Archive for March 2009
The open source answer to website auditing
I wrote the other week about 'the implications of free': how the widespread availability of high-quality technology changed the rules when it comes to project management. Another example struck me today, around COI's ongoing consultation on improving government websites. There's a lengthy section on measuring website usage, with detailed proposals around the new requirement for [...] read on »
Search tools for Directgov: Puffbox vs Microsoft
So Directgov have 'partnered' with Microsoft to create a little IE8 search plugin, eh? Well, in the interests of wider browser compatibility, Puffbox presents its own search plugin to help the greater number of people using IE7 or Firefox. And we've done it at no charge, too. read on »
When two blogs go to war
In the red corner, fighting out of Berkeley, California, the challenger - Derek Draper. His opponent, heavyweight champion of the Blogosphere, Paul 'Guido' Staines. Your referee for this afternoon's contest is Mr Andrew Neil. When the BBC's Daily Politics finally brought two of political blogging's most inflammatory characters face to face, sparks inevitably flew: see [...] read on »
British Ambassadors' blogging excellence
It's almost ten years since I left the Foreign Office, but it's always nice to be back. This time, I'm a guest at a roundtable seminar featuring some of their - actually, to be fair, some of the country's - leading bloggers. The BBC's Rory Cellan-Jones chairs proceedings. I'm struck by the different takes on [...] read on »
Flying the nest
As I've written before, one of the (many) selling points of WordPress is the lack of lock-in. When the time comes for a client to take greater control of a project, or if they simply feel it's time for a change, they aren't stuck with all their content locked in a proprietary CMS. They're free [...] read on »
No10's Twitter status worth $250,000?
By getting involved early and enthusiastically in the whole Twitter thing, has DowningStreet earned itself $250,000 of free digital engagement? Well-known internet entrepreneur Jason Calacanis (number of followers: 63,000) has offered Twitter a cool quarter of a million bucks - as I believe our American friends would describe it - to secure himself a two-year [...] read on »
The implications of free
I'm in the early stages of spec'ing up a new site build. The client helpfully provided a wireframe sketch of the homepage, which included - deep breath - a news ticker. And for the first time in living memory, I haven't recoiled in horror. In fact, I'm quite happy to give it to them. Previously, [...] read on »
Reality check: democracy inaction
Every now and again, you come across something which reminds you that, for all our great progress in e-politics, we still can't do some of the absolute basics. Tomorrow there's a by-election where I live: the Thatcham South and Crookham ward of Thatcham Town Council. It's not a big deal, perhaps, but it's another chance [...] read on »
Civil Service jobs API: five years in the making
Five years ago - to the very minute, as it happens! - I was working on a proposal to put to someone at the Cabinet Office. I was still working at ONS, and was trying to think of a clever way to handle our job adverts. We were obliged to post details of all vacancies [...] read on »
Civil servants are people too
Nice to see Downing Street getting into the spirit of Red Nose Day... Well done to those responsible, I know who you are. I've never quite decided whether or not it's appropriate for government sites to do things like putting up 'Christmas decorations'; I think I'm OK with it, as long as it's professionally done. [...] read on »