Has Microsoft launched a new social network and will new cookie laws save the web or break it?

Posted on May 28, 2012 by

Image from http://500motivators.com/

On Saturday 26 May 2012 new European Union cookie legislation demands that websites that use cookies (small data files) onto visitors’ browsers will have to declare the use of cookies and seek consent for their use. How will this effect site owners and site users? Is it practical to enforce onto sites and their visitors? What the hell are cookies anyway? Kat tells us when we should fear the cookie and when we should fear the law. Listen to the podcast now – just press play:

Other stories this week include Dan’s initial reactions to So.cl – Microsoft’s new social network that isn’t a social network, but more an enhanced search and curate tool with sharing at its heart… If you know what I mean… No, nor Barry!

http://www.so.cl/#/embed?i=sBJ.67uHB6NB0

Barry looks at what could be seen as Polaroid’s last roll of the dice – Polamatic – an iPhone app that kinda does what Instagram or Hipstamatic do, then let’s you share the images to Instagram! If only they could be more like Lomo…

Wanky Words

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How to build online audiences into big TV Entertainment brands (ft. Tom Dolan, Head of Entertainment ITV.com)

Posted on May 7, 2012 by

Lots and lots of peopleWhen it comes to big shows with big audiences, ITV has got some game: The X Factor, The Only Way Is Essex, Britain’s Got Talent, Red or Black; and they all shoot for the sweet spot between TV and the second screen participatory viewer. How do they do it? How do they plan to innovate their Entertainment online? Who better to ask than Head of Entertainment for ITV.com, Tom Dolan?

With a wealth of TV and online experience with BBC online, Digital Agencies (such as Cimex) and now ITV.com, Tom Dolan joins Off The Wall Post to share his insights and aspirations for connecting with the connected audience, and discuss the partnership of big entertainment shows and online. What are the opportunities for TV to add value to the 2screening / online audience? And how to keep a light touch integrating the opportunities so as not to ruin the experience for the mass audience who just turned on to watch TV?

And perhaps most important of all – is the spoon mightier than the iPad…? Listen to the podcast now – just press play:

And we don’t stop there! Kat brings us Cinemagram – the superb animated gif creator for iPhone (and who doesn’t want to fill the world with more animated gifs?); Barry raises the whole question of what you actually buy and own when you ‘purchase’ an app on the App Store as EA’s RockBand App that recently shocked users by reporting Rock Band iOS would become unplayable at the end of May 2012. (UPDATE – EA GAMES have released a statement that says this decommissioning of RockBand was an error: ‘Rock Band for iOS will remain live – the in-app message users received on Tuesday, May 1 was sent in error. We apologize for the confusion this caused. We’re working to clarify the issue that caused the error and will share additional information as soon as possible.‘)

Such confusion aside, Dan offers some ridiculous stats around the success of the iPad compared to Apple’s own products’ sales equivalents over time; and Tom Dolan highlights Dan Hon’s superb and personal blog post ‘Myself – quantified’ about being diagnosed with Diabetes and the steps, measures and measurements he has taken to fight off a life of injecting insulin.

Wanky Words

  • Decisioning and Solutionising – Tom Kenyon
  • Sofalising and Chatterboxing – from Dan
  • Twintro – from Barry
  • Graycation – Shea Warnes 

Share your thoughts, comments and wanky words with us on Twitter @offthewallpost, Facebook.com/offthewallpost or our website Offthewallpost.com

(Image: Lots and lots of people by Roo Reynolds)

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Online Piracy and Defending The Novel in the Digital Age (ft. Lloyd Shepherd, author of The English Monster)

Posted on April 22, 2012 by

The English MonsterWhen novelist and author Lloyd Shepherd published his first novel The English Monster through Simon and Schuster he soon discovered his historical tale of piracy and detection had made its way onto internet file-sharing site Mobilism. Perhaps an inevitability of the modern age, Lloyd’s next steps were less predictable and his parlay with the pirates began… Lloyd joins Off The Wall Post to tell of his experience debating intellectual property and ethics with pirates, and shares his thoughts on publishing and the changes and challenges facing the novel (and novelist) in the digital age.

Listen to the podcast now – just press play:

Links of note / the need to knows:

Lloyd recommends Camper Van Beethoven’s David Lowery’s presentation on the record industry – Meet the new boss, worse than the old boss? We reference ‘Oatmealing’ – The Oatmeal Game of Thrones cartoon. And we mention Unbound – the crowdfunding site for books.

Then, having spoken about new models of funding creativity, Barry gets excited (along with the rest of the Kickstarter community), about The Pebble – a watch that’s raised $5M from public pledge. Meanwhile, more there’s more cash crowdsourcing, as Kat finds Kickstarter has rekindled the creativity of an old favourite Ze Frank to bring back his show to YouTube. We play some of the first episode Ze Frank – a show – an invocation for beginners in the podcast to encourage more people to visit and enjoy his new stuff – annoyingly it just won’t embed into this blog.

Wanky Words

Share your thoughts, comments and wanky words with us on Twitter @offthewallpost, Facebook.com/offthewallpost or our website Offthewallpost.com

Posted in Books, Crowdsourcing, music, new media, podcast, Special Guest, Transmedia | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

The future for games development in the UK, Nostalgia from Memolane and Barry through the Google Glass (ft. Dr Jo Twist, CEO of UKIE)

Posted on April 6, 2012 by

Atari 2600 JoystickJo Twist is a digital media legend: having commissioned multiplatform and online games for the BBC and Channel Four Education and now stands as one of the leading advocates for the UK Games industry as CEO of UKIE (United Kingdom Interactive Entertainment Association). She joins Off The Wall Post to discuss the future for the UK Games industry, how to get kids coding, keep start-ups funded and how the image and nature of games and gamers is changing.

Listen to the podcast now – just press play:

Barry steps through the Google Glass to examine Google’s latest stab at bringing the future into our present with computerised spectacles.

Kat gets nostalgic with Memolane’s emailed memories and logs onto Oh Life another tool to help your journal-keeping ambitions. Dan brings If This Then That to the table – a brilliant API command tool that allows you to link up your data stores and applications across the web (eg send your favourited tweets to Instapaper or Evernote etc.).

Wanky Words

Hacktivist – Christopher Wilson

Digital omnivores – Niki Barton (posted on our Facebook page)

Associated drift – Hugh Gary

Pretotyping – Andy Piper (posted on our Facebook page)

Resolutionary – Andy Piper

Flawsome – Thom Hoffman

To course correct – Vuk Trifkovic

Tweeps – Erin Florence

Tell us what you think about the topics and tell us your latest #wankywords on Twitter @offthewallpost or on our Facebook Page.

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Top tips to successfully tweet for a TV Show or The Dolphin Pub (ft David Levin, Twitter writer)

Posted on March 11, 2012 by
The Dolphin Pub Twitter avatar

@the_dolphin_pub 'Imagine the best fucking pub ever. Then times it by a billion.'

How DO you tweet for a brand or a TV Show or a dolphin? It’s all the rage for brands and TV shows to have Twitter feeds, but how many of them actually have Twitter personalities you’d want to follow? The ones that David Levin writes do! With a host of massively successful Twitter accounts to his name, including legendary Hackney character The Dolphin Pub, Dave talks to Off The Wall Post to share his Twitter technique, tone of voice and his top tips for building an engaged and loyal community on Twitter. AND whether your Facebook and Twitter voice should be the same.

Listen to the podcast now – just press play:

Twitter feeds mentioned / recommended by Dave Levin: Betfairpoker; Not Big Sam; Boots Meal Deal; Chino Wanker and of course, The Dolphin Pub’s true love Caitlin Moran.

Also this week: Kat talks about Cat Map and digs into hot new privacy-busting location-based app Highlight; Barry wonders why he should care about which internet browser he uses; while Dan wonders what’s become of an industry that brought so much innovation to digital media, but has since gone quiet… Are mock pinterest sites like Sinterest and Kickstarter clones for adult content all that it can do to stay relevant online? (no, we’re not going to link to NSFW sites!).

Oh and the Tumblr meme that had us helpless with laughter: Breaded Cats!

Breaded Cats - cat breading

Breaded Cats - Our Kitty Banjo

Wanky Words

Sunset (as in to close a website) – David Thair

Amazeballs – Matt Lent

Advergaming – Christopher Wilson

Enjoyneering – David Varela

Tell us what you think about the topics and tell us your latest #wankywords on Twitter @offthewallpost or on our Facebook Page.

Posted in Facebook, location, mobile, new media, podcast, social media, Special Guest, television, twitter, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Pinterest, Cowbird and why Twitter is just like Mad Men

Posted on February 19, 2012 by

pinboard wizard

Image tagging service, Pinterest, has received a lot of tech press since it gained a staggering 10 Million users in 2011 and looks set to continue being huge in social media in 2012. Kat, Dan and Barry sign in and begin to pin, then dig deeper into the practical and commercial uses of Pinterest, and whether anyone should really give a damn. They consider the Skimlinks link-tracking service that allows Pinterest to monetise users’ pins and links; the demographics of Pinterest – how the USA is all about the ladies, but apparently in the UK pinning’s for geeks; and the bizarre tale of German Pinterest clone, Pinspire.

Listen to the podcast now – just press play:

Meanwhile, Barry revives the Twitter Joke Trial as Stephen Fry blasts the judiciary for being out of touch with Twitter. This gives Dan the chance somehow to compare Twitter to Mad Men and Barry presents his greatest list creation yet: top ten tweets to get yourself arrested.

Cowbird logoDan gets highbrow with Cowbird, a storytelling collective that seeks to pull together human stories and narratives in a sort of experiential wikipedia for the human soul.

Wanky Words

Pinterestification – @heatherataylor

Twipping Point / Phablet – @marcsettle

Surface – @fakebitpoly

Going Meta – @_martinfranklin

Don’t forget to share your thoughts and wanky words with us on Twitter – @offthewallpost or on Facebook.com/offthewallpost

Main image: Pinboard Wizard by  andrea joseph’s illustrations on Flickr

Posted in Pinterest, podcast, social media, twitter, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Web comics, QRs holes and why Google knows what you want (ft. Timothy Winchester, creator of People I Know)

Posted on February 5, 2012 by
Off the Wall Post Poster by Timothy Winchester (People I Know)

Off the Wall Post Poster by Timothy Winchester (People I Know)

Off The Wall Post are huge fans of creators and people who make the internet a better place. Timothy Winchester is one of those people. People I know is a wonderful, quirky web comic that’s been bringing joy to readers for years. Timothy joins Dan, Barry and Kat to talk about his hobby-turned-bedroom industry that moves between the internet and hard copy sales across the world. AND present us with his awesome depiction of the Off The Wall Post team!

A glorious and glossy print copy of the Timothy Winchester Off The Wall Poster you see above is this week’s OTWP prize. So keep your eyes peeled for updates of how to win on our Twitter and Facebook Page.

Listen to the podcast now – just press play:

Thankfully, Kat returns to the podcast this week, and so inevitably does talk of Google – this time Google’s browser history-inferred information it uses to feed you its targeted ads. We look into Google’s Ads Preferences Manager and reveal Kat’s true age!

Barry discovers a QR code application that DOESN’T suck – although that depends on whether you advocate innovative Turkish football fans abusing opposing teams at a match… While other QRs-holes are discovered in the shape of Bromley footballers (not Barnet – though that would have made more sense) shaving QR codes into their heads. And the curious / ridiculous tale of Justinsomnia.org’s QR code being misused across the world by advertisers – leading to huge traffic spikes to his site!

Dan gets Shazam happy about the increased use of the audio recognition and tagging app in TV advertising.

Wanky Words:

Permalancing – @huey (via @janefriedman)

Ultimedia – @thomhoffman

etailer – @jordit

To make a viral – Timothy Winchester

Don’t forget to share your thoughts and wanky words with us on Twitter – @offthewallpost; Facebook.com/offthewallpost or here on the blog offthewallpost.com

Posted in advertising, Apps, google, mobile, new media, podcast, QR Codes, shazam, social media, Special Guest | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment