Take Pride

I stopped in the mall in DC for a snack. The cup says take pride in america. A slight sense of irony struck me eating junk food at 10am

Evangelising the ACE unConference

Evangelising the ACE unConference, originally uploaded by ace_conference.

Me in full flow, have mac will travel

Dreadlocks and a mask whatever next?

Dreadlocks and a mask whatever next?, originally uploaded by epredator.

The irony of predlet 1.0 having her hair in a nearly dreadlock fashion and coming back from school with a Kangeroo mask as a combination was not lost on me :)
That's my girl!

G20 come on guys get it sorted, we have!

In the spirit of trying to get some conversation going around the coming G20 summit and the We20.org movement that goes with it I thought I would share a perspective I gained from visiting Derry for the ACE conference the past week.

It is hard not to be moved by the story of Derry, in particular once you are there and on one of the excellent walking tours of the walls. 

Growing up seeing and hearing about the subtly named "troubles" does not prepare you for the extremely deep history Derry has. However, what is clear is that the hundreds of years of conflict in such a relatively small space have only come to anywhere near a conclusion through dialogue. 

People deciding enough is enough and standing together does not mean they all agree, but it does mean they can get things done. It was not just the job of the politicians to do the talking, everyone had to decide.

The moment a partisan interest or niche need pops into the equation then problems are going to occur. All the politicians need to realize though that everywhere is now local, we are all connected to one another in ways that country based geographic boundaries really go no where near addressing.

Take Derry again, a fantastic totally walled city. The walls have stood since the 1600's and have never been breached. Yet now anyone from any part of the city could work with someone on a project using the web and not even know it. The walls are gone in effect. 

The worlds financial collapse has show the interconnectedness of things too. The hidden underworld of money systems, debt, deals, gambling etc has shown that what a few people decide to do on one side of the planet has a potential massive impact everywhere. (The finance systems being closed loop systems fit nicely into the chaotic mathematics area so the old idea of a butterfly flapping its wings having a planet wide impact holds true).

That said it means that we as individuals do not have to wait on the politicians though we do have to bother to act, that means voting, but that is not fast moving enough to wait several years to make a tick in a box about a general direction. Hopefully the g20 will start to realize the massive change and the way we may choose to self organize globally for common good.

It may seem idealistic to suggest if we all talk to one another we can solve the worlds problems, but its got to be worth a try hasn't it? 

As for an idea, why done we have a global micro payment financial system such as we see in individual virtual worlds, having it open to all and not gated by large financial institutions that are driven by larger and larger profit requirements to cover their huge structure. Surely its better to spread the risk and the rewards. 

Make Emo History

Make Emo History, originally uploaded by epredator.

On a family bike ride today we found some interesting stencil graffiti. Make Emo history :) I happen to like Emo music, but I assume the sensitive artist that produced this interesting rendition is not that sensitive after all.

Mist erasing Fawley

Mist erasing fawley, originally uploaded by epredator.

Today had an unusual mist layer, or marine layer as they say in the US. It meant that fawley power station over the water looked rubbed out like a bad photoshop, but in real life.

It made quite an eerie site though it soon cleared. I had intended to take my morning task planning walk and head the other direction along the water, but I saw this and was drawn to it.

Fitness beckons

Fitness beckons, originally uploaded by epredator.

Way back as I was turning 30 I went somewhat mad on the exercise front. As a kid I was not a "jock" to use the US parlance but I did enjoy sports. I never wanted to be 1st team, but somehow that would occasionally happen.
I ended up playing a lot of squash when I was a mid teen too. Again a moderate obsession.
When I went to poly/uni in Leicester I used to walk most places to save money for partying so was quite thin it has to be said.
Once I started work in 1990 though it was a downhill slide. There was no room for working out.
However when I was talked into going skiing and realized I was totally unfit round 1995 I decided to workout. I knew gym membership was a no hoper. Too many people buy and leave that. So I set about a very Rocky like routine, hand weights mixed with cycling off road.
From 95 to mid 98 I did this every day 5 days a week and got pretty strong and bulked up, not quite arnie, but it felt pretty good.
Once the web hit me and the insane hours of corporate life in a growing area I just stopped. Only the odd bike ride.
Then came the kids and then the insanity that has been late night round the clock metaverse evangelizing.
The upshot is that I got pretty unfit. I was also quite stressed to chicken and egg means it hard to motivate for working out when all your energy and very being is dedicated to a cause,
Anyway, with my new found energy, whilst heavily focused on the multiple strands of getting < a href="http://www.feedingedge.co.uk">feeding edge going we ended up going out on a family bike ride. I had predlet 2.0 on the back and whilst it was only a 40 minute one we had some mud and hills to contend with.
This combined with some brisk walks I have taken to get planning on things away from the computer is getting me re acquainted with physical fitness.
I am sure my heart monitor will be back out again soon to make sure I am in the optimum rates for fat burn and fitness. I feel the obsession coming back again.
As a recent study said it was never too late, there may be hope for my lethargic corporeal form after all.

Do Bears?

Do Bears?, originally uploaded by epredator.

When I first saw this sign at Itchen Valley park near Southampton I was not immediately sure what it was saying.
It could be referring to not allowing any furries, which is not a very nice thing to do.
It could suggest that picnics are not to involve any toys.
We thought it referred to what bears do in the woods, and saying dont do that please.
Still a nice try at a universal sign :)

What does freedom feel like

I am now a few weeks into my freedom from my corporate shackles. Its obviously an difficult time financially, as starting to get that pipeline of paying work requires a certain amount of goodwill and engagement. It was also made a little more tricky by the slow payment processing of my former employer of my shares that I sold back on Feb 3rd before I even resigned.
For some reason the money has sat around waiting on payroll, all the tax etc makes it difficult for them. Also having left with some of the month left to run and having a salary paid in advance means I now owe them money. The net should be some money coming my way, but the actual manifestation of this was a payment into my bank today (traditional payday) followed by a pulling it straight back out again. Something of a pain, but it will get sorted very soon, or at least it better!
Another thing to put on the list!
We had a bit of drink up last night and the guys I have been working with the last few years gave me a good send off. Having left straight away I had not had a chance to physically say goodbye, and explain all.
The great thing now is that the freedom to engage with people, to make my own deals and trade offs and to general be influential in the industry looks extremely rosy.
I seem to be even busier than ever, especially with the influx of contacts and linking of ideas and people together.
I have some speaking engagements to do. Monday is metanomics in SL later in the month is a conference in Derry with the creative industries. More on that on feeding edge
The balance now of taking short interesting pieces of work versus long term full time roles is going to be an interesting one.
I know I will still get the questions why did you choose leave whats the real story, but I think that will all become clear in the fulness of time in an appropriate forum, which for now(for once) is not the blogs :)

Quite a week

Not only is the main Feeding Edge website up but now there is a blog attached to it. Life at the Feeding edge
So in a week I have gone from IBMer to Director and already seeing the pipeline of work look promising.
If nothing else the massive support from everyone has seen me through a traumatic but exciting week.

feeding edge logo

feeding edge logo, originally uploaded by epredator.

I launched my metaverse and emerging technology consultancy this week. Feeding Edge
An exciting change and it will be interesting as to what this enables me to explore with various other companies, partners and suppliers.
Watch this space, or that space :)

A new era begins

Today is a day of mixed emotions. Today I resigned from IBM having been there for 18 years, 19 if you count my year out from university.
In all that time I have worked with some great people, and felt a tremendous sense of belonging.
Its been quite a journey, both in technical education and in personal growth. It is the extent of that growth and the speed that has not always been kept up to pace with by the system that I worked within.
I started back on green screens in 1990, very quickly moved to the PC's and client server applications that followed shortly. Over the years the groups I worked with morphed from back office systems to customer facing ones, but in 1997 I made a break from what was traditional IT development. I threw myself into the web and the fantastic Interactive Media Centre. That itself morphed into the centre for e-business innovation but the group of people were known as Blueroom. An ecletic mix of can do people, graphic designers, producers and techies all bundled into one. That taught me that diversity of skills, coming up with ideas on the spot and good old fashioned teamwork for a common cause were what I thrived in.
For me that was the start of who I have become, the birth of epredator if you like.
When I decided that we should look in to the metaverse with Second Life back in 2006 I knew the industry was going to be big, but I was not expecting the evolutionary changes to happen to me. Getting this going turned me into a intrapreneur. The speed with which my fellow eightbars rallied and the spirit of innovation, just getting things done was simply amazing. It is something we should all be immensely proud of.
In leaving IBM I am not leaving eightbar, it is not something that can never really be left. The focus may change but I think we have made a decent enough mark in the history of virtual worlds.
Of course the question is what next? I left in order to be able to carry on and push this industry further. So in a few weeks you will see the birth of my own company, and I will seek to work and advise, speak and write just as I have done up to now. There are some significant projects that I already need to give some attention too.
There is, as I have told a few people, quite a story to tell on all this. The personal ups and and downs, the formation of our tribe and I suspect I will have to write that book after all. It will probably be called "Who says Elephants can't Rez" or something similar.
So a huge thankyou and goodbye to all my friends, and thankyou for the support on twitter and see you all on Linkedin
I will also post this on http://www.eightbar.com
See you all out there very soon.

Prototyping gamer style

Just trying a few things out in the clothing department

Shiny New Macbook Pro

Shiny New Macbook Pro, originally uploaded by epredator.

I finally cracked and joined the ranks of the technorati that own Macs.
I still have an appalling vista desktop, which was part of the decision, but now have an awesome macbook pro. It was a very pleasant experience, even opening the box was good.
I have not had this much fun with a new machine since my C64 back in the day.
Watch this space

Second Life meets Primary School

Second Life meets Primary School, originally uploaded by epredator.

Predlet 1.0 has some homework around 2d and 3d shapes, so I was most amazed when she completed this almost before her holiday started. The bottom 2 questions where find a sphere in your house and draw it, and fins a cube and draw that.
She went and got a football, but also a Second Life cube :)
So here school homework now has a cube at the bottom that says "It all starts with a cube.. Second Life"
Brilliant :)

Skate 2 xbox 360 EA server connect problem solved

As bizzare at is may seem after a few rounds on the helpdesk email circuit to EA to solve the lack of online capability logging on with skate 2 on the 360.
This solved it

In order for our servers to read your GamerTag I have deleted it from your EA account. Please go into the XBOX Marketplace and download the demo for the game "Facebreaker". After downloading the demo, please open the game and begin to play the opening stages. We are doing this because the game will transfer your GamerTag information to the EA Servers.

After running the demo for a few minutes please attempt to play Skate 2. This should remedy the issue as your GamerTag will be re-applied to your EA account.

Odd solution, download and play a demo, but it worked, so not complaning, just posting here in case anyone else needs to persuade the helpdesk to do this for them.

Harmonies, human beat box and more - Naturally 7

I caught a re-run of the 2008 royal variety performance on TV last night and was blown away by these guys. Naturally 7. I had to dive over to itunes and get the album.

I have loved human beat box styles since hearing doug e fresh and of course the brilliant sounds on police academy too. However here its a brilliant all human voiced blend of barbershop harmonies, rap, and beat box.
Stunning stuff. The tune is of course an old Phil Collins track, once for us oldies usually, but delivered like this it shows a good song is a good song.
*Update turns out they closed out at the TED conference too ! brilliant news that.

Stay away from that trapdoor

I really like stop motion animation. As a kid it fascinated me as we only really had cine camera to work with and trying to do frame by frame creations had something special about the effort and the magical results.
When the stop motion is combined with brilliant characters, and a fantastic voice such as Willy Rushton you get the awesome Trapdoor, now on Joost.
Oh Globbits!

Democracy 2.0 full of WIN!

As you will have seen the government climbed down (though should never have climbed up in the first place)on the whole transparency of their expenses.
Well done all for rallying!

Great Obama quote

In his speech today as he moved from president elect to president Obama he used the line "If you unclench your fist we will offer the hand of friendship". It was aimed at the dictators of the world, and those who rule with fear. It can of course be applied to a number of situations where people bluster and posture with apparent power.
I like the line, I like the visual. Good luck to him.
The full text is here on his blog

What MP's want to hide their expenses from us?

Nows the time for a bit of government 2.0 action. It seems that for some strange reason our public servants in the commons, our voted in ministers of parliament seem to be heading for hiding their expenses from us all?
You can read more about this here on http://www.mysociety.org/2009/01/17/6-days-to-stop-mps-concealing-their-expenses/

"Ministers are about to conceal MPs’ expenses, even though the public has just paid £1m to get them all ready for publication, and even though the tax man expects citizens to do what MPs don’t have to. They buried the news on the day of the Heathrow runway announcement. This is heading in the diametric wrong direction from government openness."

Whats great too is the ease with which you can write to your MP on the matter (or any other) http://foiorder2009.writetothem.com/ has been set up, postcode locates your MP then fill in the form. Its suits us digital natives, and blends with the house of commons procedures.

So get on with it! If you are bothered that is.

"Dear Mark Hoban,

I am writing to ask that you vote against the draft Freedom of
Information (Parliament) Order 2009 this Thursday and sign Jo Swinson's
Early Day motion with regard to ensuring that MP's expenses are
released and open to public scrutiny.
I regard an open parliament and process as key to our democracy.

I find it strange that other public officials have to account for their
expenses but that MP's are pushing not to.

I do hope you will support transparency, the world is changing and
closed systems are no longer valid in government nor in business.

TheyWorkForYou has taken a keen interest in this issue and will be
displaying the voting records.

Yours sincerely,
Ian Hughes
"

Midnight Club LA - Over customized error on my part

Midnight Club LA, originally uploaded by epredator.

Playing Midnight Club LA on the 360 I got a muscle car unlocked. Though there is little reason other than fun (it is a game after all) to customize the cars appearence I did.
The problem was I think I went a little over the top with the bonnet air intake. I.e. the stake of chrome sticking out of the bonnet.
I tend to do driving games from the drivers point of view. That led to this

I could not see a thing turning into corners as the large bit of fancy chrome and low ride height meant the usual spot to see the apex was cover up but a vibrating shuddering bit of insanity customization :)
Still it was good for a laugh, but I had to remove it to get any chance of not totally the car in the street races.

Wii Family Ski

Wii Family Ski, originally uploaded by epredator.

The predlets took to helping one another with the Wii balance board and Wii family ski. It was great to see them pick it up and just get on with it.

Cloning me in OpenSim

Cloning me in OpenSim, originally uploaded by epredator.

There are times when there are just not enough of one person. I seem to have ended up with the start of an organic 3d print/rapid fabrication demo of cloning on an OpenSim in a galaxy far far away.
Watch this space.

Moo.com Stickers

Moo.com Stickers, originally uploaded by epredator.

My new batch of Moo.com stickers arrived this morning. Whilst I may not be going to quite as many conferences this year, I tend to augment any id badge I am given with an epredator sticker. My previous set had QR codes too, but this time I decided to use a couple of other shots. One is my epredator Mii and the other is a Bio shot in Second Life at Wimbledon. The main sticker on the right is the same with an SL, RL and 3d Printed me. I like to show a good range :)

Marmite and Metaverse: a theory

I am willing to be proven wrong on this but.

This is after Josh of DancingInk Productions put this photo of marmite on Flickr, both Reuben of Millions of us and Virtual Greats and myself of eigthbar both commented on liking Marmite.
A small sample I agree, but could it be true?
*Of course a type in the Claim /whole/who but too ahrd to change it, you know what I mean.

Times are tough - Duck

IMG_3117, originally uploaded by epredator.

I had a rather interesting google alert ping up on epredator this morning. Usually its all virtual world stuff, press articles, comments, twitters etc, but this time it was a very nice photo credit for this image.
It was an article about starting a mini farm business in your back garden. Thats not so bizarre as I have been talking about all sorts of startups recently, and people kicking the trend with passionate small projects that also have a positive impact on the community. So props to the blog for doing this.

Ok I dont like this! Civil Liberty does not mean hacking my machines

I saw a tweet about this time article linked from the open rights group reference. I tend to avoid too much political comment, but seriously do we really think that its a good idea to just have police hacking out our computers without a warrant.
I am no legal eadle but I am a libertarian. Yes a complex issue but.... its a slippery slope, along with id cards, genetic databases of kids etc. We have seen enought sci-fi that has come true technology wise, so it is the same with over control with machines checking up on us.
I dont think I will be putting foil on my head just yet, but will the control freaks please calm down, its actually more risky to apply this technology, to gather this information. At the drop of a memory stick its all in the "real wrong" hands.

new epredator xbox avatar

new epredator xbox avatar, originally uploaded by epredator.

i cant have green spikey hair but i can get close to a predator av, sort of :)

New Years Eve Cookfest, Rockfest, Eurofest

New Years Eve Starter, originally uploaded by epredator.

I tired a few more recipes for our new years eve party. Both ones that I had not done before.
The starter was from a Gordon Ramsay book and featured a flattened puf pastry base, a pureed onion relish (slow cooked onions and some single cream blitzed down) then topped with artichoke hearts, blanched asparagus, tomato, red oinion a vinegrette and the special extra quails eggs (cooked for 2 min 10 to provide a slighlty runny centre to a hard boiled egg). I had never cooked quails eggs before and they proved to be trickier to peel, even when rolled to crack them, I got the hang of it finding the layer under the shell was the secret, catch that and the shell fell away, I only broke one being a little rough :)
The main course was this

A very fancy fish cake, fancy in that it had ginder and lime steamed salmon, mixed with chillies, coriander, anchoivy essence and breadcrumbs. Dipped in flour, beaten egg, more bread crumb coating and lightly fried. It was on a bed of new potato creme fraiche, lemon and mint mash. I was supposed to make it perfectly round, but was more keen to eat it. I also cooked the same salmon cakes for the predlets and their guests but without the chillis.
I think it all worked well. I enjoyed making it, and everyone seemed to like it :)
We had a lovely home made raspberry pavlova that our guests brought.
The rest of the evening involved the odd tipple, 4 player guitar hero world tour (Yay for the killers Human, linkin park , for what i've done and metallica cyanide).
We then moved on to singstar on the ps3. In particular the Abba expansion disc.
We finished the last song and saw Jools Holland seeing in the new year, the extra leap second helped in that turning all the AV kit to the right thing right after the some ended left us with 5 seconds :)
Then it was back for more Singstar. Its fair to say Emma shows us all up as she is the only one who can actually sing.
/me elemming and predlets waves at Emma and Gary and the kids. A great night and hope for a great 2009 for all.

Padded cell?

Padded cell?, originally uploaded by epredator.

In preparing for our guests on new years eve I decided to test out the stack of single and double airbeds we have once and for all. So the spare room is now a natural selection experiment in deflation, or a padded cell. The predlets could not resist bouncing around in there. I managed to escape but cant help feeling a full padded room mught be a good diversionin the near future :)

***Update the results of the overnight test. 3 single beds 2 very flat, 1 nearly (would be with someone sleeping on it, 2 large doubles all fine and a-ok. I thought you needed to know :)

wii family ski

wii family ski, originally uploaded by epredator.

I finally got a wii fit, having missed the release due to some other cool xbox games at the time. Then they wer in short supply, but elemming and the predlets got me on for xmas this year. Wii fit itself is very good, though it said I was old and fat. However the other games I got family ski and shaun white snowboardingmake calf aching good use of the board. It rell is a great piece of kit.
So here I am on my xmas skiing holiday. Who knew us alien hunters could carve turns too?

Guitar Hero, rockband and quest for fame - Rock and Roll!

Why blog about things? Well a while back I blogged about both guitar hero and rockband and how much I enjoyed and remembered the original that I played way back called quest for fame with Aerosmith in it on the PC.
Not that post just sort of sat around, but when Hiawatha Bray was doing a piece for the Boston Globe he googled quest for fame and found me as a fan.
So we had a chat about it, its a tiny quote, on page 2 but I can now say I am in an ariticle with the father of all guitar hero games (in my eyes) Mike Fritz and also the father of blues Mr B.B King.
I first mentioned it on eightbar back in early 2007 then relinked to the flow of things here
It was a little confusing when I was contacted as it was not clear initially if it was my Companies involvment or my personal oppinion that was needed. Once we cleared that up, it was just me enthusing (as per usual) then we were good to talk :)
I am glad this has got picked up QFF needs its recognition in the timeline.
Lets Rock!

Christmas Xbox style

Christmas Xbox style, originally uploaded by epredator.

The new 360 dashboard has a cute snowglobe that randomly adds friend in with you. It also, if you wait a while, sees all the friends do a stadium wave. Nice touch.

PS3 home - I want green hair!

PS3 home, originally uploaded by epredator.

Why the heck can I not have green hair in PS3 home or 360. Very odd, feel discriminated against!

Commiserations to Mike Golding sailing Ecover

Its not often I do yachting news on this blog!
I heard today from predlet 1.0 that Mike Golding's Ecover yacht mast had broken when he was leading in the Vendee Globe round the world yacht race. Mrs epred a.k.a elemming knows Mike's wife.
As there was a school connection they all got given this cardboard make-a-yacht so we made it tonight to commiserate.
Before

after

Traffic Lights, obey?

This story struck me as some sort of variant on a fable, or observation on the wider picture in life. I often refer to things being fractal ideas. The amount of detail in the minutia is the same as the amount of detail in the "big picture" and you have to be able to flow between the two to make sensible judgements, not just focus on one element. Other call it system thinking.
Today I arrived at a set of temporary traffic lights, with some unattended roadworks on a back road. The idea was they created one way traffic and alternated between each direction. A good idea given one side of the road was a giant hole. However, the traffic lights had got stuck, they were on red both directions. This of course leads to two queues of traffic. In reality though it leads to 2 cars facing each other each making a decision about what to do next, the rest of the people are just bystanders as a moral dilema occurs. The rule is, you dont shoot through a red light. Its clear, its obvious, its even measurable. We can even automate the catching of people who shoot red lights with cameras and sensors. There was no such policing in this case. So just how long do we all sit there before someone realizes the instrumentation for the rule is broken?
Clearly shooting the red light is wrong, getting out and turning the lights off, fixing them etc. is tampering, doing a u-turn to avoid the lights is a possibility, or just sit....wait....hope it sorts itself out.
I would love to have a psychological profile of people done in these minor situations. The go for it driver, decides enough it enough, and then a few more follow them through. Or the driver in the queue who realizes they cant wait for the one at the front to come to the right conclusion and incents the one on from to move, lights flashing or just overtaking the laggard and leading the way anyway.
Of course there is a counter argument, if they all shoot the light then no one gets anywhere. That I guess it what happens when leaders clash and wars start.
In the end of course sense prevailed and a flow of self organized sorting out occured, small groups led by one leader go, then someone falters, and the next group is led forth from the other direction.
It feels like this is how innovation happens. People generally follow, there is a way to do things, but each person will have a limit, a point at which they can say nope, we need to do it this way.
That is of course how wars stop too.
As a mental excercise what do you do in the stand off traffic light dilemma?

Seven things you dont know about me?

LPT has tagged me in a meme of seven things you dont know about fillin name here.
This of course is hard to do as I am so public (sometimes too public) about who I am and what I do as part of the great experiment.
However lets have a go.
1. I was a consumer champion at the age of 10. My evel kneival character that rode the gyro wind up motorcycle had all the metal bendy bits in his arms and legs break. Whilst that may be true to life, it made the toy rubbish. So I wrote a letter, and they sent me a new Evel. I also collected enough tokens for a free cowboy "little big man" when I was about 8 I think. It arrived, saddle and all. Yet there was no horse in the range at all to buy to go with it. I complained, and they sent me a horse from another toy range.
2. I invented optic fibre christmas trees. When I was about 10 again, I saw one of those lovely lights all optic fibre and bristling as a sphere. Well, I thought woulfnt it make sense to mould that into an xmas tree. Drew a picture. Left it at that. About 5 years later I saw some in the shop and though drat, I really must follow things up
3. When I was 9 I out a message in a glass bottle, a corona bottle and threw it into the sea. It had some information, address, name, some puzzles and ideas in it. When I was 13 I got written to by someone who had found it. Volker Brendall was the name. Unfortunately I did not write back enough. I should have followed up on that serendipity. (just changed number 3 BTW from a very boring one)
4. I have 3 nipples, though the third one is more like a small spot, rather than a full on james bond scaramanger. Just a doctor explained it once doing an exam.
5. I will eat all food, not that squeamish, but I draw the line at dessiccated coconut, its like crunching gravel on Michael Bentines Potty Time.
6. When I grew up I wanted to be a film stuntman. That was way before seeing Fall Guy. I saw a programme about Yakuma Canute in Stage Coach and thought that was awesome. Probably why I am so willing to take risks and get beaten up :)
7. I used to really like going beach fishing back in Norfolk as a kid. In particular I liked doing long casts. The Yarmout cast in particular is tricky as you swing the line backwards over your head whilst facing away from the see. Its risky as get it wrong and you get the weights and hook in your face. It was great fun.

So thats me, I am sure there are some more lovely insights into who I am and why I am.

For not I have to pass it on to seven people
Roo Reynolds, Rob Smart, Darren Shaw, Michael Ackerbauer. Andy Piper, Jim Purbrick, Patchouli Woollahra

Duck @70

Duck @70, originally uploaded by epredator.

My dad, epred snr is 70 tomorrow. As he is visiting we had a pre-birthday party, tomorrow we go to that there nodnol.
Sainsbury's do a great whole cripy aromatic duck, so that was tonights meals. YUM!

Xmas Hamper

Xmas Hamper, originally uploaded by epredator.

We won a hamper at the school xmas fair. It was a little awkward as I dropped predlet 1.0 off at school to have to carry a huge box of smelly soap back to the car. A fellow dad, you know who you are, suggested all my wifely xmas gift presents were sorted if only I kept quiet. Doh!

Funding, Future, Corporate Life

As many of you know I currently work for IBM(have done for 18 years). I have since 2006 been driving forward the ideas and needs for everyone (us, customers, competitors, family, friends) to get involved in both virtual worlds. This made me a metaverse evangelist, and I still am. I have also for many years been exploring the impact of social media both inside and outside of the company.
The explosion in virtual world interest led one part of IBM, and one particular visionary to invest in my time. This was a complicated arrangement. I work for IBM UK at Hursley Labs in a cost recovery group. People often assume a corporate is a thing, a single structure with single decisions points. It is really a collection, an eco system of small units, many of them effectively vying for contracts with one another to deliver things to customers.
I effectively had a short term contract from a part of the US company to pay for my time to be a metaverse evangelist both inside and outside the company. It was originally a year, but ended up being 2 1/2.
That internal contract finishes, but I am still an IBM UK employee in cost recovery with a services group.
Ideally I would have like some other funding, contract, role or project to be able to simply pay for my time in one lump sum so I could continue my evangelizing with one less thing to worry about. I have not been focussed on me and my career though as this is about all of us and about the industry.
It is not the case for most people to be funded in this wat, and I have been incredibly lucky to have been able to push this and pursue it for this long.
I wanted to let people know that this is more about my personal situation than any plan or direction that may be inferred. I knew that come jan 1st when I may end up doing something completely different during the day to pay the bills for my department that I would not be able to officially attend the various events and share my thoughts as I have been doing.
It also indicates that we may well have moved past the need for pure evangelizing as so many people now get the basics. I will still be pushing and publishing thoughts and ideas, and going back into skunkwork mode.
I have learned a lot about who I am the past few years and what I can do. How to bring people along on a journey and dare I say it lead. Finding a career role somewhere to play to those strengths will take a little time, I am but a humble techie after all ;)
Evangelizing is a complicated thing to explain to people, it is not a department thing, it is something that spreads across lots of interactions with lots of people. It is by its very nature self destroying.
So, the future for virtual worlds, well they are not going away are they! There is a demand for secure behind the firewall enterprise level communications far in excess of simple IM and phone. There is still a huge cultural change, that may mean than evangelist roles become more obvious to more organizations for the next waves of disruption.
So no one panic :) It's just where the world is at the moment and this is all much bigger than one individual. I am still committed to this, as far as I can tell so is everyone else, but change is good.

Clients always wrong?

Clients Desparado, originally uploaded by epredator.

I have watched the film desparado a good few times, its one of my top 10. Its funny, action packed and very well made. I tried taking a snap of the TV with my x1 of the sight over the door of the door as a bad guy is sent flying. Firstly its a funny sign :) secondly it now looks like a shot from a video game doesnt it?

epredator little big planet style

epredator little big planet style, originally uploaded by epredator.

Once I realized you could stick stickers on sackboy the eightbar epredator sack boy was born

Classic Rock island

Linkin Park playing, originally uploaded by epredator.

I was about to put some music on at home when I noticed the the Classic Rock island near my own islands seemed to have quite a crowd. So whilst working at home, usually having some music on, I thought I would send myslef along to the club and see what was happening. The music playing was awesome. DJ Ryleigh Shippe was selecting some awesome tunes to have on.
I enevn arrived at the time when a favourite form Guitar Hero World Tour was playing.
It is on in the background on the other machine, so i can get on with work, but still be ambiently connected to some fellow Rock fans.
Anyway, on with the work, sorting out some more speaking engagements, the future of virtual worlds, biz opportunities, but with epredator potato rocking out on the other screen and me engergized by real music.

Play by mail financial governance

In a conversation with Loudmouthman on twitter I happened to tweet this.

epredator: @loudmouthman seems international finance is a play by mail chess game, when the rest of us are instantly adjusting in an online fragfest.

It seemed worth saving, and as it turns out is pretty much the sentiment Malcom Gladwell just used on BBC interview I had on in the background. i.e. government decisions are reactive and slow paced in an environment when financial trades are instant.

Elephant and mixing desk

Elephant and mixing desk, originally uploaded by epredator.

Now there is something you dont see everyday, an elephant and a mixing desk, however they were at the imperial war museum in manchester when I presented all things metaverse, eightbar and leadership yesterday.
The one day I did not use the slide with the eating the IT elephant book on it, the one day I had an elephant with me. Doh!

In book number 6, this time marketing 2.0 and Wimbledon and Second Life

My copy of Sandy Carter's all encompasing book "The New Language of Marketing 2.0" arrived, and Wimbledon in SL is in it :) So thats book number 6 to add to the previous ones that I know of.
Time to rest.

Guitar hero world tour Epredator

Guitar hero world tour Epredator, originally uploaded by epredator.

You see unlike the new console avatars guitar hero world tour (and rockband) let me have my green spikey hair that I resort too when I absolutely positively cannot have my sci fi predator mask.
Yes that is another 8bar tattoo I am sporting

Epredator Xbox NXE Style

Epredator Xbox NXE Style, originally uploaded by epredator.

The 360 update has arrived, we have a shiny new avatar makeover. A slight fail for me in that there is no green hair! What on earth is that all about.
So they are looking good, not quite a customizable as the wii mii's but the interface looks very pleasing, and there are some interesting new features to play with.

Well done monthy python

Monty Python have embraced youtube, published content and engaged with us all :) brilliant.

rock

rock, originally uploaded by epredator.

this was a little odd, but having blasted around on guitar hero world tour i popped to the shop to get bread and milk. Even better than that i could not resist buying rock magazine. most mags are usually edge or 360 or at a push a car mag. with my guitar restrung, guitar hero in my head i just had to grab a mag with keef on the front and a story about the return of guns n roses.

guitar hero world tour

guitar hero world tour, originally uploaded by epredator.

Assembled, photographed (a bit blurred, getting used the x1). Still its here. So quick donation to children in need and then onto our own show. Lets rock

Patent 3rd Plateau

Patent 3rd Plateau, originally uploaded by epredator.

Yet more plaques. This time recognition of having a stack of patents filed for IBM. I wont explain the points system, but this is based on getting things in, filed and past the legal crew.
Ignore the fact it says November 2007 at the bottom :)

Another patent issued

Another patent filed, originally uploaded by epredator.

I do a fair few patent disclosures at IBM. Some of them get filed, but after a few years some get issued. You then get a plaque of the patent (or part of it). Its usually so long ago, and in such obscure legalize that its hard to remember what the original idea was.
This one arrived today, and, not being able to read chinese it has made it my most unusual work plaque.

life at the moment

life at the moment, originally uploaded by epredator.

The things other than family and food occupying my time. Including Rockband in the background

Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 - Got one

Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, originally uploaded by epredator.

I popped along to the sony ericsson superstore in London high street kensington. They had loads in stock and as the phone is unlocked they can sell it on any network, so I changed networks too, to see if I get better coverage.
Its very cool so far, as it has a stylus you can doodle and write on it like a palm used to, or drag and point with a finger.
I am just working out how to go from nokia to windows contacts. Not obvious of course, but lets see.
So the next few days I will work out what it does and share.
At the moment I love it, even if it is windows :)

Is it really so hard to get a mobile phone?

So my n95 contract is up. I have a PAC code (to transfer my number to another provider. I still want to get the Sony Xperia X1 but still having been "released" on 30th September it is nowhere with any of the providers.
Vodafone here sent me a few emails to tell me that the X1 was available, but then when ordering it online having completed all the forms I got a page saying "sorry out of stock". So a new customer, invited by an email campaign, filling in lots of bits including the number transfer code, then gets told ooops sorry. A slight fail methinks.
Whilst in town I decided to go into the many mobile shops that intersperse the starbucks and macdonald on our hight streets. The vodafone shop was less than helpful, I heard them convincing another customer to buy something else. Mainly because they did not have even a static model of the x1 in the shop.
Then in carphonewarehouse they had an x1 model with prices and plans, but admitted when asked they had never had any in yet. (Where are they all then?)
So I wandered into t-mobile (who I am an existing customer with), they had a real functioning google G1 phone. I asked if they had any in stock, yes, they had one. So I thought, what the heck, it does not shoot video but it would be fun.
I was told the price plan, free with a £40 month plan. great. I then asked as an existing customer how would that work. To my surprise the shop assistant had a sharp intake of breath. Nope as an upgrade you have to buy the phone £500 or I was offered to be able to cancel my current contract, take out a new one and lose my number. So I cant just pay the saem and upgrade and be retained as a valued customer? erm no accroding to the shop guy.
That's customer service!
So, I would love to sign up to a new contract, pay the money and get the kit, but it seems that both as a new customer and an existing one the things I need are really not that important to these companies.

Pumpkin 1.0 to 2.0

Pumpkin 1.0, originally uploaded by epredator.

Predlet 1.0 drew her ideal pumpkin face and then we carved it out. No idea why we do this, we never did pumpkins when I was a lad.

Nowhere near as good as this predator one sent to me by lots of people recently :)

Bafta and me

Bafta and me, originally uploaded by epredator.

I went to a games industry biz fair today in London. I was a guest of Bafta doing some advice clinics for some willing volunteers. Not being mainstream games industry, but being close related this was very interesting.
I also really enjoyed the lower floor with some awesome early views of games that have not hit the shelves yet including the mighty little big planet. W00t
Still I got to talk on so many subjects, corporate life, web 2.0, public life, coding, social implications etc. It was great to meet so many cool people, and I got on the same bill as Jon Hare and with a bafta statue near by

No strings attached

No strings attached, originally uploaded by epredator.

I finally got around to putting some new strings on my old electric guitar. I bought this strat-alike when I started working as an industrial trainee at IBM in 1988. I have never been very good, atleast at rythm and chords, but I love the blues scale and just freeforming around to find that blue feeling that resonates deep into your soul.
Since the whole guitar hero/rockband thing I have felt the urge to restring and have anotehr tinker with it. Having old strings from atleast 10 years ago does make it tricky. The course layer of rust and oxidized layer basically hurts like hell if you try and slide or bend the strings.
So I said to myself, time to start again. Ordered some strings from amazon and whilst elemming was out tonight and the predlets in bed I gave it a go.
I managed to restring, retune and have enough of a go to make myself start to feel the potential again. My amp was a little unhappy some contacts inside being a bit messed I think.
Still its done, and if I keep the strings shinyby playing then that will be very cool indeed.

Now all I have to do is work my soft tipped fingers back into the caloused state again. I remember the blisters and the pain, but when you want to play the blues it sure helps :)

Roo on Watchdog

Roo on Watchdog, originally uploaded by nol.

Nick managed to capture this interesting moment of Roo's move into the world of television. That BBC move was always going to lead to this

New phone please.... Experia X1?

My N95 phone contract has expired. That is clearly no secret as I seem to have constant "helpful" phone calls from people in all sorts of weird and wonderful sales organizations that want to move me places. Of course non of these are really worth talking to as I like to pick and choose the tech. it is my job after all. The balances of minutes and texts pale into insignifance when compared to the needs for a good data deal.
Anwyay, I dont think i will wait around for the Google G1 phone. Though I love it's Augmented reality potential as seen in some of the videos showing google streetmap.
I pretty much decided I wanted to move off Nokia. The new N96 is the same as the N95 and i have loved using it, but I need new toys.
An iphone is the obvious choice, but we have one in the house.
So I saw the sony experia X1 and liked the look, the adverts even and the funnyviral ads and videos, the engagement with the web community, they are even on twitter. All good ticks in boxes, to see what has swayed my buying choice.
Also it shipped on 30th September, something Sony Ericcson are very proud of. The trouble is, its not available yet in any of the mobile providers. They seem to be happy to sit on stock, to wait a bit. Bascially this make a mockery of SE releasing anything. Its not a release dataif you cant use it as a member of the public.
Thats all a pity as I do want to change my phone, and in a very Web2.0 way I want to do it now! ;)
So I may not bother, supply chains and marketing departments getting all to controlling for my liking.
Find your passionate supporters and look after them. They will sell the product for you. Let them down, and they will have a huge impact too.