Obviously I think she’s choice all year round, but the Radio Times has picked my wife’s play as “Radio Choice” this Saturday.

It’s the latest in a series of dramatisations of non-Poirot/Marple Agatha Christie novels for Radio 4, this one being Endless Night (this link contains spoilers).

The RT says:

“If it’s a drama based upon an Agatha Christie penned story then there’s got to be mystery and at least one suspicious death. No surprises so far; but then in comes a curse, some possible haunting and enough psychological twists and tumbles to upset a stable Saturday afternoon. The crucial facts that reveal the true nature of the murderer and the victims’ deaths are slowly released. The pace is measured, but intensely sinister, with Jonathan Forbes turning in a particularly convincing performance as the rough diamond who marries an heiress.”

After broadcast, you can listen again and buy on CD.

My dad-in-law Geoff got a digital camera for his birthday last week. He didn’t ask for it. He probably didn’t want it. He does now.

Having resisted all suggestions to ‘go digital’ for years, I’m pretty sure Geoff would happily have gone on with his 36 frames, 35 millimetres and 24-hour wait for a lucky dip of good shots, bad shots and yet more shots of the car “to finish the film”.

But there he was, unwrapping a Coolpix given to him by his loving son (not me: I gave socks) with a paternal duty to give it a go. As official Family Geek it was down to me to help him learn not just how to use the camera but how to love it.

This all felt rather familiar. Colleagues and I have to do the same thing all the time when selling-in social media to policy officials, training people on CMSs or explaining how to use any other web technology.

This is what worked with Geoff, and it’s a fairly good model for what I often have to do at work:

• Give it to them. Accept that they don’t want it. Or at least that they might not know they want it, yet. You could wait a long time for people voluntarily to take up new technology or you can make a gift of it, however unwanted, and move in fast before it gathers dust.
• Give them a reason. The cool shiny newness alone is not enough to entice some (weird!) people. So tell them why it’s good. “Look! You can take photos of your grandson and see them instantly/delete the ones where your eyes are closed/email them to your brother in Canada/print only the ones you want”.  List the benefits up front, and even grandads will start to see the advantages.
• Demonstrate it. Or rather, DON’T MENTION THE MEGAPIXELS. Just show what the buttons do, and how that relates to human interaction. It’s about photos: taking them and looking at them, not camera modes and resolution. It’s about the memories, man, not the size of the memory card. When people see the point of doing something, suddenly they’re up for having a go.
• Watch them use it. “Now you try”. I watched him make a few botches, intervening diplomatically to point him in the right direction. It took a while, but this was the most important step - to guide him through the frustration of failure and the danger of giving up. Once that’s passed…
• Retreat. Slowly. And never completely. I’m happy to be Geoff’s helpdesk offering lifetime support  whenever his Coolpix gets him hot and bothered (like when he finds a strange video of the inside of his pocket, or all his photos mysteriously ‘disappear’).  As he gets more confident, I’ll show him more stuff. He may even become a viral sensation on YouTube.

I am not saying civil servants are like OAPS when it comes to technology - but people of all ages in the office often describe themselves openly as technophobic or at least agnostic about whether new technology is a good thing.

And rightly so. Digital cameras and digital media can make your life better and easier - but not at first. Initially they introduce a problem you didn’t previously have. So our job as web geeks is to create that problem and then solve it, so that any difficulties are quickly outweighed by the benefits. See also Emma’s toolkit posts and Jeremy’s six approaches for ways of engaging people with this stuff.

It’s early days for Geoff, but he just sent me this, so I think we’re getting somewhere:

Dylan at Granny and Grandpa's, August 2008

Via Dave Briggs and Tom Watson, I’ve stumbledupon blog action day 2008.

Thanks guys, now I’ll have to think of something to think about poverty. In only 59 days. Suggestions welcome! (I think it’s a bad thing, generally).

Here’s a video.

Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

There is a gap in my team for a part time assistant web manager, 3 days per week.

Please spread the word to anyone (good!) who might be interested. The job ad is available here:

• On the GCN site
• On PR job shop

We’re one of the busiest web teams in Whitehall, managing the website and intranet for this government Department and doing all sorts of interesting things with social media. The people at this grade often get to go before ministers and directors (to run webchats, for example), so it’s a great opportunity. You would get to specialise in web analytics and lead the team’s work in this area.

You would be managed indirectly by me, but directly by Jasmin - who leads the social media work. It’s a really exciting opportunity for the right person looking for a promotion to this grade or a level transfer to a part time post.

What’s the biggest problem with user-generated content? The users.

Well not always, admittedly. But over at listopia.co.uk Mr Log and I have already got this problem. Last week, while the site was still very much in beta and only very softly launched, we celebrated our 100th registered user (via the medium of a gmail conversation, much cheaper than champagne and caviar). A few days later about half of our new users turned out to be idiots, and the quality of our little side project is much watered down.

At work, moderation is simple. Ban users or block comments if they break these rules.

But how do you moderate humour? Humour is so subjective. Should I block a list or ban a user just because I don’t find it, or them funny? Aren’t some things funny precisely because they’re weak? What’s brown and sticky? Can you even attempt to write a set of rules around being funny?

You can’t. So you have to trust to the users to some extent.

As soon we can get to a pub, Log and I are going to define that extent. We’re also going to develop more user rating of content. Currently people can “thumb up” pages so the funnier stuff floats to the top. But now we think we also need a “thumb down” option so the bad stuff sinks to the bottom, preferably without trace. And we will probably still need to ban or block users to stop it drfiting too far from its original intentions. Until then, we’ve hidden the chaff from view.

If you want to help us tip the balance of quality back in our favour, go and sign up. Once you’re in you could also help us out by contributing to the slogan ideas list.

Not a bad crop from my garden plot today:

We got your eggs, we got your beets, yer luvverly carrots, a pair o’courgettes (not as big as Laurie’s - oo-er missus), some disappointingly small onions, a few cherry tomatoes, we got your crispy fresh runners, and 3 green chillies (which are going straight to wok later tonight). I’ve already had barrowloads of broad beans, peas and spuds, too.  It’s the first year I’ve ever grown anything you couldn’t fit in a windowbox, so I’m doing pretty well, I reckon!