Archive from October, 2007

Web 1. Everything Else 0.

30 Oct 2007: There was a time when you had to wait for weeks to get a decent review of a new product. Broadcast media has never stepped up to the plate, and only dead trees would do. It may have taken ten years or more for the internet to find a business model which could support in-depth analysis to accompany its immediacy, but there’s no doubt we’re here now. Case in point: the launch of Apple’s new OS X release, Leopard. The software is launched on the Friday, and by the weekend I want to see a decent review. And by that, I mean something unpatronising written by a genuine techie, not something written by a Sunday paper columnist for my Mum’s [...]

I Useta Lover 2007-style

25 Oct 2007: The ever-wonderful Saw Doctors have re-released “I Useta Lover” for a charity and to accompany it, they’ve shot a video on the streets of Galway. It is just about the most Irish thing I’ve ever seen. Brilliant.

How to convert email to RSS for your phone

19 Oct 2007: I came up with a neat workaround this week which might interest those of you who like to get news on your mobile phones, or would like to if it was easier. There’s no chance this is an original idea, but I was pleased with myself, nevertheless. Many new phones (such as my recently-acquired Sony Ericsson W880i) have a neat RSS reader which is a great way of getting information on a cellphone. Despite manufacturers’ claims, web access on mobiles is clunky, so if it’s a chore checking the same website regularly for information on a PC, it’s so fiddly to be out of the question on a mobile. Email alerts are OK, but unless you’re a Crackberry user whose [...]

Radiohead trounce allcomers on Last.fm

15 Oct 2007: I think it’s a fairly safe generalisation to make that the millions of people signed up to Last.fm conform to a certain stereotype, in terms of musical tastes. In fact, the main surprise to me is the semi-permanent position of The Beatles at number one. Radiohead are usually in the top three or four bands, but naturally with a new album out last week, I expected them to challenge the fab four’s supremacy. I didn’t expect this (above). That’s a lot of people listening to a new album, especially one released in such an unconventional format. My calculator also suggests that the average Last.fm listener who listened to Radiohead last week played an average 28 tracks from the band, which [...]

Radiohead In Rainbows. In 1997.

11 Oct 2007: OK, so I was intrigued by the fact that Radiohead decided to distribute their new album online and via a “pay what you want to” method. Not only was I intrigued, I was also very supportive of the idea. So although not a massive fan, I thought I’d buy it. Downside number one: where do you get the new Radiohead album from? Every news story I read said it was available from the Radiohead web site. Sloppy journalism. It’s not. It’s available from its own site. No problem with that, except try as I might, I couldn’t find a link from the official site to the one with the album. In the end, I found the link on some fan [...]

These ones got people talking

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Me Tweet quite a bit

This blog really has been going a long time, hasn’t it?

Read the old stuff on this natty calendar thingy

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