Web 2.0

Article — 23 February 2026 — 3,133 words

Words and pictures in the history of user experience and the future of artificial intelligence

Modern artificial intelligence tools are largely rooted in text-based interactions. But the history of user experience, information and even humanity shows us that AI will have to go beyond text if it’s going to become relevant.

Article — 6 November 2022 — 1,179 words

One twit can make a service a dodo

Digital — Politics — Web

I have complicated feelings about the apparent imminent demise of Twitter in the hands of a reckless owner.

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 — 6 April 2009 — 188 words

Web 2.0 and the Scottish Government

Business — Culture — Society — Web

As part of my never-ending quest to find something resembling employment, I recently spent a bit of time shadowing at the Scottish Government. It was a great experience, and reassuring to see that there are people there who really properly get it. It was interesting to see how they are preparing to enter the web […]

Article — 10 February 2009 — 882 words

Social ladder

Business — Personal — Technology

One of the problems with social networking sites is that not everyone is on the same one. Thankfully I don’t find myself having to login to MySpace any more. But I would drop Bebo at a moment’s notice if I could get away with it. Unfortunately, a lot of my friends — particularly those from […]

Article — 1 November 2008 — 1,081 words

Happenings at Scotweb2

Business — Society — Web

I said that I had hoped to tweet a bit from Scotweb2. I am terrible at multitasking though so I only managed a miserly two, hurriedly posted during lunch. So instead I will write a report of what went on. First off there was a great talk by James Munro who works on an interesting […]

Article — 23 October 2008 — 1,540 words

Rumours of blogging’s death are exaggerated, but not greatly so

Media — Society — Technology

There’s been a lot of chat recently about whether blogging is dead, sparked by this article in Wired by Paul Boutin. It’s easy to scoff at the article, and the idea that blogging is dead is obviously nonsense. But I doubt the claim would have got so much attention if there wasn’t a bit of […]

Article — 10 September 2008 — 409 words

Interesting event about web technologies: ScotWeb2

Business — Society — Web

I’ve recently been doing little bits and pieces helping out with the organisation of a very interesting event called ScotWeb2. It will take place on 31 October from 1000 to 1600 at the Holyrood Campus of Edinburgh University. It will be an informal barcamp / unconference-style event. It’s being organised by Alex Stobart who works […]

Article — 6 September 2007 — 740 words

Should I put my blogs on my CV?

Business — Personal — Technology

Here is something that I’ve been pondering about quite a bit recently. A few years ago it was all bad news for bloggers who have jobs. Getting sacked because of your blog stuck fear into so many that it the concept even spawned its own word: dooce. People who have been dooced are not in […]

Article — 2 June 2007 — 995 words

…Other social networks are dead

Technology

I was explaining how, sitting here today, it is difficult to see why anyone would want to sign up to a social network that isn’t Facebook. While MySpace used to be the market leader, it was always far too annoying and buggy to remain on the radar for long. Every time I visit MySpace I just get […]

Article — 23 March 2006 — 305 words

best-way-to-tag

Information architecture — Technology

There is an interesting post at canspice.org about tagging (not to be confused with the tagging that you get with memes). Tagging already has a couple of well-known problems. One of the major ones is the confusion over whether you should use singular or plural. Flickr cleverly bypassed the other problem — words such as […]