Archive for January, 2006

Reporter fired for blog posts

delawareonline ¦ The News Journal ¦ Reporter fired for blog posts

“He has a right to free speech, certainly,” Flood said. However, he added, Donegan’s postings were “just so beyond the pale he could not possibly represent us.”

Another firing due to blog posts. Except this one is a media outlet so it had “free speech” implications. Should be interesting to see what happens with this. For most organizations this would be a no-brainer, but for a newspaper where can they draw the line?

 

31 January, 2006 | No comments

Microsoft revamps blogging policy

Update: Microsoft revamps blogging policy | InfoWorld | News | 2006-01-31 | By Jeremy Kirk, IDG News Service
Microsoft is readying technology that will allow the blocking of blogs just within a specific country, according to Smith. “We will act when we have the legal duty to do so,” he said. “We will act when we are given the kind of notice that clearly makes that duty binding upon us.”

Humm, interesting development. The ability to censor blogs based on country. This would be censorship and as the earlier post indicated, if it is in the best interest of MS profits then it is how they should proceed, but is it in the best interest of blogging and the internet in general? If the technology will work for blogs it can work for general web content as well, so what heppens to free speech? This means governements can soon control digital stakeholder relationships… i suspect if this happens we will see the start of a VPN type bulletin board system. Actually I am surprised we have not seen something like that already.

31 January, 2006 | No comments

destinationCRM.com: A New Platform Could Power Up Corporate Blogging

destinationCRM.com: A New Platform Could Power Up Corporate Blogging

Analysts agree that tying this type of information into other systems can be the next phase of customer relationship success. “In the old days, you’d have a conversation at tradeshows and shoot the breeze. A blog automates that,” says Guy Creese, managing principal at Ballardvale Research. “People have conversations with the loyal customers, but a lot of times these conversations don’t filter back within the company. It’s hard to get feedback from frontline employees; you have all these impediments. Blogging lets you get comments. It’s an ongoing customer satisfaction plan.”

Blog tools being built into CRM systems? Now that is a huge step forward and will help blogs reach deeper into organizations.

31 January, 2006 | No comments

The Great Wall of Google

The Great Wall of Google

Corporations gained legal status as individuals under the precedent set by the Thirteenth Amendment which abolished slavery. Bizarrely, the logic was if slaves are 5/5ths of a person, instead of 3/5ths, then so too should be a corporation. They gained legal rights as individuals, but not the responsibility of citizens with obligations to society. All they do is pay taxes, mostly. Their obligation is to their shareholders and the profit motive.

Very interesting commentary on Googles moves in China. The author makes some great observations about why and how corporations are more difficult to understand. I read a great book over the summer by a Canadian Professor called the “The Corporation” and in the book he explains exactly the same things. If the leaders of Google did not make this move to get into China they would not be fulfilling their obligation to the corporation. They only need to concern themselves with one thing, profit. Other than that everything else is secondary. If the corporation can do something illegal and the consequences of the illegal activity are less than the profit they make make the corporation should do that….not that I agree with this philosophy, but that is the way the corporation is designed. The author of the book actual argues for some changes in the way corporations opperate.

Hum…I think I might need to look at that book again.

31 January, 2006 | No comments

Ebay Adds Immediacy to Shoppers’ Carts

destinationCRM.com: Ebay Adds Immediacy to Shoppers’ Carts

Ebay is supplementing its auction approach to e-commerce with its plan to introduce a specialty site that allows customers to make purchases instantly at fixed prices. The site, Ebay Express, will feature an online shopping cart that will let visitors select items and pay for them all at once, paralleling the Internet shopping experience of online retailers like Amazon.com. Payments will be accepted via credit card and PayPal. It is scheduled to launch in spring 2006.

this would indeed be a great addition and would further solidify their place in the e-commerce arena.

30 January, 2006 | No comments

When It Comes to Blogs, There Aren’t Enough Words

When It Comes to Blogs, There Aren’t Enough Words

So let’s stop leaning on “blog” as the only noun to describe every site published in the bloggy format — with short entries displayed in reverse chronological order, in a narrow column running like a laundry chute straight down the home page.

Great article which reviews the Bloggies and the need to use more words to define “blog” than we currently use. There are some very different takes on blogs at this time.

30 January, 2006 | No comments

Bismarck Tribune Online - Bismarck, North Dakota News and Classifieds

Bismarck Tribune Online - Bismarck, North Dakota News and Classifieds

This is a definite advantage in terms of research and education - but it comes with a loud caveat: Don’t blindly trust everything you find online. When it comes to using information found on the Internet, follow this guideline: “Verify and validate before you incorporate.”

Here is another article related to WikiPedia. The advice given is great advice and it is a shame that we need to telll people this. It would be better if people learned to check everything. One of the problems I have with this “debate” on Wikipedia is the writers act like Encyclopdia Brittanica has -0- errors. Yet in a recent study it was revealed that items on Wikipedia can have 4 minor mistakes while items in Encyclopedia Brittanica has 3. Last I checked any error is an error. Sure 4 ir more than 3, but at what cost. The key is triangulation, look for multiple sources.

30 January, 2006 | No comments

Symbiotic Relationship

FOXNews.com - The Big Story w/ John Gibson - My Word - Symbiotic Relationship

Good insights on how talk show hosts are dependent on information they retrieve from blogs to stay on top of the issues and varying perspectives.

29 January, 2006 | No comments

McDonald s Launches a Stakeholder Blog

McDonald s Launches a Stakeholder Blog

Tada! It seems McD’s gets it. They understand that blogs can be useful in managing stakeholder relations.

24 January, 2006 | No comments

Can newspapers handle the truth?

Can newspapers handle the truth? | News.blog | CNET News.com

Very interesting commentary about how newspapers struggle to obtain the openness of blogs, yet try to maintain control. Free speech is truly a very difficult right.

24 January, 2006 | No comments

Are you charmed? Join Blogcharm - FREE blog hosting and blog network that pays members to blog!

Are you charmed? Join Blogcharm - FREE blog hosting and blog network that pays members to blog!

Here’s a great concept. Blogcharm had created a platform which allows bloggers to concentrate on what they do best….blog. They take care of all the rest and work with advertisers. Sure they get a large cut of the “profits” but most bloggers would probably be very disappointed if they figured out what their hourly wage is based on the number of hours they spend working on advertising etc. For instance DS has never earned enough for a payout despite numerous hourse of tweaking and messing with advertising.

24 January, 2006 | No comments

Bloggies >> Sixth Annual Weblog Awards

Fairvue Central - Bloggies - Sixth Annual Weblog Awards

Well this is the 6th year for the Bloggies. While Blogs may seem new to some, they have been around for quite some time and this should be an interesting year at the awards.

23 January, 2006 | No comments

Blogging, Journalism & Credibility

Blogging, Journalism & Credibility

Just came across this great blog about a conference that Harvard sponsored that deals with Blogs, Jouornalism and Credibility. Lots of very interesting insights.

20 January, 2006 | No comments

How and When to Respond to Conversations

How and When to Respond to Conversations
During one of the early sessions from the Word of Mouth Marketing conference, Idil Kakim from Burson Marsteller asked the panelists whether companies needed to address every single comment/question that comes in on their blogs.

A culture of conversation….I like it! We are actually dealing with a different stakeholder paradigm.

20 January, 2006 | No comments

Greed Dr Evil And The Million Kid

Greed Dr Evil And The Million Kid

It’s been a bad week for Alex Tew, the young British mind behind the MillionDollarHomepage. Lessons in greed are never fun. After Russian (reportedly) extortionist cyber-terrorists crashed his site for six days with a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, the highest bidder for the final 1,000 ad pixels is threatening a lawsuit seeking almost every last dime Tew has made on the site.

Pretty interesting chain of events. But the funny thing is because of the DDOS attach I visited the site today and I would not have. So the bidder actually got even more publicity, will they call off the lawyers?

To check out the actual site go here….see even more publicity

20 January, 2006 | No comments

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