💻 New Mac, new setup (June 2025)

I’ve recently moved into an office in the garden – a fancy shed, in other words. Doing so exposed a weakness in my tech setup, based as it was on a Mac Mini. When I returned to the house, I…

📅 Daily Note: December 18, 2024

Ed Zitron: The people running the majority of internet services have used a combination of monopolies and a cartel-like commitment to growth-at-all-costs thinking to make war with the user, turning the customer into something between a lab rat and an…

Drag and drop app development from Mozilla

One of the things we get asked about all the time, whether from artists, community groups or bigger organisations is how to develop apps for mobile. Usually the answer has to be ‘pay someone to do it’ – even though…

Link roundup

I find this stuff so you don’t have to: emacs bites – learn emacs and lisp in bite sized chunks The real deal | by @helenmilner Citizens Advice Bureau: showing things aren’t working as they should Remembering the Apple Newton’s…

Link roundup

I find this stuff so you don’t have to: Social media record keeping for government – is it necessary? | Digital democracy, news, thinking, tips & tricks Google Reader Died Because No One Would Run It 10 Visual Steps To…

Dumb Store

Apparently, not everyone has a smartphone! News to me. Anyway, the Dumb Store is potentially very exciting, I think. Apps for ‘dumb’ phones – ie those that have limited ability to access the internet and the web. They can be…

Link roundup

I find this stuff so you don’t have to: Enyo JavaScript Application Framework – "Use the same framework to develop apps for the web and for all major platforms, desktop and mobile." Features | Re-usable Drupal recipes for government websites…

Living on a cloud

While despatched on a mission of digital mercy a few weeks ago Mr Briggs (of this parish) and I fell to comparing our computers. Or rather he fell to ridiculing my rather ancient Samsung laptop (seven years old I think, it doesn’t like to process video, original power supply fell apart and it now boasts a rather lovely Maplin back up device). Apple fans do tend to look upon me with fear tinged with pity when I unpack the machine.

Tools for writing

I use a ridiculous number of apps for writing stuff down digitally. It all depends on the context! Rough notes, ideas and that sort of thing tend to be stored in Evernote. It’s easy, and ubiquitous and everything gets kept…

What I’ve been reading

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. SOCIAL PLAN: 11 Golden Rules for Social Media in an Organisation – Some nice tips from Dan. OGP Take Aways : Tim’s Blog – "In an attempt to use reflective…

iPads and apps

I’ve been playing with a new iPad recently – and I love it. The screen resolution on these things literally has to be seen to be believed. I had an original iPad before – the one without a camera –…

Galaxy Nexus

So, a couple of weeks ago I had an accident* and my iPhone broke for good. I needed a replacement, which gave me a good opportunity to assess the options. It came down to the iPhone 4S and the Galaxy…

What I’ve been reading

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. We the People | The White House – E-petitions, White House style How to create sustainable open data projects with purpose – Nice article from MySociety's Tom Steinberg. One in…

More notes on mobile apps and government

I still haven’t really got my head around mobile apps and their use for government services. However, James Coltham wrote up some excellent notes from a meeting up in Scotland on the subject recently: There is definitely a groundswell of interest,…

Bookmarks for January 10th through January 24th

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. #UKGC11: Flickr, Wikipedia and Open Streetmap for local authorities – Great write up of an interesting session from @abeeken Reworking the public sector | Public sector pm – Notes on…

The network is the computer

Google announced a bunch of stuff last week, finally bringing to the mainstream some bits of tech that have been bubbling away for a few years now. One is the Chrome operating system, a lightweight OS for netbooks that pretty…

Bookmarks for August 5th through August 11th

EAVB_CFHFXKJFDR I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. Splashpath – “Splashpath is a free service for Leisure Operators to create, update and communicate swimming pool timetables” The Value of Transparency Is At The Boundary between Government and…

Government and mobile apps

A really thorough and thought-provoking post from Public Strategist on the whole ‘should government develop iPhone apps?’ debate: If government is in the business of service at all, it should be efficient, up to date, and sensitive to the needs…