Every time I turn on the television or pick up a magazine I am bombarded with images of perfect people. They live in perfect houses, with their perfect families and perfect teeth. It is clear what they are saying. You are not good enough. Only perfection is acceptable. Whole industries have developed on the back … Continue reading In pursuit of perfection
Digital hoarding
In a previous blog I said how I had started to build a home archive. I have been working through all of the papers that we keep and scanning the important ones, or those that don’t have email copies, and storing them on a pair of hard drives. One I keep in the house and … Continue reading Digital hoarding
Imagine a car
The opening speaker on day 2 of the Unit4 conference gave us his thoughts on the future of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). It was at the Conference Centre in Harrogate. I am not the greatest of advocates for ERP in that I don’t think grand systems solve anything and in the effort to combine all … Continue reading Imagine a car
Stadium of Cyber
The sign over the door on one of the conference rooms in the Stadium of Light, Sunderland Football club’s ground, said ‘Magic Moments Bar’. I’m not sure that it was referring to the latest #CyberFest event that was being held in the room next door yet it could well have done. The fifth event in … Continue reading Stadium of Cyber
#CyberFest Blyth
Once again I found myself on the banks of the River Blyth. The last time was at the Port of Blyth to talk about Low Power Wide Area Networks and this time it was as part of #CyberFest, the North East’s biggest cyber festival. I always love going to see the amazing ships that dock … Continue reading #CyberFest Blyth
Don’t know what you need?
How do you buy something if you don’t know what you need? That sounds like an easy problem, something that we have to deal with everyday yet it is not quite that simple. If I need to buy a car, I pop along to the showroom with an idea of what I, or rather we, … Continue reading Don’t know what you need?
Trapped
I had an interesting time at the Honor Tech Innovation for the Future forum at The Baltic last week. My name had been put forward to be on a panel and it seemed like a good idea to say yes. I am always happy to help where I can especially where it raises the profile … Continue reading Trapped
Bayeux tapestry
What we do at work is more complicated than we think. This is mostly because we don’t think about it. The only time we contemplate the tasks ahead of us is when we start a new job, or when we come to review what we do. Both of these can be quite daunting. My involvement … Continue reading Bayeux tapestry
Location, location, location
How do you know if your region is doing well or not? How do you know if a particular sector is successful? These are the questions I was trying to answer when I fell into the wonderful world of economic data. I was looking at the digital sector in a part of the North East. … Continue reading Location, location, location
Undervaluing your value
Experience and skills have a value. People are prepared to pay for these things. When starting out in your own business, however, it is hard to know where to pitch what you are going to charge for what you have to offer. You are an unknown quantity in two ways. Your customers have yet to … Continue reading Undervaluing your value
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 