What a year 2009 Was… I’ve been looking through my Flickr stream and pulled out some highlights. Apologies, as the page may take a while to load, but pictures seem to express the year better than any words I could write. Towards the end of 2008 I was at a dinner with Caalie and the Scobles. There were quite a few faces at that meal that ended up playing different roles through out 2009 – you can see Neville Hobson and Chris Heuer as well as Robert Scoble here.
Day 2 should have been easier, so should day 3. Really it should. I was mostly out and about and away from the computer, but it was still tricky to avoid Google products. Forgive me, for I have fallen slightly – I had to show someone Google Analytics. I got straight back on track afterwards, but my wonderful customer needed some stats for their website, and like many folks with a web site out there, they use it. Continue Reading…
Posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago at 7:39 pm. 1 comment
A Week Without Google… …For me at least. This week I’m going to be going without Google in my life. It was a conversation with @monkchips that finally pushed me over the edge.
As he held up his Google branded phone to take a picture that with probably end up on a Google-powered photo site, indexed by Google search-bots, published on Google powered blogs, with Google-powered ads, viewed in Google built web browsers, maybe even on a Google built operating system, I thought of something I over heard recently:
“Big Brother won’t come in via the front door, he’ll come in via the backdoor, and pretend to be your friend.”
Now for the record, I have nothing against Google – I normally use lots of Google tools (and even paid-for Google products) – But I’ve realised that I don’t have a grip on how pervasive a part of my Internet use Google is. Continue Reading…
Posted 2 months, 4 weeks ago at 12:07 am. 21 comments
Ok, powermonkey actually. You see it’s become a bit of a standing joke: I call back to base at the end of the day and say “hello, need to update you. Can’t talk for long, battery is flat.”
Sometimes my Nokia N95 battery seems to last forever, other times it just dies – it depends on coverage, what Gravity is doing, and if I’ve been using WiFi. Similarly my iPod touch can last days or suddenly die. NEED POWER. Or rather, I need portable power. Continue Reading…
Posted 3 months, 1 week ago at 9:28 pm. Add a comment
Canon sponsored this week’s Tuttle Club, so not only did I catch up with Tuttle folk in London, I got a chance to see some of the kit from the Canon Pro Solutions Show in more detail. The video here was shot at Tuttle, with special thanks to Brian Condon for playing camera man and operating the Canon SX200is this was shot with. By the way, this is possibly one of the last shots of me with the Movember Mo. click HD or watch on the S90 Video on Vimeo to see a higher quality version. I’m even speaking in Web 2.0 now – “favourite-liked” indeed:
As predicted, I received a huge amount of flack for my moustache at the 1pound40 conference. I’m pictured above, squeezed inbetween Sam Brook and Kate AG (who is currently working on the BBC’s Treeoclock project) – off to the right of the photo is Christian (aka @documentally – the man who first taught me to take photos), Hannah Nicklin and Sue Thomas. You can’t see the tache these, but it did end up in a sketch… Continue Reading…
Posted 3 months, 4 weeks ago at 3:16 pm. Add a comment
This post is three days late, for which I beg your forgiveness, and not easy to write – for reasons that will become clear. First, a public notice:
I am growing a moustache.
At this point, some of you will know what I am about to say, for the rest, an explanation is in order. It’s movember:
Movember is an annual, month-long celebration of the moustache, highlighting men’s health issues, specifically prostate cancer. Mo Bros, supported by their Mo Sistas, start Movember (November 1st) clean shaven and then have the remainder of the month to grow and groom their moustache. During Movember, each Mo Bro effectively becomes a walking billboard for men’s health and, via their Mo, raises essential funds and awareness for Movember’s men’s health partner – The Prostate Cancer Charity. Continue Reading…
Posted 4 months, 1 week ago at 11:05 pm. Add a comment
