gilest.org

Journalism

At the moment, I write regularly for: Cult of Mac (news articles and reviews), the Press Association (a weekly column) and The Morning News (essays, satire, weird stuff).

I've previously worked for: Time Magazine's Techland blog (daily news articles), the Unofficial Apple Weblog, Macworld, MacUser magazine (UK), O'Reilly's Macdevcenter blog, thesite.org, BBC News Online, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, Photocine News, Tap! magazine, and Redwood Publishing.

Scroll down this page and you'll find a long list of published articles.

Copywriting

I'll adapt my writing style to suit your needs, whether you need something chatty and funny, or something formal and businesslike. I have particular expertise in translating big technical concepts into simple terms that anyone can understand.

I have years of experience in writing for and about the internet. I can advise on copy presentation and tone, I know my SEO from my elbow, and understand how websites work.

Recent clients include Closertag, The Design Council, BERG, moo.com, and the New College of the Humanities. I've also worked for dopplr.com (website copy, newsletters, advice), Fjord (scriptwriting for a short information film), Siftware, Boson Media (ghost writing and Twitter account management), Gallomanor (various projects), Search Johnston, Nokia, and Expectnation.

If you'd like a second opinion, I've got some testimonials you can read.

Archive of published work

Here are some highlights. I've not included every post written for Cult of Mac, PhotoCine News and TechLand, just my favourites. (I've also contributed to a handful of books.)

2011

• Twitter by Post - exactly what it sounds like. A big project, and considerable satisfaction on completing it, for The Morning News
• Things That Go Fifff Striiik Bam in the Night, about sounds and kids.
• The Man Who Loved to Have Coffee with Women, although to be honest I prefer tea. For The Morning News.
• Handheld Time Machines, gonzo geography in Bristol for The Morning News
• Comic Life is half price all this week, writing in comic form for Cult of Mac
• Behind the Pulse, how it feels to faint for The Morning News
• Snow Leopard is the new retro, opinion for Cult of Mac
• Define the ratio of people to cake, deconstructing daft job interviews for The Morning News
• Movie shot from space celebrates 50 years since Gagarin's orbit for TechLand
• Happy Birthday OS X! for TechLand
• A wiki history of the world in 100 seconds for TechLand
• Take a self-portrait every day, every day, every day for TechLand
• This man knows what you did five minutes ago for TechLand
• Four seasons in one minute for TechLand
• Dan Chung shooting the tsunami aftermath for PhotoCine News
• Trimensional review for Tap! magazine
• Monochromia review for Tap! magazine
• Dogs like prog - the first in a series of arguments with a dog, for The Morning News
• Finding inspiration in a Las Vegas hotel room for PhotoCine News
• Not finding Johnny Depp for PhotoCine News
• The year of practical thinking, the things I learned every day during 2010, in convenient list form. This is a fun one.

2010

• Interview with Jonathan Entwistle and Justin Brown for Photocine News
• The future of social networking, looking into the future after Facebook, for PA Features
• A very British benefits cut, political opinion for PA Features
• Reviews of Fake, dTerm, Raskin, iPhoney, Flux 3, and Postbox 2 for MacUser
• Seven reasons to visit Devizes, photos and copy for Wiltshire Magazine
• Consulting work for Search Johnston, devising a content strategy for a popular online photographic equipment store
• Interview with Lizzie Oxby, director and animator for Photocine News
• Copywriting for the new, improved moo.com website
• Where secrets harden; underground secrets and talking dogs, for The Morning News
• Ten photographs for Seven great reasons to live in Bradford on Avon, with words by Anna Vaught and published by Wiltshire Magazine
• Stiff upper lip meets sword of truth, David Cameron's Big Society speech, translated into English for readers of The Morning News
• Fantasy road trips, a brief contribution of a Scandinavian daydream for The Morning News
• Scout Leader style, a short contribution for ALL THE RAGE Issue 27.
• I wrote the copy for Schooloscope, a project by BERG
• Windowflow review for MacUser
• Aquamacs 2 review for MacUser
• iStat Menus 3 review for MacUser
• The passing of the Commons plate, explaining the British political system in The Morning News
• Winner of the best regional chip shop award 2006, microfiction for Every Day Fiction
• Cockpit review for MacUser
• About time, musings on time travel and Press Gang for The Morning News
• Come on sugar, let me know, in which I ask the citizens of Chat Roulette how I know if I have sex appeal; fun and games for The Morning News
• Devonthink Pro Office 2 review for MacUser
• Review: Thoughts for Mac for Cult of Mac
• An augmented future for multimedia producers, a feature on AR for Photocine News
• Track your mousing, make your own artwork for Cult of Mac
• Looming copyright law may burn a hole through copyright for Photocine News
• Beware the coming of the daily digital beast for Photocine News
• Ten Twitter lists worth following for Photocine News
• Vimeo adds mobile viewing, embeds coming soon for Photocine News
• Nikon's weird web toy to plug Coolpix S70 for Photocine News
• Sublime video offers a sublime video experience for Photocine News
• London photography rights protest a great success for Photocine News
• Songs my mother never taught me, an essay on swearing in pop music for The Morning News (note: contains lots of swearing)
• Great practical tips from ASMP for Photocine News
• Olympus adds instant video recording to PEN body for Photocine News
• Matt Brandon on great photo essays for Photocine News
• Tinderbox 5 review for MacUser
• What might the iPad offer to photographers? for Photocine News
• Bumptop Mac review for MacUser
• Standing up for photographers' rights for Photocine News
• Why film shooters shoot film for Photocine News
• The changing face of photography: why paywalls won't work for Photocine News
• JustNotes review for MacUser
• Socialite review for MacUser
• Revo Domino D3 review for MacUser
• A variety of posts for Cult of Mac

2009

• A variety of posts for Cult of Mac (too many to list here)
• A delightful breakfast browsing slideshow for Photocine News
• From cover to cover for The Morning News
• JustNotes review for MacUser
• CameraBag Desktop review for MacUser
• Notational Velocity review for MacUser
• Leap 2 review for MacUser
• SuperDuper review for MacUser
• A common nomenclature for Lego families; people, language and Lego deconstructed for The Morning News
• TextWrangler review for MacUser
• Postbox review for MacUser
• Phoneview review for MacUser
• Dropzone review for MacUser
• Pagehand review for MacUser
• OK Genius, picking fights with software for The Morning News
• Ulysses 2 review for MacUser
• Nisus Writer Pro 1.3 review for MacUser
• Radio Gaga review for MacUser
• PersonalBrain 5 review for MacUser
• Copywriting for Dopplr: the Social Atlas and the iPhone application
• The present sound of London, words and noises for The Morning News
• The Pride of the Bernard-Bernards of West Wickingham is wounded, satire for The Morning News
• Clipstart review for MacUser
• When the going was good, political comment for The Morning News
• Did some research and development work for Dopplr.com
• Wait a minute, Mr Postman, a bit of fun for The Morning News, co-written with Rosecrans Baldwin
• NeoOffice 3 review for MacUser
• OmniGraphSketcher review for MacUser
• A talk for Bathcamp titled iPhone apps you must own, although it's not actually about that.
  See the talks page for more detail
• Alkaline review for for MacUser
• Attractive with glasses, for The Morning News
• One Spring Day, co-written with my colleagues at The Morning News
• Love sic for The Morning News
• The crippling fear of corriearklet for The Morning News
• Cash faces its final call for The Guardian

2008

• Various posts for Cult of Mac
• Various posts for The Unofficial Apple Weblog
• An interesting study of iPhone usability
• Mr Bowyer's Fantastic Machine, tech reporting of a different sort for The Morning News
• A good idea: Genius for the App Storefor Inside iPhone
• Online charity begins at the home page, feature for the Daily Telegraph
• Dropbox review for MacUser
• Conjure 3 review
• Google goes back in time for its 10th birthday
• Forget email: try postcards from the cutting edge for the Irish News
• Phone finger gives a helping hand for Inside iPhone
• The wonderful world of appvertising, comment for Inside iPhone
• Experimental site as music just a click away for the Irish News
• Little Big Planet whets new game generation's appetite for The Irish News
• Bloggers in the House of Lords, a PA column
• iPhone app investment thriving, for Inside iPhone
• Ultimate DVD Player review for MacUser
• Apple's mad MailWrangler moment for Inside iPhone
• Idiots on the App Store: a necessary evil? for Inside iPhone
• Maritime museum catches history surfers
• Councillors get blogging to keep in touch
• Matt dances his way to a sponsored holiday fund
• Get the knol with the new Googlepedia
• Software as a service for BT's Upload magazine
• 20 blogs to read while the boss is away for MacUser
• A bright future for corporate iPhone OS dev?, for Inside iPhone
• No more trying to calculate the cassette time left thanks to Muxtapes; for my PA column
• iShrink review for MacUser
• The iPhone knows what you want ... and where you are, for the Birmingham Post
• Hello. Again, an introductory post for my new gig at Inside iPhone
• A new version of Dopplr, an email newsletter for Dopplr
• Twitter searches for the next step, a feature-length interview for the Guardian's technology pages
• An article on SEM (Search Engine Marketing) and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) for BT's Upload magazine (created on BT's behalf by Redwood Publishing)
• Radiohead breaks new ground with digital video
• Various bits of copywriting (newsletters and user info) for Dopplr
• They work for you - so have a look at what they're up to; as used here by the Birmingham Post
• TapeDeck review for MacUser
• Times RSS reader review for MacUser
• Our gazetteer upgrade, an email newsletter for Dopplr
• How to make your web site more search engine friendly, some brief tips for readers of BT Insight, commissioned by Redwood Publishing on BT's behalf
• Fluid review for MacUser
• Flow review for MacUser
• How researchers are helping to keep your computer in the picture; as used by the Birmingham Post
• Presentation for Informa: Writing for the Web. Private event, but you can read the slides I prepared and some thoughts on why I didn't use them
• Digital radio's future already heading into the past, for the PA column
• Mailplane review for MacUser
• Trust technology and store your data online, for the Birmingham Post
• Screenflow review; for MacUser
• BOINC and SETI and the hunt for aliens, published by the Birmingham Post
• In search of the new Google, for the Daily Telegraph
• How to get that advertising bullseye off your back, published by the Birmingham Post
• Leap review for MacUser
• Meander review, another for MacUser
• Searchme looks nice but it doesn't have Google's speed in the Birmingham Post
• A writer by any other name for The Morning News
• Protecting your computer, consumer advice for young people at thesite.org
• Understanding BitTorrent, for thesite.org
• Snapper review for MacUser
• Who'll be swallowed up by Silicon Valley?, business comment in the Birmingham Post
• MacJournal 5 review for MacUser
• Slim pickings from the MacBook Air in the Birmingham Post
• Scribbles review for MacUser
• Please spool to end of tape before playing other side, an essay for The Morning News
• Heavy price for a slim and light laptop, reporting on the new MacBook Air for The Irish News
• The web helps the music industry, for the Birmingham Post

2007

MacUser magazine:

• Little Snitch review
• Cocktail review
• Taskpaper review
• Conjure review
• Browsers mini round-up - five modern OS X browsers compared and contrasted
• Streamline your Mac - a feature inspired by the minimalist file organisation approach advocated by Ethan Schoonover at Kinkless.com
• SketchBox review
• MarsEdit 2 review
• Skim review
• iClip 4 review
• Posterino review
• iGet 2.6 review
• Trapper Keeper review
• Power Manager 3 review
• Flypath review
• Actiontastic review
• Instant Gallery review
• Nudge Nudge Punakea review

The Daily Telegraph:

• Apple versus the iHackers - have gadget, will hack
• Don't think about it, just write - thoughts on the phenomenon that is tumblelogs (reader opinions)
• Like to send the world a text? - explaining Twitter for the Telegraph
• Teletext fights for a place in the digital world
• The future at your fingertips - all about multitouch and where it will go next

Mac Devcenter articles:

• The Good Easy on OS X - how to make your Mac a simpler, more productive environment
• Smarter ways to work with PDFs
• Indie Mac development in the UK
• Introducing Google Desktop for Mac - written at top speed to be as newsy as a feature can be
• Also many blog posts for the O'Reilly Mac Devcenter blog

Syndicated column for PA :

(As used by a variety of publications)

• How Apple's Leopard will change your spots
• How the iPhone took on the phone hackers
• The Hidden Power in Wordpress for Linux Insider.
• China calls in the website cybercops in the Birmingham Post
• Socialising the Facebook way in the Birmingham Post
• Finding the right address while avoiding a web of confusion
• Friendly faces all over the world
• Tumblelog - the new kid on the block
• Speedier ways to launch applications
• Vista brings better parental control
• A good old-fashioned new service
• A more human approach to problem solving on the net

journalism.co.uk:

• Flood-hit council turns to blogging for news

BBC Online:

• A library bigger than any building - interviewing Aaron Swartz about his work on the Open Library project

Macworld magazine:

• At home in Google Earth

The Morning News:

• Murder and the Masseuse - "I was completely manipulated"

Copywriting:

• Expectnation - I produced contextual help content for this startup web application
• YouCanDo Guides - distilling the Scarman Trust's years of experience in community work into easy-to-use, free-to-download information packs