links for 2009-03-03

I'll be running my one day course for new and aspiring bloggers again on April 17th

"In case you missed it, the official skittles website located at Skittles.com last night redirected their entire homepage to a twitter search for the term [skittles]. I applaud their effort to embrace bold new ideas but their execution leaves a lot to be desired. I thought I'd run through some of them in hopes some of you might learn something". Graywolf criticises some lack of forethought about search engine impact, but otherwise calls the move a win.

"If RyanAir and the NUJ don't care what bloggers think, they might at least consider what Google thinks of bloggers, since that will hit them right where it hurts."

"All of which thoughts sprang to mind as I cast a curious eye over how the NYTimes intends to 'do local'. By offering hair salons and restaurants the chance to advertise on TheLocal/Maplewood by… clicking through the Advertise with NYTImes.com 'button' above the ad for the Phillips get-to-sleep-easier thing…And then clicking through to this… where you can contact the category Advertising Director for online rates or browse examples of creative ad units. By which stage, I suspect, any PizzaParlour owner or hair salon manageress in downtown Maplewood has another customer walking through the door, waiting to be served… "

"Time Columnist David Aaronovitch has tracked down a fiction being used to campaign against CCTV (the security cameras - not Chinese telly). It is the oft-quoted 'fact' that the average Briton is captured on CCTV 300 times every day. My German-dwelling brother cited it just this weekend during a trip to London. But it ain't true. Indeed, it is literally based on a made-up story."

"Telegraph Sport understands that on Monday satellite broadcaster Setanta delayed making a scheduled payment [to the FA] on their £150 million contract and it emerged that ITV are seeking to reschedule payments on their £275 million deal". Is this the start of On Digital all over again?

"I'm old enough to remember being intensely jealous that a friend had a ZX-81, with its chunky monochrome blocks, while my son will probably grow up harbouring similar nostalgic fondness for the innocent days of the Xbox 360, when games were only high-definition and had to be purchased on funny silver discs". Fascinating look at gaming from a parent's perspective

"Twitter appears on innumerable personal and professional websites nowadays, whether it is a simple “Follow me” badge in the header or a display of the author’s latest tweets in the sidebar. No longer a fad, Twitter is now a necessity for every website, not just for sharing your thoughts and keeping in touch with people, but also for marketing, advertising and even searching. But you may be wondering, How can I make Twitter work the way I want on my website?"

"Abdulhalim Dede, publisher and director of the newspaper Trakyanin Sesi and owner of the radio station ISIK FM in Komotini, was invited by the hosts of Kalimera Ellada to express his opinion live from Kamotini on Antenna TV. During the interview, an unknown man approached Dede, shouted at him using obscene language, and physically attacked him. The main studio in Athens immediately terminated the live broadcasting. Dede, who was hospitalised for several days, is known for his promotion of the rights of the Turkish-speaking population in Thrace, Greece, and has been the target of various attacks over the years."

"Ask the BBC to make a response to a cock-up, and invariably it comes up with the wrong one. It's not like it hasn't had the practice. The corporation has spent the past couple of years mired in stories questioning its values and competency - from the Blue Peter cat to Carol Thatcher, from Gaza to the Queen, they've just kept coming."

"A flurry of IE6 related activity on the web this week coincided with a discussion we are having at The Guardian on the same subject". Interesting notes on the impact should you decide to drop support for IE6 - it still makes up 25% of visits to The Guardian site.