This post has been lurking in my drafts folder for a while, but watching a video on openforum provided me with the stimulus to post it. Why Blog? The reasons for a personal and for a business blog are not all the dissimilar. A long ago I stated my reasons for blogging, and those haven’t really changed: Blogging enables me to clarify my thoughts, examining them and reflecting on them. Blogging enables me to think about my thinking - meta-cognition. Blogging forces me to gather information to support or dismiss my opinions. Blogging is a place to plan and reflect - it is much more than what ends up in the post. Blogging really is just a form of writing, and by writing you will find your voice. And you get used to your voice - your unique way of communicating. Blogging creates a...

Paul Flynn is crying foul over the Parliamentary authorities’ decision to force him to pay for his own blog. Prior to that, he had tried charging the costs to the taxpayer via the Communications Allowance. Derek Wyatt has also joined the fray: “They don’t get in the way of my letters or phone calls, so why do they want to interfere in what I put on the web? They only want me to publish anodyne videos that no one will watch. “They have got it completely wrong. They don’t understand the net. They simply don’t get it. It is like 1984.” 1984? How does this in any relate to state surveillance and state-sponsored torture? Let’s be clear about some things: not a single MP is being censored or told what they can and can’t say - the issue is...

MPs who blog are being censored by the Commons authorities - if they use the £10,000 Communications Allowance to pay for it. A Labour MP says he has been stripped of a Parliamentary allowance for making fun of other MPs on his blog. Paul Flynn was told to remove posts including ones calling ex-Labour minister Peter Hain a “shapeshifter” and Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik a “clown”. When Mr Flynn refused he had part of his communications allowance removed. Other MPs have complained of the Commons trying to “censor” their blogs but the authorities say there are rules on using public money for “propaganda”. (BBC) There is one very very simple way around it for MPs: Pay for your blog yourself! Blogging is not an expensive activity. It can be done...

A while ago, I argued that the 'advantage' that the Tories had over Labour in the blogging stakes was not an advantage at all.If you...

Quick question: regardless of content, what's the best looking blog that you know of?I like Chicken Yoghurt's rotating use of cartoons. I like Irish Left Review's group-blog layout. I used to like Conservative Home but it's dated very quickly.Do any stand out for...

…your children will be next…The blog is italicising all text whether I like it or not. Will it do it to this plain text post? Gosh only when I publish will the truth be known. Anyway, it’s just the posts on the front page (and text in the right sidebar) and it’s nuffinck I dun. Checked everything, I can find no errant tags or naughty html, this has happened before and I think it’s wordpress’s permanent revolution/the theme which while it provides super dupery-ness does mean every so often things go a little wonky. So yes I’m blaming my tools! However should some expert think they have a solution I’m glad to hear it. PS. Does make me think maybe this time I pass the 10% anniversary I will pay for hosting which will mean a full on custom made...

I recently fiddled about with the templates here, using Blogger's new, tidy, widget-management system, and replacing it with my clunky old freehand template.For some reason, it imported an old saved version of my blogroll rather than the most recent one. I really can't think why it did that, but there you are. As a result, some of my favourite blogs have disappeared from the blogroll and I've had one or two slightly indignant '... and I thought we were friends!!' emails from people to whom no slight was intended. Not that a few slights are occasionally dished out, just to keep the old juices flowing...So, if you were on the blogroll, and are now not, please let me know and I'll fix...

It’s all very well rambling through a 20-minute interview in a podcast but what if you want to condense that chat into a five-minute clip? The editing process can be a pretty daunting prospect and it’s easy to get confused. Today we have five tips on chopping audio content, concentrating on general advice rather than the specifics of GarageBand, Audacity, et al. 1. Get an overview of the audio You’re looking for a good five minutes of content. Obviously there’s a little leeway either way (depending on the quality of the interview) but you really want to be as ruthless as you can. Listen for the interesting or funny bits. Listen for the dull sections you can do without. Assume the listener gets bored reeeeally easily. 2. Tell the story Once you’ve...

Georgina Bruce’s writing mixes realism with fantasy. These bizarre fictional places, half-real half-imagined, are inhabited by living people and fantastic creatures. They explore the fragility of emotion and the mystery of poetic phenomenon. Her remarkable stories are posted up at her blog, The Bearded Lady, which she describes as: ‘a home for short and odd stories, poems, junk and ephemera, a sort of virtual cupboard under the stairs’. I wanted to know more about these strange worlds and where they come from. I was also keen to get a picture into some of the other aspects of her writing, areas beyond the scope of her blog. 1 ) I’m familiar with your work through your blog, which I believe only provides a partial representation of your work, can you...

After much hacking (and swearing) I now have a blog full of posts and comments. The odd post seems to have gone walkabout, although I’m not sure why. I’ll have to look into that. Maybe they’ll turn up in the admin? After some reflection, I’ve removed the News section and shall stick with the blog for all posts including news. I think it was likely to get too complicated as I have plans to eventually add a new links section. Ok, so now I’m off to start wading through all these posts checking tags...

This article is entirely uninteresting. I only stumbled across it by chance. But one thing about it did excite me: at the bottom there is the following statement: An earlier version of this story mistakenly suggested that British programmes were responsible for 53% of global television output. The figure actually relates to the increase in sales of British format ideas. So what you might say. The BBC made a mistake, happens every day. So what? The BBC made a mistake and acknowledged it, instead of simply changing it and airbrushing the mistake out of history. Is this a one-off or a change in policy? I’ve not noticed any other acknowledgements like this. It may be sad to get excited by this, but the BBC’s practice of maintaining they are always right, at all times, even...

Via Stuart Sharpe, I see that Dizzy has commented upon a mildly unwise policy from Greenwich Council; his analysis is fine but then, alas, he gets his facts wrong.The other thing that amused was a semantic point about the phrase "emergency contraception". Contraception is clearly about contra (contrary) ception (conception). In other words it is about the prevention of conception.The morning-after pill however is not about preventing conception. It works by getting rid of a conceived egg and sperm. It's not contraception at all.No. This is entirely wrong, I am afraid. Strange though it may seem to all of you randy people out there, it actually takes quite a bit of time for the sperm to make its way to the egg.As I have pointed out before, the so-called morning-after pill (it's effective...

Anyone can report the news. The real story is predicting it. If it’s the big “What if?” on social media trends, technology trends, and thoughts on scientific discoveries you’re looking for, then the Blah, Blah! Technology blog is the place to be for you and your friends… Now, I’m not saying I’m getting it right every time. But like the old Irish proverb says, it’s the journey that counts, not the arrival. For me, I like to step out into the void of the future unknown and hazard a guess at what might be. The thrill is daring to imagine greater things of man. Of web traffic and subscriber statistics This past week as seen the number of subscribers peak sharply not once, but twice. And between the 7th and the 14th, I’ve had over 20,000...

I am glad to see that a number of my swearblogging colleagues seem to have returned: let us hope that they are back for good!Following hard on the heels of the ressurection of my impecunious Greek friend comes his Snobbish compatriot. And back venting his spleen is the Ranting Guttersnipe.Good men all: welcome back, boys—it's a pleasure to see you......

THE death of blogging, says the Economist’s blogger: The Economist has a proud tradition of anonymity. But in case you wondered who wrote the piece on the death of blogging - it was this gentleman, and he has a very entertaining blog. Irony…...

With Twitter the phase of “do we really need it?” is over. The “how do we use it?” phase is right now. There are numerous ways of using Twitter for everything from business to bull**** and even clients come up to me and ask me about Twitter after reading one of those Twitter articles in the main stream media. So what are the Twitter tools that really make a difference for SEO and overall business users? We see at least a dozen new Twiter tools every other day. So I selected just 30+ Twitter tools that are most useful right now. Some of these tools have been around for a few months some have sprung up just recently. They have one thing in common: You must be aware of these tools in case you’re serious about Twitter participation. Twitter Clients TweetDeck...

Two weeks ago I posted about a very “web 1.0″ style PDF twitter guide. I actually think this concept of microblogging short messages, somewhere between IM and email as a means of team communication and collaboration is going to become increasingly important in business.  Just like with particular email services like Hotmail, although Twitter might be the best known example at the moment, there will be many services to choose from, and many software providers including the concept in their collaboration platforms. Laura Fitton runs Pistachio Consulting, a company that specialises in advising companies on this new trend. On her website she says: “‘Microblogging’ is the industry standard term for applications like Twitter, Plurk, Pownce, Jaiku, but many see it...

My Dear American Cousins,Afraid you've missed the latest gardening gossip from England?Are you dying to know who is the 'Lord of Cord' and why?Concerned your English friend uses her butt too often?Want to find the best garden itinerary for your upcoming tour?Do you find quaint terms like 'flowering their socks off' confusing?Worried you'll fail your University Diploma?Then we have just the publication for you! Yes, You Ask, We Answer is the part work which solves the mystery of your English gardening buddies' eccentricity. Issued over an infinitesimal number of weeks (or until funding runs out), each edition builds to form the best, most complete library of English gardening knowledge, entertainment, heritage and terminology. We have gathered the creme de la creme of gardening expertise...

Following on from the is-it-ok-to-poke-fun-at-Dubya-uses-in-the-afterlife conversation, this archive image got into Jon Kudelka’s cartoon project. If you visit the next link, you will also see nice work by my fellow British colleagues Royston Robertson and Steve Bright, who are all members of the UK Professional Cartoonists’......

EmmaT's been most lovely and organised and done all her Christmas shopping for all her blogging buddies at B&Q's garden goodies sale. She's generously earmarked a car boot organiser for me; I can't for the life of me think why I need one, can you? :0The picture shows my car boot yesterday. As you can see it's poised for every allotment eventuality I may care to throw at it. I don't keep this stuff up at there in case it gets stolen. It looks this way in spite of a GNO earlier on in the year in Bristol, where I returned from our meal to find I had a flat tyre. Luckily there was someone (painting railings in the dark at 10 o'clock at night - why?) at the car park to help me change it and a similar view to the one above greeted us as I fished through it all for the spare tyre. The...

A strange thing happened on the other side of everything that’s gone before.I was walking in Manchester when a stranger approached me and asked me why I wasn’t still writing my Appreciation Society.‘It’s simple,’ I replied. ‘A close personal friend of mine suffered a difficult few months and I gave him room on my blog to detail his personal suffering. In light of that, I thought it poor taste to continue to be so frivolous or go on about how unendingly successful I am. There’s a time for being humble, you know. All great men recognise that at some point in their lives.’‘Bah!’ said the stranger so forcibly that he melted the waxed tip of his moustache. ‘Nonsense, Dick! Your blog is a gift to the world. It gives great joy to the lesser millions. I’m sure that even a...

Google have now added further features to it’s Google Mail web browser based service, it essentially combines the voice chat functionality from Google Talk as well as adding video chat into the mix. I’ve been using Google Mail (GMail) for a few years now, one of the handy things that you could do was have a live text chat / instant message session with other Google Mail users that you were friends with from within the browser without the need for a separate instant messaging client. Google have also offered a separate optional application called Google Talk that you could install and use to have a voice chat with your other Google Mail/Talk friends - this method of ‘calling’ your friends has always provided me with good service when I’ve used it and have...

Ged Carroll memed me to find out where I get my inspiration from for my blog and thoughts? Plenty of places but here are a few ideas… - Suggested links from blogging, Facebook, Twitter and FriendFeed friends - Delicious, Digg and other social bookmarking tools - Traditional media reading such as The Times, The Guardian, The Economist, BBC, NY Times - An endless array of podcast subscriptions - ViralVideoChart.com - Top political blogs and PoliticsHome.com - Job experiences - Film, music and sport - When I’m on a run - And most importantly pub chatter i.e. people I meet Next up for the meme? Well, my esteemed Weber Shandwick digital colleagues…James Warren, Robert Anderson and Simon Collister.       ...

Got some time to kill but don't know where to go?Why don't you climb aboard the Magical Mystery Blog Tour Bus? There are still a few places left.Click on STOP 1 and the Bus will take you to your first Mystery Blog location.To get back on the Bus just click the Back Button and click STOP 2 to continue the Tour. I think you can work the rest out.The Bus rolls out on Sundays and Wednesdays - enjoy the ride. If you have any suggestions for the next tour drop me an email by hitting the Contact button at the top of the...

Hopeless Roy Lichtenstein (1963) Oh, alright things are not really as bad as all that, but I have been having a mini crisis, and if there is one thing I am good at, it's making a drama out of a crisis. About ? Well, this blog for one, or to be more specific, the appearance of it. I seem to have developed an obsession with the way it looks, and have even deleted some older posts that I...

About a year ago I wrote about the 400 year old chestnut trees that grow in Greenwich park home of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and wrote up my favourite recipe for them. For the nuts that is - not for 400 year old trees! Rex wrote to me and asked for a few to plant at the famous Christmas place Hunting Club AKA The Deer Camp that his blog is named after. I said 'sure I'd love to' and there...

I have been thinking about redesigning and redeveloping my blog to make it more… bloggy. Kind of like a cross between kottke and Diaua!com. Do you think they’d mind if I took their layouts and mashed them in to...

Wordpress 1.2 for the iPhone / iPod Touch is on the way and looks set to have some cool new......

Thanks for making your way over to my new blog everyone. I’m really glad you’re here. Despite abundant assistance and kind helpfulness, there were too many technical problems for my little brain and so I’ve decided not to move my previous posts here, so will just pick up from where I left off. I hope there won’t be many hiccups whilst I unpack, tidy and tweak to get things tikitty-boo. I hope you’ll be updating the links on your blogrolls. Posted in Blogging, Splodges, Technology   Tagged: blog, brain, friends, splodge, technical, tikitty-boo, welcome   ...