As implied by the “part I” in The Complete Bounds of Our Social Networks - Part I, there is a part II, and this is it… Having looked at the research around Dunbar’s number, it strikes me that social media and the modern workplace face a number of challenges, but first, let’s rewind a few [...]

I have been pondering the ideal size of a community of late - be it a company (successful companies are communities too), a circle of friends or the user base for a wiki or a forum. Of course, I am not the first to ponder the question, nor will I be the last.
Paul Graham wrote [...]

Hail is falling outside as I write this, pinging off of the office window. It may be May, but clearly no-one thought to tell the British weather that - snow in April?
A quick pause to look back at April shows that it has been a prolific month on the blog, with 14 posts and some [...]

I was going to leave this as a comment on Luke’s blog, but it got a little too long. Luke’s post “Stone age brains and the social web” is based on the “All In The Mind” podcast episode “Stone Age brains in 21st century skulls.” Luke’s blog provides some great insights on user experience, and the Australian “All In The Mind” podcast features interviews with a diverse range of Psychologists. This is a bit of a woven path, but it is interesting when it comes together. Hopefully you can see where this is going - If you can, hold on to the wheel.

I’ve been tussling with the issue of happenstance recently. Let me explain. Happenstance has become, for me, a word to describe the happy accidents that are a valuable and pleasurable part of making unexpected progress. Happenings that came from coincidence, rather than from planning. The random circumstances where things ‘just work out’. I think you [...]

We all understand the concepts of physical security reasonably well: Locks, Doors, Alarms, Security Guards… With the new digital universe we need to be just as conversant with information security. The front page headline of Computer Weekly last week was a good reminder: “More intruders found behind firewall, says 2008 Information Security Breaches survey.”
The report [...]

Sorry, it is too tempting to resist! A little bit of Freud for you. The man has been out of fashion of late, rarely taught on Psychology courses and even the phrase ‘Freudian slip’ isn’t heard much anymore. Whilst most of his theories have been discounted, some of it is coming back into style - [...]