Inside View from Ireland

Jim Corbett on the edge

FOR AN IMPORTANT perspective on what it means to be on the edge of things, I recommend reading Jim Corbett's take on the matter. You might know what the bleeding edge means and you've probably heard of the Edge Case. Corbett believes in edge aggregation and offers best practise by example. This initiative is worth embracing by all Irish bloggers.

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James Corbett -- "Is Mike Losing His Edgeio?"

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Before You Buy

BEFORE YOU BUY expensive electronic gear, you might consider viewing a composite score of the product as rated online. That's possible with a wide range of kit through ViewScore. Several Irish bloggers like the top-rated digital camera. I use the fourth-highest rated mobile phone.

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Check out ViewScore.com.

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We Like Box Net

I DON'T INTEND to distribute or download malware with Box.net Javascript and I like the idea that all my multimedia students can have a gig of free scratch space on a remote server. This facility solves all sorts of skunkworks problems for me. The Box.net crew have it right--give away some space as a loss leader and attract others to pay as they go.

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9/11 Rerun

IN CASE YOU MISSED it, you can watch the events of the only 9/11 when CNN replays coverage of the 9/11 attacks. CNN marks the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks by replaying on the Internet the cable network's coverage of that day's events. Irish viewers can watch the events unfold during lunch on the 11th of September. Starting at 0830 EST (midway through the lunch hour at 1330 in Ireland), viewers can watch the feed run in real time, as the network showed it five years ago, all the way until 7PM Irish time when reality television rejoins its normal scheduling in Europe.

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via Yahoo!

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Kiko Sells for $248k on eBay

HOW MUCH is an online calendaring system worth? According to eBay, it's worth $248,000 for Kiko's stuff--the domain name, the website, and the calendar with registered marks. Details: purchased by powerjoe1998, a legit buyer. Shipping costs FREE. Proceeds to Height 1%. They deserve it.

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eBay -- "Kiko Calendar: Website, Domain, Software. Bidding Closed" on item 120024164593.
Thanks, Tim! Sorry we couldn't keep in the bidding war.

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Writing for the web

THE FIRST RULE of writing for the Web is "write to be found," opines usability guru Jakob Nielsen, plugging his latest book.

Nielsen quotes Churchill. "Short words are best and the old words when short are best of all." He adds: "Familiar words spring to mind unbidden. Thus, users are likely to employ old words when they boil down their problem to a search query, whic h is typically only 2-3 words long."

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Jakob Nielsen -- Prioritizing Web Usability
John Dowdell -- "Accessible English"

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Telecoms Poodle

TELECOMS POODLE SIGHTING: In Ireland, it's ComReg, the Communications Regulator. Consumers can thank this tax-funded organisation for ensuring Ireland remains at the top of the telecoms table for cost of broadband subscriptions. In fact, it's a double-coated honour because Ireland's high costs of broadband connectivity come bundled with one of the lowest rates of uptake for broadband in Europe.

Don't Expect Accurate Flickr Geotags

IF YOU ENJOY geotagging images like I do, you'll discover Flickr's new Map facility puts photos exactly where they should be located--as long as you don't shoot outside of licensed areas. The maps used on Flickr and Yahoo! do not inherit geodetic data from the Ordnance Survey of Ireland so that means if your GPS data comes from a handheld navigation device--like my Garmin GPS--you may be accurate enough to target a missile but some of your images might be 20 miles away from where Yahoo! thinks they're located. Also, the map view is does not snap to the satellite view in every part of Ireland where I tried to place my photos. This has not discouraged those with Flickr albums because as Mike Arrington notes, more than a million images were geotagged within 24 hours of Flickr announcing the new map functionality. (That would not include Euan Semple, the Scot with his hands in the air due to a major bout of Flickr-lag.)

Beer Advice from Doc

BEER ADVICE from Doc Searls: "Take any thin, shitty, weasel-spit-based yellow beer, and add Guinness to it. The result will be something amberish and improved to a significant degree. Still swill, but improved." This works with pissy Belgian beer and the yellow-water American stuff too.

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Doc Searls -- "Unbearable Budlightness of Being"

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Dog Driving

FROM BEIJING comes an Associated Press report concerning a woman in Hohhot, the capital of north China's Inner Mongolia region, who crashed her car while giving her dog a driving lesson. The report comes from the official Xinhua News Agency along with confirmation of "no injuries ... although both vehicles were slightly damaged." The woman, identified only by her surname, Li, said her dog "was fond of crouching on the steering wheel and often watched her drive," according to Xinhua. "She thought she would let the dog 'have a try' while she operated the accelerator and brake," the report said. "They did not make it far before crashing into an oncoming car."

Xinhua did not say what kind of dog or vehicles were involved but Li paid for repairs.

In our house, the cats would never want to learn to drive because every time they ask, they get lifted, taken or fed. They've done taught us well.

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ABC News -- "Woman Crashes While Teaching Dog to Drive" with image from John Walkenbach.

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