links for 2009-10-20

"Sometimes you just need to make something to see how it will feel for users. Here I talk about an approach I used to build the prototype of our Facebook Connect clippings service, a simple, cheap and unobtrusive sharing feature for Guardian users."

"Beatblogger isn’t a job title used much here in the UK as yet, and it’s prompted some common questions in the comments section of the initial news story about Guardian local, and elsewhere, which I thought I’d pick up here."

At the foot of this article Richard gives us "Forgive me, I know I really should get out more, but who is Stephen Gately?". Maybe you should ask a colleague... ;-)

"The Conservative Party are set to launch an advertising campaign on Spotify. A 40-second advert promoting the party will launch on Spotify next Wednesday (October 21), featuring chairman Eric Pickles talking about debt and with an additional message that Spotify users should vote Conservative during the next general election."

"Today so much TV and newspaper output is riddled with error, dumbing-down or prejudice/bias (and perhaps it always has been) that the idea of 'high professional standards' in this sector seems somewhat far-fetched. If the PCC were tasked to deal properly with every complaint on this score, it would seize up in minutes."

"Mail Online saw a 21% daily increase in traffic on Friday, after a post by its columnist Jan Moir prompted a backlash across the web". Write offensive column + giveaway as free content on the web = profit!