Thoughts and ideas of a dyslexic designer/developer
Interesting to think about while watching the Microsoft Windows 10 launch… What even happened to the Ubuntu on Android?
Update: A number of friends commented on my blog entry.
@cubicgarden Ubuntu phone which is launching at some point this month I believe http://t.co/HrmbvGJrkW
— Tom Moitié ⚛ (@tmoitie) February 5, 2015
Jas finds an engadget entry talking about how the launch will be limited to Europe and the East.
https://twitter.com/Jas/status/563777195114770432
Light Trailer from Theatre Ad Infinitum on Vimeo.
Inspired by Edward Snowden’s revelations and the ensuing debate on state surveillance, Theatre Ad Infinitum conjures an Orwellian future where a totalitarian regime monitors the thoughts of its citizens through implants.
I just experienced Light at the Lowry Theatre and I was blown away. Its all experienced in the darkness of no light and the setup is incredible, especially with only 5 people! The story is interesting but its the amazingly smart setups using light and dark which steal the show.
If you get a chance to see it, go experience it! You will love it..
Ziferblat opens on Edge Street in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, I guess its so new that its not even on the website it seems.
RT @coralgrainger: Anyone tried @ZiferblatEdgeSt? >
MCR's 'pay-as-you-stay' coffee hangout opens in NQ http://t.co/rIyQAoWn32 @cubicgarden— TEDxManchester (@TEDxManchester) February 3, 2015
I’ve heard of ziferblat from London. To be honest I’m not big fan of pay as you go services, especially when it comes to things I treat like leisure time.
@cubicgarden @coralgrainger @McrEscalator ha, I was going to write a blog about it too, fancy a blog off Ian? 😉
— Gabrielle Iskandar (@Gabiskandar) February 3, 2015
So why am I not so keen?
I like to relax, I find the idea of paying for time to access a space or time a little upsetting and stressful. Life is busy enough, why put a clock against the time you want to enjoy and remember?
Having a time limit induces a state (trance) which is not consistent with relaxing and pleasure. The kind of things we associate with leisure or social time. How many times have you booked a restaurant and they have given you a set time and you thought that’s fine? To be honest the only places which I know does this and gets away with it is the all you can eat buffet places! 2hrs to stuff you’re face and then walk/roll out. Do you ever feel happy once you come out of these places? I doubt it!
How very apt to compare the all you can eat buffet places to the pay as you go model. I’m not saying ziferblat is necessary a all you can eat buffet, but I would say it could encourage overindulgence and selfishness.
I mean you are paying by the minute, so better make sure you get what you need. Screw everybody else, where’s my coffee? What I have to wait for the toilet, don’t they know who I am?
Some things take time and time is there to be enjoyed… Some of you will say, ian’s gone off the deep end but I’ll leave you with a quote…
My favorite things in life don’t cost any money. It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.
– Steve Jobs
Poor Si Lumb almost got it in the neck from me… Little reminder about Phoneshop’s view on Pay as you Go!
https://twitter.com/king_puddin/status/165967429850243072
At Silicon Drinkabout last night, I was introduced to John Kershaw who created a social network/dating site for people with and like beards – Bristlr. (yes this is the uniform dating style thing, basically for anybody)
- Tell us where you are, and if you have a bear
- Got a beard? We find people looking for beards
- Want a beard? We find people with beards worth looking for
- Send messages to people you match with
- Your life now contains more beard love, you’re welcome
John seems to have got quite a few people on-board with no advertising or promotion. Its a interesting site and hits a niche really well.
How does it make money? Well funny enough me and John talked about this at length. Unlike most dating sites, he won’t be collecting and selling the data of the users. His privacy policy seems to follow through on this…
We take your privacy seriously. We won’t sell your data. That’s a dick thing to do.
When you use Bristlr, we collect a fair chunk of data about you, but it’s the bare minimum required for the website to function. All of the information is collected explicitly from you.
As this is the internet, our servers collect loads of info like your IP address and some browser details. We do use standard internet tracking and monitoring software, namely Google Analytics, to tell us about who is using the website.
If ever we need to use your personal information for any reason which isn’t essential to the running of Bristlr, we will ask for your consent.
We may disclose your personal information if we are required by law. But we would be super fucking unhappy if this happened.
There is a premium option (there always is!) which shows you the people you’ve yet to match with who have “liked” you. But realistically, its the price of a coffee or theres the pyramid approach with a referrals..
I’m signed up, giving it a try and of course you can give it a try too for free. Theres a referral if you like to enable me premium for a bit http://www.bristlr.com/?referral=cubicgarden
Social media cafe Manchester was a diamond in Manchester’s tech scene for a long while. It was inspired on Loyd Daves’ Tuttle club which was in turn inspired by my own Geekdinners. Who says you can inspire, eh?
Started in 2008 Social Media Cafe became an institution. Meeting regularly on the first Tuesday of the month, it ran for over 5 years bringing an eclectic and sometimes bizarre selection of topics to discuss. From emoji madness and a requiem for Ceefax to more grounded subjects. Through #smc_mcr, Manchester kicked off its open data journey and became a stopping off place for people passing through, who had projects and passions to share. Most importantly #smc_mcr was a place where anyone with a passion could pitch up and propose a topic that they wanted to share with others – either to inform or to find help. Because of this #smc_mcr developed an unConference format that allowed multiple subjects to be discussed at the same time.
Fast forward to November last year in the snug of the Briton’s Protection a group of ex-#smc_mcr types came together to discuss how this venerable event could be reinstated. So Common Ground was born, an event with the same #smc_mcr goodness with a more pronouncable name.
Common Ground Launch Event – On the Cluetrain
To kick off Common Ground we look at The Cluetrain and the enigmatic release of new clues after 15 years.
The Cluetrain manifesto was written in an age before social media, when user generated content was but a tiny fraction activity banded around by a tiny number of people. The Cluetrain manifesto went beyond the current day thinking of the dot com boom – 1999 and the catastrophic bust – 2001. It rewrote the rules for a hyperconnected world and it could be argued, is as relevant today as it was then.
The new clues attempt to do the same, taking our thinking into the next 10 years. The event will discuss the new clues and asks if they will have the same impact as the original clues have now. Did Doc Searls and David Weinburger, undermine or add another chapter to the brilliance of the Cluetrain?
Join us
Why the need for another event in Manchester? Its similar to the problem of why Manchester Technights started. The current selection of events are too narrow. Don’t get me wrong its great if you are really into that thing but if you want to get a variety of ideas and thoughts, then you are stuck. I bang on about diversity and how critical it is, this also starts to answer the problem of the filter bubble. You should join us and invite friends…
Welcome to the MMU Shed
The first event is Tuesday 17th February at its new home, the shed. The Shed is a new space by MMU (Manchester Metropolitan University) just opposite where the old BBC just off Oxford Road on Chester Street.
Its a great space with a lot of potential for all types events and can hold between 2 and 200 people depending on the event and space you require. This does mean there are lots of spaces, so you could go back to the original unconference style of social media cafe. Theres also plenty of room, so noise won’t be a massive issue.
To be fair its a great space and just right for a barcamp, but I’m not doing those anymore (of course).
So whats the first commonground?
The first one on the 17th Feb, will centre around the Cluetrain manifesto. Julian one of the key organisers asked me for a quick summary and I sent this via my phone.
On the Cluetrain
The cluetrain manifesto was written in a age before social media, when user generated content was but a tiny fraction banded around by a tiny number of people. The cluetrain manifesto went beyond the current day thinking of the dot com boom – 1999 and the catastrophic bust – 2001. It rewrote the rules for a hyperconnected world and I would argue is as relevant as it was then as it is today.The new clues attempts to do the same and in some case does a great job taking our thinking into the next 10 years. The event will discuss the newclues and asks if they will have the same impact as the original clues have now. Did Doc Searls and David Weinburger, undermine or add another chapter to the brilliance of the cluetrain?
Jason Silva talks about the Fear Of Missing Out. While Chris Messina talks about the Joy Of Missing Out.
https://twitter.com/chrismessina/status/560483676304072704
For a while now, I have been declining the fitbit upgrade on my Android devices. I kept tweeting fitbit to ask why on earth my digital pedometer needs access to my SMS, Camera and Location?
I can imagine, Location is passable but SMS and Camera? Really? I voted with my feet and kept the upgrade on hiatus till I heard a reason why.
Finally I got a message from Fitbit support…
@cubicgarden Hi Ian! The permissions will further enhance app and tracker features like Call or Text Notifications. Hope this helps!
— Fitbit Support (@FitbitSupport) January 21, 2015
So basically fitbit is trying to break its way into the wearable market with phone and messages notifications?
I think I’ll hold off on upgrading even longer now. I’m sure you can turn it off but I’m just not interested, especially since I have the pebble smartwatch which already does this and so much more.
I bought into the Philips Hue system a while ago by buying the part I needed and then the lights afterwards. There are a tons of people selling the wired zeegbee bridge for as low as 25 pounds (I paid 26 for mine) then you can get a bulbs afterwards for much cheaper than the starter kit at 170 pounds.
So this is what I did…
However I hit a problem, the first Philips Hue Lux light came and I could see it on the app via the bridge but couldn’t control it. I tried a lot of things including upgrading the system and rebooting the bridge. But it just didn’t response to anything I did. I thought well maybe its a dodgy bulb from ebay. However the next bulb came and I couldn’t even see it via the bridge.
I also ordered some via Amazon and they worked straight away, as expected! I looked into the differences and found some bad news…
Philips will void warranty if 110V bulbs are used with 220V power and vice versa. Closer look at the packaging shows there maybe a problem.
The American Hue Lux – E26 bulb
The Europe Hue Lux – E27 bulb
So it looks like I have 2 American bulbs which I’ll have to put back on ebay at a lost (if it works at all?)
The good news is I have replaced my Philips Light/Wakeup clock with a Hue light which slowly turns on when Sleep as Android thinks its time to wake up. Apartment therapy you are wrong, using your phone as an alarm makes perfect sense, when used in the right way.
On International data privacy day, BBC R&D has posted a video asking a bunch of smart people what data is personal to them?
As I have been working on the project for quite sometime, I can happily say there is a lot more to come. Including ways to feedback. Go check have a look and see if you agree with the opinions of our industry experts?
You might have seen the theme of the work in the blog post ethics of data and what we setup at Mozilla Festival. Expect more in the future…
Politicians used to have the confidence to tell us stories that made sense of the chaos of world events. But now there are no big stories and politicians react randomly to every new crisis – leaving us bewildered and disorientated.
Bitter Lake is a new, adventurous and epic film by Adam Curtis that explains why the big stories that politicians tell us have become so simplified that we can’t really see the world any longer.
Funny enough today I started the morning with this related playlist…
#sundayplaylist just by chance one for physicalplaylist
1. http://t.co/nqWzvUJC4T
2. http://t.co/I0dCj9TXX8
3. http://t.co/5NwqFBxNmy— Ian Forrester (@cubicgarden) January 25, 2015
I was a little peed off that the doc about subliminal advertising’s results were split across podcasts… Could have done with a warning really! One for the physical playlist.