No funding in the North East, at least not for websites
I’m a web developer, in the North East, my customers (rightly) want to pay as little as possible, so funding and grants is a popular question. ‘Can I get funding towards my website’, and the answer is, am not allowed to talk about it. It’s like Fight Club, ‘The First rule of Website Funding is …’
Ok slight distortion of the truth, but today have been threatened with suspension from the North East England Service Providers Register (NEESPR – You all know what that is right?) because I used the word ‘funding’ on our website. Apparently it was against the rules and not allowed, ok, it’s been removed, but after much discussion as to why, and what the alternative information we could offer was (there isn’t any) it’s just not allowed. We basically cannot even say that if you are interested in funding we’ll direct you to the correct people, at least not on our website – And there’s no route to feedback how unhelpful this is to the end client, it’s the rules, do it.
Most people have heard of Business Link, and the key phrase is ‘Business Link Funding’, and to be a provider for a project that is funded by Business Link (the funding isn’t actually from Business Link, it’s from a range of fund sources co-ordinated by the Investment Centre) the provider must be listed on the NEESPR (I have been in it’s various guises for about 10 years now), you get vetted, show references, and obey the rules etc (which is why we removed the word funding). The rules state that all we can say is ‘As listed on the North East England Service Providers Register (NEESPR) so I asked if we could link to their site if visitors wanted information on funding, we can, but because the NEESPR don’t provide funding, there is actually no mention of funding their either.
So, what to do? I get that they have to monitor the unscrupulous, but we’ve never even bent the rules on this topic, it’s always frustrated me that I can’t offer clients any real information on web site funding, I can but guess at the eligibility criteria, the funding rates available, all from feedback from previous clients, I’m not really allowed to even guess in a face to face, just direct them to Business Link. This doesn’t help me as if not careful it looks like I’m being dis-interested or not trying to help my clients, when in reality I want to help, I want to make the funding process as informed and as simple as possible, but I can’t. ‘Go talk to Business Link’ as good as it gets, and that’s face to face. Now, I can’t even offer a link to Business Link on our website because we’re honestly not allowed to use the word funding, cannot even allude to whether funding is even available.
There will be no funding on our website. I cannot help but think this is not useful to Joe Public, this is not in their best interest, and it certainly doesn’t help me help my clients 🙁
As of writing a Google UK search for website funding north east returns 466,000 results, mostly my competition. Let’s see if the rules are evenly applied
Andy Flisher is a Software Developer based in the North East of England specialising in cross platform development. Mobile Development experience includes Windows Phone, Android, and iPhone Apps. Desktop Software Development includes bespoke Windows, Linux, and Mac Applications. Web Development Skills include PHP, Perl, Python, ASP (Classic and .NET) – Andy Flisher on Google+
Mac Appstore exit code: 173 issues
I just love an IT issue where I’m almost the only one that has it, means no fix, and a small group of people tearing hair out (thankfully I have none). Well my issue c/o the new shiny Mac App Store is purchased apps dieing with nothing more than an ‘exit code: 173’ logged, which seems to be part of the DRM / copy protection process. Shame is they’re legitimate purchases!
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Middlesbrough 10k – 2010
The Middlesbrough 10k – 2010 – As run by Flish
Official Chip Timing:
| Number: | 1713 | ||
| Gun Time: | 01:04:55 | Position: | 1729 |
| Chip Time: | 00:56:17 | Position: | 1393 |
| Category: | MOPEN | Position: | 763 |
| Gender: | M | Position: | 1298 |
Middlesbrough 5k – As run by Me!
Middlesbrough 5k – As run by Me!
Courtesty of Garmin Connect – for fat sweaty Gadget Lovers 🙂
(Hint: – Click View Details, then ‘player’ for a re-play!)
PS: Not Too late to sponsor me (http://www.justgiving.com…)
Out of the Mouth of – Cole:
June 2016 –
“Look, I can make by bits wobble” – Future exhibitionist 🙁
December 2010 –
“I didn’t do it [pump] I only do big ones” – That’s my boy!
April 2010 –
“Incey Wincey Spider has crawled up my Bum!”
September 2009 –
“Are you stinky dad?” – Hmm, point taken 🙂
August 2008 –
“I have a hole in my bum daddy! :-)”
Cole is the Karate Kid!
Cole’s impromptu rendition of the Karate Kid Trailer (yes that’s it in the background!), who said kids are influenced by the films they watch
So here she is, Leah Nicole Flisher
Leah Nicole Flisher was born at 5.25am on Sunday 13th December 2009, 8lb and 6oz and everyone doing fine. Thankfully a prerty much streamlined birth, out the house and back with bairn in about 8 hours!
The Supermarket Shuffle – Moving it from ‘A’ to god knows where
I’m not stupid (subjective I know!), I understand why supermarkets re-arrange the entire store, it’s so that we’re forced to walk up/down, left/right to find what we’re looking for, it forces us to be subjected to all sorts of new marketing, promotions, products that we wouldn’t normally in robot shopping mode, but it pisses me off! How can any marketing method that involves annoying the clients be a good thing!
Suspect this comes into the ‘Everyone else does it’ so it’s ok category, well stop being a sheep and be different, different is good, make a point of being different. Today’s vitriol is aimed at Morrisons, but don’t think the rest of you get off scot free, all I wanted was to dash in, grab some paracetamol, and be gone. They managed to introduce the self scan tills to improve and accelerate my shopping experience, and then took it all away by making me wander lost, resorting to navigating by signs above the aisles that have no reference to what’s in them.
Initially this was worthy of a mention under ‘Change is Bad’, but i was tired and had 20 minutes in the car to self rant so you get a page all to yourself 🙂
Rant over
Out of My Way! (Swimming)
Excuses first, am not ageist, and I have no more right to be anywhere or do anything than anyone else, but…
… I swim, most who see me would argue I should swim more, and I was trying. Time is precious in this overly hectic world we live in and I choose to go to a Gym because it has a decent 25metre pool, for swimming, I can jump in, do my time lengths in the hope of little interruption and get on. Sometimes it’s busy, sometimes am in the lanes and you have to share with others (There are direction boards and in the main reasonable lane discipline), sometimes you get stuck with someone at a completely different pace to you, but ok that’s the exception, but I’ve always got my swim done.
Today I didn’t, it was busy, 7.30 in the morning and at that time the average age of the patrons is pensionable, as it happened the one half of the pool that’s laned was full (2+ in each of the lanes) so I went to squeeze in the other half, there were 5 people in there. I went for the biggest gap, not a lot, but my expectations were that people would scooch up a little either way and let me in. I don’t want to interfere with their swimming session, but I do want mine too. Nope, in particular on one side he was plodding up and down , I swear being deliberately stubbon, but most definately not showing any consideration to me or others, didn’t budge an inch. I managed about 10 lengths, moving up behind people, moving diagonally across as people passed in the opposite direction, accelerating past, and then repeating in reverse (Am not a fast swimmer but on average much faster at my stready pace than the regulars at that time of day). The lady to my right was to her credit trying to give me some space, but was met with someone equally as stubborn as the gent to my left, outside of her who was barely moving and using as much width as she was tall, I think she was scared to get too close to the rope 🙁
So I got out, I was doing as much distance width ways as in lengths, and it was just not working, so instead of working out any stress I ended up with more, good start. Consideration for others is all I ask, I’ve paid my membership as much as them (actually I’ve paid twice as much as that particular set of patrons – but that’s probably ageism), and have as much right to a swim (but no more). Yes, they were in there first, and yes modern lifestyle is too busy that I didn’t have the luxury of time to wait, but there was plenty of room if I’d been met with the rare quality of consideration for others around us, instead I swear I got blank arrogant stubborness – Rant Over.
Change is Bad …
… or it’s a good excuse to have something to be miserable and moan about (not that I’m getting old, or British, what about the weather eh?)
We’ll start with;
- Snickers – Never forgiven them, it’s a Marathon ok! (Bugging me Since 1990)
- Google’s bigger search box, don’t like, it looks odd (September 2009)
- The Supermarket Shuffle – Moving stuff about so I can’t find it anymore (Always)