Anton’s Hat

I love books and they are always an inspiration to me and I have been thinking lately about our current economically challenging times. I’ve decided that once I’ve read some of them I should pass them on to others to use and enjoy. Some of these were great for me some were ok, some I don’t mind if they get swapped on to someone else and one or two I’ll definitely want back to read again.

The E Myth - Michael E. Gerber

A great read for those starting one man shows or any other small business

first, break all the rules - Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman

Nifty little book highlighting the idea that really great managers don’t do the same as everyone else.

50 Management ideas you need to know - Edward Russell-Walling

This is an interesting overview of different management techniques that have been used throughout the years.

The Search - John Battelle

Great book on the story of the search industry

Screw it Let’s Do it - Richard Branson

Simplistic book about the start of the Virgin empire. You can have this one if you want it.

The Dip - Seth Godin

Got this one in an airport before I knew who Seth Godin was. Interesting ideas and it certainly makes you think.

Powerlines - Steve Cone

A look at various different ad campaigns throughout history and how choice of words was often so important to great brands.

Words That Work - Dr. Frank Luntz

Another book on the use of language

The Little Red Book of Sales Answers - Jeffrey Gitomer

A simple easy to follow guide on how to make sales work. It’s laid out in a way that makes it easy to dip in and out of. No simple answers just how to work hard and smart. This is a personal favourite. I’ll swap this but will want it back. Recommend you buy it.

OK well if you’re interested in any of these as I said leave comment indicating the book you’d like and what you want to swap for it and whether I can swap it on or you want it back.

I’ll happily arrange a book for book swap if you’ve got something interesting to offer. This isn’t an exhaustive list just a selection for now I’ll do another one later. If you have no interest in these books then why not do your own swap post so I can see what interesting books you have and I might have something else to offer you.

I’ve been having a debate tonight with Tom Foremski about an article he wrote about “The wisdom of crowds and financial bubbles” on twitter

I’m writing this to explain what I feel is obvious about the notion of the wisdom of crowds.

The wisdom of crowds essentially states that given certain conditions a crowd on average will predict an outcome of a give circumstance better than an expert individual in that crowd. It seems to me that it’s blatantly obvious that individuals in the crowd and the nature of the question being asked will affect the accuracy of the prediction.

Tom asks the question

I wonder if the recent financial speculative bubbles will do much to erode the accepted notion of the “wisdom of crowds?”

I can’t help but think that Tom is laying the blame here at the wrong door.

The most basic problem I have with this is that the current financial problems have absolutely nothing to do with the ‘wisdom of the crowd’ paradigm as it is used by web 2.0 companies at all. In fact it is more due to the far more prevalent problem of herd mentality. Which is to say that a lot of behaviours in all marketplaces are to do with people following leaders (experts) due to a false belief that their expertise has weight. This creates an ‘everyones doing it because everyones doing it effect’ which is the antithesis of the ‘wisdom of crowds’ principal.

The wisdom of crowds has to do with measuring the independent responses of the individuals in a crowd and then averaging them. The vital part of that is that those answers are independent. If they are not then the crowd will inevitably be led by social norms to follow “experts”.

In summary it is the human urge to follow the will of charismatic experts and leaders in certain fields which leads to all of the examples Tom uses such as, pogroms, Hitler and financial problems. Indeed the Madness of crowds is more often than not tainted by the madness of the people who organised the crowd.

I had the good fortune to attend my neighbours Halloween party tonight and I met an interesting fella by the name of Keith Meere.

Keith rides motorbikes, which is something I don’t know much about to be honest, but he has a keen interest in how he can maximise his potential for sponsorship through improving his brand. Naturally I suggested a few online methods as well as some more traditional ideas around differentiate himself and raise recognition of himself as a brand which is important in his sport.

It’ll be interesting to watch how his career develops over the next while andI’ll give a few updates as I get them. Watch this space…

Via Michael Gray’s blog which I found via this video on Loren Feldmans blog.

Loren Feldman of 1938 Media with some great advice tips and pointers for those getting into web video from both a personal blogging perspective and a corporate perspective.

He makes a load of very valid arguments about the value of video and what it can do for a business and also has some great suggestions about the most poweful advertising methods.

HAd to take the video off becaus eit was an autoplay and was driving me crazy. Sorry I’ll post link later.

This started out as a comment on Twenty Majors blog post about how he wants the right to end his own life.

I’d like to start by saying I have a serious problem with the phrase "the right to die". It is emotive and political in nature and totally irrational. You cannot remove someones right to something that is inevitable. This is used to turn something which is not that, into a rights issue. People think that language and your choice of words doesn’t matter. It does…

I understand the pain of looking at sick relatives and the wish that there pain could be eased one way or another (been there, still there actually).

The problem with assisted suicide is actually, importantly, a logical one.
The discussion must start with a simple question

1)Is it wrong to kill yourself?

This is a yes or no question. You either think that it is wrong or you do not. If you think it’s ok your position is clear and anyone has the right to kill themselves without interference. If you think it’s wrong then your position is pretty clear too.

Most people in this argument though are guilty of a case of Orwellian doublethink. It goes like this…

So you think it’s ok in certain circumstances, like if the person is extremely ill etc. but generally it’s not ok. Lets examine that…

Twenty’s argument centres around the idea that this should be the choice of the person who’s ill. His argument is an emotional one about how they are best placed to make that decision.

Unfortunately he has failed to recognise that this is a subjective perspective. Don’t get me wrong subjective perspectives are fine. The problem with applying logic to something though is that you must then follow everything to it’s logical conclusion.

So if the individuals subjective perspective is good enough to validate suicide in one circumstance, extreme illness, then how can it not be good enough in another, for instance, perfect health. This problem can be mirrored for the person doing the assisting.

So now we have a different problem, defining the circumstances in which it is ok, we now have a movable line. Who is going to define this new line? What is going to stop it moving again? Have you realised that you’re not making the decisions anymore?

And here we are a hop and a skip from “Logan’s Run”.

This is very funny via TechCrunch created by Crunchgear’s Nicholas Deleon and his brother Gabriel.

I know I have a lot on my plate but something I say a lot (as a joke) is that I’ll make a comeback in football.

This year in May at the age of 31 I decided to do just that. I had a call form the Manager of Salthill Devon FC in Galways manager asking about young players I might know (I’ve coached Eircom U21 level for the last 3 years) and eventually the conversation turned to me coming along to help pass on some experience to younger players.  As this is a year for going for it I agreed. Why not?

They’ve entered the League of Ireland A Championship which is a new national senior league below the Eircom League First Division and has all the reserve teams from the Premier division clubs, as well as other clubs looking to make a step up. The winner can play off with the bottom club in the First division for promotion. So pretty decent.

I got off to a good start, had a stinker against Shamrock Rovers and since then have spent most of the time with a calf injury. I’m fully recovered now and ready for action in a friendly this weekend.

I’ll be bringing you more regular updates of “the comeback”, my training and trials and tribulations as the season progresses.

Stay tuned…

The Hat is back!

In fair Verona I shall meet you
On the eve of Spancills Fair
Wear a ribbon I beseech you
A red ribbon in your hair

By this ribbon I shall know
And find you in the crowd
’Neath Shakespeare’s lovers window
As the second bell tolls loud

And I’ll untie that silken bow
Run my fingers through your hair
And by your eyes I’ll know
The measure of your care

So reserve a tiny shaving
For the heavy heart you stole 
That Capulet’s fair craving, 
Might again infect your soul

All my own work.

I’d love your thoughts… chat soon.

Hi there folks. Those of you who know me well will know that my intentions for TechLudd have always been that it should eventually come under the auspices of a larger organisation so that continuation of these types of events would not be solely down to me as I think people enjoy the events and I believe that networking in this space is way too important for events to rely on one individual (however handsome and entertaining he might be… ok kidding!!)

To that end I am delighted to announce, as I am now working with the Digital Media Forum as a project manager to develop an All Island Digital Media Network, that this meetup will find a new home there as part of a wider range of events organised for that network.

These events will be starting very soon and along with other tools to help connect Digital Media companies of various disciplines throughout the island. I will be announcing more details on the Digital Media Island blog over the next few days so please keep an eye there for details.