The first is a piece on Essential Student iPhone Apps for The Skinny’s Student Handbook 2010 and covers eight indispensable applications for those studying in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The second is a short article on threats to Net Neutrality in the US for the Digital section of the main magazine. This is a theme I plan to revisit soon in light of recent developments in the UK.

There was also another piece on using social media to stay in touch while at university but that doesn’t seem to have made it to the main site.

The upshot? Less time spent typing in the search field and waiting for a SERP to load, allowing you to find the pages you’re looking for that bit faster. Two to five seconds faster, if the Big G’s estimates are to be believed.

Naturally, any innovation in search moves the goal posts a little for the Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) industry but many commentators have already seized on Google Instant as a big game changer, with some going as far as to say that it could kill SEO altogether. Google itself is more reserved and has stated that rankings will remain the same, though user behaviour may change.

With only 14 or 15 hours since Google Instant went live, it’s far too early to start predicting the imminent demise of SEO. While I agree that there are challenges ahead for the industry – not being able to track the keyword permutations that led to users to the final search term before moving to their end page in analytics software is the biggie – the fact is that Instant may not change quite as much as we think.

For one thing, a surprisingly large number of people won’t use instant search at all. Like millions of other internet users, I use my browser’s quick search field to take me straight to a SERP rather than going through the intermediary of the Google search page. I’ve been doing it for years and keyboard shortcutting to quick search has long since become second nature. Google Instant won’t change that kind of ingrained behaviour. It will allow me to fine-tune my search terms when I get to that SERP but beyond that, it’s not likely to revolutionise my search experience. For millions of people like me, the tradtional(ish) SERP will continue to be the hub of my search activity.

But what about those who will use Google Instant as their main search interface? Won’t they gravitate to the first automatically-generated key phrases Google identifies for their query? My belief is that,  in time, they won’t. Instant goes some way to breaking down the barriers between the user and the underlying technology, making the search process more transparent and intuitive. As users become accustomed to Google Instant, they will gain insight on how the system works and begin to ‘get a feel for it’.

Even novice searchers will recognise that generic keywords are not an efficient or effective way to get anything but the most broad range of results and will be encouraged to try longer tail terms by the responsive and intuitive search interface. Instant itself encourages this behaviour with basic positive reinforcement feedback – as your search terms become targeted, it ‘rewards’ you with a list of more tightly focused and relevant keywords. The on-the-fly results stream puts an end to the inconvenience of waiting for multiple SERPs to load, removing another barrier between users and good search practice.

And, as an added bonus, if Google’s goal of allowing users to spend less time typing and more reading results, there could be an additional benefits for those in the SEO industry, particularly those of us who believe in taking an ethical, content-driven to search rankings. With more time devoted to reading results rather than focusing on getting the search term right first time, well-written titles, carefully-crafted page descriptions should take on an extra layer of significance for search engine user.

It will be probably be a few weeks before we really know what changes Google Instant is going to bring to standard SEO practice but as things stand at the moment, it looks like Google is trying to empower its users, giving them more control over the search process. For those of us interested in generating meaningful search results with genuine value to the end user, this can only be a good thing.

Over the next few weeks we’re going to examine in detail how journalists (and bloggers, who without a big media brand name to fall back on are usually even more reliant on search engines to deliver traffic to their websites) can optimise their work to improve search engine rankings using simple, easy to follow steps. We’ll begin by working our way through a standard news article or blogpost, starting with the title and headline and gradually making our way down to the meta information your readers will never see. On the way we’ll take a look at how to make the most of your article’s web address, how to optimise your copy using keywords and how to correctly add links and spread the word about your content using strictly ethical means.

Just one quick word of warning before we plunge into our first topic – contrary to popular belief and the sworn testimony of thousands of quack ‘SEO Gurus’ around the world, Search Engine Optimisation is not a magic bullet solution. It does not guarantee an enormous increase in the number of hits your site receives or first page rankings on Google search. In fact, if performed incorrectly, it can actually reduce your site’s traffic or stop readers from finding your content altogether. With a little care, though, it can improve your chances of achieving highly placed rankings for carefully selected keywords and phrases which will ultimately produce tangible results.

Introduction

In this first article, we’ll be starting at the top of your post and examining how to write your headline, set your Page Title and correctly use headings for maximum possible search engine exposure. No knowledge of HTML, CSS, PHP or any other web development language is required to follow this guide, though those with a grasp of the basics may find it easier to come to grips with the underlying principles of SEO. Below you’ll find a screenshot of a webpage containing a news article with each page element we’re going to discuss highlighted and labelled. Feel free to refer back to the screenshot if you feel lost at any point.

We will begin by discussing the first thing your readers will see when they click through to your article: The Headline.

Headlines

If the art of the headline writing is truly dying out, good SEO practice may well be the root cause. There’s no doubt that an expertly crafted headline still has the ability to amuse and engage but when it comes to writing with high search engine rankings in mind, utility wins out over a clever pun every time. “Up Yours, Delors” might have elicited a few xenophobic chuckles back in 1984 but in 2010 “Thatcher Set to Snub Delors Over Single Currency” or “Prime Minister Fundamentally Opposed to Federal Europe” will yield considerably better results from Google, Bing et al.

When writing headlines for your online news articles or blog posts, try to extract the key people, places, events and concepts from your copy – these will be the terms search engine users will most likely type into the search field –  and use them as the building blocks for a short and snappy sentence. Where possible, use simple, straightforward nouns rather than adjectives and unusual phrasings and avoid jargon – more people will search for “Paris Bomb Blast” than “Parisian Incendiary Explosion” and a headline containing the former will likely be placed more highly on Google’s results than one with the latter.  We’ll cover keywords in much more detail in the third article in this series when we looking at body text and SEO copywriting.

Title Tags

While we’re discussing headline titles, it’s worth considering Title Tags. In lay-person’s terms, a Title Tag is simply the text that displays in the title bar of your web browser when viewing a webpage – in this case, your article. The Title Tag is of critical importance because it’s the first thing the user sees after a search engine pulls up a page of results. A concise, informative title that summarises your article in one sentence is much more likely to be clicked on than an entry with a vague, muddled headline.

For those comfortable working with HTML, a title can be set using the <title> and </title> HTML tags but fortunately, most Content Management Systems (CMSs) automatically generate a title based on your headline and many allow the writer to edit it further. It’s usually best to edit the Title Tag yourself if the option is available to ensure that you’ve included enough relevant keywords from your body copy – after all, house style might limit your headline to just a few words but allow you a little more freedom with the page title. It’s worth remembering, however, that most search engines only register the first 60 characters of a Title Tag to prevent insalubrious keyword stuffing, so keep it fairly succinct.

Bloggers may want to consider using one the many SEO plugins available for the most popular blogging platforms to gain access to all title editing features. All-in-One SEO or SEO Ultimate are both excellent choices for WordPress.

Heading Tags

Before we wrap up our discussion of headlines, lets take a look at enclosing them in Heading Tags. Headlines (and sub-headings, which we’ll come to next) are usually denoted as such in your text by putting them on a separate line and in a larger font, or by making them appear in bold or underlined. Just as text formatting draws the reader’s eye to a headline, clearly marking it as a separate entity from the main body copy, Heading Tags tell search engines that the text within is more important, in terms of navigation and structure at least, than what comes after.

All good CMSs will allow you to apply appropriate heading tags to the various headings in your copy. When manipulating HTML, this is just a matter of enclosing the text in <h*> and </h*> tags – <h1> and </h1> in the case of main headlines. Those not proficient with markup should ensure that they actually use their CMS’s text editor to properly style text as a headling rather than simply formatting it in bold and manipulating the font size. Only text in tags will be recognised properly by search engines (and by your browser, for that matter).

While many CMSs automatically create a <h1> tag based on your post’s title, bloggers using popular blogging platforms like WordPress and Google’s Blogger may find that they need to create a separate headline at the top of their posts themselves. Whether or not this is necessary is entirely down to the theme your blog uses; some web designers have constructed their templates to automatically populate the <h1> tag while others have not. The best way to find out if your blog generates its own tagged headline is to view Page Source (Ctrl+U) and search the code for a <h1> tag. If it’s there and contains either your post title or a line of code that retrieves the title for you, all is well. If not, you’ll want to add one to your posts manually.

More on Headings

It is possible to modify WordPress and Blogger themes to populate the headline tag automatically but unfortunately this requires getting your hands dirty with some basic HTML and PHP and that you host your own blog, rather than using WordPress/Blogger.com hosting. Those who find manually applying headline tags to their blog posts extremely arduous might want to consider looking around for a stock template that supports the function automatically.

It’s also important to remember that when dealing with <h1> tags, only one should be used per post, so if your template does generate one on its own, under no circumstances create a second. While your blog likely won’t be penalised severely by search engines for having two <h1> tags, it’s best practice to keep it to just one and to use that tag for the post headline and nothing else.

A final – and somewhat confusing – point about heading tags. Exact tag usage varies from one website to another and while the system detailed above is the most common, used by the BBC, Guardian and Daily Mail news sites, there are other variations out there. CNN, for example, use <title> for the page title, <h1> as a container for the site logo and <h2> for the main headline (more on this tag in a moment). It’s usually best to check with your editor or tech team what the site’s headline convention is before getting started. If you’re a blogger and are managing your own website, you probably won’t need to worry about this much.

Subheadings

Correctly marking up your subheadings is also very important, not only for making your article easier to navigate for your readers but for drawing a search engine’s attention to important subsections of the text.  All of the same rules you used when writing your headline also apply to crafting subheadings; keep it brief, use keywords that crop up in your text and avoid the temptation to sacrifice clarity and utility for the sake of a delicious pun. You’ll also need to apply heading tags to ensure that search engines recognise sub-headings, although unfortunately in this case there’s no chance of the CMS looking after it for you automatically.

When tagging your subheadings, you’ll be applying styles like Heading 2, Heading 3 etc, all the way down to Heading 6 (where Heading 1, as your main headline, is the most important, and Heading 6 the least). In HTML these styles represent the <h2> to <h6> tags and these enclose your sub-headings in exactly the same way as the <h1> tag contained your headline. As a general rule, you should structure your sub-headings hierarchically, Heading 2/<h2> for your main sub-headings, Heading 3/<h3> for sub-headings nested under those and Heading 4/<h4> for sub-headings of Heading 3 and so on. It’s unlikely you’ll ever make it down to Heading 6 in an article or blog post but if you do, the rules remain the same. Unlike <h1> tags, you are encouraged to make use of multiple <h2> etc tags to clearly denote your subsections and, indeed, its best practice to do so..

See the diagram above for a more visual demonstration of this principle.

Checklist

Correctly writing headlines and subheadings, setting a suitable Page Title and applying heading tags to your text where appropriate are some of the most fundamental techniques for optimising your articles or blog posts for search engines. They are straightforward tasks that can be performed by anyone reasonably familiar with a WYSIWYG text editor; if you’ve managed to publish a blog post in the past you’ll certainly have no trouble in assimilating them into your posting routine. I’ve created creating a step-by-step SEO checklist to help you ensure that all necessary SEO tasks have been performed before you publish your article. As the series goes on, I’ll gradually add more steps to the list as we discuss different aspects of the SEO process.

1. Is your Headline written in an SEO-friendly style and enclosed in a <h1> tag somewhere on the page?
2. Is your Page Title written in an SEO-friendly style and enclosed in a <title> tag or entered into a Page Title field?
3. Are your Subheadings written in an SEO-friendly style and enclosed in the appropriate heading tag?

Final Thoughts

While Search Engine Optimisation is a valuable skill and something all journalists and bloggers should be avid evangelists of, let’s spare a moment’s thought for the fine art of headline writing. There’s a belief that good SEO practice is killing the ancient tradition of pun-based headlines and while there’s some truth in this, it’s simply not the case that writing with search engine results in mind always comes down to sacrificing creativity for utility. There remain plenty of opportunities for wordplay in excerpts, straplines and picture captions, where they remain easily visible to readers without diluting your content’s indexing potential. Headline writers are a resilient bunch and no matter how powerful search algorithms become, there will always be room for both witty double-entendres and mind-numbingly awful puns in the digital world.

Further Reading

Econsultancy – A Journalist’s Guide to SEO

Wordstream – SEO Title Tag Formulas: How To Create High Performance Title Tags

SEO Book – How to Craft Kick-Ass Headline Tags and Titles

The Guardian – Search for the Perfect Headline

In Part 2, we’ll be looking at Permalink Structures and URLs and discovering how you can use a page’s web address to maximise your content’s SEO potential.

Data has been sourced from VoteThemOut while address details for constituency offices, used in the postcode search, came from Westminster Parliamentary Record.

The final total out of the 59 Scottish MPs was 18 For, 5 Against and 36 Absents. Here follows a constituency-by-constituency breakdown for each MP. Keep reading after the list for analysis and a party-by-party breakdown.

Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire

Aberdeen North

Frank Doran (Labour) – For

Aberdeen South

Anne Begg (Labour) – Absent

Banff and Buchan

Alex Salmond (SNP) – Absent

Gordon

Malcolm Bruce (Lib Dem) – Absent

West Aberdeen and Kincardineshire

Robert Smith (Lib Dem) – Absent

Angus and Dundee City

Angus

Mike Weir (SNP) – Absent

Dundee East

Stewart Hosie (SNP) – For

Dundee West

James McGovern (Labour) – Absent

Argyll and Bute

Argyll and Bute

Alan Reid (Lib Dem) – Absent

City of Edinburgh

Edinburgh East

Gavin Strang (Labour) – For

Edinburgh North and Leith

Mark Lazarowicz (Labour) – Against

Edinburgh South

Nigel Griffiths (Labour) – Absent

Edinburgh South West

Alistair Darling (Labour) – Absent

Edinburgh West

John Barrett (Lib Dem) – Against

Clackmannanshire and Perth and Kinross

Ochil and South Perthshire

Gordon Banks (Labour) – Absent

Perth and North Perthshire

Pete Wishart (SNP) – Absent

Dumfries and Galloway, Scottish Borders and South Lanarkshire

Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk

Michael Moore (Lib Dem) – Absent

Dumfries and Galloway

Russell Brown (Labour) – Absent

Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale

David Mundell (Conservative) – Absent

East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow

Adam Ingram (Labour) – For

Lanark and Hamilton East

Jimmy Hood (Labour) – Absent

Rutherglen and Hamilton West

Toomy McAvoy (Labour) – For

East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire

Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock

Sandra Osborne (Labour) – For

Central Ayrshire

Brian Donohoe (Labour) – Absent

Kilmarnock and Loudon

Des Browne (Labour) – For

North Ayrshire and Arran

Katy Clark (Labour) – Absent

East Dumbartonshire and North Lanarkshire

Airdrie and Shotts

John Reid (Labour) – For

Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill

Tom Clarke (Labour) – Absent

Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East

Rosemary McKenna (Labour) – Absent

East Dumbartonshire

Jo Swinson (Lib Dem) – Absent

Motherwell and Wishaw

Frank Roy (Labour)  – Absent

East Lothian

East Lothian

Anne Moffat (Labour) – Absent

East Renfrewshire

East Renfrewshire

Jim Murphy (Labour) – Absent

Falkirk and West Lothian

Falkirk

Eric Joyce (Labour) – Against

Linlithgow and East Falkirk

Michael Connarty (Labour) – For

Livingston

Jim Devine (Labour) – Absent

Fife

Dunfermline and West Fife

Willie Rennie (Lib Dem) – Absent

Glenrothes

Lindsay Roy (Labour) – Absent

Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath

Gordon Brown (Labour) – Absent

North East Fife

Menzies Campbell (Lib Dem) – Absent

Glasgow City

Glasgow Central

Mohammed Sarwar (Labour) – Absent

Glasgow East

John Mason (SNP) – Absent

Glasgow North

Anne McKechin (Labour) – For

Glasgow North East

Willie Bain (Speaker) – For

Glasgow North West

John Robertson (Labour) – For

Glasgow South

Tom Harris (Labour) – Absent

Glasgow South West

Ian Davidson (Labour) – For

Highland

Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross

John Thurso (Lib Dem) – Against

Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey

Danny Alexander (Lib Dem) – Absent

Ross, Skye and Lochaber

Charles Kennedy (Lib Dem) – Absent

Inverclyde

Inverclyde

David Cairns (Labour) – For

Midlothian

Midlothian

David Hamilton (Labour) – For

Moray

Moray

Angus Robertson (SNP) – Absent

Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles)

Na h-Eileanan Siar

Angus MacNeil (SNP) – Absent

Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands

Orkney and Shetland

Alistair Carmichael (Lib Dem) – Against

Renfrewshire

Paisley and Renfrewshire North

Jim Sheriden (Labour) – For

Paisley and Renfrewshire South

Douglas Alexander (Labour) – For

Stirling

Stirling

Anne McGuire (Labour) – Absent

West Dumbartonshire

West Dumbartonshire

John McFall (Labour) – For

Analysis

Labour

• 17 Labour MPs voted For the DE Bill.
• 2 Labour MPs voted Against the DE Bill
• 20 Labour MPs were Absent or Abstained.

Only two Labour MPs – Mark Lazarowicz and Eric Joyce – broke the whip to vote against the Bill. There were also many high-profile Labour absentees including Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling, with the likes of John Reid shoring up the For vote. Still, more than half of the party’s MPs stayed at home despite the presence of the whip and government’s determination to drive the Bill through.

Liberal Democrats

• 0 Lib Dem MPs voted For the DE Bill
• 3 Lib Dem MPs voted Against the DE Bill
• 9 Lib Dem MPs were Absent or Abstained.

No Lib Dem MP voted in favour of the Bill, but only three turned out to vote it down, despite the party being firmly against the proposed legislation. More big name absentees here with Charles Kennedy and Menzies Campbell staying at home. Bizarrely, the MPs for the far-flung Caithness, Sutherland and East Ross and Orkney and Shetland managed to make the vote, while many of their southerly colleagues were absent.

Scottish National Party

• 1 SNP MP voted For the DE Bill
• 0 SNP MPs voted Against the DE Bill
• 6 SNP MPs were Absent or Abstained.

Yet another high-profile absentee here with Alex Salmond nowhere to be seen, though he is stepping down from his Westminster seat to concentrate on his duties as First Minister of Scotland after the forthcoming election. Pete Wishart was surprisingly absent after robustly engaging with the debate during the Bill’s Second Reading the previous evening.

Conservatives

• 0 Conservative MPs voted For the DE Bill
• 0 Conservative MPs voted Against the DE Bill
• 1 Conservative MP was Absent or Abstained.

The Conservative Party’s only Scottish MP fails to turn up for the vote. I bet his constituents are thrilled.

In total, far less than half of Scotland’s MPs – a pitiful 38% – bothered to turn up and vote on the Digital Economy Bill.

Update: to find out if and how your MP voted on the DE Bill, see VoteThemOut.

The final tally was 189 votes For the Bill and 47 Against. The Againsts break down by party as:

• 23 Labour
• 16 Liberal Democrat
• 5 Conservative
• 3 Other
• 2 plus two Lib Dem tellers.

The names of those who voted against are as follows:

Abbott, Ms Diane (Lab)
Amess, Mr. David (Con)
Barrett, John (Lib Dem)
Beith, rh Sir Alan (Lib Dem)
Breed, Mr. Colin (Lib Dem)
Burgon, Colin (Lab)
Burstow, Mr. Paul (Lib Dem)
Carmichael, Mr. Alistair (Lib Dem)
Cash, Mr. William (Con)
Challen, Colin (Lab)
Chope, Mr. Christopher (Con)
Corbyn, Jeremy (Lab)
Davey, Mr. Edward (Lib Dem)
Davies, Mr. Dai (Ind)
Davis, rh Mr. David (Con)
Dismore, Mr. Andrew (Lab)
Drew, Mr. David (Lab)
Fallon, Mr. Michael (Con)
Featherstone, Lynne (Lib Dem)
Foster, Mr. Don (Lib Dem)
Gerrard, Mr. Neil (Lab)
Grogan, Mr. John (Lab)
Hancock, Mr. Mike (Lib Dem)
Harris, Dr. Evan (Lib Dem)
Hoey, Kate (Lab)
Howarth, David (Lib Dem)
Howarth, rh Mr. George
Hughes, Simon (Lib Dem)
Jones, Lynne (Lab)
Joyce, Eric (Lab)
Keetch, Mr. Paul (Lib Dem)
Kilfoyle, Mr. Peter (Lab)
Lazarowicz, Mark (Lab)
Love, Mr. Andrew (Lab)
Marshall-Andrews, Mr. Robert (Lab)
Mitchell, Mr. Austin (Lab)
Öpik, Lembit (Lib Dem)
Paisley, rh Rev. Ian (DUP)
Palmer, Dr. Nick (Lab)
Price, Adam (Plaid)
Reed, Mr. Andy (Lab)
Russell, Bob (Lib Dem)
Simpson, Alan (Lab)
Thurso, John (Lib Dem)
Todd, Mr. Mark (Lab)
Truswell, Mr. Paul (Lab)
Watson, Mr. Tom (Lab)

Tellers for the Noes:
John Hemming (Lib Dem)
Mr. John Leech (Lib Dem)

My own MP, Mark Lazarowicz of Labour, is highlighted. In my correspondence with him over the Bill, he pledged to vote down the more controversial measures and I am pleased to see that the strength of his convictions stretched to voting against the final Bill. Other Edinburgh residents may also be interested to know that John Barrett MP (Lib Dem, Edinburgh West) also voted against the DE Bill. The other three Edinburgh MPs, Alistair Darling, Nigel Griffiths and Gavin Strang (all Labour) either voted in favour of the Bill or were absent.

Update 11/04/2010: Nigel Griffiths (Labour, Edinburgh South) and Alistair Darling (Labour, Edinburgh South West) were absent and did not vote on the Digital Economy Bill. Gavin Strang (Labour, Edinburgh East) voted in favour of the Bill.

Update 12/04/2010: Mark Lazarowicz has blogged about his opposition towards the Digital Economy Bill and its implication on future parliamentary sessions.

Previous posts on the Digital Economy Bill:

Take the fight against the Digital Economy Bill to your MP

Digital Economy Bill: Second Reading

Three weeks on and the Bill is currently being given its second hearing in the Commons, the last step before the “Wash Up” period which could see it fast-tracked into law as the parties cut last-minute deals with each other before the General Election. This was the scene in parliament about half an hour ago:

Note that there are only sixteen MPs in the chamber. From a total of 646. That’s less than 2.5% of our elected representatives who bothered to turn out to debate one of the most important pieces of legislation in many years, one that is vital to Britain’s Digital future. You don’t need me to tell you how wrong that is.

Then there’s the fact that the Digital Economy Bill was scheduled for a debate on a day when it was extremely likely that an election would be called and Parliament dissolved. This is exactly what happened today, and the media’s attention has been captivated by the first volleys in the electoral mudslinging contest. Even the usually reliable Guardian have failed to liveblog the DE debate. Perhaps I’m overly cynical but as Jo Moore once infamously said, “Today is a good day to bury bad news“.

We’ve also been subjected to MPs exposing their ignorance of the core issues of the DE Bill debate. From Austin Mitchell calling heavy internet users and technical types ‘geeks’ and ‘nerds’ to Simon Sion’s utterly bizarre Star Wars metaphor, where illegal downloaders are Luke Skywalker and Peter Mandelson is Darth Vader, it is abundantly clear that the government needs to bring in experts from across the full range of digital professions – and not just music industry representatives -  to hammer out a measured, forward-thinking Bill rather than a legislative knee-jerk.

I’m disappointed, if not entirely surprised, that my own MP, Mark Lazarowicz of Labour for Edinburgh North and Leith, isn’t one of those in the chamber today. Mark responded to my concerns about the DE Bill back in March, reassuring me that the possibility of it being taken into the Wash Up period was extremely low and that nothing undemocratic would be allowed to happen. I was initially impressed at both the swiftness and apparent sincerity of his replies but believe that if he considered this a genuinely important issue, he would be in the House of Commons today, opposing this Bill. I’m afraid that will be one less vote for you Mr Lazarowicz, and for Labour too.

Update – 6 April 2010, 9pm

Two hours later and we’re down to a paltry ten MPs left in the House of Commons debating. Most of those remaining are Labour MPs, many of whom are speaking out against the Digital Economy Bill. Is there any chance of a backbench revolt over this?

Update – 6 April 2010, 10.30pm

Shortly before 10pm, a large group of MPs rushed into the House of Commons to vote on the Bill, despite not taking part in the debate whatsoever. The DE Bill passed the second reading and will now go on to the third reading and committee stage tomorrow.  How very disappointing.

I don’t doubt for a moment that Apple’s slate will be a masterclass in hardware design; sleek, shiny and immensely covetable. Equally, I’m sure that it will be just as accomplished in the UI and functionality stakes, in so far as it will do exactly what Apple have designed it to do extremely well indeed.

Despite that, I won’t be parting with my money when the iPad eventually finds its way over to Blighty later this month. Here’s why:

1. I’m not an early adopter.

Let’s be clear – I’m a huge fan of new technology and love nothing more than getting to grips with the latest devices. But I usually wait a few months before I actually spend hard-earned cash on a new shiny. There’s the obvious benefit of prices falling after the initial release (less of a factor with an Apple product, naturally) but early models can be less reliable (think how many launch Xbox 360s are still in active service), as well as being being more expensive.

2. It’s the first iteration of the product

Closely linked to the perils of early adoption, it’s inevitable that within the space of a year, a new, more fully-featured version of the iPad will be announced. I was burnt by the original iPhone – I bought one four or five months after release and two months later the 3G was announced at a lower price and with a better feature set. When the basic iPad model comes with 3G and a respectable amount of storage, I’ll be much more likely to take the plunge.

3. It’s a little on the expensive side…

Which brings us to the fact that the iPad is certainly not cheap. We don’t know how much exactly it’s going to cost in the UK just yet but £399 seems a good ball-park estimate. And that’s for the basic 16 GB model, not the significantly more pimped-out 3G-enabled 64GB version. Apple products have always been priced at a premium but when a couple of games consoles, a well-specced laptop or a 37-inch 1080p TV can be picked up for around the same price, it makes me stop to consider if it represents real value for money.

4. It can’t multi-task

Like the iPhone, the iPad only allows one application to be open at a time, the integrated iPod aside. While it does offer some improvements over its smaller cousin, the iPad is still not capable of true multi-tasking. This is the real deal breaker for me. I need to be able to hop from browser to email client to terminal window to e-book instantly and without worrying about having to save my work at each step or waiting for apps to reopen. I’m genuinely baffled as to why the iPad can’t do this.

5. Create vs. consume

I work in media, so I create content almost as often as I consume it. The simple fact is that while the iPad has a limited set of creative functions, it’s really not all that well-suited to the role. A netbook meets my needs as a creator far better; it’s light and portable, has a fully functioning keyboard, far greater storage capacity and full range of applications for my chosen OS. While it lacks the grunt of a fully-fledged notebook or desktop, it provides a perfectly serviceable workstation when needed. As if to prove a point, this blog post was composed entirely on a netbook, including all reference reading and image-editing. I think I’d struggle to put everything together as quickly or easily on an iPad.

The best is yet to come

Let me reiterate that I am entirely convinced that iPad will be a very successful product. I’m also sure that, sooner or later, I will buy one. But now isn’t that time. The iPad’s main function is media consumption and, as a creative, I need a device that can do more, especially at the price Apple are asking. My hope is that by the time iPad 2.0 is announced, the software will have evolved and entirely new possibilities will be opened up, just as the App Store accompanied the launch of the iPhone 3G. Until then, I’m afraid my money will be staying firmly in my wallet – even if the sight of a friend or colleague playing with their shiny new tablet makes me sick with envy.

However, I was overlooking a vital detail that would ultimately lead to a much less costly solution to the problem; my card was still under its three-year manufacturer’s warranty and, given the circumstances of its fairly, was eligible for an RMA (Return Merchandise Authorisation). Despite having PC components fail in the past, I had never thought to take advantage of RMA, assuming that it was only for new components that did not work on receipt by the customer. Not so. In fact, any component that has failed within its manufacturer’s warranty period may be eligible for RMA and to be repaired or replaced at no cost to the owner.

Many people I have spoken to are unaware of RMA or how it works and have simply been buying new components as and when theirs fail, often paying considerably over the odds from local retailers when a replacement is needed in a hurry. RMA is rarely a quick process and probably won’t result be appropriate for an emergency situation, due to the relatively slow turnaround, but for those able to use backup components, it can be far more cost-effective than forking out for new hardware. For those people, I’ve prepared a short guide to the RMA process to help you get the most out of your hardware warranties.

What is RMA?

RMA stands for “Return Merchandise Authorization”. It is a process which allows customers to return goods that are faulty or defective on receipt, or that have failed within a specified warranty period, to the supplier. Depending on the terms of the warranty and the type of goods involved, the supplier may then return them to the manufacturer. Provided the customer has not deliberately or accidentally voided their warranty, the items involved may be repaired or replaced by the manufacturers free of charge, or a refund may be given by the supplier.

How do I get an RMA?

Usually the first port of call for obtaining an RMA from a supplier is their customer service department. However, many dedicated computer hardware suppliers fast-track RMA requests via specialised webform and, in some cases, entire RMA sub-departments. You will usually be required to provide a description of the problem and to provide details from when the product was first purchased – order numbers and dates of purchase, most often.

Further details of your hardware setup may be needed along with a brief summary of what you were doing at the computer at the time the item failed, in so far is as possible. With this information in place, the supplier will usually authorise an RMA and ask you to return your failed items by post to a specified address.

How much does it cost?

In most cases, any action brought about by an RMA – repair or replacement – will usually be free of charge to the customer. However, end-users are generally expected to pay the postage cost of sending the item back to the supplier. Depending on the terms of the warranty, customers may be obliged to pay a service or repair surcharge but this doesn’t happen terribly often.

Is there anything I should keep in mind when sending my item off?

Where possible, faulty items should be returned in their original packaging. If you have disposed of the packaging, try to find a similarly sized box and ensure that the item is securely packed. Goods visibly damaged in transit may not be eligible for free repair or replacement. If possible, try and pack sensitive components in anti-static bags to further reduce the chances of them being damaged on their way back to the supplier. You may be required to supply any accessories that originally came packaged with your goods, though this varies from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Are there any reasons why an RMA might not be authorised?

As previously stated, improperly packed goods may result in damage in transit, which many suppliers will refuse to accept. Any sign that the failure was caused by direct user intervention may also see an RMA denied once it reaches the manufacturer to be examined. Actions which void the warranty, such as overclocking or dismantling components, are best avoided. Any actions that contravene the manufacturer’s directions for usage – using items in a moist environment or cleaning them using unsuitable substances, perhaps – may also see an item refused free repair or replacement.

Will I receive a refund or will my item be repaired or replaced?

This depends on a number of factors, including the supplier, the manufacturer, the time that has elapsed since purchase and the nature of the goods. Customers are usually entitled to request a refund if an item arrives faulty but later in the warranty period, when the goods have seen several months, or even years, use, a repair or refund is more likely. Repair versus Replacement usually comes down to cost; if it is cheaper to simply send out a new or refurbished item rather than repairing it, many manufacturers will do so. In some cases, new items may not exactly match the returned goods, especially if a particular model is out of production. In these cases, a replacement or equivalent value or  functionality may be issued.

How long will it take?

This depends entirely on the supplier and manufacturer. If the supplier is dealing with the entire process, an item can often be turned around in a matter of days. However, if goods must be returned to the manufacturer for examination, it can take weeks or even months, particularly if they have to be sent back to factories in East Asia. In my case, it took around a month between requesting an RMA from the supplier and receiving a replacement.

Is it worth RMAing a faulty component even if I rush out to buy a new one immediately?

Yes. Even if you cannot wait for an RMA to be processed and need to buy a new component immediately, it is still worth seeing if you can get a repair or replacement for free. At the very least, you can keep it as a backup in case of future hardware failure. Alternatively, you may be able to sell the repair/replacement and recoup some of the cost of a brand new component.

My own experience with Overclockers.co.uk was fairly straightforward. The day after my graphics card died, I submitted an RMA request via their specialised webform. A few hours later they accepted my request and supplied me with an address to send my card to and directions for packing. They also checked that the address details they had on file for me were up to date (they weren’t). The next day the card was in the post and the day after I received an email from OCUK informing me that they had received it and that it would be sent on to Asus, the manufacturer. A couple of weeks later I was told to expect a replacement at the end of the month.

Around a month on from sending the card out in the first place, I received a replacement; an ex-display EVGA GeForce 9800 GT, actually a slight upgrade over my old card. The only cost to me was the postage cost on returning the 8800 GT in the first place.

So, while RMA isn’t necessarily the speediest process, it can certainly be effective in getting faulty components repaired or replaced. This means that warranty is something that should be given careful thought when actually buying new items, especially as some manufacturers have begun to cut their standard warranty periods, from three years to just one year in the case of Asus. Even for those who need a replacement item immediately, RMA can eventually offset some of the cost of buying a brand new component or result in a handy spare in case of future disaster. My new 9800 GT will hold the fort for the time being until I can find the spare cash to upgrade to something a bit beefier, at which point it will go into hibernation, ready for any future problems that might arise.

Unfortunately, the current Brown administration is determined to pass the Digital Economy legislation before it leaves office, meaning that there will not be sufficient time for a full parliamentary debate or to scrutinise the bill in depth. Ostensibly a set of laws to clamp down on internet piracy and provide for the future growth of Britain’s digital economy, the bill, recently rushed through the House of Lords, contains many unsavoury elements that will impinge directly on fundamental rights and freedoms. It also grants MPs the right to essentially re-write copyright law as they see fit.

It’s worth noting that Labour actually dropped its proposed anti-Fox Hunting legislation because there was insufficient time to fully debate the matter in Parliament. That a vastly more important piece of legislation is to be fast-tracked, despite even less time now remaining until a change in government, is a cause for great concern. Even those in favour of the Bill should realise that this sets a dangerous precedent for future legislation and should call for a measured and unhurried debate on the subject.

The Digital Economy Bill in its current state is, in essence, fundamentally undemocratic.

For a more detailed analysis of the Bill’s more worrying aspects, see here.

Unlike most online petitions, the 38 Degrees protest is a Direct Action campaign which encourages those concerned about the DE Bill to write directly to their MPs expressing their misgivings. It urges our elected representatives to stall the Bill so that a proper debate on it can take place. For those unsure which constituency they live in, 38 Degrees campaign page will find your MP by postcode. The site also supplies an online form containing a sample letter which can be edited and emailed directly to your MP. The sample text is as follows:

Dear [Insert MP Name]

I’m writing to you today because I’m very worried that the Government is planning to rush the Digital Economy Bill into law without a full Parliamentary debate.

The law is controversial and contains many measures that concern me. The controversial Bill deserves proper scrutiny so please don’t let the government rush it through. Many people think it will damage schools and businesses as well as innocent people who rely on the internet because it will allow the Government to disconnect people it suspects of copyright infringement.

Industry experts, internet service providers (like Talk Talk and BT) and huge internet companies like Google and Yahoo are all opposing the bill – yet the Government seems intent on forcing it through without a real debate.

As a constituent I am writing to you today to ask you to do all you can to ensure the Government doesn’t just rush the bill through and deny us our democratic right to scrutiny and debate.

[Insert your Name]

38 Degrees encourages users to customise this template to reflect their personal experiences. In my case, I contacted my local MP, Mark Lazarowicz (Labour MP for Edinburgh North and Leith) and expressed my concerns in light of my experience as a media professional and an encounter with unsavoury legal firm Davenport Lyons over alleged breach of copyright. Others will, of course, have different views and experiences but a personalised email says far more than simply regurgitating the basic template.

Like 38 Degrees, I urge you to take affirmative action against the Digital Economy Bill by contacting your local MP and relaying your concerns. Even if only 10,000 people send emails, that’s an average of more than fifteen emails  for each of the UK’s 646 MPs. Fifteen of their constituents simultaneously expressing their concerns on the same issue should be enough to alert MPs that something deeply wrong is happening.

I’d love if anyone who has emailed their MP and received a reply could tell us about their experience in the comments. However, please don’t quote emails directly as unauthorised use, disclosure or copying of parliamentary correspondence is potentially illegal and almost certainly amounts to a  Breach of Confidence.

Tonight the News Room bar on Leith Street will play host to Edinburgh’s first ‘Tweetup‘, an informal gathering for local users of social networking phenomenon Twitter. The meet follows the success of last month’s Edinburgh Twestival, a charity event which saw Twitter users raise thousands of pounds for good causes.

Over the last few months Twitter has become something of a media darling, with news organisations, including the BBC, and a host of major and minor celebrities jumping aboard the bandwagon. But the service, heralded as ‘the next Facebook‘ by some, has alienated many internet users who have questioned whether it’s anything more than a new way to waste time.

So what is Twitter exactly? In a nutshell, it’s a way to exchange short messages, also known as ‘tweets’, each no more than 140 characters long, over the internet. Subscribing to another user’s tweets is as simple as choosing to ‘follow’ them. The updates will then show on your own Twitter page, along with those of anyone else you follow.

Naturally, Twitter is reciprocal in nature. Just as you’re free to follow other users, they’re also free to follow you and view your tweets. Messages can be sent to other users by adding ‘@’ and their username at the beginning of a tweet – so, for example, replying to me on Twitter would just involve beginning the message with ‘@jodimullen‘.

Unlike Facebook and other popular social networking services, follower lists on Twitter are rarely confined to real-life friends and colleagues. With millions of users around the world, it’s easy to follow anyone who grabs your interest and build up a network of hundreds, or even thousands, of people you’ve never met but with whom you share interests.

The nature of individual tweets and their actual worth has been hotly debated by social media experts. Critics point out that at their worst, tweets can be little more than constant updates from boring people with nothing better to do, made all the more obnoxious by the fact that they can be shared with such a vast audience.

However, others have pointed to the many positive uses of Twitter. The service has become almost omnipresent amongst technology and IT professionals and has proved an important means of communication at various conferences and networking events. Many companies now issue announcements about software updates and new features over Twitter as it’s often the fastest way to disseminate information online. It’s an excellent way to share links and to make contacts online and has already become an indispensable networking tool for thousands of users.

And when Twitter has broken into mainstream news, it has usually done so in spectacular fashion. The service underpinned much of the Barack Obama’s online campaign in the run-up to last year’s presidential election and his team were praised for engaging with voters via the latest technology. More recently a group of mountain climbers in the Swiss alps were rescued after one of the team posted to Twitter that conditions had become dangerous and that members of the party were missing. His followers were able to alert the authorities and the climbers were airlifted to safety, though one man died on the mountain.

The service has also attracted a number of celebrity users, with Stephen Fry being one famous early adapter. Fry holds the record for the highest number of Twitter followers for a single user – well over 300,000 at last count. He has used Twitter to keep in touch with his fans as well as promoting his latest work. Jonathon Ross, Russell Brand and Alan Davies also have strong online presences, with ever-increasing numbers of followers.

Getting started with Twitter is easy – simply create an account at the service’s website, find some likely people to follow and start tweeting! For those interested in meeting Edinburgh’s Twitterati in the flesh, there’s still room for a few more at tonight’s Tweetup but the last few places are expected to go quickly.