No more vacation: How technology is stealing our lives – Salon.com
I don’t feel like Rebecca Traister feels but I know I’m in the minority. When I’m gone for the weekend, I’m often actually uncontactable as I roam through mobile-coverage-free countryside. But for many people, the constant contact their laptops and smartphones provide means they’re also [...]

This week we’re looking at website conversions and take a trip back to the future. But first… whatever happened to Google Wave? Well, apparently not much and just last week, Google effectively canned it.
RIP Google Wave – Mashable
Google’s revolutionary product that blends email, instant messaging, file sharing & wikis “didn’t get the uptake they’d hoped [...]

35 Powerful Ways to Get Noticed – Small Fuel Marketing
Short, effective tips on how to promote yourself & your organisation. Easier said than done, but brilliant none the less. I reckon we do 24 of them!
Growing Your Business: 5 Tips From the Founder of Blip.tv – Mashable
Five smart business tips we try to embody here [...]

The Key to Creating Remarkable Things – The 99 Percent
The idea of doing our real work first and “reactive” work second (answering emails, getting resources for colleagues etc.) sounds like common-sense, doesn’t it? But is that really how you function day to day? Or do you spend the morning “getting ready” to knuckle down… then [...]

Critique me, Please – 50 Weeks of UX
How well can you handle critique of your work? Joshua Brewer talks about how being open to critique leads to “better communication, greater creativity and more transparency”. So should you practice being critiqued?
List of common misconceptions – Wikipedia
If I told you that Napoleon wasn’t unusually short or that [...]

Harvey Norman takes to Twitter in online backflip – Dynamic Business
10 Fun Facts You Didn’t Know About Google – Mashable
15 Amazing Apps for File Storage in the Cloud – Web.AppStorm
The greatest defunct web sites and dotcom disasters – CNET UK
11 Useful Google Chrome Extensions for Serious SEO Workers – Blog Web Designer
YouTube Launches New Video [...]

“Guitar Hero” Rocks Out on iPhone – Mashable
Inspirational 50 Twitter Backgrounds Showcase – 1st Webdesigner
Starbucks Used Social media to Get One Million to Stores in One Day – Mashable
Is Facebook Getting Bigger Than Google? – Mashable
The Top 8 Free Online Image Editors – Web.AppStorm
5 Gadgets That Will Transform Your Home – Mashable
Successful Strategies For Selling [...]

5 Tips to Effectively Promote your Articles – Creative Overflow
25 Awesome Google Search Tips and Tricks – AppStorm
Even Dolphins Love the iPad – Mashable
10 things you didn’t know about Twitter – Telegraph.co.uk
New App Helps You “Game” Foursquare Mayorships – Mashable
Microsoft’s own “Upgrade Your Browser” promo!
How We Improved Our Conversion Rate by 72% – dMix

Proof that [...]

3 Online Tools to Backup Your Twitter Account – Madras Geek
On “Out of office” replies: The Difference Between “Not Here” and “Away” – Pow! Right between the eyes! (Why not take a quick holiday to test out your new techniques?) via @SmashingMag via Fast Company
How To (Further) Engage Your Readers – Noupe
7 Keys to a [...]

This week’s round-up is tinged with sadness as we say goodbye to our long-standing and well-loved designer, Sarah Hyne.  Sarah’s migrating to new, lush pastures over at MAP Magazine. Sarah had been with Bluewire for two and a half years and in that time she instigated our famous “Weekly Round-up” blog posts.
It’s with a bit [...]