Four degrees and dropping?

I've just been interviewed by the Sunday Times about networking and jobsearch (Hi Kathy if you're reading this) so I guess in a couple of weeks I'll have used up a few more of my fifteen minutes of fame. Although Warhol never explained how long print lasted, maybe thats my whole shebang... Anyway it was an interesting subject because today as I was heading out of lectures I bumped into some friends from OxMediaNet on whose steering committee I sit. Turns out they were running an event in association with Beyond bricks about wireless technology - so I mooched along and got to talk to all the local entrepreneurs doing stuff with wireless technology in Oxfordshire.

I'm going to miss my network when I leave Oxford. After years in media here it's nice to know that I can pick up the phone and get stuff - printing, designing, photographers, camera crews, rumours, gossip and leads. Not to mention a fair few people to go to the pub with and shoot the breeze. The thought of starting again somewhere else... but then again, after this course I'm never going to walk into a city completely cold. I'll always be able to call one of my current contemporaries and say didn't you used to work in New York, Paris, Shanghai or Hong Kong - where's the right place to go when you're taking a client to lunch?, what's the best accounting firm in town? - whatever. In the same way if I ever need a lawyer, accountant or banker they'll be on the end of the phone.

There was a TV documentary recently about the six degrees of separation theory. One theory they tested was trying to connect some random englishman with a mongolian sheep herder. Well, after this course that's easy - there's a Mongolian guy on the course with me. I reckon I can do it in four, easy...

Who am I ?

I've long suspected that technology has been becoming political. Already we've had dissidents arrested, attempts to exploit technology in the face of the law and technologies outlawed in the face of popular support. All this though will look like small fry when identity becomes a digital service.

This is an interesting model around which it could do so. Once again Doc Searls has read the interesting stuff for me.

Hope I have time to read it

Following up a link from Doc Searls who's been collecting bloggers thoughts on the Challenger tradgedy (how do these guys manage to blog so consistently, excellently and still get stuff done?) I found William Gibson's Blog. Much of which is not so much blog as dialogue with his fans and critics. Presumably its part of the promotion for his new book, but I think once he starts blogging Gibson will find it hard to stop, and for my part, while his books may vary in quality his actual writing, the descriptions, the imagery and the clarity of thought is always exceptional.

As a note to this. I've just read two chapters of our finance text book in a little under an hour, and made notes on it. It seems my old speed reading skills are finally picking up after many many years of rustiness. This time last term I'd have taken a couple of hours to read the same amount of material, and probably made worse notes. Learning is a skill, let no one tell you otherwise.

Keeping myself busy

I do not have time to write this blog, but it will all be alright in the end because it always is. Other things I haven't had time to do this term inlcude

Being marketing director for the Oxford Business Forum
Writing for the SBS magazine (2.3 mb PDF, I'm on page 5)

I've been writing up the Dean's seminars this term as well. This week was Hector Sants, CEO Europe for Credit Suisse First Boston. He had a bunch of stuff to say about the future of investment banking, including the really interesting notion that in the future investment bankers will be team players, highly ethical and generally nice guys. He admitted that this is going to be one hell of a culture shift, but in a new environment where reputation, fair dealing and regulation are the norm the industry is going to have to change.

Read my full report on Hector Sants (.doc)
Read the full version of my Silicon valley report

Cynicism Watch

This made me smile, especially the first two poems. After that the satire seems to dry up. Damn funny though.