Kevin Toms Blog » Life, Thoughts, Philosophy

SOPA and PIPA are not the way to stop Piracy

Kevin Toms — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:06:34 +0000

I have had my own intellectual property pirated(I have heard all the excuses and justifications). It’s tough to take, but, the solution being put through the US law process at the moment is wrong. It will mess with the Internet and damage freedom of expression. Big, powerful companies will exploit it to bully and get what they want, just as they do now with Patents etc.

Here is a good explanation of why it is bad law

2012 the Year of Positivity

Kevin Toms — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 21:00:34 +0000

Why should it be? Because we are surrounded right now by doomsayers. The demise of the Euro, global recession, austerity measures, no future for young people, the coming year will be the worst, etc etc.
Let’s make a football analogy. If you send your team out saying they are going to lose and there is no hope, what will happen? They will lose.
But what if you say the other team is vulnerable, that if we raise our game we can beat them. Then you might just win.
The point is, inspirational leadership is needed. And we lack that right now. Leaders yes, no inspirational leaders.
So I think we have to lead ourselves. My resolution for 2012- try and see the positives and ignore the gloom merchants!! Have a great year!

The Joy of Siri

Kevin Toms — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 08:21:02 +0000

A friend of mine has an iPhone 4S with Siri. He was talking to it the other night. “Wake me up at 7:30″ he told it. His wife, who was nearby in the bedroom said angrily- “Are you talking to her or are you talking to me??!”.

.. Seems that Siri can become the “other woman”!

The Cloud (iCloud) and Banking

Kevin Toms — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:51:25 +0000

It’s going to put us all through a decision. Apple are well under way with it for iOS and many other companies are adopting it. – Putting all our files on remote servers(the Cloud). Then we can synchronise different machines from it, our files are available everywhere, and when our computer fails, we don’t have to panic about whether we backed up.

But, all of our files held by someone else? Can we trust them? What if they misuse our files? What if THEY lose them? Some of these things have already happened.

I’ll tell you what I think – we’ll have to treat it like banking. We put our money in banks for them to look after for us. We trust them, but they do fail. So we spread the money around different banks to reduce the risk, and we keep some at home too, for emergencies.

So spread, and duplicate too, your important files into different clouds. Keep critical copies at home. And always think about what happens when your Cloud supplier(Bank), no matter how unlikely, fails!!

Alex Ferguson Anger Management

Kevin Toms — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 15:54:42 +0000

Not everybody handles anger well, and I was reflecting on Alex Ferguson’s success. It always strikes me that he often seems angry, and he is well known for his “hair dryer” dressing downs of players at half time. – Another expression of anger.

Yet he is very successful. So he could be an example of expressing anger in a very positive way, like using anger at losing to drive for success. Anger can be destructive, but it can also lead to determination and drive to correct and improve. Maybe that is what Alex Ferguson depicts so well.

Steve Jobs was a businessman

Kevin Toms — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 08:53:20 +0000

.. and yet people are moved, saddened by his passing. – Because he was so much more. Not just his involvement in great design at Apple, giving us delightful products. Not just because he was an inspiring presenter, a great salesman, who knew how to make you want a product.

- He was key in giving us electronics products that we don’t just find useful, they are products that we have real affection for. iPhone, iPod, Mac, iPad… most people who have them really love those products. Not just usability but great style and looks.

Windows PCs you have to use, Apple products you want to use, and Steve Jobs made that. His presence will be missed.

Michael Jackson was Comfortably Numb

Kevin Toms — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 13:46:17 +0000

There are some songs that stand the test of time. Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd combines great lyrics with great music. The analogy with Michael Jackson and the trial of his doctor is striking and the lyrics contain references to giving a stressed out performer drugs to keep him relaxed and functioning to perform:

” I hear you’re feeling down, I can ease your pain”…

“Just a little pin prick, they’l be no more aaaaah, but you will feel a little sick” …

“That’ll keep you going through the show”…

“There is no pain you are receding” …

“I have become comfortably numb” …

Money, an anxious pop star, a doctor ready to supply the drugs for money. The easing of the pain.

- Pink Floyd’s art, or real life??

About Rugby for a moment, the All Blacks.

Kevin Toms — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 16:11:00 +0000

I lived in New Zealand. I even often used to see the All Blacks, they stayed where I stayed.

I can tell you that the Rugby World Cup is vital to New Zealand. Not the event being there, it is vital that the All Blacks win it! They are the best in the world, they have skill, style, natural talent, and it is the national sport.

It’s also the sport that a small nation, of only 4 million people, dominated the world in for a century. National pride is very bound up in Rugby. When the All Blacks lose a vital match, there is measurable depression across New Zealand! The problem now is that the All Blacks are not as far ahead as they used to be. They are still the best, but the top teams can beat them. And they do beat them in later World Cup stages so it is many years since New Zealand won the Rugby World Cup.

This is their chance, they have the team and coaching that is good enough. They are playing at home. They are the best. But the pressure on them to succeed is immense. There is no other big sport like Rugby in New Zealand.

I really would like them to win, it’s good for the sport like Spain winning the World Cup Football. – Style and flair succeeding.

But, if they lose…there are plenty of New Zealanders who won’t be able to discuss Rugby for a long time, months…!!

Modern day Bankers

Kevin Toms — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 17:05:58 +0000

I was at a bank the other day trying to do money transfer. They said it would take 2 days and sometimes up to 5 to get to the other account. I pointed out that there is a thing called the Internet now and maybe they should look in to using it! Imagine a web page taking 2 days to load- and in reality there is little difference.

They did not see the joke!

Indie Development

Kevin Toms — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 08:38:36 +0000

When I was in New Zealand I met developers who were writing for the iPhone. Some produced good games, yet despite that were disappointed when the game did not succeed. The impression some had was that putting the game on the App Store was putting the game on the market. It isn’t, it’s more like putting your game into one gigantic warehouse of hundreds of thousands of similar products, and hoping somebody walking in to the warehouse will see your game and buy it. That experience of a lot of work leading to nothing much can disappoint and demoralise people which is a shame.

The missing link is marketing. The old saying “If you build a better mousetrap the customers will come” has never been true. They won’t if they don’t know your mousetrap exists.

But there are many other advantages with the App Store business model. . .