Distributed Social Networking - An Introduction from pixelsebi on Vimeo.
The video above ( here: http://vimeo.com/2378501 if you can't see it), is an introduction to Distributed Social Networking by Sebastian Küpers.

Sebastian introduces the topic and describes how Noserub can be used in this context. Previously Sebastian has recorded a podcast with Dirk.

He has also written an interesting article on how to make your Wordpress blog NoseRub compatible.

Anyway... enjoy the video and Sebatian keep up the great work!

I took a look at Animoto this morning, and it's pretty darn cool.

Animoto has been a poster child for cloud computing for a while, they make pretty heavy use of Amazon's AWS services to make their system work.

Anyway, below is a video I created with Animoto, the pictures are from the BBC / Yahoo! Hackday 2007 I attended. It took all of 5 minutes (if that) to produce, excellent tool.



Lance

Hi everyone,
Monday is here, December 1st 2008. The sky is blue, the sun is shining and I feel (comparatively) terrific!

The cold/chest infection I have had is almost gone, which is a relief.

yesterday I gave a talk to a group of coaches at the Dartford Judo CLub about "Coaching Digital Natives", which seemed to go down well. It was interesting as it was the least "web-savvy" group I have given the talk to so far. I think it went down well, so I am happy. I really enjoy discussing the web to Judo people as I think it is an area that Judo on the whole is failing to utilize.

Which brings me to the first thing I did this morning. I applied for a 6 month contract with the BJA (British Judo Association) as an events and PR assistant.

Now, you are probably asking yourself "why?". Especially, if you've been following the blog and my other blog over at www.judocoach.com/blog .

The reason is that I am probably the most publicly critical person about the PR/Web presence of the BJA. I have written post after post about their website. I have written to them and made suggestion, some ignored, some replied to, some implemented (although I might add implemented poorly and without bothering to acknowledge my input).

I mentioned the role on my Judo Blog and people emailed me saying "GO FOR IT!"

So I have, my purpose in criticising was/is always to make things better, so I decided that if I want to criticise I should at least offer to be an employee and help them. Given I have publicly offered to take on the BJA website, applying for a job that involves working on that site seemed the only honourable thing to do.

A six month contract is also pretty desirable in terms of my short term finances. As regular visitors will know I am building my own business at the moment ( www.enVirtua.com ) and as you can imagine it takes time to develop a revenue stream, so some regular income would be good right now. After all, enVirtua has only got a couple of clients so far and the incorporation process hasn't even been completed.

Of course there are some things to navigate with the BJA role and running my own business. Not least of all is balancing hours and a working location. The BJA role is based in Loughborough and I am based in Southampton. But I shall cross that bridge when/if I cross it.


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Today is the first of December and I have my first "big" advertising campaign planned and should start today. It is promoting the Cloud Based backup service enVirtua is offering.

I have been using a cloud based backup for... quite a while, something like 18 months at least, probably more. And it is awesome, cheap and reliable.

I used to backup to external hard disk (in fact I still do via "Time Machine", but cloud based backup is terrific for me. I can archive things like podcast episodes up there and forget about them. If I ever need the files, I can access them from anywhere which has been used on more than one occasion when I have needed something and left my laptop at home.

Cloud Backup means I never run out of backup space. When I upgraded the hard disk in my laptop, the capacity suddenly grew larger than the disk I backed up to. So I had a problem, but my cloud based backup just kept growing to whatever size I need it to be.

The offering I am making via enVirtua I hope will prove popular with laptop users and small businesses. The ability to within minutes be backing up your data "offsite", and minimal cost is really valuable. No ordering expensive tape drives and tapes and waiting for delivery and installation. No having to plug in the external hard disk, just to find it's full.

Cloud backup is great, just click and go. You can backup from the office, from home, from Starbucks, where ever you have internet access. As it's all encrypted prior to transmission, it's safe.

I am hoping that the campaign I am starting today will prove successful and I can get people backing up to "The Cloud". I sincerely/genuinely believe in the concept and the product, I use it everyday and hope lots of other people do too.


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Playstation Home looks awesome in Beta!
I can't wait for it to open out and the universe to expand. My secret desire is that Sony and Linden Labs make it possible for you to access Second Life on your PS3. That would be amazing!

James from the Wisdom of the Clouds blog, who I met some years ago when he was with Cassatt has made his move to Cisco and helped host Robert Scoble.

Robert filmed the meetup and has posted it online, so take a look over at http://www.kyte.tv/ch/6118-scobleizer/2 ... acenter-30

Lance

This morning I have moved my office from out in the "dojo" to upstairs in my house.

This is mainly because it is Winter and I suspect my working in a cold, damp 'shed' may well have had a little to do with my recent (ongoing) ill health.



So I have moved my computer desk and chair upstairs into the spare(-ish) room. I tried working from the couch (no good), the kitchen table/bench (no good), the study/music room (no good). Upstairs feels good.


Much of working for yourself, is about acknowledging your strengths and weaknesses. Moving upstairs is my being aware that I need separation from my "home". I simply struggle to be productive if I am sat in parts of the house I associate with home life. The Dojo was excellent as it was physically removed from the house and is still my preferred option. But upstairs in the spare room works for me too.
It is a room I have never spent time in, so it is not tainted with experiences of watching TV, etc.

It also has the huge advantage of being the warmest room in the house, so shall help my health. It will also hopefully help the power bill as it is the warmest room and also has a single bulb (unlike the kitchen and living room).

In the long run, I think I will get someone in to fit out the Dojo as a office properly with insulation and so forth. It will be able to seat about 4-6 people in an office configuration so if (as I hope) enVirtua grows, then I'll have a work space as i need to take people on.

But for now, the upstairs room feels right. It is isolated and quiet. It feels productive, and that is what matter.

Lance