Fri, 2009-Jan-23 by nmw.

Logic: The Domain Name is the Medium, The Medium is the Message,…

ergo: the domain name is the message!

Let Me Explain

I will compare with 2 cocktail parties: 1 “Old Media” cocktail party, 1 “New Media” cocktail party…

Old Media cocktail party

“I watched 7″ … “I watched 4″ … “I watched 11″ … “I watched 2″ … “I also watched 4 — what time?” …

New Media cocktail party

“I twitter.comed what Steve Ballmer said” … “I change.orged a new after-school program for kids with working parents” …  “I conference.tved Harry, Mark & John” …

Posted in Marketing, Advertising, Commerce, Media Types, Domains & Domain Names | Print | No Comments »

Tue, 2008-Dec-23 by nmw.

Over the Past Several Days, I Have Been Thinking a Lot About the Social Web and What Online Community Means

Air is social. Oil is social. Gas is social. As we speak, there are people trying to promote privacy with respect to gas.

The Market is Social

Markets are communities. Languages are communities. The expressions expressed are conversations

We Need Agreement

Contracts. Fairness. Rules of conduct — not enforced, but rather agreed upon (much like “grammatical” rules, which are open to evolve).  The foundation should not be written in stone or in a static document that becomes outdated before the ink dries. The most promising basis for our survival is unanimity — our goal should be consensus. In other words:  We Can Be Together.

Practice

I recommend you pick up a copy of E.F. Schumacher’s “Small is Beautiful” (see e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.F._Schumacher). If you’ve already read it, then I think we would tend to agree that the questions we have to address are not so much the minor details, but rather the general direction.

My Recommendations

I see it rather simply: We can save energy by utilizing information. We should use information in every way imaginible to reduce the amount of energy wasted. We will be producing more by wasting less.

Here’s an Example

We should keep track of the energy used on Earth. Annual energy usage, quarterly, monthly, weekly, daily — even up to the minute. This is information. Did we save energy or not? Anyone who uses a car for trips under 1 mile should be required to enter a rehab clinic. This would increase productivity — jobs would be created, and it would improve our (everyone’s) environment. Traveling more than 1 mile per day should be the exception — not the rule. Wherever possible, people should be employed to do jobs — for example: jobs that support clean air.

Posted in Experts, Projects, Discussions, Marketing, Advertising, Websites & Website Design, Media Types, Commerce, Domains & Domain Names | Print | No Comments »

Sat, 2008-Nov-22 by nmw.

What? Where? Who Were They & How Did They Vote?

 Google violates its “don’t be evil” motto

1. Before the debate (For the motion: 21% ; Against the motion: 31% ; Undecided: 48%)

2. After the debate (For the motion: 47% ; Against the motion: 47% ; Undecided: 6%)

3. Saul Hansell’s article @ NYTimes Bit’s Blog — Comments (For the motion: 22% ; Against the motion: 28% ; Undecided: 50%)

“Rational” vs “Prejudiced”

Note that if it can be assumed that the 42% who apparently “made up their mind” as a result of the debate (well, it’s complicated ;) were simply “in addition to” those people who had previously made up their minds (and who subsequently stuck to their previous convictions), then this group (”rational” group) is markedly different from those who had made up their minds beforhand (”prejudiced” group).

These 2 (hypothetical) subgroups voted as follows (note that the “prejudiced” group [52%] is slightly larger than the “rational” group [42%], but the remaining “don’t know” group is relatively small [6%]):

“Prejudiced” group: For the motion: 40% ; Against the motion: 60%

“Rational” group:  For the motion: 62% ; Against the motion: 38%

Posted in Advertising, Commerce, Marketing, Statistics, Discussions, Games, Video (only), Plain Text, Text, HTML, Audio-Visual, Audio (only), Media Types | Print | No Comments »

Tue, 2008-Nov-18 by nmw.

#2 Reason: You Have to Chop Down Trees to Make It

Wha? #2?!? So what’s #1?

#1: It Can’t be Edited as Easily as a Cloud

That’s right — and paper is not really all that good at leaving a “paper trail” either.

As a trained archivist, I know how photocopy machines can cause more confusion. And then came mailing lists, reply to all — you name it.

Wiki has really revolutionized publication — but it is still the darling of web entrepreneurs….

Where do we Go from Here?

Well, maybe we need to get back to the idea of “markup” — the original version. Well, I’m not talking about marking typos per se, but rather incorporating structure to revisions — for example, Authorship:Is it really “correct” to say that the last editor of a collaboratively created document is its “sole” or “primary” author? Probably not. How do we leave trace of authorship? When does a remark lose it’s relationship to the author, because one or more words have been revised, changed, deleted or additional words are included? These are all important questions — difficult to answer, but important nonetheless. Otherwise, we would be fooling ourselves into thinking we are behaving responsibly — quite the contrary would be the case: we would be about as responsible as the pack of children “toying” with power in the Lord of the Flies.

Posted in Video (only), Games, Commerce, Projects, Audio (only), Audio-Visual, Media Types, Text, Plain Text, HTML, Websites & Website Design | Print | No Comments »

Fri, 2008-Sep-5 by nmw.

How will Google be making out with its users when they fire up an instance of chrome?

Will the hash be open or closed? Will the URLs that Google is tracking remain top secret?

I have asked on Matt Cutts’ blog…

and I received no response — and that means (to me): people who want Google tracking their every move should go ahead and install Google Chrome. People who prefer to remain untracked (and free from Google’s soliciting practices) would do well to “wait and see”.

Especially because there doesn’t seem to be any compelling advantage to download and install Google software on your personal computer (and therefore all of the privacy organization alarm bells are ringing loud and clear).

But suit yourself — just don’t come back and say I didn’t tell you so (because that’s what I just did! ;) ….

Posted in Marketing, Advertising, Commerce, Media Types | Print | No Comments »

Wed, 2008-Jul-23 by nmw.

Yesterday

ah, all that business seems so far away! :D — So what do I recommend for “summer reading”? How about Groundswell? I am happy that MWJV has received a personalized copy of this book ( via the very influential Susan Bratton ;) ! OK, before you start calling me a shill, let me explain why I think you should read Charlene Li’s book.

I agree

( First of all: note I haven’t read all of the book yet — and so if you would like to read it for me and then tell me what you think of it, then please: be my guest! ;)

But second of all, I have read and been inspired by Ms. Li’s work over the years, and especially (third of all): Charlene’s interview with Susan was very interesting and insightful ( and maybe even a little revealing ;)…. The crux of Mrs. Li’s research lies at the intersection of people with technology — and this is basically what language is all about (indeed: it is very closely related to issues raised in the Wisdom of the Language article) — language is the technology we use to communicate how we understand the world we live in (and [according to Chomsky] it’s actually deeply intertwined with our nature [as human beings] — in other words: language is the quintessential “hermeneutic tool”).

The reason why I am eager to read Charlene’s book is to learn more about the those aspects of the intersection of people and technology which are apparently independent of language (and many of these, I feel, may very well be addressed in the book). Currently the book is making its rounds through the office, and I have already set it on my “Indian Summer” reading list — and I look forward to poring over all of the nitty-gritty details!

Posted in Games, Video (only), Commerce, Advertising, Experts, Marketing, Audio (only), Audio-Visual, Media Types, Websites & Website Design, Text, Plain Text, HTML, Domains & Domain Names | Print | No Comments »

Sun, 2008-Jun-15 by nmw.

For a good time, call: http://bargains.at/domainermeeting

( Use the link above to arrange an appointment to discuss collaborative opportunities, deals, share stories, whatever. :)

Posted in Commerce, Games, Advertising, Marketing, Projects, Experts, Video (only), Audio (only), Media Types, Websites & Website Design, Text, Plain Text, Audio-Visual, HTML, Domains & Domain Names | Print | No Comments »

Fri, 2008-Jun-13 by nmw.

A little over a month ago I commented on Paul Krugman’s blog — he wrote about the “fruits of globalization” (and that is something I have spent well over 3 decades discussing with my father).

My comment on his blog was not about the “fruits of globalization” per se — but rather about the fact that the PDF he mentioned cost less via Amazon.COM than via the publisher of the book itself.

I don’t know why my comment wasn’t printed — it probably tipped off some kind of spam-filter because I didn’t use PG-13 talk or something like that. But even my poor language or the censorship of reader comments by some pencil-pusher at the New York Times are not what this is about, either. So now you may be thinking (or even crying out loud):

Where’s the beef?!?

Oh — sorry about that, chief. Well, last week while I wasn’t looking, Mr. Krugman pulled a fast one — he wrote something that I know something about while I wasn’t watching! :O

Oh, well, too late now. It’s all over now, baby blue. This may be the last time — I don’t know. Give my regards to Esther Dyson — I think she’s onto something (probably because she was 10 years ahead of the market about 5 years ago; 20 years ahead of the market 10 years ago — maybe someday we’ll catch up with her).

I’d sure like to….

btw: look NYT — no links!

:D nmw

Posted in Advertising, Marketing, Experts, Discussions, Commerce, Games, Media Types, Text, Audio-Visual, Websites & Website Design | Print | No Comments »

Wed, 2008-Jun-11 by nmw.

“What Taylor did for the work of the hand, Google is doing for the work of the mind.”

Not quite: Google is simply sitting back and counting the money.

See the Hard Copy in the Current Atlantic Monthly

I’ll bet advertisers will be happier if you take the printed copy to the beach rather than just skimming the article online.

Why I’ll give you a link even though Mr. Carr’s article currently does not permit comments.

Because I want you to travel lightly through time and space.

Posted in Games, Audio-Visual, Text, Media Types, Websites & Website Design | Print | No Comments »

Mon, 2008-Jun-9 by nmw.

This is a thread to discuss “The Wisdom of the Language“.

Please join in the discussion!

:) nmw

Posted in Experts, Projects, Discussions, Marketing, Advertising, Media Types, Text, Commerce, Domains & Domain Names | Print | 1 Comment »