Puffbox

ActiveSync is Microsoft’s software to match up the information on your Windows Mobile smartphone or PDA with your PC’s information in Outlook. And it’s brilliant… probably the single best reason to have a Windows Mobile device. Just plug it in, and all the synchronisation happens automatically.

Of course, there’s a catch. Inexplicably, Microsoft refuses to let you access the information on the phone directly. There’s a button in ActiveSync to ‘explore’ the device, which isn’t far off. But you really want it to work like a removable hard disk or USB stick, available like any hard drive in Windows Explorer and everything else. That way, you can use something like Microsoft’s free SyncToy to sync up ordinary files as well – like photos.

Thankfully, someone’s written a freeware tool to do just that. WM5storage sits on your mobile device, and effectively lets you switch it between ‘ActiveSync’ mode and ‘USB Mass Storage’ mode. (You can’t have both at the same time.) It works a treat with my T-Mobile MDA Pro. You’ll need to sign up as a member of the Modaco discussion forum, but it’s worth the effort.

(By the way, I note there’s a beta version of ActiveSync 4.2 now available from the Microsoft site.)

If you’re ever about to buy something via a website, and you see a box for ‘discount code’ (or something similar), that’s basically your cue, right there. Get on to Google, and do a search for ‘discount code’ (or however the box is labelled), plus the name of the site. There’s a fair chance you’ll find a suitable code to knock a few percent off the sum about to be charged to your credit card.

I’ve done this a couple of times in the last few days, and it’s paid off – literally. There are plenty of ‘find a bargain’ websites and discussion boards out there, and one of them is bound to have a code going spare. Is it cheating? Hardly. The seller’s margin will be trimmed a bit, but – unless they’re nuts – not so much that they’re losing money on each sale. And if they’re nuts, well, that’s not your fault.

Full marks to the BBC for one brilliant addition to their interactive coverage of this summer's World Cup. According to this page describing their plans, you'll be able to listen to foreign broadcasters' commentaries. There's just so much more passion in the commentary voices when it's the commentators' own team playing.

Update: they had to ditch the idea. Shame. Full story here.

An interesting piece on Media Guardian today, about the gradual shift from evening newspapers to morning. It lists several papers – Bolton Evening News, Bradford Telegraph & Argus, York’s Evening Press, Oxford Mail – which are moving, or have moved, to being morning papers.

I’m surprised this hasn’t happened sooner. I don’t see what place an evening newspaper can have in modern life. There are far too many distractions in the evenings – with soap operas showing up to six episodes per week, live football left right and centre, Sky+, broadband internet. Oh, and maybe even family and social lives.

London-based people often forget that most folk outside the capital don’t travel to work on public transport. The only time I ever find to read a newspaper is when I’m on a train journey; and even then, I’m finding myself spending more and more time catching up on my RSS feeds (thanks to the excellent Bloglines mobile edition), and even listening to the odd podcast (if/when I find something worth listening to).

Is there anything worse than an unanswered phone – particularly an unanswered mobile phone, with the choice of (invariably annoying) ringtones, hidden in someone's jacket pocket or holdall? My mate's office has come up with an ingenious solution.

If you leave your phone unattended, on or by your desk, and it rings – the Phone Pig, a classic piggy bank, is placed on your desk. You are forcibly invited to contribute a pound to the kitty (er, I mean 'pig') which will then be spent on an end of year party / drink / dinner for the entire team.

Thankfully, as someone working mainly from home, this isn't such an issue for me. But I have worked with some serial offenders in the past, and this would have been a fantastic response. 🙂

Cards on the table straight away: I'm a U2 fan, a veteran of several nights on the pavement queueing for concert tickets, and Bono is probably the closest I get to having a 'hero'. But I can't let the Telegraph's Shane Richmond get away with his anti-Bono diatribe today.

In case you missed it, Bono was the guest editor of the Independent today, in support of his (RED) project to 'raise awareness and money' about HIV/AIDS in Africa. I'm no fan of the Indy's website… in fact, I often use it as a worst-practice example. But at least they got some red into the stylesheet.

But Shane isn't pleased:

Doubtless there are people who will say that it is unfair to criticise because Bono and the Independent have used this opportunity to raise money for a noble cause. But the cause is irrelevent (sic). Journalists should not be selling products, even if a few pennies from the sale go to charity. … The Independent has crossed the line today. They are pushing their values and then going further and pushing specific products.

First of all… journalists do sell products, Shane. The sad truth is that journalism is about filling the space between the adverts. The newspaper business is about business first, news second. And nobody on the editorial side likes to admit that.

Pop stars 'editing' newspapers is, of course, not the done thing. Which is precisely why it's the right thing to do. Because the 'done things' just aren't working. As the Damien Hirst-designed cover proclaims, '6,500 Africans died today as a result of a preventable, treatable disease'. That's equivalent to two 9-11s, folks.

And Bono isn't stupid. He (rightly) predicts the criticism coming his way:

I am as sick of messianic rock stars as the next man, woman and child. I am also tired of average work being given extra weight because it's attached to something with real gravitas, like the Aids emergency. So I truly try to tread carefully as I walk over the dreams of dignity under my feet in our work for the terrible beauty that is the continent of Africa. I'm used to the custard pies. I've even learnt to like the taste of them.

RED is an attempt to work with the dominant force in UK and Western society – consumerism. If you can't beat it, join it. Quality products produced by reputable and reliable brands, with a clean conscience. 'If you're going to buy a cool new pair of sunglasses / a Gap t-shirt / a new mobile phone / a newspaper this morning, why not buy this one – and even better, you'll help the fight against AIDS.'

And fair play to the Independent. Since its launch, it has made a virtue of its political stance – and its continuing desire to be different. Can I see the Telegraph doing this? No, never, of course not. But that's precisely the point.

The new Google Trends site is interesting enough, but I still wonder why Google doesn’t just take it to its natural conclusion, and let us see the actual numbers.

Thank heavens for Yahoo / Overture, who tell you precisely how many people searched for a given keyword (and all derivatives) in a given month… if you know where to look. The link used to be fairly prominent before Yahoo bought Overture… but it isn’t now.

With this kind of hard statistical evidence at your fingertips, there’s really no excuse not to research the popular keywords in your area of operation; and to target your efforts accordingly. And not just on the web, either.

Look at Ryanair, who dropped their slogan ‘the low fares airline’ in favour of ‘fly cheaper’. Why would they do that? Compare the Overture data for the numbers of people wanting ‘low airline fares’ with those searching for ‘cheap flights’. Suddenly it’s a no-brainer, especially when your industry is dominated by e-business.

I found a simple-but-brilliant little site the other day, driven (as I understand it) by the BBC’s backstage.bbc.co.uk API initiative. Simply go to mtraffic.org/M4 for the very latest traffic alerts on the M4 motorway – and yes, if you change the URL to any GB road number of your choice, you’ll get the latest for that road too. The interface is very much back-to-basics, and is aimed at mobile phone use – but (probably as a direct result) it’s so usable, I’m finding it a handy resource on my desktop too.

The immediate reaction is mixed, but I think this is a big deal… and it’s only a matter of time before it comes to Sky+. Tivo has announced a new advertiser-friendly feature:

TiVo subscribers will be able to create searches and select advertising content, ranging from one minute to 60 minutes, from any of the five different product categories of interest and have it delivered directly to their Now Playing section of the TiVo service.

Yes, there are times when I actively want to watch TV advertising. And advertisers will get a much better bang for their buck (or over here, their pound) if I’m actively opting in. The challenge will be to develop a search algorithm as smart as Google’s.

I gave the Telegraph some stick when they launched a series of blogs without RSS feeds… so it’s only fair that I mention that RSS feeds are now available, as part of the Telegraph’s new-look website. It’s quite a shock to the system initially, given the way Telegraph websites have looked in the past… but I like it, I think.

Perhaps coincidence, perhaps ‘great minds thinking alike’, there are definite similarities with the online versions of fellow ‘broadsheet’ newspapers, like The Timeses of London and New York. It seems to assume a full 1024×768 screen space, and uses larger fonts, larger pictures, larger promos… larger everything, really.

But I’m still waiting for someone to really bite the bullet, and give us a way-over-the-top re-design. With so many people using broadband, and at ever-greater speeds, the reasons not to are diminishing rapidly. Full-screen images and 72pt text (or more?!) are not far away, believe me.