Raspberry Pi - Could this be a game changer?

Well, not often I get excited about technology, however this little processor board has soooo much potential. http://www.raspberrypi.org/ ok, it's only a low powered single board PC, with tiny memory and no hard disk, but.....

It will mark my words, spawn a magazine or at least get a regular column in Linux format. It will have applications for Schools and colleges. for electronics students, for IT network geeks, you'll be able to use it to roll your own appliances (mini router, firewall, network tap, IDS etc.

For Amateur radio, it will be fantastic can run on a battery pack, mini video monitor etc. PC in the Car, someone will develop the bits for that too. Not every job in the world needs a full blown system.

Most of all regardless, it will spawn a whole raft of neat tested boot from card linux distress, with compilers built in. I sincerely hope it does encourage programming again. The machines of the 80's did get a whole generation interested in programming, electronics and radio engineering. I can't wait to see where this goes, the accessories it generates and the novel applications and third party add-ons, it really is exciting.

A moments pause

Steve Jobs was a guy with a vision. That vision was planted long ago. In 2005 he did a talk
At Stanford University, to the graduates that year. My oldest Dave shared this with me last year, I am now sharing it..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc&feature=youtube_gdata_player you'll find it posted everywhere today, I do not apologise for re-posting it.

Flag in the ground

Recent press coverage of the Socitm "Flag in the ground" roadmap of public services reform, has me thinking about the "Islands of success":

Governance
Procurement
Legal compliance information sharing
HR
Identity and Authentication
Networked services
Media and communications
Security, privacy and information management

Plenty to think about in time for the
Spring Conference!

Moleskine app

Well it's finally arrived, to go with the new range of accessories, the Moleskine app!

Bow you can carry the spirit of Moleskine on your iPhone! Thanks to TravelDave for the tip......

Islands of success

Thinking about the Socitm routemap 2015, I'm thinking about islands of success. The government ICT strategy will be published very soon, that will have key components which will need implementation methodologies, that's the challenge!

We'll develop a rich picture which will explain it all. Still not to late to comment on the Socitm strategy consultation via www.socitm.net

Swiss Army Volcano stove

Swiss Army Volcano stove

Presenting in a different way

I love presentations, actually I spent too much of my life writing, and presenting.
I've discovered a lovely new way to present information http://prezi.com/
give it a go!

TOGAF - the jewel in the crown

I've been looking at the TOGAF enterprise architecture model. It's a brilliant way to build components in
a standards based way. Why it's not as famous as PRINCE 2 I do not know, watch this space.....

Dealing with "and" time management for today.

Wouldn't life be simple if we could deal with things sequentially? No chance of that, so along comes and.... there are all sorts of solutions, Getting Things Done, Time Manager, Franklin Covey & The Pomodoro technique.  


The recent book i've been reading do it tomorrow, looks at things from a very practical perspective. I really like the idea of closed lists, that equates to looking at standard processes or procedures, building templates  and then completing them. 


The real beauty of templates is they are consistent and can be improved. My weapon of choice now days, is Omni outliner. For general organisation and control, Omni Focus is fantastic and even has a GTD Guide for  using it. There are a range of excellent little video clips on youtube about omni outliner and problem solving. 

Teas made the ultimate geek retro must have?

Well @traveldave www.traveldave.co.uk brought me a teas made, not even my birthday yet. Apparently the the latest Dad retro must have. The interesting thing is, there are whole websites for teas mares, they calle them reassures stateside, see: http://www.teawaker.com/ suddenly, you don't feel sad, because someone has gone and built a whole website, put it on facebook and even tells you where you can buy the little milk pots on Amazon.

The implication of that is that you can order your books, tea bags and little milk pots right off Amazon! So where to next, the bedside fridge? The teas made cookbook?

Extreme teas made cook book, I guess pot noodles, cuppa soups, tea, coffee, hot chocolate etc. It was bad enough with the vintage pick nick sets see: http://www.applecroft.co.uk/bandalasta/picnic.htm but that's another story.........

iphone bluetooth keyboard

cool or pointless? I now have have micro bluetooth keyboard fo the iPhone¡ i think cool because sometimes it will help with typing and thumb management.

Also brings back memories of my still missed bellied psion 5 the best PDA ever.

Collaboration Software - now critical?

We still seem to regard collaboration software, Huddle etc. As a nice to have, yet across the Public Sector, we are pushing channel shift, encouraging staff to work from home and for citizens to use the web.

However people working from home if they are knowledge workers, MUST have collaboration tools to discuss, sythesize and innovate.

So the world od Skype (Internet driven) and Webex are far more necessary than you might realise.

We're still not seeing a big take up on these technologies and the need for them. This must change within the framework of secure information sharing.

Internal externally accessible collaboration software is no longer a nice to have!
Mark Brett
Mobile: 07720 101 733
www.brett.info

Reading some home truths

Currently reading an excellent book on time management, called Do it tomorrow by Mark Forster, in it he explains a number of home truths about time management, he calls them his principals;

Have a clear vision
One thing at a time
Little and often
Closed lists
Reduce randomness
Commitment v interest
What do we need

All of these are explained in detail and really make you think about what matters!

Apple TV - I get it

Last week, I brought an Apple TV. Not sure why, but me being gadget boy, I have a reputation to uphold!

Well, I got it home, utilised the HDMI cable that came free with the Nokia N8, very disappointed with that, save that story for another time.

So fired up the ATV and off we went. Dead easy to configure into the wireless, iTunes, MobileMe and YouTube.

Spent Saturday evening flipping through carols YouTube films on various tech subjects and podcasts. There is something different in watching this content on you TV, it feels more social and relaxing.

Very good way of absorbing content and finding new an interesting distractions!

So top marks, none that even relies on your laptop. You can also stream content from your mac etc. And buy/rent content from iTunes. Enjoy!!

Paying for productivity software

The other day, Travel Dave sent me a link to the nerdgap.com blog, what a great read! I especially liked the the selection of tools. The key lesson here is that paying for a few good tools can really help your productivity and help you recover a lot of time.

Processing e-mail

How to process e-mails. Don't reply to e-mail,process it. Using GTD principals. Delete all junk first.

Pile all non-sensative e-mail into a Gmail account. Use Gmail search tools. Deleting is good. You cans till search your delete box.

Your must set aside time to review tasks activities and e-mails.

Life Hacking

So what's on my radar?

Well GTD, 4 hour week and lifehacking. Check it out on Wikipedia. Also indox zero.

More to follow, Googleapps is the way forward. Have a look at 43 folders, especially with gmail. Templates mail.app etc.

Fast text on blackberry!

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National WARP Conference

Yesterday was the annual WARP conference (www.warp.gov.uk), the issues covered were many and varied of real interest

was the move towards expanding the warp into personnel and physical security, this fits nicely into the work going on looking at

data handling and Information Assurance in general where we're focussing on;

 

• People
• Places
• Processes
• Procedures

 

CPNI (www.cpni.gov.uk) have produced a lot of material around personnel and physical security see: http://www.cpni.gov.uk/Products/generalProtective.aspx

I feel a few white papers coming on and will add them to the list. White papers published to date are at: http://www.socitm.gov.uk/socitm/Activity+groups/Socitm+Information+Age+Group/Information+Assurance.htm watch this space, I'll be publishing material also on the National Local authority WARP website at www.nlawarp.gov.uk and on Business safe online, the SME security advice portal at www.businesssafeonline.com

 

 

National Projects Product Catalogue

 

The National Projects catalogue has been published at:

 

http://catalogue.localegovnp.org.uk/