I took a trip to London’s fashionable West End yesterday lunchtime, and one thing struck me above all else. Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) are all around us. LEDs are the light behind our mobile screens. LEDs increasingly provide light in interior spaces. They sit in the lamp clusters on cars. They illuminate television sets. They … Continue reading Invisible lights
Category: Themes
I've never been able to get my head around Google Plus. Facebook is largely where I go for not-work things, Twitter and LinkedIn for work stuff. I store my photos privately in Google +, but only because I've used Picasa for a few years. I have been known to refer to G+ as the "social … Continue reading Multiple personality disorders
In the year and a half in which I have been building my business, I've had many great plans that have resulted in nothing (or, at least, nothing yet). In the same period my most successful and profitable client relationships have emerged seemingly by chance. A random referral, an email out of the blue, a … Continue reading Engineering serendipity
This is the most meta-thing I've ever done... Top nine things you need to know about 'listicles' http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/12/listicles-articles-written-lists-steven-poole 5 ways the listicle is changing journalism http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/aug/12/5-ways-listicle-changing-journalism 5 reasons why list-based articles are so popular https://medium.com/new-media/5-reasons-why-list-based-articles-are-so-popular-41d7c4016bc1 7 reasons why list posts will always work http://www.copyblogger.com/7-reasons-why-list-posts-will-always-work/ The one thing that all LinkedIn all-time top ten posts have in … Continue reading Five articles about why lists are everywhere on the internet
At an event in London last week I was given a rapid demonstration of Microsoft's first foray into the world of wearable technology - the Microsoft Band. At the end of the pitch I was left somewhat bewildered - the talk of tracking training regimes and exercise sessions and heart rates and calorie intake left … Continue reading Extreme fitness
I was chatting with a former colleague over coffee yesterday, and he was recounting how his company recently went through a business continuity exercise. When I say "exercise", I mean that his company lost power to their offices for a number of days and they had to work out what the hell to do. They're … Continue reading Crisis management
Just about 10 years ago I was working out my notice from my role at the BBC, awaiting the start of a new stage in my career consulting with a management training company. I was chatting about the new direction with an old school friend who, when she heard what I was about to do, looked … Continue reading Talking in crowds
At the weekend my five and a half year-old desktop PC went "Pop!". Well, I say "Pop" - it actually didn't do anything at all. This is a dead PC. Understanding under the covers of a computer is one of the few vaguely manual talents I possess. Box opened, original motherboard battery swapped, fans cleaned... … Continue reading And the box went “pop”
I've had two interesting, and diametrically opposed, conversations in the past couple of weeks on the subject of trust... Yesterday I met someone who was recounting the experience of a friend working in the visual effects industry. VFX as it's known in the trade is something of a boom industry in the UK at the … Continue reading Building trust
The announcement yesterday that Google and PWC are to join forces to deliver the Google for Work services delivers another plank in a strategy that seems to be turning Clayton Christensen's Innovator's Dilemma on its head. In Christensen's oft-cited model, technology providers are often unable to respond to competitive threats because of the need to … Continue reading The inverted dilemma
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