By now, anyone with even a passing interest in the British new media publishing scene will have seen that Shiny Media has gone into administration (in layman’s terms, it’s dead).

Despite reports to the contrary — and not trying to sound pompous — it was me that broke the story to the Internet, based on the closest thing to an official statement as I could get (my editor at Tech Digest Skyped me after having just found out himself).

This was later backed up by tweets from co-founder Katie Lee and, finally, by email message from Chris Price.

You can read how the Internet has covered the story (Guardian, Inquisitr, Real Business, Digital Journal, New Media Age, Paid Content UK) so I won’t rehash it all here.

This is a summary of my feelings on the matter, for those who are interested or care, or simply want to add it to the increasing pile of commentary on the matter. Read the rest of this entry »

Why “5 Simple Steps to make the most of The Great Giveaway” turned into a nightmare for millions of online bargain hunters.

Last week I received a press release from UK-based discount electronics retailer Buy It Direct.

It heralded a massive free giveaway of stock from their Huddersfield warehouse, in order to make way for new stock. That’s the story, anyway:

Buyitdirect.co.uk are holding The Great Giveaway, for one day only starting 1am Monday 4th May 2009. Thousands of high value products will be exclusively available online for FREE on a strictly first come first serve basis.

So what’s the catch? There isn’t one – buyitdirect.co.uk are expanding and need the space in the warehouse to make room for some new products. Rather than disposing of the products or sending them back to the manufacturers they decided to give Credit Crunch Consumers the chance to get their hands on some amazing products for FREE. Smeg fridges, Sony LCD TV’s, Laptops and Miele washing machines are just some of the branded products included in the promotion. The only cost the customer pays is the shipping charge of £4.95.

Staying up until 1am on a bank holiday Monday seemed a small price to pay for the possibility of bagging a bargain…

A few things didn’t sit right, though:

Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s a useful video explaining how Google ranks advertisers using the AdWords system. [Via]

According to this report in the Media Guardian, Platte Media’s UK operation is no more.

Two years ago, Micro Bill Systems appeared on the scene and started causing trouble. So much, in fact, that I helped set up a forum and got myself in the Guardian as a result.

A company name change (to Platte Media), some legal threats and hassles later, it does appear as if the infamous pay-for-porn company has ceased trading in the UK.

Hiwat said in an email to Michael Pollitt, the reporter who has uncovered story after story about Platte, that “Our reasons for this decision and our further intentions are simply related to our original marketing and business model.” He added: “Obviously, and just like any other business should and would do, I am making sure that stopping our marketing to the UK Market, is done in such a sensible and orderly manner, that will best preserve the interests of our customers and of our own.”

It could, however, be something to do with the Office of Fair Trading, or HM Revenue and Customs, both of whom have expressed interest in the company’s activities.

Is it too soon for celebration?

We still don’t know what Oriel, Platte’s appointed debt collection agency, will do with the “debts” it has had passed to it. We also don’t know whether Platte International will continue to run its rather dubious sites (Get Films Now, for example) in other countries. The global reach of the Internet means that access by UK computer users and minors could still be just a mouse click away.

It will also be interesting to see what Platte UK’s directors move on to. I find it hard to believe that they won’t set up another business in due course – one that could have very similar properties (and problems) as Platte and MBS had.

Watch this space.

Today I’ve finally decided to stop thinking about a project which I began working on last year but was never paid for.

In truth, I’ve not done anything since I heard that the company had run out of money, but today, as one of the company’s minor creditors, I received a big pack of legal documents from the US. To be perfectly honest, it’s all rather confusing, and would need to be filled in and then faxed or posted back to the States. Even then, I’d stand little if any chance of receiving any money at all, and if I did, it might just cover the cost of faxing the documents back, and the time I could have spent working on other projects.

I’m just going to email the team handling this company’s affairs (from courtesy) letting them know not to bother with me.

Fortunately, I’d only written one “pilot” feature. If it had worked out, it would have turned into a series of posts which would have been pretty interesting to write – not bad remuneration for a fair amount of autonomy. Still, it wasn’t to be.

It’s not as if I’m sat here with nothing to do, anyway.

Update 6th May 2008: I received a very decent email today from the MD of Leapfrog Computers (at least, I trust that it was from him). I’ve never held any ill feelings towards him, and I’m sure his company is generally good.

I do still work for Shiny Media!

Unbelievable!

Let me start with a hypothetical question: if you read an erroneous piece of information about you in The Guardian, would you (a) contact the author directly, (b) contact the editor, or (c) send an email to everyone who writes for the publication?

If you answered (c), shame on you.

Yet, that’s exactly what Leapfrog Computers did about a recent article (now removed) at Tech Digest.

Instead of contacting the writer directly (the name of the author of each article is stated quite clearly at the bottom of each page), the Sales Manager at Leapfrog Computers decided to email everyone.

I’ve had my share of companies who have been annoyed by things I’ve written. Sometimes their annoyance is justified, in which case I remove the offending material, and sometimes it’s just because I’ve made them sound bad, but without actually defaming them.

At least the complaints were (in the main) directed at the right person.

Read the rest of this entry »

Given the vocal nature of bloggers, the snub I received today from Sony is a little strange. Perhaps Sony doesn’t fully understand the outspoken immediacy of many blogs, or perhaps they really don’t care.

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to attend Sony’s latest BRAVIA ad photo shoot in Miami. I must admit, I was a little bemused to have been “chosen”, given that — at that time — only a handful of bloggers had been invited, but given my work on Tech Digest and HDTV UK, it was justified enough.

For an expenses-paid to trip to Miami, I’d be able to report to close-on half-a-million monthly visitors to both sites about the photo shoot, and some of Sony’s latest camcorders.

However, today I was informed — most apologetically — by one of Sony’s PR companies that I’d been dropped from the trip, due to a change in filming dates, “logistical issues”, and… because “Sony is only keen to get US based bloggers”.

OUCH!

It seems that, despite Sony being happy enough to use a tower block in Scotland for their exploding paint ad (perhaps an exploding high rise in America wouldn’t have gone down so well?), when it comes to filming an ad in the US, and despite the likelihood that it will be used worldwide, Sony only wants US bloggers to cover it.

Now, I must make it clear that I’m not particularly bothered about the trip. Yes, it would have been an interesting thing to do, and I’ll happily accept the offer of free travel and accommodation, but the “logistics” of planning a trip away when there are still the same number of targets and deadlines to achieve is no small task.

It wouldn’t have been a holiday.

However, the supposed snub is rather unfortunate. As a freelancer and a blogger — even for a relatively large UK new media company — I would never expect to be invited on these kinds of trips.

So, to be invited — I thought — showed some forward thinking on behalf of a company that should already be forward thinking — technology, after all, is nothing less than shaping the future.

What should have happened? Sony should have been more organised, and decided exactly what they wanted before trying to entice bloggers out to their PR event.

Filming dates rearranged? Flights do that too.

Apparently, I’m on the list for “next time” — whatever and whenever that might be. Thing is, I’m not sure I’m particularly interested now.

Companies, listen up — bloggers tend not to like being used as pawns in your PR games. Actually, I reckon most media professionals don’t, either, though I’d imagine (perhaps wrongly) that the most established media gets slightly better treatment.

Logging into Google AdSense tonight, I find myself needing to read and accept some new terms and conditions.

Seeing an option to “Remind me the next time I log in. (You must accept the above Terms and Conditions by 25 May 2008, or you will no longer be able to login to AdSense and make changes to your Account.)” I plump for that so I can check some stats before going to bed.

Cycles back to the log in screen and then reloads the Terms and Conditions.

Well, I’m not going to click on “No, I do not accept the above Terms and Conditions.” just in case I’m frozen out.

So I take a cursory look at the T&Cs, hoping that Google isn’t going to do something nasty because I haven’t read all the small print, and submit again.

Still locked in a loop.

Maybe because AdSense tends to log me in automatically, there’s some part of the acceptance process that’s not being completed. Whatever the problem, I can’t get past the Terms and Conditions page.

Hopefully it’ll get fixed soon enough.

Update: Oh well, that was quick!

As we enter Fairtrade Fortnight, Cafédirect has commissioned a survey to find out just what the British public thinks of Fairtrade products.

With Fairtrade, as with many things, it’s very much about companies following the “minimum standard”. Some companies choose to do more, but that can’t be relied upon as the average.

For example, four out of five consumers surveyed thought that brands carrying the Fairtrade logo work directly with growers, build long-term partnerships, and reinvest in grower training and development, whereas that’s not a requirement.

The Fairtrade mark guarantees a fair and stable price for farmers and an extra premium to help improve their lives, but only a few companies do more than that. That doesn’t make it bad, but is worth being aware of.

Similarly, nearly half of shoppers believe that the same amount of money goes back to, say, coffee growers regardless of which Fairtrade coffee product they buy. In reality, companies that buy raw materials from the Fairtrade register are required to pay the minimum Fairtrade price, which covers growersÂ’ costs of production and provides a social premium for investment in community projects.

Zachary Dominitz, Head of Corporate Affairs, Cafédirect said, ““We are proud of, and guided by, the direct, personal, long-term relationships weÂ’ve nurtured with our grower partners over the last 17 years. In addition to paying above market prices, over the last three years we have invested on average 60% of our profits into training and development programmes for our growers, to help build their expertise. Fairtrade gives millions of small-scale farmers disadvantaged by the conventional trading system an opportunity to earn a decent living, but that is just a starting point, not an answer. We believe that we have raised the bar for Fairtrade, and urge other brands to follow our lead and help guarantee a sustainable future for growers and communities around the world.””

87% of those surveyed said that they bought Fairtrade products each week or month. The Fairtrade Foundation reports that sales of Fairtrade products have increased by 40% or more each year, to an estimated £430 million in 2007.

86% said they’d be happy to pay a few pence more for Fairtrade products.