thought-after

Day 3 of Movember, and the foundations for an attempt at a Chopper style mo have been laid.

Luckily the initial growth spurt falls over a weekend, so the embarrassment of using public transport with such little growth isn't an issue. One more day of full growth before that hurdle needs to be cleared.

As we say goodbye to October and welcome in November, this year I will be supporting the Movember movement.

Don't know what Movember is all about? November is the month where Mo Bros can grow a moustache and raise sponsorship in support of raising awareness of male health issues.

Head over to the official Movember website for more details, and while you're there why not sponsor this Mo Bro.

This is my first attempt at growing any kind of facial hair, so the results could be disastrous/hilarious depending on whether you're looking at me, or are me.

I'll keep a daily photo record of progress here, so everybody can share my pain.

It's the day after the conclusion of the Web Directions South 2007 conference, and my brain is still pinging!

Two days of total immersion in everything good about web development, presentation after presentation full of inspiration, meeting with peers in the real world - the original social network - and relaxing with a few beers, good food and conversation at the end of the day.

Thanks to all the organisers, presenters, sponsors and attendees for making my first Web Directions such a memorable experience.

A while ago I posted a solution for generating CSS random background images, which provided a PHP server side solution for adding random background images to stylesheets on the fly.

Since it's initial posting the solution provided there has been tweaked and fine tuned based on use and reader feedback. A lot of the feedback and comments were about the inability for readers to use that particular solution because they did not have access to modify the PHP source code. One such example is that of Bloggers, who have access to the Blogger templating system, but not the code.

In response to this feedback I have put together a free random background image script generator tool, which will generate a self contained block of Javascript which can be pasted into any template or web page, to provide random background image selection and application to a single element on that page.

Comments and feedback are encouraged, as are links from any sites that may find a use for the script!

The power of the internet as a marketing medium has been embraced by the majority of political parties, and their members. In Australia, every major party has a web presence, and a growing number of national, state and local politicians have their own sites. Some have even entered the 'youth markets' of MySpace and YouTube. A prime example of this move is Australian Prime Minister, John Howard.

ALP leader Kevin Rudd has launched a new site for his 2007 electoral campaign with the slogan Kevin07. It's a highly stylized site that looks like it has come straight out of any of the many political satire movies, lots of prime colours, big and flashy, marketing driven - and with very little substance.

As the politicos jump on the opportunity to use the internet to reach the widest possible audience, they miss the point and use their sites as direct extensions of their standard media campaigns. The opportunity for public interaction is missed, and in todays social web, that's a big no-no.

But the online political arena is not the sole domain of the political parties and their members. There is no requirement to have (hundreds of) thousands of dollars of marketing capital to run an online campaign. Many minor groups and individuals are using the internet, and particularly blogs, to voice their opinions about issues they feel strongly about. There are large groups, such as GetUp that take on the government directly, and much smaller groups/individuals, such as Alex Hawke, that campaign more about issues that affect them directly.

The Alex Hawke site is a great example of the power of the internet being harnessed by a motivated individual to campaign against a politician they have issues with. The site does not use cheap tricks, skulduggery or misinformation to attack it's subject. Rather it employs the ethical and unwavering use of truth and publicly available information to inform the reader. The use of a blog as the publishing platform allows direct interaction from visitors to the site with it's author, and other visitors, to discuss the subject matter.

Through the honest and open use of the medium, one man can raise the awareness of an issue, create a ripple that grows into a swell of opinion. It is this change that politicians and political parties must face as they battle to win the votes of the electorate.