“This series of master classes will help you understand what is going on out there and will give you the tools to really help your retail business succeed.” - Mary Portas
Courses cost just £200 + VAT. Find out more and register your interest at www.nsaforretail.com.
The annual Thinking Digital conference took place at the Sage last month. Two days packed full of innovative talks and great networking opportunities. Seminars covered everything from Creative Commons and citizen journalism to story telling and the impact of sound.
One talk in particular grabbed my attention because it dealt with two subjects close to my heart - websites and books. Professor Luis von Ahn of Carnegie Mellon University took to the stage to talk about reCAPTCHA.
CAPTCHA codes are those pesky codes that you copy when you’re filling in forms online. 200 million of these codes are typed everyday. Their function is to ascertain whether you’re a human being or a bot. Bots and automated programmes can’t read distorted or obscure text. Humans can.
Professor von Ahn worked out that it takes an average of ten seconds to type the codes. Hence around 150,000 hours everyday are spent typing them. It was this colossal perceived ‘waste of time’ that led Professor von Ahn and the team at Carnegie Mellon University to come up with reCAPTCHA.
Each time you type a reCAPTCHA code your are helping to digitize books. Here’s how it works. Books printed before the digital age are scanned and made available in digital format using a scanning technology known as OCR. Unfortunately, for many books the print has either deteriorated or is too obscure to be read by a computer. Each of these illegible words is embedded into an image and used as a CAPTCHA code. Therefore, when you’re copying the words in a reCAPTCHA you’re deciphering them for OCR.
But if the computer can’t read these words, how do they know that you have typed them correctly? Here’s how, explained rather succinctly on the reCAPTCHA website:
‘Each new word that cannot be read correctly by OCR is given to a user in conjunction with another word for which the answer is already known. The user is then asked to read both words. If they solve the one for which the answer is known, the system assumes their answer is correct for the new one. The system then gives the new image to a number of other people to determine, with higher confidence, whether the original answer was correct.’ Accuracy is estimated at .1 / .2 %.
My View of London launches today through the Evening Standard and through their website www.myviewoflondon.org.uk.
Eye research charity, Fight for Sight has joined forces with the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel to launch a photography competition with the chance to win a 3-night stay in their penthouse suite. The winner and a friend will also enjoy dinner for two and two 60-minute spa treatments.
We’re delighted to be exhibiting at this year’s Business North West. Now in it’s fifth year the conference will run on 27th and 28th October at Manchester Central (formerly G-Mex). This is the region’s premier business to business exhibition and conference.
Uniting all sectors, Business North West provides a platform to meet and communicate with motivated owners, directors and entrepreneurs.
In addition to the exhibition the Innovation Lounge will host a number of presentations by key note speakers from the world of business. ‘How to’ seminars will run from the Seminar Theatre covering a variety of topics such as HR, Sales, Marketing, Finance and IT. If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about Google Analytics and Adwords the Google University will be on hand to offer tips and advice. The Network Cafe and Business Link Speed Networking will provide ample opportunities to meet like-minded people over the two days. And for those who dare, enter the Angel’s Den, the heavenly alternative to Dragon’s Den, and pitch your ideas to a panel of venture capitalists.
We’ll be exhibiting on stand 108. Do drop by and say hello. The event is free to visitors.
What: Business North West When: 27th to 28th October 2010 Where: Manchester Central (formerly G-Mex), Manchester Admission: Free to visitors More Info:www.businessnorthwest.co.uk
Scientist John Greenwood, Actor Lloyd Hutchinson, and Jeweller Alex Monroe will take on a 1000 mile Land’s End to John O’Groats cycle ride later this year, to raise funds for Fight for Sight. They will be joined by a number of friends and celebrities along the way.
Vanilla Storm has worked with Alex Monroe for a number of years, building his UK and Japanese websites. We are delighted to be doing our bit for Eye Cycle by providing an interactive website and blog.
The website includes information on the cycle ride, details on patrons and information on how to make a donation. It also includes a live auction where Alex Monroe will be auctioning some of his key pieces to raise funds for the charity. An interactive blog and Twitter feed keep supporters informed of news and updates.
Last week saw the inaugural SAScon event at The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. SAScon stands for ‘Search - Analytics - Social Media Conference’.
YouTube’s Bruce Daisley delivered the opening speech and was followed by some of the biggest names in Search, Analytics and Social Media. Covering subjects such as The Online Video Revolution, Advanced Link Building and Who is Best to Exploit the Social Media Opportunity, sessions were split between presentations and panel group discussions.
The conference culminated in a comedy night at The Frog and Bucket, complete with networking, pie and peas and a few sore heads in the morning.
It was a welcome event, both in terms of having the space and time to discuss a relatively new and growing phenomenon and in the fact that it took place in Manchester, highlighting the north’s strong digital presence.
Hats off to the organisers for a well run and informative event. Looking forward to next year’s conference.
On Friday afternoon Richard and I went along to TEDx Liverpool. If you haven’t encountered these events before it’s all about ‘ideas worth spreading’. This is their slogan. TED stands for ‘technology’, ‘design’ and ‘education’ but as the events have gained momentum, the subject matter has become much wider.
Over the years TED has attracted a number of noteworthy speakers including Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Sir Richard Branson, Bono and many more. The format is a mixture of video footage and live speakers and the audience has the opportunity to ask questions.
Friday’s theme was creativity and it was fascinating. Talks ranged from the future of technology, the powerful relationship between creative thinking and play, social journalism and Arduino - a clever gadget that can help you create interactive objects. Perhaps the most thought provoking and surprising part was Sir Ken Robinson’s video on how schools kill creativity (see above). As an ex-teacher, it certainly made me think.
There are lots more TEDx events taking place in the north over the next couple of months. For the programmes visit www.tedxnorth.com. If you get the chance go along. You won’t be disappointed. Make sure you book in advance though as places are snapped up very quickly.
