doing for a few years, is to improve what I talk about. I’ve mainly shared articles on technology, motivational elements and how we can improve (as people). I will continue to do that. But improve with more videos, and providing more information. I do need some help though. It’d be great if you could ask questions, share your thoughts… help with building more content. Recently, I was asked about Christmas presents. Which I shared a blog post. Then I was asked for ‘lower cost’ presents. Which I did. And the great thing there was, it helped a few people. I know this. From the replies I received. Thank you.
In general – there’s a number of things I’ll continue as-is… but there’ll be things I want to improve. As I make my list… it’d be great for you to share via the comments section below, what you want to improve on. Could it be health? Could it be to train and learn a particular skill? or could it be, you want to follow your passion? Speaking recently to a family member, they’re a teacher… but love to clean cars. I mean, really clean cars. Like, detail them. And they’re seriously considering, quitting their job, and clean… sorry, detail… cars for a living. I personally, think it’s a great idea! Follow your passion – if your finances allow you to, great! If they don’t, make a plan… and when the time does come that you’re financially able to follow your passion – do it. Because, you never know – when your time will come and you end up in a box and that’s it. So whilst you’re on this planet – enjoy your life and do something that brings a smile to your face… just like this family member who got a small vacuum cleaner (with liquids and water, and all sorts) to be used in cars for christmas and was absolutely in love with it! (Honestly… not seen a grown man, talk so passionately about a vacuum cleaner.. in fact, whilst he was showing me, is stayed in between us the whole evening! (that is the sign of true love!).
And if you don’t know what your passion is, try different things. Experiment. Talk. Understand. Watch youtube videos. Just do something – and try. You’ll find it. And on that journey, you’ll pick up lots of other skills.
So with that, I hope you have fun seeing what you want to continue into 2022, what you want to improve on in 2022… and wish you, an awesome New Year. Thank you so much for supporting me and reading my blogs in 2021.
Another busy week on the ol’ tech front! – but let’s not hang around and dive straight into my Top Two Tech Stories of the week!
British entrepreneur Nick D’Aloisio, who sold the mobile app Summly to Yahoo for $30m (£21.73m) at the age of 17, has sold his latest company to Twitter.
The Sphere group chat app was founded by Mr D’Aloisio and Tomas Halgas.
Sphere, which connects strangers interested in common topics, has been sold for an undisclosed amount and will close in November.
Its 20 or so staff will join Twitter to integrate their community features into the social network.
The company started as a question and answer app that allowed users to instantly chat to paid experts. At the end of 2018, almost 500,000 people were using that version of the platform.
However, Mr D’Aloisio said he found himself drawn to the community aspect of the app which brought strangers interested in the same topics together.
“What was interesting was that people were talking so often throughout the day, and it wasn’t just talking to their friend on Facebook, but someone they had not met before about something they were interested in,” he told the BBC.
As a result, the app slowly pivoted toward a focus on group chats.
Sphere’s features include the ability to:
“A lot of the messenger apps that exist are catered toward groups that already know each other, but with Sphere, the aim was to unlock new dynamics and bring together people around the world with shared interests.”
Mr D’Aloisio said he was struck by the toxicity on platforms like Reddit, Facebook, Twitch and Twitter, which has been widely criticised about its handling of harassment and trolling.
2. Most shops going till-less!
The Tesco Express on High Holborn looks identical to thousands of others across the country. But inside there are no tills and no self-checkout machines. Instead you scan a QR code on your phone to gain entry, and a complex system of cameras and weighted shelves figures out what you have picked up. Once you’re done you just walk out and your phone (eventually) buzzes to tell you how much you’ve spent.
Yes – we’ve been here before – with the Amazon shop that was opened, but looks like Tesco are using the new technology and many more will be doing so too!
“It creates like an exoskeleton image of you and follows you around and knows what products you have bought,” Bilal explains – the store assistant. “But don’t worry, it’s not recording you and we don’t know who you are.”
Big retailers around the world reckon the technology in use at this Tesco GetGo store on High Holborn will revolutionise shopping and could account for $400bn (£290bn) of transactions within five years, according to analysts at Juniper Research.
The Holborn shop is new but Tesco has been trialling the technology at an Express outlet at its headquarters in Welwyn Garden City since 2019. That was two years before Amazon launched the first of its similar “till-less” stores in the UK.
Aldi is preparing to open its first checkout-free store in Greenwich. Morrisons is testing its own vision of the technology, codenamed Project Sarah, at its Bradford headquarters and has plans to quickly roll out dozens of small stores at busy locations.
So get ready to see no tills, just walk in – get what you want and walk out. This is the future.
So there you go… from an alternative to the usual social media platforms to till-less shopping!
So, I’ve decided to move energy supplier.
Goodbye Eon. For the past 5 years it’s been… well, ok. We got on. You supplied me with my energy. I said thank you and paid you for it. It was good. Until…
So, two things – 1) My Fixed tariff comes to an end and 2) Prices go up next month!
So, naturally – 1) I want to go on a Fixed tariff and 2) keep my bills as low as possible for as long as possible.
Eon – whom are now moving to be known as Eon Next, have a tariff I want but can’t. That’s because I’m an existing Eon customer. I have to wait to be migrated over to Eon Next. Which can take anything up to six months. Something, ideally, I don’t want to do.
So naturally, I went onto to some comparison sites – spoke to some friends – and found another energy supplier with a tariff that works for me!
I rang Eon back. As you would in any relationship. Asking – can you do anything before I move. No, sorry sir, we can’t.
Ok. So rang up the new supplier and initiated the move. Takes 17 days.
Today, I had a call from Eon.
“Hello Mr Bansal, I’m speaking from Eon. We believe you are leaving us, is that righ?”
“Hello, yes – that is correct”
“Can I ask why you are leaving?”
“You can, but it’s all on the notes – I’m sure you’ve read them before calling me, right?”
“No. I haven’t. Can you tell me why you’re leaving?”
“Well, again – I could – but I’ve made a few calls to Eon prior to leaving – so it’s all detailed there”.
“Ok. To log onto your account – will need to run through some personal security questions….”
“No. You’ve rang me. I don’t know who you are. Yes you know I’m leaving you – but that’s it. I’m not giving you any of my personal details.”
“Ok. In that case, Goodbye”.
And the Eon lady hung up the phone.
If I really mattered as a customer – I’m sure, you could’ve easily gone off script, I’m sure you could have easily accessed my account prior to me calling, I’m sure you know that most people are not going to give you/answer security questions when you’ve rang them (due to the number of scams that take place – where people are phishing for information), I’m sure…. there’s a lot more I could add here.
Many businesses will lose customers – and I’ve said it before, use the data you have to talk to the customers – understand their needs and do what you can. Keep your current customers as close as possible as you can to you. It’s these customers that will either talk positively about you… or not.
In this case, if Eon had said, we’ll put you on a priority list and move you as soon as possible – within a month, or something along those lines – I could have potentially stayed.
So, with that… it’s Goodbye Eon.
(Should I be naming them? – Good question… don’t get me wrong, I’m leaving on ok terms – who knows, could get back together one day – I just hope that a) Eon can learn from this, but moreso, b) other companies/organizations learn that your customers/people are the most important element)