Playlab.net || Mark Rochefort

Filed under: Random

• RT @jackschofield: Digital Devices Deprive Brain of Needed Downtime – The New York Times http://nyti.ms/aQveX1 <– midnight. holiday time! #
• New food place in soho called otarian. Food with added guilt? #

Filed under: Random

• Pixels rather than number of screens key for productivity http://bit.ly/d3e9qy #
• jquery mobile – one to watch http://jquerymobile.com/ #

Filed under: Random

• Google Gears: "Chrome for Mac OS is not supported" <– surprised to see that #
• "Build loyalty & increased engagement through ongoing conversation and brand experience" – sound familiar? http://bit.ly/co6ihk #
• Stats Show iPhone Owners Get More Sex http://bit.ly/aJhvzp (no this isn't spam) #
• RT @dannysullivan: google verizon policy statement on open internet http://bit.ly/ce8rpr #
• RT @wired: Verizon and Google propose a two-tiered Internet. http://bit.ly/8Xllel #
• Neat animated info-graphic from good.is – most stories on Twitter start with the morning newspaper http://bit.ly/bTzk1Y #

Filed under: Random

• Is everyone trying out @hunch because of the @wireduk article? Or is there another reason for it being 'a la mode' right now? #
• Been struggling with multiple Google accounts… And then http://bit.ly/96kVwx bingo! #
• RT @exmosis: Am I the only one that thought Google Wave smelt a little like week-old strawberries? <– cream anyone? Anyone?? Hellooooo…? #
• RT @DoLectures: "To Be is to Do." Descartes. "To do is to be." Voltaire. "Do be do be do." Sinatra #

Filed under: Random

• I just earned the Pub Crawl Pin on @gowalla! http://gowal.la/r/YJQU #
• looks like the bike rental scheme is going to be popular. The dock on wardour st was drawing a crowd http://flic.kr/p/8o1Bn7 #
• Crikey, is friendster.com still alive? I just got a birthday reminder. Blast from a pre-facebook past! #
• RT @notasausage: consistent HTML5 video player UI for all browsers, with Flash/Silverlight fallback http://mediaelementjs.com (via @mattmay) #
• I can't believe it's not Flash! Can you tell which ads are in HTML5?
  http://gu.com/p/2ttce/ip #

Filed under: Random

• Pleased to see a new bike hire thing appear at bottom of wardour street. Bikes ftw http://flic.kr/p/8kTznm #
• A few lost looking stragglers still looking for their queen bee after yesterday's swarm was removed http://flic.kr/p/8kiTvD #
• Bees swarming on a lamp post on Wardour Street http://flic.kr/p/8jRYj6 #

Filed under: London

Over recent weeks, I have noticed docking stations for the London Transport Cycle Hire scheme popping up all over the place. Coverage in central London is impressive – there’s 400-odd such docking stations in total, ready to serve 6,000 bikes across the capital. The pricing for the scheme is aimed at journeys less than 30 minutes so, once you’ve paid the daily access charge, the first half an hour’s rental is free and you can make as many 30-minute trips between docking stations as you like without paying any more (provided a bike is available, of course). If you want to make longer journeys between docking stations, the costs can mount up to £50 for the day but, given you could cycle from one end of the docking station zone to the other in less than 30 minutes, it really is an unlikely and easily avoided situation.

So the only snag is bike availability in peak times – I’ll be very interested to see how this scheme takes off.
I’m certainly signing up. If I’m ever caught out without my trusty Birdy folding bike, I know how I’ll be getting about!

Thanks to cyclehireapp.com for the map visualisations of bike docking locations data from TFL – the  bike rental map on the London transport site doesn’t (yet) work!

Filed under: Random

• RT @LDN: Geeky road sign vandalism http://twitpic.com/25hrn2 (via @owenblacker) <– inspired! #
• Sinking HMS Symbian heading for Android iceberg – Gartner
  http://gu.com/p/2tcgj/ip #
• Can science explain everything?
  http://gu.com/p/2tata/ip #
• David Mitchell on quality journalism & how to keep it going in a digital age (or why paywalls aren't necessarily crap) http://bit.ly/bie4rY #

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• RT @gapingvoid: Short but important: "What are social networks for?" http://shar.es/m9Ovu via @herdmeister #
• RT @robshepherd: Just come across this enlightened view of social media used for business. I commend it http://bit.ly/5TUPi <- agree totally #

Filed under: Random

• RT @Astro_Wheels: A breath-taking masterpiece being painted in the sky over the South Pole http://twitpic.com/1yh9e9 <- tweets from space! #
• Dadtastic #

Filed under: Random

• Our boy's birthday… We appear to have half the GDP of china in our lounge #
• RT @BreakingNews: 7.7-magnitude earthquake strikes near India's Nicobar Islands; regional tsunami watch issued for Indian Ocean<- not again? #

Filed under: Random

• Bored of the football already. At least I have brazil in the office sweepstake. Result. #
• Junior apprentice… Am disgusted how it reinforces such vile behaviour in kids. And enjoying getting angry at it. Good telly? #
• Feeling stupid after today's visit to apple store to fix a "broken iPhone earphone socket" revealed pocket lint as the culprit #genius #

Filed under: Random

• You are entering lion country… http://flic.kr/p/87LdmX #
• Via @dannysullivan: the guy behind @bpglobalpr http://bit.ly/93pYMg #
• RT @AlicePilia: #bbcqt unbearably superficial and incredibly populistic debate on the middle east situation – please stop!!! <- yes painful #

Filed under: Random

• And three ipads spotted so far in the bars and pubs of central London tonight #ipadmania #ifad? #
• RT @charltonbrooker: This tweet coming via iPad. It probably sounds quite smug as a result. <- first uk ipad tweet spotting of the day #
• "The mighty Microsoft colossus has been toppled by Apple" http://bit.ly/diyw8f <– and Google has had a lot to do with it #
• RT @smashingmag: Adding 'It's free' on call-to-action-buttons increases conversion rate by 28% – http://bit.ly/d7n7VC <– what if it's not? #
• Just rolled thru East Croydon on a delayed train to see a body bag being wheeled away & people still clearing up. Sad/messy stuff. #
• Arrived: Web Analytics 2.0 (Avinash Kaushik) – http://amzn.com/0470529393 – and Website Optimization (O'Reilly) – http://amzn.com/0596515081 #
• Anthony Gormley at the de la warr pavilion – sun, sea and culture. Innit. http://flic.kr/p/84faz4 #
• Sun. Countryside. Beer gardens. Family. Pells pool. BBQ. I love #Lewes #

Filed under: Random

• #Lewes on the telly! #
• How can PAC-MAN be 30 today? #google (http://bit.ly/9dLhNb) I can remember playing it when was a kid and I'm not more than… oh wait… #
• While the partner CEOs congratulate themselves about google tv during the #googleio keynote, here's why it matters – http://tcrn.ch/cii3rw #
• netflix integration is pretty neat too – google tv #googleio #
• search on Google TV solves exactly the same problem we have at home – how to watch (exclusively) Elmo videos on telly #googleio #
• #googleio after bashing apple with android (and dishing out a bunch of fancy new htc phones), google turns to the telly with #googletv #
• #googleio – loved that "thanks to adobe" remark! #
• watching #googleio keynote at Google HQ in London (with beers & pizza – thx @google) – all about android today #froyo #
• "Brigade de Répression du Banditisme" you've got to love French sometimes! http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/may/20/picasso-matis #

Filed under: Random

• Just heard all about node.js from @1manSaint – added to 'the list'. #needmoretime #
• The next train home is… http://flic.kr/p/81rtL7 #
• WordPress 3.0: The 5 Most Important New Features: http://bit.ly/987li1 #
• Another site from @harvestdigital edges its way out into the wild – http://www.catalysthomebuy.co.uk/ #symfony #sitelaunch #
• Making the most of a break in the rain to get out the house with the boy & grab a pint of Harvey — at The King's Head http://gowal.la/c/JbEW #

Filed under: Technology

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Filed under: Random

• Are there laws about voting under the influence of alcohol? #ge2010 #
• En route to Newcastle – first time I've done this early morning trip in day light. What a difference! #ilovebritishsummertime #
• Pleased to see http://www.rsc.org.uk/ go live – it looks amazing Good work gang! #lovelysitelaunch @TheRSC @harvestdigital #
• Great article on the "open web" & impact of terminology shifts from @benward – http://bit.ly/94zU8R #

Filed under: Random

• Busy busy Brighton beach http://flic.kr/p/7VR87K #
• "businesses waste an average of 20% of their payroll on bad meetings"
  http://j.mp/cyllk1 #
• RT @timwhitlock: if you think I'm not taking this seriously, you may be right. http://j.mp/OmniLike <– i like #
• Linux on the iPhone: Android running on iPhone!: http://bit.ly/92LpgI #
• How to Delete Facebook Applications (and Why You Should) http://j.mp/ayzjql #
• Best this morning was a bloke, head to toe in all the gear, wearing his helmet backwards and zig zagging through a red light into traffic #
• Ahhh Spring. Sunny mornings, blossom on trees and a city full of crazy fair-weather cyclists. #

Filed under: Technology

Martin, a robotics researcher friend of mine, showed me this video at the weekend:

Augmented (hyper)Reality: Domestic Robocop from Keiichi Matsuda on Vimeo.

It certainly got us talking about where augmented reality may be headed, particularly for advertising. While the video is perhaps a little over exaggerated, the technology is rapidly getting there. Take, for example, the new augmented-reality mapping from Microsoft:

Filed under: Random

• I'm at The Enchanted Forest. http://4sq.com/9n7fJw #
• I just unlocked the "Adventurer" badge on @foursquare! http://4sq.com/aZ4i67 #
• #plan FOWA London (London) Oct 4-6, 2010 http://awe.sm/53pN4 #
• #plan Wired Sussex meet up (Elephant & Castle, Lewes) Thu, Apr 22, 2010 http://awe.sm/53pM2 #
• The runway at gatwick looks like an overflow at a car boot, with planes. #ashtag #
• Listening to #leadersdebate on r4. Trying to visualize the debate and I keep getting a picture of Piers Morgan in my head for David Cameron #
• i've been waiting for this (http://bit.ly/dcnCeB)… integrate twitter in your site with @anywhere – http://dev.twitter.com/anywhere #chirp #
• Who Just Got Screwed By Twitter? http://bit.ly/aUj8jJ #
• The flag is flying half mast over Buckingham palace – anyone know why? Possibly that Polish dude but then where would you draw the line? #

Filed under: Media, Technology

1. Create a new app at dev.twitter.com/anywhere/apps/new
   a) Application Name = Name of your website
   b) Application Website = Your website URL
   c) Callback URL = Your website URL
2. Insert the following code into your html:

   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

   <script src="http://platform.twitter.com/anywhere.js?id=YOUR_APP_ID&v=1"></script>   <script type="text/javascript">       twttr.anywhere(onAnywhereLoad);       function onAnywhereLoad(twitter) {         twitter.hovercards();         twitter('.follow-me').followButton("yourtwittername");       };   </script>

3. Job done. Grab a coffee and read more on the API docs

Demo:
* follow button – #
* hover cards – implemented on all Twitter URLs on this site…

Filed under: Random

• Would you get bored of the weather if it was like this every day? I used to think variety is the answer but reckon I could handle this. #
• Did I miss something? #debill #whatdebill #

Filed under: Random

• Eek! What's happened to the Easter chick? http://flic.kr/p/7Qu2id #
• westward bound for the weekend — at Paddington Station http://gowal.la/s/6J9 #
• Can anyone recommend a plumber in #Lewes? #morningpanic #nonstopwater #
• he's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy – http://j.mp/d0b3Zv #

Filed under: Random

• storm. flashes of lightning. claps of thunder bouncing around the downs. pretty cool view from my study #workingfromhome #sickfamily #lewes #
• Ouch – imagine having completed on your house purchase yesterday… http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/mar/24/stampduty-firsttimebuyers #
• I'm at Newcastle Railway Station (Neville Street, Newcastle Upon Tyne). http://4sq.com/6GpgEA #
• I'm at Sage (UK) Ltd. http://4sq.com/c5PwTD #
• Facebook tightens its grip on the mighty Google – Times Online : http://bit.ly/beh5TH #