From the outside writing software looks terribly difficult with all those curly brackets, dots, colons and semi-colons however don't be fooled, once you've learnt what all the hieroglyphics mean its all pretty straight forward.
The real challenge in writing software is figuring out what to write in the first place and then communicating that without ambiguity to the geeks.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Friday, April 27, 2007
LBS Cliché
I've been spending a lot of time talking to people about LBS (Location Based Services) and the standard example is "where's the nearest Starbucks". I dont know why but this is the example you hear time and time again.
Anyway, yesterday I was playing with Microsoft Live Search mobile (which is awesome btw) on the way to the OpenCoffee event in Regents Street.
Before I realised what I was doing I'd searched for the nearest Starbucks to 178 Regent Street which is where OpenCoffee was being hosted.
So there you have it; my first LBS search was for my nearest Starbucks!
Anyway, yesterday I was playing with Microsoft Live Search mobile (which is awesome btw) on the way to the OpenCoffee event in Regents Street.
Before I realised what I was doing I'd searched for the nearest Starbucks to 178 Regent Street which is where OpenCoffee was being hosted.
So there you have it; my first LBS search was for my nearest Starbucks!
Counter intuitive
Building significant revenues from nothing is hard,
Building significant eyeballs for free is easier,
Building revenues from eyeballs is plausible.
Therefore, the shortest route to significant revenues is focusing on free eyeballs first.
Weird huh!
Building significant eyeballs for free is easier,
Building revenues from eyeballs is plausible.
Therefore, the shortest route to significant revenues is focusing on free eyeballs first.
Weird huh!
Monday, April 09, 2007
Nintendo Wii
So I was standing outside Game in Kingston at 8.45 on Saturday morning with five other people waiting for the store to open because there was a Nintendo Wii delivery scheduled.
Rather irritatingly the store manager would not say how many Wiis were expected due to "company policy" (what nonsense) however I was in luck and now the Greensted family are the proud Wii owners. :-)
The Wii is like no other console. The motion input is very, very impressive from moving the pointer around the screen very naturally to playing tennis, bowling or baseball.
Everything just works beautifully; connected to my home WiFi without issue and downloaded an internet browser for free.
Microsoft and Sony might have the firepower but right now the Wii has my heart.
Rather irritatingly the store manager would not say how many Wiis were expected due to "company policy" (what nonsense) however I was in luck and now the Greensted family are the proud Wii owners. :-)
The Wii is like no other console. The motion input is very, very impressive from moving the pointer around the screen very naturally to playing tennis, bowling or baseball.
Everything just works beautifully; connected to my home WiFi without issue and downloaded an internet browser for free.
Microsoft and Sony might have the firepower but right now the Wii has my heart.
Doesn't time fly!
I can't believe it's been 431 days since I last blogged.
Most of 2006 was spent focusing on SportsDo with some considerable successes:
* Launched the SportsDo Portal. www.sportsdo.net
* Launched SportsDo Mobile v2 for Windows Mobile and Java phones.
* Adele Prince's meandered around Nottingham for the BBC.
* Exhibited at the London Ski Show to amazingly positive feedback.
* Agreed a two year deal with Crystal Ski to jointly market SportsDo to their customers and provide in resort rentals.
* Licenced SportsDo to BBC Ski Sunday so Graham Bell's camera runs could feature his speed, heart-rate, etc.
* Exhibited at the Triathlon, Cycling and Running Show and made some great new contacts in that world.
* Live tracked the Silverstone Half Marathon (hail and sunshine!)
* Partnered with the MSRC charity to have live tracked runners in the London Marathon. 22nd April 2007.
As SportsDo has gone from strength to strength it has consumed more and more of my time hence the gap in blogging!
I am however now going to try and return to the discipline of blogging regularly. Fingers crossed.
J.
Most of 2006 was spent focusing on SportsDo with some considerable successes:
* Launched the SportsDo Portal. www.sportsdo.net
* Launched SportsDo Mobile v2 for Windows Mobile and Java phones.
* Adele Prince's meandered around Nottingham for the BBC.
* Exhibited at the London Ski Show to amazingly positive feedback.
* Agreed a two year deal with Crystal Ski to jointly market SportsDo to their customers and provide in resort rentals.
* Licenced SportsDo to BBC Ski Sunday so Graham Bell's camera runs could feature his speed, heart-rate, etc.
* Exhibited at the Triathlon, Cycling and Running Show and made some great new contacts in that world.
* Live tracked the Silverstone Half Marathon (hail and sunshine!)
* Partnered with the MSRC charity to have live tracked runners in the London Marathon. 22nd April 2007.
As SportsDo has gone from strength to strength it has consumed more and more of my time hence the gap in blogging!
I am however now going to try and return to the discipline of blogging regularly. Fingers crossed.
J.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Blog to Flog!
I've just arrived back home after an amazing evening at the PSA South East event.
Amazing because I saw my buddy Rob Brown do his thing, amazing because I met some wonderful people and amazing because I delivered my first PSA talk and received some fantastically positive feedback.
I promised to make the presentation available so here it is:
http://www.businessgeek.com/media/psa_showcase.wmv
It was a great evening - thanks to everyone who gave me such wonderful feedback.
J.
Amazing because I saw my buddy Rob Brown do his thing, amazing because I met some wonderful people and amazing because I delivered my first PSA talk and received some fantastically positive feedback.
I promised to make the presentation available so here it is:
http://www.businessgeek.com/media/psa_showcase.wmv
It was a great evening - thanks to everyone who gave me such wonderful feedback.
J.
Sunday, January 29, 2006
PSA South East
I've been asked to perform a PSA Showcase on Thursday 2nd February, if you are interested in seeing me or Rob Brown (who is providing the evenings keynote) please follow this link:
http://www.rob-brown.com/downloads/upload/PSA-London-2-2-06.pdf
These evenings are always interesting and you get to network with some great professional speakers.
Hope to see you there!
J.
PS. The cost is £10 Members/£15 Non-Members or Guests
http://www.rob-brown.com/downloads/upload/PSA-London-2-2-06.pdf
These evenings are always interesting and you get to network with some great professional speakers.
Hope to see you there!
J.
PS. The cost is £10 Members/£15 Non-Members or Guests
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Sms Lottery Source
I was recently asked by Microsoft to host a Chalk and Talk session about Windows Mobile at the Visual Studio 2005, SQL Server 2005 and BizTalk 2006 launch event in Birmingham and London.
I promised the audience I would post the source on my blog so I've done just that on my technical sub-blog:
http://www.businessgeek.com/technical/2005/11/sms-lottery-source.html
Enjoy!
J.
I promised the audience I would post the source on my blog so I've done just that on my technical sub-blog:
http://www.businessgeek.com/technical/2005/11/sms-lottery-source.html
Enjoy!
J.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Gaming the System
Do you like to play games? Did you play games as a child? Do you still play games?
I love playing games; anything from Monopoly (which my family wont play with me any more because I’m such a rubbish loser) to the personal space shuffle (email me if you don’t know this game)
Why is this relevant to Business I telepathically hear you thinking?
Well, some of the most successful people I know are gamers. Not the nerdy computer games type gamers but the successful entrepreneurial type of gamers.
What do George Soros and Guy Levine have in common for example?
They have both made a lot of money from gaming the systems.
George Soros is fondly remembered in the UK for Black Wednesday where forced the UK out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) making himself a reputed $1bn in the process and in my opinion saving the UK from the Euro (thank-you George).
Guy Levine is a Google Guru and has found a way to use Google to generate him a passive monthly income of £50k+. Not quite the £1bn George made but £50k each and every month cant be sniffed at. Ask Guy how he does it – it’s very simple.
So what’s the point I’m trying to make here.
Ok, firstly, how can you game the system for your personal benefit or the benefit of your company/employer and secondly, what systems have you created that people are gaming to their benefit?
Are you the hoover company who suddenly sold lots of appliances when people realised the value of the bonus gift was greater than the equipment cost.
Are you the telecoms company who couldn’t understand why you had calls from phone boxes without matching payment records only to discover people to tap the phone number instead of dialling it?!
I know, I still haven’t made the point!
The point is two fold; what money can you save by gaming other peoples systems and also what money are you loosing from people who are gaming your systems?
Do you need an answer? Ask your business geek.
J.
I love playing games; anything from Monopoly (which my family wont play with me any more because I’m such a rubbish loser) to the personal space shuffle (email me if you don’t know this game)
Why is this relevant to Business I telepathically hear you thinking?
Well, some of the most successful people I know are gamers. Not the nerdy computer games type gamers but the successful entrepreneurial type of gamers.
What do George Soros and Guy Levine have in common for example?
They have both made a lot of money from gaming the systems.
George Soros is fondly remembered in the UK for Black Wednesday where forced the UK out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) making himself a reputed $1bn in the process and in my opinion saving the UK from the Euro (thank-you George).
Guy Levine is a Google Guru and has found a way to use Google to generate him a passive monthly income of £50k+. Not quite the £1bn George made but £50k each and every month cant be sniffed at. Ask Guy how he does it – it’s very simple.
So what’s the point I’m trying to make here.
Ok, firstly, how can you game the system for your personal benefit or the benefit of your company/employer and secondly, what systems have you created that people are gaming to their benefit?
Are you the hoover company who suddenly sold lots of appliances when people realised the value of the bonus gift was greater than the equipment cost.
Are you the telecoms company who couldn’t understand why you had calls from phone boxes without matching payment records only to discover people to tap the phone number instead of dialling it?!
I know, I still haven’t made the point!
The point is two fold; what money can you save by gaming other peoples systems and also what money are you loosing from people who are gaming your systems?
Do you need an answer? Ask your business geek.
J.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
You are the talent
Take a look around…
Are the people you work with truly amazing?
Do the people you work with inspire you?
What are you going to do about it?
Now here’s the real deal – you can’t change other people you can only change yourself.
What are you going to change about yourself today?
Are the people you work with truly amazing?
Do the people you work with inspire you?
What are you going to do about it?
Now here’s the real deal – you can’t change other people you can only change yourself.
What are you going to change about yourself today?
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