You are here: Home > guardian
Tag Archives: guardian

Joining the Wall Street Journal

by on 17 October, 2008 in New Media, Notes to self, Press & publishing

WSJ.com's front page, today You may have noticed the world of finance making the news of late, so it seems like a good time to let you know: from the new year, I hope to be bringing you a few of those headlines.

After nine-and-a-half wonderful years at the Guardian, I’ve decided to move to pastures new, to become editor of the European edition of WSJ.com, the Wall Street Journal’s website.

WSJ.com has been making great strides of late, including an impressive redesign unveiled just as the current crisis took hold last month. The team there is working to create something outstanding around one of the biggest stories of the time, and it’s a huge thrill to be asked to take the helm in Europe.

I’ll be developing European editorial from London, although I’ll also be working on some special projects with the global operation in New York. Things kick off in the New Year.

Before then, lots of farewells. It’s been a privilege to work for the Guardian in print and on the web, working on some big stories and meeting fascinating people along the way. On guardian.co.uk, I’ve had enormous fun doing things like building our blogs, and launching our audio and video services. I’ll miss everyone, although I hope they’ll still let me sneak in to see the plush new Kings Place offices when they’re all settled in.

But, before then, some drinks may be taken around Farringdon…

Comments { 23 }

Fantasy league – it’s filling up fast, just like my basement

by on 15 August, 2008 in Sports

We’re cleaning up here at Tosh Towers, but not in the financial sense. Following the fine seasonal rains of mid August here in south London, our basement continues its ongoing campaign to become a swimming pool rather than warm, dry hospitable place for us to store junk and our gas boiler. 

So it’s with some enthusiasm that I’m trying to ignore the sound of rushing water – the workmen are pumping hundreds of gallons out right now – to make final adjustments to my Cristal Palace side, ahead of the start of the new Premier League season tomorrow.

And this, gentle reader, is your final chance to join the Completetosh.com fantasy league – the League of Scoundrels – which already has a rather staggering 18 teams, managed by readers from around the world. The deadline is midday tomorrow, Saturday, if you want to submit your team for the first round of matches. You can join later, of course, but by that point 17 sides will be rocketing ahead while I – going on current luck – will be exploring the game’s capacity to do minus numbers.

To sign up: first go to Fantasy Football, pick your team and save it. Then click on Friends’ Leagues. You’ll need to enter the league name: League of Scoundrels. And the password: Completetosh.

I look forward to seeing you there. Right after I’ve had a chat with a man who’s carrying a very big pump through my house.

Comments Off

Anyone fancy a game of fantasy football?

by on 22 July, 2008 in Digital revolution, Sports, Web/Tech

He'll insist he played the ballIn a fine example of mixing business with pleasure, I’ve been helping devise Guardian.co.uk’s new Fantasy Football game, which launched last night. In the hope this blog’s reader will join in the fun, I’ve set up a Completetosh.com league – The League of Scoundrels. Joining details are below. Go on! Do it now! So much more fun than work!

First, the sales pitch… we looked around the market and saw quite a few rather dull games which people were charging for. So we’ve worked with one of the leading fantasy game makers – Clever.tv – to build a free game that is… well, hopefully a little smarter than your average fantasy football game.

Obviously, the central idea is still to assemble a team with your £100m budget, and win points based on the players’ real performances in the Premier League. But, instead of just getting points for an assist, or a goal, or a clean sheet, there are a bunch of other ways to score points – tackles, shots on target, interceptions, and more – which should make this a much more interesting and nuanced play than you might get elsewhere. We think it’ll mean that managers who take a punt on some of the Premiership’s less lauded names may well be rewarded.

Then we added choices of formations, a squad system, stuck on a gorgeous interface, and club supporter and national leagues that your team can all be part of. Best of all, the game’s free. And there’s a £50k prize fund.

We think it’s going to be a scream.

I’m thrilled with how it’s turned out, yet – despite my involvement – it’s still guaranteed that I’ll be rubbish at actually playing it. So now’s your chance to humiliate me (in some cases, again). Better still, your one team can be part of many leagues, meaning you don’t need to have multiple teams, which would be a fiddle.

To sign up: first go to Fantasy Football, pick your team and save it. Then click on Friends’ Leagues. You’ll need to enter the league name: League of Scoundrels. And the password: Completetosh.

You’ll see my team – Cristal Palace – is already there, and ready for its heroic plummet to the foot of the table. Your glory is assured.

Comments { 13 }