Mark Samuels

Regular readers (hello, Mum and Louise) have complained that they want me to post more stuff about my daughter. I am about to grant their wish. Kind of.

So, one of the joys of having a little child is that you can watch Disney movies for hours and hours on end. And I mean hours. Bambi was a recent favourite, though we have to fast forward the bit where Bambi’s Mum ‘goes’ and the whole second half of the movie when Bambi and his chums become old. Apparently, babies are best.

My daughter is also obsessed with her toys coming to life, which made Toy Story an obvious purchase. Bought last week, both Toy Story and Toy Story 2 have now been watched within an inch of their digital lives. The second film – in case you’ve forgotten – is a morality tale (what else? After all, it is Disney) about grown ups collecting toys, when they should really be played with by kids.

So, we’ve loved the films and the characters, such as those cool, green aliens that go ‘Oooooh’. My wife remembered we had one of the little aliens upstairs. Even better, the alien key ring was still in its packaging. Which meant I was able to pass it off to my daughter as a ‘new toy’, rather than a piece of tat I’d forgotten that was stuck at the bottom of the wardrobe.

First, it seems weird that I’d kept the toy in the packaging. Was I keeping it fresh to auction at some later date? No, I’d simply bought it in the US and lobbed it in the wardrobe. As I said, I’d forgotten about it – honestly.

So, I gave the toy to my daughter. And then the obvious thought entered my head: was my packaged alien key ring actually worth something? After she tore open the packaging, I checked eBay and found stacks of ‘pristine’ collectables for sale. Err, great. But isn’t that slightly crap?

And even worse, I bought both DVDs – because they were cheaper in this form – in a ‘Collectors’ Special Edition’ box. Which is even more ironic, seeing as the makers of the film have endorsed the ‘collectability’.

Toy Story 3 is out next year, which is great. So, expect more collectables and limited edition Buzz Lightyears. And as my daugther said to her Mummy just three minutes ago: “When’s Christmas?”

Hey, now that’s irony. And the key ring is worthless, by the way.

I was on holiday last week, during which time the sparkling spring edition of CIO Connect magazine hit the desks of the UK’s key IT leaders. In the lead-up to the release of the magazine, I’ve been busy modifying the content to include more forward-looking elements.

The changes are represented in ‘Foresight’, a new introductory section to the magazine that identifies the business and technology issues that will impact the work of CIOs in the next year-or-so. In short, change in business IT is so rapid that there is little point having a discussion about the here and now. CIO priorities are always about helping the business to work smarter and the ‘Foresight’ section will help IT leaders as they attempt to establish a competitive edge.

There are several other subtle changes in the spring edition, too – including more boxes and summary points in the main features. The aim is to give time-precious CIOs as much information as quickly as possible. As ever, the edition includes a series of exclusive features:

• Globalisation at Procter & Gamble – featuring Filippo Passerini, global CIO at Procter & Gamble, and Karen Winney, business services director for UK, Nordic and Ireland at Procter & Gamble
• Innovation and transformation at ITV – featuring Richard Cross, group technology director at ITV
• Equal opportunities in IT – featuring Intel CIO Diane Bryant, Scottish Government CIO Anne Moises and Christine Ashton, IM strategy and technology director at Transport for London

Finally, here are a list of the IT leaders and business experts that appear in the issue. As ever, thanks to all that contributed their time and thoughts:

• Richard Cross, group technology director at ITV
• Jon Inch, CIO at Christie’s
• John Suffolk, Government CIO
• Filippo Passerini, global CIO at Procter & Gamble
• Karen Winney, business services director for UK, Nordic and Ireland at Procter & Gamble
• Diane Bryant, CIO at Intel
• Anne Moises, Scottish Government CIO
• Christine Ashton, IM strategy and technology director at Transport for London
• Tania Howarth, CIO at Birds Eye Iglo Group
• Stephen Entwistle, financial director of McKeowns Solicitors
• John Thorp, chairman of the VAL IT Steering Committee at the IT Governance Institute
• David Woodgate, chief executive of the Institute of Financial Accountants
• Robin Dargue, CIO at Royal Mail
• Karl Deacon, CTO at Capgemini
• Neil McGowan, IT director at JD Williams
• Tim Mann, CIO at Skandia UK
• Olivier Uytterhoeven, director of IT at Starwood Hotels
• Nathan Marke, CTO at 2e2
• Tony Eccleston, partner at Ernst & Young
• Steve Pikett, head of IT at Rothschild
• Paul Mockapetris, domain name system (DNS) inventor and chairman of Nominum
• Martin Roesch, founder and CTO of Sourcefire
• Professor Soumitra Dutta, Roland Berger Professor of business and technology at business school INSEAD
• Rob Spencer, senior research fellow at Pfizer
• Ray Johnston, group IT operations manager at Aspen Insurance UK Ltd
• Euan Semple, social media consultant and former BBC technology chief
• Richard Moross, chief executive and founder of online printing company Moo.com
• Peter Hinssen, programme director for Realising Business Performance Through IT at the London Business  School
• Dr Martin Clarke, director of general management programmes at the Cranfield School of Management
• Ian Cohen, former CIO at Associated News and managing director of SimplyGreatConsulting.com
• Ian Buchanan, former CIO at Alliance & Leicester
• Baroness Eliza Manningham-Buller, former director general of MI5

I am off work at the moment – which gives me the opportunity to have a look at the blog and ponder life’s great curiosities. Which brings me to the subsequent list; the 20 albums that have had the biggest impact on my musical listening habits. It’s a kind of chronology and they’re not necessarily my favourite albums – but many would be near that collection, too.

• Nik Kershaw – Human Racing: ‘The Riddle’ was my first album but ‘Human Racing’ is better; ‘Wouldn’t it be good’ still sounds fantastic.
• Jane Wiedlin – Fur: The sound of travelling around Birmingham in the late 80s. Wonderful and melancholic dub pop.
• Pet Shop Boys – Please: Just fantastic. Consistent pop crafters for 20-odd years, ‘Please’ remains their finest moment. Some of the electronics sound amazing; MGMT but two decades earlier.
• The Human League – Dare: As above, amazing electronics. ‘Reproduction’ – with its pretentious art pop – introduced me to the The League. Then I fell in love with ‘Dare’, whose Casio-led notes sound mega cool today.
• Prefab Sprout – From Langley Park To Memphis: ‘Steve McQueen’ is peerless but ‘Langley Park’ sucked me in. Lovely and lilting.
• New Order – Technique: I bought ‘Technique’ on my 15th birthday. For about three years, I was obsessed with New Order and Joy Division.
• Cocteau Twins – Heaven Or Las Vegas: Just an amazing sound; a wonderful blend of pop and discordant guitar.
• Slowdive – Just For A Day: I borrowed the album on cassette from someone at school and played it on my Walkman. I can remember thinking it was pretty special.
• My Bloody Valentine – Loveless: Alternate tunings and a fabulous wall of sound. Still listen to ‘Loveless’; still finding something new buried in the noise.
• Bark Psychosis – Hex: Incredible, jazz-tinted post-rock. The soundtrack to my years as a postgraduate time-waster.
• Global Communication – 76:14: I liked Aphex Twin, too. But Global Communication’s epic ambience spent more time on my stereo.
• Dubstar – Disgraceful: A kind of mixed-up pop version of all of the above; pop, dub, shoegaze – sweet and under-rated.
• Red House Painters – Red House Painters (Rollercoaster): Sadcore at its finest. Being sad has never sounded better.
• Sigur Ros – Ágætis Byrjun: The first convincing shoegaze album since Slowdive’s mid-90s demise; Sigur Ros’ subsequent global success was surprising and marvellous.
• Brian Eno – Music For Airports: Nothing and everything happens. It just builds and builds, slowly and repetitively.
• Thomas Newman – American Beauty: I love Thomas Newman. His scores are off-kilter and intriguing.
• Mahogany – The Dream of a Modern Day: Like a shoegaze Stereolab, with layers of effects-laden guitars.
• M83 – Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts: French nu-gaze from ultra hip Euro stars.
• Ulrich Schnauss – A Strangely Isolated Place: The sound is both familiar and different. Layered like the shoegaze and post-rock albums of the 1990s, but with an electronic twist.
• Stars of The Lid – And Their Refinement Of The Decline: Slow, droney and unbelievably elegant.