The 511EB Is Getting a Firmware Update


Like many people, I've been frustrated by the lack of firmware updates to the Elonex 511EB ebook reader. There are several bugs which are frustrating to many users - as judged from the comments on this blog. With the Amazon Kindle dropping to a lower price, this ebook reader really needs to be updated if it wants to stay competitive. Well, I'm pleased to say that it looks like there will be a firmware update - and soon! (more…) …

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Mobile Badvertising: Peugeot


Peugeot's new mobile advert has a couple of critical flaws - but has just enough innovation to redeem it in my eyes. Read on to find the two basic mistakes they made, how to solve them, and the cool feature you should be incorporating into your adverts. (more…) …

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Google Contacts Copyright Madness


Google has rightly received praise for its reworked "Contacts" functionality. But there is still a rather glaring error. One of the things I love to do is add images to my contacts. It gives me a visual cue when I'm scrolling through looking for a person, it prompts my memory when I see the face of a friend calling me, and it helps me remember what people look like. As you can see, I'm pretty good at keeping everyone's photo on my phone up to date. Which Conditions Are Appropriate? …

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The Future Of Android ... And How To Stop It


I was honoured when David Wood asked me to present at his first "brown bag" lunch lecture at Accenture. Normally I would run through a presentation of this length at several different venues and thoroughly hone it before presenting at a high profile event. As you'll see from the slides and video, it's still a bit rough round the edges. I based this talk on Jonathan Zittrain's excellent Future of the Internet - And How To Stop It. You can keep up to date with all of Zittrain's work on…

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Mobile Badvertising: Nokia Music


I've mentioned Nokia on here a few times.  For a mobile focused company, they seem to have a real problem with mobile advertising. It starts well enough with an animated GIF. The site it links to is http://music.nokia.co.uk/ - cleverly, Nokia redirect mobile users to a specific mobile version of the site.  That's where it all starts to go wrong... (more…) …

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Mobile Badvertising: Floors-2-Go Have Crappy SMS Spam


UPDATED 08 October 2010 How to unsubscribe If you want to unsubscribe from this SMS spam, you have three options. Ring "Dill" on 0121 359 0234 - she works for Floors2Go and will be happy to remove you from the list. Floors2Go purchased your phone number from tmnmedia - who assured Floors2Go that you were desperately interested in getting SMS spam. Call them on 020 7936 6600. Or call Matt Love 020 7936 6520 - you can also email him on matt.love@tmnmedia.com - Matt was responsible for …

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Moo Cards with QR Codes


Click for Full Size Moo Cards seem to be the darling of the UK tech scene. Cute business cards which you can personalise with whatever you like. Some people are boring and use company logos, others dump their best flickr images on there. Me? I'm all about phones and QR codes, so..... (more…) …

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eBook Libraries and DRM


I was pleasantly surprised to see this poster at my local train station. Looks like Surrey Library is moving to the digital age. eBooks and eAudiobooks from Surrey Library (click to embiggen) "Bet the site doesn't work on my phone," I thought. http://ebooks.surreycc.gov.uk/ I was wrong! Overall, this is a brilliant new service. A great initiative to get people reading more books and improving library services.  Take a look at http://ebooks.surreycc.gov.uk There's just one problem... …

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Hello Kindle - Goodbye Elonex?


So, the Kindle finally launches in the UK. This blog has become something of a Mecca for users of the Elonex 511EB. The comments on my reviews run in to the hundreds, I get thousands of page views a month on them, I regularly answer private emails about the device. So, why am I abandoning Elonex? Simply put - Elonex abandoned me. Their staff and website promised updates which never came. We're not just talking about additional features - there are some serious bugs in the device. They…

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Review: Jabra Clipper


Those delightful coves at Jabra and Wildfire PR have kindly sent me a Jabra Clipper review unit.  Could this be the BlueTooth headset to replace my beloved Jabra BT3030 which had an unfortunate encounter with a washing machine last week? Model Not Included How does it stack up against my wishlist? (more…) …

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Digital Economy Act - #DEAPPG


In which the BPI threaten to sue me. Last night I was fortunate enough to find myself addressing the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Digital Economy Act.  Eric Joyce MP managed to bring together a diverse group of people from all sides of the debate for a (mostly) civil discussion on the Act, its limitations, and potential problems. MPs and Musicians in Perfect Harmony This was exactly the sort of discussion which should have taken place before the bill became law.  Sadly, we're left w…

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Making DynamicWP's Simple White Theme XHTML Compliant


This blog is proud to be XHTML 1.0 Strict Compliant.  Just like it is polite to use correct spelling and grammar for human readers, I believe that correct markup is "polite" for rendering engines. I've recently started using DynamicWP's Simple White Theme.  The theme is excellent, but generated around 60 validation errors.  Luckily these were caused by a scant half dozen errors in the source code. Here is a quick summary of the errors, why they need to be fixed, and how to fix them. (more…) …

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