How good is the Taliban internal communications department?

I ask because they have issued a code of conduct for their members.

As anyone in internal communications will tell you - it's getting people to read and internalise this sort of guidance that's difficult.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/world/asia/21taliban.html?pagewanted=1&th&emc=th

From the New York Times:

The effort to change the Taliban’s image began in earnest last May when Mullah Omar disseminated his new code of conduct. The New York Times obtained a copy of the document through a Taliban spokesman. A version of the new code was authenticated last summer by NATO intelligence after a copy was seized during a raid and its contents corroborated using human intelligence, according to a senior NATO intelligence official.

The version sent to The Times is a 69-point document ranging from how to treat local people, how to treat prisoners, what to do with captured enemy equipment and when to execute captives. Much of the document deals with the Taliban chain of command and limits the decisions that field commanders can make on their own. The document exhorts insurgents to live and work in harmony with local people.

Posted via email from Rob's posterous

London Data Store goes live

The GLA have released lots of data for people to mash up and use as they please.

 

http://data.london.gov.uk/

From first look there's interesting data on alcohol related admissions to hospital, fires and lots of useful crime data.

Posted via email from Rob's posterous

Google goggles

Lots of ideas spring to mind about how to use this.

Most obviously while out shopping to do price comparisons.

http://www.google.com/mobile/goggles/

Posted via email from Rob's posterous

Why the Australians are great communicators

Spotted by my colleague Karin Robinson via my ex colleague Mark Pack.

'It's buggered mate' is the name of an Australian version of Fix My Street.

Just the same concept - but even better communicated.

 

http://its-buggered-mate.apps.lpmodules.com/

Posted via email from Rob's posterous

A PR triumph that has gone un-noticed

TfL’s abolition of the Hammersmith & City line.

 

They’ve merged it with the Circle line - which easily could have been described by opponents as ‘abolishing a tube line’ – which was in fact why it hadn’t been done for decades when it had been considered.

 

TfL’s confident framing of the debate has meant that almost all the focus has been on the positives.

 

http://londonist.com/2009/11/circle_line_uncircling_set_for_dece.php

 

Posted via email from Rob's posterous

Is email dead?

Not according to this superb email from Duane Raymond on the excellent ECF email list:

Very very very few new technologies have 'killed' an old technology. What new technologies usually do is do part of what one or more old technologies did much better while making old technologies focus on their strengths.

Examples:

- Print Press vs Books vs Radio vs TV vs Internet vs Mobiles

- Horse and Cart (now used just on some farms) vs Canals (now used for living and pleasure trips) vs Trains (still king for short-medium distances and large loads across land) vs Trucks (smaller loads across loads with end-to-end delivery vs Boats (long distance, slow spoiling loads) vs Planes (passengers and high-value fast spoiling loads)

- Letters vs. Phone Calls vs. Emails vs. IM/Micro blogging

- Film Camera (still used for high-end professional photos) vs Digital Cameras

One of the few times I can think of when one technology replaces another is when it is a direct replacement: data tapes vs floppy disks vs CD-RW vs DVD-RW vs USB/Flash/SD Cards - but even this still has examples of each 'generation' still being used

...and from using Google Wave, there is no way it will replace email any time soon if ever! It is a great collaboration tool, but isn't an email killer. It will likely replace email's mis-use as a collaboration tool which is what it was intended to do.

For anything to replace email, it would need to:

- Non Proprietary which almost all social networks and media is not

- Be a free both to users and in terms of the licensed technology

- Be an open standard which almost all social networks and media is not

- Do all things much better than email. Most alternatives do only a few things better than email.

- Be as easy to use as email. Hard to get easier than 'compose', 'reply', 'forward', 'delete'

- Not dependent on any one provider

- All data is portable

Email is so flexible it allows LOTS of bad practices - but it also allows lots of good practices. Most social network and IM system prevent most practices but also don't allow many good practices. (e.g. think facebook messages from groups: limited recipient size, no html, no tracking, etc)

So email dead? No way! Facebook and Twitter dead: much more likely :-)

Cheers,

Duane

Posted via email from Rob's posterous

Jan Moir - advertising is removed

I'm particularly interested in the Jan Moir and Trafigura stories this week - because they nicely illustrate that you don't need vast numbers of people to make a big difference.

My rough estimate is that 30,000 tweets mentioned Trafigura before they backed down.

I wasn't watching as closely with Jan Moir - but the Facebook group only has about 3,500 members. My impression is that the rate of tweets was at a similar rate to Trafigura, ie 100 or so a minute from this morning.

The key to success I think for the Jan Moir campaign is that it turned people's anger into action by getting them to a) complain to the PCC and b) complain directly to advertisers. To do that effectively you don't need many people - but they do need to be willing to pick up the phone or write an email.

Posted via email from Rob's posterous