Elizabeth Fish

Looks like I already broke that resolution then. I suppose I have news I can share with you, but to make it easier to your eyes I will bullet point it.

• I write on The Next Web (.com and UK channels) now and then about internet-related tech. The stories generally go down quite well as I like fishing out the quirky news. View my archive here and here. As you can see, my updates haven’t been quite as regular due to it being my last year at uni, so various things such as dissertation work, student newspaper stories and general uni essays have gotten in my way. Speaking of student publication…
• … The student newspaper I am Culture Editor for – The Linc –  now has a magazine supplement inside. The Linc Magazine will contain Culture, Lifestyle and Fashion articles, and I look forward to you reading the Culture section…
• The Linc was also nominated for a BBC Innovation Award. Although we came back empty handed, it was great to be recognised.
• I am looking for some more work experience. Newspaper, magazine, online, I don’t mind what you are, I’ll do it!]
• Er… I turned 21. I also got some Lady GaGa (I’m a big fan, okay?) tickets. Maybe I’ll take my nice camera with me to the gig, I haven’t got that far yet.
• I’m also thinking of starting up another blog. I guess you could call it a news blog, but I think theres a couple of legalities I need to work out before setting it up.

Well, that’s about all I can think to fill you in on. Enjoy reading my archives on the website I just dropped to you, come back soon, as I’m going to start adding little bits and bobs from the web that I find interesting etc that I’m sure you will enjoy. Plus, I’ll actually update more instead of being lazy.

I would say Happy Valentines, only I’m not into that ‘holiday’ so happy Sunday!

A blog I intend to put more into, as it’s an area I enjoy, and have experience in- Apple products.

Here’s a preview of my debut article, which can be found here:

When doing typical tasks such as browsing the Web or writing a document, there’s nothing more annoying than Apple’s new multi-touch gestures on the MacBook Pro trackpad.

Another article from Twitter bulletin. Check out the Ps ’skills’. Enjoy.

Check it out at http://www.twitterbulletin.com/2009/08/25/twitters-bid-to-trademark-tweet-fails/

A familiar face: Twitter's Fail Whale

Through most of today (6/8/09), social networking site Twitter went down on and off through the day due to a “denial-of-service” attack, most probably due to a hacker with a grudge.

Twitter was soon back on track with no major tragedies- except maybe the annoyance of it’s most devoted users that they couldn’t check new Tweets or update themselves- so all is well.

However, this is not the site’s first attack- less than 4 months ago, a young hacker known as Mikeyy infected many of Twitter’s member with a virus causing them to post dodgy Tweets. If the site is being attacked this frequently, alongside the infamous ‘Fail Whale’, what if Twitter eventually meets it’s match and is therefore shut down for good? I personally believe this could lead to consequences.

Now, if you don’t use Twitter or not a heavy user, it would not have much of an effect on life, it will in fact effect those in the Media industry or other professionals. For them, Twitter has been almost groundbreaking in how news has been discovered.

The first iconic image to appear of the NY plane crash in January. It was taken by Twitter user Janis Krums.

For example, on January 15th, a US plane crashed into the Hudson River in New York. People at their work desks rushed to the windows to see, then straight to Twitter to describe what they were seeing. One Tweet in particular grabbed the attention of the news media,  and that was Janis Krums‘, which contained the first picture of the crash. Without Twitter, this news would not have reached the news stands or our TV screens half as fast. Due to the speed this news appeared on Twitter, the standard of new media was raised.

Another such example would of been the protests surrounding Iran, in which people voiced their thoughts on the elections and events surrounding it, all linked by hash tag “#IranElection“. Such was the want for people to be allowed to voice their concerns, Twitter was even encouraged by a US government department to delay scheduled maintenance to the following day. Without Twitter’s very dominating role in these elections, protestors etc were empowered to voice themselves however they felt without much fear of suppression.

Now, it would be wrong to say Twitter is without it’s convictions. Twitter can be to blame for employees losing their jobs due to online outbursts, which in turn their employer then happened to read. Thus Twitter has to be used carefully if you want to keep your job or not be sued for being defamatory.

So, Twitter may be with it’s problems still, but we need to think of what has been achieved through the use of just 140 characters, whether it’s groundbreaking news at incredible speeds, or freedom of speech where it may not of been possible before.

If we were ever to loose Twitter, we may well be loosing more than just expressing ourselves on the internet.

It has been a while hasn’t it? No excuses really, just a mix of being lazy, and whenever I get round to blogging, something else comes up!

Anyway, let’s talk WWDC. Yeah okay that was just over a week ago now, but Apple is something I’d talk about any day of the week and on a personal note due to that I spent a week trying to get my paws on the new iPhone!

So as the above suggests, Apple announced the new iPhone 3Gs at the conference. Faster, 16/32GB, compass, ability to track if your phone is lost/stolen and then be able to wipe it from a website, putting it VERY briefly. As it happened, my contract ran out the week before the iPhone is released, I was pretty sure what my next phone would be!

One UK mobile retailer (surprisingly not o2) decided the new iPhone was available to pre-order. Hooray! So off I went to set up contract and secure myself one for Friday- as quite frankly I don’t like the idea of getting up at stupid o’clock in the morning to queue outside o2, only to maybe find they ran out of stock. No thank you.

However, this is where I encountered a problem. The house in which I live is a new build, no-one has lived in it before me and my partner. However, neither the council or our letting agency bothered to add it to Royal Mail’s database. So we show up on no database using Royal Mail’s- o2 and this retailer included. So when it came to credit check time, I got declined! I was pretty annoyed seeing as o2 had happily taken my monthly bill from that address, so I went to o2 to complain, who sent me to their customer services line, who told me to call Royal Mail, who told me to talk to the Council, who were helpful enough to put it onto the database for me- which was meant to take 2 WEEKS!

So, pretty annoyed. In the end, with the help of Royal Mail on Twitter, it only took about 3-4 days, so yesterday- iPhone pre-order get! So I will, for those who want it to help make up their mind if they should purchase one, write a nice little review about it on Friday when I return from collecting it.

In other news, congrats to Kelly and Rob Wythe on having their gorgeous baby boy Isaac Oliver Wythe, born June 13th.

As you may have gathered from my last post and the 3 weeks gap there has been between updates, I sent my mac into Apple for a fix.

Typically, my macbook kindly didn’t do its party tricks at the Genius Bar, but they could see the battery problem- it wasn’t just bad, it was consumed, meaning it wasn’t even charging to full capacity. Now, like the last advisor I spoke to, he did say Apple Care wouldn’t cover it, BUT as there were more problems, he would overlook that and fit it with a new one for free. Hooray! £70 savings. Apparently, as I found out later, there were problems with the fan and logic board to name a few.

Two slow weeks later, my mac was returned to me. It certainly had a new battery, but as for the problems of being slow and crashing, this seemed totally unresolved. They did leave a note about the CPU being full to maximum capacity due to a Canon printer driver taking up 99%, but neither me or my parents (the only printers I have ever connected to) have a Canon printer. I’m assuming Apple removed the driver.

So, all in all, happy with their battery change, unimpressed with helping the initial problem, which is unresolved.

My mac is coming up to 3 years old. Does anyone else own an older macbook and had problems with slowness and crashing? What did you do to resolve it? Or is it time to admit that even Apple laptops have a sell by date?

Hello all,

Back from a 3 day ‘holiday’ in the capital. Although more of an excuse of a holiday as my partner was at a conference- the Future of Web Design 09- it was definitely brilliant none the less. I am only female; the shopping was immense. Seeing Canary Wharf lit up from where we were staying in Greenwich was absolutely lovely, such a smart set of buildings- maybe I’ll work there one day

Shopping and sights aside, my main query to this point was my trip to the Apple Store. Great as it was- the biggest one I’ve been in yet- I don’t know if their advice was fully correct. My main reason for visiting was to try and get a weekend slot at the Genius bar, as my battery seems to be dying out slowly. However, there were no slots left while I was there so I asked one of the store assistants if I took a battery to the counter and said I had Apple care, would it be free?

My answer has left me in a state of slight concern. I was told that my Apple Care does not cover ‘natural causes’ of breakdown so I would have to buy a new battery, which are in the region of £70. Fair enough if age has worn the battery down, but surely natural causes were the same reason my charger fizzled out, which they replaced free of charge for a new one?

Well tomorrow I intend to visit the Apple Store in Meadowhall, armed with a broken charger (I have more than one now….), a dying battery and a macbook that turns on twice, re-indexes the hard drive whenever switched on and is generally very slow when using applications. Could be a long time Im macbook-less altogether….