Google Alphabets

Well remember those days when you would say A for apple, B for bat and so on. Those days seem to have left far behind. Presenting the generation next – Google alphabets. The alphabets are based on the searches in the international edition of Google. Enjoy!

Well I thought it would still be A for apple. You know the one with i. Let’s see what more surprises are in store.

Bad luck for Bank of America.

Cricket isn’t even in the top ten list.

Another indication that the people are turning erudite. Disney manages to just get into the top ten.

Indeed, it deserves the position.

Oh, even a moron could’ve predicted that.

Again no surprise. It is followed by Google maps, Google earth and Google.com.

Still hot eh!

Now that’s a bit of surprise. No “Incredible” India, no ipod in the top ten list. Movies rock.

Again, that’s totally new for me. Seems like a low-fare airline. Yeah with recession hanging around, it shouldn’t be a surprise for many. But then, jobs should have topped the list.

It proves recession hasn’t hit the retail sector much.

Home improvement is a never ending task. Lowe’s on a roll.

Social networking is fun. No surprise here. Everyone needs a bit of space even if it’s virtual.

Movies are immortal.

The popularity hasn’t been hit even when offices are shut around the globe. Olympics gets the second spot and Oprah holds on to the tenth spot.

Avatar’s popularity must have helped this online radio major. The list also includes my favourite Pizza Hut. Paypal and Pirate Bay too find their name on the list. Notable miss: Playstation.

With every site providing options for status updates, quotes are more in demand. Well, a witty saying proves nothing.

What more can you expect when people are more keen in selling their homes. Rotten Tomatoes just manages to get into the top ten list.

Another low-cost airline. And this is even more popular. So popular that in 2009 it has transported more passengers than any other airline in the world. Skype gets the third position and the super glamour Super Bowl has to satisfy with the sixth position. Sony doesn’t finds a place in the top ten.

This has to be the mother of all heart breaks. Tiger Woods and Twitter falls short and comes second and third respectively. Now who’s gonna tweet that?

In the age of super fast communication systems, the company has managed to stay on. There are two of my favourites in the list – urban dictionary and utorrent.

If it is the largest telecommunications operator, it is quite natural to be on the top of this list. Victoria Secret is second. vlc is there and the notable exception is Virgin.

Need I say anything about it. Wikipedia comes third.

Microsoft got one more reason to cheer about. Notable misses: Xerox and xe.

Youtube dislodges Yahoo! from the popularity list. Yellow Pages manages to hold on to the fourth position.

Yet another real estate site finds the top position. Zune sneaks in. And surprise surprise, Zoe Saldana is at ninth. It’s always rewarding to work with James Cameron.

[Via http://arjunjk.wordpress.com]

The Relationship with Your Manager

Building a relationship with your manager can be tough sometimes, but remember these simple rules and the relationship you have with your superiors will certainly have the potential to be successful.

We all want to succeed

We like people who help us succeed.  You will build trust and credibility with your manager when you prove that your goal is to help them succeed.  This doesn’t mean you are a “yes sir” person, always agreeing (more on this below), but rather that your focus is on their success, which is ultimately your organizations success.  When they look good, you’ll look good and you’ll reach your departments objectives as well, developing a reputation of someone who delivers results.

Feed them the right information

I mentioned not being a “yes sir”.  You role is to be a subject matter expert.  It doesn’t matter what the subject is, only that in your role it’s your primary focus.  As such, you have an obligation to ensure that your manager understands what’s important in detail.   I’ve always worked with the understanding that I’ll make sure my manager has all the information, and I’ll fight for what I think is right.  Until they make a decision, I’ll work hard to defend my position as the subject matter expert.  But here’s the key; when your manager makes a decision, forget your opinion because it’s gone and over with.  Never tell people down the road that you thought it was a bad choice, or were fighting for another choice.  Remember, we’re going for trust and credibility, not undermining authority.  Show your manager that you have the guts to fight for what you think is right, and the fortitude to stand at his side even though he went a different direction.

Market them and your company

Never tell people that you don’t like working for them, their stupid or you hate working for them.  Remember, you’re trying to help them succeed, not run them into the ground.  If you talk about them in a negative light, or even bad mouth the company you work for, it’s time to leave and find something new because you’ve torn down the foundation to your career success.  Be an advocate for your organization, your boss and your situation.  If you can’t, update your resume and find somewhere you can.

You don’t need to be close friends with your employer (although that can be nice), but you definitely need to be on the same page, working towards the same goal and objectives.  If you’re fighting against them rather than with them,  you will do damage to your reputation, be worthless to your company and be your own biggest roadblock to success.

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.  Subscribe today, and connect with me on Twitter and let’s talk about your experiences.

[Via http://matthew-schmitt.com]

Internet Convergence vs. Divergence

Facebook and Twitter are challenging the very foundation of our internet experience.  From the days of dial-up, the Internet has been the most prolific catalog of human experience in recorded history.  Services like Google and Yahoo have made millions of dollars organizing all of that data for us to search, but social networks like Facebook and MySpace, coupled with the emergence of real-time information provided by Twitter have irreversibly altered the landscape of the Internet.

Many consider email the advent of the social web and modern email clients like Gmail and Yahoo! Mail are more easily compared to social networks, but at its heart, email is just a messaging service.  It might deliver messages in the blink of an eye instead of taking days or weeks, but in the end it’s just a digital form of mail.  Chat rooms are another form of early social communication, but real identities were very rarely ever linked to this communication and nascent chat rooms more or less resembled the wild west of creepsters and registered sex offenders.

The true advent of widely accepted social interaction on the web are instant messenger services where you communicated with people you knew and who knew you in real-time chat windows.  It was the beginning of real conversations on the web.  Instant messaging served as proof of concept that people desired to use the internet as a social medium.

Direct instant messaging services like AIM were essentially the real-time expression of an email correspondence.  You can think of Twitter in the same frame of real-time expression of an already established form of social media communication, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

MySpace and eventually Facebook upped the anty when they allowed users to create profiles that they could customize to reflect their individuality and connect to other profiles that reflected their real life group of friends and family.  If instant messaging gave us a voice to communicate digitally, then social networks gave us a presence on the Internet that reflected our personality in the real world.

I’d also argue that MySpace’s fall from grace could be partly blamed to the nature of user-expression in their profiles.  Many people immediately reference the customizable profile elements as a primary draw for creating a MySpace profile, but after a while the aesthetic of the MySpace community became very confused and to be frank, ugly.  Not to discount the importance of individuality, but connections are usually formed because of commonalities and feelings of familiarity/trust.  The aesthetic of MySpace, I believe, created a subliminal trust barrier because it emphasized our differences instead of what naturally draws us together.  Facebook on the other hand has standard profiles that allow users to just control the information that they share.  Even MySpace’s name emphasizes individuality over community.  MySpace.  Not YourSpace or OurSpace.  MySpace.

Facebook’s introduction to the market and it’s origin as an elite-college social network gave it an incubation period that was healthy for the development of it’s culture.  While most see students as crazy, reckless and impulsive (which they usually are), I’d argue they are the most aware of and in-tune with social influences that permeate their circles.  Being a college student is tough.  A completely new set of people in your life forces you to connect with a new set of friends and communities for you to express yourself.  As young adults gain more independence to explore and own their self-expression, they also become very aware of how they are perceived and this gives them an incentive to actively control that perception.  This isn’t just true of college students.  Teens and even kids in grade school are highly aware of social status, what’s cool and what isn’t.  This aspect of student culture transfered to the early iterations of Facebook as students on the network were highly aware that their profile could easily be the first impression they make on a number of people.  When you don’t know whether your crush or your arch-enemy is reading up on your activities, interests and groups, you tend to self-censor a little more carefully.  This leads to profiles that are a little tamer, but ultimately more inviting to connection with a wider net of people because there are fewer outlier/alienating elements included in profiles.  The profiles also more closely reflect the real-life expression of our identity because most of us are very proficient at controlling our perceptions through self-censorship.

Fast forward to 2010 and social networks have begun to dominate discussion in the advertising world and among thought-leaders developing tomorrow’s business models.  The founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, is one of those thought-leaders.  He sees Facebook and the social web overtaking search engines as the primary portal through which people interface with the web.  I won’t argue with this point.  I do believe as the social web will continue to develop and deepen digital relationships, that social networks will become our homepage and primary reason for going online, but I also believe that search engines and the information-web have a unique role independent of the social-web.

Those who argue that the internet experience is converging into one portal that people will use both socially and to seek information seem to ignore the fact that digital technology, in almost every instance, begins to mimic our real life experience.  If our real life were 100% social and all of the information we learned was through our friends and family, then I’d jump right on the bandwagon for a one-portal interface solution to the internet.  This is not the case though.  We seek information from sources outside our social sphere and interact with the world in many ways that have nothing to do with our friends.  Sure, we seek the opinion of our peers on subjects, but many people prefer to develop their own perspective before letting others influence their opinion.  How is that possible if social networks and the influence of our peers is interwoven with all of our internet experience?

In the end, I don’t see the information-web and social-web experiences converging into a single solution for all your internet needs.  Facebook and other social networking services like Twitter and Foursquare have a long way to go before they have maximized their online potential because they’re only starting to integrate themselves tangibly into our real life experiences.  The power of digital word-of-mouth is only starting to be felt because consumers are still acclimating to the idea of expressing opinions online.  The rise of blogging, Twitter, status updates and viral content online is helping drive this expression to the mainstream.  As opinion expression spreads through the culture of the internet and more people become comfortable with sharing their thoughts online, businesses will be forced to listen and encourage this feedback because it will provide them invaluable data on their customers that they’ve never really had access to before.  From a research perspective, think of social media as the largest representative sample in the history of research.

Personal expression is extremely important to the growth and integration of the Internet as a ubiquitous aspect of our everyday lives, but the web as a source of independent information and cataloging will always be a part of our user-experience.  A converged Internet would be like living in a world without libraries or bookstores where you could only borrow buy books based on your friend’s interests and literary purchase history.  There is no winner in this war between social and independent portal experiences because the “battle” is just a narrative that has been developed based on too narrow of a perspective.  The user-experience will eventually converge in it’s ubiquity, but diverge in the expression of that ubiquity, ultimately reflecting the very complexity of those who created the experience.

Jackson Pollock's Convergence

[Via http://thedigitalanalyst.com]

What if websites were...

So I found a collection of “what if websites were…” images. Most of them are 9gag.com. Be sure to share them and let me know which ones you like the most

If browser were people… What if browser were women?

[Via http://sarcasticblogger.wordpress.com]

Rise Up!

Our new Myspace design for Cypress Hill has just been launched! This was an incredibly fun project to work on, mainly because I had great assets to work with. I would like to give a special props/thanks to Mr. Frank Maddocks for kicking so much ass on the cover art for “Rise Up”, which is set to hit stores on…… Wait, I’ll give you ONE guess as to the release date… Thats right, international “Smoke a Lot of Weed Day”. SHOCKER! Circa Survive also has a new album coming out on that very same day that I am very excited to hear called “Blue Sky Noise”. (**shinfo)

Anyways, snag both of these great CD’s on April 20th, unless you, for some reason, happen to be too lazy on that particular day. You know what, fuck it, just buy em on Wednesday.

Til then, you can preview a few tracks on Cypress Hill’s BRAND SPANKIN NEW MYSPACE!

[Via http://sidelongmedia.wordpress.com]

something's got to give ...

You hear enough women say that women these days – can do it all. I woke up this morning questioning the validity of these statements and the percentage of mothers who have deluded themselves in believing into such overused cliché.

When I was working full-time; I was always worrying about my kids and spent three-quarters of my day feeling very guilty about leaving them to other people. I always felt like I was missing out on seeing them, getting to know them and knowing them completely. It was like a burden I carried all day at work. I didn’t function well and probably got away with just using 2% of my brain if any. I’ve always put my job second and that was fine with me because I knew that if my kids grew up without a sense of direction – then I’ve messed up in a big way and at that point I know the damage would be irrevocable.

Growing up, my mother worked 18-hour days. I always thought she was insane! My father on the other hand; had a 9-5 job and tried very hard to keep order in our home. It was tough; but as my sister and I grew older; we learned to adapt and do things for ourselves. I probably spent a good amount of my teenage years convincing myself that I was fine, that our life was ok and that I didn’t miss out on anything special. My sister and I certainly didn’t have everything but we’ve managed to get decent grades at school; rarely got ourselves in trouble and stayed away from the wrong type of friends. All of that, without my parents pushing us to do better in school or giving us lectures about how to pick the right friends. They were pretty easy-going as far as parents goes. Majority of my friend’s parents also worked; not the kind of long hours my parents did but they dealt with the same things as I did. It was the norm for me and looking back; I have no regrets or anger towards my parents because they weren’t there for my volleyball games or award ceremonies. They did the best they could and if I couldn’t remember any instances when they were present for me – then so be it. I don’t love and respect them any less.

Now that I am a mother of four, I’ve been trying to examine my life a little closer. I’ve been out of the workforce for 1.5 years; mainly because of my health and secondly because I’ve lost my ability to jungle work and family without hyperventilating on the freeway. Not having an income is devastating for someone who has worked all her life. Some days, I feel like I have nothing. There are still house payments and car payments to make and often times I feel like I have nothing to contribute. Despite of all the things that I do; like housework, homework, yard work and any work related things you could think of that involves 4 kids and a home – it doesn’t hide the fact that I bring in zero dollars in this household. There are days when this realization is hard to take.

Life at home has its own share of joy. Yes, I am one of those weird mothers who enjoy cleaning and doing the same chores over and over. What can I say? I’m a glutton for punishment. It took probably a good year for me to get used to living a life without a schedule. Anything goes in this household! In spite of all the preconceived ideas of any working mother contemplating on being a stay-at-home mom; I will be the first to tell you that it’s been absolutely rewarding. The rewards that I have gotten at the end of the day pales in comparison to taking home a paycheck. I kid around about leaving my kids behind to my husband if we ever get a divorce but my kids had been an absolute joy to have around. When my husband is out-of-town; I try to savor their undivided attention.  We’ve had some really fun moments on our own and those are just my memories and not my husbands.

So I think, that’s where my point lies. When you are not around – someone else is creating all of these wonderful memories with your children. That in itself is a painful lesson. Your kids will love you the same, whether you are there or not. There will be disappointments but in the long run – they tend to forget! Kids these days are resilient and they just move on. I think stay-at-home mothers get a bad rap. Don’t you notice that it’s often the most important jobs that command the least respect?

What I do know is that I made the right choice for me. If you are a working mother, I have nothing against you. It is a choice and a that choice is yours to make. My mother may have some regrets on her own but I don’t want the same regrets someday. I’d be the first person to admit that I’ve made too many compromises in my life. Now that I am a little bit older and perhaps a tiny bit wiser; I don’t want to lose sight of what is important to me in the end.

Though I enjoyed working and talking to adults; nothing beats an afternoon nap with my 4-year old or hearing her belt out some original tunes. I don’t think we should have it all; I think life would be too easy if we did. I think we all have to suffer some, sacrifice some and come to realize that the time we have with our children is something we could never take back. So once in a while, put down the camera or your work laptop and don’t log into Facebook/MySpace or Friendster. Instead, spend some quality time with your kids. You will thank yourself in the end …

[Via http://mykaos.wordpress.com]

is newscorp the death of myspace

rumours abound that myspace employees are leaving by the truckload, especially talented and knowledgable ones.

after 2 ceo’s in 1 year, and what looks like a corporate mess with 2 co-presidents and a CEO – all the signs show that this is a flailing ship. none of the clear, decisive actions that one would expect from a  company in rapid growth – rather political games and no new product innovations abound.

so it appears that the additional management layers added by newscorp arent adding. not that it is anything new, often corporate management structures arent there to help the business grow and be great, they are there to help the corporate bean counters count beans more easily.

check out the article about myspace nearing rock bottom here and the one regarding the leadership mess here

[Via http://nevoda.wordpress.com]

Peter Cox - New Album "The S1 Sessions" Out On 22nd March 2010

Peter Cox, lead singer of 80’s pop band Go West, will release his fourth solo album titled “The S1 Sessions” on Monday  22nd of March 2010!

Peter has very kindly let fans preview some tracks from his new album – check them out!

http://www.peter-cox.org/DiscoTheS1Sessions.html

The “S1 Sessions” album will be released from most online stores.  For more information on Peter Cox and Go West regarding tours, album releases, videos etc. , please see links below!

LINKS:

Peter Cox Official Website:
http://www.peter-cox.org/

Go West Official Website:
http://www.gowest.org.uk/

[Via http://knightgrooves.wordpress.com]

Is the glass half full? Part II

While I’ve covered some of the ways that new communication services like various uses of the Internet, or cell phones have made daily communication with our friends and families easier – there are a few more ways I’d like to share with you.

Another interesting aspect of this convenient communication is video chatting.  I have friends that use Skype to video-chat with friends and family all around the world.  Friends whose husbands are stationed in other countries and can’t chat on cell phones very often have used video chatting.  Sometimes I can iChat with my best friend when he’s on a late shift in the middle of the night, and keep him company on breaks.  We’ve used videophones at my house to talk to my grandma and Uncle, so they can see us while we’re chatting.  Who would have thought that eventually we’d be able to see our loved ones while we talked to them thousands of miles away.  This seems to be really convenient when people want to share excitement over awesome events happening in their lives, as well. I’ve watched people be able to use their laptops in airports, cafes, or libraries to chat online with friends or family. In locations like these where it may be hard to have a conversation out loud on the phone because it could be distracting to those around us, using Internet services to communicate is very convenient because it doesn’t disturb the surrounding customers, and people can still have conversations they want.  It’s really nice when I’ve wanted to take a study break in the library, or the coffee shop and want to talk to someone for a few minutes without bothering the rest of my group.

Other positive aspects of new communication technology include how reliable and easy it is to use.  The great thing about these new communication technology services is that there are multiple ways to reach someone through them.  Perhaps you have friends that don’t sign into certain accounts very often, but they do use others.  So, if your friend never uses MySpace and doesn’t respond to the message you left them there, you might have better luck with their Facebook account, or Twitter.  Some people use separate e-mail addresses for work, and personal use.  Most social media and communication services on the Internet have pretty simple interfaces.  I have seen people who don’t use computers very often, set up their own Facebook or AIM accounts with little assistance.  Most cell phones now have the ability to use instant messengers, or even e-mails on the phone, toot!  Because of the easiness of using these services the barrier is a little bit lower (if people can afford to pay the cell phone bill, or have accessibility to the Internet).  I have seen young people and old people a like use these services, with ease and enjoyment.  When I first started using Facebook the only other people I communicated with through the service, were other college students.  Over the years the scope of Facebook has changed.  My mom even has her own Facebook account now, and has been able to use it to get in touch with old high school friends, family friends around the country and even just another way to talk with me when I’m up here at school.

Another press release from Pew Internet & American Life Project about connectedness and cell phone use and online experiences, noted support of these communication technologies: “Overall, respondents in this survey see much upside and little downside in the way new technologies have affected the quality of their communications with others” (2008).  The article also expressed how helpful cell phones were for families to touch base with one another, and “coordinate family life on the fly during their busy lives” (2008).  One more important idea the article addresses is the social activity of people using the Internet for communication.  Some worry that this harms social interaction away from the computer, or decreases it, but the article explained: “Internet users socialize just as frequently as non-users. Indeed, even intense internet users (i.e. those who go online from home several times a day) are no less likely to socialize with friends than those who go online less frequently and those who do not go online at all” (2008).  This seems to be a really positive result of communication technology, despite some people’s worries.  It’s good to know that it doesn’t change the likeliness of actual face-to-face interaction among people.

That sure sounds like a lot of positive advantages created through the use of new communication technology to interact with our friends and family!  Of course, wherever there is a positive, someone can find a negative. Coming up soon: what are the negative aspects of communication technology?  Is the glass really half empty?  You decide after reading my next entry!

Reference:

Fox, S.  (2008, December 24).  The new connectedness. Retrieved from: http://www.pewinternet.org/Commentary/2008/December/The-New-Connectedness.aspx

[Via http://newcomm.wordpress.com]

Exclusive: Fox Becomes a Hen? ‘CAIR’ and Imbalance? News Corporation Falls Under Saudi Control

Fair and Balanced Your Ass!

March 12, 2010

Paul Williams, PhD

Former prominent guests on Fox News, including Walid Shoebat, contend that the News Corporation has surrendered its “fair and balanced” coverage of Islam and events in the Middle East for a fistful of Saudi cash. Their contention is based on a series of recent developments within the media giant. The first development was the news that Rupert Murdoch, CEO of News Corporation, invested $70 million in the Rotana Group, an enterprise owned by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a nephew of Saudi King Abdullah. The Rotana Group operates a host of TV channels throughout the Middle East and is a leading producer of Arabic movies. Next came Mr. Murdoch’s decision to make Abu Dhabi, the headquarters of the News Corporation’s global media operations in the Middle East. On Monday, the Fox Business Network announced that it will dispatch a full-time correspondent to the Middle East in order to inform Americans of the unique business opportunities in such places as Syria, a country that provides shelter for Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah and support the insurgents in Iraq. Who are you going to trust now, Infidel? In the wake of this announcement, Fox news commentators – including Glenn Beck, Charles Krauthammer, A.B. Stoddard and Bill Kristol – condemned Geert Wilders, a well-respected Dutch dignitary and critic of radical Islam, as a “fascist” and a “demagogue.” Mr. Krauthammer said that Mr. Wilders, who is the leading candidate for Prime Minister in The Netherlands, doesn’t know the difference between Islam and Islamism, a distinction known only to Mr. Krauthammer. While Mr. Beck labeled Mr. Wilders as a “fascist,” Ms. Stoddard expressed her agreement with Krauthammer and added that “if people like this (Mr. Wilders) are elected to lead Holland it will suffer the consequences. What caused this denunciation? Mr. Wilders produced a short documentary on Islam in Holland called Fitna in which he argued that “there is no such thing as ‘moderate Islam’” and that the Prophet Muhammad would “. . . in these days be hunted down as a terrorist.”  Complete Story:

[Via http://dancingczars.wordpress.com]

information overload: is the internet making "keeping it real" passe

i think about and analyze EVERYTHING. probably too much, at times. as much as i love technology, and i’ve been at the cutting edge of it since i was born due to my tech savvy, computer entrepreneur father, bottom line: this technology boom freaks me out.

we were one of the first families in town to have dial-up internet. my dad owned his own computer business on the main street of my town, and previously worked out of an office in our basement. there are photos of me at the age of one, sitting at his computer desk pretending to do work. i was literally born into this stuff.

i didn’t use AOL instant messenger until 7th grade, i didn’t join myspace or facebook until my senior year of high school, and i didn’t have a cell phone until i was 15. all of these social media/networking tools were a way for me to keep in touch with friends and family. i didn’t see the harm in them until my younger cousins, five to seven years younger than me, began to join these sites. for this age group, these sites became a place where they could say or do whatever they darn well pleased, and believe me, they did not know better to think before they typed. myspace became a platform for harassment, or a place to try and steal someone’s boyfriend by spreading nasty rumors. this was not what myspace was to me, but it’s what it turned into for the younger generation.

i see kids who cannot be older than 10 with cell phones. as i can see the benefit of cell phones for safety and security reasons, i still think that they come with too much responsibility and freedom for a young child. all of these “sexting” scandals, and the circulation of inappropriate pictures by impressionable and naive young kids leaves me completely terrified.

these social media sites that younger kids use – specifically facebook and myspace – can provide outlets for kids to be whoever they want to be. great? no, not really. say that Jessica, a hypothetical 13 year old girl, has been getting picked on at school. well, now she can use the internet to portray herself however she wants, possibly as someone who she really isn’t, just so she can gain some credibility or fit in better with the kids at school. THIS IS WAY TOO MUCH PRESSURE. the awkward older adolescent years/teen years are already hard enough.

i always thought that if i was an artist instead of an art historian i would work on a project to see how people, more specifically the adolescent/teen age, use the internet to create a persona. hiding behind the distance of the virtual world, do they feel free or constrained? what is there to gain, to lose by engaging in these practices?

i never thought i’d say it, but i truly do think that there is such a thing as technology overload, and that it can be dangerous. it makes the concept of genuine, real human interaction a thing of the past.

kids are glued to their phones, texting friends literally 24/7. people are becoming more and more socially awkward and less and less personal.

these thoughts come to me when i realize that i am at the age where marriage and babies are in my future. with all of these constant pressures and the technology overload, how will i raise my kids? my generation is going to have to tame this monster we’ve created once we collectively realize that this is not the environment to be exposing our children to, unless we all want socially awkward, distant children who only know how to speak/write in shorthand and constantly need instant gratification. ::shudder::

[Via http://erinalyssa.wordpress.com]

MySpace's New Strategy - LATimes.com Article

Interesting MySpace article in the LATimes.com today.

Some highlights:

“Facebook’s online clout is giving it an edge among major brand advertisers. Market researcher eMarketer projects that worldwide ad spending with Facebook will reach $605 million this year, up nearly 39% from last year.If that happens, Facebook will surpass MySpace, which will see revenue drop 21% to $385 million, eMarketer projects.”

“We need to be a platform for self expression that is clearly differentiated from the competition”

“The online social network … will use information that users volunteer on the site … to recommend movie trailers, recently released songs and video games to them.”

Yikes … I knew MySpace was imploding but I didn’t know things were this bad. According to this article, FB is effectively 2x MySpace in terms of visits and time spent and analysts are projecting a 21% decrease in topline revenue for the once dominant social networking site. Worst of all, I’m not sure I understand this new strategy of “entertainment + creative expression”. 

For one, MySpace, to my knowledge, owns little to no actual entertainment content, so its value is principally as a distribution platform for content. Last time I checked – the platform with the most users (and the one that is growing) is the one who wins. Additionally, part of the revised MySpace strategy appears to be around leveraging behavioral targeting to support a CPA/Affiliate-model based on driving sales of movie tickets, music, video games, etc. The problem is that the high-value users with purchasing power and disposable income left MySpace a long time ago—and 13 year old kids in Middle America don’t have credit cards.

Ultimately, if you’re a content owner/producer, why would you choose MySpace as a distribution partner over the other options you have? Unless they’re offering you very favorable economic terms, you probably wouldn’t.

As far as creative expression … I dunno. Isn’t FB’s standard (clean) UI part of the reason why users fled MySpace in the first place? Does anybody really want to look at ANY web page that has white text on a yellow background, repeating tile gifs, plays horrendous music on load and takes 17 minutes to fully render?

But playing armchair quarterback is a coward’s pursuit. What should MySpace have done and more importantly, what should they do going forward?

The article suggests that the execs think ‘mission creep’ was the problem. From my view, more precisely, this was about pursuing the wrong mission. It would seem reasonable that in a highly competitive space, with extremely fickle and transient users, the company’s efforts should have been directed towards increasing switching costs while providing high-utility. It seems to me that there was a great opportunity to innovate on product and create social interaction-driven versions of old internet tools like messenger, chat, email, and audio/video/media players. The power and usefulness of such products would have leveraged MySpace’s greatest asset – its HUGE lead in # of users – and made it more difficult for competitors to encroach.

Bottom line: it was just too easy for users to leave MySpace.

Going forward requires some more thought. Look out for Part II.

In the meantime - take the “Will MySpace Survive” poll

 

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[Via http://credisdead.wordpress.com]

Thomas Jefferson’s Other Declaration

by Derek Sheriff

The Tenth Amendment Center

March 9, 2010

As we fight on against the deplorable agenda of the current administration, the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution is becoming  one of our most important tools.  In our Founding Father’s wisdom they created, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” With that declaration, over 30 states are in the process or have completed the process of nullification. Simply stated, any state can take back any power they have allowed the federal government to usurp. It is currently being used to add additional amendments to state constitutions, to nullify any federal control over gun laws, obeying the EPA on carbon emissions, as well as, mandating that their citizens not be placed nor fined for non-participation in the currently debated health care-denial plan.  Random thoughts while observing the passing parade, J.C.

Most Americans know that Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of “The Declaration of Independence”, the most important of all our founding documents.

Yet few of them have even heard of another document that I would say might be the second most important declaration he ever wrote: The Kentucky Resolutions of 1798. He drafted them secretly while he was serving as vice president. It was written in response to the hated Alien and Sedition Acts which were passed under the Adams administration during an undeclared war with France.

The acts authorized the president to deport any resident alien considered dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States, to apprehend and deport resident aliens if their home countries were at war with the United States, and criminalized any speech which might defame Congress, the President, or bring either of them into contempt or disrepute. You could compare it to the Patriot Act, but really it was much worse. Either way, The Alien and Sedition Acts were probably Thomas Jefferson’s worst nightmare.

Some people are surprised to learn that in response to these acts, Jefferson did not hold up the First Amendment in protest. Rather he invoked the Tenth Amendment, which states that:

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

In 1798 Thomas Jefferson secretly drafted another declaration few people know about…

Essentially, he argued that by passing and enforcing the Alien and Sedition Acts, the federal government had over stepped its bounds and was exercising powers which belonged to the states.

In other words, the Alien and Sedition Acts were acts of usurpation.

James Madison corresponded with Jefferson about these issues, (they suspected that their mail was being secretly opened and read by the way). As a result of their correspondence, James Madison penned another series of resolutions against the Alien and Sedition Acts, which were passed by the Virginia legislature in 1798 and 1799.

As important as these resolutions were in objecting to the unconstitutional Alien and Sedition Acts, their lasting importance was due to the the fact that they were strong statements in defense of federalism, the sovereignty of the people of the several states, and the authority of state governments to check or resist the tyrannical proclivities of the federal government.

Jefferson began the Kentucky Resolutions by explaining the exact nature of the relationship between the new federal, or general government and the states that predated it:

“Resolved, That the several States composing, the United States of America, are not united on the principle of unlimited submission to their general government; but that, by a compact under the style and title of a Constitution for the United States, and of amendments thereto, they constituted a general government for special purposes — delegated to that government certain definite powers, reserving, each State to itself, the residuary mass of right to their own self-government; and that whensoever the general government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force: that to this compact each State acceded as a State, and is an integral part, its co-States forming, as to itself, the other party: that the government created by this compact was not made the exclusive or final judge of the extent of the powers delegated to itself; since that would have made its discretion, and not the Constitution, the measure of its powers; but that, as in all other cases of compact among powers having no common judge, each party has an equal right to judge for itself, as well of infractions as of the mode and measure of redress.” Complete Story:

[Via http://dancingczars.wordpress.com]

This Weeks COUNTDOWN - Is Your Band Included?

COUNTDOWN – This weeks countdown starts NOW!!!!:

PRIDE SHALL FALL – myspace.com/prideshallfall – 1,233 LISTENS with 2 songs,

DENNIS SHEPHERD GROUP – myspace.com/dennisshepherdgroup – 78 LISTENS with 3 songs,

FROM THE ASHES OF MY SINS – myspace.com/fromtheashesofmysins – 1,786 LISTENS with 7 songs

Is your Band/Group incl…uded? If NOT why NOT? You don’t need FREE Promotion?

[Via http://themuzikmachine.wordpress.com]

Trivium en Facebook, Twitter, MySpace y YouTube

Las redes sociales se “prestan” para muchas confusiones y farsas, así que para que no anden agregando perfiles falsos, acá les dejo la lista de donde pueden hallar a la banda, al igual que a sus integrantes:

Trivium Oficial:
MySpace | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

Matt Heafy:
Facebook | Twitter

Corey Beaulieu:
Facebook | MySpace

Paolo Gregoletto:
Facebook | Twitter | YouTube
MySpace | MySpace Lil’ P

Nick Augusto:
Facebook

De igual manera, les dejo los espacios donde pueden encontrar a Trivium México. ¡Espero nos agreguen en todos para que así el mundo se entere que los mexicanos también somos super fans de la banda!
Twitter | Facebook | MySpace | WordPress

[Via http://triviummexico.wordpress.com]

Societal Change: The Internet

OK, it barely raised a corner of my lip in a sort of quarter-smile. But I struggled so hard to find a nice picture for today, so please forgive.

Allow me a brief diversion from low-minded politics to consider a development in society that is really intriguing me.

The internet, to people like me (and I pity them), is one of life’s essentials. I say that without any hint of sarcasm, even though my definition of “essential” doesn’t match the dictionary. Even to people less like me (lucky them) they still find the internet the most important aspect of their daily lives.

Last year when I moved house, I was without the internet for a month. And yet, I wasn’t. In my desperation to keep in touch with the modern world, I dragged myself to the local library, where my thirst for communicativity (NB: made up word) was satiated.

I could have tried living without it. It would have been difficult, and maybe going cold turkey would have weaned me off it. But in any event, I didn’t. I couldn’t. It was just too difficult.

To me, the internet is the simplest and thus the best form of communication. To people who’ve never used it, they will never understand. But introduce them to e-mail, to social networks, to news websites, to blogs, to discussion forums, and to on-demand media the like of which the world has never seen, and something changes.

The world does indeed become a smaller place.

Once people have conquered their initial fear factor of technology, and, hopefully, have avoided falling victim to viruses, scams and other nasties, as well as realised it is largely safe to ignore Carol Vorderman style “Interweb” paranoia, the whole social nexus of one’s life can be transformed. Not overnight, but given time, and given more confidence, attitudes change.

This is where we’re at now.

The past few years have seen the social networking revolution kick into action. It really began with MySpace, though there were previous attempts before that. Very few people were on social networks back then though. I remember being one of the early adopters to that particular site, and that was no fun. What is the point of a social network that isn’t very social?

To truly work, to become the phonebook of the internet, the place via which everyone could be in touch with everyone else, there would need to be a site that reached critical mass. And, preferably, just one. No one can be bothered maintaining several different social networking profiles. Life is complicated enough already.

Enter Facebook. By design or by sheer good fortune, they did it. They passed the point where you can now basically say “everyone is on Facebook” even if it’s nowhere near true. By that, though, you mean that for those of us who have entered the digital world, we are on Facebook, and though we may not like it, each of us engages with it to some degree.

This is a long way away from e-mail, newsgroups and mailing lists, back at the dawn of the internet. Now everyone can have their own “presence” that serves as your own place on the web, available 24/7. It is your digital home, where people can find you and occasionally send you endless invitations to become fans of various silly things, like the incredibly catchy Nuclear Waste Disposal.

Facebook is not the end, though. It will need to change again and again to stay top dog. But by becoming the place at which “everyone” is registered, they become a self-perpetuating institution. No one will want to move away to any upstart network for the fear that, in doing so, there will actually be no one else on the rival website to talk to.

The direction of travel on the internet has always been towards more communication, more interactivity, more personality, more customisation, less privacy, fewer inhibitions and more openness and more freedom. It is both a libertarian’s dream and a nightmare. The public and private spheres made irrelevant and all rolled into one.

That is changing the way we think about each other, and think about friends, and, in some respects testing the absolute limits of our human capacity to be social creatures.

More on that next time. Whenever that may be.

[Via http://futilitymonster.wordpress.com]

Single or Unemployed?

The commonalities between dating and the search for employment have been referenced time and time again.  This past week I attended an Etiquette Dinner arranged by Skidmore College.  The Board of Alumni attended as experts in the field of the Dos & Don’ts of networking.  While I enjoyed the conversation and truly appreciated the opportunity to make new connections, my real take away included an increased interest in the similarities among pursuing the beginning of an emotional relationship and the hopes of gainful employment.  The following is an analysis detailing this fascinating relationship.

Intrigue

- The origination of all relationships between two individuals is sparked by an initial intrigue instilled in one party by a unique characteristic, be it physical or emotional, of the other.

- Similarly, the aspiration to secure employment at a specific firm can precipitate after hearing about a unique organization that specializes in a field with corresponding interests of the individual.

Introduction

- Whether a man is intimidated by the prospect of rejection from a woman, or a woman doesn’t know how to approach a love interest of hers without being intimidating, introducing oneself has become more and more complicated with the advent of online social networks.  In both instances, relationships and employment, we must decide how best to approach the other party to achieve the most favorable results.

- The following is a chart comparing only a sampling of the various tools now available to initiate contact:

Relationship Facebook MySpace Text Call Social Event Introduction Employment LinkedIn Twitter Email Call Network Connection

Meeting

- First dates, job interviews and project proposals all face similar threats of failure at the initial meeting.  What do you order?  Can you handle eating a sandwich without staining your freshly dry-cleaned shirt?  Should you finish all the food on your plate? Should you salt your food?   I could digress, but the idea will remain the same: parties in attendance, the guy and girl, the unemployed and potential employer, are in attendance for future benefits.

Follow Up

- This is where most of us drop the ball.  Once again we are faced with various options, all with accompanying underlying meanings.  How much time in between the first meeting and a thank you note?  Are both parties being sincere?  The beginning of an emotional relationship can be confusing, while at the same time, quite exciting.  However, there will always come that point in time where an open and honest talk will be required in hopes of bringing both individuals’ true intentions out into the open.

- The truth is also the same between an organization and a prospective hire.  Throughout negotiations there is, unfortunately, sometimes some dishonesty and stretching of the truth.  The company can state that they do not have the funds to take on another employee, while the truth may actually be that the candidate does not fit the right requirements.  Likewise, the applicant may attempt to create a sense of urgency pertaining to offers from competing firms (see Media Jobs Daily advice on this faux pas).

Relationship Develops

- All relationships are continuously progressing or regressing.  They are, at no time, stagnant.  Growth at a company is necessary to retain the employees’ interests and boss’s recognition of his subordinates work.  Change in the type of work assigned, new projects and increased workload will serve to stimulate workers and achieve greater productivity.  The common goal among all employees is to eventually improve their stance on the corporate ladder and to maximize remuneration.  Each employee presumably contributes to the firm’s growth, while the organization supports and encourages individual growth.

- A couple is very similar.  Both parties involved facilitate their partner’s success.  A relationship should only be maintained if the lives of the man and woman are better together than if they were to be separated.

Goals

- Overall, the ultimate goal of employment and relationships is growth.  While the specifics differ with the individual, everyone strives to achieve growth in education, wealth, love and above all, happiness.  All of these are achieved easiest with the help of others.

[Via http://keithepetri.wordpress.com]

Music sales are up... sort of

Image courtesy PCWorld

Digital sales are up and ready to eclipse physical sales. Sounds great, but unfortunately the digital uptick isn’t enough to overcome the overall downward slide in music sales that’s been happening over time. The pool of buyers is shrinking overall. All this according to the IFPI (a London-based record label organization), and and market researchers NPD Group. Internet radio sites like Pandora (which I love btw) encourage music downloads, while ad-supported sites like MySpace and Lala apparently discourage buying (why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?).  You can read the whole article on the LA Times entertainment blog.

What does this mean for indie artists? I think Internet radio sites are a great way to promote music… I’ve been listening to Pandora daily for the past two weeks and have discovered so many amazing artists I’ve never heard of it’s making my head spin.  As far as sites like MySpace where you can listen for free with no prompting to buy… Personally I don’t see it as a huge problem. The MySpace page is an avenue to expose and promote, and has never really been a big sales boon to artists. It’s not meant for that and anyone hoping to sell tons off their MySpace page will probably be disappointed. But the profile is great to give people a snapshot of who you are, and serves as a portal for media and industry types looking for new music or who may want to learn more about you before an interview/review or proceeding with a business deal.

What do you think indie artists can do to encourage downloads and sales?

Courtesy LA Times. Click for the full story

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2010/02/music-bi-back-to-playing-the-blues.html

[Via http://marketmymusic.wordpress.com]