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22 Jun 2009 | Posted by Mark
User Generated Content - Associated Benefits
26 May 2009 | Posted by admin
by Des Ekin - Sunday World (reproduced with the kind permission of the Sunday World)
Twitter sweeps the globe as politicians and pop stars realise online potential
BRIAN COWEN is doing it. Britney Spears is doing it. George Hook is doing it and Archbishop Sean Brady wants more Christians to do it.
Boxer Kenny Egan did it when he vanished off the radar and Green chairman Dan Boyle did it just before he unleashed a political bombshell last weekend.
President Obama did it to publish his election win and actor Ashton Kutcher did it to publish his wife Demi Moore’s bottom as she bent over in the bathroom.
They all tweeted.
Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of Twitter, the online ‘micro-blogging’ site that is revolutionising everything from celebrity gossip to the deadly-serious shifting of the balance of political power.
For the benefit of the few who haven’t heard of it, Twitter is a sort of live blogging service where you post updates or ‘tweets’ of up to 140 characters.
There are anywhere between 6,000 and 8,000 Irish users.
Last weekend Ireland had its first Twitter scoop when Green chairman Dan Boyle warned his regular following: “About to go to Tralee to say something controversial.”
That’s how Twittered-up journalists got an early hint that Dan was about to put the cat among the pigeons (or more aptly, the Sylvesters among the Tweetie-pies) in the Coalition, with his call for a review of the programme for government.
Later, a satisfied Boyle tweeted again: “Listening to my Tralee comments reverberating.”
June 5 will be Ireland’s first Twitter election, with all the political parties seeking to emulate the masterly way Barack Obama used it to help him win the Presidential election.
The Illinois senator exploited Twitter’s awesome reach to organise a big push in the final hours of election day and tweeted his followers a few hours later: “We just made history.”
BUM DEAL: Ashton Kutcher’s pic of wife Demi Moore was a big hit
Each of the main Irish parties is now posting regular tweets in a bid to marshal supporters and keep voters informed.
Even God loves Twitter, according to Cardinal Sean Brady who wants Christians to use its power to pray and organise prayer groups.
A New York church recently used Twitter to narrate the Passion of Christ in tweets.
From the sublime to the ridiculous, celebs use Twitter to document the most trivial aspects of their lives.
When actress Demi Moore bent over in her bathroom, husband Ashton Kutcher secretly snapped her pantie-clad bum and gallantly shared the pic with his 1.8 million followers.
Bitchy celebrity blogger Perez Hilton has had fierce Twitter rows with Lily Allen and last week slagged Derry’s Nadine Coyle over her accent.
“Can anyone understand one word Nadine Coyle is saying, bless her heart?” he jeered.
Father Ted writer Graham Linehan recently celebrated his 20,000th follower on Twitter.
Sample tweet: “A friend saw Brokeback Mountain in India and they’d cut all the gay stuff out, leaving a 45 minute film about sheep farming.”
Dubliner Linehan is a Twitter obsessive. “I’m having so much fun with Twitter, it’s unreal,” he said recently. “Ask a question and people trip over themselves trying to help.”
Yet not everything in the Twitter garden is lovely.
Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus had to make a stand against Twitter cyberbullies.
There have also been dozens of Twitter hoaxes.
For instance, a fake ‘Ryanair Online’ Twitter site insulted passengers for being “stupid”, “dense” and “smelling of urine” before being rumbled.
Hoaxers on Twitter have claimed to be Brian Cowen, Miriam O’Callaghan and George Hook.
The Taoiseach has a genuine Twitter presence through Fianna Fáil and the real George Hook can be found @ghook.
Other genuine Irish Twitterers include David McWilliams, Graham Norton, Ciaran Cuffe TD and Damien Rice.
Worldwide, Twitter has already proved its value in breaking such news stories as the Hudson air crash.
It also has untapped potential-for instance, traffic updates.
On Wednesday, when flooding brought Dublin southside DART services to a standstill, passengers got their first alert on Twitter.
You can follow the Sunday World now on Twitter - http://twitter.com/sundayworld
Clickstream’s Twitter feed can be found at: http://twitter.com/clickstreamweb
10 Mar 2009 | Posted by admin
The recent FOWA Dublin event, held by the Carsonified team was a fantastic day, with great speakers providing lots of very useful information on web applications and development.
The day started with some tips from the man himself based on their experience in building DropSend web application.
Eoghan McCabe & Des Traynor from Contrast gave a very engaging presentation on Web Conventions, including looking at page layouts, best practices, building software vs. building websites.
Robin Christopherson from Ability.net (a UK charity) showed us how inaccessible some websites can be and how frustrating this is for users with disabilities.
He estimated that about 10% of the population have some sort of impairment in accessing the web e.g. reading/writing difficulties, age related conditions, blindness, dyslexia etc. so as web designers/developers, we need to bear this in mind when creating web sites/apps.
Robin mentioned Aria (Accessible Rich Internet Application Suite) - which is definitely something worth learning about if you are designing with accessibility in mind.
To see an example of a web site designed in Flash - Robin recommended checking out JK Rowling’s official website.
Next up was Blaine Cooke - an ex developer from Twitter. He forsees richer integration between social networking sites e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Flickr. Some sites he recommended reviewing include:
This well-received talk was definitely aimed at web developers, but unfortunately, being a mere web designer, I was a bit lost on Ruby and Rails etc. so can’t do Emma’s talk justice here, but the feedback given by web developers in the audience was that she knew her stuff!
Morgan McKeagney from IQ Content surprised even Carsonified with their announcement of a prize for the best business plan for a web app. This is your chance to win €10,000 - no strings attached, if you have the winning business plan for a web app.
Matthew Ogle from Last.fm gave a great insight into how Last.fm works, privacy issues relating to desktop applications and also explained how to make money from web apps. Some sites worth looking at include:
Now this was a scary talk! Simon Willison filled us in on some useful tips and things developers should be aware of e.g.:
Three people got the chance to pitch their web apps to a panel of judges. This was a great idea as we got to see how best to present your web app pitch (always state what your web app is about), if you have a website for it - put this up on the screen!
The pitch that stood out for me the most (and I think for the panel too) was - one by Robin Blandford, from ByteSurgery.com, on their Decisions for Hereos application. This is just such a great idea - rescue teams can file reports via web and mobile and the information gathered can really help in future rescues. Plus there is the added bonus that the stats gathered can be sold to insurance companies. So this is a real example of a web app with the ability to make money! Very inspiring.
Finally, David Heinemeier Hansson from 37 Signals gave a fantastic talk on setting up a web app company.
Overall, it was a really great event, well worth checking out if Carsonified come back to Dublin - or if you are able to make it to any of the other FOWA/Carsonified events being held - I highly recommend it.
18 Sep 2008 | Posted by admin
I just thought I would highlight this conference I heard about - Organise, Activate, Influence - Social Activisim Online. It is being organised by the EU Commission. It’s all about harnessing the power of blogs to allow debate and enhance activism. It sounds very interesting!