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.

• 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.
  • Touring and Sailing in New Zealand 2009 - All 9 parts are now available and illustrated.
• Travel Highlights - of interest to those who want to travel the world.
  • New - A Cruise on the new Cunard Queen Elizabeth to New Zealand - Including the Maiden Atlantic Crossing in tandem with the Queen Victoria, the meeting of the Three Queens in New York, the Caribbean, the Panama Canal, Mexico, Los Angeles and Pacific Islands as far as New Zealand. This includes an Introduction to the Queen Elizabeth and Picture Gallery mostly taken during "The Inaugerals" open day before her naming by the Queen in September 2010.
  • New - An Autumn Cruise on The Ocean Countess to the Canary Islands and Madeira. This is about a trip down memory lane - the Ocean Countess was originally owned by Cunard as the Cunard Countess. We had three memorable cruises in the Caribbean on the Cunard Countess in 1991, 92 and 94. This cruise departed from Plymouth, and the itinerary for the 12 days included four days at sea and seven days ashore – in Vigo, Agadir, Lanzarote, Tenerife, La Gomera, Madeira and Leixoes for Oporto.
  • Recent - "Baltic Explorer" and "Jewels of the Mediterranean Cruises". We had wanted to go to Tallin and St Petersburg for a long time so we started by booking the Baltic Explorer Cruise but it seemed very short so we decided it would be nice to continue for another 12 nights round the Mediterranean. This gave us an overall cruise of 26 nights with tremendous contrasts within an overall theme of historic cities, diverse cultures and opulent buildings.
  • Recent - Journey to the Antipodes - a cruise in 2010 on the Cunard Queen Mary 2 from Southampton to Auckland via the Suez canal including India, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malasia, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Japan, Pacific Islands and the Great Barrier Reef off Australia. In 6 parts with lots of pictures.
  • "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.
  • 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.
  • A Tandem Atlantic Crossing - Our first cruise on the Queen Mary 2 across the Atlantic and back in tandem with the QE2.
  • "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.
  • "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.
  • 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 an Updated Introduction to the Cunard Queen Victoria
• 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
  • The MSI Wind U100 Netbook and Ubuntu Linux - the story of getting Ubuntu to work on our Wind U100 netbooks 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:
  • Theale Fireplaces, The Craven B&B, Huxley's Brave New World Restaurant in Cambodia and Katrina Richards - Artist
• 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, 2008 , 2009 Newsletter and our 2010 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. Now on Part 18.
• 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!

We would be very pleased if visitors could spare a little time to give us some feedback - it is the only way we know who has visited the site, if it is useful and how we should develop it's content and the techniques used. We would be delighted if you could send comments or just let us know you have visited by sending a quick Message to us.

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Copyright © Peter and Pauline Curtis Most recent significant revision:15th April, 2011