January 2012
3 posts
I’m puzzling over how the free messaging system recently introduced on iOS (Apple) devices works. Recently I went to text someone who I regularly text. A message came back saying “Who is this?”. It turned out that my phone had worked out the other person also had an iPhone and routed the message via the free message system rather than SMS. I didn’t ask it to do that, it...
WatchYesterday I was stopped from filming at Leeds Railway Station by a member of staff. I was told I could not film for “security reasons”, but that I might be able to apply for a permit to do so in future. The video above is as far as I got, and you can hear the staff member asking what I was doing at the end of it.
This seems to me another example of over officious security. I’ve...
Creating Strategic Value: Examples of Branded... →
“We’ve got to stop interrupting what people are interested in and be what people are interested in!” – Axel Chaldecott, JWT”
December 2011
2 posts
It always amuses me when I see people being rude (or worse) about family, friends, work colleagues or bosses on twitter. I assume, in as much as any of this is thought out, that they do this apparently safe in the knowledge that the brunt of their ire or distaste is not on twitter, and so will never find out.
I’d be more careful if I were you. Those of us who use twitter regularly know it...
November 2011
1 post
Woman’s Hour is a strange dichotomy, isn’t it? Item on prominent women in science, finished off with “Ultimately, hers was a sad life as she never married and had children”
October 2011
1 post
ITV "Sport"
I still haven’t recovered from the trauma of being forced to play rugby union at school, and it’s a sport I hate with a passion. But, have spotted people in my twitter timeline this morning complaining about the poor quality of ITV’s coverage of the World Cup Final in that sport, I am moved to reflect on the fact that ITV’s sports coverage is always poor. And it’s no...
August 2011
1 post
Let's do a "secret" Twitter thing
What proportion of the UK population is on Twitter? It’s growing all the time, but it’s still a small minority.
What if we organised something that was only mentioned on Twitter, and could not, and was not, mentioned anywhere else? Could it be done? Could we have groups of Twitterati gathered in town centres all over the country, doing something at the same time, and no one else...
July 2011
1 post
Tabloid Newspapers
It’s good that so many people have finally woken up to how damaging tabloid newspapers are. It’s just a pity it took this latest heinous incident to make them realise. UK tabloid newspapers are a very important component in the system that reinforces social divides in Britain, dampens down social aspiration, and undermines the education system. Now you know…..
June 2011
1 post
A Story for #storycamp
Pull up your chair to the fire while I tell you a story.
This evening, I arranged a meeting involving myself, Ken Eastwood, Guy Jarvis, and Simon Davison. We were discussing connectivity possibilities for the community broadband initiative Ken is planning in the Worth Valley. It was a good, constructive meeting, and left us with a lot of optimism that NextGenUs will be able to work with the...
February 2011
1 post
For the record, I think Twitter would benefit from two enhancements. The first is the ability to have private groups (group DMs). In many ways, I can see why it does not have this, I think if it did, in the early days at least, too many people would use it as their default option, they might never share their content with the world, and we would lose much of the serendipitous benefit of Twitter....
January 2011
3 posts
5 tags
Take Ownership | English Heritage →
Another item for the Social App store
The solution to the world’s problems will lie in as wide a possible application of humanity’s brainpower to the issues of the day. At the same time, the majority of the mainstream media is dedicated to the idea that any kind of thinking is a dangerous luxury (this thought was inspired by being subjected to 10 minutes of something called “Take Me Out” by my daughter)
“So how do you think people should think about Twitter? Like electricity — you...”
– Ev Williams: The Challenges of a Web of Infinite Info: Tech News and Analysis «
December 2010
2 posts
Why Teens Don't And Won't Tweet →
Big Society Youth inquiry « v.Org →
November 2010
3 posts
“Part of the attraction is the sense of control #XFactor gives us: … that...”
– Why reality TV works | Television & radio | The Observer
“However, it noted that planning-related issues factor in the failure to provide...”
– Ofcom mulls mobile phone coverage for all | Mobile Working | ZDNet UK
“The final speaker of the morning was Richard Caulfield, Chief Executive of...”
– North West Employers’ Big Society Conference – 2nd November 2010 | John Popham’s Random Musings
October 2010
7 posts
“via @willperrin: the BBC: ‘..will provide £150m a year for the rollout of...”
– Local content – the challenge for the BBC | Talk About Local
A Big Society for small businesses: New Start -... →
“ours is a nation that pokes fun at those who do try to make a difference. From...”
– Enough talk about the Big Society - it’s time for action | News
Time to impose forced smartphone training
A tweet from Mark Hawker this morning reflected my own frustration at waiting for replies to some quite important emails. It seems increasingly to me that the world is divided into two camps, those, like most people who will read this, who inhabit a variety of online spaces, who are used to responding instantly, or pretty quickly any way, to most contacts and queries, and who expect others to do...
“The question is how to do capitalism in a way which allows people to be authors...”
– Can Britain ever be a fair society? | Books | The Guardian
“BT is also pledging to engage with any community that expresses a high level of...”
– BT to take UK’s broadband pulse
Football is obscene
I’ve just switched off the Radio 5 Live phone-in 6-0-6 because, despite being a lifelong football fan, I find it obscene that people are calling up berating their football clubs for failing to spend £30 or £40 million on bringing in another overpaid half-wit. Do these people not realise we are facing massive public spending cuts, there are still people dying from the effects of the floods in...
September 2010
6 posts
Sharing best practice in the commercial sector
What mechanisms are there for sharing best practice in the commercial sector? Is it always left to market forces, is it always anti-competitive to share information that could be deemed “commercially sensitive?
I ask this question for this reason. There are some public transport operators which are offering wifi on buses and trains. This is a minority activity still in the UK, it seems to...
Radio? There's no future in it
I woke up early enough this morning to catch Radio 5 Live’s “Wake up to Money”. It was not a pleasant experience, as the whole programme was punctuated with schoolboyish giggling and guffawing over how silly everything on Twitter is, and it culminated with one of the presenters refusing to be persuaded to sign up to Twitter, adding that he thought it might have a role for...
Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose
The world is changing all the time, and yet the majority of people seem to be frightened of change. How has the human species evolved so that most of its members are ill-equipped to deal with such a fundamental fact of life?
“In healthcare, we’ve developed many new ventures that can deliver better...”
– Investing in Social Growth: Can the Big Society be more than a slogan? | The Young Foundation
“I sense frustration breaking out in all sorts of places that all this chatter is...”
– A little less conversation, a little more action please…Leeds… « Community Development
“STOP PRESS- Due to exceptional demand the bus is now running until 31st October,...”
– Leeds Citysightseeing Bus - Leeds City Sightseeing - Yorkshire.Com - E&A Details
August 2010
8 posts
“We mustn’t leave out the rural areas and this week we are hosting a visit from...”
– Chief Executive’s Blog
“To illustrate the point - the new Government intends to shut down the Regional...”
– the3rdi magazine for Working Women - Louie Gardiner - Coach of the Month
“A Big Society project for Leek- helping ourselves”
– A Big Society project for Leek- helping ourselves. | Pits n Pots
OKLDN →
Pop-up Schools
“Sir John Popham was born in 1531 at Huntworth manor near Bridgwater, which his...”
– Norton sub Hamdon
“Pupils in the south-east, which accounted for 19% of entries, were awarded 23%...”
– A-level results 2010: Students should enhance CVs, says minister | Education | The Guardian
“Passion is everything. Management can only do so much. All of us are responsible...”
– Six Fundamental Shifts in the Way We Work - John Hagel III and John Seely Brown - Harvard Business Review
Pixar University's Randy Nelson on Learning and... →
July 2010
9 posts
Social Media - A challenge to car accessory makers
I’ve posted lots elsewhere about how I prefer to travel by train because I can work and keep in touch on the move.
Increasingly, just lately, I am finding that my schedule is too complicated for public transport, and I am being forced to take to the car to get between the different places where I need to be. I find this doubly frustrating because, as well as flouting my green instincts, it...
NESTA - Amplified City Leicester →
1 tag
To video or not to video
I’m going to a meeting soon about a new project which seems to be quite an exciting initiative, and could have implications for lots of similar projects around the country. (I’m trying to anonymise this, so please forgive the vague lack of detail.) It is a project which seems to be making progress in an area where lots of other projects in the country have struggled. Consequently, one...
Best windows error message ever →
Living with rats: The Big Society in the North... →
You're a Rock Star: Building Thought Leadership... →
I am a football fan, but.....
I am a football fan, I have been since I was very small. BUT……
I have been seriously wondering over the past few days, whether it is possible to be a football fan, and NOT to support your own national team. For a long time, I have not really taken much interest in the England team, EXCEPT when it comes round to major tournaments such as the European Championships and World Cup. Then,...
Capital Ideas: How to Generate Innovation in the... →
June 2010
8 posts
Counter-attacking
The (ITV) commentator just said that Brazil were counter-attacking Chile like Germany did England. The difference, as far as I can see it, is that when Brazil counter-attack, they have Chilean defenders retreating in front of them, ready to bar their way. When Germany counter-attacked they had English defenders trailing in their wake, unable to catch up with them