Journalists love context-free numbers - things that sound large and scary, but without any helpful information to allow you to judge their significance. Here's a good example from a BBC article about Electric Vehicle subsidies: There are around 1.3 million electric cars on Britain's roads but currently only around 82,000 public charging points. Bloody hell! That's rubbish! Bring down the…
Continue reading →
Some days, I think it must be fantastic to work for an organisation which just doesn't care any more. The sort of place which thinks, "sod it, it's not like we need more readers or more money." That is, I imagine, what it's like to work for The Times. For the last 3 years, The Times' articles have been (mostly) behind a paywall. People have been predicting its demise for just as long, but it…
Continue reading →
I've written before about how newspapers are reacting to the changing media landscape. Every so often, I spy something that reminds me just how far they need to go in order to fully "get" the web. This latest example is from the Financial Times. I have huge admiration for the FT. Their reporting is usually spot on, their website is mostly excellent and their mobile site is very credible. But …
Continue reading →
When I was a student, I had a brilliant idea. Why not have a stand at every train station where you could sync your Palm Pilot with the latest news? Insert a pound in the slot, press the button for The Times, aim your handheld's IrDA at the blinking light and ZAP! All the latest news for you to read on your train journey. It's just as well that my idea never got out of the paper prototyping …
Continue reading →
There is much wailing and gnashing of the teeth about Murdoch's plan to charge for his content. The swine! The blaggard! Regardless of the sanity or effectiveness of this idea - I thought it would be an interesting idea to turn the tables. What would it be like if News International were unable to scour the web for stories to rip off, comments to plunder and images to steal? Turns out, it's…
Continue reading →
angusprune@mastodon.lol 🫡@anguspruneThe guardian should have qr codes so I can teeet what I'm reading in the paper❤️ 1💬 0🔁 010:58 - Thu 22 October 2009 Let's Make It Happen So, assuming each story has a URL, how would that look http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/oct/22/post-national-strike-begins Turning it into a QR code using my encoder... The URL in QR form That's probably a bit large for a…
Continue reading →
One of the things I love about Private Eye is the columns I don't read. Corners of the magazine dedicated to the gossip of the classical music world, the perils of modern architecture, positively incomprehensible reports about big business buying into football. I care for none of these subjects, but I'm immensely relieved that they are reported on somewhere. The Guardian's Saturday edition s…
Continue reading →
I read most of my news through my mobile - if your website isn't mobile friendly, I won't be bothered to read it. I've greatly enjoyed the BBC's Mobile News service and Guardian Mobile - but now there's a new player - The Times has a mobile site. This is a quick review of what I like and what I dislike about The Times' mobile venture. Discovery The first I knew of the site was this advert ne…
Continue reading →
Recently I was featured in two prominent online newspapers. The Times published a short story I wrote for The Times Cheltenham Twitter Competition. Extract from The Times The Guardian wrote about my experiences with energy monitors. Extract from The Guardian What struck me was the very different ways that these "Old Media" approached the "New Media" of the web. I'll state my biases up front. …
Continue reading →
