Is Google Legal?

Seriously. Google can’t be legal.

Let’s not even delve too deeply into book archiving hoo hahs or pretty obvious antitrust infringement. The very premise of Google’s fundamental service to us (giving us the ability to search the entire internet)  is only possible through web scraping – which is illegal.

Now, I don’t give two hoots about Google’s illegality. I don’t care if they’re building apps right now to ensure the smoother running of all small drug dealing operations. The thing that interests me, is that nobody else seems to give a hoot either.

Designing Ecotopia

I remember having a chat with the orgainisers of Ecotopia a few months ago. The three of us were drinking mint tea and lamenting the state of the sustainability conversation. In particular, we lamented how the conversation is mostly around dystopia and all the stuff that’s bound to happen if we don’t make the change.

An open letter to my father – why I don’t want to buy a house

Dearest Dad

I know you don’t get it, but I’m really not interested in buying a house. Every time I say that sentence to you, you finish it for me with the words: right now. The thing is, it’s not that I’m not interested in buying a house at this point in time, but really that I think buying houses is silly.

Here’s why:

1. I’m not British

When I first arrived in the UK at the ripe old age of 20 I fell for the property ladder love story, hook line and sinker. So much so that I went and bought my first house at 23.

Strategy memes and conventional wisdom

Is it just me, or is the planning world a bit of an echo-chamber?

As strategists we are meant to question these subjective interpretations, but that’s not what I come across most of the time. Most of the time I hear regurgitated aphorisms.  And because we all blog and tweet etc. these strange kind of strategy memes are crossing oceans. No matter who’s blog I read, or which country they’re in, it’s the same shit I hear. It’s a classic case of groupthink.

What do Led Zeppelin and Sustainability have in common?

There’s a funny thing that brands do. They do this thing where they totally and utterly lose any connection with the actual meaning of their names. Apple, Orange, Dell, Polo, Mars – these are all brand names that are linked to the things they brand, not the actual words.

Juxtaposition 3

War and Weather

Farewell 2008

Everyone I speak to seems to agree that 2008 has been a few years in one.

For me and the rest of the Unchained peeps, a lot of really great stuff has happened. We wouldn’t want it any other way. I would like to wish you a brilliant festive season and an even more productive, jam-packed 09.

But for now, I’m off to eat too much and get very merry. Hope you are too. Ho, ho.ho.

Is bartering the new black?

With the credit crunch and recession upon us, it’s difficult to avoid issues around the economy.

I’m no economic whiz kid – in fact, on the contrary I’ve never really been all that good with money. But lately I’ve found myself obsessively seeking information, debate and opinion around  stocks, shares and everything of that ilk. And I’m not the only one.

Bristol Schumacher Conference – Sustainability and Consumerism are Like Chalk and Cheese

For me this was the highlight of the day and the part I looked forward to most of all. Here they were, the two parts of an ongoing argument that keeps surfacing going head-to-head, to-to-toe.  I thoroughly enjoyed.

Jonathon Porrit started the debate by making the important distinction between consumption and consumerism. He reminded us that we were there to talk about the former. And whether there was any role for it in a sustainable world.

Andrew Simms was first up: “Consumerism is the crystal meth of our culture,” he said. His loving audience beamed.

La Cave à Fromage

The before and after of my delicious cheese selection last night.

Last night Unchained enjoyed a delicious cheese tasting with a bunch of Qypers at La Cave à Fromage in South Ken. The shop has a really interesting approach to selling cheese – no counters or cashpoints, it’s all clean, modern, personal and very chic. With literally thousands of cheese to choose from, the owner was delighted to inform us that we could try a different cheese every night for the next 75 years without running out of options.

We likey.

You can find out more about La Cave on Qype and of course on Unchained too.

Big, big thanks to Qype and La Cave à Fromage for a brilliant night.