beatnic - just wondering

This series of short articles explains some simple and free ways to use the internet to keep tabs on the subjects you’re interested in. I’m using East Dulwich as the example subject.

Previously: Part 1 - Google Alerts, Part 2 - Technorati Watchlists, Part 3 - Twitter tracking.

This article is about following Delicious bookmark tags using RSS.

In a nutshell: use your RSS reader to notify you whenever someone adds a bookmark to Delicious and tags it “eastdulwich“

Delicious

The website del.icio.us (pronounced as “delicious”) is a social bookmarking web service for storing, sharing, and discovering web bookmarks. The site was founded by Joshua Schachter in late 2003, and was acquired by Yahoo! in 2005.
[Source: wikipedia]

Instead of using Firefox “Bookmarks” or “Favorites” (sic) in Internet Explorer, you can save URLs (web addresses) of the pages and sites you want to remember to your account on Delicious.

This means you can access your bookmarks wherever you go, rather than being tied to using the same computer.

You can also share your bookmarks, and see other people’s bookmarks. There is an optional setting to make any bookmark private.

When you save a bookmark you can add tags - or labels - to describe it, to make it easy to find and to group it with other similar bookmarks.

This also means that you can use delicious to track the tags you’re interested in.

There is an RSS feed available for all tags in delicious. Adding a tag’s feed to your RSS reader means you’ll be notified whenever your reader picks up a new item.

The page for all latest public bookmarks for East Dulwich is at http://del.icio.us/tag/eastdulwich, and the RSS feed at http://del.icio.us/rss/tag/eastdulwich.

As well as subscribing to feeds for tags you can also subscribe to feeds from people with accounts on delicious. My latest public bookmarks are at http://del.icio.us/beatnic and the RSS feed at http://del.icio.us/rss/beatnic

I have my own public delicious bookmarks automatically published to this website, resulting in posts with a title beginning “links for yyyy-mm-dd” (where yyyy-mm-dd is the date I saved the bookmarks).

Other social bookmarking websites are gaining in popularity - see this list on wikipedia - delicious is easy to use and one of the most popular, so should give a reasonable representation of what’s getting noticed on the web.

In this series of short articles, I’m looking at different ways of subject-tracking on the internet.

Previous articles covered Google Alerts and Technorati Watchlists.

This article is about Twitter and its tracking feature, using East Dulwich as the example subject.

Twitter

Twitter lets you share your thoughts with the world.

You can do this by text message (SMS), IM (instant messaging), via the Twitter website, or using a downloadable desktop application like Twitterific (Mac only).

Once you’ve set up your Twitter account you can start “tweeting” your updates. Sometimes called micro-blogging, it’s a bit like writing status updates in Facebook.

Your tweets will appear on your page on the Twitter website. My page is at http://www.twitter.com/beatnic and is public.

People who want to subscribe to your updates can become your “followers” - don’t worry it’s not as cultish as it sounds.

Your updates will appear on the Twitter public timeline. If you’d prefer not to be so public you can “protect” your updates - in this case people will need to request your permission to follow you.

If you’ve set yourself up with an RSS reader, you can add Twitter update feeds of the people you’re following.

People are using Twitter in all sorts of ways, including:

• The BBC tweets news headlines and links to the full articles on its website
• US presidential candidate Barrack Obama tweets about his campaign
• Transport for London tweets traffic updates (using a service called twitterfeed to convert RSS items to tweets.

Twittervision is a mesmerising website showing what people are tweeting right now, and where they are in the world. It’s a mash-up of Twitter - using a feed from the public timeline - and Google maps.

Tracking subjects on Twitter

One of the features of Twitter is the ability to “track” subjects.

You can do this using by text message (SMS) and IM. At the moment, this is limited to text message (SMS) only. [thanks to Andrew M for the correction - see comments]

Text or instant message Track East Dulwich to Twitter. You will immediately recieve a confirmation message.

That’s it. You’ll now receive updates for any public Twitter update mentioning the subject/s your tracking.

If you’re logged in to IM your updates will be by instant message only. Your text message updates from Twitter will be switched off until you log out of IM.

To stop tracking a subject, send a text or instant message with the words Untrack East Dulwich. Again, Twitter will send you an immediate confirmation message.

The rate of updates will very much depend on the subject you choose and the timing.

I’ve received one update for East Dulwich in the last three days.

Last night I tracked England and Croatia and received about 300 texts!

Cost of using Twitter with SMS in the UK

Sending a text to Twitter costs your mobile phone company’s standard text-message rate - watch out if you’re with 3 or T-mobile, according to this article on TechCrunch uk:

Note also that the 07624 in Twitter’s number (+44 762 4801423) means it is actually billed as “international” by 3 and T-Mobile, making it a pricey service for those who like to tweet via SMS.

Receiving text updates from Twitter is free in the UK. In the United States you pay.

The same Techcrunch article suggests a newly added a UK limit of 250 incoming texts per week.

How do you keep on top of everything everyone’s saying about East Dulwich, or any other subject, online?

In this series of short articles I’m going to run through a few things you can set up quickly and for free to follow what people are saying about the things you’re interested in. [Also in this series: Part 1 - Google Alerts, Part 3 - Twitter tracking, Part 4 - Delicious bookmark tags]

This article looks at Technorati Watchlists.

I’m using East Dulwich as an example, but you can do this for any number of subjects.

To get the most out of these tools and techniques, you’re best bet is to set yourself up with an RSS reader or aggregator. Don’t be put off if this sounds a bit geeky. The popular RSS readers are fairly intuitive to set up and free to use. For further information about RSS and how to set up a reader, see this page on the BBC website.

Technorati Watchlists

Set up a Watchlist on Technorati, and find out when somebody writes a blog post mentioning East Dulwich (or whichever subjects you choose). Currently Technorati tracks 112.8 million blogs on our behalf.

Technorati is a search engine which covers the “World Live Web” - a subset of the World Wide Web - and claims to be no more than 10 minutes out of date. Read more about how Technorati works here.

Setting up an account on Technorati is quick and free - look for the link titled “Join”. Once you have your account set up, here’s what you do:

1. Visit the Technorati Watchlist page
2. Enter your subject in the Add to your Watchlist box
3. Hit the Add button.

That’s it. You’re now watching the “World Live Web” for the subject you entered.

To view an example of what a Watchlist looks like for East Dulwich, click on the thumbail image below.

You now have 3 choices for keeping up to date with your Watchlist:

• Bookmark the web address for your Technorati Watchlist
  This is not the most efficient method, as you’ll need to remember to visit fairly regularly to avoid missing anything.
• Subscribe to the RSS feed for your Watchlist
  Using this method, your RSS reader does the work by regularly visiting your watchlist and looking for updates. Any new content will be listed in your RSS reader, a bit like new email in your inbox. Then you can scan this list in your reader whenever most convenient.
• Subscribe to an RSS to email service
  If you’d rather not user an RSS reader, you can always have updates emailed to you. Technorati doesn’t offer this service, so you’ll need to use another website to do this for you. I’ve set up an account on FeedBlitz - I will review this separately, but so far it has not scored high on usability!

Is anyone blogging about you? Why not set up a Watchlist for your name.

How do you keep on top of everything everyone’s saying about East Dulwich, or any other subject, online?

In this series of short articles I’m going to run through a few things you can set up quickly and for free to follow what people are saying about the things you’re interested in.

This article looks at Google Alerts.

[Also in this series: Part 2 - Technorati Watchlists, Part 3 - Twitter tracking]

I’m using East Dulwich as an example, but you can do this for any number of subjects.

As well as for personal interest, these techniques are useful if you want to keep an eye on what people are writing about your industry, company, product, service, or your competition, not to mention your favourite sports team, tv programme, pop singer… So if you work in marketing, product development, corporate communication, the press office, public relations - to name but a few - take note.

Google alerts

Google Alerts is a service which emails you when it finds a new mention of your chosen subject.

So rather than you having to search for East Dulwich every now and then, you can get Google to do the searching for you.

You can have alerts sent to your preferred email address, but you’ll need a google account (free and quick to set up) if you want to edit and manage your alerts.

Here’s what you have to do:

1. Visit google alerts
2. Type in the subject you want to track, e.g. East Dulwich or SE22
3. Choose the type of search you’d like. The choices are news, blogs, video, web, groups or comprehensive (an aggregate of recent results)
4. Select how often you’d like google to email you. The options are as it happens, once a day and once a week.

That’s it. Now you’ll never miss another mention of your chosen subject - as long as google picks it up of course.

You can set up as many alerts as you need.

The alerts are in the same format as the search results. They highlight where your subject is mentioned and link to the original source.

09:00 - 16:00

7 DAYS A WEEK

Congratulations to The Bishop, winner of Best Bar in East Dulwich 2007 as voted for by members of the East Dulwich Forum.

The results are here.

And the reaction here.

Peckham Rye Park cafe opened for business yesterday and according to these East Dulwich Forum regulars, so far so good.

I have it on good authority that the café will open on Monday 12th November.

Hooray! I met the people who’ll be running it today, they were kind enough to show me round. It looks fantastic.

The very best of luck to them :-)

It’s time for you to vote for your favourite East Dulwich bar (or pub) of the year.

There’s no criteria for voting, just your favourite drinking establishment. Imagine you left East Dulwich for a few months and then returned, where would you go for your first drink? Where have you deservedly spent rather a lot of money this year?

Vote in the East Dulwich Forum.

The Black Cherry won last year.

Interesting to see the arrival this week of The West Dulwich Forum - “Talk about property, restaurants, pubs, shops, services, transport, planning, it’s up to you…”

It has a striking resemblance to the East Dulwich Forum.

I wonder if they are they by any chance related?

Another feed for my RSS reader…

According to Phil Williams on BBC Radio Five Live yesterday afternoon.

Made me laugh.

As local Cllr Richard Thomas writes, you can have your say about what should happen to Goose Green roundabout (see location on google maps).

The shortlist:

1. feature tree
2. sign post
3. lantern
4. art installation

See further suggestions, information and discussion on the East Dulwich Forum

If you’ll pardon the pun.

I’ve just been sent this info about an event taking place in July. I’ve added in the link showing where the venue is on Google maps.

Title: Gas Organ exhibition
Venue: The Sassoon Gallery
Location: Blenheim Grove, Peckham Rye, London SE15
Date: 16th - 18th July
Time: Midday - 9pm
Cost: Free

On three sultry nights in July, the sepulchral vault of Peckham’s underground venue The Sassoon Gallery will reverberate to the eerily melancholic strains of the infamous Gas Organ.

The Brain-child of founding collaborators Lou Smith and Rufus Burdett, the Gas Organ is a fabulous musical instrument, able to play itself, or be controlled or played remotely.

Constructed from freely available plumbing, electrical and laboratory components, the Gas Organ is a fusion of Art, Science and Engineering, beautiful in its clinical appearance and mesmerising in its auditory effect. Witnesses of the event have their credulity challenged as they view the ephemeral chaotic turbulence of a flame producing such incredible range and depth of sound; how can a science lab experiment evoke such an emotional response as this? I am watching this, but I don’t believe it.

Weblink: www.experiment1.co.uk

I will definitely be checking it out.

A gem from the East Dulwich Forum…

A friend once met an American called Randy who complained about “you Brits always sniggering at my name”, stifling his own giggles my friend politely reassured him though it had certain connotations in the UK, Randy was a fine name and that not all British people were that juvenile.
The American thanked him but said it happens every time he meets a Brit, they always fall about laughing “all I have to say is “Hi I’m Randy Bender”"

There’s talk over in the East Dulwich Forum that Channel Four’s Grand Designs has been filming in Landells Road in East Dulwich.

The episode is scheduled to go out on Wednesday 16th May.

And last night saw Kevin McCloud revisiting Peckham.

Stuff that’s caght my eye in the excellent East Dulwich Forum.

• Moxons the fishmongers has opened a shop on Lordship Lane.
• Two Trees Lounge has closed - shame, the did good pizzas and had a never ending source of Claude Challe music.
• Join us for some early morning running (and here too) round the local parks.
• Wanted: sofa
• Recommended: plumbers, painter/decorator
• Next forum meet up: 24th Feb, 7.30pm onwards at the EDT

a mum, she’d be pushing a Bugaboo round the park in her MBTs.

a house, it would be having its loft converted.

The Herne Tavern in East Dulwich has just been ‘palmerstoned’ - good food if a bit pricey.

The garden has been landscaped in to teletubbyland.

Actually it looks pretty stunning.

And it’s 100% child-friendly - the play area’s still there.

You wait for ages and then two come along at once!

Via my bloglines subscription to a Technorati search for “East Dulwich” I’ve juts found a couple of new blogs.

se22man (”living it up in SE22, east dulwich stylee, centre of the universe”)

and

east dulwich life (which led me also to camberwellonline which is full of conversation)

The creator of the A-Z road maps is to be honoured with the unveiling of a Southwark Council Blue Plaque.

Phyllis Pearsall walked 3,000 miles to create the atlas of London, which first went on sale in 1936.

She had the idea when she became lost while trying to find the homes of people she had been asked to paint.

The plaque will be unveiled on Wednesday at 3 Court Lane Gardens, East Dulwich, south-east London, where the artist was born in 1906.

[Source: BBC News]

She lived here and walked a very, very long way.

Via Londonist

Brilliant Google Maps hack, just what I’ve been looking for.

Work out how far you’re walking, running, cycling etc. using virtual map pins.

Turns out I wasn’t far off when I guessed Sunday Circuit at 10km in an earlier post.

Using Gmaps Pedometer here’s the circuit at 9.7km (I’d add 300metres to get to the circuit from where I live and back.

You can also toggle elevation on and off to show you all the hills in profile.

Distance: 11.78 miles
Time: 45 minutes 41 seconds on the pedal
Average speed: 15.4 mph
Max speed: 27.1 mph

Total elapsed time: 49 minutes approx.

Hanging in System Solutions, where you can get all your Mac problems sorted and where they still proudly do some of their business on an old Atari ST.

If you’re looking for a plumber in the SE22 area I can put you in touch with someone who I can thoroughly recommend.

Let me know via the comments below and I’ll put you in touch.

[Update: 11th November 2006] Following the arrival of the excellent East Dulwich Forum, where you can find plumbers and all sorts of other useful people, I have now closed comments on this post and would recommend folk use the forum to seek good local trade.

I saw this sign yesterday on the gate in to Peckham Rye Park opposite the Herne Tavern.

A meeting which happened last Wednesday included discussion of a café tender for Peckham Rye Park.

According to this Southwark Council document:

RECOMMENDATION(S)

1. That the £60,000 allocated within the Environment and Leisure capital strategy 2004/07 for the construction of a new café for Peckham Rye Park be approved for release.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

2. Peckham Rye Park is one of the Borough’s four major parks and has undergone a complete restoration following the award of a £2.5 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. This work will be completed in July 2005.

3. As part of the grant giving process, the Heritage Lottery Fund considered the funding of a new café for the site, but this option was rejected by the HLF Trustees.

4. The need for a café on the site has been identified and is a key performance indicator for the delivery of the best Value Review of Parks (2001). The construction of a café is supported by the Friends of Peckham Rye Park and the wider community.

5. At the Executive Committee meeting of February 2005, Members agreed to allocate a further £60,000 to this project as part of the Environment and Leisure Capital Strategy 2005-08. This sum was in addition to the budget of £300,000 that had been approved by Members in February 2004.

KEY ISSUES FOR CONSIDERATION

6. Peckham Rye Park is a Grade II listed landscape. However, the site of the proposed café is within Peckham Rye common, outside of the area of the listing. Full consultation will be carried out with English Heritage in respect of the proposed site and design and its possible impact on the listed park.

Care will be taken when developing the scheme to ensure its successful integration into an important landscape. The design of the building will be informed by a sustainable approach in order to minimise its environmental impact and maximise its effectiveness within the public realm.

7. Full planning permission for the development will be required and Peckham Rye is designated MOL in the Borough’s UDP. Officers will propose that this development is ancillary to the use of the open space and thus permitted within the context of this designation.

8. The construction of this facility will enhance the recreational activities that the park currently offers. Thus the proposed development will support the following corporate priorities.

• Making the Borough Cleaner and Greener

Effect of proposed changes on those affected

9. An Equalities Impact assessment pre-assessment has been carried out and it has been determined that a full EIA is not required in respect of this report. See Appendix B.

Resource implications

10. The cost of construction of the building will be contained within the allowed capital budget. Upon completion, the café facility will be tendered and leased to a private sector operator under a service level agreement. The on-going revenue costs of the building will be met by the café leaseholder.

11. The project will be procured in accordance with the Council’s Contract Standing Orders and with regard to the Council’s Procurement Guidelines process, with a minimum of 5 external competitive tenders being obtained.

Consultation

12. A full consultation process is underway in respect of the development of the design for the building. This includes the following:

• Friends of Peckham Rye Park
• Peckham Society
• Members of the Council
• The Community Council
• The Garden History Society (representing English Heritage)
• Comment of Borough Solicitor and Secretary

Release of the money will allow the progressing of the capital works proposed by this report and thus assist with delivery of the Council’s objectives in the manner set out in the report. The report indicates the intention to comply with the Council’s Contract Standing Orders and to have regard to the Council’s Procurement Guidelines. There are no other legal implications.