Quentin’s fabulous remote display photo

Quentin Stafford-Fraser

The fascinating thing about Cambridge is that you never know who the person you are standing next to on the market or in the cinema queue is.

The academic city is awash with some of the biggest brains and also has far more than the average number of tekkies and geeks.

Astounding new discoveries are made at a faster rate than Labour’s headline hitting gaffes, so it is really interesting to meet up with some of the city’s inspirational residents.

I came across one this week while researching my blog report for the Cambridge Evening News.

Blogger Geoff, currently trekking the Pennine Way (100 miles under his belt, only 155 left to go) had suggested I call Quentin Stafford-Fraser, one of the inventors of the webcam.

Quentin’s office is based in an inconspicuous terraced house tucked away down a side street, with outstanding views towards Grantchester Meadows.

My eye was immediately drawn to a picture on the wall. After a few moments the picture changed, then changed again. What hi-tech wizzardry did we have here?

It seems like me, Quentin can’t stop taking photos. But while mine remain locked away on the hard disk, Quentin has set his up on a remote computerised display run from the nerve centre at the end of his garden.

The serious stuff that Quentin’s company Ndiyo is working on is producing networked computing that is simple, affordable and less environmentally damaging. These are aimed at third world countries. It will enable one computer to be used simultaneiously by four or five staff using individual screens and keyboards. It may even be shared between 10 to 30 staff if the workload is low.

Ndiyo is naturally blogging away too and I look forward to meeting up with Quentin again to learn more.

Lesson of the day, Ndiyo, pronounced “nn-dee-yo” is Swahili for “yes”.