Internet Censorship and the Role of the ISP’s
There is a debate raging at the moment about how far ISP’s should go to block access to certain Internet content. At the forefront of the debate is the subject of protecting children from pornography.
Whilst I believe that this is a very serious issue, my view on this with regards to ISP’s, is simple. ISP’s perform a role very similar to that of a post office. That is to simply deliver content, whatever that may be and created by whoever, to end consumers. A post office does not open mail to check and censor the material inside the envelope. Neither should an ISP check and censor content.
For content that is illegal, such as child pornography, it is the responsibility of the police to pursue and stop the perveyors. For content that is legal, it is the responsibility of parents to decide whether or not it is suitable for their children.
It seems to me that the IPS’s are being used as a scapegoat whilst parents and police shirk their responsibilities.
Read More10 Tips for People Wanting a Website
1. Decide what you want your website to do for you. In other words, what are the objectives of the site? For example, are you looking for the website to generate new customers? Or is it simply an informational site for existing customers?
2. Who is the site aimed at? Try to imagine the type of visitor to the site. For example, women over 40.
3. How will those visitors find the site? Usually it will be through search engines. But increasingly people are getting to websites via social networking sites.
4. Do you want to sell products directly from the site? If your answer is yes don’t go rushing straight into a full blown eCommerce site. eCommerce sites are expensive and online retailing requires significant offline effort and changes to business processes which need careful planning. If your aim is to retail online, start small. You can do this with a few PayPal buttons on a fairly simple site and then work up to a larger site from there.
Read MoreSuccess and Failure
Why don’t we have any Bill Gates, Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerbergs in the UK? Why do they all come from the US?
That question was posed recently in a Daily Telegraph article where Boris Johnson tried to offer his own explanation. Boris’ theory is that people in the UK don’t like people who succeed. Ergo nobody tries to succeed.
Sorry Boris but I think you’ve got that back to front. In the UK, we don’t tolerate failure. To succeed in the way the people mentioned above have succeeded you have to be prepared to stick your neck out and fail many times and still keep trying until you succeed. Fail in the UK and you’re damned. The banks don’t want to know, potential investors will avoid you.
This is illustrated in graphic detail in the Apprentice TV programme where the losing team is sent to the café of doom whilst the winners are sent on some expensive junket. And then, finally, the candidate whose been fired is seen slinking off dragging suitcase (do they really have 12 weeks worth of clothes in there) and driving away in a humble taxi. The final winner of course gets to ride away in Lord S’ Roller.
Until attitudes in the UK change, innovative, wacky, off-the-wall people who can make a step change to the way people’s lives will continue to be cast aside, or go elsewhere – to the US for example.
Read MoreAn Unholy Alliance
For those of us that have been following the recent attempts by governments and industry moguls to push through so-called privacy and anti-piracy legislation as embodied in the proposed controversial legislation – such as SOPA, PIPA, and ACTA, Tim Berners-Lee has joined the debate.
Tim’s core argument is that the motive behind this type of legislation is control – control of the Internet. In this Tim is spot on the mark.
The Internet potentially puts huge amounts of power into the hands of ordinary people. Power to access information that have previously only been available to an elite few. Power to communicate potentially with anyone in the world.
From the governments’ view point they can see how the internet has played a crucial roll in the recent Arab Spring resulting in the overthrow of several Arab regimes. They are afraid that the same could happen at home. If you think it couldn’t then think again.
Read MoreWhy the Name Day 10?
I’m often asked why I called my company Day 10. Here’s why.
The original name, when the company did mainly consulting work, was Brogan Associates. When I switched to developing web solutions Brogan Associates didn’t seem appropriate. I wanted a name that was short and was available as a domain name.
After 10 days of racking brains and getting nowhere I exasperatingly said “It’s day 10 and I’m no closer to finding a name that I was on day 1”.
At that point the name was born.
Believe me? Read on to find out.
Read MoreThe Rise and Fall of Sega
For those of you who’s hark back to the glory days of Sega and Sonic the Hedgehog here’s an article, which I recently contributed to, charting the rise and subsequent fall of that company.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-02-22-the-rise-and-fall-of-sega-enterprises
As a rider I would add that I believe the success of Sega in the early 90’s was largely down to its excellent developers, especially in Japan, and their almost fanatical attention to detail.
Read MoreRecommended Reading
 
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