Mobile phones are closer to becoming smart wallets, following agreement among mobile operators on an approach to near field communications (NFC).
NFC is a short-range wireless technology like RFID tags, which are used to track stock by retailers. If you use an Oyster on London Underground you will get the idaea real quic
The tags inside phones could have personal information stored in them and so could act as car keys, money, tickets and travel cards says the BBC.
Mobile firms representing 40% of the global mobile market back NFC.
There are two elements to NFC technology, which is sometimes called "contactless" applications - a tag, which is inside the phone and can store data and transmit it wirelessly, and a reader, which can access the information stored on tags.
A mobile equipped with NFC technology could, for example, buy a concert ticket over the phone which would then hold those details, together with the details of the phone user, on the tag inside the handset.
An RFID device at the concert would then "read" the concert ticket details on the tag when the phone is passed close to it.
NFC technology could also be used to exchange data between phones, such as photos and music. Not to mention corporate and brand messages. How fast do you really want to issue financial information... here is your chance....
Mobile phones are seen as powerful tools for NFC technology because they are able to download new pieces of information - from topping up a travel card, to new songs, ticket information and electronic keycard data etc.
Now all you Public Relations folk..... don't get too excited. You may need to be a tiny bit creative to use this form of communication.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Near Field Communication
Mobile phones are closer to becoming smart wallets, following agreement among mobile operators on an approach to near field communications (NFC).
NFC is a short-range wireless technology like RFID tags, which are used to track stock by retailers. If you use an Oyster on London Underground you will get the idaea real quic
The tags inside phones could have personal information stored in them and so could act as car keys, money, tickets and travel cards says the BBC.
Mobile firms representing 40% of the global mobile market back NFC.
There are two elements to NFC technology, which is sometimes called "contactless" applications - a tag, which is inside the phone and can store data and transmit it wirelessly, and a reader, which can access the information stored on tags.
A mobile equipped with NFC technology could, for example, buy a concert ticket over the phone which would then hold those details, together with the details of the phone user, on the tag inside the handset.
An RFID device at the concert would then "read" the concert ticket details on the tag when the phone is passed close to it.
NFC technology could also be used to exchange data between phones, such as photos and music. Not to mention corporate and brand messages. How fast do you really want to issue financial information... here is your chance....
Mobile phones are seen as powerful tools for NFC technology because they are able to download new pieces of information - from topping up a travel card, to new songs, ticket information and electronic keycard data etc.
Now all you Public Relations folk..... don't get too excited. You may need to be a tiny bit creative to use this form of communication.
NFC is a short-range wireless technology like RFID tags, which are used to track stock by retailers. If you use an Oyster on London Underground you will get the idaea real quic
The tags inside phones could have personal information stored in them and so could act as car keys, money, tickets and travel cards says the BBC.
Mobile firms representing 40% of the global mobile market back NFC.
There are two elements to NFC technology, which is sometimes called "contactless" applications - a tag, which is inside the phone and can store data and transmit it wirelessly, and a reader, which can access the information stored on tags.
A mobile equipped with NFC technology could, for example, buy a concert ticket over the phone which would then hold those details, together with the details of the phone user, on the tag inside the handset.
An RFID device at the concert would then "read" the concert ticket details on the tag when the phone is passed close to it.
NFC technology could also be used to exchange data between phones, such as photos and music. Not to mention corporate and brand messages. How fast do you really want to issue financial information... here is your chance....
Mobile phones are seen as powerful tools for NFC technology because they are able to download new pieces of information - from topping up a travel card, to new songs, ticket information and electronic keycard data etc.
Now all you Public Relations folk..... don't get too excited. You may need to be a tiny bit creative to use this form of communication.
Near Field Communication
Mobile phones are closer to becoming smart wallets, following agreement among mobile operators on an approach to near field communications (NFC).
NFC is a short-range wireless technology like RFID tags, which are used to track stock by retailers. If you use an Oyster on London Underground you will get the idaea real quic
The tags inside phones could have personal information stored in them and so could act as car keys, money, tickets and travel cards says the BBC.
Mobile firms representing 40% of the global mobile market back NFC.
There are two elements to NFC technology, which is sometimes called "contactless" applications - a tag, which is inside the phone and can store data and transmit it wirelessly, and a reader, which can access the information stored on tags.
A mobile equipped with NFC technology could, for example, buy a concert ticket over the phone which would then hold those details, together with the details of the phone user, on the tag inside the handset.
An RFID device at the concert would then "read" the concert ticket details on the tag when the phone is passed close to it.
NFC technology could also be used to exchange data between phones, such as photos and music. Not to mention corporate and brand messages. How fast do you really want to issue financial information... here is your chance....
Mobile phones are seen as powerful tools for NFC technology because they are able to download new pieces of information - from topping up a travel card, to new songs, ticket information and electronic keycard data etc.
Now all you Public Relations folk..... don't get too excited. You may need to be a tiny bit creative to use this form of communication.
NFC is a short-range wireless technology like RFID tags, which are used to track stock by retailers. If you use an Oyster on London Underground you will get the idaea real quic
The tags inside phones could have personal information stored in them and so could act as car keys, money, tickets and travel cards says the BBC.
Mobile firms representing 40% of the global mobile market back NFC.
There are two elements to NFC technology, which is sometimes called "contactless" applications - a tag, which is inside the phone and can store data and transmit it wirelessly, and a reader, which can access the information stored on tags.
A mobile equipped with NFC technology could, for example, buy a concert ticket over the phone which would then hold those details, together with the details of the phone user, on the tag inside the handset.
An RFID device at the concert would then "read" the concert ticket details on the tag when the phone is passed close to it.
NFC technology could also be used to exchange data between phones, such as photos and music. Not to mention corporate and brand messages. How fast do you really want to issue financial information... here is your chance....
Mobile phones are seen as powerful tools for NFC technology because they are able to download new pieces of information - from topping up a travel card, to new songs, ticket information and electronic keycard data etc.
Now all you Public Relations folk..... don't get too excited. You may need to be a tiny bit creative to use this form of communication.
Near Field Communication
Mobile phones are closer to becoming smart wallets, following agreement among mobile operators on an approach to near field communications (NFC).
NFC is a short-range wireless technology like RFID tags, which are used to track stock by retailers. If you use an Oyster on London Underground you will get the idaea real quic
The tags inside phones could have personal information stored in them and so could act as car keys, money, tickets and travel cards says the BBC.
Mobile firms representing 40% of the global mobile market back NFC.
There are two elements to NFC technology, which is sometimes called "contactless" applications - a tag, which is inside the phone and can store data and transmit it wirelessly, and a reader, which can access the information stored on tags.
A mobile equipped with NFC technology could, for example, buy a concert ticket over the phone which would then hold those details, together with the details of the phone user, on the tag inside the handset.
An RFID device at the concert would then "read" the concert ticket details on the tag when the phone is passed close to it.
NFC technology could also be used to exchange data between phones, such as photos and music. Not to mention corporate and brand messages. How fast do you really want to issue financial information... here is your chance....
Mobile phones are seen as powerful tools for NFC technology because they are able to download new pieces of information - from topping up a travel card, to new songs, ticket information and electronic keycard data etc.
Now all you Public Relations folk..... don't get too excited. You may need to be a tiny bit creative to use this form of communication.
NFC is a short-range wireless technology like RFID tags, which are used to track stock by retailers. If you use an Oyster on London Underground you will get the idaea real quic
The tags inside phones could have personal information stored in them and so could act as car keys, money, tickets and travel cards says the BBC.
Mobile firms representing 40% of the global mobile market back NFC.
There are two elements to NFC technology, which is sometimes called "contactless" applications - a tag, which is inside the phone and can store data and transmit it wirelessly, and a reader, which can access the information stored on tags.
A mobile equipped with NFC technology could, for example, buy a concert ticket over the phone which would then hold those details, together with the details of the phone user, on the tag inside the handset.
An RFID device at the concert would then "read" the concert ticket details on the tag when the phone is passed close to it.
NFC technology could also be used to exchange data between phones, such as photos and music. Not to mention corporate and brand messages. How fast do you really want to issue financial information... here is your chance....
Mobile phones are seen as powerful tools for NFC technology because they are able to download new pieces of information - from topping up a travel card, to new songs, ticket information and electronic keycard data etc.
Now all you Public Relations folk..... don't get too excited. You may need to be a tiny bit creative to use this form of communication.
10 Minute News
Jon Silk was working his fingers hard at Lewis PR' Industry Forum this morning blogging my comments in near real time. This is Public Relations served up fast and fun.
My points are well reported which is nice . The significance of 'The Long Tail' is one that needs to be deeply implanted in the minds of both publishers and Public Relations people. Articles, photos and videos have a long , long life.
The picture is not as frightening as it the photo seems to show. Paul Charles of Virgin Atlantic chose to bring two of its new Premium Economy seats to the Forum and I just had to try one out. Paul Hender from Metrica is the other guy measuring it up.
Of course, The Lewis Forum also showed good practice. Here was an event that they presented, and blogged about at the same time. It extended the reach of the event and the Lewis brand.
PR has changed.
Very comfortable and roomy. Better than most club class seats. I now need to try out for real.
Slagging-off legal in California
PC Pro reports The California Supreme Court has ruled that individuals - such as bloggers - who use the Internet to distribute information from another source may not be held to account if the material is considered defamatory. This is a reversal of a previous lower court decision.
The ruling supports federal law that clears individuals of liability if they transmit, but are not the source of, defamatory information. It expands protections the law gives to Internet service providers to include bloggers and activist Web sites.
'We acknowledge that recognizing broad immunity for defamatory republication on the Internet has some troubling consequences,' California's high court justices said in their opinion.
'Until Congress chooses to revise the settled law in this area, however, plaintiffs who contend they were defamed in an Internet posting may only seek recovery from the original source of the statement,' the decision stated.
The law in Europe is NOR the same - don't defame.
Bono ay Habbo
The Guardian has sniffed out Bono and the rest of U2 hosting a pub quiz for all comers, while elsewhere R&B star Jamelia holds court in her own beauty salon.
Next door, teen pop sensations McFly and Shayne Ward are chatting to a throng of inquisitive fans and a new boy band is wandering the corridors trying to drum up attention.
No, these are not the wild fantasies of a tabloid gossip hack, but scenes typical of Habbo Hotel, a 3D online world popular with teens which is being targeted by record companies desperate to find new ways to reach this crucial audience.
So Second Live does not have it all its own way!
On-line Retailers grab the money and run - survey
In a Release issued by Chameleon PR for Blast Radius, Research examining the whole online shopping experience - from first visit to returning unwanted items at the UK’s leading non-food online retailers - has found that even the best online retailers could deliver a very much better shopping experience.
The research, carried out by Marketing Assistance Ltd analysed the top 28 UK online retailers (selected by traffic volume) grading their performance in the run up to the expected boom in web shopping predicted for Christmas 2006.
The researchers purchased a single item from each of the sites, and then sought to return the product once it had been received. They graded their experience against a set of 36 subjective and objective criteria at every step of the process.
The study results show that investment by online retailers tends to focus on what they care about most, securing the sale.
The loosers seem to be B&Q and HMV.
HMV is still, one presumens fighting Napster and music file shareing by ripping off custmers.
1. Amazon UK
2. Dell EMEA
3. Apple Computer UK
4. Next
5. Comet
6. Tesco/ QVC UK
7. Currys/ Littlewoods
8. Asos
9. John Lewis
10. Hewlett-Packard/Marks and Spencer
I think that Wiltshire farm Foods is darn good too.
The research, carried out by Marketing Assistance Ltd analysed the top 28 UK online retailers (selected by traffic volume) grading their performance in the run up to the expected boom in web shopping predicted for Christmas 2006.
The researchers purchased a single item from each of the sites, and then sought to return the product once it had been received. They graded their experience against a set of 36 subjective and objective criteria at every step of the process.
The study results show that investment by online retailers tends to focus on what they care about most, securing the sale.
The loosers seem to be B&Q and HMV.
HMV is still, one presumens fighting Napster and music file shareing by ripping off custmers.
1. Amazon UK
2. Dell EMEA
3. Apple Computer UK
4. Next
5. Comet
6. Tesco/ QVC UK
7. Currys/ Littlewoods
8. Asos
9. John Lewis
10. Hewlett-Packard/Marks and Spencer
I think that Wiltshire farm Foods is darn good too.
Enterprise blogging tools
Automattic, the company behind Wordpress, has announced a partnership with RSS platform provider KnowNow to extend its publishing tools to the enterprise market.
The two companies have developed KnowNow WordPress Enterprise Edition, a blog platform for businesses which will be in direct competition with Six Apart’s Movable Type.
The platform will include Automattic's spam solution Akismet and a stats package, and will be marketed by KnowNow to its base of enterprise customers.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Remember when
I have been looking back at the early days of the Internet and came across the early citations still held about Usenet posting in Google Groups.
Today they seem quaint:
Who remembers the debate between Word Perfect and Word. It was a big issue when we were all decisding which standards we are going to use (and I remember the pain moving to Word)
Today they seem quaint:
----- 11 May 1981 Oldest Usenet article in the Google Groups ArchiveFirst mention of Microsoft!
|
-------- May 1981 First mention of Microsoft
|
-------- Jun 1981 A logical map of Usenet when it was still small
|
-------- Jun 1981 First mention of Microsoft MS-DOS
|
-------- Aug 1981 First review of the IBM-PC
|
-------- Oct 1981 TCP/IP Digest #1
Who remembers the debate between Word Perfect and Word. It was a big issue when we were all decisding which standards we are going to use (and I remember the pain moving to Word)
Newspapers send bloggers to comment on Ashes
Manchester Evening News blogger Graham Hardcastle flew out to Brisbane on Friday and will be filing regular reports for the paper from Australia. As England attempt to get through the Ashes series without suffering any more injuries (and who knows, maybe actually retain the damn urn as well) Graham will be reporting for the paper and he'll also be sharing his thoughts in his own blog on this site.
Perhaps it is now time for PR people to have a list of media bloggers.
Perhaps it is now time for PR people to have a list of media bloggers.
Important news
Cricket fans will be able to watch video highlights of the Ashes tests at the end of play every day on the internet.
BBC Sport will show 10 minutes of the best moments of every day of each Ashes test.
BBC Sport will show 10 minutes of the best moments of every day of each Ashes test.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Monitoring video coverage
Eric Schonfield has noted a new PR service that allows PR people to monitor video on the web (e.g. YouTube posts). He also notes some mashup opportunities too.
Teens rule the web
Joel has this snipit: if website A has 700 incoming links from 700 different websites and website B has 700 incoming links, all of them from various pages on MySpace, website B will be ranked higher in Google's search results.
Social bookmarking
TRhank you Barry for the widget to add the social bookmarking boxes below and to Joel for finding him. This is on Blogger beta so it was a bit of a fiddle but works ok.
The end of Knitting as we know it
Well, you know... that jumble of wires behind your desk. The power for the wifi connections, the camara power cable, the phone charger... knitting behind the desk.
It could all just go away according to BBC reports.
Imagine... full .... no batteries... mobile.
It could all just go away according to BBC reports.
Imagine... full .... no batteries... mobile.
Mobile Moguls Mashup
What happens if you bolt on services and charge for it.
Customers leave in droves.
3G technology was seen as just such an opportunity by the cell phone companies . No one played. It cost a fortune.
Now
At last
Beeb tells us 3 says it is going to make the mobile internet more interesting.
It is launching a partnership with internet firms including Skype, Google and eBay.
The promise is that users will be able to make free internet phone calls, watch their home television on their phone and tap into their home computers on the move.
The price for all these services will be a flat-rate monthly fee.
What took so long guys?
Now we can run some serious integrated (mashup) PR campiagns.
Customers leave in droves.
3G technology was seen as just such an opportunity by the cell phone companies . No one played. It cost a fortune.
Now
At last
Beeb tells us 3 says it is going to make the mobile internet more interesting.
It is launching a partnership with internet firms including Skype, Google and eBay.
The promise is that users will be able to make free internet phone calls, watch their home television on their phone and tap into their home computers on the move.
The price for all these services will be a flat-rate monthly fee.
What took so long guys?
Now we can run some serious integrated (mashup) PR campiagns.
The way we are
I am not in the habit of 'lifting' big blocks of content from other blogs or newspapers. I would rather the source speak for itself. But I am going to steal a big chunk of John Naughton's contribution to the Society of Editors conference reproduced online at the Observer.
I think he is a trifle harsh. OK, so the new Telegraph facility is a trifle poky for the journalists and the BBC is buying video clips from local newspapers. The key is that the publishers are now beginning to see that content is only king when the king serves his people.. Hidden behind some walled garden the best that can be expected is a peasants revolt.
Now look at the PR courses offered by the CIPR, Universities and training organisations. There is scant recognition of the real channels for communication and an obsession with gaining admission to the walled garden.
Today's 21-year-olds were born in 1985. The internet was two years old in January that year, and Nintendo launched 'Super Mario Brothers', the first blockbuster game. When they were going to primary school in 1990, Tim Berners-Lee was busy inventing the world wide web. The first SMS message was sent in 1992, when these kids were seven. Amazon and eBay launched in 1995. Hotmail was launched in 1996, when they were heading towards secondary school.
Around that time, pay-as-you-go mobile phone tariffs arrived, enabling teenagers to have phones, and the first instant messaging services appeared. Google launched in 1998, just as they were becoming teenagers. Napster and Blogger.com launched in 1999 when they were doing GCSEs. Wikipedia and the iPod appeared in 2001. Early social networking services appeared in 2002 when they were doing A-levels. Skype launched in 2003, as they were heading for university, and YouTube launched in 2005, as they were heading toward graduation...
...Now look round the average British newsroom. How many hacks have a Flickr account or a MySpace profile? How many sub-editors have ever uploaded a video to YouTube? How many editors have used BitTorrent? (How many know what BitTorrent is?).
I think he is a trifle harsh. OK, so the new Telegraph facility is a trifle poky for the journalists and the BBC is buying video clips from local newspapers. The key is that the publishers are now beginning to see that content is only king when the king serves his people.. Hidden behind some walled garden the best that can be expected is a peasants revolt.
Now look at the PR courses offered by the CIPR, Universities and training organisations. There is scant recognition of the real channels for communication and an obsession with gaining admission to the walled garden.
Copy wrong - a report for (PM in waiting) Gordo
Silicon.com's Tim Ferguson writes that some copyright laws are as much as 300 years old and their legal interpretation means consumers who copy CDs and DVDs in order to transfer them to their iPods or equivalent media players are breaking the law.
Kay Withers, who researched and compiled a report for the Institute for Public Policy Research
told silicon.com this is a "key immediate issue for consumers" as "IP law affects absolutely everyone". She added that copyright law needs to be updated to come in line with public preferences for the way media is consumed.
There is a great case for significant lostening of control. Very little copyright material has any value. Mostly it is a vehicle for creating value. A new legal structure that recognised copyright as the vehicle for creating value would be a big step forward.
OK - you have to listen to Luke Armour
Its just too good. A sendup for all FIR listeners to laugh at for weeks.
This is a really great case study if you want to explain Internet Agency.
This is a really great case study if you want to explain Internet Agency.
Number 10
Number 10 launched the scheme to allow people to petition Prime Minister Tony Blair online, saying it encourages more campaigners than "ever before".
The most popular "e-petition" so far is one calling for the repeal of the 2004 Hunting Act reports the BBC.
The most popular "e-petition" so far is one calling for the repeal of the 2004 Hunting Act reports the BBC.
PR Strategy needed when using social media
When The Carphone Warehouse boss Charles Dunstone started his corporate blog earlier this year, he was hailed as a cutting-edge chief executive; a man prepared to open up the inner workings of his company to the wider world and willing to communicate directly with his customers, writed Fiona Walsh at the Guardian.
She continues:
Which is why using social media needs a Public Relations strategy in place before it is used.But that was April, when Britain's biggest mobile phones retailer was riding high on a wave of favourable publicity about its "free" TalkTalk broadband offer.
Scroll forward a few months and the web is full of tales of "My TalkTalk Hell" as the group struggles to cope with the demand it so badly under-estimated, leaving thousands of customers angry and frustrated.So what did Dunstone do at the height of the crisis? He simply stopped blogging for two and a half month. His post this Monday largely consists of an apology for his lengthy absence and a reassurance that the broadband supply problems are being worked out.
According to online marketing and communications consultant Debbie Weil, author of The Corporate Blogging Book, Dunstone committed the worst mistake a blogger can make: to start a blog and then abandon it, whether through lack of time or lack of inspiration.
"It makes you look lame," says Weil. "It's important to post regular entries, even if it's only a few lines. An absence of more than two or three weeks is an eternity in the blogosphere."
Pearson write a book using a wiki
Pearson the publisher is going to have a crack at writing a business book using a wiki and an online community dedicated to churning it out.
Not the first but interesting to see a big publisher using social media.
The book called "We Are Smarter Than Me" will look at how businesses can use online communities, consumer-generated media such as blogs, and other Web content to help in their marketing, pricing, research and service.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the project is being controlled through the WeAreSmarter.org web site. Chapter headings and a few starter pages were penned to direct the project. The big idea is that the community writes the information and provides more anecdotes.
Not the first but interesting to see a big publisher using social media.
AIM 6.0
AOL has launched AIM 6.0, an enhanced version of its instant messaging service. As one of the most used IM services this is a channel that is important in Public Relations and features offering deeper integration with the ISP's social networking needs to be noted.
AIM 6.0 offers a mobile dashboard to forward instant messages to users' mobile phones, and an expanded Buddy List which can now hold up to 1,000 contacts.
Automatic tagging
Every person who has digital photos faces the problem of forgetting valuable information about people or objects captured on an image. Moreover, as the number of images grows, an ability to quickly find the desired image becomes crucial. Now you can annotate individual elements or parts of the image. Its a really handy idea for tagging photos in social media. It is something PR people need to be able to manage large photo libraries and tag them for use on the web.
Users can place easy-to-hide annotation tags directly on a picture in order to describe specific objects. Each tag can have an arbitrary location and contain a free text capturing the names of the people, links to Web sites or other images, explanations, translations of inscriptions, and more. The tags can be hidden in a click of a button so the original view is never spoiled.
As images are annotated, FotoTagger lets users easily find people or objects by their names or other text typed in the tags across piles of digital pictures.
To let users share annotation with an image wherever it goes, annotation tags are embedded in an ordinary JPEG file meaning the image content description always stays with the image itself. Users can publish tagged photos to Blogger.com, LiveJournal, as well as to their own Web sites, Flickr and other social media.
More information from www.phototagger.com.
Users can place easy-to-hide annotation tags directly on a picture in order to describe specific objects. Each tag can have an arbitrary location and contain a free text capturing the names of the people, links to Web sites or other images, explanations, translations of inscriptions, and more. The tags can be hidden in a click of a button so the original view is never spoiled.
As images are annotated, FotoTagger lets users easily find people or objects by their names or other text typed in the tags across piles of digital pictures.
To let users share annotation with an image wherever it goes, annotation tags are embedded in an ordinary JPEG file meaning the image content description always stays with the image itself. Users can publish tagged photos to Blogger.com, LiveJournal, as well as to their own Web sites, Flickr and other social media.
More information from www.phototagger.com.
Citizen web - an issue for PR
IT Pro had this story this week.
Home-made videos, songs, blogs and other user-generated content will eventually exceed the amount of professionally produced web-based content, claims a senior Google executive.
Asked if the volume of home-produced entertainment and information could overtake the amount of professional content, Nikesh Arora, European head of the internet search engine said: "Of course. Definitely."
This will mean that PR people will have to be 'involved' with the creators of such content.
Is there a pint in it?
Will Sturgeon reports on what we really think about personal authentication and security issues - is there a pint in it.
For PR's in events management, this is an opportunity... no more checking people in at events - just look into thier eyes.Although opposition to biometrics - the authentication of the individual based on factors such as iris or fingerprint recognition - remains strong, support appears to be growing as long as there is a tangible benefit for the average man and woman on the street.
And perhaps the most average activity of all - going into the local pub for a pint – is one area where biometrics could find a more welcoming constituency, according to the results of a silicon.com poll.
UK sans-zunes
Some corporate speak is just not believable.
Meantime PR should be gearing up to offer stuff on the new platform.
Microsoft says it has no firm plans to launch the 'iPod killer' Zune digital media player anywhere outside of the US following its official release later this month.
Zune will go head-to-head with Apple's iPod when it goes on sale in the US from 14 November, and comments from the darkside this week claimed the device would not hit the UK until late 2007 or early 2008.
With half the US population ready to trade in their iPods for Zunes I can't imagine Microsoft waiting for another competitor to grab the action.Meantime PR should be gearing up to offer stuff on the new platform.
PayPal have 33% UK market penetration
One-third of all UK adults now have a PayPal account, according to the online payment company.
Not only does this open opportunities for e-commerce, it means there is a currency out there for more on-line PR as well. As direct PR generated relationships mature, the buying proposition can be as a direct result of PR activity.
Currently, around 15 million people in the UK use the system to make and receive online payments.
PayPal CEO Geoff Iddison said advances in technology and the demands of a "time-poor" society are transforming the way we shop and transfer money.
More about heads in the oven
Second Life - the corporate invasion
Besides Crayon and Text100, lots of real-world businesses that have set up outposts in Second Life.
Adidas
Nissan
Sun Microsystems
Reebok
Penguin
American Apparel
Reuters
CNET Networks
PA Consulting
Yankee Stadium
Bartle Bogle Hegarty
Besides Crayon and Text100, lots of real-world businesses that have set up outposts in Second Life.
Adidas
Nissan
Sun Microsystems
Reebok
Penguin
American Apparel
Reuters
CNET Networks
PA Consulting
Yankee Stadium
Bartle Bogle Hegarty
On line more secure than you think
e-commerce is far safer than it is perceived to be. And yet the message appears not to be getting through.
Sure there are problems - where there is money there is crime - but statistics from PayPal (which has a very obvious reason to want to address these concerns) suggest the majority of UK adults still think the internet poses a considerable risk.
And, according to Silicon.com
A credit card number has never - to our knowledge - been intercepted in flight. This is because, to use an analogy, it is like trying to shoot down the smallest, fastest moving bird through a thicket of trees.
To further the analogy, it's far easier for the criminals to wait therefore until all these birds are sat in one big coop with all the other birds and then try to find a way to take them all rather than wrestling with the complexity of taking them one by one.
As such, the database is more commonly the target than the transaction. And databases are at risk whether it is an ecommerce site or a high street shop processing the transaction.
e-media spend - £36 per year per person
Nielsen/NetRatings reported that UK consumers are starting to embrace the idea of paying for their e-media.
On average people are spending £36 per year. Video content is closing the gap on audio, accounting for 43 per cent of spending.
The biggest spenders are unsurprisingly the 18 to 24 age group, which spends an average of £5.34 per month on online content. Men shell out around 40 per cent more than women per month.
Does this mean that men need more entertaining.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Interactive video
The Agent Provocateur film, will be the first viral film that allows viewers to click on objects within a moving video and be directed straight to the relevant information webpage/site.
The viral trailer is being distributed this week by NovaRising via interactive video email, which opens directly within the receiver’s email application. Initial click through rates of up to 56% have been recorded so far in the campaign.
In the meantime, in the interests of factual completion, I thought you may like to see the video in YouTube.
It cuts out the email middleman.
The viral trailer is being distributed this week by NovaRising via interactive video email, which opens directly within the receiver’s email application. Initial click through rates of up to 56% have been recorded so far in the campaign.
In the meantime, in the interests of factual completion, I thought you may like to see the video in YouTube.
It cuts out the email middleman.
Integrate email and cell phones plus mobile video and podcasts
Allisblue has announced a partnership with European Telecom, to offer its 'SMS2mail' service in the UK.
The technology creates a link between SMS and email and transform all types
of mobile telephones into Web remote controls.
By sending an sms (or placeing a a call) to initiate the transfer of content, applications can include:
News briefs, administrative forms, access to a contest, downloading of an MP3, Video clips, Manuals and even a video game.
This will be a useful tool for all kinds of PR activity including issues and crisis management, information for journalists, podcasting and lots of other things.
The technology creates a link between SMS and email and transform all types
of mobile telephones into Web remote controls.
By sending an sms (or placeing a a call) to initiate the transfer of content, applications can include:
News briefs, administrative forms, access to a contest, downloading of an MP3, Video clips, Manuals and even a video game.
This will be a useful tool for all kinds of PR activity including issues and crisis management, information for journalists, podcasting and lots of other things.
The Online PR opportunity
A study, commissioned by Bluestreak, reveals consumer behaviour and attitudes towards emerging technologies including podcasts, text messages (SMS), RSS, blogs and message boards as well as the more traditional email platform.
The rate of adoption for new communication technologies represents a huge opportunity for Public Relations. The findings of the survey help us find out why.
People use a range of channles: 100 percent of respondents currently use email compared to 88 percent using text messaging; 71 percent using message boards; 63 percent using blogs; 36 percent using podcasting and 28 percent using RSS.
There is acceptance of adjunct messages and even advertising as the trade-off for good content and a further willingness to accept ads and "sponsored" content as long as the information is relevant and high-quality. As always, over-communicating can have an adverse effect both on the marketer's brand and their bottom line.
The proliferation of sponsored channels seems to have an impact on consumers’ usage (30 percent would stop reading a blog they know it is sponsored, 34 percent would stop reading a sponsored message board). Text messaging advertising is cited as the most unpopular form of advertising communication among these five emerging channels (77 percent of respondents say there is too much text advertising and 80 percent feel negatively towards text message advertisers).
A majority of respondants expressed a feeling thta ads are either “random” “get in the way” or “are not directed to me”
Although consumers accept the existence of advertising, most do not respond unless they feel the offer is "personalized" or "useful"
Although podcasting is included in this criticism, it also had the highest score among its peer set on relevance/personalization with 25 percent feeling the ads accomplished that goal.
Consumers are mainly concerned about viruses, identity theft and spyware as byproducts of using such channels (64, 56 and 53 percent respectively). Spam concerns were listed below these at 44 percent.
Respondents consider “emails they once signed up for but no longer want” as spam.
Building communities would still seem to offer the best opportunity.
The rate of adoption for new communication technologies represents a huge opportunity for Public Relations. The findings of the survey help us find out why.
People use a range of channles: 100 percent of respondents currently use email compared to 88 percent using text messaging; 71 percent using message boards; 63 percent using blogs; 36 percent using podcasting and 28 percent using RSS.
There is acceptance of adjunct messages and even advertising as the trade-off for good content and a further willingness to accept ads and "sponsored" content as long as the information is relevant and high-quality. As always, over-communicating can have an adverse effect both on the marketer's brand and their bottom line.
The proliferation of sponsored channels seems to have an impact on consumers’ usage (30 percent would stop reading a blog they know it is sponsored, 34 percent would stop reading a sponsored message board). Text messaging advertising is cited as the most unpopular form of advertising communication among these five emerging channels (77 percent of respondents say there is too much text advertising and 80 percent feel negatively towards text message advertisers).
A majority of respondants expressed a feeling thta ads are either “random” “get in the way” or “are not directed to me”
Although consumers accept the existence of advertising, most do not respond unless they feel the offer is "personalized" or "useful"
Although podcasting is included in this criticism, it also had the highest score among its peer set on relevance/personalization with 25 percent feeling the ads accomplished that goal.
Consumers are mainly concerned about viruses, identity theft and spyware as byproducts of using such channels (64, 56 and 53 percent respectively). Spam concerns were listed below these at 44 percent.
Respondents consider “emails they once signed up for but no longer want” as spam.
Building communities would still seem to offer the best opportunity.
PR TV now playing
PR practitioners can now host their own on line video Screening Rooms, inviting others to watch high-quality video content, while they control the video experience.
Online portal Lycos has launched a new site that lets users watch video content and chat with other users at the same time.
Initially available as a beta test, Lycos Cinema uses a patent-pending video platform which allows users to view and chat in real-time.
Online portal Lycos has launched a new site that lets users watch video content and chat with other users at the same time.
Initially available as a beta test, Lycos Cinema uses a patent-pending video platform which allows users to view and chat in real-time.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
IBM sticks its head in the oven
On Monday I commented about how we have such an awful time with our heads stuck in the virtual world of our computer screens. Well IBM has already given it a lot of thought.
CEO Sam Palmisano announced a $100 million spending plan in front of more than 7,000 employees at a Town Hall meeting held on the popular virtual world Second Life. Palmisano unveiled 10 new business opportunities the company intends to pursue.
Each of those ideas will receive approximately $10 million in funding to be spent over the next 12 months. One of the ideas Palmisano will announce is that IBM is forming a new business unit to help clients use lessons learned from virtual worlds to real-world business problems.
Chief technology officer, Irving Wladawsky-Berger, is on record saying (on his blog) "using such virtual, highly visual capabilities to help us design, simulate, optimize, operate and manage business activities of all sorts is going to be one of the most important breakthroughs in the IT industry over the next decade."
"I am convinced that dealing with such business applications in a kind of SimBusiness fashion -- that is, the application feels like a realistic simulation of the business and its operations -- will not only transform IT but business itself."
I have no doubt.
CEO Sam Palmisano announced a $100 million spending plan in front of more than 7,000 employees at a Town Hall meeting held on the popular virtual world Second Life. Palmisano unveiled 10 new business opportunities the company intends to pursue.
Each of those ideas will receive approximately $10 million in funding to be spent over the next 12 months. One of the ideas Palmisano will announce is that IBM is forming a new business unit to help clients use lessons learned from virtual worlds to real-world business problems.
Chief technology officer, Irving Wladawsky-Berger, is on record saying (on his blog) "using such virtual, highly visual capabilities to help us design, simulate, optimize, operate and manage business activities of all sorts is going to be one of the most important breakthroughs in the IT industry over the next decade."
"I am convinced that dealing with such business applications in a kind of SimBusiness fashion -- that is, the application feels like a realistic simulation of the business and its operations -- will not only transform IT but business itself."
I have no doubt.
Web advertsing - big under estimations - Semel
There is a fixation among so many people that the internet is the web. US online ad revenues have reached a new record according to figures from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). They are talking about web sites (remember those things - sort of brochures with gizmos).
The report, conducted by PwC, showed a 33% increase in internet ad revenues from the same period in 2005.
But, in a speech in London yesterday, Yahoo! CEO Terry Semel said growth predictions were underestimating the market by failing to take account of the potential of video, social media and mobiles advertising. "[Video] will be ever-present throughout the internet, and it will find its proper way to advertise. "So whether it's mobile or whether it's video or whether it's more and more community, these factors have not gone into those numbers, so we think the actual growth potential of advertising online is really being understated."
And lots of it is 'community' the natural space for PR practice.
The report, conducted by PwC, showed a 33% increase in internet ad revenues from the same period in 2005.
But, in a speech in London yesterday, Yahoo! CEO Terry Semel said growth predictions were underestimating the market by failing to take account of the potential of video, social media and mobiles advertising. "[Video] will be ever-present throughout the internet, and it will find its proper way to advertise. "So whether it's mobile or whether it's video or whether it's more and more community, these factors have not gone into those numbers, so we think the actual growth potential of advertising online is really being understated."
And lots of it is 'community' the natural space for PR practice.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Local Newspapers stringers for the Beeb
BBC director general Mark Thompson speaking at the Society of Editors conference promised that online local TV would work in "partnership" with local newspapers, and even pay them for content.
"But in the words of one regional newspaper executive, the most constructive thing Thompson could have said would have been: "We're not going to do it."
"Thompson told the Glasgow conference this week: "In addition to our own local and regional newsrooms, we want to draw on the newsgathering clout of the UK's local and regional newspapers — and we'll pay for it.
"That means a revenue stream, but also visibility and credit on the BBC's new local service."
Not to mention an extra outlet for the video content generated by local newspaper reporters.
"But in the words of one regional newspaper executive, the most constructive thing Thompson could have said would have been: "We're not going to do it."
"Thompson told the Glasgow conference this week: "In addition to our own local and regional newsrooms, we want to draw on the newsgathering clout of the UK's local and regional newspapers — and we'll pay for it.
"That means a revenue stream, but also visibility and credit on the BBC's new local service."
Not to mention an extra outlet for the video content generated by local newspaper reporters.
Vodaphone offers grungy broadband
Vodafone has said it will offer broadband for £25 a month from January 8 to Vodafone mobile phone customers.
The "Vodafone at Home" package includes line rental, unlimited broadband access, landline calls within Britain and 25% off calls to mobiles. Bla de Bla de Bla.
Rivals Carphone Warehouse, Orange and satellite TV operator BSkyB, BT et al have been battling for subscribers with grungy 2 to 8 meg Broadband a load of junk dumped on your computer (called 'giveaways') and time wasting hours - sometimes days and days and weeks of Internet downtime while they swap you to their equally slug like service.
If Vodafone could offer cellular broadband for my laptop at a price that makes sense, a decent link from phone to computer without a heap more software dumped on it (oh... and yet ANOTHER bloody email address), they may have a chance.Welsh put forward best PR campaigns
David Williamson tells us that SWANSEA-BASED public relations agency MGB PR has notched up eight nominations in the PR industry's flagship awards.
This record number of possible prizes at the Chartered Institute of Public Relations awards is a first for Wales in the process as it now holds the title of the most-nominated PR company in the UK.
Brits lag in the blog race
Among Europeans Britons are the least switched on to web logs, an Ipsos MORI poll found.
The French are far more savvy.
The survey of 2,200 Europeans that 90 percent of French people surveyed said they were familiar with blogs, nearly twice as many as the number of Britons interviewed (50 percent).
But the rest of Europe is barely logged-on when it comes to online diaries either. The Spanish did only marginally better than Britons in recognising the term blog (51 percent), while in Germany, 55 percent were blog-aware, and in Italy, 58 percent had heard of the term reports Reuters.
Blogs - the new sellers medium?
Blogs are becoming a force to be reckoned with as a means of advertising products, according to an Ipsos MORI poll. It found that the Internet journals are a more trusted source of information than TV advertising or e-mail marketing.
Well! What a suprise! Here is more of the report from Reuters.
Ipsos MORI found a direct link between blogs, or user-generated content, and people's intentions to buy goods or services. Any company that fails to come up to standard should beware. The blog is replacing word of mouth for endorsing or condemning a product or service. About a third of those Europeans questioned said they had been put off making a purchase after reading negative comments on the Internet from customers or other web-users, while 52 percent said they had been persuaded to buy after a positive review on a blog. Get it right, and blogs could be a boost to companies and even save on their advertising and marketing budgets. Blogs, or weblogs, are a more trusted source of information (24 percent) than television advertising (17 percent) and email marketing (14 percent), the survey commissioned by Hotwire, a technology public relations consultancy, said.But they still lag behind newspapers (30 percent).
Well! What a suprise! Here is more of the report from Reuters.
Ipsos MORI found a direct link between blogs, or user-generated content, and people's intentions to buy goods or services. Any company that fails to come up to standard should beware. The blog is replacing word of mouth for endorsing or condemning a product or service. About a third of those Europeans questioned said they had been put off making a purchase after reading negative comments on the Internet from customers or other web-users, while 52 percent said they had been persuaded to buy after a positive review on a blog. Get it right, and blogs could be a boost to companies and even save on their advertising and marketing budgets. Blogs, or weblogs, are a more trusted source of information (24 percent) than television advertising (17 percent) and email marketing (14 percent), the survey commissioned by Hotwire, a technology public relations consultancy, said.But they still lag behind newspapers (30 percent).
Head in the Oven
The NewPR conference on Friday was, as always, great fun. The light bulbs that go on are especial fun and meeting Victoria Newlands (a student from Lincoln University who is really into social media) and having a good gossip with Simon Wakeman, Stuart Bruce, Neville Philip, Rob Skinner and Rob Skinner was an extra bonus.
Nicky and Andrew Wake from Don't Panic have a very friendly way of managing conferences which is a boon. I should say that Sam (from Bournemouth Uni was there too... Hi Sam! can't wait for you to blog about the conference too (and this is what we got up to while you trained it back for the Graduation Ball).
The conference closed with an overview of networking and a short but debate-provoking look at virtual environments but mostly Second Life.
One of the conference goers, said that she would rather out her head in the oven that go into SecondLife.
It struck me that this is where most of us really are.
We have our heads stuck, not in an oven but close to it, a computer screen. In there we play with a pretty clunky virtual environment (word processing, emailing, a bit of IM, cut, copy, save, drag, retype, look up phone number, tasks to do - all that sort of stuff). Its very boring. It is virtual environments with none of the fun. It is the equivalent of a smoky industrial town of the 19th century. It is a pretty smelly oven.
PR's, Journo's, marketers, CEO's all with their heads in the oven.
Perhaps it is time that decent virtual environment should be made available.
Something and somewhere worth inhabiting. A place where work is not clunky, soulless, and populated by documents, pages and emails but populated with people, action and results.
We have had our heads in an oven.... Can we move on now please?
The conference closed with an overview of networking and a short but debate-provoking look at virtual environments but mostly Second Life.
One of the conference goers, said that she would rather out her head in the oven that go into SecondLife.
It struck me that this is where most of us really are.
We have our heads stuck, not in an oven but close to it, a computer screen. In there we play with a pretty clunky virtual environment (word processing, emailing, a bit of IM, cut, copy, save, drag, retype, look up phone number, tasks to do - all that sort of stuff). Its very boring. It is virtual environments with none of the fun. It is the equivalent of a smoky industrial town of the 19th century. It is a pretty smelly oven.
PR's, Journo's, marketers, CEO's all with their heads in the oven.
Perhaps it is time that decent virtual environment should be made available.
Something and somewhere worth inhabiting. A place where work is not clunky, soulless, and populated by documents, pages and emails but populated with people, action and results.
We have had our heads in an oven.... Can we move on now please?
Public Relations affects England soccer lin-up
t is assumed, probably correctly, that Beckham’s defenestration from the England set-up was a judgment based more on public relations than on Beckham’s apparently declining ability on the football pitch.The interesting part of this is a media comment that recognises a PR strategy into the management mix. The important part is that it shows how important it is, even for a Football star, to have a public relations strategy.A new manager who began the job tainted by his association with the discredited previous regime asserted his supposed independence by dropping the player most closely connected to Sven-Göran Eriksson — the player Sven would never drop, no matter how hopelessly he was performing. Steve McClaren seems not to have the slightest intention of picking Beckham, no matter how catastrophically his first-choice XI perform."
Voices for your podcast
After wading through the usual PR/marketing hype, this news from a press release may be useful.
Voices.com has added three new categories of voices including documentary voice over categories that you can use for you podcasts.
The abomination called a press release takes hundreds of words to say it but if you are really bored, the release was published at Newswire Today.
Voices.com has added three new categories of voices including documentary voice over categories that you can use for you podcasts.
The abomination called a press release takes hundreds of words to say it but if you are really bored, the release was published at Newswire Today.
Google dug up worms
Google has apologised to users of its Google Video Blog, some 50,000 of whom were exposed to an email worm after three postings were infected and sent out to mailing lists. No details of how the incident happened have emerged, and Google claims to be 'taking steps' to prevent such occurrences reports Virus Bulletin.
The blog (here) is used to keep readers informed of the latest and best additions to the YouTube-style Google Video system, and includes an email subscription system for updates. The postings, made on Tuesday night and since removed, were infected with 'W32/Kapser.a@mm', also commonly known as MyWife, Nyxem or Blackmal and referred to in the press as the Kama Sutra worm.
For PR people this sort of news is a problem. Where do you go to for advice, how can you tell if you have a virus and how can you be sure you are not passing one on.
Try the virus checking software people. They have really good information on these things.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Telegraph.co.uk launches bloggers 'style' guide
Telegraph.co.uk, which has 14 bloggers, has published an editorial style guide for its bloggers.
Pause in rate of blog growth
Blog growth, which is down from an average of 160,000 new blogs per day in July to 100,000 new blogs at the end of September. Technorati’s latest State of the Blogosphere report shows continuing growth in the number of active blogs, with over 57 million blogs currently being tracked. Blog numbers has slowed slightly since the last quarter, something Technorati put down to more effective measures at limiting the number of spam blogs (aka 'splogs') listed.
English langauge now accounts for less than 40% of blogs, with Japanese and Chinese language blogs in second and third place (in terms of popularity).
English langauge now accounts for less than 40% of blogs, with Japanese and Chinese language blogs in second and third place (in terms of popularity).
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Monday, November 06, 2006
THE PR search engine
Contantin has done it again.
Here is his introduction:
If you want to search across all the PR blogs, wikis, and news feeds included in the PR & Communications Blogs List, you can use a custom search powered by Google Co-op:
BT slugging it out - again
Increasingly, broadband is allowing people to contribute back to the net rather than just being passive downloaders of content, reports the BBC. But, while uptake has helped the UK to the broadband fast track, lack of speed compared to other countries could still see it derailed.
Experts warn the UK is falling behind its European counterparts when it comes to speed. In the UK the fastest speed currently on offer is 24Mbps (megabits per second) although typically the fastest people will get is about 8Mbps. French surfers are enjoying around 24Mbps as standard. BT does not plan to roll out its next-generation broadband until the middle of 2007.
Broadband is certainly holding our attention - with high-speed surfers spending around six hours more online each week than those still using dial-up.
Experts warn the UK is falling behind its European counterparts when it comes to speed. In the UK the fastest speed currently on offer is 24Mbps (megabits per second) although typically the fastest people will get is about 8Mbps. French surfers are enjoying around 24Mbps as standard. BT does not plan to roll out its next-generation broadband until the middle of 2007.
Broadband is certainly holding our attention - with high-speed surfers spending around six hours more online each week than those still using dial-up.
Keeping up with like minded people - marketers note
BL Ochman reports that most big brand sims in Second Life are empty or have little traffic despite massive MSM media coverage, and many events are poorly attended. "That's because brands aren't creating or joining groups -- the most fundamental aspect of the metaverse's social structure, says Linda Zimmer in Business Communicators of Second Life."
At the same time she has reported on how Penguine, the publishers and others are opening a new presence, a virtual one, in SL.
It goes without saying that there is no point in moving in and then not joining the community. Its just like moving house. Some people just don't know how to get out and become a member of the community - I wonder how the marcom executives get a life if they can't get one in a virtual community?
At the same time she has reported on how Penguine, the publishers and others are opening a new presence, a virtual one, in SL.
It goes without saying that there is no point in moving in and then not joining the community. Its just like moving house. Some people just don't know how to get out and become a member of the community - I wonder how the marcom executives get a life if they can't get one in a virtual community?
Why blogging matters - six expert views
Dan Greenfield - VP Corporate Communications - EarthLink – Bernaisesource
Invites you to join a converastion with:
David Armano - Creative VP - Digitas – Logic + Emotion
Peter Blackshaw - CMO - Nielsen Buzz Metrics – Consumer Generated Media
David Churbuck - VP Global Web Marketing - Lenovo – Churbuck
Dan Greenfield - VP Corporate Communications - EarthLink – Bernaisesource
Eric Kintz – VP Global Marketing Strategy - Hewlett-Packard – Marketing Excellence
Will Waugh – Senior Director, Communications - ANA – Marketing Maestros
Technology has enabled customers to dramatically change their attitude towards marketing. As a result, they are tuning out in increasing numbers and talking back. Customers are shifting massively their entertainment and information consumption away from traditional media to the new web space.
Invites you to join a converastion with:
David Armano - Creative VP - Digitas – Logic + Emotion
Peter Blackshaw - CMO - Nielsen Buzz Metrics – Consumer Generated Media
David Churbuck - VP Global Web Marketing - Lenovo – Churbuck
Dan Greenfield - VP Corporate Communications - EarthLink – Bernaisesource
Eric Kintz – VP Global Marketing Strategy - Hewlett-Packard – Marketing Excellence
Will Waugh – Senior Director, Communications - ANA – Marketing Maestros
Technology has enabled customers to dramatically change their attitude towards marketing. As a result, they are tuning out in increasing numbers and talking back. Customers are shifting massively their entertainment and information consumption away from traditional media to the new web space.
How to influence nespapers 'social media' experiments
The moves by some publications into 'social medi' was examined last Saturday by Erick Schonfeld. He posted about how people can influence some of the ideas currently being tried by some publishers and how they can be influenced.
He writes:
Watch out for some people in the publicity industry using these idea - and comming to grief.
He writes:
Gannett newspapers are turning to their readers to help research and write stories in a new "crowdsourcing" initiative. The idea is to tap into the knowledge, and even investigative zeal, of readers to help cover stories for the papers. It sounds like USA Today wants to look more like Digg.
But figuring out how to tap into the culture of participation without abandoning journalistic objectivity is going to be tricky. Once people figure out that they can influence what goes on the front pages of Gannett's 90 local papers across the country, they will try to game the system. As Digg is finding out, giving the crowd a voice comes with its own set of issues.
Watch out for some people in the publicity industry using these idea - and comming to grief.
Who is offering homes for your content
By Erick Schonfeld, Business 2.0 Magazine has an interesting view about file sharing start-ups.
I list them here but he has some excellent comments.
I list them here but he has some excellent comments.
| Sharing Made Simple | |||
| Several new services hope to profit from letting people exchange big digital files. | |||
| SERVICE | HOW IT WORKS | COST | BUSINESS MODEL |
| AllPeers | Transfers files to your buddies through a BitTorrent-based add-on to Firefox. | Free | Content delivery fees, peer-produced media sales |
| Glide | Stores and shares digital media via browser-based "desktop" or smartphone | 300MB free; $5/month for 1GB; $10/month for 4GB | Subscription fees, software licensing |
| MediaMax | Stores digital photos, movies, and other files on the Web | 25GB free; $5-$30/month for 100-1,000GB | Subscription fees; software licensing; advertising |
| Myfabrik | Sends links to shared files stored on the Web or a Maxtor Fusion hard drive | 1GB free; 49 cents/month for each additional GB | Subscription fees, software licensing |
| Pando | E-mail attachments initiates BitTorrent-based P2P transfer backed by server | Free | Content delivery fees, advertising |
| YouSendIt | Sends links to uploaded files good for 14 days; designed for business use | 100MB free; $5-$30/month for more | Subscription fees |
| Zapr | Turns any file or folder on your PC into a shareable Web link | Free | Advertising |
The future of blogging
We'll know more about blogs next week, when Technorati publishes its quarterly review of the 'sphere. I suspect we'll see some shakeout in terms of bloggers who have begun posting less frequently.
Frank suggests that the novelty of blogging must be wearing off, if not for the writers, then for the readers.
Well I disagree.
There will be churn. There is a limit to the total number which will be limited by population/broadband penetration of the internet.
Mostly there will be new widgets (video on my blog - woweeee!), there will be more excitement in new areas of blogging - politics this week, economics next.
Most of all will be the realisation by organisations that they need digital footprint.
The loss of competitive edge for today's sales and long term sales growth will be tied to the number of comments and hyperlinks that add to the on-line property.
Its an asset, stupid!
It delivers people to your online store who will buy your fastest and slowest moving stock on-line and at minimal cost.
Companies need web pages that link to their site - economic fact.
Blogs are good at creating loads of such pages - Internet fact.
Shakeout, maybe, diminution? only if the facts of economic life pass organisations by.
Frank suggests that the novelty of blogging must be wearing off, if not for the writers, then for the readers.
Well I disagree.
There will be churn. There is a limit to the total number which will be limited by population/broadband penetration of the internet.
Mostly there will be new widgets (video on my blog - woweeee!), there will be more excitement in new areas of blogging - politics this week, economics next.
Most of all will be the realisation by organisations that they need digital footprint.
The loss of competitive edge for today's sales and long term sales growth will be tied to the number of comments and hyperlinks that add to the on-line property.
Its an asset, stupid!
It delivers people to your online store who will buy your fastest and slowest moving stock on-line and at minimal cost.
Companies need web pages that link to their site - economic fact.
Blogs are good at creating loads of such pages - Internet fact.
Shakeout, maybe, diminution? only if the facts of economic life pass organisations by.
Is PR ready for the video revolution?
This is getting to be boring. Every day, it seems, I tell of a new video news medium.
I wonder how the PR industry is coping?
Friday, it wasn't just Dow Jones who launched a bunch of online video channels (see "Dow Jones TV: Can Print Guys Do Video?), so did CNNMoney.com.
So did 60 local newspapers in the UK.....
So now we need to find the capabilities that turn us into video experts....
I wonder how the PR industry is coping?
Friday, it wasn't just Dow Jones who launched a bunch of online video channels (see "Dow Jones TV: Can Print Guys Do Video?), so did CNNMoney.com.
So did 60 local newspapers in the UK.....
So now we need to find the capabilities that turn us into video experts....
Blog style - a new form of magazine?
B2Day is finally pulling back the covers on Business 2.0 Beta, its new experiment with blogging at the magazine.
As Its editor has mentioned, from now on, the blog you are reading will be called The Next Net and the official Business 2.0 blog will be B2 Beta. What they are doing is essentially launching a mini-network of blogs all written by B2 staffers (including reporters, editors, and even our art director and a photography editor), and collecting all the posts on B2 Beta.
This is interesting for PR people. From now on they will be pitching to a blogger, not a journalist.... I wonder what the Journos will say on their blogs about time wasting pitches - will they name names?
As Its editor has mentioned, from now on, the blog you are reading will be called The Next Net and the official Business 2.0 blog will be B2 Beta. What they are doing is essentially launching a mini-network of blogs all written by B2 staffers (including reporters, editors, and even our art director and a photography editor), and collecting all the posts on B2 Beta.
This is interesting for PR people. From now on they will be pitching to a blogger, not a journalist.... I wonder what the Journos will say on their blogs about time wasting pitches - will they name names?
Typepad gets voice message widget
The millions of visitors to blogs now have a new option for leaving their comments. They can record messages in their own voices using a computer microphone. The Evoca Browser Mic. available as a Widget for TypePad, now makes it possible for blog readers to leave voice comments using the Typepad blogging platform.
THE DOUBLE PARADOX
This is a case study from 1999. It is still relevant today:
Critically, there is an issue of the real effect of activism on reputation and the effect of reputation on the value of companies.
Is the effect of the internet on markets more potent today than ten or even six years ago?
Do the financial markets reflect the trading patterns of companies under pressure from Internet activism?
Is there a parallel for, say Dell and in the blogging era.
Perhaps its time to re-visit the effects of on-line activism.
It was a chill morning in London on October the 16 1986 and a day that was to createThere is a lot to take out of this.
one of the pivotal events in Internet Activism. It was the day when a campaign was
started to put McDonalds in the centre of anti-corporatism by a number of activists.
It gave rise to the longest civil court case in history between David Morris and Helen
Steel and McDonald's.
The appearance of a Web site created by the activists, came in February 1996 when
Morris and Steel launched the McSpotlight site from a laptop connected to the
internet via a mobile phone outside a McDonald's store in Central London. The
Website was accessed more than a million times in its first month. It was headline
news across the world.
By any standards, the McSpotlight site is big and has an amazing amount of content.
A large part of the content is critical of McDonald's and some is allegedly libellous.
£60,000 settlement against Morris and Steel, the Web site was accessed 2.2 million
times.
The first paradox is that McDonald's won the court case but the allegations are still on
the Web site available to this day (and is mirrored across the world so that if it is
turned off in one country, its content can be accessed from another).
The second paradox is that with so much criticism about the company available for all
to see, the company remains one of the most successful food retailers in the UK and
across the world. McDonald's ten years after the court case was the largest and best-known global foodservice retailer it had more than 24,500 restaurants in 116 countries. Its share price was four time higher than when the McSpotlight site was launched and dividends per share were up 44%.
It there a linkage between corporate performance and Internet criticism? Will there be
a link as the Internet expands?
There are a number of considerations. The first is that all this happened a long time
ago. In 1997, at the end of the court case and 18 month after the launch of
McSpotlight, the on-line population was 57 million (in 1999 it was 179 million) of which
only 960,000 were in the UK (over 10 million in 1999)
Today, the McSpotlight site is really a gateway site for people who are interested in
anti-corporate activism. Compared to many other activist issues, McDonalds is a
relative side show.
McDonalds significance for most people is its brand strength. It is a company that
delivers on its promise (caviar no, fries yes, silver service no, in a box with a paper
tissue yes). In this respect it is trusted by consumers.
The apparent double paradox is, in fact a matter of timing and the fast changing
dynamic of the Internet.
The Consumer Opinion pages of Yahoo show a list of rogue sites which reputation
managers should visit to see examples of what may affect them at any time.
Smaller brands in a virtual community ten times as big, may not be so lucky. So just
when should a company get scared of the Internet?
Critically, there is an issue of the real effect of activism on reputation and the effect of reputation on the value of companies.
Is the effect of the internet on markets more potent today than ten or even six years ago?
Do the financial markets reflect the trading patterns of companies under pressure from Internet activism?
Is there a parallel for, say Dell and in the blogging era.
Perhaps its time to re-visit the effects of on-line activism.
Eleven Years ago - The Internet and PR
Eleven Years ago this week Dr Reginald Watts, Dr Jon White, Tom Brannan and David Phillips explored the future in a Public Relations future gazing symposium.
This is how I introduced the Internet:
‘The new media will enfranchise the individual
with more one-to-one, one to many and many to many communication which will be
easy by personal ‘phones, E-mail and video conferencing. Person-to-person-to machine
and database communication will be more important, electronically managed
and more global. Increasingly this broth threatens brands and corporate reputation and
needs professionalism to immunise (our organisations) or doctor the effects of the
brew.
‘In its most perfect form, reputation management sustains relationships with publics
in a state of equilibrium during both evolution and in crisis. This enhances corporate
goodwill (a tradable asset).
‘The big change is that many-to-many global communication brings with it loss of
‘ownership’ of language, culture and knowledge and that there is a breakdown in
intellectual property rights, copyright and much plagiarism. This is already a major
problem.
‘News now travels further and faster and is mixed with history, fantasy and
technology. Reputation in crisis is even more vulnerable. At a growing rate, the new
media uses reputation as ‘merchandise’, stripped from the foundations which created
it, then traded for pieces of silver - and at a discount’. ...
(IPR symposium in 1995)
This is how I introduced the Internet:
‘The new media will enfranchise the individual
with more one-to-one, one to many and many to many communication which will be
easy by personal ‘phones, E-mail and video conferencing. Person-to-person-to machine
and database communication will be more important, electronically managed
and more global. Increasingly this broth threatens brands and corporate reputation and
needs professionalism to immunise (our organisations) or doctor the effects of the
brew.
‘In its most perfect form, reputation management sustains relationships with publics
in a state of equilibrium during both evolution and in crisis. This enhances corporate
goodwill (a tradable asset).
‘The big change is that many-to-many global communication brings with it loss of
‘ownership’ of language, culture and knowledge and that there is a breakdown in
intellectual property rights, copyright and much plagiarism. This is already a major
problem.
‘News now travels further and faster and is mixed with history, fantasy and
technology. Reputation in crisis is even more vulnerable. At a growing rate, the new
media uses reputation as ‘merchandise’, stripped from the foundations which created
it, then traded for pieces of silver - and at a discount’. ...
(IPR symposium in 1995)
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Internet corrupted by fraudsters, liars and cheats - suprise!
In PR we have known for over a decade about its potential and the associated hazards have been well documented for nearly as long.
The creator of the world wide web told the Guardian that the internet is in danger of being corrupted by fraudsters, liars and cheats. Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the Briton who founded the web in the early 1990s, says that if the internet is left to develop unchecked, "bad phenomena" will erode its usefulness. He warns that "there is a great danger that it becomes a place where untruths start to spread more than truths, or it becomes a place which becomes increasingly unfair in some way". He singles out the rise of blogging as one of the most difficult areas for the continuing development of the web, because of the risks associated with inaccurate, defamatory and uncheckable information.
'Managing Your Reputation in Cyberspace' originally published by Thorogood and now available here, showed a wide array of potential threats. It was also one of the first publications (Shel Holtz was the other key author at the time) to seek solutions.
Mojo launces videoblog
MojoPages, a new social search venture, has adopted a documentary-style videoblog to build buzz around its forthcoming launch, while engaging users even before a beta website has launched, to help with aspects such as design and usability.
The website, which will rank businesses in line with user ratings, aims to improve on standard directory-style services such as Yellow Pages.
MojoPages is based around a simple idea: “Do a great job and people will say great things. Offer poor services and/or inflated prices and you will be judged on those criteria as well”.
Source e-consultancy.
The website, which will rank businesses in line with user ratings, aims to improve on standard directory-style services such as Yellow Pages.
MojoPages is based around a simple idea: “Do a great job and people will say great things. Offer poor services and/or inflated prices and you will be judged on those criteria as well”.
Source e-consultancy.
Cancer Research podcast
Cancer Research UK is adding its voice to the digital airwaves by launching a brand new podcast this week.
The charity will produce a magazine-style programme every month, showcasing every aspect of Cancer Research UK’s work – from world-class scientific research to health awareness campaigns; from fundraising efforts to survivors’ stories and much, much more.
Friday, November 03, 2006
What is it like to get into Second Life?
The BBC's Mark Ward is taking the journey and reporting on it as well.
Now, I wonder about the experiences of others.... It would make a good story for Text100 and Crayon.
Now, I wonder about the experiences of others.... It would make a good story for Text100 and Crayon.
Freinds or markets
Andrew Lark has been talking about public relations evaluation again..
His latest contribution goes as follows:
I have a problem with the first.
There is a degree of truth but the key surely is the extent to which the constituent wants to engage their community with the organisation (introduce them to the organisation/ product etc). This may also be the extent to which they want to change the organisation, service, product, aims etc.
In evaluating relationships we need to look after the friend who seeks to offer their best knowledge, opinion, and contacts.
The 'Marketing Objective' is a small part of what we seek.
Surely what is most helpful is the value (not just money) that attaches to both the organisation and constituency.
His latest contribution goes as follows:
My view has been that the degree to which actions intended from any marketing activity - say downloads - occur is proportional to participation in that media by readers/ views/ the community. For this reason I like Scoble's idea on measuring media engagement.I agree with the last point. Reach is, these days, almost irrelevant.This will require a step-change in thinking by communicators. Rather than looking at the reach of publications, we need to think in terms of participation.
I have a problem with the first.
There is a degree of truth but the key surely is the extent to which the constituent wants to engage their community with the organisation (introduce them to the organisation/ product etc). This may also be the extent to which they want to change the organisation, service, product, aims etc.
In evaluating relationships we need to look after the friend who seeks to offer their best knowledge, opinion, and contacts.
The 'Marketing Objective' is a small part of what we seek.
Surely what is most helpful is the value (not just money) that attaches to both the organisation and constituency.
Job hunting to be bigger online
On-Line Recruitment is suggesting that over the next 5 years (to 2011), the e-recruitment market will grow significantly both in scale and importance.
The idea of six degrees of separation, allied to the Long Tail may mean there are other options when it comes to recruiting - or finding a job.
Indeed, some are predicting that recruitment will be close to travel – the most successful sector in terms of the online business model. A new Market Assessment report, E-Recruitment, from market intelligence providers Key Note, forecasts that by 2011 nearly 2.1 million jobs will be on offer via online recruitment websites, with a monthly average of 32.5 million unique visitors to these sites.Something in me suggests that this is not the way it is going to be.
The idea of six degrees of separation, allied to the Long Tail may mean there are other options when it comes to recruiting - or finding a job.
Hubble Bubble - more silly prices for companies
Social media site Reddit has been bought by Wired publisher Condé Nast for an undisclosed sum, said to be $65m. At that price it is an expensive acquisition.
Reddit, which enables users to suggest and rank stories, is a user-generated news aggregator, with stories rising to the top based on popularity. It is little cousin to Digg which is rumoured to be in talks with MySpace owner, News Corp.
Reddit, which enables users to suggest and rank stories, is a user-generated news aggregator, with stories rising to the top based on popularity. It is little cousin to Digg which is rumoured to be in talks with MySpace owner, News Corp.
Iraq - a case study for PR practitioners from the BBC
The BBC's Paul Reynolds has been looking at the propaganda, diplomatic and public relations lessons of the Iraq war in this US election week.
I understand that Mr Reynolds does not know what PR is (how many journalists do) and so he is forgiven for mistakes of nomenclature.
His quote from Walter Cronkite brings back memories:
This was a moment when war was decive but propaganda diplomacy was a failiure.
If only they had use public relations, that last, and perhaps this present war, would have been less bloody.
I understand that Mr Reynolds does not know what PR is (how many journalists do) and so he is forgiven for mistakes of nomenclature.
His quote from Walter Cronkite brings back memories:
"To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past. To suggest we are on the edge of defeat is to yield to unreasonable pessimism. To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion.
"On the off-chance that military and political analysts are right, in the next few months we must test the enemy's intentions, in case this is indeed his last big gasp before negotiations.
"But it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors but as an honourable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could.
"This is Walter Cronkite. Good night."
This was a moment when war was decive but propaganda diplomacy was a failiure.
If only they had use public relations, that last, and perhaps this present war, would have been less bloody.
Making video clear
For the PR and News industry there is now software to make poor photographs and video crisp and clear. Motion DSP’s new Ikena system cleans up on overcompressed videos and the grainy, blured video you tend to get with mobilephone camaras.
With so much happening in the video space, fired by the combination of broadband and YouTube, video is becomming an important part ofthe communication mix for PR.
With so much happening in the video space, fired by the combination of broadband and YouTube, video is becomming an important part ofthe communication mix for PR.
The initial Linux-based product (including hardware) costs $30,000, but this type of interpolation-based cleaning will become more affordable before too long. Examples of what is achieved are at at MotionDSP.com.
Software and imaging chips for better video have been a growing business for the past few years. Video -- both from consumers and security cameras -- is exploding, but a lot of it is blurry and finding something on video remains a primitive art. Some of the notable start-ups include NuCore (imaging chips for consumer SLR and video cameras), 3VR Security (a search engine for security camera video) and Pixim, (an imaging chip which captures better images in glare or low light).Intelligence community wiki
The intelligence community in the US has announced its own wiki, Intellipedia, and is promoting it as the future of American intelligence gathering and sharing - reports Web User.
However, unlike Wikipedia, it's not open to all - only security agents and intelligence analysts have access to it.
John Negroponte, the US director of national intelligence, announced Intellipedia yesterday. Like Wikipedia, the site will allow users to add and edit content.
However, unlike Wikipedia, it's not open to all - only security agents and intelligence analysts have access to it.
MySpace isn't fun anymore
MySpace is moving to stop its users illegally uploading music content by introducing fingerprinting technology to the website. The site will scan all uploaded music, check it against a database of rights holders and block any protected content.
Users who repeatedly try to upload content illegally will be barred from the site.
The fingerprint technology is to be licenced from software firm Gracenote.
MySpace is now operating like a Music Agent, Cigar an' all.
Now, if the music industry was half bright (OK 25% bright), it would understand the dynamic of The Long Tail. It would encourage people to spread the music - and the date of the next gig, the price of tickets, the shop for consumables, the book etc etc etc - all of which are more valuable that the price/margin on a CD or download.
These margins are available forever - longer than copyright - and the music moguls can't see it.
So, folks go look for real musicians who want to spread their music AND make a fortune instead of givving it away to agents and Labels.
Users who repeatedly try to upload content illegally will be barred from the site.
The fingerprint technology is to be licenced from software firm Gracenote.
MySpace is now operating like a Music Agent, Cigar an' all.
Now, if the music industry was half bright (OK 25% bright), it would understand the dynamic of The Long Tail. It would encourage people to spread the music - and the date of the next gig, the price of tickets, the shop for consumables, the book etc etc etc - all of which are more valuable that the price/margin on a CD or download.
These margins are available forever - longer than copyright - and the music moguls can't see it.
So, folks go look for real musicians who want to spread their music AND make a fortune instead of givving it away to agents and Labels.
Viral Marketing speak catching a cold
| Politic communication has just released this gem:
| |||
Well, let look at what really happens.
Lets go to YouTube and look at an example:
There are a lot of things about this campaign and they are mostly about a public that is being entertained and, most important, is inviting Dove into its life.
Most people find advertising gets in the way of thier life. It is intrusive - it is scream marketing.
But, if the story and the process is part of a conversation, then advertsing can work. Advertsing is in this case, an element in the conversation.
Over 400,000 people have sought out what is a Dove advertisment. This is not an add pushed in the face of someTV demographic. This is an advertsisement that people WANT to see. Not everyone. Not all people in the cinema or watching a TV programme. Just people who WANT to see it.
They have emailed it to friends, embedded it in blogs, wiki's, email and spread the word as part of their conversation in their relationships. This is about shared values between people. Values that would be very arrogant of Dove to assume it owns (it only owns some of them).
Conversations are not viruses, they are conversations. This is not someone passing on a video like a common cold. This is people passing on fun and entertainment to create better relatonships. The relationships are not owned by Dove, they are owned by people.
Stuart Bruce has an excellent blog post about this too with some excellent comments.
This is Relationship Management, not relationship marketing.
And is it effective - you bet!
Its called Public Relations.
Tone of editorial and blogs automatically evaluated
Mr Web says you can use technology to detirmine the tone of editorial and blog comment. They cite Anderson Analytics as having to capability. Google too has its own capability here and it is not rocket science anymore (I know that the PR evaluators and the PR consultants and the PR practitioners will tell you its impossible - so to0 was proving the moon is not made of green cheeze). Mr Web says:
Pity the PR industry is so slow in adopting these ideas.
Text mining of websites can fill in the gaps between quantitative and qualitative data. Due to advances in software it is now possible to automatically identify and classify favourable or unfavourable terms relating to various brands and products. It is even possible to measure and categorize actual emotional reactions.Some people will remember that as long ago as 1998, I was proposing that Neural Nets would provide and answer (I even have an academic paper published that mentions it).
"The increasing importance of social media (consumer blogging and community boards) is changing how firms should measure marketing and PR effectiveness. Yet very few firms are allocating research funds to measuring the impact of this new media short of going in to monitor what is being said a few times a month," according to Rebecca Gillan, Senior VP, Research & Guest Satisfaction, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. "Consumer blogging and community boards are a rich data source allowing firms to gain unbiased/top of mind thoughts from consumers and having a method to mine thousands of comments so that management can understand what is being said is exciting."
Pity the PR industry is so slow in adopting these ideas.
E-Zine for mobile search
SourceWire introduces us to a new magazine.
The Mobile Search Analyst is to be the first ezine focused on mobile search and its interaction with social media, social networking, mobile marketing and recommendation.
of course it would be really handy if there was an RSS feed for this new venture - There isn't so it will be mostly ignored.
The Mobile Search Analyst is to be the first ezine focused on mobile search and its interaction with social media, social networking, mobile marketing and recommendation.
of course it would be really handy if there was an RSS feed for this new venture - There isn't so it will be mostly ignored.
Second Life puts the 'facts' straight
The Second Life Herald has gone all huffy:
Rohit Bhargava, a VP for Interactive Marketing with Public Relations giant Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, has a recent post on digitalmedia wire entitled "A Gallery of Virtual 'Firsts' from Second Life." Readers of the Herald will be surpised to learn upon viewing the gallery, that the very first virtual concert in Second Life was Suzanne Vega, the first virtual clothing store was American Apparel, the very first virtual sporting event was the recent All Star Game hypervent, and the very first virtual hotel was Starwood Aloft. Nevermind the hundreds of concerts that we have attended over the last three years in second life, and nevermind the boxing matches and car races and archery tournaments and sailing regattas we have seen over the last three years, and never mind all the virtual hotels and rental properties that have existed in Second Life, and clothing stores...is this guy fucking kidding me??? This place has been wall to wall clothing stores since day one. Many people have made their livings selling virtual clothing here for the last several years. Meanwhile, a so-called new media company called Crayon has announced that it is the first business to be launched in Second Life. Very first business launched. Can you say "bullshit"?Of course now that Reuters has its own people in Second Life, we can expect a good bit of reporting on this sort of thing now.
Ethics are gets you customers
When price and quality are similar, ethical standards and corporate stability are important decision drivers when choosing to do business with one company over another. That’s what key decision makers in North America are saying according to a survey by Doremus, the business communications company, and the Financial Times.
Slightly fewer executives felt the same way in Asia. And in Europe, reliance on ethical standards as a decision-making factor trailed by more than twenty percentage points. A majority of Europeans feel ethics are important, but of little use as a differentiator.
Slightly fewer executives felt the same way in Asia. And in Europe, reliance on ethical standards as a decision-making factor trailed by more than twenty percentage points. A majority of Europeans feel ethics are important, but of little use as a differentiator.
Net growth
There are now more than 100 million web sites on the Internet, which gained 3.5 million sites last month to continue the dynamic growth seen throughout 2006. In the November 2006 survey Netcraft received responses from 101,435,253 sites, up from 97.9 million sites last month.
The 100 million site milestone caps an extraordinary year in which the Internet has already added 27.4 million sites, easily topping the previous full-year growth record of 17 million from 2005. The Internet has doubled in size since May 2004, when the survey hit 50 million.
Luddite lawyers not aware of the official statistics
Jason Stamper at Computer Business Review suggests that a UK law firm Mace & Jones is risking being labelled a bunch of Luddites by arguing that businesses should clamp down on iPod use in the workplace because it enables employees to slack off and shut out their colleagues.
The tabloids are going to love this one -- I can see the headlines now: "IPOD ADVICE FALLS ON DEAF EARS." Or how about, "LAWYERS SAY TURNING ON, TUNING IN IS COP OUT".
Of course, we know that the reverse is the case, social media enhances productivity according to the National Statistic Office (PDF)
The tabloids are going to love this one -- I can see the headlines now: "IPOD ADVICE FALLS ON DEAF EARS." Or how about, "LAWYERS SAY TURNING ON, TUNING IN IS COP OUT".
Of course, we know that the reverse is the case, social media enhances productivity according to the National Statistic Office (PDF)
Financial dodge e-monitoring
VNUNet report a survey conducted in the financial districts of London and New York suggests that Wall Street workers are more aware of compliance breaches and monitored electronic communication than their City colleagues, but are also more likely to try to dodge communication controls.
Second Life delays price hike
Linden Lab, announced on Wednesday that it was delaying price increases for its private islands until 15 November.
The company had announced in a blog entry that it was imposing hefty rate hikes as of Wednesday -- from $1,250 to $1,675 (£880) in upfront costs and from $195 to $295 (£155) in monthly maintenance fees.
BMJ to use podcasts
Independent production company, Somethin' Else has been commissioned by the British Medical Journal to produce a series of podcasts.
The programmes will feature broadcasters including former Today presenter Sue MacGregor and the BBC's Case Notes presenter, Graham Easton.
For PR people wanting to contribute to this 'new media' medical space, this could be good news.
Blogger pain
Eric Case, a Blogger product manager, acknowledges that Blogger has had a rough time recently due to what he calls "a perfect storm" of network hardware failures and other problems, reports PC Advisor.
Google has apologised for last week's Blogger outages, describing them as a 'nuisance' and not representative of the kind of service it wants to provide. In its Blogger Buzz blog it explains that a number of unplanned outages were followed by deliberate ones as the causes were tackled.However, Case said these issues will be a thing of the past once Blogger moves to a more solid and scalable platform. That's where Google is hosting the Blogger beta version, which is in limited availability and includes many new and improved features.
Still, some are running out of patience. On Sunday, after what she termed an "appalling week" of Blogger problems, Nicola Brown replicated her blog Life at the Edge over to the competing Wordpress.com platform.
Hmm.. if you have a lot of content invested in Blogger.com, this is not good.
Wiki's are the rage
It's been quite a month for the wiki community, says David Tebbutt . A kind of coming of age. SystemOne came out of the shadows, as did Itensil. SocialText officially released its 2.0 version and now it has a version that integrates with Microsoft's Sharepoint. Then to crown it all, Google went and bought JotSpot.
This latter deal is interesting as it could integrate a host of the applications Google has aquired in recent months.
This latter deal is interesting as it could integrate a host of the applications Google has aquired in recent months.
MTV gets social media
Brand Republic is reporting that MTV Networks is continuing the fightback against emerging social media youth entertainment brands like MySpace and YouTube.
It strategy include a series of acquisitions of community and gaming sites. These include NeoPets, a virtual pet website; GameTrailers, which previews and rates new computer games; and the network of US college newspapers Y2M.
It strategy include a series of acquisitions of community and gaming sites. These include NeoPets, a virtual pet website; GameTrailers, which previews and rates new computer games; and the network of US college newspapers Y2M.
It has also bought Quizilla, a community website popular with bloggers.
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