July at the Beehive

[Ross Cooney]

Our next event will take place on Monday 27th July at 18:00 at the
Beehive at Newcastle University. More here:
http://www.supermondays.org/2009/07/12/july-at-the-beehive/

We are going to use this mailing list to encourage people to suggest a
session topic that they feel passionate about. In the days before the
event we will run an online vote to choose one topic for discussion.
Then on the night we will arrange the chairs in a circle and open the
floor to the topic! Anybody can participate and anybody can voice
their opinion. This event format is high risk, but we hope to capture
the imagination and enthusiasm of the group to drive discussion!

There will no rules upon the session topic, but we would encourage
technical topics with a leaning towards open source technology. Some
suggested topics are:

1) Encryption, do we need to encrypt our data or should we just shard
it and scatter it to the four corners of the world?
2) Broadband speeds, do we really care about increasing domestic
speeds over 10Mb?
3) BBC, is it stifling the online community by using the license fee
to fund services that could be delivered by the private sector?
4) Microsoft, is our favorite OS on the ropes and about to be KO'ed by
body shots from Ubuntu and Google Chrome?

You will notice that these topics are worded in a rather
confrontational way….this is done to encourage discussion, passion and
ultimately participation ;) So, what do you want to talk about?

Ross Cooney

[mikeyparker]

Some interesting topics there Ross, and you've clearly tried to
provoke emotive discussion with the phrasing of your questions:

1. Both please?

2. Broadband - no Ross 10mb will be perfectly fine :-) 2mb in the
countryside though (Digital Britain) - so in 2012 or whenever it was
we'll only be an 10x (or 50x) slower than the koreans 2010 target of
100mbps http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3222664.stm and deliver
it later - brilliant.

3. Interesting - does the BBC have too large a war chest? And how does
this affect start-ups - are they filling a space with their vast
wealth that should be occupied by others?
http://uk.techcrunch.com/2008/06/12/the-techcrunch-bbc-debate/
http://uk.techcrunch.com/2008/06/25/live-blog-bbc-techcrunch-debate/

4. ahh the year of linux on the desktop - is it that year again??
Every year since 1999. Like the end of the world - not coming in our
life time? Or is it?

Mike

[david...@davidcoxon.com]

liking the microsoft os vs google os idea, and the bbc competition
thing, would also like to widen broadband to include why broadband for
business cost soooo much more than consumer broadband.

another couple of subjects to throw in:

Is email going to follow snailmail on the road to extinction with the
development of google wave, and popularity of twitter/ instant
messaging?

Is there really a sustainable business model for free online
applications and services or will they all have to charge sooner or
later?

Can you really control your online identity, or is it inevitable that
someone, somewhere will post an embarrasing photo, clip or comment of
you that you have no control over?

On Jul 13, 9:14 am, mikeyparker <m...@orangebus.co.uk> wrote:
> Some interesting topics there Ross, and you've clearly tried to
> provoke emotive discussion with the phrasing of your questions:
>
> 1. Both please?
>
> 2. Broadband - no Ross 10mb will be perfectly fine :-) 2mb in the
> countryside though (Digital Britain) - so in 2012 or whenever it was
> we'll only be an 10x (or 50x) slower than the koreans 2010 target of

> 100mbpshttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3222664.stmand deliver

> it later - brilliant.
>
> 3. Interesting - does the BBC have too large a war chest? And how does
> this affect start-ups - are they filling a space with their vast

> wealth that should be occupied by others?http://uk.techcrunch.com/2008/06/12/the-techcrunch-bbc-debate/http://uk.techcrunch.com/2008/06/25/live-blog-bbc-techcrunch-debate/

[mikeyparker]

On Jul 13, 9:35 am, "daveco...@googlemail.com"

<davidco...@davidcoxon.com> wrote:
> liking the microsoft os vs google os idea, and the bbc competition
> thing, would also like to widen broadband to include why broadband for
> business cost soooo much more than consumer broadband.
>
> another couple of subjects to throw in:
>
> Is email going to follow snailmail on the road to extinction with the
> development of google wave, and popularity of twitter/ instant
> messaging?

the demise of email. currently it's entrenched in most business
peoples daily lives - the higher up you got the more time people spend
in email - that's certainly been my experience. and since when was
snailmail dead? my solicitor sends letters out to arrange meetings :-)

>
> Is there really a sustainable business model for free online
> applications and services or will they all have to charge sooner or
> later?

yes - but only if the free leads to a pay-per-use model or if you can
get lots of specific eyeballs that you can target - people driven by a
base urge - such as sex? there's a free online dating service out of
canada (Plentyoffish.com) that was getting cheques cut by google
upwards of $1m (canadian) a month. last time i checked that was about
£650k per month. so advertising can pay but only if the people looking
are easily sold too. facebook struggling to monetize adverts?

>
> Can you really control your online identity, or is it inevitable that
> someone, somewhere will post an embarrasing photo, clip or comment of
> you that you have no control over?

controls are always going to come too late to affect the first wave. a
problem needs to exist before a solution is found. and some problems
have always existed...

so my answer is simply no. we've never had control over what
information is in the public domain. just our tools for spreading the
word have become more advanced. the only control you have is not to
indulge/ commit the acts in the first place. just look at the school
playground - rumors or truisms about your activities spread and
there's little you can do to control that information. you can try and
stem the flow/ audience (facebook untag/ don't publish to your
friends) but there's little you can do to stop that pic of you being
published.

>
> On Jul 13, 9:14 am, mikeyparker <m...@orangebus.co.uk> wrote:
>
>
>
> > Some interesting topics there Ross, and you've clearly tried to
> > provoke emotive discussion with the phrasing of your questions:
>
> > 1. Both please?
>
> > 2. Broadband - no Ross 10mb will be perfectly fine :-) 2mb in the
> > countryside though (Digital Britain) - so in 2012 or whenever it was
> > we'll only be an 10x (or 50x) slower than the koreans 2010 target of
> > 100mbpshttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3222664.stmanddeliver
> > it later - brilliant.
>
> > 3. Interesting - does the BBC have too large a war chest? And how does
> > this affect start-ups - are they filling a space with their vast

> > wealth that should be occupied by others?http://uk.techcrunch.com/2008/06/12/the-techcrunch-bbc-debate/http://...

[david lavery]

Email is becoming more like snailmail all the time: most of the stuff in your inbox is crap and much of the meaningful communication is done elsewhere. But there's no Mail Preference Service for email, and there's no barrier to entry (snailmail costs per post, so should email?). No matter how hard we try we still can't get away from email though, and corporate people often use it inappropriately (when there's a requirement for a guarantee of delivery, to send confidential information, or to send big file attachments, to name but 3). And there's still big problems with identity verification and email. We definitely need a better vacuum cleaner.

Control of identity, whether online or not, is tricky these days. How to prove someone is who they say they are? Any document can be forged. Biometrics? OK, but if they take my finger prints now, who's to say that I'm the David Lavery that was born 40-odd years ago in Wallsend, the one that I claim to be? In some cases, people aren't really sure who they are themselves. At one time, when none of us strayed far from the community in which we grew up, identity verification was community based: "David used to play in our street. I knew his father, and his father's father...". I've been involved with projects relating to identity verification in the NHS and it can really spin your mind (particularly when you realise you have the potential to give someone wrong or harmful drugs).

Free apps/content. Long may it continue. I don't think the advertising model is sustainable but I think you can do it as long as you have plenty of customers and you have something else to sell. Free newspapers that run the betting shop, free porn to sell lingerie, that kind of thing. And then there's premium services of course: better app integration, more detailed content, etc.

The BBC is both malevolent and magnificent at the same time.

I spoke to someone the other night who's convinced its the year of Ubuntu on the desktop.

2009/7/21 mikeyparker <mi...@orangebus.co.uk>

--
David Lavery
Director
Smartworks IT Limited
Fabriam Centre, Cobalt Business Exchange, Cobalt Park Way, Silverlink, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE28 9NZ

mobile: 07711658233
tel: 0191 2804133
email: dla...@smartworks-it.com
web: www.smartworks-it.com
twitter: @dlavery62

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[Alexandra McVey]

Hi everyone,

Please vote for your topic of choice for Monday's event here:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=XaTY_2b4m_2bgyBBegbuxBfxow_3d_3d

Many thanks, and see you there!