Frances Penwill-Cook - Freelance Writer Site

Designing digital railway stations

2011-09-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

Digital technologies like smartphones and RFID are transforming railways, but how quickly are stations catching on? For this feature I spoke to the University of Technology in Sydney to find out how a new project to integrate digital technology with station architecture at Sydney's Central Station is transforming ticketing, information and safety.

The number of rail passengers worldwide topped 2,600 billion in 2009 – a figure which continues to grow. But as congestion and crime increase too, in line with passenger demand, new systems to manage passenger flow, improve wayfinding, ensure revenue and improve security are more important than ever before.

At the same time digital technologies are becoming more and more widespread and devices such as smartphone technology, near field communication (NFC) and radio frequency identification (RFID) are being incorporated into our urban environment, improving the experience of rail travel.

Yet while the technology is there, it seems the integration between station architecture and digital technology is taking its time.

As congestion and crime increase too, in line with passenger demand, new systems to manage passenger flow, improve wayfinding, ensure revenue and improve security are more important than ever before.

It explored the future of interactive and responsive urban public transport environments where new forms of communication are proposed via an overlay of urban digital media technologies. For this reason the University of Technology in Sydney (UTS) and University of Sydney carried out a research project, which is presented in its book Infostructure: A Transport Research Project.

Central Station in Sydney was used a model and the ideas have yet to be prototyped, but the concepts can be considered for any railway station structure in any country.

Go with the flow
With 77% of the world population as mobile phone subscribers and smartphones showing the strongest growth – according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) vendors shipped a 100.9 million smartphones during the fourth quarter of 2010, up 87.2% from the same quarter in 2009 – the potential to use this technology to improve payment and communication systems in transport and other industries is evident.

To reduce congestion caused by passengers purchasing tickets at Central Station, UTS Master of Architecture student Dominic Fedrigo first studied the series of actions a passenger takes in order to board a train: enter the station, purchase a ticket, get train information and walk to the platform.

To improve this he proposed a change in sequence that would be supported through the ticket purchase via a smartphone using NFC. Ticketing, information and platform entry points were placed outside the station, freeing up pedestrian circulation networks inside the station building.

Tickets, purchased online through the iphone app (60% of mobile phone users in Australia use smartphones), were colour coded to match the LED coloured lighting that illuminated the external entry points to the user's platform destination.

"What needs to be pointed out is that of course some commuters don't have that type of technology," said Dr. M. Hank Haeusler, a postdoctoral fellow at UTS who has been overseeing the Infostructure project, with Nicole Gardner from UTS and Dr Martin Tomitsch from University of Sydney, and is passionate about integrating digital technology into the built environment.

"You can't exclude more conventional systems as some user groups don't have access to smartphone technology. As a user you should be able to use whatever payment system you want and at some point one system might become more popular than the other and therefore extinguish the older one, as seen with the tokens used for public transport in New York's subway."

To read the rest of this feature please click go to Railway Technology.

Toulouse guide for bthere! magazine

2011-09-01T09:17:00.000-07:00

This month I have written the Toulouse guide for Brussels Airlines's bthere! magazine.

Enjoy the last of the summer sun in Toulouse this month while the city celebrates traditional Occitan culture and world-class pianists perform. Frances Cook is our city guide.

AMIDONNIERS/COMPANS CAFFARELLI
Amidonniers is home to one of the best live music venues in Toulouse. A few minutes away you will find Compans Caffarelli, a thriving commercial area split into two by a stunning public Japanese garden (show in pic).

SLEEP Novotel Toulouse Centre Compans Caffarelli (5 Place Alfonse Jourdain,
tel. (0)5 6121 7474, novotel.com, rooms from €100) is alongside the renowned Japanese gardens.

EAT Evangelina (33 Boulevard Maréchal Leclerc, tel. (0)5 6121 3000) is a buzzy bistro-style restaurant with a large covered terrace that makes it unique in Toulouse.

LATER Le Mandala Jazz Club (23 Rue des Amidonniers) reopens on 7 September after the summer break, featuring new and time-old talent.

TIP Evangelina (see above) is putting up big TV screens so you won’t miss any of the 2011 Rugby World Cup action (10 September – 22 October).

Please click here to read a PDF version of the rest of bthere!'s September Toulouse guide.

Community Spirit - Toulouse Property Focus for French Property News

2011-07-01T08:39:00.000-07:00

Toulouse is the capital of the Midi-Pyrénées. As the fourth largest city in France after Lyon, Marseille and Paris, this city and the nearby Tarnaise locations of Albi and Cordes-sur-Ciel can offer everything you could want in a place to call home.

To the west you'll find the spellbinding countryside of Gascony and the Atlantic, to the east the Mediterranean Sea, to the south the Pyrénées, and heading north you'll find Fronton, famous for its wine from the Négrette grape.

Flower Power
"Toulouse is one of the most pleasant places to live in France. In French we say où il fait bon vivre," says Emily Kopec, estate agent for Agence Mercure in Toulouse. The city is a mixture of cosmopolitan, contemporary, chic and cool.

Known as the pink city because of its distinctive red-brick architecture, during the Renaissance Toulouse was one of the richest cities in France due to the sale of a unique blue dye made from pastel plants, which flourished on Tarnaise soil.

The merchants were so wealthy they constructed incredibly beautiful and impressive mansions in the city, many of which are still standing today, such as the Place d'Assezat. Toulouse became the centre of this trade and a 'pastel triangle' was identified from Albi to Toulouse to Carcassonne and called the pays de cocagne (the leaves of the plant were formed into a ball, called the coques).

In downtown Toulouse itself, you will find a buzzing cafe culture, chic boutiques and Michelin-starred restaurants as well as trendy cafes that spill over onto the streets, second-hand vintage shops and even a vegetarian restaurant, La Faim des Haricots. If you want to get away at the weekends, you can jump in your car and lie on a beach, hike or ski in the Pyrénées or pop down to Spain - there's a diverse range of choices.

Flying High
Aside from the city's gastronmic attractions and heritage, it is also a world centre for aerospace. Toulouse's international airport in Blagnac is home to Airbus - which employs approximately 15,000 Spanish, German, French and British workers - and is host to the biggest space centre in Europe. It is a place where people come to work as well as visit and this also means property in Toulouse itself can be expensive.

To read the rest of this article, please read this digital version of the July issue of French Property News magazine.

Beijing's Geolocation Masterplan – The Privacy Pitfall

2011-06-17T07:27:00.000-07:00

Beijing has announced its intention to monitor traffic via the use of the city's 17 million China Mobile subscribers. Frances Cook looks at how privacy concerns are key to unlocking the potential of geolocation as a solution to untangling one of the most traffic-snarled cities in the world.

According to an IBM study, Beijing has the worst traffic in the world. In August 2010 the city had a traffic jam that lasted for nine days and stretched for approximately 100km between Jining in Inner Mongolia and Huai'an in Hebei province (north-west of Beijing), and 95% of citizens say the traffic has adversely affected their health.

The rise of the middle class

Although Beijing has pledged to invest 331.2 billion yuan in its subway system by 2015 and 80 billion to improve its transportation infrastructure, the middle class continues to rapidly increase - there were 248,000 new cars on the road registered in the first few months of 2010 according to the Beijing municipal taxation office -forcing the government to find new ways to ease congestion.

Earlier this year the Chinese government announced plans to monitor Beijing's traffic with geolocation technology via the city's 17 million China Mobile subscribers. Li Guoguang, deputy director of social development at the Beijing Municipal Commission of Science and Technology, told the Beijing Daily that the Beijing Residents Real-time Travel Information Platform "can effectively increase citizens' travelling efficiency and ease traffic jams".

The news caused both hope and fear: the former that more was being done to combat Beijing's congestion and the latter due to concerns surrounding privacy rights. "I think, despite the excuse of traffic control, this is part of the escalation of the use of technologies to control social discontent," Wang Songlian of the Chinese Human Rights Defenders network told The Guardian, going on to explain how a lot of activists have their phones tracked by the government and how it is concerned by its people's social unrest.

However, if the aggregated data from this system can free up the city's gridlocked streets, it could work all over the country - aiding its entire 1.3 billion population - due to the sheer number of China Mobile subscribers. Not long ago, according to China Daily, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) announced that China's mobile phone users had risen by 41.39 million in the first four months of 2011 to just over 900 million, covering nearly two-thirds of the nation's residents.

Click here to read the rest of this story on Road Traffic Technology.

Food Focus: The Fukushima Aftermath

2011-05-12T07:10:00.000-07:00

The crisis at Japan's Fukushima nuclear reactor has left much of the country's core infrastructure shaken. This special report looks at the situation facing Japan's food supply chain and how the country has been affected so far.
In May 2011, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan asked for nuclear reactors at the Hamaoka plant in the Tokai region to be shut down, following evidence from Japanese scientists that there was an 80% chance an earthquake would hit the area in the next 30 years.

"If there were a major accident at the Hamaoka nuclear plant, it would have an enormous impact on the entire Japanese society," Kan told reporters in a recent televised news conference.

While there are no plans to shut down any more of Japan's 52 nuclear plants, the country is doing all it can to protect human health and prevent any potential radiation leaks from occurring in the future. The physical damage caused by the Fukushima disaster has been enormous.

The government estimated on 23 March 2011 that the cost to buildings, roads and other infrastructure was between $180bn and $320bn. Homes, infrastructure and health have been highly affected, if not destroyed, and areas being monitored closely for contamination include forests, crops, fisheries and food safety.

To read the rest of this story go to Food Processing Technology.

Do You Want Lies with that? Fighting Food Fraud

2011-04-15T07:19:00.000-07:00

A growing influx of counterfeit food products is causing a stir and driving new interest in detection technology. This report looks at a range of new technologies that can help to identify fake produce.

The impact of food fraud - a term generally describing the deliberate substitution, addition and misrepresentation of food, food ingredients or packaging - is on the rise. According to AT Kearney, the counterfeiting of global food and consumer products is costing the industry $10bn to $15bn each year - and the impact is not just economical, food fraud also poses a very real threat to public health.

The growing trend of food fraud

John Spink, associate director of Michigan State University's A-CAPPP, the first academic body to focus on the complex global issues of anti-counterfeiting and product protection, estimates that 5%-7% of the food supply is fraudulently labelled.

"An overwhelming set of incidents and case studies indicates that food fraud is a growing trend," says Spink. "Globalisation, consolidation of manufacturing, urbanisation, and other large-scale trends may provide insights to why food fraud is growing - globalisation requires more diverse and longer food supply chains to meet the demands of growing urban populations."

With counterfeit food on the increase, what are the best ways to counteract such a problem? Spink believes that a multidisciplinary approach is required. "Some of the useful disciplines, beyond food science, include criminology, supply chain management and packaging. Each of these disciplines provides insights for understanding the nature of food fraud and contributes proactive solutions to reduce it."

When it comes to methods to detect the authenticity of food, there is plenty of technology, but technology alone may not be enough to solve the problem. According to Spink, "there is no shortage of technologies. What is in demand is to further strategise how multilayer, multitechnology approaches deter bad guys.

"There is a danger of relying too much on one technology, such as for anti-counterfeiting, then the bad guys shift to stealing and reselling genuine product." He does, however, believe that recent handheld, immediate authentication technologies are an 'important piece of the detection and deterrence equation'.

To read the rest of this story go to Food Processing Technology.

Anti-Congestion Parking Technologies

2010-06-18T08:12:00.000-07:00

Congestion is a growing global concern, and parking is a major contributing factor. In my latest feature for Road Traffic Technology I investigated how new technologies, from mobile phone applications to large data projects, are beginning to offer a solution.

According to the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), part of the US Department of Transportation, in 2009 a traffic accident occurred every five seconds in the US.

A 2009 Texas Transportation Institute urban mobility report revealed that congestion cost the nation almost $90bn (more than $750 for every US traveller). And this was a cost that could be measured in more than dollars – the amount of wasted fuel topped 2.8 billion gallons (three weeks' fuel for each traveller) and wasted time totalled 4.2 billion hours, nearly one full week of work per traveller.

In the past, overcoming congestion issues has required new, wider motorways, better parking and expensive road works, but the International Association for the Wireless Telecommunications Industry says a much cheaper, and more effective answer could lie in the palm of our hands.

The car park conundrum

The Urban Planning Association (UPA), covering the metro areas of New York, San Francisco, Miami, Florida, Minneapolis and Seattle, has focused its efforts on using what it calls "the 4Ts" to reduce congestion: tolling, transit, telecommuting and technology and is concentrating on the metro areas of New York and San Francisco.

It is now focusing its efforts on issues to do with parking, and it believes that smart phones could bring smart parking to the fore. Mobile technology is enabling intelligent parking systems to emerge, helping drivers park smarter, easing congestion and reducing city spending.

To read the rest of this article, please go to Road Traffic Technology.

Closer to an Alaska/Canada Rail Link

2010-06-07T06:52:00.000-07:00

I recently interviewed Pasi Lautala, the Director of the Rail Transportation Program at Michigan Technological University. He had been carrying out a cold climate research project into materials that would be fit to construct an Alaska/Canada rail link and is due for completion this month!

The project has been a long time coming and a rail link such as this (linking Yukon and Alaska) could bring huge benefits to the region - in fact it is a great example of how vital university research is to the future of transportation worldwide.

The idea of implementing an Alaska Canada rail link has been under consideration since the Alaska railroad started in 1914. As the value of mineral resources in the region increased, it became apparent that a rail link connecting Alaska and Yukon with the North American railroad would substantially increase economic productivity (and security), development and sustainability in this region.

The 2007 feasibility study showed the overall investment cost to be about US$10.5bn, but also that US$7.8bn in revenues and US$11.4bn in public benefits could potentially occur over a 50-year project life cycle. With its advantages proven, the next essential stage of this 1,900km project needed to find the most effective construction materials for a railroad in such a cold climate. Heavy seasonal frost and permafrost means that different standards for the design, construction, maintenance and operation of rail infrastructure are essential.

To read the rest of the article and the interview with the project's director, you'll need to visit Railway Technology.

Biodiversity Festival at the Natural History Museum

2010-05-20T00:58:00.000-07:00

2010 has been declared the International Year of Biodiversity by the United Nations – this means twelve months of celebrating the sheer variety of life on Earth and taking advantage of the range of events running all over the country.

On 22 May (the international day for biodiversity) the Natural History Museum is holding a biodiversity festival.

If you're wondering why biodiversity is so important, consider that The Living Planet Index has shown a 30% decrease in animal species between 1970 and 2005, and it makes it easier to understand why we need to support communities and governments in protecting the species we do still have.

At the biodiversity festival you'll be able to explore the wildlife garden, talk to scientists, really get to grips with changes in biodiversity and link up with other events taking place across the UK in the Darwin Centre's interactive Attenborough studio.

For more details visit the WeekendNotes website.

Barefoot in the Park - the New Old Way to Keep Your Horses Fit

2010-05-19T03:21:00.000-07:00

The April 2010 issue of The Connexion (national newspaper in France) published a double-page feature spread that I wrote about the advancement of natural horse keeping as a whole and in France.

Having rescued two horses a couple of years ago and witnessed the benefits to their fitness and health through keeping them barefoot, riding bitless and natural boarding, I was delighted that the newspaper commissioned this piece so that I could share what I've learned so far with others.

Barefoot in the park - the new old way to keep your horses fit
A new movement is spreading across Europe to keep horses barefoot and bitless - and outside on land all day, every day. This "natural horse keeping" is said to be better for the horse and to let them live longer....

Click the image below to read the rest of the article.

Don't Miss the Abyss in London

2010-05-17T01:17:00.000-07:00

Ever wondered what it's like in an abyss? Well then let the Natural History Museum's new exhibition, The Deep, take you 11,000 metres down to find out. Running from May to September, you will experience the four different zones of the ocean - which is full of alien creatures and dazzling lights.

Some of the specimens you might not have encountered before include certain rare species of jellyfish, mean-looking angler fish and scary-looking spider crabs - and at the centre of the exhibition don't be shocked to see the skeleton of a 250kg sperm whale. The largest of the toothed whales, they can actually grow to 18 metres in length - you can find him on display not far from a giant squid.

The ocean covers around two-thirds of our planet and yet we know relatively little about what goes on in the depths of these dark waters. Take a trip this summer to check out these unusual creatures and find out what lurks beneath the surface without getting your toes wet - it is the International Year of Biodiversity after all.

For more information visit the WeekendNotes website.

The Problems and Promises of Stem Cell Research

2010-05-15T01:38:00.000-07:00

The stem cell industry is making heady progress in the US, with new legislation on embryonic stem cell research, new National Institute of Health approvals and the first FDA-approved clinical trial commencing.

It was approximately one year ago that President Barack Obama lifted former president George W Bush’s ban on embryonic stem cell research. Earlier this year, legislation (The Stem Cell Research Advancement Act, H.R. 4808) was introduced to amend the Public Health Service Act, which would codify Obama’s executive authorising research on human stem cells (including embryonic stem cells).

Since Obama reversed the existing limits, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has approved 43 stem cell lines (funding was restricted to 21 cell lines by Bush), demonstrating the extent to which it has impacted the potential advancement of stem cell research.

Codification means the industry will benefit from cell line diversity and investment as a result of renewed stability in the future of stem cell research. Having the confidence to invest and move forward is what Dr Mark A Magnuson of the Vanderbilt Center for Stem Cell Biology has been waiting for after progress was thrown off for six to nine months.

"An issue with the new Obama policy is that it has been disruptive," says Magnuson. "Even though we now have access to many new lines, which is something we needed, it’s also had the negative consequence of making it impossible to know with certainty whether we could continue working on the Bush-era cell lines."

To read the rest of my latest feature, go to Pharmaceutical Technology.

Bat Spotting in London

2010-05-11T01:57:00.000-07:00

This article was written for the WeekendNotes website and was featured in the 7 May newsletter.

Did you know there are over 1,000 species of bats on our incredible planet? In the UK, though, there are about 17 types of which the Common Pipistrelle is the, er, most common! Like all bats they have a good old snooze during the day and venture out to feed after dark – often managing to scoff around 3,000 insects each night!

If you fancy the idea of trying to spot a cloud or two (not the water droplet kind, bats of course – that's the collective noun!) on nightly missions then Kenwood House's series of bat-spotting evenings throughout the summer might be just what you're looking for!

Starting on Wednesday 23 June at 8.15pm you can position yourself in this beautiful parkland, join up with other bat fans to observe the Pipistrelle bats. You are will even be able to use detectors to pick up their echolocation as you watch them feeding over the pond.

Kenwood House is a popular place to visit in London. You could spend the day exploring the stunning gardens – the design of which was apparently influenced by great English landscape gardener Humphry Repton – and then finish with an unusual and fascinating evening spotting bats. If you haven't visited before, then the English Heritage site provides some exquisite photographs of the house and grounds so you can check out this beautiful location in advance of your trip.

If you're not going to be able to make this event, but wouldn't mind hearing what a Pipistrelle sounds like you can find out here on the Bat Conservation Trust website. This page also contains a fact sheet on the Pipistrelle bat so you know what you're looking out for!

For more information about the event call Kenwood House on 0208 348 1286.

Do a Demi - Go Pole Dancing in London

2010-05-05T02:13:00.000-07:00

This piece was written for WeekendNotes on the free taster sessions that the London Academy of Pole Dancing are offering.

At a recent celebrity bash in LA Demi Moore couldn't resist taking to the pole and according to party guests she even span upside down! Myley Cyrus squeezed some pole work into her performance at the Teen Choice Awards last year and Paris Hilton is well known for installing her very own pole at home! Once with a somewhat seedy reputation it's now a vital part of many celeb exercise routines and has gone mainstream.

If you fancy giving it a whirl (or a spin) then check out the London Academy of Pole Dancing's free, yes free, taster sessions every Monday and Wednesday at the Waldorf Hilton LA Fitness in Covent Garden. These classes are designed for absolute beginners and will give you an idea of whether pole dancing is for you. They are no obligation and you might find an exciting new way of keeping fit that breaks from the monotony of your regular gym routine.

"You will learn some basic pole moves including a couple of spins – you'll feel inspired and have lots of fun," says a spokesperson for the academy. "It's a stylish, sensuous dance that guarantees to provide a thorough workout. It's especially good at developing overall core and upper body strength."

To see what it's all about – and if you're up for the challenge – click here to view a gallery of pictures taken during some of the academy's lessons. By the way, upside down is level one, week four – so if you do like the taster session it won't be long before you're doing a Demi. For more information go to www.laphq.co.uk and to book call 0208 5201 985 or email info@laphq.co.uk.

For further details and to read this article on WeekendNotes please click here.

Take a Walk on the Wildlife

2010-05-03T01:50:00.000-07:00

The 42-hectare London Wetlands Centre must be the best place in London to walk and watch wildlife. A typical day can include free guided tours, bird feeding (of rare ducks, geese and swans), bird watching sessions and all sorts of both fun and educational activities for children. If this sounds good to you, then you will really enjoy the forthcoming 10th anniversary.

The London Wetlands Centre is run by the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) and since it was opened by Sir David Attenborough in May 2000 over 180 types of bird, some not often seen in London such as bitterns and purple herons, have been spotted. Its vision has always been to provide healthy wetlands where people's lives will be enriched by learning about nature – and this certainly forms the basis of events planned for the anniversary celebrations running from 29 May to 6 June.

Highlights include: a talk from wildlife photographers Matt and Will Burrard-Lucas, wildlife filmmaker Paul Williams discussing some of his toughest shoots (like a giant crystal cave in Mexico) and a walk with The One Show's natural history presenter David Lindo (the urban birder).

For more information on The London Wetlands Centre (and to explore the wetlands before you visit via the interactive map) visit the website. For more on the anniversary treats, view the event listings.

To find out how to get to the Wetlands Centre and how much it costs, read the rest of this article on WeekendNotes.

Universities Advance Progress of Road and Rail Transport

2010-05-01T11:28:00.000-07:00

University research is vital to the advancement of clean technology and transport management systems. This latest piece for Road Traffic Technology and Railway Technology focuses on some fascinating university research projects in the UK, USA and South Africa and reveals some of the innovative technologies being developed to improve the future of our road and rail transportation networks.

According to the Environmental Defense Fund, the average diesel locomotive in the US emits more than 40t of pollutants a year, affecting health (at a cost of around $23bn a year) and the environment. In what US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood described as "the new direction", September 2009 saw rail company Norfolk Southern unveil a prototype 1,500hp switching locomotive – the only all-electric, plug-in locomotive in the world.

When fully charged, its batteries can operate the engine for three shifts, but the Larson Institute at Pennsylvania State University has been working with Norfolk Southern on the development of a longer-lasting battery pack.

Click here to read the rest of the article on Road Traffic Technology and here to read more on Railway Technology.

Fraud Protection for Electronic Healthcare Data

2010-03-18T04:03:00.000-07:00

Electronic data within any healthcare organisation needs to be protected from fraudulent activity. Whether the threat is from within (employees) or outside (outsourced third parties), what are the best methods and major challenges for securing healthcare data systems?

In my latest interview for Hospital Management, I talked to Colin Tankard, managing director of Digital Pathways - which has more than 20 years' experience in designing, implementing and managing data security systems and solutions - to find the best methods of implementation and where the pitfalls lie.

Click here to read the article on Hospital Management.

'Country' Column - Newcomers

2010-02-28T08:00:00.000-08:00

Over the last six months I have been writing a series of columns for theFrenchPaper. Each published was a simple vignette that summed up my new life, at that particular time, in the French countryside - through the eyes of someone slowly unfurling after London city living.

The columns followed me on a journey, which turned out to be the most significant of my life. I have ended up in a place I never thought I'd be geographically or mentally and have increasingly become the most centred and well I have ever felt.

This column is for you if you want to follow the adventures of a wine-loving, meat-eating, party-going girl who, at the end of it all, discovers alcohol-free living, the healing spirit of animals, a thirst for sustainable living and veganism...and that the unknown is actually something close to heaven.

The first column appeared in the June issue of theFrenchPaper and is copied in below - the second will be published on this site soon.

Newcomers

Later this month my husband, Ross, and I will be introduced by our mayor to the 200 inhabitants of our small village in the Lot. Over aperitifs we, and the other newcomers, will get to know each other.

How different to my previous London life where no one cared if you had moved in or not! Since I arrived, swapping my green leather knee-high boots for pea green wellies, my life has changed - a lot.

In London I had thought that renting at the end of the Northern line was as far out as I could bear. However, ten years on I felt like a hamster stuck in a spinning wheel. I was working on films, tutoring school children as well as writing to pay our spiralling rent. Ross also worked non-stop.

We had both holidayed in

France

and knew that here we could live a simpler life with animals and nature. We could also buy a home of our own - and we wanted one that needed TLC. There are three of us now in our relationship: me, him and our pretty hillside house - our devotion to which will settle any row while we get used to having a less of a social life and living and working together 24/7.

We now have horses, dogs, rabbits, hens and a cockerel called Lucky - and at the market I ask for poules vivants instead of the prêts a cuire variety. As a result my wardrobe has morphed from pretty dresses to many-pocketed functional jackets.

My French is improving, although the other day while I thought I was chatting to my neighbour about my mare, he was wondering why I was referring to a pond!

There are good and bad France days - and there are certainly more ups and downs than I would have imagined to 'the dream'....

Publishers interested in reprinting this column, please email: frances@francespenwillcook.com.

If you would like to read more details about the journey, you can read my personal blog at: France and the Unknown.

It's Buy Nothing Day at the Weekend

2009-11-26T06:00:00.000-08:00

It’s official Buy Nothing Day on 28 November (27 November in the US). I had been looking forward to being a part of this global coming together for the first time, but the fact that it’s Saturday presents a bit of a problem.

I’ve really cut down on spending over the last twelve months, so much so that almost every day seems like a buy nothing day. However, we haven’t had any fruit or veg - apart from a couple of lemons and a few bruised apples - in the house for almost a week now and I’d earmarked Saturday morning to pick some up at the market. Changing my plans would be complicated as the market is held on Saturdays and Wednesdays only, there was no time during the week and I had arranged to take my friend - and her dog.

At first I thought about ignoring the fact that it’s Buy Nothing Day and tried to convince myself that it didn't matter as I buy so little now anyway. However, after mulling this over I realised that this was exactly the point. You change your plans, particularly on this day, so that you can be part of a worldwide commitment to consume and waste less!

Buy Nothing Day was invented by Vancouver artist Ted Dave - to remind the consumer and retailer of the true buying power of the public - and was first held on 24 September 1992. With the help of Adbusters this boycott of all things monetary caught on and now people in over 50 countries worldwide participate.

So, I texted my friend (and her dog) to tell her we wouldn’t be going to the market and reorganised when we’d get our fruit and veg. And I was feeling pleased with myself, rearranging my plans hadn't been so bad! But then I read that this year the Wildcat General Strike is calling for lights, televisions and other nonessential appliances to be turned off too.

Yes, I’ll change my shopping plans and work on the computer on Sunday instead, but on Saturday evening, no matter how great the guilt complex, I don't think I could bear to miss X Factor! At least if I Sky Plus it I can fast forward the ads!

Tweet for the 'A Billion for a Billion' Campaign

2009-11-19T02:43:00.000-08:00

@fighthunger has been sending around tweets today showing who is supporting the 'A Billion for a Billion' hunger campaign from the World Food Programme. They're encouraging the billion online users to help the projected hungry billion through, amongst other things, donations, spreading awareness, and creating and holding events.

We're all in a position to do something to help those who are helpless and hungry. Even if it's just taking a second to send a tweet.

Travellers Turn to Social Networking

2009-09-14T02:42:00.000-07:00

Can social media benefit road, rail and air networks? My latest feature on Road Traffic Technology investigates if a combined and integrated system providing real-time information to travellers is likely to emerge in the future.

With claims that social blogging site Twitter hit over 44.5 million users in June 2009 and networking site Facebook announcing in April that it had signed its 200 millionth active user, it is clear that social media has become mainstream. By tapping into the power of this technology the digital future of transport information could look radically different.

‘There is real potential to transform transport-related information services when tapping into this conversation stream in real time,’ says James Burke of software development and integration company deBurca.

Online travel today

When looking at how social media can be harnessed to provide integrated and combined travel information for road, rail and air travellers, it is useful to first look at what is currently available on a national level. In the UK, the only combined, integrated travel site is Transport Direct. While the site is unique in its approach to offering road, air and rail journey solutions on a national scale, the live traffic information is limited and its transport departure information is provided through links to the service providers' websites.

What emerges when exploring the virtual world of transport information is that it is an extremely fragmented environment. As populations grow, however, roads are becoming more congested and demand for railways is increasing. In response, a more effective way of increasing mobility, reducing accidents and improving travellers' safety is needed.

Is it possible to offer users road, air and rail real-time information all in one place? Tony Lacy, general manager of Atos Origin, which was part of the design team on the Transport Direct site, says it is dependent on keeping data sources going. ‘It is essential to have someone local who is creating this information,’ Lacy says.

With 32 years of working in transport and 12 years selling IT to transport companies, Lacy has a unique mixture of public and private sector experience. He says that historically, when working in transport IT, you deal with a single mode, such as building a system for a rail timetable or bus. ‘You don't get them coming together very often,’ he comments.

Designing a profitable system

One of the major problems is the time needed to agree, design and produce a new system and to prove the commercial business case that makes it happen in the first place. ‘If you were to design a new train timetabling system tomorrow, it would take 18 months to build and test it, and you'd need a commercial return at the end of it,’ says Lacy. The problem with this, in this new era of social media, is that things can move too fast. ‘By the time you've built it, there's an iPhone application that's done it better and sexier,’ adds Lacy.

A concrete commercial case for providing such a system from the transport or travel company's side appears to be the biggest challenge and, according to Lacy, the business case is difficult to prove in terms of tangibility. Some experts believe that companies still focusing on this traditional business model are not tapping into the potential of social media. London-based social media consultant Joanne Jacobs says that business models for social media are always a focus of management executives. ‘Social media are not channels in the manner of outdoor media and broadcast media,’ says Jacob. ‘Instead, they are cost reduction, market research and service improvement opportunities.’

Copyright issues

But while social media provides the means to share information, copyright restrictions mean that official data cannot be shared. Despite National Rail Enquiries preventing non-commercial reuse of its data, public sector and frustrated rail commuter IT consultant Ben Smith overcame this by setting up @uktrains on Twitter in January 2009 to alert rail users of disruptions. This was enabled, in part, by the BBC's Backstage travel feeds. It took two days and no cost to set up.

‘Right now the restrictive licenses the operators apply to their data – and the excessive charges they make to use it – are stifling innovation, which would benefit their customers,’ says Smith, whose Twitter feed also gathers crowd-sourced disruption alerts.

Spurred into action by @uktrains, National Rail Enquiries launched its own information Twitter feed, @nationalrailenq in June 2009, which, according to Jason Durk, National Rail Enquiries head of passenger information, marks the start of a strategy of engagement between National Rail and its customers. The feed, however, is not yet two-way, although Durk sees this gradually emerging.

Hitting the road

In terms of road travel, real-time information exists from various sources, such as the Highways Agency and the BBC. But despite the latter being produced as a result of 2,000 cameras and 6,000 vehicle detection systems, Twitter presences and crowd-sourcing data is minimal. Recently, however, news broke of a Twitter feed to keep motorists up to date with delay information on a 4.9 mile stretch of Scotland’s M8 motorway. It isn't two-way as yet, but as smart phones become more popular, two-way communication from travellers in this scenario becomes more likely.

National Rail Enquiries online service manager Jason Webb says that he has recognised that more customers are using mobile phones to engage with travel services. ‘It is now common for customers to have smart phones, with many customers starting to use the data element of the device more than the actual phone,’ says Webb.

National Rail's iPhone application recently became one of the most popular transport application with over 50,000 downloads. Mike Parker, creative director of web solutions company Orange Bus, says that the mobile phone will act as a personalised travel service in the future and eventually provide a personalised journey plan through aggregating local travel information published through Twitter.

Integrated solution

If a combined and integrated approach to road, rail and air travellers were to be created, bearing in mind the issues surrounding copyright and business cases, what could be the most effective way for it to form?

‘The best way to promote integrated solutions would not be for the travel operators to produce them,’ says Smith. ‘Instead they should make their travel data free and allow others to build applications on it…the community will be far more innovative than the companies alone.’ For a truly integrated approach, the expectation of direct commercial gain needs to adjust and the threat of copyright infringement lifted.

‘Travel and transport companies must agree to release news updates under creative commons licences so that feed reading services and applications are not accused of copyright infringement,’ Jacobs says. But Jacobs does say that the actual creation of a national transport site would be remarkably simple, using a search and nested category browsing rather than highly designed and graphically rich content. ‘It could be built on an open source content management system that enabled embedded social medial tools, and could be operational in six weeks from idea to execution,' she says.

Elegance it may not exude, ‘but it's the information that really matters,’ she concludes.

Are Roguelands Really Rogues and Will I Receive my Seeds?

2009-09-07T07:04:00.000-07:00

Given my recently-discovered tomato addiction – and my slightly disappointing yield on this year’s vegetable patch – I spent a couple of hours on Sunday looking for heirloom tomato seeds and other vegetables seeds that I can extend our current vegetable patch with now and going into next spring.

What I discovered was very interesting – it seems the food crisis has impacted seed suppliers in such a way that one particular store, SeedFest UK, wasn’t even selling individual packets any more. I was intrigued, was this really the case or just scaremongering?

SeedFest UK offers a good range of seeds and my decision to buy from them was tipped by their selection of bi-colour and black-purple tomatoes. As I merrily ‘oohed’ and ‘ahed’ to myself at the black beauties, deciding what to buy, I noticed an announcement stating that they no longer sold single packets of seeds ‘due to the state of the economy’. Seeds would now be sold in sets of 50 or 100 so customers can ‘grow enough vegetables to help reduce the cost of their grocery bill or gain their own self-reliance’. At £29.99 and £39.99 respectively I thought this was great value – it included all the major crops and some lesser-known varieties too. So, I invested in a set of 100.

As I looked at other sites – I couldn’t see the same kind of impact. Individual seed packets were still being sold. And although there are plenty of companies scaring consumers by using the food crisis to push all sorts of junk, I was intrigued to find out more about this company. In hindsight I should have investigated before confirming my order at the checkout.

When I followed a thread on Money Saving Expert I read many negative messages about the company, mainly saying that the seeds never turned up. On Dave’s Garden, Roguelands Heirloom Vegetable Seeds Company, which is SeedFest UK (very apt name, ‘Roguelands’), received 25 positive customer responses and 38 negative with one particular author criticising the company for it’s bulk order policy and ‘bad scare tactics’.

I discovered that SeedFest UK operates many different websites, including: www.seedfest.co.uk, www.vegetableseed.net and www.tomatoseeds.net, all in the same style and with the same offer. Most reports are on undelivered seeds and lack of response from the company when contacted about the problem. Many people have lost money and haven’t found a way to get it back. In some cases where seeds did arrive, they turned up late – sometimes so much so it was too late in the season to plant the seeds they had bought!

One UK-based customer, who goes by the name of ‘Chillipepper’, was so furious about the way she was treated by the company that she listed all Roguelands's partners to contact and complain to, tried to rally support from fellow unhappy clients in a bid to embarrass the company and even listed email addresses for contacts in Oregon’s police force.

The Grow Fruit and Veg forum also has a similar spread of negativity, although one customer did report receiving 100 packs for £15 and that she was ‘happy’ with the service.

So, will I be another victim of Roguelands or will I be in a small minority that actually receives my seeds? At least I ordered by credit card and should be able to get my money back through CC Now, like some other unhappy customers, which operates the credit card transactions on SeedFest's behalf,

I’m just glad I topped up my tomato seed order from Gary Ibsen’s TomatoFest site. I haven’t come across any bad reviews for this supplier yet, so hopefully I will, at least, receive some tomato seeds in the near future.

Consumers Should Unite to Reduce Food Waste

2009-08-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

The UK's DEFRA released the first food security assessment recently. It discusses how we can create a sustainable food system locally and globally along with managing the increasing demand for food. But while this is a step in the right direction, does it satisfactorily cover the issues?

Prompted by what Britain's environment secretary, Hilary Benn, referred to as a 'wake up call with the sudden oil and food price rises' last year, DEFRA's security assesment looks at what food security strategies need to be in place.

‘Our food strategy will need to cover all aspects of our food – production, processing, distribution, retail, consumption and disposal. And that includes the impact on our health, on the environment and future productivity, on how we deal with food waste,' says Benn.

He also emphasised the importance of dealing with the issue globally by referencing our 'interconnected world' and how it's important to understand that the 'price of soya in Brazil affects the price of steak at the local supermarket'.

Despite this, Friends of the Earth (FoE) stated that the assessment 'neglects the impact of intensive meat and dairy and fails to make policy commitments to address it to make the necessary' and that Britain's demand for meat and dairy – and in turn for animal feed – means the UK is 'driving deforestation in South America as forests are cleared for soy production'.

The demand for meat and dairy – and the resulting waste – increases. Households throw away 4.1 million tonnes of food each year that could have been eaten, reported Wrap, a government waste watchdog. And why wouldn't consumers want to reduce waste, particularly when you find out how the animals are treated in order to meet the demand for all these leftovers?

According to the Independent, 823 million chickens (housed in twenties per square metre) and 4.9 million pigs (in unsatisfactory conditions) are being sold each year. 'Many supermarkets continue to sell produce from animals bred to extremes and predisposed to welfare issues,' stated Compassion in World Farming (CIWF).

The existing circumstances for meat and dairy production was described by a CIWF spokesperson thus: 'These include meat chickens which grow to 2kg in less than 40 days, often suffering severe lameness and heart failure and dairy cattle pushed beyond their physical limits to produce huge milk yields, often suffering lameness, mastitis and infertility before being culled after only three rounds of milk production.'

Additionally, Britain imports half its pork from foreign farms where conditions are often worse. The situation has improved slightly, however, since CIWF's animal welfare ranking documentation pushed leading stores to increase their welfare standards and consumers now pay more for 'higher welfare' meat.

But could a reining in from the West really affect the desperate situation that consumers feel so detached from in developing nations? 'If affluent nations stopped throwing away so much food, pressure on the world’s remaining natural ecosystems, and on the climate, would be lifted,' says Tristram Stuart, author of Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal. By analysing figures and statistics for various organisations and supermarkets, he discovered: 'The energy that goes into growing the 61,300 tonnes of perfectly good tomatoes that people in the UK throw into their rubbish bins is equal to the amount it takes to grow enough wheat to relieve the hunger of 105 million people.'

Each consumer needs to step it up and get responsible for what they are buying and throwing away. But the blame cannot just be on the head of the consumer alone, what are supermarkets doing to limit their wastage? FoE have openly criticised DEFRA for 'failing to establish a supermarket Ombudsman' after a two-year investigation from the Competition Commission showed it was 'vital to stop the abusive buying practices of the supermarkets'. DEFRA's statement cited the concept of the Ombudsman as raising 'complex issues which impact on consumers,' but FoE believe the cost would be tiny in comparison to the supermarket profit margins and that there is no evidence to suggest it could impact consumers.

With manufacturers wasting over 4.6 million tonnes each year – and Stuart himself having seen with his own eyes that supermarkets can feed more than 100 people each day from their wasted food – without an Ombudsman the waste is an affordable by-product. 'This is the critical equation that all food retailers juggle with,' says Stuart. The size of profit margins and the low cost of food-waste disposal influences the amount of waste retailers create as an “affordable” by-product of their marketing policies.' It's simply more profitable for the supermarket to waste two items than to lose a sale on one – and risk the shelves not being full as this does not look good.

Consumers need to be responsible for their own purchasing and connect what they are buying with where it is coming from and how this affects the planet. If the plight of animals isn't enough to prompt action, aren't the starving millions and the sustainability of the earth? If the supermarkets are supplying consumers' demand then it's consumers' unification against waste that can force the change. 'Most people would not willingly consign tracts of Amazon rainforest to destruction simply through a few trips to the shops. But we do it every day,' concludes Stuart.

So, do consumers really even have a choice?

Don't be Shy – Get Serious About Friends of the Earth's CO2 Campaign

2009-08-25T07:55:00.000-07:00

Friends of the Earth have launched a website for its Get Serious About CO2 campaign, which aims to persuade councils through people power to act on reducing local emissions by at least 40 percent by 2020. Good job because the UK has been in danger of missing its climate and energy targets – not great when the UK, with 1 percent of the world's population, produces 2.3 percent of the world's C02.

People (if they're not 'shy') have to take a picture of their most serious face and upload it to the site at www.foe.co.uk/serious_about_co2/index.html so that regional FoE groups can lobby their local councils. The uploaded photos will be used as an aid to petition the government for funding, so councils can focus on implementing green energy and improving public transport.

Once you've registered and uploaded your photo on the site, you mark, on a sliding scale, how serious you are about various different issues – from renewable energy to tattoos. The idea is that people will form 'tribes' with those who hold similar interests – it's meant to encourage people to return to the site to monitor the progress of the campaign.

Earlier on this year the BBC reported that unemployment has risen to over two million in the UK and increased by 165,000 over three-month period at the end of last year. The Friends of the Earth CO2 campaign, if successful, could create 70,000 jobs (which is supposed to be a conservative estimate), such as loft laggers, architects, plumbers, builders and electricians. Also administrative and warehouse positions would be created. Good news!

Having uploaded my 'serious face' onto the site, I even put it on my Facebook page (as per FoE's suggestion) to help raise awareness. Last time I logged on to see who else had joined (you can click here to see this page http://www.foe.co.uk/phpscripts/serious_about_co2) my pictures was rather large and slap, bang in the middle!

See for yourself - good job I'm not shy!

Nissan's New Zero Emission Leaf Lauches

2009-08-25T07:49:00.000-07:00

The lack of road infrastructure for electric vehicles has meant that the push away from oil guzzlers to all-electric cars has seemed a little slow, despite alliances such as the Renault-Nissan Alliance forming partnerships with governments and organisations around the world to advance deployment of EVs. When I read about Nissan's new Leaf EV a few days ago I felt very enthused. It seems to deliver on their promise of producing a car with 'zero carbon dioxide emissions and zero particles'.

One of the problems in the past has been that electric vehicles can't go much further than around 40 miles without needing to be charged. And then the charging process would take a long time, which meant that congestion in car parks and inner-city areas could become even more congested. Battery changing stations were a possible solution, but there was much speculation on how feasible this actually was.

But Nissan's new all-electric beauty can be driven up to 100 miles after a full charge and it has also produced a quick charger, meaning its lithium-ion battery can be charged to 80% of its full capacity in half an hour. Amazing, but pricey according to Autoblog, which says that it would cost around $45,000. A 100% charge on a standard charger will take eight hours, which is plenty of time for most people between getting in from work and leaving the following morning.

Then two days ago in America President Obama announced US$2.4 billion in grants to 'accelerate the manufacturing and deployment of the next Generation of US batteries and electric vehicles'. There will be US$1.5 billion in grants given to US-based battery manufacturers, US$500 million for producing electric drive components and US$400 million for purchasing plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles for test demonstrations and for the installation of electric charging infrastructure!

'If we want to reduce our dependence on oil, put Americans back to work and reassert our manufacturing sector as one of the greatest in the world, we must produce the advanced, efficient vehicles of the future,' Obama said.

I feel excited at all this positivity surrounding EVs and the move towards implementing the necessary infrastructure - and that the prospect of owning my own electric car one day draws closer with the roll out of the Leaf. What we don't know yet is how much it is going to cost....

UK Government Steps up Global Food Security Goals

2009-08-25T07:45:00.000-07:00

Director-General Jacques Diouf, of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has issued a document entitled Secretariat Contribution to Defining the Objectives and Possible Decisions of the World Summit on Food Security.

He has invited governments around the world to participate in negotiations to agree on a declaration for adoption by the World Summit of Heads of State and Government on Food Security. This will take place in Rome on 16 to 18 November. Dr Diof has sent the document in order to initiate the negotiation process.

The FAO recently reported 'more people than ever are victims of hunger' and now more than one billion people are undernourished worldwide. 'We consider it unacceptable that over one billion human beings in the world, mostly in developing countries, presently do not have sufficient food to meet their daily basic nutritional needs' states the document.

According to a recent report, released in June 2009, if action isn't taken the World Food Summit's target to reduce the number of hungry people to half – to 420 million by 2015 – will not be reached.

The global economic downturn, combined with the food and fuels crisis, translates to lower or loss of incomes and an inability to buy staple foods, especially where food prices are high. The global nature of this crisis, rather than it being confined to individual countries or regions, means that governments cannot take the usual courses of action, such as borrowing or currency devaluation, to overcome the effects of the crisis.

While in developed countries undernourishment is increasing – all world regions are affected – the rising hunger has been described as a 'global phenomenon'. Asia and the Pacific now has the largest hungry population of 642 million. The largest percentage increase in the developing world is 13.5% in the Near East and Africa.

Dr Diof's document builds on the G8 statement on food security that was adoped in Italy in July and calls for the total eradication of hunger, worldwide, by 2015 along with nutritious food supplies for world population that is set to hit 9.2 billion by 2050.

'The time has come to tackle the root causes of hunger and find structural and lasting solution for world food security,' said Dr Diouf.

Photograph: Sara Abubaker (Stockvault)

How to Get in Touch

2009-08-25T07:22:00.000-07:00

You can contact Frances Penwill-Cook in the following ways:

Telephone: 00 33 5 63 70 37 56 or 00 33 7 87 01 94 43

Email: frances@francespenwillcook.com

Skype: franpenwillcook

About Frances

2009-08-25T07:12:00.000-07:00

I am a freelance writer/journalist who is based in France after living in London for over ten years.

My writing appears in consumer publications such as theFrenchPaper and The Connexion, France's two national English-language newspapers and French Property News, and also in well-known business-to-business titles such as Road Traffic Technology, Airport Technology, Railway Technology and Hospital Management.

I love writing France-themed content, but I also cover plenty of other subjects, including real lives, events, natural horse keeping, animal welfare, transport, healthcare, social media, robotics and customer relationship management. Some of my published work can be viewed in the portfolio section of this site.

I graduated with a 2:1 English degree in 1997 and since then I have worked as a sub-editor, writer and editor on national, international, consumer and business-to-business publications (both print and online).

I am a very flexible writer who likes the challenge of resolving content issues for clients. I will deliver whether it's a humorous column, SEO-optimised web content, copywriting, a business-to-business article or a consumer feature that is required.

Chasing my Movie Dream in Cannes

2009-08-23T14:00:00.000-07:00

Town and Country Column - 'Country' from July Issue of theFrenchPaper

2009-08-22T14:08:00.000-07:00

Tips for Purchasing a Motherboard

2009-08-21T15:03:00.000-07:00

A motherboard is vital to every PC as it is the main circuit board, or backbone, to any computer. Commonly known as a ‘mobo’, a computer’s central processing unit (CPU), mouse, keyboard, hard drives, memory, video card, sound card and so on are either plugged directly into it or connected via cables.

When deciding to purchase a motherboard, it’s important to know what form factor you need, which refers to the size and shape of your motherboard. Until fairly recently the AT and Baby AT form factors were the most widespread. The AT was generally used in older computers (386s and so on). Its problem was that as technology progressed and at 12” wide, a new slimmer design was required that wouldn’t overlap into so much disk space. As a result the Baby AT, at 8.5”, was introduced. However, although popular, especially in 486s and early Pentium PCs, it was unable to cope entirely with the increasing amount of space that processors needed and as a result was superseded by the ATX (despite the ATX being the same width as the Baby AT, it is rotated slightly to ensure that components can connect easily). Versions such as the Micro ATX, Mini ATX, Flex ATX and Extended ATX have been introduced since.

If you’re on a budget and don’t intend to carry out much upgrading then a Micro ATX is a good solution, however, if you intend to use more than three PCI cards (network card, sound, modem and so on) then a full-size ATX will be the best route.

It is useful to have a motherboard that allows your PC experience to be as flexible as possible, most include USB and FireWire ports that allow devices, such as a digital camera, to connect with your PC when necessary.

Motherboards vary in terms of the types of components they support, so check they are compatible with the manufacturer. For example, it is important that your computer’s processor will fit on the motherboard; this will generally be described with a socket number, so ensure both components list the same socket type.

With so many motherboard manufacturers on the market, who are the best to consider? Some of the most popular are: ASUS, Evga, Gigabyte, Biostar, MSI, DFI and Intel. After reviewing many forums and websites, ASUS, Evga and Gigabyte prove to be the most popular motherboard manufacturers among purchasers and enthusiasts.

There are some comprehensive and informative sites on the internet that are focused on providing reliable, detailed and up-to-date ‘mobo’ reviews. Three of the most useful sites to visit when you’re trying to work out what to buy are: motherboards; the motherboard section of the Test Freaks site and MB Review.

In terms of where to buy the best deals are usually to be found online. An obvious port of call is eBay, but if you prefer to check out stores that are focused entirely on computer hardware and motherboards then these three shops are worth investigation: Newegg, Ebuyer and Mwave – they also include motherboard reviews from customers.

Links to Published Work

2009-08-10T16:34:00.000-07:00

Gateway to the South (February 2010)

"Some say it's the gateway to the south, others that it is France profonde itself, but no matter how it is defined, this unique territory is unmistakably the Lot."

Chasing My Movie Dream in Cannes (July 2009)

What happened when I hit Cannes in May '09 to finance a movie? (Did I mention that I met Colin Firth...?)

Country Life Column (one in a series on life in rural France)

Life with Lucky, a rescued cockerel. Is he over-amorous or attacking the hens?

Teddy Bear Millionaire (December 2009)

Serial entrepreneur Imran Hakim hasn't looked back since the success of iTeddy on 'Dragon's Den'. Click image below to read the feature.

eCourumba (September 2009)

New Yorkian Jay Bregman has made eCourier.co.uk the fastest-growing, same-day courier service in the UK. Click the image below to read the feature.

Remote Control (September 2009)

For a water-tight supply chain, track and trace must begin at the very earliest stages of clinical trials. Please click here for PDF.

Talking Railway Security Trends (January 2010)

An ever-increasing requirement for effective security systems across transportation networks is developing. In this interview ARINC's business development director for government and security discusses the trend towards digital infrastructure for physical security applications and the importance of train-to-track communications. Click here to read feature.

Travellers Turn to Social Networking (August 2009)
Can social media benefit road, rail and air networks and is a combined and integrated system providing real-time information for travellers likely to emerge in the future? Click here to read feature.

Revolutionising Rail with Robotics (August 2009)
Leading robotics supplier ABB is keen to prove that robotics can revolutionise the rail industry. What kind of robots can enhance the railway industry's manufacturing processes and how is the company selling its approach? Click here to read feature.

Saving Lives on Rail (May 2009)
Automated external defibrillators are used by airlines and in airports to help save lives during sudden cardiac arrest, but how is the technology saving lives within rail? Click here to read feature.

Airport Security Trends (January 2010)
Andy Nicholson, ARINC's business development director for government and security, discusses the latest trends in airport security. Click here to read the interview.

Paris Shows Off Its Air Event Security (July 2009)

The Paris air Show is one of the world's leading air events. Keeping it secure takes a complex, collaborative approach. The event's deputy logistics director shares his experience of running the show, from its Le Bourget site, for the benefit of airport operators around the world. Click here to read feature.

Big Chill Brings about Winter Road Safety De-Icing Innovations (February 2010)
This feature looks at the innovative technology being created for roadway de-icing by governments all over the world. Click here to read.

2009 Road Show (Dec 2009)

This feature highlights some of the most successful road construction achievements of 2009 - each world class examples that will lead to better traffic flow, safety and economic growth. Click here to read article.

UK's Highway Safety Set in Concrete (Oct 2009)

A new concrete step barrier project in the UK hopes to increase safety on highways while stimulating the economy. Click here to read feature.

Future is Bright for Zebra Crossings (May 2009)
With startling number of pedestrian casualties on UK roads each year, this feature finds out more about a new lighting technology that's set to revolutionise the safety of Britain's zebra crossings. Click here to read feature.

Video Detection: Increasing the Light at the End of the Tunnel (April 2009)
With products in over 450 tunnels worldwide, Citilog is a global market leader in video-based traffic incident detection. Eric Toffin, vice president for North America and North Europe, discusses the importance of tunnel surveillance. Click here to view.

Electric Dreams and the Infrastructure Challenge (November 2008)

The push for carbon-free road transport has seen the ambitious development of a series of electric and hybrid cars, but will road infrastructure be ready for the change? Click here to read.

Intelligent Transport Systems: Driving into the Future (Septemer 2008)

How will third generation intelligent transport systems enhance the EU's roads? Click here to read.

Financing Developing Road Infrastructure (October 2008)

What does the completion of road infrastructure projects in developing nations offer the global marketplace? Click here to read.

Diverse Defibrillators for Public Markets (October 2008)

The public access market is, by far, the fastest growing sector of the defibrillator industry, but how are these life-saving machines adapted so they can be used by both professionals and amateurs? Click here to read.

2009's Top Five Innovative Devices (January 2010)

Five of the most innovative and life-changing medical devices to come out of 2009. Click here to read feature.

A Dignified End of Life (December 2009)

End-of-life care is a growing area of concern. This feature examines how a little communication can improve care and reduce costs. Click here to read.

NHS: From Boom to Bust (July 2008)

In 2008 the NHS revealed a surplus of £515m, despite just one year earlier recording a £547m deficit. The revelation caused a stir and the NHS is reportedly on target to achieve another £1.8bn surplus, but how? Click here to read.

Secure Systems: Dealing with Data (May 2008)

The major challenge of storing patient data is to ensure security and patient confidentiality. As programmes such as the UK's NPfIT face further controversy, what's the best way to deal with public confidence issues when exposure cases emerge? Click here to read.

Japan's M&A Boom (October 2008)

As generic drugs increase in popularity, Japan's acquisitions market has seen surprising growth in recent times, but what are Japanese pharma companies buying and why? Click here to read.

How to Import Your Car Into France (September 2008)

What should you expect when importing your car into France from the UK? Here's a guide to this seemingly complicated, but actually straightforward process.Click here to read.

Dealing With Sweet Itch (October 2008)

Sweet Itch or Summer Seasonal Recurrent Dermatitis (SSRD) affects around 5 percent of horses. Although a cure doesn't exist, there are ways to help you manage the problem. Click here to read.

Paddock Paradise: In Florida (November 2009)

How has Paddock Paradise benefited Stephanie Thelen's herd in Florida? Click here to read.

Bond With Your Horse and Create Your Ideal Partner (May 2009)

Want a well-mannered horse? Leading France-based natural horsemanship trainer, Jo Bond, shares her method on how to create your 'ideal partner'. Click here to read.

Paddock Paradise Series One: In New York with Tangled Manes (February 2009)

How has horse owner, Joanne Johnson, adapted natural horse guru Jaime Jackson's version of Paddock Paddock to meet her own needs? Click here to read.