Belfast Media Festival ’14

The Belfast Media Festival is in one week and they’re looking for 2-3 companies who would have something “transmedia” to demonstrate. If you’ve got anything that is translational like mock ups for Doctor Who or Sherlock, film tie-ins, story-heavy games, demos for Oculus Rift and you want to spend a couple of days at the … Continue reading “Belfast Media Festival ’14”

The Belfast Media Festival is in one week and they’re looking for 2-3 companies who would have something “transmedia” to demonstrate.

If you’ve got anything that is translational like mock ups for Doctor Who or Sherlock, film tie-ins, story-heavy games, demos for Oculus Rift and you want to spend a couple of days at the BMF, then let me know.

And if you need/want a student to help host you, ping me ASAP so I can ask them.

Lastly, if anyone wants to come to SuperUnityFriends and help me hack something together, please do.

And yes, they gave us a week to prep. This is something I used to help with back when DC was getting project funding but the mess at Stormont has kinda put the kibosh on that. Here’s hoping they sort that out this week.

So anyway. Anyone doing anything great and fancies talking to TV PEOPLE?

Earlier this year…

Earlier this year I took a chance in politics and I didn’t win. I didn’t even place. But what I learned was useful. I learned that you can’t run an election campaign in 6 weeks. I learned that you need even just a little bit of money behind you to do it. I learned that … Continue reading “Earlier this year…”

Earlier this year I took a chance in politics and I didn’t win. I didn’t even place. But what I learned was useful. I learned that you can’t run an election campaign in 6 weeks. I learned that you need even just a little bit of money behind you to do it. I learned that Northern Ireland is trapped in the past and even those who are apolitical will work to maintain the status quo.

But my hope is not deterred. Nor am I entirely dissuaded from the path.

For all of the talk, our education system is failing more and more children; our healthcare system is beset by paper pushers and front line staff are taxed beyond belief; our public services are failing with uncleared drains, broken street lamps and reduced refuse collection.

I believe that while the two men at the head of the party were deeply flawed, petty and ultimately couldn’t be trusted to do the right thing; the idea of NI21 was absolutely on the money.

I’m tired of hearing nothing but whataboutery when the DUP and SF are given the mic. I’m also tired of hearing from the UUP/SDLP/APNI about how they’re ultimately powerless in the Executive where they serve because of a divvy of power between the two big parties. I’m tired of hearing parties in a government coalition constantly blame each other for the troubles of the day.

I’m sure others agree. I’m sure a load of people think that nothing will change. But this is where they (and Russell Brand) are wrong.

Brand is right that the second clause of

“Don’t vote; there’s no one to vote for”

is actually the most poignant part. So let’s find some people to vote for. Let’s pick them and help them raise their deposits and get them into Westminster. And then let’s pick more for the Assembly.

Let’s base it on sustainable economy; sustainable environment; sustainable education. Let’s change the world because we’re sick of the way things are.

Swarmy…

I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up! from Dave Fothergill vfx on Vimeo. Related posts: Take a couple of minutes to appreciate genius. OpenMoko FreeRunner: *sigh* The Crisis of Credit Paul Graham at TechCrunch50

I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up! from Dave Fothergill vfx on Vimeo.

Cars … Are Friends Electric

When I sleep at night I am rewarded with visions of electric vehicles. The cars we have received from automobile manufacturers are not much further developed than the car you see below. Charging an electric car in 1905 pic.twitter.com/16OYG5WAYH — Old Pics Archive (@oldpicsarchive) October 18, 2014 Electric vehicles are awesome. You may not realise … Continue reading “Cars … Are Friends Electric”

When I sleep at night I am rewarded with visions of electric vehicles. The cars we have received from automobile manufacturers are not much further developed than the car you see below.

Electric vehicles are awesome. You may not realise how awesome but they are beset with some issues which are resisting general acceptance.

Range Anxiety and Charge Time

Consumer-grade electric cars tend to be limited to around 100 miles. Only the electric super-cars (like Tesla) have the range that we expect from cars. My diesel has a range of around 300 miles on a full tank that takes about three minutes to replenish. The Tesla still takes about an hour to charge (at a SuperCharger) and while the cars with 100 mile ranges can get an 80% charge in 20 minutes on a turbo charger.

A supercar like a Ferrari F40 has a range of 750 miles.

Cost to Buy, Cost to Run

Electric cars are expensive. My diesel, with all of the mod cons and dead-cow interiors cost me 50% less than a Nissan Leaf which has a range of 120 miles on a full charge. But it’s hard to deny that electric cars are cost-effective to run. With operating costs of 2 pence per mile, the Leaf is excellent. My car has a 300 mile range on a £60 tank of fuel – which works out at 20 pence per mile.

The operating costs of internal combustion engines, including wear and tear, tend to be higher too.

An Assault on Battery

Batteries are awkward. They’re heavy, they’re expensive.

The lithium-ion battery pack in a Tesla Roadster weighs about 1,000 pounds (453.6 kg). That’s a lot of weight to carry and it can greatly reduce the car’s range. However, the designers of the Roadster have offset this battery weight with a light frame and body panels. The entire car only weighs 2,690 pounds (1220.2 kg)

One of the advantages of a heavy battery is that if you put it at the bottom of the car, it really lowers the centre of gravity.

A New Way Of Thinking

Any one want to help me re-think personal electric transportation?

Spherical Worlds

My work for this week will be following this tutorial. Related posts: Raspberry Pi: some useful links for doing more than playing around. from Virtual Reality to Augmented Reality An Education-focused Link List Old Maps to 3D Worlds

My work for this week will be following this tutorial.

Charity e-Walk….

Covered by the Independent Charity marathons usually involve a lot of sweat, hard work and blisters, but not for one runner, who simply pushed the control stick forwards until he reached the limits of GTA V’s Los Santos. … Super Meat Boy co-creator Tommy Refenes live-streamed the marathon on Twitch, using it to help fund … Continue reading “Charity e-Walk….”

Covered by the Independent

Charity marathons usually involve a lot of sweat, hard work and blisters, but not for one runner, who simply pushed the control stick forwards until he reached the limits of GTA V’s Los Santos.

Super Meat Boy co-creator Tommy Refenes live-streamed the marathon on Twitch, using it to help fund a campaign to buy his diabetic mum an alert dog.

While not particularly gruelling, the walk must certainly have been very boring, with it taking him six hours to walk the length of Los Santos on foot.

With donations flooding in, Tommy also walked the maps of Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which took him two hours and nine minutes and four hours and 19 minutes respectively.

It’s not the same as a 6 hour walk, perhaps. But does it require endurance?

Game School

I’ve always found it easier to work in groups. Being able to talk to someone about a project and, in return, feel better for helping others. So the pitch is; meet once a week, maybe an evening or maybe a lunchtime and write game stuff. Yes, I’ll be leaning on others. But hopefully I’ll help … Continue reading “Game School”

I’ve always found it easier to work in groups. Being able to talk to someone about a project and, in return, feel better for helping others.

So the pitch is; meet once a week, maybe an evening or maybe a lunchtime and write game stuff. Yes, I’ll be leaning on others. But hopefully I’ll help others too.

Why is Belfast getting all the jobs?

Paul gosling at the BelTel has an editorial (which they call a blog) about Why Belfast Is Getting All The Jobs. This is predicated on the recent loss of 900 jobs at the JTI plant in Ballymena. But the jobs aren’t going to Belfast, they’re going to Poland and Romania. He bemoans that Northern Ireland’s … Continue reading “Why is Belfast getting all the jobs?”

Paul gosling at the BelTel has an editorial (which they call a blog) about Why Belfast Is Getting All The Jobs.

This is predicated on the recent loss of 900 jobs at the JTI plant in Ballymena. But the jobs aren’t going to Belfast, they’re going to Poland and Romania.

He bemoans that Northern Ireland’s once-great industries are now relegated to service and contact centres. But this isn’t Belfast’s fault and he’s conflating two different forces here.

Large industries enjoyed outside Belfast in the past for two reasons.

  1. The first was that property was much cheaper and they needed vast swathes of property to spawn their buildings and (due to the state of rural public transport) copious car parks for their copious staff. Any spare space in Belfast was pretty much taken up by Shorts/Bombardier and Harland and Wolff in East Belfast.
  2. The second was that there were regional assistance grants to convince these companies to locate outside Belfast. In effect, they were bribed to go there. The Independent Review of Economic Policy in 2009 specifically recommended against that. It just wasn’t economically feasible to send these companies far away from 60% of the population.

Northern Ireland should be on a par with the rest of the UK with regards to profit centres but unlike the rest of the UK, we’re sharing a land border with an EU state with a 12.5% corporation tax rate. We’re also the poorest region of the UK and we have the highest costs of living per head. Where we excel is not in profit centres and nor is it in low wage, government subsidised contact centres – but in research and development. Yes, these are cost centres but they are also knowledge centres and their value to an FDI is immense if the costs are reasonable. At the moment, however, we’re competing with software centres in the BRIC countries because we’ve lost our way. We can’t compete with low wage countries in Europe or beyond because it’s expensive to live here.

Paul can moan about how there’s low educational attainment on one hand and on the other hand we lose a third of our higher attaining students to other regions of the UK and Ireland but ultimately it’s the political situation that makes that so. And until all of the people who keep voting for these mouth-breathers in Stormont actually change their habits, we will continue to lose our smartest and not have the resources to educate the remainder. We can also moan about how other regions in Northern Ireland aren’t getting their fair share but read the IREP report – traditionally those areas had been getting more than their fair share for years. Whose fault is it that they didn’t exploit that opportunity? Whose fault is it that we have such a divided society? Whose fault is it that we have to have two of everything? Whose fault? It’s your fault, you dopes.

We have to face realities. Real estate is a premium with rising rates and we will find more companies wanting to reduce the amount of square footage they have to pay for. This means knowledge workers and contact workers. They will want workers who can make their way via cheap public transport (an oxymoron in this country as well). They’ll want workers who live close. They’ll also want to settle in an area where there is a cluster of other companies and their workers – because it’s easier to hire people that way.

There’s an injustice in Ballymena of course. Part of it is the same efforts that cost us dearly with the shipyards as we tried to maintain them but arguably ship-building is a noble profession. The manufacture of cigarettes and tobacco products is not something we should be proud of and though everyone could see the writing on the wall with the JTI acquisition, few chose to pay heed to it.

The government knew this would happen but did nothing just as they always do nothing. DETI and DEL could have come out of the gates swinging with a re-education programme but they didn’t. This was something they could have done when Nortel shed 2000 people back in the early noughties and it was something they could have done when Pattons and F G Wilson faltered. But they did nothing.

Yesterday I was speaking to Sinclair Stockman after a meeting with Deloitte. The meeting was regarding the digital economies we have in Northern Ireland. These economies are not for everyone because they are specialised but I mentioned to Sinclair the missed opportunity for DEL and DETI. I also mentioned that with Ballymena Council’s new hub plans and the presence of the ECOS Centre in the district there was a real opportunity for the Universities and Colleges to deliver a real skills boost into the region for the highly skilled engineers at Gallahers. Get them on the renewables train. This could be in the manufacture of renewable fuels, the development of new methods of heat or gas extraction from waste, bio-digesters or whatever. There is an opportunity to start training them now on a day-release scheme from Gallahers.

The Dutch government have a policy when it comes to new trends on the market. They will intervene to create winners. There are hundreds of people in the North of Ireland who could do with that sort of intervention.

People Pay More For Design

Via Loopinsight: A Vogue piece on Jony Ive. Design critics now look back at the birth of the Jobs-Ive partnership as the dawn of a golden age in product design, when manufacturers began to understand that consumers would pay more for craftsmanship. This is something that many people have always understood but until it was … Continue reading “People Pay More For Design”

Via Loopinsight: A Vogue piece on Jony Ive.

Design critics now look back at the birth of the Jobs-Ive partnership as the dawn of a golden age in product design, when manufacturers began to understand that consumers would pay more for craftsmanship.

This is something that many people have always understood but until it was widely appreciated by “the counters of the beans” within companies, products would always be poorly designed.

I was recently in talks with CME in Belfast and they were extremely proud of their efforts in design and user interface and user experience engineering. I found it heartening especially as the fact they acknowledge design makes them a standout among the large software companies in Northern Ireland.