Category: Technology
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Coravin – great tech even if you’re not a wine drinker

I’m a teetotal and I don’t have the faintest clue about drinking wine. However, I was intrigued by a new technology called Coravin. The problem that Coravin intends to solve is that once you uncork a wine bottle, and unless you finish the bottle in one go, the quality of the wine is likely to…
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“The Laws of Simplicity” (Book Review)

“Simplicity” almost feels like a magic word, particularly when you’re a product manager or a designer. Last year I wrote about the rise of single purpose apps and mentioned John Maeda’s “Laws of Simplicity”. John Maeda is a well known graphic designer, computer scientist, investor and academic. He’s also an author and I recently read his most popular…
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How made.com connects online and offline

Made.com has been around for a good few years and has made a name for itself by offering designer furniture online. However, I hadn’t realised that apart from their online platform, Made.com also have 2 showrooms (in London and in Yorkshire respectively). Keen to find out more about how Made.com combine a user’s online and offline experience,…
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SQL – Learning about the basic “SELECT” statement

I’m still doing my Stanford online course on relational databases. Today, I learned about the basics of SQL, a special programming language designed for managing data held in a relational database. The teacher of the class, Jennifer Widom, kicked off the class by talking about the difference between a Data Definition Language (‘DDL’) and a…
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Meerkat (Product Review)

The other day is saw a discussion about whether Meerkat will or won’t last. Meerkat is a simple video app which lets people stream live to their Twitters. It launched about two weeks ago and has been talked about (and used) a lot since. Let’s do a quick review of the app: Main learning point: It…
