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HouseHeld - the story so far

What is HouseHeld

The only successful consumer app is Entertainment

About the time I realised there's no such thing as a successful consumer subscription app outside of "entertainment".

Against our own interests

What makes people adopt something new?

How Minds Change

My product journey

Hello, For over a decade, I've worked closely with great founders and their teams around a simple premise: what is this business really about? During that time, a continuous curiosity has driven me toward all sorts of challenges: from agencies to writing, into startups, running my own business, investing and

The power of Rewriting

How might adapting stories help you notice your writing defaults and cliches?

How analogue do we need to go to escape the digital dirge?

Is there a better way to manifest our favourite music, movies, games and books in our life?

So far with... Arc browser

I started using Arc before Christmas as my default browser. Here's what I've been thinking about it: Replacing chrome with features I remember at the launch of Google Chrome, the whole principle was to build a bridge for Google content into the actual "chrome" that surrounded web content. Arc feels

Dynamic Island? Watch it.

Apple Watch already solved the Dynamic Island's purpose.

How to work with MaxTB

A guide to getting the most out of MaxTB

VanMoof X3 review

After nearly three months with the VanMoof X3, it’s time for an initial review.

“It’s not a shirt, it’s a story”

Trying Ghost for blogging

Playing with Ghost.

We must take more pride in analysing how stories are made

There’s a common founder myth (read “cliche”) that goes something like this: > “From a young age, I found myself fascinated by how things worked. Once I took the TV apart to see how the little people got inside. Just like Steve Jobs, this is why I think the back

Press releases are the selfies of the marketing world

The press release was a document born of necessity. Nascent public relations professionals realised the best way to get ahead of the story and speculation was to distribute a short statement of the facts. And it took off. Over time, the format has become a hyper real pastiche. Many PRs

Digital Wake: a new experiment

Having recently got heavily into podcasts, it seemed a good time to give it a crack with @DannyWhatmough [http://twitter.com/dannywhatmough/]. Thoughts and feedback always welcome.

PR for PR

Post [https://www.facebook.com/stephen.waddington/posts/10153350969636982] by Stephen Waddington [https://www.facebook.com/stephen.waddington].Have been meaning to write up similar thoughts about the Guardian’s “anon PR” feature. Was invited to write one and explained that I think anyone who would contribute is rather missing

The journo who replied to every PR email missed the most important point

I love the idea. Obviously. But I think there’s a missed opportunity in the execution. Let me start at the beginning. The problem In a world where PRs outnumber journalists so hugely, the biggest obstacle to improving our industry today is the broken feedback loop. If every journo could

Likes labours lost: You get the Facebook you deserve

Recently, Wired reporter Mat Honan conducted an experiment [http://www.wired.com/2014/08/i-liked-everything-i-saw-on-facebook-for-two-days-heres-what-it-did-to-me/] to see what happens if you Like every Page that appears in your Facebook feed. The result was his Friends’ stories being crowded out by updates from noisy brands. No great surprises there. But here’

Google Authorship is the Obi-Wan Kenobi of search

Let’s play Devil’s Advocate a minute. Google has said it will “stop showing authorship in search results.” [https://plus.google.com/u/0/+JohnMueller/posts/HZf3KDP1Dm8]. It has not said that it will stop using what it has learned about authorship to impact rankings. Over the past few

I'm generally quite relaxed about privacy but this whole presentation is great

I’m generally quite relaxed about privacy but this whole presentation is great [http://idlewords.com/bt14.htm]: > It should be illegal to collect and permanently store most kinds of behavioral data. In the United States, they warn us the world will end if someone tries to regulate the Internet.

A good read on the uncomfortable benefits of buying followers

A good read on the uncomfortable benefits of buying followers [https://medium.com/i-data/fake-friends-with-real-benefits-eec8c4693bd3]: > Even more interesting, at least to me, was what my fake followers did for me. My Klout score almost instantly shot up. I was not impressed by that until I realized that Microsoft’s search

Downstream: Living with Pebble

A few thoughts, in no particular order. * Forget ‘smartwatch’, Pebble is better described as a HUD on your wrist. You can ignore your phone, not worry about missing anything, not have to keep flicking the screen on in case you’ve got notifications. You can just get on with things

The diversity of life experience fuelling development of games today is great

The diversity of life experience fuelling development of games today is great [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-03-28-who-is-dayz-creator-dean-hall]: From Who is DayZ creator Dean Hall? [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-03-28-who-is-dayz-creator-dean-hall]: > Survival had been drummed into him for months as part of Singaporean army training. He’d survived for two

Twitter Cards are becoming the smallest unit of 'web'

My thoughts on Econsultancy: > Furthermore, because Twitter Cards can be based on existing metadata of websites, they can be simply generated at scale. For example, Amazon can immediately translate any product listing into an accompanying Card. At that stage, what’s to stop you making a page of the cards,

Listen up Apple: build a smart EarPod or someone else will (Wired UK)

By me at Wired: > The idea would take a key element of Apple’s heritage and sidestep the assumption that a wearable device has to rely on your sense of sight or touch. Apple has an opportunity to recall one of the strongest motifs of its iPod days and put

A thought on"What the Fox Knows"

A thought on”What the Fox Knows” [http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-the-fox-knows/]: > All of this takes time. That’s why we’ve elected to sacrifice something else as opposed to accuracy or accessibility. The sacrifice is speed — we’re rarely going to be the first organization to break news or

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0] : Every time a story comes up about the details of what is and isn’t healthy for you, I come back to this article. Eating 80% healthily isn’

Blue sky thinking to popularise the Year of Code with today’s youth

The Government’s Year of Code [http://yearofcode.org/] is off to a mixed start [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26150717], to say the least. But it is possible that increasing the next generation’s knowledge of these valuable tools could be key to increasing our country’s future

Roger Angell: Life in the Nineties

Roger Angell: Life in the Nineties [http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/02/17/140217fa_fact_angell]: I’d happily read a blog of letters from old people passing on their wisdom and experience. There’s something earned by longevity that contrasts so deeply with the daily throwaway content from

The One Quality Every Startup Needs to Survive

The One Quality Every Startup Needs to Survive [http://firstround.com/article/Asanas-Justin-Rosenstein-on-the-One-Quality-Every-Startup-Needs-to-Survive] : > He had stumbled upon that one, critical missing ingredient — an ingredient that Rosenstein and Asana’s leadership have accepted as key to their success: Clarity. Whatever you call it, establishing the clear “why” and making sure everyone

Why Augur?

Why Augur? [http://apatterns.tumblr.com/post/77365429971/augur-maxtb-launch]: apatterns [http://apatterns.tumblr.com/post/77365429971/augur-maxtb-launch]: > PR has become a much maligned industry. And perhaps there’s some fairness to the criticism. Over the last 100 years, its “two-way street” origin decayed into something designed to match broadcast media’

Like it or not, Dungeon Keeper is the future of LCD gaming

Like it or not, Dungeon Keeper is the future of LCD gaming [https://medium.com/p/676cdc67b5ab]: By me: “There has been a lot of fuss about the new ‘free-to-play’ Dungeon Keeper on iOS and Android. For much of the gaming community, it’s a new watermark for how the

The Graph That Changed Jon Bell

The Graph That Changed Jon Bell [https://medium.com/launching-ux-launchpad/385ff833f9c8]

Quantum Dots: Band name or display technology?

Quantum Dots: Band name or display technology? [http://www.displaymate.com/Display_Technology_2014.htm]: > Quantum Dots Quantum Dots provide an amazing super high technology performance enhancement for LCDs through a unique application of Quantum Physics. By incorporating them within the Backlight the LCDs then produce highly saturated primary colors

HARDWARE REVIEW: APPLE WEIGHS IN WITH MACINTOSH

HARDWARE REVIEW: APPLE WEIGHS IN WITH MACINTOSH [http://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/24/science/personal-computers-hardware-review-apple-weighs-in-with-macintosh.html] : > The roughly 17-pound Macintosh comes in a square bushel-basket-size canvas tote bag with an oversized zipper. The preproduction version I saw did not sport the Apple-with-a-bite logo. The addition of this emblem could

It's a great time to be a techy

It’s a great time to be a techy [http://ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2014/1/28/ecosystem-maths]: Nothing is settled on mobile. I have no idea what it will mean in 5 years time to say that I ‘installed’ an ‘app’ on an ‘Android’ ‘smartphone’. All of those terms could

“We’re Just Flipping Through Index Cards”

“We’re Just Flipping Through Index Cards” [http://www.marco.org/2014/01/21/roderick-cmd-space]: > When a Marvin Gaye record came out 40 years ago, presumably, you went and spent your record-buying allowance on it, and you brought it home and listened to it exclusively for 2 weeks. It was

Don’t Glorify Startup Failure

Don’t Glorify Startup Failure [http://www.instigatorblog.com/dont-glorify-startup-failure/2014/01/23/]: And the counterpoint, from Ben Yoskovitz: “But we should also be careful about glorifying startup failure. There’s nothing awesome about it. The entrepreneurs that fail are not heroes or celebrities. They are special–because they’re

14 Startup Post-mortems

14 Startup Post-mortems [http://ryanhoover.me/post/74229429351/14-startup-postmortems]: I think you learn more from failure, both in details and its looming possibility, than endless success stories. Well worth a read, even if you aren’t of the startup world.

How can I accelerate my personal growth?

How can I accelerate my personal growth? [http://www.quora.com/permalink/KwQqyaPOr]: You’ll have to click through for the graph but hopefully this makes sense. I’ve never seen a better summary of how I feel about working life. > Choose “anxiety-driven growth” over “boredom-driven growth“. For Csikszentmihalyi, flow

Mobile to the Future (or Max's idea of "cloud screens")

Mobile to the Future (or Max’s idea of “cloud screens”) [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r4vbV-2fSM]: A good watch but while he’s keen on mobile being the next big channel, I think I’d just call it something like “cloud screens” now. Convergence is most obvious in

We Didn’t Eat the Marshmallow. The Marshmallow Ate Us.

We Didn’t Eat the Marshmallow. The Marshmallow Ate Us. [http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/12/magazine/we-didnt-eat-the-marshmallow-the-marshmallow-ate-us.html] : A fun but interesting analysis of the old Marshmallow/ instant gratification test. > We want the instant gratification of an easy answer. We want to hear that character traits can be

The reality of digital newsrooms: 'copy thrown online with a photo'

The reality of digital newsrooms: ‘copy thrown online with a photo’ [http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/jan/14/newspapers-digital-media] : > A young journalist who read the Fleet Street memories of Brian MacArthur (here) and Phil Moger (here) wants to make clear that it isn’t only veterans who miss

Some of what we did at Danger

Some of what we did at Danger [https://medium.com/tech-talk/d823af31f7c]: > The company was called Danger, the platform was called hiptop, and what follows is an account of our early days, and a list of some of the “modern” technologies we shipped years before you could buy an iOS

Casinos' (and Facebook's) worrying knack for consumer manipulation

Casinos’ (and Facebook’s) worrying knack for consumer manipulation [http://timharford.com/2014/01/casinos-worrying-knack-for-consumer-manipulation/] : > Now consider addiction by design. What is not understood about modern slot machines – certainly not by the UK’s Labour party, which recently tried to spark a moral panic on the subject – is that they

The Buffett Formula — How To Get Smarter

The Buffett Formula — How To Get Smarter [http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/05/the-buffett-formula-how-to-get-smarter/] : > How to get smarter: Read. A lot. Warren Buffett says, “I just sit in my office and read all day.” What does that mean? He estimates that he spends 80% of his working day reading and

The biggest shocker of 2013? That it really is a wonderful world

The biggest shocker of 2013? That it really is a wonderful world [http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2013/12/we-dont-want-to-believe-it-but-things-really-are-getting-better/] : > Next year marks a millennium since the sermon given by Archbishop Wulfstan in York where he declared that “the world is in a rush and is getting close to

The Builder’s High

The Builder’s High [http://randsinrepose.com/archives/the-builders-high/]: > What’s the last thing you built when you got that high? You know that high I’m talking about? It’s staring at a thing that you brought into the world because you decided it needed to exist. For me,

Pizza Packaging Has Come a Long Way...

Pizza Packaging Has Come a Long Way… [http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2013/12/an_evolution_of_innovative_technologically_advanced_pizza_boxes.html] : > Children tend to think of it as a little white dollhouse table, but the white plastic tripod inside your pizza box has an important function.

Almost Human: The Surreal, Cyborg Future of Telemarketing

Almost Human: The Surreal, Cyborg Future of Telemarketing [http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/12/almost-human-the-surreal-cyborg-future-of-telemarketing/282537/] : > Let’s just put it out there: This a creepy system. On the Internet, no one may know you’re a dog, but on the phone? It just seems wrong. What good

The NSA: An Inside View

The NSA: An Inside View [http://lorensr.me/nsa-an-inside-view.html]: > Many are concerned about the NSA listening to their phone calls and reading their email messages. I believe that most should not be very concerned because most are not sending email to intelligence targets. Email that isn’t related to

Facebook Wants to Be a Newspaper.

Facebook Wants to Be a Newspaper. [http://allthingsd.com/20131210/facebook-wants-to-be-a-newspaper-facebook-users-have-their-own-ideas/] : > Teams explored a number of user interface and product mock-ups with this idealized form of user behavior in mind. It was all housed under an umbrella project broadly blanketed under the term “Reader” (an initiative that was widely misreported

Facebook Wants to Know Why You’re Self-Censoring Your Posts

Facebook Wants to Know Why You’re Self-Censoring Your Posts [http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2013/12/facebook_self_censorship_what_happens_to_the_posts_you_don_t_publish.html] : > In their article, Das and Kramer claim to only send back information to Facebook that indicates whether

Gaming Made Me: Charlie Brooker

Gaming Made Me: Charlie Brooker [http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/07/15/gaming-made-me-charlie-brooker-part-1/] : > It’s one of the best stories that I’ve seen in games, but there is still a ridiculous amount of just non-stop peril that’s slightly divorced from the story and I know there’s a

"IT Buyers Shun Social Media"

“IT Buyers Shun Social Media” [http://in2.holmesreport.com/2013/11/it-buyers-shun-social-media-study/]: Arun Sudhaman: > New research suggests that IT buyers continue to shun social media, preferring search engines, personal networks, consultants, trade media and industry analysts when choosing their suppliers. The study, from CCgroup, polled 150 IT decision-makers in the

The rise and fall of YouTube's celebrity pioneers

The rise and fall of YouTube’s celebrity pioneers [http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-11/27/youtube-community]: From Wired UK: > “I remember Chad and Steve parading celebrities onto YouTube which made the community go fucking ape-shit,” said Paul.  “We completely mobbed their videos with shitty comments and the

Inside the mind of Marc Andreessen

Inside the mind of Marc Andreessen [http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2013/11/21/marc-andreessen/]: > Facebook today is worth around $120 billion. So the market value of Facebook in the last two years has swung between about $40 billion and $120 billion, so maybe average it out to $80 billion.

Where’s Waldo? That’s Easy. A Foolproof Strategy for Locating the Stripe-Loving Cartoon Man.

Where’s Waldo? That’s Easy. A Foolproof Strategy for Locating the Stripe-Loving Cartoon Man. [http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2013/11/where_s_waldo_a_new_strategy_for_locating_the_missing_man_in_martin_hanford.html] : > I knew that Handford had placed Waldo in each of these

Growth Hacking Word of Mouth | Ryan Hoover

Growth Hacking Word of Mouth | Ryan Hoover [http://ryanhoover.me/post/66965594138/growth-hacking-word-of-mouth]: > Sometimes effective growth hackers execute less scaleable tactics to drive WOM. Every Thursday, Dan Martell, CEO of Clarity, picks up the phone to call 25 to 30 users and asks how the company can make a better

The Unacknowledged Compromise - Matt Gemmell

The Unacknowledged Compromise – Matt Gemmell [http://mattgemmell.com/2013/11/12/the-unacknowledged-compromise]: > By all means make a choice, and by all means obtain the maximum utility from it. Just don’t deceive yourself about the reasons for your decision. If you can only afford one machine, then that’s all

"The Mission of Tesla" = great 'blog' PR

“The Mission of Tesla” = great ‘blog’ PR [http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/mission-tesla]: > It is also why arsonists tend to favor gasoline. Trying to set the side of a building on fire with a battery pack is far less effective. Tesla is maybe my strongest example of communicating your story

Am I Going Insane? Snapchat is Intrinsically Worthless

Am I Going Insane? Snapchat is Intrinsically Worthless [http://roymurdock.com/essays/2013/11/snapchat-is-intrinsically-worthless/]: > If we return to the graph at the beginning of the article we see that the value of Youtube is $1.5bn – this is the price Google bought it at in 2006. It’s now

PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii – games for a generation

PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii – games for a generation [http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/12/ps3-xbox-360-wii-games-generation] : > The greatest battle of this generation has been the one in which designers cede control to players. They won’t let go. They will have to let go.

Microsoft’s plan is stronger than you think

Microsoft’s plan is stronger than you think [https://medium.com/product-design/3905096e5f71]: By me on Medium: > I think this advert is a great summary of why Microsoft, though attracting stick from innumerable directions for almost all its current products, is executing in just about the only effective way it

How Jack Dorsey Makes Meetings At Square More Transparent

How Jack Dorsey Makes Meetings At Square More Transparent [http://www.fastcompany.com/3021208/fast-feed/how-jack-dorsey-makes-meetings-at-square-transparent] : > “Any meeting of more than two people, someone’s required to take notes and send them to an [email] alias,” said Square’s founder and CEO. And that mentality extends to board meetings as

Will Apple really move toward two iPad apps on screen?

Will Apple really move toward two iPad apps on screen? [http://tightwind.net/2013/11/where-does-the-ipad-go-from-here/]: > Many people have suggested that renaming the iPad the “iPad Air” sets the stage for an iPad Pro, presumably with a larger screen. It’s difficult to disagree with that, but I don’t

The product design sprint: a five-day recipe for startups

The product design sprint: a five-day recipe for startups [http://www.designstaff.org/articles/product-design-sprint-2012-10-02.html]: > At Google Ventures, we do product design work with startups all the time. Since we want to move fast and they want to move fast, we’ve optimized a process that gets us predictably

How To Write An Email

How To Write An Email [http://shkspr.mobi/blog/2013/11/how-to-write-an-email/]: > I spent several hours in school learning how to write a letter. From the correct placement of the address, right down to the “Yours sincerely / faithfully” – every aspect was drummed into me. That never happened with email. Judging

Facebook's future is in your past

Facebook’s future is in your past [http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-10/07/facebook-future]: My latest on Wired: > A wave of services like Timehop and SocialSafe are finally unleashing the years of data that you’ve built up in such profiles in a way that perhaps more

Stevey's Google Platforms Rant

Stevey’s Google Platforms Rant [https://plus.google.com/112678702228711889851/posts/eVeouesvaVX]: A great piece by a Googler that gets to the heart of G+’s real challenges, among other things.

Drinking With Your Eyes: How Wine Labels Trick Us Into Buying

Drinking With Your Eyes: How Wine Labels Trick Us Into Buying [http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/10/10/231458853/drinking-with-your-eyes-how-wine-labels-trick-us-into-buying] : > In his new book 99 Bottles of Wine, Schuemann spills the industry’s secrets about how wine labels tickle our subconscious and coerce us into grabbing a bottle

The inspiration of revisiting great books

The inspiration of revisiting great books [http://www.antonymayfield.com/2013/10/13/the-joy-of-revisiting-great-books-kindle-daily-review/] : > Daily Review is a tool to help you review and remember the most significant ideas from your books. It shows you flashcards with either your highlights and notes or the Popular Highlights from one of your

The Incredible Shrinking Antenna

The Incredible Shrinking Antenna [http://blogs.wsj.com/tech-europe/2013/10/25/the-incredible-shrinking-antenna/]: > Chief Technology Officer Carles Puente, head scientist for the company, who in 1995 filed the world’s first application for a patent on fractal antennas for mobile telecommunications, said: “If you use more complex shapes related to

MTurk + Google News API = Coverage

MTurk + Google News API = Coverage [http://customerdevlabs.com/2013/09/24/google-news-api-mturk-press/]: > How we got a dozen launch-day write ups with a little JavaScript, Mechanical Turk, and the Google News API. Code included. Probably the most curious approach I ever seen to a PR launch. Undoubtedly misses the point in

How do journalists get 'out of' PR spam

Nearly four years ago, I wrote this: > What if you could tag PR spam right from your inbox with the system sending automatic responses to each incorrect query?  Perhaps it  could even bounce them a full bio of what you *do* cover for future reference. The Big Why * It’s

Mission and Messaging at Instagram

Mission and Messaging at Instagram [http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424127887324577304579059230069305894-lMyQjAxMTAzMDAwODEwNDgyWj.html] : > “For the first two weeks, I locked him into a conference room and I said, ‘This is all about getting the mission on paper,’ ” Ms. White recalled. Two weeks later, Mr. Systrom had boiled down the app’

Shane Richmond on solving Twitter's problems with a tick

Shane Richmond on solving Twitter’s problems with a tick [http://shanerichmond.net/shane-richmond/ve4uw2lqz2icm4crv1d8eoj9phe0p3]: Great insight from Shane Richmond around Verified accounts and a way for Twitter to get those all important registered CC details to compete with Google, Apple and Amazon. > Suppose Twitter offered to verify users who

Sietsema on the Current State of Restaurant Criticism

Sietsema on the Current State of Restaurant Criticism [http://ny.eater.com/archives/2013/08/the_current_state_of_restaurant_criticism.php] : > the strangulation of reviewing budgets on the part of publications means that we often read print criticism for the witty and thoughtful writing more than for a comprehensive

the big Apple misunderstanding

the big Apple misunderstanding [http://www.asymco.com/2013/09/17/an-interview-by-eric-jackson-on-blogging-apple-and-whats-next/] : > since for most of its life Apple was personified as an individual, what came to pass for Apple analysis was actually the psychoanalysis of that individual. It makes for great journalism and best selling books. It’s also

Cyanogen raises $7 million to build better Android

Cyanogen raises $7 million to build better Android [http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/18/4742828/cyanogen-raises-7-million-to-build-the-best-version-of-android] : > operating system more focused on productivity than commerce. “The mobile devices out there, they’re just not meant for anybody to use,” Kondik says. “They’re essentially mobile cash registers. We want to

The Semiotician’s Oath

The Semiotician’s Oath [https://medium.com/design-story/44dba7121a1]: > Story. Story is structure left behind when all of our memory pathways are reduced to their most common overlaps. Story is the method we use to process who did what to whom and where and why and how and when. Story

Did you know the Twitter bird has a name?

Did you know the Twitter bird has a name? [http://thehundreds.com/blog/2013/09/09/at-twitter/]: > The Twitter bird has a name, and it is Larry. Larry Bird. Like Adam Bomb. Totally.

"iPhone Keyboard Secrets" from 2007

“iPhone Keyboard Secrets” from 2007 [http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/06/27/iphone-keyboard-secrets/?_r=0]: A post from a more innocent time — but it’s easy to forget details like this, which were emphasised in the old days: > Although you don’t see it with your eyes, the sizes

Klout is running out of excuses.

Klout is running out of excuses. [http://www.businessinsider.com/klout-and-startup-adolescence-2013-9]: > “We think we have the opportunity to own earned media,” Fernandez says. “Earned media” is essentially word-of-mouth advertising on networks like Facebook and Twitter. It’s the ability to get people talking about brands because they want to, not

The 150 Things the World's Smartest People Are Afraid Of

The 150 Things the World’s Smartest People Are Afraid Of [http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/what-150-of-the-worlds-smartest-scientists-are-worried-about] : A good catch all: > 33. Men. –Helen Fisher, biological anthropologist

Why Twitter Buying MoPub Is a Very Big Deal

Why Twitter Buying MoPub Is a Very Big Deal [https://medium.com/on-startups/e3ffbf8f3cd8]: This: > What does identity mean? It’s not knowing your age, gender, and rough whereabouts. That has some value in the ads space, but it’s pretty minimal. Despite the various social media paranoia memes, no

The only interesting things about the new iPhones/ iOS

Not interesting: * colours * cheap vs expensive * ‘flat’ design/ transparency/ parallax effects * 64 bit processor Interesting: TouchID + Bluetooth Low Energy (iBeacons [http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/11/4718082/ios-7-ibeacons-could-solve-indoor-mapping-make-shopping-better] ) Apple just put a method in your pocket to verify your identity instantly with any device it can connect to through

Who Owns the Future? by Jaron Lanier – review

Who Owns the Future? by Jaron Lanier – review [http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/feb/27/who-owns-future-lanier-review]: > Lanier describes a couple who found love on an online dating site and whose subsequent marriage has proved long-lasting. In his economy of compensation, if 30 years later another young couple is paired

A history of iPhone taglines

Any marketer knows how painful it can be getting a tagline/ strapline that you’re happy with — and the choice of ‘forward thinking’ for the new iPhone seemed curious to me. So I took a look at the previous history of iPhone taglines. I presume the stark change is to

In defence of Google+

If you don’t understand why Google is the 2nd most active social network [http://www.thedrum.com/news/2013/09/04/google-second-most-actively-used-social-network-globally-says-globalwebindex-study] , you don’t understand what Google+ is. And it’s all your fault. Since day 1 in June 2011, Google was very clear about the motivation behind

Too much hard work is summed up in a sentence

Too much hard work is summed up in a sentence [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/6.09/woz_pr.html]: > After they loaded Woz’s 4K Basic into it – by hand, programming in hexadecimal – and added a keyboard and a monitor and wired two transformers onto the power supply,

a great quote from Frank Chimero

a great quote from Frank Chimero [http://thegreatdiscontent.com/frank-chimero]: I often find these pieces overlong but they do contain gems like this: > Design is a vessel. There’s the whole Buddhist thing about the essence of a bowl being its emptiness—that’s why it’s useful. Its emptiness

Marissa Mayer is really clever

Marissa Mayer is really clever [http://www.vogue.com/magazine/article/hail-to-the-chief-yahoos-marissa-mayer/]: Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer: Hail to the Chief: > “Close your eyes and listen to this list,” she says. I close my eyes and hear her recite: “E-mail, maps, weather, news, stock quotes, share photos, group communication, sports scores,

Fortune 500 Mission Statements

Fortune 500 Mission Statements [http://www.missionstatements.com/fortune_500_mission_statements.html]: Interesting spread of perspectives. Just imagine the hours that went into developing each one.

Gnip and Datasift are the most intriguing parts of the Twitter ecosystem to me

Gnip and Datasift are the most intriguing parts of the Twitter ecosystem to me [http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattlynley/yahoo-foursquare-in-talks-over-data-partnership] : Yahoo, Foursquare In Talks Over Data Partnership: > Foursquare already does this through a partnership with Gnip, which sells packaged data from social services like Twitter, but it may go beyond

Is online press coverage the best form of SEO?

Is online press coverage the best form of SEO? [http://blog.escherman.com/2013/08/22/is-online-press-coverage-the-best-form-of-seo/] : > Also, although I only spent 20 mins on the phone to Danny, I have also built a relationship with him over 20 years or so – if I was being purist, perhaps I should

Nostalgic reflections of an aging PR Account Exec

I’ve just been clearing out my RSS reader — one that I’d bolstered in 2009 with a collaborative list of marketing blogs suggested in the first useful Google Doc [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Am6bhH2SxecqdEV1dTJ3ZDQwUmF6ckZKakZHV0Z5Smc&usp=sharing] I think I ever saw (bravo Mat Morrison.) Scything through

It's good for journalists to see PR behind the scenes

It’s good for journalists to see PR behind the scenes [http://venturebeat.com/2013/08/16/oops-google-sends-journos-its-internal-youtube-coverage-audit-by-mistake/#eptR6dUDCrAkzEKg.02] : > A Google press rep accidentally included the wrong attachment in an email to multiple journalists today, revealing part of Google’s YouTube press coverage goals, plans, progress to date. Nightmare

A good digest of how Facebook's newsfeed algorithm has changed over the years.

A good digest of how Facebook’s newsfeed algorithm has changed over the years. [http://marketingland.com/edgerank-is-dead-facebooks-news-feed-algorithm-now-has-close-to-100k-weight-factors-55908] : 100,000 factors seems… peculiar. > EdgeRank, Facebook’s original News Feed ranking system, is dead. Facebook hasn’t used the word internally for about two-and-a-half years. That’s when the company began

Going Independent - MaxTB Comms

Last summer, I left my agency to become an independent comms consultant. I was looking for new experiences and new challenges that would push the scope and breadth of my knowledge as much as they drew upon it. When Tradeshift asked me to come on board, it felt like I

Evernote Moleskine: a confused review

I like Evernote. But there’s only so far I think you can really love software. By contrast, my notebook is like a trusty familiar idea-steed. Yes, Idea-steed. From the ceremony of pinging away the elastic to leafing open a page, It even makes me love my favourite pen more

Ask yourself "Why Google isn't killing PR"

Ask yourself “Why Google isn’t killing PR” [http://www.dannywhatmough.com/2013/08/12/me-on-tom-foremski-on-pr/]: Danny has some good words to say on Tom Foremski’s controversial assertions [http://www.zdnet.com/google-is-forcing-a-reinvention-of-pr-7000019219/]re. Google’s latest search tweaks: > Do I think the press release will die? Yes. Do

Linkedin endorsements - cynical, not stupid.

Since its introduction, it’s fair to say that Linkedin’s “endorsements” feature, which makes it simple to add a ‘point’ to your connections’ skill in various areas, has divided opinion. Actually, that’s probably not fair — anecdotally most people I know seem to think it’s a complete absurd

Interesting piece on the relationship between authors and alcohol.

Interesting piece on the relationship between authors and alcohol. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/jul/28/what-drives-writers-to-drink-echo-spring-extract?CMP=twt_gu] : “But if the drinking is habitual, the brain begins to compensate for these calming effects by producing an increase in excitatory neurotransmitters. What this means in practice is

A really well written profile of VP Joe Biden from GQ

A really well written profile of VP Joe Biden from GQ [http://www.gq.com/news-politics/newsmakers/201308/joe-biden-presidential-campaign-2016-2013?mbid=social_twitter_gqmagazine¤tPage=all] : (God the corporate world has diffused the impact of “VP”.) Joe Biden: The Most Misunderstood Man in Washington > The job of vice president is important,

The modern 'manuscript' of status updates

The humble status update has grown up a lot in recent years, by me on Medium [https://medium.com/p/dfc799a7310e]: > It’s more and more common to have not just a stream of social updates now but a full landscape. What we have today, is almost like a manuscript

The troll rules have changed. Or have they?

There’s a lot of talk about trolling at the moment but just because someone shouts about wanting to kill you, it doesn’t mean their actual goal is a murder. It’s attention — and trying to quiet everyone in the world who’s after attention is going to take

A different path to Inbox Zero

New Gmail got me thinking [https://medium.com/product-design/c356a2b806e2]: > Alongside archive/ action, now there’s a third, lower maintenance option: scan the subject lines. They say decreasing decision fatigue helps you concentrate on the things that matter — and I think the new Gmail represents a step in that direction.

How a total n00b mined $700 in bitcoins

How a total n00b mined $700 in bitcoins [http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/06/how-a-total-n00b-mined-700-in-bitcoins/] : This article makes Bitcoin mining sound like fun. > Numbers. Lots of numbers everywhere. I stared at it for long seconds, watching the updates crawl upward from the bottom of the screen. Am I actually mining?

In 20 Years, We’re All Going To Realize This Apple Ad Is Nuts

In 20 Years, We’re All Going To Realize This Apple Ad Is Nuts [http://www.fastcodesign.com/1673020/in-20-years-we-re-all-going-to-realize-this-apple-ad-is-nuts] : This is so true by Mark Wilson re. Apple’s latest direction. > As we’re told that products are what matter, we see a series of shots in which people

Thoughts on 'Lockdown' by Marco Arment

Thoughts on ‘Lockdown’ by Marco Arment [http://www.marco.org/2013/07/03/lockdown]: > RSS represents the antithesis of this new world: it’s completely open, decentralized, and owned by nobody, just like the web itself. It allows anyone, large or small, to build something new and disrupt anyone else

The Prism

The Prism [http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/06/24/130624fa_fact_lepore?currentPage=all&src=longreads] : A really interesting dissection of Prism, privacy and secrecy through history. > Something creepy happened when mystery became secular, secrecy became a technology, and privacy became a right. The inviolability of the self replaced

Rory Sutherland knows how to save marketing

Rory Sutherland knows how to save marketing [http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/06/feature-rory-sutherland/rory-sutherland-knows-how-to-save-marketing] : Solid read but the following resonated with me especially. As a born and bred PR boy, I disdain advertising as throwing money at a problem — but is is the most interesting description

Tips for Mastering E-mail Overload

Tips for Mastering E-mail Overload [http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/4438.html]: Everyone can get better at email, always worth reading.

6 Things I Learned from a Notoriously Insane Innovator

6 Things I Learned from a Notoriously Insane Innovator [http://www.inc.com/stacey-epstein/6-things-i-learned-from-lars-dalgaard.html]: Sounds familiar… > 1. The status quo is lame. Lars never wanted to do anything like anyone else. As a Danish native he didn’t grow up in the tech world of the Bay Area,

iOS 7 vs. Android – A Quick Feature Comparison

iOS 7 vs. Android – A Quick Feature Comparison [http://www.droid-life.com/2013/06/10/ios7-vs-android-a-quick-comparison-after-the-wwdc-keynote/] : Starts off as a reasonable comparison before descending into disappointing fanboyism

Why Agile Isn't Working: Bringing Common Sense to Agile Principles

Why Agile Isn’t Working: Bringing Common Sense to Agile Principles [http://www.cio.com/article/734338/Why_Agile_Isn_t_Working_Bringing_Common_Sense_to_Agile_Principles] : A good examination of the other side of the coin with Agile.

Agencies have lost their #Mojo

Agencies have lost their #Mojo [http://www.karlhavard.com/2013/06/agencies-have-lost-their-mojo-and-ive.html]: This post is a train wreck. > So, I’ve taken to LinkedIn, Twitter and good old email to contact a number of agencies, at CEO level, to tell them they’ve lost their mojo.

Coffee vs. beer: which drink makes you more creative?

Coffee vs. beer: which drink makes you more creative? [https://medium.com/what-i-learned-today/f7fcb3b786b1]: By Mikael Cho and much more interesting than It would be in most hands: > This got me wondering about coffee and beer and which one would actually help me be more creative and get work done.

Your oldest outdated device

Old tech is cool. http://news.yahoo.com/your-oldest–most-outdated-device-010249339.html [http://news.yahoo.com/your-oldest--most-outdated-device-010249339.html]

Why iOS 7's design is bold but flawed

Why iOS 7’s design is bold but flawed [http://www.macworld.com/article/2043265/why-ios-7s-design-is-bold-but-flawed.html] : More good chat about iOS 7 design from Christa Mrgan” > Jony Ive’s icon grid is also “wrong,” in that the glyphs within the icons just don’t look harmoniously balanced.

Good business= social

Good business= social [http://blog.tomfoolery.com/post/51737929101/bob-gurwin]: ” How many business relationships are soured because we don’t understand each other as PEOPLE?  All the business collaboration tools are focused on “productivity” and “file sharing.”  What’s more important – a powerpoint or a picture of your cute kid?

Tracking the Movements of Conference Attendees via WiFi

Tracking the Movements of Conference Attendees via WiFi [http://infosthetics.com/archives/2013/06/relog_tracking_the_movements_of_conference_attendees_via_wifi.html] : Very neat.

Apple Mac Pro page deconstructed

Apple Mac Pro page deconstructed [http://ihatetomatoes.net/apple-mac-pro-page-deconstructed/]

Antifragile

Antifragile [http://edgeperspectives.typepad.com/edge_perspectives/2013/04/getting-stronger-through-stress-making-black-swans-work-for-you.html] : “Taleb highlights a key paradox: our focus in modern times on removing or minimizing randomness has actually had the perverse effect of increasing fragility.” I can really relate this to working in Comms, where every result is entirely at

Survivorship Bias

Survivorship Bias [http://youarenotsosmart.com/2013/05/23/survivorship-bias/]: Daniel Kahneman, Thinking Fast and Slow: “A stupid decision that works out well becomes a brilliant decision in hindsight.” The things a great company like Microsoft or Google or Apple did right are like the planes with bullet holes in the

"If you're not the customer, you're the product"

“If you’re not the customer, you’re the product” [http://www.leancrew.com/all-this/2013/05/free/]: “you have to recognize that you’ve been “the product” your entire life. So were your parents and so were your grandparents. Television and radio, newspapers and magazines—they all sell your

A perfect journo email app

From my article on Medium: [https://medium.com/the-media-landscape/6d871c287663] > After years of working with journalists and writing myself, the challenge of composing emails that stand out in the right way has become something of an obsession. But I wonder, could you design an email client for journalists that did

http://blog.bufferapp.com/why-practice-actually-makes-perfect-how-to-rewire-your-brain-for-better-performance

http://blog.bufferapp.com/why-practice-actually-makes-perfect-how-to-rewire-your-brain-for-better-performance : “myelin turns the electrical signal into the brain version of Nightcrawler, the teleporting X-Man. Instead of traveling in a straight line down the axon, the charge is BAMF-ing down at much faster speeds.” I love this stuff.

http://www.themorningnews.org/article/from-here-you-can-see-everything

http://www.themorningnews.org/article/from-here-you-can-see-everything: “In the course of writing this I’ve watched all 13 episodes of House of Cards and who knows how many more West Wing episodes, and I’ve spent any number of blurred hours falling down internet rabbit holes. All instead of reading, or

Who will build Android for Dummies?

From my post on Medium: [https://medium.com/product-design/b73da88af6a6] > I like my new Android phone. It has power, it lets me have more control over the experience than my iPhone ever did and for a lot of people, it delivers in exactly the areas that iOS is increasingly frustrating

Google Glass at the Indy 500

Google Glass at the Indy 500 [http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/28/4372928/using-google-glass-at-the-indy-500-and-coca-cola-600] : From The Verge: > By the end of the day, I had become more interested in asking people what they thought Glass was doing instead of delivering my little speech about what it actually did. Almost

Businessweek Profiles Google X

Businessweek Profiles Google X [http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-05-22/inside-googles-secret-lab]: > “We should be focused on making the world a better place, and once we do that, the money will come back and find us.” Google X is the best thing about Google. Forget next gen iPads in Ive’s

After Woolwich: how the media got it wrong

After Woolwich: how the media got it wrong [http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/05/after-woolwich-how-media-got-it-wrong-and-how-public-can-get-it-right] : > Perhaps it is a shame that no newspaper inverted the lens. As one of the killers told her “we want to start a war in London tonight”, the astonishingly brave scout leader Ingrid Loyau-Kennett

Evernote's "China Strategy" & Execution

Evernote’s “China Strategy” & Execution [http://startupbug.tumblr.com/post/50287504154/evernote]: Really interesting analysis of doing business in China as a foreign brand. In summary: Go native. Must be easier said than done but case studies like this help.

Holiday Homescreen

From my post on Medium: [https://medium.com/mobile-culture/9d242155ad60] > Even with a good regime of folders, the front page of my iPhone homescreen is almost like a rundown of responsibilities and considerations. Mailbox, Fantastical and Reminders. Feedly, Instapaper and Reddit. Vine, Instagram and Facebook. Tweetbot. There’s something about

Glass Half Empty

From my latest on Medium: [https://medium.com/the-world-according-to-glass/a848536efc15] > Smartphones rose to power because they took a device you always had with you and crammed it full of extra value. These portable computers used the ‘phone’ concept as a trojan horse at just the right time of mobile data,

Hawking's Israel boycott, Tweet by Tweet

Hawking’s Israel boycott, Tweet by Tweet [http://matthewkalman.blogspot.co.il/2013/05/this-otherwise-utterly-failed-and.html] : Articles like this show the labour of good journalism.

Quadropus Rampage - From the creators of Towelfight 2 - Upcoming Android Games - DroidGamers Forums

Quadropus Rampage – From the creators of Towelfight 2 – Upcoming Android Games – DroidGamers Forums [http://www.droidgamers.com/forums/topic/838-quadropus-rampage-from-the-creators-of-towelfight-2/?p=4428] : > As it turned out, lots of people wanted to play it, but very few people wanted to pay for it. We made a free game — we just didn’

The Gruber Conundrum

The Gruber Conundrum [http://daringfireball.net/2013/05/google_versus]: > Google fans seem to eat this kumbaya stuff up, to really believe it. But Google is the company that built Android after the iPhone, Google Plus after Facebook I don’t think anyone understands Apple and has finger on the

Google Glass: the world’s worst surveillance device.

Google Glass: the world’s worst surveillance device. [http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2013/05/google_glass_privacy_it_s_actually_the_world_s_worst_surveillance_device.html] : > Starner has worked with Google on the Glass project since early in the design process. He told me privacy

Why Iron Man 3'€™s Director Ruled Hollywood

Why Iron Man 3’€™s Director Ruled Hollywood [http://www.vulture.com/2013/04/why-iron-man-3s-director-ruled-hollywood.html]: > In his screenplays, populated with broken men who rouse themselves from hangovers and beatdowns to defeat the bad guy, it’s Black himself who emerges as the movie’s most charismatic antihero. He might

"Ain't No Reason" - The Magazine

“Ain’t No Reason” – The Magazine [http://the-magazine.org/12/aint-no-reason]: > Speakers of it use the same unspoken rules whenever they use the language, and different speakers apply the same rules consistently. If such speakers were just poor at using standard English, you wouldn’t see most AAVE speakers making

A Rake Too Far: Optimal Platform Pricing Strategy

A Rake Too Far: Optimal Platform Pricing Strategy [http://abovethecrowd.com/2013/04/18/a-rake-too-far-optimal-platformpricing-strategy/] : > iOS could have been both the definitive Facebook mobile device, AND the definitive Amazon shopping device. They could have been integrated from the beginning at a deep level: your social network in contacts; your Amazon

Conservative Party 1978 Manifesto (2nd draft)

Conservative Party 1978 Manifesto (2nd draft) [http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/110273]: Kind of neat: a draft of the Toey manifesto with Thatcher’s hand written tweaks. Docs like this make me realise how close PR and politics are as disciplines. But there’s nothing like seeing the work in

A Manager's Manifesto

A Manager’s Manifesto [https://medium.com/on-management/be5f6b118084]: Management is still far and away the biggest most fascinating challenge I’ve faced in my career so far. There’s a strange serene wisdom to the people who naturally pull it off – never fail to be impressed by those who

'Now Is The Best Time': A Critique Of BioShock Infinite

‘Now Is The Best Time’: A Critique Of BioShock Infinite [http://kotaku.com/now-is-the-best-time-a-critique-of-bioshock-infinite-472517493] : Kotaku: > This is a game that lives in its own alternate universe, is in love with its own cleverness, instead of being genuinely clever. This sentence is as true of the article as the game and

Twitter's Big Challenge: Too Much Twitter

Twitter’s Big Challenge: Too Much Twitter [http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/04/twitters-big-challenge-too-much-twitter/] : From Wired: > (Twitter) needs something a little more algorithmically curated–it needs something that looks a little bit more like Facebook’s News Feed This is interesting because I’m assuming there’s something like

What Your Profile Picture Says About You

What Your Profile Picture Says About You [http://jesuschristsiliconvalley.tumblr.com/post/46537875392/what-your-profile-picture-says-about-you-hint] : > there is a mathematical relationship between one’s douchebaggery and facial angle from camera.

Weakness with consequence: Why marketing is like gravity

Weakness with consequence: Why marketing is like gravity [http://martinweigel.org/2013/04/08/weakness-with-consequence-why-marketing-is-like-gravity/] : > Marketers might like to imagine the consumer in permanent orbit around their brand. But the fact of the matter is that people are happily polygamous in their brand ‘relationships’ for the simple reason that the

A Facebook of the Future: Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg Show Us Their New Content, New Algorithms, and New Alliances

A Facebook of the Future: Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg Show Us Their New Content, New Algorithms, and New Alliances [http://www.vanityfair.com/business/2013/05/facebook-future-mark-zuckerberg-sheryl-sandberg] : The best article about Facebook I’ve read in a long time – an excellent summary of recent history there.

Meat - a charming short story about mankind

Meat – a charming short story about mankind [http://www.terrybisson.com/page6/page6.html]: > “They’re made out of meat.” “Meat?” “Meat. They’re made out of meat.” “Meat?” “There’s no doubt about it. We picked up several from different parts of the planet, took them aboard our recon

Visceral Apps

Visceral Apps [http://mysterioustrousers.com/news/2013/3/25/visceral-apps-and-you]: > when properly done, a visceral app actually causes your body to release endorphins. Worth a read considering this was a real emphasis with Facebook Home and its UI physics too.

"That output does not rise or fall in direct proportion to the number of hours worked is a lesson..."

““That output does not rise or fall in direct proportion to the number of hours worked is a lesson that seemingly has to be relearned each generation.”” – Bring Back the 40 Hour Work Week [http://www.salon.com/2012/03/14/bring_back_the_40_hour_work_week/] via @tomstandage

The Power of Swarms Can Help Us Fight Cancer, Understand the Brain, and Predict the Future

The Power of Swarms Can Help Us Fight Cancer, Understand the Brain, and Predict the Future [http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/03/powers-of-swarms/all/]: > In the 1980s cognitive scientists began to posit that human cognition itself is an emergent process. In your brain, this thinking goes, different sets of

Vine is best when you're Being John Malkovic

Two big things I like about Twitter: 1. Source of content – links etc 2. Glimpses of how others see the world I think my Instagram feed was too weighted to people trying to achieve 1, e.g. Here’s a lovely sunset (satisfying on content alone.) While theres some of

Killing Home Working

Killing Home Working [http://socialoptic.com/2013/03/killing-home-working/]: > If someone smart makes (what looks like) a dumb decision, then they probably know something you don’t. There is, of course, a chance that you know something they don’t, but the further away from the situation you are, the

You don't want experts. You want jacks-of-all-trades

You don’t want experts. You want jacks-of-all-trades [http://pandodaily.com/2013/03/22/you-dont-want-experts-you-want-jacks-of-all-trades/] : I feel like this is one of those things that’s easy to say when you happen to be a generalist. The fact is, people are either specialists or mediocre generalists. Or worse… Mediocre specialists.

Why Bitcoin poses an interesting ethical conundrum for journalists paidContent

Why Bitcoin poses an interesting ethical conundrum for journalists paidContent [http://paidcontent.org/2013/03/22/why-bitcoin-poses-an-interesting-ethical-conundrum-for-journalists/] : “What are the ethics of writing about Bitcoin if you’ve bought some?” – David Meyer Kind of says this in the article but I think buying a small amount and declaring it is

"why not offer an alternative cut back version of Google results that shows fewer ads and reminds the..."

“why not offer an alternative cut back version of Google results that shows fewer ads and reminds the user why they fell in love with the search engine in the first place?” – Google Zero: the answer to the backlash | MaxTB.com [https://www.maxtb.com/2012/06/17/google-zero-the-answer-to-the-backlash/] I

A "formula" for landing page optimisation

A “formula” for landing page optimisation – Smart Insights Digital Marketing Advice [http://www.smartinsights.com/conversion-optimisation/landing-page-optimisation/best-landing-pages-formula/] . via Smart Insights Digital Marketing Advice [http://www.smartinsights.com/conversion-optimisation/landing-page-optimisation/best-landing-pages-formula/]

7 years later, another look at Twitter

7 years later, another look at Twitter [http://thenextweb.com/twitter/2013/03/22/twitter-6/]: “The transformation of the role of tweets from the sole purpose to a caption that leads users to media content is, in the end, a microcosm for the journey of Twitter as a whole.”

How formal should your marketing experiments be?

> too much formality — strictly enforced in all scenarios — could dramatically constrain the growth of grassroots marketing experimentation. via How formal should your marketing experiments be? – Chief Marketing Technologist [http://chiefmartec.com/2013/02/how-formal-should-marketing-experiments-be/]. One of the best article about making marketing more scientific that also emphasises the importance of

"A good analysis of how the Yahoo Summly purchase is a weird one"

“A good analysis of how the Yahoo Summly purchase is a weird one” – What’s Actually Wrong with Yahoo’s Purchase of Summly :: Hacking, Distributed [http://hackingdistributed.com/2013/03/26/summly/] “Let’s get some perspective here: Summly wasn’t reading Ulysses by James Joyce and extracting the fact

"What’s your engagement currency?"

“What’s your engagement currency?” – Engagement Currency | whatleydude [http://whatleydude.com/2012/01/engagement-currency/] There’s an interesting conflict going on here and I think it’s to do with ‘exchange’ as an aspect of currency. To rephrase some of this in a way that feels clearer to me: In

"Bioshock Infinite: How long should an NPC look at a boat?"

“Bioshock Infinite: How long should an NPC look at a boat?” – Breathing life into BioShock Infinite • Eurogamer.net [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-03-30-building-cities-in-the-sky] I’ve a feeling one day we’ll look back on these years as a fascinating, pioneering phase of games meeting their mainstream stride. Insights like

16 tapirs who think your attitude to “sponsored content” sucks

16 tapirs who think your attitude to “sponsored content” sucks [http://martinbelam.com/2013/16-tapirs-who-think-your-attitude-to-sponsored-content-sucks/] : (via Instapaper [http://www.instapaper.com/])

"This is “brand journalism”."

“This is “brand journalism”.” – 16 tapirs who think your attitude to “sponsored content” sucks [http://martinbelam.com/2013/16-tapirs-who-think-your-attitude-to-sponsored-content-sucks/] Honestly, ask yourself, if you were a reader enthusiastic about outdoor pursuits, which information source is actually giving you the best content? The one-off piece by the inquisitive journalist, or the

"Tracked changes: ‘adding value’ by glancing at your first draft and making it significantly worse by..."

“Tracked changes: ‘adding value’ by glancing at your first draft and making it significantly worse by randomly changing bits” – IDG Connect – Martin Veitch – The Travesty of ‘Track Changes’ [http://www.idgconnect.com/blog-abstract/849/martin-veitch-global-the-travesty-track-changes] A nice summary — I prefer the Google Drive approach which shows a full revision history.

How to Write a Convincing E-mail

How to Write a Convincing E-mail [http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/how-to-write-a-convincing-email.html]: Good email is the dark art that makes today’s business world go round.

Top Vine-vertising, would this have been possible inline for Twitter before?

The Story of Christoph Niemann’s Petting Zoo App : The New Yorker

The Story of Christoph Niemann’s Petting Zoo App : The New Yorker [http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2013/03/christoph-niemann-petting-zoo-app.html] : (via Instapaper [http://www.instapaper.com/])

Product satisfaction: It's all about the upgrades

There was a time when you had to invest in pricey new hardware if you wanted to have anything to look forward to in gadgets you’d bought. But these days everything from the smallest mobile app to film services like Netflix and console OSes continue to add value and

"When words become empty, the listener loses faith in the speaker. Apple has lost control of the..."

“When words become empty, the listener loses faith in the speaker. Apple has lost control of the narrative” – Apple is Losing The War – Of Words | Monday Note [http://www.mondaynote.com/2013/03/17/apple-is-losing-the-war-of-words/]

Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling

Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling « Aerogramme Writers’ Studio [http://aerogrammestudio.com/2013/03/07/pixars-22-rules-of-storytelling/]: (via Instapaper [http://www.instapaper.com/])

The new economics of media: If you want free content, there’s an almost infinite supply — paidContent

The new economics of media: If you want free content, there’s an almost infinite supply — paidContent [http://paidcontent.org/2013/03/06/the-new-economics-of-media-if-you-want-free-content-theres-an-almost-infinite-supply/] : (via Instapaper [http://www.instapaper.com/])

"Data contributes to development but doesn't replace the very unscientific notion of what to build and why"

“Data contributes to development but doesn’t replace the very unscientific notion of what to build and why.” – Data is not always a substitute for strategy | LinkedIn [http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130316190832-2293107-data-is-not-always-a-substitute-for-strategy] via @ChristianLanng. I grapple with this all the time — it’s satisfying to know that

"(Nike's) Parker borrowed more than a bullshit meter from Steve Jobs."

“(Nike’s) Parker borrowed more than a bullshit meter from Steve Jobs.” – Nike: The No. 1 Most Innovative Company Of 2013 | Most Innovative Companies 2013 | Fast Company [http://www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/2013/nike] The brief for this whole PR outreach was clearly “make Nike seem like Apple”. Most obvious

the-problem-with-online-freelance-journalism

the-problem-with-online-freelance-journalism [http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2013/03/05/the-problem-with-online-freelance-journalism/] : (via Instapaper [http://www.instapaper.com/])

What It's Like for a Deaf Person to Hear Music for the First Time - Rebecca J. Rosen - The Atlantic

What It’s Like for a Deaf Person to Hear Music for the First Time – Rebecca J. Rosen – The Atlantic [http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/08/what-its-like-for-a-deaf-person-to-hear-music-for-the-first-time/260890/] : (via Instapaper [http://www.instapaper.com/])

"Thiel doesn't subscribe to what he calls the start-up 'religion' of a-b testing"

“Thiel doesn’t subscribe to what he calls the start-up “religion” of a-b testing every tweak (until you run out of money) or incrementally-iterating at every step—to be so systematically chasing some random success that it strips out all conviction and creative ideas about the future.” – Peter Thiel Talks

An Open Letter to Yahoo CEO Marissa Meyer

tim sniffen writing & drawing [http://mrsniffen.tumblr.com/post/44600485954/an-open-letter-to-yahoo-ceo-marissa-mayer] : (via Instapaper [http://www.instapaper.com/])

Doing that one thing — Tech News and Analysis

Doing that one thing — Tech News and Analysis [http://gigaom.com/2013/03/06/doing-that-one-thing/]: (via Instapaper [http://www.instapaper.com/])

A Day in the Life of a Digital Editor, 2013

A Day in the Life of a Digital Editor, 2013 [http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/03/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-digital-editor-2013/273763/] : (via Instapaper [http://www.instapaper.com/])

"Unless you look at the numbers, you do not know what the Internet looks like."

“Unless you look at the numbers, you do not know what the Internet looks like.” – A Day in the Life of a Digital Editor, 2013 [http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/03/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-digital-editor-2013/273763/] I sort of hate but accept this. Great article about the mechanics of operating an

"I believe in the collective creativity of an office"

“I believe in the collective creativity of an office” – Alexandra Shulman on working from home: it’s not an adequate alternative | Money | The Guardian [http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2013/mar/02/alexandra-shulman-working-from-home?CMP=twt_gu] So true, you can replace most features but serendipity can’t be emulated

Ross Andersen: Humanity's deep future

Ross Andersen – Humanity’s deep future [http://www.aeonmagazine.com/world-views/ross-andersen-human-extinction/]: (via Instapaper [http://www.instapaper.com/])

Hilary Mantel · Royal Bodies · LRB 21 February 2013

Hilary Mantel · Royal Bodies · LRB 21 February 2013 [http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n04/hilary-mantel/royal-bodies]:

You're not gonna Like it: Facebook's new search struggles with the real world

You’re not gonna Like it: Facebook’s new search struggles with the real world [http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/15/3989340/facebook-graph-search-beta-review]:

NYT Public Editor on That Tesla Story

NYT Public Editor on That Tesla Story [http://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/18/problems-with-precision-and-judgment-but-not-integrity-in-tesla-test/] : (via Instapaper [http://www.instapaper.com/])

Play By Your Own Rules

Play By Your Own Rules [https://medium.com/work-education/6152adc41de9]: (via Instapaper [http://www.instapaper.com/])

Moves for iPhone

Moves for iPhone [http://www.moves-app.com/]: Moves is the perfect extension of my ‘data silhouettes [https://www.maxtb.com/2012/08/15/fitbit-klout-and-your-data-silhouettes/]’ theory — amazing little free app that dispatches with the OTT accuracy of Fitbit, Fuelband etc and provides the only realistic conclusion you can get from them

Vine is Twitter's route to selling visual ads in your stream

Imagine you have a stream of info with riveted users but all you can put in there is text. Want to expand the options? What better way than to introduce something for your users first and foremost that can be monetised in more powerful ways later on. Sponsored tweets are

The Re-Tale of Retail: HMV, community and the future

With the news of HMV’s demise today, following close on the heels of Jessops, Game and other similar massive retail chains, I’m seeing a couple of interesting things converging. When I was little, I remember an independent CD shop and videogame shop on my high st. But the

Thoughts on 'Culture Shock' by Will McInnes

What are we working for? As someone who just left an agency to craft my own role, it’s a question I’ve been considering myself a lot recently. Is the purpose of a company to create more and more profit? Is it to change the world? Is it to

Beaten: Xbox Mini could give Apple TV a run for its money

Today, a lesson. Don’t leave blogs making predictions about tech in your drafts folder so long that the rumour mill of those ideas coming true catches up with you [http://t.co/ODNo441t]. Looks like Microsoft is considering the Xbox Mini that I’d been toying with in the

Who do you trust with your data?

Thanks to the cloud, there’s basically no reason to lose important data ever again. Photos, phone numbers, videos, music – not only can you now store it out there in the ether but, in doing so, you open it up to a whole new world of possibilities, collaboration and accessibility.

So Far With... iPad Mini

Having owned at least one of every generation of iPad so far, what is the iPad Mini like? * It’s smaller, obviously. But the only time it really feels it is when trying to enter text. You can manage quick notes if you use the ‘split keyboard’ trick and it’

What happened next...

You remember that time I left my job and launched my own independent consultancy? Well, about that. It never actually happened. Despite registering the company, hiring accountants, developing my business plan and doing all those things you do when you’re launching a campaign to take over the world, life

Facebook - What a difference a day makes

Yesterday I was just thinking about going back to retroactively add in my technology history to my Facebook timeline after a comment from a Wired reader declared that technology journalists should make theirs public to provide context to their articles. Of course, I was going to set it as private

Fitbit, Klout and your data silhouettes

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/83346641@N00/4617759902] I never thought the Fitbit would exactly change my life – indeed, I bought it over the competition precisely because it was the cheapest way to dip my toe in the water of the ‘quantified self’ [https://plus.google.com/107128067330174980092/posts/jDpJV4S5Hyw]

Journalists vs Bloggers: How not to do it.

> @maxtb [https://twitter.com/maxtb] @tchl [https://twitter.com/tchl] The nuances are invented by aspirants who yearn to work as professional journalists but lack the ability. — Tim Luckhurst (@TCHL) August 9, 2012 [https://twitter.com/TCHL/status/233670107631603713] I enjoy good writing. I enjoy strong investigative writing that gets

MaxTB on Wired: Fitbit needs to watch its 'quantified' self

My latest for Wired UK, considering whether the iPod Nano could simply start to build in quantified self features and make life tough for Fitbit and co. There’s another device out there that sits in that price point and has already started ticking some of the boxes that would

A New Start: MaxTB Ltd.

MaxTB Ltd. Two and a half years is a long time. In dog years, that’s a decade and a half – in PR years, at the rate things are moving, it’s almost certainly more. And in *tech* PR, God only knows – let’s say a century. But anyway, a

Looking Beneath the Surface

Initial thoughts on the Microsoft Surface tablets, announced yesterday (read up at The Verge. [http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/18/3095683/microsoft-surface-tablet-versus-ipad-android] ) Warning: There are some generalisations ahead but I think they are ones we can all live with… #perksofnotbeingafulltimejourno MARKET Firstly: you aren’t going to buy a

Google Zero: the answer to the backlash

Recently, there has been a lot of talk about how Google is no longer the company it used to be – for example this ridiculous article [http://marketingland.com/once-deemed-evil-google-now-embraces-paid-inclusion-13138] by Danny Sullivan on paid inclusion last month.* From its search page design [http://www.davidmihm.com/blog/google/world/] to

Email won't send with O2 Broadband? Here's the solution.

Having spent days trying to get my work email to send after getting O2 Broadband, a solution emerged from their excellent Twitter customer service. From a ton of internet stalking, I knew it was something to do with the SMTP service being blocked according to a load of reading but

Could OAPs be Apple's Secret Testing Team?

Saw the video below and had one of those massive “what if” moments – How ‘Steve Jobs’ would it be to test new Apple products on single, old-aged individuals who probably won’t spill the beans? Who else are you going to sit an iPad in front to do user experience

Facebook should update its concept of 'Friends'

[https://i0.wp.com/farm1.static.flickr.com/213/451861781_0245fd6060.jpg] With its IPO now public, Facebook is about to enter something of dark zone for announcements – a move which will no doubt leave a void for speculation and rumour among tech writers. So I thought I might jump

Facebook wants you dead

Back in September 2010, Facebook went on a really interesting PR offensive – including a flurry [http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/09/20/100920fa_fact_vargas?currentPage=all] of activity [http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/10/sean-parker-201010?currentPage=all] when The Social Network launched and the announcement of

Free Speech Has Turned a Corner

[https://i0.wp.com/www.genderacrossborders.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/silence1.jpg] Last weekend, we’d nothing planned for the Sunday so the girlfriend and I decided to head over to Hyde Park to deride the Winter Wonderland then find something to do on Foursquare. Eventually we settled on

Power Struggles of the Advocate Age - The Social MBA

I really never thought I’d say this after only three years in PR but, come January, I’m going to be a published author. And I think that’s both quite humbling and seriously cool. A little while ago, I was kindly invited by Christer Holloman to contribute a

The Age of Digital Inhibitions

There has been a lot of conversation in the last couple of years about online privacy. But I think actually there’s a bigger theme that it all plays into – for me, these years have been just as much about shifting digital inhibitions. What does that mean? Let’s take

Wired Guest Post: Kindle micro-transactions for the win

A little while ago, I put a few thoughts together for this blog based on Kindle potentially becoming a platform for saving, reading and buying content web-wide – like Instapaper meets the App Store. Only, instead of publishing it here, I pitched it into technology bible Wired and it was published

How will we Manage without degrees?

Management is a skill and a great example of nature and nurture coming together as one. In PR, there’s no way to skip straight to management. It’s vocational enough that you simply can’t start delegating without the proper understanding of what you’re asking of people, what

How do I filter tweets from TweetDeck?

We’ve all seen it – it’s one of those days. A “trender”. Something you have little to no interest in (Big Brother, X Factor, Cricket) will now litter your feed tweet after tweet, with no end in sight. Once you’ve heard that Steve Jobs is on the way

5 ways to turn distraction into inspiration

Despite everything else that has changed in the workplace over the years, the ability to have good ideas is still the differentiator that can launch your pitch, project or business onto another level. But with access to funnels of information that previous generations couldn’t imagine, today’s challenge has

Failure Conference: the ultimate success?

An interesting slide deck [http://www.slideshare.net/Griner/fail-learning-from-social-media-disaster] came to my attention today via @JordanStone [http://twitter.com/jordanstone], which takes a look at examples where companies have failed on social media. But the key fact is that the story doesn’t end there – it then looks at

Death of the Social Media Guru: 4 New Signs of the Social Media Try-Hard

For some time now, anyone who calls themself a Social Media Guru (or supremo, or magician or ninja or zombie pirate) has quite rightly been derided for tweeting too hard. But in response, this group has upped its game. Meet… The “Social Media Cynic.” Now that these people have become

What happens to social profiles after you die?

For a while, the topic of what happens to your social media presence after you die [http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/03/death-and-social-media-what-happens-to-your-life-online.ars] has been something of a quandary, with graveyards of Facebook profiles and ceased Twitter accounts littering the web. But in a particularly poignant recent example

How to write a CV... with your life

Like most people, I like good ideas. So I was delighted to see this Yo Zuck! Tumblr [http://yozuck.tumblr.com/] from “designer and thinker”,Youssef Sarhan [https://twitter.com/#!/ys], tidily highlighting simple ideas for how he’d improve Facebook. Bit.ly says he’s on 724 clicks [http:

Could PRs become the next best journalists?

For years, the world of PR has played host to aliens from the other side of its universe as journo after journo made the move from Editor to “head of content” or similar. And while historically there have been leaps in the opposite direction, it’s generally more like a

Why Quora will be a slow burner success

There may be no service on Earth full of as much spurious misinformation, confusion and doubt as Yahoo Answers. There’s a sense of 100 monkeys at 100 typewriters with the occasional answer breaking for freedom with a whisper of welcome sanity. By contrast, I think Quora has more potential

Location alone gets you nowhere

As if making sure @DannyWhatmough [http://www.twitter.com/dannywhatmough] never becomes Mayor of Wildfire PR wasn’t enough, I’ve actually found real value from Foursquare here and there. In the first example, I checked into a bar and was quickly called by an old friend I hadn’t

Overtransparency and the Dilemma of #Client Vs Integrity

This time last year, there was some fuss about The SarcMark [http://sarcmark.com], a new piece of punctuation designed to make the use of sarcasm explicit by putting a little marker at the end of each relevant sentence.* Naturally, it was met with near universalderision and ridicule [http://www.

Quora and the big "what if"

I’m reliably informed that every day, Google serves about 3 billion searches [http://www.quora.com/How-many-search-queries-does-Google-serve-worldwide-every-day?q=How+many+google+searches] globally. I didn’t count that myself but I’m taking it on good authority. But what if instead, every query was saved as a unique page

Social Media: the Talk

<< Originally a guest post for the Social Collective blog [http://www.social-collective.com/2010/08/24/guest-post-%E2%80%9Cthe-talk%E2%80%9D/#comments] , stumbled upon it while Googling and decided it deserves to be here too >> [https://i0.wp.com/www.social-collective.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Max-illustration.jpg]

The truth behind Follow Friday

A jolly little cartoon [http://theoatmeal.com/comics/follow_friday] just popped up in my Twitter feed (thanks @lewsisshields [http://twitter.com/lewisshields]) making an entertaining point about the Follow Friday phenomenon- namely that nobody ever follows the people suggested in such tweets. But actually I think this kind of

So Far With... Kindle 3G

[https://i0.wp.com/www.maxtb.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Kindle-front-graphite1.jpg?ssl=1] My brother and I have a kind of gentleman’s agreement to buy each other the gadgets we want but can’t justify as Christmas presents every year. What’s more, we cunningly subvert the

Does the tech scene need more humanity?

An interesting Tweetversation has been going on between a couple of leading UK tech journos Chris Davies [http://twitter.com/c_davies] (from SlashGear [http://slashgear.com]) and Mic Wright [http://twitter.com/brokenbottleboy] ( freelancer [http://brokenbottleboy.tumblr.com/]for the likes of Wired [http://www.wired.co.uk/] & co.

PR coverage- a new perspective

As you may have heard, last week my agency Wildfire PR released some social media research which saw some pretty excellent pickup all over the place. As PRs, we’re all pretty used to the value of good coverage- traditionally,  it’s one of the great magical currencies of what

Playing Games in Business

Modern Warfare 2, probably the most successful game of all time, sold 7 million copies during its first day on sale. That’s 7 million men, women and children out there who are logging hours on the thing as we speak.  But it’s not the only game raking in

Sustainable Social Media: A Manifesto

<< Crossposted from my post on the official Wildfire PR [http://blog.wildfirepr.co.uk/] blog. Because I like it. >> If one thing has become clear in the last few weeks, it’s that everyone loves the Old Spice guy.  He sprung out of nowhere, posted some clever YouTube videos [http:

Stop asking what social media is for

Recent releases of online tools have been plagued by the question: What’s it for? In the case of Buzz, it was criticised for trying to be Twitter. Considering the big question from Twitter luddites is “what’s it for?”, it’s a surprise this paradox didn’t cause a

Knowledge and Power

This is as close to a ‘reblog’ as I’m likely to get- advice from a chap called Daniel Ellsberg to a young Henry Kissinger upon him receiving his first top secret clearances. I think it’s one of the most important things you could ever remember when scrutinising the

Is there a PR career sweet spot?

A PR career [http://wildfirepr.co.uk] is a funny thing. The account exec role births you into a chaotic world of frenzied media relations and client report deadlines. But no sooner do you get a grip on these fundamentals than the skillset gives way bit by bit to a

Dell's Streaky Tablet Strategy

An unidentified non-Streaky Dell tabletDon’t get me wrong, Dell don’t exactly *need* a tablet PC right now. For a start, they don’t have the OS for it and in reality, the iPad is also too pricey for the mainstream Dell audience to shell out. They aren’t

Old Spice: Swan Dive or Cannonball?

By now, you’ll have seen the excellent recent Old Spice ads [http://www.youtube.com/user/OldSpice] as well as the ingenious @oldspice [http://twitter.com/oldspice] followup campaign. But the thing is, as good as they are, its not going to make me buy old spice. And I

iPad Thoughts- 1 month later (ish.)

[https://i0.wp.com/www.maxtb.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/image.jpeg?ssl=1]A few more observations now that I’ve been using it a while. Naturally if you aren’t interested in iPads then you might want to give this one a miss… * Many people express frustration

IPad Thoughts - 4 days in

Time for a few early iPad thoughts (it arrived on Thursday, ahead of schedule!) Will try not to be too gushing and also to avoid topics I've seen discussed most frequently elsewhere. In no particular order: * Its not a big iPod Touch- the relationship is the other way round. That

Information is Beautiful but Ceremony is Special

Day in day out we’re bombarded with companies telling us how important it is to remove the barriers between us and our information.  The iPad, for instance, offers to put the web in the palm of your hands. No browser, no operating system, no hardware, just the web, flopping

What is Google Findy?

[http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4066/4523721970_14b5e66f2f_o.png]What have I Foundy?Google’s little secret I’m not going to lie to you, I don’t have much more to ask here than the question: What is Google Findy? I stumbled upon it during a recent search

Spot If I am right about the future of Spotify.

As usual, the writing of this post was accelerated due to current events, namely the excellent new version of Spotify’s iPhone app. But that’s not actually what I want to talk about today. In fact, there’s a much bigger picture here involving the brutally buzzwordised concept of

Why I'll always have time for timesheets

Graham Goodkind [http://twitter.com/goodkind]’s recent piece [http://www.prmoment.com/why-pr-time-sheets-should-be-scrapped.aspx#fifth] on why PR timesheets should be scrapped seems to over-simplify the issue.  Certainly, they’re an imperfect system as demonstrated by his stats showing how they are inevitably filled out with less than ideal

Apple's Razor Sharp New Direction

With the iPad, Apple has clearly slashed its usual profit margins and priced the device to sell. I think this marks a fascinating shift for the company toward the classic ‘razor blade [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freebie_marketing]‘ strategy of providing a cheap platform to enable a steady revenue

Maxicom - AxiCom = MaxTB at Wildfire

Hello anonymous blinking observers. It’s time to announce that as of Monday the 15th of March, I’ll be leaving my role at the magnificent global PR powerhouse AxiCom to join the team of thrusting young things at Wildfire PR [http://wildfirepr.co.uk/]. Raising the Temperature You may

How to Stop PR Spam

[https://i0.wp.com/www.maxtb.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/spamboy.jpg?ssl=1] The writing of this post was accelerated by today’s launch of An Inconvenient PR Truth [http://inconvenientprtruth.com], a marketing campaign from RealWire [http://realwire.com] with its own clever take on the PR

Thank Me Later: The Role of Gratitude in Social Media

[https://i0.wp.com/www.maxtb.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/thumbs-up.jpg?ssl=1] Good manners are great- like social alchemy, they lubricate the processes of every day life, giving a little advantage to those who use them effectively. But as with all things, they require balance.  Perhaps it’

Why the Nexus is not "just another Android phone"

[https://i0.wp.com/www.maxtb.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/nexus-android.jpg?ssl=1] Okay, let’s make this clear: The Nexus [http://google.com/phone] is just another Android phone. However, it’s one that Google have thrown the full weight of their marketing effort behind. Bear in

Thoughts on Journalists' Public Relations Relations

[https://i0.wp.com/www.maxtb.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/presshat.jpg?ssl=1] Whatever your business, reputation is important. But in media-related industries like journalism and PR, it’s absolutely vital. Today’s fuss about Kevin Braddock [http://bachelorcookbook.blogspot.com]‘s naming and shaming of PRs [http:

Griffin vs the Chimera of Society

Like many of you, I was sucked in by the #bbcqt activity last night in a manner that 2 Screen would surely be proud of.  However, I couldn’t help but think this. Tweetminster measured 12.49 #bbcqt tweets per second by the end of the programme, a phenomenal volume

Have Apple Miced an Opportunity?

In today’s Apple update, there’s one element for me that’s far more exciting than the others and yet at the same time, really disappointing.  The new Magic Mouse. Sure, iMac users can now woosh around and no longer have to live in jealousy of their MacBook brothers

Are you a fan of fans being fanned by the fantastic Dyson Fan fan?

If you’re anything like me, you’ll be relieved to hear today’s Dyson announcement about bringing air-multiplication to the mainstream.  This country was built on such great endeavours; just look at the water punctuation of the 30s or fire division pioneered by Sir Henry Johnstead back in the

Why didn't The Sun switch to the Lib Dems instead?

Imaginatively, The Sun today declared their support for the Conservative Party [http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2661063/The-Sun-Says-Labours-lost-it.html] after 12 years of backing Labour. But is this a mature approach in modern times?  Does a publication have to declare its support for a particular party, drawing

North/ South Twivide

Couldn’t resist putting this up. Trendsmap [http://trendsmap.com/] is a service that layers tags on top of a World map to show what is trending where.  Let’s have a look at the image below: In the area around London:  Grammar, investment, debate. Over toward Liverpool: @mrpeterandre [http:

Does Android Dream of Electric Waves?

Since its announcement two years ago, Google’s Android platform has had a bit of an underwhelming start, at least until the last few months when the new HTC Hero handsets seem to have provided a proper backdrop to do it justice. The platform itself has been bouncing along its

Follow Friday - 18 Sept 09

Some telecoms examples for today's Follow Friday blog post.  Enjoy… @guyatcarphone [http://twitter.com/guyatcarphone] – Among generally worthwhile tweets, there are also interesting updates on cellular reception as the network inevitably collapses around the country.  A good idea and worth having on the roster just in case. Example Tweet: > Carphone

Follow Friday - 4 Sept 09

A sprinkling of favourites for my first official Follow Friday blog post.  Enjoy… @danworth [http://twitter.com/danworth] – Journalistic chap who tweets those interesting thoughts that pop up throughout the day.  Also has an interesting blog [http://www.danielworth.blogspot.com/] on things like books, journalism and crisps. Example Tweet:

Where do you keep your Chromium?

Who knows, Chrome OS could finally be the missing link that brings Linux into the big time but I’m interested is how the ecosystem will grow around it. Surely Google will release some kind of Skydrive where you can store your content, freeing up space inside those tiny netbooks

Vodafone (femto)selling half of the future

Good news about Vodafone’s femtocell product [http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/vodafone-launches-home-3g-femtocell-in-the-uk-1203] but I believe it’s only a hop and step into the triple jump of FMC. Still, I guess you have to start somewhere. If you’re within your house though, why not just switch to

Are you Content not to Contend with Content?

Had a conversation with a colleague about Twitter [http://www.twitter.com/maxtb] today. She was claiming that you can’t say anything worthwhile in 140 characters, a suggestion made by many that I’ve tried to explain the popular microblog to. I’d argue it depends what you’re

Thoughts falling far from the tree?

With thousands of millions of downloads zinging their way to the 17 million iPhones out there in the wild, it'd be hard to argue that Apple aren't on to something with the App Store. But I think there's a clear and greater opportunity on the horizon. Don't get me wrong,

Sometimes business just ain't pretty

Today saw a million angry iPhone worshippers all cry out at once as Apple revealed the ‘shocking’ news that they won’t be giving each customer hundreds of pounds worth of hardware for free.Or at least, not this time… A number of thoughts strike me on this. One, the