One Man's Notes

Tacky Tissues

Jun 30, 2009 ⌘

Spotted, to my mingled disbelief and amazement in my local supermarket: Hannah Montana tissues.

For the fannish teenage girl... or the teenage boy in need of, uh, inspiration?

Tacky Tissues

Jun 30, 2009 ⌘

Spotted, to my mingled disbelief and amazement in my local supermarket: Hannah Montana tissues.

For the fannish teenage girl... or the teenage boy in need of, uh, inspiration?

What's that wierd mobile on the left?

Jun 22, 2009 ⌘

Mobiles on Monday Morning

Quick iPhone 3G S Tests

Jun 20, 2009 ⌘

Here's a couple of pictures shot with my new iPhone 3G S

This was a test of its new macro capability, just shooting the Apple logo on my MacBook keyboard:

iPhone 3G S Macro Test

And this was a tricky light shot, focused on the commuter's face:

Tricky Light Test

So far, so promising.

Watching Karen Millen find its blogging feet

Jun 18, 2009 ⌘

I love watching new blogs develop. I discovered a few months back that high street fashion chain Karen Millen has started blogging started blogging last year, and I've become an avid reader. Maybe it's because I spend my working life helping people get their start in social media, but watching a young blog find its voice and style over the first year or so of its life just fascinates me.

There's something really touching about the Karen Millen blog, because there's something very slightly amateur hour about it. It's hosted on wordpress.com without a mapped domain name, and there's a very clear sense of real people writing the post, without a descent into marketing speak. Even the photography is evidentally done by the posters rather than seasoned pros. Compare these two pictures, from a post about a Karen Millen dress won in a charity competition:

Louise Roper in Karen Millen

The picture on the left is the original from the blog post, the one on the right a tweaked version just done in Preview.app on my Mac (I did nothing more than auto-levels). But that's cool. That feels more authentic. I get the same feeling of relationship and honesty that I do when I watch my bloggers do things like this. Good work, Karen Millen team.

Watching Karen Millen find its blogging feet

Jun 18, 2009 ⌘

I love watching new blogs develop. I discovered a few months back that high street fashion chain Karen Millen has started blogging last year, and I've become an avid reader. Maybe it's because I spend my working life helping people get their start in social media, but watching a young blog find its voice and style over the first year or so of its life just fascinates me. There's something really touching about the Karen Millen blog, because there's something very slightly amateur hour about it. It's hosted on wordpress.com without a mapped domain name, and there's a very clear sense of real people writing the post, without a descent into marketing speak. Even the photography is evidently done by the posters rather than seasoned pros. Compare these two pictures, from a post about a Karen Millen dress won in a charity competition:

<li class="asset-thumbnail on"><a href="https://addersdotblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/8102a-6a00d8341da3af53ef0120a95b21ee970b-pi.jpg"><img alt="Louiseroper" src="http://adders.blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/6a00d8341da3af53ef0120a95b21ee970b-75pi-1.jpg" /></a></li>

<li class="asset-thumbnail"><a href="https://addersdotblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/b4596-6a00d8341da3af53ef01310fc2082e970c-pi.jpg"><img alt="Louiseroper" src="http://adders.blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/6a00d8341da3af53ef01310fc2082e970c-75pi-1.jpg" /></a></li>

The picture on the left is the original from the blog post, the one on the right a tweaked version just done in Preview.app on my Mac (I did nothing more than auto-levels). But that's cool. That feels more authentic. I get the same feeling of relationship and honesty that I do when I watch my bloggers do things like this. Good work, Karen Millen team.

Self-Portrait, in a mirror

Jun 15, 2009 ⌘

DSCF1187

I rather like this shot, which I grabbed in a mirror at my mother-in-law's.

The Default Doctor Who Companion

Jun 15, 2009 ⌘

I just blundered across this on a Guardian blog:

But the thing about Doctor Who companions, whatever their age, background and ethnicity, is that they are all, essentially, the same character - the big-hearted Earth girl who finds the hero within herself. That's the story of Doctor Who, and what did for the original series was when they strayed too far. After all-time-favourite Sarah Jane, the Doctor travelled with a tribeswoman, a Time Lady, a genteel alien lady, an Australian air hostess, an American, and Bonnie Langford. It took until the rigorously badass Ace for them to get it right again, and by then it was too late.

And I think that it's a remarkably insightful comment. From the departure of Sarah Jane Smith onwards, there was never again a real companion that people could identify with. That didn't matter when people had a strong relationship with Tom Baker's Doctor, but after that, the steady decline was on…

Brown in the Bunker

Jun 10, 2009 ⌘

Oh, I just knew that there would be European Elections / Gordon Brown / Downfall mashups kicking around:

Classy Dinner...

Jun 7, 2009 ⌘

photo.jpg

QotD: Why I Blog

Jun 5, 2009 ⌘

Why do you blog?
Submitted by Syafira.

It's my job.

Although, to be fair, I also do it because I love it.

QotD: Emergency Contact

Jun 4, 2009 ⌘

Who do you write down as your Emergency Contact? Why did you pick this person?

Lorna, my wife. I think it's one of the rites of adulthood, when you move from having a parent as an Emergency Contact to your significant other.

Also, given that my parents are both deceased, contacting them might be a bit tricky...

Boris Goes Swimming

Jun 4, 2009 ⌘

River in Labour-controlled Lewisham attacks Conservative Mayor:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/emp/external/player.swf

Boris pratfalls: brightening up Thursday afternoon.

[via Paul Norman's Olympics Blog]