BigMoth

If you travel frequently, it's worth knowing that Google has launched a hotel search service called Google Hotel Finder.

It is described as an "experiment" at the moment, not even "beta", and it does not appear to be listed in any of the Google product lists that I can find (quickly). Who knows how long it will be around with this status and if Google will support it - seems a perfect addition to Google search services, though.

I like the highlighted "popular locations" (areas to avoid?) and the editable box/shape to select hotels only in specific geographic areas - great if, like me, you travel for conferences and find that conference centres are often built in slightly odd places, perhaps places that city and regional local governments select for regeneration and think that a conference centre might do the trick. Results are aggregates of booking sites and properties' own sites.

Useful.

(download)

Click here to download:

lego-christmas-tree-at-st-pancras-international-ImfwAcFGIwJgAwAoArvq.zip (3.42 MB)

My favourite christmas tree since the ones of my childhood when we had real candles on drying conifer branches indoors (!).

Lego is so iconic, somehow, this doesn't seem commercial (not a logo in sight), though, of course, it is blatant seasonal advertising.

These branches really are made from individual Lego bricks.

Apologies for the photos - a poor photographer, using a lousy tool.

When Extremism Damages the Brand

Joe Brockmeier wrote a post today on ReadWrite Enterprise suggesting that Richard M Stallman's intemperate, unsensitive, probably carefully considered and deliberately provocative, statement about Steve Jobs was contemptible.

Sadly, the diatribe of comment that follows the piece is predictable. Yes, Apple has done a lot that Stallman doesn't like, campaigns against, and is, in essence, anti-open source (The Register published a piece today giving ten reasons, some very compelling, not to buy an iPhone 4S).

While every movement, religion, belief, idea needs its originators, founders, believers, maybe even a few fanatics and fundamentalists, sometimes those fanatics and fundamentalists can damage the brand and movement beyond repair. Extreme Apple fans put people off purchasing macs and i-devices. Richard Stallman's unbending, unaccommodating fundamentailism is leading F/LOSS into a marsh in Venezuela whence it will never return.

At the end of August DrupalCon London showed how an open source project can thrive in the commercial world with much of its development arriving as contributions from businesses big and small. DrupalCon showed that open source software is not (all) developed by anti-Microsoft-spouting, anarchist teenagers with vitamin D deficiencies spending too much time coding and not having a social life. Even the list of contributors to the Linux kernel is dominated by enterprise (some may surprise): Red Hat, Intel, Novell, IBM, Microsoft, Broadcom, Atheros, Google, Samsung... apparently even the top individual contributor to kernel version 3.x is a Microsoft developer. The PR coming from the LibreOffice camp also seems encouraging and inclusive.

I hope the F/LOSS movement finds new voices, more temperate voices, voices that resonate in this great bazaar, not just the one shouting down and insulting anyone with a view not matching his own. Like a lousy politician, he gets some headlines, but no votes. F/LOSS needs more votes, but no more fanatics.

Written using Bean (GNU GPL), on a MacBook Pro (an old one, but still not open) and published using Posterous (free, though not, I think, open source). 

I walk with my daughter, Alana, to school each morning. It's no more than a ten minute walk, but it's a moment in the day that is our's and our's alone, and sets me up nicely for my working day. We often have earnest conversations about nothing; perhaps speculating how a snail came to be crushed on the pavement.

Today, I had had the radio on while we had breakfast and did the morning chores. BBC Radio 4 led the news with an item about physics and the speed of light. Along with SIR David Attenborough and DOCTOR Alice Roberts, PROFESSOR Brian Cox is one of Alana's heroes (and titles are important to Alana). So, as we walked, I told her that scientists at CERN - she knows CERN because Professor Brian Cox works there - had sent particles from Geneva to a lab in Italy at what appears to be faster than the speed of light.

"Re-ally?" She asked, heavily emphasising the RE.

"Yes". Now Alana has an enthusiasm for science and archeology that seems genuine, bordering on the fanatic. At the moment becoming an archeologist is her ambition (unless Sir David Attenborough were to offer a traineeship to take up his mantle). So I continued "Yes, and if they are right, it could mean that what is understood about the universe might have to be reconsidered. The next twenty years could be very exciting times in physics and science."

"That changes everything," she declared. "I'm going to have to completely reconsider what I do with my life!"

Oh, Alana is eight years old.

This does not quite follow my prescription; the banners chosen for this implementation are too "loose", so gaps get emphasised. However, it is effective, inexpensive and a doddle to set up. This particular wall of banners is 6m long.

I am in the business of shipping exhibitors' displays to events that they attend. However, most of my clients attend events which are so geographically disparate that they need equipment that can be carried as accompanied luggage when they fly. I really don't like waste, and shipping makes up a big part of the footprint we leave on the planet while we go about our business.

This morning I was asked to recommend a display system that would have maximum impact, but be versatile and light enough to carry as accompanied luggage (though it may not always get under the baggage allowance of some airlines - and some travellers may not pack as lightly as others).

I ship, handle and install a lot of these displays. I thought some of that experience might be useful to people considering displays for the upcoming conference season. I recommended the following (anti-disclosure: I have no affiliation with any of the companies mentioned or linked):

The multiple banner display solution assuming a 3m/10ft exhibition space:

Build up a display with a series of banner stands; the advantage being that you can use one, two or more stands depending on the impact you want to make and the space available. If you are clever, design 3 or 4 banners that can be placed side by side to make up one wall display, but use the design so that each one could be used on its own in one way or another.

The Exalt range from Skyline is actually designed to do this, and has the advantage of being able to be "curved" slightly.

A more affordable form of the multiple banner idea can be achieved with the X-Presso display stand (no heavy base, just lightweight poles) available from various places, but this seems a good deal (it's budget option).

The Pop-Up Wall

I like the idea and look of Skyline's Regatta, but have not handled it - Skyline's take on Nomadic fabric display (see below). Neither company will thank me for making the comparison.

About 15 years ago, Jonathan, a sailor, had the great idea of getting his sail maker to print his artwork onto sail cloth and then adapting it to fit a Nomadic stand (remember studs and bands for Nomadic fixing?). Now Nomadic - still a favorite of mine make "fabric displays" which are very light because the artwork is printed fabric. The fabric is crease-proof, so can be folded into a suitcase. You just need to lug around the frame hardware. Have a look at FabriMural and XPlus. I haven't seen or used Hang Ten

I recently saw and liked the ISOframe Wave which looks very innovative. I'm interested to see how heavy it gets, though.

Green?

Finally, for a couple of years I have been advocating cardboard displays - recycled, reusable, and lightweight. So far, though, I have failed to sell anyone on the idea. I don't really know how green this is compared to something that can be re-used for years and years, but I love the idea of Green Graphics. Anybody used this before?

I'm sure many exhibitors have their favorites. Share them here and help eachother out. If you use any of these systems on a regular basis, let me know what you think.

Google is describing Sparks, an element of its new social media platform Google+, thus: "Remember when your Grandpa used to cut articles out of the paper and send them to you? That was nice.". My daughter's grandpa still does that, for which I am grateful - it's still nice.

A recent bundle of cuttings that arrived through the mail contained a fascinating article by Bryan Appleyard about digital publishing and Faber & Faber's fabled (sorry) app of TS Eliot's The Waste Land. Interestingly and thankfully, Appleyard republishes his Sunday Times articles on his own blog so you don't have to pay to read it.

While the technology and innovation of the app are indisputably impressive, the best lines of the article are a quote from Henry Volans, Faber's head of digital who

admits he was “taken by surprise” by all the interest. “We didn’t try to second-guess our potential markets. We just thought we could make something good and see where it got us.”

Brilliant. Fans of Seth will recognise this attitude as "making art" and "shipping it".

Submitting your details indicates your consent, until you choose otherwise

I read a consumer magazine dedicated to a specific brand of computers and phones - no prizes for guessing. The magazine's marketing is usually pretty good, permission based, and reflects well on the publisher.

However, this morning I received an email promoting its annual awards, voted for by its readers. Having five minutes to spend with my first mug of tea of the day, I ran through the survey. At the end of the survey was the usual privacy notice. I am quite diligent about double-checking these in a vain attempt to prevent my Inbox filling up with too much junk and not wanting an already busy phone ringing with offers I have not specifically sought or requested. To my dismay, I found this: 

"Please now click SUBMIT ANSWERS to send your responses to us. Your personal information will be used as set out in our Privacy Notice [link deleted]. Submitting your details indicates your consent, until you choose otherwise, that we and our partners may contact you about products and services that will be of relevance to you via, direct mail, phone, e-mail and SMS. You can opt-out at ANY time via the web or email."

I declined to submit my answers. Where is the permission here? "Submitting your details indicates your consent, until you choose otherwise". Not even an opt out. No "please may we contact you?", requiring a response. Not even a "please indicate that you do not wish to be contacted". Just "you can opt out at any time via" an unspecified website or an unspecified email address.

I am under no illusion that such a survey is a data farming exercise for the publisher, its affiliates and advertising clients.

So what was good about this? The email I received promoting the survey was signed by the magazine's editor with his name and (apparently) his personal email address. I fired off a message with my objections (perhaps a bit huffy, but not rude - I hope), and to his credit, I received a personal reply within the hour (it was Saturday morning) suggesting that he recognised that this was an issue and that he would look into it on Monday. "Aside from common courtesy, the fact that this put you off submitting the survey is a strong argument for getting it fixed."

This was not an auto-response, but something written by a human being who had just had an additional item added to his To Do list on a Saturday morning.

I like the fact that this editor put his name to his communication and has made himself accountable not just to the magazine's content, but the organisation's marketing activities, too.

Speaking of To Do lists, one of the most beautiful, simple (and free) tools for keeping track of your To Dos has got to be TeuxDeux - http://teuxdeux.com/. It's an online application, but it works well as an "app" with a Site Specific Browser tool like Prism, Fluid or Ice. Oh, and because of that, it will work on anything with an internet connection and a browser. You don't have to have the specific equipment that this magazine features.

Update [24 August 2011): I had copied the article here, but feel it is better for the original writer to simply link to it; please read it here. Read the original article's comments section (something I usually avoid, but feel that this subject should be relatively troll-free). Some thoughtful rebuttals and comments there.

Who'd have thought? I'm not keen (aesthetically) on Comic Sans, but used in a learning environment, perhaps it has its place... I've read a lot of design blogs whose writers will not like reading this one bit. However, I will now start to hand write memos and messages; difficult to read = more chance of being committed to memory.