Suddenly, it would seem, the UK has fallen in love with Twitter. IT Pro and PC Pro are reporting on it, the BBC are talking about it, The Guardian is reporting on it, and the Telegraph has reported on it, to name but a few.

Celebrities including Jonathan Ross (BAFTA Salad anyone?), Stephen Fry (stuck in a lift), Lauren Laverne (on The Culture Show last night), Robert Llewellyn (Carpool on Llewtube) and Phil Jupitus (How is that hand sign coming along?) are findings ways to incorporate it into their busy life styles. Other celebrities are quickly catching on (and up) with the benefits Twitter has to offer.

Even I have written about it (Is Twitter the new Id?) after recently rediscovering its Twitteriness.

The simplicity of Twitter is something that should not be underestimated and gives over complex systems a run for their money. I won’t go into the details of how it works other than to say once you start Twittering, and following other Twitterers you may discover some its deliberate limitations somewhat refreshing. Having to really think about what you want to say so it fits into the 140 character limit is something that only really comes with a lot of practise.

Twitter following is one-sided and unthreaded which can often give a beautiful chaotic nature to conversations where you will be party to disjointed messages from your chosen follower without the immediate benefit of seeing other Twitterer messages sent to them.

I have found Twitter to be great for sharing, and learning, tidbits of information and entering into a more immediate discourse on subjects that interest me at any particular time. Preparing articles and blog posts can be aided by discussing finer points or obtaining further insight. You could do something similar with Google, but where Google is often a lonely and solitary searching experience (trying to find the right words), Twitter offers a more human experience where clarifications and refinements can be made quickly and helpfully from a community of people who want to share.

Like all good sensations an economy has built up around Twitter offering all manner of add-ons, extensions, and analytics to try and plug gaps and offer features or combinations of services - I put ten of my favourite into this list (10 Must Have Productivity Tools For Twitter ) though this list has risen to about 15 since I made that post.

I am off for a Twitter now so if you are passing by say hello @jasonslater

Monster.co.uk recently posted an important security message warning users that Monsters’ “database was illegally accessed” - you can read more about it in this post: Monster Has Been Munched.

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With the run up to Christmas it can be a good time to get through some of those little administrative tasks that you’ve been putting off for some time, so here are 10 things you could be looking at getting done before you tuck into your turkey (or preferred alternative).

• Clean out your electronic mail inbox and sent items to give you a good start to the New Year.
• Make a backup of your essential files just in case the Christmas gremlins run free whilst you are away.
• Check all your consumable supplies so you don’t get caught out early in the New Year.
• Uninstall all those “one-off” programs that you have been meaning to remove from your computer.
• Make a note of the makes, models, and serial numbers of all your important equipment and put this list safe somewhere.
• Sort out your document folders and archive very old stuff.
• Install the data encryption software, on your USB stick, you’ve been meaning to get round to.
• Check your privacy settings on those social web accounts you’ve signed up for throughout the year.
• Update your online/email calendar with your important events for next year.
• Label all your plugs and chargers so when they all get mixed up you can at least figure out what’s what.
• Before you go home for Christmas, switch off any equipment that doesn’t really need to be left on.

Merry Christmas

Put 7th April 2009 into your diary - this celebrates fourty years since the first RFC was released.

Two months ago I had a brain wave -

I need an espresso and I need it quick!

Well, it’s finished and I am no longer a number in the education system (not until I decide what to do next anyway) so

Currently, we are investigating the available options for hosting office applications on the Internet, so I read with interest the post “Google Vs. Microsoft - Office Politics” by Moshe Zeidman as this is the first time we have ever looked in a direction other than Microsoft for our office applications. I have written about some of these issues before in “Who should we rely on for our business applications: Google or Microsoft?“, Starting out with Google Apps

Whether or not to allow the use of social networking sites at work is a current meme; I seem to be reading about it here there and everywhere. Is allowing the use of these sites really acceptable at work during work?

As part of our ongoing Internet usage policy review we have been evaluating whether it should be allowable to use social networking sites during work hours; and in doing so to try and assess any potential value or benefits to the business that the use of these sites may offer. As part of this investigation I have been spending some of my own time on these sites to explore what is available.

Certainly there is a lot to do and hours can easily be whiled away adding additional applications, customising profiles and finding out what friends are up to whilst challenging them in quizzes, offering them gifts or buying and selling their photos but so far I am really struggling to find business value in allowing access to these sites from the workplace

Some time ago someone told me they thought our web site should be “more Web 2.0″ and when I asked for confirmation as to what they felt Web 2.0 embodied I was met with a glazed expression then they said “you know … more up to date and modern looking like all the other Web 2.0 web sites”.

I’ve been running Wordpress 2.5 RC1 for around a week and have posted my Wordpress 2.5 RC1 - First Impressions