Nick's Page

Nick - Family - Bristol Credit Union - Bristol

I am a self employed journalist, technology writer, consultant and media trainer, based in Bristol in the South West of the UK. A map and directions are here.

I have been closely involved with Bristol Credit Union, a financial services enterprise across the city of Bristol bringing financial services to local people at affordable rates and tackling the problems of loan sharks and financial exclusion. This follows the merger of Purdown Credit Union (where I was Chair) in February 2007, and I was Secretary at BCU until February 2009. I believe debt will be an increasingly important factor in the UK over the next few year as the mountain of debt came back to bite us (and I am happy to comment on this at length!)

I help out on the board of trustees for the Bristol Citizens Advice Bureau, and with the executive committee for the Bristol branch of the National Union of Journalists.

As a freelancer researching and writing for magazines and companies around the world, time zones are a fact of life. Working from home gives tremendous flexibility in trading off family time and work time, and gives more flexibility in the recessions that seem a regular part of life.

You can read more of my work at SiliconSouthWest and covering activities in two key areas of the industry at the Embedded Blog and the Portable Multimedia Blog.

Life is pleasantly busy, but if you don't write, you don't eat and you don't pay the mortgage. That was very much the case during the Internet bubble, but that has to be balanced against the ups and downs of the marketplace, and the last recession in the electronics industry in 2001 has been the longest and deepest in 30 years, and the 2009 recession looks worse. I take pride in having survived that recession as a freelance, and at the moment am making the most of the opportunities that are available. You can see more of my work in most electronics magazines and at my blog and on my CV.

I am a Physics honours graduate from the University of York in 1989. I have a fantastic partner, Karla, and a new baby, Rhia, born in August 2008, who joins Megan (September 1996) and Alina (November 2000) from my previous marriage.

The Third Revolution: Agrarian, Industrial, Information

There is is an interesting, perhaps underlooked trend on the social implications of the information technology revolution - computers and the Internet promise a revolution as dramatic and wide ranging as the industrial revolution, and there has to be a framework to encourage the positive uses of the technology and discourage the negative one.
This is even more true following the collapse of the dotcom bubble - computing and Internet technology is becoming embedded in our everyday lives - our homes, our cars as well as our phones.
For the developed world, there are also dramatic implications for the future of work, the future of parenting and wider social structures, mainly based around more flexible childcare.

An interesting place to start is NTK - THEY STOLE OUR REVOLUTION. NOW WE'RE STEALING IT BACK

This is all about fair trade - giving producers in the Two Thirds world a fair price for their goods, even if it means a few pennies extra on the price, and that's all it is! A good example of the importance of Traidcraft is here.

Bristol and the area
Read all about the development of 'Silicon Gorge', a spate of startup companies developing silicon chips in the Bristol area. This has led to the SiliconSouthWest initiative where I am heavily involved. There is more information at Bristol's Digital City pages and directory

I wa part of Bristol's bid for City of Culture 2008 - which means that Bristol, having made the short-list, will be A City of Culture in that year! My role was adding some technological expertise - the sense of creativity inherent in the electronics business through contacts at places such as Hewlett Packard Labs and ST Microelectronics

Computers, electronics & technology in general,

which is lucky! After years of resisting, I am slowly becoming 'gadget man' but only when the gadgets can actually help me! So I have the MP3 player. I have been through two digital cameras from Nikon (2MP and 4MP), and both suffered failures of the zoom system. I have now moved onto a 5Mpixel Pentax S50, which I am pleased with (October 2004) and as of 2009 still perfectly fine!

Wine

New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc was particularly fantastic in 2000, not so hot in 2001, and up to 2007 haven't found a vintage to compare to it - but it's fun looking (!) 2008 was OK and looking forward to 2009. The Hedonist Shiraz from Western Australia is a recent delightful find.

Cooking

I love cooking, and cooking well. Been through the list of the TV chefs - from St Delia (although she is got a bit patronising before her semi-retirement), though Nigel Slater, Gary Rhodes (the man that uses every pan in the kitchen), Gordon Ramsey (for his cooking, although he seems to be melolowing somewhat!) and I must admit to having had a soft (?) spot for Nigella for a while! I did a one-day course at Rick Stein's Seafood restaurant in Padstow which was absolutely fantastic.

These are just a few of my favourite authors:

• Iain M Banks
• Alastair Reynolds
• William Gibson
• David & Leigh Eddings
• Douglas Copeland
• Iain Banks
• Val McDermid
• Sara Paretsky
• Colin Dexter
• Sebastian Faulks