Russell Davies

hans, ken and ted

Two of the best presentations I've ever seen are now available at TED, along with a bunch of others which are also dead good. And they've blogged them in a great way - making them available in all kinds of formats, including letting them be posted on your own blog. Like this:

The first is Ken Robinson, talking about education and creativity in a very funny, very wise and slightly strange way. No charts, no notes, just talking. Genius.

The second is Hans Rosling talking about development issues, the presentation of data and the gap between rich and poor. And by contrast he's all about the charts - and they're the best I've ever seen. And it doesn't hurt that he presents them with enthusiasm and a quiet, warm wit.

So hurrah to TED for sharing this stuff in a really, well, share-y way. But also full marks for them in joining the open world, which must have been a difficult decision for an organisation which gets a lot of perceived value from its exclusivity.

in real life

So, I've been thinking about social media. And I've been trying to make the blogging experience more of a chat and less of a rant. And I've tried a few things. The skype thing just worried me too much. So I backed out of that. The CollectiveX thing was a good idea, and I'm truly grateful to everyone who tried to kick it off, but I don't think I've got the time or energy to manage conversations in two different places. I'm going to think about a better way of using that. Maybe around a specific APSotW project.

And then I was reminded that my Mum used to go to coffee mornings with the Towns Women's Guild, and I realised that that was almost exactly what I wanted to start. A 'coffee morning', doesn't that sound nice? (Sure, half of me'll be trying to pretend it's some sort of salon, or Algonquin Round Table thing, but really it's a coffee morning.)

Anyway, my plan is this. I'll be in The Breakfast Club on D'Arblay Street every Friday at 11am until about 1.30pm. If you're around, drop-in. Just to chat. It'll be nice.

I am beardy, hear me roar

It seems monunmentally arrogant to link to an interview with yourself but hey, if a blog's not about startling levels of narcissiscm what is it about? I met up with Paul Colman a week or so ago and we chatted about all sorts of things. Despite his protestations of incompetence he's a really good interviewer. Asks good questions, doesn't butt in all the time like I do. Plus he's a very nice bloke (with a lurking air of menace due to his apparent ability to cycle for 6 days at a time with no rest and break planners in two with his bare hands). The first bit is here and it's about brands and that, the second one is about blogging and stuff (and I think it's more interesting). They're both pretty long which is testament to Paul's ability to keep people going and my love for the sound of my own voice. I originally thought this kind of thing was way too long but I'm actually wondering whether this extended interview isn't one of the merits of podcasting. It's not like you can do it in any other medium. And it lets you get beyond the soundbites. But maybe I wouldn't think that if it was an interview with someone other than me.

By the way, any conference organisers out there - can you please use this picture as the head shot for me from now on?

I thank you

switzerland 0-0 ukraine (0-3 on pens)

italy 1-0 australia

life poster

Remember that burst of posts about the guy who made a rather splendid Lifeposter for himself. I really wanted one, but the instructions seemed rather laborious and it involved owning a copy of Photoshop. Now, I'm as excited by Make as anyone (I'm a subscriber), but there are some things it's better to pay other people to do. And now, exactly that opportunity has come along. Qoop has turned up on the front page of flickr offering to make all sorts of things from your pictures, and all you have to do is send them some money.

With 5 minutes and $20, (inc shipping) I've got a lovely poster coming of every picture I put on flickr in 2005.

portugal 1-0 holland

what's opera doc?

I wrote about my Nabaztag rabbit a while ago, there's something really appealing about it, it has lots of potential, but it doesn't actually seem to do that much right now. Mine sits on a shelf and announces when the time gets to between 4 and 8 minutes past the hour, roughly. And it occasionally waggles its ears and fails to read out RSS posts.

But one of the things I like about it is it's French and I thought that might lead to a nice quirky take on technology and technology marketing.

So how about this for quirky? These images are from 'Nabaz'mob, an opera for 100 smart rabbits by Antoine Schmitt and Jean-Jacques Birgé'. And you can watch the rather engaging video of the performance here.

Opera. Brilliant. None of your bottom-up web 2.0 nonsense here. Let's go straight for an ancient and elitist art form. Genius. Especially when performed by wabbits.

ageing gracefully

One of the things I hate about the design of most things, especially most electronic things, and definitely most autmotive things, is they're all designed to be new. They're all at their best when you buy them and they get worse the second you remove them from the packaging. Everything premium is made from easily scratchable metal, instantly grubby plastic, or never to be pristine again glossy white stuff. So full marks to Sony for the elegant way a black DSC-T7 loses  its paint and looks kind of cool when it does. Not every one will look like this, my cameras always get pretty battered, but there's a splendid patina to the thing that makes it feel personal and mine.

strandbeest

Went down to Trafalgar Square this morning to watch the Strandbeesten. They're not quite the same as when they're roaming the Dutch beaches, but they were cool all the same. One had been rigged up so kids could push it around instead of being driven by the wind. Another was operated by compressed air rather than the air normally stored by the wind in all those lemonade bottles. Brilliantly sci-fi, hi-tech, low-tech things. They're doing a few appearances in London over the next few days, (via the ICA) - if you're in town I recommend checking them out.

And here's a little minute of video I shot with my DSC-T7: strandbeesten.m4v 11MB