Archives: May 2007

Slow Blogspotting, wedding bells

Posted by: Stephen Baker on May 30, Categories: BusinessWeek

I think this'll be a slow week for the Blogspotting team. One of us is getting married, and the other is wondering what to wear. Heather's instructions say something about...

Artists to the war

Posted by: Stephen Baker on May 28, Categories: society

David Carr of the NY Times writes about tight Pentagon restrictions on war coverage in Iraq. No photos of wounded without their permission, and tighter rules about soldiers' blogging. (Here's...

If the rest of us used Facebook like the Northlanders...

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

Kristine Lowe reports that 3% of Norway's population has a Facebook profile. And some 450 articles about Facebook have popped up in Norwegian media in the last two months. Norwegian...

Who Would Want to Do an Ad for Heinz Anyway?

Posted by: Heather Green on May 26, Categories:

Sometimes the NYTimes see so off track in its very earnest voice. Case in point today was their story on online videos that brands ask people to make and send in. There is this thread about how, shock, it's not cheaper to do this than to do a standard ad. Well, it's an entirely different process and it takes different costs, so no, that's not so shocking to me. And making ads on the cheap isn't the point. The point is interacting with people.

Blogging Distractions

Posted by: Heather Green on May 24, Categories:

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Feedburner Sale Next? Publishers Are Probably Getting Skittish

Posted by: Heather Green on May 23, Categories:

If Google does buy FeedBurner, as TechCrunch is reporting, my thoughts turn to what the publishers working with FeedBurner are probably thinking. Best bet, first they're trying to figure out,...

Yet another new BW blog: Green Biz

Posted by: Stephen Baker on May 23, Categories: BusinessWeek, new blogs

I just found this one today. Green Biz. It's the work of Adam Aston, my New York pal, and John Carey, from the Washington bureau. Here's my question for them:...

New Technorati Search: Beyond the Blog

Posted by: Heather Green on May 23, Categories: blog technology

The new Technorati is sleek. It allows you to plug in one term, and see all the different ways that thing appears, whether video or blogs or whatever. It takes away the notion that, oh, you know you're looking for a blog post or a podcast and just assumes you're looking for information, and blogs, and podcasts make up that information. And that's a good thing and a sign of maturity.

Relative clout: BW vs. TechCrunch

Posted by: Stephen Baker on May 22, Categories: entrepreneurs

I thought BW had clout, but Michael Arrington at TechCrunch appears to have a level of influence I have never seen at the magazine. He has made CEOs cry...

New BW blog, new template

Posted by: Stephen Baker on May 21, Categories: BusinessWeek, design, new blogs

I've been thinking about the design of this blog and, frankly, I'm not loving it. Lots of you have blogs that are better looking. So I was thinking of...

Necessary skills: typing, statistics

Posted by: Stephen Baker on May 20, Categories: skills

When my kids were little, I had a small obsession: We had to teach them to type! They were heading into a future full of keyboards, and that was going...

If silicon won the Cold War, what wins next?

Posted by: Stephen Baker on May 20, Categories: Weekend Rant

Jeff Jonas notes that if the West won the Cold War through its mastery of intelligence embedded on silicon, terrorists have the upper hand in the next level of the...

Productivity offline

Posted by: Stephen Baker on May 18, Categories: Weekend Rant

I drove down to the Jersey shore, checked into a hotel, and wrote for three days. I was twice as productive as usual, and here are the reasons: No family,...

5-second rule: Does it work with gum?

Posted by: Stephen Baker on May 15, Categories: research

Freakonomics blog reports that if you're quick to pick up the food you dropped on the floor, it's safer to eat. That's not the same thing as safe, I guess,...

Books' lasting power

Posted by: Stephen Baker on May 14, Categories: digital media

Since it's from the Print is Dead blog, I guess I shouldn't be surprised to see a prediction of the book's demise. It quotes Bill Gates saying that reading...

How to monitor YouTube on the cheap

Posted by: Stephen Baker on May 11, Categories: mainstream media, video blogging

Jon Fine covers the bellyaching over YouTube, and how much companies are spending to monitor the site for copyrighted clips. I'm not sure it's worth the bother. But assuming it...

Slide May be Biggest Widget Co, but with 100 Million Daily Widgets RockYou is No Slouch

Posted by: Heather Green on May 11, Categories:

With 150 million daily slide shows served, Slide is claiming to be the biggest widget company. Impressive numbers, but I was speaking with RockYou yesterday and they say that they're...

Investor Danny Rimer Says Joost's Advantage is in the Experience

Posted by: Heather Green on May 10, Categories: digital media

In light of Joost's $45 million investment announcement, there is lots of discussion about what the video services advantage will be over competitors. Or for that matter, simply the broad distribution of content already out there. I.E. Why would people use Joost? I spoke briefly with Danny Rimer, from Index Ventures, to get his view of what will make Joost stand out. Here are parts of the interview with Rimer, who said that it's the experience based on P2P, more than exclusivity, that will sell folks on Joost.

Joost Raises $45 Million

Posted by: Heather Green on May 10, Categories: digital media

Joost announced that it raised around $45 million from Index Ventures, Sequoia, Li Ka Shing Foundation, CBS and Viacom. Talk about new and old money joining hands around the campfire....

Last.fm Adds Music Videos

Posted by: Heather Green on May 09, Categories:

Last.fm is adding video clips to it popular social music service. It's starting with content from indie labels, including Warp, Atlantic and Mute, that lets its 20 million monthly visitors...

Squirrels

Posted by: Stephen Baker on May 09, Categories: spam and other abuses

In the world of birdfeeders, and we have lots of them, squirrels are the most devious and persistent hackers....

An economy of tune-ups

Posted by: Stephen Baker on May 07, Categories: society

Waiting in line at my local branch of PNC bank, I see they're offering financial tune-ups. Yesterday, my research (whether you believe me or not) carried me to the e-harmony...

YouTube's Steve Chen: Copy Protection Technology Taking Time

Posted by: Heather Green on May 07, Categories: digital media

YouTube Co-founder Steve Chen talks about the integration with Goolge and the state of the video sharing services copy protection technology, which is just now in the testing phase, despite Eric Schmidt's claims last month that the technology would be released in a few weeks. Now, it looks like the Claim Your Content system won’t be released for at least a few more weeks. YouTube co-founder and chief technology officer Steve Chen told BusinessWeek that the system is only now “entering the testing phase.” In his first interview since the lawsuit was announced, Chen spoke to BusinessWeek about the secret to YouTube’s success, its plans for growth, its massive technology infrastructure, as well as providing an update on the merger with Google, which closed last November 13. What follows are edited remarks of Chen’s interview with BusinessWeek editor Spencer E. Ante.

The Banality of Personal Life and Where Twitter Comes In

Posted by: Heather Green on May 07, Categories: society

Thinking about Twitter and Ross Mayfield's idea about the messaging of the mundane.

Brazilian ban on billboards: How far to take it

Posted by: Stephen Baker on May 06, Categories: advertising

Max Kalehoff writes about Sao Paulo's move to ban outdoor advertising from the enormous city. Vermont did something similar long ago, and the absence of billboards makes a drive through...

Writing update: crappy first draft

Posted by: Stephen Baker on May 04, Categories: Weekend Rant

I spent most of the day yesterday sitting on this blue couch, legs stretched out in front of me, writing a book chapter on medicine. I was going on about...

Bunny suit rumination at Fishkill

Posted by: Stephen Baker on May 02, Categories: Inside Companies

I was dressed up in a bunny suit yesterday, touring IBM's state-of-the-art semiconductor fab in Fishkill, NY. Machines do everything. Humans, who can't be trusted to work at such levels...

Growth for BW Online site

Posted by: Stephen Baker on May 01, Categories: BusinessWeek

Looks like the BW Online site registered strong growth in the last year, according to this study by MIN Online. (ex Mathew Ingram) Every Day with Rachael Ray, a cooking...