links for 2010-06-07

Lovely post detailing the design process of an infographic about the history of computer programmers.

Karen on how we define the shape of our local area - and it isn't the fixed boundaries of our electoral areas...

"Simple, obvious and useful – the waiter enters the number of diners into the EPOS machine before they print the receipt"...and the receipt includes how to split the bill. Simple yet brilliant. [Doesn't account for one person complaining they only had salad and soft drinks though]

A perfect storm of a Daily Mail technology 'report'. Make something new seem 'sinister'. Throw a few brandnames into the mix. Chuck in totally unrelated technology into story like Phorm. Miss out the key fact that all of this information being 'spied upon' has voluntarily been published in public. Add Lily Allen. Finish off with a rent-a-quote MP who doesn't quite understand what you've asked him.

A rebuff of the article includes this point: "My advice to clients is always that if people think your product is poor and bother to vent about this using social media, you have an amazing opportunity to put it right and turn detractors into advocates". Which is actually, come to think about it, something the Mail Online could learn about its appallingly sensationalist and inaccurate technology coverage

"There’s a lot of talk about 'paywalls'. It’s usually about newspapers, and it’s almost always just about news. It shouldn’t be. Nor should Rupert Murdoch’s introduction of a pay-to-view model be regarded as an act of desperation. This could be the moment newspapers finally begin to get it right. Am I willing to pay for a trusted digital offering that helps make my life better, more prosperous, and better informed? Definitely."

At the weekend I went to see one of the events in what seems a now annual pilgrimage to the Camden Roundhouse 'electronica music festival thing' Short Circuit. John Foxx was playing material from throughout his career, much of it on original 70s and 80s analogue synths and accompanied by videos of what was considered hi-tech office equipment in the 50s and 60s. I loved it.

This time last year I was in the same venue for an evening with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, playing live versions of music from Doctor Who and the Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, amongst others things

The evening also featured a Q&A session with members of the Radiophonic Workshop, which was very anecdote driven and amusing. It also added greatly to my enjoyment of the night overall.

I also had a dig around in The Guardian's archive to find how they referenced the Radiophonic Workshop in the early years