Richard MacManus

Warning: This post is frivolous and NOT topic-focused! May the blogosphere have mercy on me. So here are those baby names… Girls: Bloggia Blerta Post Ping (could work as a boys name too) Dot Blogatha Rebecca Aggie Boys: Blogbert Atom Alist Zeldman Pilgrim Blog-Blog (i.e. like Jon-Jon) Permalink Dave Any other suggestions? Originally published on … Read more

There’s an interesting meme doing the rounds about using pens as a metaphor for weblogs. Of course I can’t resist adding my 2 cents when it comes to that topic 🙂 Lilia began with a post that explored the ‘weblog as a pen’ metaphor in relation to how weblogs serve many purposes – like pens … Read more

The ITU (International Telecommunication Union) has just released a report entitled The Portable Internet. From the press release: “A new set of advanced wireless technologies now promises to bring affordable, high-speed Internet connectivity to the masses. This set of technologies, and the market opportunity they create, has been termed the “Portable Internet”, and is the … Read more

In my post about internet-based mobility earlier this week, I mentioned that the hype around mobile devices we endured during the 90’s and early 21st century is finally being realized in 2004. Mobile phone market penetration is running at 70% where I live, up from 10% in the mid-90’s. Other devices such as PDA’s, the … Read more

UPDATE: I HAVE NO MORE GMAIL INVITES, SO DON’T EMAIL ME ABOUT IT. Originally published on ReadWriteWeb (archived copy)

It’s about time I published my strategy for my new topic-focused blog, eBook Culture. Although upon reading Erik Benson’s post tonight about getting on and building something rather than “talking about it but never building it”, I now feel a bit guilty about writing yet another grand plan instead of getting my hands dirty with … Read more

September is the Month of Mobility at Read/Write Web, I’ve decided. This month I’m going to explore the intersection between the Web and mobile devices. Principally mobile phones and PDA’s, although there’s also a trend of convergence of those two devices into “smart phones”. And let’s not forget new ground-breaking devices such as the iPod, … Read more

Last week I wrote about some examples of topic-focused blogs, all of which had technology-focused content. Josh Katinger left a comment pointing to his blog about motor racing, called Fast Machines. It didn’t look like spam, so I clicked through and discovered that Josh runs a very good topic-focused blog. And guess what – it … Read more

Before I blog the eBook Culture strategy I’ve been promising, I really need to get the strategy of Read/Write Web confirmed. Long-suffering readers will know that I periodically go through a hand-wringing phase where I question the meaning of my blog. I’m sure this is testing the patience of my readers, who probably want to … Read more

Andrew left a great comment on my previous post about blog branding. I’d mentioned I was number 1 for the Google phrase “two way web blog”. Andrew also informed me I’m the number 1 search result in Google for these phrases: “microcontent wiki” “fractal blogosphere” “picked a fight with clay shirky” I love that last … Read more

Keith Robinson is going through a re-branding exercise for his weblog. Even though I’m not focused on web design, I identify strongly with what Keith is trying to do – because I’ve been doing much the same thing over here. A few weeks ago I updated my About Me to reflect my new more narrowly … Read more

Elvis Costello and I share a birthday today. He’s the big 5-0, while I’m the next generation down (I’d tell you my age, but I’m not ready for Google to know). Elvis and I also share the same name. He was born Declan MacManus and I was born – and still am, unless you count … Read more

I’ve been meaning to add the RVW module for reviews for a wee while now and tonight I did it. RVW is an RSS module created by Alf Eaton. It’s basically some extra metadata you add to your RSS feed that describes reviews – of books, music, anything you like really. Reviews is one part … Read more

First impressions. Short book, more of a novella than a novel. I finished it in one day (a day off work). Alex Garland, if you don’t know his work, wrote a famous novel called The Beach in the 90’s. The book was much better than the Leonardo Di Caprio movie of the same name. Garland’s … Read more

So I’ve started a topic-focused blog, eBook Culture. Yesterday I outlined my personal goals for the site. Today I’m going to review examples of successful topic-focused blogs, from two people who are leading the way in this type of blog. PVRblog: product-centered content Probably the most well known example of a topic-focused blog is PVRblog. … Read more