Blaming The Victim
An exchange today, reacting to a press release about a topic that I have never been even remotely interested in:
Sammy Spamalot: [Insert spray-and-pray release here.]
Phil: Please take me off of your list
Sammy: Use the unsubscribe link in the email please
Phil: Way to blame the victim, dude.
Sammy: Thanks Phil, it would just take me ages to find your addres in our database.
Phil: Probably no more time than it took for me to fish your note out of the trash and find the link, I'd imagine.
Almost as good as the time the PR person told me that she was blameless and advised that I call the company that sold them their media list. Read more...
Phil's Blogservations, Today, 1:15am
Analysis: Bad News For Startups If ISPs Start Charging Google
Associated Press reports: Spain's Telefonica considers charging Google - Yahoo! News Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Yesterday, 7:39pm
Blocking access isn’t the only way to protect your company
Some would suggest the risks legitimize outright blocking of employee access to social networks. But it’s counterproductive and unnecessary. Read more...
a shel of my former self, Yesterday, 4:49pm
The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #524: February 8, 2010
The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #524: February 8, 2010 Read more...
a shel of my former self, Yesterday, 3:59pm
Did The British Invent The Internet?
Interesting article on BBC News about early British computer pioneers. Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Yesterday, 2:51pm
Quick Update
Quick Update
So, I spent some time here:
Met this way-cool guy: Read more...
Phil's Blogservations, Yesterday, 1:14pm
Analysis: Online Retailers - Caught Between A Rock And A Big Hard Place
I never believed in online shopping price comparison services. Because I never believed that retailers would allow their sites to be scraped and their prices easily compared. Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Yesterday, 12:37pm
Major European Newspapers Behind Paywalls
The Berliner Morgenpost and the Hamburger Abendblatt have launched paywalls, and Le Figaro, a major French newspaper is expected to have its paywall ready later this month, reports Paidcontent.org. Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Yesterday, 1:45am
SAP Replaces CEO With 2 Co-CEOs
SAP, the world's largest business software company, said Léo Apotheker has been replaced as CEO. Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Feb 7, 3:59pm
NYT Profile On Jolie's Media Management Shows Profession Has A Long Way To Go
NYT Profile On Jolie's Media Management Shows PR Profession Has A Long Way To Go
I'm still not sure whether The New York Times was repulsed or intrigued by the fact that that Angelina Jolie exhibits greater media savvy than the average Hollywood type, taking more than 1,500 words to tell its very literate readership what it already intuitively (or explicitly) knows about celebrity PR.
Where The Old Gray Lady sees a "carefully orchestrated image", I see a very smart woman who has a greater level of media savvy than the average actor or actress. Like Princess Di, Jolie also knows that she can channel interest in her celebrity life to bring attention to the topics and world issues she cares about.
Putting aside for the... Read more...
Phil's Blogservations, Feb 7, 1:13pm
Anyone Have A Jet? Doctors And Nurses Stuck In Miami - Need To Get To Haiti
I just received a call from Amy in San Diego. She noticed my recent post about using Silicon Valley's corporate jets for Haiti. Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Feb 6, 5:50pm
Are we overvaluing real-time feedback?
A lot of feedback will be coming your way fast and furious. Does it all belong in a real-time feedback loop? Read more...
a shel of my former self, Feb 6, 5:38pm
The Real-Time Web Turns 'Conversational' Media Into Noise
In the movie "Amadeus" Mozart says: Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Feb 5, 7:06pm
Upcoming Charity Events
Social Media Week Closing Party Friday Feb 5"Join us as we support Social Media for Social Good and raise a glass (and money) for NetSquared to expand its support of non-profits using Web 2.0 and social media tools and methodologies. Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Feb 5, 5:20pm
FIR Interview: Andreas Wilkens and Michele Macpherson of MediaFunnel
FIR Interview: Andreas Wilkens and Michele Macpherson of MediaFunnel Read more...
a shel of my former self, Feb 5, 4:46pm
Evidence exists for the “high-school” notion of admitting mistakes
A crisis experts went on the air to say he’s seen no evidence that admitting a mistake pays off. How hard did he look? Read more...
a shel of my former self, Feb 5, 10:54am
Unpaid Techcrunch Reporter Sacked For Bribe Attempt
This is what happens when you have unpaid or low paid writers. Daniel Brusilovsky, a reporter for Techcrunch, was sacked after someone accused him of asking for a Macbook Air in exchange for a post about a company. Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Feb 4, 10:50pm
Study: Grim News For Print, Radio, TV As Marketers Shift Budgets To Social Media And Other Channels
A global study by Econsultancy, commissioned by ExactTarget, an email and personal marketing firm, has found that 41 per cent of marketers will decrease their spending on print and other offline media this year. Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Feb 4, 8:00pm
The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #523: February 4, 2010
The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #523: February 4, 2010 Read more...
a shel of my former self, Feb 4, 3:43pm
Télécoms Sans Frontières - How A Simple Phone Call Helps In Haiti
[Myriam Annette is communications coordinator for Télécoms Sans Frontières. Here is an extract from her first hand report:] Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Feb 4, 2:29pm
BritWeek Innovation Awards Competition - Open For California And UK Firms
The first-ever BritWeek UKTI Business Innovation Awards competition has been announced. Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Feb 4, 2:11pm
Factual Raises $1m From A-List Investors, Andreessen et al....
Factual is an interesting company, it is trying to establish an "open data platform' where people can create and share huge amounts of data in the form of tables. One such project is the 4 million record website data table that shows which sites use Creative Commons licenses. Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Feb 3, 8:59pm
Hitwise: Facebook Becoming Major News And Media Distributor
Heather Hopkins, senior analyst at Hitwise, which tracks traffic to large web sites, says Facebook is become a major news reader. Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Feb 3, 7:35pm
AdSafe Report: User Generated Content Can Harm Brands
AdSafe Media, which monitors online advertising, reported that in Q4 2009, that about 27 per cent of online display advertising on sites with user generated content was inappropriate for brand advertisers due to problem subject matter. Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Feb 3, 7:00pm
Speakers & Speeches: Chris Christensen on online business communities
Chris Christensen’s remarks at the February 3, 2010 Social Media Breakfast/East Bay Read more...
a shel of my former self, Feb 3, 5:38pm
Silicon Valley Wages Have Still Not Recovered From Dotcom Dotbomb
It's nearly ten years since the dotcom bubble became a dotbomb, leading to tens of thousands of lost jobs, lost wealth, and lost dreams. Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Feb 3, 4:24pm
Edelman Surveys Show Trust Is Very Volatile Across Media And Businesses
We share a common belief that trust is an important currency in today's world especially in the digital realm. Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Feb 3, 3:47pm
Here's How To Manage Your Online Reputation
[This is part of a guest post I received from Michael Fertik, CEO & Founder, ReputationDefender, which offers tools to help manage online personal information.] By Michael FertikSoon, companies (and governments and people) will start to use evidence computationally aggregated from social media sites to make decisions about you that affect your lives. Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Feb 3, 5:29am
Does More Media Lead To Less Total Media Trust?
In my recent post about the 2010 Edelman Trust Barometer, social media fared badly. But ALL media fared nearly as badly. Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Feb 3, 1:26am
Wow! Edelman Survey Finds Trust In Peers Plunges!!! Bad News For Social Media Mavens
The annual Edelman Trust Barometer always yields some interesting results. The tenth survey consisted of 4,875 interviews (25 years to 64 years): Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Feb 2, 10:39pm
Craigslist Et Al Take $13.6 Billion Out Of Classified Ads Sector
Rick Edmonds, over on Poynter Online, notes that the classified ads sector dropped to $6 billion in 2009. This compares with $10 billion in 2008, and $19.6 billion in 2000. Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Feb 2, 5:03pm
I surrender. @shelholtz is my new Twitter handle
On Twitter, you can reach me at @shelholtz. It’s a change I had to make. Read more...
a shel of my former self, Feb 2, 4:46pm
Bamboudesign: App Development For iPad And iPhone
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Feb 2, 1:35pm
NewComm Forum is coming. Will you be there?
If getting the best advice for practical implementation of social media for business results is your priority, this is the conference for you. Read more...
a shel of my former self, Feb 2, 12:19pm
NYTimes Finds Nothing Special About Apple's A4 Chip
Ashlee Vance and Brad Stone co-wrote a story about Apple's A4 chip, that powers the iPad. They didn't find anything special about it. Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Feb 2, 6:16am
Social Media Week Notes..."Real-Time Data Is Like A Fish Finder"
There are lot of events this week around various topics in social media. Yesterday I caught part of the Social Media Camp in the Presidio. It was organized by Chris Heuer, Kristie Wells with help from Rebecca Reeve and many others. Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Feb 2, 2:48am
Is Sexual Blackmail An Issue In China Cyber-Hacking Of US Companies?
The New York Times recently reported that Britain's spy agency, MI5, warned British executives that were doing business with China, about Chinese attempts to hack into their company systems. This was more than a year ago. Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Feb 1, 9:33pm
The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #522: February 1, 2010
The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #522: February 1, 2010 Read more...
a shel of my former self, Feb 1, 4:40pm
Media Postions GM PR Adviser As 'Auto Analyst', While Arrington Derails PR's Focus
Media Postions GM PR Adviser As 'Auto Analyst', While Arrington Derails PR's Focus
Yuck:
CBSs 'The Early Show' included a statement in its Dec. 18 report on the Big 3 bailout from 'auto industry analyst,' Dan McGinn. Letting the massive car companies fail 'would be like 10 Katrinas hitting America at the same time,' McGinn asserted. 'The American public understands that.'
What the report didnt say is that McGinn is also an adviser to General Motors. Furthermore, TMG Strategies the public relations firm McGinn heads, lists GM as a client. McGinn has been making the case for an auto bailout in many news stories and issuing some compelling statements on behalf of his client.
You'd think media organizations would know the difference before booking such a guest.
And, yet, Read more...
Phil's Blogservations, Feb 1, 1:12pm
About The "Collapse" Of "Print": Wisdom From Tom Britt
About The "Collapse" Of "Print": Wisdom From Tom Britt
Great quote from Tom over at the Edelman Digital blog:
Yes, print is alive and kicking, no matter what the newspapers tell you. Their printing presses aren't killing them, it's using them 7 days a week and losing money 5 days a week that is killing them. Read more...
Phil's Blogservations, Feb 1, 1:12pm
Instructor's Notebook: PROpenMic At Six Months
Instructor's Notebook: PROpenMic At Six Months
Cross-posted from Authenticities:
Auburn University's Robert French is to be congratulated for what he's accomplished with PROpenMic. In just six months, the site stacks up quite favorably in every measure to the likes of myragan.com (the closest thing I can compare it to) and even some other well-known PR-focused sites.
I'll let Robert's analysis speak for itself. For my part, there are a number of lessons for all PR... Read more...
Phil's Blogservations, Feb 1, 1:12pm
Dear Government: The Venture Capital Industry Doesn't Need You Either
Sorry... My Libertarianism has been showing the past couple of days. *blush*
Fruit-smashing comedian Gallagher used to joke that "If 'pro' is the opposite of 'con' then 'Congress' is the opposite of 'progress.'"
I can hardly disagree, given how our legislators are considering applying regulatory burdens on venture capital.
From the always-insightful Techdirt:
In a recent Congressional hearing where venture capitalist Trevor Loy explained this to our elected officials, Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky apparently told Loy that he didn't believe him... Read more...
Phil's Blogservations, Feb 1, 1:12pm
Sad
Sad
At a volunteers' meeting at UIC tonight, I noticed that this Silicon Graphics O2 workstation was serving as a doorstop in one of the Science & Engineering Lab's rooms.
Funny thing was, I hadn't yet heard the news that SGI was sold to Rackable Systems for $25 million.
Remember when SGI was synonymous with "Hollywood blockbuster?"
What a long, strange trip it's been. Read more...
Phil's Blogservations, Feb 1, 1:12pm
One Vinod Khosla Is Worth 20 Al Gores
From The NYT:
Vinod Khosla, the prominent venture capitalist who has been investing hundreds of millions of his own dollars in green technology companies for the last several years, will now invest other peoples money, too.
Khosla Ventures, the firm he founded in 2004 after leaving Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, is announcing on Tuesday that it has raised $1.1 billion in two funds that will invest in green technology and information technology start-ups.
This is the largest amount raised by a venture capital firm since 2007 and the largest first-time fund raised since 1999, according to the National Venture Capital Association.
Technorati Tags: Read more...
Phil's Blogservations, Feb 1, 1:12pm
Tribute To Silicon Valley's Top Pioneer - Doug Engelbart - 85th Birthday
I'm a huge fan of Doug Engelbart. When I first met him in 2005 I was astounded that this original thinker was still around -- but shocked that he was unable to secure funding for his work. Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Feb 1, 11:08am
Weekend Recap: Jobs on GOOG BS; Amazon Fights With Macmillan; Silicon Valley And GOOG Spend Millions In Lobbying
While you were enjoying your weekend, here are a few stories you missed on SVW: Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Feb 1, 7:04am
Social Media Week This Week - I'm on Thursday Panel
Social Media Week starts today, in six cities. Here is the schedule for San Francisco: Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Feb 1, 4:01am
Government to Kneecap Innovation
From The Wall Street Journal:
In the Treasury financial reform proposal, who comes in for more regulatory retooling: Fannie Mae, or your average 14-man venture capital shop? If you said venture capital, you understand why one of Americas greatest competitive advantages is now at risk in Washington.
It's clear to me that government isn't interested in solving problems but, rather, interested in "problems" it can "solve."
Technorati Tags:
venture capital, Read more...
Phil's Blogservations, Feb 1, 1:13am
Jobs Talks About Google - It's Not Good
Steve Jobs, Apple co-founder and CEO, held a meeting with staff to answer questions. Read more...
Silicon Valley Watcher - at the intersection of technology and media, Jan 31, 11:15pm