Traveling Geeks

Archive for 'Culture & Arts'

UK government terms used differently

by Craig Newmark on July 13, 2009 at 4:22 pm

Well, I was confused at the start of the Traveling Geeks tour, but have learned a coupla things. This is my (over-simplified) version.

The "government" in the UK is the majority party, who selects ministers including the Prime Minister. It's somewhat analagous to "administration" in the US. (The majority might be a coalition.)

There's no formal transition period in the UK, and far fewer political appointees.

The opposition party maintains as "shadow cabinet" which is ready to replace the existing cabinet immediately.

Feedback appreciated, I'd really like to get this right.

A view from Whitehall

by Craig Newmark on July 12, 2009 at 6:05 pm

Part of the Traveling Geeks tour.

Millennium Bridge, and St. Paul's in the distance.

A view in Charterhouse Square

by Craig Newmark on July 12, 2009 at 2:57 pm

Our hotel was adjacent to an old monastery in Charterhouse Square.

The Charterhouse is on the site of a former Carthusian monastery founded in 1371, by Walter de Manny,
on what is now the north side of the square. It was established near a
1348 plague pit, located in the square, which formed the largest mass
grave in London during the Black Death when around half the population died of the plague. Tens of thousands of bodies were buried here. The name is derived as an Anglicisation of La Grande Chartreuse, whose order founded the monastery.

Rap to Celebreate Darwin 200th Anniversary

by Renee Blodgett on July 12, 2009 at 12:09 pm

As I was dining with a group of technology innovators, scientists, professors and entrepreneurs in Cambridge at Kings College on Friday night, someone played a rap from the previous night, which was in celebration of the Darwin 200th Anniversary Dinner. Click below to listen.

Download RapcambridgeMemo

Britticisms: What’s the deal with “punter” …?

by Craig Newmark on July 10, 2009 at 1:20 pm

Okay, for me to get the British fiction I read, I gotta figure out:

punter — which I think is basically Everyman

tosser — not so good, a little rude

wanker — worse, very rude

Do I have it right?

Is journalism dead in the 21st Century?

by Ayelet Noff on July 10, 2009 at 8:45 am

This is a re-post from Techcrunch Europe.

The Traveling Geeks gathered together for a great turnout (despite the torrential downpours) at the Guardian’s Media Talk (live) podcast. Our agenda was to discuss journalism and it’s rapid change in the 21st Century. Listen here.

While more and more newspapers lose their audience and their advertisers, print is quite quickly, becoming obsolete. In the video below you will see Sarah Lacy, JD Lasica and Robert Scoble discuss and confirm this theory.

In the second video, I asked Howard Rheingold to further extend the conversation into a video discussion about the journalism course at Stanford and the method of dragging people into the 21st century:

Backstage Pass- London taxis

by Sky (Jim Schuyler) on July 8, 2009 at 10:29 pm

Twelve traveling geeks and one cameraperson. Going hither and yon. How do we get around? Well, it’s a combination of cab and walking. London is remarkably compact and I was surprised at how easy it was to get from one spot to another – which on the map looked like it would take an hour, ended up taking 15 minutes. (Last time I was in London was a long time ago, and I walked and took the tube, but I had forgotten how close things were.) So we pack 5 geeks into the first cab, 5 into the next, and then a third, until we are off to the next engagement. Here’s the first cab out of the hotel on Monday morning, with Robert Scoble presiding.

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Traveling Geeks – On the road in the UK

by Ayelet Noff on July 8, 2009 at 7:32 pm

note: this is a repost from TechCrunch Europe

This morning we had a breakfast with Tristan Wilkinson, Intel’s Director of Public Sector and other Intel execs. We had an interesting discussion about the use of technology in the Western world, in developing countries, in the classroom. For example, we talked about how parents and teachers need to be more open to allowing kids to use technology, the internet, their mobile devices and not focus as much on the negative aspects of technology but rather on all the positive aspects. There is a huge problem with parents’ attitudes toward their kids’ involvement with technology and a huge divide in regards to educating parents:

We also had a little debate about whether Twitter is already a mainstream phenomenon or not:

Lastly, we discussed the importance of bringing technology to developing countries and what a difference even one cell phone in a village can make. However, Robert Scoble, also reiterated the idea which he calls the “Friend Divide” – this is to say that even if you have a computer and are able to get online, you’re still at a major disadvantage to people who have already built a rich network of friends which they can use to get and spread information.

Right now I am writing you from NESTA’s Reboot Britain conference. More postings to come as we continue on our fascinating British journey…

in UK, that three-prong plug thing? it’s a long-running gag

by Craig Newmark on July 7, 2009 at 6:09 pm

I guess it's British humor, but the three-prong electrical plug you need here, it's all been a joke.

For that matter, same thing with driving on the left hand side of the road.

Both, some kind of Benny Hill or Monty Python kind of thing, and we fell for it.

BT Tower by Night

by Renee Blodgett on July 7, 2009 at 12:19 am

BT hosted a magical dinner for the Traveling Geeks at the BT Tower in West London last night. BT’s CEO Ian Livingston greeted us (below) and JP Rangaswami followed up with introductions to countless meet-and-greets, which included BT and NESTA managers and directors, as well as other partners and affiliates, such as a team from Ribbit, over from Silicon Valley for a board meeting. (they were acquired by BT roughly a year ago).

The view was incredible:

The food a treat (scallop salad, jersey royal potato pancetta frisse sauce with slow roasted beef fillet, girolles, baby carrot broad beans and summer truffles with red wine reduction).

The hospitality and service incredible (our telecom giants could learn a thing or two). Below a few fun snapshots from our evening.

The BT creative mastermind behind our a collage with character-like images of each of the Geeks…