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A collection of 30 posts

We must take more pride in analysing how stories are made

We must take more pride in analysing how stories are made

There’s a common founder myth (read “cliche”) that goes something like this: > “From a young age, I found myself fascinated by how things worked. Once I took the TV apart to see how the little people got inside. Just like Steve Jobs, this is why I think the

Listen up Apple: build a smart EarPod or someone else will (Wired UK)

By me at Wired: > The idea would take a key element of Apple’s heritage and sidestep the assumption that a wearable device has to rely on your sense of sight or touch. Apple has an opportunity to recall one of the strongest motifs of its iPod days and

Blue sky thinking to popularise the Year of Code with today’s youth

The Government’s Year of Code [http://yearofcode.org/] is off to a mixed start [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26150717], to say the least. But it is possible that increasing the next generation’s knowledge of these valuable tools could be key to increasing our country’s future

The Re-Tale of Retail: HMV, community and the future

With the news of HMV’s demise today, following close on the heels of Jessops, Game and other similar massive retail chains, I’m seeing a couple of interesting things converging. When I was little, I remember an independent CD shop and videogame shop on my high st. But the

Thoughts on 'Culture Shock' by Will McInnes

Thoughts on 'Culture Shock' by Will McInnes

What are we working for? As someone who just left an agency to craft my own role, it’s a question I’ve been considering myself a lot recently. Is the purpose of a company to create more and more profit? Is it to change the world? Is it to

Beaten: Xbox Mini could give Apple TV a run for its money

Today, a lesson. Don’t leave blogs making predictions about tech in your drafts folder so long that the rumour mill of those ideas coming true catches up with you [http://t.co/ODNo441t]. Looks like Microsoft is considering the Xbox Mini that I’d been toying with in the

Who do you trust with your data?

Thanks to the cloud, there’s basically no reason to lose important data ever again. Photos, phone numbers, videos, music – not only can you now store it out there in the ether but, in doing so, you open it up to a whole new world of possibilities, collaboration and accessibility.

So Far With... iPad Mini

So Far With... iPad Mini

Having owned at least one of every generation of iPad so far, what is the iPad Mini like? * It’s smaller, obviously. But the only time it really feels it is when trying to enter text. You can manage quick notes if you use the ‘split keyboard’ trick and it’

What happened next...

You remember that time I left my job and launched my own independent consultancy? Well, about that. It never actually happened. Despite registering the company, hiring accountants, developing my business plan and doing all those things you do when you’re launching a campaign to take over the world, life

Fitbit, Klout and your data silhouettes

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/83346641@N00/4617759902] I never thought the Fitbit would exactly change my life – indeed, I bought it over the competition precisely because it was the cheapest way to dip my toe in the water of the ‘quantified self’ [https://plus.google.com/107128067330174980092/posts/jDpJV4S5Hyw]

Journalists vs Bloggers: How not to do it.

> @maxtb [https://twitter.com/maxtb] @tchl [https://twitter.com/tchl] The nuances are invented by aspirants who yearn to work as professional journalists but lack the ability. — Tim Luckhurst (@TCHL) August 9, 2012 [https://twitter.com/TCHL/status/233670107631603713] I enjoy good writing. I enjoy strong investigative writing that

MaxTB on Wired: Fitbit needs to watch its 'quantified' self

My latest for Wired UK, considering whether the iPod Nano could simply start to build in quantified self features and make life tough for Fitbit and co. There’s another device out there that sits in that price point and has already started ticking some of the boxes that would

Looking Beneath the Surface

Initial thoughts on the Microsoft Surface tablets, announced yesterday (read up at The Verge. [http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/18/3095683/microsoft-surface-tablet-versus-ipad-android] ) Warning: There are some generalisations ahead but I think they are ones we can all live with… #perksofnotbeingafulltimejourno MARKET Firstly: you aren’t going to buy a

Google Zero: the answer to the backlash

Recently, there has been a lot of talk about how Google is no longer the company it used to be – for example this ridiculous article [http://marketingland.com/once-deemed-evil-google-now-embraces-paid-inclusion-13138] by Danny Sullivan on paid inclusion last month.* From its search page design [http://www.davidmihm.com/blog/google/world/] to

Email won't send with O2 Broadband? Here's the solution.

Having spent days trying to get my work email to send after getting O2 Broadband, a solution emerged from their excellent Twitter customer service. From a ton of internet stalking, I knew it was something to do with the SMTP service being blocked according to a load of reading but

Could OAPs be Apple's Secret Testing Team?

Saw the video below and had one of those massive “what if” moments – How ‘Steve Jobs’ would it be to test new Apple products on single, old-aged individuals who probably won’t spill the beans? Who else are you going to sit an iPad in front to do user experience

Facebook wants you dead

Back in September 2010, Facebook went on a really interesting PR offensive – including a flurry [http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/09/20/100920fa_fact_vargas?currentPage=all] of activity [http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/10/sean-parker-201010?currentPage=all] when The Social Network launched and the announcement of

Wired Guest Post: Kindle micro-transactions for the win

A little while ago, I put a few thoughts together for this blog based on Kindle potentially becoming a platform for saving, reading and buying content web-wide – like Instapaper meets the App Store. Only, instead of publishing it here, I pitched it into technology bible Wired and it was published

How will we Manage without degrees?

Management is a skill and a great example of nature and nurture coming together as one. In PR, there’s no way to skip straight to management. It’s vocational enough that you simply can’t start delegating without the proper understanding of what you’re asking of people, what

Public Relations

PR coverage- a new perspective

As you may have heard, last week my agency Wildfire PR released some social media research which saw some pretty excellent pickup all over the place. As PRs, we’re all pretty used to the value of good coverage- traditionally, it’s one of the great magical currencies of what