product

1500 words, 7 minutes. I’m interested in the history of technology, especially those moments which gave rise to great advances or failures. I’m interested to know the conditions, the growth medium, the organisational structures, the management strategy which helped or hindered. I’m interested in whether (and to what degree) Government has a role to play in the stimulation or sterilisation of research, development, and commercialisation. When working in Venture Capital most of my time was spent thinking about the future. »

950 words, 4 1/2 minutes. One of the reasons why organisations ultimately fail at Cyber Security, is because the office of the CSO lacks power. In this post I’ll explain why that is and what we can do about it. Why The CSO Lacks Power The Cyber Security industry constantly strives to produce better products and services. Engineers work tirelessly to improve deployment practices. There are dozens of courses and certifications designed to improve skills. »

950 words, 4 1/2 minutes. “Nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come." - Victor Hugo. This is the second of two posts on strategic software. The first explained what it is, what it does, and where to find it. Now I’ll tell you why it’s an idea whose time has come. I’ll tell you why it will be more powerful in some respects than traditional politics and how it will come to shape the world. »

1300 words, 5 minutes. “Whatever happens, we have got the Maxim gun, they have not." - Hilaire Belloc. Once upon a time software was just for counting beans. It counted more beans faster and cheaper than anything else. Then computers became personal, then portable, then pocketable. All sorts of different kinds of software were created to serve the people and help them do their jobs better. Everyone became more productive. Software was their servant, and they lived happily ever after. »

1300 words, 4 and a half minutes. This will probably be the first and last time I write about social networking. I’m an antisocial social networker. I had an expectation that part of the job of a networking platform (professional or social) would be to filter content or updates, both in terms of who was posting them and the individual significance or quality of the posts. Boy was I wrong. One person re-posts every single article they see, another “motivational” poster repeats blithe optimism without context at the end of every day (tellingly never the beginning). »