I started a rather undersubscribed group on Facebook to take the discussion about the dreadful travesty that is the changed Marmite recipe out of the kitchen at work and into the wider world. This is very obviously a personal rant. If you are not a Marmite lover then please support my right to Marmite the way I know and love it and not this immitation stuff they made for the squeezy (pah...
“Her first idea was that she had somehow fallen into the sea, `and in that case I can go back by railway,’ she said to herself. Alice had been to the seaside once in her life, and had come to the general conclusion, that wherever you go to on the English coast you find a number of bathing machines in the sea, some children digging in the sand with wooden spades, then a row of lodging...
The Balkan Witch is now happily solar powered by the very friendly and helpful people at ecological hosting. Thank you to Jamie for all his help rescuing my blog. Why solar powered? It dawned on me that I bang on about the environment a lot but had failed to consider how much power was being consumed just keeping my little blog alive. I googled and am happy with the results. Now I can blog from...
I find it enormously irritating when cash machines offer me a ‘withdrawal’. When I walk up to the cash point I am thinking about getting some cash. Some money. Moolah. Readies. Wonga. I have never uttered the line “I am just going to the cash machine to get a withdrawal” and I doubt that I ever will. Even if we go American English for a second do people ever go to the ATM...
I was thinking about that phone I commented on recently and, in that context Inclusive Design and what it means. The reason I struggle with the phone and its intended audience is that it is limiting. When someone arrives in a foreign country where they don’t speak the language we may choose to start them off with some pictures and sign language, maybe an interpreter but ultimately we would...
I’ve noticed this new thing I do. Once upon a time if I was struggling with something tech-like I would go to Google and either find something useful or not. Alternatively I would open my msn or maybe my mobile and try and match a person to the problem. These days I Twitter and, as if by magic, the answer appears! And I find myself answering questions too, it’s not all take. So, here...
Was just sent this link to an article about a phone designed for baby boomers. I read the article and the intention seems very noble – designing a phone for technophobes (and possibly the infirm?) – the whole experience of using the phone seems to have been considered with full support from an online interface as well as a call centre. Sounds excellent. Instead of icons or menus, the...
My friend Claire has Flickr set illustrating the effect sand dredging is having on the Gower Coast.
We are a funny bunch us humans, the way we just consume without thinking.
As I have said before: reduce, reuse, recycle!
At some point or another those who blog and those who read blogs end up having some sort of dialogue (internal or external) about blogging. The Voice’s workplace has recently launched a blog. (Though, as it allows no comment, I would argue that it is more of an archive of articles.) And, as a clever sort of chap, The Voice feels compelled (or is being compelled!) to add his own opinion to...
Ivanka Majic works in technology. She was Head of Design for Ubuntu, service managed Digital Marketplace through to beta, was acting director of digital for the Labour Party. She lives and works in Brighton where she works with the council’s digital first team, does a bit of teaching at Sussex University, and works with her husband on projects like restaurantsbrighton.co.uk and the BRAVOs. She has also started a podcast with her friend Michael which you can listen to at grandpodcast.com.