Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Party Like A Rock Star? Party Like An Aussie!!!

Okay guys hand it over. I think I meet all the criteria from all of the judges - the fact that I have partied with all of them should not be a conflict of interest!

Jeremy Shoemaker and crew are giving away a fully paid trip to Vegas PubCon. Okay it may be link bait but bottom line is it is a great prize and one worthy of a lot of free links just for the chance to hang with the judges and the rest of the wild ones running around Vegas that week.

If the winner is in town for the later part of the week I will even show them an Aussie Wild Night.....

I so love contests as link bait over the numerous "screw Google and give me back my PR" rants going on right now....

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

iPodolgy, iCars And Other Things Over The Top

I am so tired of all the press things "I" and things "G" get these days... and I am adding to it which is redundant. But I had to put it down on paper before I hurt someone wearing an IPod.

Okay the IPhone looks kind of cool... but way too much for a phone - so realistically it is a status item. Look at how cool and cutting edge I am I have an IPhone. Even with the drop in price I think it is a waste. I lose three or more phones a year and at even $400 I would be tipping less at the bars if I had to pay that much to replace my current phone.

The IPod may be a clever and handy item to most people, but to me it is a continuation of the isolation of mankind. You say something to a person at work and they don't answer.... oh they have the white "antisocial" buds in their ears.

And now Ipodology - a term that seems to be getting some play lately. I thought it was some sort of Steve Jobs cult, but apparently it is having the ultimate song array in your IPod, according to Urban Dictionary. Or maybe it just covers all things IPod and how it is such a growing part of our society.

The ICar has been a rumor, but seems to be sliding towards reality.

Other similar rumors are about the GPhone. Hey why doesn't Steve and the Google boys band together and take down the big M.

The web has been a great tool in modernizing our society - we seem to be truly moving towards the "Global Village" coined by Marshall McLuhan.

What we have to avoid is the extremism that allowed the dot com bubble and its burst in 2000. The inflated prices of some popular sites right now seems to suggest it could happen again soon.

Last week at the MIXX conference, I wanted to ask Google VP Tim Armstrong what was it about YouTube that was worth $1.65 billion. And Bill if you are reading this, do you really think FaceBook is worth $10 billion dollars? And why do they attempt to buy five percent for $500 million when CEO Steve Balmer calls the site a "fad"?

Seems we are getting back to the expensive nonprofitable websites that people believe will make them rich in the future. Thankfully most of the buying is being done by other online companies - unfortunately I own stock in a couple of them and I don't want to see Google and Yahoo make stupid decisions that could steal my kids college funds.

When I was in Amsterdam earlier this year I saw a great comedy show at Chicago Boom - Me, MySpace and IPod - the humor was cutting but hilarious. what we need to do is share this healthy sceptism.

In a world where our knowledge base (Wikipedia) can be edited by anyone with an internet connection, you have to remember most people have an agenda.

So take out the ear buds and talk to people. You will be amazed at how much fun exchanging stories and jokes can be!