Should TechCrunch have published Twitter's stolen internal documents?

Mike Arrington, famed author and publisher of the TechCrunch blog received 310 internal documents supposedly hacked from Twitter's internal servers. To publish or not to publish? I'll go with his judgment call: Employee data are of course a no go but financial projections and new products memos are fair game. A bit of an outcry and call of unethical behaviour from readers but his comment frames his decision nicely: "if we only posted things that companies gave us permission to post this would be a press release site and none of you would be here. News is stuff someone doesn’t want you to write. The rest is advertising".

Teenager tells it like it is, media analysts in frenzy.

Nice PR coup for Morgan Stanley: Fifteen year old bank intern is asked to write a memo describing his friends' media habits and reportedly, his report shook the media world... Analysts should get out of their posh office more often instead of reading reports about surveys. The memo: Teens don't use Twitter. Too expensive and the average low following is not worth it (if you want to talk to a few people only, there is SMS). They use their phone to text, call or exchange files via Bluetooth. They don't like advertising ("annoying and pointless"), read newspapers or listen to radio much. They don't use iTunes as it is too expensive and music can be sourced freely someplace else. They spend time on Facebook and money on cinema, concerts and video games that allow them to chat as well. FT article (includes a link to the report).

Fake Steve on Google OS

Let's all take a deep breath and get some perspective...

G8 set new global warming targets to postpone decisions, actions

"Leaders of the G8 leading industrial countries have agreed to try to limit global warming to just 2C (3.6F) above pre-industrial levels by 2050." From BBC. What irks the cynic in me is that no roadmap on how to get there has been agreed. Today’s leaders know well that they will not be in power then, nor their protégés thus could sit on it and leave the task on how to make it happen to future generations. In the meantime, it’s business as usual.

Google to launch an operating system! I might switch back to PC then.

"We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds"... I am really excited about that. Google shook the search market when everyone thought the game was over (remember it was all about portals and entertainment...), then shook the advertising world when ad agencies dismissed the mom & pop shops using adwords (it turned out that there were a lot of them and it amounted to a lot of cash - now the big corporation have search marketing experts and big budgets that end up with Google no matter what). Talking about OS, I switched to Mac in 2007 to keep up with the Californian boys of my previous venture. Never looked back. After comparing boot up time and normal usage (how often the system crashes, usability, intuitiveness, speed...) I convinced my wife to relinquish her Sony Vaio for a MacBook. Now I love Apple but the kit is pricey and there is no Netbook in sight as of yet. A Google OS might just convince me to switch back.

Pre-Facebook, Pre-Internet: Lemmings

Before Facebook sucked out all remaining productivity of the average cubicle worker, we had Lemmings... I found a DHTML version of what must be one of the most addictive game ever created. How many could you rescue?

iPhone apps are the new Facebook apps

Reminiscent to last year's articles on how everyone can strike gold by developing Facebook apps (which followed from becoming a property millionaire on Second Life and a publishing mogul through blogs), the Telegraph has an article on how "anyone with a laptop and a good idea can stake their claim in the app rush". So what are you waiting for? Stop reading and start coding.

Bloggers have no right to privacy

Landmark UK ruling where the High Court ruled against the protection of anonymity of a police officer who wrote a blog. The blogger sought an injunction to prevent a newspaper from naming him for fear of disciplinary hearings. As a result of being identified, the blogger is now being investigated and had been issued a written warning. The blog has been removed. Now I wonder why this could not be extended to online forums and review websites. Think twice before you post. Full story on the BBC.

Grab your Facebook username before it's too late

Facebook just released the option to have usernames and redirect to your page at www.facebook.com/username. I have few homonyms in the World and already got mine. However, if you are blessed with the patronym John Smith, you better grab it fast before you become known as JOhH_SmITh187.

The millionth word in the English language is...

web 2.0.

No kidding.

National Geographic Traveler features the Cacao Pearl

June edition, page 40 under "Destinations Watch". Is it time to write a series of posts on moving from online PR to launching the World's first non-profit luxury eco-resort? Not just yet. But we are getting closer...

Only 10 per cent of Twitter users account for 90 per cent of all tweets

Says Harvard Business School in a Telegraph article. This is consistent with many articles, stuies, reports, anecdotes I came across: Despite all the talks about "user generated content", we prefer to consume content that produce it.

Facebook brings in payment system

Micro-payments have been heralded as the holy grail of e-commerce since 1999. Europeans and Asians sometimes use their cellphones to pay for online services (or virtual goods) but no one managed to deliver a popular, universally accepted web only solution. I believe Facebook could be the one to deliver it. Gartner reckon that direct payment could amount to a third of Facebook's revenues. Article on the FT.

Life beyond PR: It is sunny on the Cacao Pearl.

I thought I would post some pretty pictures of my new project, the Cacao Pearl. It is the World's first non-profit luxury eco-resort, nestled in the Calamian archipelago in Palawan, Philippines. As you would expect, PR is core to our marketing strategy and we are having good media and bloggers' coverage so far ranging from mentions in the NY Times, SF Chronicle, Frommer's, Treehugger, Hollywood Reporter, A Place in the Sun, National Geographic, Hotels Magazine and many more. Completion is scheduled for early 2012. Too early to compile a mailing list but you are welcome to find out more at www.cacaoresorts.com. If you want to write about it and need more information, just ping me.

The trillion dollars question: China or America.

China. If you don't believe, go there and see for yourself.

BT limits download speed on cheapest broadband packages

"A customer who has signed up for an up to 8 megabit per second package can have their speed cut to below 1Mbps". Time to read the small print and complain all the way to the top. BBC.

OneTel Talk Talk but doesn't listen

In 10 years in the UK, I had my share of bad service but never had to resort to the Office of Fair Trading for a resolution, until I canceled my contract with OneTel. Despite written letters a month in advance that were acknowledged and three follow-up phone calls, they still send me bills for a phone line in a flat I left 2 months and a half ago. Obviously they are taking the piss. I am sending my recorded letter tomorrow for their breach of contract under the supply of goods and services act 1982. They have 10 days to sent me a written confirmation that my contract is canceled and refund me. I will update on this blog. Needless to say that I am not recommending them to anyone.

Wolfram

Touted as the new Google, Wolfram is actually not a search engine but a "computational knowledge engine". It is a bit like an expert system plugged-in an encyclopedia. Look at the online demo This is a very impressive start.

The end of free online news?

Rupert Murdoch is looking to start charging readers to access his online papers. While many will dismiss it as rearguard fighting, I will not be surprised if other publishers jump in at the chance. As their readership moves online, newspaper publishers just can't make enough money on the Internet through advertising alone to run their business. The billion dollars question is whether there would be sufficient willing payers to compensate the drop in online readership (i.e. online advertising revenues) when they start charging. It looks like we will soon find out.

CNN article (still free).

Is a Recession the Perfect Time to Start a Business?

In theory, resources would cost less but Jeff Nolan shows that it is not to be taken for granted. In a comment Edwk makes valid points: People joining you know that it will be tough so are more motivated and you have less competitors throwing money at the problem you are trying to solve.