puffbox

Google Docs not there yet

I haven’t played with Google Docs for a while, but news of a form designer to ease spreadsheet input intrigued me. A lot of spreadsheets, especially in an office environment, are actually pseudo-databases. So why not treat spreadsheet data entry like a database? It’s a great idea, but the initial execution is a bit disappointing. The [...] read on »

Microsoft-Yahoo: I’m past caring

I’ve been extensively quoted in a technology story on the Sky News website this morning, in which I describe Microsoft’s proposed purchase of Yahoo as ‘a deal for the accountants and advertisers, not the users’. I’ll tell you why. I like to keep a lid on my RSS consumption: anything over 100 feeds feels like too [...] read on »

New Wales Office websites by Puffbox

We’re exceptionally proud to unveil the latest Puffbox site: a new corporate website - or indeed, two - for the Wales Office. And as you’d probably expect from us, it’s not just another government website. In late 2007, I was invited over to the Wales Office’s Whitehall HQ. I hope they don’t mind me saying, their [...] read on »

Sky News goes Ajax

Really, really delighted to see Sky News finally adopting Ajax technology for its image galleries. The click-to-reload-the-whole-page approach was just unacceptable in 2008… and it’s great to see my own baby, the always-popular ‘Pop Up Papers’ press review which won me a 2001 European Online Journalism award, finally growing up. It’s got its own permanent [...] read on »

E-gov minister not hanging around

Just to note that e-gov minister (?) Tom Watson, responding to comments on his ‘tell me what to do’ blog post, says he has ‘already got moving on the single spot for consultations’. It’s a start, but it’s far from the solution. Indeed, not so long ago, we did have a single (Cabinet Office?) website [...] read on »

Another new FCO blogger (ish)

The Foreign Office launched itself into blogging last September, with a couple of ministers and a couple of high-profile ambassadors joining in the fun. Indeed, I note they’ve been scoring some PR points with it: Jolyon Welsh, FCO’s head of ‘Public Diplomacy’ presented a case study on it at a conference last week. But what [...] read on »