Reading Roars!

The Tech Savvy/Luddite debate is hotting up.

The Evening Post published an article this morning on Richard Willis’ blog entry, Tech Savvy or Luddite?, featuring a comparison by the councillor of local parliamentary candidates and MPs’ online activities.  Martin Salter MP didn’t score very highly in this analysis and was labelled a “Luddite”.

In response, Martin suggested to the Evening Post that the blogosphere is “the last refuge for tragic  insomniacs who lack social skills”.  Strong words.

Obviously, I don’t agree with that view (not fully, as I could use more sleep).

The way I see it, Martin doesn’t have to blog, especially if he feels uncomfortable with the idea (though I have an inkling he might be good at it, as he has a way with words - whether you agree with them or not), or set up a Facebook profile or group.  Ultimately, blogging and/or Facebook don’t work for everyone.

The opportunity to engage online mustn’t be ignored, however.  There is an array of tools to consider, with new ones emerging all the time. If  blogging doesn’t feel right, then look for an alternative (keeping objectives and target audience in mind).

The increasingly significant Twitter, for example, is dead simple to use: no need to worry about constructing long articles with links, images and so forth.  A simple sentence can be fashioned and sent in seconds (e.g. “I am meeting x and y”).  No technical knowledge required.  And it’s hip (or hipper), with Jonathan Ross and Stephen Fry joining the party recently.  Meanwhile, Labourist.org published their first “tweet” four days ago - and now have 118 followers.

Other responses to the “Luddite” story were published as follows:

• Jane Griffiths’ posted her thoughts in an article headed tragic insomniacs
• Richard Willis updated his blog with Salter Confesses to Luddite Tendencies

It’s probably worth stressing at this point that we mustn’t get too carried away!  As Richard Willis himself said, “It’s just a bit of fun”.

A promising new local blog has surfaced on my blog radar: Reading List.

The blog has a local politics theme.  Its Lib Dem author, “Oranjepan” , who I strongly suspect is also responsible for the political blog Not Yet Out Of The Woods, explained:

I’m immensely annoyed about the coverage of local politics in this bijou borough of ours, so I’ve decided to start up this blog in order to create a space for a balanced commentary of events.

Frankly there have been lots of claims made about which side is better than the rest at using teh interwebs to communicate their messages best, but I’m not convinced by any of them. Willis, Griffiths and Jones go hammer and tongs at it pushing their usual agendas, but I’d like to see them explaining what difference they think their online presence has made, or is it just an outlet to express their own frustrations?

Oranjepan was referring to opinions initially published by independent councillor Tony Jones (December 2008) and more recently by Tory councillor Richard Willis (January 2009), before Jane Griffiths joined the debate.

Richard considered the online presence of local parliamentary candidates and current MPs on his blog, Richard Willis’s Blog, launched last December.  In his entry Tech Savvy or Luddite?, Richard compares sites by Rob Wilson MP, Gareth Epps, Anneliese Dodds, Rob White, Alok Sharma, Patrick Murray and Martin Salter MP.

I can’t say that I agree with all that Richard wrote (is Anneliese Dodds’ “microscopic font” “noteworthy”?  And where is the link pointing to such a page?), but it’s nevertheless interesting to see such analysis emerge.

The use of social media by local politicians is worthy of further and more comprehensive independent study, I believe, to include also Richard’s blog (which features a rather grainy image of the councillor and no Search), as well as other websites of note, such as the satirical muckspReading.

Looking for a Reading watering hole?  drinksinReading.com is a newly launched search engine allowing users to search for places offering food, drink, entertainment, Wi-Fi and more in the town.

The online guide will be maintained and updated by the bar owners themselves, and consumers may sign up to become friends with their chosen venues (so that special offers, for example, may be received by email or SMS).

Laurence Williams, who started drinksinreading, explained to me that inspiration came from the Robert Elms Show on BBC London in May 2007 when an American caller said that he was unable to find detailed information on bars.

He added that the Reading site is a test case (chosen for its demographics), with further sites planned for Bristol, London and Cardiff.

Laurence also emphasised that they will be working closely with drinkaware and similar organisations, including Reading PubWatch, to promote sensible drinking.  A very good move, I say.

For all those geekily inclined (and there’s a fair number of us), you may be interested to know that a Twestival (Twitter + festival) is planned for Reading on 12 February.

Reading will be joining some 100 cities worldwide in staging a Twestival on this day.  The purpose of the event is to raise money and awareness for charity: water.

The location is to be confirmed (I suggested the Global Cafe, as it is itself a charity, has great coffee/beer, world music and free wifi).  So far 24 Twitter users have pledge to attend, including my humble self, with 13 “maybes”.

For more information, and to register, go here: http://twtvite.com/5hhven

You couldn’t make it up.

24 hours after publishing a post on a 3 month escalator project and the rise in train fares, I experienced a 2 hour train journey to Reading from Paddington.

My First Great Western journey took 2 hours because shortly after leaving Paddington, my train slowed to a halt as the train in front broke down.  Our train lay motionless on the track for more than 30 minutes before the driver decided to head back to Paddington before resuming our journey.

As we proceeded along a different track, our train again slowed as we encountered congestion on the line - a consequence of the mechanical failure.

Despite this, there was no humour failure on the train.  A female passenger cheered us up with her sardonic observations, for example.  Fellow Twitterer Tinnion meanwhile showed how he let the train take the strain.

The LV Lounge, based at The George Hotel in Reading town centre, has closed permanently.  LV will now be converted into a restaurant.

Like a phoenix from the flames, the Blagrave Arms pubs has reopened, this time under a new owner.  Its former owner had closed it down as it wasn’t making money (and has since returned to business development).  Best of luck to both old and new proprietors.

Academics at the University of Reading’s ICMA Centre have identified “clear parallels” between an economic crisis during the time of King Edward I and today’s malaise.

Reading the uni’s press release Don’t panic!  Banks have always failed, I spotted two clear differences.  One of the academics, Dr Adrian R Bell, explained:

However, had Edward I faced today’s crisis, initially he would probably have placed senior executives under house arrest, most likely without trial, until the Government could recover as much as possible from their assets and estates.  However, in his case he also subsequently realised that he would need new sources of finance and so whatever the frustrations, he might have counselled some leniency.  In the 13th century, banks were allowed to fail and other banks also failed as a result.  However, within a few years, other banks had grown to take their place and the banking sector and the economy recovered.

Anyone else think we’re in trouble?

Warning: this is a celeb post.  

Ok, this is a celeb post with a difference as it concerns our very own star from Reading: Kate Winslet.

And what a star she has become.  Kate has won two Golden Globes, which I guess leaves her an Oscar frontrunner this year.

It would not surprise me at all if she landed cinema’s most coveted prize.  I saw The Reader last week at the cinema and was highly impressed with Kate’s performance - probably her best to date - in the lead role.

Has anyone tried The Oracle’s new Giraffe yet?

I went just before Christmas, perhaps even on its opening day (my festive memory is a bit hazy).  The restaurant, which has a global theme, showed promise, though there were clear customer service teething problems.  Prices were on the normal side for an Oracle restaurant.

What I liked best was the name, as it can be used for puns such as “Giraffe reaches new heights” and “Giraffe shows lofty ambitions”.  Has anyone visited Giraffe in Safari yet?  I’ll end there.  You’ve got to draw the lion somewhere.

Reading Station escalators have been closed for 3 months (3 months!!) for an “essential” upgrade.  Funny - I remember one of the escalators closed for repair work fairly recently.

Furthermore, as many of us know already, First Great Western have put up theirs fares.  We shouldn’t be surprised.  The 2008 announcement was as predictable as the yawn-inducing “A Levels getting easier” headlines we seem to get every August.  FGW are clearly in the profit business and feel entitled to charge us more.

Of course, this isn’t fair on customers.  We have no choice but to use FGW, enduring severe overcrowding, delays and all (my train this evening trundled into Reading Station 20 minutes late).  Services simply don’t seem to be getting any better.  This may sound strong, but I don’t believe that our national rail system is befitting of a leading (it still is, though we should probably be keeping a watchful eye on Albania) 21st century economy.

So what do we do about it?  This is a recession year.  Do we grumble and accept it, or do we act?