Where do you look for business ideas?

At the start up stage of a business, innovation levels are flying high.  But once the business is established, it can be easy to get bogged down in day to day delivery and paperwork. 

How can you recapture the energy and creativity of your original idea generation to propel your business forward?   Where to even start? 

Join our Encompass LinkedIn Group and have your say.

A first step may be to do an internet search on 'Where to find new business ideas'. 

This will keep you busy surfing for a few days, reading anything from scholarly articles complete with processes, strategies and complex graphs on idea generation,  to questionable tips such as 'eavesdrop'.

There are ideas in universities waiting for your business skills...

An opportunity right on your doorstep is to use ideas that have already been generated within universities.  All over the world, research is being carried out that universities aren't in a position to commercialise.  In Scotland, businesses can often access these ideas for free, using quick and simple licence agreements.

Visit the University Technology website to find out what IP is available, read success stories on how other companies have used these ideas and how you can get involved.

Additionally, a new website has launched which creates science competitions around unused inventions.  Read about the invention on the Marblar website, and find out how you can compete to suggest a creative application for the invention. 

Good luck.

Lynda Nicolson
Marketing & Online Community Manager, Encompass, University of Glasgow

SIGN UP FOR OUR ENCOMPASS NEWSLETTER HERE

  

Read More

I Need Experts for Video Interviews

HELP Me Make a VIDEO!
I want to make a few videos for our YouTube Channel pertaining to real estate, dental tourism, medical tourism in general, and would also like to interview a lawyer who speaks English and understands and can explain how the system works here in Costa Rica. So, I'm looking for 'experts' in the fields mentioned, for video interviews.

These would be interview type videos in order to provide relevant and truthful information to folks thinking about moving or traveling here.

Interested or want more details (or have an idea of your own), write me- info@TravelCostaRicaNow.com

TONS of Costa Rica Tavel Info and VIDEOS on our website: Travel Costa Rica NOW and if you want to visit our YouTube Channel: iCostaRica24 ENjoY!

Read More

UPDATE- My Back and Fire at Just Good Food

I try to stay in shape because sometimes Karma isn't enough.
First off, I want to say, "THANK-YOU!" so much for all the concern, support and well-wishes I received after I hurt my back 11 days ago. *If you don't know what happened, the video is below. The out-pouring of concern was truly touching and I can't tell you how much it was appreciated. It feels really good to know people cared and if I could hug each one of you, I would. M-U-S-H-Y, but true. Let me update my situation. So, I literally couldn't walk for the first 5 days and the difficulty/pain it took to take a shower, change clothes, go the bathroom (I know, tmi) was past intense and even getting out of bed was so difficult, I slept sitting up on the couch. To say I was a little worried would be a vast understatement. I didn't want to say it then, but I'll say it now, I knew I should have seen a doctor, but truth is, the money situation just isn't all that...enough said. Fast forward to this past Monday when I woke up and it was almost as if KARMA decided I had had enough. I don't want to say 'miracle', but kinda. I'm at about 90% and have even hit the gym these past 3 days. I attribute my quick rebound to Karma and the fact I'm in shape, I think out-of-shape may have had some serious problems. That fall may not look like much to some, but at 53, believe me, we just don't 'bounce' like we used too. Anyway, thanx again. And btw- I know a few of you thought the video was 'funny', so remind me to laugh when you walk into a pole.

The fire that engulfed 'Just Good Food' a couple weeks ago was indeed arson. *The video is below. The owner and our friend, Mike, is trying to figure things out, but as of this writing, it doesn't look like he will rebuild. Will post more on this later.





TONS of Costa Rica Travel Info and VIDEOS on our website: Travel Costa Rica NOW and if you want to visit our YouTube Channel: iCostaRica24 ENjoY!

Read More

MORE Cheap Good Food in La Fortuna - Video

Costa Rica is EXPENSIVE. Wish I had a dime... And it's true, it can be but it doesn't have to be. And La Fortuna gets the same rap. Especially when it comes to food. We live here, we see the folks who bitch about the cost, it's usually the tourists who did very little preparation for their vacation, trusting the guide books, or else they're being lead from tourist trap to tourist trap by someone working off commissions.

If they did their homework or watched our videos, they'd know about this place, La Hormiga (the Ant), a little family run Soda that we go to just about everyday. Seriously, everyday. Why, because like many of you who travel on a budget, we don't have a ton of money to waste on over-priced food and when we eat, we need something that gets us to the next meal. And really, even if you have money, La Hormiga is a great way to experience the local flavor.

Anyway, here's our video about cheap, good food in La Fortuna at La Hormiga-



TONS of Costa Rica Travel Info and VIDEOS on our website: Travel Costa Rica NOW and if you want to visit our YouTube Channel: iCostaRica24 ENjoY!

Read More

From Cakes to Computers via Universities....

From Cakes to Computers, lessons from the past on working with Universities

By Stephen Marshall, Knowledge Transfer Manager, Encompass

Catering company J Lyons and University of Cambridge 1949

Universities are a rich source of new ideas and expertise, and working with them can be highly beneficial for businesses.  The past few years have seen an increasing recognition of the importance of business-university collaboration, resulting in a number of publicly funded initiatives, such as Encompass, which is aimed at supporting small businesses in working with universities. 

However, collaboration between industry and academia is not a new phenomenon and there are many examples from history that we can draw upon for inspiration.

One industry sector that has benefitted enormously from university expertise is the computer industry.  A fascinating example of this is a project which dates back to the very start of the
 computer industry in the UK. 

It involved a collaboration between catering firm J Lyons & Company and the University of Cambridge to develop the first computer specifically for business use. 

Amazingly, this landmark project in the history of technology grew out of a simple requirement for the company to more accurately monitor sales of cakes throughout its chain of teashops.

The project started in May 1949 when the Lyons board took the decision to build an electronic computer to serve the company’s growing data processing needs.  This bold decision had been prompted by a fact-finding visit to the USA by two senior managers of the company, Raymond Thompson and Oliver Standingford, two years earlier in May 1947. 

Despite the seemingly mundane nature of the company’s products, Lyons had a refreshingly forward-thinking attitude to business and had pioneered innovative management techniques in its quest for office efficiency.  Thompson and Standingford’s original remit had been to investigate wartime developments in office systems and equipment but this was extended to include computers following tantalising snippets of information that were beginning to appear in the press about US developments in electronic computation.

During their trip Thompson and Standingford met with Herman Goldstine, a leading figure in the US computer research community, who informed them of efforts to develop a computer that were taking place much closer to home at the University of Cambridge. 

The Cambridge University group was led by the pioneering computer scientist Maurice Wilkes.  Wilkes had been one of a handful of non-US academics invited to attend a series of lectures held at the University of Pennsylvania’s Moore School of Electrical Engineering in the summer of 1946 to disseminate the results of US government-sponsored research into electronic digital computers. 

Top of the agenda was one of the Moore School’s own projects, a radical new computer design based on a stored-program architecture.  This was the breakthrough which would turn electronic computers from sequence-controlled calculators into powerful machines capable of carrying out all manner of complex tasks.  Fired up by what he had seen and heard on his visit to the US, Wilkes began working on his own version of this design during the voyage home. 

The machine would be called the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC).

Goldstine arranged for Thompson and Standingford to be contacted by the Cambridge University group on their return to the UK.  Following positive discussions, Lyons agreed to donate £3,000 in cash plus the services of an electronics technician for 1 year to support the Cambridge University group in the development of EDSAC in return for advice on the company’s plans for computerisation of its data processing operation. 

These extra resources helped the Cambridge University group to not only catch up with but to overtake the far more experienced Moore School team in the race to construct the world’s first full-scale stored-program computer.  The fruitful relationship between Lyons and Cambridge continued beyond the initial 1-year agreement and when the company finally took the decision to build its own computer, it was obvious to all concerned that this should be based on EDSAC. 

The result was the Lyons Electronic Office (LEO), the world’s first business computer.

Built at a cost of £150,000, LEO featured a 17-bit word length and a clock speed of 526 KHz. 

Like other full-scale computers of the pre-transistor era, LEO was the size of a room. 

Its electronic circuits were constructed using thousands of bulky thermionic valves and its capacious 2,048-word memory was made up of 64 individual acoustic delay lines, long cylinders filled with liquid mercury that stored data in the form of sound waves.  Input and output was via punched cards and paper tape.

LEO ran its first live data processing job in November 1951, calculating the value of cakes, pies and pastries for despatch to Lyons’ retail and wholesale outlets. 

As one of the first electronic computers in the UK, LEO also attracted considerable attention from organisations interested in using the machine for scientific applications.  Lyons was able to take advantage of this situation by making LEO available to a number of these organisations on a fee paying basis in what was probably the earliest example of a computing bureau service.

LEO was conceived for internal use only but the enormous interest in the project prompted Lyons to enter the computer industry and a subsidiary company, LEO Computers Limited, was created in November 1954 to manufacture computers “for sale or hire”. 

LEO Computers later merged with the Data Processing & Control Systems Division of English Electric to form English Electric Leo Computers which eventually became part of International Computers Limited (ICL). 

On its formation in 1968, ICL was the largest non-US manufacturer of computers with a workforce of over 34,000 employees.

So are there any lessons that we can learn from the success of the LEO project?  Here are three I can think of:-

1.    Play to each other’s strengths.  Lyons took a lead from the Cambridge University group on the design of the hardware for LEO.  This allowed the company to focus its efforts on developing the application software, a task which made the best use of in-house expertise in office systems.  The company also subcontracted much of the construction work to other firms.

2.    Don’t be tempted to reinvent the wheel.  The LEO developers did not try to create the most advanced machine possible.  LEO’s conservative design was closely based on EDSAC which itself was closely based on the Moore School’s design.  Proven components and subsystems were chosen over newer technologies.  This combination of modest design goals and the use of readily available technology facilitated speed to market.

3.    Seconding staff can be one of the most effective methods of transferring knowledge from one organisation to another.  The technician chosen for the secondment, Ernest Lenaerts, quickly became a valued member of the Cambridge University group.  When Lenaerts later returned to the company, the knowledge that he had gained transferred back with him, making the job of building LEO much easier.

If you want to read more about LEO, I can recommend the book ‘A Computer Called LEO’ by Georgina Ferry.  Also worth reading is ‘Memoirs of a Computer Pioneer’ by Maurice V Wilkes. 

Stephen Marshall

Knowledge Transfer Manager

Encompass

University of Glasgow 

Read More

Could your company set our postgrad research students a challenge?

Imagine a group of University of Glasgow postgraduate research students from all types of discipline working together over a few months on a project for your business.

The 2013 Insights to Industry programme is now looking for companies to take part.

Andy from Freescale (automotive) said of the 2012 'Cars of the Future' programme:  'Looking for radical innovation inside your own industry is difficult, as people are constrained by accepted norms and practices, so the different backgrounds and the fresh eyes of the PhD students brought some brand new & exciting ideas to the table"


Freescale's challenge to the students was:  What does the car of the future look like?   What will we be driving in 2030?  what might the challenges be in making that car a reality and how might these be overcome?  You can read more about Freescale's 2012 challenge here.

Some of the areas the students covered included market research, consideration of driver attitudes to risk and technology, product life cycles, energy usage and traffic congestion issues.

The research students gained the opportunity to sharpen their commercial awareness working on a real industrial problem. 

Your commitmentTo take part in the Insights to Industry programme, we will need the company to attend 3 meetings over the summer period.   The initial meeting will be for you to brief the students.   A half-way meeting will take place at your premises, allowing the students a look around and letting them brief you on their findings so far.  The final meeting will be the presentation of their findings to you.

If you are interested in finding out more, email Elizabeth Adams

Read More

I BROKE My Back Yesterday Serioiusly! The VIDEO

Drinking and a jerry-rigged, backyard zipline and me do NOT get along. Tell me the video doesn't make you cringe a bit- I'm 53 not 13, I can't take 'hits' like this and I definitely don't 'bounce' like I use too. Well, needless to say, I totally f**ked up my back and neck yesterday. Seriously, can't even walk and forget about trying to change my clothes or go the bathroom, need help with that as well. I know, tmi. Sorry. I'm not going to cry and whine too much because folks everywhere deal with a lot more than a broken back. But boy does it hurt. The clinic is not an option for reasons I'll keep to myself so I'm thinking pain meds will mostly come in the form of a cheap bottle of scotch. K, I'm done.

TONS of Costa Rica Travel Info and VIDEOS on our website: Travel Costa Rica NOW and if you want to visit our YouTube Channel: iCostaRica24 ENjoY!

Read More

We LOVE YOU but...

We LOVE you guys... but we're thinking you have NO IDEA how many emails we receive on a daily basis (which we really do love receiving) but please, READ ON-

Hey Everyone! First, our apologies if this letter doesn't come off as intended but if you received this link in response to an email question you wrote us, then it may apply to you.

D'Angelo and myself have worked extremely hard over the last 5 years to provide information for folks interested in traveling and/or living in Costa Rica. Yup, literally thousands and thousands of man hours (well, only 2 men actually) to produce hundreds of pages of written text and videos- with very little monetary reward and mostly at our own expense. And if you've seen this video of how we live here in Costa Rica, I think it pretty much confirms the fact we haven't made shit doing what we do. If it sounds like we're complaining, trust me, we're NOT. We wouldn't change this 'adventure' for ANYTHING in the world- we LOVE what we do and feel blessed everyday we're able to do it. But.... this cartoon kinda says it-

Ok, let me get to the point. We love, Love, LOVE your emails- comments, words of encouragement, feedback, perspective etc. Believe me, it's much appreciated, because without you we'd be talking to ourselves and we've always loved a little back and forth. And you have our word we will continue to put out videos, blog posts, website articles etc. in order to continue to provide YOU relevant and useful information about traveling and living in Costa Rica.

But we have a Travel Agency NOW and we can't do it for FREE anymore. Plus, you probably wouldn't believe how many emails we get DAILY. Seriously guys, we need to start making a little money for our work. So, if you're thinking about emailing questions to us about YOUR travel plans you have 3 options if you want a response. Without one of these monetary responses, we won't.

1. If you want us to set up your Costa Rica Travel Package, obviously we'll be talking.

2. If you want our recommendations about what you should do or where to go in Costa Rica based on your likes and dislikes, but you want to book everything yourself, no problem, but you have to DONATE $150. for our expertize of knowing the country and sharing it with you. IN other words, we'll set the itinerary, you'll just BOOK it yourself. Believe me, we have no problem if you have the time to do your OWN homework and really, a LOT of it can be done on OUR sites, so have at it and save your money. But we don't give stamps of approval anymore.

3. General Donation to show some appreciation of what we do and get a few of your questions answered as well.

Please, please... and pretty please don't begin your email telling us how much you like our videos and then go on and on telling us every detail of your travel plans and expect us to answer the 20+ questions you have concerning them. You 'liking' our videos doesn't do shit for paying the rent and seriously, we get too many emails to respond to them all anyway with NO motivation to do so. It's not personal, it's business, because for awhile, we did answer them all and donations weren't exactly rolling in.

We're hoping you understand where we're coming from on this and also hope our hard work thus far kinda speaks for itself about our reasons for writing this post. If nothing else, we try to be up front and honest.

If you'd like to start on your homework, start with these videos. ENjoY! and hope they help:



TONS of Costa Rica Travel Info and VIDEOS on our website: Travel Costa Rica NOW and if you want to visit our YouTube Channel: iCostaRica24 ENjoY!

Read More