Disqus - Latest Comments for davebriggs

Re: "Content" is here to stay

davebriggs — Sun, 05 Jan 2014 11:27:55 -0000

Wonder if there is a difference between content management systems and writing management systems. There might be an argument that outliners such as Fargo are more writing tools than publishing tools, which might make them WMSs rather than CMSs. Scrivener is a WMS, albeit an offline one.

Re: Public libraries and recent computers

davebriggs — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 05:19:35 -0000

Virtualising is surely the answer to this - which I agree is a necessary service - without the need for hundreds of old computers clogging up public buildings.

Re: Process

davebriggs — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 03:56:27 -0000

Pretty much agree with you there. Process often brings with it bureaucracy and frustration - but only bad process. Can't help but feel that those who want to dispose of processes entirely just aren't that good at crafting them.

Re: Blog launched to defend Southwold High Street

davebriggs — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 13:03:11 -0000

Interesting. We're just back from a weekend on the Suffolk coast and Southwold is always one of our favourite places to visit. However we were disappointed to see a Tesco Express and a WH Smith present in the town which weren't there last summer. It certainly made the town feel different, and it was a shame that two independent bookshops have been lost in the last couple of years.

Re: Scripting News: Can we buy your search engine?

davebriggs — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:24:00 -0000

"Can the developers who lead us there get unreasonably rich even if they don't control our future?"

The key part of this discussion (and probably a wider one) is in this sentence. This isn't about being a non-profit.

Dave, your article makes it clear that folk can get rich enough (and let's be clear, in the case of Google, we mean rich-beyond-any-normal-person's-dreams here) without getting wild and desperate. This isn't about technology, it's about greed.

Google could have kept doing their stuff, not annoying users too much, and kept making lots of money. Instead they, or the shareholders, want to make even more. That's when the problems start.

Re: Newsquest responds to criticism of its new ‘social networking policy’

davebriggs — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 12:53:06 -0000

I hope you enjoyed being patronised by Roger! He's clearly well practised.

Re: Should councils be buying Ipads?

davebriggs — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 06:22:09 -0000

If the business case works out, then of course they should. The notion that employing innovative technology as an investment to save both time and money is 'bad PR' just goes to show how idiotic the reporting of local government is at times.

Re: The trust paradox

davebriggs — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 12:46:01 -0000

OK, so medium term pain...

Re: The trust paradox

davebriggs — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 08:16:15 -0000

Perhaps it is being overly optimistic, but my view is that hopefully after a bit of short term pain around openness, we might all just grow up a bit, accept the odd mistake, not expect (and pretend) that public figures are whiter than white, and just get on with life.

Re: Top tip to improve intranet A-Z index pages (Intranet diary)

davebriggs — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 18:18:34 -0000

That's interesting Luke, if only because on the outside web, people clearly prefer searching (Google) to directory style (Yahoo!). Or was that just because Yahoo!'s directory was rubbish?

Re: NetSuite to buy Sage?

davebriggs — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 08:33:33 -0000

Thanks! That's kinda strange isn't it? Surely there's overlap with Business By Design, or are they targeting different markets?

Re: NetSuite to buy Sage?

davebriggs — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 08:18:10 -0000

Hi Dennis. Apologies for the dumb question, but I'm coming to this late - why is Netsuite separate from Oracle?

Re: Joining forces

davebriggs — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 07:35:27 -0000

Wowza! Many congrats to Anne and Steve! A dream team, no mistake about it.

Re: http://ukgovsearch.com/

davebriggs — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 12:28:49 -0000

Hi Nicolas - thanks for the feedback! Things are getting better, slowly... There are a number of things I'd really like to do with this, but it will mean getting to know the Google Custom Search API. Identifying results is one, and it would be great to be able to rate and annotate results as well.

Re: http://ukgovsearch.com/

davebriggs — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 12:22:42 -0000

Cheers Andrew - the actual tech is ludicrously simple - just Google Custom Search Engine - but some of the results are frightening. There is an API I think for CSE, and it would be interesting to see what can be achieved. Drop me an email if you have a few minutes to help out with it!

Re: http://ukgovsearch.com/

davebriggs — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 11:49:04 -0000

Thanks, Paul. It's fair to say that design and usability are things that need working on with this - I'll defo look into that issue!

Re: http://ukgovsearch.com/

davebriggs — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 11:32:12 -0000

Yeah, it shouldn't be doing that any more - maybe give the screen a couple of hard refreshes?

Re: http://ukgovsearch.com/

davebriggs — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 11:21:40 -0000

Hi Peter - thanks for the feedback. Yes the ads are meant to be there - it's a part of the service from Google. Am fiddling with the colours and presentation and hopefully things are better now!

Re: Scripting News: Scripting News needs a curator or curators

davebriggs — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 07:20:53 -0000

Maybe something like OpenCalais would fix this problem? It auto-tags content going by what it recognises as proper nouns, I think, which would probably help without the need of a human being tagging everything by hand.

Re: WordPress, Thesis, GPL, and premium themes

davebriggs — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:47:02 -0000

It's a shame. My blog was running on thesis, but earlier today I switched to TwentyTen until I find something else to use. It's wasn't so much the GPL issue that bothered me - I knew Thesis wasn't GPL licensed when I bought it - but Pearson's attitude on that interview just really stank and I thought that this was not a man who I would want to give any more money or exposure to.

Re: The Magnificent Seven: my favourite tools for digital engagement

davebriggs — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:07:07 -0000

Nice list! I wonder if we can use this as a starter for the digital engagement toolkit - not a one size fits all solution, but a list of recommended things to consider using when considering a new project or campaign.

Actually - I'm thinking while I type, as usual - it might be better not to list specific tools, but rather activities, such as:

* Sharing any media created - documents, presentations, videos, photos - on the appropriate services
* Email newsletters
* Online communities (existing or new)
* Commenting on official proposals and other documents
* Getting citizens to submit, rate and discuss ideas

...and so on. I'm not sure what point I'm making here, let alone whether it's a good one or not.

Re: Whole page screenshots in Firefox: Pearl Crescent Page Saver

davebriggs — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:00:33 -0000

I use screengrab (http://www.screengrab.org/), another FF extension that does the same thing, I think. Now, for Mac users, wouldn't it be great if Skitch did this?