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January 2005 - Posts

Unusable RSS ads, courtesy of Jacob Nielsen

Thanks Jacob, I really wanted this is life insurance ad in my RSS reader when I subscribed to your Alertbox RSS feed powered by 'News is Free' (but at a cost): "Up to $250,000 in life insurance with inexpensive rates. Highly advanced life insurance system. Read More...
Posted Monday, January 31, 2005 1:22 PM by alexbarn | 8 Comments

Technorati tags (updated)

Time to try out the Technorati tags I think. Technorati:[Tags] Update 30 Jan 05: Like Tim Bray , I think there is something potentially really interesting about the tags concept (see David Sifry's overview). But I'm a bit confused. I get the concept, Read More...
Posted Saturday, January 29, 2005 11:34 PM by alexbarn | 2 Comments
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Moving to Redmond

On Monday I start my new role at Microsoft, this means I'll be relocating from London to Seattle, taking my family with me at the end of Feb. As you might imagine, I'm really excited: New role, new city, new country! I've been to Seattle a few times before, Read More...
Posted Saturday, January 29, 2005 7:56 PM by alexbarn | 16 Comments
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What is 'Open Source Marketing'?

I caught up with James Cherkoff last week, and we quickly got to discussing a meme I'd heard a couple of times before: 'open source marketing'. I asked what he meant by the term. This is his best answer so far : "When was the last time you saw an advert Read More...
Posted Thursday, January 27, 2005 1:22 PM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

Shafer doesn't get it.

He's right, but Shafer doesn't get it . (OK, where's my $1?) "The premature triumphalism of some bloggers indicates that they haven't paid attention to how Webified journalists have become. They also ignore media history. New media technologies almost Read More...
Posted Thursday, January 27, 2005 1:04 PM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

Googled - another Mozilla developer

Beta News reports that a second Mozilla developer, Darin Fisher has joined Google. "Darin, a former IBM and Netscape employee, is a "module owner" for the Mozilla project and is in charge of cookies and permissions, as well as Mozilla's networking library. Read More...
Posted Thursday, January 27, 2005 8:07 AM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

International Internet-Free Day

Global Ideas Bank , an 'online democratic think-tank' proposes this Sunday, Jan 30th, as an Internet-Free Day. "...recent events should remind us what is truly important: friends, family, health and freedom. So stay off the e-mail, unplug the PC, escape Read More...
Posted Wednesday, January 26, 2005 10:59 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

Seek and ye shall find

John Udell : "Today's screencast is a 90-second short film that demonstrates Simon Burns' astonishing finding that desktop search has been right under our noses for years -- built into Windows but then crippled by weird design choices. In the screencast Read More...
Posted Tuesday, January 25, 2005 7:02 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

Windows tunes

This is mad, sad, and very good... Windows Noises Via Robin Good . Read More...
Posted Tuesday, January 25, 2005 11:40 AM by alexbarn | 5 Comments

RSS, blog, post or pidgeon? Mixed media marketing

Microsoft's Kevin Briody is experimenting with various online media channels to target the acedemic developer audience. It is the kind of experiment every online marketer should be trying out, especially if their target market is technical in nature. Read More...
Posted Tuesday, January 25, 2005 9:48 AM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

Google Video live

Via Inside Google : "It's up! Check out the about page . It explains that it indexes closed captioning, as expected, allowing you to search what is being said, not just the titles." Example Google Video results: Microsoft Blogs Spam Search Engine Watch Read More...
Posted Tuesday, January 25, 2005 7:37 AM by alexbarn | 2 Comments

Google phone or phoney?

via Techdirt : "The Times Online in the UK has announced, definitively, that the only possible reason why Google might be searching for such a person is because Google "is set to launch a free telephone service that links users via a broadband internet Read More...
Posted Monday, January 24, 2005 11:54 AM by alexbarn | 5 Comments

Blogging is no longer cool

What happens when 'blogging is no longer cool'?" Dana asks this question in the context of consumer marketing and the effect of moving fashions... "The whole 'blog thing' couldn't be much more in your face that it is. It's in business, politics, on the Read More...
Posted Sunday, January 23, 2005 6:29 PM by alexbarn | 12 Comments

Pimped my blog thanks to Josh Ledgard

I've updated my blog using Josh Ledgard's custom css and tips . Thanks Josh! Read More...
Posted Sunday, January 23, 2005 11:53 AM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

Redmonk: changing the analyst industry by open sourcing it

Redmonk, a small IT analyst firm, wants to change the analyst industry by open sourcing it. James Governor at Redmonk explains: "After setting up RedMonk one of the first questions I was asked came from one of the coolest people I have met in this business--Microsoft's Read More...
Posted Saturday, January 22, 2005 12:27 PM by alexbarn | 2 Comments

Nothing for sale at ebay

via the Register , somebody is selling nothing at ebay . I asked if I could see a picture, no response yet. Current bid: £9.5 million. Update (22 Jan): Boris kindly made this nice pic of nothing . Unfortunately, the auction has been pulled by ebay , so Read More...
Posted Friday, January 21, 2005 2:24 PM by alexbarn | 6 Comments

94 Million Chinese Can't Be Wong

94 Million Chinese Can't Be Wong, Internet Wok: "The number of Internet users in China climbed to 94 million by the end of 2004, according to a survey just released by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), with broadband users jumping Read More...
Posted Thursday, January 20, 2005 11:54 PM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

MSN Search Beta getting more attention today...

Some buzz out there today about MSN Live Beta Search... Search Engine Watch is convinced and blogged it , their forums are buzzing ... Threadwatch is going bananas, this guy has theory , John thinks it's official , and Jon isn't sure ...but these guys Read More...
Posted Thursday, January 20, 2005 6:36 PM by alexbarn | 6 Comments

The RSS Customer Experience

Ivan Pope , now that's a name I've not heard for a while... (Ivan is one of the 'old skool' onliners (I realise there where 'old, old skoolers' hacking arpanet 20 years ago, so 'old skool' as in 'commecial internet at least), who was one of the first Read More...
Posted Wednesday, January 19, 2005 8:51 PM by alexbarn | 4 Comments

Comment spam - it's going to get a little better

News that Google, MSN and Yahoo unite to battle comment spam is most welcome . Read More...
Posted Wednesday, January 19, 2005 8:15 AM by alexbarn | 5 Comments

Why RSS matters in the marketing world

After spending over 5 months researching the subject of RSS marketing, Rok Hrastnik has finally released his new e-book, 'Unleash the Marketing & Publishing Power of RSS' . Why RSS Matters in the Marketing World The reason this guide matters and will Read More...
Posted Tuesday, January 18, 2005 11:34 AM by alexbarn | 9 Comments

New e-book out tomorrow: Unleash the Marketing & Publishing Power of RSS

Tomorrow will mark a milestone in the world of RSS marketing: Rok Hrastnik of marketingstudies.net will release his 550 page e-book (apparently there will be a shorter version :-), 'Unleash the Marketing & Publishing Power of RSS' . I'm really looking Read More...
Posted Monday, January 17, 2005 11:56 PM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

Extreme Podcasting

Extreme Podcasting...on Kilimanjaro, at 15,000ft. Via slashdot: " "Apparently a charity called Cops On Top is climbing Kilimanjaro as a memorial to the late Officer Isaac Espinoza of the SFPD. That in itself is pretty amazing, but the /. amazing thing Read More...
Posted Monday, January 17, 2005 11:51 AM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

Measuring RSS Marketing

As RSS continues to become part of the fabric of internet, the issue of RSS metrics and measurement will matter more and more to marketers. A ClickZ article, 'Measuring Blog Marketing' tees up the problem nicely: "Considering all the talk about reaching Read More...
Posted Friday, January 14, 2005 8:36 AM by alexbarn | 5 Comments

Gates explains 'communists' comment

Gizmodo has posted the fourth part of the interview with Bill Gates , probing further on the 'communist' comment he made in a Cnet interview a day before. The interview also goes into some depth around Microsoft's role in the DRM space. Read More...
Posted Friday, January 14, 2005 7:12 AM by alexbarn | 2 Comments

Really Simple Subscription

Nick Bradbury picks up on the RSS UI problem David Winer has pointed out : "Dave Winer proposes a solution to the problems caused by the lack of a standardized method for feed subscription. While I would love to see these problems resolved, with all due Read More...
Posted Wednesday, January 12, 2005 9:19 PM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

"Refresh of Internet Explorer inevitable"...Why? RSS of course...

I have absolutely nothing to do with the IE team (and have NO visiblity into their product plans), but I have to agree with David Berlind's conclusions over at ZDNet , namely that IE needs a refresh, quick, and RSS is the reason why: "Microsoft's growing Read More...
Posted Wednesday, January 12, 2005 9:07 PM by alexbarn | 2 Comments

How to get a head in advertising

How to get a head in advertising . (sorry, I couldn't help myself). Read More...
Posted Tuesday, January 11, 2005 5:27 PM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

I like Blog TV, I love Xbox Media Centre Extender

Blog Television pointed me to short movie by Engadget showing how the Xbox Media Centre Extender works. I'd read a few articles on this new product recently but didn't quite 'see it'. After s eeing the movie , I now see the light... (Thanks to Long Tail Read More...
Posted Tuesday, January 11, 2005 12:28 PM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

I wonder what Kim Cameron makes of Light-Weight Digital Identity (LID)...

I wonder what Kim Cameron makes of Light-Weight Digital Identity (LID) ... According to Johannes Ernst's , LID obeys all of Kim Cameron's 5 Laws of Identity : The Law of Control , check The Law of Minimal Disclosure , check The Law of Fewest Parties , Read More...
Posted Saturday, January 08, 2005 9:18 AM by alexbarn | 2 Comments

"Transformed from an Open Source advocate into a Microsoft Proponent"

"Transformed from an Open Source advocate into a Microsoft Proponent" Not my words, but Deven Kampenhout , who has posted a spot of flamebait, 'Linux is no longer "Free"' . "The bottom line is that the Open Source community has a problem admitting that Read More...
Posted Friday, January 07, 2005 4:13 PM by alexbarn | 1 Comments

'Egg on face' if MS employees use Google 68% of the time?

Bobbie Johnson at the Guardian blog has picked up on the Slashdot article where the VisitorVille website claims to show how employees of large cops (including Microsoft) use the web. The Guardian writer, Johnson, seems to take particular delight in pointing Read More...
Posted Thursday, January 06, 2005 8:27 AM by alexbarn | 2 Comments

"Automatic assimilation is the essence"...Viva the mesh

IEEE Spectrum has number of articles on the winners and losers of 2005 . Of note is a piece, 'Viva Mesh Vegas' describing a pilot program in Las Vegas for a citywide broadband mobile wireless network using mesh technologies. With the news that Vonage Read More...
Posted Wednesday, January 05, 2005 11:47 AM by alexbarn | 0 Comments

Interactive fridge magnets

A bit of fun to kick off the New Year - interactive fridge magnets in Flash. via Unreasonable Man . Read More...
Posted Tuesday, January 04, 2005 9:50 AM by alexbarn | 1 Comments
 
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