Cybergirl goes travelling... A trip across The World Wide Web...


Ok boys and girls, I’m about to provoke a bit of serious travel envy; Cybergirl is officially on holiday ladies and gentlemen! 

And where am I writing this handy little blog from? Vong Duan beach in Southern Thailand..
Yes I am logged on, booted up with my feet dangling in the water – ahhh the genius that is the world wide web – the genius of Sir Tim Berners Lee. See this is where technology really comes into its own, when a voyage of over twelve thousand miles is reduced to the instantaneous click; when the world becomes a mobile office, when you can be sitting with your feet in the following position…
And still be logged on!

Yes this is where we’ve got to - the world wide web still accessible, even on an Island five miles from the mainland. I even downloaded the Sunday Times (it’s the tenth anniversary of the Style Section don’t you know). But what are the downsides of the web’s global domination – of the fact that even on a secluded beach in Thailand I am still accessible?

I can check on things of course, keep some semblance of control – but what of the fact that I never really switch off? There’s simply no respite; no breathing space for those much needed brain cells to multiply like a hungry little embryo desperate for new and enlightening experiences.

Yes the emails are still flooding in, the Wunderlist is still growing like a Jenga skyscraper and that sense of detachment, that remote cut off point that announces itself like a guillotine after a sixteen hour flight, with a new and fascinating culture – well it just isn’t there. Why? Because I still checked The Daily Mail Online this morning (I know, I know – it’s an addiction) I still checked FB (another uni friend’s wedding I wasn’t invited to grrrr) and I’m still wondering why a certain person hasn’t replied to my email  – it’s 9.35am for Christ’s sake. See I shouldn’t be thinking this – I should be head down, feet massaged, contemplating James Corden’s Autobiography and whether to commit to a Pina Colada or a Gin Fizz – that’s what holidays are for, for submerging your toes in the water...
That’s the investment (money and time) that directly correlate to your coming home revived, refreshed, alive joyous and free! But it’s just so argghh hard when every single café on the beach sports wifi!

 

Not logging on is a literal test of endurance! How to do it…? When I’ve cracked the answer to that question I’ll get back to you.

On the other hand the web’s global reach also has its upsides; I was wandering down the beach last night and took the following photograph:
Ok it’s a little dark, but I was moved to see a young Thai man of no more than eighteen teaching himself to play Guitar on Youtube; his fingers strumming the chords, his face crumpled in concentration – wifi on the beach - one man’s meat, another man’s poison.
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Now on another note (there are always several) I’ve been absolutely baffled by the sheer speed at which the Thai counterfeiters have managed to copy the IPhone 5, yes barely has it been out a week and malls in the province of Bangsaen are awash with handsets proffering to be the long awaited and much lauded next generation of superphone. Unfortunately the counterfeiters haven’t quite got the hang of putting the touch pad on the right way up...
Plus at a retail price of well over £700 it may be cheaper to buy the real one…

 Now for a quick note on IOS 6 (I know I know I just can’t help myself) but please humour me – because (drum roll) I’m actually about to say something positive about Apple! Yes it came, it downloaded, it kind of conquered – IOS 6 is here and (apart from Maps) it’s a well thought out, handy and best of all completely free update to IOS 5. I like it – I like it a lot, why? It certainly doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it does add handy little features that will make you smile (but honestly how long did it take to Integrate FB? Blackberry were doing it years ago). I like the ‘Do Not Disturb’ facility, the refined graphics, the mail facility is definitely better, I love the multiple time zones (handy for the world wide work addict – I mean traveller) and best of all shared Photo Streams. Overall the software is much improved – though the maps – Jeez – according to Apple I am currently floating in the middle of the Gulf of Thailand, wifi or no wifi - this humble little Island literally does not exist.
And last but certainly not least I just have to give a huge shout out to the organisers of the DLD Cities conference which I attended last week. The event was just the most incredible example of what happens when innovation meets excellence. My favourite event was the Start Up Bonanza – where three founders of genius start-ups spoke to an assembled crowd of technophiles on the merits of their respective technologies. Rian Liedenberg of Recce, Pilgrim Beart of Alert Me and Marley Fabiesiewicz of Unlike, spoke about the incredible journey they have all been through developing apps that will seriously improve the way we interact with our environment. Check out Recce in particular for an alternative to both Google and Apple Maps.

Another highlight included a unique talk from DLD chairman Yossi Vardi; a web pioneer if ever there was one (with a wicked sense of humour to boot), Yossi pointed the audience towards the Israel, yes if you’re looking to invest in the next big start up – chances are that’s where it’s going to come from. In Yossi’s words, it’s a city where ‘like in LA you have waiters who are all actors, in Israel every waiter is the founder of a start up.’ Keep your eyes and ears peeled ladies and gentlemen… There word on the ground is that there’s another dot-com boom just around the corner. You have been told.

Over and out – next week it’s the turn of the apps – are we becoming a nation that is app obsessed? Are they more of a help or a hindrance? All this and more travel photos :) Till next time, this is your intrepid work/web explorer singing off.



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TAX WELL SPENT - The Young Entrepreneurs Festival, Digital LIfe Design and more...



Well what a week it's been; Cybergirl had the unutterable joy of accompanying the GWG's editor Alice Kahrmann to the first day of Tech City's Young Entrepreneur's Festival - the three day event was a joyous example of what can be achieved when our tax pennies are well invested; in this case by The Department of Trade and Industry. The sheer elation of seeing over forty of the UK's brightest young minds pitch their way to success (and significant investment) gave Cybergirl a real glow of pride… Log onto The GWG next week for a full report, complete with interviews with both mentors and young entrepreneurs, both full of earth shattering business acumen.




With regards to Cybergirl's activities this week - I'm more than a little excited to be attending the Digital Life Design Cities Conference. Today's event will bring together some of the greatest entrepreneurs and digital minds from across the globe to discuss the issue of 'sustainable urbanisation'  and how to build 'smarter cities for a better future.' Esteemed speakers include: 

Jürgen Mayer, Founder of J. Mayer Architects, Kostas Mallios, Vice President, Intellectual Ventures, Pedro Miranda, Head of Global City Centre of Competence, Siemens, Felix Petersen, Founder & CEO, Amen, Carlo Ratti, Director Senseable City Lab, Juliana Rotich, Co-Founder, Ushahidi, Saskia Sassen, Sociologist, Colombia Universtity, Ole Scheeren, Architect, Ludwig Siegele, Editor, Economist, Rohan Silva, Digital Advisor to the Prime Minister UK, Yossi Vardi, Serial Entrepreneur, DLD Co-Chairman,Clemens Weisshaar, Co-Founder, Kram Weisshaar, amongst many others...

It will be nothing if not a fascinating insight into the evolution of our digital landscape...

On another note this week offered the casual cyberstalker a hilarious example of social networking gone wrong; earlier this year oil giant Shell felt the wrath of a social media campaign gone topsy turvy when it fell pray to a fake website masterminded by Greenpeace; the site offered photographs of nature affected by the detrimental effects of oil spillages (birds covered in oil, melancholic looking polar bears etc) and offered a forum on which visitors to the site could post comments on each photo. Fast forward a few months and supermarket giant Waitrose wades into similar territory with a Twitter stunt that backfires spectacularly - this week the company asked customers to tweet the answer to the following question; 'I shop at Waitrose because…' Here are two of the answers; 'because I don't like being surrounded by poor people' and 'because darling Harrods is just too much of a trek mid week.' Hilarious and another brilliant sign of the subversive freedom given to the public via the juggernaut that is social media. Needless to say the offending question were swiftly deleted.

Now no Cybergirl blog would be complete without a weekly comment on, yes - you guessed it Apple. And I'd hate to let you down on that front so for this week I'm going to divert from previous diatribes and instead offer you a a little anecdote that's fallen straight from the Apple tree; let's call it 'Freebies in Store' - consider it my gift to celebrate the launch of the IPhone 5, which has in one short week accrued two million pre-orders. I'll hold back from commenting on that little statistic - of you want my opinion on the IPhone 5 debacle just read last week's post.

So here goes 'FREEBIES IN STORE'; a very dear friend of mine goes into the Regents Street store with her IPhone 4s complete with a shattered back. She looks a little dishevelled having pulled a work all nighter and neglects to do her make up, or brush her hair. She asks how much it costs to fix? '£150' replies the well trained Apple attendant. My friend  (let's call her Milly) gasps in shock; she's a successful young professional but even this seems a bit steep (well it would do - check out the cost of a new back on EBay - ok, ok I know they might not be real but they're identical!!!). On the verge of tears, Milly accepts the fee - gets her handset fixed and goes to the till to pay, at which point the attendant looks her squarely in the eye and says "that's all taken care of now" Milly stands there flummoxed. She opens her mouth to speak and the attendant looks her squarely in the eye and again says "that's all taken care of now." 

Milly is baffled; no cards have been exchanged, no cash handed over, but with people all around and the assistant's beady eye staring blankly at her, Milly backs away. The assistant keeps smiling and turns her attention to another customer. Milly walks out happy as Larry recounting the story to all and sundry. So what to make of this anecdote; a cynical marketing ploy or the kindness of a rogue Apple employee? Hmmmm - well as I'm pretty sure every single item of stock is tagged, logged and scanned to within an inch of its life - it would seem to me a very clever case of silent marketing. Give away a few freebies and see those altruistic rumours start spreading. Ok I know I'm the cynic in this equation, but it's clever ploys like this that detract consumers from the bigger issues at stake - the ethics of a company with a monopoly over the tablet, computer and smartphone market and two million pre orders of the IPhone 5. But I have to say the handset I keep seeing over and over on the street, on buses and most of all on the tube isn't an IPhone - guess what, it's a Samsung Galaxy S III.

September 2012.




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A Love Affair With Tech City and the Bête Noire that is Apple...


 
So ladies and gentlemen you’ll be happy to hear I’m going to take an (albeit brief) respite from talking from Apple. Yes on a lighter and happier note, yesterday was the day when Cybergirl took a little trip east (hello Shoreditch!) and stumbled (accidentally on purpose) across technophile heaven, yes if you're living in London and have any connection to the weird and wonderful word of the web, then there's no excuse not to pay a visit to Hoxton House; the location of Tech City…
Oh how I wept with unadulterated glee on wandering into the uber hip venue complete with works of art by a number of esteemed artists. The space has been curated as a meeting point, come networking haven, come work hub for all the bright young start ups dotted across the capital. It really is the most ingenious investment of resources in the evolution of our digital identity… The intention to make East London the ‘Silicon Valley’ of the UK.
Coming up (next Tuesday – Thursday) is the Tech City Investment Organisation’s Young Entrepreneurs Festival, a business boot camp for Britain’s brightest young minds intent on ‘starting up’. The very best of these will be offered access to the three-day event and will be given intense coaching and the chance to raise investment to ‘kick start their entrepreneurial journey.’

Now that’s what I call ‘inspiring a generation.’
Candidates fall into two age groups, 16-24 and 25+ can apply online, with the best applicants invited to present their business plans to a ‘rockstar panel’ of industry experts.

After being taught a number of essential skills such as sales & marketing, understanding equity and valuation, marketing overseas and investor pitching, the young tekkies will be mentored by industry luminaries including serial entrepreneur and former LinkedIn business leader of the Year, David Murray-Hundley, CEO and author of “Student to CEO” and “Bank To The Future” Simon Dixon, and CEO of Global Natives and International Media Technology Mentor, Daniel Teweles.

David Murray-Hundley, former LinkedIn business leader of the Year said: “The Young Entrepreneurs Festival is a perfect opportunity to uncover inspirational entrepreneurial talent, and I’m really excited to take part and do my part to inspire a new generation of aspiring business leaders.”

Watch out though, only the finest young minds will make it through to Day two. Winners of The Young Entrepreneurs Festival will receive valuable business support including free workspace and technology, and the top 25 young entrepreneurs will also gain ongoing mentoring support into 2013 to help them navigate potential business challenges. 

If you have a great business idea, visit the website and apply now. There’s still time!
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Right now to my bête noire – I’m sorry folks but with all the 'who ha' surrounding the IPhone 5 I just had to wade into Apple territory again. Yes the much lauded (and much leaked) handset  - it’s here ladies and gentlemen. Cybergirl was slap bang right in their flagship store the day of the press conference and funnily enough no one batted an eyelid, consumers kept browsing, genius bar technicians kept troubleshooting and the security guards looked on with their usual blank eyed stare.

But just wait till September 21st; this is one retail space that won't be nearly as calm. So what are the benefits of shelling out (at the least) £529 for the IPhone 5? Are the differences so radical that they warrant purchasing a new handset, one that in a few months close to 70% of Apple users will own? Will it really change your life significantly to have a slightly bigger screen, a slightly faster data speed and access to the 4G network? Yes the camera is better - it will give you 8 mega pixels - heightened colours, but colours you could easily achieve using Camera Plus or IPhoto. Or are you one of the die hard Applephiles, who see the handset as 'essential'; cue the voice of reason Ricky Gervais whose tweet on Thursday pretty much summed up my sentiments on the matter, “Can’t wait for the iPhone 5, I’ve had this mint condition, perfectly good IPhone 4 for a year now – embarrassing,” trust Ricky to be subversive.

So does it really mean that much to consumers? It must do if people are willing to ignore the provenance of that shiny little handset. The handset that whispers on the tube – “I'm worth something, I'm in the know, I'm up to date and most of all I'm cool” - because that’s what the IPhone sells, it's not really about the technology is it? It's about the way a well manicured hand looks roaming over the shimmering shatter prone screen. If it were about the handset – millions of Apple users would have defected to Android.

So you’ve decided you ‘need’ the toy - but what’s it worth? Is it worth the life of another human being? Did you know that 80% of the minerals used in the manufacture of our mobile handsets are mined in the Congo - where civil war has decimated the country and (to date) five million people have died?
If I urge you to do one thing this week, it’s check out the 2011 documentary ‘Blood on the Mobile’ by director Franck Pialsecki Poulsen and then ask yourselves, do I need a phone that works or do I need a phone to be ‘seen with’, a phone that plugs some depleted sense of self worth that only another trinket can assuage. Since the film was made Nokia have amended their policy on conflict minerals. But the 'supply chain' is still very much an issue across the board. At the end of the day it's up to you the consumer to decide which side of the fence you want to stand on - personally I'm sticking to my 4S, until it literally packs up and dies, and if and when I do buy another handset - believe you me it won't be the IPhone 5.



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The Cleanest Tech Providers; who's not on the list?




So last week I had a bit of a rant about Apple, but I stand behind what I said. If any technology company or start up wants to succeed these days they have to pay attention to the ethics of their brand. Consumers will no longer be sidelined by the shabby politics of profit before ecology. I for one am going for an Apple cleanse; no I’m not going to throw out all my Apple products, but I am going to commit (dear God) to not buying any more until the company seriously overhauls its ethics. 

Now I briefly mentioned the issue of music sharing last week – are you are most probably aware ladies and gentlemen, when you’re ‘buying’ a song from ITunes, what you’re actually doing is ‘leasing it’. This was the first thing on actor Bruce Willis’s mind when he was sorting out his last will and testament (way in advance we hope). He brought to light an issue that had somehow swept under the radar; what happens to our music collection when we die? Not just our music; our books, videos, any digital material bought through ITunes; yes even your Sex and the City collection (series 1 through seven). Beware ladies and gentlemen, you don’t own this material. 

Cybergirl spent the weekend browsing old bookshops and what did she find? Or rediscover? The soft weathered edge of a paperback, the inscriptions inside, the faded paper the colour of caramel – the smell, the bargain buckets; ten for a pound. Now I know this is sacrilege, but is a digital version really better? At least the books I bought will remain at home, on a shelf, to be regifted one day far into the future… 

But then on the other hand there’s the immediacy of downloading that provides such great unutterable joy; I went to a literary festival, heard the wondrous Hanif Kureishi talk - I neglected to buy his book. Several days later I hankered after the strong simple prose of his novel Intimacy, seconds later there it was lighting up my IPad…

The debate rages on…

On another note I said last week that I would have a delve into more ethical technology providers…. 

The challenge a company faces in creating ‘ethical’ hardware is harder than first thought. Why? Because at the heart of the issue is the supply chain – tech companies are dependent on a myriad of small parts manufacturers and policing these companies is difficult - but crucially not impossible of course, if ethics is the priority, rather than the afterthought.

Let’s stat with Covalence, a company that tracks the ethical reputation of mutlinationals. Their yearly report, which was until 2010 made available to the public went something like this:
  1. 1.  IBM
    2. Intel Corp
    3. Cisco Systems Inc.
    4. HSBC Holdings
    5. Unilever 6. Marks & Spencer
    7. General Electric
    8. PepsiCo Inc.
    9. Xerox
    10. Dell Inc.
Notice who doesn't get a mention?

This year saw Greenpeace once again publish a list of the cleanest tech providers. For the full report click here. 

The list makes some pretty interesting reading. For those of you pushed for time, here’s a short summary:

“Cisco, Ericsson, and Fujitsu stand out once again in the solutions criteria for providing detailed case studies of how their unique technology is creating pathways towards significant emission reductions.
Softbank has set a new bar in advocacy leadership with strong statements and efforts to move Japan away from dirty energy dependence post-Fukushima.
Google, Cisco, and Dell stand out for sourcing over 20 percent renewable energy globally for each company's infrastructure.”
I have to say, the more I look into it, the sadder I am – I love everything about the Apple products (when they’re working) the design, the functionality, the sheer joy of using them, but the bitter taste left in my mouth by the practices employed by a company who make more profit with the IPhone alone than the whole of Microsoft put together makes me pretty sad. Were Apple to become truly ethical their profits would most likely increase further; motivation enough for a company who prioritizes profit above all else.
September 2012.

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