#babyphotos

23/05/2009 — efan78

FizzyDuck OK, @FizzyDuck got me thinking with photos like this one.  How would people like to play the “Who’s child/baby photo is this?” game?

Of course I’d need to get a prize of some sort, so the question is – what would be a suitable prize, and – more importantly – would people be up for it?

If there’s enough support then I’ll be happy to run it but it depends entirely on you!  If @BullyingUK are OK with the idea I’d like to tie this in with raising awareness for the great work that they do in supporting children and young people (like we used to be!) through what can be a hugely difficult time.

So, if you’re interested in joining in, or would like to suggest a (sensible) prize please drop me a message on twitter (@efan78), leave a comment here on the blog, or email the special address: photo@efan78.com!

 

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Twitter – The Basics

21/05/2009 — efan78

newbie-signpost

Last month I wrote a post called “I don’t get twitter” that was aimed at a couple of work colleagues who couldn’t get their head round how twitter could be fun.  Now, since then a couple of people have said that the basics are a bit daunting and – to be honest – I can see exactly what they mean!  Let’s take an example:

RT via @efan78 #followfriday @StewSimpson is a fab musician <- Follow him now!

So you see, Twitter uses codes which are confusing at first glance, but I promise they don’t stay that way!

When you post your first update to twitter you’ll probably use the web interface at www.twitter.com, so I’ll use that as my base.  As you get used to twitter you’ll find that there are a lot of different ways to access the site and a lot of people will recommend services and twitter apps (applications).  That isn’t the purpose of this post!

test-tweet

So, when you first post on twitter you’ll fill in the “What are you doing?” box.  There are a few different ways of doing this and none of them are really ‘right’ or ‘wrong’.  You’ll develop your own style/personality.

As you start to follow people you’ll start seeing their posts appearing in your twitter thread and you’ll probably see posts that you want to respond to.  It’s really easy to do, when you hover your mouse over the tweet you’ll see a small arrow on the right-hand side.  By clicking on this the “What are you doing?” box will automatically fill with @<username> – this is called a reply.

Anyone who can see your posts can see a reply but it will stand out to the person that sent it.  You can check your own replies by clicking on the link at the far right hand side of the screen.  If you want your message to be more personal then you can send a direct message – this can only be sent to someone who is following you and that you are following.

You’ll also see three other things that will help, two of them can be lumped together (RT @<user>, and Via @<user>)  - which means ReTweet or that a message came via @<user>.  A ReTweet is a message copied verbatim from another user and the @<user> bit tells everyone who you got it from.  Via is a message that’s still evolving – I use it when I’m not copying a message verbatim but posting my own personal take.

The other thing that you’ll need to know about is the #hashtag.  It’s a keyword that people use to help others find tweets on a particular subject.  One of the most popular is #FollowFriday.

I hope this is some help, and will be continuing to add to this page as I think of more things!

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What’s so great about the iPhone?

20/05/2009 — efan78

gizmodo-dt_handknit_iphoneSo, a source close to Apple has announced the next-gen iPhone specs along with the launch date.  If you’re interested the release date should be 17 July 2009.

Those people who know me will know that I have quite an aversion to Apple in general that has developed over the years.  Mostly since they decided that they wanted to be Microsoft.  The iPod, iMac, iTunes, iPhone obsession with its limiting DRM, closed markets and almost facist adherence to its own self imposed rules along with the the cult of celebrity that Steve Jobs enjoys amongst the Apple fanbois just seems to be a little “Gates-esque”.

Sorry, I know I’m going to get shot down in flames by people (and maybe lose a few twitter followers),  but I think that the way computers (and in particular smartphones) are moving, that Apple may be losing the cutting edge that they once enjoyed. 

So, before you run away or gather up your pitchforks and flaming torches I’ll just ask you to hear me out.  Even Apple iPhone Apps.com had a few misgivings (I’ve linked to a verbatim copy on lakto.org as it was Chris Latko who introduced me to the story though his twitter feed and the original site seems to be less than stable!)

In 2006 a mobile phone was just a mobile phone, you made calls, sent text messages and maybe sent an MMS or two (until you got your bill through!) Then in January 2007 Saint Steve stepped forward and announced that Apple were going to enter the mobile market.  By June 2007 the iPhone was ready for release.  And I’ll admit, it was fantastic.  I even wanted one for a while.

But then I watched my friends who had iPods struggle with the DRM laden crud that iTunes gave them while I (with my Sony Walkman) didn’t really have any major problems, I could use Sonicstage – Sony’s native app for the walkman or I could use any other mp3/wmv file and Sony would convert it to Atrac and pop it on the player.  In my life I have downloaded ONE track from iTunes, Kylie’s version of “Over the Rainbow” from the Showgirl tour.  I could only play the friggin thing through iTunes!  That was why I decided against the iPhone, I chose to wait and see what else would come out on the market.

So, Apple led the way, but are they now?  The easiest way is to look at the latest incarnation of the iPhone (or what we think we know about it) and see if it truly is innovative any more…

  • 32GB and 16GB storage (Even the MOTORIZER V8 had this back in 2007)
  • $199 and $299 price points to be maintained
  • 3.2-megapixel camera (Just like the HTC Magic and .2 Megapixels more than the G1)
  • Video-recording and editing capabilities (Even the T-Mobile G1 has this now Apple, and we’ve had it for months!)
  • Ability to send a picture & video via MMS (I hate to carp on about Android, but this has been in place since its inception)
  • Discontinuation of the metal band surrounding the edge of the device (OK Apple, I’ll let you have your removing a metal band!)
  • OLED screen (Damn, can anyone think of a phone with an OLED Screen?  Did I mention any Android Phones yet?  Maybe the 5 MegapixelSamsung I7500 this time?)
  • 1.5 times the battery life of the current models (Improved battery life, really, THAT’s your USP?  Over in Android circles we just look at the ways that we can improve the battery life we’ve got!)
  • Double the RAM and processing power (Now you’re starting to make some sense!  Surely after nearly 2 years we would expect at least this?)
  • Built-in FM transmitter (How 21st Century! I can’t think of any other mobile phone manufacturers who could have thought of that…)
  • Apple logo on back will glow (Aha!  There’s the USP!  A glowing Apple symbol to eat up your battery but give you that fanboi glowing feeling!)
  • Rubber-tread backing  (Even Samsung had this idea!)
  • Sleeker design  (What exactly does this mean? Really, anyone???)
  • Built-in compass  (Surely “There’s an app for that?”  Or is that just on the Android Market?)
  • The camera, GPS, compass and Google map combined will identify photo and inform about photo locations (OK, this one’s not appeared just yet on Android, but as we have the same technology and THOUSANDS of programmers working on the platform – Yes that’s the beauty of open source! – I’m sure it’s more a case of when not if…)
  • Turn-by-turn directions (I’m not sure exactly what they mean by that, surely that’s the point of having a decent Map programme, compass and hardware/firmware to match it.)

iwhatSo, if this is what Apple are planning to annnounce then I’m afraid I really can’t see it setting the industry alight.  Maybe the rumours are true, maybe Steve Jobs’ health is truly stifling Apple’s creativity.  I hope not as I really want them to be innovative and new so that I can start trying to think up more diverse arguements!

So, come on Apple, show me what’s great about the iPhone again!

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#Eurovision, thank you twitter!

17/05/2009 — efan78

eurovision-2009_logo

So, that’s it.  Another year over with congratulations to Norway with their entry Alexander Rybek, and (if you believe the way the results were reported this morning) the UK were shat on from a great height again.  But you see, I don’t agree with this idea.  I don’t think that Jade should have won just because the song was written by Andrew Lloyd-Webber.  In fact I think that’s probably why I don’t think that It’s My Time was a Eurovision hit.  You see it’s just too much like a song from a show.  It reminds me of With One Look or Tell Me On a Sunday.

That’s no bad thing, it managed to get lots of votes, and the Europe-wide campaign that Jade and Andrew did certainly seems to have helped so well done to them, douze points for effort!

But that wasn’t the point of this post, you see this year I decided to spend the evening at home.  Andy was in from work and (because he was up early in the morning) wasn’t going out so I stayed in with him.  Now Andy’s one of the type that I hate when it comes to Eurovision – You know who you are!  You sit there and spit vitriolic bile all through the run up.  You see someone who enjoys the show and understands that the comedic put downs are meant to be just that, comedic, and you decide to deride them.  And no, “Eurovision’s shit hur hur hur!” is not a comic comment, and “You must be really sad wanting to watch that” doesn’t count as witty banter.

I don’t like football, planting myself in front of the TV for 90 mins (plus breaks) every week, sometimes 2 or 3 times a week doesn’t interest me.  22 men running round a garden, kicking a bag of wind and earning enough each year to pay the staffing costs for my whole department makes me more angry than excited.  But I know what the football fans are feeling, you see I am a Eurovision fan.

For one week of every year I know that a spectacle is being finalised.  I know that Europe-wide (and in Israel & Azerbaijan too) acts are preparing, votes are being cast, sequins are being sewn and the wheels of the ESC roll on in preperation for that week.  I know that, for that week, I will have 7 or 8 hours of TV that I will enjoy.  Yes, even the songs I don’t like I can still enjoy because I can let lose my inner bitch.

So, this year I was at home instead of the party that I wanted to go to, with a partner who openly scorns the show in public and yet avidly watches it when in the house with me.  What can I do?  Last year I was able to have a text conversation with one of my friends, but too much of that was spent explaining the rules, why don’t they read out all the scores?  Why aren’t Ireland in it anymore?  What, there are semi finals now?  And so on. 

twitter-logo-birdBut this year was different, I’d seen people watching Britain’s Got Talent using the hashtag #BGT and I’d tweeted through the semis using #Eurovision (which was what others were using it seemed via the trending topics) so I set myself up a few tabs (one with a Eurovision search, one with a search set for @ThoroughlyGood who I’d been tweeting with earlier and who was a great host! and one for my own @replies) and sat down to enjoy.

And do you know what?  It was great fun!  I tweeted at people, I was DM’d, I made sweeping statements and got feedback instantly, I saw other people’s comments and answered back.  It was just like being at a Eurovision party with all my friends, except I didn’t need to dress up or have to find my way home at silly o’clock in the morning.

So, thank you to all the people that joined in with the twitter Eurovision party, and I’m looking forward to doing it all over again for Oslo 2010!

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#FixReplies

13/05/2009 — efan78

twitter LogoSo, this morning – like the rest of the twitterverse – I logged on and saw the announcement that there had been a “Small Settings Update” and that this affected @replies.

There seemed to be a bit of confusion as to HOW this affected us all, although we knew it would.  It didn’t take long though for the hashtag to arrive, and it was #FixReplies.  This was different to any of the myriad ‘bring back the old Facebook‘  petitions, unlike Facebook, twitter changed a fundamental part of the social networking side.  It would be like taking away the “People you may know” feature from Facebook.

Eventually, twitter realised that there was a problem and thanked the community for the feedback, and it seemed that the only thing that was getting through as being worrying was that people use the unshared @reply to find other new tweeps to follow.  Of course that was a concern, but I had a thought…

One of the big conversations about twitter around the net at the moment is whether it will replace Google.  To do this twitter HAS to allow information to flow freely around the twitterverse, and this new “feature” doesn’t allow it.

As an example, I follow @BullyingUK, an excellent support resource (and yes that was a shameless plug!).  Now imagine @BullyingVictim sends a message to @BullyingUK asking for a telephone number he could call for help.  

Using the old system, @BullyingUK could hit the reply button and say “@BullyingVictim Call your local helpline on 12345678.”  And anyone following @BullyingUK could see it.  Under the new system you would need to follow both @BullyingUK and @BullyingVictim to get the update.  

Now imagine you’re a worried, shy person who needs that number but daren’t ask and you don’t know @BullyingVictim.  You won’t see either tweet.  The new system doesn’t work.

As I was heading home from work earlier however I saw a link to a final post from @Biz that said it wasn’t a new feature, but something that the system couldn’t do any more.  But it’s a key part of what makes twitter work, and the team need to remember this.

They’ve said the way around it is to type your @reply instead of using the reply button.  Isn’t that great – especially after reports that show 60% of twitter users don’t get it and quit within a month – twitter decides to make the site even less user friendly!

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I’ve got a semi coming…

12/05/2009 — efan78

Eurovision Logo 2009

So, the whole of the Tyne Tees area is abuzz with antici…pation.  Last night’s football match caused tears, cheers and so much emotion by some of the people I work with.

Then this morning they chatted about it, the fact that both teams could still fall out of the premier league, they dissected the match, the goals, the performances.  And then looked at me askance, tutted and said they couldn’t believe it.  Why?  Because I’ve just been able to buy the Eurovision 2009 album!

I enjoy Eurovision, not because it’s political, not because of the tension of the voting or the fact that I hope the UK can win and certainly not for the musical merit!  I like Eurovision because it’s fun.  It’s a camp, dramatic, over the top celebration of sequins, lights music and dance.  Yes it’s a gay stereotype, as is my obsession with Kylie, but that’s WHY these things are sterotypes, because so many of us do love it.

So yes, Sam may have decided to go out with her friends in disgust, Lee may be avoiding the house and remember that he wanted to spend the evening at his mothers, and Andy may watch “Cops on Cameras” or whatever shoite’s on Men & Motors/Bravo tonight, but I’ll be there, watching the portable in my bedroom just as I did when I was a kid.  A leper, an outcast, a stereotype.

But I’ll be having fun!!! 

If you’re going to be watching the semi-finals this year and you’re in the UK they’re on BBC3 from 20.00 (8pm) please feel free to join in with my tweets (you’ll spot me as the person taking the piss out of everyone and everything).

And when I tweet on Saturday you’ll be able to spot me by the vitriolic bile I’ll be spewing about Jade and the “serious” entry that Andew Lloyd Webber wrote this year.  (You’d never tell that he writes musicals rather than songs for a show like Eurovision would you! >:-|  )

(Don’t worry, I have the kiss of death for Eurovision songs, whenever I say I like one it fails miserably.  So I’m not going to name my favourite song this year…)

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Why we need ID cards

06/05/2009 — efan78

I mentioned my opinion on the government’s plans to issue all UK residents with a National ID Card when I was discussing the furore over Google Street View.  In fact this is something that I have opposed for many years now, not because I have anything to worry about – I haven’t broken the law, I’m registered for taxes and National Insurance, voting, I have a passport and a (provisional) driving license.  (Yes, I can’t drive – no matter how hard I try!)

I have a very distinctive name that I don’t try to hide online, and my job means that my name is out in the public domain every time someone writes in to the company I work for.  So it’s not that I don’t want people to know who I am.

I’m registered with loads of websites, social media sites and (as I said in that post) – I’m a big Google fan!  But why am I happy to share my details with the likes of Google Profiles, Facebook, myspace and twitter but I don’t want to give personal information to my government?  Well, it’s quite simple, the government can’t look after the information it has already.

The government have been very nice about it though, they’re telling us Why we need ID Cards, in a detailed and well thought out way, with no vagueness whatsoever.  They tell us how an ID card will help prevent against identity fraud and theft AND make sure that people are who they say they are.  Because (as we all know) most identity fraud is committed face to face in a place where an ID card be requested, as this APACS report clearly shows, oh wait – no it doesn’t!  

OK then, they can be used to “Tackle” illegal working and immigration abuse, is is just me or is “tackle” a very vague term?  And of course the first thing that most illegal workers and immigrants think of is how easy it is to to come over here and steal our jobs since we don’t have any way of identifying them like passports, National Insurance numbers…  Actually, I’m sure I can think of another political party who would love to use this as an arguement…

Ah, but wait – ID cards are the ideal way to “disrupt the use of false and multiple identities by criminals and those involved in terrorist activity.”  Because terrorists aren’t criminals, they’re something completely different that need to be disrupted by having to register their details (including fingerprints and retina scans) to get a card.  Of course if you see a criminal breaking into your house all you’ll need to do is ask to see his ID card.  And when the next terrorist plot appears to be a bomb campaign against a city the fact that the (probably British born and raised, or if not then very likely legal visitor to the country) has an ID card will be the perfect defence.

OK then, maybe the arguements aren’t completely thought through in absolute detail just yet… but surely ID cards will “ensure free public services are only used by those entitled to them and enable easier access to public services”, won’t they?

Well, if the Identity and Passport Service means that unpersons without ID Cards won’t be able to sign up for a library card or free bus pass then surely it’s worth the £5.5 billion+ that the government’s spent on it?  Isn’t it?

No.

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