copypunk

iPhone update

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 18:43:00 +0000

Day two. Been fiddling with the iPhone. A lot.

GOOD

Almost everything. Just look at it.

BAD

Slow-ass syncing. Like, unbelievably slow.
Indirect music updating (you have to create a playlist... I think).
The other person is slightly muffled on phone calls (but I will get used to it).
Sometimes forgets my home wifi password.
Music video quality - I thought the picture would be better having paid £1.79 for a video?
No built-in RSS reader - any suggestions about how to get around it?
No ringtones! The ones shipped with it are terrible. TERRIBLE!

The only other thing that miffs me is that I was going to switch to Safari on my MacBook to ease bookmark syncing - but it's just so awful I can't do it.

my first iPhone

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 00:20:00 +0000

I really wasn't planning on getting an iPhone today. But it turns out that I'm typing this from one. Whoops.

So far I'm generally amazed at everything. I'm even switching apps on my MacBook to sync more easily. Activation was quick, the controls are mac-simple and the keyboard seems pretty effective (and massivly helped by the awesome autocorrect).

The only thing that lets it down is the voice quality when you're on the phone. The other person sounds muffled compared to my Sony Ericsson W880i and Blackberry. Also, the magnifyer thingy that's used for text editing is a bit crap.

Aside from that, this thing is so advanced it terrifies me.

'Read all about them'

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 13:32:00 +0000

We spotted via Bobbie Johnson's Guardian blog that The Media Standards Trust has launched beta site (and dreadful pun) the 'Journa-List'.

It's a page where you can allegedly find out which journalists are writing on specific topics, find out more about specific writers and see who's the most prolific hack out there. For example, Ben Harrington has written the most today and covers Sainsbury's more than anything else.

It's automated so doesn't work too well (which it expects and warns you about) but is a nice idea.

It's an open source project via Google Code, which I suppose means it was someone's bright idea (actually, it was Ben Campbell's bright idea) and it's just sort of happened as a little job to boost the Trust's online exposure.

While I find the simple design, dreadful 1990s typeface and shameless theft of web 2.0 terminology (beta, newsfeed, tagcloud) endearing, the most fun I had was rummaging through the issues that the developers faced while creating the site - good ones include:

David Leigh (Guardian) confused with David Leigh (Mirror)

(Oops. Not one to get confused.)

There appear to be some problems with the Independent scraper.

(Ouch. And...)

Some countries appear in the tags even though they were filtered out (e.g. Britain, Iraq, Iran, Russia)

(Why filter out Iraq?)

(Also published on LEWIS 360)

Hats off

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 09:23:00 +0000

As I'm Twitter from the conference via Twitterific, I just spotted that both my blog profile image and my Twitter profile image see me wearing a baseball cap.

This is possibly the two times out of three I have worn a baseball cap since leaving my teens, and all occasions were for fancy dress. Seems to work though, and I've been looking for a signature item.

Time to resurrect that look I think. It'll be like Stowe's beret!

I'm not in the habit of apologising for not posting...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 08:39:00 +0000

But a couple of people have commented on my lack of posts. I agree, I have gone a bit Nick Leonard recently.

I've been on holiday, alright?!

But now I'm back, and am speaking at the PR Week New Media Conference today at the LEWIS Media Centre.

I'll be updating LEWIS 360 throughout the day, and am on at 2.15pm if you're passing.

Every topic in the universe except chickens dot com

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 12:08:00 +0000

Focusing all Wikipedia vandalism on one article is the best idea I've heard all day.

But it's ruined by eight little words: "This page has been semi-protected for editing".

Twittering at the MTV VMAs

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 07:57:00 +0000

I agree with Kristin at Bite on this one - getting the bands and presenters to Twitter through the MTV Music Video Awards was a good idea.

I'm now following Timbaland, and am getting a thrill when he Twitters things like:

Shopping so i can look goods 08:34 PM September 08, 2007 from txt

Go to rEHEARSAL 01:36 PM September 08, 2007 from txt

GETTING MY HAIR CUT FOR THIS COVER SHOOT WITH 50 04:01 PM September 07, 2007 from txt

He's getting his hair cut with 50 Cent, and texting Twitter via his mobile phone.

And I feel like I'm there. While TIMBALAND gets his HAIR DONE. With FIFTY CENT.

BRILLIANT.

BBC iPlayer - the cloud crowd strikes again

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 22:00:00 +0000

It's almost as if the web is fulfilling its potential as an champion of ordinary people.

No sooner does HSBC reverse its decision on charges for graduate accounts (thanks to 5,000 Facebook users), that a 16,000-strong e-petition results in the Government stepping in to demand that the BBC rework its crappy iPlayer so that it works on Macs.

Here's part of the response from Number 10:

"The BBC Trust made it a condition of approval for the BBC's on-demand services that the iPlayer is available to users of a range of operating systems, and has given a commitment that it will ensure that the BBC meets this demand as soon as possible."

As a fan of the Beeb and all it represents, the thing that disappoints me is that it got so far. The bad feeling towards the iPlayer has been loud and persistent.

Surely someone there should've spotted the pending problem and sorted it earlier?

Nice Jobs: Steve sorts out the new iPhone price

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 14:31:00 +0000

Steve Jobs' open letter on the new iPhone pricing is fascinating. Basically, he's spotted that loads of people are going to be pissed off at the price dropping so quickly after launch.

Most companies would just say 'tough'. (Or, as is more likely, say nothing at all.)

Instead, we get:

"Our early customers trusted us, and we must live up to that trust with our actions in moments like these."

Steve's open letter makes him sound like he's delving into his own pocket and personally giving each iPhone customer $100 back.

Nice move - very Richard Branson. I would have loved to have been in the meeting where they decided to do that. I wonder how the maths works out?

Quechup - bad taste social networking?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 15:24:00 +0000

Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and the like all harvest your webmail account to send invites without you having to send them individually. It's handy as they ask first.

I checked my email this morning and there were a couple of invites from people I trust to try out Quechup, a new social networking tool.

I was a little suspicious about it's self-important phrasing ("It's no wonder Quechup is fast becoming the social networking site to be on." Yeah right. Says who?). But before I could respond I spotted Boing Boing's stinging post on how Quechup is rotten. Apparently it spams your contacts with invites without even asking. One blogger even got his Gmail account suspended as they thought he was a spammer.

Ouch. Invasion of privacy AND spamming, all in one nicely automated behind-the-scenes operation.

Glad I didn't sign up.

UPDATE: The list of people going after Quechup is making its future look shaky: Mashable, Smart Mobs and Geek News Central are on it (to name three blogs I follow from the 492 posts thrown back from a Google blog search) and Digg is alight with conversation (all negative). Ooops.

We are the sleepy mob

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 19:39:00 +0000

I'm taking part in a flash mob to raise awareness of Byte Night, NCH (the charity behind it) and its role in supporting young people coping with life after care or facing homelessness.

When: 8.45am, Thursday, September 6
Where: Potters Field (off Tooley Street), London

There's a Facebook event page here with all the details.

If you can't make the flash mob or Byte Night itself, there is always Byte Night Local.

October... I can't think of a better time to sleep in your garden for charity.

Just saw Drew's letter in PR Week

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 11:03:00 +0000

Edit that, Benvie.

I honestly had no idea this was Joey

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 21:39:00 +0000

Well done Innocent Drinks for putting interesting links in a newsletter about fruit juice.

Tom Coates and the PRostitutes

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 20:09:00 +0000

I've been following the saga of Tom Coates and his reaction, and subsequent clarification, of his feelings about being pitched to by PR people.

I shall summarise for your reading pleasure (as I know you appreciate it):

Tom Coates' blog gets popular.
Stephen Davies points out to the PR community that Tom Coates' blog is popular.
Some PR people target Tom Coates' popular blog by sending him stuff.
Tom Coates is unhappy.

The fallout has been interesting to watch. Stephen Davies has approached the situation with his usual enthusiasm - from comments on Tom's blog, to special posts, to a reworking of the original list of popular blogs, complete with warning to hapless PR folk about daring to send any of them an email.

Following Tom's initial rant, there was a wave of reaction. Renaissance Chambara spotted it, then Drew joined in. Stuart Bruce had something to say, as did Stowe Boyd. Simon Collister added his two penneth. Journalists like Jemima Kiss and Sally Whittle and Chris Edwards chimed in too. Most people agreed with his sentiments.

I'm amazed at the discussion. I really am. For two main reasons.

One.

A blogger complaining about being so popular that they have become the target of PR campaigns is like Britney Spears complaining about being followed around by the paparazzi. You can't prance around in your bra, draped in a python while singing about being a 'Slave 4 U' that was 'Born To Make You Happy' then decide you don't want to have your picture taken. (Yes, I know too many Britney songs but you get my point.) With fame comes the trappings - be it massive wealth, a dedicated web following or people trying to influence you. There are boundaries, of course. I wouldn't approve of putting cameras in Britney's toilet or rifling through her rubbish. But does she complain when she gets sent free t-shirts? I doubt it. The real discussion here should be what constitutes a degrading or exploitative action. In Tom's case, it isn't sending him a press release. Sorry, but it isn't.

Two.

What on EARTH do the PR people targeting Tom think they're doing? There is a way to relate to the public via blogs. Contact with bloggers has got to be direct, considered and personal. If not, you run the risk of sparking a debate that just ends up creating negative PR. And negative PR via a blog is not like negative PR from a legitimate news source. Bloggers don't have a standard set of ethics that say they can't call someone a ****. It's going to hurt. Any PR types that are targeting Tom haven't done anything wrong - but his reaction suggests they've gone about it in a terribly wrong way. He obviously wasn't expecting to hear from them. Perhaps he didn't know them. Maybe he only likes to receive information when delivered by owl - I don't know. And the problem is neither did they.

I hope this episode, and others like it, doesn't scare PR people off using popular blogs as a new channel in the media mix. After all, it's an exciting way to connect with the public in a world of declining print readership.

Many bloggers are thrilled to be thought of as journalists. And those that are treated like them should learn to balance the advantages (large readerships, public influence, free stuff) with the inconvenience of receiving the odd press release that doesn't interest them.

At the same time, PR types need to realise that bloggers that aren't journalists don't act like journalists.

Things you wish you'd thought of

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 20:03:00 +0000

Carlberg's latest PR stunt cost them £5,000. And it's probably one of the best ever...

Via B3TA.

Second funniest thing I've heard all day

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 20:06:00 +0000

"Grease is Star Wars for girls."

It was a comment on Movies' Greatest Cars on Sky Three tonight. Some comedian I've never heard of said it.

Don't ask me what the funniest thing I've heard all day was. I couldn't tell you.

Five becomes ten

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 21:22:00 +0000

I like lists of five things. And Rubel's list in Wired on How To Run A Corporate Blog isn't bad.

But despite my penchant for lists of five things (honestly, ask anyone. I can't write lists of four things), his left me wanting.

Perhaps a list of ten would've been better. (Multiples of five are OK...)

Here's five more to make up the rest:

6. Reflect your brand.
Tone, style, design, strategy. Your blog is not a forum for uncontrolled ranting or blatant libel about how rubbish your competitors are. At the same time, it's not a platform for peddling bland messaging. Work out what you brand values are and champion them via your blog.

7. Have a plan for every outcome.
Blogs are a useful crisis management tool, but they could also fan the flames of any potential media fallout. Do you have a plan that kicks in should a crisis occur? A blog could be critical in getting your message out fast - make sure it's by-the-book.

8. Try out new stuff.
Blogs are quick and easy to update. Plug in Twitter and play with it. If that doesn't work, unplug it and try something else. Your IT team won't let you do this on your corporate website. Blogs are a testbed for new tech - embrace the opportunity.

9. Bring power to the people
The most interesting person to write a blog is not the CEO. The people that have direct engagement with the customer have the most colourful stories. A CEO blog is a great thing, but balance it out with a blog written by a collection of sales people or your R&D team.

10. Track, track, track.
Are you being linked to? What's your blog traffic and is it growing? How much of your website traffic is referrals from your blog? Who is commenting? Does anyone really care? Social media technology is pretty good at helping you work all of this out. Measure it, record it, and track it back to the reasons why you launched the frickin' blog in the first place.

How social media saved the press release

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 19:36:00 +0000

We've just done some research with independent researcher (and company whose name makes me feel slightly queasy) BrainJuicer of 150 CEOs.

The results are posted on LEWIS 360, but the fact that 117 of them said PR was an 'integral business function' while the majority of PR budgets are on the up (two thirds of them said they've increased their PR budget this year) can only be a good thing.

I'm interested in social media's place in changing perceptions. Following the 'death of the press release', many people said the advent of social media meant the humble press release was over. After all, if people were happy to make up their own minds via peer-to-peer online conversations, who needs PR?

But, according to the results of the survey, 'almost two thirds' (not sure what that means but will ask the marketing team for the actual result) think web 2.0 has made PR a 'more visible process'.

I suppose we can extrapolate the fact that this has lead to the fact that CEOs - who like measurable, transparent process and benefits - are therefore happier to spend money on it?

Hang on a minute... Has social media saved the press release?

#81 and #95

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 20:37:00 +0000

Press play, then read this post. It will help.

Paul Hardcastle – The Wizard

The Friendly Ghost's August PowerPR Index sees my old blog clogger sliding 20 places to 81. Copypunk is a new entry, entering the chart at 95. And there's been no change at the top, with Micro Persuasion a non-mover, holding on to the number one slot for another month.

I love charts. Bring back Top of the Pops, I say.

Righteous additions to the vault

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 18:11:00 +0000

PR Blogger aka Righteous Brentano aka Social Media Manager at webitpr aka Stephen Davies has been busy.

Not only has he scrubbed up nicely to appear in this new PR vault video...

But he's also been bullying - sorry 'encouraging' - colleagues to start blogging... The result? t'Internet PR & Advertising2.0.

(Good luck Giles, and welcome. Although you should try and keep weekend blogging in check in case it takes over your... Oh.)

Raiding the PR video vault

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 20:58:00 +0000

With Samnsam currently causing such a – ahem – stir, I thought this might be a good time to raid the video vaults of PR to see what other self-promotional gems were kicking about...

First, LEWIS does Samnsam...

And the classic Golin Harris 'Baywatch' in Palma 2006...

I personally LOVE 'Cows are not sheep' from Cow PR...

Can't embed it (miserable cows) but it's here.

And how about the reasonably incomprehensible Weber Shandwick Pitch Bulls?

Any more for any more?

Five alive: top tools, take two

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 20:47:00 +0000

A year ago I started a mini-meme (on my old blog clogger) about the 'five tools you can't blog without'.

Now I'm back and 'enthusiastically blogging again' (Wade's words, not mine), I thought I'd do it again. A year on, my top five's shifted somewhat. Back in 2006, my list was:

1. Blogger
2. Technorati
3. del.icio.us
4. Statcounter
5. YouTube

Nowadays, it's more like:
1. Blogger
2. Google Analytics
3. NetNewsWire
4. YouTube
5. Technorati

Note that Google now owns the majority of my blogging toolbox... And, ideally, I'd add iGoogle and Google Blog Search to my 'necessities' list if there was space. I suppose I just tried it once and it seduced me.

In other news, del.icio.us doesn't really have any use for me any more, and Statcounter's limited functionality (unless you pay, of course) was blown out of the water by Google Analytics and the slew of free features. I include Technorati (merely for tracking) but grudgingly as it's soooooo bloooooody sloooooow.

Anyway, in the great tradition of the meme (which doesn't happen enough any more - let's call it a flashback to the heady days of 2006), I'm going to tag some blogochums and see what happens. Does anyone even monitor their inbound links any more?

Drew, Wade, David, Righteous, Tebbo - are you there?

Web 3.0: I'm still not convinced this is real

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:43:00 +0000

Web 3.0? Whatever next? (Erm, web 4.0?)

That's Eric Schmidt, Google CEO, answering. Give the guy that asks the question a medal.

Via Rough Type.

What Wayne Rooney might look like as a nun

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:14:00 +0000

The red tops are always publishing 'artist's impressions' of the topics of rubbish news stories.

Slow news day? Let's publish a pic about what Prince Harry might look like as a builder. Story about Wayne Rooney giving up booze? Here's what he might look like as a nun. Today, there was news that Posh might wear a fat suit for her appearance in Ugly Betty. Luckily The Star's talented art department were on hand to graft her head onto Bubbles Devere from Little Britain. Hilarious.

But what gives Engadget the right to present us with the image of a smouldering Nokia battery following the news that some of them might overheat, without so much as a nod to the fact that the picture's been cooked up via the magic of computers?

Is it because it's a blog, and therefore above the ethics that govern a traditional news outlet?

Have they hidden a disclaimer somewhere to let the less informed readers know it isn't actually a Nokia battery on fire? Or do they just not give a stuff?

It gets better - the image is an amalgamation of this image and this image - both early Google image searches for 'smoulder' and 'nokia battery'. While the battery image appears to be a Nokia corporate shot (and OK to use for press), the second is a private, copyrighted image by a Belgian media student.

I hope Engadget gave him some money for it.

I don't tend to link to TWL

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 20:35:00 +0000

But - mmm, isn't its new website pretty?