This website claims a new web2 model called ‘Mash Up’ – where content is added by users and also users have their own playlists – it seems a cool idea for education.
But will it succeed?
The chicken-and-egg of it is that to succeed loads of companies need to offer content but they’re not likely to bother until it’s successful <?>.
Jessie looking a tad laconic, yep.
On my whirlwind shopping expedition on Saturday I managed to pick up some Paul Smith suit trousers for
I was in Planet Organic off Tottenham Court Road today and found my way to the cereals aisle in search of proper porridge, only to find myself standing next to someone who was the spitting image of Persian-born childrens’ campaigner Camila Batmanghelidjh. (Apt for me saddened by the death of Kodjo Yenja in Hammersmith Grove on Wednesday, not far from work).
Later talking to Diane she said she’d been outside the Ritz and seen Liza Minnelli’s ex-hubby David Gest. Way to go Diane (but I think I prefer my celebrity spot)! Later I spotted who I now know was BBC Newsnight’s Diplomatic Editor Mark Urban on Tottenham Court Road. Sorry for the slow recognition on that. 
Very much enjoyed the IET Kelvin Lecture from journalist Simon Singh (in the paper today for daring to disagree with a Channel 4 producer’s approach to climate change). It was the words of the guy giving the thank you address which struck a note too. He said that on interviewing candidates for IBM internships he asked them all “what does being lucky mean”, and graded positively those who had strategies for increasing luck. He added that the Enigma Code Breakers of Betchley Park had a big stroke of luck in finding the missing ‘W’s’ – though it took intelligence to see why this was importance. Reminds me of words about the nature of discovery, seeing what everyone else sees, but then doing something different with that which seems obvious in hindsight.Well you know that kind of thing.
PS: One of the examples Simon Singh gave was the miscarriages of justice when two cot deaths occurred in one family and how statistics were incorrectly used – chiefly that the trials ignored the obvious commonality of context of two such deaths, and heard only the abstract ’1 in a million’ type chance that was presented at the trial pointing to malicious intent. Sad also to hear on Saturday of the death of one of the wrongly accused, Sally Clarke.
Saw the story in the Times today about Sir Martin Sorrell who is embroiled in a libel case to clear his name. (When I heard him speak at the 500th Christ’s College event at the Guildhall he did me a favour, mentioning the importance of Latin America as an emerging market, just after I’d returned from Brazil with Shirley.) Sad example of how blogs can be used in a very negative way for sure.
According to Urban Word of the Day people today, 14 March, is ‘pi day’.
“March 14th. A “holiday” celebrated by math geeks everywhere. Pi is approximately 3.14, and March the 14th is 3/14. omg t3h pi day d00d, we are so 1337, pi roxxors t3h boxxors!”
Of course 3.14 is the US way of formating dates, surely making this ‘American Pie Day’. I better be on my look-out?
PS: Congratulations to Shirley on the sale of her first Cour’Art handbag off Ebay.
Came across Matt Woolman’s great website visualcomplexity.com with graphic visualisations of complexity, very nice, with a huge number of examples to draw on:
“Nerea Calvillo from FreshMadrid has produced an innovative and captivating diagram highlighting all the links between the different studios that form the architecture group. The diagram is quite detailed, making good use of Florence Nightingale’s coxcomb to map each studio’s location, tools, areas of intervention, type of products, collaborators, etc.”
PS: Happy birthday to Ted on his 94th!
Did you hear about the guy who’s agreed to document his life in minute detail? I came across it in the BCS podcast recently. What an ‘absolute idiot’ (an insult btw hurled at me by an E-Bay PCTV software seller in 2005 after I failed to spot his digital product after it ended up in my spam. I am still barely resisting the temptation to turn his words into a T-Shirt design with: “DO NOT SELL TO, ABSOLUTE IDIOT” emblazoned across my chest – thanks for the e-commerce inspiration JohnathanR).
Been much better if he’d tried something simpler like recorded just one day and then tried to reproduce exactly what happened the next day; recording what was hard to reproduce (obvious like the weather and unpredicatable like a train delay), and what unavoidably was different just to show how small differences can be significant. But oh no because of the idiot/mass produced culture we live in it has to be all day, every day; way to go! I’m so lucky I have comedy and complexity next to each other in my Categories to tick for this one.