November 2011
2 posts
What’s wrong with Groupon? →
It seems to be time to put the boot in on Groupon. The share price is tanking. Businesses have had bad experiences with the online daily-deals service (though this is hardly new news). …
The price of ethics →
It sounds a bit cavalier, I know, but I just turned down a free phone. RRP around £450. The timing was perfect: I’m about to buy a new handset, having got frustrated with my old Nexus One and…
June 2011
3 posts
http://pdsmith.tumblr.com/post/6789170560 →
pdsmith:
Kowloon Walled City, West Side Street, 1989, by Greg Girard. More images of Kowloon Walled City as it once was. Today it has been turned into a park (read more).
Read a blog about Girard’s work by James Bradley.
The SmartPhone App-o-graphic →
Smartphone App-o-graphic by[x]cubeLABS
What travel bloggers spend their time on
The survey: "Drag & drop the following activities in order of how much time you spend during an average week." [c/o TBEX]
The results ("Score is a weighted calculation. Items ranked first are valued higher than the following ranks, the score is the sum of all weighted rank counts.")
Total Respondents: 339
Writing travel blog posts 1842 Rank 1
Social media engagement 1609 Rank 2
Story research 1287 Rank 3
Photo or video editing 1266 Rank 4
Reading / answering email 1261 Rank 5
Reading other blogs 1234 Rank 6
Commenting on other blogs 784 Rank 7
Source: http://appv3.sgizmo.com/reportsview/?key=87621-696402-35ea66c19346614ffed8e982c20a79dd
May 2011
7 posts
Some Spring features, and the new guidebook →
I spent part of March and most of April on the road, in Tuscany, researching an update to a major guidebook (about which more soon), but while I was away one or two things have appeared on- and…
If ‘Arry joins #cfc (PLEASE LET IT BE TRUE), any chance he’ll take Joe Cole back you think? #lfc
Asking on Quora: Why is “soda water” so much more expensive than sparkling mineral water? What’s the magic ingredient? http://qr.ae/Qanw
Old Chinese proverb: “To find some hay in your box of strawberries is reassuring. To find a tarantula with your bananas is just scary.”
Interesting summer exhibition, near Turin
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BEAUTIFUL ITALY: Art and identity of the capital cities
Scuderie Juvarriane at the Reggia di Venaria
Until 11 September 2011
Within the impressive setting of the Scuderie Juvarriane at the Reggia di Venaria, more than 300 Italian
masterpieces reveal the progress of art from the medieval period to the eve of 1861 by means of...
July 2010
1 post
3 tags
Birdsong in Dalston
Listen!
April 2010
1 post
4 tags
Good Friday procession, Volterra, Tuscany
Listen!
March 2010
124 posts
Indeed. RT @MissExpatria: WiFi, WiFI. FREE WiFi, that is. RT @SofitelMontreal: What is the most important thing when booking a #hotel?
Been there, so many times. Proper funny pics. RT @CTD: RT @rob_omatic: Flickr gallery - people asleep in libraries. http://bit.ly/aEOZ3K
Time for a cold Jaipur. ‘Tis Britain’s best ale, and I won’t be gain-sayed: http://bit.ly/9Yg1aB
Obviously I’d followed @nerdseyeview for yonks. But I only really dug around her blog y’day; then read it cover to cover. Effortless writer.
Lots of sites promise more Twitter follows. But I want fewer: anyone know tool to cull non-active followers? Not spam; already cleaned those
Horace Goes Skiing: http://bit.ly/9mQx9W (across a road); @101holidays Goes Skiing: http://bit.ly/dufn3u (behind a horse)
Feels right that Fulham got a softish draw. We have a stinky route to the final, though. #lfc
Geolocation Buzz still feels pretty niche in Hackney. So far, me and some other bloke replying to each other’s Buzzes. H’m.
Being right more of the time is what guidebooks do better than the Web. It therefore makes me sad to see one with horrendous errors.
Google’s new Android widget for Buzz. Slick so far on the Nex One. http://bit.ly/duMWLl
Neat, short bit of video reportage; 25 years since I last AD&D’d RT @Alfie: Porn stars playing D&D, what’s not to love: http://bit.ly/9sWOaa
On first look, the MS Office 2010 beta looks pretty nice. [Use Goog Docs from choice, but Word’s Track/editing tools are req’d for my job.]
Reader poll re the UK election from a travel industry viewpoint. RT @matt_parsons: NEW TRAVEL CAMPAIGN » www.ttglive.com/votefortravel
RT @hangbitch: RT @libcon: Would the actions of the Digital Economy Bill be tolerated “offline”? http://bit.ly/aOh8z0» very good …
Crazy useless fact I learned today: Ho Chi Minh and Malcolm X both worked in the same hotel, in Boston: http://bit.ly/9QazV2
Hitting #twee8. But running late…
RT @HipTravelWriter: Calling all Croatians! What’s in season in #Croatia in June? Food/flowers - any suggestions welcome?
RT @katybeale: Totally addictive: online tenorion (Little Boot’s fav instrument) to make your own bleepy music http://bit.ly/UZlbo?
Testing out the location side of Google Buzz: http://bit.ly/dist9d I’m starting to see some potential use for this.
RT @starcorner: RT @islingtonnow: Banksy graffiti on Essex Road defaced http://bit.ly/beKDNZ
For London commuters, the iPhone app that could turn you a profit: http://bit.ly/c9SxDD
RT @shanerichmond: Conservatives are big scaredy-cats. Liberals don’t scare easily. So says science, anyway. http://bit.ly/9gcnYu
INSTAPOLL: Given that I’m just about to update my family Tuscany guidebook (http://bit.ly/9P0giI), do I have to read “Twilight: New Moon”?
RT @twee8: Hackney Tweetup tomorrow at The Pembury Tavern. Folks will be there from 7pm till close. Come say hi. http://twtvite.com/xd3i …
RT @BirkbeckEMS: RT @gordonchls: Excited to learn ‘secret 2nd floor rooms of Sir John Soane’s Museum to open after £813,000 Lottery win’ …
Happened to us all at some point, shurely? RT @GingerElvis: Brilliant RT @hugh_d http://bit.ly/ajMqjB Headline of the week, if not the month
Council investing £1m to improve London’s best street market, my local market: http://bit.ly/bOAAcI (via @hamishcampbell)
How the intelligence services plan to take out Wikileaks: http://bit.ly/ciSrNc
Anyone interested in connecting via Buzz can find me at google.com/profiles/stracd. I *think* that’s the easy way, but it’s all a bit opaque
Go to royalmail.com/redelivery (as asked on the SYWO card) and see HOW MANY SODDING CLICKS AWAY ordering that redelivery actually is. Lame.
Some really neat mobile / location features in Buzz http://bit.ly/curfjV Mobile UI is decent too. Pity desktop Web interface is shocking.
Albarino. What a grape.
Reading about @travelfish and his brush with Kalashnikov-wielding bandits: http://bit.ly/90uo8H
A week’s worth of Tuscan towns to visit on day-trips, without checking out of your hotel in Florence: http://bit.ly/ch6e3v (me @ travintel)
RT @britesprite: Co-op drops #green plastic bags because they’re not actually biodegradable; Gvt urges others to follow http://is.gd/ajGJU
Ugh. N16 —> E14 —> N16 again in time for morning school run. Uncivilized.