Technology can ease poverty, but tech companies need to get on board

Today is Blog Action Day, an annual nonprofit event that “aims to unite the world’s bloggers, podcasters and videocasters, to post about the same issue on the same day.” Last year the theme was the environment. This year the theme is world poverty (something I could use as a snarky lift-off comment on the coming recession, but I’ll resist that this point). The real point is that, even in a

Firing up the old boiler again

After some time away from my venerable old blog, I’m going to start using this site again. Hell, it is my namesake, the site I started in 2002. For my “work” you can still check out Techcrunch UK and TechCrunch.com. But anything else that occurs to me – new media and whatever else I want to blog about outside of TechCrunch – will appear here. (Many thanks to the guys

Libel and Defamation law for Bloggers

Being a traditionally trained journalist (prior to entering the blogging world a few years ago) I have always had a healthy respect for the libel law in the UK, which is, in the main, anti-media, anti-journalism, and now out of date in the new online world. However, a recent conversation with an extremely helpful lawyer, Victoria McEvedy of McEvedy & Associates (www.mcevedy.eu), has resulted in her sending me a “Primer

Social media cafe as flash mob

Last year fellow blogger and social media expert Lloyd Davis came up with an idea for something called a “social media cafe” where people working in social media (bloggers, marketing people, technologists etc) could get together in the same space and work. Sort of ‘vertical co-working’. He’s been looking for potential venues – I’m talking physical space here – in London. But this requires cash investment. However, it strikes me

Digital design event

If you are interested in current digital technology and creativity developments, or have something to contribute about the importance of good design principles in interactive media, then check out iDesign: design for life on September 18th, at London’s Southbank Centre, Purcell Room as part of this year’s London Design Festival. There’ll be an exhibition and debates to examine the impact of digital interactive media on all of our daily lives,

New-ish pastures

You may have picked this up elsewhere, but here’s a brief announcement for mbites readers. I am the new Editor of TechCrunch UK & Ireland. Some may know that I helped launch the site for the first time late last year. I also resigned after what I perceived at the time to be unnecessary editorial interference from the US site in a UK editorial issue. It’s hard to explain it

This week I am mostly at…

I HATE blog posts that apologise for the lack of updates. Like, who cares?! Either blog or don’t blog. Just don’t apologise. However, I do find that these days I update my Twitter microblog more than this blog! And I have been working on other stuff other than blogging lately. And thinking. However, I will be writing about the Brunch Bites event last week soon. This week I have been

Eight reasons why Facebook owns your ass

Thanks to the “Facebook Isn’t Private, and 7 Other Things You Should Know” post I have taken the main points about its Terms and Conditions and summarised below. It makes for gritty reading. 1. The terms can change at any time of Facebook’s choosing. 2. Facebook is legally for personal use only (only actual people can create profiles. And you’re not supposed to profit from it. A profile for a

Brunch Bites 1.0 – A new salon for a new era

Brunch Bites 1.0, the first “salon” style event from Bites Media (the new mini-network of digital business blogs: tbites, mediabites, mobbites, musicbites) went very well today. In attendance were a wide variety of people drawn from digital media, marketing, mobile, music and the startup world of Web 2.0. These included Luke Razzell who is currently developing a Facebook application called Blog Friends; Walid Al Saqqaf, co-founder of TrustedPlaces; David Jennings,