Having a play with BBS

I recently discovered  [textfiles.com](http://textfiles.com). This site is was new to me, and the technology of BBS passed me by. Apparently it was a tool of the 1980s, that through dial up let people communicate and post files. Textiles.com hosts some of these old classic forgotten text files. Some of them are pretty amusing. It's a glimpse back into a different time of computing.

As I'm curious, I wondered if this technology is still running?

Apparently, yes it is. A quick google search brings up a few old websites with information.

Getting access:

I followed these steps to get access. It wasn't difficult:

1. Install Virtualbox for Mac (already had this)
2. Install Windows XP in Virtualbox
3. XP already has Telnet installed, just click on the link from this server list and you are away. It fires up a command window and connects to the BBD

The experience was pretty awful if I'm honest. Although this really should be expected from technology that is 30 years old. It felt a bit like teletext but slightly faster, and more confusing.  Here is how the experience went:

1. Clicked on link and the command box popped up.
2. A connection established and some ASCII art header popped up.
3. Promoted with a message of new or exiting user.
4. New user, so had to go through an interrogation into name, location, password etc.
5. Finally in.
6. No clue how to access anything.
7. Randomly hitting ESC and other keys finding a few messages and logs.
8. Quitting without really actually getting anywhere.

I'm sure the experience was pretty decent back in the 80s. It hasn't aged well. As an experiment it was interesting, but I can't see a BBS revival anytime soon.

A few simple goals for 2016

There are no real surprises here. Generally standard goals that anyone could have.

These goals are very top level for the year.

* Walk and cycle more
* Be less wasteful
* Photograph more
* Sleep better
* Read more / write more
* Improve diet

These goals are a little flaky

* Unclutter more stuff. Both physical and digital
* Become me more minimal
* Take a few risks
* Be more confident
* Be more creative

Have a fantastic 2016

On being selected a top10 engaged marketer by LinkedIn

I recently received the following message from LinkedIn.

Hi Mark,
I'm excited to let you know you've been selected as one of LinkedIn's Most Engaged Marketers in the UK for 2015.
Our list of the top ten Most Engaged Marketers was determined based on a number of engagement factors including connections, group membership, companies followed and content sharing on LinkedIn.
We are finalizing a media advisory to share with marketing trades our 2015 list. Would you have any concerns about being mentioned in our media outreach? We may also want to use a quote from you so let me know if you'd be amenable to that.
We'll be in touch soon regarding details on a celebratory gathering at our office where we'd love to welcome you and the other Most Engaged Marketers this year.  Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions at all, and once again congratulations!

This was quite a pleasant surprise. I was not expecting this news. Naturally, I responded by confirming I would be delighted to accept, and happy to meet up.

The meeting was at the LinkedIn offices in London. The offices just off Oxford Street were very swanky. They had just been refurbished, and had all the funky design of a tech company. Including classic red London telephone boxes, free food and drink fridges, chill out zones and mood lighting.

I spent around 40 minutes with them. The meeting was essentially a product workshop. They gave a bit of insight into the roadmap. They also wanted feedback on how we were using the platform. It was good to connect with peers from different industries. The breakfast was also decent. Before departing we were given our gift of an umbrella, moleskin, pen and a year's subscription to LinkedIn Premium.

How do I think I achieved this? Here's the lowdown:

1. Used many LinkedIn tools. This year I was pretty active using all of the tools LinkedIn had to offer. I started using Sales Navigator and also took a trial of Recruiter to hire. This in addition to generally good discipline to keep networking and connecting.

2. Hired through LinkedIn. I think this was a pretty big contributor. I used LinkedIn to get in touch with potential candidates. This put me in direct contact with a lot of people. It was a successful project, although more time consuming than using an agency.

3. Published an article. I only posted one article. It got a few likes, comments and views. It didn't exactly go viral. I assume it did so enough to bump up my ranking.

4. Changed jobs. At the start of 2015 I moved roles. I think a combination of congrats, views and recommendations would have bumped up my rankings.

I don't think there was any more to it than that. I don't spend all that much time on LinkedIn. I think that the activity was across all of the tools on the platform probably met LinkedIn's 'engaged' criteria.

Simple tips for using periscope at events

I've started using Periscope at the last few business events I've attended to broadcast live video. If you are new to live smartphone broadcasting, two of the popular apps are Meerkat and Periscope. I won't go into the details here, but my app of choice is Periscope. Here are few observations and tips from a novice smartphone broadcaster.

Observations using Periscope at events

- There are usually few people periscoping at the business events I attend. Even the organisers are slow to adopt this tech. I'm not suggesting I'm a trail blazer, but by day two of the conference I occasionally see the event organiser starting to stream. Could it be because they clocked me periscoping? Either way, it's a good way to get conversations started.

- Viewers peak at 10- 15 minutes then start to drop off. Even with the most compelling of speakers or topics, viewers are very transient in nature. Short and sweet is good.

- I've made business connections just by Periscoping. Several occasions delegates saying "I was sat behind you - that is cool you were presicoping - hi how are you?"

- I've had a few viewers who couldn't attend the event express thanks for sharing a broadcast.

Here are my 10 tips:

1. Get on the venue wifi or have unlimited data. Periscope chews through around 400mb of data every 30 minutes.

2. Find a decent location. Periscoping from the back of the room isn't great for anyone.

3. Be prepared. Fire up the app before the speaker, get the hashtags and title ready to go.

4. Get the event hash tags in - otherwise how will people find your broadcast?

5. Make sure you have "post to twitter" and "your location" enabled, again to maximise your coverage.

6. Hope that a good friend with lots of follows retweets you. Or tell them beforehand.

7. Make sure you are pointing at something relevant at the start of the broadcast. Otherwise you will have a shoe or the back of a head as a thumbnail for the broadcast.

8. Consider taking a old smartphone phone for periscoping. This leaves your main phone for tweeting or checking comments.

9. Show the face behind the camera. Viewers want to see who's broadcasting too.

10. Don't worry too much about the quality. This is live and raw, it doesn't need to be a polished production.

That's it. It's simple tech, experiment and have fun.

I'd love to hear your tips, or experiences with Periscope or Meerkat . I also have an interest in how "OTT" broadcasting like Pericope is disrupting the traditional models. Particularly for broadcasters and content owners. Happy to chat.

My current photo workflow

Here is my current photo workflow and back-up plan. This is the plan for my better than average pics, not generally rubbish shots of food etc.

TAKING PHOTOS

- Take photos with native iPhone app
- Take photos with Olympus Pen EPL-1 Micro 4/3 DSLR - shoot in RAW format

EDITING PHOTOS

- iPhone photos get edited with Snapseed, right on the iPhone. I'll document the process for this soon enough.

- DSLR photos either get:
    - Edited on the Macbook in Adobe Lightroom. JPEGs out of the camera look ok, but RAW always need edits.
    - JPEGs transferred to Android Tablet and edited in Snapseed.

SHARING PHOTOS

Typical process involves browsing to the Snapseed folder then:

- Instagram: I usually post to Instagram first. Instagram doesn't allow full frame pics, so there is always a cropping decision here. If I'm feeling lazy I'll check the box to post to Facebook. Sometimes I'll add a bit of a filter, but usually all editing is done before the photo gets to Instagram.

- Flickr: I have an IFTTT recipe that auto posts from Instagram to Flickr so I'm good there. The only drawback to this approach is Instagram massively compresses Photos, so my Flickr images are taking a bit of a hit. Going to need to think about this going forwards. I was a bit fan of Flickr for a long time, but gradually found myself using Instagram more, perhaps because none of my real life friends use Flickr.

- Twitter : Simple - copy and paste the description from Instagram, then post pic to Twitter

- Facebook: I Have been forced to download the horrible Facebook app. I used to be able to post through safari, but tagging and location has become difficult. If I haven't posted through instagram, I'll upload through the app.

- Blogger: I have a private personal blog hosted on Blogspot. I post diary type images up here. Typically they are sent in three ways. 1. Through the app 2. Via email to private address. 3. Through the web app.

BACKUP

A pretty important part of the process and something that I need to improve. I typically have photos backed up in the following:

- Macbook - current year's DSLR Pics
- 2 TB HDD - back-up of every digital photo
- Flickr Private Account - A full backup of every digital photo
- Flickr Public Account - A backup of my best public photos
- Google images - A full backup of every digital photo

CLEANUP

Something I need to improve - but I have too many files. I take a lot of photos. There is not a single day that goes by when I don't take a photo. Many of these are trash, so I need to get rid of them. I also need to get better at sticking photos in Albums or tagging them, as I take more photos I want to be able to get back and find the photo I liked two years ago.

That's it for now.

My thoughts on El Capitan after a few days use.

The install process was actually pretty nice. Except a small issue finding the download status bar.

FEATURES

- Split Screen I like the split screen app tab a lot. This really is the killer feature for me. This is great for multi tasking, and making the most out of your screen on the road. It doesn't seem to work so well with mail (bombs out) but on the whole is good.

- Mail app fullscreen About time - why did it take såoooo long. Can now work full screen with mail. No pesky drafts hiding behind the full mail app.

- Wiggly Mouse That's what I'm calling it. Find the lost mouse pointer by by wiggling like crazy. Can't see this being too useful, but it was worth a laugh.

- Graphics performance The performance of metal seems pretty decent. Has certainly improved the window drawing. That said, I'm using a 2014 MacBook Pro with 16GB Ram and an I7 processor. Shouldn't it be decent anyway? No noticeable speed-up generally.

- New improved notes app Got kind of interested for a while. I love note taking apps. But since its all stored in a proprietary format and I can't access from all devices, and probably not that future proof, I'm giving a miss.

STUFF NOT USED

- Photos. I use lightroom for editing proper photos, and some other apps for phone based shots

- Spotlight. I still don't get spotlight. I use it, but I still think the searches aren't the most intelligent in the world.

- Maps. I've not tried yet, didn't use the old maps app, so doubt I will use this one.

- Battery performance. Yet to see any difference.

So in conclusion, hardly a mind blowing update, but I'll take it. Small agile improvements are good.

Mark

A few quick tips for a friend who asked me about taking photos with an iPhone.

I Don't mind you getting in touch at all, hope all is good with you. In fact I'm flattered by the kind words. I take all of my mobile photos with the standard iPhone camera app. Where things then change is in the editing of the pictures to improve the picture or get the feel you want.

I use an app called Snapseed. It's very easy to learn and start getting good results. There are some excellent tutorials here: http://iphonephotographyschool.com/tag/snapseed/ .

Actually that website is a great resource for inspiration. But the two key things I think have improved my photography more than anything:

1. Learning about composition http://iphonephotographyschool.com/composition-tips/ - (tip - you can recompose a photo by cropping afterwards.)

2. Deciding what the subject or story of the photo is, and getting rid of as much distraction from the story as possible.

Other than this, just take loads of photos and play with snapseed. Follow inspiring blogs or instagramers to get inspiration and ideas. You'll soon find styles of photos you really like, and these styles will start making their way into your shots.

Hope this helps, and you are going somewhere nice - enjoy :)