The New York Times has a rather gloomy piece on how bloggers are dropping dead like flies, apparently overcome by the strains of the 24/7 global internet culture.

Personally, I’ve not known a blogger who has slumped lifeless over a keyboard (touch wood). I imagine people pass away at inconvenient moments in many professions. Blogging and writing from home must have its share of dicky tickers like any other walk of life.

However, the NYT has chapter and verse :

Two weeks ago in North Lauderdale, Fla., funeral services were held for Russell Shaw, a prolific blogger on technology subjects who died at 60 of a heart attack. In December, another tech blogger, Marc Orchant, died at 50 of a massive coronary. A third, Om Malik, 41, survived a heart attack in December. Other bloggers complain of weight loss or gain, sleep disorders, exhaustion and other maladies born of the nonstop strain of producing for a news and information cycle that is as always-on as the Internet.

From these few examples you would have to subtract the number of deaths and heart attacks in the general population to arrive at a guesstimate of internet publishing’s real rate of attrition.

No doubt there are serious stresses and strains working in the new online environment. However, a word of caution. Anyone who has worked for newspapers to tight daily deadlines will recognize the same pressures and symptoms. Journalists are not notorious for their alcohol consumption for nothing.

And try slaving in a factory, repetitively doing the same tasks thousands of times a day. Or surviving the water-cooler politics of office life. Worse, the back-breaking toil of farm work. There are no easy options in “the world of work”.

Methinks the problem lies, as ever, with meetings, travel, networking and other inconsequentials of the wired-up sector. Networking for the internetizen means Twittering and Tweeting incoherently to hundreds, maybe thousands, of “followers”, mostly without a shred of benefit to the bottom line. Email is another source of stress and should be stamped on ruthlessly, as Michael Arrington of TechCrunch wrote a day or two ago.

The Times has this quote from him, “‘I haven’t died yet,’ said Michael Arrington, the founder and co-editor of TechCrunch, a popular technology blog. ‘At some point, I’ll have a nervous breakdown and be admitted to the hospital, or something else will happen. This is not sustainable,’ he said.”

Syntagma’s advice : drop the Tweets, do the paid work efficiently — a three-hour morning should suffice — then get out of the house on a long Photowalk, or maybe to the golf course or coffee shop (preferably without a Hotspot), and forget about the Labours of Hercules. He was a mythical character and is not one to emulate.

I’m going to be a bit self-indulgent this Saturday and show you a few shots of Syntagma’s new environment at Exeter’s Quay. The weather is amazingly spring-like right now — just like last year — so I decided to spend the morning ambling along the river and canal taking photographs. The time for Photowalking is upon us once again.

Our old Customs House, and a pair of cannon

The Customs House was built in 1661 and is the oldest brick building in Exeter. It was used by Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise as recently as 1989. Its magnificent interior reflects the wealth of the West Country’s wool trade at the time it was built.

View across the canal to the bridge and the 11th-century Cathedral

There’s an almost holiday resort atmosphere here at the Quay right now with people sitting out for lunch at the many pubs and restaurants. It can’t surely be mid-February — but it is.

Regency view across the river

Now here’s a perfect cluster of Regency buildings, straight out of Jane Austen. Apart from the car and the couple in fluorescent yellow togs, it could be 200 years ago.

A pair of medieval houses, now used for commercial purposes

As much of old Exeter was destroyed by bombing in World War 2, it remains a miracle that so much from the medieval and Elizabethan periods remains standing.

Click on the Flickr logo in the sidebar for a complete and growing set of Exeter photos. Click the thumbnails for more detailed shots.

It may be crisis point in the world of financial markets, banks, Treasuries, Exchequers and Kings’ Counting Houses but, here in the South-West of England, spring has truly sprung.

A carpet of daffodils heralds spring in the northern hemisphere

I’m aware that the weather can be as treacherous as the stock markets, but no-one can doubt that there’s a bullish mood in the bulbous population just below ground.

With flooding and mayhem elsewhere in the country, we at least have a sign of what is to come.

Let us hope it’s a metaphor for the world economy.

A few moments ago there was an enormous racket outside Syntagma Towers. People passing were looking up in the sky as if a giant asteroid was about to hit us.

I rushed outside with the new camera (12X zoom) and found our police helicopter hovering directly above our little haven of peace.

Darn, I thought, they’ve caught up with us at last.

I’m now hoping it was just a training exercise, or maybe a criminal gang was hiding in a neighbour’s garden.

It’s gone now. We live to fight another day.

I want to wrap up this summer’s series of Photowalking* around Exeter in England with one photo. It represents a cautionary tale.

First, as a preface to the pic, here are two shots I took earlier in the season. This one shows a part of our brand new chill-out and shopping zone, Princesshay, which is set to open in October :

Princesshay in April

The second is one of the best views in Exeter. It’s taken in the Cathedral Close and shows the Elizabethan buildings at one end.

The Close in April

Fast forward to this week in mid-September and here’s how it looks now :

The Close in September

Actually, if I had stepped back 50 feet or so, the intrusive new skyline would be even worse.

My point? If the planners and architects had been a little more perceptive, they could have lowered the new build by just a yard or two and that historic aspect could have been preserved for posterity.

The new building is, of course, our exceptional new Princesshay, which is really spectacular and state of the art.

People say you can’t have everything, but in this case, I can’t help thinking we could have had both.

* See the Flickr link in the sidebar for the full set.

Updated

I took the opportunity of great weather today to down tools and grab the camera for another photowalking session in my “Summer in Exeter” (Devon, England) series. I really am doing the 4-hour workweek this August — and why not.

The series can be seen in full by clicking on the Flickr logo in the sidebar.

The Exe Valley running through the heart of Exeter

This is taken from the centre of the city and shows the Exe Valley which runs through it. The great thing about Exeter is that you’re never far from country and farmland wherever you’re situated. You can see the 18th-century streets leading to the River Exe, which runs from right to left down the valley — unsighted in the picture.

These Georgian cottages (below) are in the street shown directly ahead in the pic above. If you were to remove the plastic rubbish bags and the overhead cables, you could film a Jane Austen novel here. Mind you, you’d have to lay a dirt surface across the street as they didn’t have metalled roads in those days. Takes you back though, doesn’t it?

Cottages from Jane Austen’s day — slightly gentrified

Going forward — across the other side of the street are the offices of a media company in another old building. I love the combination of modern knowledge-based companies housed in 18th-century surroundings. They are so complementary they could have been made for each other. You may then get some idea of where the new Syntagma Towers is going to be situated.

This is the end of the street where Georgian meets Victoriana. It’s so quaint here you almost expect to see Charles Dickens in a stove-pipe hat coming around the corner. There’s an office to let right ahead across the road, but it’s far too small for the industrial needs of Syntagma Media. Very pleasant spot for an internet business, though.

18th century meets Victoriana in the centre of Exeter

Below, and just around the corner from the cottages, is the Old Priory, which is 900 years old. That means it was built around 1107. Next to it, out of shot, is the Old Mint, where Exeter’s coinage was made. Strange to think the Government in London had nothing to do with such important stuff in those days — except collecting taxes in the coinage, of course.

The Old Priory and Mint, around 900 years old

But 900 years is a long time for a building to stand and remain so sturdy. It really doesn’t look a day over 850.

Lastly, a wonderful French-style office building with Exeter Cathedral behind. Now that really would make a great Syntagma Towers. We’d have to borrow the Cathedral towers, of course.

French-style office building with the Cathedral towering behind

The rain has partially abated giving us a brief glimpse of that big, yellow ball in the sky, whose name temporarily escapes me. Time for Photowalking again.

You know it’s summer in East Devon when the Red Indians arrive. That’s right, Red Indians. Or should I say “Native Americans”? Nah, when I hear John Wayne say it instead of “Injuns”, I’ll follow suit. Promise.

Before you say they’re really Sid and Bert from Clapham, just look at that rawhide skin. You don’t get a tan like that in South London.

You also know it’s summer in Exeter, when this :

… sprouts this :

The mobile Northcott Theatre arrives like clockwork every July. I notice they’ve covered it up this year. Given the liquidity of this year’s warm patch, that could be a very good idea.

So, what goodies have they got lined up for us?

Yes, Macbeth … sorry, “the Scottish play” — there’s a curse on the name, apparently. And Cider with Rosie, that old favourite of lecherous topers everywhere.

I’ll give the Mac… Scottish play … a miss, I think, after a trauma I received when young watching Laurence Olivier in a production at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh. At a crucial moment, the great man stumbled and almost fell flat on his face. Well, it was the Scottish play!

A quick look at Princesshay, our state of the art shopping centre, set to open in October. Looking good, Princess!

So there you have it, Devon after the Deluge. Normal photowalking resumes next week.

I knew we were in for it when I looked out of the window this morning and saw the swallows flying at almost roof level.

Low flying swallows signify low pressure, and that means rain and storms.

Sure enough, when I turned on the radio the forecast warned of two month’s rainfall in 24 hours for southern England — that’s 4 inches emptying onto already sodden ground.

It seems we are getting masses of wet air from France where the heat is lifting moisture from the soggy countryside. Either that, or it’s Napoleon’s revenge.

Severe weather warnings and flood alerts are in place all over the country, but especially for the Cotswolds which will take a really big hit. Pity the tots’ Gymkhanas tomorrow and various Vicars’ annual fetes on Sunday.

Golf fans will not be reassured by the news that this unusual wodge of rain is heading north to Scotland, where Carnoustie’s Open Golf Championship is likely to be hit on the final day. Tiger Woods, dig out a canoe from somewhere!

Most of us are battening down the hatches for The Deluge, and an indoor weekend. No photowalking yet again.

The swallows have spoken.

I’ve noticed that a number of people are scheduling particular walks for taking photos of their town or city. Robert Scoble has named the idea “Photowalking” on the principle perhaps that everything should have a name.

The Quay, Exeter

I’ve been Photowalking — combining taking pictures with my morning five-mile walk — ever since I bought a digital camera last year. It’s a great way to add value to mere exercise. My project — I’ll call it PhotoExeter — is to photograph the city I live in through this summer, trying to capture the face and atmosphere of it when it looks its best, and is filled with tourists. You can see the results so far by clicking the Flickr logo at the top of the sidebar.

After a brilliant March and April, we’ve had six weeks of wet and windy weather here, so no Photowalking. In fact, the whole country has been under the cosh. As I write, people are losing their lives across the Midlands of England in the worst flooding for years.

Back to Photowalking. It’s really a great extension to Fatblogging because it keeps the interest up on what might be dreary rambles across familiar ground. As I walk, I find myself noticing things, large and small, that might otherwise have passed unseen. I also take many detours I’ve never explored before — maybe an 18th-century street straight out of a Dickens novel. The fact is, Photowalking insists you walk farther, if not faster, than you otherwise would.

As someone who used to run marathons, I know that interest is crucual to exercise. A date with a race a month or so ahead, seeking to beat your personal best, or a slightly better runner going along with you.

But Photowalking beats even personal ambition as a spur to distance travelled. For it drags in different parts of the brain. If exercise utilizes the left-brain — all those time calculations and forecasts along the way — then Photowalking adds curiosity, perspective, artistic appreciation of views and architecture, and delving into historical information. Classic right-brain stuff.

I’m only sorry I have to write about it today. The rain is beating down outside my window like stair-rods, and Photowalking is out of the question.

It’s back to blogging, I suppose. Oh, the tedium!