Citizensheep.com is the blog of me, Michael Grimes.
Sheep Dip is where I dip my hooves into the murky waters of the internet and pluck out an interesting, useful or just plain whacky titbit for your delectation.
13 July, 2009
I haven’t tried it yet, but this could make the creation of web accessible video much easier: it purports to enable you to add transcripts to your YouTube videos. Thanks to Andy Mabbett for alerting me to it.
2 July, 2009
Thanks to Gavin Wray for spotting this.
“The Open Database License (ODbL) is an open license for data and databases which includes explicit attribution and share-alike requirements.
“This license, the first of its kind, is a major step forward for open data. There are currently very few licenses available suited to data and databases and none which provide for share-alike (existing share-alike licenses such as the GPL, GFDL and CC By-SA are all unsuitable for data).”
22 June, 2009
The furniture shop Habitat recently made a very wobbly entrance into Twitter, by not appreciating the norms that have evolved there. Not good for a trusted brand; although even with the disgust voiced by some in the community I doubt it’s damaged their business particularly.
However, the episode did spawn this blog post, which – as well as lambasting Habitat for getting it wrong – has some good tips for making productive use of corporate mistakes on Twitter (and indeed any other space in which an organisation has a presence).
12 June, 2009
Anyone who knows me will know how bad I am at making decisions. Not knowing how to choose can result in procrastination, or – worse – avoidance. That's not good for someone who's responsible for managing an organisation's corporate web strategy. Mind Tools has actually been very helpful for me. Although at first glance it looks like it's trying to sell you something, it'sactually a rich resource of advice for decision-making and personal management.
11 June, 2009
I just stumbled across this mind map that was instigated by Robin Good. It shows people's favourite online collaboration tools for tasks such as file-sharing, drawing, writing, conferencing, reviewing and whiteboarding. Although it was developed collaboratively it doesn't actually seem to be editable by users: shame, but a great resource nonetheless.
30 May, 2009
Does what it says on the tin. Well actually it does more: it lists the RSS feeds and Twitter accounts of UK government departments, and bigs up the Central Office of Information's News Distribution Service (http://nds.coi.gov.uk/).
28 May, 2009
Possibly one of the driest, most unappealing web pages you could hope to produce: but its content deserves so much more, which is why I’m adding it here.
The House of Lords and the Hansard Society are running a competition for 11-16 year olds, in which they submit views to the Lords Communications Committee. The top for these submissions is the portrayal of young people in the media.
They might write a ‘think piece’, produce a presentation, make a short film or audio clip; all sorts. Whatever the method or format, they can draw on their own skills and experiences.
Those with the best submissions will be invited to the House of Lords to discuss their work with the Communications Committee.
21 May, 2009
"Downloading music without the permission of the copyright holder should qualify for copyright laws' exemptions for 'fair use', a Harvard academic has said. Partial responsibility lies with the music industry itself for failing to adapt, he said."
6 May, 2009
Excellent post by Tim Davies. He argues that when it comes to governments and large organisations engaging with technology for social change, there is not one big challenge but lots of little ones; and that as those multiply, the ability to engage effectively shrinks. He then lists 50 key challenges that he's encountered so far this year: so now we know they exist we can do something about them; and – hopefully – improve the chances of technology to support social change effectively.
Visit OpenGov: One big challenge? Or a thousand small hurdles
21 April, 2009
Thanks to Bruce Lawson for sending me this. If you think you have trouble with some UK place names, spare a thought for the poor officials in Massachusetts who have this to contend with.
Visit Spelling mistake discovered in Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg signs
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