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PR Newswire to Podcast Audio News Releases

Well, I guess there must be a demand for this - probably among those in the radio biz. PR Newswire's MultiVu division announced this week that they are now podcasting audio news releases. Translated: journalists, bloggers and even consumers can now access audio news releases on their iPod. Here's the podcast feed. Hmmm, maybe PR Newswire could distribute some complimentary iPod Shuffles to consumers to get them to listen to these.

Flickr Rolls New Contextual Ad Format

Flickr, a division of Yahoo, is experimenting with new contextual ad format that includes both images and links from the Yahoo Publisher Network. (via MarketingVOX)

Technorati Tags: AdvertisingAge, Flickr, Yahoo

We Interrupt This Break to Bring You...

A hillarious Hughtoon:...

Hugh, awesome. Can I order up some of your blogger bizcards with the toon?

Blogger Scores NYT Op-Ed

Congrats to blogger Jeremy Blachman. He scored the opportunity to write an op-ed for the New York Times. I believe he may be the first.

Lighter Blogging Ahead

Steve Gillmor says everyone in the US is pretty much out to lunch this holiday week - at least mentally, if not physically. This includes yours truly. I am taking some time off so expect lighter blogging through the Labor Day weekend.

links for 2005-08-31

• TechCrunch » Attensa - The Smart RSS Reader
  "Attensa is a world class RSS reader that is attacking the multi-platform syncronization problem (I’ll explain that) and is also looking very seriously at the attention issue from a unique perspective (a good thing)."
  (tags: RSS)
• Playlist: How to create a vodcast
  Podcasts are so last month. If you want to get in on the hip trip, you’ll turn your attention (and camcorder) to vodcasts—Video-On-Demand-casts, that is.
  (tags: Vodcasting Video)
• Try a Mac Mini for Free
  Try out a Mac Mini on Apple for 30 days. If you don't like it, send it back no questions asked.
  (tags: Apple Mac Marketing)
• PR Opinions: A personal news item...
  A belated congrats to Tom Murphy, who has joined Microsoft.
  (tags: Blogs PR Microsoft)
• What is RSS, and Why Should You Care?
  "This week, SearchDay takes a close look at RSS, a web publishing format that's transforming information delivery for both publishers and users."
  (tags: RSS)
• Seth's Blog: What's RSS?
  Seth Godin's take on RSS.
  (tags: RSS)

I Love the Blogosphere

Why? Because everyone can express their opinion...

European PR genius Neville Hobson: “Heed (Steve's) advice, Dell. Not because it's free - it's simply good advice.”

Tech journalist Dwight Silverman: “Steve, gimme a break! Your fingers moved on this before your brain engaged.”

Technorati Tags: Dell, DellHell, JeffJarvis

Get a Copy of the Opera Browser for Free

In honor of their 10th anniversary, Opera is giving away free copies of their browser today only. The browser is available for Windows and Mac and it's a $39 value. Opera 8 has some neat features, including support for RSS. Be patient. Their web site is running slow today because of all the hubub. (via TUAW)

Got WebSmarts?

Heather Green blogs that BusinessWeek is looking for suggestions for a project called the WebSmart 50. They want to hear about companies that are using blogs, wikis, podcasting, or video blogging to be more productive or efficient. Those with CEO/marketing blogs need not apply.

Technorati Tags: BusinessWeek

links for 2005-08-30

• Hypergene MediaBlog : When sources strike back: Why blogs will continue to force greater transparency in reporting
  "Mass Media is dead. Stories are now free to live long after the press has been turned off."
  (tags: Journalism Media PR)
• Wired News: Flickr Fans to Yahoo: Flick Off!
  "Angered by a new requirement to tie their member profiles with Yahoo accounts, some Flickrites say they plan to kill off their identities before they can be moved into the new family next year."
  (tags: Flickr Yahoo Photography)
• CNET: Apple hints at big music announcement
  Happy September! "Apple Computer is preparing a major announcement next week, dropping hints of something as critical to the company's future as the release of the original iPod in 2001."
  (tags: Apple iPod Music)
• eWeek - RSS: Not on My Desktop
  Here comes the RSS backlash. Oy.
  (tags: RSS)

Free PR Advice for Dell

Dell PR dialed up Jeff Jarvis today. I guess it took a BusinessWeek story for them to finally move on this. Unfortunately, from what Jeff writes, it sounds like they still are living in a unidirectional rather than a mutli-directional world. Sir Jeff says ...

“There is no realization that there is an opportunity (and, don’t they now know, a danger) in this era of the empowered consumer-as-publisher. I kept coming back to that as my uncompany line: You have the chance to talk with consumers, to build a new relationship with the public in public...But they refuse to see that they could connect one to the other: Rather than just talking to consumers, they could talk with consumers.”

To my friends at Dell, here's some free advice that can help you turn this around. You are now past the point of no return. Dell needs to act now. Here are just three of the steps you might want to take to re-build your credibility with bloggers ...

1) Host a Blogger Day - Fly all of the key influencers who are writing about your service issues to Round Rock to meet with your quality-assurance team and perhaps even Michael himself. Let the bloggers see first hand all of the steps you are taking to improve our experience with your products. Give them a tour of your customer service nerve center. Allow them to politely probe. Be transparent. Show, don't tell. You can keep this manageable by picking the most influential bloggers and having them serve as "pool reporters." Let them field questions from others who have blogged about your latest issues.

2) Set Up Special Dell Complaint/Praise Tags on Technorati - On your Web site put up a link to two separate Technorati tags that bloggers can ping with their Dell complaints/praise. One is called “dellcomplaints,” the other is called “dellpraise.”Mine these like mad and try to contact as many of these bloggers as possible to learn more. Use the public utility.

3) Launch a Self-Effacing Blog Promotion  - Don't take yourself so seriously. Come down from the Austin hilltops and show us that you can take your lumps and laugh this off. For example, you could roll out a scavenger hunt. The first 100 people who find Jeff Jarvis' picture hidden on your Web site win 50% off a new PC.

These are just thought-starters. I am sure you have even better ideas. Regardless, dudes, the time for Dell to act is now.

Technorati Tags: Customer, CustomerService, Dell, DellHell, JeffJarvis

Tom Biro Joins MWW

A big healthy heap of congratulations to Tom Biro. He has joined MWW Group as their new Director of New Media Strategies. Tom is going to be working on blogging strategies, podcasting, wikis, mobile technologies, and other similar programs for both MWW Group as well as its client base. MWW is a public relations firm based in East Rutherford, NJ and a unit of Interpublic Group. They were the first agency to launch a social media practice. Go Tom go!

Technorati Tags: MWW

Lexus is Podvertising a Special US Open Podcast

Lexus is sponsoring/hosting a special US Open podcast featuring interviews with the players. Here's the feed. The USTA's own “podcast”, meanwhile, remains without an RSS feed. Sigh.

Technorati Tags: Advertising, Podvertising, Tennis, USOpen

Metasearching the Blogosphere

Search Engine Watch: “A 'hidden' feature of a powerful meta search engine allows you to mine for gold in the blogosphere.”

Ad-Supported Wikis Should Require Marketers to Participate

Up until now, wikis have served as collaborative read-write web sites that either individuals or businesses can contribute to. That all changed today. MediaPost reports that IDG has launched an an ad-supported wiki that enables gamers to offer advice and strategy on a variety of pursuits.

Corporate sponsored wikis are an interesting and untested idea. They seems like a natural extension to ad-supported message boards. I think they will click with certain users because wikis are more organized and arguably more trustworthy. This is because users can edit each other's contributions.

However, for this to really pay off for the advertisers, simple banner ads won't cut it. I would love to see the wiki's sponsors - Best Buy and T-Mobile - get into the fray by contributing their own content to the resource. They should get involved with the conversation but stay at arms length. This will increase their street cred with the fervent gamers.

Technorati Tags: Advertising

links for 2005-08-29

• PBS | I, Cringely . NerdTV
  Beginning Sept. 6, PBS will make available - exclusively over the Internet - broadcast television's first entirely downloadable series, featuring PBS technology columnist and industry insider Robert X. Cringely's interviews with personalities from the eve
  (tags: Technology Podcasting TV Video Timeshifting Media)
• Westchester Finds It, Too, Can Fall Prey to Blog-orrhea - New York Times
  A profile of local Westchester County bloggers.
  (tags: Blogs NewYork)
• New York Times: Google Anything, so Long as It's Not Google
  Randall E. Stross breaks down the CNET v. Google.
  (tags: Google CNET Media Search)
• unblokt
  a collaborative writing experiment
  (tags: Collaboration)

Blogging Katrina

Storm Digest is blogging Hurricane Katrina (via Vespaquest).

Sudoku Craze Shows Offline Memes Still Alive and Well

Recently I discovered Sudoku - a numerical puzzle that's now a genuine worldwide craze. Perhaps more puzzling than the game itself is how I got hooked on the whole Sudoku meme. I first realized it was big only when I walked into my local bookstore and saw dozens of titles on the phenomenon. Meanwhile, as the graphs below illustrate, Sudoku doesn't seem to have captured the interest of bloggers. This demonstrates that you don't necessarily need the Internet to spread a meme - but it sure makes it easier.

 

Technorati Tags: Meme, Sudoku, WordofMouth

links for 2005-08-28

• To dismay of FedEx, Tempe man gets famous with packing box furniture
  "The FedEx furniture saga started innocently enough."
  (tags: Memes Blogs)
• The Voce Nation: Why Non-profits Should Blog
  (tags: Blogs Nonprofits)
• San Diego Business Journal Online: Business Turns Its Attention to the Blogosphere
  (tags: Blogs)
• Saskatoon StarPhoenix: Power to the people: Bloggers wield media punch
  (tags: Blogs PR)
• Newsday.com: When bosses and blogs collide
  "Venting online about your job — even anonymously — can get you fired"
  (tags: Blogs)