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Showing posts from 2015

Digital Fabrication; Trend or Game Changer?

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In order to survive, we must constantly be able to adapt our behaviour according to the changing environment, or we have to find a way to change the environment. We are not challenged by all the possible visions of what 2025 and beyond could be, but rather how do we make one or more of them a reality.  Whilst there is a significant dependence on us in creating change, technology is making it faster and easier.  The Internet and Web has transformed many processes and industries creating opportunity, change, uncertainty and risk. Much of this change has come from changes in the way services are built and offered, and fundamentally this change has been enabled through software platforms that scale.  The economics of 'free' have emerged and are somewhat understood but the impact of this new model many would argue has not yet been fully recognised . Products, consumer equipment and technology hardware is starting to go through the same painful changes that industrie

What is your maker persona?

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  You are...  The Visionary You’re all about ideas and exploring opportunities wherever you go, in everything you see. You’re creative and ideas-driven with a style that’s visual and intuitive. While you have many ideas, you focus on the ones you know will change the world by harnessing your creativity with your designs. Don't stop dreaming – the tools exist to convert your ideas into reality! http://www.mymakerpersona.com/  

Innovation: nature or nurture?

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Source : My Blog on Huffington image source Nature vs nurture is a most basic of questions about us, our behaviours, management style, our reaction, our attitude and our parenting. However this post is not for or against either side, neither is it a sit on the fence but rather an observation about the specific skill of iteration. My scars come from over 25 years in startup land with the past 12 years in acceleration, incubation and funding both for software and product companies but all with a technology led solution. The struggle I have is that we [royal] assume that one side of nature or nurture is somehow more stable and constant than the other side. Some argue that nature changes little over one generation and is therefore offers stability to measure from, others that nurture is the more stable. No one denies small incremental changes but these are about improvements and overall stability means that you can measure differences of the other force and determine if natu

Net Neutrality Victory

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Dear Tony, You did it. This morning the FCC voted to protect real Net Neutrality , doing what millions of people like you have called for: restoring the agency's authority to protect Internet users under Title II of the Communications Act. It's an incredible victory that wouldn't have happened without every single phone call, email, rally, Facebook post, tweet, meeting with Congress and everything else you've done to protect Internet freedom. Today we get to celebrate something really rare: a concrete win that everyday people made possible. You stood up to corporate giants and created a public policy that will actually protect the public. This moment was more than 10 years in the making. The fight to protect the open Internet has united everyone — grassroots activists, technologists, new civil rights leaders, parents, teachers, students, musicians, artists and millions and millions of Internet users. We've proven that we're a force to be reckoned with in Washing

Privacy or Annoyance. Quick rant: is there a corporate responsibility to use words correctly?

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  Above is the picture of a new information leftet I recieved from my energy supplier #nPower.  In it are the words " We take your privacy seriously ….. therefore tell us how you would like to communite with me to deliver relevant offers ."     My problem. Privacy in this context ( corporate communicating with a customer) is about how you store my data and use my data. This is to do with terms such as You cannot sell my data without my permission and you should protect it at all reasonable costs. Why then do nPower want to confuse the customer, the context and indeed the whole issue with marketing, selling and commutations?   nPower, if you want to speak with me about offers it is called Preferences not Privacy.   Quick rant : is there a corporate responsibility to use words correctly?   In my view the use of the word "privacy" to control the flow of annoying upselling confuses the user and distracts from the actual contractual responsibilities.