March 17, 2008
BBC Innovation Labs 2008: The Outcome
Categories: BBC Labs 2008 Events News News
What goes around, comes around: A decade or so ago, I was consulting to various organisations on interactive and convergent television. The problem was that, for manufacturers and broadcasters at the time, "interactivity" meant bringing up a graphic or two when a button was pressed, whilst "convergence" meant that I could (occasionally) look up a TV schedule on a Web site. That's a bit of a slow start when you see the possibility of casually delivering content across multiple devices and using intelligent bringing people together around their shared interests and intent. That was also when most of those who were online were so via 33.6Kbps dial-up connections. So I put that one into the "Magrathea" class of idea, to wait for the world to catch up.
February 11, 2007
The Fifth Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture
Categories: Douglas Adams Events News News
"Wildlife Management in East Africa – Is There a Future?" by Dr Richard Leakey
Date: Thursday 15 March 2007, 7:30pm
Venue: The Royal Geographic Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR
Price: £12.00 - You'll find more information and ticket information here.
Richard Leakey is a paleontologist, archaeologist, conservationist an author of several books including the acclaimed wildlife management book Wildlife Wars: My Battle to Save Kenya's Elephants. In this talk Dr Leakey will draw on his own experiences in Kenya as founder and Director of the Kenya Wildlife Service and as the Head of Kenya's Civil Service to reflect on the successes, current problems and future challenges facing wildlife management in East Africa.
Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, was a Founder Patron of Save the Rhino International, actively involved in conservation and interested in exploration, science, comedy and music. Douglas developed his deep-seated interest in wildlife conservation during a 1985 visit to Madagascar, which eventually resulted in a book (Last Chance to See) about the plight of species facing extinction. Douglas Adams died unexpectedly in 2001 at the age of 49. These Memorial Lectures continue to explore the themes in which Douglas was so interested.
The proceeds of the evening will be split between Save the Rhino International and the Environmental Investigation Agency, two charities supported by Douglas Adams.
February 17, 2006
The Fourth Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture
Categories: Douglas Adams Events News News
"Is the Human an Endangered Species?" by Professor Robert Winston
Date: Thursday 23 March 2006, 7:30pm
Venue: The Royal Geographic Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR
Price: £10.00 - Purchase tickets here.
Save the Rhino International and the Environmental Investigation Agency are co-hosting the Fourth Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture with a talk by Professor Robert Winston, on Thursday 23 March at the Royal Geographic Society in London SW7. In this talk, he will combine some of the apparently threatening aspects of technology and the trust, or lack of it, in science.
January 23, 2006
Bridging the Divide: Connected Communities and the Enabled Society
Categories: Events News The Ubiquity Papers
I've been invited to give the fourth in the Urban Learning Space's Learning Seminars series, on the seamless integration (or lack thereof) between our physical existence and our increasingly important virtual identities:
The When: Thursday 26th January 2006
11.30am - 2.00pm (includes lunch)
The Where: The Lighthouse, Mitchell Lane, Glasgow, G1 3NU
Gallery, Level 5.
Contact: Alison, or on 0141 225 0107.
As we individually and collectively communicate and interact, moving between our physical and virtual worlds, we need to refine and integrate our knowledge of both into our lives, to create and maintain who we are, beyond just our physical selves and our immediate communities. So how do we bridge the divide between the two, and what tools are around to help us do this? Who are we and how do we prove who we are, beyond our physical presence? How do we connect with virtual communities and knowledge networks and how do we ensure that these are integrated into our physical lives, and vice versa?
Continue reading "Bridging the Divide: Connected Communities and the Enabled Society"March 03, 2005
Now Ain't That Something…
Categories: Events News News The Game
Last night, and a mere twenty years after its original release, the Twentieth Anniversary edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy took the impressively heavy 2005 BAFTA Interactive award for Online Entertainment. For a computer game – a genre reknowned for having a shelf life of weeks rather than years, this is a unique achievement. It's also a tribute to the principle that intelligent and engaging entertainment is timeless, no matter what the medium, and to the imagination, wit and humour of its authors. So congratulations are very much in order to the memory of Douglas Adams, to Steve Meretzky and to the BBC, Sean Sollé, Shimon Young and Rod Lord, who between them created the Twentieth Anniversary edition. The award itself is lovingly photographed here in the exotic surroundings of a Holborn Pizza restaurant, whose staff created an impromptu homage to the occasion by taking 7.5 million years to serve dinner.
March 01, 2005
Last Chance to See… …Just a bit more
Categories: Douglas Adams Events News News
Date: Thursday 10 March 2005
For information including how to buy tickets please see www.savetherhino.org.
Lecture synopsis: Zoologist Mark Carwardine (co-author of Last Chance to See with Douglas Adams) spends more than half the year travelling the world in search of wildlife and exploring wild places.
In this highly entertaining lecture Mark describes some of his experiences and encounters with wild animals and even wilder people around the world - including some hilarious behind-the-scenes stories from Last Chance to See. And, inevitably, he has a thing or two to say about the state of the world.
The lecture will be followed by a fundraising auction, lots will include signed film memorabilia, VIP tickets to the film premier and signed copies of the Quintessential Phase: Mostly Harmless radio script.
The Third Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture, in celebration of the life and universe of Douglas Adams.
Venue: The Royal Institution, Albemarle Street, London W1
Time: Lecture begins at 7.30pm
Speaker: Mark Carwardine
Price: £20 for main auditorium with a drink beforehand £12 for gallery seating without a drink
