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Dave Winer says: “(Google) didn’t put anything into RSS before they started to take out.”
(Background for my non-RSS-geek friends: Dave authored RSS - which is,
strictly for purposes of this explanation, the DVD format of “simple
XML-based syndication.” Alternatively (and pointedly), Google chose to
eschew RSS and support Atom, which is for this explanation, the Sony
Laserdisc format. Google still doesn’t offer such basic RSS-savvy
features as “news alerts” via RSS. (Topix.net does.)
Anyway, Dave’s point is an observation that Google’s first corporate
embrace of RSS is to hack a way for Google ads to run in RSS
feeds — a rather “crass” way to enter the party, says Dave.)
Why is small business buying
technology?
I rarely (okay, never) blog about esoteric tax policy or small business issues
here (I have other venues to write continuously on those topics), but
an article
in the NY Times today has me scratching my head over what is
omitted.
However, I guess it should come as no surprise that a Times story
about small businesses increasing their technology spending has
no mention of the Bush tax policy (increased limits to $100,000 of
excellerated year-one depreciation on capital investments) that has
encouraged
the specific type of technology purchases covered in the
article.
(Note: This issue is of interest to me because it makes abundant sense and,
well, my support for this rather esoteric slice of tax policy was the
topic of that
discussion that led to my 15 minutes of fame.)
Direct Marketers discover RSS: And they think it’s a means to overcome the frustration of incessant e-mail bouncebacks
from ISPs. I totally agree. I think all e-mail marketers should stop
e-mailing me and, rather, merely offer an RSS feed of their spam. I
promise to subscribe, really. (Okay, I probably won’t. But, like Dave Winer said yesterday, I’ll likely subscribe to some of it.)
(via: Terry Heaton)
 WWJarvisD? (also, lots of links related to Infinity’s KYOU ‘podcasting’ format announcement): I’m just imagining how it must be to be Jeff Jarvis right now. The great Satan, Infinity (okay, I know it was the FCC who Jeff has the beef with), the conglomerate owned by Viacom that destroyed radio by making it boring and homogenous, is now doing something stupefyingly creative: they are devoting a station’s format to programming created entirely by, OMG, podcasting citizens’ media types. (Update: See comments for Jeff’s take — he likes it, as I felt he would.)
Related links (updated):
What are the responses from bloggers?
Jay Rosen, brilliant as always: “It
has been pointed out that tipping point talk is cheap. But Infinity
Broadcasting actually tipped over today. It went from radio by
professional broadcasters to radio by open source podcasters….at one
station. Starting right away.”
Flashback: The rexblog podcasting awareness timeline:*
September 28, 2004:
February 20, 2005:
April 27, 2005:
(211 days and 2.7 million google
results later), one of the world two largest radio conglomerates
announces it will format a major market radio station with 24-hour
programming from podcasters.
*Obviously, this is not the timeline
of podcasting technology and “notion” development — this is merely the
rexblog awareness tracker.
I do unconventional elements for a living: The NYT today has a story
about magazines selling event sponsorships and offering special
services and brand extensions and custom products as part of
advertising packages created for major clients.
There’s nothing
new in the examples — clever executions, perhaps, but nothing
conceptually unique — but the headline does have a new name for all of
these rather conventional ideas: “Unconventional Elements.”
As someone who has been in the “unconventional elements” business for a couple of decades, I appreciate this new way I can describe my job.
However,
let’s say you’re a Nashville blogger (or perhaps you know a blogger or
would like to meet a blogger), you don’t have to register for the
entire BlogNashville conference to attend that greatly anticipated
Opening Night Welcome Party that is being produced by Thursday Night Fever and the Rexblog. (More about the party here and here.)
Believe
me, that particular event is shaping up to be an entertainment
extravaganza you’ll one day be recounting to your envious grandchildren.
(Note: The logo above is not an official
BlogNashville logo, nor, for that matter, an official party logo. It’s
merely the official logo of this post.)
Freakonomics sighting: After
reading the book Freakonomics, it’s hard not to be skeptical when
encountering ever-changing “conventional wisdom,” especially a radical
shift in conventional wisdom based on a “new survey.”
It happens everyday, however.
For example, there is the conventional wisdom that big media agencies
can use the leverage of “volume” to lower the costs for their clients.
Of course, today there’s “a new” conventional wisdom that disagrees:
“You
might have thought that this has something to do with volume,” he says,
“but it does not. And I think this is the best news possible for media
agencies. It says that it isn’t simply about scale, but that strategy
and negotiating skills do make a difference.”
Being “nimble,” using negotiating
skills, and being prepared to move TV advertising budgets around or
shift them into other media, he says, is what influences prices more
than the volume of ad budgets controlled by a media buyer.
(From: MediaPost.com - “Auditors Find Huge Price Gaps In U.S. Ad Market, ‘Size Doesn’t Matter’“)
Juxtaprezition: Obviously, some newspaper folks had fun last night laying out this page.
(via: Jeff Jarvis)
Minnesota is talking: My friend Rex Sorgatz (fimoculous.com) and Chuck Olsen (blogumentary.org) have launched “MNspeak.com.”
According to Rex:
It’s
a few things, yet it’s also something very simple: a one-site stop for
Twin Cities conversations about culture, media, politics, and
entertainment. MNspeak.com’s primary function is to answer these two
questions: 1) What are people in the Twin Cities talking about today?
2) What is going on around town tonight?
Read Rex’s (or, Rex Reeds?) explanation of MNspeak.org here.
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