Davy's Flickr Blog

Small and far away

2011-12-27T09:23:00.001-08:00

Small and far away, originally uploaded by davysims.

madams organ

2011-09-06T11:37:00.003-07:00

madams organ, originally uploaded by davysims.

Buildings near Dupont Circle

2011-09-06T11:37:00.001-07:00

Buildings near Dupont Circle, originally uploaded by davysims.

Mourne View Museum

2010-02-20T03:06:00.001-08:00

This from today's Your Place and Mine on Radio Ulster. Norman Kerr showing me around his private museum near Laurencetown

And here are few videos.

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Private Museum of Agriculture and Technology

2010-02-14T08:39:00.001-08:00

Last Friday I visited a private collection of agricultural equipment and (what turned out to be) technology near Gilford in County Armagh. I was there to intoerview Norman Kerr about the original mobile defibrillator he had in his collection. But there among the linen collection and farm tools was a collection of old micro-computers.

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And on the way out - this horrific contraption is a dentist drill ----- Think I'd rather be toothless.

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Good Vibrations - the movie

2010-02-07T10:18:00.001-08:00

Just home from Belfast's Queens Film Theatre where a 7 minute pilot/preview of Good Vibrations was being screened to about 100 - 150 people. "Don't get emotional, now." Said Jackie Hamilton (former Moondog now TV producer as he sat down in the row behind me. Beside me was John T Davis the maker of the definitive film of the 1970s punk music era in Belfast Shellshock Rock. In a row further down Brian Young from Rudi and Stuart Bailie, now of the Oh Yeah centre.

It was a fantastic 7 minutes. And it did bring a small tear to my eye. So when the full movie is made (no one is saying quite when, there is finance to be raised and shooting to do during the summer), I expect I will blub all the way through.

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Told You I Was Famous Once (part II)

2010-02-07T02:11:00.001-08:00

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I told you I used to be famous

2010-02-05T18:01:00.001-08:00

In 1983 a renowned and respected Channel 4 programme called The Tube made a film about music in Belfast. It was repeated about a year ago as part of Channel 4's 25th anniversary.

I know I should respect copyright etc - but I was never paid for this - and I expect the bands were never paid for this either. So until I get a cease and decist, I'll post this wonderful film about Belfast in 1983.

PS it won't be available until about 0300 6 Feb 2009

Here's the link -

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Belfast Media Square Mile (and a bit)

2010-02-05T14:58:00.001-08:00

This is not much more than a Sunday afternoon doodle locating the creative and digital industries (and related offices) around approximately a square mile in Belfast. The idea came from the Silicon Roundabout map in Wired (UK) 2.10 (Feb 2009) More about that here. It's not exhaustive. It's open to add as you see fit. View Media Square Mile (and a bit) in a larger map

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(Very) Basic Twitter Tips for Business

2010-02-03T07:01:00.001-08:00

This is a version of my Belfast Telegraph column from 2 Feb 2010

It is more than a year since the Great Twitter Adoption. Within a few months Twitter stories were all over the media. @StephenFry earned acres of coverage when he sent a photograph and Tweets from inside a lift stuck between two floors. This was the new frontier and Mr. Fry was elevated to be the great public Twitter leader of the non-digerati – rightly so. Stories of an easy way to communicate with strangers (in or out of a lift) emerged just as the economy was crumbling. Businesses saw this mass migration to one platform as a new way to market.

Some blundered in and started firing off marketing messages to an audience they hadn’t got to know and without understanding that the great thing about Twitter (and other social media) you can chose not to listen to someone.

Some got it right. From their experience I offer the following as “learnings”. Businesses can use Twitter successfully; they just have to appreciate the local customs.

1 – Human or Business? People like people and they tend to be less interested in corporations and businesses. A business is there to sell – social media is about being social. Be a person, use your own name not your businesses. There are some exceptions – information providers like newspapers and magazines are generally OK to use their business name, only. But a person is even better.

2 –Write with a personal voice, write the way you speak.

3 – Beware, 140 characters does not lend itself to subtlety or irony.

4 – Follow and be followed. Twitter is a place to get to know people. Find followers. What are you interested in? Find people posting on the same topics. Follow them and some will follow you.

5 –Sell? Sell? Sell? – No! No! No! But do provide information.

6 – Reply. If someone sends a message – reply, unless you want to ignore them.

7 – Share. Don’t just promote your business. Tell people about what you are doing, reading, exploring and find interesting.

8 – Unless you are amazingly talented – humour rarely works.

9 – Re-Tweet. Someone you follow said something interesting? Then Re-Tweet. Support your friends and they’ll support you.

10 – Remember #followfriday. Recommend people you find interesting to others.

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Ten rules for success in the creative industries

2010-01-30T07:22:00.001-08:00

About a year ago I was at a discussion in Ofcom in Belfast where we were talking about Creative Industries and Digital Media. One session was led by Professor Paul Moore from University of Ulster Magee. He passed round a few pages from the book The Creative Economy by John Howkins.

In the chapter Managing Creativity the author sets out Ten Rules for Success. Recently I found the pages at the bottom of a pile of papers as I was clearing up my desk and though that with due reference to the book I’d post a shortened version of the rules:

1 – Invent Yourself Create a unique cluster of personal talents. Own you image. Manage it. Build momentum. Dance as if no o ne is looking. Be clear about your assets and talents.

2 – Put the priority on ideas, not on data Create and grow your own creative imagination. Build a personal balance sheet of intellectual capital. Unerstand patents, copyright, trademarks and other intellectual property ... Entrepreneurs in the creative economy are more worried if they lise their ability to think than if their company loses money.

3 – Be nomadic Nomads are at home in every country. You can choose your own path and means of travel, and choose how long you stay ... most nomads travel in groups , especially at night. Charles Handy says leaders must “combine a love of people” and a “capacity for aloofness” ... creatives need both solitude and the crows, thinking alone and working together.

4 - Define yourself by your own (thinking) activities, not by the (job) title somebody else has given you. If you are working for company X on project Y, say you are working on project Y for company X. People who are brave call themselves ‘thinkers’. Computer companies concoct and sell ‘business solutions’ to their clients solutions; in the creative economy, we can think and exchange creative solutions with each other.

5 – Learn endlessly. Borrow. Innovative ... Creative artists scavenge for new ideas ... Use networks, if you can’t find the right one, start it. Take risks and do unnecessary things.

6 – Exploit fame and celebrity. The production costs are small and relatively fixed. fame is what economists call a ‘sumk cost’, which cannot be recovered but which can be freely exploited at no further expense, and both fame and celebrity bring virtually unlimited rewards in terms of the ability to charge more for one’s services and to revitalize a life or career that is momentarily stuck. Being well known .... is as important in the creative economy of the twenty-first century as good typing speeds were in the clerical economy of the twentieth. The essence of being a star, as shrewdly revealed by David Bowie is ‘the ability to make yourself as fascinating to others as you are to yourself’ This is ... about being famous ... for being creative ...

7 - Treat the virtual as real and vice-versa. Cyberspace id merely another dimension to everyday life ... Bandwidth is useless without a message, without communication. At all times use RIDER; review, incubation, dreams, excitement and reality checks.

8 - Be kind. Kindness is a mark of success. Data never say ‘please’ Humans can and should say ‘please’, and mean it.

9 – Admire success openly. Equalluy don’t be fixated on success; be curious about failure ... You will never win if you cannot lose.

10 – Be very ambitious. Boldly go.

11 – Have Fun.

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Twitter trends predict 2010’s zeitgeist

2010-01-26T07:44:00.001-08:00

From Belfast Telegraph column 19 January 2010

The best way – and probably the only efficient way - to keep track of Twitter comments and conversations is the hashtag “#”. Like all good social media, the idea of including a hashtag subject within a comment was developed not by the people who founded Twitter, but by the people who run it – the Users.

The web site What The Trend which tracks Twitter conversations have reported the top trending topics for last year < whatthetrend.com/zeitgeist >. The Zeitgeist is usually defined as “The Spirit of the Times” and What The Trend claims that helps you find out what's trending on Twitter and why. For each trend, they give a quick explanation of why it's trending. These explanations are edited by the users of the web site.

The Iranian Election is rated as Number 1Trending Topic for 2009 with the hashtag #iranelection as Users around the world changed their Location Status to Tehran (to help confuse the Iranian secret police) and news from the protests was posted on Twitter giving the protesters a voice they had previously been denied. More prosaically #musicmonday (and later #mm) is 2 and comments about Michael Jackson’s death is at 3.

In the top 20 we wade through topics relating to film, technology and entertainment. There is, as you would expect, a US bias but the UK does make several impressions on the Zeitgeist. The top media name was #bbc , and the most mentioned living person was Susan Boyle – without the hashtag. The top fictional character was Harry Potter. The top sports are US based until you reach #Wimbledon at 66 and the top and only football team (that’s soccer, not US football) is #Liverpool at 69. #UKsnow (short lived but big impact) was at 88.

So what are the likely Twitter Trending Topics for 2010? What will inspire the Twitteratti? What event will engage the Slactivists? “Predictions are always difficult, especially about the future” said the wise one time baseball player and manager, Yogi Bera.

There are some topics and trends that we can expect. Look out for the return to the Twitter Zeitgeist the hashtag #UKsnow which is already making a comeback. Keep an eye out for #UKVote or something similar in the next few months. And highest regards for the person who manages to come up with a shorter hashtag than #WorldCup2010. A good hashtag should really be no more than 7 or 8 characters.

I’ll make one prediction that may come to pass in one form or another. Should the economic conditions remain the same – or get worse, and if predictions of a rise in unemployment are realised then one potential outcome is a new use for Twitter. Users will post links to their online CVs and like 21^st century Yosser Hughes from Boys From the Black Stuff will tag their posts #gisajob.

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Knockmany Chambered Cairn

2009-12-19T10:34:00.001-08:00

I was on a guided tour of Knockmany Chanber Cairn a few weeks ago. This morning on Radio Ulster I was talking to Anne Marie McAleese on Your Place and Mine about it and played the interview with Edith Logue and Prof. Mark Bailey, the director of the Armagh Observatory who thinks that the neolithic stones might be about how the skies looked 5,000 years ago.

Find out more about it here

There is a video here on YouTube

And photos here on Flickr

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Contains Strong Language

2009-12-16T01:22:00.001-08:00

The third series of the brilliant BBC TV comedy “The Thick of It” has come to an end. It tells the story of the fictional Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship and in particular the relationship between the Number 10 “enforcer” Malcolm Tucker played by Peter Capaldi and – in the most recent series – the Minister for the department Nicola Murray MP played by Rebecca Front.

“And this has got to do with Twitter because ...?” It has to do with Twitter because of the number of members of the cast and writers who use Twitter and the way they interact with fans who follow them. After each programme Rebecca Front (@rebeccafront) will be on Twitter talking to people who have just watched the programme. You’ll also find Chris Addison (@mrchrisaddison) who plays Oliver Reeder, writer Ian Martin @IanMartin and others.

Before the end of the series I sent this “Follow Friday”

• #ff Special for fans of The Thick of It @mrchrisaddison @rebeccafront @IanMartin @jessearmstrong1 @richardpbacon @willsmithuk @AIannucci

The next day I got this message from Ian Martin:

• IanMartin @davy_sims plus... @joannascanlan @pollykemp and the massive massive writing talent that is @simonblackwell x

Here is the point. A programme has just been broadcast – a fairly controversial one, too (“contains strong language”). And the writing and acting talent are in a public place to talk to each other and their friends and their fans. It’s not a construct, it’s not a publicity stunt. It’s just people talking to people.

When I talk to businesses about engaging in Social Media the first response is always “but what if somebody says something bad about us?” Then we have the conversation about talking to your customers as friends not as potential whingers and whiners. I tell them that if they are a good business then people will speak well of them and anyway, if someone has a complaint, should you not be dealing with it and even better to be seen to be dealing with it?

It’s hard to identify anyone more exposed to complaints and whinges than an actor who has just been on TV in a controversial programme. But there is the cast and creator Armando Iannucci (@AIannucci) having perfectly decent conversations.

Would Social Media be good for your business? Yes, unless you have something to hide.

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Guess!

2009-12-14T07:11:00.001-08:00

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2009-12-10T05:16:00.001-08:00

(Belfast radio station) Citybeat gives away an iXmas http://ping.fm/CvhHU

£950 Green Data Centre for Scotland

2009-12-04T01:32:00.001-08:00

Following the post yesterday about the DETI announcement of £48 million on telecoms infrastructure, friend Bill McCluggage drew my attention to this:

Data centre to attract crucial investment

He mentioned it in his Twitter stream yesterday too.

And he is right the NI investment is Dwarfed by Scotland. The story in a nutshell: "A £950 million ‘green’ data centre targeting £3.5 billion of potential inward investment has been approved for Scotland."

I strongly believe that individuals and families all over Northern Ireland should have access to high quality broadband. Bill was one of the driving forces behind getting NI to where it is now (and achieved that about 5 years ago). But in a post industrial economy where cranes that helped build ships are now tourist attractions and where there is the skills and talent to develop a robust digital economy, then the Investment focus needs to shift to supporting the emerging digital economy. We could have the best connectivity in the world - we should have the best connectivity (up and down) in the UK.

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Foster announces £48million investment in telecoms

2009-12-03T05:27:00.001-08:00

This announcement from DETI is interesting/encouraging. But - I don't know, you tell me - is 2Mb/s up good enough to support digital businesses? I would have thought synchronous 10 Mb/s would be needed as a minimum. 10 Mb/s for consumers is really quite good, but for digital content producers?

Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster has announced an investment totalling £48million in Northern Ireland’s telecommunications infrastructure.
The Next Generation Broadband project involves the introduction of new technology to increase broadband speeds in Northern Ireland over the next 18 months. It is targeted at areas across Northern Ireland, both urban and rural, which will deliver the greatest economic benefit by receiving high speed broadband.

BT is investing close to £30million in the project, with a further £18million coming from the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment (DETI), under the European Regional Development Fund's (ERDF) European Sustainable Competitiveness Programme and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) Rural Development Programme.

Under the project, BT will deploy fibre to the cabinet technology to a majority of businesses with other fixed line solutions being used where appropriate. The tender specified that businesses in urban areas should receive a minimum downstream speed of 10Mb/s and ones in rural areas 2Mb/s. This will be delivered with many businesses set to receive speeds well in excess of those benchmarks.

Full Press release here http://www.northernireland.gov.uk/news/news-deti/news-deti-031209-foster-announces-_48million.htm

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TotalMobile

2009-12-02T10:10:00.001-08:00

TotalMobile is a new business from Consilium.  It is led by Consilium’s Chief Technology Officer Gareth Tollerton with a team in Belfast. TotalMobile is an Enterprise Mobile Working solution designed for any business or organisation with people who spend time working outside the office. It has recently begun working in the US market.

Gareth spoke to Davy Sims about the challenge of developing new products in an emerging area of technology.

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For more information about Total Mobile visit <a href="http://www.totalmobile.co.uk" >www.totalmobile.co.uk</a>.  The Consilium web site is <a href="http://www.ctechs.co.uk" >www.ctechs.co.uk</a>

For more about Momentum visit <a href="http://www.momentumni.org" >www.momentumni.org</a>

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Twitter Cookbook

2009-12-02T02:04:00.001-08:00

Full version of my Belfast Telegraph column

Think you can’t say much in 140 characters? How about a full recipe for Yam and leek Soup?

Yam Leek Soup: saute leek&onion/T buttr/t mixspice. Simmr20m+4c stock/3c yam/tater/bay. Rmv bay; blend+½c yogurt/s+p. Top w tst pumpkinseed.

@Cookbook on Twitter provides a stream of more than 300 recipes with new ones being added almost every day.

· Garden Chicken Soup: brwn onion/½lb/225g chopchickn/3T oil; +t s+p/2T wine&herbs/bay/2c pep&carrot&tom/c orzo/4c h2o. Simmer15m. Top w parm.

The author is Maureen Evans (@Maureen) one of the first members of the Twitter community. From Canada then San Francisco she now lives in Co. Antrim. “I'm obsessed with the possibilities and constraints of language -- including new forums of conversation, such as Twitter. I'm also interested in making things: creativity, ingenuity, and learning to do things for oneself. I believe that people are more capable than we often think, including in our kitchens!”

A graduate student in Creative Writing at Queen's University, Maureen is working on a collection of poetry. That interest is reflected in her haiku stream on Twitter, @maureen. “Food is another passion of mine; I'm constantly cooking, and that interest is recorded on @cookbook -- which is in effect a diary of my kitchen.”

Humus: Mid East. Soak c chickpea 8h. Replace h2o; simmer3h. Drain. Puree/season to taste+⅓c tahini&lem&olvoil/½t garlic&salt/cayenne. Chill.

“I really enjoy the food in Northern Ireland, where the vegetables come to my countertop still covered in earth! The locality and quality of Northern Irish food is nearly unmatched in the modern food, and I would urge fellow residents to celebrate that in their own kitchens.”

Biftek à la Parrilla: Argentina. Cvr4steak/½c olvoil~h. Rmv; +2T coarsesalt. Sear1st side@high; +3m@med for med-rare(5m welldone). Turn/rep

The initial idea of @cookbook was to share Maureen’s love of food with a few friends. “I felt Twitter was a way I could remind people of life's little pleasures, and make them curious about cooking again. Solving a tiny recipe is like solving a riddle -- it makes you concentrate, and remember the cooking experience that you figured out.”

You can follow Maureen’s recipes on www.twitter.com/cookbook and her haiku on www.twitter.com/maureen

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Total Mobile from Consilium

2009-12-01T08:18:00.001-08:00

Total Mobile is a new business from Consilium. It is led by Consilium’s Chief Technology Officer Gareth Tollerton with a team in Belfast. Total Mobile is an Enterprise Mobile Working solution designed for any business or organisation with people who spend time working outside the office. It has recently begun working in the US market.

Gareth spoke to Davy Sims about the challenge of developing new products in an emerging area of technology.

For more information about Total Mobile visit www.totalmobile.co.uk. The Consilium web site is www.ctechs.co.uk

For more about Momentum visit www.momentumni.org

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Erik Van Ommeren on Cloud Computing

2009-12-01T06:17:00.001-08:00

Erik van Ommeren, Director of Innovation at Sogeti and author of Collaboration in the Cloud speaks to Momentum about Cloud computing.

Erik spoke at an event in Belfast on Friday 27 November organised by Socitm – the Society of Information Technology Management and supported by Momentum and Sogeti.

The presentation ranged beyond the unexpected including new management and leadership thinking, how younger people’s expectations are driving change in information technology and how the business IT department will change to manage the use of Cloud computing.

During the presentation Erik asked the audience what they thought could computing is. Davy Sims spoke to Erik after the presentation and asked him the same question.

You can hear the interview by visiting the Momentum iTunes channel or downloading the podcast here:

You can also download Erik's book "Collaberation in the Cloud" here

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Wired's Top 50 Websites

2009-11-28T16:00:00.001-08:00

The first few are not very interesting:

Googlr

Yahoo

MSN

Apple

Wikipedia

Amazon

YouTube

Facebook

Twitter

The Pirate bay

the NYT

Firefox

Adobe

Digg

eBay

Flickr

Craigslist

deviantart

wordPress

Huffington Post

Drudge Report

Daily Show (even more boring now they don't serve in UK)

CNN (gawd - almost asleep here)

Guardian

WoPo

Techcrunch

WSJ

TED

vimeo

Firendfeed

hulu

puypal (com on guys nothing interesting ...)

Stumbleupon

Blogger

Dailymotion

MySpace

O'Rei;;y

last.fm

Delicious

Drupal

Ask

Blizzard

CNET

Skype

Fotolog

mixi

Spiegal.de

Hmmm - that was not interesting

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All I know about deer in 10 minutes

2009-11-28T07:27:00.001-08:00

I few weeks ago I went to see the Sika deer in Gortin Glen Forest Park. I spoke to John Millmore about the deer and then this morning headed into Radio Ulster and the Your Place and Mine programme to talk deer.

Duration 9:26

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Slugger Awards - What Geldof Had to Say

2009-11-25T02:07:00.001-08:00

Bob Geldof made a plea (via video) at the Slugger Awards for a fair deal in Northern Ireland for the provision of local news in the digital age.

“You’re all aware, I think, finally what’s been going on with new media in Northern Ireland and basically what’s been going on is that the old media have managed to get a lock out on any new funding coming into Northern Ireland for finding out what sort of local news or new ways of delivering it that maybe possible."

Below the Radar ... is a superb production company, a Northern Irish production company is part of the Ten Alps group [founded by Geldof] and they wanted to go with the Belfast Telegraph; they wanted to contest the option for auction for delivering local news in NI.

“And we found out that somehow not only us, but everyone else who wanted to compete had been excluded and it’s preposterous – it seems to be ok that England, Wales and Scotland will get millions of pounds flowing their way to test out new ways and new media for delivering local news but not Northern Ireland. It’s like it’s ok for NI to be the also-ran in the UK, not to get money for new companies, or new ways for delivering new media."

See what Geldof had to say on the Below the Radar web site

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Slugger Awards

2009-11-24T13:49:00.001-08:00

The Slugger Awards Held were tonight in the Black Box in Belfast,

For full coverage of winners etc check out www.sluggerotoole.com

Download the MP3 here

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Knockmany Chambered Cairn

2009-11-22T05:43:00.001-08:00

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For the Radio Ulster programme Your Place and Mine I visited the Knockmany Chambered Cairn just outside Augher. Professor Mark Bailey is the Director of the Armagh Observatory and Edith Logue works for the NI Environmental Agency.

You can read more about Knockmany here: http://star.arm.ac.uk/Knockmany/ on the Observatory website. After broadcast, I’ll add audio recorded at the chamber.

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2009-11-19T12:43:00.001-08:00

There are others

Breakfast with BBC Trust

2009-11-18T02:47:00.001-08:00

This was published this morning on my Digital Circle Ning blog which is only available to members.

Every so often the full membership of the BBC Trust meets in Belfast. This is one of the out of London meetings shared by Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland. In addition to meeting BBC staff, they meet with other stakeholders and interested parties to garner opinion and thoughts about the BBC and how it operates and the view from the Nation.

This morning I had breakfast with the Chair Sir Michael Lyons, the local chair Rotha Johnston Trustee for Northern Ireland plus others from UTV, News Letter, Screen NI, Ulster Museums and Invest NI. Yes, the discussion was wide ranging from commissioning to how Northern Ireland is presented on screen (factually and in entertainment and drama), is there sufficient balance between News and Business coverage, what is the role of BBC Online’s news Service?

When people sit in a room and discuss BBC commissioning, the focus always falls on television commissioning. Perhaps because it has the biggest budget, perhaps it’s because it has the most people working in it. My criticism – which was accepted – was that the BBC does not have a strategy for engagement with the digital content industry, not just BBC Northern Ireland, but in the BBC as a whole. Officially 25% of the BBC Future Media budget should go to external suppliers. In Belfast it did from the year that rule was introduced (I was managing the budget and worked with a bunch of suppliers). I expect that it still does. But there is a bigger challenge. The big budgets are found in what is called Network production in television and in radio. The big budgets are in London and we (the DC industry here) need to be engaging with the BBC to access those budgets, prove our creativity and compete with any other supplier in the UK.

But the BBC has a partnership responsibility here.

BBC in London believes that it is approachable and open to ideas. As a Nations producer and editor within the BBC, approaching London Central was difficult enough. From Belfast as an external supplier, it remains almost impossible.

But I also think we restrict ourselves in what we are supplying and what we are expected to supply. Yes, it should be web sites and technology platforms. But it must also be content – what I (and they) call Editorial Content.

And it needs to be sustainable.

I know that Peter Johnston Director Northern Ireland and Rotha Johnston (no relation) the Northern Ireland Trustee are both keen on developing a business and supply modal here. I know Alistair Hamilton of Invest NI shares that intention.

But we need some leadership, a road map and a sustainable conversation. Digital Circle will engage, and engage constructively.

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Slacktivism

2009-11-17T10:29:00.001-08:00

This week's Belfast Telegraph article

It's called “Slacktivism”: a mix of Activism and Slacker describing how some people support a cause by doing no more than signing an online petition, or joining a Facebook group or taking part in a Twitter-storm.

Slacktivism is a pejorative term, but the motivation behind a person’s engagement in an issue can be positive. Most of us are not in a position to change public perception or opinion even if we had the time and resources, even the inclination to put our boots on and take to the streets. Following the Iranian elections in June supporters of the Iranian opposition did take to the streets in protest. Some Twitter users outside Iran added a green tinge to their profile photo to show support to the protesters. Some even changed their profile location to Tehran believing that this would hinder the Iranian authorities. We were told Iranians were using Twitter to arrange protests, the government was trying to monitor them and it was though that the more people on the platform with a false Tehran location the harder it would be to track the real organisers. Who knows whether it did or not.

In October newsrooms were prevented from reporting information about Trafigura by threat of severe legal action (http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/commons-protest-as-trafigura-gag-lifted-14530143.html). It was a Twitter-storm that brought the story into the public domain showing the “super-injunction” to be impotent. While some registered outrage others became online detectives digging up the information that the public was being prevented from knowing. This was not slacktivism, this was mass collaboration that confounded the legal status quo. But every hash-tag helped.

Signing up to a Facebook page in protest or support doesn’t take much effort. People have been hoodwinked. As a part of a psychological experiment, Anders Colding-Jørgensen created a Facebook protest group that went from 125 to 27,500 members in two weeks. The cause, “Save the Stork Fountain” was a totally fictitious protest against the demolition of a famous Danish fountain. He wanted to understand if political campaigns like that could work. His conclusion was that they don’t. People sign-up to the headline not the issue.

Some Twitter and Facebook campaigns might be superficial and transient but Slactivism is surely better than apathy. It is us Slackers 40th birthday present to the Internet.

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Mintel Report on Social Networking in Ireland

2009-11-17T07:13:00.001-08:00

Mintel reports this week that social networking continues to grow in popularity among Irish consumers, with penetration reaching 67% in December 2008.

The growth of this activity has brought with it an innovative and engaging way for companies to increase brand awareness, develop and maintain a relationship with their target audience, and crucially create an opportunity to generate sales. Several Irish companies have recognised the potential that online social networks offer them and have acted upon this by setting up profile pages, for example, to get the b2c conversation started.

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Orchard Acre Farm

2009-11-14T02:33:00.001-08:00

Orchard Acre Farm near Irvinestown in Fermanagh has been run by Teresa and Hugh since 1989. It runs courses, classes and events on growing and cooking "from plot to pot". Winner of environmental awards such as a 2009 Sustainability Award their philosophy is "We work with Mother Nature not against her.We don’t tell people how to live their lives. Guests, students and visitors to Orchard Acre Farm simply come here to learn for themselves and have an enjoyable experience in a beautiful unspoilt part of North West Fermanagh. We are happy that some of our visitors leave without ever knowing just how really green their visit was."

I visited the farm in September and interviewed Teresa. The report was broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster's Your Place and Mine today

Download from simsdigitalmedia.com/audio/ypam/farm.mp3

Posted via email from Davy Sims Posterous Site

2009-11-12T05:49:00.001-08:00

Google Tests Skippable Ads In YouTube Videos http://ping.fm/97bKQ

2009-11-12T05:48:00.001-08:00

Current TV shifting from in-house to towards out sourcing segments, acquisitions, co-productions 80 staff to go http://ping.fm/ZyYZW

Doing Business with China

2009-11-10T05:32:00.001-08:00

A friend who held a senior post in the Department of Trade and Industry (now Business Innovation and Skills) in London, now has his own company, Levering Limited, and shares his time between the UK and Asia where he now spends much of his time. He is working from there with businesses in China largely on Outsourcing. Mervyn has first hand, up to date knowledge and experience of 20 Chinese cities and many local innovative, talented hi-tech companies - all with robust IP protection and excellent English language skills. He is also a Global Star Certified Adviser to the International Institute for Outsource Management.

Mervyn and I are doing some business together on providing services from China to the UK and Ireland.

Businesses from here who I have spoken to in the past have not been terribly impressed with outsourcing to India; they find it hard to manage the work with the agent in India and the work being done there. No one that I have spoken to has done work with China. However, with someone here (me) and someone there (Mervyn), I think we can offer a more efficient service. You would be dealing with me face to face, me with Mervyn on Skype and Mervyn face to face with the suppliers in China. Yes there is an extra link, but one that until now appears to be missing.

So if you are looking to outsource anything below on, for example, IT, Content/Media, Business Process, contact me and we will have a face to face conversation on sourcing a suitable partner in China.

Software and Application Development across all industries, including Testing and Maintenance
New Media and Content Management, including Games, eLearning, Web Design, Flash and 3D Animation
Translation and Localisation
Full Range of Enterprise Solutions, e.g. Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Customer Relationship Management, Database Entry and Management, Infrastructure Management, HR, Accounting,
Product Lifecycle Management
Telecoms, including iPhone apps
Financial Services
Embedded technology
Semi conductor chip technology
R&D
Plant design and automation

A partnership with China could substantially enhance your organisation's competitiveness, as well as potentially helping to access the world’s largest, fastest growing market. The overwhelming majority of Fortune 500 Companies have outsourcing partners in China - an increasingly attractive outsourcing destination for companies of all sizes.

Drop me a line: ds at davysims dot co dot uk

Posted via email from Davy Sims Posterous Site

City Walls and Crumlin Road Gaol

2009-11-09T12:05:00.001-08:00

On the day Berliners and the rest of the world celebrated the fall of the Wall, WIMPs launched their Peace Channel with four films made by young people all about Belfast's "Peace" Walls that still separate parts of Belfast.

Adding to the irony they chose the Crum (Crumlin Road Gaol) for the launch.

Congratulations to them all.

Posted via email from Davy Sims Posterous Site

2009-11-09T10:52:00.001-08:00

In Crumlin Rd gaol where it is as they say in these parts 'baltic'

2009-11-09T04:43:00.001-08:00

At Citi's new building beside Odessy looking over Titanic Quarter. V impressive

You'll never go hungry in Holywood

2009-11-07T13:32:00.001-08:00

Cafe Nero opened today in Holywood. That means there are at least 12 coffee/snack places plus carry-outs and restaurants.

From memory, here's a list starting at the top (Belfast end) of the town - a total distance of 500 yards:

High Street ...

Bukara Indian restaurant

Sun Island Chinese Carry Out

Holywood Pizza Carry Out

Bay Tree Coffee/snack/lunch

Another Pizza place (almost opposite)
Coffee Yard (Coffee/snack/lunch)

Subway coffee/snack

Centra Carry Out

The Streat coffee

Kentucky Chicken (?) Carryout

Georgia's (?) Chippie

Fontana Restaurant

Cafe Nero Coffee

Cafe Kina Coffee

The Attic

Skinners (Bakery Cafe)

Coffee Emporium

Wine and Co

Water Margin (Chinese)

Ganges (Indian)

Holywood Fish Cafe

Other Streets ...

Enigma restaurant (Sullivan Place)

Platform Restaurant/Bar (Hibernia St)

Dante's Sandwich Take Away (Hibernia Street)

Koi (Chinese/Asian) (Shore Street)

Loganberry Coffee (Shore Street)

Panini's (Coffee) Church Road

Dynasty Chinese Take Away Church Road

The Bistro Church Road

That other Chippie on Hibernia Street

(Noticed another new coffee shop on Church Road today - missed the name)

And there is work going on in what used to be Jiggery's

I've probably left out a few - so I'll update as I remember them all.

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Untitled

2009-11-07T02:08:00.001-08:00

A Pocket Guide to Social Media and Kids from Nielsen http://ping.fm/hy64i

via Ping.fm

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2009-11-07T02:07:00.001-08:00

A Pocket Guide to Social Media and Kids from Nielsen http://ping.fm/hy64i

Anaeko Profile and Podcast

2009-11-06T10:07:00.001-08:00

Podcast available on iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=324552612
or direct MP3 Download:

A Belfast software company has developed a product to help the public read and understand government information as it becomes available. Anaeko, who specialise working with raw data, have developed a unique software product to make public information more accessible to anyone who wants to use it. They are now further encouraged by the recent launch of Open Data NI (www.opendatani.info) – a public website with information from some of Northern Ireland’s government departments.

Anaeko has a staff of 20 and was founded in 2004 by Denis Murphy to address the shortcomings of existing data integration technology.

Colm Hayden, the company’s Technical Director says that information from Open Data NI is just the beginning and sets out some practical and useful ideas for products that could be developed using public information. “A company like Anaeko can take information from government data and mash it up with Google Maps to build a ‘Find my Nearest Doctor’ iPhone application for example.” Another application could be for anglers. “If you had information on the level of water in the rivers collected by NI Water you would know when it is a good time to go fishing. That could be built as a public information application” Another product might be good for business and the domestic user. “If you take information on the tracking of cattle and meat products, then you can ensure food traceability. So there are a range of applications through making public information available through simple technology.” The public will have access to data and a means by which they can understand it and use it.

“As the industry moved to Web 2.0 and cloud based computing, new and unique challenges emerged in data management.” Colm explains. “These include policy based inter-organisational data exchange, open data access and data mash-ups. At Anaeko, we examined how existing technology failed to meet these challenges and developed the Anaeko Data Agility Server (A-DAS) to solve these problems. We are confident that our A-DAS technology is uniquely positioned to become the data fabric for cloud computing.”

The recently launched government website Open Data NI will be one source for information. The website sets out to improve access to government information and data, and stimulate creative use of that information and data beyond the walls of government. It acknowledges that the owner of government information is the public, but sometimes it is all but impossible to get it.

Opendatani includes searchable catalogues that provide access to "raw" datasets and various tools. The information is not available in uniform formats.

“The Anaeko Data Agility Server can provide the tools for government to publish data, and for citizens and private sector to innovate on the government’s behalf. Data formats aren’t standardised. It is impractical, and perhaps even impossible, to standardise data formats across all government departments.”

The system aggregates rather than reorganises the information and as applications develop it is likely that the public will add to the official information available.

Many countries are ahead of Northern Ireland in making government information available but in Colm’s view, there are a few key individuals in government departments here who understand that making more information available as a valuable public service. “There are individuals in the private sector that recognise that if some of this information was made available, particularly research statistics that can drive business models and further develop the NI economy.”

The Anaeko plan is to start with the information that is available but not in an easily digestible format and use that to prove the concept and to promote the use of this information. They hope that the barriers to getting the information will be broken down over time.

“I think that moving beyond the initial data sets in the opendatani.info web site is one move that we need to take and that means speaking to each of the departments evangelising the idea giving them the confidence that this will reflect well on them and then to cultivate a system where all of the creative people can start using that information in creative ways.”

“There is potentially real economic benefit because the information that is collected has a direct bearing on what is happening in Northern Ireland today. It is statistical information that not only reflective of what is happening now, but shows the trends that have evolved over the years.”

Posted via email from Davy Sims Posterous Site

Wee Man Studios - Profile

2009-11-06T10:05:00.001-08:00

This is the original version of the Belfast Telegraph article from earlier this week. You can hear the interview here

And you can subscribe to the NITechblog Podcast here: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=324552612

A Belfast mobile games company are preparing to go head to head with the world’s biggest games producers in the Christmas market. Their soon to be launched iPhone game Galactic Racer has already impressed several games magazine reviewers. Galactic Racer was chosen by the leading gaming website Pocket Gamer as one of the Top 10 most anticipated iPhone Games of Winter 2009 and had positive reviews in Touch Arcade and Mac Observer web sites.

Wee Man Studios <WeeManstudios.com>, the company behind Galactic Racer, has offices and working space up several floors in the Blick Studios shared creative space on Malone Road. As we climbed the stairs, company co-founder Liam McGarry explained that the reviews had taken him by surprise. Those early previews came about because of the company’s first experience at San Francisco’s Games Developer Conference in February this year. They saw what the Games Industry was like and realised they needed to plan their next US visit which was the Apple World Wide Developers Conference in June. By the time they arrived back in San Francisco, they had already taken advice and had done their research. They had planned who they wanted to see and talk to including the games reviewers and influential leaders in games technology. “We showed them the preview – a video of the game. They were impressed and the comments were very supportive.”

Liam is the business brain behind Wee Man Studios and John Owens is the self acknowledged “Super Geek” developer. Liam found us a vacant room at the top of the Blick Studios building where we could talk. “Our first big decision was finding an artist. John had the skills as a coder, but for a game you need a coder and an artist. That took some time because although there are games courses here and the Universities say they have the students, there seems to be a gap between the person with a few months experience and a person with 10 years experience.” They were looking for something in the middle, but something more important than experience. “One of the key attributes we were also looking for was – you are either a gamer or you are not. I’m not a gamer, but when I see a gamer they have that understanding.” It took four months to find the right person.

When they began, the Apple Apps store was still to come, so when Liam tried to explain their business plan, potential funders could not see how the business was going to work. Liam and John were convinced, but ahead of the pack. “Now iPhone is a buzz word. A year ago we were told ‘No!’”

Another crucial decision was a games engine which they decided to build their own based on an open source platform. That had several attractive advantages including cost and control of the code that John was writing. “It saved us significantly. We had access to the source code; we could tinker with it. It gave us greater functionality. We were able to do more.”

While they have ambition for their first release, it will be initially only available for the iPhone. And that was another important business decision. “Apple is selling $125 million a month on the iPhone and $73 million on the Touch. Google is next with $5 million and the majority of their games are free. So if you are going to go for one platform, it makes sense to go for the iPhone. Other App Stores aren’t developed. Maybe in a year’s time we might be looking at a different market. With the rise and rise of Apple with 500 million downloads last quarter, and as a way into the market to build our name, Apple is the way we are going.”

Another development is the PSP Mini launched on 1 October. “Existing PSP Portable and Playstation owners will be able to play games that can be bought for €1, €2, €5. We would intend to move there. It’s a ready base of 50 million gamers. That’s a huge market and makes a lot more sense than moving to Blackberry or something else our game wouldn’t suit.”

Wee Man’s declared plan is to be the leading mobile games producer in Ireland by 2012. A bold statement considering their first game Galactic Racer is still to be released. But it is a bold statement backed up by a bold business vision supported by a board of advisors drawn from business and technology. To support their ambitions they are already planning to take on more employees.

As he showed me out Liam said “It is going to take us 18 months to be an overnight sensation.” And while they are not quite there yet, they are focused on a games Christmas and a successful future.

Posted via email from Davy Sims Posterous Site

Belfast's Most Influential Twitterers

2009-11-06T09:59:00.001-08:00
This article in the Belfast Telegraph caused a fair amount of discussion and hilarity on Twitter on Tuesday when I exclusively announced the most influential and popular Users in Belfast (and Holywood, come to that).
This is the original - slightly longer version
I am happy to announce that I am the most popular and most influential Twitter User in Holywood. That I appear to be the only Twitter User in Holywood makes me slightly sceptical of this result from www.wefollow.com. I know at least two other Twitter Users in this house so I can’t be the only one in this town. However in my Twitter settings I am probably the only person to have set “Holywood” as my Location.

At time of writing (so if you try this at home you might not get the same result as me - things can move fast in the Twittersphere) using “Belfast” as a search tag I discover that @nomoreart is the Most Influential User in Belfast. If you already know Marty Neill Director of No More Art and member of the Digital Circle Steering Group, you will probably not be too surprised at this result. Neither will you be too surprised by who are the top 5:

2 @alaninbelfast
3 @icedcoffee
4 @stuartgibson
5 @escapeact

There is no explanation of how the site concludes that someone is “influential”; it is not by counting the number of followers. There is a different section for that where we discover that @EamonnHolmes is the most popular with around 8,000 followers. The next people (as opposed to organisations and businesses) are

2 @icedcoffee
3 @leelowe
4 @stuartgibson
5 @alaninbelfast

What is interesting though is that all of these people know each other (with the probable exclusion of Eamonn who we all know, but I don’t know how many he knows). They talk to each other and meet up at events like Open Coffee and BarCamps. I would wager that most of the people on your Friends Lists on Twitter, Facebook and so on are actual, real, see from time to time friends, work with, go to school with non-cyberworld friends. I shake my head and wonder at the narrowness of those who criticise people – particularly young people – for spending so much time on Social Media.

The Internet does not replace real life, it affirms and extends it.

Posted via email from Davy Sims Posterous Site

Untitled

2009-10-30T12:09:00.003-07:00
Friend living in Thailand trading with China is offering to be middleman for anyone wanting to sell apps to China market. DM me for info
via Ping.fm

Posted via web from Davy Sims Posterous Site

2009-10-30T12:09:00.001-07:00
Friend living in Thailand trading with China is offering to be middleman for anyone wanting to sell apps to China market. DM me for info

Visual Radio

2009-10-30T01:09:00.001-07:00

My old friend John Ousby (The Fat Controller) recently having moved to Texas is now on a visit to Europe.
This photo is on his Flickr feed. This is something we were talking about five or six years ago. And now visual radio is here:

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Untitled

2009-10-28T11:33:00.001-07:00
In Made In Belfast for the first time. Friends not here yet.
via Ping.fm

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Untitled

2009-10-27T10:28:00.003-07:00
David Kirk @dhkirk on the ITLG visit to Belfast: http://ping.fm/BMruu
via Ping.fm

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2009-10-27T10:28:00.001-07:00
David Kirk @dhkirk on the ITLG visit to Belfast: http://ping.fm/BMruu

Digital Circle Meets Irish Technology Leadership Group

2009-10-24T03:05:00.001-07:00
Following the ITLG events on Wednesday (here) and (here) Matt, Aidan, Andy, Marty and I (most of the DC Steering Group) went to meet ITLG Chairman John Hartnett who is also President & Chief Executive Officer at G24 Innovations, Johnny Gilmore - CEO, Sling Media (originally from Warrenpoint) and David Kirk formerly of this parish.
Ten minutes in front of people like that can be the precursor of development, the kick in a kick start, especially when they are asking the question “How can we help?” Johnny John and David were not only asking that question, but are prepared to put work if required. It was a challenging room; we had a short precise shopping list. And I want to compliment Matt who was doing the talking.
There’s to be some thinking and more importantly more conversation. And I have no doupt something beneficial for everyone will emerge.
Posted via email from Davy Sims Posterous Site

"And I'll ask the panel to introduce themselves"

2009-10-22T06:00:00.001-07:00

I had a great job yesterday. First apologies to all who had sent questions for the ITLG http://www.itlg.org/Belfast_Event_09/ceo_panel.phpVC/CEO Panel which I didn’t manage to get in. I did get in a few (and Jeff –I did talk to them about the Delaware Flip idea before hand and they all agreed that it was a good idea).

Someone told me afterwards that I had around $5billion VC Funding sitting to my left on the panel answering questions. I suspect there was actually more – and a few other $billion funding in the audience too. The event was one of the highlights of the visit to Belfast. I was initially concerned that the output might not be as exciting or entertaining as it could be. Perhaps good manners and politeness would get in the way of a bit of argument. But within minutes there was disagreement and differing interpretations and opinions. And we were off.

Richard Moran

Robert Simon

David Kirk

Steve Eichenlaub

Brendan Richardson

Straight forward answers predominated and the audience appeared to genuinely enjoy what they were hearing. They also put direct questions to the panel and were prepared to offer direct opinions.

Moderating a discussion like that is almost identical to producing a live radio programme. The first five minutes feels like an hour and the rest of the time speeds by like ... something that speeds by very fast indeed.

I hope someone was taking notes. We were told what they as VCs expected of business and industry (specifically in Northern Ireland – and generally in any geographic region). The fact that people enjoyed it and found it interesting and /or useful was of course nothing to do with the chairmanship – it’s all to do with the panel and the audience. So, thanks to you all for making it a fantastic experience.

Posted via email from Davy Sims Posterous Site

Laughing in the Great Hall of The People

2009-10-22T05:20:00.001-07:00

The ITLG visit to Ireland (and in particular Belfast) promises to a lot but if nothing else it will be a witness to the birth of the newfound public bonhomie of First and deputy First Ministers of Northern Ireland, Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness. Welcoming the members and guests of the ITLG in the Great Hall in Parliament buildings Stormont there was crack galore, ribbing, jesting, joshing and so on and so forth.

I say “public bonhomie”, because the vast majority of Northern Ireland’s political representatives get on better than well ... off camera. I don’t know for sure what either man’s private attitude to the other was before last night, but I would take a guess that it had been pretty good. “Choreographed” I was told today. The appearance was the ITLG was all part of the elaborate two-step that is negotiation and politics. They had returned hot foot off the BD91 Heathrow/Belfast City having brokered the Policing and Justice budget and the first meeting between Mr. McVuinness and Mr. Cameron - historic enough some might say. Yes, it was heartening to see and ... well some real belly laughs from the audience. “The reason I’m speaking for so long,” said FM. “Is because it means Martin has to speak for longer.” “The TV pilot being made at the Paint Hall is Her Majesty. It’s good to see Martin engaging with the Monarchy.” Good lines – funny lines – delivered with panache. “Peter steals my best lines," quoth dFM. "That one about the Monarchy was one of mine from a speech at Queens.” (I think we all missed the pun there - or maybe it was just me). Good political lines worthy of ... Tim McGarry or Damon Quinn. (Sims stops for a moment and sits back and wonders ...).

I was historic – not big massive history written about and analysed for years to come. But it was history.

But this post was supposed to be about the ITLG ----

Posted via email from Davy Sims Posterous Site

The World's Editorial Page

2009-10-20T08:29:00.001-07:00

This is my column for Belfast Telegraph for this week.

Only occasionally will you find “breaking news” on Twitter. If you are following the right people and reading at the right time you might. If you follow any of the newspaper feeds including the Belfast Telegraph, you will get a headline linking to the story online. Once or twice news has been broken on Twitter. The biggest story was the US Airways plane crash landing on Hudson accompanied by Photos on Twitpic. It is said – although I’ve yet to see the evidence – that Michael Jackson’s was announced on Twitter 13 minutes after it was declared from within the hospital. News of earthquakes is Tweeted and sometimes other major disasters are covered by citizens caught up in them.

Instant communications about events are enhanced by micro-blogging. Although back in the summer on 10 July when there was a bomb alert in Belfast, only two people Tweeted about it – me and someone else milling around the Waterfront. At that time there was smoke coming from a building in west London which was getting a lot more attention from the Twitterati. London was recently recognised as the Twitter capital of the world. So we haven’t got the bulk users yet.

Short form messaging will play a real part in breaking news in the future, but for now Twitter and similar are reactive spaces. Throughout September there was hardly a mention of the Nobel Prize. Yet on 9 October according to trendistic.com the Nobel Peace Prize was the biggest topic – for a day.

Great comment on TIME: Nobel committee should be given a peace prize for uniting the twitterverse in sarcasm

Was that thunder we heard? Or Alfred Nobel rolling over in his grave?

Must have been the "beer summit" that put #obama over the top for the Nobel Peace Prize. What else could it have been?

You don’t get a lot of analysis in 140 characters, but you do get sense the mood. Sometimes you’ll find pithy observations.

But that’s what it’s for. If there is something more interesting or important a link with the comment will take you to there. It’s not news, but it is a global editorial page where everyone’s view has equal exposure.

Posted via email from Davy Sims Posterous Site

Boston Irish Film Festival

2009-10-19T12:00:00.001-07:00
I've just been talking on Skype to Dawn Morrissy and Michael Novaria in Boston about BIFF - The Boston Irish Film Fesival. The 11th Festival launch will be towards the end of November and the Feestival itself will be held on March 25th.
As part of the event, they hope to establish an Irish Film Market Place and attract buyers from Hollywood and beyond.
If you are interested in or involved in Film and want to find out more (as i find out more), let me know. I'll be spreading the word here and in the Presidents' Club.
Posted via email from Davy Sims Posterous Site

Untitled

2009-10-18T11:07:00.001-07:00
Suddenly, the laws of publishing collapse after a blue bird tweets (lots). http://ping.fm/igYEj
via Ping.fm

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2009-10-18T06:09:00.001-07:00
Suddenly, the laws of publishing collapse after a blue bird tweets (lots). http://ping.fm/igYEj

ITLG VC/CEO Panel Discussion

2009-10-12T10:13:00.001-07:00

Next week (week beginning 19 October) the Irish Technology Leadership Group will be in Belfast. Among them, international investors will be looking for companies north and south to talk to and perhaps do business with.

On Wednesday 21st a panel discussion will be held in Belfast City Hall with VCs and Senior Executives from Silicon Valley. There will be an audience of more than 150 people who will be a mix of start-up CEO's, industry leaders, university leaders, politicians and government officials.

I’ll be chairing the panel.

I think it is important that the agenda for conversation and question and answer session is set by the audience. The panel will be talking about who they are and why they are in Belfast. The audience will be able to ask questions, discuss opinions, explore ideas. But I would really like the readers of the Belfast Telegraph business pages to help me set the theme for the day.

My background is journalism, broadcasting and digital media. Technology is much wider than that and the issues around technology are important to Northern Ireland. What is the importance of digital health care? Is Clean Tech really the Next Big Thing? What are we doing in bio Tech? Is business in Northern Ireland “investor ready”? Come to that what does “investor ready” really mean?

I do not want to wait until the beginning of the session to start the conversation and set the theme. With your help – whether you are going to be there or not – I would like to start the conversation now. What are the Big Issues? What are the Big Questions? You can email me ds@davysims.co.uk or or add to the blog.

Posted via email from Davy Sims Posterous Site

Barcamp Derry

2009-10-10T10:21:00.001-07:00

To Derry this morning for the first Barcamp Derry held at Magee. With 170 people signed up to attend and three streams of events throughout the day, it was a success the moment it started. On the podcast interviews with Paul from Learning Pool, Jason Bell, Martin Gilchrist and organiser Mark Nagurski.

More information about Barcamp Derry at http://www.barcampderry.com/

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Untitled

2009-10-10T10:07:00.003-07:00
Barcamp Derry Podcast now ready: http://ping.fm/JE0mf
via Ping.fm

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2009-10-10T10:07:00.001-07:00
Barcamp Derry Podcast now ready: http://ping.fm/JE0mf

Untitled

2009-10-03T14:37:00.003-07:00
None of my twitter or facebook friends will know about this - but I bet your friend's freinds (friends)will - do please RT http://ping.fm/JSjmX
via Ping.fm

Posted via web from Davy Sims Posterous Site

2009-10-03T14:37:00.001-07:00
None of my twitter or facebook friends will know about this - but I bet your friend's freinds (friends)will - do please RT http://ping.fm/JSjmX

Untitled

2009-10-03T13:15:00.001-07:00
And if you missed it let me recomment In the beginning was the Nerd - should be in iPlayer soon http://ping.fm/L6Oq9
via Ping.fm

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2009-10-03T13:14:00.000-07:00
And if you missed it let me recomment In the beginning was the Nerd - should be in iPlayer soon http://ping.fm/L6Oq9

Untitled

2009-10-03T08:53:00.003-07:00
The Midnight Oil Beds Are Burning has been revived for an environment campaign. Here's one I made earlier http://ping.fm/U7coh
via Ping.fm

Posted via web from Davy Sims Posterous Site

2009-10-03T08:53:00.001-07:00
The Midnight Oil Beds Are Burning has been revived for an environment campaign. Here's one I made earlier http://ping.fm/U7coh

Old environmental Campaign

2009-10-03T08:42:00.001-07:00

The Midnight Oil "Beds Are Burning" has been revived for a "tck, tck, tck campaign" <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBTZOg6l6cA">YouTube Video here</a>. Back in ohh late 1980's I produced a Radio 1 Environmental campaign with names like Peter Gabrie, Sting, Paul McCartney and a barely heard of comedian called Steve Coogan. It was going to be called Radio 1 Green Week, but for the first time the Green Party was a serious contender in the European elections, so I had to change the name.

Here are a few examples - and I know I'm breaking copyright here, but what the tck, tck,tck.

Oh - and what is that music I used for the main part of the campaign (there example here is Peter Gabriel)?

Here's <a href="http://www.simsdigitalmedia.com/audio/peter-gabriel.mp3">Peter Gabriel (mp3)</a>

And <a href="http://www.simsdigitalmedia.com/audio/sting.mp3">Sting</a>

And <a href="http://www.simsdigitalmedia.com/audio/paul-mccartney.mp3">Paul McCartney</a> (yes, I produced Paul McCartney once)

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Untitled

2009-09-29T11:37:00.003-07:00
A business I know in Belfast is looking to acquire a small web development business. Do you know anyone? http://ping.fm/3F9aA
via Ping.fm

Posted via web from Davy Sims Posterous Site

2009-09-29T11:37:00.001-07:00
A business I know in Belfast is looking to acquire a small web development business. Do you know anyone? http://ping.fm/3F9aA

Business looking to Acquire

2009-09-29T11:34:00.001-07:00

A business in Belfast that I have been doing some work with is in “acquisition mode”. They are looking to expand their multi-media portfolio and client base.

They are a mature company well established in print, product design, and branding. They already have a track record in multi-media and have an excellent studio with some multi-media specialists.

The business is looking for an existing two or three person operation “who know databases inside out” to acquire. The ideal business that they would like to engage with would have

2 to 3 years experience,

have a client base which they are able to expand,

a demonstrable track record.

The sort of skills this business they are keen to acquire would be proficient in

Sever side development,

Client side development,

proficiency in online marketing.

This is about more than just web design. The way it was put to me was “on screen deliverables”.

I have done some work with the studio and they are a very talented and motivated crew. I’ve worked with their management and they are positive, active and have a long back-story in interactive and multi-media.

So if you think your businesses fits the bill (or if you know of one that does), if you are a business ready to expand and develop new business, then please drop me a note. ds@davysims.co.uk Confidentiality for both parties is promised.

You can be anywhere in Northern Ireland, working from home (or a bunch of homes), or established with your own brand.

Posted via email from Davy Sims Posterous Site

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2009-09-29T11:16:00.003-07:00
Warners to return to YouTube http://ping.fm/D13ka
via Ping.fm

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2009-09-29T11:16:00.001-07:00
Warners to return to YouTube http://ping.fm/D13ka

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2009-09-29T02:26:00.003-07:00
Clever Guardian (again). River of News http://ping.fm/Yry7J (via http://ping.fm/KgBUH)
via Ping.fm

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2009-09-29T02:26:00.001-07:00
Clever Guardian (again). River of News http://ping.fm/Yry7J (via http://ping.fm/KgBUH)

ITLG shortlists dozen Irish startups for “Silicon Valley Comes to Ireland” Belfast event

2009-09-24T08:42:00.001-07:00

Just got this from the Irish Technology Leadership Group who are visiting Belfast next month. Three NI Tech companies on the short list. Congratulations to them.

Campbell, California, September 24, 2009 - Twelve high-potential technology companies from across Ireland, north and south, have been shortlisted to attend a series of workshops in Belfast on October 20-21 designed to help them realize their potential in the global marketplace. The California-based Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG) will bring the dozen Irish companies face to face with a delegation of technology CEOs and venture capitalists from Silicon Valley for an intensive review of each company and its business plan. The event will be held at Belfast City Hall and at two of Ireland’s leading universities, Queen’s University and University of Ulster.

The visiting Californian delegation will also meet with Northern Ireland’s First Minister, Peter Robinson MP MLA, and deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness MP MLA, at a reception in Parliament Buildings at Stormont, Belfast, on the evening of October 21.

More than 80 companies submitted initial summary applications, followed by comprehensive business plans, to the ITLG selection team over the summer months. In making the selection of the final 12, the ITLG looked for companies that have developed products or services with a compelling value proposition and global market potential.

This is the second year the ITLG has organized “Silicon Valley Comes to Ireland” workshops for Irish companies. In November 2008, the Group arranged a similar series of workshops at Trinity College, Dublin which culminated in the selection of seven finalists to attend the ITLG/Irish Times Innovation Awards at Stanford University in Silicon Valley in April 2009. The overall award winner, Limerick-based Powervation, went on to raise an additional $10 million in venture capital.

“The ITLG team and the delegation of CEOs and VCs are looking forward to meeting Ireland’s best and brightest innovators in Belfast next month.” said John Gilmore, CEO of Sling Media and Executive Director of the ITLG. “This is a great opportunity for startup companies in Ireland to get exposure on the international stage, and we are delighted to be able to facilitate that,” he added.

The twelve companies short listed for the workshops are:

decaWave (Dublin) is a a fabless semiconductor company which produces a family of standards-compliant, low cost, low power wireless transceivers based on ultrawideband techniques that support highly accurate ranging and high speed communications.

B-Secur (Belfast) is pioneering a wrist-worn tracking device that uses an individual’s unique biometric signals and GPS technology to make it possible to identify not only where a person is but also who the person is.

NTERA (Blackrock, Co. Dublin & Philadelphia, USA) is a developer and supplier of advanced printable electrochromic nanomaterials and systems, enabling low power display and color change features on flexible substrates.

MUZU.TV (Dublin) is an online music video destination site and distribution platform, with the largest legal music video catalogue in the UK and Ireland that is generating a new source of income for the music industry through its global advertising network.

Vertical Wind Energy (Belfast) has developed a vertical axis wind turbine rated at 3kW which is currently being sold into the UK and Irish markets both to commercial customers and consumers.

Dial2Do (Dublin) lets phone users get things done while driving. Drivers can send emails, text messages, reminders and more, hands-free by just dialing a number and speaking.

Locle (Blackrock, Dublin) has developed a range of mobile and web applications that let people find their friends on a map using their mobile phone. The service is integrated with a number of social networks and lets users receive notifications about people and places that are within proximity.

Redmere (Balbriggan, Co. Dublin) is developing chip and cable technologies that enable a new product class of compact active cables for consumer, computing and enterprise applications.

SiSaf (Belfast) is a drug delivery company committed to growth through application of its innovative proprietary technology, Si-SafeT, to a wide range of dermatological products.

Kinometrics (Co. Wicklow) has developed SureWash to reduce the spread of infections, such as MRSA, in hospitals using patented camera technology. SureWash allows healthcare workers to check the quality of their hand wash and records their compliance against the WHO hand hygiene standards.

Sentry Wireless (Dublin) is developing a firewall for SIM cards that can be applied to SMS spam control, child safety, corporate expenditure control and controlling and classifying mobile payments by NFC- (near field communication) enabled credit/debit cards.

Kainos (Belfast) is the largest indigenous high-tech company in Northern Ireland that is developing a nearshore ICT campaign to attract innovative FDI business.

Posted via web from Davy Sims Posterous Site

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2009-09-22T07:51:00.003-07:00
My BelTel article on Norn Iron users of Linkedin. http://ping.fm/l6G3H
via Ping.fm

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2009-09-22T07:51:00.001-07:00
My BelTel article on Norn Iron users of Linkedin. http://ping.fm/l6G3H

Digital Circle Steering Group Meeting with Arts Council

2009-09-22T02:04:00.001-07:00

Marty, Matt and I had a good meeting with the Arts Council yesterday.

Digital Circle will be in the consortium providing advice and comment on the next CIIF round. As we are not a funding organisation, we will not be making decisions on the applications, which is entirely fair, but submissions on our sector/section/area of expertise will be forwarded to an individual in DC for comment.

We’ll be deciding who later in the month.

Digital Circle was not involved with the current CIIF round – the results are about to be announced. We are very pleased that we will be involved in future consultations. More discussion about CIIG here on the DC Ning site

Posted via email from Davy Sims Posterous Site

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2009-09-15T10:02:00.003-07:00
Microsoft’s vision for a “next-gen newspaper” looks like TweetDeck http://ping.fm/5QCQC
via Ping.fm

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2009-09-15T10:02:00.001-07:00
Microsoft’s vision for a “next-gen newspaper” looks like TweetDeck http://ping.fm/5QCQC

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2009-09-12T09:40:00.003-07:00
Have been in Fermanagh all day. Fantastic in this weather.
via Ping.fm

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2009-09-12T09:40:00.001-07:00
Have been in Fermanagh all day. Fantastic in this weather.

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2009-09-09T12:49:00.003-07:00
Blogpost: The Writers' Shebeen on Tweetworks http://ping.fm/6ld8P
via Ping.fm

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2009-09-09T12:49:00.001-07:00
Blogpost: The Writers' Shebeen on Tweetworks http://ping.fm/6ld8P

The Tweeting Shebeen

2009-09-09T12:29:00.001-07:00

“There was a time a few months ago I dismissed Twitter as being a total waste of time, a place where sad geeks tweeted about anything and everything they did. Now I realise that people from all walks of life are connecting via Twitter in meaningful ways. I thought why not see if writers and poets and those with an interest in writing can connect on Twitter too?”
Poet and blogger David Todd < www.google.com/profiles/davetodd7> puts his finger on it. Social Media is useful if you have a reason to use it. Some who first look at Twitter see a long list of often short, unconnected and inconsequential messages amounting to no more than:

The cat just sneezed

The cat just sneezed again

The cat hasn’t sneezed for 10 minutes, now.

Others see an apparent lack of structure which puts them off, particularly when on their first few visits they don’t know any or many of the people who are posting. David started a group for writers through Tweetworks < www.tweetworks.com > a system which can help put a structure in place by arranging the posts.

“With the creation of the group Writers' Shebeen
< www.tweetworks.com/groups/view/WritersShebeen > it means there's a place where writers on Twitter can connect and they don't waste valuable writing time.” He told me. “Also, there are so many talented writers and poets in Northern Ireland that don't have the time or desire to join established creative writing groups and could join or just read tweets at Writers' Shebeen group and hopefully read a tweet that might encourage or inspire them to write.”

Northern Irish authors and publishers have realised that the Internet is a very important marketing tool; this group can be one of the tools used to help sell books. “I've seen tweets by authors read by thousands of people re-tweeted and the message they've sent reaches millions of people in a few minutes.”

Writers' Shebeen started with a few people but is growing. David is hoping real life connections will be made between writers. “Maybe these connections could result in workshops, poetry slams, readings and book launches being arranged or people just meeting [a tweet up] over a coffee or a pint for a chat about writing.”

Posted via email from Davy Sims Posterous Site

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2009-09-06T13:12:00.001-07:00
4 John D'Arcy and 2 Morgan McIntyre videos from Good Vibes party http://ping.fm/U0Bit
via Ping.fm

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2009-09-06T13:10:00.001-07:00
4 John D'Arcy and 2 Morgan McIntyre videos from Good Vibes party http://ping.fm/U0Bit

John D'arcy's Pop Tart

2009-09-06T07:09:00.001-07:00

yesterday evening I went to Good Vibrations in Winetavern Street for Terri Hoolies birthday party. There were some performances lined up.

I'll be putting some video on YouTube. Here's John D'arcy for now

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2009-09-06T07:07:00.001-07:00
At Good Vibes last night for Terri's birthday party. Putting up some of the videos. Here's John Darcy's first http://ping.fm/j136V
via Ping.fm

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2009-09-06T07:06:00.001-07:00
At Good Vibes last night for Terri's birthday party. Putting up some of the videos. Here's John Darcy's first http://ping.fm/j136V

I've posted a phoneboo...

2009-09-05T11:44:00.001-07:00
Listen!
via AudioBoo

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Podcast: Steve Orr discusses NISP Connect & 25k Awards

2009-09-05T08:22:00.001-07:00

Podcast: Steve Orr discusses NISP Connect & 25k Awards

September 02, 2009

On this edition of the NI Tech Blog Podcast Davy Sims talks to Steve Orr the Director of NISP Connect at the Northern Ireland Science Park about the thinking behind NISP Connect and the 25k Awards.
Podcast available on iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=324552612
or direct MP3 Download:
To play mp3s in your browser, you will need to have Javascript turned on and have Flash Player 9 or better installed.

You can get more information about NISP Connect at:
http://www.nisp.co.uk/nisp-connect.aspx

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2009-09-05T08:19:00.003-07:00
Steve Orr talks about the NISPConnect on NITechblog Podcast http://ping.fm/xaxtl
via Ping.fm

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2009-09-05T08:19:00.001-07:00
Steve Orr talks about the NISPConnect on NITechblog Podcast http://ping.fm/xaxtl

2009-09-04T11:00:00.001-07:00
Alternatively Got a great tech business idea? (NI only). The Propel information event (with food served) on Sept 10 http://ping.fm/276by

2009-09-04T10:59:00.001-07:00
Got a great tech business idea? (NI only). The Propel information event (with food served) on Sept 10 http://ping.fm/SbU17

2009-08-30T08:57:00.001-07:00
http://ping.fm/0XOkB Disappointing article: v interesting comments on "piracy"

2009-08-28T08:22:00.001-07:00
Gaelic Football with a Breton Flavour http://ping.fm/HL1Rl

2009-08-26T01:35:00.001-07:00
Chairing Creative Industries Forum part of ISEA tomorrow morning at BT http://ping.fm/5jDGJ ; any questions?