Lift blog : technology

Gadget update

I am a gadget freak.

My latest gadget arrived yesterday.

A Nokia 770 internet tablet.

Pictures are here.

Must stop playing with it and get on with work.

I am a gadget freak.

Flickr, feedburner and html

Do check out the latest photographs from the ATypI 2005 conference in Helsinki here. We made a photo pool in flickr, which we added into feedburner, then inserted the generated html (and did some css tweaking). Very simple, but very effective.

Now running Movabletype 3.2

Just upgraded to version 3.2 and everything seems to be OK. Hopefully we can now put comments back on the system!

High-res Google map data?

So when will Google announce higher-res satellite map data for the UK? I know some areas already have ot, but my recent checks of home (reading), and Parents home (Witney) yield nothing new. We are being spoilt by Google of course! In a spooky way I want to look down on myself working...

How do you sign-off from an instant message chat?

What is the acceptable way to stop an instant message conversation? I am quite new to IM. I have been using iChat for about 18 months, but only to talk with Clare and some friends. Recently I have been talking to work colleagues about projects and I like the immediacy of it.

Yet I find it difficult to end a conversation! Often there is a long pause, with no conversation as both people involved sit there deciding how to end it. After a while one of us will say they have to go, and try and end the chat. Often I am that person as I get twitchy with the chat window open and nothing going on. Does the other person think I am ignoring them? Or do not want to talk to them?

So I end with a 'got to go. bye'. Which seems just as rude...

The lack of 'proper' posts

OK, what is a proper post anyway? Recently the Lift blog has turned into just a list of my del.icio.us bookmarks. Partly on purpose as the ease of posting to del.icio.us means I use it more than I thought I would (click bookmarklet, type tags, click submit, done). I 'jot down' rather than writing continuous text. Partly because life has been hectic recently with work and home, and I like to keep the blog ticking over, until I am next ready to post something 'proper'. What is a 'proper' post anyway...

del.icio.us links now appearing here!

I finally found some time to put my del.icio.us links into the lift blog -- something I have been meaning to do for ages. Thanks to a bit of google and the wonderful del.icio.us API it was not very hard at all! The next phase is getting the RSS feeds formatted correctly, something which has been bothering me for a while. Any tips most welcome!

Zope X3 is released

If you have read any of the rest of this website you will gather that we like Zope. It is our tool of choice for websites and now version 3 is out. Oddly it is being called X3, but we are itching to give it a go and see what it can do. Download here we go...

Kottke on Lucas, DVDs etc

Good piece on the ever fab Kottke

some links...

I have not posted to the Lift blog for a while, as I have been distracted by work and del.icio.us! So to make up for it, here are a few random links:

• New website from GAWDS
• Just installed refer from textism and loving it!
• NetNewsWire 2.0 beta
• Watch these people as they have a piece of amazing software on the way!

Apple release the G5 iMac

All the details here. I love it! Graphics card is a bit old-hat but the rest of the package (including the price for once) looks spot on...

Google knows more about me than I do...

A run-down of what information Google stores, and therefore knows about you. I wouldn't say this was a surprise though -- their ad systems are really complex (and cute) so it makes sense that they would do this.

flickr

I signed-up for flickr ages ago, and got quite excited. At that time it was very beta, but its now much better, has upload and organisation tools, and I am really getting into it! Like the fact that people have commented on my images already!

del.icio.us links now available here!

Matt's del.icio.us links are now available in the side column, thanks to Feedroll

New W3C accessibility specs

New HTML techniques for WCAG 2.0. Here are Lift we will be paying very close attention to what they have to say.

tune into del.icio.us

You can view my del.icio.us page, which I am gradually posting to. It has taken me a while to start using it, but now I can really see the value (though I do spend more time looking at what others have posted).

Apple release new iPod

As expected, Apple released a new iPod yesterday, and I must say I like it. It is more an evolution than a revolution, but the new features sound good to me; better battery life, new click wheel, shuffle in the main menu and a drop in price.

I am interested to know does it have a new chip inside? If not then why can't existing iPod owners get the interface changes and better battery life (because Apple say its not a new battery)? Answers on a postcard please.

MMS, plumbing, fields, you name it...

A really nice description of the latest cool bit of technology from the BBC via city of sound.

Wrong price I tell you, wrong price...

I love these things.