thomasbarker.com blogs

Prescient aren't I?

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:53:28 +0100

:-)

First SII Exam Passed - One more to go !

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 23:48:47 +0100

I now have 300 workbook pages on Securities & Derivatives to go. Which is the fun bit of the syllabus. (The exam I just did is about all the things the FSA can do to punish you!)

Theory of Games LLP is born !

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 19:18:34 +0100

I am now part a properly incorporated LLP

Now I'm going through the online application for an HSBC business account. Which is depressing, because it keeps crashing. But, kind of reassuring, because it means there's a lot of need for good developers out there ;-)

If you're going to phish me...

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 16:20:36 +0100

at least try to make me feel like an individual :-)

Involved Customers are Clearly a Two-Edged Sword

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 01:39:29 +0100

I do see what they mean though. A friend of mine looked into eBay to start his business, and the fees would have wiped out his whole margin!

Helping with Conference (Press Release)

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 20:27:01 +0100

Innovators Gather in the City to Set Shape for Future of Finance

Contact: Thomas Barker

Email: tbarker(at)barcampbank[..]org

LONDON, UK, Monday June 2nd, 2008 - On Saturday July 5th, 2008, one of the most unusual conferences in the financial services industry, BarCampBankLondon (BCBL), will get underway at 9:30 AM near the heart of the City. BCB London follows the success of previous BarCampBanks in Paris, Seattle, San Francisco, New Hampshire and New York City. Ranging from interested students, to banking executives, to VCs, startup founders and internet technologists. BCBL is a forum where participants from diverse backgrounds can get together to discuss topics impacting the industry. It will attract thought leaders and innovators from as far away as America for an intense day of discussions on the future of financial services.

This IS ISLINGTON

Sat, 17 May 2008 15:10:29 +0100

Book given away on the street by house movers

Post-Zopa Reading

Mon, 05 May 2008 21:18:57 +0100

I made my way out of Zopa a couple of months ago. Zopa's fine, but I there were too many things I wanted to peruse outside. Starting with a long trip to Manhattan!

On my reading list since then: cool new webservers, even stranger alternative financial systems, "proper" programming, sorting out my investments, and spending more time with my favourite LAMP CMS.

Zopa Listings went live this week

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 00:45:11 +0000

We finally went live with listings this week. (See my listing.) Listing is a completely new approach at Zopa. You can select who you lend money to individually. There's still credit scoring (we discard the 'bad ones', but it's a guide rather than a rule.

Borrowers are uniquely identified by pseudonyms. Which means they can choose to promote or associate themselves with their listing. You could place your listing's URL on your blog (like me), or email it to friends & associates.

Look at me, I'm viral !

Tue, 09 Jan 2007 00:34:18 +0000

Well, the auction is over and has raised £56 which isn't too bad. More importantly, my site traffic has increased by an order of magnitude!

Over 90% of my current traffic is coming from people Googling for Venice invites.

Maybe I should do some keyword 'optimisation', throw on a little AdSense ... At least I could make some cash off of these guys. I wonder if they'll start monitoring the price of an invite token over at Venice HQ?

Buy a Venice Project Invite

Fri, 15 Dec 2006 20:50:17 +0000

I am currently auctioning an invite to The Venice Project beta. I had the idea after being emailed by many random [and, I'm sure, wonderful] people when I left a comment on GigaOm.

The auction is intended to make money for Amnesty International who will receive 70% of the money. I only expect to reach a $200 sales price, but even $140 should help. Whatever happens, it's a cute experiment in turning hype into mulla :-)

I was a Venice Project BETA Tester

Sat, 09 Dec 2006 15:49:35 +0000

I am auctioning one Venice Project invite - 70% to go to Amnesty International.

I am a Venice Project Beta tester. And this morning we were released from (most of) our NDAs, so that we could tell you all about it.

Gone to Shanghai

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 09:55:57 +0000

See you all in two weeks!

MySpace Spammers Reach the English Countryside

Thu, 02 Nov 2006 17:57:19 +0000

Taken Oct 29th in Steventon, Oxfordshire, England.

Clicks and mortar ?

Googlezon ??

Sat, 28 Oct 2006 01:29:53 +0100

But that's never going to happen.