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Showing posts from July, 2018

The Future As Seen By Me In 2010

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Well looky here, things one has scanned in eh. (ignore the photo, that's some guy that made some accounting software, not sure what became of him ;) MIKE RIVERSDALE is fuming. The expensive headphones he bought in Sydney three weeks ago have just died. His first reaction is not to randomly spill expletives into his coffee, but to use his iPhone to vent his frustration to his Twitter con- tacts, under the moniker Miramar Mike. "I will also put, 'What should I do?' It's a conversation. I'm reaching out to the people following me." The council predicts hand-held digital devices such as smartphones will rule the world in 2040. They already rule the life of Mr Riversdale, whose company WaveAdept helps businesses adapt - their computing sys- tems to allow staff to work from anywhere - and with anyone. In order of fre- equency, he uses his iPhone to tweet (1136 followers; 8363 tweets since joining), e-mail, make phone calls and use online services, such as checki
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Hackathons are NOT competitions

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In all good hackathons there has to be a range of organisations supporting the event. The finest supporters are those that directly contribute to the attendees at the event - ensuring the WiFi is top notch, paying for the coffee, laying on specialised data, making available technical gurus, or even lending mana to the event and supporting by "being there". Companies and individuals that focus their support on the attendees and their needs are to be praised above all. Over the past few years I have noticed a growing number of hackathons (not so much barcamps / unconferences) have been focusing their support / sponsorship on providing prizes - be that cold hard cash, meetings with Ministers, a chance to pitch to a mythical group of moneybags, or even "a chance to go on to greater things". "Yeah, your point is Mike?" ... simply this, why are hackathons changing into competitions? At no point in the general definition of a hackathon is it a "mus
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The Goldilocks of Hackathon Challenges

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The six things every hackathon / unconference / barcamp needs are well known, namely: Suitable venue Convenient date / time Engaging ddentity ("logo") "Just right" Purpose Relevant people ALL the "Playdo" You get all those ticked off and you have an event - my favourite bar, Saturday at 1pm-4pm, "HackMike 2018", "Increase Mike's Knowledge Of Diversity", you and me, and a load of knowledge and techniques ... see, that's an event. Or you could call it catch up with a buddy, but once you have the six items in place the only thing you're increasing is scale - how big and shiny do you want your event to be? btw: it has to be ALL of the items, you can't have an event that doesn't tick off each item; and nor can you have an event that doesn't focus on each item to ensure the best you can get - it's a great way to split up your 'committee'/organising team ... plus a layer of logistics underneath
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