Inside View from Ireland

Contact Phones

KILKENNY -- While tossing out some old class rosters, I found one from 1997 where no more than 10% of my students had mobile phones. A mirror image of the data exists when compared to my current students--92% have mobile phones now.

---

x_ref125cc

Notebook Always

KILKENNY -- A sensible notebook is an essential part of a journalist's wardrobe. And those who strp cameras over their shoulders need to carry notebooks to tickle their memories about what they've photographed. A sensible size is something that fits into a pocket or a handbag. I often sling a sack on my back, so my A5 wireless notebooks work a treat. Writing things in notebooks guarantees you of reference points. It doesn't have to b a diary but its entries often have the same impact as a meticulously kept diary.

The Alwych Book has a durable all-weather cover in A38/90 feint. Get one, carry it discreetly, use it, and leverage the memories it will safguard.

---

x_ref125ws

The Google Factor

KILKENNY -- "Well, you could look that up on Google" said the voice in the High Street Mall--just like 60% of all the visitors to my blog properties do. More than 220 different visitors a day come to my blogs on the heels of search engine requests they made with Google. Most of them are attracted by titles of articles in my blogs. I cannot fathom why some blog authors turn off their titles. Failing to name a title reduces the rest of the content on Web pages to noise.

---

x_ref119

Thoughtfully conceived designs

DESIGN MUSEUM -- The Conran Foundation Collection opens next week at London's Design Museum. It's an exhibition that shows design is all around and some of my favourites make the lineup.

• Kinder Egg. Not for sale in the States.
• Magnetic paint that rolls on easily and turns entire walls into magnets.
• Corn starch packing that weighs nothing, costs almost nothing, protects breakables, and is edible.
• Bible gum: sugarless chewing gum contained inside miniature Bibles.
• Fingertip toothbrush. Now available in Boots.
• Turkish tea pot. Distinguished by its two spouts.
• Three-bladed worm cutters.

---

Catherine Roux -- "The Shape of Things" in The Guardian Weekend, 3 Jan 04.
x_ref125ws

Inside Guardian Weekend

KILKENNY -- With a copy of the Saturday Guardian Weekend tucked underarm, I walked from Power's Newsagents to Earl's Bistro for an inside look the 78 page colour glossy. Like my day-long session with the Sunday edition of The New York Times, I enjoy scanning the advertisements as much as I like reading the articles. The first edition of the year portends a nice bounce in the UK because full page colour ads fill 21 pages of the magazine. Strong consumer markets increase the weight of the Weekend Guardian as the UK marketing machine has kept pushing product messages well after Christmas.

Science Friction Typepad

SCIENCE FRICTION -- Fellow journo David Stewart has evolved from UserLand to Typepad. "Shutting down isn't quite accurate," he writes. But he has transferred his blogging to Typeland (sic). "Radio Userland is a nice package but it was so temperamental." Yep. May his days of hassling with posts be gone forever. Now I wish he accepted trackbacks.

---

David Stewart -- "Happy New Year"
x_ref1256

Small Blogland

MINDPLEX -- Like Jim Moore and John Robb, I think there's a small town mentality in the blogosphere. Here at Irish Typepad, I have a smattering of regular readers (no more than 35 different people out of the 180 daily visitors every day) and daily aggregator scrapings (just jumping above 300 screen scrapings from 60 different aggregators every day). What makes the blog like a small town is the memes that attract passersby--people use Google, Yahoo, Netscape, AOL and IOL when searching for information, pass through here to read a single story, then go on their business. They come here to hear another perspective on the Mars mission, Irish immigration or multimedia in general.

Consumer Technology Successes in 2004

SILICON VALLEY -- Dan Gillmor opens his annual predictions quiz by listing four technologies, then he asks readers what will be the surprise consumer technology hit of 2004.

1. Will it be a mobile phone that doubles as a personal computer when plugged into an external monitor and keyboard? The Nokia Communication 9210i can cable into a projector or a large screen now and its on-board processor edits Word and Powerpoint for me already.
2. Mobile phones equipped with video cameras are all over Japan. Get a Sony Ericsson device for the best picture quality.
3. Motorola has a chipset for a mobile phone that lets you connect to the Internet over Wi-Fi. I don't think the microphone connect to the browser, but once that's hacked you have a major breakthrough--VoIP calls from your cellphone.
4. Ultra-cheap but high-quality flat screen TVs from China. Expect prices to scrap in below $800.

---

Dan Gillmor -- "Predicting 2004"
x_ref26121

Bullseye 2004

EIREPRENEUR -- James Corbett puts social software dead-centre on his radar scope. It's a topic evangelised by Ross Mayfield and Matt Haughey. We teach the fundamentals of this important technology in our multimedia degree programme.

---

James Corbett -- "The year of social software"
Matt Haughey -- "Colloquial mapping"
Ross Mayfield -- "Augmenting social interaction"
x_ref1256

Rapid change ahead

CLONMEL HOTSPOT -- While I don't think any established expert group predicted the rise of the Celtic Tiger, several industry voices have forecast significant globalistic forces, such as the offshoring of programming, that are much more potent than the dotcom explosion that swept the country. These sentiments are bubbling up on Slashdot and being discussed by some Microsoft bloggers.