Viral Marketing - Cloverfield

I spotted this story in the paper today. I'm afraid this one has passed me by. I did see the trailer at the cinema the other day, but it didn't leave me wondering or wanting to go back home and log on to find more. In fact, it was quickly forgotten. Equally none of my Facebook friends, or even real-world friends have sent me anything about it. Plenty of laughing babies, no Statue of Liberty destroying monsters! Check out the movie website for more.

Can the 'net sense when something is contrived I wonder? As a case study it would be interesting to compare this with Blair Witch Project which went viral big time, possibly unintentionally.

Bullitt

I’ve been sat around the house for a few days with a terrible cold. Fed up with the dross being offered up by the broadcasters, I thought I’d have another look at Bullitt.

It’s been a few years since I’ve seen it, and during that time it’s lost none of its sparkle. The cinematography captures the essence of the late sixties, yet is not so over stated so as to make the film a caricature. It still works as a piece of entertainment and as a launch pad for Mr Cool. When people talk about Bullitt they always talk about how cool Steve McQueen is in the film and how great the car chase is. Those things are spot on of course, but for me the best part is the musical score. For large parts of the film, including most of the car chase, there is no music. Music is used only sparingly, which makes its impact that much greater. In fact, the sound track was nominated for both a Bafta and an Oscar.

The film also proves that an actor doesn’t need to say much at all to create a big impression. McQueen was a master in that respect.

It’s well worth a look – even if you’re not a petrol head – as it’s much more than just a car chase!

Volver

I seem to have watched a lot of Pedro Almodovar films recently, so when Volver came on the TV I felt I was obliged to see his latest work. I was not disappointed. Another terrifically thoughtful story line, well acted, and very Spanish! The plot unfolds beautifully as the film progresses and the viewer slowly understands the intricate connections between the story lines, rather than the sudden ‘reveal’ often found in less well crafted productions. A highlight for me is that Penelope Cruz proved that she is able to play stronger women, rather than the weaker type she is normally cast as, and her performance is one of the best parts of the film.

All in all, this is possibly less jarring and deals with less contentious issues than some of Almodovar’s other films, however, it’s not a fairy tale and has the trademark non-gloss reality of films made outside the USA. Well worth watching.

I Am Legend

I was looking forward to seeing I Am Legend. We saw it at the Vue@The O2 cinema (Screen 11). I mention this because screen 11 at Vue@The O2 is the largest screen I've sat in front of since the Southend On Sea Odeon closed many years ago. 770 seats. I'd forgotten how different the atmosphere is in a large cinema compared to the small screens you get in a typical multi-screen complex. For a start, you don't hear the childish comments from the one idiot who is usually sitting at the back, and you get a background hubbub of noise which rises and falls with the film sound track and I think is an important part of the cinema experience. Great stuff! And one of my fondest childhood memories is of Saturday morning pictures at the Odeon and the huge shouts of "shut the door" whenever some poor child left the auditorium to go to the toilet. I read that the Odeon's capacity was over 2,000 and I remember it was full most Saturday mornings. That must have been quite some event!

I Am Legend is not a new story (See "The Last Man on Earth" (1964) and "The Omega Man" (1971)). Neither does this film deal with it in any original way. Will Smith is the last man in New York City and most of the film considers how he deals with this situation emotionally and psychologically. It's superficial and has that Hollywood gloss which almost always serves to make it less real (see "28 Days Later" by way of contrast), although it's well done, and Will has turned into a fine actor. The photography is great, although I wish I wasn't sitting so close to the big screen as I'm not used to having to turn my head from side to side to watch a movie! Particularly impressive was the way NY City had been turned into a desolate backdrop, slowly being reclaimed by Mother Nature. Less impressive was the way the 'infected' were all created by computer graphics, and not played by actors (at least that's how it looked). That made them look and behave more like aliens, than diseased humans and I'm afraid completely unbelievable.

Watch out for a brief, but typically impressive performance by Emma Thompson as Dr. Kripper - even though she's not credited at the end of the film!

One final comment.... Why do Will Smith movies need a scene which shows him exercising half naked? It's pointless.

Boxing Day at the O2

Yesterday the family and I went to The O2 to to ice skate and take in a movie. This was my first visit to the O2 since it re-opened as an entertainment complex. I have to say I was quite disappointed.

Parking was expensive (£6.00 a day, £3.00 on bank holidays etc.), there were queues everywhere - toilets, cinema, to get in, to get out - and the ice skating rink, whilst bigger than most of the seasonal ones, did not have the festive atmosphere of places like Somerset House or Hampton Court.

Having said that, we had fun, and I survived another year of ice skating without breaking a bone!

Is Google turning into a Follower?

Google has a reputation for turning things on their head and shaking the market up, but this recent announcement makes them feel much more like Microsoft, who have built their dominant position by being the second mover in the market place.

Actually , I quite like the idea of Knol, which takes the Wikipedia "wisdom of crowds" principle and adds a "moderated by experts" dimension. It also seems to add other crowd tools, in particular content rating. This is the kind of approach that is more likely to find traction inside and organisation, that the simple Wiki one.

I wonder how Wikipedia will respond?

Ibrahim Ferrer

For a good few years I was married to a Cuban. As a result, I have a great love and interest in Cuban culture and, in particular, the music. I had quite a collection of CDs and albums from this genre which all (unfortunately) were a casualty of my rather expensive divorce settlement. It's taken me some time to build the collection back up again and it was only recently I got hold of the debut self titled album from Ibrahim Ferrer. I'd been meaning to buy more of the Buena Vista Social Club series for some time, but this was top of my list.

This album, with the smooth, almost perfect voice of the old man sums up the 1940s and 1950s era of Cuban music so well. And if you've seen the man perform you'll know that he is a real Cuban, with a unique interpretive style. Ferrer is one of those men I would dearly loved to have met and listened to his tales of the old days and the struggles during the tough times is Cuba. Ry Cooder and the production team have done a great job with the production. The music has a certain raw, almost live, edge to it which is so refreshing in comparison with the over produced plastic music churned out by the mainstream labels.

The highlight of the album for me is the semi-popular Aquellos Ojos Verdes - Green Eyes - which would be a candidate for one of my desert island disks.

This album is an easy to listen to introduction to the lighter romantic ballads and boleros of the Cuban style. But it's not Easy Listening. It'll make the hairs on your neck stand up - Go listen.

Lord of the Rings

There's a tradition in my family. Christmas Eve we go to the West End of London to take in a show and have a meal. This year we went to see Lord of the Rings at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. I was a little bit unsure what to expect. The stage production had to live up to a legendary book, perhaps the first of the genre to go mainstream, and a superb series of films. And could you really turn LOTR into a musical?

However, the producers and director have a done a great job. They haven't tried to recreate the film on the stage, but to create a spectacle in its own right. The stage set is magnificent, complicated to manage I guess, but giving a great space for the cast to perform in. It's a real feast for the eyes. Frankly, the music and the singing is not up to much, and some of the acting is a little wooden, but this is all compensated for by the visual experience. I can't think of anything that has impressed me as much as this since I saw it rain on the stage at the London Palladium way back in the early 1980s when Tommy Steele and Roy Castle were performing in Singing in the Rain. (The audience were clearly enjoying themselves, and although the show is a little long, there were only one or two 'flat' spots when the attention tended to drift.

My recommendation would be to see it if you can.

My Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday. I had a really relaxing day with my family, although was unwell in the evening and was unable to attend the Carols by Candlelight service I had been looking forward to. As always, great thought had gone in to the presents I got. And I especially liked the one my brother bought me. He bought me a subscription to National Geographic Magazine.

However, the reason I comment on this is because (some say) my bother and I are getting more and like Frasier and Niles from the TV Series. Frankly, I don't think they know what they're talking about, but I am beginning to wish I hadn't bought him the Christmas present I have (although I obviously can't say what it is here in case he's reading this)!

Training Update

Unfortunately, I'm still not back out running following the slight calf muscle pull a couple of weeks ago. I did a gentle 12k last week and things were a little sore, but okay, however, since then both legs have been really stiff. I'm actually more concerned about the right achilles, which really doesn't seem to be healing. At least Christmas week is an excuse to take a little time off!

Anybody want to buy some golf clubs.........

........they've never seen the fairway!

Mutual Grooming

I loved this story on Guardian Unlimited. I’ve talked about herd behaviour before on this blog, and this is yet another example of a similar thing. It seems that the richness of a relationship is no longer important, simply the volume of friends we have. Ironically, you could have 500 ‘friends’ online and yet be incredibly lonely because you end up not knowing a single one of them really well. And it’s a similar situation in virtual worlds, you end up knowing someone’s online persona, without a single clue as to who they are or what they’re really like. Does that make them your friend?

We moan about the BBC being dumbed down, but we should worry much more about this dumbing down of our relationships!

The Legacy Intranet

People keep telling me that with the advent of social media, my company’s intranet is going to change beyond all recognition, and that everything we’ve done up to now is just the ‘legacy’ intranet, and old hat!

I don’t accept that.

I heard the same argument way back at the beginning of the 1990s when the web first emerged. People said then (probably the same people) that everything that had come before it was legacy and would be consigned to history. And before that, TV was going to kill radio. Even earlier, radio would kill paper.

Firstly, it seems to be human nature to want more… To know more. And these new channels, features, services add another content layer, not a replacement layer.

Secondly, the reality is that these pre-existing ‘channels’ adapt and behave differently. Take paper. There are more magazines now than there have ever been, although the newspapers are collectively in trouble. We’ve moved away from newsprint, to much more of a leisure and niche focus for our paper consumption. The same will happen on the web. Traditional intranet content will become reference material, with the fast moving, continually evolving, connecting content moving to the new channels. It really doesn’t spell the end for intranets as we know them.

Intranet News

I read this post from Paul Miller on Intranet Life with interest. Paul suggests that the amount of page real estate on intranets devoted to 'news' will decline in 2008/9. I think Paul is probably right, although not for the reasons he suggests. You can see my comments on the site, so I'm not going to repeat all of them here.

However, I do also think that we'll start to see news treated, not as some kind of separate entity, but as content that can be mixed in with other content. For example, the online services Paul suggests are going to replace news will themselves begin to host news and other messages from the organisation. Likewise, the social networks being built inside organisations will also mix in news with the user generated content, in much the way Facebook has been mixing in adverts to my news feed. This is all just an other example of the blurring that is going on. Blurring between home and work. Private and business. Official and unofficial. One geography and another. One platform or another. News and opinion.

I also think people will consume far more via RSS and their news readers than by going to the sites themselves. We're already seeing a huge growth in RSS news content inside the organisation I work for. And that's another reason why news will need to find its way to other platforms.

And in this new boundary-less world, we'll make sense of it all by trusting the content from those with the highest reputation, not those who wear the official badge.

Cycle routes

It was good to read of the Sustrans lottery grant. I've looked at their website and whilst there's a scheme in close to me in Dartford, this country has an awfully long way before cyclists get the same kind of facilities as they do in places like Amsterdam and Vienna. It's a start though.

The Golden Compass

I think the ‘His Dark Materials’ trilogy is one of the best books I have read for years. A fantasy that is only a tiny step removed from our own reality, with some refreshingly original ideas. Beautifully written, colourful and rhythmic, it appealed both to me and my children. If you haven’t read it yet, I would encourage you to do so. And I think you should do so before you see the film, otherwise you might find the big screen makes no sense.

I was looking forward to seeing the film version - The Golden Compass - last night and I’m afraid I left the cinema feeling deeply disappointed. Taking a successful fantasy epic to the screen is never easy, but I’m afraid this effort from director and screen play writer Chris Weitz left me feeling as though I was missing something. The film failed to catch the colour and depth of the book. Superficial, it lacked the detail that made the books great. I guess I’ve been spoiled by the Lord of the Rings masterpieces, On the up-side, the visual effects are stunning and you don’t feel for even one moment they’re not real.

Oh, and if you live in the Greenwich area you might find you’ll recognise some places.

Congratulations!!!

Congratulations to my Mum and Dad who have just reached their 50th wedding anniversary. That's a long time! My brother, sister and I got together and surprised them with a weekend at the Savoy, tickets for Phantom of the Opera and we all assembled for a champagne lunch at Langtry's restaurant. Great fun was had by all.

Langtry's Perrier Jouet lunch has become one of my favourites, good food (usually with a little twist), relaxing atmosphere, and good value.

Disaster

Started out on a planned 22k run this morning and pulled up after only 8 very gentle Ks with a sore calf. Looks like it's going to be bike only until after Christmas now.....

Kaspar the cat

I love quirky English traditions. Kaspar the cat has to be one of the quirkiest. Almost makes me want to book a table for 13 at the Savoy just for the priviledge of dining with him.

More rambling on intranets and collaboration

A colleague of mine, Angela, made an insightful comment about why content governance on an intranet is important. She says

"Google can return a plethora of pages on the internet but you know you have to rely on your own judgement as to what's good and what's rubbish - you can't apply the same to organisational content - people need to know it's all good."

Summarises it nicely!

Hairspray

I went with Daisie to see Hairspray last night at the Shaftesbury Theatre. It's a superb show. High energy, some strong performances and a terrific atmosphere in the theatre (which was full). I thoroughly recommend it.

I paid £20 each for two tickets in the Grand Circle - at the very back of the theatre [Row J, seats 12 and 13]. These were excellent value, with a good view and plenty of leg room. Also the advantage of not having anyone sitting behind you. If you fancy it, book your tickets on one of the websites that tells you which seats you are buying, then check them out on Theatre Monkey where there are seating plans for all the theatres with recommendations on which are good and which are bad seats.

I have to tell you though, this morning I'm not humming any of the songs from the show, so I don't think the music is as legendary as, say, Phantom of the Opera or Lion King, but the production is terrific, the large cast enthusiastic, and the performances - especially from Michael Ball and Mel Smith - first class. My favourite scene was the number 'Back to the Sixties' when the Dynamites step out of the advert. Check out the video on the official site. The other high point was the duet between Wilbur (Mel Smith) and Edna (Michael Ball) which brought the house down. They were obviously enjoying themselves!

Knowledge or Information?

I’m doing a fair amount of work these days on the governance arrangements which need to be in place for some of the new social media tools, such as blogs and wikis.

The wiki phenomenon in particular is an interesting one.

One of the key success factors for traditional intranets is the implementation of tools to ensure content is kept up to date, is usable, accessible for people with disabilities, and complies with the organisational policies and any regulations that affect your industry. Important so that users can have confidence that the material they are viewing is safe to use as part of their business dealings. Trusted content. This is most often achieved by having clear ownership of content. Someone you can pin responsibility to. However, in the new collaborative world of crowd-sourced content there is often no one particular owner of content, so who do you pin responsibility on?

This means we need to think differently about content governance.

But there’s another dimension. People sometimes refer to the content on these collaborative platforms as knowledge. Explicit knowledge. I don’t think there’s ever really been agreement about when explicit knowledge becomes information. There are as many views as there are practitioners. Whichever way you look at it a significant overlap will exist between knowledge management policies and information management policies. The two need to be taken together.

Then you have the issue of whether a single organisation – even some of the largest – can ever really generate effective ‘crowd-sourced’ content. Wikipedia is a good example of effective crowd-sourcing and the wisdom of crowds. It depends on a substantial volume of people having sufficient knowledge of a subject reviewing and editing content such that its accuracy and relevancy increases in, typically, small incremental steps. However, inside an organisation there are often only a handful of people who have sufficient knowledge of a subject to make a valid contribution. A handful of people does not constitute a crowd! So what happens is that the wiki platform – put in place for crowd-sourcing content – starts to be used as a (sometimes simple) content management platform, by-passing the controls and policies in place on the normal content management system. Sometimes this is done for mischievous purposes – to get people out of the rigour associated with owning important content. However, it’s more often because the wiki platform is so much easier to use than the official organisational content management system. So you can’t blame people.

You can add to that the tension between knowledge management (keep everything so we can learn from it) and information retention (get rid of everything as soon as you can).

And the fact that a wiki platform will often contain a mix of genuine crowd-sourced material and individually owned ‘published’ content.

It’s complicated.

So what’s the answer? Should we re-classify traditional content managed intranets as ‘legacy’ intranets and move to a different form of governance for the whole intranet, or should we try and force different kinds of kind onto different platforms, which will be difficult as people will naturally gravitate to the platform of least resistance?

What is clear however, that the drivers of these policies are still there, and in fact are becoming more prevalent. Growing concerns about data privacy, identity theft, stories about the potential impact of loss of data etc. mean that governance is likely to be tightened rather than relaxed. Another tension.

I’m going to have to think about this some more! Watch this space.

Jack the Ripper

A couple of nights ago I went with a group of friends on a London Walk – Jack The Ripper. Led by our guide Steve we assembled at Tower Hill tube station before heading into the East End of London to be entertained with stories of the Victorian terror that was Jack the Ripper. And it was fun.

The thought did occur to me whilst we were standing outside modern buildings listening to Steve’s stories, just how much this part of London has changed. It’s become a mix of chic and modern, and old yet trendy. Particularly around Spitalfields Market. Of course, it’s the stories we came for, but it would have added to the atmosphere to have stood outside the actual house where Mary Kelly (the Ripper’s last victim) met her end, rather than a multi-story car park.

I’ve been on other London Walks, around other parts of London and I can recommend them all. Most of others take you to places that still exist, but I guess even when the last of the old Ripper-era buildings are gone, people will still be following a guide to hear about the horrors of those days. And so they should.

Getting faster

One of the important things about training for a marathon is to vary your exercise regime. Long run after long run will not help you improve as much as a structured training schedule which mixes different activities. It's crucial to undertake shorter, faster sessions, and to include some hill work. With that in mind, today I was scheduled to do a short fast run. I did a 3 or 4 minute jog, followed by my stretches then set off in the wind and rain to try and get under 50 minutes for 10k. That might not sound fast, but it is for me. I romped home in 48'51 seconds, with plenty of running left in my legs. A couple of days rest before I'm due to do a 21 or 22k road run. That's half marathon distance and I'll be doing it either on Saturday or Sunday, depending on the weather. I'll be aiming to hit 2 hours. Although that's not the fastest I've done, I want to take it easy to stay injury free. The speed will come later.

Join me if you like!

Today's run

It's very, very windy, but I thought I'd go for a run anyway. Did my 8k circuit twice. I decided to take it very easy after yesterday's long bike ride and went round in a very comfortable 1'33. You can see the results here (remember I went round twice!).

Next weekend I'm looking to do a 22k road run, with perhaps a fast 10k during the week. Just 2 weeks to go before I start running 3 times a week!

Cold Stone Creamery

If you're in Florida, you have to try this ice cream outlet. Making your own ice cream flavour is on my list of the top five things to do in Florida. And it's good ice cream too.

Cold Stone Creamery

If I had more experience I'd open an outlet at Bluewater. It would be a surefire winner!

A problem with wind

I went on a long bike ride yesterday. From home to Hadleigh and back. That involved negotiating the Dartford Crossing where cyclists get a lift through by the people that work there. Did you know, you they will drive your car through if you're scared! Now that's service!

Anyway, the hardest thing about riding a bike is the wind. I can cope with rain, punctures, hills and motorists, but a strong wind kills me..... Yesterday was just like that. A strong wind was blowing from the west. A record time getting there with the wind behind me, and a torrid time coming back. I made it though. 52 miles.

You can see the details from my Garmin GPS on the Motion Based site.