SLL Oz Listening : Jan-Aug 2013 (Spotify Playlist)
10 years ago
One of our artists has named a track after my mother. That is a sentence I didn't imagine myself writing. http://ping.fm/6DyUt
New tech VC company, and Twitter does it good again
Well, maybe not a new dawn, but still quite an interesting on Guardian Tech today
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2009/jul/06/marcandreessen-facebook-twitter-venturecapital
Marc Andressen, who launched the Mosaic browser, has started a new VC firm, and also forecasts on the future of Facebook and Twitter.
His opinion on Twitter needing to focus not on money but quality of product is a very astute one I feel - the technology is so simple that the barriers to entry are very low (it's effectively a data feed with a few gates on it....I think?!) - but while they've made a good profit from it already, it'll probably be the next 2-3 years that decide whether it can stay in the league of YouTube, Google etc....
In fact, Andressen seems so on the ball, maybe I should dust down that business plan for VCs.... ;)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2009/jul/06/marcandreessen-facebook-twitter-venturecapital
Marc Andressen, who launched the Mosaic browser, has started a new VC firm, and also forecasts on the future of Facebook and Twitter.
His opinion on Twitter needing to focus not on money but quality of product is a very astute one I feel - the technology is so simple that the barriers to entry are very low (it's effectively a data feed with a few gates on it....I think?!) - but while they've made a good profit from it already, it'll probably be the next 2-3 years that decide whether it can stay in the league of YouTube, Google etc....
In fact, Andressen seems so on the ball, maybe I should dust down that business plan for VCs.... ;)
The rules of dating - numero 498423984
Tonight I had a date.
She was very nice and friendly, and good fun too, but I didn't fancy her. I'm not sure if she fancied me. Maybe, but it was hard to tell.
First we went to Cafe Kick on Shoreditch High Street. It's very picturesque and peaceful; as we stood on the street watching the fashion victims of the locality saunter past, 4 police cars, 3 police vans and the dog section zoomed past, sirens blaring. The vans and the dog section went the wrong way - 30 seconds later they sheepishly (if that's possible with blue lights, sirens, and cropped-haired armed men at the wheel) came back and turned off towards Old Street.
After that, we walked up to Roadtrip on Old Street. If you know the area you can probably tell I hadn't planned particularly well (see the below post for some of the reasons for this lack of planning). Roadtrip is actually quite a nice little bar. We had a chat and a drink on the cavernous leather sofa, I made of point of saying I had some of the obscure Detroit house records the DJ was playing (this was met with a blank look), and exchanged dodgy dating stories (my Stephen Fry one always wins - I'll blog on that sometime).
I went to the bar and encountered a gorgeous girl serving me my gin & tonics. I wasn't sure if it was the raised platform at the bar, but she was tall. Really tall. Nearly as tall as me. For me, that's a plus point.
As soon as I took the drinks back I couldn't stop thinking about talking to the girl at the bar again. I began devising a method to obtain her telephone number and secure a date with her while being on a date with someone else. There's probably something in The Game about this, but I never read it all the way through.
Half of me felt very bad, half of me felt somewhat pimp-like....yes I'm somewhat deluded in this respect.
I made an excuse to go back to the bar, which was the premise that my card was behind the bar running up a tab, and managed to get served by the same girl. I went straight with asking her for her number - she responded by saying she thought I was going to ask if she played basketball, as that's what all the other guys asked.
That response put me off said game somewhat. Just as I had a riposte, my game was taken down when I turned around and there was my date, with an expression somewhere between perplexed and resigned.
Suffice to say, that was the beginning the end of that first date.
She was very nice and friendly, and good fun too, but I didn't fancy her. I'm not sure if she fancied me. Maybe, but it was hard to tell.
First we went to Cafe Kick on Shoreditch High Street. It's very picturesque and peaceful; as we stood on the street watching the fashion victims of the locality saunter past, 4 police cars, 3 police vans and the dog section zoomed past, sirens blaring. The vans and the dog section went the wrong way - 30 seconds later they sheepishly (if that's possible with blue lights, sirens, and cropped-haired armed men at the wheel) came back and turned off towards Old Street.
After that, we walked up to Roadtrip on Old Street. If you know the area you can probably tell I hadn't planned particularly well (see the below post for some of the reasons for this lack of planning). Roadtrip is actually quite a nice little bar. We had a chat and a drink on the cavernous leather sofa, I made of point of saying I had some of the obscure Detroit house records the DJ was playing (this was met with a blank look), and exchanged dodgy dating stories (my Stephen Fry one always wins - I'll blog on that sometime).
I went to the bar and encountered a gorgeous girl serving me my gin & tonics. I wasn't sure if it was the raised platform at the bar, but she was tall. Really tall. Nearly as tall as me. For me, that's a plus point.
As soon as I took the drinks back I couldn't stop thinking about talking to the girl at the bar again. I began devising a method to obtain her telephone number and secure a date with her while being on a date with someone else. There's probably something in The Game about this, but I never read it all the way through.
Half of me felt very bad, half of me felt somewhat pimp-like....yes I'm somewhat deluded in this respect.
I made an excuse to go back to the bar, which was the premise that my card was behind the bar running up a tab, and managed to get served by the same girl. I went straight with asking her for her number - she responded by saying she thought I was going to ask if she played basketball, as that's what all the other guys asked.
That response put me off said game somewhat. Just as I had a riposte, my game was taken down when I turned around and there was my date, with an expression somewhere between perplexed and resigned.
Suffice to say, that was the beginning the end of that first date.
19 hours in the office
Not just working may I add. Last night was our latest Reprise presents... event at the Horse & Groom
After a few drinks and disco fun, we headed back to the office to drop off Murray's laptop. It was here that I realised he had my keys, and he had headed off to Dalston to a sketchy bar.
There was nothing for it but to sleep in the office. The Ikea sofa is comfortable to sit on, but not too great for a tipsy 6ft 5" male to sleep on during a hot Thursday night, as I discovered.
This morning Murray arrived at 10:30, and took a trip back to primeval times. Homos erectus, the caveman, wearing cotton shorts hacked with scissors and nothing else, looking for feeding time and with a sore head. That was me.
We then discovered the keys had been on the desk the whole time. 3 metres away from my resting place.
I was not happy.
I'm happy to report that I'm writing this from the comfort of my usual sleeping area, at home.
After a few drinks and disco fun, we headed back to the office to drop off Murray's laptop. It was here that I realised he had my keys, and he had headed off to Dalston to a sketchy bar.
There was nothing for it but to sleep in the office. The Ikea sofa is comfortable to sit on, but not too great for a tipsy 6ft 5" male to sleep on during a hot Thursday night, as I discovered.
This morning Murray arrived at 10:30, and took a trip back to primeval times. Homos erectus, the caveman, wearing cotton shorts hacked with scissors and nothing else, looking for feeding time and with a sore head. That was me.
We then discovered the keys had been on the desk the whole time. 3 metres away from my resting place.
I was not happy.
I'm happy to report that I'm writing this from the comfort of my usual sleeping area, at home.
Problem # 1 - fixing a bicycle puncture
My bicycle has been sitting in the office out of use for nearly a month now.
Murray borrowed it for a quick ride up to view a flat, within 2 minutes he'd got a double puncture, probably from a broken bottle outside the Drunken Monkey.
It took two of us nearly an hour to fix both wheels. After much blood, sweat and tears the task was completed. 5 minutes later, I get the bike ready to ride home and the front tyre is completely flat again. It appeared that the Presta valve got bent during our tugging and panting (no, not like that).
So I've now bought another new inner tube, and some tyre levers, but it's already taken 20 minutes to get the tyre off.
This video makes it look easy - am I missing something here?!
Personal development - what? eh? pardon?
This may sound all new-age and crusty, but I recently discovered Steve Pavlina and I've become an instant fan.
This guy is a former computer programmer and game developer turned personal development guru....only in America, as they say.
Usually I wouldn't go in for this kind of thing, but I was googling for ways to increase productivity at work and lo and behold his blog popped up. At first I was not convinced, but on further reading there's some superb content in there.
A few favourites I have discovered include '33 Rules to boost your productivity', 'How to get up when your alarm goes off' as well as stuff on Raw Foods, being in touch with your darkside and some more psychic and new-age stuff which is a bit out of my comfort zone.
His post on reasons not to get a job was pretty interesting as well...(raw) food for thought. And if you're really dedicated, there's a 7300 word article on how to make money through a blog (no I haven't read it all yet)
Anyway, worth a check, his writing style is very good too.
Thanks, Steve
This guy is a former computer programmer and game developer turned personal development guru....only in America, as they say.
Usually I wouldn't go in for this kind of thing, but I was googling for ways to increase productivity at work and lo and behold his blog popped up. At first I was not convinced, but on further reading there's some superb content in there.
A few favourites I have discovered include '33 Rules to boost your productivity', 'How to get up when your alarm goes off' as well as stuff on Raw Foods, being in touch with your darkside and some more psychic and new-age stuff which is a bit out of my comfort zone.
His post on reasons not to get a job was pretty interesting as well...(raw) food for thought. And if you're really dedicated, there's a 7300 word article on how to make money through a blog (no I haven't read it all yet)
Anyway, worth a check, his writing style is very good too.
Thanks, Steve
End of an era
Today was a sad day in the office, our intern Gregoire aka Greg departed Reprise for pastures new - the sunny climes of St Raphael in the South of France to be exact.
Greg was with us for 4 months, in that time he introduced new systems, controls and processes to help us work more accurately and efficiently, brought a couple of new artists in, and generally made us better at what we do. Pretty good going for a 2nd year university student who had never been to London before, let alone spend 4 months in a small company in Shoreditch.
I've never liked goodbyes, obviously no one does, but it's something I really do find hard. Today was ok though - we had a couple of beers, chatted music, said fond farewells and knew we'd stay in touch as he's done well enough to keep working with us even when he's back home.
End of an era indeed, but the start of a new chapter.
Salut, Gregoire.
Greg was with us for 4 months, in that time he introduced new systems, controls and processes to help us work more accurately and efficiently, brought a couple of new artists in, and generally made us better at what we do. Pretty good going for a 2nd year university student who had never been to London before, let alone spend 4 months in a small company in Shoreditch.
I've never liked goodbyes, obviously no one does, but it's something I really do find hard. Today was ok though - we had a couple of beers, chatted music, said fond farewells and knew we'd stay in touch as he's done well enough to keep working with us even when he's back home.
End of an era indeed, but the start of a new chapter.
Salut, Gregoire.
