Entrepreneurial Geekiness
Entrepreneurial Geekiness
Ian is a London-based independent Chief Data Scientist who coaches teams, teaches and creates data products. More about Ian here.
Ian is a London-based independent Chief Data Scientist who coaches teams, teaches and creates data products.
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UK EFF Pledge
“I will create a standing order of 5 pounds per month to support an organisation that will campaign for digital rights in the UK but only if 1000 other people will too.”
— Danny O’Brien
Danny O’Brien is one of Need To Know the rather cool monthly tech/satirical IT update. He’s suggested that we in the UK need an equivalent of the American Electronic Frontier Foundation to fight for digital freedoms, that’ll include fighting software patents and stopping things like the DMCA from being established over here.
If you’re in the industry, you know the kind of threat these things means to anyone who’s not a corporation – a fiver a month is the equivalent of one jolly good night out per year and instead it could help make our digital lives easier for a long time to come. Danny is a long-running IT commentator and proponent of digital freedoms. He’s got my pledge, along with 424 others in only 5 days and I humbly suggest that he gets yours too. That’ll be my public service announcement for the day, normal service will now resume.
Addition: Dunc points out that the BBC have an article about his now too, cheers Dunc.
Addition: The Guardian Online are carrying an article on this today by Danny O’Brien, I hope many more people continue sign up.
If you’re a geek, you might want to check out the graph of sign-ups – it’s looking a little non-linear, interesting evidence of grassroots support.
Lord of the Rhymes
These guys rock, their Lord of the Rhymes is a nerdcore Hobbit/Middle Earth parody of Tolkien’s finest. Check out the music video (large, 40.5mb download), it is amazing. The other mp3s aren’t bad, but the video is clearly the best. Turn it up loud.
I came across this nerdcore stuff via a Slashdot posting “Nerdcore Rap In The Press”. Some of the mp3s stuff over at Optimus Rhyme are pretty cool as well, though more geeky. If you’re a True Geek (and not easily offended) then these lyrics will give you a taste of what it’s all about.
Review: The Tipping Point (Malcolm Gladwell)
The Tipping Point is damned excellent. It’s a real easy read with lots of insights on how little things can make a big difference. In one case (p. 96) two pieces of medical literature were delivered to students educating them about the benefits of a tetanus shot. In the first case the final take-up rate was 3% of the students, in the second case the rate shot up to 28%.
The difference? The addition of a map and details of the opening times of the medical centre – no change at all to the medical content or wording of the literature.
He also talks about the ‘strength of weak ties’ (p. 54), something that has become increasingly important to me over the last 18 months as I have developed Mor Consulting.
The results are a little old (a 1974 study titled “Getting a Job”) but nonetheless relevant: 56% of people interviewed found their jobs through a personal connection, with another 18.8% using formal means and the remainder applying directly. Of those that used a personal connection, 16.7% saw that contact “often”, the remainder saw the contact “occasionally” or “rarely”. Most of these people found their jobs through friends-of-friends or casual acquaintances. It’s all about the networking…
The book is an easy read, certainly suitable for the commute and packed with interesting stories and studies. A definite Thumbs Up.
Eve launches TieTheKnotPictures.co.uk
Eve has officially launched her friendly wedding photography service – Tie The Knot Pictures:
Tie the Knot Pictures offers a fun and lively wedding photography service, guaranteed to capture all the best moments of your big day
I vouch not only for Eve’s professional and enthusiastic attitude, but also for the fun she brings to the job – she’s cool. And awww, if that isn’t Ed and Caroline on the front page. Good luck Eve!
How It Should Have Ended
Most excellent – go see the Star Wars Episode IV (that’s the original 1970s one) ‘alternative ending’. There’s also an alternative ending for The Matrix Revolutions (not bad, good critique) and Saving Private Ryan (a bit silly really). 5-15mb each, several minutes long.
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Oreilly High Performance Python by Micha Gorelick & Ian Ozsvald AI Consulting
Mor Consulting Ltd. is an A.I. focused consultancy offering strategic research and development owned by Ian Ozsvald, based in London (UK).
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PyData London provides a forum for the international community of users and developers of data analysis tools to share ideas and learn from each other.