So over the last couple of years, I’ve amassed a load of crap that needs chucking out.
In 2008, that was all my books and paper from studying for my A Level exams.
But this year I swapped books, notes and paper pads for…
A lil' collection of the bags and shoe-boxes I have amassed from this year.
I just woke up and whilst I was lying in my bed in that odd half-awake-half-asleep stage my phone buzzed and I saw that I had a couple of new emails. Naturally, I opened the email application and there was an email from my previous manager and I was utterly shocked at what I saw. I could barely believe it.
I just heard some very sad news and wanted to share this with you, Ross Moodie, who was a student on a placement with us this hear working as an Event Manager tragically died on Friday in an accident on a mountain in Greece.
Newspaper article about the incident
Ross Moodie was not just a former colleague, but he was someone I worked with on a daily basis. Both Ross and myself shared the same job role. He helped to show me the ropes of that job role and help me settle in. I saw him all the time and he was the first port of call for any of my questions about my job. He was always helpful and whilst it may not have been obvious, he was a hard worker that took pride in his work.
He played hard and worked harder. That was the Ross I’ll remember.
R.I.P Ross Moodie.
Budapest – Vienna – Prague – Leipzig – Berlin – Brussels – Amsterdam
EURO-TRIP! RAWWWWWWR! AHHHHHHH! I’m leaving tommorow morning, flying out to Budapest and then inter-railing across Europe to get back to London on the 11th August.
7 cities across 6 countries within 16 days or 17 nights. Should be awesome, although I am feeling mixed emotions, totally excited but also a little scared because this is the first time I’ve ever done any real travelling (unless Duke of Edinburgh counts?).
PS: I’m not sure if it’s worth updating the blog while I’m out there, but I will definitely be tweeting the whole way though – catch me at http://twitter.com/sandeep29.
A lot can change in one year… perceptions, motivations and aspirations.
The Independent in association with Bosch run a competition on a yearly basis known as The Independent-Bosch Technology Horizons Award. This is an essay based competition where young people write an article to answer the technology themed question.
This year, the question was “How can technology and engineering provide innovative solutions to today’s global challenges?”
Unfortunately I was not selected as a finalist, but I did receive this nice certificate for entering.
Reading back over my essay, I can see that there wasn’t much focus on the actual technology engineering and it is kinda like a massive advert for Obama and his administration.
Ah well! I still think it is an interesting article that highlights technology and innovation helping to solve today’s problems. Hit the link below to read the article and be sure to let me know what you think!
On my last day in Frankfurt, I had the chance to explore the city a little more… Here are some of my photos from my mini-adventure…
When the cream of the crop of an entire generation is boycotting the formal model of pedagogy that’s a storm warning for big changes…
Don Tapscott is the author of “Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything,” and “Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation.”
Robert Scoble of Building43 caught up with him recently at a youth marketing conference, and talked to him about how marketing is changing due to the range of tools that today’s teenagers are growing up with.
Don has some very pertinent points on how society and particularly corporations are embracing (or maybe not embracing) the “new web.” On one side, Proctor and Gamble utilise the Internet to expand their network of researchers beyond the walls of their offices. On the other side, the music industry has mostly failed to make the most of it.
These two examples really high-light the two extremes. Proctor and Gamble, with the new web and the social, collaborative environment it provides, they have been able to derive value from researchers around the world. It’s like tapping into a gold mine. The talent is everywhere, but a network is needed to bring back the value. It’s a win-win situation, researchers get work and get paid and the company finds the knowledge they need. I really like this concept of C&D as opposed to R&D.
On the other hand, the music industry has been slowly dying with the onslaught of music downloading. The attempts to resolve the situation relied on placing Digital Rights Management protection onto the music which controls how that media can be accessed and used. DRM-protected music doesn’t work because most people don’t want some company to dictate how they can enjoy their music. If I would like to burn 4 CDs of music, put the songs onto my phone or mp3 player, then I want to be able to do that.
I’m going to make an assumption that most people who download music don’t give a shit about about actually sharing their music with other people. They just want to listen to the music cheaply and with as little effort. This is where music will transition from a product to a service, and we are already witnessing this with start-ups such as Last.FM, Pandora and Spotify.
Placing DRM protection on music is the same as a company or institution blocking access to Facebook, or parents installing spy-software on the home PC. People will always find ways around these blocks, so these measures are nothing more than an annoyance. They insinuates distrust between the consumer and the provider, and ultimately, they do not solve the problem.
Check out more photos of my trip to Frankfurt here…
Last week, I had the pleasure of attending an IBM senior leadership conference in Frankfurt, Germany. This was a great opportunity. It is very rare for interns/students to go abroad, let alone a significant event such as this one – and it was especially rare for an event like this to occur in the economic times we are facing now.
However, that was a testament to the success this particular group (within the company) has had – so it was a great chance to mix with some of the thought leaders and experts in their fields.
Also, I had never been to Germany before, so it was nice to get out of the country and get to see something new and different.
Hit the jump to read more…
Saw this full-page advert in the CITY AM newspaper (omg! I am a total hypocrit for reading a newspaper!).
Well anyways, I thought it was pretty clever.
Yes.. I am easily amused.
Saw this full-page advert in the CITY AM newspaper (omg! I am a total hypocrit for reading a newspaper!).
Well anyways, I thought it was pretty clever.
