Well to blog more really.. I have been far to busy.

Click the pix to see more..

www.flickr.com Documentally's SXSW photoset

Tags: film, sxsw, texas, austin

I have been blogged a few times this year but it was really great to wake up to this blog post in the Guardian.

I met Jemima Kiss last night at a Seesmic meet up in Austin, Texas. I thought she was a really nice person..

Nicer now..


Leave a comment if you have the inclination and you never know.. i may get interviewed again.

Tags: podcast, new media, Ournaminside.com, documentally, photography, Jemima Kiss, guardian, bloggng

Tags: sxsw, texas, USA

Tags: sxsw, photography, USA, Flight

This place is massive.. Sorry to state the obvious but on flying in on the approach in it looked like we would never find the landing strip and would have to put down in one of the ample parking lots that seem to adorn the county sized shopping complex's sprawled beneath us.

It was dark and everywhere was built upon.. I had expected a little but of desert and perhaps the odd nodding donkey but no such luck.

Oh and how cool is this..?

Thanks to the wonders of blogging and the fact there are people that do actually read this, Bill a podcasting friend from the Florida Soap Box and also the Progressive Podcast Network (PPN) managed to hook up with me for a brief hello at Texas airport where we were getting picked up by our friend Kity Kity aka Susan.

For each of us it is the first time we had met a member of the PPN in the flesh and a great welcome for me to see a familiar face and hear a voice I have listened to for ages.

Myself and Phil Campbell are the guests of Kity Kity in Wylie, Texas before we head down to the interactive extravaganza that is South By South West (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, about 3-4 hours south of here.

Make sure you check out Bills blog at http://filthandthefury.blogspot.com
You can also follow/add bill on Twitter

He is a really decent guy and I hope we can grab a beer together soon!

So.. In amongst making content and recovering from the trip we are slowly getting excited for the week to come..

We have some cool apps on the horizon thanks to Phil's magic hands.. Watch this space!

I'd love to have taken the time to have written my thanks to Bill Cammack regarding his job as editor on the recent UNHCR Podcast I have been working on but now I have seen his blogging skills in full swing..

I am glad i stuck with a brief video and didn't embarrass myself.


When Bill talks about the connections made within social media I think he hits the nail on the head. So much so that you should just click this link and read his post. That way I can get on with my packing and preparations for my flight tomorrow to Austin, Texas and the massive festival that is SXSW.

Let me just say though.. All these places we spend time on allow us to converse with people in some ways on better terms that we could do in the flesh.

A couple of days ago I posted my 3000 video post on Seesmic and soon after was asked.. "Was it worth it?".

I answered that I would have happily posted 5000 posts in exchange for the chance to have made contact with half of the amazing people I have met through the site. It has taken many of my previous 'Twitter' connections to another dimension, as I choose what conversation I wish to get involved with, with whom and when.

How many conversations do you have in a day where you do not have the chance to choose those parameters?

I have been podcasting for a couple of years now and before that I was a heavy forum poster.. That said, I still feel I am very new to many of the intricacies of social media and with this in mind I am more than a little excited to what the future may hold.

Project Update:
Regarding the UNHCR project.. As I type this there are a few representatives in a small office in Amman, Jordan looking over it now. I hope to hear back soon and have a date where I can put it out there. Then, hopefully it will start a conversation and perhaps direct some help to some people that really need it.

Tags: Bill Cammack, UNHCR, seesmic, social networking, social media, twitter, Jordan, iraq, podcast

Thanks to Phil Campbell for the edit.

All three parts of the video are here.. Part One Part Two Part Three

Tags: imaging, photography, birmingham, nec

Thanks to Phil Campbell for the edit.

All three parts of the video are here.. Part One Part Two Part Three

Tags: imaging, photography, yellow snapper, think tank, nec, birmingham

Thanks to Phil Campbell for the hard work in editing this film and to Yellow Snapper for introducing us to some great Think Tank kit..

All three parts of the video are here.. Part One Part Two Part Three

Tags: imaging, photography, thinktank, yellow snapper, nec, birmingham

What Can I say.. Other than Thank YouI

There is nothing quite like getting post that isn't a bill.. I love unexpected mail and this box came out of the blue and has really brightened my day.

You can see more about my recent crash by clicking HERE ..HERE and HERE

Or you can click these links below.. If the links aren't working come back in a bit as the servers are being refreshed..

http://www.ourmaninside.com/blog/files/84acdca4295a8c386c63fbcf7954a1c2-77.php

http://www.ourmaninside.com/blog/files/0188b4e27e4482e04cf38d5effcd1afa-78.php

http://www.ourmaninside.com/blog/files/dbf66fea33e89f3defea42ce486c88e5-79.php

Thanks again to Summersault Communications

Tags: post, summersault, gift, beer, organic, crash, Land Rover

parody |ˈparədi|
noun ( pl. -dies)
an imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect.

I am loving the seesmic films that have sprouted after yesterdays crash.. It is linked here if you havn't seen it.

Here are a couple of the parody's posted so far..





There has also been talk of a Land Rover Fund and whilst I am sat at my Grand Mothers (an 83 year old Italian woman who makes killer pizza named Ofelia) she has seen a couple of people talking of a collection so I can get another sensible vehicle. This is amazing to her and she is more than a little shocked that a website made up of people I mostly haven't met are considering helping me in acquiring a new car..!

I said they were joking but she said "Never look a gift horse in the mouth" or words to that effect. She actually said, "Never look in a horses mouth", but i know what she means..

So i am not.. Perhaps I am being cheeky by posting this chip-in link here.. but hey-ho.. I did just get a repair quote for £6780.. and that pretty much means my Land Rover is a write off.. I can't ever imagine getting another in the same condition for what i paid for this one.. Not unless someone out there knows the folks at Land Rover and they want to use my original post for marketing..

I do feel like it saved my life.. But whether i could ever get another.. who knows..

Tags: Land Rover, landrover, crash, chip-in

I have been playing with a video streaming mobile phone application called QIK (pronounced quick). This enables me to stream live video from my Nokia N95 straight to the web and simultaneously hold conversations with people viewing on Qik's site.

As you chat and explain what you are up to, little text comments scroll up onto your phone screen and a real time conversation is possible with anyone in the world who is viewing your video on Qik. As an added bonus as soon as you film you can notify anyone following you on twitter that you are live and as soon as you stop filming the video is also sent to Seesmic.

Not content with all that exposure I have also embedded the clip here below...

Tags: qik, twitter, iraq, seesmic, Jordan, journalism, amman, photography, phone, podcast, refugee, podcasting

Tonight I got a call that the converted barn on my Dad's farm where Geek Retreat was meant to be taking place has been hit by a bolt of lightning. It's happened before. Such is the erratic and crazy Welsh weather

There is no major damage but it seems there are electricity and internet issues. It's a bit to close to the planned date for me to risk going ahead so I will have to postpone Geek Retreat for the time being.

I was a bit peeved to hear this but a postponement has two hidden benefits...

One: We all get to go to attend some of the many social media events happening in and around the same week.

& Two: We can hold Geek Retreat closer to the summer and therefore reap the benefit of some better weather. Perhaps with the added bonus of an outside fire with some kind of acoustic jam session. So if you are a player of anything that does not need plugging in.. Bring it along.

My apologies to all the people that had put the time aside to get over to Wales on the 9th and 10th of Feb. I will of course keep you posted on the Geek Retreat Blog and www.Twitter.com/GeekRetreat regarding any further dates that crop up.

It's the West coast of Wales. A beautiful spot with a view of the mountains and the sea. No charge for accommodation, just chip in with the coking and bring a bottle.

www.geekretreat.info is the main site. Email me there of here if you would like to be considered for a future date.

Tags: Geek Retreat, social networking, wales

It feels like it has been days since I last posted. It is days, weeks. Days and weeks spent on Seesmic.

This is what I wanted to talk about today.. Not the fact that I need to work on my time management, not that I have been short of bloggable inspiration, but the fact I am hooked on a new video blogging application I have been meaning to write about since my first 'seesmic post'.

Initially I saw Seesmic as a video-polaroid. A place to sound off in a timeline with a random thought, question or instance of craziness. Then as more and more pre-alpha testers were admitted, conversations started. Then it became more of a Video-Twitter.

Look it up on Wikipedia a few days ago and you would have seen nothing.. today it says "Seesmic is a video micro blogging web application in pre-alpha stage being developed by French Entrepreneur Loic Le Meur" And it was Loic that gave me my invite.

Phil Campbell mentioned it in a twitter post so I DM'ed Loic and moments later I was in. I think that being on twitter already may have helped as Loic did not know me from Adam. He has spent more time hanging out with Bush than he has talking to me..

So now as videos were being batted back and forth at close to real time speeds. Comments made and themes formed, I realized this wasn't just a chatroom I was looking at. These were multi dimensional people not too dissimilar to me and I was getting to know them in a face to face kind of way. In a far more personal manor than on any other social network. The international timezones crossed have tested my ability to survive on only a few hours sleep as i have been facinated with the threads and conversations spanning the globe.

It is still early days for 'seesmic' At the moment it is in Pre-Alpha release and the number of people signed up and online have formed a tight nit community posting snippets of their opinions from their home computers, from there work spaces and sometimes even out on the road streaming through 3g networks or public wifi.

I feel like I have been a part of seesmic for a lifetime and I feel like seesmic has taken a chunk of my life and placed it online for the world to see.

Whilst podcasting I had previously made a point of not giving too much away about my life or my opinion.. Seesmic has really brought out the Jeckell to my Hyde the yin to my Yang and I find it very therapeutic. Cathartic I guess.

I could go on and on but I won't, Seesmic is a different application to all who use it and to really find out about it's intricacies you need to be signed up and a part of the myriad conversations helically intertwined across the globe between anyone with an internet connection, a webcam on a computer.. and of course.. the golden ticket.

I feel I have so much to say.. but it's easier to show you.. to 'seesmic' it..

Check out the embedded post below and... "Seesmic ya later.."


Incidentally the Seesmic Crew have been kind enough to give me a couple of invites to pass on to anyone that has read this far and is willing to leave me a blog comment below telling me why they want to join Seesmic. Let me know..

If you want to see what I see.. Here you go..

Tags: seesmic, video blogging, internet, social networking, twitter, loic le meur

Is it shallow of me that this current swing away from facebook makes me smile?

In particular, I read Deek's blog and felt a quiet internal fist punch the air whilst whisper-shouting "YES!"

I can't help but think it's all still too late for those that did have an account and have now deleted, as they have already signed away the rights to have their name extracted from wherever it may exist online. It is interesting that they say they reserve the right to extract your details from off line sources as well.. Are there any of those places left?

Years ago I remember seeing an exhibition in New York from an artist (sorry can't remember his name) who had patented the DNA from a select few of his friends. A painter, a sculptor and so on. He stated that with this new ownership he now possessed their individual artistic merits.

Obviously it was a statement against the use of DNA databases, but with the human gnome now technically being 'open source' If we can't own the right to our physical being, how on earth can we expect to keep a hold of the personal details of our life? It's as if by joining facebook we too have signed a copy of the Bermuda Principles.

There are those that would argue that a totally transparent society is the way to go. With DNA for scientific medial reasons I would have to agree making it 'open source' can do nothing but help us find all kinds of cures. But for our personal lives, (or whatever is left of them) rubbish.

Privacy helps us as individuals maintain our autonomy and individuality. We define ourselves by exercising power over our personal information.

Not to mention the functional benefits too. It protects our identities, not just from identity theft but also from repercussions for our political and religious beliefs. The Nazis found ID cards very helpful when it came to rounding people up.
I wrote a little in 'The Perfect Prison' about what happens to our minds and how we begin to behave when our privacy is slowly taken away from us.
I used to think that my home was a 'private' place but when I spend 70% of my waking hours online how much privacy do I think I really have.
Check out this short film on who's watching you..
There are not many 'private' places left. And now that policing has been brought right into out home.. do you have anywhere private to go?

Tags: social networking, facebook, surveillance, privacy, press, data mining, Deek Deekster, DNA

This time last week I was still recovering from sleep deprivation and the remnants of the hangover left over from the day before.

The hangover was a souvenir from 'up North' and the great night put on by Phil Campbell entitled N0shIT (Nosh-It).

This social media event was far more social than media and I had no issue with that as I got to totally exercise my Epicurean desires.


Great food great wine and great company. All of the people I met at N0shIT I already knew digitally from Twitter

Phil Campbell - Nick Butler - Jason Jarrett - Craig Marston - Rupert Howe

You would think that going to an 'in the flesh' social gathering would take a bit of the magic away from peoples content.. You get to see the reality behind the avatars, the hidden truths behind the great content and perhaps this can be slightly disappointing..

Maybe on bigger events yes, but on this occasion I can safely say all of these guys are so multi faceted, what you see in the flesh is just another dimension to a really deep and creative bunch.

They say alcohol brings out the worst in people.. At N0shIT though it just brought out some hillarious interaction in the most unexpected of flavours.

If there were any uncomfortable moments shared with these people I was only just getting to know, I don't remember any..
But then, I am famous for not remembering most things after a certain cut off point in any night on the wine.

I remember being really hungry and then loads of great food being placed in front of me by Dimitri of Mykonos then it kept on coming... Just like the wine.

I have to thank Rupert for jogging my memory with THIS.. I am sure he has been kind in the edit.

Me and Rupert ended up sharing one of the complimentary doubles that Phil had kindly supplied and my last memory of the night is of Rupert saying "Wow.. you have the video of David Icke on Wogan". Then he passed out.

Any way, I am inspired. Before and after the drinking we had made time for inspirational talk and the bouncing of ideas off one another and all the other times, we had fun.


Above all this, solid connections were made and the avatars that adorn the various web 2.0 apps we saturate ourselves in now have a living, breathing, flesh and blood person behind them.

I feel like I work with these people everyday.. Whether it be a clients project or my own meandering adventure in new media, the tweets, pm's and seesmic'd moments pop into my perspective like a call across the office.

Working at home has never been more sociable.

It's great to be able to choose your workmates from the millions of creative minds floating around out there... And I do so everyday with a click of a 'follow' or an 'add me' button. And if you want a bit of privacy