15Mb: yet another blog from Dave Birch

My tweets on 2010-09-01

admin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 22:59:00 +0000

RT @privacyint: RT @bbw1984: Blair's Britain! Man caught on CCTV carrying a rose spent 3 months in jail http://bit.ly/auUVi1 #
@diane1859 ludicrous isn't it. They thought it was a knife and it took them 3 months to analyse the CCTV footage to see it wasn't in reply to diane1859 #
Uh oh. This isn't going to go down well. In Pakistan, they have named donkeys after the cricket team and are pelting them with tomatoes. #
What a lovely San Francisco morning. #
Yes, listen to BBC R5 the Pakistan donkey backlash has already started. #
Another blog post on Digital Money: "Another BRIC in the wall". Payments balkanization http://tinyurl.com/3ahfhyn #
Yet another blog post, this time it's "Gates" at http://digitaldebateblogs.typepad.com/digital_identity/2010/08/gates.html #
Coincidence. Was chatting with someone yesterday about EMV in the US, and today I see the Feds are getting involved http://is.gd/eNBfe #
@diane1859 traditional SF morning view: I call this "bum surrounded by birds" http://yfrog.com/nf52mj in reply to diane1859 #
Interesting. Read this piece about BofA NFC microSD pilot: note the journo's use of the verb "bump". http://is.gd/eNBOD #

Love the copying, hate the confusion

admin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:40:23 +0000

[Dave Birch] You’d hardly expect me to be happy about this, but here is a blog post by me that appears on the “emarketing-books” web site, which I had never heard of. They never asked me for permission, and they have simply “stolen” my intellectual property. I don’t care. If someone clicks to read the post in full, they are directed back to my original blog post. It is copying but not plagiarism, and this doesn’t bother me. On the other hand, plagiarism really does bother me. Fortunately, it’s easier to fix, because we can put digital signatures on digital objects.

A few years ago, I received an irate e-mail from someone claiming to be a musician based in London. He was upset because he’d found an article that I had written (some time ago) in which I’d mentioned that I was against extending copyright on behalf of musicians. The irate musician asked me how I would like it if the fruits of my creative loins were copied all around the Internet for free. I’d told him that I would love it. I sent him a PDF of the article as well, asked him to copy it as much as he possibly could and send it to as many people as he liked. In fact I may have told him to send it to everyone, whether he likes them or not. I gave him only one condition, which was to leave my name on it. As Tim O’Reilly put it so succinctly,

It may be hard to monetize fame, but it is impossible to monetize obscurity

[From Cory Doctorow: 'It Is Impossible to Monetize Obscurity' - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat]

Copying is good, plagiarism isn’t. Take the example of one of the blogs for which I am tolerably well-known in my small corner of the Internet: Digital Money. The Digital Money Blog has one purpose, which is to advertise my employers capabilities in the retail electronic transactions field. It does this by striving for thought leadership in that field. I flatter myself that I can on occasion write interesting and entertaining posts, but they would be no more than that without the authority that sits behind them because of the experience and expertise of the rest of Consult Hyperion’s staff. If I post something about, say, the tension between banks and mobile operators then I would like to think that one of the reasons why people read it (and sometimes take the time to respond to it) is because they know that I work with consultants are in at the sharp end, working with banks and mobile operators to develop new concepts, draw up business models, build prototypes and manage new product development. When I write something about chip and PIN security, I do so after chatting with one of the world’s leading experts on the topic (who sits next to me).

These posts, over time, build reputation capital. And reputation is much harder to steal (or fake) than intellectual property. So that’s where the value in the blog is captured.

Since the reputation capital is significant, I put a lot of effort into writing these blog posts. The material used is repurposed for the annual Digital Money Reader “blook” (which has become quite popular with our customers) as well as magazine columns and articles. This means that it makes sense for me to put work into the posts but also means that I am interested in what happens to them. Every day my google searches show my blog posts being reproduced in full at blogs that I have never heard of (and a great many of which are clearly bots put in place to sell click-through advertising). I don’t get upset about this.

For one thing, I make sure that all Digital Money Blog posts start with my name. I don’t care how much they get copied, provided my name goes with them. We’ve won work from around the world because people have come across blog posts, from there gone to the Digital Money Blog and from there they have contacted me or Consult Hyperion. I don’t care where they came across that first blog post that brings them to Digital Money. For another thing, whenever I mention something that we know about, I make sure there are links back to previous blog posts or Consult Hyperion. This means that the more the post is copied, the better, because there are more links to be picked up by search engines. And finally, I write with slightly flippant tone because it is a personal and more distinctive style, not a bland corporate tone. So if someone reads something by me and later on googles it, they will generally get back to the Digital Money Blog.

None of this pertains to plagiarism. I was once doing some work for a financial institution on their strategy toward contactless payment cards. One of the senior managers working for the client showed me a report from an international management consultancy to back up a point that I made in a meeting. I found myself reading one of my own blog posts, cut and pasted into the report with no references or acknowledgements. I was incensed (I hope it didn’t show it). Later on, though, I began to think about this in a more positive way. I sent the manager a link to my blog posts with a note saying that it was great that we were all on the same page (and allowing him to form his own opinion). The I began to adopt the “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” frame of mind, while simultaneously reminding my self to make more links back to the Digital Money blog and Digital Identity blog so that anyone plagiarising the work would have to come and visit the blogs more, reasoning that this would give me more opportunity to influence! I don’t care about being copied, but I don’t want any confusion about the source. [posted with ecto]

In the future, everyone will be famous for fifteen megabytes

My tweets on 2010-08-30

admin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 22:59:00 +0000

@petervan sorry, my mistake, I though† †he article were objec†ing to a NEW system using Verichip, not the one from six years ago. #
RT @sjl @BlingNation at the Palo Alto Festival of the Arts today signing up folks for contactless stickers! (did you see anyone sign up?) #
How annoying – hotel fire alarm went off so I dutifully came down stairs http://yfrog.com/j6bw4sj but no fire or anything else exciting #
I'm starting to visit FullFact more often. I wonder if BBC could feature it in some way, perhaps on Newsnight http://is.gd/eKUK6 #
@Karenpine "How can we prepare kids' money minds?" Easy. Get them into World of Warcraft! http://is.gd/eLxyP in reply to Karenpine #
@Chris_Skinner "Alistair Darling warned that Britain faced its worse downturn in 60 years – what happened?" He got fired. in reply to Chris_Skinner #
@lisalater Surprised publishers haven't gone all RIAA and started campaigning against libraries yet (P.S. @diane1859 see http://is.gd/eLH6o) in reply to lisalater #
Yet another blog post, this time it's "Listening in" at http://digitaldebateblogs.typepad.com/digital_identity/2010/08/listening-in.html #
RT @Chris_Skinner: great movie quotes about money http://bit.ly/aCrhaS (I think Boiler Room might be my favourite — I remember that quote) #
RT @jackschofield Live TV is for Old People (STATS) at TechCrunch http://tcrn.ch/bzW4jA #

My tweets on 2010-08-30

admin — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 22:59:00 +0000

RT me: Labour decided everyone should go to Uni. Result "arts graduates made up a sizeable proportion of the lap dancers" http://is.gd/eJi7I #
We bags CHYP http://is.gd/eJijD #
RT @wendyg: RT @ITPRO: http://bit.ly/aowX0s (about scam ESTA Web sites) — guy told me his wife fell for this a couple of weeks ago #
RT @Chris_Skinner: What happens when you give homeless people a prepaid credit card http://j.mp/aD49ew (yet another plus for prepaid!!) #
Didn't see this at the time WSJ "The Coming Currency Revolution" http://is.gd/eJUOB #
A couple of pictures the Edinburgh festival and Broke Britannia http://is.gd/eJYV4 (and for more about the show http://is.gd/eJYZw) #
RT @petervan http://bit.ly/a03ca8 Wow. First time Id Chip Implants are combined with money transactions (no it isn't, will blog later) in reply to petervan #

My tweets on 2010-08-28

admin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 22:59:00 +0000

RT @erinmccune: Retailers May Shelve Prepaid Cards if Money Laundering Rule Passes http://bit.ly/bsv2iI #
Great news from UK. When Martha first appointed Digital Champion there were 10m offline, now ONS says only 9m. Well done! A million in year! #
I have never seen a walk-in eyebrow bar before http://yfrog.com/n8f50hj (it must be my provincial upbringing) #

My tweets on 2010-08-27

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 22:59:00 +0000

Good morning Edinburgh. #
Nothing to hide, nothing to fear etc etc http://is.gd/eGnPU (more govt employees caught looking a personal data in public sector databases) #
Contactless really is changing things. Now London has it's first cashless busker! http://is.gd/eGtjY #
RT * @1stpost World’s worst traffic jam in China could last into next month http://bit.ly/cyz9ar (makes the M25 look like Le Mans) #
Looking forward to @TomChatfield at the Edinburgh book festival on Fun Inc. #
RT @diane1859 RT @Peston: Basel tilts playing field further towards big banks. It wasn't supposed to be this way. http://goo.gl/VTN1 #
RT @jamescrabtree Andy Burnham desert island songs? Identity by X-Ray Spec? #
@TomChatfield signing my copy of his book http://yfrog.com/ncwrbcj #
Audioboo: At the fringe http://boo.fm/b172715 #
@Keligamer only LHR-EDI at the moment in reply to Keligamer #
Getting very excited! At Broke Britannia! The fringe musical about the credit crunch that we are sponsoring, show starts in few minutes!! #

My tweets on 2010-08-27

admin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 22:59:00 +0000

The white heat of new technology. Just came in via T5 using new face recognition system. But I think there was someone behind the curtain.. #
White heat of new technology, part 97. Just used BA iPhone app to check in and get mobile boarding pass. Worked perfectly! #
@WC2A_2AE I'm sure I must be on some list somewhere. Dull middle-aged men who twitter trivia? in reply to WC2A_2AE #
@ruthkennedy I imagine it makes quite a change from 'resource-uninformed conversations'. in reply to ruthkennedy #
RT @tobystevens http://bbc.in/amFNLd hilarious! I'm a doctor, not a suicide bomber! Wouldn't you have just thrown it in the bin? #
Props to BA, new mobile boarding pass excellent in every respect. Flight was still a hour late though. #
Sometimes I just want to copy someone else's tweet word for word, and see if they notice. #
RT @jamescrabtree: "Somalia's budget was just over $11 million" – http://bit.ly/aOrWH9 (What? That's not even one decent-sized oil tanker) #

My tweets on 2010-08-25

admin — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 22:59:00 +0000

Yet another blog post, this time it's "There has to be a reason for this" at http://bit.ly/ceEL7o #
RT @Dave_the_Dino on the coming age riots http://citizenofwoking.blogspot.com/2010/08/age-before-booty.html #
@rayleee why was "One Show" talking about NFC handsets? in reply to rayleee #
RT @jackschofield: Impressed that @KirstyMRoberts emailed me press release with "Suggested tweet" to copy-and-paste (those wacky PR persons) #
RT @FredericBaud: 1/3 of teens ready to unfriend parents on FaceBook http://j.mp/dew8ug (already been unfriended by mine) #
Pimp my ride (via Boing Boing) http://is.gd/eDwrr — special genocidal nutters edition #
Props to BA lost & found at SFO, I got my rainjacket back. #
@rorysutherland did the guy like sushi, by any chance? in reply to rorysutherland #
At last! Honesty from a mobile operator about charges: "warning, roaming charges may actually kill you" http://is.gd/eDKAF #

My tweets on 2010-08-24

admin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 22:59:00 +0000

Paris Future of Cash, 14-15/10: the EFMA conference programme is now available http://is.gd/eAQ8H #
RT @rorysutherland: Idea. Instead of donating park bench in memory of the dead, donate a wifi hotspot (I'm in!( #
Yet another blog post, this time it's "Internet Identity Workshop comes to Europe for the first time" at http://bit.ly/9XUSCS #
Vorsprung durch technik. Great to see politicians and regulators with such a firm grasp of the interweb tubes http://is.gd/eATYH #
Yet another blog post, this time it's "Prepaid preconceptions" at http://bit.ly/d1Bkly #
RT @janchip Tata DOCOMO introduce pay per site for social network fiends: http://bit.ly/pi_bundle (another blow to neutrality?) #
Proud to be British. If this had been a child, whatever. But it's a cat, so police are standing guard outside her home http://is.gd/eB00Z #
What renders privacy a luxury commodity is that obtaining it implies a level of computer literacy inaccessible to most http://is.gd/eB1si #
I missed this, but it's great: Jon Stewart as Glenn Beck on political donations http://is.gd/eB6aE #
One more Gawker: Jennifer Aniston in trouble for saying "retard" on TV (when she's not talking about Brad, obviously) http://is.gd/eB6mM #
Copyright is impoverishing us all, when are we going to do something about it? http://is.gd/eB7Lx #
RT @erinmccune * Payment Geek Meet Up at Menlo Park 7-Eleven http://bit.ly/95Z9vn #contactless #payments (thanks for lovely afternoon Erin) #
@rayleee absolutely ludicrous — he wasn't arrested but his cash was stolen by state agents because he "couldn't account for it"! in reply to rayleee #
Thirsty. Coffee $2. Sounds good. I fill up, hand the girl two $1 coins. That'll be $2.19 please, she says. I pfaff about and find a quarter. #
California Academy of Sciences is playing Rush 2112. Haven't heard this for a couple of decades! #

My tweets on 2010-08-24

admin — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 22:59:00 +0000

Amoeba Records in Berkeley. Bored no.2 son: "why are we here? This is all on iTunes" #
@edmundo has your iPhone disrupted the airplane navigation system? I think we should be told. in reply to edmundo #
We gave our missiles stupid names like Bloodhound and Blue Streak. Iran's much better! "Ambassador of Death" http://is.gd/exIsy #
"I have spent many hours with former McKinsey colleagues talking about how little we knew back when we were consultants" http://is.gd/exUSz #
Thanks @erinmccune and the guys at Glenbrook for a relaxing afternoon (and a successful payment experiment!) in Menlo Park in reply to erinmccune #