Witterings from within: Archive

1 tag

Dolphin watching in the sun

My son , @philellwood, has popped up for the weekend. Having done some son-dad things like going for a pint, curry, and discussing iPhone app programming :-), we’d decided to go out for a wildlife trip. In Cromarty, we have an excellent operator called Ecoventures, who run dolphin/wildlife trips on their 9.5m RIB Saorsa. We booked on to it yesterday and went out on the 1300 trip. Quick...

Jun 5th

The election, jobs, and benefits claimants

Lots of talk about: “We’re the party of jobs” [well, if they’re Government jobs you’re paying for them out of my pocket] “It’s unacceptable to refuse a job when it’s offered” [lots of people *aren’t* offered jobs] I was chatting with a colleague about working hours - for 20+ years my working day has started between 4 a.m. and 8.30...

May 2nd

“Putting aside the fact that Ashleigh was 17 years old when she went to meet...”

– The Register, a seemingly lone voice of sanity in a sea of hysterical knee-circlejerking. (via nevali)

Mar 19th

1 note

DNS problems? Network problems?

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600] (C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp. C:\Documents and Settings\steve>ping www.google.co.uk Ping request could not find host www.google.co.uk. Please check the name and try again. C:\Documents and Settings\steve>ping www.google.co.uk Pinging www-tmmdi.l.google.com [66.102.9.103] with 32 bytes of data: Reply from 66.102.9.103: bytes=32...

Mar 19th

Lessons from Jamie Zawinski

I’ve loved stuff on the internet for quite a while. having had a variety of presence back for 14/15 years.When I started using Netscape I remember being able to do “about:jwz” and find all sorts of interesting things. I like clever people; I look bemused at the stuff Paul Downey (@psd) does - and loved The URI Is The Thing and The Web is Agreement. He has a bee in his bonnet...

Nov 23rd

I couldn't follow all that stuff; I can't even...

I was talking about Twitter and Facebook, to a group of friends who are mixed age, but all professional. They were aghast when I said I read blogs, used Facebook and Twitter. None of them knew what RSS was, or how it could help you manage the stream of data. One colleague said “Well, I don’t see how you manage *your* email. You must have hundreds of addresses.” [I run the...

Nov 20th

removing your signature from Posterous

More and more people are using posterous, and I can see why. I use it as a sort of mini-blog/maxi-Twitter - as it’s so easy to get content into it.I’ve notice one or two people using Posterous and ending each entry with their email signature… Reading the FAQ http://posterous.com/faq , I learn “Remove your email signature End your post with ‘#end’ and...

Nov 10th

Data in the cloud? Think Sass and RUB

My attention was drawn to the Times article http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article6871750.ece (incidentally, thanks to @AdamLiversage for that) which discusses the Microsoft/Sidekick disaster. I saw a comment which I thought was excellent - chris robinson wrote: There is no Sass without a rub … Sass = Software as a SECURE Service RUB = Relocatable user...

Oct 13th

Streaming Spotify to Squeezebox

I have 2 old original Squeezeboxes, that I love. I use Squeezecenter(OS goodness) to stream mp3s round the house to those and other PCs. I like Spotify, I thought it would be nice to stream that too. Sadly, there’s no API which would allow the community to integrate this into Squeezecenter. I searched and found a post on GetSatisfaction from Magnus...

Oct 9th

Using a custom domain name

having admired @mahemoff ‘s tumblr at http://mini.softwareas.com/ I decided I needed to improve my use of posterous. Mind you, I also need to blog more, tweet better, read more, learn my new job, requalify as a rope rescue technician, move professional community. As an easy start, I decided to move my tumblog from the shaidorsai name to my name, and echo the “mini” subdomain...

Oct 8th

I need to use posterous better

I’ve seen so many people doing smart things with it, like @mahemoff does at http://mini.softwareas.com/ I think what’s triggered the thought was seeing his post at http://softwareas.com/2010-the-year-email-took-off echoed by another work colleague (not one of the “usual suspects”) Posted via email from steveellwood’s posterous | Comment »

Sep 24th

Implicit versus explicit

I loved this quote: ” … the world is not a meaningless collection of billions of facts. Rather, it is a field of significance organized by and for beings like us with our bodies, desires, interests and purposes.” johntropea: “Implicit knowledge isn’t explicit knowledge that we’re not currently thinking about. Implicit knowledge isn’t there the way ore is buried. It’s “there” only in the sense...

Jun 15th

2 notes

SocialVibe →

You spend a lot of time creating great content and attracting an audience for your blog. What if you could use that influence to make a positive social impact? Now you can. We’ve teamed up with…

Jun 15th

May Wrap-Up →

Sorry for this being the latest wrap-up ever. May was a fun month for us. We rolled out a ton of new features: the ability to add YouTube videos and polls to comments, stats in your time…

Jun 14th

Things in transition →

Back in October, I was reminding people to keep up with their social networks as the recession brought challenges. While it was hardly prescient, it was brought home to me when my role…

May 17th

What’s my blog about? →

Image Credit:wordle

May 17th

Forthcoming blog post subjects

I’ve had some excellent service from Logitech and PrezziesPlus.co.uk need to talk about that. Want to talk about blue meanie/WP tattoo More about KM

Feb 10th

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office - social media... →

I’ve just remotely attended a really interesting presentation in London [OK, I attended remotely], by Media Snackers who talked about engaging with the young, through social media and so on. …

Feb 5th

Social Media & Knowledge Management →

Social Media in the Enterprise I wondered about the impact social media tools were making in knowledge management for the enterprise. We have got some very rapid growth in the takeup of…

Feb 1st

@SouthwestAir responds to questions to La Guardia →

I’ve posted about corporate use of Twitter before. I like the way it can build a brand’s position and personality. I really liked this use of a response to a question from Jaunted by the Twitter…

Jan 29th

Flock O’ Tweets - sorts tweeters into flocks →

Every now and then you find a little mashup that makes you go “Now that’s a good idea!”. Flock O’Tweets is one. Put a group of those you follow in, separated by commas: out pops a…

Jan 28th

Will your social media engagement scale? →

Do you listen to your customer? We do … that’s what we all say. It’s what we all want to do. Sometimes, particularly in a big corporate, it gets to be a bit difficult to hear what…

Jan 26th

Websites, blogs and content management →

Please, can we have a website? How many of us get questions like that? I did, and the Cromarty Coastguard website was the result. So, the answer was “Yes”. Recently, my local…

Nov 25th

Phil on Skype →

Just a grabbed snap of my bearded son! Posted by email from steveellwood’s posterous

Nov 16th

Phil on Skype

Just a grabbed snap of my bearded son! Posted by email from steveellwood’s posterous | Comment »

Nov 16th

Giving customers what they want →

or, are we dinosaurs? @jobsworth has written another thought provoking post on the customer’s voice and choice, and I commend it to everyone. We need to be in the business of…

Nov 11th

Even Demos says allow Facebook at work →

Image via Wikipedia In an article on use of social networking sites reported on the BBC, a Demos report states that firms should allow the use of these sites at work. …

Oct 29th

Social Media - Agile Knowledge management? →

Absolutely belting article by Joe McKendrick. My favourite quote from Tony Baer “Conventional knowledge management is more of a waterfall process [one department hands off work to another], whereas social media tends to be more agile [working collaboratively, real-time].”

Oct 27th

Keep up with your social network as the crunch... →

Everyone needs friends and contacts While we find our way through the next year or two, there are going to be many changes. Orders get cancelled, expenditure is cut, and jobs will go. If…

Oct 21st

Social Networking fixed my heating! →

I started to write this post in the summer, when someone asked me about social networking. As the weather turned cold, and the heating came on, it’s given me the impetus to publish it. They…

Oct 8th

The URI is the Thing (TUITT) →

Paul Downey - also known as @psd - has done another one of his pen & ink masterpieces conveying the importance of the URI. I’ll admit to my shame, than it wan’t until I started reading…

Oct 7th

Highland sunset over the Cromarty Firth →

Posted by email from steveellwood’s posterous

Oct 5th

Highland sunset over the Cromarty Firth

Posted by email from steveellwood’s posterous | Comment »

Oct 5th

How to change someone’s view with customer service →

I have a house with 4 dogs running about the place; now while I love them dearly, they do leave hair and sand everywhere. You need a good vacuum cleaner. Following some recommendations on…

Sep 17th

Current Social Media tools

I need to do/update a post about what I am using - and how

Sep 17th

Is Yammer really a Twitter in the Enterprise? →

I don’t think it is. Having seen a posting from @pistachio about Yammer, I wittered on our internal blogging sytem about this - and was astonished and delighted to get a ping from…

Sep 16th

Personal branding and blogging →

… or what happened to ShaiDorsai? Following a personal branding/social media engagement post on Richard’s blog, I thought “Yes, fair, I ought to make it plainer who I am, and take more…

Aug 26th

Trust your people… let them free. →

Having a quick glance at Hugh Macleod’s excellent blog, from last week, my attention was caught by his humanification bit where he chats about a previous posting: 4. You’ve already…

Aug 11th

Communication messages - from dog training to... →

What could you learn from a dog trainer? This came about from the last couple of Sundays, as I have had to substitute for my wife in the dog training classes our youngest dog is going…

Aug 3rd

Dog training - habit training?

Just done a dog training class - possibly some lessons to take into trainng for life. Consistency; clarity; authority… Hmm.

Jul 27th

Starfish organisations and contribution… →

Everyone wants to contribute Just read The Starfish and The Spider, an interesting book by Beckstrom and Brafman. I’ll post more about this on another day but I liked the focus on…

Jul 22nd

Engagement and trampolines →

Do you recognise your opportunities? Doer or sayer? Like many, I have good intentions - I mean, I’ve even looked at hundredpushups.com. It seems I’m not alone. I flew into Manchester,…

Jul 22nd

pleased @dmje likes ping.fm

Jul 8th

How personal is your blog? →

How do you blog? In my blogging, I tend to post about things that interest me from a work perspective, or changes in social networking. I tend to mention domestic matters in passing to set…

Jul 7th

Inspired by @andypiper

I note with interest I too can blog by email. Although, of course, I suppose I could use the web client on the phone…

Jun 30th

Weighing Contributions and Participation →

Should we reward participation? Is adding useable knowledge to your employer useful? Should it be part of your actual job? If it was part of your job, how would you measure it? Should…

Jun 23rd

An excellent post about RSS →

Why you should use RSS I’d talked about this at some length in a previous post - and basically it lets you manage vast streams of data very easily. But *how* do you use RSS? I’d talked about…

Jun 20th

What do you remember? →

Good with dates? I remember my birthday. My wife, when she’s being cynical, which is rare says one reason we married was that we have the same birthday. I stand *no* chance of ever…

Jun 17th

Fast food outlets & professional communities →

Why can’t we have a chip shop? Having come back from a lovely holiday in Boston & Iceland, I wondered if I had any inspiration for a blog post. I do, a little. In Boston, I stayed near…

May 30th

Social networking, plumbers and pubs

I need to blog about RL social networking and why people like me might like the tools to do it online.

May 20th