I haven't written much blog entries lately. There's no particular reason for that. Sometimes there's just nothing much to report, other times I'm too busy with other things. Anyway, to keep this space interesting I'll try something new… a weekly roundup.
It's probably wise to start with a disclaimer. The idea for a weekly roundup popped up in my head only half an hour ago - and spontaneous ideas tend to disappear off the radar as quickly as they appeared on it. I'm really not too sure I'll be writing something every Sunday.
Dear juicypeanut
On the subject of spontaneous ideas that don't quite work out, just this morning I tried to close a Technorati account I opened a couple of months ago. I joined because I reckoned it could be an alternative for Google Blog Search (breaking ties with Google is an ongoing project) but I was wrong; Technorati seems to be just another Web 2.0 Hot or Not Contest. Anyway, closing my account turned out to be rather difficult - there's no 'Close account' button. After a bit of DuckDuckGoing I came across a website called Account Killer which directed me to the instructions. To close a Technorati account you need to send a 'please close my account' e-mail to someone called 'juicypeanut'. I've accepted it as my punishment for not checking how easy it would be to close an account beforehand.
ICO has done something useful
After all the furore about the (factually incorrect) news that one in two letters delivered by Royal Mail is now junk mail there wasn't any noteworthy junk mail news this week. Luckily, we did have an interesting story about spam; the Information Commissioner's Office has fined two marketeers who "plagued the public with millions of unlawful spam texts over the past three years". It's the first time the ICO has taken action against spammers and it seems they thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The press release is a surprisingly interesting read, and it mentions they're already considering taking action against three other marketeers. There's still hope.
Selling hampers
Equally important is that there's a new item in Stop Junk Mail's sticker shop: a Mini Junk Mail Hamper. The hamper itself is one of my beautiful, hand made, unique, and re-usable junk mail envelopes; and inside the 'hamper' you'll find an anti-junk mail and 'No Cold Callers' sticker of your choice as well as a pad with return to sender labels. All that will cost you just £2 - saving you 75p!
I know, I'm hopeless at selling… Maybe marketing is an art after all. (I'm joking, of course.)
Help!
Since this Saturday Stop Junk Mail is finally an unincorporated association. It de facto had been one for a while but it's now formal. The main reason for the change is that it should make it easier to get more people involved in the campaign. There are plenty of unfinished junk mail related projects sitting on the shelve (that's what happens with spontaneous ideas); I'm hoping that some of these project can be taken up by others. If you're interested in joining the battle against junk mail, there's now also a page with information about getting involved.
Application for something
Finally, this weekend I've been working on an application for… something. I can't yet reveal what it is I've applied for but can tell that it's something I'm more than a little interested in. It's another thing that came up suddenly - but not something that would be shelved or disappear off the radar any time soon.
Who knows more next week!
