I have no idea...but I think they're after me...

Oh how delightful...

'Leaning on Online Content' or 'When Numbers Make the Story more Interesting'

As I have mentioned before, Mondays are set aside to read print publications. Lots of the weekly pubs are leaning on online content to support their print stories - driving print readers to the online sight (increasing unique visitors and therefore increasing ad revenue) and encouraging online readers to go buy the print version. For the most part, the online content is a collection of numbers, lists or research that clearly wouldn't fit in the print article, but is incredibly interesting all the same.

BusinessWeek had me checking out the cheapest places to raise kids (although I don't think I would move to a single city on the list) and how to save enough money to have kids (even with their advice, I don't think this is possible). But TIME has the amazing numbers - their cover story, 'One Day in America' is just interesting. How many Americans are happy at work? Print story reports that 9 out of 10 Americans are satisfied with their jobs - but the online story told me 39.5% of Public Relations Specialists are VERY Satisfied - and civil engineers are, in general happier in their jobs than the PR hacks - so Joc is happier than me. Utah consumes the least amount of beer (color me surprised) and D.C. drinks the most wine. The average commute in Austin is about 24 minutes (mine is, with a stop at Starbucks, 10 minutes tops) and that 20% of paying Gold's Gym members haven't been to the gym in the past 4 months. Last but not least, there is an 80% increase in risk of obesity among adolescents for each hour of sleep lost and 78% of people think sleep is a good alternative to cosmetic surgery. I am not sure how sleeping is going to increase my bust or fix the flab on my arms, but I will definitely give it a go. I will not be in the office tomorrow, I will be sleeping.

Anyway, it is nice to see online media and print publications work together and play nice (that sentence right there is what makes this blog post about social media).

delightful...

What will they think of next? I was pretty pumped to see the secure simple pairing that utilizes Bluetooth and NFC, just because it is neat - but this takes it to a whole new level. Mostly, I love the fact that they simulate a 'real life attack'. I know most Bluetooth hacking threats are completely over hyped, but this one seems ridiculous. I am assuming this means in the real world someone would see you trying to pair your phone with your headset and then would stand within the 30 foot range and try to mimic your shaking? Fabulous.

I am probably on my way to becoming...

All I have to say is...

I'm not on the list. And I am sorry I have been away - I am gathering material and I will be back sharing my expert (yep, that is right, I said expert - CES thinks so too) opinions on the blogosphere and social media.

lalalalalalalalalala - I can't hear you...

I have had it with Facebook. I seriously have. First of all, poking is weird. Flat out weird. It is an incredibly invasive adjective to use in order to get someones attention. It is kind of like on IM when someone uses the 'buzz' function. It is just creepy. A friend of mine, MP, says that poking is perfectly acceptable - but she likes Facebook and cultivates 'friends' - I have all of 9 friends and Robert Scoble is one of them, so really only 8 -- that is definitely all the effort I can extend to Facebook. The thing that kills me about Facebook is all the media coverage. Everyday there is another article out about how it is the 'adult' Myspace, or how companies can use Facebook to increase ROI or, my favorite (and what spurred this post) the Marketing Profs email newsletter promoting 'How to Reach Facebook's Millions of Members in 9 Easy Steps.' Is this coverage coming from some stellar PR team behind Facebook encouraging these stories, or is it just that the media has latched on to this the way they do so many other stories and they are planing to beat it into the ground? Regardless of where the stories are coming from, they are starting to make my ears bleed. So can we all agree that Facebook is cool, no one is really sure how to use it yet, and yes, 'friends' is a subjective term, and social networking surely is an incredible tool, blah, blah, blah and cover something else? DAMN IT - I just covered Facebook. It is like the freaking plague.

Is it one of the eight wonders? I think so...

I am flying out to San Francisco (San Jose, really) for a Blogger party the Bluetooth SIG is hosting with Engadget tonight and some analyst meetings tomorrow. Being a bit of blogger stalker, this should be a pretty fun evening for me. I might finally get to meet Peter Rojas (I always miss him somehow). I will post pictures if I see anything cool (I think I might have actually remembered my camera…I never remember my camera).

Anyway, from my vantage point of 30k feet up, I just saw the Grand Canyon. It is pretty spectacular. It is exceptionally clear (the pilot just informed us if we looked hard we could see Vegas – I don’t believe him, but whatever) and you can really see just how massive the canyon is, the edges look as if they are carved with a jigsaw, and then, in the very center of each chasm is a tiny line (I am assuming the river, stream, whatever that actually carved the canyons)…absolutely incredible. For my friends who are reading this, get ready – I will be planning a rafting/camping expedition as soon as I have Wi-Fi again.

Back to spider solitaire…

UPDATE: Okay, the event was definitely bigger than we expected, lines around the building, with over 1000 people showing up. Until I add pictures, you can see Engadget's write-up (and see reader images here).

You say hello, they say goodbye...

I stumbled into a career in public relations…it says so right in my bio on the INK web page. It is, without a doubt, a job I have developed quite a taste for in the past 3 years or so, but it definitely wasn’t a calling I felt since high school. Regardless, there are things about public relations that I immensely enjoy. In the last year, my interest has focused on trying to understand the blogosphere and trends in digital media. I love blogs. I love digital media. I am delighted everyday by the endless opinions that can be found on the web, as well as the often un-monitored feedback from readers. I am appalled and thrilled to realize I can consider myself part of the melee – and I can honestly say very few things now make me as happy as seeing a new comment on something I have written (seriously, every single person I know heard about B.Fuller leaving a comment - I think I even told random people I met in the grocery store). However, my new love is killing my original public relations love affair. From my first interview with J.Berman (when he was at EDN), to P.Mannion at EE Times ‘expecting’ my call, to L.Wirbel telling me ‘the truth about his ‘sked’ at CTIA’ – I have followed, read, respected and pitched the hell out of a group of journalists I affectionately refer to as my ‘EE guys’. I cannot wipe the smile off my face when I discuss Bluetooth, or any other technology for that matter, with these guys and they seem to, sometimes grudgingly, acknowledge that I do know what I am talking about. Unfortunately, my ‘EE guys’ are slowly being knocked off by the uproar from digital media – discussed at length here by b.fuller himself (read the comments too).

Blogosphere, you make it hard to love you…

Here a widget, there a widget...everywhere a widget, widget

I don't even really know if that is what they are called, but I am delighted by widgets (the 'copy me' coding that allows me to add all sorts of nonsense to my blog, myspace page, face book, etc.). If you will notice, I now have a NikePlus widget in the lower left corner of my blog - it is a new challenge, so nothing going on yet, but pretty cool all the same (I always lose, so don't get too excited). Nike has the option set up all throughout NikeRun...you just click the 'copy code' button and you are ready to add the HTML code onto whatever page you wish.

I was watching the Emmy's tonight and noticed a commercial for coffee that directed you to go to www.wakeupspecial.com - which I did, and the next thing you know, I have signed up for a free sample of some creme brulee coffee. The coffee isn't really all that exciting. What IS exciting, is that I noticed that at the end of the little form I had to fill out for my free coffee, there was a little widget code - just waiting for me to advertise for Folgers and throw it up on my blog (of course, I didn't add it to my blog at the time, and now I can't get back to it, but still) - absolutely brilliant.

Now then, here is what I need - I need a widget that is some sort of image/icon/whatever that says 'Register here to win Longhorn 2007 Bowl Tickets' with a link back to the registration page on www.bluetooth.com/longhorns. Get to work.

No, I do not want any Quechup...

Dwight Silverman said it best in his blog here and here, but Quechup really sucks. If you get an email from me inviting you to join, I highly suggest you delete it immediately.

Texas, Texas...Yee Haw!

Two and a half years in the making the Bluetooth SIG has launched a sponsorship agreement with the University of Texas and Longhorn Football. The sponsorship contains two elements: 1) Push Marketing with in the stadium (Kiosks push out Longhorn content as well as a code to register for a chance to win 2007 Bowl Tickets where ever the Longhorns play) and 2) http://www.texassports.com/ and http://www.mackbrown-texasfootball.com/ are both enabled with TransSend (a Bluetooth SIG developed web application allowing users to send content directly from their Bluetooth enabled laptop or PC to a Bluetooth enabled phone).

The overarching goal of this program is to educate consumers on new, and perhaps unexpected, use-cases for Bluetooth wireless technology. But MY overarching goal is to see the Horns go to the Sugar Bowl and hand-off free tickets to the winning Longhorn fan. So go to www.Bluetooth.com/longhorns and register to win.

HORNS UP!

Gone to Texas...

WHAT STARTS HERE CHANGES THE WORLD

claiming my blog on technorati

I probably should have done this a while ago.
Technorati Profile

In a world gone mad...

I love print magazines. Love them, love them, love them. I spend a large portion of my day on Monday reading through the vast array of print magazines we subscribe to. It is interesting to note that some of the folks in Iowa are warming up to Giuliani, but others find his three marriages to be a problem and that 'several decades of sexual liberation and feminism and a decade of Internet dating' has led to the demise of the romantic movie (TIME). I am glad to see that Max Levchin isn't going to just stop working after selling Paypal for 1.5 billion in 2002, oh no, he is working on a way to make money off of the Widget (which, btw, my mother just asked me what the hell a widget is and if she needs them - I told her no, sorry Max) and I am sad to see that only about 60% of the population in New Orleans proper has returned since Katrina (FORTUNE). A friend of mine, 30 years old and HUGE fan of High School Musical, would have loved to find out 'Why do kids love Zac Efron?' and my younger sister was very interested in 'how schools are failing our smartest kids' - she is pretty smart and she doesn't feel as if she has been failed (TIME, again). BusinessWeek is focused on the 'Future of Work' and has poll results that are fabulously interesting. Fortune Small Business is in love with Babson University (came in tops on most of their 'America's Best Colleges for Entrepreneurs' lists). Fast Company covers how green Wal-Mart really is and the 16 year old CEO of WhateverLife.com, who makes me jealous (she is worth a LOT of money) and sad (she dropped out of high school) at the same time.

In a world obsessed with online coverage, blogs and INSTANT news, I think there is still a place for the print magazine. And while it is sad to see them fail (Business2.0) or get progressively smaller and shorter (Red Herring, TIME), reading the ones we get is the highlight of my Monday, every week.

Twitter, I hardly knew ya...

Well, in all honestly, I don't know you at all. I don't understand twitter's appeal, and with a new social media (new media, social networking, etc.) tool introduced every 2.5 hours or so, you have to pick and choose - and I decided no twitter. I think this was a pretty good decision because I keep hearing people say they have found the 'next' twitter or a 'better' twitter. However, others have embraced it full heartily - and I have two examples of how it has hampered rather than enhanced their online experience. First, on Tuesday, Robert Scoble announced he was taking some time off blogging because, among other reasons, he went to review his twitter account and realized the content he was pushing out was 'angry, confrontational, disturbed, hurt, dismayed' and he wants to make the world a better place, not compete in the adolescent toned playground that has become tech blogging. Good for Scoble - of course, I am a little sad, cause I read him fairly regularly, but still, good for him.

The next example is an oldy but a goody. Back in April Steve Rubel of Edleman (much better blogger than I) twittered that he always throws away his free subscription to PC Mag, thus pissing off Jim Louderback and in the end, having to apologize on his own blog. Probably not the best week for Steve.

I think twitter is like the writing on the bathroom stall walls at a truck stop. And while it will probably be around for a while yet, I am fairly positive some other social media company will come along and throw a layer of kilz on the one sentence ramblings of twitter. And another one bites the dust.

UPDATE: Scoble's article in Fast Company this month discusses Twitter and how it is going to take over the world. Hmmm, how ironic.

UPDATE 2: Scoble is already blogging again. I guess he didn't mean it (which is a shame) - he better watch out or he will become the boy who cried wolf. And we all know what happened to him. People TOTALLY stopped reading his blog.

You got served, sucka...

I kind of need this little yellow dancing robot. I have a birthday coming up, and seriously, I would be pretty ecstatic if I had one of these guys sitting on my desk. Mostly because he is just so damn cute when he stops dancing and looks around for you. As Engadget noted, you have to stick it out to the end when he throws down with the other robots.

My husband and I are not an ‘official couple’…

I was just ranting to Cari about some of the tripe they show on the morning shows under the guise of news when an email pops up in my inbox from my sister pointing me to an article in the WSJ. Apparently, this is front page news for the WALL STREET JOURNAL (front page of the Pursuits section, but still). Are you freaking kidding me? First of all, if my iPod can cause a rift in my marriage, I am going to have to assume we were probably already headed down the divorce super highway, musical taste aside. Second, if all I needed was validation from a dime-a-dozen gmail account to feel I was ‘officially’ part of a couple, I could have saved my parents, his parents and ourselves a lot of money and time with the wedding planning. Seriously, you have to be kidding me. And how about the guy who gets up early in the morning to change the NetFlix queue in order to secretly get the movies he wants? How about you just say, ‘Wife, I appreciate you want to watch Sleepless in Seattle, and I am totally all for that, but do you think we could also add Attack of the Clones in there as well?’ – I mean, unless you are married to an absolute shrew (and a crazy OCD NetFlix freak) I would imagine this problem is solved. And it certainly doesn’t merit an article in the WSJ.

Not to get on a soap box about relationships, but seriously, no wonder the divorce rate is so high – if this kind of shit is really causing problems in marriages throughout the US, then I really don’t think gay marriage is what is threatening the ‘American Family’. Apparently, the real threat is not knowing how to build a new play list for your iTunes – WAY TO GO STEVE JOBS - Not only did you cripple Bluetooth on your jesus phone, but your interface is destroying marriages – how do you sleep at night?

to say this makes me sad is an understatement...

The New York Times unmasked Fake Steve Jobs. They suck.

“A blog is an organism – you created this thing, then you starved it, and so now it has turned against you…”

I like how I can relate anything back to my blog. For example, the above is a quote from something with just one little word change (whoever guesses correctly wins a prize). I feel like I have been starving my blog, and I really don’t want it to turn against me, but honestly, work has really been crazy. Anyway, I am a bit intrigued to see if anyone knows what the quote is from…I don’t know if it is a famous quote or if it is just something I picked up on. Also, I am mildly interested in finding out if I still have readers.

Crazy in the corner has a part in the show...

Oh my faithful, I am so sorry I have been away. If you feel as if I have deserted you, please do not despair, I am always thinking of you – even if I am not posting. So, I was in NYC last week (I’m kind of a big deal – video link coming soon) and then I have spent the majority of this weekend outfitting Darrell K. with Bluetooth, so I am a little swamped. I should have my head above water early next week and I will be able to start posting regularly again.

Just a little story to tide you over: In NYC this past weekend my sister, her boyfriend and I went to the Village Vanguard to watch the Barry Harris trio play. Very enjoyable and a pretty eclectic audience, so interesting people watching as well. Andrew later pointed out there appeared to be a large Scandinavian representation in the audience. I didn’t notice this because I was too delighted by, what appeared to be, an incredibly eccentric groupie sitting right up front. Decked out in her Sunday best and I believe wearing every necklace she had ever owned in her life, she sat next to the stage, eyes closed, nodding in appreciation and smiling quite blissfully. When Barry opted to take the mike and sing rather than play the piano, her face quite literally became flush with excitement and sure enough, her lead group status was confirmed when Barry paused in the song for her to tweet like a bird (a nice accent to his rendition of Embraceable You). Anyway, the trio was great, the young 10 year old they brought on to play the drums was amazing (if a bit heavy handed) and the Village Vanguard was fabulously old and authentic – but the highlight of the show was definitely the bejeweled, crazy-hair (did I mention the crazy hair part?) groupie.

Hello, kitty...

Engadget has a post up about a new Hello Kitty branded emergency gadget, and I love it. I have a lot of silly gadgets, and my favorite is still my Hello Kitty Bluetooth headset. It came with its own ridiculous carrying case with a mirror inside - it looks like an adorable little jewelry box. It is fabulous. There is no real point to this post, aside from the fact that Hello Kitty makes me smile.

Jenny told me to do it...

So, I had my first experience with 'bullying' in the blogosphere. Without getting into the details, I am a bit ashamed to say that I am the mean kid on the playground and I took some kid’s lunch money. The anonymity of the blogs and the internet, in general, lends itself to creating bullies. But it also allows people who would not normally be bullies to stand up for themselves (I know I don’t fall into this category, but whatever). In the case of my little ‘mean kids’ moment, I was definitely picking at someone who had started it – with other people, not me, but again, work with me. Seriously, how often can you poke someone with a stick with complete safety? And for businesses, publications, retail sites, does the anonymity of the internet allow for more honest feedback? It is like the blogosphere is a giant comments box where you don’t have to be worried about being outed by your handwriting. I am not saying I am going for anonymity – I am on the full disclosure bandwagon – but that isn’t to say it doesn’t serve its purpose. Look at Fake Steve Jobs. I don’t know who he is. He could be a 26-year old college drop out living in his mother’s basement, but I still like his commentary - I think he is relevant and funny. Would I think he was relevant if I knew he was a college drop out living in his mother’s basement? Probably not. And people can post all over about the horrible experience they had with X (enter whatever here - retail store, hotel chain, ex-boyfriend, etc.) without fear of retribution – thus the beauty of anonymity on the web. Well, that and I can harass crazy people.

Also, as a little aside, as more and more journalists jump ship from their mother publications (alright, some of them are being asked, nicely, to walk the plank) and starting, or dedicating more time to, their own personal blogs, the average blog reader is getting quite a treat. I know he doesn’t need (or probably even want my recommendation) but everyone in my office should be reading Brian Fuller’s blog, Greeley’s Ghost. It is incredibly interesting.

oh sweet jesus...

reason number 5,982 social media is NOT over-rated...



Also, I know I am woefully behind - but pretty sweet embedded youtube link, huh? I am a regular blogging maven, aren't I?

uh-oh...

So, this fascinating article discusses the importance of 'a well thought out article' vs. a 'shallow blog posting' and why the first is a better option.

Just so we are all on the same page, I am pretty sure my content will always fall into the later category.

My blood is on your hands, Hernandez...

For a brief, shining moment this weekend I thought I had a reader. A real, live, non-friend-who-has-to-read-this-lest-I-scream-at-them reader. I spent a few glorious days convinced I was suddenly a REAL and TRUE blogger. I was certain any second my rank would improve on technorati, someone would trackback to one of my 8 witty posts and the Fake Steve Jobs would call me up and we would have a chuckle at all the other fake bloggers.

Turns out it was just one of my clever friends pretending to be a real reader.

If you will excuse me, I will be in my office trying to figure out a way to hang myself with my shoelaces.

Rush

I have a tendency to get a little OCD – I find one thing and I focus on it and beat it into submission in my head and then I lose interest in it (this is also known as stages 1 and 2 of blogging). Of course I am not abandoning my blog just yet – that would literally make me the saddest and most pathetic of all bloggers. Nope, I am sticking it out for the long haul – or at least the end of the summer.

Anyway, my focused nature tends to make me forget there are other things out there. Like with the techie blogs. I just assume the majority of bloggers are talking about technology. I mean, I know there are VCs that blog, C-level execs at CE and Silicon companies that blog, pundits, journalists, want-to-be journalists and then just straight up fanatics that blog. But for some reason, I really do think the majority of what is out there is humor, politics or technology. Turns out there are blogs for everything – quilting, infertility, new-moms, old-moms, preacher’s wives, etc., etc., etc. The internet has become the biggest Pan-Hellenic system in the world. I have already pledged – or at least made my top pick, cause I really want to go Kappa Delta Nerd, but I haven’t been invited yet, so we will see how it goes. I am a legacy with the nurses (my mom was a nurse) and my dad is all over health care, so I could probably pull a legacy acceptance there as well, but I am holding out for an invitation to the ΚΔÈ - I think the first couple of weeks of blogging are like initiation – and if you stick it out, gain a few readers, maybe a trackback from one of the senior members, then you are accepted.

In honor of the 4th and the bizarre hazing process of the blogosphere, I think I will blindfold myself, sit in a dark room, take shots of 151 and recite the Greek alphabet. Then I will post drunken comments on some of those senior members’ blogs – it is gonna be a hell of a week.

Seven posts does not a blogger make

So I have spent a week and a half playing ‘blogger’ – there are things I definitely like and then there are the things that make me a little crazy. The positive ones first…I am delighted that I am suddenly involved in the blogosphere (that’s right, I even know how to spell it now), sharing my opinion (even if it is only with a couple of you) and, most of all, really taking an interest in all the other blogs on my ‘must read list’. If I hadn’t started this mildly insane endeavor, I wouldn’t have been able to watch Robert Scoble stand in line for his iPhone (which is mostly just endearing because the next day he went to Target to buy a new pair of jeans – who, I ask you, has a $600 dollar phone and a $15 pair of jeans?), I wouldn’t have read Jeremy Toeman’s post about amount of productivity the iPhone sucked out of the American market and been jealous that I didn’t think to calculate that first, and I wouldn’t been exposed to the hundreds of first hand pictures of the iPhone launch, allowing me to live the dream – even though I never really had the dream.

The things that makes me crazy?
A) iPhone coverage
B) how obsessed I am with posting
C) iPhone coverage
D) how obsessed I am with comments (the answer to this is, apparently, offer to give an iPhone away)
E) Freaking iPhone coverage

Although, I am excited to see the 'why would you do that to Bluetooth' posts starting to crop up.

What the hey, Stevie? You got a problem with the ‘tooth?

In the interest of full disclosure, transparency and all the other buzz words that are almost as annoying as blogsphere, I work for a PR firm and we represent the Bluetooth Special Interest Group. I am, without a doubt, biased. I have been working on the Bluetooth SIG account for over three years and I have a huge soft-spot in my heart for the short-range wireless technology.

Seriously, Mr. Jobs, what is your deal with Bluetooth? I know there are all sorts of arguments for why you DON’T include Bluetooth wireless technology in your devices (for those of you who don’t follow this, they range from ‘the white wire is as much a part of the iPod brand as the apple’ to ‘Bluetooth would drain the battery’) but I just don’t get it with the iPhone. I do not understand. You did implement Bluetooth – well done there. But then you pulled a Verizon and crippled the hell out of it – what gives? I suppose the majority of the people that buy the iPhone won’t be concerned with the lack of object push or printing profile, but come on – A2DP? Seriously, what gives? No one cares about the silly white wire, Bluetooth’s battery consumption lessens with every new introduction of the spec and really, everyone wants to wear an O ROKR (well, maybe not, but I love mine), and come on – IT IS A MUSIC PHONE! What are you doing? I just don’t understand. And what makes it even more frustrating is you do such a fabulous job implementing the technology into your notebooks. I am just so confused. I have been telling people for weeks, “Surely it will support A2DP – I mean, how could it not? It is a $500 phone.” But apparently I know absolutely nothing.

Why Mike Arrington is fly and I am not

a) I link back and discover things way too late. The blogsphere (seriously - shoot me) has moved on and yet here I am harping on why fighting isn't conducive to a happy blogging family and linking to week old articles.

b) If I could sell my blog "for 20 million and go live in Hawaii the rest of my life," there is absolutely nothing that could possibly motivate me not to do so immediately. I guess this is why, this is why, this why M.A. is hot.

UPDATE - There are, apparently, many other reasons why I am not hot (hot, in this case, referencing a good blogger)

c) write out Mike Arrington rather than saying M.A.
d) clearly explain it is important for my readers (the many thousands of you) to read the link prior to reading on in my post
e) I need to be more blatant in my mockery of hip-hop music

Jeez - stop telling me what to do

Newsweek has a list of 181 things I need to know now (print and online - the online version sucks a bit). They also have a quiz to test my global IQ - turns out I am a global idiot. I have a bit of a bone to pick with the quiz though, cause I am fairly certain I don't need to know which presidential candidate is the richest. I know they all have more money than me - the rest is just details. I also don't have time to take a 130 question quiz. Well, I have time, but if I don't get a question right every other one or so, my motivation is going to go out the window. Newsweek, stop trying to make me feel stupid so I will religiously read your publication as to not feel stupid anymore. It is mean spirited.

Not to be outdone, PC World has a list of the 100 best blogs. Now, they aren't going so far as to say you need to read all of them, but it is certainly implied. First off, I am not on the list - and that kind of pisses me off (not a lot, cause I understand, but come on - I have been doing this for a week, when does the recognition start?). Second, the list included GeekSugar, which bills itself as a home for tech savvy young women - I would consider myself a tech savvy young woman and the, I don't know, five minutes I spent on the site literally made my skin crawl - so I don't think it would be a home for me (Cari, the one with the curly hair above, validated my reaction by making a face when I mentioned them). PC World, stop telling me what I have to read - it is too much.

Besides, if I spent all my time reading Newsweek and perusing all 100 blogs PC World likes, I never would have had time to read about Takeru Kobayashi's arthritic jaw. Damnit, I know an important story when I see it.

If you give them enough rope...

Over the past couple of months, I have been kind of tracking how things move over blogs or through the blogsphere. Btw, I decided I hate the term blogsphere, but as it turns out, if you are writing a blog about blogging, well, I am screwed. So anyway, my interest was peaked with the Kathy Sierra/Chris Locke/death threats incident - I literally couldn't get enough. I read hundreds of blog posts ranting, raving, supporting and bashing the entire affair. And they all popped up in about 24 hours.


A couple weeks back I became obsessed with the Vimeo kids, the crazies in NYC who invented (I think) a thing called lip-dubbing, all because Mike Arrington thought they were clever and mentioned them on CrunchNotes. Anyway, I kept an eye on this one from the very beginning and sure enough, within a day or so of Mike's post, the ‘flag pole sitta’ video was everywhere. So, my point is, things move fast when they catch fire in the blogsphere (ick).


However, the thing most likely to ignite these days is the ridiculous fights. As of right now, Fred Wilson is fighting two different blog wars (one because he said something about entrepreneurs usually being young and another because Microsoft put out some ads that, apparently, Valleywag wasn't capable of discerning as ads). Of course, Valleywag didn't just take on Fred, they involved Om Malik who apologized and took down the ads, then CNet and their merry band of bloggers jumped on the argument and now Mike Arrington is all kinds of pissed.


It just makes me wonder, if we give them enough rope, do you think they will hang each other?

All the cool kids have iDildos

On occasion, I find that I absolutely love my job and my connection to the silly, silly world of consumer electronics. I love that it is fully acceptable (and even expected) for me to spend a portion of my day reading the plethora of techy blogs and online coverage of a certain wireless technology. I love that the blogsphere is open, and people can comment on this coverage with their ever insightful (and often extremely educated) feedback. And most of all, I love the girl who posted the captured comment on engadget.


Where on earth do I go to get an iDildo?

Chris Locke and Brad Pitt

As I tumble down the rabbit hole of blogging (I’m not sure one post qualifies as a tumble, but whatever), I have gathered about me the blogging bibles (starting with Cluetrain, but kind of reading Naked Conversations concurrently) in an effort to better understand exactly what it is I am getting myself involved in. I have to say I really like Chris Locke. I am not 100% sure I agree with the idea that blogs are allowing real conversation as opposed to just broadcasting company messaging – sure, they are changing the tone of the conversation and the way the message is coming across, but the messaging is still there – and it is still all about sales. Even as I write this blog, I do my best to make it interesting – selling myself, if you will – to recruit readers. Regardless, I like Chris – he has quite a snarky tone to his writing and I am a big fan of snarky. I am also a big fan of my sister-in-law. Jocelyn is a civil engineer, well-educated, fairly tech-savvy girl – she also happens to know her way around a snarky comment. However, the thing I like most about her is that as I told her about my week and mentioned my new blog and the books I am reading, she said, “Chris who? I’ve never even heard of ‘Cluetrain Manifesto’, what the hell is that? OH – did you see that Brad Pitt compared Angelina Jolie to Churchill – what an idiot.”

It is always nice to get some outside perspective on the thing you are obsessing over.

enter with a wimper...

The blogsphere gives me a headache - mostly because in my line of work (public relations - I know, I know) clients are always asking me how to get coverage in blogs, and while I have a few good suggestions, over and over again I am told by those who blog that the only way to understand the blogsphere is to become part of it - so here I am. After years of lurking, I am casting my own line into the blog sea. You win, blogs - you win. Way to claim another victim.