Biting the hand that feed: Can we monetize social media?

David Rowan, editor of the new UK Wired edition takes a shot at Second Life (the national sport at the moment) and hits all other social networks/services in the same time. The best business minds have spent over a decade figuring out a profitable business model for online media or social networks and the best option so far is still selling to an even bigger online media or social network. With the crisis shrinking everyone to size and funding drying up, this brings us in a world where we accept that online networks can only be a "cost of doing business", where we continue chasing an elusive magical business model that will turn millions of users into millions of customers or where we start charging people for services they clearly value. My hunch is on the 3rd option.

Twitter switch for Guardian, after 188 years of ink

Great April's fools fun from the Guardian.

Second Life's span is virtually over as firms decide to get real

Damning article on the Telegraph. Are journos seeking closure? In two years, will we see similar articles about Twitter?

Google Street View now in the UK...

... And the results are just amazing. Conveniently, a picture was taken just in front of my former flat and as a result, I am missing London.

Explore at http://earth.google.com/ and tick Street View under "Layers".

The crisis of credit, visualised

One of the best explanations of the credit crunch I have seen. First seen on Mr Brown, blogger extraordinaire of Singapore.

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Microsoft Office labs vision 2019

In 2019, there will be tactile screens everywhere. The only gardens will be on rooftops and we will all live in Hong Kong. Don't believe me? See for yourself:



Thank you to El Blogador for sending me this story. Read post from Long Zheng.

IAB develops new guidelines for behavioural advertising

Self-regulatory and signed by AOL, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!... The guidelines can be summarized as:

• Notice

Each Member shall provide clear and unambiguous notice to users that it collects data for the purposes of OBA. This notice shall include information about what types of data are collected, how these data are being used and how users can decline OBA with respect to that Member.

• User choice
  

Each Member shall provide an approved means for consumers to decline OBA from that Member and information on how to do it.

• User Education

Each Member shall make information available to educate users about OBA and ensure that this information is easily accessible.

And of course, "No Member shall create OBA segments intended for the sole purpose of targeting children under the age of 13 years".

Full guidelines on IAB site.
First read on the BBC.

"Lunatic bloggers can keep the blogosphere"

Guardian article about Ryanair v. Jason Roe, a freelance developer/blogger. I don't condone the tone of Ryanair's response but the short of it is that Ryanair can get away with that. Most of those commenting and swearing they will never fly Ryanair will quickly change their mind when asked to pay £100 more for the same journey with another airline. If they don't mind paying more, they are not Ryanair's customer target anyway.

Theo Paphitis' top business tips

Some very sound advice on BBC. I am taking note.

London Business School ranked #1 in the world

FT 2009 global rankings.
I certainly did not contribute to up the salary increase criteria :-)

Facebook U-turn again

For the time being, your pictures belong to you. Guardian. Funny how the Facebook team still hasn't figured out a way to connect with their users before implementing such policies.

Military’s killer robots must learn warrior code

" Autonomous military robots that will fight future wars must be programmed to live by a strict warrior code or the world risks untold atrocities at their steely hands" According to a report from the Ethics and Emerging Technology group. Article in the Times with a priceless comment from Dave E., Laos: "Marvelous – puts the recession into perspective though doesn’t it. Who needs to worry about losing their jobs when in fact the real danger is killer robots without conscience stalking the earth….".

Global recession - where did all the money go?

Frightening. The Guardian.

Look around you: Maths

The World's best complaint letter

To Richard Branson from a Virgin airline customer on the Mumbai to Heathrow flight last December. Hilarious.
On the Telegraph.

Obama's inauguration speech as a tag cloud

From Wordle.net

Affordable glasses turn your computer screen in 3D

"NVIDIA has created a kit that turns computer screen images 3D provided machines have GeForce graphics processors and one of the new-generation of high-resolution monitors launched at CES by Samsung, ViewSonic, or Mitsubishi. (...) Because the technology works with monitors, 2D computer games can be replayed in three dimensions". AFP article.

I want one! and loads of Panadol.

50 Reasons Why More People Aren't Using Your Website

Written by Scott Heiferman. The top 3 are the most common issues:

1. Because they don't want to generate content, they want better life
2. Because it solves a problem they don't have
3. Because it won't help them with their problem

ESTATE AGENTS NOW SHOWING HOUSES TO OTHER ESTATE AGENTS

"BRITAIN'S estate agents are showing houses to each other in a bid to combat loneliness and prevent their traditional skills from dying out." Another classic from the Daily Mash.

Atheist advertising campaign goes global, thousand more buses to burn in Hell!

800 buses in the UK, a thousand tube cards, 2 LCD screens opposite Bond Street tube station, buses in Barcelona, Italy, the U.S. (Washington only)...

If only more were heeding this message from the American Humanist Association: "Just be good for goodness' sake".

Guardian article.