Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Feb 8, 2012, 6:59 pm
Earlier today I wrote the following phrase using the noun Google as a verb: people are far less likely to Google adjectives than nouns. There’s no problem with using a noun as a verb in this way, people have “hoovered carpets” for years. Maybe they googled adjectives or Hoovered carpets? G...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Feb 7, 2012, 6:14 pm
If Liz Gannes’ story about Linkedin acquiring Rapportive at AllThingsD is correct, the contact management sector is set for a shake out. A shake out is long overdue: single-user and small business contact management tools remain a weak spot. At the time of writing there isn’t a single must-hav...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Feb 6, 2012, 12:06 am
Writing at Hydrapinion, Ian Grayson reports the paperless office is getting closer. He says: According to the number crunchers at research company IDC, printing volumes in both offices and homes is on the slide. IDC says print volumes will decline at at combined annual growth rate of 0.6 per cent ...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Feb 5, 2012, 5:58 pm
After a brief, tricky change over, Microsoft’s clever Touch Mouse is growing on me. However, it has an annoying design flaw: The mouse needs its own USB wireless dongle in addition to the one already installed on my PC for the Wireless Comfort Keyboard. Previously the keyboard shared a single do...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Feb 3, 2012, 11:17 pm
Sitting on my desk is a pile of at least 200 business cards. I’d like to store the information online then recycle the paper. That’s easier said than done. It shouldn’t be. CardScan can do it… Six years ago I wrote about the CardScan 500 from Cortex Technology for the Sydney Morning Hera...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Feb 3, 2012, 12:18 am
Set aside some time if you plan to switch to Microsoft’s Touch Mouse. While you’ll need to adjust to the way it works, it is well worth the effort. Don’t install it and hope for the best if you’ve a deadline to meet.  Microsoft Touch Mouse Touch is the technology of the moment. Apple’s ...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Jan 26, 2012, 4:29 pm
Nokia’s flagship Lumia 900 smart phone was enthusiastically received at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month. It is beautifully designed. Beneath the surface it uses the latest version of Microsoft’s phone software. This should be good news. Microsoft’s Windows Ph...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Jan 25, 2012, 6:31 pm
iPad as typewriter, dwarfed by desktop PC As Robin Williams’ book title says it clearly: The Mac is not a typewriter. On the other hand, Apple’s iPad just might be. My iPad links to an Apple Wireless Keyboard and runs iA Writer. This combination gives me the closest thing I’ve seen in 25...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Jan 22, 2012, 5:01 pm
Image via Wikipedia It’s too soon to say for certain if the move from self-hosted WordPress back to the WordPress.com has cost much web traffic. I suspect it has. The site moved in mid-December. My assumption was a move at this time would minimise disruption. Perhaps it did. Yet January’s t...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Jan 18, 2012, 6:20 pm
Image via Wikipedia Newspaper publishers struggling to make money from on-line advertising see reader pay walls as an obvious way to boost revenue. While pay walls work for specialist financial publishers, the jury is still out on whether making general news readers pay is realistic. Readers happ...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Jan 15, 2012, 4:39 pm
Which is the best iPad keyboard for a touch typist? I’ve looked at a few in shops and need an iPad keyboard so I can use the Apple tablet while I’m on the move. It doesn’t have to be a full-size keyboard, but big enough for proper typing and preferably with all the main keys in the usual pla...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Jan 15, 2012, 3:59 pm
In December this site moved back to WordPress.com. It was a self-hosted WordPress site for two years. The site launched on WordPress.com. It stayed with the free hosting service for a year before switching to self-hosting. It returned to WordPress.com because self-hosting no longer offered any re...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Jan 13, 2012, 3:50 pm
In December I moved this site back to WordPress.com after using a self-hosted site for a couple of years. I’ll write more about the pros and cons of switching back to WordPress.com later. For now, here’s clear evidence of one benefit: Pages from my WordPress.com hosted site download more than f...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Jan 2, 2012, 11:44 pm
Two and a half years ago I switched my last email account from Microsoft Outlook 2007 to Gmail. Although it worked fine for me, there were two frustrations: I missed the integration between email and desktop search. Gmail’s contact management is nowhere near as good as Outlook’s. Recently the f...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Jan 2, 2012, 1:30 am
Here’s a great idea from Michelle Rogers. A box in the newsroom with coloured strips naming technology tools. Each Friday journalists draw a strip from the box and have to use one of the tools in their work. This includes ideas like crowd sourcing stories on Twitter or using Storify. If I was ...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Dec 28, 2011, 5:29 pm
Portability and an insanely long battery life make the Apple iPad a great tool for on-the-go news journalists. The on-screen keyboard is good enough when you’re knocking out a quick five or six pars on a breaking story. If you don’t mind looking a bit odd, you can take acceptable pictures with ...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Dec 21, 2011, 9:41 pm
Blogs communicate ideas and information. Do it with crisp, unambiguous writing. There’s nothing wrong with flowery stuff, but it’s best left for poetry, song lyrics and literary fiction. Here are seven steps to help you turn out snappy blog posts that’ll spread your ideas and have readers co...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Dec 21, 2011, 8:38 pm
Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it — whole-heartedly — and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Murder your darlings. Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch Filed under: asides Tagged: manuscript, writing
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Oct 26, 2011, 4:32 pm
Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer all flawed Geeks get excited about JavaScript and HTML 5 performance. What I want from a web browser is a reliable and consistent experience. The user interface is important, so are features and security, but mainly I want a browser that “just works”. So far ...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Oct 24, 2011, 6:32 pm
The Australian gets newspaper pay wall almost right It took Rupert Murdoch two years to go from talking about making readers pay for online content to installing The Australian’s newspaper pay wall. The Australian isn’t the first News Limited newspaper to put content behind a pay wall. In the ...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Oct 10, 2011, 7:51 pm
Careers are over Scott Herrick at Cube Rules says careers are over. Herrick is writing about working in the USA, but his comments apply equally to New Zealand where people tend to stick with their jobs longer mainly because they have fewer alternative employers. He says: The days of our fathers ...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Oct 7, 2011, 5:26 pm
Testing if readers will people pay for news Will readers pay for on-line news? There’s evidence some readers will pay for specialist information. Business newspapers seem able to sign-up subscribers, but no-one seems to have cracked the puzzle of selling general news. Not even Rupert Murdoch. ...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Sep 25, 2011, 6:38 pm
Plantronics Savor M1100 bluetooth headset Crossposted on intensified Plantronics Savor M1100Weighing in at just 9g, the NZ$149 Plantronics Savor M1100 is the lightest Bluetooth headset I’ve seen. It’s also the most comfortable. The headset is so light there are times when it’s hard to rememb...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Sep 25, 2011, 12:57 am
Unnecessary journalism phrases Unnecessary journalism phrases is just what it says on the label. It’s a website showing the wordy phrases journalists use to pad their copy. Each phrase is simply illustrated with a handful of recent examples, mainly taken from US newspapers. The latest: Never ...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Sep 18, 2011, 8:58 pm
Where Livescribe’s SmartPen fails My Livescribe Pulse SmartPen has made a huge difference to the way I cover formal conferences and seminars. Rather than frantically concentrating on my awful shorthand and appalling handwriting I can jot down the occasional note and let the SmartPen do the rest. ...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Sep 12, 2011, 6:33 pm
Five rules for better workplace bollockings You may need to discipline a worker who has stepped out of line. The best approach is something a British friend of mine describes as “a one minute bollocking“. Managers often have little experience of good technique when it comes to delivering a wo...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Sep 10, 2011, 11:14 pm
Deliver an effective workplace bollocking There comes a time in every employee’s life when a junior oversteps the mark. If the offence is too serious to go unnoticed, yet not bad enough to crank up your organisation’s formal disciplinary procedures, you will need to have words with the person....
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Sep 7, 2011, 6:07 pm
Passive voice useful for web headlines? The active voice is usually better than the passive. But not always. Jakob Nielsen writes at Alertbox: “Active voice is best for most web content, but using passive voice can let you front-load important keywords in headings, blurbs and lead sentences. Th...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Sep 4, 2011, 6:10 pm
Workplace bullying climbs after Christchurch earthquake Under pressure even a decent boss can turn into a workplace bully. They use bullying as a misplaced coping strategy. This may explain why Unite Union says it was flooded with calls from Christchurch workers in retail, fast-food, security and...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Sep 4, 2011, 1:55 am
How bad press releases are a public relations own goal News releases became an anachronism. Online news portals and email killed the underlying functionality of paper releases as a news dissemination tool. The internet delivered news faster, and this was a good thing. Gorden G Andrew says the PR ...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Aug 29, 2011, 8:44 pm
Google Doc makeover shows cloud app danger Google Docs has had another makeover. The online document editing and storage application has been given a new user interface that makes it look and feel more like Google+. There’s been a similar change to Google Spreadsheets. Less colour Colours have...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Aug 28, 2011, 2:48 am
When words end in -al A useful piece at the Columbia Journalism Review chewing over the difference between words like electric and electrical or historic and historical. Bill Bennett
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Aug 28, 2011, 2:20 am
Dysfunctional workaholic Workaholics aren’t heroes. They don’t save the day, they just use it up. The real hero is already home because she figured out a faster way to get things done. From Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeir Hansson. Hello. My name is Bill. I’ve successfully not be...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Aug 25, 2011, 7:27 pm
Journalism ethics and share trading Telecom NZ shares hit a low of NZ$1.79 in June 2010. At the time I told friends to pick up shares at that price because they were massively undervalued. Earlier this week Telecom NZ’s share price touched NZ$2.75: a profit of more than 50%. And that’s before ...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Aug 17, 2011, 10:03 pm
Reuben Schwarz’s tips for getting a media job A great post at Reuben Schwarz’s Media Maths site offering advice for people wanting to get into journalism.  I agree with everything he says, even if I am rubbish at digital video. He covers all the bases except one. And I don’t blame him for t...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Aug 16, 2011, 8:25 pm
Microsoft Reader is already dead to me Yesterday I learnt the .lit format e-books in my collection will be unreadable when Microsoft closes its Reader e-book service next year. While paper books may not last forever, they don’t suddenly become unreadable when someone elsewhere in the world click...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Aug 15, 2011, 6:19 pm
Death of Microsoft Reader shows e-Book flaw Microsoft’s decision to draw a line under its Reader e-book software doesn’t come as a surprise. When it was first launched in 2000, Microsoft Reader wasn’t a bad product. It used the company’s ClearType font technology to make text more readable...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Aug 14, 2011, 6:12 pm
Top employees need more than good salary There’s more to keeping talent than paying the best salaries. According to Fortune magazine building the kind of workplace where employees feel valued is just as important. The story quotes Catherine Hartmann from Mercer who says: “When a company can’...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Aug 4, 2011, 2:34 am
Creative destruction “Creative destruction” is the term used by economist Joseph Scumpeter to describe competition in terms of the way new technologies, markets and institutions replace older ones. Bill Bennett
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Aug 2, 2011, 3:42 pm
Great-looking new site for PC User PC User has long reigned as one of Australia’s most popular tech magazine in print, but has had a restricted online help station rather than a full-blown web site. Yesterday a beta version of a new site was on display at www.pcuser.net.au. The site looks great...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Jul 31, 2011, 10:24 pm
Hewlett-Packard NZ whistling Dixie on TouchPad Hewlett-Packard has little chance of selling its TouchPad tablet in New Zealand if it doesn’t do something about the price. As Stuff.co.nz reports: “The 16-gigabyte wi-fi tablet sells in the US for $499. That is equivalent to about NZ$570, but the...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Jul 23, 2011, 10:31 pm
Why you shouldn’t tweet exclamation marks Guides on how to get the best out of online tools like Twitter usually piggy-back off peoples’ ideas or experience. In A five-point guide to getting your tweets retweeted The New Scientist reports on, well, a more scientific approach. Researchers at...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Jul 21, 2011, 9:55 pm
Canned PR tweets insult journalists It’s unlikely I’m the only journalist offended when a PR company includes suggested tweets with a press release. Earlier this week I received a dull press release about an even duller technology company. Something happened that doesn’t really qualify as ...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Jul 19, 2011, 5:06 pm
Illusionary power of the exclusive press release In Dealing with grumpy editors, Dan Kaufman writes: I don’t understand why PRs give editors exclusives – because for the most part it does the PR and their client more harm than good. You see, if a story is newsworthy then it’ll run anyway ...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Jul 11, 2011, 5:03 pm
Paying for WordPress plug-ins Starting today I’m going to pay the WordPress plug-ins designers who helped build my web site. I urge you to do the same. Although I picked up some Fortran and Pascal at school and university, I’m no programmer. Even if I was, those languages are useless preparat...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Jul 7, 2011, 8:54 pm
Product names and capital letters Journalists should not write company names in capital letters. A handful of technology brands insist their names are all capitals. In recent days I’ve seen Asus and Gigabyte push this idea. There are others. Companies can write their names however they want. T...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Jul 7, 2011, 3:24 am
Banned words The word ‘paradigm’ does not belong in a headline. Journalists are allowed to use it ironically or in a pompous idiot’s comments. Bill Bennett
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Jul 6, 2011, 6:36 pm
HTC Sensation, Huawei Ideos X5 compared HTC’s Sensation is not in direct competition with Huawei’s Ideos X5. At NZ$1100 a pop, HTC’s flagship Sensation costs almost twice as much as the middle of the range NZ$600 Ideos X5. Nevertheless I want to review the two phones side-by-side. Partly be...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Jul 1, 2011, 6:12 pm
Another criticism of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is widely taught to managers and others in business as a way of understanding people’s motivations. It’s a useful starting point – managers don’t always get past first base when it comes to thinking about why ...
Comment - Like

Bill B. posted an article on Bill Bennett - Jun 29, 2011, 4:55 pm
Open, paperless, letter to Inland Revenue Dear Inland Revenue, Thank you for allowing me and thousands of other New Zealand tax payers to file tax returns online. It makes life much easier. Well done. I like the way your phone system now calls me back when someone is ready to speak. It’s bette...
Comment - Like