Technology

Article — 19 May 2011 — 937 words

Exploring the Domesday data

I was pretty excited to learn this week about Domesday Reloaded. The Domesday project aimed to take a snapshot of British life in 1986. 25 years on, the BBC are looking to update it to document the changes that have taken place since then. I have been interested in the Domesday project for a while. […]

Article — 30 July 2010 — 116 words

Blogging for the University of St Andrews web team

Technology — Web

Work: University of St Andrews

I have now begun writing for yet another blog. The University of St Andrews web team blog is being relaunched after an almost two year long hiatus. So if you’ve ever wanted to learn about what I do at work (!) then you are in luck! My first post is about the Institutional Web Management […]

Article — 19 July 2010 — 636 words

Why are web browser logos all circular?

Web

Work: University of St Andrews

A thought suddenly occurred to me last week when I was attending a presentation at IWMW about HTML5 and friends. One of the slides contained the logos of the five major browsers. It suddenly occurred to me that they are all round! It is almost as if the circle or sphere has, by stealth, become […]

Article — 20 June 2010 — 349 words

Scarce resources of the social media age

Digital — Economics

There is something about the way that economists think that makes them different. Sometimes this makes them downright brilliant. Other times it makes them complete outcasts. I often enthuse about the paradox of voting — the phenomenon whereby economists struggle to explain why people vote. But when I talk about it to anyone else, the […]

Article — 6 December 2009 — 456 words

There is a good reason for the lack of updates

Personal — Web

I don’t often write about myself here these days. Despite the fact that I went to all the effort to set up a personal website, I do think it is a tad self-indulgent to bang on about myself. However, some readers may be interested in recent developments in my life. Regular readers will know that […]

Article — 20 November 2009 — 657 words

Is the blogging era over?

Technology

It is commonly said that blogging is dead. The refrain has increased in frequency over the past year or so, as Twitter extends its influence further and further. I have been blogging since 2002, when I was just 16. Over the years, it has been my favourite means of communicating online — more than Facebook […]

Article — 14 August 2009 — 931 words

How charging for online content might work

Business — Economics — Media — Web

In my previous article, I argued that the problems that are hitting journalism are more to do with the quality of the content than with the fact that it’s difficult to charge for content these days. “Why pay to read Telegraph Digg-bait when you can read BBC churnalism for free?”, I asked. I am sure […]

Article — 14 August 2009 — 1,019 words

Are newspapers ready to charge for online content?

Business — Economics — Media — Technology

Rupert Murdoch’s decision to experiment with charging for content has ruffled a few feathers. Fair play to Murdoch for being brave enough to put his head above the parapet. If anyone can take the risk, it’s Murdoch — and the rest of the media will have him to thank if the gamble pays off and […]

Article — 7 August 2009 — 1,155 words

Growing up with the internet

Media — Personal — Society — Technology

It is notoriously hard to get to grips with the youth. Advertisers hate it. The age group of 15–24 — of which, incidentally, I am still part — is notoriously fickle. They define themselves almost in terms of what they are not rather than what they are. That is the explanation being given to the […]

Article — 1 July 2009 — 1,005 words

Newspapers: keep your RSS feeds

Media — Technology

There is a slightly bizarre article today on Online Journalism Blog advocating that newspapers should turn off their RSS feeds and instead push their stories to Twitter (via Cybersoc). Many people have noticed that Twitter has become one of the easiest ways to disseminate content on the internet, leading some to predict the death of […]

Article — 1 May 2009 — 78 words

Scotweb2 two

Web

For those interested in web 2.0 in Scotland, there will be a second Scotweb2 event this June. Among those attending: digital content marketing firm w00tonomy, Alistair Tibbett from Greener Leith, Iain Henderson from Mydex, Pezholio, Jadu and Learning Pool. The event will take place on 19 June at the Melting Pot on Rose Street in […]

Article — 29 April 2009 — 1,105 words

Iain Macwhirter and the relationship between the media and bloggers

Current affairs — Media — Technology

Part one of this article was published yesterday Further evidence that Iain Macwhirter is struggling to see beyond the model of the media comes from the fact that the blogs he cites as “very good and intelligent” are both offerings from the media. Paul Krugman’s blog is funded by the New York Times while Robert […]