RSS Feed Icons Resource

http://feedicons.com/

Feed Icons is a great resource where you can download various alternatives of the well known feed icon. Formats that are available are: AI, EPS, SVG, PSD, PDF, PNG, JPG and GIF. You can even colour-code them to your own branding.

Feed the web!

Broadband Speed Test

How fast is your internet connection?

You can calculate your speed with this test at ZD Net:
http://resources.zdnet.co.uk/speedtest/

RSS Introduction Article

If you are looking to RSS and wish to add some RSS Feed to your web pages, here are some interesting articles to get you started with the topic:

http://www.webreference.com/authoring/languages/xml/rss/intro/
http://www.webtechniques.com/archives/2000/02/eisenzopf/

Stokefest 2007

I really love living in London N5, it is a short walk to Upper Street one way and a short walk to Stoke Newington the other. We wandered out for a coffee this afternoon and walked up to Stoke Newington Church Street via Clissold Park which was hosting the annual Stokefest.

Stokefest is a free, independent festival that takes place in Clissold Park every year. The sun was shining and all the locals, young and old were really getting into the spirit of the festival with various arts & crafts, music and stalls. There was something for everyone!

You can keep up to date with latest events in Stoke Newington's online magazine

Say no to 0870 Numbers

http://www.saynoto0870.com/

There is a growing increase of companies in the UK opting to use 0870 numbers (and similar). Usually to hide their geographical location and appear more national and in doing so get a commission on the phone call, so there is no incentive to advertise their geographical numbers.

However, if like me you are out and about and using your mobile, you probably have a price plan that includes a bundle of talk time which don't include 0870 numbers in the pricing plan.

This site is great as it lists many well known companies, and their equivalent geographical numbers so you can dial the geographical number, save on the cost of the call and also use them as part of your price plan on your mobile if you have that kind of price plan.

TIP: don't forget to Dial 141 first as some companies won't answer if they see the incoming call is UK based.

Effective Marketing - Top Ten Tips

Understand your customer

• Who they are, how they buy
• Talk to them, ask them what they want
• Do they fully understand your business

Features V Benefits

• People buy solutions to their problems

Think like your customers

• How would you like to be served?
• Build your service around the same principles

Elevator Pitch

• Clearly say what you do in less than 2 minutes

Let people know you are there

• Take your product to them, e.g. Coca Cola Vending Machines

Clear Objectives and Targets

• Increase sales by X

Price Increase

• Don't be afraid of them
• 80 / 20 rule

Test & Monitor

• Otherwise how do you know what is working for you

Guarantees - do what you say you will

• Delight the customer - do what you say you will - how often have you expereinced a phone call when they say they will call us back

Find your niche

• Don't try to be everything to everyone - find your niche

Be one in a million - not one of a million

Games 2.0: The internet is the games platform

Interesting article by developmag.com on the internet becoming the games platform

Adance London MTC Network Meeting

Last night I attended the inaugural Advance London MTC Network Meeting, which took place at Microsoft's London HQ. Advance is a global community of Australian professionals working overseas with chapters worldwide and each chapter having several industry networks represented.

The MTC Network brings together professionals from the Media Technology and Communication sectors based in London. The idea of the first meeting was to get people together in this sector and share ideas and build a community and discuss ideas of how each individual could contribute and what we would like to get out of the group. The event was a great success with a good turnout and was hosted by David Rowe, new Chair of the MCT Network and Kate Parker, the Director of London Advance.

Advance is a non-profit organisation and membership to the group and chapters is free. If you are interested in joining you can sign up here for free.

HTML Email Newsletters

Here are some useful web articles on HTML email newsletters. "How to Code ..." has some information on the ideal code to design the layout of the newsletters and "A guide CSS Support in Email" gives some information on CSS and email client support. They will be particularly useful for web developers who like to adhere to web standards where possible and would like some guidance on CSS compatibility in email clients and the best approach with HTML.

The articles can be found at:

How to Code HTML Email Newsletters and A Guide to CSS Support in Email

Photography tips & guidance on colour & composition

Got yourself a fancy, all singing & dancing SLR camera and wished you knew more about composition and colour? I have just been reading some tutorials by Caroline Mockett.

Caroline has written 11 short and snappy [ pardon the pun :-) ] articles on composition and colour. There is a brief introduction to the theory with some stunning examples of each category to illustrate the topics well. It's worth just taking a look for the lovely photography.

Here are some quick links to the topics:

Composition #1 - The Rule Of Thirds

Composition #2 - Lead-In Lines

Composition #3 - Using Symmetry

Composition #4 - Framing Elements

Composition #5 - Creating Depth

Composition #6 - Using Repetition

Composition #7 - Fill The Frame, Or Not?

Composition #8 - Using Triangles

Texture & Tone in Monochrome

Subdued Or Single-Colour Images

Vibrant Colour

Upcoming Events

There are some great tech events on the horizon if you haven't read about them yet:

Geekdinner with Tara Hunt & Chris Messina of Citizen Agency
Date: 21 February 2007 from 18:30 - 23:00
Where: The Bear at 2 St John's Square, Clerkenwell, London EC1M4DE
Cost: £6
Sign up and further details

WSG London Accessibility Meetup
Date: 28 February 2007 from 19:00 - 21:00
Where: New Cavendish Street campus of Westminster University
115 New Cavendish Street
London, W1W 6UW, London
Cost: Free
Sign up and further details

MiniBar4
Friday 2 March from 18:00
Where: Corbet Place [Truman Brewery], London E1 6NH
Cost: Free
Sign up and further details

3GSM World Congress 2007 - Barcelona

3GSM World Congress 2007 took place from 13-15 February at it's new home in Barcelona for the second year running, since it's move from Cannes on the French Riviera.

The first thing that struck me was the move from Cannes allowed the biggest industry in the world to truly become the largest conference in the world with Barcelona playing host and providing a stunning location and backdrop. Throw some beautiful weather and good tapas into the mix and the conference was a great success, that a lot of my colleagues agreed with.

Some 55,000 delegates across the globe visited the congress to attend workshops, keynote speakers, seminar and breakout sessions, panels, display and visit stands, discuss and see the latest trends in the mobile industry and network at the various social events and parties.

It is fitting that the biggest industry in the world put on the largest trade conference in the world. The mobile industry is a large ecosystem that any would-be entrepreneur can thrive in the many industries that have evolved and 3GSM allowed large established companies to meet small, independents who have their own innovative offerings from:

• Hardware with new and innovative displays to see
  
• Front-end and back-end solutions
  
• Software
• Communities
  
• Games
• Film
• Billing systems
• Text messaging solutions
• Mobile Content Delivery
• Mobile Entertainment
  
• Networks
• Distribution
  
• User generated content
  
• Peripherals and accessories including clothing and keyboards for mobile devices
  

I took my time to visit all 8 halls at the exhibition and sample some of the services and products on offer and get an understanding of the innovation in the industry and was impressed with many of the companies there. One such company was omegame who produce a product called Menus Master which allows the quick creation of UI which can easily be generated and integrated into the game. 50% of game production time can be spent developing the menu system and this allows a games company to speed up studio time and focus on the game's features and graphics. Modifications are then easily integrated at a later stage.

The W3C Mobile Web Initiative promoting "The Web on the Move" were present and Tim Berners Lee gave a keynote speech at the Mobile Innovation Forum. They provided good information on mobile web best practices and web standards to design for one web.

Whilst viewing your mobile on the move you could accessories with ElekTex who provide innovative clothing, interactive accessories and cloth keypads for mobile computing.

There were many stands on content and vpod provided a platform for video publishing on demand where you can share your videos and create your own TV Show. Mobestar provided solutions for mobile communities.

A mobile conference wouldn't be the same without a sneak preview of emerging technoligies to come and there were some amazing handsets and devices on display. I was particularly taken with the fog screen by Paraddax, which is a curtain of fog-like material on which high definition images are projected. This allows the user to interact with the projection and is a great way to market material.

The Global Mobile Awards took place at 3GSM [winners list] and the Sundance Film Festival had it's world premiere at the Conference

Don't forget to keep yourself safe from property crime and register your laptop and mobile phones at www.immobilise.com.

After viewing the many stands I managed to go to some after show parties and networking events. I caught with the folks from Swedish Beers and the ladies at the Women in Mobile Data

I look forward the 3GSM 2008 and will be booking my hotel at the AC Miramar early. The AC Miramar is a beautiful 5 star hotel housed in a former palace (designed for the Universal Exhibition of 1929) and located in Montjuic Park. It has stunning views over the city and to the sea, and is only 1km from Las Ramblas.

Download the delegate guide from the show.

Google moves in to "in-game" Advertising

Google to Buy Adscape for $23 Million

After some rumors of a deal earlier this month, Google has expanded it’s advertising reach by moving into video game advertising with their $23 million acquisition of Adscape. Read the rest of the article on TechCrunch >>

Yahoo Launches Pipes

Yahoo! Pipes allows you to take data from one or more sources and to bring it together, for example - to aggregate a group of feeds.

Read the full article at TechCrunch

MySpace inks exclusive Vodafone deal

MySpace has signed an exclusive pan-European mobile partnership with Vodafone. Continue reading the article >>

BarCampLondon2 - Registrations now open

Free Registration for BarCampLondon2 has now opened and you'll have to be quick with a limit set to 100 places.

The Details:
When?
Saturday 17th February (10am) - Sunday 18th February (4pm), 2007

Where?
BT, ST Pauls, LondonWhat to bring

• Laptop
• All the chargers/cables you'll need (apart from network cable... its all wifi)
• Sleeping materials - sleeping bag? pillow? toiletries?
• An idea for a session/presentation
• wolvesbane
• ...?

What?
"Think of it as a way to get the tech/geek community together in London. What will happen during the event? Only one thing is certain: It's up to you to decide. The most important thing you should take away from the event? Relationships with other geeks!"

Rules?
To attend you need to understand the BarCamp rules

Sponsor
BT is sponsoring the event and will be giving away free BT Openzone accounts to every person during the event

BarCamp is Back

BarCamp is back in London on 17-18 February 2007.

More details to follow

London Advance Meeting - 7 February 2007

Advance is a global community of Australian Professionals and hold regular meetings in London.

The first meeting for 2007 will take place at The Wapping Project on 7 February
Wapping Hydraulic Power Station
Wapping Wall, E1W 3ST
020 7680 2080

Nearest Tube: Wapping, Shadwell
Nearest DLR: Shadwell
Nearest Bus: D3, Prospect of Whitby
Registration is free

See link below for registration details
London: Creative Network Committee Meeting
Wed 7-Feb-07 7:00 PM to Wed 7-Feb-07 8:30 PM

Apple announces new mobile phone

Apple announces the new mobile phone

For coverage of the keynote visit Macworld Expo Keynote Coverage

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all my friends, fellow bloggers and readers. Wishing you all the best for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2007