When I heard Chris Green of IT Pro talking on BBC Radio 5 Livefame saying the INQ1 was the best phone he’d seen since the iPhone I figured it was definitely worth a look (he knows his stuff and isn’t fooled by tech PR puff).  Having read his detailed  review http://tinyurl.com/5azmee it really does look like 3 might be onto something of a winner.

The features are focused around data activity (3 reckons it is the fastest growing UK ISP based on its weighty data traffic) and, according to IT Pro, is priced at a credit crunch-friendly £79.99 on a PAYG contract.  It’s released in December and I wouldn’t mind betting that Santa will be making a stop at the 3 distribution warehouse on Christmas Eve to pick up a few.  Having recently embarked on all things social media I might just put it in my letter to him.

Lyndon Johnson

At the risk of sounding like a member of the older generation (well, I am over 30, I have to admit), the inventiveness of children never ceases to amuse.

There’s always something far more interesting to do than homework, and rather than blaming the dog for having a nibble on a text book, today’s schoolchildren are claiming technology-related excuses for not producing the required assignments.

According to a survey from Pixmania.com, pupils are trying to baffle older staff members with problems about technology the teachers struggle to understand. Teachers are now having to become more tech-savvy in an effort to keep up with the spirited high jinks of Generation ‘i’.

Kids nowadays grow up with a mobile phone in one hand and a PSP in the other; with an iPod in their school bag and a hard drive DVD recorder taping their favourite TV shows at home. It’s little wonder they are streaks ahead of those for whom Windows is a relatively new invention. Technology moves at lightning pace and unless you grow with it, you’re in danger of being left behind.

Here are some of the more extravagant homework excuses - (and they say technology stifles creativity?)

• My dad’s computer was hacked by the Russians and they stole my homework
• A burglar stole my printed-out homework and the computer
• I accidentally tipped a bottle of cider on the computer and it broke

Emma Sinclair

Following my post about the Travel Blogcamp 08 there’s a heated debate going on on the Travel.net site about the respective roles of bloggers and PRs that is worth a read.  While the posters all have a travel industry background the views and experiences, concerns and misconceptions are valid, whatever industry you work in.

As I mentioned in my earlier post the travel industry has got a vibrant and cohesive blogging community and the discussion being had on Travel.net is one that all industries will face as they look to make sense of social media and blogging.  This discussion will help increase understanding of how both sides can work together for the benefit of readers and avoid both sides treading on too many toes.

Lyndon Johnson

Guardian Technology reported that an ex-Yahoo employee managed to persuade “lots” of Twitter users to surrender their account passwords in exchange for the promise of being told their ranking.

Sound familiar? The InfoSecurity Europe team conducts a similar survey every year in the run up to the show by getting people to swap their passwords for chocolate bar.

Admittedly, the Twitter experiment was far more sophisticated and I’m sure those that were duped believed Twitterank.com had a genuine affiliation with the site, but at the end of the day it’s just another example of how easily people can slip up online and give away more than they bargain for. Will we never learn?

In a guest post on ZD Net, the ex-Yahoo staffer in question commented that it was “not some grand scheme to steal thousands of Twitter accounts, but a casual experiment gone horribly horribly right.”

So, if you intend to be busy tweeting over the weekend, treat potential scams with the same caution you would on any of your other online accounts. Just because it’s a fun, informal and seemingly harmless tool, don’t be fooled - it’s still part of your online identity and it needs protecting.

Rebecca Wheeler

Last Friday I attended a breakfast briefing organised by Gorkana, which had Damian Reece, the Telegraph Group’s head of business, as the speaker.  For anyone who doesn’t know, Gorkana is a tool used by public relations professionals to help contact and build relationships with the media.

When I arrived, I picked up my name tag and then made my way to the complimentary breakfast, which included bacon rolls, pastries and coffee.  There were about 80 public relations professionals at the breakfast, both agency and in-house.  I must say that I felt quite proud to be representing Berkeley PR at the event.

After everyone had finished filling up on the free food, we were shown into the main conference room, where Damian Reece told us how the Telegraph Group actually works.  He covered the relationships between the different parts of the Telegraph Group (the Telegraph’s website, the Daily Telegraph and the Sunday Telegraph), as well as the best way to approach the Telegraph’s journalists.

The breakfast briefing was a fantastic introduction to the way the modern media works, and how technology PR professionals fit into that.   I think that the better your understanding of a publication, the easier it can be successfully pitch your client to the publication’s journalists.

Luke Davies

A lot of stories have been flying around the blogosphere over the past few days highlighting which PR agencies are using Twitter and who has the most users. The tool has been embraced widely by Berkeley PR staff to communicate with each other in our different regional offices, as well as journalists and others in our industry. I personally have found it a great source of information and ideas.

That said and with my “bad news is always a good story” PR hat on, are we about to see a wealth of stories now about how Twitter is ruining the English language in much the same way as SMS was? With posts limited to just 140 characters many people are shortening their words in much the same way they do with the 160 character base of SMS. While exploring this concept I have come across a link to Shannon Yelland’s blog where she has posted a Twittonary listing the shorthand words regularly used on Twitter. It is quite comprehensive and proves that this isn’t something that is going to go away.

I do hope we don’t start seeing these type of stories as it does feel a little lazy and just a rehash of the SMS story. But if you do, you saw the idea first here.

That said, it wouldn’t shock me to see the English dictionary begin to include Twitter-related words as become accepted into everyday communications. A year ago I wouldn’t have had a clue what you meant if you said that you were a Tweeter. In fact I probably would have thought you had been drinking.

Paul Stallard