March 25, 2006
Audio scanning/skimming
I’ve had an iPod for about a year. At first it was for music, but gradually I’ve been using it more and more for spoken voice. One of the big advantages of (time-shifted) mp3 over radio is that you can scan/skim (which is the right word?) audio, rather as you scan a newspaper, extracting what is value and passing over the rest.
According to someone on the PodTech podcast, there are still only about 100,000 people in the States are listening to podcasts. The number in Britain may be higher (relative to the size of the population) as the BBC has so enthusiastically embraced the medium for recycling radio programmes like the ‘Today Programme’, ‘In Our Time’ etc.
www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime
Posted by Simon Holledge at 01:43 PM | TrackBack
September 08, 2005
Podcastcon UK 2005
Europe’s first podcast conference will be held in London on 17 September. The venue is Berners Hotel, just off Oxford Street and the cost GBP 30. Speakers include Mark Hunter of the Glasgow Tartanpodcast and Chris Kimber of the BBC. About 120 people have signed up for the conference so far, capacity is 140.
Posted by Simon Holledge at 11:35 PM | TrackBack
July 29, 2005
What everyone should know about blog depression
The Nonist ‘Commission for Snide and Completely Unsolicited Public Services’ have a pdf pamphlet on the bloggers’ scourge, blog depression:
thenonist.com/index.php/weblog/permalink/anonistpublicservicepamphlet
Thanks to plasticbag.org for the link.
Posted by Simon Holledge at 01:11 PM | TrackBack
July 28, 2005
Why doesn't tech business succeed in Britain?
Tom Coates at the Plastic Bag has an article entitled “Where are all the UK start-ups?” about the lack of technological innovation and entrepreneurship in Britain. He is writing from London, but his observations are significant for Scotland as well:
“[Britain] has 50% take-up of broadband, some huge telecommunications companies and thousands of people working on and around the internet. But still our industry seems dominated by a few moribund and clumsy giants leading a culture that’s inarticulate, unadventurous and profoundly constrained.”
” … is it a lack of money or a poverty of ambition? The UK has some of the world’s best and most creative film directors - but they don’t make films in the UK, they make adverts… . The same seems true online. The web industry over here is dominated by advertising and marketing because London is dominated by advertising and marketing.”
“what is it that stops us making great things, starting start-ups and building for money? I contend that in part it’s shame… . The businessman and the creative technologist seem to be forced into two camps so repulsed by one another (betrayed by dot.com?) that they just circle at a distance, each almost refusing to admit the other exists.”
“What is it about this place that there is so little energy … are we so hamstrung by geography or history or culture that we cannot innovate, build and then commercialise?
There have been a lot of interesting responses on the Plastic Bag as well as an entry by Ryan Carson of ‘By Designers For Designers’ (BD4D):
“The largest hurdle in the UK for entrepreneurs … is the British class system. … The castes are still very defined in this fine country. Anyone who wants to leave their 9-to-5 and launch out on their own will receive an unbelievable amount of flack from everyone, from their family, to the bank. It’s almost as if everyone … here seems to think “Isn’t your job good enough for you? Why do you need to rise above your station in life?”
I agree with Carson/BD4D that the class system is partly to blame. Tech has been seen as white coat /lower middle class, ancillary rather than a core activity. It hasn’t been a proper concern of those in powerful positions. This is still evident from the perverse pride that many political and business leaders, and indeed employees of large organizations generally, have in their lack of modern communication skills. The London attitude is “Oh, that’s done by our IT man. He’ll be in on Wednesday.” whereas in Tokyo it would be “I’ll ask my colleagues and we’ll get back to you this afternoon”.
However there’s another aspect to this that nobody has raised so far. Following from the industrial revolution and for most of the last century, Britain was still seen as a ‘hardware nation’. Looking back to the 1970s, we can see Britain as ideally placed - because of the universality of the English language, the sophistication of the arts, the huge publishing industry in London etc. - to be a leading ‘software nation’. However it never happened, instead the country followed its destiny - of being a failed hardware producer.
Perhaps it is too late to reverse this now. The government have told everybody that we have a successful economy and a hard working labour force etc., so few people are motivated to find out about alternative styles of economic behaviour based on practices in other countries (involving higher productivity etc.).
The bottom line here is surely that Britain, or more properly England, is conservative. All the more reason for Scotland to look to Scandanavian, Irish, Dutch etc. models rather than continuing to drag along as a poor performing section of the UK economy!
www.plasticbag.org/archives/2005/07/wherearealltheuk_startups.shtml
www.bd4d.com/blog/2005/07/26/how-to-build-a-successful-web-startup-in-the-uk-part-i/
Posted by Simon Holledge at 07:50 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
July 15, 2005
Broadband overtakes dial-up
Broadband has now overtaken dial-up in Britain - 8.1 million against 7.5 million domestic connections - having doubled in the last 18 months. By the end of this year almost all homes will have access to broadband.
With broadband becoming the norm and more and more information being channelled online, attention will have to be directed towards those who remain on the wrong side of the digital divide.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,1528079,00.html
Posted by Simon Holledge at 03:39 PM | TrackBack
July 06, 2005
European Parliament rejects software patents
The European Parliament has thrown out the software patent directive by a huge majority. This is good. Inventions may be protected by patents but software, like literature and music, should be protected by copyright.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4655955.stm
www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,68099,00.html
petition.eurolinux.org/index_html?LANG=en
Posted by Simon Holledge at 11:29 PM | TrackBack
May 21, 2005
PIEcast podcast
Further to my note about Tartanpodcast (19 May), here is another Scottish podcaster.
Partners in Excellence (PiE) of Kilmarnock, who provide foreign language materials for schools in Argyll & Bute, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire, have produced eight podcasts (in French, German and Spanish) since 11 April.
Their other activities include blogging, radio broadcasts and film making and their website includes a useful introduction to audio technologies.
Language learners in southwest Scotland are lucky to have access to all these resources. (What happens in other parts of the country, I wonder?) This must be one of the best applications of new technology to education that I’ve seen so far.
Posted by Simon Holledge at 02:16 PM | TrackBack
May 19, 2005
Tartan podcasting
Podcasting has reached Scotland - not only that but the Glasgow-based Tartanpodcast launched in March claims to be the top-ranked music podcaster in Britain and has been featured on American podcasts!
Many congratulations! There’s a wrap problem on the website and it’s not my kind of music, but that isn’t important. (There’s also a directory of Scottish podcasts but the link doesn’t work for me.)
The BBC are also dabbling in podcasting. I have just downloaded the Radio 4 Today programme (14 minutes/4 megabytes) and Roddy Maclean’s “Letter to Gaelic Learners” from Radio nan Gaidheal is also on offer.
It’s worth noting that you don’t need an iPod to listen to mp3 files. You can hear them just as well over your computer speakers!
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4508329.stm
www.bbc.co.uk/radio/downloadtrial
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:30 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
May 18, 2005
Pledge Bank website
mySociety (of TheyWorkForYou.com and WriteToThem.com) are testing a pledge bank website.
Here is an example of a current pledge: “I will write to my MP asking for free Wireless Internet access in the British Library but only if 20 other people will pledge to write to their MP to ask for it too. (48 days left), 7 more needed”
CORRECTION 19 May 05
mySociety do not publish TheyWorkForYou.com. They do produce NotApathetic.com.
UPDATE 4 June 2055
PledgeBank.com will be publicly launched on 13 June with a set of special launch day pledges.
Posted by Simon Holledge at 02:39 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
April 27, 2005
All BT exchanges to be enabled
All British Telecom exchanges in Scotland are to be enabled for broadband by the end of this year. This has been funded under the Scottish Executive’s Broadband for Scotland’s Rural and Remote Areas initiative with both government and European money.
Without knowing the details of the BT/Scottish Executive agreement, it seems disappointing that the government have gone back to the old monopoly service and the telephone system rather than forward to new technology (like WiMax etc.) which may have more to offer in the future and be better suited to remote areas. However other suppliers may not have had the capability to deliver within the time allowed.
Not everybody will be able to access fast internet connections, as some people will still be too far away from their local exchange to be connected.
www.publictechnology.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2816
Posted by Simon Holledge at 03:12 PM | TrackBack
April 26, 2005
Skype
My wife has been in Japan for the past two weeks and we’ve been testing out Skype, the free P2P internet telephone, to keep in touch. We found the sound quality excellent. We had a problem with feedback/echo through a laptop microphone, but once we switched to headphone/microphone sets it worked fine. (The actual ‘phone’ is a software device that appears on screen.)
Skype is easy to set up and the interface is simple. SIPphone, a genuine VoIP service, may offer even better sound but it is more complicated to use.
Posted by Simon Holledge at 03:23 PM | TrackBack
April 19, 2005
SNP 'connectivity' policy and Fair Isle
As I have argued, providing universal broadband internet access is the cheapest, quickest and the most productive of all infrastructure projects.
Building roads, rail links, ports etc. are all major capital items. The internet is not. A new motorway or railway may offer a convenient service (possibly at environmental cost) but they will not change the way people think, study, work and do business.
So, I’m delighted to see that developing the internet is now SNP policy. This is the ‘Connectivity’ section of the SNP manifesto:
- The SNP wants Scotland to be amongst the best in the world in terms of IT infrastructure and national connectivity. That means complete access to broadband across Scotland and new initiatives to provide wireless access. In Estonia, for example, the debate is focused on making the whole country a wi-fi hotspot, to make wireless access to the internet available everywhere, let businesses become truly mobile, and open up the marketing opportunities of the world wide web to everyone. The SNP will support a wi-fi pilot initiative for the North East of Scotland. We will work with local authorities and the business community to create a series of wi-fi hotspots, starting in Aberdeen and then Dundee and Inverness, with the intention of creating a wireless area between these cities.
It’s not clear what technology is being referred to here. Perhaps wiMAX (802.16)? That would seem to be the best technology, but there are other possibilities.
The Guardian have an article on Fair Isle, Britain’s remotest island, which now has satellite broadband, with over half of the 70-odd islanders connected at home. This is inspiring: if Fair Isle can have it, then it should be possible anywhere!
www.guardian.co.uk/online/news/0,12597,1461205,00.htm
Posted by Simon Holledge at 02:11 PM | TrackBack
April 15, 2005
Sometimes I wish . . .
… I was still in Tokyo. My Japanese ISP never let me down… . I have just been 24 hours without an internet connection, with no explanation or apology from my ISP.
I chose them because they were a small Scottish ISP in Dumfries listed by Scottish Enterprise. I hoped they would be responsive and easy to contact - big mistake! They were just a front.
The business, called by a variety of names, is in Surrey. They have a series of phone numbers - one that costs a pound a minute to call, one that costs 50p a minute, a ‘Gold Service’ with a flat monthly charge, plus a few other ordinary lines that aren’t answered much. (To be fair their website is quite good, but you need a connection to access it.)
Sometime ago I wrote to Scottish Enterprise suggesting they might stop recommending a service which was not in Scotland, but I never heard back from them. I didn’t really expect to… .
Does anyone know of an ISP in Scotland with a reasonable service, maybe even one where they actually answer the phone?
Posted by Simon Holledge at 03:58 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
April 12, 2005
'We the Media' by Dan Gillmor
I was in Edinburgh today, wandered into Blackwell’s and bought Dan Gillmor’s book ‘We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People”.
Has anyone read it? Published last summer, it’s about the future of journalism.
There are a lot of good quotes - I will include some here later.
The publishes explain that the book is “a wake up call to newsmakers - politicians, business executives, celebrities - and the marketeers and PR flacks who promote them… Big media has lost its monopoly on the news, thanks to the Internet… . newsmakers [must] play by the new rules and shift from control to engagement.”
www.oreilly.com/catalog/wemedia/reviews.html
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:52 AM | TrackBack
March 14, 2005
WriteToThem.com
FaxYourMP, the website for contacting your elected representative, has now been revamped as WriteToThem.com. The new service was launched by mySociety on 13 February.
If you type in your postcode you can see a list of all your representatives, including local councillor, MSPs, MP, and MEPs. There is a form for writing to each of them. WriteToThem.com send off the messages by fax and email.
I only wish mySociety could cover the Scottish Parliament in the same way they report Westminster in They WorkForYou.com!
Posted by Simon Holledge at 06:15 PM | TrackBack
March 03, 2005
Wikipedia II
Daniel Pink has an excellent in-depth article in Wired News about Jimmy Wales’s Wikipedia, which thanks to its 16,000 volunteer force of writers and editors is now becoming established as our main contemporary encyclopaedia (see also 10 January).
www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.03/wiki.html
Posted by Simon Holledge at 09:01 PM | TrackBack
February 25, 2005
Net prose and 'Leetspeek'
The internet is stimulating the development of language - on the whole - that seems to be the general drift of an article in Wired News. More people are writing than ever before - which is good. On the other hand we have a lot of abbreviations - and emoticons!
I have always hated the banality of emoticons. I remember having an angry debate about them on a BBS in Tokyo in the mid 1990s. But they are still with us, I suppose they remain a novelty for each new sub-generation of internet newbies.
The Wired News article references a fascinating Microsoft page about the subtleties of ‘Leetspeek’ (Elite Speak or ‘133t5p33k’) online slang, explaining how to translate words like ‘h4x’, and ‘d00d’ (hacks, dude). Being Microsoft the information is of course not for fun, but for spying on your children!
www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,66671,00.html/wn_ascii
/www.microsoft.com/athome/security/children/kidtalk.mspx
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:10 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 22, 2005
"Free Mojtaba and Arash Day"
Mojtaba Saminejad and Arash Sigarchi are two bloggers in prison in Iran. The ‘Committee to Protect Bloggers’ is asking us to dedicate today to the effort to get them released.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4278241.stm
committeetoprotectbloggers.blogspot.com
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:09 AM | TrackBack
February 20, 2005
IDS on blogs
There is fascinating and altogether unexpected article about blogging by Iain Duncan-Smith in the Guardian. He sees the blogosphere enabling a huge right-wing challenge to newspapers and broadcasting.
While his piece is well argued, I don’t see the IDS scenario happening. We still have a considerable digital divide in this country. The bloggers are a special group with idiosyncratic views. Judging by those who comment on Boris Johnson’s blog (and Boris Johnson is, after all, a Conservative MP) most bloggers are libertarians. (IDS is correct of course in saying that conventional journalists will be held to higher standards in the future.)
Has IDS thought of publishing his own blog, or even a website? Just a thought …
politics.guardian.co.uk/egovernment/comment/0,12767,1418003,00.html
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4279229.stm
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:27 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 03, 2005
Liquid information
What comes next on the internet? According to one idea, the pages of the future will have a lot more links, in fact every word will be linked. This is being called ‘liquid information’.
www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,66382,00.html/wn_ascii
www.liquidinformation.org/index-fr.html
Posted by Simon Holledge at 01:50 PM | TrackBack
February 01, 2005
Project Honey Pot
There are some new ideas for stopping spam. One of these is Project Honey Pot, inspired presumably by Winnie the Pooh. This is designed to catch spambots - in flagrante delicto - harvesting email addresses for spam lists, so that they can be tracked down.
www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,66378,00.html/wn_ascii
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:00 AM | TrackBack
January 27, 2005
Wireless cinema
What use are very high speed internet connections? Well, one might be film distribution.
A movie has just been shown in Utah via the internet and a 24 Mbps WiMax (wireless) connection. The industry are considering the possibility of simultaneous world-wide releases.
www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,66380,00.html?tw=wnstorypage_prev2
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:46 AM | TrackBack
January 17, 2005
'Independence' blog
Stuart Dickson has started ‘Independence: a blog for Scottish Independence’.
I am delighted that we now have two functioning mainstream SNP blogs! I hope this means we can now cover more issues, in greater depth.
Best of luck to Stuart and ‘Independence’!
scottish-independence.blogspot.com/
Posted by Simon Holledge at 04:33 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 10, 2005
Wikipedia I
Wikipedia, the encyclopedia that is open to all contributors, is one of the most interesting projects on the internet. The idea is that any individual can contribute specialist knowledge - about locality, work, research project, leisure interest or whatever - and then the text can be edited, refined and developed by his or her peers.
It’s a resource that I have been using more and more in the past few months. According to Wired News the number of entries is growing at about 7 percent a month.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,66210-2,00.html?tw=wnstorypage_next1
Posted by Simon Holledge at 11:13 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
January 08, 2005
WiMAX
WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access or 802.16), also known as ‘WiFi on steroids’ is being introduced this year in central Seattle.
This technology offers high speed wireless connections over an area of several miles, and is ‘non line of sight’ in contrast to WiFi which can only offer standard broadband speeds over less than a couple of hundred feet. (Seattle will probably have four base stations to cover the central service area.) WiMAX is being strongly backed by Intel who believe it will be competing internationally with ADSL and cable internet within two or three years.
seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/198924_speakeasy10.html
Posted by Simon Holledge at 01:36 AM | TrackBack
January 05, 2005
Blog upgrade
Like other Movable Type blogs, The Skakagrall has been hit over the past couple of weeks with comment spam, a couple of hundred attempts to link the blog to casinos, loan companies and porn etc.
I have had to impose moderation, i.e. checking before comments are published, and to upgrade to a new version of Movable Type with better protection.
Unfortunately this has involved the design imploading with most of the line spaces disappearing. My apologies. I will try to sort it out as soon as I can.
Posted by Simon Holledge at 06:48 PM | TrackBack
January 04, 2005
Blog popularity
Some good news about blogging in America. Some 32 million people were reading them in 2004, and perhaps, more significant, 6 million were using RSS newsreaders or aggregators.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4145191.stm
Posted by Simon Holledge at 01:40 PM | TrackBack
SNP undead
SNP leadership campaign 2004 websites are still floating around the internet like the undead in a horror film.
How about a decent burial for Roseanna2004.blogspot, a sad blog that only received 7 postings and was last active on 13 August, also ‘Salmond & Sturgeon, a Winning Team’ - its ‘latest news’ is dated 31 August, and Mike Russell SNP, a more substantial site, but not updated since 4 September?
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:17 PM | TrackBack
December 30, 2004
Mobile VOIP
A company in the States is offering unlimited mobile phone calls within America for ten dollars a month (GBP 5). At the moment the calls are indirect. You have to call a service number to get a dialing tone to then call the number you want. They are made over VOIP.
Will the Brits be allowed to make cheap phone calls? Or will the government step in to protect the substantial profits of BT, Orange and Vodafone etc.? We can only wait and see!
www.wired.com/news/wireless/0,1382,66124,00.html/wn_ascii
Posted by Simon Holledge at 04:44 PM | TrackBack
December 20, 2004
Deleting Cabinet Office email
Every now and then we have a story - usually originating in London - that runs contrary to common sense.
Today we hear that the Cabinet Office has ruled e-mails more than three months old must be deleted starting from Monday. Of course that’s perfectly sensible from the government’s point of view. There are a lot more incriminating email around than letters. (The Cabinet Office’s 2,000 civil servants have been told to print and file important email - but at their own discretion.)
It is claimed that the ‘deleted’ e-mails will actually be stored on back-up systems but nevertheless will not be accessible under the Freedom of Information Act because of the cost of getting at them!
However anybody who uses a computer knows that the whole point of using email is the convenience of storage and the ease of retrieval. There are only two conclusions we can come to: either the Cabinet Office are fooling us, or they really don’t know what they doing.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4107563.stm
Posted by Simon Holledge at 11:14 PM | TrackBack
December 11, 2004
IPTV
Recent research has shown that people are giving up the old-fashioned passive television for the internet, but does that mean the TV is doomed?
Probably not according to Frank Rose on Wired.com. When we have enough bandwidth, IPTV (TV on demand over the internet) will be available.
www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.12/start.html?pg=7
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:32 PM | TrackBack
December 10, 2004
Video feeds
Following the success of RSS and Atom newsfeeds (of text), and podcasting (audio feeds for the iPod), there are now experimental video feeds.
This introduces, logically enough, the possibility of receiving television feeds in the same way that we get newspaper feeds.
www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,65925,00.html/wn_ascii
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:14 AM | TrackBack
November 30, 2004
Microsoft PowerPoint
No software programme produces such banal results as Microsoft PowerPoint. Edward Tufte, the guru of visual/graphical communication, has written a pamphlet called ‘The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint’ taking apart and exposing its boring, Stalinist tendencies! I was amused to also see that Adam Shostack has ‘done’ Hamlet in 13 PowerPoint slides.
www.homeport.org/~adam/hamlet.htm
www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/powerpoint
office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX010857971033.aspx
Posted by Simon Holledge at 01:50 AM | TrackBack
November 29, 2004
WiFi in libraries
The British Library now has 802.11 WiFi, wireless internet access. WiFi has been around since 1999, so the British Library is hardly blazing any trails, but this is progress of a kind.
Previously library users had to leave and go to a nearby internet cafe if they wish to google or send email. Now they can stay at their desks working with internet as well as library resources.
The British Library are making ridiculous charges: GBP 4.50 for an hour, or 35 for a monthly pass for using wireless. In fact wireless is very cheap to install. One wireless access point costing about GBP 50 has a range of about 150 feet and can be used by up to 50 computers.
I visited the Callander library yesterday. I think they had three PCs with internet access. They were all being used and there was a booking list. Apparently many local people are coming in to the library when they are having problems connecting at home. The library should get WiFi and encourage people to bring laptops in. This will be ten or twenty times cheaper than buying a new computer and enable many more people to use their internet connection.
We need WiFi in all public libraries - and many other public areas!
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4020241.stm
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:15 AM | TrackBack
November 26, 2004
Newsprint on the way out
New studies in America suggest that the shift from reading newsprint to reading online is happening faster than anticipated, especially in the 18 to 34 demographic.
The Online Publishers Association found that this age group were “more apt to log on to the internet (46 percent) than watch TV (35 percent), read a book (7 percent), turn on a radio (3 percent), read a newspaper (also 3 percent) or flip through a magazine (less than 1 percent)”.
www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,65813,00.html/wn_ascii
Posted by Simon Holledge at 05:28 PM | TrackBack
November 12, 2004
Sorry Everybody website
When it comes to people to people communication, only the internet really hits the mark:
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:04 AM | TrackBack
October 28, 2004
Weblogs in Local Democracy Week 2004
Three Warwickshire councillors, one Labour, one Liberal Democrat, and one Conservative, have been keeping blogs as part of Local Democracy Week (18-24 October), which is focused on people aged 26 and under:
www.warwickshire.gov.uk/ldw2004
Posted by Simon Holledge at 11:58 PM | TrackBack
October 22, 2004
Internet politics in the USA
Bush and Kerry have each answered 12 questions put to them by the Computing Technology Industry Association. Their responses vary obviously, but both men are positive about the net.
Would any leading politician (or party) in Britain would be capable of answering these questions?
www.comptia.org/pressroom/election_2004.aspx
Posted by Simon Holledge at 10:13 PM | TrackBack
October 16, 2004
Broadband over powerlines (BPL)
Scottish Hydro Electric (Scottish and Southern Energy Group) are offering broadband over powerlines (BPL) at competitive rates. According to an email received from the company, they are operating in Crieff and Stonehaven. Campbeltown is also covered, but by satellite (whether local powerlines are used is not clear).
In America government bodies are now encouraging BPL, especially in areas where implementing DSL or cable broadband is not economic. They expect BPL to take off as a technology there within the next 5 years.
www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,65350,00.html/wn_ascii
Posted by Simon Holledge at 02:00 AM
October 15, 2004
RSS advertizing?
RSS newsfeeds have been a big success recently - so now people are thinking about how to include advertizing in the feeds! Whether that’s a good thing may be doubted, but it elicited a great quote from Jason Calacanis, the founder of Weblogs, who is supporting the idea:
“Visiting the website is dating; getting a daily email is going steady - but subscribing to an RSS feed, well, that is like getting married to a news source. It’s really the highest commitment you can make.”
www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,65347,00.html/wn_ascii
Posted by Simon Holledge at 10:47 PM
October 08, 2004
Online political advertizing
Following on from the US election debates, the Democrats have bought a substantial amount of online advertizing to capitalize on Kerry’s successful performance.
Meanwhile the Labour Party has been learning from the Democrats. They are now running banner ads - on the Guardian website.
www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,65223-2,00.html?tw=wnstorypage_next1
mindtest.typepad.com/cwr/2004/10/spinningthede.html
www.perfect.co.uk/2004/09/labour-banner-ad
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:06 AM
October 01, 2004
Digital divide SNP-style III: Computer literacy for politicians
What are the skills that politicians need to keep in touch with the world and be effective communicators? Here is my provisional list:
- The ability to type
- The ability to write and save a simple text on a computer
- The ability to make a simple spreadsheet on a computer
- The ability to take a photograph and upload it to a server
- The ability to receive and reply to an email
- The ability to use an online search engine
- The ability to make a multimedia presentation
- The ability to make a blog to communicate with constituents
- The ability to create a personal website
- The ability to create a relational or spatial (geographical information system) database to analyze a (social, political or economic) problem
All these skills, with the possible exception of the first and last, are easy enough to pick up - a bit like learning to use new household appliances!
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:53 AM
September 28, 2004
US Democrat blogs and action committees
Interesting news of Democrat blogs in the States. Markos Moulitsas’s popular DailyKos.com blog now receives 350-400,000 visits every day, while ActBlue.com enables individuals to form their own political action committees (PAC) to raise funds and support candidates.
www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/markosmoulitsas/story/0,15139,1314558,00.html?gusrc=rss
www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,65082,00.html
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:31 PM
Digital divide SNP-style II: Beyond the soapbox
What communication skills are needed by politicians in the first decade of the 21st century? The ability to stand on a soapbox with confidence and talk out of the top of one’s head - or something more than that?
Soapbox skills are important for the leader of a political party in a country where most people still sit passively in front of the television for the best part of their lives, but for most of the rest of the party access to information and command of detail are more to the point.
In the great British tradition of getting other people to do the work, the SNP outsources technical help. The SNP website is created by a company called Heehaw Multimedia. Many MSP websites are apparently done by outsiders. Multimedia presentations, if there are any, are probably also paid for rather than created by the speakers themselves.
There are several problems with this, not least the fact that the SNP doesn’t have any money. Also party leaders are also failing to acquire the skills necessary for directing their own staff. We wouldn’t put people who can’t read and write in charge of libraries, so why should we have computer illiterates in charge of parliamentary and constituency offices?
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:37 AM
September 18, 2004
Crawford on saving BT call boxes
Bruce Crawford is objecting to BT ‘closing’ 1,000 of their 6,000 public telephone boxes in Scotland.
I wasn’t aware they were still being used. I thought attempts to save the old red boxes were purely archaeological. Even if the boxes are still occasionally used, wouldn’t it be better to concentrate on putting in modern communications systems?
BT is now a privatized telecom and like similar companies it is oriented towards making a profit rather than providing a service. Britain is still relatively backward as a result of the government allowing the interests of BT to overrule those of technological progress - a case of entrusting a highwayman with building the roads. Wouldn’t it be better to leave BT out of the picture now?
American communities, particularly in remote areas, have their own communications projects, whether based on wire, cable, fibre, wireless, satellite or power-line transmission. Scotland should do the same thing? No town or village should be left off the net. Whatever legal obstacles exist should be challenged and removed.
Compared to other infrastructure projects such as modernizing the railways and building roads, modern communications are cheap, quick and easy to implement. They are also arguably far more important.
www.snp.org/html/news/printerfriendly.php?newsID=2438
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3663636.stm
Posted by Simon Holledge at 09:37 PM
September 13, 2004
Digital Divide SNP-Style I: Websites
The internet doesn’t feature much in SNP plans and it’s easy to see why. Most of the party leaders are not interested. It’s indicative that only half the SNP representatives at Holyrood, Westminster and Brussels have their own websites (list below).
The reason for an MSP/MEP/MP having a website is to provide accessible public information about the member’s activities, including contact details. It’s not the only way of making information available but - unlike most of the others - it’s not ephemeral. It’s always there, always available. It’s a minimum presence on the net. It isn’t interactive. It doesn’t invite discussion like a weblog (a more ambitious undertaking) but it doesn’t need much maintenance.
The Scottish Parliament website gives some (standardized) pages to MSPs. That’s fine except that they are limited to a set formula with no distinction between members of different parties, and the interface is under the control of civil servants who (now anyway) have problems configuring it.
Those who have their own website (16):
Cunningham, Roseanna MSP, Ewing, Annabelle MSP, Ewing, Fergus MSP, Fabiani, Linda MSP, Grahame, Christine MSP, Hudghton, Ian MEP Hyslop, Fiona MSP, Lochhead, Richard MSP, MacAskill, Kenny MSP, Morgan, Alasdair MSP, Robertson, Angus MP Robison, Shona MSP, Sturgeon, Nicola MSP, Weir, Mike MP White, Sandra MSP, Wishart, Peter MP
Those who don’t have their own website (16):
Adam, Brian MSP, Crawford, Bruce MSP, Ewing, Margaret MSP, Gibson, Rob MSP, Ingram, Adam MSP, Marwick, Tricia MSP, Mather, Jim MSP, Matheson, Michael MSP, Maxwell, Stewart MSP, McFee, Bruce MSP, Neil, Alex MSP, Salmond, Alex MP Smith, Alyn MEP Stevenson, Steward MSP, Swinney, John MSP, Welsh, Andrew MSP
Posted by Simon Holledge at 09:08 PM
September 11, 2004
Welcome Halliburton!
A special welcome to Vice-President Dick Cheney’s Halliburton Corporation, one of the major suppliers to the US Army in Iraq.
Most of the Skakagrall’s lurkers are Scottish, but we are delighted to welcome readers from across the pond. (Comment too if you like!) The CIA have also been monitoring a whisky distillery on Islay on suspicion of making weapons of mass destruction. No such excitement here, I’m afraid, though, come to think of it, the new Scottish Parliament is connected with a brewery. Does that count? . . . Well guys - have a great visit!
Posted by Simon Holledge at 09:09 PM
September 06, 2004
Voice over IP/emergency services over the internet
Ofcom’s consultation (see last entry) lasts until 15 November.
They are asking whether VoIP networks should be required to include access to 999 emergency numbers. VoIP phones can access ordinary numbers so this is a rather odd question anyway, but I wonder if anyone could seriously suggest that (largely) foreign networks should provide services that our own local police, ambulance and fire services are unwilling to provide themselves.
No emergency services in Britain are available over the net, as far as I know, despite the fact that the internet may be our only effective means of communications in a disaster or terrorist attack (e.g. the Kobe earthquake of 1995).
Posted by Simon Holledge at 03:55 PM
Voice over IP
You can call me for free on 1 747 668 2317. It won’t cost you anything. It won’t cost me anything. The call doesn’t come to my telephone. It comes to my computer. It’s called ‘voice over IP’ or VoIP. VoIP has been around for a few years, but is only now achieving the critical mass to allow it to take off.
The good news is that soon you won’t have to pay BT (or whoever) for your telephone - though you will have to pay someone for your internet connection. It’s part of the inevitable process in which the internet takes over from traditional media, broadcasting and telecommunications.
Ofcom has just recognized the existence of VoIP and released a consultation document:
www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/current/newvoice/newvoice_pes/
They have announced that VoIP numbers will have an ‘area code’ of 056, this is important as it will enable calls from ordinary telephones to VoIP. This is not possible at the moment unless the VoIP user buys an 0870 number.
Posted by Simon Holledge at 03:16 PM
August 31, 2004
Microsoft and the SNP 2
I'm delighted to report that the SNP site now works with Safari on the Mac.
Russell Horn, the SNP ICT Executive, writes: "The SNP website was developed prior to Safari being launched by Apple. . . I have, however, now added some code that should now redirect any safari browser to the high resolution site."
Posted by Simon Holledge at 01:10 AM
August 29, 2004
RSS feed for The Skakagrall
It's possible to keep up with The Skakagrall via an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed using a news reader. Setting this up is explained on: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/help/3223484.stm?rss
The address for subscribing to The Skakagrall is: www.skakagrall.com/index.rdf. You can also subscribe to the BBC, newspaper sites and other blogs.
Incidentally, there is now an SNP news feed from The Scotsman on this page.
Posted by Simon Holledge at 04:36 PM
Microsoft and the SNP
The Skakagrall is Microsoft-free: made on a Mac, hosted on Linux, powered by Movable Type, so it's disappointing to have to use Microsoft Internet Explorer to see the official SNP website www.snp.org. It's not possible to view it (except in a text only version) on the much faster Apple Safari 1.2.3, and possibly other browsers as well.
I am all for the SNP favouring Microsoft if there something to be gained from it. The SNP is a poor party and Microsoft is a very rich company. Bill Gates could give every child in Scotland a computer without blinking. Has anyone asked him?
Posted by Simon Holledge at 02:36 PM
August 18, 2004
Why blog?
On the internet, SNP stands for Single Nucleotide Polymorphism - something apparently in genetics! That's what you get if you search on Google. There is little Scottish SNP presence on the web.
However the net offers exciting opportunities. Unlike traditional media, there is no institutional bias against new ideas. The rapid transmission of new thinking is what it is all about. Costs are low (in the case of The Skakagrall about 30 pounds). No trees are cut down. Distribution is free. A particular blog may be popular or it may not, but either way it beats writing protest letters to apathetic local Labour MPs.
One isolated blog may make a contribution to the spread of information, but several or more blogs interlinked in a group, and combined with news feeds and press releases offer greater possibilities. Having set up this kind of 'smart' network, people are no longer dependent on newspaper and TV presentations.
This year, in the face of Republican-controlled television and newspapers, the grassroots organization of the US Democrats has been to a great extent internet-based: 35 bloggers were accredited to the Democratic Party convention in Boston.
Like the Democrats, the SNP has everything to gain from international media that owe nothing to London, its trashy, old-fashioned newspapers and its broadcasting!
Posted by Simon Holledge at 02:05 PM | Comments (2)