Archive for posts on kkcom

Journal becomes blog Saturday, March 21st, 2009

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?

Posted in Science and technology, kkcom • 10 comments

Various updates, both technical and personal Sunday, July 27th, 2008

Technical: here’s version 8.0 of the web site. As always, it’s the best yet and I’ll never ever change it ever again and so on. (But really, isn’t it? I am most pleased.)

Nobody responded to my latest request for information, which leads me to think that people either don’t read Katie + Kin any more (much as I’d like to be humble, I don’t believe this) or aren’t bothered if I stop posting updates on LiveJournal. So, as of this post, I will no longer be updating LiveJournal for journal entries or comic strips. (Please don’t unfriend me, I’m still reading…) I’ve created two respective RSS feeds, which you can use to keep track of updates in Vienna, Google Reader, iGoogle or whichever other feedreader gets you up in the morning. I like it when people stay in touch, so please add them! (Alternatively, the latest updates are always posted on the home page.)

Personal: I never announced on here that Oxfam are paying me now - in fact, they have been since January. I’m working in the International HR department, which means that in my everyday work I get to talk to people from Lima, Mexico, Freetown, Nairobi, Pretoria, India and Bangkok. Every week there are a dozen meetings, forums or presentations on Oxfam’s work, which is so diverse that there are ultimately opportunities to get involved in anything. Working at Oxfam is enlightening, exciting, compelling, rewarding and great fun. Unfortunately my contract ends in November so I’m putting myself out there for any opportunity to stay with the organisation. Luckily I work alongside the recruitment team, which has given me lots of insight into how to make a successful bid for a job! And further to that, I’m beginning an Open University degree in International Studies. Busy busy busy!

On top of these, here are some things that I’m excited about for the future:

Huggling Katie later this week / seeing the rest of the Pineapple next week / the brilliant Steven Moffat taking the reins of Doctor Who / playing bridge for the first time in seven months / experiencing the much-lauded WALL-E / the brilliant Steven Moffat writing the upcoming Tintin film / Billy Bragg’s presence on eMusic / life in general.

If you’re a Merry buccaneer, I’ll see you next week!

Love
Kin

Posted in Comics, Katie + Kin, Oxfam, Personal, Science and technology, kkcom • 8 comments

3-2-1 Monday, October 29th, 2007

Some exciting things:

1. I’m moving to Oxford. I’ll be staying in an amazing freshly refurbished house (”the loveliest house in Oxford,” one of my housemates correctly said) with three other guys, all lovely, and starting an internship with Oxfam, which will, I hope, lead to a permanent position in a few months. It’s all happening; I’ll be off within the next couple of weeks. I’m excited to gain my independence, to do something professionally that I think is worthwhile, and to move to one of the nicest locations in England. Yay!

2. Katie was accepted to come to London with college next semester. With her in London and myself in Oxford, we can see each other at weekends and even some evenings and at not much expense. Yay!

3. Charles Charles and the Snow Morgle is ready to send to prospective agents, and I’m very excited about getting query letters out there (I’m waiting until I’ve moved). Wish me luck!

Some less exciting things:

1. Anybody who had trouble seeing my web site before should be much better off now. I’ve made it much simpler and more streamlined so that it should work on any computer. It’s not as much fun as before but on the whole it’s an improvement. Fascinating, yes?

2. There are fifty-seven days until Christmas.

Something depressing:

Why has it suddenly become de rigeur for huge corporations to cut thousands of jobs? Cadburys, Royal Mail and the BBC are all planning absurd quantities of redundancies because the people at the top still want more money for themselves. It’s “definitely in the best interests of the BBC,” says Michael Lyons. What about the interests of the people who work for the BBC, with families to feed and rent to pay?

3-2-1. Not a bad ratio, I think.

Posted in Books, Charles Charles and the Snow Morgle, Oxfam, Oxford, Personal, Short Tall Tales, kkcom • 5 comments

Welcome Tuesday, October 22nd, 2002

…to my humble li’l web site. I’ll try my hardest to keep it up to date, but I’ve had web sites in the past and they tend to get neglected… mind you, I’ve never had one that looks quite this cool, so thanks to the designer (guess who).

So enjoy the site! Hopefully this will be where you’ll get the news first on my films and programs and, for those who really care or just enjoy reading my ramblings, me.

I do realise that loading the main pages is rather tedious right now, I’ll endeavour to fix that whilst maintaining the cool slidy bitty things.

And that sentence started out so well.

Posted in Personal, kkcom • No comments