I recently helped Edelman Ireland design this infographic on Facebook use in Ireland.

Key stats include that Facebook’s user base has doubled in the last two years, that there are slightly more women than men using it and that 25 – 34 is the largest age group.

I’m indebted to the fascinating archives of Mulley Communications for historical usage numbers. Damien Mulley has been running a blog since 2003, and has been tracking the growth of social media for years.

Larger version (900px wide) available by clicking here.

Posted by Dave Molloy in •Resources •Tech
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A long time ago, I wrote that in an ideal world, student newspapers should be able to figure out a way to move content between InDesign and an online content management system automatically; there’s no reason why XML can’t be read by either.

Well, not only is it possible, but the Bangor Daily News has spent the money to get it done, and, in an enormous display of generosity, has released the code publicly.

This blog post summarises the information perfectly, and nitty-gritty details are available on their development blog.

This is fantastic system for low-budget operations like student newspapers or locals that simply can’t afford an enterprise solution like the incredible Woodwing. And it focuses on a web-first solution, which is something often talked about but rarely practised.

I’m very interested to see who takes advantage of the open source code. If I were starting as Editor of my student paper again, I certainly would.

Posted by Dave Molloy in •Resources •Tech
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I’m a relatively new owner of an Amazon Kindle. I’m not the only one. Since bricks-and-mortar shop PC World started stocking the Kindle, growing numbers of Irish people are carrying them about. Amazon don’t disclose sales figures, but they have announced that they sell more digital books than paper copies.

Many people who ask about it simply say they don’t see the point. In my experience over the last month or so, it’s a fantastic device which is not only contributing to a rediscovery of reading for pleasure, but helping me consume digital-only content in a whole new way.

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Posted by Dave Molloy in •Tech
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I made some updates to this site today.

It’s been almost two years since I set about building my own blog from scratch: partly because I wanted to get started blogging, and partly to teach myself CSS and modern HTML (having last built a site at 14 years old using frames, and then tables). I didn’t want an entire redesign from scratch, so I kept the basic paper-on-wood look, but cleaned it up a bit. The above image is the Photoshop draft of the last version.

I figured it was time for a lick of paint for two reasons: firstly, I’d like to blog more (though we’ll so how long that lasts); secondly, it’s been a long time since I’ve done any web design and the skills needed a workout before I forgot everything.

All in all, I enjoy this kind of work. Solving a niggling problem in CSS feels great, like figuring out the solution to a particularly tricky puzzle. I’m sure my code is full of hacks and inefficiencies (and likely redundant rules for the old version), but I view the effort of coding this site as an education in basic web design. Emphasis on basic.

Powered by ExpressionEngine, font replacement by Cufón using Glypha, and using the iPhone GUI of Leehan + Tax. Indebted to Envato’s From Photoshop to HTML for teaching me how.

Posted by Dave Molloy in •Tech
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