Four years for economic recovery?

Been a little while since I ranted about our Redmond friends. Earlier this year… Microsoft Corp. reported … a profit of 1.32 billion US dollars for its third fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2004, down 38 percent from the 2.14 billion dollars for same quarter a year earlier. Microsoft said its revenue for the third … Continue reading “Four years for economic recovery?”

Been a little while since I ranted about our Redmond friends.

Earlier this year…

Microsoft Corp. reported … a profit of 1.32 billion US dollars for its third fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2004, down 38 percent from the 2.14 billion dollars for same quarter a year earlier. Microsoft said its revenue for the third quarter increased to 9. 18 billion dollars, up 17 percent from the 7.84 billion dollars for the same period in the prior year.

Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2009 first quarter ended December 27, 2008. The Company posted record revenue of $10.17 billion and record net quarterly profit of $1.61 billion, or $1.78 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $9.6 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.58 billion, or $1.76 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 34.7 percent, equal to the year-ago quarter.

So, last quarter Apple brought in more revenue than Microsoft and brought in more profit. Okay.

But Microsoft founder Bill Gates has told the BBC that it could take as much as four years for economies in trouble to return to positive growth.

What would he know??????

Digital Media Breakfast, 8 am Thursday 5th Feb

I twittered @antonmannering isn’t there a breakfast thing happening next week? (yes, this is a lead in…) Anton Twittered @cimota That’s right there’s a Digital Media Breakfast in Belfast next Thursday 8am. Exact location TBC (Probably Ten Square or similar) 🙂 I twittered @antonmannering did you say there’s a Digital Media Breakfast in Belfast next … Continue reading “Digital Media Breakfast, 8 am Thursday 5th Feb”

I twittered

@antonmannering isn’t there a breakfast thing happening next week? (yes, this is a lead in…)

Anton Twittered

@cimota That’s right there’s a Digital Media Breakfast in Belfast next Thursday 8am. Exact location TBC (Probably Ten Square or similar) 🙂

I twittered

@antonmannering did you say there’s a Digital Media Breakfast in Belfast next Thursday 8am. Exact location TBC (Probably Ten Square) 🙂 Cool

Did you get it?

Facilitation

From Wikipedia A facilitator is someone who helps a group of people understand their common objectives and assists them to plan to achieve them without taking a particular position in the discussion. The facilitator will try to assist the group in achieving a consensus on any disagreements that preexist or emerge in the meeting so … Continue reading “Facilitation”

From Wikipedia

A facilitator is someone who helps a group of people understand their common objectives and assists them to plan to achieve them without taking a particular position in the discussion. The facilitator will try to assist the group in achieving a consensus on any disagreements that preexist or emerge in the meeting so that it has a strong basis for future action.

“The facilitator’s job is to support everyone to do their best thinking. To do this, the facilitator encourages full participation, promotes mutual understanding and cultivates shared responsibility. By supporting everyone to do their best thinking, a facilitator enables group members to search for inclusive solutions and build sustainable agreements” – Kaner

Sometimes, if you’re working in an area that you are personally passionate about, it can be very easy to be caught up in the flow and be contributing. For the most part – especially when dealing with a small facilitated group and a larger group of onlookers, I find myself constantly defending the decisions of other, justifying the fact that change takes time and that if the process itself is not the full time work of those involved then the process may take an order of magnitude longer.

In many areas it’s not my place to make the decisions. I can work on two levels – helping the core group to get to their destination and also making life easier for the wider audience. An example of this is currently in operation – the core group has a set of tasks to do and little spare time to do it however, in the absence of directed action, it’s possible to work on things and organise events which benefit the wider community that do not take a high level of participation from the core group.

Creative Industries Innovation Fund Workshop – Thursday 29th Jan

Today I posted a quick note about a workshop being held in the OhYeah building (with special thanks to OhYeah and NoMoreArt for helping pull it together). The event itself was conceived during an OpenCoffeeMorning conversation between myself and Marty Neill of NoMoreArt – as he puts it, democracy without bureaucracy. The workshop is designed … Continue reading “Creative Industries Innovation Fund Workshop – Thursday 29th Jan”

Today I posted a quick note about a workshop being held in the OhYeah building (with special thanks to OhYeah and NoMoreArt for helping pull it together). The event itself was conceived during an OpenCoffeeMorning conversation between myself and Marty Neill of NoMoreArt – as he puts it, democracy without bureaucracy.

The workshop is designed to help those in the “creative industries” find the time to fill in the forms for the Creative Industries Innovation Fund. I’ve spoken to a lot of people about this Fund and extolled it’s virtues and I hear a lot of the same story – it’s something they’ll get around to.

Well, time is up. The closing date for this first call is Thursday the 5th of February and if you miss this one it’s months until the next. And the best reason in the world to hold a workshop is to help people focus the mind. Ideally we’re aiming for a largish group of people all focussed on filling in their forms and getting the paperwork out of the way.

There will be two sessions: one from 11 am to 1 pm and the second from 4:30 pm to 6 pm. The content for both is the same and it straddles part of lunch and just after work so that people from all walks of life can make some time to come in and at least get the forms.

The workshop itself is not about guidance – it’s not about trying to ensure success – it’s about getting the forms in on time, because if they’re not in then you’ve got no chance. I have invited representatives from the Arts Council (who are managing the fund), NIMIC and NIScreen (who are especially relevant to the digital content industry) and the Digital Circle Steering Group – hopefully an individual might be able to talk to these representatives and maybe get some guidance or inspiration from people who have experience with this sort of thing.

It’s meant to be collaborative, it’s meant to be a learning experience and it’s meant to be a shared social experience. At the most basic level it’s a heap of forms and pens and desks and chairs. What’s more is that it’ll be a collection of people who all have something creative inside them which they feel is deserving of public funding in order to have it realised.

There’s a form for registry – just to help us get an idea of how many people will turn up so I’d appreciate it if people could register beforehand. The format will be informal and it will be about completing forms.

Infurious back in December

Forgot to post this one – from the Ulster Bank Business Awards. We didn’t win but it was an interesting experience nonetheless – and the free lunch was a bonus. Are these awards worth it? I’m unsure -the stress of preparing for them can distract you from your primary goal – making kick ass products … Continue reading “Infurious back in December”

image30683978.jpgForgot to post this one – from the Ulster Bank Business Awards. We didn’t win but it was an interesting experience nonetheless – and the free lunch was a bonus.

Are these awards worth it? I’m unsure -the stress of preparing for them can distract you from your primary goal – making kick ass products and services.

But it’s not all work – some of it is fun – and it’s good to get distracted. The other two companies at our table were interesting – one provided outsourced skilled labour Europe-wide and the other had a self-erecting marquee product.

NiMUG meeting tonight…

NiMUG are having their January 2009 meeting tonight. Agenda CrossOver Office- Simon Whittaker to give a demo using Crossover Office on the mac to get outlook/project 2000 etc in a Windows office. He has been a Mac user for about 5 years and uses a MacBook Pro for work and a G4 PowerBook for home. … Continue reading “NiMUG meeting tonight…”

NiMUG are having their January 2009 meeting tonight.

Agenda

  • CrossOver Office- Simon Whittaker to give a demo using Crossover Office on the mac to get outlook/project 2000 etc in a Windows office. He has been a Mac user for about 5 years and uses a MacBook Pro for work and a G4 PowerBook for home. He works as the Infrastructure & Hosting Manager for a local company where they use predominantly Windows XP workstations and Windows 2003 servers. He says he loves “the ease of use, stability & security of my mac and have found ways over the years to make my experience of working in a windows environment much easier which I would like to share with others. I am also a strong believer in using open source software where possible and practical.”
  • Troubleshooting and Housekeeping – keeping your Mac running during the Credit Crunch!

Hopefully see some of you there…

Ulster History X

Sammy Wilson is the Environment Minister for Northern Ireland as well as a Member of Parliament for the DUP. He reckons that it’s better to have foreigners in Northern Ireland unemployed rather than locals. The DUP minister, speaking on The Politics Show, continued: “I think you’ve got to be very careful when you talk in … Continue reading “Ulster History X”

Sammy Wilson is the Environment Minister for Northern Ireland as well as a Member of Parliament for the DUP. He reckons that it’s better to have foreigners in Northern Ireland unemployed rather than locals.

The DUP minister, speaking on The Politics Show, continued: “I think you’ve got to be very careful when you talk in those terms because people always accuse you of being racist and xenophobic.
“However, when it comes to a downturn, I think if jobs are becoming vacant and you’ve got people with equal skills, and can do the job, etc., then I think preference should be given to people from Northern Ireland.”

I don’t think there’s any doubt that the statement is espousing a xenophobic attitude.

End of the day, any taxpayer is a good employee and as long as they’re paying tax I’d rather have them working. If this means they have to employ immigrants to Northern Ireland then so be it. We’ve no shortage of people who’d rather sit at home and play computer games or watch television rather than actually get a job or, god forbid, start their own business. And that has nothing to do with immigrants.

Suggesting employers select for jobs based on nationality rather than capability means starting to slide down a slipperly slope. How much pain and anguish did we go through because previously employers were not restricted to equal opportunities and instead employed on the basis of religious background? Does Mr Wilson think that just because we’ve gotten over the ‘religion thing’ that we have to find another scapegoat?

Here’s a quote from a relevant movie: American History X

Don’t laugh! They’re nothing funny going on here this is about your life and mine. It’s about decent hard-working Americans falling into the cracks and getting the shaft because their government cares more about the constitutional rights of a bunch of people who aren’t even citizens in this country.

On the Statue of Liberty it says: “Give me your tired, your hungry, your poor.” Well, it’s Americans who are tired and hungry and poor. And I say, until you take care of that, close the fucking book. ‘Cause we’re losing. We’re losing our rights to pursue our destiny. We’re losing our freedom. So that a bunch of fucking foreigners can come in here and exploit our country. And this isn’t something that’s going on far away. This isn’t something that’s happening places we can’t do anything about it. It’s happening right here, right in our neighborhood, right in that building behind you..

Here, Sammy, you should watch this. (Hint: Prejudice is bad)

Dicking around with QR codes..

This was generated using Rafael Machado Dohms’ QR Code Generator widget for Mac OS X’s Dashboard. I then tested it using Christian Brunschen’s Barcodes app from the iPhone App Store – which worked perfectly. I’m interested in QR codes simply from the point of view of using it to hide messages, whether this be for … Continue reading “Dicking around with QR codes..”

picture-3

This was generated using Rafael Machado Dohms’ QR Code Generator widget for Mac OS X’s Dashboard.

I then tested it using Christian Brunschen’s Barcodes app from the iPhone App Store – which worked perfectly.

I’m interested in QR codes simply from the point of view of using it to hide messages, whether this be for my own nefarious purposes or for communicating ideas in a Alternate Reality Game.

Over the next couple of days I’m going to see what sort of data I can get in there and still make it legible for the iPhone (which has possibly the worst camera in existence).

Then the game will begin.

Northern Ireland Tech Blog launches…

James Scott launched the Northern Ireland Technology Blog in December 2008 and is providing another useful resource for technology companies and startups. The site includes news items, profiles on companies, information for startups, details about the vibrant local “grassroots” tech community and information for students as well as a calendar of upcoming events. The news … Continue reading “Northern Ireland Tech Blog launches…”

James Scott launched the Northern Ireland Technology Blog in December 2008 and is providing another useful resource for technology companies and startups.

The site includes news items, profiles on companies, information for startups, details about the vibrant local “grassroots” tech community and information for students as well as a calendar of upcoming events.

The news provided is tech- and province-focussed with information about the whole technology sector in the six counties.

1984

I’m a little early with this but that’s no bad thing. It’s time to think – to reminisce – and maybe even to plan. Next Monday night, NiMUG will be holding another meeting but this Saturday is much more auspicious. On January 24th Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be … Continue reading “1984”

I’m a little early with this but that’s no bad thing. It’s time to think – to reminisce – and maybe even to plan. Next Monday night, NiMUG will be holding another meeting but this Saturday is much more auspicious.

On January 24th
Apple Computer will introduce
Macintosh
And you’ll see why 1984
won’t be like “1984”

This Saturday is the 25th Anniversary of the Apple Macintosh, heralded by this advert shown during the Superbowl, which has since attained cult status and still wins awards even now. For this advert, Apple hired award-winning director Ridley Scott (best known perhaps for Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down) and the result was a a masterpiece.

Like them or love them, you can’t ignore the Macintosh. While I was exposed to the Mac in university, my first own Mac was a second hand LCII. With the under-clocked anaemic processor and a 10MB RAM ceiling, it wasn’t fast (though as I was used to a Mac Classic, it was no slouch). As soon as I could afford it, I upgraded to a Performa 5400, a 180MHz Black monstrosity that provided me with TV as well as the ability to mess with video clips. It also provided me with my first taste of internet at home with it’s 33600 baud softmodem. I remember buying a 64 MB RAM chip for it and it costing over £100 – bringing me to a whopping 80MB. My next machine was the original Bondi iMac – the machine that arguably saved Apple. This was joined a short while later by Pismo, a 400 MHz svelte black PowerBook with a fantastic batter life and it was on this machine that I took my first tentative steps into Mac OS X – Apple twinning a much improved version of their famous GUI with UNIX was a master step – even if some didn’t believe it was ready for prime time – and those guys probably still aren’t happy. I picked up the Public Beta at Apple Expo and never looked back. I migrated later to a 1 GHz Titanium and then to a 1.25 GHz Aluminium PowerBook. Then to a 1.67 GHz Aluminium model before making the jump to a MacBook Pro. The rest is just recent history. I’ve played around with other “Apple” products such as a Quicktake 150, a Newton MessagePad 120 and 2000, umpteen Stylewriters over the years and there was never any doubt that the next machine would be a Mac. And it’s not for lack of choice – I’ve always, since starting my first professional job, had access to the latest Windows, Solaris and Linux – but none of them held the same shine.

While we might be all ga-ga about the iPhone or concerned about our stocks and shares if Apple’s CEO trips and stubs his toe, it’s about time that we considered how the world would be like without the iPhone, the iPod and the Mac.

Apple finishes their press releases with:

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

Look at your screen with your windows and buttons, with the rounded corners and overlapping windows. Consider how far we’ve come based on the hard graft of that little company in Cupertino. There’s barely a computer in the world which doesn’t bear the mark of those pioneers in Apple. Others have done admirable work – but they were standing on the shoulders of giants.

It seems fitting that this quarter end, Apple celebrated their best quarter ever.

“Even in these economically challenging times, we are incredibly pleased to report our best quarterly revenue and earnings in Apple history—surpassing $10 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time ever,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO.

Thanks, Apple. I’ve enjoyed the last few years – here’s to many more.