I’m really enjoying writing the occasional list feature for TechRadar lately, giving me reason to jot down thoughts which I should by rights probably have published here long ago and just got too busy. The latest is a quick introduction to Linux which I hope covers most of the pain points for anyone thinking of switching from Windows – a move I wholeheartedly endorse, natch.
On the busy front, been ludicrously so trying to clear my desk for the Kyrgyzstan trip next week – a feat I’ve almost accomplished and just need to nail down interviews with Orange and Vodafone for a feature due at the end of this week. Otherwise I’m burying my head researching more about the country and the issues I’ll be investigating once there.
No idea what access to WiFi or even a mobile phone is going to be like, but will be doing my best to blog at least once a day and post regular Twitter updates again while I’m out there.
I’ve been really enjoying writing software round-ups for TechRadar recently – funny, mostly in that I avoided them like the proverbial plague when I was working on PCF and the like. Recently, though, I’ve become a lot more curious about the best online and offline clients for, you know, stuff. This is the latest one – 7 best cloud-based note-taking apps. I can’t recommend Evernote highly enough, it’s literally changed the way I work, got me writing creatively again and sorted out my shopping at the same time.
While I’m on the subject, I’ll pimp this article at TechRadar: Seven programs for protecting your passwords. Can’t recommend LastPass highly enough if you want to avoid the perils that caught out Twitter.
The random thought for today is about online video. It’s been around for ages, obviously, but I’ve never been a fan. I can count the number of times I’ve visited YouTube’s homepage, rather than just following a link, on one hand, and have always been deeply skeptical of friends who go off to set up online video channels. I was sort of involved with one a couple of years back, and rapidly lost interest – what was the point with no viewers?
I’ve just finished doing a video feature for PC Gamer‘s next issue, though, which I’m quietly hoping makes it to the website too. And I know that the next chance we have to get a major traffic spike at LearnAsOne will be when Nerys and Steve start uploading video. I’m really excited about the fact that Response Network has the Flip which was donated to LearnAsOne, so that they’ll be able to film George’s reaction to the first cheque that gets sent over.
Which means that somehow, without me noticing, online video clips have become quite important to me. To the point that I’m noticing their absence from sites I write for like TechRadar. And I think it’s because of Twitter. Being constantly alerted to videos that might actually interest me – like Linsey’s preview of the HTC Hero this morning – is very different to the spammish emailing of comedy clips, which was all that ever seemed to arrive by email. Perhaps I’m just late to the party, and everyone else knew this before, but suddenly I’m very interested in online video reporting and want to do more of it.
Of course, there are some rules that sites posting videos should stick to (and many don’t). Like being able to embed their video files when linking to them. The fact many don’t is why there aren’t more examples of good videos in this post, and the opening HTC Hero vid is from a site I don’t work for, rather than one I do.
