Testing Everpress for blogging
by Phil on May 27, 2010
There are already lots of tools and workflows for writing posts: write by hand then digitise later; draft offline and then copy to the web; write direct to your blog; or email a private address. The best technique is the one you actually use.
I’m a big fan of Evernote and was using it to do some screengrabs for an upcoming post (it’s great at capturing part of a screen and inserting into the flow of words). I thought how useful it would be to automatically post from Evernote without reformatting into HTML. A quick search later and I’ve found the answer.
Everpress is a plugin for WordPress. You provide the web address of a public notebook and the plugin scours the notebook for notes to convert into posts within your blog. A workflow would look something like:
- Draft a post offline (I write on trains a lot)
- Proof to make sure it’s ready to post
- Move that note into a special public notebook reserved for blog posts
- Everpress checks once a day for new notes in the public notebook. New notes get imported to the blog and take the style you’ve so lovinglt created for your blog
I’ll be tagging all of these posts ‘everpress’ so take a look at that tag archive if you want to see how it handles different types of post.
Glastonbury 2010: Bands I’m lookIing forward to
by Phil on April 15, 2010
The line-up got released yesterday so here are my early picks:
Grizzly Bear
Flaming Lips
LCD Soundsystem
MGMT
Dizzee Rascal
Vampire Weekend
Stevie Wonder
The National
Devendra Banhart
Gomez
Twitter lists are smarter than I thought
by Phil on April 11, 2010
Lists know who they are following enough to filter @replies depending on whether both people are on the list. That’s quite smart, and unexpected.
Here’s on with my @replies to @Erica_Jane_MP included, followed by a list that only I’m on (ie not Erica) with those filtered out. Smart.
How web services help me budget
by Phil on February 1, 2010
A quick cross post to highlight a recent post – about how I built a personal finances system using web services and free software – at my internet banking site.
Money management is an area I neglected until I was in my mid-twenties. I can’t recommend it enough, and happy to talk about it to anyone who’s trying to sort their own finances out.
What excites me about the iPad
by Phil on January 28, 2010
I watched Gdgt’s live blogging of the iPad launch yesterday. I’m really pleased the tablet’s finally made it into reality, after reading rumours for years (might even spur me into adapt my apple tablet domain for the iPad).
As an Apple user for 2 years now, I’m looking forward to playing around with the iPad. From the launch blogging and photos, here are the things that were most interesting to me:
- It’s small: I can feasibly imagine carrying this around everyday. I use a Samsung NC10 netbook and don’t think twice about sticking it in my bag. The iPad could be even better as it’s thinner, and seems keenly priced.
- Large touchscreen: the iPhone interface works really well so I’m sure the iPad will too. I’d actually like to see some apps that allow you to use it as a mobile notebook, with character recognition for words and a blank jotter for doodles. I use notebooks heavily in meetings and would much prefer this information to be digital. This would need some sort of pen accessory, but it could work really well for artists too. I use Brushes on the iPhone and can see that working really well on an iPad. (Edit – just read Evernote’s blog post about the iPad – that’s a service perfect for this type of device).
- Apple processor: Steve said that they would be using a custom chip in the device. It’s really interesting to see how far through the production chain Apple are going.
Looking forward to first reviews from friends and contacts once they have one in their life.
My first post with the new iPhone WordPress app
by Phil on November 9, 2009
One of the things I’ve really wanted to see the WordPress app handle well is the image gallery.
The photos below come from my phone, so judge for yourself whether it works or not 
Last minute Glastonbury essentials
by Phil on June 24, 2009
Some have already set off for Glastonbury by Wednesday, but if you’re like me and going Thursday there is still time to grab your festival essentials.
If this is your first festival, there may be some things you find useful on here.
First, some personal favourites:
- Bin bags
- Bulk pack of wetwipes
- Painkillers
- Wellies
- String and gaffer tape
- Cheap or old clothes, obviously
- Waterproof coat
- Batteries for whatever things you are taking, and a charger if you have the patience to queue
- Snacks, even if you plan to buy most of your food whilst there
…some other tips from around the web…
- Wine boxes – lighter than bottles and more efficient to packing
- Dialyte powder (designed for replenshing salts after stomach upsets and great for hangovers)
- A chair – a stool or a big folding chair. Something to sit on at the end of the day
…and from comments…
- Anti-bacterial hand wash (Sooz)
- Sunglasses! (Sooz)
Leave a comment if I’ve missed anything.
A definition of satisfying work
by Phil on June 11, 2009
A short post to share a quote that is currently my desktop background:
[Three things] – autonomy, complexity, and connection between effort and reward – are, most people agree, the three qualities work has to have if it is to be satisfying.
Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers
Is your work always satisfying?
If not, make a step tomorrow to make it better.
If yes, congratulations. Be sure to keep it that way.
Google introduces public comments in search engine listings
by Phil on May 12, 2009
I see via Drew that Google has introduced public comments against its search engine results. ZDNet has covered the news in the US and there will be lots more buzz about this over the next couple of days.
There is an overlap between what Google is doing here (comments and ratings) with the social web.
But my first instincts, as a digital PR guy and web marketer, are to ask “what does this means for the algorithms that Google uses to rank results?”
Remember, Google currently uses inbound links as a major indicator of a good or bad result. In the 90s, when a website was both hard and expensive to launch for us mere mortals, influence was in the hands of the (relative) few. Blog platforms have since personalised the search rankings and their growth has enabled individuals to exert influence through by the links that we create to other content on the web. However, success brings manipluation and websites are now so easy to create that there is a massive industry around using the technology to manipulate SERPs.
So, what Google could be doing is less of a ‘me too’ feature creep into social networking-style fan mentality but instead a way of adding human voice into the search results.
Oh yeah, and it will also help make sure that everyone has a Google Profile set up and that they continue to deepen their relationship with everything we do on the web
