Category Archives: Uncategorised

Beatnic font

[Reading time: < 1 minute] I made a font based on my handwriting for use in my digital sketches and e-learning. Here’s a sample: It’s rough and ready, a little uneven on the baseline, and limited to A-Z caps and … Continue reading

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Social networking on intranets – have a problem to solve, and expect it to take time, says Jakob Nielsen

[Reading time: 2 - 3 minutes] Here are the findings from usability “guru” Jakob Nielsen’s report on Social Networking on Intranets…   Underground efforts yield big results. Companies are turning a blind eye to underground social software efforts until they … Continue reading

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Be careful, sometimes the writing really is on the wall

[Reading time: 2 - 2 minutes] Imagine my surprise the other day when I walked past a meeting room and read the words: “How to tell the team the bad news“ Alright, that’s made up. But I have seen several … Continue reading

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Communities – start simple, don’t over-design

[Reading time: 2 - 2 minutes] Social notworking In 2002 we built something on the BBC’s intranet called “Learning Online”. I was working with an amazing team of forward-thinking and innovative people. We designed Learning Online to be the intranet … Continue reading

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What is Twitter?

[Reading time: 2 - 2 minutes] Twitter is used in many different ways. As @dulwichmum says, its nearest equivalent that people are familiar with is Facebook status updates. Twitter updates, or “tweets” as they are sometimes called, are limited in … Continue reading

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Robin Good at leweb: 12 things we must learn to do really well

[Reading time: 1 - 2 minutes] Thanks to Peter Bihr aka thewavingcat on Twitter I was able to sit in on some of Loic Lemeur‘s Leweb this week via Berlinbase.de, a livestreaming mashup of video and text updates. One talk … Continue reading

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Double espresso – Wesabe

[Reading time: 2 - 3 minutes] Things I’ve been getting excited about recently over a double espresso… Wesabe I’ve been looking for easy ways to track what I’m spending. Mint.com comes highly recommended but wouldn’t let me in without a … Continue reading

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Double espresso – Last.fm

[Reading time: 2 - 2 minutes] Inspired by Tom Coombs’s recent “Have you seen…?” post, here are some of the things I’ve been banging on about recently over a double espresso. First… Last.fm Last FM Last.fm plays you music while … Continue reading

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To do: switch on Labs features in Google Apps

[Reading time: 1 - 2 minutes] I recently switched over from standard google mail, calendar etc. to make more use of and get my head round Google Apps. The first thing I noticed was that I’d lost some features I’d … Continue reading

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Anne Shelton, 1928-1994

[Reading time: < 1 minute] 142 Court Lane, East Dulwich Anne Shelton 1928-1994 Popular singer and the World War II “Forces’ Favourite” lived here Voted by the People This blue plaque was unveiled on 6 October 2008. Further info on … Continue reading

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Golly. Hello blogosphere. You still here?

[Reading time: < 1 minute] After reading so many posts in the blogosphere about its own demise, I must say it’s quite a relief to see it’s still here. And according to google reader people are still writing stuff in … Continue reading

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Yammer and the intranet beyond the firewall

[Reading time: 2 - 3 minutes] One of the hats I wear is Content Producer for Intranets Live, a subscription-based intranet media channel, with a monthly two-hour online show starting on 4 November. In the first show we’ll be interviewing … Continue reading

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Tempus fugit

[Reading time: < 1 minute] A year to the day since I embarked on this freelance adventure. It’s been full of variety, full of people, full of learning, full of challenges and full of fun! Thoughts to follow sooner or … Continue reading

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Latest Lisbon tourist attraction – police on Segways

[Reading time: < 1 minute] Two police officers trying out their Segways cause quite a stir in a Lisbon street. They appeared to be thoroughly enjoying being the centre of attention, with tourists queuing up to have their photo taken … Continue reading

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Go car

[Reading time: < 1 minute] Two seats, three wheels and it talks. The GPS-enabled Go Car in Lisbon, Portugal. Sight-seers use these small electric vehicles to travel around Portugal’s capital city and the GPS-aware commentary system tells you about all … Continue reading

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School of everything

[Reading time: 1 - 2 minutes] Congratulations to those behind School of Everything which had its official launch yesterday from Channel 4′s headquarters in Horseferry Road, London. School of Everything is based on the simplest of ideas – that “everyone … Continue reading

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Another accidental pattern?

[Reading time: < 1 minute] I get strangely excited when I encounter accidental patterns, such as the 37 bus passing the 63. My mind just makes the connection. I can’t explain it, but it’s almost as if my mind is … Continue reading

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Stopped smoking? Have a “TED break”

[Reading time: 2 - 2 minutes] If you’ve quit smoking and you’re wondering what to do with your extra 30 minutes at work every day, why not spend 18 of them watching one of the many great talks on TED … Continue reading

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One card-reader fits all for online banking

[Reading time: 1 - 2 minutes] Good news if you do online banking with several different banks. You only need one card-reader. The card-readers are all the same bar the branding. So if you bank with Barclays, NatWest, Nationwide, RBS … Continue reading

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Talking of tabs

[Reading time: 1 - 2 minutes] Make someone’s day! Tell them they can use the Tab key on their keyboard to move through a web-page. To those who already know, it seems obvious, taken for granted. But if you’ve ever … Continue reading

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Quick user research tip: Open All in Tabs

[Reading time: 1 - 2 minutes] We’ve been running some design research sessions which involve several scenarios, each of which uses a slightly different design version for a website. Each scenario has its own starting page, each of which we … Continue reading

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Musical inspiration

[Reading time: 1 - 2 minutes] TED Talk: Tod Machover & Dan Ellsey: Releasing the music in your head Via Joe Lazarus via Scobleizer on Twitter.

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SharePoint and Web Accessibility

[Reading time: < 1 minute] According to Bruce Lawson, a web accessibility expert working in the legal sector, Sharepoint fails to meet one of the priority 1 requirements (which must be met), and breaks some priority two requirements (which should … Continue reading

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Keep the change

[Reading time: 1 - 2 minutes] A good reason not to move entirely to virtual money… I thought the six coins could make up a shield by arranging the coins both horizontally, as with the landscape idea, as well as … Continue reading

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e-learning: SCORM resources on the web

[Reading time: 2 - 3 minutes] SCORM stands for Sharable Content Object Reference Model. It’s a widely adopted and internationally recognised standard for tracking progress in online learning. It was first developed by ADL in the United States in 1999. … Continue reading

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