Archive for January, 2009

Democracy needs you

Monday, January 19th, 2009

From mySociety: “Ministers are about to conceal MPs’ expenses, even though the public has just paid £1m to get them all ready for publication, and even though the tax man expects citizens to do what MPs don’t have to.”

My letter to my MP on the topic:

Dear David Lepper,

I write to you today in the hope that you will vote against the draft Freedom of Information (Parliament) Order 2009 this Thursday, and additionally sign Jo Swinson’s Early Day Motion.

While I greatly appreciate the hard work undertaken by MPs to represent our needs, I do believe it is imperative that, as public servants, they are held accountable to high financial standards. Removing details of MPs’ expenses from FoI legislation is contrary to this important goal.

My hope is for a more open Government that operates with true transparency, and thus reinstates the trust it has sadly lost in the modern public’s eyes. Therefore I believe that this proposal would be very much a retrograde step for British politics. I hope that, as my MP, you will share my viewpoint.

Yours sincerely,
Cennydd Bowles

I normally conduct my political activism solely at the ballot box, but this is an issue so important that I’d urge anyone reading to get involved too. Please consider writing to your MP too (WriteToThem makes this extremely easy), or failing that please join the Facebook group and add your name to the ranks of concerned citizens. Normal apolitical blog service will be restored shortly.

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January links

Sunday, January 18th, 2009

Edited highlights of recent delicious additions:

• The $300 Million Button – Jared Spool on some pretty impressive usability RoI.
• Demand a Read/Write City – “Our city is read-only. You’re free to read advertising, business signs, and city signs. But dare you write or hang anything of your own; you will be labeled as a criminal – a graffiti vandal. In many cities it’s even illegal to hang a sign for a garage sale on a light pole. If you happen to have a several thousand dollars, you might be able to say what you want – as long as it’s not too political.”
• Font-weight is still broken on all but one browser – Richard on the shaky status of CSS1 typography.
• The Daily Mail Oncological Ontology Project – A blog following the Daily Mail’s ongoing mission to divide all the inanimate objects in the world into those that cause or cure cancer.
• Is It Art? – John Lanchester in the LRB: “There is no other medium that produces so pure a cultural segregation as video games, so clean-cut a division between the audience and the non-audience.”
• How to build a website for the iPhone with orientation detection – Use the iPhone accelerometer and nifty CSS/JS to serve up different content according to orientation. Lots of possibilities here…
• Do You Wanna Hook Up? – Application that allows you (courtesy of Facebook Connect) to make a private list of friends who you secretly fancy. If they happen to have also added you to their list, it makes a match and lets you both know discreetly. I had the exact same idea for Twitter and toyed with the idea of building it for Valentine’s Day, but Facebook is probably a more elegant and relevant platform. Cute idea anyway, if a little childish.

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Conference choices

Sunday, January 18th, 2009

The start of the year brings the inevitable choices about Spring conferences. My original plan was to join the rest of the Clearlefters at SxSW, but I’ve decided it’s not for me. Reports I’ve heard make it sound rather like an enforced Freshers’ Week, where the partying is the raison d’être. Much as I do enjoy a party, you can have too much of a good thing. I felt stifled and overtired after dConstruct and BarCampBrighton, and I’d hate for that to happen during a week in Austin. So while I do love the web scene, I need my space too, and I’d also prefer to improve my professional skills than my already finely-honed beer skills.

So I’ve decided that this is the year I finally go to the IA Summit, Memphis TN, 20-22 March. It’s been on my list for years but I’ve never been fortunate enough to have an employer willing to permit me an overseas conference. Fortunately overseas conferences are very much part of the Clearleft way of life, and even just by looking at the names of attendees I know I’ll learn a great deal.

I’ve also been extremely parsimonious with my holiday time, so will probably linger Stateside for a week or so afterwards. The question is whether to head West (to San Francisco) or Northeast (to Chicago, Montreal, New York perhaps). So far I’m leaning towards the latter, although if anyone has any suggestions I’d be glad to hear them.

As for SxSW, there’s been talk of a counter-event taking place in Cardiff (South by South Wales), or possibly just one or two timezone-shifted drinking sessions in Brighton. Works for me.

Posted in personal, user experience | 1 Comment »

Recent listens

Monday, January 12th, 2009

Musically, 2008 was a pipe and slippers year for me. I didn’t buy much, I didn’t play much, and I took comfort in the songs that I’d known and loved for years. To tell the truth, I was concerned that I’d lost interest in the scene altogether: the effort required to keep up seemed too great. (Actually, that was largely caused by having too many sources of clutter in my life, which I’m starting to cut. But that’s another story.)

The last few weeks have been wildly different. Not only am I writing and playing music again, but I’ve indulged in much of the new music I’d missed out on, thanks to the happy co-occurrence of Amazon’s MP3 store, having a few spare quid, and a host of Albums Of 2008 lists for inspiration. So here are some of the albums I’ve been appreciating recently.

No Age – Nouns

Without hesitation my record of 2008. Despite potential for trendy scenester haircut crap, this is one of those ass-kicking records that puts a grin on your face the louder you play it. Despite nods to MBV and J&MC, it’s a fresh, energetic and very modern blast of indie rock.

Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion

It’s hard to judge after just ten hours, but those who are already lumping this in the Album Of The Decade category may have a point. Feels like the natural and perfect convergence of the Animal Collective direction: less psychedelic, even more beautiful, and no less wonderfully strange. My Girls, in particular, is probably a classic.

Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago / Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes

I lump these together as two excellent examples of what I term in no derogatory way ‘boring music’. The Fleet Foxes effort is perhaps more saccharine, but both share a folky aesthetic common to many recent alt-folkers: Sufjan, Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart etc. No fireworks or surprises, just beautifully-formed melodies.

Ponytail – Ice Cream Spiritual

A three-way fight between Deerhoof, Bis and Melt Banana, with whooping animal vocals and shiny guitar lines whose quirk and energy bely massive complexity. Gutted to miss them live last year (their Brighton date clashed with dConstruct).

Gang Gang Dance – Saint Dymphna

Self-consciously esoteric, eclectic but yet a sound very much their own. Highlight has to be the astonishing broadside that is Princes, a genuine (and awesome) grime/dubstep track nestling in comfortably on a very experimental album.

Kanye West – 808s and Heartbreak

A curious mix of auto-tune, funereal dirges (particularly the opening track), pop beats and self-pity. Can’t help wondering how much is purely contrived, but this is a fine outpouring of pain regardless.

Addendum: Can’t help noticing these are all American bands. Where on earth has the British music scene gone?

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Intern position at Clearleft

Monday, January 5th, 2009

The time has rolled round again when Clearleft fancies having a fresh face in the office, so we’re currently looking for a Design/Front End Development Intern.

It’d suit someone with talent and enthusiasm (or, better, passion) for web design, UX and standards-based development, but who maybe lacks the commercial experience and wants to take a strong step forward into the industry. As Andy has commented, it’s a fairly challenging role, because we’re known for having opinions about stuff. So the sort of person we’re after has opinions too. Someone who reads, comments, blogs, tweets and generally likes to be a part of the conversation would fit in brilliantly.

Unlike many intern programmes, this one’s actually paid, and of course the right person would stand to learn an enormous amount from the likes of Natalie and Jeremy. Personally, I’ve learnt more in six months of working here than in any other position, so the rewards are definitely there.

The internment internship runs for ten weeks this Spring. See clearleft.com/jobs to find out more.

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