Archives: December 2005

If a magazine is cutting staffers, can it afford to increase blogging?

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 31, Categories: mainstream media

If a company is laying off workers, can it afford to dedicate more resources to blogging?

Jon Fine tells papers to 'steal from Google'

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 30, Categories: mainstream media

BusinessWeek's Jon Fine urges newspapers to "steal from Google" and cut off their rival's oxygen.

Podcast featuring Brian Ibbott of Coverville

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 29, Categories:

A blogspotting podcast featuring Brian Ibbott of Coverville. Interviewed by Heather Green.

Could zip codes burn Google in local search?

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 29, Categories: search

Will Marchex's info service based on local U.S. zip codes bypass Google and Yahoo searches?

Podcasts on Learning Italian?

Posted by: Heather Green on December 28, Categories: podcasting

A brief personal plea. Anyone know any good podcasts for learning Italian? And actually maybe the bigger question is have any good stories for how you have discovered obscure podcasts?...

What I Learned From Radio

Posted by: Heather Green on December 28, Categories: digital media

Lesson learned from being on an hour-long radio about podcasting and satellite radio.

Is blogging a fireable offense?

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 28, Categories: Inside Companies

A blogger gets fired from a Colorado university--but without learning what she did wrong.

Any Podcasting Questions for CBS?

Posted by: Heather Green on December 28, Categories: podcasting

Got any questions on podcasting for the head of CBS's digital media unit?

How to blog during vacations

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 27, Categories: How To

How to blog over the holidays, when business blogging is far from my mind?

Is it worth it to live in New York?

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 26, Categories: society

Is it worth it to live in New York City?

What are you reading this week? How about something different?

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 24, Categories: society

How about recommending some books totally foreign to the theme of this blog?

2006 prediction: Microsoft will buy Technorati

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 23, Categories: blog business

A 2006 prediction: Microsoft will buy Technorati

Why the transit strike scares one suburban homeowner

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 22, Categories: society

Transit strike sparks telecommuting--and fears about housing prices in suburbs of New York

Disney goes (toward) open source: How would Mickey look with webbed feet?

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 22, Categories: marketing

Disney is open-sourcing Donald and Mickey. Will news companies follow their lead?

Today's BW Podcast with MommyCast

Posted by: Heather Green on December 21, Categories: podcasting

Pointer to this week's BW podcast on the business of podcasting. This week's guests are Gretchen Vogelzang and Paige Heninger, co-hosts of Mommycast, a podcast on raising children.

How I end up blogging about Dell in China

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 21, Categories: mainstream media

BusinessWeek struggles to find a place in a blog for an outtake on a China story

Strike Trek: Day 2

Posted by: Heather Green on December 21, Categories: society

It was a little warmer today walking in, and of course, once you start walking, you warm up. Frankly, the streets are a lot quieter than normal and it's more...

When should journalists participate in a story?

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 21, Categories: mainstream media

When should journalists take action in the stories they're covering?

As Gillmor moves, what happens to Bayosphere?

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 21, Categories: Citizen Media

As Dan Gillmor moves on to head a Citizen's Media Center, what happens to Bayosphere?

The Wikipedia Debate Continues

Posted by: Heather Green on December 20, Categories:

Wikipedia undergoes another round of public scrutiny.

Bubble Talk and Joe Kraus

Posted by: Heather Green on December 20, Categories: digital media

Some thoughts from JotSpot's co-founder Joe Kraus on the brewing digital bubble.

Blogging From a Cab

Posted by: Heather Green on December 20, Categories: society

In the midst of the NYC transit strike and on the look out for blogging taxi drivers.

Predictions of a year gone by while surveying transit strike

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 20, Categories: search

Points to John Battelle's predictions for this year. His biggest miss: That Google would do something big with Blogger.

We're Back

Posted by: Heather Green on December 19, Categories: BusinessWeek

We were down for a while because of a network hiccup. They did some work on the BW network over the weekend, which prevented us in NY from being able...

Perfomancing launches forums

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 19, Categories: new blogs

Performancing launches online forums for bloggers.

Basketball blog follows unlikely odyssey of Shavlik Randolph

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 18, Categories: society

Comments in a basketball blog tell the long Cinderalla story of Shavlik Randolph of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Do we really have to do year-end reviews?

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 17, Categories: Inside Companies

A plea to ban the word "align" for the next year or two, and the uselessness of most employee review processes. Plus, word from Google about restrictions on info sharing within the company.

Horses for Courses

Posted by: Heather Green on December 16, Categories: business blogging

On what companies could learn from the blog of a horse whisperer.

Some Googling Aspirations

Posted by: Heather Green on December 16, Categories: search

A little about Tristan Louis' post on Google's new Safe Browsing technology and the imporantance to Google of collecting data.

Electronic paper could put blogs on Cheerios

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 16, Categories: advertising

electronic paper could wrap cereal boxes in ads, not just for the store, but also for the breakfast table

Transition from print to audio: learning to interrupt

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 15, Categories: podcasting

One crucial skill for a podcast interviewer: Knowing how to interrupt.

Two-Tiered Internet

Posted by: Heather Green on December 15, Categories: digital media

Pointer to BW story about the clash that's building between the Internet cos and the telcos and cable giants who want to charge extra fees for heavy uses of their networks.

Long-toothed journalists tackle Excel

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 15, Categories: skills

Older professionals need to tackle math tools like electronic spreadsheets to keep with younger generation. Dead week begins at Businessweek and Baker tackles Microsoft Excel.

Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales Talks

Posted by: Heather Green on December 14, Categories: Wikis

BW interview with the founder of Wikipedia.

This Week's Podcast with Ron Bloom of PodShow

Posted by: Heather Green on December 14, Categories: podcasting

On this week's podcast about the business of podcasting we talk with Ron Bloom, co-founder of the PodShow network.

Conversation migrates from BusinessWeek java story

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 13, Categories: mainstream media

Conversation about BW story on java is much livelier at Slashdot than under the original posting of the story.

Should marketers focus more on the A-list bloggers? Not necessarily.

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 13, Categories: marketing

Should marketers focus more on A-list bloggers? Not necessarily, says Howard Kaushansky of Umbria Communications

Wikipedia Dustup: Take Two

Posted by: Heather Green on December 13, Categories: Wikis

Can a class action suit against Wikipedia can ground?

Yes, Rob, lots of things are worse these days--but you can't beat the convenience

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 12, Categories: society

We sacrifice quality in music, phone conversations, meals and movies--and get a big dose of convenience in return

Anchor blogger is reduced to travelogue

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 12, Categories: mainstream media

NBC Anchor Brian Williams is a prolific blogger--at least today--but not a free one.

Video Podcasts and NYTimes..Raining, Pouring

Posted by: Heather Green on December 12, Categories: video blogging

Bloggy notions featured in the NYTimes Magazine's annual Year of Ideas issue.

Podcasting and Adam Curry

Posted by: Heather Green on December 12, Categories: podcasting

About a couple of podcasting items I wrote for BW.

Yahoo and Six Apart

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 12, Categories: blog technology

Six Apart bucks the trend as it forges alliance with Yahoo for small business blogging

Dial Up and Blogging

Posted by: Heather Green on December 10, Categories: How To

The shock of dial up bloggingg....

Vlog Ho

Posted by: Heather Green on December 10, Categories: video blogging

Pointing out the big broad story in the NYTimes about video blogs, their growth, and potential impact.

Your Patience Please

Posted by: Heather Green on December 10, Categories: society

So Steve is away this weekend and I am not going to have access to the blogging tools necessary to keep communication going on this platform....so your patience please with...

Yahoo Snaps Up Del.icio.us

Posted by: Heather Green on December 09, Categories: M&A

Just talked to Joshua Schachter, who emailed to say that he sold del.icio.us to Yahoo.

RSS: The Tipping Point

Posted by: Heather Green on December 09, Categories: RSS

An RSS toilet paper printer? The tipping point?

NYTimes and Blogging: A Different Take

Posted by: Heather Green on December 08, Categories:

There is more than one way to look at the NYTimes memo on blogging, clearly.

Bubble, Bubble

Posted by: Heather Green on December 08, Categories: society

Though a little late in pointing out a post by Tristan Louis on bubbles, am doing so anyway. Need to be vigilant about bubbles.

Do-it-yourself journalism: Rewrite a BusinessWeek story

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 08, Categories: BusinessWeek

Think a BusinessWeek story missed an important point? Which paragraph would you put it into, and what would you cut to make the space?

BusinessWeek closes down Europe and Asian editions

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 07, Categories: BusinessWeek

BusinessWeek shutters Europe and Asian editions.

GrapeRadio on this Week's Podcast

Posted by: Heather Green on December 07, Categories: podcasting

This week's Blogspotting podcast on the business of podcasting is a talk with the folks at GrapeRadio.

What's a Wiki Good For?

Posted by: Heather Green on December 07, Categories: Wikis

Informationweek has a pretty complete primer about using wikis in business that's worth reading, along with links to examples of companies using wikis.

Which companies block employees' Web access?

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 06, Categories: Inside Companies

Looking for companies that block Web access for employees

Florida superintendent blogs and gets hundreds of comments

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 05, Categories: society

Florida's St. Petersburg Times hosts a lively school superintendent blog from Piniellas County Schools.

NBC Joins iTunes

Posted by: Heather Green on December 05, Categories: digital media

NBC shows now for sale on iTunes as Apple says it has sold 3 million videos in first two months. That's nice. But what's up with video blogs at iTunes?

Snowy morning in Jersey, why doesn't our school superintendent blog?

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 05, Categories: society

School superindents need a way to get out the news on snow days. Why not blogs?

Wikipedia Makes News

Posted by: Heather Green on December 04, Categories: Wikis

Well, exactly, after news of people on Wikipedia making up news, Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales is now barring anonymous users from creating new articles, CNET reports. Via Dave Winer who has...

A Bloggy Holiday Season

Posted by: Heather Green on December 04, Categories: marketing

BW's Tim Mullaney writes in this week's magazine about how retailers are using blogs and social networking to attract holiday shoppers.

RSS That Ad

Posted by: Heather Green on December 04, Categories: RSS

Target's using RSS for its weekly sales ads. Know anyone else who is doing this?

Should my boss's boss's boss blog?

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 04, Categories: Inside Companies

Commenter asks if Blogspotting complains about intrustive ads on its own site, and if our boss's boss's boss blogs.

AOL exec responds to anger... on someone else's blog

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 03, Categories: advertising

AOL exec responds to angry bloggers at AOL Journal--but he does it on an employee's blog

BW cover story on social networks

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 03, Categories: BusinessWeek

BusinessWeek cover story by Jessi Hempel looks at social networks as marketing vehicles.

Zinio and the prospects for digital magazines

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 03, Categories: mainstream media

Is Zinio, the digital magazine technology company, fish with feet?

The future of blogs in fiction and movies

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 02, Categories: digital media

Fictional character blogs give Hollywood a vast laboratory for story development and franchise extensions.

Ways to Track Indie-Generated Works?

Posted by: Heather Green on December 02, Categories: How To

Searching for suggestions on how to track the growth of user generated works.

Blog startup Performancing lays out its business plan

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 02, Categories: blog business

Performancing, a blog startup, provides details on its business strategy.

The Invasion Blog That Could Have Been

Posted by: Heather Green on December 01, Categories: marketing

Hopes dashed by ABC's Invasion blog.

Sell your clicks

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 01, Categories: marketing

Roots.net is the flip side of the privacy market. It lets you accumulate your clicks so that you can sell them.

Hey Performancing, what's your exit strategy?

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 01, Categories: M&A

Performancing, a new professional blog, advise bloggers to come up with business plans and exit strategy. So what's its own plan?