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February 28, 2006

Exclusive: Oracle's hostile moves in open source will fail says Ingres CTO

I've been writing about Oracle's moves to control the open source movement--or at least the database part of it. Dave Dargo, the CTO of Ingres, sent me his view on things. Ingres, BTW is a company to watch--it is likely to completely remake the traditional boundary between open source and enterprise software. And it is recruiting a top tier management team (Tom Berquist the star Wall Street analyst joins Ingres Wednesday March 1 as CFO and Jim Finn, who headed IBM North Americas communications joined recently).

- - -

Tom,

In many respects, you are spot-on. It must have sent a chill down the spine of the open source community to see the following quote in a Business Week story that preceded the acquisition of Sleepycat: "One source close to the talks [the rumored JBoss talks] says these deals may be just the beginning. 'Larry and [Oracle Co-President and CFO] Safra Catz have a clear plan to control the entire open-source [software] stack,' the person says."

I'd bet that anonymous quote did not come from the open-source camp.

Why is Oracle so interested in open-source all of a sudden? I don't think this is about Oracle moving into open-source so much as attempting to consume those open-source users into the larger Oracle machine.

Oracle has made a number of acquisitions in an effort to recapture those customers who had previously chosen to do business with non-Oracle suppliers. I see this as an attempt to force those customers back to the Oracle standard, the Oracle model and the Oracle revenue stream.

For example, many believe that Oracle's acquisition of InnoDB last Fall effectively controls the main transaction engine under MySQL which, in turn, inhibits their ability to move into the enterprise where Oracle makes billions. It looks like Oracle is attempting to widen the moat around their closed-source fortress to lessen the pressure on their pricing structure.

Why hasn't Oracle open-sourced any of their flagship products? I believe it is because the products that have 95 percent operating margins fund the consolidation strategy that Oracle is desperately hoping will revive its listless stock price.

It appears that the technology industry and its outsized egos never learn from history. Microsoft was in denial about Java. Sun was in denial about Linux. Is Oracle similarly in denial about customers' desire for choice? Oracle in its hostile takeover of PeopleSoft drove customers to SAP. There is no reason to think that Oracle's latest acquisition binge won't drive customers, who want more choice not less, to business open-source.

Dave Dargo
Chief Technology Officer
Ingres Corporation

Please join me at New Comm Forum on March 2

I'll be on two panels at the New Comm Forum on March 2 in Palo Alto

There are just a few places left and remember to use our exclusive SVW200 discount code. I'll see you there!

March 2
Boundary Battles: What is a Journalist and Why Does it Matter?
10:15am - 11:15am

As traditional media's role has become challenged by citizen fact checkers offering commentary on events and increasing amounts of original reporting, journalists and editors have often responded by setting up boundaries between who is a "real reporter"and who isn't. This panel will re-visit some of the major battles of this ongoing war, while revealing what the real debates should be about.

Panel Participants
Jen McClure, executive director of the Society for New Communications Research - MODERATOR
Tom Foremski, editor, founder, publisher, Silicon Valley Watcher
Dan Farber, vice president of editorial, CNET, editor-in-chief ZDNet
Tom Abate, MiniMediaGuy
J.D. Lasica, co-founder and executive director, Ourmedia

March 2

New Ad-Supported Online Publishing Models
2:15pm - 3:15pm

With new ways to produce online content come new models for ad-supported publishing. Informed by research in process by the Society for New Communications Research, this panel will highlight some of these new models, and discuss their implications for the advertising industry.
Panel Participants
Giovanni Rodriguez, principal, Eastwick Communications - MODERATOR
Francois Gossieaux, marketing & business development, Corante
Chris Alden, co-founder, CEO, Rojo
Tom Foremski, editor, founder, publisher, Silicon Valley Watcher
Colin Crawford, VP, Online, IDG

Click fraud could be a $1bn racket--Fair Isaac study

Here is an excellent story on the subject of click fraud from the consistently good CIO Today magazine.

Click Fraud Gets Smarter

http://www.cio-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=41828

Does Google and the others have the technology to filter out click fraud? Greg Boser is going to put that to the test:

Web consultant Greg Boser has an ingenious method for sending loads of traffic to clients' Internet sites. Last month he began using a software program known as a clickbot to create the impression that users from around the world were visiting sites by way of ads strategically placed alongside Google search results. The trouble is, all the clicks are fake. And because Google charges advertisers on a per-click basis, the extra traffic could mean sky-high bills for Boser's clients.
But Boser's no fraudster. He cleared the procedure with clients beforehand and plans to reimburse any resulting charges. What's he up to? Boser wants to get to the bottom of a blight that's creating growing concern for online advertisers and threatens to wreak havoc across the Internet: click fraud.

The article makes a good case for the need for an independent third party to monitor this problem.

GOOG forecasts it will run out of people which will slow growth

By Tom Foremski for SiliconValleyWatcher

Merrill Lynch analyst Lauren Fine is the author of a report issued this morning on GOOG. The report says that Google CFO George Reyes spoke at the Merrill Lynch investor conference and was vague on a lot of questions. However, he did say that " that the law of large numbers will likely start to come into play."

Eric Schmidt described the law of large numbers this way: "But there is something called the law of large numbers. Eventually, you run out of people. It is not possible to know when that will be." (Washington Post story from May 13, 2005)

It's no wonder GOOG is playing nice with China--it needs its people to fuel its growth.

Also from the Merrill Lynch report:

. . .the CFO did say that new products will likely soon contribute more materially to the company's growth. Google Base will soon be fully searchable; Wi-fi projects are simply test cases right now; GOOG did, however, say that a payment processing services is a natural extension of its current payment services with Video Store and advertiser services and the Publication Ads service will see more publishers signed on.
Investments Will Continue
As GOOG has historically said, it will continue to invest in its business. It has been hiring people at 50-60 people per week over the last couple years. Capex is also needed to keep up with capacity demands and as long as revenues continue to growth very well, they will continue to reinvest in the business. Capex is going towards both real estate and its technology infrastructure, of which much will go towards international expansion.

Merrill Lynch is neutral on the stock.

Where is the outrage over open source acquisitions?

By Tom Foremski for ZDNet

I am glad that some of my fellow ZDnet bloggers have caught up with this issue of Oracle buying up the open source movement. George Ou points to my Feb 16 post and references Dana Blankenhorn's Feb 17 and Feb 21 post.

George makes a good point that:"it doesn't seem to getting the kind of outrage that I expected."

There is a great comment left by one of the our wonderfully anonymous but absolutely clued in readers, Sxooter which lays things out quite well, the box of proprietary technology Larry Ellison has drawn around one his most troublesome comeptitors, MySQL.

[BTW, the reason MySQL did not take Larry's offer is that the company recently received financing from SAP and Intel and those companies have a self interest in maintaing an open source movement.]

Most of the comments on this issue continue to say that it is not possible to buy the open source movement. Yes, technically, this is true because development communities can fork off and continue on their merry way.

But this is a psychological battle and Mr Ellison is extremely good at shots across the bow, and "talking down" a competitor. In this case, actions speak louder than words.

Mr Ellison's strategy pours a bucket of cold water over the best efforts of the venture capital community to create more open source projects and companies that could be troublesome to Oracle. And one of those potential thorns in Oracle's side is the extremely well capitalized Ingres, a relational database company bought by investors from Computer Associates and staffed by a first tier management pack.

This is a company that in many ways, is typical of the VC investments being made in this sector. The goal is to recruit or acquire a developer community around an open sourced software product. Then sell services to enterprises below Oracle's costs.

The open source developer community does the development work and the company providing the enterprise services gets revenues and maybe gets sold. (If you are Ingres, you don't attract a hot-shot management team unless you promise a lot of gold...)

(Please continue reading...)

February 27, 2006

Interview with Michael Yang CEO of Become.com--a stealth Google in the making?

By Tom Foremski for SiliconValleyWatcher

It was good to catch up with Michael Yang recently, the CEO of Become.com, a comparison shopping search site. This is a stealth Google in the making and that's good--because in this new rules world you don't want to get on someone's radar screen too early.

I first met Mr Yang and his team about a year ago. It was one of those dinner events where my plan was to pop in and stay a short time because of an already full day running around Silicon Valley. I stayed much longer.

I stayed because it is an impressive team, and one that rode through the last bubble with the MySimon comparison shopping site, later sold to Cnet. Now the core of the team is back and this time they know how to play and win, and this time potentially win big.

"We are just at the beginning stages of the online economy," Says Mr Yang. "Online commerce is a small fraction of total sales." And he's right, most analysts predict strong growth over the next five years as online commerce grabs more of the sales pie.

At the heart of Become.com is a search engine technology called AIR (Affinity Index Ranking) that uses a unique algorithm developed by Become.com co-founder Yeogirl Yun, the CTO and a former classmate of the Google boys, Larry and Serge. Become.com says its algorithm is much more difficult to spam and has lots of other superior features.

But the effectiveness of the algorithm will be proved over time--because it needs to learn from the online habits of its users. That's why large beta populations are important to these Internet 2.0 companies.

Become.com hit its target of 10 thousand beta test users within months of launching. And has now exceeded 1.2m users. It will soon announce its next round of financing and it has a strong strategic relationship with a large partner in Japan, and more such deals in the making.

More strategic partnerships are being sought, especially in Europe. And Mr Yang says that shopping is not the only vertical market that Become.com wants to target. Potential sectors are healthcare and travel. "Right now, we pretty much want to be very focused on shopping--it is a very large opportunity."

Focus is paramount in this business because there are so many applications for Internet 2.0 technologies. But I wonder if search is going to still be a fertile ground for other companies, other startups.

"The leaders always change, you remember when search engines came and went," says Mr Yang. I do remember, those names such as Excite, Infoseek, Altavista, Hotbot, Inktomi--they were the fashion of their day--each one was usurped by a better product.

Mr Yang is confident that there is still plenty of room in the search engine market for usurpers, but I have my doubts. It will be difficult for small teams to break into the search engine market because of the scale that is needed to become successful.

First of all you need a large pool of users to start getting your algorithm trained on the search--vertical or not. Then you also need the scale of the revenue network with partners and sales teams. And you are up against some savvy incumbents--of which Become.com is certainly a group member.

However, it is always best to never say never in this business. The incumbents could take their eye off the ball or find it difficult to fight off new challenges.

One of the challenges out there is click fraud. Mr Yang says that his team keeps an eye on this issue, because Become.com also advertises on Google and other networks. "Click fraud isn't a problem, it would need to get much larger."

Become.com gets revenue from ad networks and it also sells its own ads. It is currently offering a free month of advertising to new customers.

What impresses me about the company is how Mr Yang is able to execute so precisely within a sector that is heavily populated with formidable players, and up and coming competitors. This second year will be interesting to watch...

Die! Press release! Die! Die! Die!

By Tom Foremski for SiliconValleyWatcher

I've been telling the PR industry for some time now that things cannot go along as they are . . . business as usual while mainstream media goes to hell in a hand basket. I've been saying this privately and publicly and having some very useful discussions on this topic.

Since I have a disruptive role to play in mainstream PR, here is my demolition of the press release as we know and hate it today:

The press release is a statement announcing a product, service, office opening, financial results, partnership, customer win, and a hundred other types of commercial activities.

Press releases are nearly useless. They typically start with a tremendous amount of top-spin, they contain pat-on-the-back phrases and meaningless quotes. Often they will contain quotes from C-level executives praising their customer focus. They often contain praise from analysts, (who are almost always paid or have a customer relationship.) And so on...

Press releases are created by committees, edited by lawyers, and then sent out at great expense through Businesswire or PRnewswire to reach the digital and physical trash bins of tens of thousands of journalists.

This madness has to end. It is wasted time and effort by hundreds of thousands of professionals.

Here is my proposal:

Deconstruct the press release into special sections and tag the information so that as a publisher, I can pre-assemble some of the news story and make the information useful.

-Provide a brief description of what the announcement is, but leave the spin to the journalists. The journalists are going to go with their own spin on the story anyway, so why bother? Keep it straightforward rather than spintastic.

-Provide a page of quotes from the CEO or other C-level execs.

-Provide a page of quotes from customers, if applicable.

-Provide a page of quotes from analysts, if applicable.

-Provide financial information in many different formats.

-Provide many links inside the press release copy, and also provide a whole page of relevant links to other news stories or reference sources.

And tag everything so that I can pre-assemble my stories.

Let me explain:

In most news stories, the spin or angle, is set by the journalist in the first couple of paragraphs.

Much of the rest of the news story is factual: what the CEO said, when the company was founded, where it is based, the stock price, the specs of a product, the price, etc, etc, etc.

There is no need for journalists to rewrite this stuff, as they currently do and then for production staff to copy-edit and to put in a whole bunch of links into the copy, etc. It is wasted effort because it duplicates work already done.

The journalists should focus on their spin on the story then assemble the news story from the tagged sections of the press release package.

Of course, journalists can choose which parts of the press release to use, and add other material--as they do today. But by using news tags, a newspaper/news site could pull together larger numbers of news stories and the PR industry would be helping the news publishers to gather the facts and present them in a near-publishable format.

The tags would be things like: recent share price, founders, first quarter revenues, analyst quotes, etc.

The company-provided content can be clearly marked as originating from the company (which it isn't in the news stories in mainstream media today.) And there is less opportunity for errors to creep into published news stories because of rewriting stuff from press releases.

And because we are dealing with tags that are attached to facts--there is no spin so there is no problem in printing the information as it is received.

If we can get the tags to be finely tuned, as a publisher, I could spec out a story and assemble it automatically and then quickly edit it by hand before publishing.

For example, if I am publishing a Google earnings story, I could say to GOOG's pr folk, for this story give me the content with the tags that compare this quarter revenues with a year ago and the prior quarter. And I want the share price tags that show percentage change in last six months, along with the share price graph and a photo of Eric Schmidt. Give me only the analyst quotes of Merrill Lynch, and give me a package of links to related stories in my publication, and also in other publications.

I can then give my two paragraph spin on the news story and assemble much of the rest from the tagged content, which can be edited further. In today's hard-pressed newsrooms, having access to some usable, pre-produced copy would be incredibly useful.

And this way, the PR industry becomes a partner in communicating truthful and factual information. And we save the millions of person-years wasted in producing press releases. We should produce new media communications releases, imho.

Come and help me figure this out, I don't have all the answers, I'm making it up as I go along--but hey somebody has to :-)

I'll be at the New Comms Forum conference this week, come along and chat with me about this and other stuff.

[Use our exclusive savings code SVW200 and save $200.]

February 26, 2006

A mainstream media love note to the blogosphere: Blog off!!!

By Tom Foremski for SiliconValleyWatcher

Trevor Butterworth writing in the FT Mag recently wrote a very long 4600 word piece about blogging. Same cast of characters and the same mainstream media misconception that blogging is bringing down their empire, it's not. (See answer at end of this post.)

The best part of the article was the the last part (I think that's where I skipped down to...) It discusses whether Karl Marx would have made a good blogger and mentions my former university classmate Francis Wheen...and then leaves us with a wonderful image of the billions of posts in a "virtual tomb."

...journalism was an act of economic necessity that, initially, necessitated Engels doing all the writing. But Marx was a quick learner with a deft wit, and in his brisk biography, Francis Wheen posits that "had he but world enough and time Marx could have. made his name as the sharpest polemical journalist of the 19th century. But at his back he could always hear the nagging voice of conscience whispering, 'c'est magnifique, mais c'est ne pas la guerre." For Marx and Engels, journalism was trivial - an impediment to serious, memorable and above all influential work. "Mere potboiling," wrote Engels of the more than 500 articles he and Marx wrote for The New York Daily Tribune, "It doesn't matter if they are never read again."

And that, in the end, is the dismal fate of blogging: it renders the word even more evanescent than journalism; yoked, as bloggers are, to the unending cycle of news and the need to post four or five times a day, five days a week, 50 weeks of the year, blogging is the closest literary culture has come to instant obsolescence. No Modern Library edition of the great polemicists of the blogosphere to yellow on the shelf; nothing but a virtual tomb for a billion posts - a choric song of the word-weary bloggers, forlorn mariners forever posting on the slumberless seas of news.

It seems as if Mr Butterworth has not worked as a newspaper man because four or five news stories a day, five days a week and 46 weeks out of the year is about typical from my experience as an FT newspaper reporter (we got 6 weeks vacation.)

And the same obsolescence governs the world of newsprint; by tomorrow, it has become fish-wrap.

By the way, the FT set up a blog on Blogger (free account of course...) to discuss the story then closed it down a few days later saying "Blog off, we've had enough" (!!!) Date lined February 14th.

So much animosity directed at the the blogosphere! I guess the mainstream media still doesn't get what's happening so let me spell it out a little more clearly:

It's not blogging that is disrupting the legacy media establishment--it is online advertising that is causing all the damage.

Blogging is going to disrupt the public relations industry.

February 25, 2006

Anti-censorship in China. . . and anti-click fraud prevention?

By Tom Foremski for SiliconValleyWatcher Jason Dunne over at Contos Dunne Communications sent me this information about a technology being developed by Anonymizer to overcome censorship. However, a technology such as this could make it near-impossible to filter out click-fraud, imho. Click-fraud is the practice of employing people to click on online ads to fraudently collect money from advertisers. It is a growing problem and companies such as Google and others try to filter out the fraud by monitoring the IP addresses and any other information that might indicate fraudulent activity.

The software will make a secure (SSL) connection to Anonymizer's anti-censorship servers through a frequently changing set of IP addresses that are not associated with Anonymizer. From there, the user's connection will continue to its destination over the uncensored Internet, and will appear to come from yet another IP address. This system will ensure that the user is protected both from interception and blocking of their Internet traffic when exiting China. It will also protect against monitoring of forums or other Web sites which will try to detect the users IP address within China. Any attempt to monitor this connection from within China will only see ordinary SSL Web connections to uncontroversial domains. Any monitoring of IP addresses accessing forums, Web-mail sites, blogs, or discussion boards will show Anonymizer IP addresses which are impossible to track back to the originating IP address.

Here is the rest of the info on Anonymizer and a statement made by Congressman Chris Smith on the subject of censorship: San Diego, CA-based Anonymizer Inc.'s president, founder and chief scientist, Lance Cottrell, has been fighting for “the people” to uphold basic civil liberties in repressive regimes for more than a decade. He is also the leading advocate of online identity protection and privacy rights. These issues are finally becoming better understood through current affairs (i.e. China censorship by U.S. tech leaders, search engine privacy issues, White House subpoenas, NSA wiretaps, and more). Cottrell and his company are enabling a safe, protected, free and uncensored Internet. In fact, they are currently providing anti-censorship services in Iran, and now (once again) for the people of China (at their own expense, I might add). Below is a statement that was made in last week’s hearing by Congressman Chris Smith, Chairman of the House International Relations Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations: “Earlier this month, the technology firm Anonymizer announced that it is developing a new anti-censorship technology that will enable Chinese citizens to safely access the entire Internet filter-free. The solution will provide a regularly changing URL so that users can likely access the uncensored Internet. In addition, users' identities are apparently protected from online monitoring by the Chinese regime. Lance Cottrell of Anonymizer said it ‘is not willing to sit idly by while the freedom of the Internet is slowly crushed. We take pride in the fact that our online privacy and security solutions provide access to global information for those under the thumb of repressive regimes.’” Here is the link to the entire statement: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2006&m=February&x=20060215133254TJkcolluB0.2933008&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html ANONYMIZER TO PROVIDE censor-FREE INTERNET TO CHINA Free anti-censorship program scheduled to launch by end of quarter. San Diego, Calif. – February 1, 2006 – Anonymizer® Inc., the leader in online identity protection technology and software solutions, today announced that the company is developing a new anti-censorship solution that will enable Chinese citizens to safely access the entire Internet filter-free, and also free from oppression and fear of persecution or retribution. This new program expands upon Anonymizer’s history of human rights efforts which provide a censor-free Internet experience for those in oppressed nations. Anonymizer’s new anti-censorship solution for Chinese citizens will be available before quarter’s end. The solution will provide a regularly changing URL that users can access to open the doors to unfettered access of the World Wide Web. In addition, users’ identities will be protected from online tracking and monitoring by the Chinese government. “Anonymizer is not willing to sit idly by while the freedom of the Internet is slowly crushed,” commented Lance Cottrell, president and chief scientist, Anonymizer Inc. “We take pride in the fact that our online privacy and security solutions provide access to global information for those under the thumb of repressive regimes.” The communist government has taken a hard line against freedom of the press and access to information on the Internet. Google and others have been forced into a box by the Chinese government’s strict requirements, but Anonymizer stands firm on the issue of protecting civil liberties. The company has been protecting basic liberties for more than a decade. It enabled safe Internet communications for families split on either side of the Kosovo conflict; it was used previously by the Voice of America to ensure that news Web sites were not blocked by the Communist government in China. Anonymizer also works in conjunction with the Voice of America today to bring safe Internet access to Iranian citizens. About Anonymizer Anonymizer is the leading provider of Internet privacy and security solutions for consumers, corporations, organizations and government agencies. The company provides safe and secure Web experiences to millions of global Internet users. Its Web site is home to the world’s most popular Internet privacy service, Anonymous Surfing, which defends users from the most prevalent Internet privacy and security threats. Anonymizer identity protection solutions have been used to protect billions of Web pages since the company’s inception in 1995. Anonymizer is privately held and headquartered in San Diego, California. (http://www.anonymizer.com) ### THE INTERNET IN CHINA: A TOOL FOR FREEDOM OR SUPPRESSION? Testimony before the House Committee on International Relations Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights & International Operations February 15, 2006 By Lance M. Cottrell, Global Privacy Advocate Founder and Chief Scientist Anonymizer, Inc. Honorable Chairman Christopher Smith, Distinguished Members of the Subcommittee, I am honored to be invited to share my insight on the current state of China’s censorship of their citizens’ Internet usage. I would like to express my gratitude for being able to provide the details of a new solution that Anonymizer is developing to provide the People’s Republic of China with uncensored access to the Internet. I will also briefly explain why Anonymizer has chosen to provide this solution to China for free. Finally, I will comment on Reporters Without Borders proposal and add my perspective on legislative decisions. ANONYMIZER’S ANTI-CENSORSHIP SOLUTION Anonymizer is currently developing a new anti-censorship solution that will enable Chinese citizens to safely access the entire World Wide Web filter-free, while free from oppression and fear of persecution or retribution. This new program expands upon Anonymizer’s history of human rights efforts which provide a censor-free, safe Internet experience for those in oppressed nations. This new anti-censorship solution will be available to Chinese citizens before quarter’s end. The solution will provide a regularly changing access point that enables users to open the unobstructed doors of the World Wide Web. In addition, the users’ identities will be protected from online tracking and monitoring by the Chinese government. Interested Chinese citizens will be able to submit their email address either through a Web page or via dissidents outside of the great firewall of China. Once added to Anonymizer’s mailing list, the recipient will receive a daily email that includes a link to download the anti-censorship software, as well as updated configuration for the program. Both of these items will change daily to stay one step ahead of the Chinese government and to avoid blocking. This email list will be protected within Anonymizer’s secure networks and will not be shared, rented, or sold to any third party. The software will make a secure (SSL) connection to Anonymizer’s anti-censorship servers through a frequently changing set of IP addresses that are not associated with Anonymizer. From there, the user’s connection will continue to its destination over the uncensored Internet, and will appear to come from yet another IP address. This system will ensure that the user is protected both from interception and blocking of their Internet traffic when exiting China. It will also protect against monitoring of forums or other Web sites which will try to detect the users IP address within China. Any attempt to monitor this connection from within China will only see ordinary SSL Web connections to uncontroversial domains. Any monitoring of IP addresses accessing forums, Web-mail sites, blogs, or discussion boards will show Anonymizer IP addresses which are impossible to track back to the originating IP address. Anonymizer’s solutions are all designed to make it impossible to track connections back to identify the user of the system. FREE SERVICE FOR CHINA There are many US companies that do not respect freedom of expression when operating in repressive countries. Unfortunately, companies such as Google, Cisco, Yahoo!, and Microsoft are reaping financial gains at the expense of those under the thumb of repressive regimes. In addition to this, the practices of these U.S.-based companies are tarnishing the image of America abroad. Anonymizer is not willing to sit idly by while the freedom of the Internet is slowly crushed. Because of this, the company decided to provide this anti-censorship solution to the People’s Republic of China for free. Anonymizer is providing this solution in part to prove that the choice of “capitulate or lose” is a false dichotomy. By leveraging the appropriate technology, a company can achieve access without sacrificing its principles. Any of these collaborating companies could use anti-censorship technologies similar to Anonymizer’s to ensure that their content and services would be available within oppressed countries without having to facilitate the oppression in any way. Although there would be some cost in providing this service, as there is to Anonymizer, profits can not be the only factor in driving corporate decision making. LEGISLATION Current anti-bribery laws set a precedent for regulating U.S. companies operating within other countries. Although these laws put American companies at a slight disadvantage in the global economy, they were established to set a standard of conduct by which all U.S. must companies abide. It was simply the right thing to do. The U.S. government also restricts exports of certain munitions to specified countries. Although these countries may still be able to obtain the munitions, it is simply not appropriate for U.S. companies to aid our military opponents. Similarly, it is imperative for U.S. companies to take more responsibility for their actions in repressed countries with filtering and Internet surveillance technologies. I believe that U.S. companies should not aid and abet these repressive regimes in the suppression of their people. While I question whether the details of the Reporters Without Borders proposal are realistic, I strongly endorse the idea and principles behind their request for a code of conduct. Therefore, I recommend that the Committee formally request a code of conduct without mandating the specific logistical details requested by RSF. Let these technology experts determine the right thing to do. In addition, it is practically impossible for a small handful of companies to effectively create a code of conduct that all companies must follow. I would encourage a large panel of companies from several industries to participate, thus ensuring a complete and obtainable code of conduct that all companies will embrace. It takes tremendous strength of will and character for a company to take a principled stand on its own, while its competitors reap the benefits of collaboration with the oppressors. Only with wide spread adoption of a code of conduct, either voluntary or legislated, will we see the individual cost to a company become manageable. It is not enough for only U.S. companies to take this stand. The Internet is far too global, with most major players having presence distributed throughout the world. A unified front is necessary not just in the United States but internationally as well. To ensure success, it is critical to gain the support of our global partners, including the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the United Nations. CONCLUSION The communist government in China has taken a hard line against freedom of the press and access to information on the Internet. Google and others have been forced into a box by the Chinese government’s strict requirements, but Anonymizer stands firm on the issue of protecting civil liberties. The company has been protecting these basic rights for more than a decade and we are poised to help the people of China as well. Mr. Chairman, we urge you to formally request the leading technology companies to develop a code of conduct that we can all stand behind. As global leaders, we must take responsibility for our actions, or in this case, transactions. Everyone is worthy of these basic human rights and our companies should not profit at the expense of others less fortunate. The team at Anonymizer is thrilled to be able to develop and provide this new solution to the people of China. We believe we are turning on a light in a world of near-darkness. Help us educated them on democracy, Tiananmen Square, civil rights, and freedom of expression. The Internet has always had the potential to make the world a better place. Lets us ensure that it is able to live up to that potential rather than becoming a tool of oppression and propaganda.

NewComm Forum 2006, March 1 - 3

[SVW readers save $200 using exclusive promo code SVW200] Please join us at NewComm Forum, March 1 - 3 in Palo Alto, CA. We'll bring together thought leaders and decision makers from around the globe to discuss the impact of participatory communications on media, marketing, journalism, PR and advertising. Speakers & instructors will include:

Elizabeth Albrycht, research chair, Society for New Communications Research
Andrew Bernstein, CEO, Cymfony
Rebecca Blood, Rebecca's Pocket
Toby Bloomberg, Bloomberg Marketing
Elisa Camahort, WorkerBees
Anita Campbell, CEO, Small Business Trends
Jory DesJardins, Pause
Dan Farber, vice president of editorial, CNET Networks & editor-in-chief ZDNet
Elizabeth Fletcher, Esq., Blawgzine
Tom Foremski, editor, publisher, founder, Silicon Valley Watcher
Matt Galloway, The Basement
Maurene Grey, founder and principal analyst, Grey Consulting
Neville Hobson, NevOn
Shel Holtz, Holtz Communication + Technology
Steve King, partner of Emergent Research and senior advisor to the Institute for the Future (IFTF)
Max Kalehoff, VP marketing, Buzzmetrics
Kathy Klotz-Guest, CEO, Powerfully Funny
Charlene Li, Forrester Research
Owen Mack, co-founder and lead strategies, coBRANDIT
Jen McClure, editor/publisher, New Communications Blogzine, & Executive Director, Society for New Communications Research
Brian Oberkirch, CEO, Weblogs Work
Katie Delahaye Paine, CEO, KDPaine & Partners, LLC
David Phillips, Internet Reputation Services Ltd.
Bala Pitchindi, Tsunami Help, Katrina Help
Matthew Podboy, founder/client supervisor, Voce Communications
Evelyn Rodriguez, Crossroads Dispatches
Giovanni Rodriguez, vice president Eastwick Communications
Eric Schwartzman, president, Schwartzman & Associates
Bala Pitchindi – Tsunami Help, Katrina Help
Dana VanDen Heuvel, Pheedo
Debbie Weil, BlogWriteforCEOs
Jeremy Wright, Ensight.org
[SVW readers save $200 using exclusive promo code SVW200]

February 24, 2006

A day in the life of a journalist blogger . . .

By Tom Foremski for SiliconValleyWatcher

I was a busy bee on Thursday. The day started slowly, I had trouble getting out of bed due to a 5am stop but by 11am I was up and running and heading down to Santa Clara for a meeting with Hong Kong's technology czar Dr Robert Yang.

Boyd Fung, of the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office set it up and I'm glad he did, because I got an exclusive interview with one of Asia's top technology thought leaders.

I have to say, I'm amazed that the local mainstream media didn't show up to this event because they missed a great story. Dr Yang, is heading up a $1.5bn technology science park and this is not Xerox Parc, this is an institute headed by someone who knows how to make such things work.

Dr Yang used to head Taiwan's technology research initiatives for many years before being lured to do the same for Hong Kong. This is someone who knows how to make technology transfers viable and productive.

His benchmarks and metrics for measuring success are brutal. This is someone who can put together teams of researchers and have them produce jaw-dropping advanced technologies within seven months to a year.

Hong Kong is very serious about becoming the innovation front-end to the manufacturing behemoth of greater China. Check into SVW next week for an exclusive interview with Dr Yang.

. . .

Then I was off to Palo Alto, for a briefing on a hot new startup with a hot new product from a hotshot development team. Alas, you will have to wait until March 7th, but I have secured an exclusive beta test invite for SVW readers because you are the shakers and makers of the future. Watch this space.

. . .

Since I was in Palo Alto, I wandered over to see if Ross Mayfield. CEO of SocialText was around. Ross, however, was taking a break from evangelizing the corporate wiki. I was told that Ross was celebrating his tenth wedding anniversary and was away in Las Vegas. I hope Ross got lucky -- but I've no idea if he is a gambling man.

. . .

I slipped through the rush hour on 280 back into San Francisco and it was a warm, sunny evening. I constantly catch myself, even after 21 years in Silicon Valley, at how dream-pinchingly gorgeous this part of the world can be.

A popped briefly back home and then back out again for a reception at the British Consultate -General's residence for a British company called Oxonica.

I was late arriving, and the British Consulate-General's residence at Presidio Terrace seemed unusually quiet from the outside. I decided not to ring the bell and pushed open the front door only to find myself walking smack dab into the middle of Martin Uden's introduction to Oxonica.

Martin Uden, the British Consulate-General for San Francisco, being the consummate professional, immediately incorporated my blundering entrance into his introduction. I was a little flushed and flustered by the experience but I could not have wished for a better entrance ;-)

. . .

It was good to catch up with the team over at the British Consulate, and also with Martin's better half Fiona, who admitted to still being a little star struck by the recent visit of Prince Charles. This was an excellent opportunity to mention my lunch with Prince Charles' father, the Duke Of Edinburgh, Prince Philip. It was several years ago when he was visiting Novell, which was an important supporter of his charity work. But that is a story for another time.

. . .

It was also good to meet with Rachel Lawley, one of the vice consuls in the UK Trade and Investment team. Plus, I got to meet some of Melody Haller's Antenna Group team.

Rosalind Jackson, Serena Kwan, and Nathan Tinker--all from the Antenna Group were a delight. Smart, cultured, and tremendously good company. Serena, it turns out, shares my passion for chemistry, and Silicon Valley is ALL about chemistry, the chip industry is all about chemical engineering just ask Gordon Moore and Andy Grove.

Plus, their client, David Browning, CEO of Oxonica, I noticed was a real no nonsense hands-on type of guy who is rare in this part of the world but common in the UK.

. . .

Then I went home and wrote this.

I love my job. And as soon as I can figure out how to pay my family support, landlord, my tailor, my bar keep, taxi drivers, DSL, web hosting, domain-name-buying-addiction (now affecting my son), my gas-guzzling Audi Quattro, and pay for my editorial team . . . and my Trader Joe's bill--I will love my job even more :-)

February 23, 2006

An ode to Slave Girl. . .

By Tom Foremski for SiliconValleyWatcher

I have completely fallen for Slave Girl (http://www.sandhillslave.com) and I think that every other red-blooded person in this somewhat emasculated region has too. I have had some correspondence with Slave Girl, who admits to sometimes falling into a groupie mode when communicating with SVW--which is something I would not recommend but I'd be hard pressed to discourage.

I've tried to encourage Slave Girl to write a column for SVW and she is considering my generous offer. However, I think it best that no one, not even I, find out who Slave Girl really is.

Because we all need a person such as Slave Girl, a persona that knows us all so well. And we appreciate the attention that she gives to us poor Neanderthal males--studying us in such detail that we learn so much more about how not to meet women.

Therefore, I forbid anybody to reveal the true identity of Slave Girl, and I encourage all that share her sensibilities, to use the alias Slave Girl so that her identity becomes completely lost among many.

We are all Slave Girls, in the same way that we are all Sparticus--a rebelliousness of spirit that communicates across millennia and is part of our core humanity. That is why I feel that Slave Girl should be kept as a mysterious, seductive, and marvelously forbidden fantasy, imho.

A chat with Become.com -- the stealth search engine play

By Tom Foremski for SiliconValleyWatcher

About a year ago I was in Palo Alto, trying to get back home but I had promised to stop in early evening to Il Fornio and meet with Become.com--a shopping portal.

I remember that Tim Dyson the CEO of Next Fifteen was going to be there, and I wanted to touch base with him, but I wasn't that interested in meeting with one of many shopping search sites such as Become.com--I was determined to make it a short meeting.

You can tell where this story is headed: I ended up staying for dinner and I was very impressed with the team behind Become.com (and that's when I also met Jason Dowdell(!)) I ended up staying well past my bedtime but it was worthwhile.

Wednesday I got to catch up with Michael Yang, the CEO of Become.com--not that we haven't bumped into each other many times since last year. What continues to impress me about Become.com is the discipline and the focus of the management team.

This is a company that is very single-minded about the ecommerce opportunities that lay in its lap. And this is also, a very experienced management team, having built up My Simon.com, the shopping portal, which was sold to Cnet.

This time, Mr Yang and his partners, know how to avoid the mistakes of their first go around--and that's what makes this company and this team very interesting. They know what to do and they are executing near perfectly on a business plan that they laid out to me more than a year ago.

So stick around, an interview with Michael Yang, CEO of Become.com is on its way.

February 22, 2006

A pitch for good pitches...

Todd Defren over at Shift Communications writes:

Hi Tom - I know you have your doubts about PR's long-term viability, but I also know through some mutual friends (and your own blog) that you'd agree that there are plenty of great PR pros out there, doing good & honest work in the media and blogosphere. I've started a cheerleading section at http://goodpitch.blogspot.com and really encourage you and your colleagues to send me some examples of the PR industry's best pitches. Obviously if you could encourage the PR world to send me submissions as well, at SVW, that would be great too. Basic guidelines and philosophy can be found here. I am happy to promote all agencies' great work and great people, in the hopes that people new to the PR game can eventually look to this blog as a resource...and someday make your job as a journalist a little easier in the bargain! Thanks very much for your support! Hope you're doing well. Best, Todd

Todd, good luck but I wonder how useful this will be... A good pitch is not something that can be written down and read out of context because the best pitch is tailored to the individual and the publication. That's the secret to a good pitch :-)

Sshsh, don't tell anyone, especially all those agencies that use their most junior people to pitch journalists--their most important interface (more important than client because of churn.) But those are the clueless ones. And the clueless ones won't understand this anyway, and continue (and defend) business as usual.

Silicon Valley is back . . . I have the dotcom

By Tom Foremski for SiliconValleyWatcher
[There has been a lot written recently that Silicon Valley is back--here is part of a post I wrote in mid-November 2004.]

I've had lots of chats about Silicon Valley lately and I’m of the Bachman Turner opinion that you ain’t seen nothing yet.

When I arrived here November 8, 1984, Silicon Valley was going through the down cycle following the PC boom. A hundred PC companies wanted just 10 per cent of the market, wanting to strike it rich, as rich as the Apple IPO—the Google celebrity IPO of its day.

Hundreds of Apple staff became millionaires, including secretaries and the guy that ran the parking lot. The media coverage was massive. VCs rushed in like a herd and funded a huge number of PC companies and when the bubble popped, the down cycle was harsh. Stories about Silicon Valley’s death were constant and grinding for several years. I’ve seen several business cycles and the same thing happens in each down cycle, endless speculation about Silicon Valley’s future. What future does Silicon Valley have?

I think I can answer that question very easily—and I’ll accept any size bet on this call: when Silicon Valley comes back, it will be bigger than before. (Actually, it’s been back for a while--hence this venture.)

[I was chatting with Ron Piovesan, from Cisco on this topic recently, and he says has also seen signs of improvement. He laughed when I said I own the dotcom name: SiliconValleyIsBack.com. I said I’m serious, I do own it!]

Silicon Valley is very much like a fairground slurpy -- big chunks of ice with most of the juice at the bottom.

And there is a lot of juice accumulating, the laptops are discretely reappearing in bars and restraunts, and there are many signs of bubbly behavior.

Silicon Valley is going to have a larger impact than before. I’ve been through several business cycles and each time Silicon Valley has come back stronger.

The most recent comeback, the dotcom boom, was the first time Silicon Valley was able to have an immediate worldwide economic impact. It was the first time it became hooked up to world stock markets through the tech IPO flood.

This provided a mechanism for trading in Silicon Valley’s ideas. Remember, many dotcom companies were stories--stories about business concepts--revenue models were not necessary.

I think this time around, Silicon Valley's ideas will have a larger impact and things generally will be done differently. The way Silicon Valley innovates will be different, media will be different, PR will be different.

And this time around, dotcoms will eat the lunch of the established companies. Then they will eat the companies (or at least suck out the soft fatty stuff such as the brand image and leave behind the crunchy legacy infrastructure stuff.)

There will be many companies that won’t be able to reduce their cost base fast enough to meet the efficiencies of new Silicon Valley "new rules" ventures.

I’ve got some views on where I see things heading, and I will write about those trends and I’ll probably check them out myself. That’s because the next phase of the internet is going to be all about . . .

- - -

I didn't finish the sentence in November 2004. (I usually sit on things for six months or more, so that I can try and figure out if I can exploit any insights I have, I'm learning to be a media entrepeneur so I might get better at it :-) But Let me finish the sentence now: it is going to be about media technologies, it is all about publishing.

And now every company is a technology-enabled media company to some degree...and that means every company will be affected by the innovation coming out of Silicon Valley.

A proposal for a volunteer SETI-type approach to combat terrorism

By Tom Foremski for SiliconValleyWatcher

The search for extra-terrestrial intelligence (SETI), and NASA's recent plans to recruit volunteers to examine 1.5 million images of aerogel containing comet dust, gave me an idea.

Why not use a volunteer network of computer users to examine millions of satellite images of the areas where Osama Bin Laden and others accused of terrorist acts are believed to be hiding?

It would be a communal search for gangs that have carried out extreme acts of violence on our populations and vowed to commit further acts of mass violence. And our response against this violence has been yet more violence, with seemingly no end in sight--a perpetual war. This cycle has to stop.

The digital satellite images of suspect areas of the world could be distributed over the internet in a random fashion, they might not need to be identified as to location. Volunteers could be told and trained what to look out for.

Over a period of time volunteers would probably be able to identify suspicious patterns. And that might lead to the arrest of the terrorist gangs and we can get back to finding peaceful solutions to global problems.

Such a project would have appeal across the political spectrum and across many countries because if we can get rid of the terrorist threat, we can get rid of the laws that seek to restrict civil rights, and we can get rid of the hundreds of billions of dollars that are being spent on military and police measures. Instead, that money could be used to invest in a solving some very major problems we are facing collectively such as avian flu, energy issues, poverty, illiteracy, and hunger.

And we can get back to the business of globalization--the largest redistribution of wealth we have ever seen on this planet. This has lifted billions of people out of poverty.

Let's remember that global trade encourages peace--because wars disrupt trade. Let's have trade and not war.

February 20, 2006

The high res of reality is impressive

By Tom Foremski for SiliconValleyWatcher

I've been away from the blogosphere, or rather mediasphere for three days, and I noticed that it is still here.

I spent those moments with my kids and I've grown to like spending my time offline. The resolution of offline images is incredible--much better than on a plasma HD.

We went up to Mount Shasta and you could really feel the cold at night, 14 below, and the sensation of the ice crystals from a snowball down the back of the neck was incredibly realistic. I felt the ice slide all the way down my spine . . .

And then when we we were driving up the mountain, we hit an icy patch and slid sideways into a snowbank, that flipped us around like an LP on a turntable. We collected our thoughts, and went back down the hill, but the feeling of crashing into a snowbank was very realistic.

We bought a sled and found an incline and played. And the sensation of being with my kids and goofing around was fantastic, incredibly realistic and three dimensional.

It was a great Presidents Day weekend, I hope yours was too!

February 17, 2006

This and that: VCs swarm open source conference; Consumers can claim Linux code; Wiki enthusiast told to slow down; Sushi shows Sun is back; Edelman is aggregating the top PR bloggers

By Tom Foremski for SiliconValleyWatcher

VCs-a-plenty. . .

The place was full of VCs and vendors and I met just one person who described themselves as a potential customer! Everyone was talking deals, obviously happy with Oracle's announced open-source acquisition deals.

But building open-source communities is not something that is done by announcement. And who do you think is going to be volunteering to develop products for free, so that Larry can buy the company?

Claim your rights. . .

I had an interesting chat with a patent attorney from Philips, the huge Dutch-based consumer electronics company. Philips has been using open-source products within its products for many years. It uses Linux and other components in its TVs and other consumer electronics gear which is often resold under oem deals.

"We tell our partners that they have to offer the source code to their customers, " he said. Because that is the stipulation in the open source licensing agreement. So, if you purchase a product that contains Linux (e.g. Tivo) you have to be offered the source code. But over a five year period, not one customer has bothered to read the small print and make such a request.

He also said that the latest version of the GPL license was badly written and probably intentionally so, so as to create debate and involve larger numbers of people.

A reality smack. . .

You can't slow this man down! Well, the police can and did. SocialText founder Ross Mayfield couldn't make it all the way to San Francisco on Tuesday. In his zeal to man the wiki at the Open Source Business conference--reality caught up with him.

A policeman objected to Mr Mayfield's internet fueled frenzy of speeding to the future, and stopped him. And one thing led to another and Mr Mayfield's car was impounded.

I offered to put him up at my humble blogger encampment under the Highway 101 onramp on 4th street--but Mr Mayfield said he would be fine and would take the train back home to Palo Alto.

Sushi barometer. . .

Sun Microsystems sponsored the evening cocktails and food event at the conference on Tuesday. And the quality of the sushi was more than excellent. I guess the good times are coming back for Sun, and it shows Sun is back on a roll (California :-).

Corralling the top bloggers. . .

I had an excellent discussion with Richard Edelman on Tuesday morning and I knew that Steve Rubel, of Micro Persuasion would be joining the Edelman team but I was under embargo. The news is out now...

Phil Gomes, also a top blogger in the PR sector joined Edelman last year.

Innovation is disruptive otherwise it is not innovation

I sparked an interesting discussion on innovation in a response to Geoffrey Moore's recent column in Sandhill.com. Please take a look at the discussion here on Mr Moore's site, and also at AlwaysOn.

And my apologies for not being in the thick of it, I've been involved in the "PR hand basket to hell" discussions the past couple of weeks, and also running around trying to get more stories and interviews for SVW.

However, I stick to my point which is that the term innovation must have within its meaning the quality of being disruptive. Innovation occurs when companies or individuals are forced to adopt a process because of the overwhelming economic value it creates and to ignore it would make it impossible to survive.

Just because the term innovation is trendy and is used by large companies such as HP or Microsoft, does not mean that they use it correctly.

I agree totally with Mr Moore when he says large enterprises have an interest in maintaining the status quo. It is called protecting your business model. And they will rail and flail against any innovation that threatens that status quo.

And just because large enterprises say they are innovative does not mean that they are. Take Microsoft as a case in point. Microsoft executives use the "i" word in every other sentence as if saying it often enough will make it true.

Let's get back to the business and culture of innovation--this is a startup world here in Silicon Valley. If you are a startup you have big dreams and you have dreams of disrupting the world--so let's not try to reduce the power of the term innovation. It is the life blood of our world.

But hey, the big enterprises can claim to be innovative--it really doesn't matter because the new "dotcoms" will eat their lunch--this time around :-)

Adapt or die--the choice facing the open source movement

. . . a potential solution to the acquisition of the commons.

By Tom Foremski for SiliconValleyWatcher

Can Larry Ellison be stopped? By which I mean could Oracle shut down the fledgling open-source software movement through a series of acquisitions??

Consider this: This week, (not) coincidentally with the open source conference at the Argent Hotel in San Francisco, Oracle announced the acquisition of Sleepycat, an up and coming open source database; MYSQL said Oracle tried to buy it; and industry insiders are saying the acquisition of JBoss by Oracle is imminent.

In one fell swoop, Oracle has drawn a square around the most active and interesting parts of the open source movement--the databases and tools. These are the platforms for applications. Applications are just skins on the database--if you own the database (Oracle) or access to the data (Net Apps) you are in the sweet spot.

Oracle isn't going to lose its customer base to challengers such as MySQL or Sleepycat. But it will lose some of the new IT business. And there is some new IT business out there--but it is all heading for open source. Become.com for example, a very successful shopping comparison web site--all runs on open source. And I cannot tell you how many startups have told me: All our IT is open source we don't pay a penny in license fees to anybody.

If you don't have a legacy requirement to run Oracle, you won't. It's as simple as that; and it's why Oracle wants to remove this option. Because it's not just the startups, it is also enterprise IT departments, that are now comfortable with using open source. That's a huge chunk of lost business if even a small number of Oracle's enterpise customers choose open-source equivalent products.

Oracle could lose tens of millions of dollars in new business from just a handful of large customers in a single quarter. It costs less than that to acquire these small, privately held companies.

Even if Oracle paid a very high multiple for one of its open source challengers--it would still be ahead of the game. The ROI on paying a few tens of millions to acquire an open-source company would be stunning. Oracle would make its ROI in just months--because its potential loss of business would easily outweigh its acquisition costs.

It is a no brainer for Oracle. In fact, Oracle would be negligent in its fiduciary duties to its shareholders--its legal duty to maximize its profits and value--if it did not pursue such an obvious strategy. Oracle's duty is to defend itself against disruptive innovation.

However, I think there is a way that the open source movement can protect itself from the last gasp Darwinism of the 20th century.

To save the open source movement from acquisition by commercial interests I propose that open source companies adopt a Grameen Bank-type organisational structure. It is a corporation with a Not-for-Loss charter in which all customers are automatically shareholders, and also the developers within the open source communities that develop these products become shareholders.

I don't know what the right mix of shareholder rights and awards would be but it would prevent the selling off of the open source movement, imho. The shareholders would never agree to a commercial aquistion by default.

And it is not as if the geeks and customers will get rich by being shareholders--they won't--because it prevents a market from forming in the M&A open-source sector. If you don't have a market you aren't able to sell out.

If there is no effective M&A defense, then it will become very difficult to recruit a developer community. Without a developer community you have none of the open-source benefits.

So all you VCs thinking you can invest in open source companies and sell them to Larry--think again. No developer wants to work free for Larry--which is a very real future scenario.

Work hard now and then Oracle acquires the project? No way, it ain't going to happen. Where is the glory of working on an open source project when eventually Oracle reaps the benefits?

I'll say it again: In one fell swoop Oracle drew a square around the open source movement and unless it can prove that it can remain independent--it is a dead movement. Unless the open source movement reorganizes to meet this challenge it will dwindle and become an interesting footnote in the history of the computing industry.

But if it can meet the challenge, then the open source movement has the potential to become one of the jewels in the crown of humankind--it has the potential to become one of the most valuable collective projects since the pyramids, the industrial revolution, and now: enabling the collaborative revolution.

- - -
Here is some more of my reasoning . . .

February 16, 2006

ZDNet: Steve Gillmor my favorite of the Gillmors

I was fortunate to meet my fellow ZDNet blogger Steve Gillmor on Tuesday evening. And I have to say that he is now my favorite of the Gillmor Gang, and that includes his brother, Dan Gillmor.

I know that his postings on ZDNet are somewhat difficult to comprehend. However, he is right. I cannot express it in words--just yet--it's a gut kind of thing. But he is right. And when the smoke clears you, and I, will comprehend..

I know that the above sounds cryptic and confusing. But six to nine months down the line it will make sense. I promise.

EOM.

A conversation about trust with with Richard Edelman

By Tom Foremski for SiliconValleyWatcher

It's Tuesday morning and another glorious sunny day in Palo Alto and I'm about to sit down at Il Fornio with Richard Edelman CEO of highly regarded and highly successful Edelman agency. And Mr Edelman is one of the legendary figures, and leading thinkers, of the US PR sector.

Mr Edelman is just finishing a conversation with Paul Saffo, the renowned futurist thinker at the Institute of the Future (I want a job like Mr Saffo's!). "We used to crew together at Harvard," explains Mr Edelman. "Aha, the old boy network rears its head again," I say with a smile.

I see Mr Saffo has the latest edition of the Edelman Trust Barometer report grasped in his hand. This is an interesting international study of "trust" and what types of individuals and organizations people trust.

"You'd better watch out," I tease Mr Saffo. "Third-party independent experts such as yourself are slipping in people's trust."

"That's what I spotted, I'm going to have to study this document carefully," Mr Saffo says as he prepares his farewells and then leaves Mr Edelman and I to our first meeting.

The two of us are probably the least "trustworthy" table in the restaurant. That's because the media and PR ranked extremely low in the recent Trust survey. And for the first time, respondents said they trusted their peer group the most--even more than experts such as doctors etc.

People trust their colleagues, friends and family--it is what Mr Edelman calls the Me2Revolution it is peer-to-peer trust networks. Please take a look at Mr Edelman's essay on the survey results, which are published in PR Week's February 13th edition. You can read the Me2Revolution essay here on his Richard Edelman 6 A. M. blog.

I really respect that Mr Edelman is a blogger. He is rare among the senior leadership in the PR/communications sector. Most of his peer group worries about blogs and tries to understand blogging and the proper response etc. Mr Edelman found out by becoming a blogger--(and his Google Page Rank of 7 is very good!)

Our conversation runs through a tremendous amount of media and communications subjects. We compare notes and experiences and it is clear that we talk the "same language."

The same language is the language that you acquire when you become involved in blogging and in the online conversation with the world, with your peer group, and with yourself. You always know if someone speaks the language or not.

Reading about blogging will not teach you the language--it comes from doing and being involved. And that takes a lot of guts for someone of Mr Edelman's stature in the industry, because blogging means you have to walk the walk otherwise the Emperor's lack of clothes is very visible (mashup metaphor #15!).

I like to say that blogging and bloggers have a lot in common with roosters--both need cojones. And I say that in a balls reference not as a reference to gender because many women have bigger balls than many men :-)

Bloggers need to have cojones because they put themselves on the line every time they publish a blog post. Because others can and will challenge you--and you have to respond in a very public way.

Also, there are the obligatory snipers, and complainers and habitual cynics that clog the blogosphere and leave nasty comments. Most usually, those types never use their real names because they don't have the balls.

And because Mr Edelman blogs, he speaks the language of the new communications and knows the power of this communications medium. However, it doesn't necessarily mean you can teach others in your organization the same language. Mr Edelman mentions that convincing others is often difficult.

For example, he understands that trying to keep control of a corporate message is futile. It is much better to engage and to "build credibility through dialogue." Control is a huge issue in the PR world--so Mr Edelman is dealing with deeply seated core beliefs.

This is why I think that the new communications/new media that emerges will come from what I call "new rules" enterprises/ventures. You start off new, with the people that understand and speak the same language so you don't waste time in fighting the culture wars within organizations.

For example, I often like to work with people who are young or are new to a topic or job because they haven't been taught what they cannot do.

That means they can bring a freshness and originality to an endeavor. And with the new communications/new media--it is still all very new. And there are many new ways that we will use these powerful, two-way communications technologies, and in many new ways that we cannot yet predict.

So that's why we should jump in--just like Mr Edelman did with blogging--and try them out and see what can be done and compare notes, then do it all again, and again.

Because then we get a chance to create something new and potentially help design what the new communications/new media world will look like for the next decade and beyond.

And that would be a nice place to be.

February 13, 2006

The sky is falling says NYT media beat reporter

Sky's_Falling.jpg This is directly related to what I've been asking for the last five months: what happens if the old media dies before the new media learns to walk?

Hat tip to Romenesko:

NYT's Carr says he's glad he stayed on the media beat City (of Rochester) David Carr, who has written about the media for Washington City Paper, Twin Cities Reader and Inside.com, says he almost passed on the chance to be New York Times' media columnist. "Although I was reluctant at first, because I thought I was pretty much done with media, I eventually came around," he says. "And I'm glad I did, because the sky actually is falling right now, and it's fun and interesting and scary all at the same time to watch the ways in which media are atomizing and becoming commoditized."

http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45&aid=96626

Scoop! Intel awards massive marketing/PR contracts as it seeks to reinvent its image under new CEO

By Tom Foremski for SiliconValleyWatcher

Intel, the world's largest semiconductor company, on Monday awarded massive public relations contracts to just three companies. It is part of a large rebranding effort set in motion by Intel CEO Paul Otellini, who was appointed just nine-months ago.

SVW sources close to Intel and within the PR industry said that Burson-Marsteller, Hill and Knowlton and Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide were the winners of a long and highly competitive bidding process that engaged almost every large PR company.

"There were dozens of senior executives at all the large PR companies involved in trying to win this contract. Millions of dollars have been spent on winning this deal," said one source.

The plum contract is believed to be one of the largest ever awarded by a Silicon Valley company and quite possibly the largest within the tech industry.

The awards will consolidate Intel's use of dozens of external PR companies to just one main company in each of the following regions: North America, Europe and Asia. Burson-Marsteller won North Americas, Hill and Knowlton has the European contract and Ogilvy is responsible for Asia.

The Intel award was first expected in late November but Intel delayed the decision several times to carefully consider its strategic options.

The monetary value of the contracts is not known, but Intel is one of the largest and savviest marketing companies with a large checkbook. Its "Intel Inside" branding campaign is considered a text-book example of effective brand building. And it was under Mr Otellini's six year stretch as executive vice president of the Sales and Marketing Group that the Intel Inside marketing campaign helped make Intel into a household name rather than just an invisible component supplier to the PC industry.

Mr Otellini has already changed the logo of Intel, and is introducing new brands such as VIIV--its consumer electronics platform.

Although rival Advanced Micro Devices has won some market share against Intel in the server microprocessor market space, Intel is pouring massive resources into new product development that should stem any possible effects on its revenues.

Mr Otellini's challenge is how to make Intel relevant in a world where consolidation into ever larger general purpose chips and smaller chipsets, is being challenged by a divergence in consumer and computer digital products that are becoming more highly specialized.

Intel's approach has been to produce chips that are more general purpose and useful in a wide variety of products. But the divergence of products optimised for more focused applications, such as Apple Compter's iPod, is a market best served by less expensive but more specialist types of components.

Another challenge is Intel's communications chip business that continues to try to break into the cell phone and pocket computer markets. The cell phone industry has resisted Intel and Microsoft's attempts to establish strong footholds in these markets. Most probably because they fear the "PC-ization" of their industries. Intel and Microsoft profit margins are in the 60 percent plus range yet PC makers barely squeeze out profit margins in the sub-5 per cent range.

SVW will bring you more details as they emerge.

- - -

Please see my recent top exec interview with Anand Chandrasekher

Intel's top sales guy, senior vp of worldwide sales and marketing:

A chat with Intel's top sales guy and one of the rising Silicon Valley stars: Anand Chandrasekher by ZDNet's Tom Foremski -- Anand Chandrasekher is on a roll at Intel following a very successful stint as head of Intel's Centrino Group--which has been a Golden Goose for the world's largest chipmaker

Richard Edelman meeting coming up . . .

I'm looking forward to meeting Richard Edelman on Tuesday. Mr Edelman is president and CEO of the largest independent public relations firm Edelman.

We had some online debates about the future of PR and so it's great to meet in person and chat about such things with one of the PR industry's top thought leaders.

And it is just by chance that it happens to be Valentine's Day :-)

I've been asking why hasn't the PR industry joined the media industry's hand basket to hell? Media and PR industries have always moved pretty much in tandem--with maybe a six to nine month lag.

Here are some of my recent posts about media and public relations.

ZDNet: Internet 2.0 will be dominated by the new media and its technologies

As a media professional of nearly 25 years, it is especially wonderful that media is now in the forefront of this technology boom. The new media really is the new technology--a concept that sounds strange at first but I think you will begin to see what I mean over the next year or so.

I've been reporting on developments in Silicon Valley since 1984. I've gone out with my notebook and peeked over other people's shoulders and said "that looks interesting, tell me what you are doing." Now others, not just reporters come and tap me on my shoulder and say "That looks interesting, tell me what you are doing."

Part of what I'm doing is trying to figure out if it is possible to make a living in the new media, it is a search for creating viable business models for the new media. And everybody that takes part in such a quest benefits all content creators--because new media business models are not a proprietary type of thing.

Media businesses are by their very nature very transparent organizations.

(Please continue reading . . .)

Mohr, Davidow Ventures and the Gordian Knot

By Tom Foremski, Silicon Valley Watcher

Pamela Mahoney from the veteran venture capital firm Mohr, Davidow Ventures (MDV) invited me to stop in and chat with a couple of their in-house entrepreneurs about media technology products they are developing.

Ted Shelton and Nick Chim showed me some of their work and I'm glad I got to see it because I got to glimpse a new class of emerging internet applications that could provide that next, defining edge that is lacking in the morass of so many similar "web 2.0" applications out there.

And you will see Silicon Valley Watcher, and related sites, becoming test beds for next generation media technologies coming out of MDV and other organizations.

I've also agreed to work with Performancing.com on some interesting web site performance monitoring technology . It is these kinds of relationships that interest me a lot because we all get to cooperate on figuring out answers to tough problems.

It is my belief that the future will reward technology-enabled media companies and that media professionals that understand the technology side of things will also do well. That's because you will be able to craft new types of media entities, products, services if you know something about how the media technologies, such as RSS, wikis, collaborative platforms, etc, do what they do.

But at the heart of such relationships between SVW and others, is that I see us all trying to figure out one of the most important questions out there: what will be the new business models for the new internet?

Or even more importantly from where I sit--what will be the business models for the new media?

I think this question is very important because media is how society thinks, it is how it figures out serious problems. And that's why we need to ensure we can support high quality media because we know from software engineering that garbage-in equals garbage-out.

We won't be able to make the right decisions if our media is low quality.

We know there is tremendous value in high-quality media except that we don't have a good "value-recovery mechanism" for it. Google AdSense and other automated advertising networks recover just pennies on content that costs a thousand times more to produce.

We need a much more efficient value-recovery technology for content.

I think this is one of the Gordian Knots of Internet 2.0 and it will deliver huge amounts of value and riches to those that figure it out.

February 10, 2006

Sex and dating - in the workplace

Fun if you can get away with it :-)

Kay Luo from Simply Hired offers these tips for the office Romeo and Juliet...

Top 10 Rules for Safe Sex in the Workplace

1. Know the rules
Before even entertaining the thought of wooing a co-worker, check your company’s employee handbook. If the rules say no inter-office dating and you want to keep your job, keep your thoughts – and your hands - to yourself.

Survey says: 35% of people have fantasized about a co-worker.

2. Know your co-worker

Get to know your co-worker before pursuing a romantic relationship. Make sure s/he’s single, not one to kiss and tell, and most importantly, not related to your boss.

Survey says: 6% of people have dated a relative of a co-worker.

3. No means no.

She Loves You Not? If you ask a co-worker out and she/he says no, that’s it. Game over, do not pass go. Do not ask again, do not sulk, do not make further references to the encounter, jokes or innuendos, Clarence.

Survey says: 16% of men and 5% of women say they’ve been rejected by a co-worker

4. Create a workplace prenup

Before moving forward in a relationship, have a candid conversation about what might happen if things go south. Be aware of any potential consequences to your career before starting a relationship and agree on boundaries and expectations.

Survey says: 5% of people said that romantic relations with a co-worker made work uncomfortable

5. Don’t fish in your boss’s pond

If your new “love bunny” in the same department as you do, be prepared to change departments or tell your boss.

6. Date up, not down

If you have a choice, it’s always safer dating someone above you. You may get fired, but at least you won’t get slapped with a sexual harassment suit. And on that note…tempting as it may be, stay clear of temps. Contractors, consultants, and interns can all spell trouble, Mr. President. Just because they don't work for your company full-time doesn't mean that the rules of the game are any different when it comes to dating these folks (at least while they're under your roof).

Survey says: 7% of men and 11% of women have dated a boss or superior

7. Keep your privates private

Don’t gab about your new romance. Love in the workplace becomes dangerous when it’s out in the open for others to scrutinize. No flirting, furtive glances in the elevator or taps on the derriere. People catch on to these cues.

Survey says: 9% of people said that romantic relations with a co-worker resulted in office gossip

8. Use Hotmail for hot mail

This may seem obvious, but plenty of people disregard it. Never use company email to exchange love notes or anything remotely suggestive. Companies can and do monitor email exchanges. If you must profess your undying affection while at work, use a private web-based email service like Yahoo or Hotmail.

9. Don’t drink and date

Be wary of office parties and more than 2 drinks. Too many careers have been killed when people have dropped their guard at an office party.

10. Your Office or Mine? NEITHER.

C’mon people, get a room. Don’t have sex or “sexual relations” in the office. Period.

Survey says: 16% of men and 7% of women reported having sex in the office.

Win a Trip to “Sin City”

The Simply Fired Contest will challenge site visitors to submit their funniest, saddest, most outrageous stories about workplace romance. Simply Fired judges will select a Grand Prize “Loser” who will win a trip for two to Las Vegas.

The winner and a guest will be flown to Las Vegas, where they will stay in a honeymoon suite in the Paris hotel. For more details visit: www.SimplyFired.com.

About the Love In the Workplace Survey

Simply Fired’s annual Love in the Workplace Survey was conducted online in February 2006 by Harris Interactive. Harris Interactive is a leading market research firm most widely known for The Harris Poll® and for its pioneering leadership in the online market research industry. Sample size was 2477 respondents and was weighted to the U.S. general adult population.

About Simply Fired

Simply Fired (www.SimplyFired.com) is operated by Simply Hired (www.SimplyHired.com) operates the world's largest search engine for jobs. We aggregate and index over 4,000,000 jobs from a wide variety of sources including job boards, newspapers, classified listings, and company websites. Our mission is to help people find their next job in the simplest, most effective way possible.

Simply Hired is a privately held company, headquartered in Mountain View, California. SimplyHired.com was selected by Time magazine as one of the "50 Coolest Websites 2005" and honored as "Best of the Web" by Business Week.

I'll be at the New Comms Forum - save $200 with our Promo code

The Palo Alto based conference is just two weeks away. I'll be speaking on two panels and wandering around chatting. It was the best conference I went to last year bar none.

[SVW readers save $200 using exclusive promo code SVW200]

An intensive conference designed to bring journalists and media, marketing, PR and advertising professionals together to learn how to use new media tools such as blogs, wikis, RSS feeds and podcasting to enhance media communications, corporate branding, marketing communications, public relations and employee communications initiatives.

When: March 1 – 3, 2006
Where: Sheraton Palo Alto

625 El Camino Real

Palo Alto, Calif.

About New Communications Forum:

Presenters and instructors are senior professionals from around the world and journalists from leading media outlets, all of whom have pioneered the use of these new tools and technologies. They will share their in-the-trenches experiences as early adopters of these new tools.

Remember to register using our exclusive promo code SV200 -- you'll save $200!

February 10, 2006 | Permalink | Comment on this post | Tag: SVW recommends . . .
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Tales of the city--the Geek Beacon

I was showing my friend Jill the power of the Geek Beacon the other evening--it works wonders! In case you don't know about the Geek Beacon, let me explain with a couple of my earliest posts. . .

How to flag down a taxi cab from three blocks away on a busy Friday evening.

I was running late and needed a taxi, but there were few to be seen along Geary Street, and with six lanes of traffic, it was difficult to be seen. Then, I spotted a taxi three, maybe four blocks away, but it was in a far lane, and likely unable to see me until closer, and by then it would be difficult for it to pull across two lanes of traffic to pick me up. But, pulling out my trusty Treo 600.

I switched on the screen, which is quite bright and large, and waved it high above my head. Within seconds the taxi flashed back a response, and it had time to move across two traffic lanes, and I was in the cab and on my way.

“That was the first time I’d seen anybody do that,” Chuck Walker, the cab driver said. “That was very effective, I could see you from a long ways away. Otherwise, it’s difficult to spot people unless they step out onto the road.

I told him that it was a spur of the moment thing, but that maybe we were both present at the creation of a new thing . . .

But what to call it? The taxi beacon? The taxi flash, or flash a taxi? Or, the “San Francisco wave,” which would likely be shortened to the “Frisco wave” by outsiders, much to the annoyance of San Franciscans, who hate the term “Frisco.”

What do you think that method of hailing a taxi cab could be called?

In a later post I decided on the Geek Beacon, suggested by SVW reader Pace . . .

I just don’t want to be in New York next month and see people hailing cabs with the Geek Beacon, and calling it the “Manhattan Salute” or something, and claiming it for their own.
Or, in Washington, they’ll start claiming that they invented the “Freedom Light” when hailing a cab.

No, the Geek Beacon demonstrates that indeed, we reside at the heart of all innovative thinking about everything. . .

Join me, and hold your Geek Beacon high (especially at night.)

February 10, 2006 | Permalink | Comment on this post | Tag: Weekend Watcher
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Venture Wire investigates blogger/FON connection

Venture Wire ran this story Thursday, a story we've been discussing here on SVW since Monday. It is about the PR support top bloggers gave to startup FON earlier this week.

Also, many readers of SVW were surprised to learn the business model for the market research analyst companies such as Gartner, Forrester and IDC. The analyst firms are paid by their clients to write research reports that include them. If you don't pay, you won't be in any magic quadrants.

Plus analysts will offer positive quotes for client's press releases (at least that's the only ones you get to see.) It is a case of "no pay-no say" with these analyst groups--and has been for many, many years.

Looks like another bowling pin that might totter . . .(let's not mention the PR bowling pin.)
Here is my Monday piece: "The battle for the last mile..."

And here is Venture Wire's investigation: • FON Blogs Highlight Possible Conflicts Of Interest In Medium

By Rebecca Buckman
2/9/2006

When Spanish Internet start-up FON Technology SL tried to generate some buzz this past weekend about new funding it had snared from Google Inc. and eBay Inc.'s Skype Technologies, it pitched stories to traditional media outlets.

But the tiny company also got publicity from another source: influential commentators on the Internet who write blogs -- including some who may be compensated in the future for advising FON about its business.

Most of the nine members of FON's U.S. advisory board, including former newspaper journalist Dan Gillmor, technology author David Weinberger and Internet-law expert Wendy Seltzer, wrote about FON on their blogs late Sunday. That was right after FON founder Martin Varsavsky revealed on his own blog that the closely held company had raised $21.7 million in funding from Google, Skype and others, declaring it "a dream come true."

Messrs. Gillmor and Weinberger disclosed on their blogs that they are advisers to Madrid-based FON and also said they may receive compensation for their services. But Ms. Seltzer and other advisory-board members who talked up FON's prospects online didn't mention they might be paid by the company, though they did note they were FON advisers.

"It's still early in the first quarter," Ms. Seltzer wrote about FON, which is trying to build a global network of wireless hot spots where users in some cases could tap into the Web for free. But since the service has already snared 3,000 users, she said, "who knows how many might join the game as we move forward!"

Ms. Seltzer says her comments weren't influenced by any compensation she could receive from FON. She adds, however, that she "should probably add that [disclosure] at some point." On their blogs, Messrs. Gillmor and Weinberger said they weren't motivated by making money from FON. Mr. Gillmor added in an e-mail message that FON advisors are "among the most honorable people I know." Mr. Weinberger, who wrote on his blog that "the advisors are being financially compensated, but we haven't discussed the terms," said the advisers were genuinely enthused about FON's community-oriented plans. Mr. Varsavsky says no compensation agreements are in place yet between his company and the advisory-board members, though he plans to "make a proposal" that they get paid in some way.

The avalanche of blogging about FON, much of it from people now tied to the four-month-old company, highlights the rising influence of blogs in shaping opinions about tech start-ups, particularly in Silicon Valley. It also reveals the possible conflicts of interest such complicated relationships can dredge up.

Some lawyers and academics with expertise in the Internet said the disclosures by the FON advisers were adequate and appropriate. But Bob Steele, an ethics specialist with the Poynter Institute, a journalism organization in St. Petersburg, Fla., says bloggers with financial ties to companies -- disclosed or not -- have "competing loyalties" that could taint their independence as writers. "It's still a problem," he says. While many bloggers don't consider themselves journalists, anyone putting information into the public domain about people or companies has certain ethical responsibilities, Mr. Steele says.

That can be a murky issue in today's clubby blogosphere, where many people including venture capitalists, lawyers and journalists write about Web issues and companies -- and often, each other -- with little editing. The rebound in Silicon Valley's economy, coupled with the popularity of cheap, easy-to-use blogging tools, means there are more aspiring commentators than ever opining about start-ups and tech trends on the Web. And increasingly, it is difficult to discern their allegiances.

One popular blog that often writes positively about young tech companies, TechCrunch, is run by a lawyer and entrepreneur, Michael Arrington, who occasionally serves as an adviser to companies he has written about. He sometimes receives stock in those small companies, he says. But Mr. Arrington says he generally doesn't write about start-ups he's advising after he becomes affiliated with them -- and "if I did, I would put a disclaimer up" on the blog, he says.

And venture capitalist Bill Burnham, who writes a blog called Burnham's Beat, says he was criticized last year for blogging about a networking company called DataPower Technology Inc. in which he had invested. He calls such criticism unwarranted, since his blog at the time plainly listed his portfolio companies, and he wrote that he was "heavily biased" about the start-up. DataPower is now owned by International Business Machines Corp. Overall, blogs contain "lots of rumor-mongering," Mr. Burnham says, and many readers probably don't expect them to adhere to journalistic standards.

The possible conflicts associated with bloggers may be more nuanced than outright pay-for-commentary scandals, such as the Bush administration's payments to conservative columnist and radio host Armstrong Williams, disclosed last year, to promote its "No Child Left Behind" policy. Similarly, a high-profile former aide to presidential candidate Howard Dean alleged last year that Mr. Dean's campaign hired two political bloggers as consultants in the hopes they would say positive things about the candidate.

Glenn Fleishman, a blogger and free-lance journalist unaffiliated with FON, says the company's move to make so many prominent Internet commentators official FON advisers means that few of those bloggers might be moved to "poke holes in [the company's] business model." Mr. Fleishman, who says he was initially blown away by the "immediate, friendly blog coverage" he saw of FON late Sunday, is more skeptical about the company's prospects in part because the technology FON is relying on may not be up to the challenge.

Mr. Varsavsky, FON's founder and chief executive, says none of the board members who publicized FON did so "because they're going to get paid. ... These are people who love what FON is about." He says the advisers weren't even sure FON would be a for-profit company when some signed up.

But University of Minnesota journalism professor Jane Kirtley says that "even if it's prospective money, it seems to me the prudent thing" for advisers would be to disclose that relationship on their blogs. Ms. Kirtley directs the Minneapolis school's Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law.

David Isenberg, one FON advisory-board member with his own blog, says he expects to eventually receive some payment from FON, such as stock options or warrants. Though Mr. Isenberg didn't disclose that on his blog on Sunday -- his posting about FON was titled "Everybody have FON tonight!" -- he said he serves on the advisory board. "Usually, that means there's a business interest" in a company, he says. Mr. Isenberg also notes his blog post expressed some skepticism about whether FON's business was ready to be embraced by the general public.

February 10, 2006 | Permalink | Comment on this post | Tag: Weekend Watcher
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Oh dear . . .

. . . the transparancy of the past

This is an excellent example of why you should not burn your bridges when you leave town. They will come back and bite you . . . (mashup metaphor #14).

This is an extract from Peter Hartlaub of the SF Chronicle's recent hagiography of Nick Denton a former FT colleague, about Mr Denton's return to San Francisco with his blog site Valleywag.

I don't think it was very fair of Mr Hartlaub to include that quote from Nick just before he left town. I would never have revealed it. That was private conversation.

Unfortunately, I remember Nick was very passionate on the subject of San Francisco for a while, and it crept into his writing....

From the Peter Hartlaub article in the Tuesday Datebook section of the SF Chronicle:

...read a piece Denton wrote for Management Today in March 2002, where he lays out what he hates about the Bay Area -- taking San Francisco down in a neighborhood-by-neighborhood evisceration.
"The city is entirely lacking in glamour," Denton wrote. "The old money is inbred, and the new money is too geeky. The pretty people are in Los Angeles or Miami; the intellectuals are in New York; and the carpetbaggers left as quickly as they came. San Francisco's Clift must be the only Ian Schrager hotel where visitors pitch up with their tradeshow tote bags."

It's a bit of an awkward situation, because whatever Denton said about Bay Area residents in the past, the future of the site will rely upon their help.

"We're totally dependent of tips." Denton says. "The truth is, I'm in New York and Nick's new to San Francisco -- we know nothing."

Nick, I think that was very unfair of Peter Hartlaub to try and inject some controversy into an otherwise gushing piece. There should be a statute of limitations on asinine comments--gods knows we all could do with one.

February 10, 2006 | Permalink | Comment on this post | Tag: Weekend Watcher
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February 9, 2006

The new and old Beatnicks celebrate Neal Cassady's birthday

By Tom Foremski, Silicon Valley Watcher

It's a warm Wednesday evening in North Beach San Francisco and it is Neal Cassady's 80th birthday and the remnants of the Beat generation, Jack Kerouac's remaining drinking buddies, are inside a small storefront.

It is also the opening of the Beat Museum, and I'm there with my buddy Paul Hrisko to chat with Neal Cassady's son John, and visit with a slice of San Francisco's history from the late 1950s.

I've become very interested in the Beat generation, the mostly East Coast/New York intellectuals that came to San Francisco, and were chosen by the media to represent the rebellious youth of those times.

From Wikipedia: "The members of the beat generation were new bohemian libertines, who engaged in a spontaneous, sometimes messy, creativity. The beat writers produced a body of written work controversial both for its advocacy of non-conformity and for its non-conforming style...

. . . Echoes of the Beat Generation run throughout all the forms of alternative/counter culture that have existed since then (e.g. "hippies", "punks", etc). The Beat Generation can be seen as the first modern "subculture"."

The Beat Generation created a literature that was passionate, raw and emotional. This was a time when a poem, Allen Ginsberg's Howl could spark arrest, and trials for obscenity. The poet Czeslaw Milosz said of Ginsberg: "Your blasphemous howl still resounds in a neon desert where the human tribe wanders, sentenced to unreality".

I've become interested in Neal Cassady, who was somewhat of a mysterious character to some degree, because his writings are rare. Yet Neal Cassady became the muse, an influencing force on the writers, poets, and cultural icons of those days. People such as Jack Kerouac, Michael McClure, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and later, Ken Kesey, Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson and many, many more.

What makes him even more interesting is that Neal Cassady was not of their world. He was a working class kid, or rather a skid row kid. When he was six he came under the care of his alcoholic father, a part-time barber and lived with him in Denver's skid row, during depression times that were brutal to families already living on the edge.

I'm reading a book written by Neal Cassady, called the "The First Third." I'm about a third of the way through it, so it was great to get a chance to go to his 80th birthday celebration and chat with his son John.

I asked him about the book. "That was something we found in the corner of his closet, very little of his writing survived. And I'll tell you what happened to his writings, I don't think this story has been published yet..."

Brilliant. This is why I love my job. John looks to be in his 50s, lots of energy, talks a mile a second just as his father, and I'm hearing new stories about a time in America that was in the midst of a cold war and a very rigid post-war Fifties society.

John tells me that most of his father's written work was lost when he parked his car for two weeks at a friends place, then took off for two or so weeks of carousing in the very North Beach neighborhood that we were standing. When he returned to pick up his car it was gone. And so was about 500 pages of his fathers literary work.

Wow, I wonder if they still exist in some garage, attic or gully. We should send out cultural archeologists to try and track down what happened, who stole the car, where it was found, comb the area for clues and the manuscripts. Even if the pages are weathered, magnetic resonance technology can render the ink visible. That would be a very interesting project.

John Cassady goes on to tell about how the term "Beatnicks" was hated by his father and the others. "The bongo playing dressed in black and wearing berets was a complete invention of the media. The closest they got to bongos was one time at a rent party just around the corner...[at a rent party you pay 50 cents for the wine so the hosts can pay the rent]. Jack (Kerouac) was handed some bongos and he noticed the skins needed tightening so he went to the kitchen and lit the gas burner to heat and tighten the skins. He was distracted and he burnt right through the skins."

So more stories followed, and then Wavy Gravy shows up and holds court, and tells his stories, and then it's hot and crowded and I wander outside and chat to many more people.

Then we meet many more characters from the neighborhood, and those times, in a bar just around the corner...but more on that at another time :-)

Later...why I think the Beat generation and the Blogging generation have common ground.

February 9, 2006 | Permalink | Comment on this post | Tag: Tom Watch
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February 8, 2006

ZDNet: The stupidity of the Google and BMW delisting fiasco

Google's delisting of BMW's German web site from its database shows the stupidity of both parties and the stupidity of search engine optimization (SEO) the way it is practiced today.

Google's mission, as it is often declared by CEO Eric Schmidt, is to deliver the right search result to the user--the first time. Yet it has delisted the BMW.de web site because it had some invisible text on its pages that would make its site show up higher in search results.

So how will Google deliver on its mission? Wouldn't BMW earn a high rank of importance anyway because it is one of the largest car companies in the world? It is still of importance to many Google users but Google won't serve it up to its users!

(Please continue reading. . .)

February 8, 2006 | Permalink | Comment on this post | Tag: ZDNet
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The inverted pyramid: News aggregators take the very best part of the content

Quoting myself through others quoting me [it's this Alice in Wonderland inside-out world we live-in these days :-)]
From Corante's Media Hub posted by Hylton Jolliffe:
Tom Abate: "During dinner Friday, blogger Tom (SiliconValleyWatcher) Foremski offered me the best reason why news writers can't easily charge for content -- because they load the essence of every story into the headline and first paragraph. Journalism is skewered by its inverted pyramid..."
Google News and the other news aggregators take the best part of the news and leave behind the least valuable. They take the distillation of the news--it's most valuable essence.
Let me explain: As journalists we are taught to write in the inverted pyramid style (esp. in the UK.) This means you try and tell the entire news story in the first paragraph.
One of my editors would say, "You are on the platform of a train station and your mother is on the train and you have to tell her the news story as the train rapidly pulls away. You have no more than 34 words."
The 34 word limit varies according to the newspapers but the principle remains the same because copy editors cut news stories from the back to fill holes in the newspaper. So you have to make sure your news story can survive a drastic cut to just one paragraph, if necessary.
So when Google News, or any other news aggregators take and publish the headline and the first paragraph, sometime the second para too--they are taking the very best part of the news--and leaving the second best a click-away. And most readers get enough from the headline and first paragraph and don't click through to the original story and site of origin.
The essence of news stories is copied and whisked away by the spiderbots, which offer the promise of return traffic. But that is not a fair exchange, imho.
The news aggregators should display one of those cobbled together "summaries" they do during normal searches, then the user of a news aggregator could go directly to see all of the meat of the story at the originating site. Something like that would be a lot fairer to the newspapers and news sites.

February 8, 2006 | Permalink | Comment on this post | Tag: Google [GOOG]
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February 7, 2006

Geoffrey Moore: Disrupting myths of disruptive innovation

By Tom Foremski for SiliconValleyWatcher

Geoffrey Moore, one of Silicon Valley's top IT consultants has published a column disrupting the notion of disruptive innovation, as one of ten myths about innovation.

In "Top 10 Innovation Myths" published on Sandhill.com, Mr Moore attacks the belief that innovation is inherently disruptive.

To be sure, authors like Clay Christensen and myself have spent much of our life's work chronicling the impact of disruptive innovation, but it is only one type among many. And the more established your company, the less likely it is a type for you to specialize in. Alternatives include application innovation, product innovation, platform innovation, line extension innovation, design innovation, marketing innovation, experiential innovation, value engineering innovation, integration innovation, process innovation, value migration innovation, and acquisition innovation.

I respectfully disagree. In this passage Mr Moore applies the term innovation so liberally, that it might seem that he has proved his point by showing innovation in its numerous forms, and that this somehow dilutes the value and the qualities of the term.

I think innovation *always* has to have the quality of disruption. It is something which causes everyone affected by it--to adopt it or die. Innovation is always the better way.

Because if an innovation is not sufficiently disruptive it will not overcome the inertia of the status quo--and will therefore not be classed as innovative. It's a circular argument, but completely within the nature of the term's meaning, imho.

The other forms of innovation that Mr Moore might be indicating I might classify as incremental efficiencies, or what in the the chip industry would be called "design shrinks." That's when chipmakers use their current silicon technology infrastructure to develop ways of reducing the size of their chip designs--producing a few more chips per wafer, and nudging up profit margins.

I think that innovation has to be very disruptive and offer a superbly excellent ROI in order to gain attention, and overcome cost of switching barriers.

And every Silicon Valley startup had better have some kind of disruptive innovation in its garage otherwise why bother?

In the chip industry, innovation comes about every ten years when it retools itself for larger silicon wafer sizes. The chip industry is currently switching to 12-inch wafers from 8-inch wafers.

That automatically improves produtivity by 2.4 times while reducing unit production costs, requiring less human labor, which reduces contamination and improves yields. [The bunnysuits protect the chips from the workers.]

A 12-inch wafer chip production technology is a disruptive innovation--there is no way an 8-inch wafer fab can compete against the massive gains in manufacturing efficiencies.

But each time the chip industry makes the transition to a larger wafer size--the technology differentiation between the chip makers becomes far less dramatic and disruptive.

Please take a look at Mr Moore's column "Top 10 Innovation Myths" He has a tremendous track record and is one of our top thought leaders on IT strategy and author of Crossing the Chasm and other ground breaking books.

And he has a new book to promote :

Dealing with Darwin : How Great Companies Innovate at Every Phase of Their Evolution

- - -

I had an interesting meeting with Mr Moore about six months ago:

Deadly dull enterprise IT markets--Geoffrey Moore and John Gallant hope Vortex conference will spice things up

[thoughtleader thursday] More from Geoffrey Moore and John Gallant on IT strategy. . .

February 7, 2006 | Permalink | Comment on this post | Tag: Thoughtleaders
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Enterprise software might not be dead after all. . . at least not in early April

By Tom Foremski for SiliconValleyWatcher

M.R. Rangaswami is a venture capitalist who produces one of the best enterprise software publications. I'm a big fan of his online magazine Sandhill.com, and also his conferences, with one coming up in early April. He just sent out his latest edition of the Software Pulse newsletter, with an interesting opinion piece by Geoffrey Moore. (More here. . .)

M.R.'s interest in the subject of enterprise software comes from a different direction than traditional publishers, he's interested in the trends and issues so that he and other investors can better understand the deal flow and improve on their funding decisions.

A traditional trade publisher such as an IDG with Computerworld, or a ZDNet, takes a different approach to the subject--writing from the users/customers/decision makers' points of view. Both approaches, it turns out, produce equally high-quality editorial products.

I tend to favor M.R.'s approach: I like to look at companies and products as existing within a framework of business models; pulled by trends in markets; and all bobbing around within the fluid dynamics of their capital markets.

And that's what M.R. does with Sandhill.com which looks at the business of enterprise software, its trends, and with lots of high-level advice on funding and business strategy. I think his focus is right on the money :-)

BTW, M.R's Software 2006 Conference is April 4 -5 in Santa Clara is worth going to. It was my second one and I thought it was one of the very few conferences worth going to last year. Every time I attend this conference I'm reminded that maybe the enterprise software industry isn't dead after all, or dead-boring."

- - -

Do you think M.R might use the above quote as an endorsement?

He already has these endorsements on his Software conference site:

“The must-attend software event of the year.”
— Kim Polese, CEO, Spike Source.

“No other event captures the mood, dynamics and opportunities.”
— Peter Sobiloff, Managing Director, Insight Venture Partners.

Now he could add:

"Every time I attend this conference I realize that maybe the enterprise software industry isn't dead after all, or dead-boring."
— Tom Foremski, Publisher, Silicon Valley Watcher.

It's all yours if you want it M.R. :-)

February 7, 2006 | Permalink | Comment on this post | Tag: Enterprise IT
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Journalists do it every day do bloggers have the same stamina?

Tom Foremski, for Silicon Valley Watcher

I've worked as a software engineer, granted, it wasn't for long, not much more than a year. But I know what the work is like and the challenges within that profession.

However, I wonder if software engineers, many of whom are also bloggers and critics of mainstream media, know much about journalists and how they do their jobs?

If people think journalism is much like blogging, then anybody can be a journalist. I often tell people if they can write an email, they can become a blogger, as a way of encouraging them to start blogging.

But journalism is definitely nothing like blogging, and it requires a professional class; I don't think an army of bloggers with day jobs has the ability to can fill the shoes of professional journalists and provide society with the type of high-quality media that it needs.

Yes, anybody publish but that doesn't mean a thing. It's the same as the fact that anybody can be their own courtroom lawyer, and we know the punch line to that one...

Similarly, society would be foolish to be reliant on just anybody producing its media, imho.

Here's a description of some of my work as a journalist at the Financial Times--working as part of a team with the ability to report and publish high quality news in minutes. . .

Please continue reading...

February 7, 2006 | Permalink | Comment on this post | Tag: Media Watch
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February 6, 2006

The battle for the last-mile heats up as GOOG, Skype and VCs fund startup FON

By Tom Foremski for SiliconValleyWatcher

Google, Skype and VCs working on creating planet-wide ubiquitous Wi-Fi with a $21.7m investment in startup FON.

It is a strategy that I predicted back in August:

What's Google up to? It's going to become a wireless Telco with its own fat backbone...

I think it is very clear what Google's strategy is, or rather has to be. I think it is getting ready to do a wireless Telco buy. Because everything is rapidly being walled up into gated communities, and the gatekeepers are the cable companies and the wireless mobile phone companies (the land-liners are toast).
Those walled gardens can shut Google out, or put Google a click or two away....and on a mobile phone that might as well be Siberia, you are going to use the first search box you see and it doesn't have to be Google.

This is the battle for the last-mile--whoever controls the entry into the digital home controls a very lucrative content market.

Interestingly, FON has co-opted leading bloggers such as Dan Gillmor onto an advisory board, and who have also given their official blessing through allowing their quotes to be used in the press release.

Gartner and IDC and Forrester analysts usually provide such quotes and they are always paid by the company issuing the press release(!)

From the release:

The well regarded blogger/former newspaper columnist Dan Gillmor and telecom expert David Isenberg have already signed on to serve on the company's board of advisors, as has Esther Dyson, the well-known blogger Joi Ito and many others. For a complete list of the board of advisors visit http://en.fon.com/info/who-is-behind-fon.php

Here is the statement from GOOG and CSCO:

FON SECURES $21.7M TO CREATE WIFI PLANET

Niklas Zennström, Janus Friis, Danny Rimer and Mike Volpi Join Board

MADRID, Spain 6, February 2006 FON, (www.fon.com) a company focused on creating a global network of shared WiFi connections, today announced that it has secured 18 million (USD$21.7M) in Series A funding from Index Ventures, Google, Sequoia Capital and Skype. Index Ventures led the round. The company also announced that Danny Rimer (Index Ventures), Mike Volpi (Cisco) Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis (Skype) joined the board. Existing board members include Martin Varsavsky, FON CEO, and Antonio Fuentes, FON CFO. This announcement illustrates the willingness of leading technology companies and venture capital firms to jointly invest in the development of a global WiFi infrastructure.

Founded just three months ago by serial entrepreneur Martin Varsavsky, FON's objective is to build a global WiFi network bottom up, with one million hot spots by 2010. To do this, FON users, or "foneros," are able to connect to the Internet via Fon WiFi hotspots provided by other foneros. For foneros, the development of the FON global network means they will be able to connect to the Internet safely and securely all around the globe. For service and application providers such as Skype and Google, the FON network makes their services more ubiquitously available. For ISPs, FON provides a way to expand their reach globally. For developers, the FON network is a new platform for creating and delivering services on a global scale.

With a simple download-and-install approach, similar to Skype's, FON is a secure "by-the-people, for-the-people" network. FON has registered 3,000 members since it went live with a beta of its service in November, 2005. The company plans to use its funding to grow the network of foneros and support the growth of WiFi worldwide, particularly in countries where broadband is currently unaffordable to most people.

FON will drive its revenue from a multi-tiered subscription model. Members sign up in one of three foneros categories: Linus, Bill or Alien.

Linus members share their home WiFi hotspot with the FON network and can use any FON hotspot for free.

Bill members share their WiFi hotspots with Alien members for a fee. Bills cannot roam the FON network for free.

Alien members pay to use the FON network on an as-needed basis. Fifty-percent of revenue generated from Aliens will be shared with Bills. Alien memberships are currently available on a free-trial basis.

"Aliens are at the heart of our business model," said Varsavsky. "As we continue to grow, we will attract consumers for all three foneros categories and achieve our goal of creating a global WiFi nation. This is a great opportunity for ISP's, bloggers, developers, early adopters, consumer electronics manufacturers and the 'average Joe or Jane' with a WiFi connection to make money by letting other foneros connect to the Net safely and simply."

ISPs are already signing up to partner with FON. "As a leading ISP in Sweden, Glocalnet is happy to partner with FON as the concept will enable us to bring even more value to our offering. Being able to offer internet access when out of home at no extra cost is a strong selling point," said Martin Tiveus, marketing director of Glocalnet. FON expects to announce other ISP relationships soon.

"There is perhaps no more important goal for the industry than helping to make broadband Internet access available around the world," said Skype CEO Niklas Zennström. "FON has a great idea to help people share WiFi with one another to build a global unified broadband network, and we're happy to lend support. Enabling more communities to tap into the power of the Web benefits us all."

Power Foneros
FON has attracted the likes of some of the technology communities' leading advocates. The well regarded blogger/former newspaper columnist Dan Gillmor and telecom expert David Isenberg have already signed on to serve on the company's board of advisors, as has Esther Dyson, the well-known blogger Joi Ito and many others. For a complete list of the board of advisors visit http://en.fon.com/info/who-is-behind-fon.php

Prior to launching FON, Varsavsky, founded the second-largest Spanish Internet company, www.ya.com, and the second-largest, publicly-traded telecom company in Spain, www.jazztel.com.

About FON
Founded in 2005, FON is a community-empowered company dedicated to building the world's largest global WiFi network bottom up, spreading the power of WiFi around the world. Headquartered in Madrid, FON is backed by Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Skype (NASDAQ: EBAY), Index Ventures and Sequoia Capital. For more information on how to join or partner with FON, visit www.fon.com.

Editor's Note: Quote sheet below

Executive comment on the FON funding announcement

"We're very excited to be the lead investor in FON," said Danny Rimer, general partner at Index Ventures. "In the same way that Skype filled a communications need, we believe that FON fills the need that people have of people getting connected to the Internet anywhere they go. Martin has created an elegant technology solution coupled with a highly viral community that could have the business impact on the broadband market that Skype has had on Internet communications."

"What Martin and the people at FON are doing is making it easy for people to access Wi-Fi anywhere. This is exactly what we had in mind as a logical next step as Skype began to proliferate across desktops worldwide, so we're delighted to be a part of the FON revolution," said Janus Friis, Skype co-founder.

Mike Volpi, Cisco: "Ubiquitous broadband is providing people access to information and entertainment in an unprecedented way. Consumers can have access to the power of broadband untethered to their devices and FON is paving the way."

Dan Gillmor: "The Web fuels communities, and so does FON. When like-minded folks get together, they can accomplish amazing things."

February 6, 2006 | Permalink | Comment on this post | Tag: Disruptive
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February 5, 2006

The 14 year-old coders are back...that's the proof of a new internet 2.0

Yes, it is official, the 14-year old programmers are back, that means concrete proof that we have a new dotcom boom emerging–but this time with an interesting twist.

The twist is this: The 14 year olds are not being employed by corporations, as was the case during the dotcom-hungry-for-html-skills mania of Internet 1.0. They are being employed by the 18 year olds, their older brothers, in a sense.

Read more . . .

February 5, 2006 | Permalink | Comment on this post | Tag: Disruptive
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Switch off the chatter . . . and the blogs

By Tom Foremski for SiliconValleyWatcher

My apologies--but I've been in Greta Garbo mode this past week--I just needed to spend some time alone, with myself. That's why my email is so backed up along with all my other conversations.

It's nothing personal about anybody, except it is personal in regards to myself. In this Always On world the greatest luxury is time to yourself.

That means switch off the chatter of the blogs, the chatter of the radio, the chatter of TV, the chatter of marketing messages, the chatter that is the white-noise of our existence.

Do you get to listen to yourself? That's when you get your ideas. That is precisely why you get great ideas in the shower, or walking down the street--you get a rare moment to listen to yourself (and you should write stuff down immediately).

I "throw things in the back seat" and then my brain throws them back up and out when it is done processing--sometimes they are good ideas and sometimes they are not. But I write them down always.

Linus Pauling, the twice-Nobel prize winner (Chemistry 1954 and Peace 1962--died 1994) said that the trick to having great ideas is to have lots of ideas. Yes, most of your ideas will bite the dust, but the rest...?

The law of large numbers is in your favor but you have to switch off from the chatter once in a while so that you can hear yourself; and that means switch off the blogs too, (including this one :-).

February 5, 2006 | Permalink | Comment on this post | Tag: Tom Watch
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Slave Girl reads the Watcher!

I found this in my comments . . .

Fear and Loathing in VC Land? Try a pleasure to hard to resist...
Sneers and roasting are abundant in the realm of http://www.sandhillslave.com

Rants on Life in VC through the eyes of an assistant.

You should go and visit this site. This is very se.x.x.x.y writing (!)

Here is an excerpt of a recent post from Slave Girl on how venture capitalists approach women in a vain attempt to propagate their genes:

Tool in Question (hereon out referred to as TQ): Man I've had a bad day at work. Slave Girl: Yeah we get those on occassion. It's not like you are going to get fired so drink up, dude. TQ: Well I will be if we don't close this deal. SG: I'm sure you are great at your job. Look at it this way, the weekends coming up and you can totally chill. TQ: I have no weekends, I have to go into work. Such is the life of VCs. SG: (Big Chesire Cat smile) Uh.. FECES? Did you just say FECES? TQ: NO. I said VC.. Venture Capitalist? SG: OH ok. Same difference.
I love being a woman.

Here is the original post: Social Networking: VC stands for Very Clueless -

February 5, 2006 | Permalink | Comment on this post | Tag: VC Watch
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February 4, 2006

Tracking some more of my Pushbacks :-)

Here is a response to a post that I wanted to share, regarding my seemingly unfriendly attitude to PR folk...

Here is the original: http://lackofmotivation.wordpress.com/2006/01/28/prs-last-words-im-not-dying-for-the-love-of-god/
Here is an extract:

Honestly, I think Foremski knows this and is simply trying provoking us. Maybe we as PR people should simply take his commentary as encouragement to ensure we evolve with the changing communication landscape.

Yes, most definitely.

And:

On a side: I met Tom for the first time on Thursday night, but only briefly as he was rubbing shoulders with, ironically, some PR folks. Kind of confusing given his comments, but like I said, maybe we take it and spin it into motivation.

Hey, I like PR people. Where do you think I get many of my scoops from? The best PR people side with the journalists because clients come and go.

And the best PR people think like journalists. And we are both trying to do the right thing: tell compelling, truthful stories. PR people don't want to spin; marketing wants to spin.

That is why Communications needs its own senior vp position, it should not be run by marketing, imho.

Take a look at who runs Cisco's Corporate Communications--it's Dan Scheinman - head of M&A--the most powerful, strategic position at Cisco.

- - -

BTW if you Google Dan Scheinman you get Silicon Valley Watcher's interview with Mr Scheinman in first AND second place :-) !!!!

That's exactly where I would want to be as a journalist... no SEO magic--just a focus on content. I optimize for the reader not the spiderbot.

Let the search engines optimize themselves!!! Why should we do it for them--and put things like Technorati tags in, and all that extra work, that's their job! If the search engines can't do it without us having to lay things out just right, and tag everything for them, what is their value?

At least in this case, the googlebot did its job right :-)

- - -

Also, this is exactly why a reckoning in the PR sector is coming . . .

http://lackofmotivation.wordpress.com/2006/01/24/pr-vs-advertising-and-the-winner-is/

February 4, 2006 | Permalink | Comment on this post | Tag: PR Watch
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Some China users are already blocked from US sites

I recently wrote that web site owners and bloggers could choose to block China-based internet users--as a form of protest to government censorship.

I found the following at
http://www.chinatechnews.com/blog/posts/64

And GoDaddy.com now routinely blocks both email and HTTP requests from China, leaving many foreigners who live in China but host their websites with GoDaddy with frustrating connection issues.
I help represent Spamhaus in China and I routinely run across smaller ISPs in Europe and America who block Chinese users’ access to their hosted sites. Much of this blocking is ad hoc and based on the individual sysadmin’s “preferences”. Often they will block all IPs registered via APNIC to Chinese companies, or they will block email based on any .cn domain name suffix in the email headers–anywhere in the headers, mind you, even if your message just took a single hop within China.

February 4, 2006 | Permalink | Comment on this post | Tag: Future Watch
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Pushbacks and Backrubs for Silicon Valley Watcher

Trackback seems to work so sporadically, and I don't know why. So, here is a manual collection of what some of the blogosphere has been saying about SVW, most of it is courtesy of the Google Alerts service.
Blogging = content on steroids by David Terrar @ 16:46. Filed under Marketing, Blogging, Media, Internet I’ve just added Tom Foremski, the former FT reporter and Silicon Valley Watcher, to my favourite blogs list. For those of us who are using the blogging media, Tom has some important commentary to make. He wrote a good piece titled “You can’t get there from here — a phrase that helps define disruption“, but the key message is in his description of blogging in his response to one of the replies:
It is content on steroids. It is content that is live and that carries its own communications within it (links, comments and trackbacks). It really is a new media, it is something which could not be done with the old media. And that’s what makes it fun and that’s what provides opportunities to create new types of media products/services.
I’ll be a regular reader from now on. Technorati Tags : blogging, Foremski, SVW, Internet, disruption

Overskrift - RSS Feed Info (Desirable Roasted Coffee)
Neville Hobson, Tom Foremski and Mitch Ratcliffe are dispensing advice you should
run, not walk, to heed immediately if you work in an organization. ...
http://www.overskrift.dk/feedinfo.asp?feedid=3574 - Rank 199 - cached - this is relevant | irrelevant * * * * *

BrandToBeDetermined: Mainstream Public Relations Will Grow Even If ...
Tom Foremski in an interesting public relations and tech article predicts a major
shake up disruption in "mainstream PR." I find fault with his logic but I ...
http://www.brandtobedetermined.com/brandtobedetermined/2006/01/mainstrea... - Rank 197 - cached - this is relevant | irrelevant

GameSpot:Video Games PC Xbox 360 PS3 Revolution PSP DS PS2 ...
Tom Foremski. Roll-your-own departmental apps · The Babe Ruth of Silicon Valley,
and others in my top silicon valley people of 2005 · My top ten people of ...
http://www.gamespot.com/features/virtual/p6_01.html - Rank 159 - cached - relevant ( unmark ) * * * * *

PR Squared
Earlier this month, Tom Foremski of the influential Silicon Valley Watcher
predicted that the PR profession was headed for a fall. ...
http://pr-squared.blogspot.com/ - Rank 179 - cached - this is relevant | irrelevant * * * * *

Qumana Investor Blog :: Main Page
Perhaps more interesting is Tom Foremski's commentary on how Google is pulling
more revenue away from partner site, and I think might include individual ...
http://investors.qumana.com/blog - Rank 105 - cached - relevant ( unmark )

Mutually Inclusive PR: PR Briefs - News Items Jan. 19, 2006
PR is about more than media relations, Tom Murphy argues in PR Opinions, expanding
ona point made by Tom Foremski. It's true. Most people who aren't in ...
http://mutually-inclusive.typepad.com/weblog/2006/01/pr_briefs_news__2.h... - Rank 167 - cached - this is relevant | irrelevant * * * * *

The Post Money Value: VC 2.0 part 2
By Tom Foremski for SiliconValleyWatcher SVW reader TDefren points to VC Rick
Segal's recent post about the quandary venture capital is in. ...
http://ricksegal.typepad.com/pmv/2006/01/vc_20_part_2.html - Rank 158 - cached - relevant ( unmark ) * * * * *

Internet Marketing Tutorials - Marketing News
[2006-01-27] With the second post in his PR is dying series Tom Foremski is saying
that the agency world has a future as bright as Larry Fortensky's. ...
http://www.marketingnewz.com/ - Rank 144 - cached - this is relevant | irrelevant

Search: People Tom Jones Bono Kevin Spacey @ Big Blog
Tom Foremski has an interesting post today - Foremski has always had good ideas,
as one of the key people in the Financial Times office - but he wonders why ...
http://bigblog.com/search.cgi?id=448451502 - Rank 124 - cached - this is relevant | irrelevant * * * * *

The Snip!
In his post prophesying imminent disruption to the PR industry, Silicon Valley
Watcher Tom Foremski predicts the decline in many traditional PR practices. ...
http://www.thesnip.com/ - Rank 152 - cached - this is relevant | irrelevant * * * * *

February 4, 2006 | Permalink | Comment on this post | Tag: About SVW
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February 3, 2006

Rooster Club sign-ups!

By Tom Foremski for SiliconValleyWatcher

My apologies for the late delivery of The Rooster Club sign up sheets (standalone journalism sucks BT!)

I've republished some of the introductions to the Rooster Club--which is a discussion/debate club for Silicon Valley North:San Francisco.

There is a tremendous community centered around San Francisco reaching across to the East and North Bay counties. Silicon Valley is no longer just about Palo Alto--it stretches North to Santa Rosa, South to Monterey, and all along the East Bay.

Silicon Valley is also a tremendous brand--it is a state of mind, a focus on innovation, and its spirit is felt in innovation centers around the world.

The Rooster Club is fortunate to have the support of the Churchill Club--which was formed 20 years ago by Tony Perkins and Rich Karlgaard. The Churchill Club organization has generously offered its support, which is great. But the Rooster Club will be an independent entity--a product of these times--and these times are defined by self-organization, and organic growth.

The way I envisage the Rooster Club is in the following ways:

I see the Rooster Club as a collection of "hen houses" and organized along the "birds of a feather" approach that is familiar in Silicon Valley and tech circles. Each hen house is organized around a particular interest, and chooses its own name, and that name can be a play on Rooster, such as Roo-starz, etc. You can have Linux Roosters, Opera Roosters--it doesn't matter what the topic is--it is a collection of two or more, like minded souls.

Each hen-house would organize its own meetings, it would manage its own affairs. The Roosters in each hen house are the communicators. They communicate within their groups and they communicate to other hen houses, to tell them what is going on in their worlds, what concerns them, what excites them.

I'd love to see the members of the Rooster Club involved in their local schools, to act as mentors and educators. It is an embarrasment that here in Silicon Valley, where we invent the future, that our public schools are broken.

Yet within a ten minute walk of each school there are more than enough community resources in terms of people and materials, to make those schools showcases instead of basket cases.

Roosters will be able to earn "tail feathers" for various achievements and the most respected tail feathers will be earned from becoming involved in local schools. I'd love to create a type of "Craigslist" around every school, something which allows a classroom to communicate with its community, whether it needs a box of pencils or just somebody to come in and chat to a class about the incredible things we are developing here in Silicon Valley.

I'd love to be able to provide hen houses, and local schools, with the simple collaborative technologies we have developed, such as wikis, blogging, forums, etc. If these technologies are as powerful as we say they are, then lets put them to work right here in our communities.

I know there are plenty of companies that would love to contribute their technologies. And I know there are plenty of people here that can make a huge difference in the lives of our local, and our global communities.

So please sign up for the Rooster Club, you don't have to be in the SF Bay Area, and let us know what type of hen house you'd like to create, or be involved in--any subject will do, let's also have some cultural hen houses--not just the usual geek subjects.

And we can have monthly meetings of hen houses--where we learn about what's going on in the hen houses. And where Roosters earn their tail feathers through five-minute presentations--and then we can maybe dance and shake our tail-feathers afterwards :-)

Roosters communicate just like bloggers communicate. And like Roosters, they see the crack of dawn--the light of the future day--before anyone else, and they will tell you about it whether you like it or not :-)

And as we move into a future of fractured societies and groups--we need communicators (Roosters) more than ever--so that we have a measure of our society and where it is going.

So please sign up now, and recruit your your hen houses!

Sign up for the Rooster Club and receive The Crack of Dawn--the Rooster Club newsletter. This will be the starting point and we'll figure out how to do this as we go along. Become a founding member today! You can also send an email to roosteradmin@SiliconValleyWatcher.com. Very soon the Rooster Club will have its own web site.

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Here are my recent posts on the Rooster Club:

The Call of the Rooster

Twenty years on, Silicon Valley has expanded way beyond its birthplace in Palo Alto, it includes San Francisco and I would say it even reaches the outskirts of Santa Rosa, in the North Bay.

It would be fun to have a sort of "new" Churchill Club up in the city, where there are plenty of people interested in Churchillian type events but they can't get down to Palo Alto at 6pm because they are working until 8pm.

So, I've been floating the idea for the Rooster Club SF--[a salon of peers rather than podiums] over the past couple of weeks, here on SVW and elsewhere.

I mentioned it to Raymond Nasr, the new Churchill Club president who liked the idea. And it's not competition to Churchill Club, it's an SF affiliate. It is not either/or--but an and.

I've no idea how to pull such things together, Raymond and his team have plenty of experience.

I think that if Silicon Valley is going to make a comeback--and it is making a slow comeback--it has to have new institutions, new media voices and new organizations that represent and reflect these times.

And they have to come out of all this media disruption, this blogging movement.

And that is why it should be called the Rooster Club, imho, because the Rooster is a perfect metaphor for the blogger. Take a look:

-The Rooster crows away on its little patch of the farmyard, look at me, look how fine I am, my voice carries far and wide.

-The Rooster is all puffed up, all feathers and air, yet the Rooster is always the first to see the faint light of the future, the dawn of a new day, and proclaim it for all to hear.

-The Rooster always wakes you up way too early--and you curse the Rooster for it--but you can always fall back to sleep.

-A Rooster has to have cojones, by definition. But that is not a gender reference, it is a balls reference ;-) because men and women bloggers have to have the balls to put their ideas and writing out into the blogosphere, into a public arena where they can be challenged, ridiculed, and attacked.

-This was proposed in the Chinese year of the Rooster.

(And I was born in the year of the Rooster!)

- - -

Heeding the Call of the Rooster

We've had a wonderful response to the Call of the Rooster, an idea to create a debate society in San Francisco to serve "north Silicon Valley"--twenty years on from the founding of the Churchill Club in Palo Alto.

Take a look at some of the responses.

Let's hear from the rank and file not heat-seeking PR missiles says Sun's former comms chief Andy Lark

Great idea. Evenings are such a drag. I would also encourage you to only go off the beaten track in terms of speakers and content. I'm tired of the AO crowd and VCs. I'd like to hear more from the people changing the Valley and doing the work. Not the heat-seeking, PR missiles.
http://andylark.blogs.com
Charlene Li, Forrester's super star internet analyst says rooster club can reach out to SF's super smart women, a group that needs more inclusion in the valley.

I think the name is not nearly as important as the outreach to women. It’s pretty depressing to go to events like Syndicate, SuperNova, and Web 2.0 and see such an overwhelming number of men compared to women, in both the attendees and the speakers. There’s no better place to reach out to smart, techie women than in SF and I’d like to make sure that the word gets out to them.
http://blogs.forrester.com/charleneli

Bruce Lowry Novell's comms chief says count me in

I completely agree, Tom. As a North Bay type, I particularly like that you added the North Bay. There are some important tech companies up here - Autodesk being the biggest - but also a lot of startups doing interesting things (Mindjet comes immediately to mind). I like the Churchill Club events, but getting down the Peninsula is tough. Doing things in the City would be much better. When Churchill does do gigs in the City, they're always well attended. And, as a nascent corporate blogger, I'm a fan of the blogging component, too. Now if I could only come up with a good Rooster metaphor.
So count me in!

Debbie Landa, CEO of under the radar events firm IDB Networks is a big fan of the rooster

Tom, you know I'm a fan of this. Actually, many of our IBDNetwork members have been asking us to do events in the city again. Our events are definitely different from the Churchill Club, and there is always a need for the dealmaker events, but I'd be into the Rooster Club too.

Cisco's fast tracker Ron Piovesan says a more cutting edge discusion suits San Francisco's style

I like this idea. What is cool, I think, is that Churchill Club focuses on more established names. I think a "Rooster" club in SF would be good if it focused on new ideas, business models and so on (not that you can't find that in established names, mind you.) I think a more cutting edge discussion suits the personality of the city more as well.

Chris Dichtel notes that the rooster is often vane...but points in the right direction

Plus, a rooster is a common adornment on weather vanes, giving you that steady indication of which way the winds are blowing.

Please also see:

Emasculate the Rooster but keep the cojones!-No unproductive reproductive organ discussions please :-)

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February 3, 2006 | Permalink | Comment on this post | Tag: About SVW
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February 2, 2006

You'd better watch out: GOOG can find orphan pages

By Tom Foremski for SiliconValleyWatcher
Dell was recently embarrassed to find the internet awash with supposedly private info about its forthcoming notebook computers thanks to the Googlebot that copied and distributed the information...

You should always assume your content is not private if it is on a server with web access because Google has a technology that can find content that does not have a link to it.

Why do you think it talks about its mission to index and catalog all of the world's information? It doesn't say all of the world's "linked information."

Here is more...

February 2, 2006 | Permalink | Comment on this post | Tag: Google [GOOG]
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CEO Selina Lo of Ruckus Wireless--a name to watch

By Tom Foremski for SiliconValleyWatcher
[It is such a dreary, rainy day here in SF, and I have a touch of the flu, so I've been able to stay-in and catch up with stuff I should have written weeks ago.]

I recently had dinner with Selina Lo, CEO of Ruckus Wireless--a startup developing wireless multimedia IP technology for the home.

Women CEOs are rare in Silicon Valley but I don't think Ms Lo noticed. An organization would have to have a glass ceiling the thickness of a polar ice cap to keep Ms Lo in check--and I don't think that would work for long.

Take a glance at her bio:

Ms. Lo was the former vice president within Nortel Networks' Content Business Unit, which acquired Alteon WebSystems, a public networking equipment supplier, in 2000 for $7.8 billion.
At Alteon, Ms. Lo served as vice president of Marketing from its inception through IPO and the Nortel acquisition.

Prior to Alteon, Ms. Lo was the vice president of marketing at the Centillion Business Unit of Bay Networks which was purchased by Bay Networks in 1994.

Ms. Lo's career also includes several management roles at Network Equipment Technologies and Hewlett Packard. She holds a B.S. degree in Computer Science from the University of California at Berkeley.

If you'd like to find out more about Ms Lo, here is a post from the very decent (7clicks/10) corporate blog The Ruckus Room. [BTW, please do NOT send marriage proposals to the company email address--it clogs their servers--contact Ms Lo at Lo.Sers@Gmail.com ]

Ms Lo had just gotten back from CES and so had a travel bag of stories--many of which I cannot share :-(. However, there were plenty of things I can write about.

One of the things Ms Lo noticed about CES was that there were larger numbers of media executives "and they seemed to know what they were talking about, they understood some of the technology. Usually they send their tech guys, but this time they were out there themselves."

That's a good sign, that media companies are realizing that they need to be "technology-enabled." It's phrase I like to use a lot, because I believe that savvy, technology-enabled media companies can be incredibly successful.

Ms Lo's company is trying to do something very simple: to allow people in homes to watch TV, movies, listen to music, surf, communicate, from anywhere in the house and with any applicable screen or device. I think of it as one-click multimedia wireless for the home.

It's a simple thing but tremendously hard--the way simple things always are. But Ruckus seems further along in the game than anybody else I've come across.

Ms Lo says the company is getting noticed by the cable companies, which is good. But waiting for the cable companies is like waiting for Godot--excruciating. There needs to be a disrupting force of some kind to kick them in the pants.

Ms Lo believes that the internet will provide a level playing field and the means for a disrupting force to come in and challenge any fat and happy incumbents. But I don't share her enthusiasm.

In the industry, we used to talk about the "last mile" to the home as a problem. Now, the "last mile" is a big advantage, because it is the best choke-point into the home, imho.

Anyway, you might want to put Ruckus on your radar screen, and there will be more on Ruckus coming up in SVW.

Incidentally, I was pleased to learn that Ms Lo shares a similar day/work schedule to mine, so that she can deal with customers in Asia.

February 2, 2006 | Permalink | Comment on this post | Tag: Tech Watch
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Is Andy Lark the next evolutionary step?

I completely forgot about Andy Lark when I was putting together my topten people lists recently.

Since I'm using "topten" as an attribute and a quality a person has, rather than literally, I feel I can still add Andy to SVW's Topten people in marketing/communictions/pr list for 2005.

Andy Lark is the former head of communications at Sun Microsystems--and now he is involved in a ton of stuff--he is everywhere. And this man intuitively understands the new communications/new media better than anybody I have met.

Not only does he understand it, he seeks to use it. It is one thing to understand something, to dig it, but it's another to try and create businesses and to use it for fun and profit.

Andy has more fingers in more pies than the number of fingers evolution provided us with. If Andy is the next step in our human evolution then we need ten fingers on each hand :-).

February 2, 2006 | Permalink | Comment on this post | Tag: PR Watch
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February 1, 2006

Microsoft and Yahoo call on US government to open up China and other countries

Here is a statement from Microsoft and Yahoo. It says that the US government should engage with their counterparts in China and other countries that restrict internet access.

[There's a slight touch of what the British call "gun boat diplomacy" in their statement--something which the Chinese government tends to notice, as it is very much aware of its long history and its past interactions with western nations.]

The statement said that there are companies inside "most markets who would see great advantage in our withdrawal from their countries." And that's why they won't withdraw their services from China.

They also said that they don't have the leverage to foster change in other countries (even though their revenues eclipse those of some countries.

Interestingly, Google thinks otherwise. In November GOOG hired Elliot Schrage as VP of Global Communications. Mr Schrage has a good deal of experience in dealing with foreign governments. A smart move.

Here is the Microsoft-Yahoo joint statement:

Congressional Human Rights Caucus

February 1, 2006

Statement of Microsoft Corporation and Yahoo! Inc.

As leading global providers of Internet-based services, we are deeply concerned about recent developments in China that have prompted this meeting of the Caucus. We are actively exploring whether there are potential approaches to guide the practices of our industry on these matters, not only in China, but also in other countries where Internet content is treated more restrictively than in the United States.

As these efforts continue, we hope to benefit from the views of members of this Caucus and other Members of Congress, other companies in our industry, and major non-governmental organizations, as well as key departments of the Executive Branch and the Chinese government itself.

While we believe that companies have a responsibility to identify appropriate practices in each market in which they do business, we think there is a vital role for government-to-government discussion of the larger issues involved.

We urge the United States government to take a leadership role in this regard and have initiated a dialogue with relevant U.S. officials to encourage such government-to-government engagement.

We want to assure members of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, and the public at large, that we do not consider the Internet situation in China to be one of “business-as usual”. Beyond commercial considerations, we believe that our services have promoted personal expression and enabled far wider access to independent sources of information for hundreds of millions of individuals in China and elsewhere in the world.

While we will actively work to encourage governments around the world to embrace policies on Internet content that foster the freer exchange of ideas and promote maximum access to information, we also recognize that, acting alone, our leverage and ability to influence government policies in various countries is severely limited. Indeed, there are undoubtedly officials and domestic competitors in most markets who would see great advantage in our withdrawal from their countries.

We think such a decision would not be in the best interests of the people we serve there. The presence of multiple Internet information providers, particularly from companies with the most comprehensive search capabilities and the richest mixture of content and services, has been a powerful force for openness and reform in all countries, including China.

We want to continue to make those services available, while working with governments to find better ways of protecting the interests of all users of our services.

February 1, 2006 | Permalink | Comment on this post | Tag: Tech Watch
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A job advertisement from the future . . .

By Tom Foremski for SiliconValleyWatcher

Here is what I think some job advertisements might look like in the very near future:

Wanted:
Head of Corporate Communications for a fast growing Silicon Valley startup. Competitive salary and stock options. Candidates must have a Google Page Rank of at least 5. And/or an Alexa rank of at least 750,000 or better.

Candidates with at least 1,000 Google hits on their name are also eligible. We will also accept web site traffic numbers from your posts/articles on third-party web sites. This is a senior VP level position.

- - -

Your ability to secure your next job--and this will also apply to professions other than corporate communications, public relations, software engineers, or journalism--will increasingly be dependent on your online visibility.

That's why you should be blogging or at least be involved in the blogosphere through posts and comments.

And you should publish using your real name. That takes cojones, but that also shows ownership of ideas. You can keep an alias for sniping.

If you are not publishing to your community then your community does not know you.

SVW is starting a sponsored column/blog section. This is your chance to demonstrate your thought leadership. It is not expensive: for one week your column/blog will be featured prominently for as little as $200 per day.

And it will continue to exist as a permanent and live page, with moderated comments, for as long as SVW is in existence and able to pay its server bills.

Your column/blog will be clearly labelled as a sponsored section. This is your chance to publish to your peers on SVW.

We get great numbers, and you know it is not just any eyeballs that you would reach; it is your peer groups in Silicon Valley and beyond--you are the shakers and makers of the future.

It takes guts to put your stuff out there--do you have what it takes to stake a thought leadership claim? I know you do... :-)

A sponsored blog is also a great way to get involved in the blogosphere without the responsibility of having to maintain your own blog. Because you have to write and feed the blog monster every day.

Send a request for a sponsored column/blog to: guestblog at SiliconValleyWatcher.com.

We will also accept selected guestblogs from individuals for free, as part of our "Letters to the Editor" tag. The free posts are treated exactly the same the same as my posts and take their place in the daily feed. Please send to letters@SiliconValleyWatcher.com.

[BTW, please send news pitches to news at SiliconValleyWatcher.com.]

A sponsored column/blog would have a permanent page complete with relevant links, and company/personal info. It would be featured in a special one-week long promotional box on the front page of Silicon Valley Watcher.

This is my way of figuring out possible business models to support teams of journalist bloggers without a day job--of which myself, and Rafat Ali of PaidContent.org seem to be among the very few!

Much of the rest of the mighty blogosphere has a day job...

February 1, 2006 | Permalink | Comment on this post | Tag: Future Watch
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Here are some stats about your fellow SVW readers . . .

If you are curious about SVW traffic, here are some of my Advanced Web Statistics, more commonly known as AwStats, for the month of January 2006. These numbers do not include the robot traffic which is presented separately. (I've put the January 2005 numbers in brackets.)

BTW, I'd like to thank my readers for these stellar numbers, about a 350 per cent annual growth rate. And you are not just any set of eyeballs, you are the shakers and makers (of the future) :-)

Traffic Viewed January 2006--not including robots:

55,503 Unique visitors (12,639)

178,000 Visits (34,836)

508,114 Pages (112,307)

1.22 million Hits (224,318)

Readers

70 per cent of pages went to US readers
The rest was about equally split between European and Asian based readers.

Additional Traffic to 18 robots/spiders:

198,706 Pages (22,051)
207, 861 Hits (22,385)

These robots copy and and index and serve up copies of SVW pages from their cache--but we have no way of knowing how many additional readers view SVW content in this way.

Also:

88 per cent of SVW readers came through bookmarks or direct links.

Only 5 per cent of SVW readers came via an internet search engine.

This shows that SVW readers know where we live, and come directly to the site, which is wonderful, because we don't have to rely on search engines to bring readers. Most other sites get the majority of their traffic from search engines.

Current Alexa rank: (representative sample gathered from 10m internet users of the Alexa toolbar)

1 week average 23,711

3 month average 43,384

3 month change: Increased 53,514

Reach per million users:

1 week average 59.5

3 month average 34.5

3 month change: Increased 68 per cent

Page views per user:

1 week average 5.1

3 month average 6.4

3 month change: increased 375 per cent

February 1, 2006 | Permalink | Comment on this post | Tag: About SVW
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Comments

James on GOOG Rejects Direct Investment In Failing Newspaper Industry

I think it would definitely make a lot more sense to have both online and print advertising - certainly there's a lot more advertising to be sold. Even if the print side only breaks even, at least it's covering the costs of getting the stories etc for the online edition.

Compassionate Frog

Albert on Schmidt: Don't Bet Against Silicon Valley - Or Its Weather

On that point of the weather, you wouldn't have to worry about Hawaii because it is inconvenient to live so far away from everything else, so the weather is overshadowed by that negative. And if you've ever lived in florida, you'd know that the weather there is utter crap -- always humid with no seasons. Silicon Valley weather is so much better.

Tom Foremski on Are There New Rules For Embargoes?

Laura, often the embargo is determined by the print side. For example, the New York Times newspaper first run is published at midnight or 9pm Pacific time. That's a common embargo time.

Laura Newman on Are There New Rules For Embargoes?

I ditto Diane's comment. I think the issue is really surrounding the emergence of real-time and even uber-short lead times of bloggers and websites that can break the story much quicker than a print outlet can. What's the protocol there?

Jason lopez on Retreevo Study Discovers Vacuous iPhone Users

I've never been able to understand the contradiction of being smart and independent, and yet somehow completely (not just partially) smitten by the dreams and fantasies conjured up in branding. The latter appears to cancel the former. But I may be wrong.

Tom Foremski on GOOG CEO Predicts A Predictable Future Web - Stunning Absence Of Any Real Insights

Ktyson: Yes, exactly. Between the two of us we could come up with way more interesting trends and issues than the man helming the world's largest and most interesting Internet company. What the heck is going on?

Tom Foremski on MediaWatch: More About Embargoes...

Thanks Meredith, some excellent points...

Meredith Obendorfer on MediaWatch: More About Embargoes...

"There is more to be gained from developing an unique editorial stance than there is from pressing the publish button a few minutes earlier than anyone else."

I agree. Sam Whitmore talks a lot about this as well, and the point really speaks to a media organization as a business. In PR, we push our clients to differentiate themselves from their competitors... and media companies really are no different. While breaking news first is certainly one point of differentiation, it certainly s
ktyson on GOOG CEO Predicts A Predictable Future Web - Stunning Absence Of Any Real Insights

What about the spread of 3d environments in more normal work and play spaces online?

What about the growing irrelevance (except as annoyance) of operating systems?

What about the replacement of the os with a universally standardized browser functionality?

What about real AI?

What's Google really thinking? Is this presentation of Schmidt's some sort of disinformation exercise?

pcurve on GOOG CEO Predicts A Predictable Future Web - Stunning Absence Of Any Real Insights

What a joke. His predictions makes Bill Gate's "The Road Ahead" look like the book of Nostradamus.

I will bet that in 5 years, nobody is going to be talking about twitter. (for many different reasons. I have a feeling it's going to be a lot sooner than 5 years) Facebook will be around, but far far fewer people will be using it to the extent they use it today.

A Chinese equivalent of Facebook will be thriving, but nobody in this side of ocean will care about it, because it do
Jimmy N on Are There New Rules For Embargoes?

Mike Arrington is so arrogant. Everyone I talk to doesn't like that guy. Still Arrington walks around like he's a kingmaker. Someone at the web 2.0 conference told me that he treats people like shit and has burned all his bridges.

I recently heard that his partner Jason Calacanis won't even work with him anymore after being his partner for one year. It was also overheard from one of his top writers that they are buying time to increase their personal brand then bailing as fast a
Tom Foremski on CultureWatch: Should Cafes Become Cheap Office Spaces Or Places For Community Interaction?

Kirsten, thanks for the update on the German scene. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't see our digital bohos in McDonalds no matter how good the coffee :)

Tom Foremski on MediaWatch: Mashable Is On A Tear - Continues To Widen Its Lead Over TechCrunch And Others

Yes, compete.com is not an accurate count. I know it is very low when I compare it to my server logs. But I'm assuming the *relative spread* between Mashable and TechCrunch is accurate.

Mike McGrath on MediaWatch: Mashable Is On A Tear - Continues To Widen Its Lead Over TechCrunch And Others

I'm suspect of Compete.com having recently compared their traffic data with what was really going on with a client's server logs. So, I went to Quantcast to double check. When I typed in techcrunch.com it got the curious message that the site owner has hidden the data from Quantcast. Interesting...

Tom Foremski on CultureWatch: Should Cafes Become Cheap Office Spaces Or Places For Community Interaction?

Kirsten, thanks for the update on the German scene. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't see our digital bohos in McDonalds no matter how good the coffee :)

Tom Foremski on Happy Birthday Dear Internet . . . The Internet Devalues Everything It Touches

Controlling immigration to save domestic jobs hasn't been working for a long while. You can just export the factories. And now the Internet does a great job in tunneling through any border barriers.

Yes, increasing our job skills is essential. Learning how to learn is the best skill to have. But you have to keep running ahead of technologies that seek to replace human skills and labor -- but we've been doing that since the beginning of the industrial revolution. So far so good...

Tom Foremski on Happy Birthday Dear Internet . . . The Internet Devalues Everything It Touches

Harry, yes, the Internet is a great if not the greatest competitive lubricant :) But it also means that few businesses are safe from its effects. Yes, you can continue to scramble up the value-add ladder but surely at some point, there are no more rungs. At some point we will reach a stage that not everyone has to be in a productive job for society to do what needs to be done. Do we create jobs for jobs' sakes? It will become a much different economy and society -- we should be thinking about
Kirsten Winkler on CultureWatch: Should Cafes Become Cheap Office Spaces Or Places For Community Interaction?

Good points you are making here. In fact I used to do the same when I was still living in Berlin. We call this phenomenon the digital bohemia ;).

Here in the french countryside I have been cut off this for two years. But now Mc Donalds started to sell decent cappuccino in their restaurants. No Mc Café yet but I saw an amazing shift in those couple of weeks. Before the music they played was charts so quite annoying when working. But more and more people with laptops came, ordered cappu
Harry DeMott on Happy Birthday Dear Internet . . . The Internet Devalues Everything It Touches

Love the post. I've long believed that the Internet devalues everything it can touch. The truth is that as you take the friction out of the economic system pricing goes down - and the Internet is the ultimate economic lubricant. Jeff Bezos becomes a billionaire selling books and Borders teeters on the verge of bankruptcy. Music retailers are toast and iTunes becomes the #1 retailer of music in the world. Few would argue that consumers are worse off as a result. The key - from an economic stan
Rupert Pumpkin on The Coming "Big Crunch" - The Aging And Failing IT Infrastructure

for some parts of your article i share your opinion but i think the infrastructure needs an optimization since... ever? or not? but realy cool that someone is starting to revive this stuff

dont click here!

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