Here's Jimmy!

OK, so I've just watched 'The Shining' for the first time.

I'm long overdue for an update, and my apologies to anyone who still pops in to find out what's happening to the 50th Anniversary Edition.

And for anyone who's asking the question, the answer is 'I've been busy with work'. It's very simple really, I'm a male, and that means that I can only think about one thing at a time (well, two if you include sex with my delicious wife).

Yes, busy with work building web sites, and as usual, going beyond the call of duty and working well into the night building standards compliant web sites for clients who (bless their cotton socks) wouldn't recognise a standards compliant web site until it hit them in the accessibility court claim.

What gets me at the moment is the difference between marketeers and artisans. I'm regularly building web sites now for third parties that I will never meet, because I'm contracted by an agency representing the client.

I suppose this is how the the business world works, but I'm currently quoting prices to web development companies who are contracted by marketing agencies who are contracted by their clients. At each step there is a markup for admin costs. Ouch for the clients!

Even more disturbing, I've been contracted by one marketing agency - who sell web services including web sites, viral marketing and the rest - to fix their own web site!

Of course, this scenario will be familiar to many musicians who can create beautiful music but are completely incapable of selling it. And just as familiar to people who can sell things but are completely incapable of making them.

Oh, by the way, the other reason there has been no progress on the 50th Anniversary Edition is that my iMac G5 broke again. And it was the hard disk. Again. And I'm waiting for the supplier to source a replacement. Again. 16 days and counting...