Inspiration From The International Space Station

Continuing to share things that have been inspiring me and informing my research recently. Heres a video compiled of time lapse sequences of photographs taken with a special low-light 4K-camera by the crew of expedition 28 & 29 onboard the International Space Station from August to October, 2011. It really doesn’t need any more words than that really. Enjoy.

Collaborative Consumption Thoughts On Co-spaces

Crowdsourcing and mapping. There have been some incredible open access crowdsourced mapping projects happening recently, which take data from public sources and willing participants to create useful and interactive ways to share information. From Aid organisations to artists programmers the humble map has now become an inventive and sometimes radical tool in the arsenal of community focused users. Some interesting projects that have caught my eye include What Was There a social history project where users upload personal images and map the events and stories which happen within their towns and cities. On a larger scale RDTN.org is interactive map documenting radiation levels across Japan after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster. The project pulls information from the The Japanese…

Simple Philanthropy Built Into Your Business Model

A brilliant idea. 1% of Nothing. So simple its scary. Encourageing philanthropy in business from day one, 1% of Nothing connects startups and founders to causes to which they can donate 1% of their equity. If and when that company gets acquired, goes public, etc., that equity then turns into cash for that cause, instantly. The idea was hought up by Matt Galligan and Shervin Pishevar after strolling into the wrong talk at a conference, a serendipitous story which can read here on their site. The reason I get excited about projects like this is because they ignore old models and change the way we think about doing business. The quietly understood mantra of old is to ‘get yours before you…

Creativity In Education You’re Doing It Wrong

With over 7 million hits this 2006 TED talk from Sir Ken Robinson has struck a cord with people the world over. The topic is EDUCATION and the stake couldn’t be higher. Here Sir Ken talks about the importance of creativity in our schools, the smart people understand that its through creativity that our passions and in tern our businesses can flourish. Now I work with a lot of business people who get very nervous about the word ‘creativity’ they like the word ‘innovation’ but seem bemused at the thought that innovations have to come from somewhere other than a 5 minute monday morning feedback session after the yawn stiffling 2 hour management meeting. In…

Seth Godin Marketing In Bite Size Chunks

So next up on the list of tasty brain snacks is Seth Godin. I wouldn’t recommend trying to eat him up whole but you can find his ideas shared in the easily digestible formats of book / blog / video and audio book. A mixture of marketing genius and self help guru Seth Godin has offered frameworks that support our understanding of the post TV read/write world. A world where advertisers can no longer command our attention simply by asking for it, a world where the consumer demands respect and authenticity. He developed the burgeoning idea of permission marketing and refined the thesis in his book Permission marketing: turning strangers into friends, and friends into customers…

Fast Company. Great Reads Over Coffee

FastCompany.com is a regular read for me in the morning with a coffee. With its simple clean format and unique editorial focus on innovation in technology, ethonomics (ethical economics), leadership and design, Fast Company dish out generous servings of forward thinking content that highlights new and emerging business practices and game changing innovations. Heres a taster (also a plug for Google+) but a great story all the same. The Dalai Lama’s Social Network Of Choice “A few weeks ago, the Dalai Lama was invited to Desmond Tutu’s 80th birthday party. The South African government, however, had other ideas, and denied him a visa to visit the country. The government refused to give an answer, but…

Inspiration From The Do Lectures

Inspiration from the Do Lectures. The idea is simple, DO. The Do Lectures which are freely available online are jam packed full of inspiring stories, well earned wisdom and advice. This tiny band of Do People come together every year on a small farm in Cardigan, Wales to talk about how they do what they do. These are people who make ACTION the only logical step after the IDEA. People who can’t sit on their hands, who have to move to keep motivated and Do to get to the next level. In this world the only way forward is to strive to constantly do it better. Each speaker takes us on a journey through there personal, business,…

Royal Society Journal Archive Free Online

The Royal Society has announced that its world-famous historical journal archive has been made permanently free to access online.  The archive includes the first ever peer-reviewed scientific journal ’Philosophical Transactions’ pub 1665. Other gems include works by Charles Darwin, Michael Faraday and Charles Babbage. As history dictates, the list of women authors is perhaps not as lengthy. Although founded in 1660, women were not permitted to become fellows of the Royal Society until 285 years later in 1945, rather behind the times as women over the age of 30 had won the vote nearly 30 years earlier, in 1918. That said although not documented widely in terms of contribution women played a key role on the development of scientific inquiry….

Crate Space Sheffield

  Huella have launched a new tool for entrepreneurs and start ups across the city of Sheffield. Crate Space has been developed to maximize on limited resources and highlights great places to meet, work, connect and create. Based on the idea of collaborative consumption the aim is to make use of the coffee shops, cafe bars, gallery spaces and public access spaces in sheffield to do our business. Whether it be to spend a few hours catching up on important emails or meeting up with co-workers for a working lunch, the interactive map highlights the best spots and provides information and contact details to pass on to friends and associates. Crate Space is in beta…

Wikihouse Open Source Construction Set

The WikiHouse is an open source construction set created with the aim that anyone can download and print the parts to build the house. The pieces are designed to be CNC machined to form an interlocking structure that can be assembled with minimal skill or instruction. Think flat pack furniture you can sit in and be sheltered by. All the parts are designed by the user community and are offered on a Creative Commons license. There are some great pictures on there blog which give an idea of the scale of the ‘house’ no indication to the cost of production which will depend on the cost of your local materials. Interesting project we will be…