mariodecristofano.com

I’ve battled and worked at fever-pitch with this blue-blog template for over a decade. Dealing with ropey embedded CSS and non-sticky text attributes, not to mention the ropey formatting and narrow fixed width column. Well NO MORE. Whilst I always liked my blog & website to match, a bit like my collars and cuffs, I am embracing the newer styles of WordPress themes that are available to me, and from this post here, for it will be my last. You should definitely head here for more 100% blog action from Mario De’Cristofano

I love you all. x

Okay look, it’s been a while granted … it’s not like I’ve not been busy! Have you missed me? I’m sure you have. Well, and to quote the right honourable @kwasig, “I’ve got more answers for you than Scott Thompson had for the Yahoo board on his C.V!” oh – and check out @kwasig’s blog, its pretty good, put it into your face here.

So, what’s happening in Super Mario World then? Well, quite a lot. As you know, I’ve now settled back here in the Midlands. I’ve got used to the fact that around every corner there is NOT a Costa Coffee, and I rarely get anything higher than three bars of mobile service, (all you can eat data – forget about it!) but good things such as no Tube, no Tube, oh and no Tube! So overall its a good result. The gun crime is no way near as bad as anyone says, although it’s interesting to see what a Australian thinks of the place, when @jamesjhedges comes to visit later this month.

Technology is still blistering ahead, I’m busy with @servercentre and Microsoft Lync, I’m putting together a few websites in my spare time, but mostly I’m moaning & whining about continual crappy customer service from a range of places,  in particular including 02 (#o2) who I have to say have been pretty useless when it comes to wholesale opportunities. After spending what felt like an eternity on the phone with some guy in Botswana, and clearly stating I wanted XYZ, the message recorded was that I wanted ABC. Broke communication? Lack of Communication? Leaves on the line? I don’t know, but I do speak and communicate perfect Engrish so I’m not sure what went wrong – MAYBE I NEED TO ENUNCIATE BETTER or something, but the flaccid response I got by way of apology was pretty piss poor.  Why people don’t care I don’t know. Anyway I tend to blog at Server Centre so head over to http://servercentre.net/blog for more ramblings.

I’m pretty happy to be helping out in my local Catholic Parish again, after some time away. I’ve not sung in the Choir for just over a decade! Good Shepherd http://www.goodshepherd-arnold.org.uk/ is not only my local Catholic Church but is also part of the school community my wonderful partner works in a nearby Catholic School and its great to get involved. I’ll be helping out as much as I can with a bit of volunteering work. That brings me neatly onto some charity work this year – a couple of things to note;

Race for Life – This is for Cancer, which affects more & more people every day. Its a annual charity event, Just Giving page here, http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/rebeccafarrelly?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=newsfeed&utm_campaign=editpage

Alzheimers Memory Walk – Im doing this alongside my partner, and would be delighted if you could sponsor us, Just Giving page here http://www.justgiving.com/rebeccas-memory-walk-2012

Technology in Africa – Close to my heart, getting IT & networking out to the poverty stricken schools in Africa, I’m running a 5k at Wollaton Park in June this year, Just Giving page here http://www.justgiving.com/Mario-De-Cristofano and more about the event here

 Thats about it for now. 

More Soon. x

It’s been a whirlwind of a 2012 so far.

It’s only April, it already feel’s the year is nearly done, we’ve not yet had a summer, and I’m thinking about Christmas, so all in all, I’ve barely had time to stop and think. It has however, been the best year I could have imagined so far, wanting to do something, putting it into plan & then achieving it (to some degree) is a great feeling!

Works great, it’s lovely to be working for @servercentre, whom continue to amaze me at how things should be done, effortless & easy, it’s such a nice thing to be involved with. It’s like working with Germans, and we know how efficient they can be! I’m due a checkup at the GP’s before the middle of the year is out (#NHSExperience), (although if I was any more relaxed at the moment I’d be asleep) so I really must get onto that, but finding time what with my running, spending time with parents & still trying to arrange both a leaving party in London and a housewarming party here in Nottingham I’m really struggling for time across the board. Having said that an imminent trip to London happening as we speak will help that somewhat.

Other things have hit me at thirty-one also, an overwhelming urge to do all the ‘big’ stuff like buy a house instead of rent (although recent conversations suggest there’s no real benefit in this at the moment), take care of my parents more, want children, and generally you know, be a grown up. Whether I will be grown up or not will remain to be seen however!

Moving house is so hard.

The industry I’ve grown up with and loved like a mother continues to move at a hundred miles an hour. I’ve seen the iPad3, moved to Blackberry (albeit a half and half measure), and even exhibited at the Convergence Summit North this year. It was fun to do a conference again, I miss speaking sometimes, & I miss mixing with shiney shoe’d aggressive IT sales people! They are all a bunch of *BLEEP*. I’m kidding, they are no worse than recruitment consultants and estate agents, and I’d put them all in a sack, float them out to the Antarctic, and take pot shots at them with a rifle!

The Convergence Summit is a bunch of Telecom based people getting together, showcasing the latest industry tech and networking in an effort to extend the channel, and sell within it & to each other & the business world at large(!). Its a great & interesting way to see what the future of Telecoms will be, which is basically your computer in a nutshell. Forget actually using a phone, that’s just going to go away. What to know some of my thoughts about converged communication in business, course you do! Head over to our company blog, and get the Lowdown on Microsoft Lync (here)

I’ve moved from London and don’t miss the place one bit. Boris, you can keep your over-priced, highly inefficient & crippled public transport infrastructure. Stuff it in the same place as your high priced taxes and badly planned Olympic games! Build that floaty airport on the Thames if you wish, whilst Terminal 5 continues to crumble under the strain of people, and in my opinion, bad design. Oh boris.

So it’s April, I still have lot’s to do, I’m hoping Christmas 2012 will be a good one, and I’ll be fully settled, there’s a lot hitting me at the moment, but I continue to grapple with everything, and port some form of semblance onto my thoughts, sanity and impatience.

Love

Mario

Laundry! It get’s dirty, smelly, & if you don’t take care of it regulary, it starts to get flys hovering around, you trip over it, and generally it makes the place look bad, right!? So I’m sure as part of your home cleaning routine, part of that is to do the laundry. Now, “come on Maz, that was a little abstract for this time of the morning, what are you talking about” I hear you ask!? Well…

The Facebook Shuffle

Facebook, woven into every aspect of our lifes. We dont just use it for keeping up with friends, we use it for dating, being nosy, spreading gossip, self love (who doesnt like a little self love now and again!) & in particular with the Y Generation (See more on my talk about genetics and Y generation here) we use it as a virtual schoolground, spitting vitriol and spreading our dirty laundry (you see what I did there!?) all over the Internet. I’m still baffled that people have no idea that anything put on the internet is like wiping your private bits in cement. You can clean your private bits right up, but the impression in the cement lasts forever.

The anatomy of a Facebook User

There’s only a few real types of Facebook post;