The Silent Penguin http://www.silentpenguin.com/ Making a dent - somewhere 2009-02-25T10:46:48+01:00 Blogging elsewhere and mobile widgets http://www.silentpenguin.com/archives/2009/02/blogging_elsewh.html Just to remind people still coming to this site that I am now blogging my thoughts around Open Source and mobile here. You may also want to check out today's article on mobile widgets.

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Matthew 2009-02-25T10:46:48+01:00
Blogging again - update your links http://www.silentpenguin.com/archives/2009/01/blogging_again.html The Silent Penguin is blogging again - but he's found a new home to do so.

Update your links (if so inclined) to the new site and we'll see you over there!

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Matthew 2009-01-05T13:08:30+01:00
Recruiting you, the angel investor http://www.silentpenguin.com/archives/2008/09/recruiting_you.html I've just started a new project here at Indiginox castle. The goal being to find one or several business angels interested in investing in a media related venture we've been working on (on our internal back-burner) for the past 8 months or so and we now want to release into the wild.

The products are ready, the demo-versions online and the business-plan written. We are already talking to media partners and customers here in Germany (although world-domination has been written into the business plan).

Our ideal partner will have an online-mobile-media-publishing background and understand both online and traditional print and broadcasting markets.

Sounds like something you may be interested in hearing more about - then tell me why we should be sending you the details and letting you take a look at what we've been cooking!

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Matthew 2008-09-04T14:28:54+01:00
Lifefeed.com up for sale http://www.silentpenguin.com/archives/2008/08/lifefeedcom_up.html In the end I decided to put the lifefeed.com domain up for sale on sedo.com. Not sure if this is the best way or not. We'll see how it goes.

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Matthew 2008-08-05T17:36:18+01:00
The history of Lifefeed.com http://www.silentpenguin.com/archives/2008/07/the_history_of.html A few people have asked me about the lifefeed.com domain, so I set up a little site that gives a bit of background.

Apart from selling the domain - I'd also be open to discussing any ideas you may have around what a lifefeed application should look like today. I guess the original idea is now somewhat passé as things like FriendFeed gain traction.

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Matthew 2008-07-24T10:58:42+01:00
Getting rid of domains http://www.silentpenguin.com/archives/2008/07/getting_rid_of.html Over the years, I've "collected" some domains that may or may not be interesting to you. If you see one you like then feel free to make me a serious offer.

Actually, what is the best way to sell a domain nowadays? Any recommendations?

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Matthew 2008-07-22T14:52:26+01:00
Holger and the joys of island life http://www.silentpenguin.com/archives/2008/07/holger_and_the.html We spent a relaxing long weekend on the small island of Baltrum - just off the German North Sea coast. Baltrum is very small and special in that there are no motorized vehicles on the island - except for emergency ones. Because of this, it takes a while to get used to the absence of motorized noise. Actually that isn't quite true as there is a little airfield, so you do hear the occasional sound of a motor.

One evening we were relaxing in the sun when we saw someone pushing a very large John Deere tractor-lawnmower (like one of these) along the main road between the two villages on the island. I jokingly asked if he had run out of petrol - and that is how we came to meet Holger.

Holger was born on the island of Baltrum and works half-days delivering crates of drinks to the various holiday homes and flats on Baltrum. Because there are no motorized vehicles, Holger rides round on his bike towing a trailer with the crates perched on the trailer. A common form of heavy-goods transport on the island.

Holger spends the other half of the day (during the Summer) mowing lawns and the larger grassy areas with his petrol powered John Deere lawnmower. Once on the lawn, Holger is in his element - he fires up the tractor-lawnmower and off he goes.

However, whenever Holger "meets" a road or other public path, he has to turn off the lawnmower and push it over the road to the next piece of grass. He is not allowed to drive over or along any public path without first getting a permit. Getting a permit means ringing up the police and requesting explicit permission to drive over (or up) the path he wants to take. So, due to this hassle, Holger resorts to pushing his John Deere over the island or hitching a tow from one of the many horse carriages.

Holger also introduced us to the concept of "extreme shopping" whereby a group of people from the island will catch the ferry over to the mainland, make a rush for the nearest town, split up to access different shops in parallel and then make a speedy dash back for the next ferry back to the island. Because the ferry only runs 2-3 times a day, there isn't much room for timing mistakes.

During the hour we chatted, Holger gave us some really good insight into the life on an island. Strangely attractive actually.

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Matthew 2008-07-03T12:06:26+01:00
Looking for Enterprise Open Source consulting http://www.silentpenguin.com/archives/2008/06/looking_for_ent.html Due to a current project running out, I'm currently looking for new consulting opportunities in the Open Source space. We specialize in consulting enterprises in all aspects of an Open Source engagement and have worked for companies in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands (so far). Contact me for additional details and references.

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Matthew 2008-06-25T10:55:25+01:00
Open Source consulting and the large enterprise http://www.silentpenguin.com/archives/2008/06/open_source_con_2.html Quite a bit of my time is currently taking up consulting large enterprises around Open Source. As part of the consulting - I try to arrange some presentations by different sorts of Open Source "people" so that the corporation can understand just how varied the Open Source world is.

Recently, I arranged for Alfresco to do a presentation and it went really well. Robin Yellow attended and gives his impressions. John Powell CEO of Alfresco did the talk and gives some feedback (and a plug for yours truly).

I recently attended a meeting with a major oil company and they had engaged the services of Indiginox, an OS consulting company, who focus on advising large enterprise on the viability and pros and cons of different OS projects.

We actually do quite a bit more than that (e.g. authoring and establishing policies and guidance, researching and authoring specific enterprise relevant topics around Open Source, establishing and management of internal Open Source communities and much more). If you're interested in just what we do - then take a look at the Indiginox Enterprise Open Source offer.

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Matthew 2008-06-09T09:13:52+01:00
Jacquie Langham - painting again http://www.silentpenguin.com/archives/2008/04/jacquie_langham.html My Mum started painting again in earnest recently and her paintings are now up for sale as prints at The Big Empty Wall Gallery. I'm blatantly going to copy the blurb on the Web site - because I couldn't have written it any better.

Jacquie Langham qualified as a teacher of Art and Craft at Bretton Hall. Alongside her teaching career here and in Germany, she developed as a mural and portrait artist. She and her late husband held exhibitions and opened a Gallery in Germany, showing their paintings, ceramics and jewellery. They lived and worked there for 17 years and their paintings can be seen in private collections, worldwide.

Since returning to this country, Jacquie has continued to paint portraits on commission, until quite recently, when she started to work with acrylics for the first time and became excited by the medium, producing unusual and vivid images of chillis, peppers and other vegetables. She is, at present, exploring dramatic and colourful aspects of other familiar images.

Makes me really proud to be able to point to her work and I hope you'll check out the the site for more - and larger pictures!

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Matthew 2008-04-27T19:55:49+01:00
BigCo Open Source consulting http://www.silentpenguin.com/archives/2008/04/bigco_open_sour.html For the past year I've been doing some major Open Source strategy consulting for a global BigCo. It has been (and still is) a fascinating and extremely fulfilling experience.

My focus hasn't been on implementing a software project but on authoring an internal Open Source strategy whitepaper and establishing things like an Open Source policy and Open Source guidance or setting up an Open Source internal community within said BigCo.

Seeing the growing interest for Open Source within the corporation gives me some real satisfaction and in a way it shows that jumping into the - then - icy cold Open Source business "water" back in 2000 was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Another blog post - I'm sure this is just a fad.

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Matthew 2008-04-10T17:10:47+01:00
The Nyooze is out http://www.silentpenguin.com/archives/2008/04/the_nyooze_is_o.html Breaking my blogging silence (I'm on Twitter in case you miss me) to announce the launch of the Nyooze-Website.

Nyooze is a platform product we've built targeted at content providers (such as publishers, local radio and tv stations, event organizers and even weather data providers) that allows them to integrate a branded social community around eyewitness content into their existing web-offering or co-brand new offerings. It's a white-label product, built on Ruby on Rails. It integrates existing content sources and extends into the mobile, Twitter and live-streaming spaces.

So, if you're interested - then take a look at the information on the website and contact me to find out more. And now - back to the silence you've become used to here.

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Matthew 2008-04-10T12:16:22+01:00
My Location http://www.silentpenguin.com/archives/2007/11/my_location.html Yesterday, I downloaded the new Google Maps for my E51 E50 mobile. It includes the My Location functionality that uses cell information to give you a rough idea of where you are without the help of GPS. Last night it wasn't working when I was at home - but this morning I'm in the office - and My Location is working. Although the position isn't as exact as GPS would be - it's still pretty cool.

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Matthew 2007-11-29T08:01:16+01:00
1500 children on 30 coaches http://www.silentpenguin.com/archives/2007/11/1500_children_o.html Not that this is of interest to anyone outside of my family and friends but I thought it was noteworthy.

Yesterday, the school our children go to set off on their annual school outing. This time to Wolfsburg to the AutoStadt. Now, the original idea was to put the 1500 kids (with teachers and various parents) on a train and move them from Paderborn to Wolfsburg (about 1 1/2 hrs away). For various reasons this didn't work out and the school had to re-organize the outing and put the kids on 30 coaches. Now, finding 30 coaches in the first place was hard enough here in Paderborn, but the logistics of getting the 1500 kids onto 30 coaches at 7:30 in the morning was a feat in itself. Not to mention getting 30 coaches into a convoy on the Autobahn in some sort of orderly fashion.

By chance I was driving back up the Autobahn on the other side when the convoy of coaches was returning yesterday evening - a sight I don't think I'll forget that quickly.

Here's the TV report that aired last night.

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Matthew 2007-11-27T16:40:41+01:00
A laptop for the girl? http://www.silentpenguin.com/archives/2007/11/a_laptop_for_th.html My daughter is set to get her own laptop for Christmas - and for price reasons I've had to rule out a MacBook. However, have you ever tried to find a PC laptop in the 500 € price range that looks like something a girl would want? There are enough brand laptops (Acer, HP, Fujitsu-Siemens) around for that amount - but they're all grey, black and ugly.

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Matthew 2007-11-24T12:20:44+01:00