My £8k phone bill (which ballooned to nearer £10k once the VAT had been added) has been refunded.

Phew! What a relief…so nice not to have that hanging over me anymore.

I finally managed to make contact with a very helpful & considerate lady at O2 who kept tabs on my case & kept me up to date with what was going on.

I shall still be writing to my Euro MP to express my feelings about this being able to occur in the first place. Hopefully, they’ll consider setting a limit on phone calls like they have on data.

Thanks for all your support

J.

On the one hand it’s good to hear that they are looking into it & that they aren’t demanding I pay just yet, but it’s quite stressful having it hanging over my head.

This morning, for example, the cat woke us up early & I wasn’t able to get back to sleep as this bill was playing on my mind. So, I decided to write this post in the hope it will help to free my thoughts of it for a while.

To be honest I’m quite optimistic that O2 won’t demand that I pay the money. Particularly after seeing that Vodafone backed down over a phone bill of “only” £627 that someone run up themselves.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/vodafone-user-wins-charges-battle-2288053.html

Surely, the fact that my phone bill was obviously generated by professional criminals will help in my case?

Either way, the bottom line is I don’t have £8k to pay this. Who has that kind of money lying around? I know I don’t – quite the opposite! What would they expect me to do, take out a loan & pay an extra couple of thousand in interest charges? My £8k phone bill suddenly becomes a £10k one!

I guess all I can do is stay stay positive & hope for the best.

I’ll keep you posted.

Last weekend, while in Barcelona, I had my phone stolen by a pickpocket. Unfortunately, I didn’t realise until the next morning. Once I realised I got on the phone & got my good lady to ring O2 to inform them.

Later in the week, & back in the UK, I went online & checked my account. I was stunned to discover I had a bill of £7,985. This is how much the thieves ran up in the time between the phone being stolen & the time I informed O2 (7 and a half hours).

It turns out I am responsible for these costs because they were run up before I had informed O2 of the theft.

I had no idea that this kind of amount could be run up in such a short space of time. Everyone I’ve spoken to was equally unaware. I wanted to warn those of you that have a contract mobile phone of the position they could find themselves in if their phone is stolen.

The mobile phone companies do nothing to monitor suspicious activity in the way credit card companies do.

With credit card fraud you are only accountable for the first £50. Hence, they have fraud teams & systems in place to monitoring unusual spending.

This isn’t the case with mobile phone companies because they aren’t accountable – you are! In fact they’re making a pretty penny out of these criminal activities.

Last year the EU brought in legislation that limits the amount that can be spent on roaming data to €50 – to prevent people being hit with huge bills – but, absurdly, no such legislation exists for calls!

If I had been using my own phone to download data then, by default, I couldn’t have spent more than €50. However, if someone steals my phone & fraudulently uses the SIM card they can make calls that run into the thousands!

I’ve spoken to O2 & the matter is being escalated because of the “huge amount” that’s involved. Hopefully we can come to an agreeable solution, but the bottom line is I’m contractually responsible.

Personally, I think something is very wrong with this scenario &, regardless of the outcome with O2, I will be crusading to get something done about this.

Watch this space.

On April 7th 2007 a Slovenian called Martin Strel completed a 66 day, 3274 mile Amazon Swim. He dedicated the swim to the protection of the rainforest.

As his son Borut (who narrates the film & serves as his father’s assistant & marketing man) says, Martin is not your average endurance athlete. He’s over weight, over 50 &, perhaps rather aptly, drinks like a fish! However, there is something very charismatic about Martin and it wasn’t long before the “Big River Man” had me hooked.

The Amazon swim wasn’t Martin’s first swim. He’d previously swam The Danube, The Mississippi & The Yangtze. He swims the rivers to raise environmental awareness – an issue illustrated only too well during his swim of the Yangtze (the world’s most polluted river) as he had to have his blood cleaned every day of the swim!

There are countless memorable moments in the film as we see what Martin puts himself through to complete the swim: the image of him looking like The Elephant Man while wearing a white mask to protect him from the sun, for example; or the footage of him connecting a car battery to his head while larvae infected his brain.

His training routine alone would cripple most people. Five hours a day in the pool prepare his body, while hours in an underground cave prepare his mind. He believes that by connecting with nature in this way, he will be in harmony with it while swimming the river. Trusting this will help to keep him safe.

Martin says he can endure the pain of the swims because he was beaten so badly by his father as a boy. In fact his first long distance swim was taken when he jumped into a creek to avoid his abusive father. His father walked along side as he swam, so Martin kept swimming until his father gave up & went home. Borut believes Martin relives something of this & battles his demons while swimming the big rivers.

By the time it gets to the point where the Amazon swim begins, you start to appreciate what an undertaking this is. He’s going to be swimming 50 miles a day for 2 months. The first day goes well but as his son says “the 70 days that followed would be the strangest of my life…and also the worst”.

This isn’t hyperbole, I watched fascinated as Martin pushed on & on closer to brink (& beyond) with every stroke until finally he goes into what he calls “the fourth dimension” – or what you & I would call insanity.

In a trance like state he takes bigger & bigger risks, ignores medical advice, swims at night & carries on drinking! Not once do you hear him even consider quitting. He simply doesn’t entertain the notion. I guess if he had he might never have made it.

This truly is death or glory stuff – the stuff of legend.

His technical assistant (Matt), in a boat beside him along the way, is carried into Martin’s “insane” world. He starts to personify Martin’s struggle & we can see in him (a guy just watching Martin’s feat) how much of an impact the expedition must be having on Martin.

Matt describes Martin as the last super hero, what he’s doing as “Christ-like”. I imagine this wouldn’t sit too well with many people, but I understood what he was getting at as I watched Martin sacrifice himself (risking life & sanity) for ‘our sins’ against nature.

He puts himself through this tremendous ordeal to makes us more aware of the plight of the Rain Forest…and yet I’d never heard of him before. Perhaps many of you haven’t either. Hopefully “Big River Man” (& who knows maybe even this post) will help to change that.

During the swim a number of big American chat show hosts (the likes of Leno & Letterman) are keen to interview Martin but, when we return to him 5 months after the swim, we discover the promised calls never materialised. Why? I guess we’ll never know [insert your own conspiracy theory here].

During the film we’re also told about the situation in the Amazon Rain Forest. One thing in particular struck a chord with me. One of the worst contributors to deforestation is cattle ranching. Every year we burn pristine forest to make way for cattle.

We’re told of a UN report that states cattle have a more harmful environmental impact than all the cars on the planet. Countless animals & plants go extinct simply because of our demand for beef.

This really hit home & I realised that I could actually do something about it. So, in an act of solidarity, I’ve decided to stop eating beef.

Of course, I could have limited myself to locally sourced beef or boycotted McDonalds, Burger King & the like, but I figured that I wanted to make something of a sacrifice too. I’m gonna miss my burgers & steaks but I think I’d miss the Rain Forest more.

It seems to be a trend at the moment that people are taking on bigger & bigger challenges to raise money & promote awareness of one issue or another. I’ve seen celebs swim the channel, row across the Atlantic & run 43 marathons in 51days but I’ve never felt inspired to do anything.

Sure, I might donate a few quid (& then more or less forget about it until the next, ever greater, challenge is faced) but this doesn’t feel like I’m making much of an impact. Martin Strel’s efforts have inspired me to actually do something. He has made me take action – finally.

I don’t think anyone could – or more importantly, should – have to put themselves through more than Martin Strel did on his Amazon swim. He has made me want to help his message to reverberate. Where better to do that than on the interweb?

In a week where a video on You Tube showing the plight of one small cat has sparked outrage across the web, surely the plight of an entire ecosystem should set the ‘net on fire.

So please, I urge you, watch Big River Man. See a modern day hero and hopefully you too will be inspired to take action.

Now the dust has settled and I’ve had some decent kip, I wanted to write about the experience. I wanted to try to convey the impact it had on me.

Last week I realised that FOWD was on &, as I’d been keen to attend for a few years, I dropped a quick e-mail to my boss asking if there was any chance I could go. Luckily work were happy to fund it & I suddenly found myself with a ticket.

I have to admit I was kind of nervous, once I realised I was going to be surrounded by lots of top web designers. Self doubt raised its ugly head, am I worthy? What if I look like an amateur? Surely everyone else will know one another & I’ll feel like a spare part!

Even so, I was looking forward too it…a step outside your comfort zone is a good thing, even if it is a little daunting.

Anyway, the week passed pretty quickly & the day of the conference arrived. I woke at about 4.30am & couldn’t get back to sleep as my kept mind running through the day ahead. I got to the venue in plenty of time (after facing the commute from Reading to London – how do people do that on a daily basis?), grabbed a coffee & had a mooch about.

The venue was great, the staff were friendly & the organisation was top draw – a testament to all the hard work that the people at Carsonified had put in. Cat was apparently the person who co-ordinated things & she’s clearly a very talented person…either that or very flukey because the whole event went off without a hitch.

My concerns about feeling like an odd one out were soon allayed. There were lots of people on their own – mostly buried in laptops or iPhones. I hadn’t considered that for many people web design can be quiet a solitary occupation. Of course, there were groups of people who knew each other: old friends catching up; new friends meeting for the first time & there was a friendly buzz.

We settled in for the start. Ryan Carson welcomed us all & introduced the first speaker, Brendan Dawes. I’m not going to review each & every speaker, but what I would like to mention are some of the highlights for me.

• Brendan was encouraging us to capture all sorts of influences & play with them to create new stuff. But it was his quote: “Talk – Action = Shit” that I really liked. You have to actually execute your ideas.

• Dan Cedarholm encouraging us to “surprise & delight” with the experience layer that sits like a cherry on the top of the cake.

• Aaron Walter with a polished delivery of his talk about emotional design. Design that engages – an enriching layer. A “delight” that takes our designs from usable (the equivalent of edible food) to pleasurable (a taste sensation).

• The Web Standardistas encouraging us to start with ourselves. Explaining how it’s “you” that leads to the “why”, the “how” & the “what” you create. Wanting us to be 10 times better. Wanting us to create “talkaboutability” (patent pending, I believe).

• Paul Boag explaining his 5 new skills for Web Designers, encouraging us to widen our horizons & breadth of knowledge. How we need to have an understanding of marketing, copywriting, context, strategy & psychology to act as the one-stop-shop our clients’ desire: “If not you, then who?”As an aside, I have to admit I was really looking forward to Paul’s talk. I’ve recently discovered his work/podcasts over at Boagworld & he’s already had a massive impact on my work & process. It was great to get the chance to shake his hand at the end & say thanks. FOWD gives you the chance to meet the people you admire, the people at the top of their game.

• Elliot Jay Stocks – the “Accidental Business Man” – talking about how to be more successful without selling your soul. Encouraging us to do stuff, have pet projects for the fun & freedom it allows us to enjoy. Explaining the need to promote yourself: to write, to speak to comment. The power of getting involved. Well here you are Elliot; I’m taking your advice.

However, great as all of these were, the high point of the conference for me was Gavin Strange. His talk entitled “Jack of All Trades, Master of None, Lover of Many” was sensational. His passion was palpable. His joy fuelled energy hit me like a wave.

Gavin’s obviously a talented guy but it was his contagious enthusiasm that really struck me. I have to admit, I was feeling pretty tired by the time we got to this the last session of the day, but Gavin was totally refreshing, like a breath of fresh air.

He stunned me time & again with the genuine love he has for what he does. He encouraged us to tinker, to play, to try lots of things. To just do stuff because you want to, for the fun of it, for the love of it! It really struck a chord.

The diversity of his work was impressive: web design, graphic design, photography, painting, film making, tee-shirt printing, toy design! He doesn’t wait to be asked to do things; he simply does them.

He does them because he wants to, because he wants to try things, to learn from the process of creating things. The things he learns from each discipline add to one another – strengthen one another.

…and where has all his passion, enthusiasm & energy got him? He’s now the Senior Online Designer at Aardman Animations. In his own words, his “dream job”.

I have to admit, I was blown away. I had to go & thank him at the end but I couldn’t really convey how inspirational I’d found him. When the conference had finished, I wandered to the tube feeling a little shell shocked, still reeling from Gavin’s talk.

I’d mentioned to Ryan at the after party the night before, that I’d found the first day very inspiring but little did I know what was around the corner. It was like an epiphany. Gavin is truly inspirational and – at the risk of sounding like a sycophant – my new hero!

In conclusion I’d just like to say a big thanks to my boss for sending me, to everyone at Carsonified for organising it, to all the speakers for sharing their thoughts, the staff at the Brewery & all the other delegates. It was totally awesome!

So there you have it, my heart, my soul…be gentle with me, it’s my first time!