16 May 2002

Herhof and Dioxins   Treasury Holdings is trying to launch its new website today. Naturally, you would expect cross-branding from the Irish company, straddling the dot.ie, dot.net and dot.com domains. Right now, the Treasury Holdings dot.com site provides an apolitical look at incineration, covering arcane concepts about dioxins and the Herhof process. These matters concern the residents of Lusk, County Dublin, a small garden farming community with more than its share of unwanted municipal waste. Their online activism indicates a level of awareness not normally associated with a rural community. ++++++++++ @Carlow,Ireland, aboard Irish Rail from an IBM TransNote over Vodafone HSD. ref: 170001

Jake's Blogroll Editor Here's a new blogroll editor and a tease.   [Scripting News] ++++++++++ downloads.weblogs.*.opml Upstreamed from Radio from O Tuama's cafe in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, Ireland.

Task: Write code that creates a HTML page from a cookie

Right Brain and Left Brain Blogging Thanks to Jenny, the shifted librarian, I have learned that left-brain bloggers tend to provide insight and commentary rather than just reposting a link. But what does it mean if readers of shifted blogs also like left-brain blogs like Lawmeme, Jim McGee, 802.11b News, and Dan Gillmor? These aforementioned blogs give context to wire stories, more than you normally get from many Irish publications.  Although I wouldn't be caught with a copy of Hello!, I admit to the emotional appeal of right-brain dominant blogs, primarily because they personalise a story. "They tend to include in their posts one-liners that do a beautiful job of summarizing an issue, often making a backhand point to the story," says The Shifted Librarian. Have a read of librarian.net, bOing bOing, Doc Searls and Mary Wehmeier's Blog Du Jour to get a taste of this right brain style.  I agree with Jenny, "it's definitely the tunnel into their emotional thoughts that keeps me coming back." The ones that successfully mix the two sides of the brain are my favorites, though - Kottke.org, Scripting News, Adam Curry, and Ernie the Attorney to name a few. Sure, these guys get all of the press, but they are also the "big picture" folks who provide analysis and emotional connection, and from their standing in the blogger community (and hit counts), I'm not alone in this assessment. This is the type of online communication towards which marketers should be striving. The Macromedia blogs are a good start, but they don't give me enough bigger-picture context to connect with me on a more emotional level. They don't grab me and make me say "hallelujah" or "yes, I'm going to do that!" Of course, I don't think they're supposed to perform this particular function and these guys already have full-time jobs, but their marketing division could pursue something more right- or mixed-brained. (Hey, I'm "Seussing" and making words up as I go along!) The left- and right-brain mix is probably the Cluetrain connection for marketers. ++++++++++ Sent from Garringreen over eircom ISDN.

Listening to Morning in Garringreen My dog takes me for a walk around Garringreen and the Pococke River just before 6 each morning. At that time of day, you can hear Garringreen awakening. In this part of Ireland, no industrial noise blankets the birds, cows and horses. Unlike Phoenix Park in Dublin during the same time frame, the local animals don't have to talk above road noise or trains jockeying for morning departures. Walking Garringreen in the morning is almost like being down the country. ++++++++++ Sent over Eircom ISDN from Kilkenny, Ireland