February 21 2007

Sitting at my laptop this morning, through the fog of half-sleep that is 6.15am, I was uploading some tracks to my iPod and got to wondering if anyone would be bothered to upload audio or video headlines from a local newspaper. Perhaps a little abstract, but I was still shaking off the strange dreams that come from reading lists of pesticides in Organic Life magazine before falling asleep.

I had to conclude that the answer was probably no. And to make the issue a little clearer it is something we have been discussing at the Herald in recent months. Several papers across the country already add video and audio clips of their headlines every day, and there is nothing to stop the Herald doing the same. We have the technology, as they used to say about the Bionic Man, before he became the Fall Guy.

But really, I thought while waiting for 9 Crimes (Damian Rice) and Heresy (Nine Inch Nails) to squeeze through the little white cable, what's the point. Uploading tracks at 6.15am is a very rare occurence for me. Mornings are usually a rushed affair in which I try to spend as little time as possible between getting out of bed and getting out of the house, and most people are the same. So who can really be bothered to turn on their PC, hook up to the net, find their favourite news site, find the video and audio feed, download it and then upload it to an iPod. If not me, a news-junkie early-adopter with a technical arsenal the size of CTU (off of 24), then who? Even if you were able to subscribe through RSS or some other system, would you really be interested in watching or listening to someone else read the paper? Good plan, instead of breakfast tomorrow I'll download video of someone tucking into a bacon sandwich.

In reality if you want to hear the local headlines you are going to tune in to your local radio station. Even knowing I can go online and pick up the headlines, I will still tune in to BBC Devon for 45 seconds to hear what's going on. And if I want to see the headlines in the Herald Express (at this point I should explain I live south of the border in Torbay) I'll flick through it in the queue at Sainsbury's like every one else.

The Herald so far is concentratiing on adding video and audio to thisisplymouth where it adds real value to stories, such as watching a Tanner make a pancake, watching a crane knock down buildings, watching Scott Dann get back in the ring or watching pole dancers... err pole dancing. Not to knock what anyone else is doing, all credit to all those trying out what new technology has to offer, and I hope it becomes a success.

But while we could put a lot of resource into generating those headlines every day, at this stage I remain to be convinced of the point. But if anyone out there has an opposing view, and if anyone would like to hear me read out the Herald headlines every day in my 6.15am voice, I'd be glad to hear it.

Anyway, time to try out listening to Headhunter (Front 242) while reading a recipe for organic smoked duck salad.

February 13 2007

Despite the recent explosion in interest in organic food, few things are more frustrating for those trying to live organically than the constant hunt for a good supply.

You can pop down tou most good supermarkets and find a decent range of organic food, but it will vary from branch to branch and from day to day.

For example, I can go to one branch of Sainsbury's and find a very basic range of organic fresh fruit and veg, with only the minimum requirements and sometimes not even that. Or I can go to another branch five miles away and find the most amazing range of weird and wonderful produce. The same is true of Tesco. If you get a spare half a day, with nothing better to do, just compare the difference in what its available at Roborough, Lee Mill and Newton Abbot.

And of course organic is about a lot more than supermarkets. There are a host of farm shops, farmers markets and other outlets available locally as well as a huge number of etailers selling produce to various parts of the country.

But, the hunt for particular produce can be frustrating. You can end up hunting from shop to shop, from site to site for what you want. While those willing to flood their bodies and the environment with tonnes of hazardous chemicals?can do their shopping in half a day (lets face it, they should make the best of every minute while they can), those shopping organically have to put in a lot more effort.

And then, in steps www.organicassistant.com.

This new website aims to bring all the information you need under one roof. You can search for organic suppliers or a particulr product item and it will tell you where you can find them, either locally or online.



OrganicAssistant.com is the brainchild of former WH Smith sales

executive Graham Crisford, whose interest in organic began with his own illness and a chance meeting with a doctor on a Scottish hillside.

Now that interest has been turned into a massive online resource (around 30,000 records and growing) allowing shoppers to search for free for organic products near their home by postcode, type or retailer. When they have found what they want users can store their shopping list for future reference.

Farmers, retailers and wholesalers can also use the site to find new suppliers and customers.

Graham, 63, was converted to the benefits of organic food when he found it helped him to manage his ME (meningococcal encephalitis). But his eyes had been opened to the link between health and an organic diet ten years earlier.

While out walking in Scotland he met Dr Walter Yellowlees, a proponent of food produced without the aid of unnecessary additives, pesticides and herbicides. Over lunch, Dr Yellowlees told Graham of his research into the links between diet and health. Graham, who is now based on the Channel Island of Alderney, said: "The issue of organic food became very serious for me after I sustained an injury that required an operation. I found that the quality of food I ate had an effect on my condition and began looking in earnest for organic food ? but it was often hard to source precisely what I wanted. That led to my beginning work on OrganicAssistant.com, which now has more than 30,000 entries in the database and is really a complete resource for finding organic food." Building the database has been a labour of love for Graham who has invested heavily in the data and the technology that powers the site.

New investors also joined the project prior to launch.

He explained: "My grandparents farmed between two wars. What would have been called conventional then, we now call organic. This is how I came to understand what organic was ? straightforward, non-poisoning farming." OrganicAssistant.com was launched this month.

As time goes on, if the site grows in popularity, it will also grow in usefulness. Try a few searches and if you know anything about the local organic scene you will see a few holes. Shops and suppliers you know are there, aren't on this list. But if?the site continues to grow and continues to improve its coverage it will prove to be an invaluable resource.

And, no, for those still paying attention, it doesn't list any suppliers of organic custard.?