Dear twitter……… It’s not you, it’s me

Posted: March 20, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Internet, Social Networking, Tech, Telecoms, Web 2.0 | 1 Comment

I’ve using twitter for just over 3 years, the first surprising thing to note is that a web service has lasted more than 3 years….. Bebo anyone?

Before I start to explain, firstly let me say, twitter is amazing. The instant feed of news and current affairs both local and international rivals any other media platform, further to that I have met (yes actually met, in real life) some amazing people, OpenCoffeeLisburn was founded from a bunch of tweets and I’ve used twitter to place and receive business. Some of the projects I am working on right now have been born through twitter.

BUT…… It’s time to move on, lately I just have not been feeling the buzz from twitter. The dynamic of the people I interact with has shifted, twitter for me today seems to be less of an online community and more of a broadcast mechanic. As someone said to me just this morning ‘it’s like the people on CBs radios who had their mike keyed the whole time’ plenty of talking and not much listening. Self publication and flogging your warped point of view seem to be the order of the day (which, of course I too am guilty off) and I just couldn’t be bothered anymore.

So it’s gone. At 7.13pm today I deactivated my wiseguyrussell account and along with it, 23.456 tweets, 29 lists, 46 listings and 825 followers.

So what now? The people that matter know how to get me on other platforms and I know how to get them, as for the rest ‘I’ll see you in another life brother’

It’s been swell.

CEOPs latest drama ‘exposed’ focuses on sexting

Posted: February 5, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Belfast, Do something Now is good, Explorer Scouts, Extreme Scouting, Network Scouts, Scouting, Scouting Itreland, Scouts, Social Networking, UK Scouts, Venture Scouts, Web 2.0, Web 2.0 | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre, make good short films, really short films.  Well researched and executed hard hitting short films to educate kids and parents on taboo subjects.  Their website is pretty cool too.

Their latest drama ‘Exposed’ is aimed at 14-18 year olds and is focused on ‘sexting’ and the forwarding of ‘naughty’ pictures and video’s and the related consequences of the youth for both.  Below is the promotional drama for the actual video, I can’t show you the actual video yet as it’s only available for teachers and youth workers and I hope CEOP release the drama shortly on YouTube and Facebook as this needs to be easily shared online between teens, not just played in the classroom.

When you get the chance, watch it.  Get parents to watch it and get young people to watch it.

Updated : The movie is now online : watch it 

Read the rest of this entry »

What if the Internet got switched off? ….. And you owned a gun

Posted: February 1, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Business, Do something Now is good, Government, Interesting, Internet, iPhone, Social Networking, Tech, Telecoms, Web 2.0, Wi-Fi | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Imagine a world with no Internet or cell phones. A scary thought eh? For the people of Egypt last week it became a reality as the Government pulled the plug to shut down all
communications in a hope to stop the rioters in their tracks. How wrong was that?

The Internet is the best form of communication and learning around, its both bias and un bias and what’s more IT’S LIVE. No waiting for a news bulletin or a daily news paper, the information contained is raw, both factual and bullshit, both regulated and unregulated.

We, as a race have never been as smart.

Yet the Government of egypt somehow think by pulling the plug, people will go back to state sponsored newspapers and television channels and back to ‘taking their word for it’. Of course what happened in reality was much different, people fought harder and
what’s worse, fundamentalists were able to work under the cover of darkness. Rumours and lies could spread easier and the only way to confirm things was to watch the correpted government broadcast. Total madness.

Dispite this and despite President Obamas plee’s to switch the Internet back on it has emerged that the USofA are actually planned their own Internet kill switch wrapped up in a lovely bill claimed to be ‘Protecting Cyberspace as a National security’

Don’t America’s have the right to bare arms? Good luck with that Mr President.

The future called, it said its going to be expensive

Posted: February 1, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Apple, Business, Do something Now is good, Interesting, Internet, iPhone, Social Networking, Tech, Telecoms, Web 2.0, Wi-Fi | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s difficult to be ‘all things to all men’ in fact many say it can’t be done, yet somehow Steve Jobs has managed to achieve this with the iPad, well in my house anyway. The iPad has became the most fount over device in my house, knocking the remote control of the top spot if has held for the last decade.

For me, the iPad is about constant communication and the perfect business tool for when I’m traveling and a good way to read books, for my wife (who hates technology) celebrity gossip websites, wikipedia and various online retailers get a nightly bashing and for my (nearly) 3 year old daughter, peppa pig is the game of the year and YouTube let’s her watch her favorite shows on demand.

The devise is so in demand in my house, I’m considering purchasing another one for ‘the family’ but then it hit me. The future is damn expensive.

Up until now (through my adult and teenage life), I’ve had all the toys. Right now my essentials include a MacBook hooked up to the TV, another MacBook, two iPhones and an iPad, not to mention the monitors scattered across my desks in Dublin and Moira and various GPS devises. This addiction to technology has never seemed expensive to me for two reasons, firstly, my wife was never really that into new tech so we were never having to buy two at once and secondly as a person working in telecoms, certain toys are passed of a ‘work essentials’ and thus, never paid for.

Fast forward 15 years and my house will contain an 18 year old girl, a 15 year old girl, an aging geek and a yummy mummy, who knows there may even be a 12 year old throw in for good measure.

If 15 years time was today, I should imagine that my two daughters would each demand an iPhone, then a netbook for school and probably an iPad just cause dad has one. Given facetime is what it is and with the LBS apps getting better, my wife may even want to upgrade her Nokia 1110 to some form of iPhone.

Slight heart palpitations begin. How am i going to pay for this?

Of course some of you will be reading this and thinking ‘spoilt brats’ but I have grown up with a passion or technology which I believe has helped me be were I am today. I think it would be wrong to deny them of the same, if the passion is there and they are appreciated correctly.

The Hotel Technology Briefing 2011, Dublin

Posted: January 5, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Belfast, Business, Do something Now is good, events, Interesting, Internet, Northern Ireland, Social Networking, Tech, Telecoms, Web 2.0, Web 2.0, Wi-Fi | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Following on from the Belfast briefing, we decided to run the event again only a bit bigger and this time in Dublin.

The event is specifically for hoteliers and is a informal place to learn from the speakers and other hoteliers just what is going on with technology that effects their business, without being ‘sold’ to.

Next stop………. London (or Cork)

Isn’t our designer just fantastic ?