December 2009 Archives

My annual round-up of the posts on currybetdotnet which have attracted the most attention and page views this year.

Using The Guardian's digital archive, I've traced how the word 'robot' made its way from the theatre stage in Prague to become part of the English language during the 1920s.

An overview of Marydee Ojala's excellent presentation at the 2009 Online Information exhibition, addressing how to use social media tools to gather competitive intelligence.

It seems that some market stall holders are prepared to try and protect their own intellectual property with A©ID's "No photography" signs - whilst at the same time ripping off other people's copyright and trademarks.

Two of photographer Katherine Green's projects have been about subjects close to my heart - one documenting the shops on Wood Street where I used to live, and one a series of portraits of British Olympians from the 1948 London Olympic Games.

Google have recently put together a huge marketing push for their Chrome browser - but should they be making more of the fact that it comes with an optional Mariah Carey theme?

Katherine Green recently exhibited photographs documenting the last days of greyhound racing at Walthamstow Stadium. I went to Vestry House Museum to hear her talk about the project.

Real-time web gives real-time feedback on Guardian iPhone app
Twitter is transforming the way that digital products are launched.

The Nemi cartoon in today's celebrity-strewn Metro seemed amusingly apt.

At a UCLAN workshop in Preston, I was part of a group trying to discover the digital skills and training that a young journalist in 2012 would need. This post explains what we thought the journalist of the future would look like.

Several presentations of enterprise software I've seen recently have made me wonder why we tolerate interfaces and interactions in this sphere which would never make it into production for web tools.

It seems an unlikely claim, but compared to a Sky Sports magazine that didn't feature any sporting event, however important, not actually shown on the channel in their "Decade of sport", Five's coverage of TV shows from 'the other side' was refreshingly honest.

It turns out it is cheaper for me to throw away my USB modem and start again, rather than simply top up the current one. Even though it is with the same network. Bonkers.

To coincide with the opening of the Copenhagen Climate Change conference, The Guardian worked to get the same editorial opinion column to appear in over 50 newspapers around the globe. Here is how it manifested itself online.

Part 6 of this series looks at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, and the prospects for African teams now that the 2010 draw has been finalised.

Don't put Johnston Press on trial
You might not think local paywalls will work, but you can't blame Johnston Press for trying.