Samsung Galaxy S2 - Vodafone UK - Jelly Bean is here!

I have been mucking about with my phone for the last couple of weeks trying out the Spain/Russian releases of Jelly Bean (Android 4.1.2).

I have had to do this as Vodafone hadn't yet released their own update post-testing, although those with unlocked (XEU) phones may have got it sooner.

Anyhow, today after going back to a vanilla Vodafone ICS install, my phone has officially been updated with the Vodafone release!

It is available OTA and via KIES - I haven't had time to play with it yet but I really wanted to be (one of) the first to blog about it!

Will update later with actual findings...

Samsung Galaxy S2 - Vodafone UK - Ice Cream and Jelly Bean

So this morning my much beloved Galaxy S2 told me it had an OTA firmware upgrade to do.  Most excited at the prospect of Android Jelly Bean, I accidentally pressed "cancel" - so much for being a tech geek.  On trying again to get the OTA update, it just wasn't there.  Doh...

Later in the day, I connected via Samsung Kies and lo and behold, there is my upgrade!  Only...it is to another version of Ice Cream Sandwich apparently PDA:LPG / PHONE:LP8 / CSC:LPB (VOD) if you are interested.

So here I am now with the upgrade completed (apparently 24% battery wasn't enough so I had an anxious wait whilst I juiced up) and it's upgrading...

Posting now in order to let people know it's available as an upgrade - will edit below regarding what it actually does!

Update: now on Android 4.0.4 instead of 4.0.3 - apart from some reinstalled bloatware (boo) it looks much the same - will use it between today and tomorrow and then update blog with any exciting changes - or just report that nothing much has actually happened.

Update 2:  nothing much has changed.  Small (very minor indeed) look and feel changes and a few more options, but fundamentally identical.  Will be interested to see if battery life is affected.

Ode to My Monster

It's just been pointed out to me that in my blogging I have not given any time to my wonderful fiancee and soon to be wife, Julia Banks (Julia Banks-Cazin to be).

She inspires me and makes me happy, fulfills my life and completes all the missing parts of me, as well as complementing the bits I already do fairly well.

She is also an excellent editor, critiquing my post as I am typing it.

I will be marrying her very soon, although not soon enough, and consider myself the luckiest man on earth.

Thank you Jools Monster for being you.

A wonderous prayer - thanks to Bobby Ball for creating it (really!)

In this world of ever-changing faces, help me to stay on the straight line I was destined to be on.
Help me to try and put right my faults, but to realise that my strengths are gifts.

Help me to be patient with others who are as impatient as myself.

Help me to learn the value of each minute of each day that I have on this earth, that I can bring love and happiness into someone elses life and not just my own.

Teach me to be honest with myself because if I am not honest with myself first, then it is impossible to be honest with others.

Make me slow to speak but quick to listen because others have a point of view too.

Help me gain a little wisdom as each day goes by because the smallest grain of wisdom is worth all the riches on earth.

Grant me peace and serenity that I may enjoy the days that I have left on earth.

Help me to see the good in others before the bad.

And last of all, help me to be honest in all that I do, because in spite of all our insecurities and faults we are the children of God and he gave us life.

So I shall try each day to become a better human being and, when my time comes to leave this wonderful world, I can go to God in the knowledge that at least I tried.

Amen.

"NIne Months of Havoc," originally published in CIPD North London Branch Messenger (Winter 2008/9)

I am perched on my soapbox having spent the last nine months attempting to move on to my next career role. My field is in learning and development and I know nothing about recruitment as a field. I had the most horrendous journey along the way.

I chose to apply for roles only through agents rather than hunting directly. I used mostly mainstream national agents and two independents. I know circumstances have become more challenging and I factored this in to my application process. I originally expected that it would take three months to find the
right role. My expectation then changed to six, once I had reached the fourth month. I have been attempting two things at once – more responsibility and more money. As a result, I averaged one interview per month, recognising I would have had many more interviews if I had only been attempting a sideways move.

Having now attained my dream role, I feel the need to get two things off my chest.  Firstly, I am extremely dissatisfied with my experiences around the interview process. Companies appeared to have little respect for my time. For instance, by committing to two interviews, then changing it to three, then changing the interview time once I’d made arrangements to attend. Two companies expected me to make myself available at one day’s notice.  Furthermore, I was almost always required to be available at
times between 9am and 5pm, with no ability to have interviews at, for example, 8am or 6pm. I am fairly senior and cannot just walk out of existing commitments in the middle of the day. In one case, an agent let me know afterwards that a client selected someone who was actually unsuitable for a role, purely
on the basis that they were the best of the candidates who were able to make the unchangeable interview slot.

The upshot of this was that the only way I could attend would be to lie to my employer, taking a sick day or similar. I cannot in all conscience agree with this. I am highly ethical and it concerns me greatly that the agent (and in some cases the company) would condone this. After all, what would stop me acting the same way in the new role? I am very lucky in that my employer has known I have been looking to move on and has supported me, but any other employer would have been seriously annoyed at my frequent diary changes when they impacted upon the business.

The second area where I was extremely disappointed is in the lack of post-interview feedback. I always call the agent immediately after the interview as requested, with clear information about the meeting and potential further interviews.  Where there is a positive response from the company, feedback always comes back quickly from the agent. However, when the feedback is less positive, or worse, indecisive, gaining feedback is usually like squeezing blood from a stone.

When both the company and the agent promise feedback and neither do, the outcome is discourteous to me and gives a very poor impression of both parties. Having jumped through endless hoops to get at least two, sometimes three interviews, to be left wondering, is not a finish worth having. As a learning professional, the worst thing about this is that I can learn nothing from the process. Was it me? Was it them? Was it cultural? Has the establishment’s budget been reduced?  So I begin the process again, wondering what might have been or might yet be. In closing, when I commenced my search, I set
three criteria which had to be fulfilled.

The role had to be:

• right in terms of level and opportunity
• right in terms of the values of the organisation
• right in terms of the financial package

After these nine months, I have finally got what I wanted. It’s the perfect role and has been the only one which meets all of my three criteria. I had a consistent and sensible agent (an independent, not a chain), only one interview and I ended up with a perfect match between candidate and client.

In terms of lessons learnt, I am not sure how I could prevent some of these things happening again. I now need to put together a team myself in the next few months and am determined to set clear agreements with any agencies that I use, in terms of how my candidates are to be treated.


I would be interested to know the thoughts of other readers.

Too many interests?

I am trying to combine my interests into groups.  I thought if I do this and blog about them in categories, it will make life easier for me, not to mention my readers!

I've more or less got my categories sorted:

ethics
holism
IT
personal development

but then I find myself categorising things oddly, or finding thing fit in more than one category.

I think I need to draw this out with a Venn Diagram!

More to follow...

My Emergency Kit

So I have been thinking about how often I reach for something I need when I'm not at home and don't have it with me.

I think it's time I succumbed to the "man-bag" and of course this has me thinking about what should go in it.

Camera (Canon Powershot SX110is)
Memory sticks (2x2gb - one encrypted one not)
Trusty Swiss Army Knife (Swiss Champ)
Moleskine(s) (mid-size; one lined, one quadrille)
Fountain pen (Parker Sonnet - do I really want this out with me?)
Netbook (Samsung NC10) and charger

and I'm realising that it's not so much a man-bag I need as a suitcase!

Anyway this got me thinking - if you were taking a "I've got everything I need" bag, what would be in it?

Can't help thinking I'm inviting trouble with this - handbags ahoy!