Tom Altman’s Wedia Conversation

Sorry for ignoring the blog for a few days - I feel guilty and also anxious to post a few very cool things I found. So here are three things I have been looking at: Interview With A Convicted Hacker: Robert Moore Tells How He Broke Into Routers And Stole VoIP Services
This is a great article about a hacker who stole VOIP services for another dude to sell. The just of the article is how he explains it was like taking candy from a baby - so easy, anyone could be taught how. Good read.

New Zealand Launches Wiki To Help Citizens Draft New Law
This is some real community intelligence. How open and honest is this - let’s ACTUALLY let the people help draft the law…wow!

“The Office” Convention
Now this is a great idea. How many TV shows do you know of that have a convention? Can you imagine? If you think about it - it is not really that different than us going out into the neighborhoods…but let’s pretend we set-up a wiki first, and asked people to participate and asked what they wanted to have us do. Interesting way to promote and thank.

Yahoo is still cool in my book. These guys are like the little nerd kid on the playground. You always see them getting the crap beat out of - but no matter what they do or say - you still love them.

Here is a cool interview with Salim Ismail of the Yahoo Brickhouse.

I was just talking with Kim H the other day and explaining some of the “hot” topics I have been hearing the most about…they were IPTV and Apple.

IPTV - is the internet protocol television, where shows are “broadcast” over the net. Apple - in the context that Microsoft is dead and the Mac is moving in and I have to say - the new mac books are very intriguing, especially for those who need to use programs which are “mac” and also those which are “PC”.

But what these podcasts and websites are saying is the Mac is rolling over the PC and back up before you get it too.

An article in the NYT doesn’t agree:
“The official line from Apple is that all has gone swimmingly. The company said it shipped 1.52 million Macs in the first quarter of this year, up 35 percent from the year-ago quarter. In the second quarter through June 30, it shipped 1.76 million Macs, up 32 percent from a year ago, an all-time quarterly record.

Funny thing, though: based on the ratio of Windows and Macs actually in use, no gains can be seen for Apple. “

So, depending on which set of fanboys you believe - it’s Mac or PC.

I found this article that talks about enterprise and web 2.0 - it explains how enterprise is divided on the new technologies…they know they need to adopt - but they are not comfortable with “cloud” computing.

In adoption of Web 2.0 the biggest pushback was from IT - whether right or wrong the article stated:

“There could be a lot of reasons why employees don’t use web 2.0 tools. What I found surprising in Forrester’s report was that IT decision-makers appear to be quite happy that only 15% of employees in their company use web 2.0 tools.”

My only issue here is we have a group of corporate front line web developers and designers trying to compete with the small, agile web 2.0 companies - and they cannot get adoption from within.

But, IT has a point in that we all want to assume the data “inside the house” is safe and sound.

Fear of Web 2.0

There are some really good links.

I have heard in the past that Rob can come off with a bit of an ego and that he tends to act as if his Kool-Aid the the ONLY one to be sippin’…but in my opinion - it’s more of a mindset that an ego.

You have to check out his latest blog post. Wow - that is great and with the same people we are working with over at Northwestern. Cool. Also - I think the whole ego thing is really messed up, because I was testing this theory and just emailed Rob about some questions I had. He responded an told me straight up; “My schedule completely sucks, but if we try to do something during my commute in or out, then I’d be completely up for it!” - so maybe I’ll have a different report after the call - but until then…he’s alright by me.

“As the most watched, scrutinized, and reported-on company in the web space, Google’s every move is analyzed by competitors big and small. Its rapid expansion into areas beyond search and seemingly insatiable appetite for acquisitions has the company strongly positioned to dominate numerous key parts of the Internet. However, we should be reminded that not everything Google touches turns to gold; for example, the demise of Google Answers and the demotion of Froogle. Stay tuned for what are sure to be hundreds of announcements in the years to come.”

This is what happens when I put links into my “blog” folder to blog about - then it gets so big I cannot manage it any more. So here we go: 9 Ways to Build Your Own Social Network
This is a little techy, but gives you an idea of how easy it is to get started in the social networking space.

10 Future Web Trends
Of the ten I really think #2. AI and #4. Mobile - some of the others are more theories than trends- but good stuff.

A fundamental way newspaper sites need to change
This was an article Jason K forwarded to me…this is dead on and it really pertains to “big media” just the same. Take a look and compare it to the ideas Smitty is working on in the Content Management Group.

Change Advertising Forever
If this doesn’t get the ad agencies all scared and quivering in a corner - nothing will. But think about it - it is the eLance for the media world.

How to Write Remarkably Creative Content
I thought this was good and it is really targeted for the website builder to step away from the old and stale - but what if we took the same principals and applied it to how we write newspaper copy?

Journalism 2.0: How to Survive and Thrive
Cool new book talking about a need for J-School evolution. Wouldn’t it be cool if we offered this as a internal class to our employees?

Martin’s Wiki
“In my research I have explored the concept of Web 2.0 and related technologies including RSS. My research is represented herein. I will examine and explore what they mean for businesses, developers and the end web user.”

MyChingo™ Audio Comment System
A new way to leave comments - instead of text…it is audio based.

How businesses are using Web 2.0?
A little dry, but: “This McKinsey Global Survey highlighted that respondents (2,847 executives worldwide, 44 percent of whom hold C-level positions) show widespread but careful interest in this trend.”

Cool stuff for your life online
Need I say more?

OK - now move on…I don;t want to get in trouble for low productivity numbers.

Sometimes it is so much easier to envision what the future of something is - then other times, almost impossible.

For instance, the future of “news gathering” - I think we all see how the idea of creating content and putting it all into one big storage area - then all drawing from the pool works. Maybe not down to the minute detail, but in general.

But have you ever tried to figure out the future of sales and advertising? I saw this site pop-up on the radar called Change Advertising Forever and t struck a cord.

What will the future of ad creation look like? Any thoughts?

Ron Paul is trying to Web 2.0 his way into the white house.

If you look at mainstream media and “classic” political evangelists - then Ron Paul is a small blip on the political radar. But, if you give merit to online polling - he’s a squadron of pilots heading to the presidential Pearl Harbor.

Take a look at the article and see what you think of his internet methods - now think about what it would be like if Ford, GE or a newspaper used these techniques.

This one was way out there for me…because when I read something “dead” that means it is gone or a memory.

After reading this blog post by Paul Graham “Microsoft is dead” I was a little surprised.

I have been known in the past to be a Microsoft fanboy, I think I have changed my ways a little - but you have to read the whole article to get the just of it. At first - it is like a Microsoft slam - then like, here is how they could fix it..in a real negative and connotative way.

Check it out and tell me what you think.