Posts

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I’m a ‘neo-nomad’

or perhaps you prefer ‘digital Bedouin’ – both terms used in this San Francisco Chronicle article which claims that

A new breed of worker, fueled by caffeine and using the tools of modern technology, is flourishing in the coffeehouses of San Francisco. 

And Cambridge. And Venice. And Delhi.  Over the last few years I’ve moved more and more of my working life onto my laptop and filed copy, taken meetings and even done broadcasts from wherever I find myself.  It’s nice to know that we now have a name 🙂

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Who stands to gain from Wikileaks?

[As ever, you can find this on the BBC News website too]

Wikis, or user-editable websites, are one of the most interesting and potentially empowering technologies available on today’s Internet.

Wikipedia, whatever its flaws, has demonstrated that giving people the freedom to add and update material from within a web browser can provide them with an outlet for self-expression in the interests of the wider community, and many organisations use private wikis to enhance communications and planning.

It has become a joke in the tech world that if you’re planning a conference or any sort of meeting you have to start with a wiki, even if you’re working on your own.

And we even have our own private wiki for planning Digital Planet, the World Service technology programme I appear on each week.

Continue reading “Who stands to gain from Wikileaks?”

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Beermat podcast

Mike Southon is an old friend of mine – I used to work at The Instruction Set, the training company he co-founded back in the 1980’s, and we’ve stayed in touch since. These days he spends less time as Mike Fab Gere and more as The Beermat Entrepreneur, and he recently interviewed me for one of their regular podcasts.

You can listen to a ten-minute version of the interview from the Beermat site, or sign up with them and get the full version – also available to buy as a one-off download.

[audio:http://www.beermat.biz/short-podcasts/BeermatRadio-Ed43-SHORT.mp3]
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Talking out loud

I was interviewed a couple of weeks ago by Gaurav Sood, who blogs as spincycle, and he’s posted the result – edited to make me sound less rambling and more coherent, I’m pleased to say – for your delectation, delight and mocking commentary…

While technology has become an important part of our social, economic and political life, most analysis about technology remains woefully inadequate, limited to singing paeans about Apple and Google, and occasional rote articles about security and privacy issues. It is to this news market full of haberdasher opionating that Mr. Bill Thompson brings his considerable intellect and analytical skills every week for his column on technology for the BBC.

Read the rest….

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My mum




My mum

Originally uploaded by BillT.

My mum died today in Manchester. She’d been ill and infirm for a while, but it is always a shock. I’ll miss her.

Won’t be online very much for the next few days, so phone if you need me urgently.

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The Power of the Network

Over the last few weeks we have seen many candidates for the US Presidency launch campaigns to seek nomination by their respective parties, and all have used the internet to get the message out.

Hillary Clinton actually launched her campaign on her website, while Barack Obama has been pushing himself to the bloggers. On the Republican side John McCain seeks to prove his own credentials with a somewhat stilted video outlining his position, and he too will be working hard to ensure that he speaks directly to the wired world.

Continue reading “The Power of the Network”

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Our friends in the North

When we were up in Scotland recently Max was delighted to meet Merlin at Cybernaut, the excellent cybercafe in Ballater.It was great to meet Kevin, who runs the place – and who proved himself an absolute star when we managed to leave a camera in one of the cafes in the village as he found it for us and arranged for it to be returned.

If you’re ever that far north, don’t forget to visit!

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From pages to pipes

[As ever, this is on the BBC News Website]

When the Web was young we were happy just to see words and pictures on the screen in front of us. All backgrounds were grey, all fonts were Times and anything other than a static image required a ‘helper application’ to be loaded and run, so that video clips and sounds played in separate windows on screen.

Compared to the text-based internet of the 1980’s it was heaven, but it was only the beginning.

Continue reading “From pages to pipes”

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Apple and DRM

[This caused a bit of a stir when it was published on the BBC website – I was away in Scotland, and offline, so missed most of it… ah well, you can’t always be around.  And now Cory is saying the same about DRM in Salon.]

For a company with a tiny share of the computer market and an increasingly perilous first mover advantage selling portable music players Apple punches well above its weight in coverage of its every move.

In January CEO Steve Jobs single-handedly distracted the attention of the world’s technology press from the hundreds of announcements taking place at the Computer Electronics Show in Las Vegas by pulling out an iPhone on stage in San Francisco.

Continue reading “Apple and DRM”