that canadian girl

Category: Web & Technology

  • SXSW '08 – I'm going, are you?

    It’s late afternoon, and I’m hyperventilating. It might be the caffeine I’ve been ingesting hourly since I stepped into the office, it could be the nerves because Taptu is launching Monday, and I’ve just invited hundreds of people to the beta. But no… what’s really got me going right now is that I’m attending SXSW ’08. I really am. Like, really really! Ticket to Interactive, Music and Film all booked.

    I’ve been hoping to attend this conference for three years now, and this time ’round, I’ll be there with bells on. And with a videocamera. Texas, here I come!

    If you’re going, drop me a line. If you’ve been, drop me a line. 🙂

    Now, I’m off to do a little happy dance.

  • Diggnation 118 live in London – The bits you didn't see

    As you’ve probably figured out by now, I really like Diggnation, enjoyed Wednesday’s live show like no live event I’ve been to before, and am thrilled to have met the guys there.

    I took my video camera to the show and it was such a good move. The show does not start when the cameras start rolling. Alex and Kevin are naturally completely whacky, especially when drunk, so the moment they roll in, the madness begins.

    So here are the 10-15 minutes before the show, including the marriage proposal to Alex, some pre-show checks and opening their new shiny Diggnation mugs.

    The video job is pretty bad, no need to tell me, but hey, I didn’t want Glenn to feel his job was at risk. Or that’s my excuse anyways! 😉

    [Don’t forget to Digg it! …How full-circle-meta…]

    Diggnation 118 Live In London – The Bits You Didn’t See

  • Creating a community

    Matthew Haughey, MetaFilter says…

    “Be the third place; people have home, work and a third community or social attachment. This can be a car enthusiast club, a WoW guild or a website community. Make something they’ll want to spend time on everyday.”

  • FOWA: We're not divinating the future

    Future of Web Apps LondonI’m at the Future of Web Apps in London today. So far, I’ve attended the intro keynote with Om Malik and Michael Arrington, followed by Heather Champ & Derek Powazek on “We’ve got this community: Now what?”. I’m now in Tony Conrad’s “Future of Search”.

    The main running thread of all talks so far is quite clear: Nobody knew what would happen next after launching their app. And in fact, few ended up where they expected to go. Someone this morning said that the real work on a web app really begins after you launch (see, I was listening, but didn’t take note so not sure who said this…) You need to listen intently, watch your users and see what they make of it. Odds are you’ll notice that they’ve hacked your app and use it in ways you would never have imagined. That’s your cue to harness their creativity and evolve accordingly.

    Sometimes, Web 2.0 big names can get a bit cocky about success, but I think this is one point everyone agrees on: You just don’t know what’s going to happen next when you launch a startup.

  • Monster.ie doesn't understand data protection

    [Update: Some further info on the post on Michele Neylon’s blog. Monster PR? Get on this one like a fat kid on a smartie now!]

    Tom Raftery posted yesterday to let the world know that Monster.ie doesn’t quite grasp the concept of the DPA (Data Protection Act) which covers personal data like email addresses.

    This morning one of it@cork’s members forwarded us an email conversation he had with John Burns, Monster’s Business Development Manager in Ireland. We were incredulous when we read it.

    It started with an email from Monster’s John Burns to 189 recipients and CC’d to our member (!). Our member replied to John that this was spam and

    …coming from Monster, most unprofessional. Worse, you exposed everyone’s email address to one another without their permission

    Unbelievably for someone working in an online organisation, Monster’s John Burns seems to be unaware of the data protection legislation and responded to this saying:

    These email addresses are part of a networking list from http://www.itcork.ie and are all available for everyone to see.

    I do appreciate your concern chris, (i will keep my eye out for the bloggers!!!)

    Having worked in email marketing before and being rather precious about my personal data (well… aside from the fact that I publish just about everything aside from my bra size on my blog!), shit like this winds me up a treat.

    Some people don’t mind having to wade through piles of junk mail just to get to the important stuff, but it doesn’t give them permission to do the same to everyone else.

    The Data Protection Act specifically requires a sender to have explicit permission from a user before mailing them, which is basic common sense anyways. But what I find absolutely gobsmacking, if I’ve understood the above correctly, is that he put 189 recipients in the “To” field. When anyone dares send me mail like that without making all recipients “Bcc”, it makes me want to do unspeakable things to them. I haven’t even received the email, yet it’s making me want to get my ass kicking boots on and go visit Johnny over in Ireland.

    Urgh, some people just shouldn’t have access to the Internet, much less be involved in running an online business like Monster!

    [Via Paul Walsh @ Segala & his twitter comment]

  • WordPress 2.3: Pretty much painless upgrade

    Wow, well this was a pretty easy upgrade! I managed to make it as much of a pain as possible for Andrew; forgetting to disable plugins, upgrading from a pre-widgets theme, and being a whinge-bunny.

    But now it’s done, with that new swish “Tags” feature at the bottom of the post. I love the ease with which I can tag posts, and I bet that tag cloud (currently at the bottom of the sidebar) will grow to show just quite how nerdy my blog posts are…

    Great job, WordPress team!

  • To be a Mac user or not to be. That is the question.

    Apple imageBoth Andrew and I are used to having friends, acquaintances and outright strangers asking us for advice on buying their next computer. However, in recent months, I’ve been amazed at the sheer volume of people who have been asking whether they should switch to Mac.

    In many cases, the answer is an easy one: “Most definitely! Get your skates on, let’s go buy one now!” But despite the fact that I have Apple juice running in my veins and that if you gave me open heart surgery, I most likely have a Mac Mini instead of a heart, I still strongly believe that Mac isn’t for everyone. In some conditions, OS X just isn’t right.

    So here are the questions I think anyone on the fence about switching to Mac should ask themselves before giving Steve Jobs their credit card details…

    1. Do I use any particular Windows-only software on a regular basis?

    • If your answer is yes, then look into Mac alternatives. The best solution isn’t always necessarily an OS X port of your fave Windows apps. In fact, it most likely isn’t. There are tons of great Mac apps out there.
    • Can’t find an alternative? You can always run the app in BootCamp or Parallels on your Mac, and this will suit almost anyone.
    • Still not sold on this solution? Then this is where you should probably stick to Windoze.
    • Don’t need any Windows software? Attaboy!

    2. Do I have anything to worry about compatibility-wise?

    In 99% of cases, no you don’t. However, if you use very specialised software, again, do your homework before the Big Move.

    3. Will it take me time to get used to the difference in user interface?

    Yes, it will. There’s no way around it.

    It takes some time to get used to a new way of doing things. You’ll need to think differently, far beyond simply going to the other corner of Firefox to close a window. Shortcuts are different. The way installs and uninstalls are handled is different. Using the hardware itself is different: For example, with a Mac laptop, you’ll hardly ever need to turn it off, as shutting the lid sends it to sleep so comfortably that I only turned mine off once since Christmas, and rebooted a handful of times for updates.

    You’ll also need to get used to… things just… working! Plug a peripheral in and it works. Add a printer to the network and there it is. Your stress levels will definitely go down.

    It’s a complete mentality shift and it will take time to adapt. So give yourself time, have patience and be ready to relearn. Once you get up to speed, you WILL love it, I promise!

    This is one of many reasons that, for example, we didn’t encourage Andrew’s parents to move to Mac. Their use of computers is pretty simple: browsing, email, photo management. They know their way around these features in Windows. There was simply no benefit in shifting them into a whole new environment.

    4. Will it cost me a lot more than a Windows machine?

    Actually, it probably won’t. Sure you can buy Dell’s loss leader at £395 and be sorted for a few years. But if you need to spec up your Windows machine to a similar level to what’s the bare minimum offered on Mac, you’ll find that the prices are similar.

    This can be argued, and I’m sure my smart ass friends will come disagree with me on this point, but as far as personal research goes, that’s my observation.

    5. Will I get special treatment and a secret handshake?

    No. That’s fanboy nonsense.

    Ten years ago, meeting another Mac user was a revelation and a bit of a dirty secret. I certainly didn’t know any other Mac users my age. They were all middle aged men, usually my dad or grandpa’s acquaintances.

    Today, well… Show up at a conference and count the laptops. Odds are a vast number of them will be Macs. In fact, somewhere between 15 and 20% of all laptops bought in the US since March are Macs. It doesn’t get a second look anymore, and in a way that’s good.

    Hopefully that’ll send the fanboys away to play with a different new shiny toy. Hopefully…

    6. Am I doing it just because all the other cool kids are doing it?

    Yes? Then piss off, I have no interest in giving you support. 😛

    In summary, Macs are probably a good solution for Chantal, a graduating student who’s living space is limited and who wants a fast, reliable machine. It’s also a great solution for my dad who’s still living in the 90’s using OS 9.2 (that’s a hint, dad! 😉 ) but it might not be the best solution for, say, my sis-in-law Lisa who just wants a bog-basic laptop to use a couple of times a week to check email.

    To each their own, pick whatever you feel most comfortable with!

    One last piece of advice. Oi! Here! Pay attention or it’ll cost you!

    The new OS X operating system, called Leopard, is coming out within the next three or four weeks, so my advice is to wait until it comes out to buy a new Mac, to ensure you get the latest OS.

    [Update: Leopard came out in late October, and it’s fantastic. So go ahead and upgrade now if you’re ready!]

  • WordPress 2.3 now released

    If, like me, you’re using WordPress, you’ll be pleased to hear that version 2.3 has now come out of the oven. It’s upgrade time!

    Matt MullenwegSome highlights: Tagging now comes as default (so no need to faff with third-party plugins), notices when plugin updates become available, automatic non-www domain forwarding, old post slug forwards to the new one if changed (Halleluia!), some improved post management and a big handful of ubergeek features. All in all, some pretty exciting changes!

    It’s so funny to see that the very adorable Matt Mullenweg, founding developer of WordPress, is even throwing a WordPress upgrade party at his place tomorrow. Shame, San Francisco is a bit of a trek for me. Cambridge upgrade party anyone? 😉

  • First thoughts on iPhone launch for Europe

    Well, it’s here. The iPhone has now been officially announced for the UK and the rest of Europe.

    There’s coverage everywhere; Engadget, PocketPicks, TechDigest, TUAW… And I think we’ve all got the same feeling. We’re slightly underwhelmed by the announcement, seeing as there won’t be any 3G.

    However, the partnership with The Cloud is interesting. Free WiFi for all iPhone users where The Cloud is available. Having a look at the areas covered by The Cloud, it should be pretty good for Londoners and those based in busier centres, with a few hotspots sprinkled across the rest of the UK.

    For the past few months, I’ve coveted the idea of having an iPhone instead of my clunky N95, but there are definitely pros and cons, and I’ll have to mull it over for a bit longer before I decide what to do. I WANT the iPhone to succeed in the UK because I want to see more phones with smoother user interfaces, better thought-out features and less Symbian-like crashes and grey screens. But at the moment, the £35-£55/month tariffs are at the very high end of what we’re willing to pay, and considering the network speed limitations, I’m not sure I’m willing to stump up the money just yet.

    What about everyone else? Are you getting one? Are you disgusted by the deals? Are you waiting for the 3G iPhone which might come out next year?

  • Watch out for nasty Quechup!

    Just a quickie to let everyone know that if you receive an invite from a friend to a social network called Quechup, don’t sign up. I received one from Hugh MacLeod, quickly followed by a blog post apologising to everyone for the unwanted invite.

    As Pete from Mashable says in his post on Quechup:

    The issue lies with their “check for friends” form: during signup you’re asked to enter your email address and password to see whether any of your friends are already on the service. Enter the password, however, and it will proceed to mail all your contacts without asking permission. This has led to many users issuing apologies to their friends for “spamming” them inadvertently. Hopefully the bad PR on this one will force them to change the system.

    So if you MUST go have a look at it, ensure you don’t enter the email address and password for it to go “check for friends”. In other words, I better not get an invite from anyone!