Internet World 2012: Lunchbreak

So, it's lunchtime here at Internet World 2012 in the London Earl Court exhibition centre.

It's been a fantastic day so far, with myself and friend/colleague Ben managing to see some really cool and interesting talks by representatives from some of the industry's "bigs".

The first talk of the day was by UK Cisco CEO, Phil Smith. He had some really interesting insights into the how the future of the interconnectedness of the United Kingdom will be shaped, as well as how the industry is crucial in the growth and expansion of the economy.

The second talk we attended was by Microsoft "Chief Envisioning Officer", Dave Coplin. Less about the technicalities, more about the human element of technology and how it we can push those boundaries.

Both of these talks had so much depth, and it was great to listen to people from right in the middle of the industry, on their outlooks to the future. While not all of what they said quite aligned with my thoughts, it just pointed out how everyone has differing views on what will, or will not be - no one truly knows where technology will take us - even those at the top, all everyone knows is that it will take us somewhere new. It is that resounding sentiment that really makes me excited.

I'm looking forward to some more great talks this afternoon, including a representative from Skype discussing how the mobile ecosystem is changing and what Web 3.0 really means for the future.

Once the event is over, I'd like to touch on a few of the sentiments that they offered, and turn them into a couple of blog posts. See you then!

Hackathon London: The Aftermath

Looking back over the last couple of days, I cannot believe how much was achieved in such a small amount of time. It was my first Hackathon, I wasn't quite sure of how these events go... but after the this weekend, I'm certain that it will be the first of many!

Firstly, I would like to send out a huge big thank you to everyone involved with the weekend, especially the people organising it! Even though it was the first event from Markco Media (http://markcomedia.com), it was run impeccably. The generosity (so much free food and drink, let alone the chance to treat an amazingly cool office that is just a minute's walk away from Tower Bridge as my own for the weekend), the enthusiasm and the general fun-loving spirit of the people at the event was truly awesome. Nothing was too much trouble, and nothing was asked for in return.

There was also the chance to be utterly inspired and work with some of the great successes within the industry. Having those people on tap to give you advice and direction while you are creating is just something you could not get anywhere else, and it left me just itching to get out there and achieve!

The hacking itself was just so much fun. We created a tool which I genuinely think could grow into something useful that people would like to use - all based on the ideas of two entrepreneurs I was lucky enough to chat with. With out team of 3 developers and 3 multi-talented individuals in the areas of business, marketing and design, I was really pleased with just how far we got and what we achieved. OUr software also utilises the Pusher API to interact with their awesome service of pushing data, in real time, to clients concurrently - the chance to work with the direct support of one of their guys was great and helped us no end in incorporating their technology effectively into what we were building.

It wasn't only our hack which I got to get a good look at, either. There were a lot of other people developing other software which I found just as cool. Ranging from money management systems to music discovery systems based on colour, to a service ensuring 100% safe QR-codes - there was loads to look at and loads of great people behind the ideas! I'm really hoping to see some of these ideas develop into something great and being able to say - "I was there at the start!"

So after 3 days with 4 hours sleep, an unlimited supply of a hacker's favourite kinds of food, brilliant ideas, equally brilliant chances to meet new people with the industry and, probably most importantly, caffeine on tap, I really feel that this experience has been one of the greatest I've had in some time.

I really hope that Mark and the other guys at Markco Media decide to put on another event - I would be first in line to sign up!

(Also, I should be posting some photos of the weekend at some point when I'm not on a train!)

Hackathon London

This weekend I am off to my very first Hackathon. Along with 4 of my fellow computer scientists from here at Aberystwyth University, I am travelling down south to the Markco Media (http://www.markcomedia.com/) offices in Butlers Wharf, London.

I have wanted to go to one of these events for many years, with lots of like minded people to talk to, eat and drink with and most importantly - hack alongside! There will also be some really cool and interesting people to gain advice and insights from, from a range of fantastic UK tech companies. I am especially exited to get to meet them and listen to what they have to say!

The basic principle of the hackathon is that there are many groups all working on different projects over the course of 48 hours. Sleep is scarce, coffee is plentiful and hopefully there will be some awesome projects emerging from it.

Leaving tomorrow morning at 9.30, I will try (as long as there is time in the busy hacking schedule!) to blog on the progress of my group and about the project we are undertaking. Oh, and I'll be tweeting all weekend long as well, no doubt.

I love my new toy.

So, yesterday my new toy came through the post. It's not one of those "useless toys", or one of those toys that I will "use once and never use again". This toy was something that has real uses. Not only real uses, but useful uses too!

You've obviously guessed it by now; I got myself an Arduino.

Ok, so the stuff I have done with it so far hasn't exactly been ground breaking. Well, unless you call making a Red LED blink "Hello World" in morse code, with a nice Yellow LED blinking to inform you the end of each letter... but it had to be done, right?

Above: My new toy blinking "Hello World"

To be honest, I have always wanted to do some programming of actual hardware. Ok, so in a sense you are always telling certain pieces of hardware to do things, but there is just something really cool about actually seeing which circuits you are switching on and off and being able to see, physically, the result of your programatic statements.

So, so far I have managed to make a few simple sketches, just learning the very basics (I need to crawl before I walk, don'tcha know). I am however, really exciting about the things you can use this awesome little piece of kit for, though. I would really like to get it to do something useful in my car. Gather and display some technical data maybe? Or interact with the "entertainment system" in some way?

The thing I really love about this piece of hardware is the software that comes with it, and just how easy it is to setup and then proceed to get it working. There is nothing hard to understand (maybe a fairly basic knowledge of programming, but nothing harder than that), pretty much anyone could have a go at doing something cool with one of these - something which I think is awesome.

Fancy getting your plant to call out when it needs watering? Want to create that security system for when someone ventures into your cupboards? Maybe you just want to make something pretty with lots of little flashing LEDs - the Arduino is perfect for all of these (and obviously much, much more!)

I will keep you updated with all my latest and greatest creations, you can be sure of that!

The iPad... just a content consumption device?

So, recently I bought myself an iPad. And I love it.

Seriously, the iPad (contrary to my girlfriend's scathing belief) is a serious tool that any techy should own. Vital, in fact. I can read my daily tech news sites (in some really cool ways actually... enter, Flipboard), I can listen to my favourite tech-podcasts and watch my favourite review videos. If I'm on a train, I can catch that movie I keep trying to find time to watch or catch up on my favourite TV show. I can also read my email, read a book, check my Twitter, Facebook, GooglePlus, check the Snooker results... honestly the possibilities are endless.

Actually, I say all of the above with utter sincerity. The iPad, to me, is one of the best ways to consume content. All of the daily content I would usually look at on my laptop, I actually choose to view on my iPad. It's nice, luxurious, and - most of all - has an element of fun about it.

Just the other day, however, (when I was out, killing time, with only my pad) I began to think... when, exactly, will I be persuaded to do things that are not just about consuming content on my iPad.

Could I do any serious work, using nothing else, only my tablet? I'm not just talking about updating my social networking status, or writing a little blog post, I'm not even talking about the odd time when I've taken lecture notes using nothing but the shiny little device (Evernote, by the way - I cannot recommend enough!) I'm talking real work. Could I actually do the same kind of work I could do on my computer, and more importantly - could I still be as productive?

Alongside being a student, I also work in software development. A lot of this development takes place online. At this time (when I was stuck with no laptop) I wanted to make some additions to a PHP script I had been working on... but how? Was it even practically possible?

Enter, Gusto.

Gusto, so I found out, is a fantastic tool for any web developer looking to do some work on the iPad. It's still work in progress of course, but it's really very stable. Packed with loads of great features, it actually allowed me to do what I wanted. It allows the browsing and editing of files. It highlights all code for easier development. Once the code is finished it has a nice "upload" feature, storing all of the connection details for all of servers on which I manage content. One click, choose the server and destination for my script - and I'm done.

So was it as easy? Well, in a lot of ways - yes. Of course, there is always the issue of it not being as easy to type, or as easy to edit script in general (as I cannot see as much of the code as I would be able to on an average sized laptop/monitor). However, the features built into this app meant that it was absolutely possibly to make small edits, and be productive.

This concept makes me very excited for the future of apps for devices such as my iPad. Developers are beginning to get applications out there on which you can actually do work. They are also packing apps such as Gusto with features that somewhat compensate for the harder typing and the limited viewing space. As long as these apps always remember the limitations of the device they are being developed for in terms logistical terms, I can really see people beginning to use them for real work.

So after all that, would I ditch my trusty Macbook? No, definitely not. However I do think that this year is going to be the 'year of productivity' when it comes to tablets. What is stopping, for example, a company developing an app that is completely specific to roles of work that they have? Nothing - and I'm sure there are a lot of them out there already that take advantage of this idea. Maybe, just maybe, the day will come when it is easier to be productive in certain things on an iPad. Exciting stuff.

'Tis the season...

Post migrated from previous blog. Written December 27th, 2011.

Well I don't know about you, but this year, for me, has gone super fast.

It seems only miniscule amounts of time ago that I was enjoying the last Christmas holiday. Sitting by the fire, watching old (and always over-played) Christmas films and generally over-indulging in all things that are bad for you. It might seem very little time ago, yet here I am again!

I think my favourite time of year is possibly that between Christmas and New Year. For me (being a student and working for myself around that) this is the time that to me where there are no time constraints, no pressure, and everyone is chilled out having had a nice Christmas break (of course the one year I write this would be the one year I actually have a work deadline for very early January, but the relaxing time between Christms and New Year definitely aids this, of course!)

In tech, I feel that 2011 has been an amazing year. Not only for the industry as a whole, but also for me personally. I have been able to watch the predicted "mobile boom" as well as so many stories develop about my favourite companies (I guess you could argue the particularly lawsuit-tactic year we've had has got old, but it's kit me entertained and my Twitter-feed stocked).

It has also seen the feet-finding of my new company. As we enter into 2012 I am beginning to really feel good about how far we've come, all the experiences I've had along the way and everything I am learning. Most importantly, I'm feeling good about where we're going.

I am hoping to get an 'end of the year' blog up, going into a little more detail about my techs thoughts of the year (this was, believe it or not, just supposed to be a quick 'Merry Christmas' rambling...)

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas holiday and has a great last week of 2011!

Oh, my New Year's Resolution is sorted, by the way. Much more blogging.

Will the 'Age of the Text Message' ever end?

Post migrated from previous blog. Written September 13th, 2011.

Hopefully.

To be honest, I'm probably being too harsh. The SMS service has served me (and pretty much everyone else with a mobile phone since the early 90s) very well. It revolutionised the way we communicate remotely, and was so brilliantly simple that people everywhere were able to catch on pretty quickly.

That said, we're now 20 years on and the technology beneath this service has changed, improved, vastly. With smartphone owner statistics growing by the day, more and more people have a computer many times more powerful than a PC was when SMS was created, sitting in their pocket.

It's not just the hardware, either.

In recent years we've seen a boom in social media application usage - and, indeed, understanding. With most of the globe now connecting with each other via services such as Facebook and Twitter, people are truly beginning to understand what communication can be like on the web. Given the fact all these services are also available on our smartphones, will the SMS become redundant to a service such as one of these? Probably not... yet.

Reliability is king.

These services are not built as an "SMS replacement". With this in mind, I really feel that reliability is an issue. They can be slow in notification, and generally do not have the features allowing me to feel comfortable using them instead of a text (for one, I have no idea if the person I am messaging even has mobile access to the service).

Instead, I believe a service such as the newly released PingMe would stand a much better chance.

PingMe offers a lot that SMS doesn't. Whether we've just become blinded in what is lacking from the "service that has just always been there" or whether we truly find nothing wrong with SMS, I don't know. But what I do know is, when a service like PingMe crops up with media attachment capabilities, instant delivery and read reports, status updates and group chat - the weaknesses of SMS really glare.

This service was built to be a direct alternative to the text message. It runs in the background, uses your mobile number (automatically connecting you with other in your phonebook using it) and it alerts you when you have a message. Everything else on top of this is a bonus. If everyone else in my phonebook had it, would I have a use for SMS any longer? No.

So what exactly am I getting at?

Despite the fact that I would love it if everyone did subscribe to a service such as PingMe - it just won't happen. There is the obvious reason of "no smartphone" and the competition of services such as the likes of BBM and iMessage (both of which are native to their platforms and therefore obviously exclusive). There is also the fact that these services (excluding BBM) all use data transfer standards NOT in the form of GSM (mobile signal) - of which people have limited amounts, and problems receiving in some areas.

These reasons, though, are not why I think SMS will continue to live on, working further into what should be it's well-earned retirement. All of those problems will begin to see fixes long before the demise of SMS. The true reason is much more frustrating; that people simply will not want to change. SMS delivers the service they are used to. One that is very tried and very tested, one that works for them - however simplistic and featureless it may appear when lined up against the technology of today.