Ludlow Jelly

Posted on by March 4, 2014

Looking after PR and marketing for OpenSure, I like to get out and about as much as possible listening to local companies and learning about how they use their IT and, more importantly, how they would like to use it. I know how doctors feel now – as soon as the syllables ‘I’ and ‘T’ are mentioned, people are telling us their problems. But that’s okay, it’s the best way to understand the realities of IT for small businesses, and that’s what our business is based on.

Today I’ve come along to Shropshire Jelly at Ludlow Food Centre and find myself in a hotbed of tweeting (#ludlow #jelly), blogging and furious typing on laptops. I’m in awe of the real hard work going on here – I can hear things being achieved all around me, connections being made and plans being hatched. We’re being looked after (and the more rowdy element kept in line) by Michaela Hardwick of Beyond Expectation, I’ve met the fantastically talented artist Sophie Bignall (who also has a PR business) and am sitting between business expert Jan Minihane on one side and polymath author Carole Anne Carr on the other – I’m feeling slightly star struck.

I can see Ludlow Jelly becoming a regular fixture in my business diary. It’s the perfect combination of getting some work done (have netbook, will travel – see our blog post on virtual businesses), meeting people and having a refreshing change of scenery, not to mention the excellent lunch we’re all looking forward to. Why stay at home when you can Jelly?

The OpenSure Free Press 3rd May 2011

Posted on by March 20, 2013

Today’s Free Press comes to you from Shropshire Jelly, the co-working event held on the first Tuesday of the month at Ludlow Food Centre. We’re spending the day there as we get back in the saddle after the long weekend, and with Easter Weekend prior to that, we’re feeling refreshed and raring to go.

Green Web Hosting
This is the trend du jour but quite right too: server farms, data centres, whatever you like to call them, have the scope both to consume and save vast quantities of energy. We recently transferred our servers to a data centre powered by energy from 100% renewable sources. Our web hosting now has a zero carbon footprint, and we’re proud of that.

By George, I think he’s got it!
This article by Jim Brikman for OpenSource.com explains why projects benefit from both sharing their source code and using open source code. This paragraph sums it up:

I realized that open source isn’t about doing the world a favor, sharing, or acting charitable. It’s not about freedom, choice, human rights, standardization, or any of that. Sure, all of these play a role, but none of them are enough to explain how the open source movement got to where it is today. What I think really drives open source are three major benefits to the project creator: free labor, cleaner code and portfolios.

10 ways Linux is a part of your life
This very interesting article by Katherine Noyes for ComputerWorldUK (don’t be put off) lists10 everyday things that are powered by Linux. Articles like this demonstrate that Linux/open source is not a weirdo minority geek thing; rather, it is the foundation on which systems such as cashpoints, set-top boxes and Government are run. Read the article and surprise yourself.

Other bits and pieces that have caught our eye recently include:

* The Smarta guide to VoIP – would your business benefit from running the phones over broadband?
* Does your company have computer kit to get rid of? Why not donate it to Computer Aid?
* What’s killing your Wi-Fi? House is wrapped in tin-foil?
* The bacon fat keyboard – ideal for Tweeting

And finally..

Via @iBenR @johnedden I’ve formed a band. We are called 999 Megabytes – We havent done a gig yet.

On that note, we hope you’ve enjoyed this slightly late issue of the Free Press.

When is a cloud not a bubble?

Posted on by March 20, 2013

And finally…the last article in our week-long series on cloud computing is by Jay Lyman writing for Linux Insider, and explains why cloud computing is not merely a bubble liable to burst.

Lyman refers to the “hype, hope and trepidation” surrounding cloud computing but goes on to give the example of Oracle, which has in the space of a year gone from voicing objections to cloud computing to seeing improved profits largely due to cloud computing.

Lyman asks:

“Are organizations really putting production applications and workloads in the cloud? Do they want to build their own private cloud infrastructures to perform similar activities on their own? How is cloud computing changing both the production and use of hardware, software, infrastructure, systems management and other technology?”

In answer to this, Lyman draws parallels between the rise of of open source software and that of cloud computing, citing “caution, pragmatism, bottom-line business fundamentals and more “grounded” thinking” as driving factors in business today. Lyman expands this by saying:

“Rather than contributing to a cloud bubble burst, recent economic difficulties and the search for cost savings are often cloud computing’s reason for being.”

In conclusion Lyman focusses on the power given to users by both open source software and cloud computing, and assures us that neither is about to disappear.