Monday, July 30, 2007

Morven walk 2003

Join me on a walk up Morven Hill, Deeside, Scotland.

Saturday, July 28, 2007

The media makes everything entertaining

The media, broadcasting, stuff on the tele to the web try to make everything entertaining? Not entertaining then no one watches. It's just a take on information. Take the weather. We watch weather forecasts, but the level of personalization in minimal. However, you can go to the source of the information that the Weather 'experts' use to make us the weather entertainment. What is the weather like this afternoon. Lets look up the paper or twich on the tele. It will come but why not switch on the local radar piciture to see if it rain near by and see if the wind is blowing it our way. We can do this today but for me very few do. Inertial is with the media. Is entertainment what we always want? Not the reality that is personal?


And an add on point. I have realised that social weather casts will becoming along. We need all the source weather forecasting informaiton and more as technology allows. However, I guess that one of the best sources of informatoin someone visiting Aboyne in Royal Deeside could do looking for a weather forecast and linking it to the outdoor things they want to do or any activity would be to ask me. Why I have lived here all my life. I can map the information to the experince of life. I have the most informaion on the subject.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Aberdeen OpenCoffee Club

I have setup up an Aberdeen OpenCoffee Club event on Upcoming.org. While in Silicon Valley I attended the Palo Alto, OpenCoffee meetup which is part of the OpenCoffee Club community. They are great places to talk to fellow entrepreneurs, Internet developers and all those interested in startup businesses, Internet or other wise.

If you are interested, sign up to upcoming website and I'll see you there.


The opencoffee club are also promoting the SEEDCAMP unconference in London in September.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

The Industrailist The Digitalist

I have observed that as an entrepreneur you will be swept along or crushed by prevailing trends in society. Now your vision may be to create one of these but the total game is a lot larger than a vision.

I read an interesting slide and document linked in this blog posting. It describes how we are at an impasse between The Industrialist and The Digitalist. The former driven by scarcity and the economics of Adam Smith and the latter driven by abundance and of a new 'adam smith' science that is just starting to be understood. The article uses history to show that when such shifts in society take place, the incumbent, in this case The Industrialist, will fail to see the new world, even if they are looking directly at it. Conversely, The Digitalist will be discounted.

We are living in such times. The Digitalists do exist, the author lists, CEO of Google, as an example of how they drive a different message to the State (Government) and the rest of the corporate world.

As a startup entrepreneur and visionary I put myself in the Digitalist category and have been so for 10 years or so. I am not sure I knew or appreciated this until very recently. Looking back on my experiences it easy to see some repetitive lessions and feedback. I can see the way to how tomorrow will be but virtually no one around me would see it, they didn't even understand the vocabulary I use, words they know but in combinations foreign to their thinking.

Moving to silicon valley surrounded me with Digitalists. Conversations can be engaged with no schooling required. But its not just a case of moving to find like minded people, I need to learn as an entrepreneur new ways to communicate and show a stable and sensible or business case to encourage industrailists large and small to change. I feel more equipped to do this.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

comparison shopping entrepreneurship lesson: never waiver

In 1998 I turned my startup energies to comparison shopping. This involved moving to Edinburgh to live for the first time. After a couple of years of bootstrapping I raised some angel funding and Prosumer Solutions was incorporated. I used my primative graphics skills to illustrate my thoughts on comparison shopping for financial services. The business quickly moved into content management tools and eventually the business stopped trading.

Today, just some 7 years on, comparison shopping websites are selling for hundreds of millions and romnours of $4bn UK floatation. The industry is profitable.

As an entrepreneur you have the vision to see these times, ahead of time. That is the easy part. The part I failed in back then was sticking to my guns, using my creative abilities and engery to guide a team throught the tough and often dark times to see the market opportuinty realised further along the line. You learn from failure and are better equiped to lead next time on the startup rollercoaster.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

The Greens of Aboyne

A range of greens fuelled by all the rain and some sun.

Monday, July 09, 2007

aboynejames TV live?

I set up this ustream account a few months ago. I am working out side today, as the sun is out, two days in a row. This allows me to share it.

Sunday, July 08, 2007

A dry day in Aboyne, at last

No rain today!

Image029, originally uploaded by ecotorch.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

active aboyne

Its July and time of the Aboyne and Mid Deeside Festival. I noticed this website, activeaboyne that list more active activies, walking, water sports or even geocaching. Some evening event too that have a more social focus.