Working in information management and communications (which I am just adoring) brings out the technogeek in me. I’m constantly exposed to new gadgets, widgets and midgets. Alright, I haven’t been exposed to any midgets - yet. But all this interaction with the world of Web 2.0 (follow that link to see an exceptional video, by the way) has made me realise just how much I can neglect basic standards of good web writing on my own web site. For example:
- My journal entries are all written in JavaScript, which means Google can’t search them. I’ve always kind of liked this, since it means Google also can’t cache them (make copies, store them away and show them to people even if I delete them from my own site). But it’s generally not good practice for the web: I’m like a reclusive writer who hides his work in a cupboard that nobody will ever look in. So I’m moving to WordPress, which will not only make posting easier for me, it will allow Google to crawl and cache to its robotic heart’s content.
- I don’t invite interaction. Although anybody can comment on my journal entries, it’s not often that I ask people to. So from now on I will endeavour to end my journal entries with a question or discussion-starter for my devoted readers. (And now that my Twitter updates show on the homepage, you can send me Tweets as well. More on how brilliant Twitter is at a later date.)
- I don’t link to other sites much, or use the great embeddable resources out there, like Google Maps or YouTube. These are exceptional tools for blogging as they connect you with the rest of the world from within your own web site. There’s also nowhere in the world that isn’t on Google Maps, and barely anything caught on video that isn’t on YouTube.
And all that is why this, as you may have noticed, is not a journal entry, but a blog post. I’ve already done a fair bit of work towards connecting my site with all the social media hubs - I’m now connected with Twitter and Google Calendar (both from the rearranged homepage). You can search Google for me. You can comment on my picture galleries (not yet on individual pictures - not ideal, I know, but I’ll get there). And there’s a “share” button at the bottom of every page that allows you to bookmark kkcom (I’ve been calling it “kkcom” in notes-to-self for years, so now I’m beginning to here) on any of a wealth of social networks.
If you don’t already, please start using a feed reader (personally I like Google’s. It makes keeping track of all your favourite web sites so much easier - I, for example, just have to go to one place to find out the latest news, what Dilbert, Cory Doctorow, Jon Arbuckle and President Obama are up to (in Obama’s case, apparently nothing since he became Big P, which seems a little cynical of the media team), whether any exciting job openings have surfaced at Oxfam, Upcoming events in Oxford and about twenty other things besides. And, if you fancy it, I can pop up in your feed reader too. To add feeds to your reader, you only need to click the icon on the right of the address bar (on my web site there’s also one to the right of the menu).
So, to my invitation of your interaction:
What else can I do to make my blog, and my web site, better?
• I finally found a man bag that I think suits me. It’s already been decorated with various badges and more are on their way: 16 in total, ranging from the obviously nerdy to the political to the patriotic; 
cyberstrawberries for correctly guessing any of them.
• Tired of waking up to my whining phone, I decided to buy me an iPod alarm clock, and opted to spend a little extra and get a nice speaker system that would serve me throughout the day. I was pretty miffed, then, to discover that the Logitech Pure-Fi Express Plus that I plumped for won’t actually wake you up to music. Nonetheless, I only have to press play on the remote twice to switch from its fairly innocuous bleeping to a rousing melody; and - given its size and price - it packs an overwhelmingly good sound, and it’s very smooth in looks and operation too.