Simon Willison’s Weblog

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Monday, 16th January 2012

Are there any disadvantages to using domain hacks for your product website?

If you ever get written up
In the mainstream press you can almost guarantee that they will screw up the URL they publish (by sticking a .com on the end or fixing a deliberate misspelling). Sadly this still seems to be the case after 20 years of the Web!

[... 74 words]

What role will Social Media play in 2012 conferences? For example what platforms will attendees be using to communicate and network?

I’m a co-founder of http://lanyrd.com/—which could be described as a social media platform for events.

[... 200 words]

Events (leisure): How do you find out about Conferences happening in various places in the world?

Our site http://lanyrd.com/ is a crowd-sourced directory of conferences and other professional events across a large range of topics from all around the world. We have particularly good coverage of technology and social media events (perhaps unsurprisingly, since that’s where the early adopters are) but we’re continuing to grow in to other areas.

[... 208 words]

What are some more glamourous careers a computer programmer can pivot into?

I don’t really know how you would define “glamorous”—personally I prefer a career that’s rewarding, exciting and helps make a difference. On that basis, I’d suggest looking in to data journalism. Computer Programming is most rewarding when you combine it with another discipline. Personally I think using programming to help journalists discover and explain deep truths hidden within large data sets is a fascinating way to make use of those skills.

[... 106 words]

2012 » January

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