Here I am, sitting at my ‘puter… yeah I get paid to sit at one… “Well I never!” I hear you say.  I am a lucky chap because I don’t just get paid to sit at a computer I get paid to do my favourite thing while sitting at a computer.  No, not eating pistachio nuts… that’s my second favourite thing to do at a computer.  I mean lurking on forums, if you had told me 7 ish years ago that I would be in a job with the title “Community Content Manager” in a team called “Communities & Social Media” I would have told you to shaaaadaaap. 

I remember back in August this Forum was bristling with pre-season fever and predictions for the season ahead. To save myself any further embarrassment I will not reference what I predicted but they were pretty shocking efforts. I was watching Sky Sports on Saturday and I have to say I am already missing Jeff and boys!!! To keep myself entertained while watching lacrosse (don't ask), I started to think of who would be in my team this year so I thought I’d share my thoughts with you and start the debates raging all over again.

Now, I don’t do scary or violent TV shows. I spend too much time hiding behind a cushion at the first sign of gore or blood to actually enjoy the plot. These days my usual regular viewing comprises of Good Luck Charlie, iCarly and Victorious on account of having 2 girls that are of a certain age. Not really complaining, mind you, as I do enjoy these programmes and I actually shed a tear on the last iCarly, oh dear.

I have always remembered the advice of the wisest woman I have ever known who told me “The secret to a happy relationship is keeping a man well fed, always make an effort to look your best, talk to each other, find shared interests and most importantly never talk whilst football is on the television”

.......so here I sit, laptop fired up, large black Americano at my side, dog  has been given a nice juicy bone so not to distract me and I’m ready to get all creative and write my first ever blog, when all of a sudden my mind goes blank…….

They say professional wrestling is fake… Is it really? I don’t think so. Are the general structures and outcomes of matches pre-arranged? Absolutely, however, for me that is where the fake part starts and ends. But Christopher they wear tights and trunks?  So!!! Robin Hood wore tights, cyclists wear lycra onsies, swimmers wear spandex trunks, weightlifters wear lycra singlets. The list goes on so I don’t think that matters.

“Run! Go! Get to the chopper!” “I’ll be back” “Come on Cohagen, you got what you want, give these people air!” “You are not you, you are me!” “If it bleeds we can kill it!” these are but a few memorable quotes from the action legend that is Arnie aka Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Noun Computers.

1. 1.            Also called login name, logon name, sign-in name or sing-on name. A unique sequence of characters used to identify a user & allow access to a computer system, computer network or online account.
2. 2.          The part of an email address before the @ sign. Also called user ID.

Shakespeare wrote “What’s in a name?” well when it comes to the internet and forums in particular,  quite a lot actually. The thing about forums is you have to have an identity but what to choose?

Hey community,

I’ve got a confession to make. It’s about who I am, and maybe about who you are too. I’m not ashamed, although maybe I should be. I’ve been thinking about this for a while and it’ll probably be easier if I just come out and say it…

In one guise or another smartphone type devices have been around for a while now. They weren't always known as smartphones. From Palm Pilots to PDAs, Pocket PCs to Blackberries, iPhones and Androids they have had a variety of names. What has changed now is how pervasive they are. OFCOM research last year found that 39% of UK adults now own a smartphone.

05:55. My smartphone beeps. The BBC iPlayer Radio app starts streaming Radio 4 over the wi-fi. Normally, I doze whilst listening to the last five minutes of “Farming Today” (always fascinating to a townie like me) and then, as soon as the news headlines and weather are over, it’s time to get up. Not today though. England’s cricketers are in New Zealand, so it’s TV on Sky Sports for a quick catch up with the latest score, then into the shower.

Some people think it’s weird but I just think I’m super organised. I’m the girl who organises booking tables, taxis and holidays so I don’t know why anyone would question being ready for the zombie apocalypse!

I've been lucky enough to live in a few different countries in my life and have always loved seeing and doing new things. I grew up in the north of England (Barrow in Furness for fans of Chewy Bus Depot's) and I have managed to live in Australia, Thailand, Germany, France and I am now living in the rugged loveliness that is Scotland.

One of the constants through all the travelling around has been keeping in touch with my friends and family, especially because my mum nags me if I don't call enough.

In our modern era of instant messaging, emails, text messaging, video calling and the regular old dog and bone we are inundated with communication and for many, let’s face it you can no longer drop off the radar, however hard you try. That age old statement of “ Sorry I missed your call mum, I was out” no longer holds much weight  as she knows where I’ve been, who I was with and has already liked my Facebook status to prove it........

The first TV I bought was a 14" colour portable whose sole source of video was the communal aerial in the flat I lived in at the time. It's fair to say that from the other side of the largish, for a flat anyway, living room that everything looked pretty good on it. Since then I've had a 28" CRT, a 32" HD CRT (yes they did sell HD CRT sets) a 42" LCD and I now have a 50" plasma set. I've moved to a house with a bigger living room but thanks to a rather weird L-shaped room I'm closer to the TV set. It's fair to say an analogue aerial with a not so good reception doesn't look good anymore or at least didn't do before analogue transmission ceased last year.

Sky Wars. Not to be confused with Star wars.  Although if it were, consider me a Jedi and my husband a Sith Lord. Granted, in our battles we may not wield fantastic Light sabers it does not diminish the power of our weapon of choice : the humble Sky remote. 

It’s winter. Christmas has come and gone. Both outside bins are full of wrapping paper, cardboard, plastic packaging, that jumper that your nan got you with the Christmas pudding on it (thanks nan, where am I supposed to wear this?), turkey bones and other detritus. The nights are as cold and as dark as they’re likely to get and we’re only a short wait away from a very important date. You know the one I am talking about…

Of course you do. You’re smart people.

Well, this is a first for me, blogging, but when asked by the forum team to guest, I thought of that Dr Pepper advert “What’s the worst that could happen??” slogan, then I thought “what can I say that would engage people??”, but realised that it’s about opening up a little and seeing where it lands. Some of you may be curious why I’m badged as a ”specialist” and also why I’ve been asked to blog, well, the area I work within is the product development area and as a department within Sky, we’ve opened up a little this year and I think it’s worked a treat. So, if you’ve been part of the beta trials, then it’s possible you’ve read replies from me and the team I’m part of.

Twelve years ago on September the 14th 2000 I manually tuned in a frequency on my then state of the art Panasonic TU-DSB30 Digibox and put a tape in my VCR to record the launch of ASTRA 2B from Kourou, French Guiana aboard an Ariane V rocket. I had been working for Sky for less than a year and we still supported both analogue and digital customers.

1 week, 5 days, 16 hours, 59 minutes, 59..58...57 seconds before Christmas, but hey who is counting, right? Well besides me of course, Mrs. Thirty something whom has a penchant for spiked eggnog and loud obnoxious Christmas carol singing. Suffice to say, I am hand to heart, lover of all things Christmas. According to Google that makes me an "Adventophile". Fun. Modern day oracle thy name is Google.