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| Peter and Pauline Curtis's Information Service |
Welcome to our site. Pauline is an author, consultant, lectures in the Open University and Open Business School and is researching into innovation policy and Total Quality. Peter was in the Space game - Earth Observation and Satellite Meteorology. Our background includes research, government service and small firms.
We enjoy problem solving, proposal writing and working as consultants or in partnership to offer practical advice on policy, strategy and tactical approaches, especially in support of Small Firms.
Our home is in England, alongside the River Thames. Our pastimes include Travel, photography (Still and Video), music, Winemaking, Watercolour Painting, Writing, IT, Fitness and much time restoring our listed house. We have a Narrowboat called Corinna and had a Birman cat called Tigger.
Pauline's second book released on the 5th November 2009
Success at the Heart of Government.
Working with Ministers
Pauline tells the story of her time as a career civil servant at the heart of the last Conservative Government’s industrial policy.
She describes life alongside politicians in the Whitehall jungle as she clawed her way up the career ladder, trying to overtake her administrative colleagues, and recognising that she had to turn her uniqueness to her advantage. There are few senior civil servants who trained as research scientists and chartered engineers and even less have made an impact with science, engineering and technology as an academic, in parallel with success in their civil service career. And these are not women !
Her story is peppered with personal anecdotes as well as rare and illuminating technical and policy extracts. Starting from her first policy job as the most junior member of a small team in the Policy and Perspectives Unit, her success quickly led to her managing her own teams and advising on significant budget expenditures. Her final insights come from her time 15 years later as a member of the prestigious Senior Open Structure, leading a policy Branch in the Department of Trade and Industry.
This book continues her story since leaving Oxford and the research world which she wrote about in her earlier book ‘Quiet Quadrangles and Ivory Towers’.
You can purchase the book for £17.99 plus pp or download a copy as an eBook (PDF format) by following this link or through Amazon or Lulu but they take a huge cut!
- News Flashes
- First visit - why we have a web site and a basic guide to the site
- Pauline's Pages - of interest to Artists, Authors, OU Students and Tutors, .
- Uniquely New Zealand - A Touring and Camping Guide to the places a "Package" can not reach.
- Travel Highlights - of interest to those who want to travel the world.
- New - "Autumn Colours" - a cruise in 2009 on the Cunard Queen Victoria to New York and up the Atlantic Seaboard through Canada and Quebec before returning from Newfoundland.
- Recent - Malta and the Final Visit of the QE2 - a holiday timed to coincide with the last visit of the QE2 on her way to retirement in Dubai.
- Recent - A Tandem Atlantic Crossing - Our first cruise on the Queen Mary 2 across the Atlantic and back in tandem with the QE2.
- Recent - The Lands of Fire and Ice - a cruise on the QE2 starting with three days in Iceland, land of geysers , bubbling mud and magnificent waterfalls then back down the Fiords to Stavangar where we had a memorable send off by the Nordsteam festival of old steam boats and everything else that floated.
- Recent - The Land of The Midnight Sun - a cruise on the QE2 taking us to Longyearbyen, Svalbard on the island of Spitsbergen only 12 degrees from the pole then Gravdal in the Norwegian Lofoten Islands as well as the Norwegian Fiords.
- Recent - The Cunard Queen Victoria's Maiden Atlantic Crossing and World Cruise - Southampton to Los Angeles then a stay on the Queen Mary floating hotel in Long beach California with a New Introduction to the Cunard Queen Victoria
- QE2's Christmas Markets Cruise - A short cruise through the North Sea where the destination was of secondary importance. It was booked as an indulgence to try the Queen's Grill Restaurant and Accommodation for the first time.
- QE2's 'Mediterranean Splendour' and 'The 40th Anniversary' Cruises 2007 - The story of two consecutive but very different cruises, the first a typical cruise on the QE2 that took us to familiar and new places. The second was not only a journey round Great Britain but also a nostalgic and often emotional trip in time commemorating the 40th anniversary of the World's Greatest Liner.
- Technical “How to” Articles - of interest to those setting up and supporting systems. Some of our most popular or recent articles include:
- Updated - Fun with Ubuntu Linux - Actually my first serious look at migrating from Windows to Linux to give security and economy in data use whilst traveling. I am convinced and rarely use anything else on my dual-booted desktop or laptop. Now the entry point to a series covering specialised aspects of Ubuntu Linux.
- Extended - Global Computing and Communications - of interest to those who need to keep in touch round the world
- New - The MSI Wind U100 Netbook and Ubuntu Linux - the story of getting Ubuntu to work on our Wind U100 netbook to give the ultimate in mobile communications.
- A Guide to Painless Networks - The introductory article in a series of simple guides to setting up a network for home or a small firm.
- JavaScript Popup Windows for Images - Open larger images in a single new window of the correct size when one or more thumbnails are clicked.
- Small Firms Section - of interest to small enterprises that need a presence on the Internet including:
- Site Search - of use to anyone looking for specific places or information on our sites.
- Newsletters: 1996 , 1997 , 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and our Recent 2008 Newsletter
- Peter's Resume and Pauline's Full Resume and her Open University Lecturing and Consultancy Experience - of interest to potential employers and customers.
- Diary of the creation of a home page -a technical Diary of how it all started in 1996 when the Internet was young - of historic interest to those creating a web site. The series of pages also documents the work leading to our technical 'Howto' Articles.
- Technical Blog and Diary - we are starting to put our Technical Diary onto a Wordpress blog, all at a very early stage starting with the articles on our Wind U100 netbook. We get a lot of feedback but this should allow more discussion and interaction.
- Our Poster Collection covering 1895 to 1915 - Vintage Prints, Bovril Prints by C W Faulkner and Co of London, Pears Posters and Vintage Calendars of Melksham, Bristol and Calne - of interest to collectors
- Fitness Peter's attempts to bring a scientific and objective approach into a world of hype - of interest to all wanting to extend their life.
- Watercolour Painting - Pauline's diary of progress since she restarted painting on a recent cruise - just admire or buy a print.
- Diary of an Author - Pauline's experiences in succeeding in getting a book written and published - of interest to others either contemplating or already starting to write seriously.
- Peter's Home Winemaking page - of interest to all who get this far!
Before You Leave
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