Yes, posts have been pretty scarce recently, and like 90% of bloggers this is not intended and I plan to get back on the blogging roll as soon as possible. Honest. Really.
But my writing hasn’t just faded for no worthwhile reason, I have just been working on a new site which launched this week: the RNID Impact Report – www.rnidimpact.org.uk. I’m very pleased with the site, it gives RNID a good voice to show the work it does with real people telling their own stories. Take a few minutes to look around the site and watch some of the videos.
A friend of mine who also works in web has launched a similarly themed site for The British Heart Foundation – www.bhf.org.uk/annualreview2008/. It’s a very different site but I like the way the content flows from one area to another, whilst showing clearly what you’ve already seen and what you can look at next. Very nice.
My writing should pick up speed again soon, there’s a great story about a Bulk Film Loader which I want to share as well as a great new do-it-yourself B&B site which I hope will catch on. Check back here soon…
Oh, now this one I really like. I read about a lot of websites offering new services, new takes on an old theme, answers to problems which weren’t really there, and lots of “remember how you used to…”.
This time I have actually come across a really great site. I have been a big fan of Last.FM, I’ve had an account for a while now and use it at work often when I’ve got some code I need sort out and can plug myself into my headphones, shut out the world and get on with it.
But now there’s Grooveshark lite (though I can’t admit to knowing there was a grooveshark heavy). Grooveshark is great. Although the interface is all flash based, it adds something that always bothered me with Last.FM. In grooveshark you aren’t limited to tags and ‘artists like’ – you can search for specific tracks, albums and other peoples playlists. This means why my mate tells me how great the acoustic album “Skin and Bones is, I can search for it, pull up the full track listing and listen to the whole album one song after the other. And if I like it, I can save that as playlist for later so I don’t have to run a search again.
Where this has really come into it’s own is searching for song for the wedding next year. Me and the soon to be Mrs can search for those songs we haven’t heard for years, the dance floor classics and cheesy pop, and build the perfect wedding party playlist. Great 
Thanks to the Mashable blog for bringing this one to my attention!
I’m not a big fan of shopping malls, one tends to blend into another and you don’t know if you’re in Brent Cross, Lakeside, Watford, Guildford or Cambridge. The usual suspects are always there, the same clothes shops, cafes, music and video stores line the walkways trying to make their 300 square metres somehow different from everyone elses. I can’t count the times I have followed my better half into a clothes store and once inside, have had no idea which store I’m in.
So the Unchained London website (thanks Plummet Onions!) is a breath of fresh air – a directory of independent shops in London owned by real people who have a real interest in their wares. It is a little frustrating to navigate as you have to enter a location AND shop name or description instead of just being able to browse shops in a particular area. But it can be forgiven for now as a great effort to get people to see past the usual mall and high street stores.
Unchained London also reminds me of a post by Ben from Noisy Decent Graphics, where he discovered a shop run by the company Unpackaged where all the products (where possible) are sold without packaging. A great idea I think, taking things back to basics.
