As I start another gruelling month of blog posts for NaBloPoMo, it strikes me that I've had an incredibly busy year. 12 months ago, I was working at IPC Media - doing all sorts of interesting mobile stuff for them. Launching around 28 mobile versions of their existing websites. I then went and joined WAC for a few months, going off to MWC, and really getting stuck in to their standards…
Continue reading →0906 611911 hoax NaBloPoMo police · 4 comments · 350 words · Viewed ~552 times
A rather persistent hoax has been floating around blogs, Facebook, and Twitter recently. The "warning" alleges that a company put a flier through your letterbox claiming that they were unable to deliver a parcel - and that you need to contact them on 0906 6611911. Apparently this will immediately charge your phone £315. Before we go any further, this "warning" is a hoax. The original scam was …
Continue reading →joan miro qrpedia · 1 comment · 100 words
The Joan Miró exhibition in has just gone live with QRpedia codes! This project has been the brain-child of Àlex Hinojo - the Wikipedian-in-Residence at the Museu Picasso. He first mentioned it to us in May and we've worked hard to deal with the challenges of the Catalan language. Congrats to Àlex and the whole team for a successful launch. Press release in Catalan. …
Continue reading →ota11 qr qrpedia · 1 comment · 50 words
Here's the Ignite Talk I gave at #OTA11 last month. https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Terence-Eden-@-Over-The-Air-k_3Dwb1eDw4.webm Video by DanGEMurphy QRpedia - Ignite talk at OTA11 from Terence Eden …
Continue reading →bus countdown Open Data qr tfl · 2 comments · 350 words · Viewed ~1,064 times
There are Nineteen thousand, five hundred bus stops in London! Each one of them is (eventually) going to be upgraded with a new real time bus countdown signs. If you've got an Internet capable phone, you can get real time information for your bus at http://m.countdown.tfl.gov.uk/. The service has a number of cool features, including geolocation. The great thing, in my opinion, is that each…
Continue reading →android codingforkids education schools · 3 comments · 1,200 words · Viewed ~1,439 times
Last night I went to the Coding For Kids Barcamp. This event, organised by Emma Mulqueeny, was designed to bring together geeks, parents, kids, and educators to see if we can improve the woeful state of computer science education in this country. This is the blog version of the discussion I lead. (more…) …
Continue reading →1 comment · 300 words · Viewed ~8,187 times
As regular readers know, I'm a big fan of QR codes. I often castigate advertisers for poor usage, bad placement, and inaccessibility. I can just imagine how the conversation at the offices of Success Appointments went... "Dave, we need a QR code on our advert!" "Righto, Fred!" "It'll be on the tube, so it has to work offline." "How about a VCARD - that way when you scan it, our address will …
Continue reading →languages qr qrpedia wikipedia · 5 comments · 650 words · Viewed ~337 times
Humans have devised hundreds of thousands of languages with which to express themselves. Some, like Cornish are on the verge of extinction. Others, like Catalan and Welsh, are only used by a small number of speakers. Some, like New Norse, are created for political purposes. All these languages are valuable and hugely important to their communities. Many have a Wikipedia version written in their…
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© Caroline Mockett As I stepped onto the stage at OverTheAir 11 to present QRpedia, I was buoyed by the overwhelming reception that it received on the Interwebs over the last few days. Here's a quick roundup. It all started with a blog post on Wikimedia. ReadWriteWeb called QRpedia Probably the Coolest QR Thingy Ever Made! This was syndicated into the New York Times. Gizmodo …
Continue reading →kew national archives qr qrpedia · 5 comments · 300 words · Viewed ~453 times
Yesterday, I paid a visit to the UK National Archives in Kew. Their amazing educational team have recently completed a stunning QRpedia installation. The Domesday Book From their press-release: As part of this project to increase digital engagement we have used the QRpedia service to link some of our museum exhibits to articles on Wikipedia. In the on site museum at Kew, visitors can use their …
Continue reading →airnergy scam technology trust valkee · 17 comments · 2,000 words · Viewed ~4,353 times
Why do some people in the technology community seem so susceptible to snake oil? I suspect it's because of two things. We trust our friends' judgement. We are experts in our fields and, therefore, trust our own judgement in matters we don't fully understand. Compare and contrast the following two statements. On the announcement of the original iPod, one influential pundit…
Continue reading →cv me meta recruitment · 850 words · Viewed ~902 times
I regularly get contacted by recruitment consultants. Even though I'm very happy in my job right now (Hi Boss!) I usually don't mind being contacted. However, after having just had a particularly disturbing encounter with a recruiter, I thought it might be worth stating these rules up front. These are personal to me - but I expect they apply pretty broadly to most people. Don't email my…
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