During last week, Dave Sharpe (@MyLocalFaces) ran an experiment based around a Twitter hashtag to see if Warwickshire-based twitter users (businesses and individuals) could grasp the idea, share their tweets, be followed and reciprocate, and start to communicate with each other. The hash-tag Dave chose for the exercise was #FollowBigBear, and as I write this post, although activity has reduced a little, it is still seeing a slow trickle of tweets.

I was interested in seeing the outcomes of this experiment, to try to find out if Warwickshire twitter users were actually going to communicate with each other, or just use the # as an opportunity to broadcast to twitter users with their latest deals and/or offerings.

Tweetreach was deployed to give a very basic summary of the most recent 50 tweets, but I wanted to see more, indepth information- an indication of peak user times of day would be good to see, especially to ascertain the different behaviours and comparisons between business users and individuals. So Tweetreach simply didn’t cut it- the information it spat out was far too basic.

Then I thought about what would happen when twitter’s own archive vanished after about 10 days (as is usualy the case), so I hopped over to the SearchHash script that Dave Briggs (@DaveBriggs) and Steph Gray (@LeSteph) wrote a year or so ago. This script is great for generating a .csv or pdf file archive, but, as it says in the footer, it is not designed to deliver a realtime search. I ran an archive scrape on Friday, which is available in MS Excel format.

Going back to my MA Social Media studies (#masocialmedia), I remembered that Martin Hawksey (@mhawksey) had written some excellent code where there was potential for a google doc spreadsheet to be used as an archive for tweets based around a given #. So I revisited Martin’s blog, and was rewarded with the new development that not only had the code been refined, it could also spit out the results in realtime, and (bonus) with careful application of Martin’s “TAGSExplorer” software, could generate the network graphic using a # in realtime! Impressive stuff.

*Technical Jargon Filter: ON*
During the application process (which involved getting a Twitter Developer Account opened so the API hack could be deployed – can I haz a badge;-), a Skype call with Martin, revealed a glitch: for some reason, Firefox on a Mac running Snow Leopard was inserting a tab before the Consumer Secret Key was pasted into the Google spreadsheet, something that Martin had not experienced before. With his expert help and hacking skills (whilst in France) the code was repaired, and the ‘lets make this work’ process continued.
The instructions (available at http://mashe.hawksey.info/2011/11/twitter-how-to-archive-event-hashtags-and-visualize-conversation/ ) were followed to the letter, and the Google Doc generated the information required.

As usual, I’m a big believer that information shared is a very powerful tool for building strong relationships, so if you want to see how the #FollowBigBear tweets and network actually looks in real-time graphic representation, see the TAGSExplorer Feed

The url for the graphic feed via TAGSExplorer is available at http://hawksey.info/tagsexplorer/?key=0AlNjC1eCi5fFdFlwc2lvbnFoZ0lzNUJLclBsV0xLYlE&sheet=oaw

To get access to the Google doc (open) which shows all the information collated, just visit https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlNjC1eCi5fFdFlwc2lvbnFoZ0lzNUJLclBsV0xLYlE
*technical jargon filter: OFF*

So, back to the original reason for pulling this information together… you see all the dots with no links (curly lines) going to/from their account name… these are the users who have simply jumped onto the #FollowBigBear hash-tag, without following any new twitter users, or having twitter users follow them. The cynic in me would say that these are the users simply pushing messages out (1-to-many) rather than communicating (many-to-many), but I’m not cynical, so I won’t say that in such blatant terms (oops, it appears I just have). The other users appear to understand how the differences between communicating with a community versus broadcasting to an audience works, well, in Warwickshire anyway.

Many thanks to Martin Hawksey for his fantastic code, programming and assistance. Without him, none of the above would have been possible. You can COMMUNICATE with him via @mhawksey , and his blog is available by visiting http://mashe.hawksey.info/

Image Credit: (supplied under a Creative Commons License) “Getting em up” at U.S.Naval Training Camp, Seattle, Washington. Webster & Stevens., ca. 1917 – ca. 1918
Original Caption: “Getting em up” at U.S.Naval Training Camp, Seattle, Washington. Webster & Stevens., ca. 1917 – ca. 1918
U.S. National Archives’ Local Identifier:165-WW-332D(16)
From: American Unofficial Collection of World War I Photographs, compiled 1917 – 1918 (Record Group 165)
Created By: War Department. (1789 – 09/18/1947)
Production Date:ca. 1917 – ca. 1918
Persistent URL: arcweb.archives.gov/arc/action/ExternalIdSearch?id=533698
Repository: NARA’s Still Picture Records Section, National Archives at College Park (College Park, MD)

The Ministry of Transport ordered an inquiry last night into the use of the M1 motorway as a test track for high-speed sports cars.

This move came after it was revealed that one car clocked 183mph on the M1 in a try-out for the 24-hour road race at Le mans next week-end.

Police patrols on the motorway have been ordered to keep a lookout for the cars, which are capable of speeds around the 190mph mark.

Reported
Superintendent E.S. Turton, chief of the traffic department of Bedfordshire police said:
“If we find cars travelling at that speed with other traffic about, they will be reported with a view to prosecution for driving at a dangerous speed”
A police spokesman said last night that special checks -possibly with radar- would be made on the speed of such cars.
He added that although there is no speed limit on the M1, speeds of around 180mph could be dangerous.
A Hertfordshire police spokesman said: “If a lorry pulled out to overtake and a car came up at this speed, there could be a damn great smash.”

Unhappy
One of Britain’s top sports car bosses said last night: “A number of companies have been using the M1 for high-speed tests for about two years.”
The car that clocked 183mph is an A.C.Cobra, which is powered by a 4,261cc American Ford V8 engine. It sped along the motorway at dawn.
Mr. Charles Hurlock, joint managing director of A.C. Cars of Thames Ditton, Surrey, said last night: “I am unhappy about having to use a public road like this for such tests but British racetracks can’t cope with sustained runs over 160mph.
We had only one run- and we checked to see that the motorway was clear.”

A Royal Automobile Club spokesman said that in an emergency a car travelling at 180mph would need 665yards to stop under perfect conditions. In wet weather, it would need about half a mile.

—————–
(Originally published on Monday June 15, 1964. Price:3d, but you can have it for free)
Photograph taken by me, but obviously, copyright for the original article belongs to Daily Mirror.
—————–

So, why have I published this? Well, that’s all to do with my Grandfather’s involvement with Goodyear tyres in Wolverhampton, when he was attached to the Shelby Cobra Le Mans racing team at the time, but that’s another story…

I just thought I’d put this out there, simply to add a little historical context to the current discussions around raising the UK motorway speed limit to 80mph… it was this series of tests that caused the UK to bring in speed limits on motorways, and the fact that my Grandfather was in some way involved makes me feel somewhat proud, in a very weird way. I guess he felt the same sort of way- that’s probably why he kept the original newspaper (pictured).

Purely some fun, nothing else.
My son is a fan of moto x, he pulls together his own blog, and Dad tags along, keeping well out of the way because I’m “not cool enough.” Damn right too- this is most definitely a sport for young people, and all Dads should realise that they are allowed to watch, with having the privileged role of taxi driver being an optional extra.

Filmed over the duration of the Red Bull Pro Nationals weekend (redbullpronationals.com) at the home of British Moto X, Hawkstone Park in Shropshire on 27th & 28th August, 2011.

Featuring pro and sportsman riders from MX1 and MX2, 65cc, 85cc big & small wheel, rookies, 125cc and the open class, I walked (climbed) around the circuit over the 2 days, capturing the exciting footage at various vantage points. Hopefully you enjoy the results.

A special thank you has to be given to Sharron and the team from Events22 for their invitation. Both my son and I had a great time.

As for the moonshine these blokes were drinking, I’m not going to comment, apart from the fact that my memory of that night around the campfires is still very hazy. The bottle didn’t open until the camera had been put back in it’s bag, although looking at some of the focus pulling, you may think otherwise.
Oh, and before you ask, no, I didn’t wear a costume!

Adrian Goldberg from Paul Hadley on Vimeo.

Watchdog, The Politics Show, Healthcheck, BBC Breakfast News, The Stirrer and 5 Live Investigates are just a few of the well known broadcast, media and journalism platforms that Adrian Goldberg has been associated with in the past.

Today, BBCWM announced that Ed Doolan is stepping aside and hanging up his headphones, and Adrian will be taking the reigns of this popular radio show from September. CONGRATULATIONS Adrian.

Here Adrian shares some of the stories, views and experiences from his past.

He also gives us an insight into his views about the possible future direction(s) that journalism may well take, focusing on local issues and alternative media.

Paul Kehoe from Paul Hadley on Vimeo.

It was interesting to learn (off camera) that during extreme weather conditions, he wears a different hat- the one of snow plough driver- and his colleagues all do something similar to ensure that the airport remains open for business.
Recent years have seen many changes at the airport, and the future holds more challenges and changes to come. Here Paul tells me how these plans are currently progressing, and describes what the impact on the local economy and landscape will be.

A traditional camera, on the other hand, is only capable of capturing a limited range of lighting in any scene, ie Low Dynamic Range (LDR). The actual range captured depends on the exposure and f-stop setting of the camera. The remainder of the image outside this limited range is either under or over exposed. Images that can reproduce a large portion of the luminance dynamic range available in the real world are known as High Dynamic Range (HDR).

HDR imagery offers a more representative description of image-based digital content by storing data with a higher bit-depth per pixel than the more conventional LDR images. HDR images are typically either created in computer graphics or generated from a number of static images.

A HDR system capable of capturing, storing, transmitting and delivering dynamic HDR images, covering at least 20 f-stops, at full high-definition resolution, at 30 frames-pre-second, did not exist in a single camera unit…

until now !

I had the pleasure of joining Christian Payne (@documentally) at WMG, part of the University of Warwick, where we had a demonstration of the world’s first High Dynamic Range video recording camera, followed by interviews and discussions with key team members.

World First- HDR Video (High Dynamic Range) from Paul Hadley on Vimeo.

This system is owned and developed by WMG under the brand GoHDR and is based in the University of Warwick in the West Midlands region (UK).

The encoding/decoding software being developed by GoHDR has the potential to be enabling technology, which helps bring about the widespread adoption of HDR video for the home entertainment market.

Led by the Visualisation team and Professor Alan Chalmers under contract with Spheron VR in Germany, the camera is capable of 20 f-stops, full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution at 30 frames per second.

A key challenge to the widespread adoption of this HDR camera is making manageable the huge data stream that it generates. This is very much higher than a normal video camera with the HDR camera capturing data at 24 MBytes per frame or 42 Gigabytes per minute of footage, compared to just 9 Gigabytes for a minute of normal video footage.

Advances in compression is required and this is additional research and development that the team are currently delivering.

For more information, please visit http://www.GoHDR.com

(image supplied by Birmingham Chamber of Commerce)

Today I attended the West Midlands High Speed Rail Business Debate at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham (UK).

Hosted by Birmingham Chamber of Commerce & moderated by Patrick Burns, (Political Editor, BBC Midlands), the event featured panel guests:
Philip Hammond MP, Secretary of State for Transport.
Simon Topman MBE, Chairman & President of WM Trade Visits and MD of Acme Whistles
Paul Kehoe, CEO, Birmingham Airport
Paul Thandi, Chief Executive, NEC Group

Here is the audio captured from the event:

Introduction & Philip Hammond Keynote Speech by hadleypaul

Simon Topman Presentation by hadleypaul

Paul Kehoe Presentation by hadleypaul

Paul Thandi Presentation by hadleypaul

HS2 Short Presentations, Debate, Questions & Answer Session by hadleypaul

There were no powerpoint slides whatsoever- there was no screen for the speakers to point towards.
However, here are the documents supplied in the delegate packs:

Things are going to look somewhat different here for a few weeks… I’ve started a new part-time project, working with S&D Pest Control. Their main focus for this project is to drive more traffic to their website, so to attract more business for their falconry activities, static displays and flying demonstrations, and also to pass on some of these benefits to the folk at St Mary’s Hospice.

To start with, we’ve been setting up social networking accounts together, with the aim being to publish some basic material, and link them all together, pointing all the content towards the S&D Pest Control website.
So far, we’ve set up YouTube, Flickr, Twitter and a Posterous blog. We’ll be playing with WordPress and Blogspot too over the coming weeks, and then I’ll ask Debbie (who will be delivering all the publishing roles) to make a decision about which platforms she is most comfortable with, likes using the best, and delivers the most suitable route for her. After all, there’s no point me doing it because there will come a time when I have to move on, and Debbie/Steve will have to continue on their own.

As explained below, I’ll be using a new video camera to bring out some of the beautiful colours of these wonderful animals, and also getting good strong high-definition background images and colours as we go through the British countryside over the next few weekends. Ideally, I’ll be able to capture the birds as their plumage changes in preparation for winter, and, especially if/ when it snows. We’ll be heading to the Wooten Wawen area of South Warwickshire onto the Cotswold borders, so please say hello if you bump into us.

The first part was me seeing how the birds react to a camera in their face, so I went along to one of the static displays in North Solihull, where I met a photographer.
David Vincent is a local, who does photography purely as a hobby. He does not have a website, but has given me permission to host some of his photographs here (thanks David). If you like what you see, please feel free to contact him directly via email (david-vincent3@sky.com).