What is better? A Mitchell or a Webb?

Anyone who uses the web for more than 6 months has become naturally trained to avoid online ads. My field of vision stops just below the banner line and ignores tedious leftish skyscrapers. Then came Apple’s latest campaign featuring Robert Webb and David Mitchell. I noticed the ads instantly and it worked a treat for me. It reminded me of what I didn’t like about other TV series and why Peep Show is definitely a superior entertainment product. I am now keener to buy the series’ DVDs.

Charlie Brooker of the Guardian reignited the PC v. Mac feud on his blog (look at the comments). You can see the ads there too.

Tags: apple, peep show

French join exodus for la vie en rosbif

Sunday Times article that perfectly summarises my feelings and the countless conversations I have with young French "refugees".

• Stifling bureaucracy,
• Stagnant labour market,
  
• Unwillingness of employers to give chances to young job applicants (...) because of attitudes often criticised as rigid,
• “In France if you read classics and history at university you can become a teacher, but not, say, a banker. Things are more flexible here (in London)",
• “People here can laugh at themselves, it’s part of good manners, but people take themselves a lot more seriously in France.”

Google to loose "Gmail" in Europe?

German entrepreneur Daniel Giersch trademarked "G-Mail" in 2001 for his company doing emails... After a court case and failed talk of a settlement, Giersch was awarded the right to use "G-mail". He plans to bring the matter to the European court to validate his claim across Europe. In the meantime, Google will have to use "Google mail". Article in French.

Wikipedia issues warning to PR agencies

About writing about clients they represent on Wikipedia (or paying others to do so). "If it persists they will be banned". Front page of PR week UK.

Tags: wikipedia, PR

Scoble Not Getting Attention

A most bizarre post from Robert Scoble about one of his stories on Intel not being linked by Engadget. Interesting insight into the mind of "A-List" bloggers. Seth Finkelstein's comment: "It must be very nice to be an A-lister. Then even your complaints about not getting enough attention get lots of attention."

The Truth In Ad Sales, MyTube, YouSpace

London Business School ranked 5th in the world...

... and 1st non US school by the Financial Times.

Tags: mba

Sweden to open embassy in Second Life

Via Neville Hobson courtesy of Guy. Will it be financed by Swedish taxpayers?

Tags: Second Life

Bebe cat begs

We "cat-sitted" over the new year for a friend and ended up with "Bebe", a very talkative cat. It travelled all the way from Hong-Kong with its owner, survived its quarantine in the UK and learnt a few tricks on the way to get its favourite tibbits. Couldn't resist posting it.

Judy, if Bebe becomes famous, let's say we settled for 25% of direct income and royalties...

Tags: fun

Fox subpoenas YouTube over Simpsons and 24

Beginning or the end?

From Reuters.

Tags: youtube

LinkedIn starts "Yahoo! Answers" like service

LinkedIn starts "Yahoo! Answers" like service.

Tags: linkedin, yahoo, answers

Rent a protester

Young, good-looking, and available for around 150 euros (£100), more than 300 would-be protesters are marketing themselves on a German rental website.

Via BBC

Boo Box: Is Pay-Per-Post getting increasingly popular?

My friend Guy forwarded me this post from What'snext on Boo Box , knowing that it will upset me. A "boo box" is a button you place on your blog in or next to your reviews. If your readers decide to buy the product you describe, you get a share of the sale. BL Ochman thinks it's "a cool idea, as long as bloggers behave ethically with this tool". I am going to bang my old drum here. As a blogger, I am suddenly incentivised to write positive reviews that sell so I can generate more income... Therefore as a review seeker, I am suddenly incentivised to look elsewhere for genuine unskewed reviews. Ethics v. economics.

Tags: pay-per-post, boo box

France's second largest TV channel partners with Google video

France 2 partners with Google video on a dedicated website to cover the 2007 French presidential election.

Mel Gibson's Apocalypto is a cinematographic triumph

I saw Apocalypto last Sunday with my wife. It is one of the best movies I have seen in ages (and I am a movie buff). Apocalypto is a phenomenon: it has a very simple story, it is a different setting to what you are used to, you really care for the characters (no A, B or C-lists actors here but real local casting), it has superb pictures and you are glued to your seat for 138 mins wondering what is going to happen next. This is story telling at its best. And Mel Gibson got a #1 in the US with a movie in Mayan… Amazing achievement. Mel Gibson is establishing himself as The Director to watch. We will watch it a second time this week-end. Go and see it, you won't be disapointed.

Tags: Apocalypto

Second Life Open Source

Liden Labs is releasing some of SL's code to the open source community. Via BBC. Very smart.

Tags: Second Life, open source

Can web 2.0 companies build competitive advantage?

Can they create it and sustain it? How?

That's what I am trying to find out in my management report (final year Executive MBA "thesis" at London Business School).

I would like to interview marketing or management executives from the likes of Bebo, Myspace, Facebook, Kaboodle, Linkedin, Match.com, Friendster or start-ups in the field (relying on attracting and maintaining a critical mass of members to succeed).

I am keen to get a better understanding of the industry; the strategies used by major players and identify the golden rules for success. Interviews will be highly confidential and all data will be presented in aggregated format.

Benefits for executives are:

• Instant feedback/ideas from social media / online PR expert (and MBA student).
• Receive a copy of strategic overview when report is compiled.
• Open up a contact with London Business School (useful for future recruitment, interns and so on...)
• Doing a good deed

I can provide further details and my research tutor's contacts and references. Any help is much appreciated.

Thank you!

Counting the real Second Life population

As of today, Second Life counts 2,341,910 residents, as defined as "uniquely named avatars with the right to log in to Second Life, trade currency and visit the community pages". Critics make the distinction between registered users and active users, using a 10% conversion rate (confirmed by Linden Labs). This puts the number of Second-Lifers in the 200,000 to 230,000 range only. See CNet article.

GigaOm commented on the topic a while ago. Read the comments.

Tags: second life

French protest against 2007

Hundreds of protesters in Nantes (France) marched in the New Year waving banners reading: "No to 2007" and "Now is better!". Give it a few more days guys, the government will cave in and roll back the year.

Via BBC.

PS: Happy New Year to all my readers. Thank you for keeping up with my erratic posting schedule.

'Paris Syndrome' strikes Japanese

Dozen or so Japanese tourists a year have to be repatriated from the French capital, after falling prey to what's become known as "Paris syndrome"...

Tags: paris, japan