Yes, it's that time of year mobile friends. The GSMA is expecting about 90,000 of us to descent on Barcelona at the end of the month for our annual shindig celebrating all things mobile technology. And thanks to you lovely lot making last year's reunion sooooo good, we are coming back to Barcelona one more time. If you are an executive working in or with the mobile industry please do RSVP. Feel free to share with your friends and colleagues too. We're back at Space Cowboy as they looked after us so well last year. We'll be open from 7pm until late. No admission after 01:00. We will revert to a ..read more

I think this is a great idea. The National Theatre is trialling an earlier start time for selected performances - initially on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'm all for it as it means you either get home earlier or can catch the train home if you live further afield, or there's time to go for dinner afterwards. It also allows the cast, stage management and front-of-house teams to get home a bit earlier. Seems like a win-win to me. I love everything the National Theatre does - I don't think there's a play I've seen there that I didn't like, and some have been downright fantastic and have well-deserve ..read more

I'm pleased to see that the length of time given for someone to cross a road at pedestrian crossings in the UK is to be increased. I walk pretty fast most of the time but even I have difficulty completing crossing the road in time in certain places. When my Mum was alive and aging, she had no chance of crossing the road in the time allotted and we had to hope that drivers would be kind and let us pass. That did mean she restricted where she went on her own and the routes she took in order to reduce the number of main roads she needed to cross. However, there seems to me to be a flaw in the eq ..read more

This thought leadership piece by Konstantine Buhler at Sequoia is well worth a read. I remember a conversation over a decade ago about AI with futurist, David Wood and he told me at the time that the dot on Google Maps showing us where we were was a type of AI. We don't call it that any longer - it just works on our phone and the technology is invisible - as many of the best technology tools are. I can certainly see how it will become quite commonplace to use tools like Bard or ChatGPT and not think anything of it. It will just be part of our routine use of phones, laptops and smart speakers ..read more

Following a post from friend, Tom Hume, I gave ChatGPT (the free version) a prompt from Werner Herzog.  He wrote this in 1976 in relation to working on his film, Heart of Glass. Tom pointed out that perhaps Herzog had invented the 'prompt'.  As such, I thought it would be fun to try it out and see what came out. I've adapted the last line if the prompt to say 'write' rather than 'read aloud'. The full transcript is at the bottom of this blog post. I don't know if the AI has had this prompt before, and if so, how many times, nor if it gives a different result each time. I haven't play ..read more

Yes, that's right, we're back! Fighting fit and raring to go. Despite having had to take an enforced break due to the pandemic and family responsibilities, and despite thinking I was done with the whole mobile networking event thing, and despite not deciding to go to Barcelona until a week ago, here I am, hosting another Swedish Beers party! I'm both thrilled to bits and a little bit scared at the same time as I'm a bit out of practice. But with the outpouring of Swedish Beers love from so many people and amazingly supportive sponsors and friends, I'm delighted to tell you that we're back one ..read more

Thanks to Stephen Waddington for sharing the report in his House of Marketing and PR Facebook Group. Being an 'influencer' is a relatively new career pathway and, despite what us oldies may think about it, is a growing sector. Marketing via influencers can be an effective way to reach your audience but behind the scenes, it's definitely not all glamour. Stephen highlights some key points from this morning's report: Influencer culture is a rapidly expanding and professionalising subsection of the UK’s vibrant creative industries, although the Government hasn't given it any attention. B ..read more

The focus in the business world is always on success, especially when it comes to tech start-ups. The whole culture of the industry centres around celebrating success, pushing for success, being successful, showing off how successful you are. But we're human and humans fail all the time. It is impossible to be successful all of the time. To err is human. I'm currently in the midst of a personal fail and trying to sort it out. It feels like a hot mess and it's unpleasant and demoralising to have to deal with and it's definitely not playing to my strengths. It's not work related, thankfully ..read more

I've known Anna Gudmunson (pictured) for a long time - more than 15 years now, I think. We first met in the early days of mobile when the industry was a lot smaller than today and more close knit and we quickly became friends. We've remained friends ever since even though we no longer live in the same city, or even country! And I'm really thrilled to see what a success she's having with Sensate. [You can buy it on Amazon here] I've met many hundreds of entrepreneurs and founders and innovators in the tech start-up scene, and although a lot of them are successful, they're not always able to ar ..read more

 It's 41 years ago today since John Lennon was shot. I remember hearing the news on the radio as I was lying in bed and couldn't quite believe it. Double Fantasy had just come out and fans like me hoped that this album would be the first of many. It was not to be. Yet John Lennon's legacy lives on. One of the sounds of Christmas every year is John and Yoko's 'Happy Xmas. (War is Over).' It was written as part of their peace activism and a wish for peace and that war be over forever. It's eminently sing-a-long-able (is that a word?) with a simple, overriding message of Christmas being for ..read more