Online Oxygen

Banksy's pet store in NYC...

2008-10-09T14:22:00.002+01:00

Via WC. Thanks, Liam

Because they're worthless...

2008-10-06T13:58:00.003+01:00

WHILE financial firms were taking giant punts to give their profits some va-va-voom, their marketing departments were conjuring up phrases to convey the impression that banks and insurers, like diamonds, were forever. Now that the future’s not bright, it is obvious that some were probably the worst corporate slogans in the world. From American International Group, a collapsed insurer (“the strength to be there”), through to Lehman Brothers (“where vision gets built”) and IndyMac, a failed bank (“you can count on us”), boastful institutions snapped, crackled and popped under pressure.
The home of the whoppers is America, but the trend has been connecting people globally. In incredible India, ICICI, despite being the bank of a billion smiles, was led to deny rumours of a run. And pure, natural, unspoilt Iceland has bailed out its third-largest lender, Glitnir, which although fast, smart and thorough, faced a funding crisis.

Yet not all banks failed to do exactly what it said on the tin. Through their slogans, Benelux’s lenders gave an eerie premonition of the massive state rescues to come. Dexia warned that “the short term has no future,” and Fortis asked, “here today, where tomorrow?” Not since Enron invited the world to “ask why” has an interrogative slogan been as prescient.
And consider also the few, the proud, that chose just to do it and openly advertise their risks. Countrywide promoted itself as a “lender that actually finds ways to make loans”. (When debtors lost their passion to perform, it was bought for a reassuringly expensive price by Bank of America.) The mortgage agency Fannie Mae, now state-controlled, fully disclosed that “as the American dream grows, so do we,” making clear what would happen if the world lost its faith in America. And no one comes close to Washington Mutual, whose slogan (“Whoo hoo”) should have given investors a clear warning about its risk appetite. Hello Boys! Wasn’t it obvious?

Innovation vs hibernation...

2008-10-06T12:33:00.003+01:00

Two interrelated pieces underlining the importance of innovating not hibernating:

Looking for a reason to hide, Seth G

I've seen it before and I'm sure I'll see it again.
Whenever a business cycle starts to falter, the media start wringing their hands. Then big businesses do, freelancers, entrepreneurs and soon everyone is keening.
People and organizations that have no real financial stress start to pull back, "because it's prudent." Now is not the time, they say. They cut budgets and put off investments. It's almost as if everyone is just waiting for an excuse to do less.
In fact, they are.

Growth is frightening for a lot of people. It brings change and the opportunity for public failure. So if the astrological signs aren't right or the water is too cold or we've got a twinge in our elbow, we find an excuse. We decide to do it later, or not at all.
What a shame. What a waste.

Inc. magazine reports that a huge percentage of companies in this year's Inc. 500 were founded within months of 9/11. Talk about uncertain times.
But uncertain times, frozen liquidity, political change and poor astrological forecasts (not to mention chicken entrails) all lead to less competition, more available talent and a do-or-die attitude that causes real change to happen.

If I wasn't already running my own business, today is the day I'd start one.
From this week's Economist

Seven years ago, as America slipped into recession in the wake of terrorist attacks and the collapse of the dotcom bubble, Apple launched its iPod music-player. Many observers thought the company had gone mad. Apple was launching an expensive new product (the first iPod cost $399) in the depths of the worst downturn the technology industry had ever seen. It was venturing outside its familiar market, for personal computers, into the fiercely competitive field of consumer electronics. And it was taking on Sony, the giant of the industry. The iPod’s name, sceptics declared, stood for “idiots price our devices”.

The World of Ends...

2008-10-02T13:05:00.002+01:00

http://www.worldofends.com/

A great, five year old piece still spot on today:

The Nutshell

1. The Internet isn't complicated
2. The Internet isn't a thing. It's an agreement.
3. The Internet is stupid.
4. Adding value to the Internet lowers its value.
5. All the Internet's value grows on its edges.
6. Money moves to the suburbs.
7. The end of the world? Nah, the world of ends.
8. The Internet's three virtues:
a. No one owns it
b. Everyone can use it
c. Anyone can improve it
9. If the Internet is so simple, why have so many been so boneheaded about it?
10. Some mistakes we can stop making already

Asimo...

2008-09-26T13:43:00.001+01:00

Made of Japan...

2008-09-25T15:30:00.000+01:00

nice

Early casulty of the Credit Crunch...

2008-09-24T17:30:00.001+01:00

From SimCity to this...

2008-09-16T13:16:00.001+01:00

Three great things for a Friday...

2008-09-12T14:51:00.002+01:00

Cut Chemist - 1st Big Break from eyestorm on Vimeo.

EepyBird's Sticky Note experiment from Eepybird on Vimeo.

Thank you Paul L & Mr Tait

"Context over dogma"

2008-06-27T13:58:00.001+01:00

Uncanny...

2008-03-12T09:52:00.003Z

dothetest.co.uk for tfl just released. Wonder where they got the idea from?

Blimey...

2008-02-21T17:51:00.001Z

ABSOLUT MACHINES - Amazing robotic, web connected ping-pong tossing musical instrument, a large-scale electromechanical sculpture

Emerging signs of life...

2008-02-14T14:51:00.001Z

A recent arrival...

2008-02-08T15:16:00.000Z

Having donated to the great One Laptop Per Child programme, one of the first machines off the production line finally arrived here at GU.

So very different in reality than I thought it would be.

First impressions: smaller, more different interface & apps than anticipated, poorer key board & mouse...but overall, a fantastic achievement and huge respect to all the inspirational people who're making this happen.

More when I've had a chance to play with it properly.

The West Wing comes to the Primaries

2008-02-05T11:48:00.000Z

Obama's One Voice film

Marvellous news...

2008-01-24T12:39:00.001Z

Last.fm: Free the music. Interesting to see the details behind the old & new subscription thing...

Not bad...

2008-01-24T10:26:00.000Z

Nice...

2008-01-18T13:39:00.000Z

More than anything else, I love this sort of thing (see below). And whilst relatively simple, is an example of the start of something more fundamental

Take a youtube video, say this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U, click on the full screen button and then click on the 2nd button on the left, at the bottom of the screen, featuring the network icon.

Nice way of finding related videos. Hadn’t seen that before…

2008-01-17T20:10:00.000Z

Very good...

2008-01-17T17:16:00.000Z

via Frostfirecube.com

The Internet's "Black Holes"

2008-01-17T08:52:00.000Z

Now, I really want one of those!

2008-01-16T14:38:00.000Z

Marketing blogs: less is more

2008-01-16T12:37:00.000Z

(via Flickr & Auntie P)

Over the last 12 months, and specifically in relation to marketing-led blogs, I’ve noticed a significant shift in the approach taken by some of the more widely read streams.

This is not only to do with the various ‘Lifestages of Blogging’ many, if not all bloggers, experience. (For interest only, below is one of many pieces that attempts to slice up the different stages. It shows 5 stages. Others have outlined four, seven, eight…it really doesn’t matter, they all basically attempt to tell the same story.)

No, the interesting thing for me is the change in approach people have taken, probably in and around the 3rd or 4th stage. To me, this new approach seems to be the outcome of a battle between two competing forces:

The first competing force seems to be the on-going addiction and feeling inside that you need to post. The feeling that one needs to drive the upward arc of visits reported in Google analytics ever higher…and that posting is, no matter what, the way to do this.

Anyone who denies this is a liar (especially those who chose marketing or PR as a career). I remember two separate incidents last year, one with a famous blogger from the US and one from the UK both of whom seemed preoccupied with checking their audience stats. Which, granted, is important. But only up to a point and not when you know you’re doing it to make yourself feel better.

Second is an equal and opposite force. The fact that you’ve got a day job. And, in many cases, an intense one at that. So, you begrudgingly start to fit the blog in around the real work - starting earlier, finishing later, in transit. It’s not ideal, as the process of blogging clearly helps you develop and sharpen new thoughts that are relevant to the day job. However, this conflict starts to niggle away. And that’s not so much fun as the free feeling you once had.

(Personally, I find this problem compounds itself, as the limited spare time I have I like to ‘do’: i.e. to experience, make or create ‘stuff’. Blogging you could argue, is ‘doing’ to some extent, but it’s not the same as proper ‘doing’.)

So, the clear resolution taken by people experiencing these two competing forces, as seen across a lot of well read marketing blogs is to move into microblogging. Primarily via Twitter and, to a lesser extent, merely posting a daily set of ‘Links of the Day’.

And what follows is an increase in frequency of content but, to my mind, a significant reduction in the quality and interest in the flow of the stream. "Pebble-dash" blogging, if you will.

Now, whilst not an avid user, I like Twitter. I’ve followed the ride like everyone else and wish them nothing but success. But, to be honest, I find the output from the Twitter product VERY self-indulgent: I genuinely don’t care if you’re sitting opposite someone with BO who’s hacking their iphone on your way to the airport or even if you’re about to meet Steve Jobs.

If you genuinely set out to communicate your thoughts and thinking, tell me something interesting about iphone hacks or the outcome of your meeting with Mr Jobs. And don't just end up with a bias towards a stream of well intended trivia, no matter how endearing or well scribed.

By their very nature, tools such as Twitter seems only capable of communicating the ‘What’, not the ‘So what?’ and the ‘What if?’. And whilst interesting and valuable to a point, it’s really not that interesting. No matter which way you look at it. And especially, when used as a substitute for stimulating thoughts of great richness and interest.

The ‘So what?’ and the ‘What if?’ is the main reason why I read more blogs than most other forms of media. If not to find the answers, at least to help stimulate thought or to start me off in an interesting direction.

Now, obviously, people are totally entitled to do whatever they wish. However, I suspect, if micro-blogging is being used to replace stimulating, long-form blogging then readers will vote with their feet (as they also have limited time and oxygen).

Previously well-followed marketing bloggers who’ve resorted to micro-blogging can now start to see the direction of their precious traffic flows for themselves. Heck, they don’t have to see it, they knew inside themselves it was going to happen even before they started going down the micro-blogging tip.

Steve Rubel calls it. And whilst I’m sure he’s worried as much about his traffic as anything else, I’m with him on this. Less is more.

So, for me, I’m up for the challenge. I’m not going to stop posting the stats, facts & references I find interesting, intriguing or curious that emerge from the ‘wind tunnel’ (Why? Well, selfishly, as much to help develop my own thinking and understanding as anything else.) However, I am going to go back to trying also to focus around emerging themes and theories. May not end up with much over the coming year, but if it ends up with a couple of thoughts of any merit then, in my book, that's better that a hatload of Twaddle.

And I take my hat off to people such as Iain who consistently manage to do this so successfully.

The Future of Futureology...

2008-01-15T16:18:00.000Z

Again, another great article from the Economist. Robert Cotterell penned a view on how predicting the future has moved on from big, long term Megatrends and much more into:

1. Think small (e.g Mircotrends)
2. Think short-term (e.g. on-going innovation)
3. Say you don't know
4. Talk less, listen more

I feel slightly uncomfortable about the first two, especially at the blinkered exclusion of undenable, important long-term trends & their implications (e.g. here).

And, is it me or are these first two just 'coping strategies' and/or a smart way to sell more Trendwatching subscriptions and consultancy?

But I certainly like and buy into 3. & 4. Humility. Now there's an important word in our skunk-drunk Web2.0 world.

They add a selection of trendspotters' tips for 2008 here:

Sleep is the new sex (sad but true for many 30/40 somethings, but also suspect it's a trend shooting down the demographic profile)
Person-to-person lending (e.g. Kiva and, of course, Zopa)
The N11 ('Next 11' countries snapping at the heels of the BRIC countries [Brazil, Rissia, India and China] who include S. Korea, Mexico, Indonesia and Vietnam. Especially Vietnam, apparently.)
Vicarious consumption (e.g. iliketotallyloveit.com)
Newly released ex-cons (apparently being released in their masses)
Bourgeois & bankrupt (courtesy of the credit crunch)

The Chinese Revolution

2008-01-15T15:56:00.000Z

Following on a recent interest with developments in China (here and here), some great facts & stats to come out of The World in 2008:

"In 2008 it will become clear that e-commerce will have a much larger impact in China than in the West. China will generate new models of internet business which will spill over to the West. And e-commerce will lead China's economy into a new era..."

In 2007 the leading consumer marketplaces counted 50m users and, for the first time, the value of daily online transactions surpassed the cash taken by major physical retailers in China such as Wal-Mart. Moreover, users of online payment systems exceeded the number of credit card holders, showing that China's e-commerce is taking a very different path from the West's, which relied heavily on credit cards.
In 2008, China will overtake America s the country with the largest number of internet users.

Web2.0 Fitness

2008-01-15T14:17:00.000Z

New Year, new me. No chance. But always try to give it a go.

Last year we dabbled with Traineo.

Leaving aside personal success (or otherwise), thought it was really rather good.

So, was interested to see what's happened in this space since then.

Came across this post which seemed to pull together all of the recent, decent efforts. Have to say, if I am weakly going to give this a go, will end up going with Traineo again...

How do you pronounce "!!!"?

2008-01-10T11:43:00.000Z

Apparently like this. However you do, really rather good.

Predictions for 2008

2008-01-10T11:37:00.000Z

As ever the usual slew of lists, thoughts and nominations came out around Xmas & New Year. The one I like the most comes from Business Week. There are a couple of others I'll come back to.) In the meantime here they are:

Ten Likely Events for 2008

Something for the new boardroom?

2008-01-09T20:18:00.000Z

The world's largest plamsa TV: the 150" monster unveiled by Panasonic at CES this week

Yahoo! UK Finds of the Year 2007...

2008-01-09T19:31:00.000Z

...are here. Voting finishes on 16/1.

A personal favourite : Faces in Places

"Never underestimate the misogyny of the American voter"(cont'd)

2008-01-09T18:13:00.000Z

Reading David Aaronovitch's piece in The Times yesterday("Never underestimate the misogyny of the American voter") reminded me of a Facebook group I came across just before Xmas: "Hillary Clinton: Stop Running for President and Make Me a Sandwich".

30k members and counting...

Simply Marvellous

2008-01-09T09:41:00.000Z

Thanks Dom

Some great quotes...

2008-01-08T18:05:00.000Z

Have to admit that am loving the US Presidential race at the moment. As well as being wide open on both sides, am currently loving the West Wingesque story line & retoric of Barack Obama.

Am also loving the sound bites coming out of the US Primaries...a few of my favourites over the last couple of days:

1. Andrew Smith, a political science professor at the University of New Hampshire, explains Mrs Clinton as the "eat-your-vegetables" kind of candidate, pointing to her experience and telling voters what will be good for them. Mr Obama is offering "three kinds of ice-cream".

2. Walter Shapiro, an American political journalist, tried recently to define the presidential candidates as countries. Mrs Clinton, he said, was "Canada - safe, boring, responsible but with a great healthcare plan". Mr Obama was more difficult: "A mythical kingdom where hope prevails and everyone wears a smile button."

3. "At the New Hampshire annual diner on Friday night he [Obama] pulled a trick no one had seen before, controlling his audience as a conductor does with his orchestra - switching applause off, for instance, with a singly movement of his hand. One ally compared him to Luke Skywalker in the movie Star Wars, slowly learning how to 'use the force'".

4. In David Aaronovitch's great piece in The Times today ("Never underestimate the misogyny of the American voter") he writes: "Imperfect as she is, Hillary Clinton is also on the side of the global angels, and is super-competent and super-serious about the presidency. If she were a man, she were loved, there would be no question about who should be nominated. But if she can't get over the vagina thing, and it were Mr Obama in November in November, then I would happily take him against any republican, except, maybe, John McCain. Just dont expect me to gush."

Guess we'll see.

Intelligent life on YouTube...

2008-01-08T17:53:00.000Z

To demostrate the point whilst working on the Rainforest Concern film, came across these two pieces:

and

But it was a struggle. But here's a good post: Ten signs of intelligent life on you tube...

(Personal TED favourites already covered here. Oh, and, of course, Sir Ken Robinson.)

Oh no.

2008-01-07T15:11:00.000Z

Funny in so many different ways

The Social Graph of the New Testament...

2007-12-17T08:58:00.000Z

Our work for Rainforest Concern...

2007-12-12T19:15:00.000Z

We've been keen to our bit. And more than just going carbon neutral. So we approached Rainforest Concern to see what we could do for them.

As a starter for ten, one GU'er is currently out in Equador working on one of their projects.

And in addition to this Giles, Tom and Cat came up with this brilliant idea. Bill G, Liam & Maebh then did a sterling job of getting the footage and pulling it all together. And we've donated all the GU time & cost for free because we really want to help this brilliant charity make a big impact on such an important issue.

So, here it is:

And if you like it, pass it on. And, more importantly, think about adopting an acre this Xmas.

The Perils of Publishing...

2007-12-07T11:28:00.001Z

Front page of today's FT: "Bank cuts UK rates to 5.5% as outlook darkens"

Inside, a glossy 72 page colour supplement extravagansa: "The Bonus Issue: How to spend it."

Talking ourselves into a recession?

2007-12-05T09:21:00.001Z

About 5 years ago the Economist wrote a great piece about how one of the best indicators of an on-coming recession is to track the number of times the word 'recession' was used in mainstream media. (And also previously, the number of yellow for hire taxi lights on in West End. But that's another story.)

Obviously Google Trends wasnt around then.

But it is now.

Spot anything?

Question is, especially in the UK, are we going to talk ourselves into a recession?

Three times more syllables than the phrase they're abbreviating...

2007-12-03T14:34:00.001Z

...www.

As ever, very good. (Still, better than TIM, though)

Facebook the next MySpace?

2007-11-28T09:45:00.000Z

..as MySpace becomes the next Friendster, as Friendster became the next Friends Reunited and Friends Reunited became the next Hotmail...

Probably the best straplines in the world...

2007-11-27T18:10:00.000Z

Quirky lists & reviews are good. The quirkier the better. This one's about dissecting the all-time top 115 straplines.

Apparently, they should:

1. Be five words in length
2. Not mention the brand name
3. Be declarative
4. Be grammatically complete
5. Be otherwise standard
6. Contain alliteration, metaphor, or rhyme.

Hugh MacLeod is a genius...

2007-11-27T13:02:00.000Z

Why iphone may never become a mainstream product...

2007-11-27T12:55:00.001Z

One hand and a thumb.

Two hands and a finger.

The difference may only be a digit.

But that for me is enough.

More corporate claptrap...

2007-11-27T12:26:00.001Z

This time from a Credit Suisse ad, promoting their sponsorship of the Tutankhamun exhibition:

"Some think great treasures. We think valuable engagement."

How very Alan Partridge.

Some more of the perils of Social Exhibitionism...

2007-11-26T13:53:00.001Z

Following on from before, some text from Facebook's T's & C's and Privacy Policy...

So, assuming* that the people at Facebook what their users to understand their responsibilities, how do you get more people to realise what they're signing up for?

Google do it quite well:

(* "Assumption is the mother of all f*&k ups")

Chuck Norris enters the US Presedential election campaign

2007-11-26T13:42:00.000Z

Apparently this isnt a spoof. Oh dear.

More stupidity...sandwiched in between a bit of good, old common sense...

2007-11-26T13:32:00.000Z

Headhunters have caught the consultants' disease
Lucy Kellaway, FT 26-11-07

Modern headhunters spout as much guff as management consultants, but without the excuse. Consultants have to, to hide the fact that it often isn't clear what they're selling. Headhunters are selling something pukka so there's no reason why they can't come right out and say so.
Korn Ferry describes itself as "The premier provider of human capital solutions" and the other big firms are no better. Heidrick & Struggles boasts that "as innovators, we are actively redefining top-level search to encompass complementary services". Michael Page's approach goes for bathos. "Our journey starts when we see a difference between where we are today and where we want to be," it says on its website.

Last week an acquaintance told me he had just employed one of the world's largest headhunting firms to help him find a new managing director. He received an introductory e-mail from the firm that began: "As a Leading Total Talent Solution Provider, we have some special assessment tools to help identify the 'right' candidate."

The only important word here - right - has acquired inverted commas, while the rest seems have been produced by an automatic buzzword generator. All the above words are dismal, but the word "talent" is the worst. Most people aren't terribly talented at all. And, once you start talking of talent, it's only a hop, skip and jump to "talent pools", with the dangerously misleading idea that schools of talent are swimming around, just ready to be fished out by the headhunter.
With the e-mail came attached a "Leadership Advantage Toolkit" containing 66 characteristics that might be desirable in a leader, including "dealing with paradox" and "organisational agility".

These had to be rated according to "mission critical", "important" and so on.
This is a low trick. It is about making clients think they are buying rigour in the hope this will make them less likely to protest when presented with the inevitably disappointing shortlist of candidates.

In fact headhunting is both simple and difficult. The theory is simple: there are good managers and not-so-good ones. Alas, most are fairly mediocre, as managing isn't easy. Choosing the good ones has nothing at all to do with 66 carefully weighted competencies: it is more a matter of finding three. The ability to think, the ability to act, and (most important) the ability to get others to act.

To find such people means having good contacts and doing an awful lot of slow and tedious checking to discover whether candidates really are good. This is a slog. This is another reason why headhunting might not have been the job for me.

It isn't just headhunters who hugely overcomplicate the talk about "talent". The solicitor Eversheds has come up with a list of personality types to embody what it is looking for in its trainee lawyers.

Finding the English language inadequate, it has invented seven new words: "Knowlivators": (knowledgeable motivators); "Logithizers" (logical empathisers); "Proactilopers" (proactive developers) and four other clumping concepts.

Only one of the seven Eversheds characteristics slips off the tongue. That is Winnowmat, the winning diplomat. But the reason it rings a bell is that it sounds like Winalot. Which is dog food. Or what used to be called dog food. Now Purina, the company that makes it (Mission: "Your pet, Our Passion) explains that what it is really selling is "expertise that can enrich the relationship you share with your pet".

Headhunters can take comfort after all: they may make a meal out of talking about their business but at least they are in the excellent company of the makers of Tender Meaty Morsels.

"Deep domain expertise integrated from end-to-end." WTF?

2007-11-22T11:39:00.001Z

The befuddling copy from a Cap Gemini press ad which include long, stupid sentances such as:

"Thanks to our recent integration of Kanbay, Capgemini Financial Services now brings you world-class delivery with deep domain expertise integrated from end-to-end. Our deep domain expertise is embedded from design, throughout your business processes and driven right down to the keyboard from the team of financial services experts executing and delivering your project. And with a worldwide network of nealy 15,000 professionals and enhanced service offerings, we're a financial services powerhouse collaborating with clients to create leaders in financial services."

Deep domain expertise driven right down to the keyboard?! Pity them.

Stat of the day

2007-11-20T14:59:00.000Z

"More people watched more video on YouTube last week than watched the top ten shows on network television", according to Mr Godin in a good article on choice.

"The fame generation needs to learn the value of privacy"

2007-11-13T15:09:00.000Z

A great article on the whole social exhibitionism scene:

"...in an age when we seem more and more concerned with encroachments on privacy, we are so increasingly keen to invade our own".

"Last month, USA Today spoke to various people in an attempt to get a snapshot of this new world view. "I am constantly broadcasting who I am," one 22-year-old told the paper. "The internet is just a way for me to reach more people with who I am."

"There's something in that repeated "who I am" that seems to suggest the almost total collapse of the private into the public. Gradually, older generations are having to adjust to the notion that not only do younger people not really care about privacy; they often don't even comprehend the idea of it.

"But the view that this is a cultural shift with which we must all make our peace is wrong. Naive and cavalier is a dangerous combination, and a disdain for their own privacy will leave young people immensely exposed."

To put this directly and immediately into context, and guilty or not, would the young American suspect currently held in Perugia be consistently on the front pages of the more salacious newspapers if it hadn't been for her Facebook profile?

Why I love my Iphone...

2007-11-13T14:43:00.000Z

A great piece by Stephen Fry from this weekend's Guardian :

"I should first get out of the way all the matters that will please those of you wrinkling your noses in a contemptuous Ian Hisloppy sort of way at the sheer hype, pretension, nonsense and hoopla attendant on what is, after all, only a phone. There is much to support your case.

Proud techie owners of rival devices can say: "What, only a 2-meg camera? What, no GPS? What, no 3G? What, no video? What, no third party applications?" What, no Sim card swapping?" A whole heap of what no-ing can be done.

Proud non-techie people can say: "I just want a phone that lets me make a call with the minimum of fuss. I don't want a 'design classic' and I certainly don't want to be locked into an 18-month data plan, whatever that might be."

Even those excited by the iPhone and likely to block their ears to the derisive hoots above, even they must allow themselves honestly to accept its drawbacks. Text entry is, despite the spine-tingling brilliance of a creepily accurate auto-correct facility, clumsy. There are perhaps a dozen niggles of that nature (though the camera isn't one: the iPhone's lowly 2-megapixel snapper easily outperforms higher-spec rivals).

So what's to set against these drawbacks? Beauty. Charm. Delight. Excitement. Ooh. Aah. Wow! Let me at it. In the end the iPhone is like some glorious early-60s sports car. Not as practical, reliable, economical, sensible or roomy as a family saloon but oh, the joy. The jouissance as Roland Barthes liked to say. What it does, it does supremely well, that what it does not do seems laughably irrelevant.

The iPhone is a digital experience in the literal sense of the word. The user's digits roam, stroke, tweak, tweeze, pinch, probe, slide, swipe and tap across the glass screen forging a relationship with the device that is like no other.

"But I don't want to 'forge a relationship', I just want to get the job done," you say? Well then, you know what? Don't buy one. And stop reading this. You're only doing so in the first place to lend fuel to your snorts and puffs of rage. Allow us our pleasures.

The rest of the world can mock as much as it likes. If you're going to have a phone/video player/slideshow/music centre/web browser/camera in your pocket, is it so wrong to want one that makes you grin from ear to ear? Not with smugness (though heaven knows the enemies of the device will read that into the smiles) but with delight."

Alibaba.com

2007-11-13T13:52:00.000Z

Have been meaning to put this down since the float last week.

Set up by an unassuming english teacher who's motto is "Customers first, employees second, shareholders third"...

...it's now currently the world 5th most valuable internet business in the world.

It sells everything from bras and funeral urns through to laboratory glass and iron ore.

And serves the burgeoning 162m people online in China.

Yep, that's 162m million. (And probably over the 200m mark before the end of next year.)

Proud new owner...

2007-11-13T13:36:00.000Z

The brilliant idea that is MyFootballClub has finally taken the plunge. After weeks of rumour and approaches, it appears a deal is now in the pipeline.

In a month or two from now, will be a proud shareholder in Ebbsfleet United FC. More news on this landmark event in UK football history here.

Who knows where we'll end up, but it'll no doubt be an interesting journey. Congratulations to William Brooks and all the team at MFC.

Have been so wanting this to happen here since c.2000 when a lowly Finish club called PK-35 decided to do the same thing to great effect.

Probably the best job in the world...

2007-11-07T21:09:00.000Z

...Esther Dyson's flickr stream. Have followed the journey for a few years now and have never ceased to be amazed by it.

Facebook the new AOL? Facebook the new Hotmail?

2007-11-07T20:52:00.000Z

I think so. Here are two very compelling reasons.

Reason 1

Reason 2

Is it all over for second life?

2007-11-07T20:44:00.000Z

Do a search on google trends and see for yourself.

"As the media become more dependent on advertising, so advertising becomes less dependent on the media."

2007-11-07T20:37:00.000Z

Simple, eloquent & absolutely to the point (From JJ & Buzzmachine):

"As the media become more dependent on advertising, so advertising becomes less dependent on the media. With the recent death of the New York Times’ pay service, TimesSelect, and the rumoured razing of the Wall Street Journal’s pay wall, any final hopes of readers paying for content are fading. We prophets of free content are being proven right - whether we like it or not. Advertising is all we’ll have to support content and media. . . .

But the real threat to the advertising gravy train comes not from any change in media, but from a fundamental shift in the relationship between companies and customers that has been made possible by the internet. This hit me like a fist in the face when I went to Texas to interview Michael Dell for Business Week magazine, and to write the coda to my very public blog battle with the company. . . .

Dell’s executives say their new problem is managing and spreading all this knowledge from customers. Its chief marketer said his new opportunity is to rely on customer-advocates to sell computers. And Michael Dell predicted a future of “co-creation of products and services” with customers.

There it is: the fist. Dell and its customers are collaborating on the creation of content, media and marketing - without content, media or marketing companies. Advertising is no one’s first choice as the basis of a relationship. For marketers, it’s expensive and inefficient. For customers, it’s invasive and annoying. And targeted advertising is only slightly more efficient and slightly less annoying. Clearly, the direct relationship between a customer and a company is preferable. But that direct connection cuts out the middlemen - that is the media."

Nov 12: One laptop per child...

2007-11-07T20:26:00.000Z

...sign up here. Cant wait.

Freedom wins

2007-11-02T17:55:00.000Z

Marc Andreessen wrote this as part of a great piece surrounding the launch of Google's Open Social.

"Freedom wins, and openness wins. You can hold it back for some period of time, but in the long run, freedom always wins because freedom and openness let people all over the world be fully creative and innovative in every way they want. And the creativity and innovation that freedom and openness enable will always swamp anyone's attempt to wall off a proprietary world with tight controls and sharp limitations.

In the mid-1990's, people told me all the time, "AOL has all the users; why would you think this web thing is ever going to amount to anything?" And it was true -- AOL did have all the users. In the beginning, AOL had tens of millions of users when the Internet had low single digit millions at best. Everyone was scrambling to do deals with AOL to get access to that huge user base, and every media company we met with (there were no Internet companies yet) laughed at the idea of regular people ever using the web.

We saw how that turned out. It turned out that people -- regular people, normal people -- embraced the web at flank speed precisely because it gave them the ability to create, and to experience, millions of web sites that reflected their interests, desires, and identities. Now, as that happened, AOL also became hugely successful by being one of the easiest on-ramps to the Internet -- but once broadband hit and consumers no longer needed a dialup ISP to get on the Internet, AOL went into a tailspin from which it has never recovered, swamped by the power of the decentralized, open, free web.

The world is filled with people who have great ideas -- big and small -- and the approach that lets the most people express their ideas tends to win.

I am not predicting the death of Facebook. I think the Facebook people are brilliant and are going to do very well over the next several years, have an excellent chance of building a huge and enduring franchise, and have an enormous amount to gain by all of this, including Open Social. But the idea that you hear from time to time that "all the users are on Facebook" and "the game is over; the Facebook platform has won" is silly, as you can see every time you use a web site that doesn't end in "aol.com"."

Three blasts from the past...

2007-11-02T17:37:00.000Z

Navigator 1.0. Rather a lot's happened between then and now

Pointcast & the familiar story here

The original Altavista header

Lego Steven Hawking

2007-11-02T14:30:00.000Z

Very good.

New self-portrait?

2007-11-01T20:01:00.001Z

New Banksy in Bef'nl Green.

You decide.

More 'How' than 'Why'...

2007-11-01T09:55:00.000Z

A family outing to see the new installation by Doris Salcedo in the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern.

Really rather good.

But, as with everyone else, left me asking the question 'how?'

Which led me to here...

Sublime...

2007-10-31T18:15:00.000Z

"Standing on god's front porch."

Ridiculous...

2007-10-31T18:13:00.000Z

"The Web2.0 world is skunk drunk on its own Kool-Aid"

2007-10-30T13:51:00.000Z

Now that's a good headline. And a good article.

Google trying to outflank Microsoft in Facebook deal or simply blazing a new trail?

2007-10-30T08:06:00.000Z

So Microsoft has won the initial race to cosy up to Facebook. An expensive one for them. A really cheap one for Facebook.

Why the rush? Well, for a whole range of reasons that have been well covered elsewhere. But this one is probably one the most interesting (from John Battelle):

"I think no one in the mainstream press has truly grokked what Facebook has a shot at doing - Adsense driven not by search queries, but by personal profile. It could be a major, major new platform, if we, as a culture, take to it. It's not a given, but it's a very compelling vision."

But, what's this...? Google + mobile + social networking = interesting. Not only for Google but also incredibly so for someone like Facebook.

From the artilce above: "Dustin Moskovitz, co-founder of Facebook, threw the social networking company’s growing weight behind the call for open networks. “Mobile is the next frontier,” Mr Moskovitz said. “In 2008 Google is going to make a really big move. We don’t know what it is but my bet is that it will be open.”

and, on a different tip, this...

Ambani overtakes Gates to become world's richest man

2007-10-30T07:56:00.000Z

India can now boast having the world's richest man, on paper at least, overtaking one Mr Bill Gates. Which is kind of significant. And reminded me of this statfest that came out a few months ago...

The hype surrounding the inaugural flight of the new Airbus A380...

2007-10-25T08:37:00.001+01:00

...reminded me of this that went around about a year or so ago...

Etsy

2007-10-24T17:28:00.000+01:00

"The online marketplace for buying & selling all things handmade."

Also nice visual treats in terms of searching by colours & via their time machine.

Thanks Jaimes.

Also, love the avatar montage:

Content Graphing & the Private Search Network

2007-10-24T15:36:00.000+01:00

Leaving the Social Graph schtick alone for the time being, have been snuffling around for some interesting visualisation tools that seek to dynamically map or graph the stuff that I'm interested in.

What I'm after is a broader version of this really:

Not only that, I'd like a tool that made it easy to create, manage and maintain a more personalised search network.

The closest description of this 'personalised search network' is described here and is being referred to as a Private Search Network:

"Private Search Network - The personal media revolution results in exponential increase in the amount of consumer generated content. This leads users to search beyond the algorithm for new ways of searching what they need beyond just text and images. A method for this is collaborated social search, where people are sorting content on the web, creating their own groupings and sharing that with others. As a result of that you get Private Search Network which you need to be a member or be invited to get access. Marketers may have to pay to get access to these group."

Have been using my own, strictly amateur private search network for some time. Primarily, it comes in useful when searching for inspiration and reference points. I use a combination of delicious, blogs & wikis. Which is hardly original and barely OK. And am sure I could be doing things better already.

However, would love a simple 'drag, drop & tag' tool. But more importantly, one that then went on to visual things (as liveplasma does) according to my tags and then weighted and related these tags according to the strength of relationship I'd placed on either a) the person within my PSN also tagging the the same/similar stuff and/or b) group of people I'd identified as having similar interests / outlook to myself.

Now that's probably not that well explained. But that's what I'd like. I think. Any and all suggestions gratefully received.

Polyvore

2007-10-24T15:20:00.000+01:00

Forget Kaboodle or Stylehive, this is probably the best example of social shopping I've seen so far: simple & easy to use, visual, personal & social and, above all, tempting. But, hey, what do I know really. I'm a bloke.

Thanks Courtney

with, of course, the obligatory FB widget.

I want one of those...

2007-10-24T13:56:00.000+01:00

"A 'visible music interface', or a digital music instrument featuring a 16x16 matrix of LED lights, allowing even non-musicians to play sounds & improvise intuitively. each LED light also functions as a touch-sensitive switch that is capable of emulating related sounds when touched. when users push a switch a short time, a ripple of light & sound spreads out. when a switch is held longer, the light dot & sound will be played repeatedly (looped). several tenori-ons can be wirelessly connected & synchronized. " From Information Aesthetics

"One in 20 visits to UK sites now from social networking sites"

2007-10-24T12:44:00.000+01:00

From Hitwise

"In terms of internet visits, social networking has grown by over 70% in the UK since last Christmas..."

"...the amount of UK internet traffic that online retailers receive from social networks has increased by 153% since Christmas last year."

An interesting perspective...

2007-10-23T12:07:00.000+01:00

Think it's Hanover by the looks of things.

By Ho-Yeol Ryu from Korea

"Why your big agency wont get social media"

2007-10-22T18:25:00.001+01:00

Big agencies "are built to be in the content business. They exist to develop and distribute messages. In the world of social media, content isn’t king. Connection is king."

Very good piece here.

"There's less to Facebook and other social networks than meets the eye."

2007-10-22T17:49:00.000+01:00

Good article from The Economist

..."unlike other networks, social networks lose value once they go beyond a certain size. “The value of a social network is defined not only by who's on it, but by who's excluded,” says Paul Saffo, a Silicon Valley forecaster. Despite their name, therefore, they do not benefit from the network effect."

Of the 6.3 billion people on the planet, 3 billion have cellular connectivity...

2007-10-22T17:44:00.000+01:00

...and in another 2 years another billion will have it too.

Jan Chipchase, from Nokia @TED

1.38bn photos, and counting....

2007-10-22T15:15:00.000+01:00

At the Web2 summit, Flickr announces new Flickr Maps & Flickr Places coming soon....and the small fact that they now have 1.38bn photos uploaded.

Also, loving the Geowankers mention at the end of this piece...and the serious comments that follow...

1 week, 1.2m albums sold at an average of $8 each...

2007-10-22T14:23:00.000+01:00

...as Mashable has it: that's about $10m profit and not too shabby!!

World clock + real time stats counters...

2007-10-22T14:12:00.000+01:00

Blimey.

Good sequel...

2007-10-22T13:12:00.001+01:00

but not as good as the original...

The issues & opportunties of defining & visualising the Social Graph...

2007-10-12T08:53:00.000+01:00

...long title, i know, but well worth the read...here

..which also took me back here...which is nice

A list of films that most frequently use the word 'fuck'

2007-10-12T08:27:00.001+01:00

Surprisingly useful. Scarface only at no36?

Ha Ha...

2007-10-11T14:58:00.000+01:00

State of the Nation...

2007-10-11T13:06:00.000+01:00

...courtesy of AveA/Razorfish

Some numbers as expected, others, interestingly less than expected

Web behavior:
- 60% personalize home pages
- 53% share bookmarks
- 56% use RSS feeds
- 35% use tag clouds
Almost all read the "most popular" or "most emailed" items on sites

Video behavior:
- 67% regularly watch videos on YouTube, etc.
- 95% have watched online videos in the last 3 months
- 49% have uploaded online videos in the last 3 months
- 85% have watched online movie previews in last 3 months
- 71% have watched a TV show online in the last 3 months

Music, photos, and blogs:
- 42% regularly purchase music online
- 41% use photo-sharing sites
- 70% read blogs regularly

Online research when making product selection decisions:
- 92%+ use the web when making product buying decisions (research, reviews, retailer location, price comparison, etc.)
- 54% start their product research at a search engine
- 14% start it at a comparison shopping engine
- 30% start it at an e-commerce or retailer site
- 55% rely on user reviews most when choosing products
- 21% rely on expert reviews most

After product selected, most important criteria when choosing where to buy are price (38%) and site reputation (38%)

Mobile:
- 32% use mobile phone to listen to music
- 24% use mobile phone to watch video
- 36% use mobile phone to check headlines

Toyota does a Coke...

2007-10-11T12:43:00.000+01:00

A class act...

2007-10-04T10:17:00.000+01:00

"It's a long, slow sunset for ink-on-paper magazines," says Felix Dennis, "but sunsets can produce vast sums of money."

In addition to his already big pile, he's recently sold the American arm of his business for a reported $240m.

Want one of these for the new reception...

2007-09-26T14:24:00.000+01:00

Wow...

2007-09-26T13:54:00.000+01:00

"These remarkable models were made when designers first conceived the Concorde supersonic passenger plane. London's Science Museum intends to display the models, along with many other artefacts, in a new £64m display facility at Wroughton, near Swindon. The scheme is bidding for Lottery funds."

Must remember to Mozy...

2007-09-07T14:09:00.000+01:00

Time's Top 50 websites in 2007

One of the first examples of the sematic web in action?

2007-08-24T14:39:00.000+01:00

Amazing.

Inspiring...

2007-08-24T14:01:00.000+01:00

Sir Ken Robinson

From Stumble...

2007-07-12T14:13:00.000+01:00

Thrown up by stumble: Movie-a-minute. Which, in turn reminded me of e-tour in 99 which threw up the same site...now whatever happened to that. Well I can take a good guess. Which made me want to look. So i went here, and it threw up this...

the forerunner to stumble.

Random Wikipedia goodness...

2007-04-26T14:29:00.000+01:00

Unusual deaths...

Films that most frequently use the word 'fuck'...

Hans Rosling is a genius...

2006-06-26T14:45:00.000+01:00

for his part in this...and especially this...one of the best presentations. ever.

GMap Pedometer...

2006-01-06T14:41:00.000Z

...essential for someone trying to get back in shape...however rather depressing when you work out how short your run acutally was...

GMap Pedometer

Baby Name Wizard...

2005-12-08T14:37:00.000Z

...very good

#3

2005-11-12T14:40:00.000Z

On corporate & employee blogs & casts.

Which is obviously attrating a lot of attention. For instance, here and here.

1. GM
Fastlane. One of the most well known being Bob Lutz, the VC of GM

2. IBM
Currently claim to have >15k internal blogs & 2,200 external blogs. Here's one of the better known

3. Microsoft
Robert Scoble. One of the better known and followed blogs.

4. Motorola
A new unofficial blog on their new iRadio

5. TiVo

6. Fuji
Good. And some much better than having a load of corporate guff.

7. Budget Rent-a-Car
US marketing campaign featuring a nationwide treasure hunt, run through blogs.

8. Vespa
A couple to choose from here

9. Pentagon podcasts

10. Whirlpool podcasts