Patagonia has launched The Footprint Chronicles, which allows customers "to track the impact of a specific Patagonia product from design to delivery." Currently, the site only provides information on 5 items from the brand's vast inventory of products, but the willingness of the company to be transparent -- to talk not only about "the good," but "the bad" is impressive. The site also links to Patagonia's blog, The Cleanest Line, where they are responding to comments about the new site and asking for additional feedback. Great stuff. Gore Tex hats off to Patagonia.
Fast Company has an article about the site, containing a quote from Andrea Asch, manager of natural resouces use at Ben & Jerry's saying that Patagonia has set a new bar among firms with "progressive sustainability agendas."
Blogs Regina Schrambling writes, at The Los Angeles Times about the growing number of professional chefs who are blogging to build their personal brand, demonstrate (through traffic) their popularity to potential restaurant investors and sell product. I'm not thrilled with the folks who let their publicists write their blog posts -- you're missing the point, as far as I'm concerned -- but I love that Michael Laiskonis of Le Bernardin in New York makes the connection between the zines "he grew up reading in the age of underground punk rock" and his blog, Notes from the Kitchen.
CSR Allison Mooney at PSFK writes about P&G and Unilever's dueling efforts to demonstrate who's more bad a** on the environmental front as they try to create loyal customers out of young consumers, who are increasingly demanding ethical behavior from the companies to whom they give their money. Sure, as Allison and others have pointed out, contradictions abound but I'm with her when she says, if "eco-minded consumers -- and the earth -- end up benefiting," who gives a toss?
One More Reason to Love Charlie Rose I disagree with Sandra G, the first to comment on this TechCrunch post about Charlie Rose's commitment to his MacBook Air; Charlie is one of the sexiest men on television. There's a group of us who probably have had fantasies about sitting across from him at his big round table, lamenting the fact that he's so close, yet oh so far away (purrrrr). But a man who sacrifices his visage for his laptop? I'm with you, Charlie. If the house was on fire, my iBook would be the first thing I grabbed.
Search Overture helps you to pick search terms for a keyword marketing campaign. Brian was the one that told me about it a while back, but I just got around to adding it to del.icio.us. Nothing like getting a peak into the mind of your customer.
The Weather Channel wants to know what you are doing to help save the planet. In the period leading up to Earth Day (April 22), the channel will collect user generated content (video, photo and text) to be shared both via the web site and on-air (via 901am).
Wal-Mart is working with CleanTech to gather solutions that will enable the company -- the world's largest retailer -- to achieve the ambitious goals of its company-wide sustainability initiative: 1) generate zero waste, 2) supplied by 100 percent renewable energy, and 3) sell products that sustain resources and the environment. This doesn't appear to be just a PR stunt -- engaging consumers to come up with feel good ideas. They are looking for folks who have real solutions that can be put into action and for which the company will pay (via Los Angeles Times).
Add single-use chopsticks to your list of things that are contributing to destroying the planet. According to this post from PSFK, 25 million trees and bamboo plants are destroyed every year to make the chopsticks that come with your take out or at most Asian restaurants. I've decided, after reading this, to ask that they not include chopsticks with my take out and to use a fork when I am in a restaurant. On a larger scale, there's a group in China that will make you a chopstick holder to make it easier for you to bring your own (all via PSFK).
Some people do things just to be nice (not me). techPresident wraps up the year in political video. Consumers won't dismiss your company as using "green" as a marketing ploy if you're honest with them about what you're doing right -- and wrong. And a couple of things just for fun: Sesame Street and whiny white people.
Word of Mouth
It clearly says something about me that I presumed most people wrote online reviews to stick it to a company that's done them wrong. According to Keller Fay, it's just the opposite. The majority of folks who write online reviews have something nice to say and and want to share their good news to benefit other customers. They're also motivated by the desire to reward a company who makes them happy or to help that company get better at what they do.
Citizen Journalism DownloadAn Introduction to Citizen Media from Rising Voices for a non-techie guide to the "fundamentals of citizen media." Comes via PBS's MediaShift Idea Lab.
CSR
Consumers are growing skeptical of companies who claim to be "green," dismissing such rumblings as being mere "marketing gimmicks." According to Linda Passante at The Halo Effect, some of the companies that are doing the best work are making the least noise. Her words of wisdom? (And they are, indeed, very wise.)
"If you firmly believe that your company is committed to the environment, to workers’ rights, to fighting heart disease, or to even just excellent customer service, then you can’t just talk about it in some altruistic tone using vague corporate language. You need to show how you will do it, do it, and then provide details as to what you learned and how you’ll work to improve. Because, in the end, we all know that no one or no corporation is perfect, but consumers will respond to an authentic and transparent commitment."
Cool Stuff
Get ready to regress into your childhood: Sesame Workshop has launched the Sesame Street video player with hundreds of videos, searchable by keyword or character. The site is in beta. Will the "real" launch include the capacity to embed content? Please?
Everyone's abuzz about Radiohead playing live on Current TV on New Year's Eve (although "live" might mean that the band members will not be dead, as the show will be pre-recorded).
I think the more exciting -- or, at least, interesting -- news is that Radiohead recently partnered with Best Foot Forward to do a study about the environmental impact of the band's recent tours. As a result of the research, the band is going to make an effort to do the majority of their shows in city centers (to increase the likelihood that fans will travel via mass transit) and will be shipping their equipment by sea -- instead of air. And they're asking their fans to pitch in either by using mass transit or by carpooling to shows.
Kristen posted her annual End of Year meme and tagged me to do it as well. I have been posting these now for a couple of years, always prompted to do so by Kristen.
1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before?
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't make new year's resolutions. I make resolutions every day to take care of myself physically and emotionally. There is a reason I make these resolutions every day: I don't keep them.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
A whole bunch of folks had babies these year, but the person to whom I am closest was Amy, who gave birth to Jonas Aidan -- who resembles an old Chinese man more than most babies do -- on November 8.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
no
5. What countries did you visit?
I did less international travel in 2007 than I did in 2006. I spent a few days in Switzerland (Geneva) and a few days in England (London) in March and, in October, I went to Greece. All trips were work related and two out of three of those trips were with the great Johnny B.
6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
a social life that extends a little bit further than drinks at Smith & Wollensky
patience, but I'm not holding out any hope
hope for the political future of our country
7. What date from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
I have a few . . .
I'll always remember June 16, the day I visited my grandmother after her apartment fire, because it will be difficult to ever get the sight and scent of her apartment out of my mind, as well as the sadness of seeing her on the balcony of her temporary living space, looking lost -- and old.
On a happier note, I'll remember April 8, the day Andrew and I met up at the Sackler. He was giddy (as much as Andrew can be giddy) about the pottery and I was giddy about spending time with him again.
Finally, I'll remember October 6, the day John and I explored Athens with Michael Darragh. I knew I was getting ready to move on, but I loved seeing something new with John, who has helped me to see so many other new things, often inside myself.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I really do think I grew as a manager. I wasn't always "nice," but I was always incredibly invested in giving my team the opportunity to strengthen their skills and, therefore, their value to the group. I think that's rare. Rarer than it should be.
Beyond that, and despite the fact that not being able to work with John every day SUCKS, I see the new job I will be taking on in 2008 as a big achievement because it is getting me back into advocacy work.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Folks, I ate like a pig.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
This year, it became pretty clear to me that I am getting old. Everything is falling to pieces. No major illnesses or injuries, but a general state of decay has set in. Lordy, it ain't pretty.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
I love the brown jacket I bought at Anthropologie, but my Nikon D40x makes me swoon. Just ask Wyatt.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Al Gore for keeping up the fight, John Edwards for his populist message, Elizabeth Edwards for telling cancer (and her critics) to f*ck off, Wayne Coyne for continuing to have more fun than the rest of us, Jon Corzine and Martin O'Malley for fighting the death penalty, Heather Armstrong for her persistent honesty and humor. There are probably others. There are some good folks out there.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
How about appalled and angry? Ann Coulter is, and always will be, scum. She's just embarrassing.
14. Where did most of your money go?
eating out and clothes
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
I don't think I got excited enough this year, but I got excited when I got the invite to go to Greece and I got excited when I met the folks with whom I will be working in the new year.
16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
Don't give me a hard time, but Not Ready to Make Nice by the Dixie Chicks had the right amount of righteous indignation to get me to sing along every time I heard it. It was released in 2006, but I bought the CD this year.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you
happier or sadder? sadder
thinner or fatter? definitely fatter
richer or poorer? richer
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
I wish I had taken care of myself more: emotionally and physically.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
read about Britney Spear's persistent downward spiral
updated my status on Facebook
20. How will you be spending New Year’s?
I think I will be at Julia's.
22. Did you fall in love in 2007?
I was already there.
23. How many one-night stands?
zip
24. What was your favorite TV program?
I loveHow I Met Your Mother, although Kid Nation was a sincere source of fascination.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I don't hate people. I dislike a few, but they're irrelevant.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I honestly can't remember (what I did -- I am well aware of how old I am.) I'm at the point where I'm not a big fan of birthdays.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I could have used some more time with friends and less time working.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
This was the year of the headband.
34. What kept you sane?
That's awfully presumptuous of you . . . I guess Steve did the best he could.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I watched every episode of Homicide this year and I fell in love with Kyle Secor (aka Baylis). Someone needs to give that man (and Andre Braugher) a job.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
There's no one political issue that stirs me. I get riled up pretty easily day to day and there have been points throughout the presidential campaign where I was ready to impale myself, usually because of some ridiculously folksy thing Mike Huckabee said or because I can not believe that anyone would give serious consideration to Rudy Giuliani as President of the United States. But, I was thrilled with the recent Supreme Court decision to enable lower court judges not to follow federal sentencing guidelines for crack offenses, addressing the longstanding disparity between sentencing for crack cocaine and powder cocaine offences. That was one of those, "Wait, someone actually wants to right an injustice?" moments that comes so infrequently.
37. Who did you miss?
I missed Chris. But I took care of that, didn't I?
38. Who was the best new person you met?
I really like Cooper. He tells great stories (I like stories involving his son in which he adopts a voice that sounds like Beavis -- or Butthead, I can't tell -- with a lisp) and, in general, is just a f*cking charming guy. Plus, he was apparently a rock star in a former life. I hope we stay in touch . . . and I wish him the best.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.
Sometimes doing what's right for you hurts more than doing the wrong thing. (I think I knew that already.)
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
I try to keep the house nice and neat I make my bed I change the sheets I even learned how to use the washing machine But keeping things clean doesn't change anything ("Hate it Here" by Wilco)
I'm tagging Kaitlyn, Qui and Samantha, although I am not sure any of them will do it.
Savannah has turned out to be a bit of a bust. I think, in part, I've just been hit by the desire to be home, as well as a touch of the holiday doldrums.
The hotel is pleasant, but I don't like the fact that I can hear conversations in the hallway and now, tonight, conversations on the balcony.
I like silence.
By the way, in order to get onto the balcony (which overlooks a busy street - not quite what I had in mind),
you need to climb through the window.
Plus, it's raining. The fact that Georgia is in the midst of a drought makes it ridiculous to kvetch about it, but it just made everything today pretty dreary. But Savannah is not going to be a place I return to. The joy of road trips is feeling like you have discovered something new. Savannah feels like they created the experience for you: there's nothing new to discover.
If you come to Savannah, and you are looking for something to eat, I had lunch at Belford's: the house salad and the shrimp, greens and grits. The house salad was fine, although there was too much parmesan, but the shrimp and grits were dull and tasted primarily like butter.
The Maker's Mark I had with lunch helped to dull the pain of the crap shrimp and grits.
I had better luck last night at Sakura, which is directly across the street from the hotel. It was pretty good sushi. Actually, there are quite a few sushi restaurants in this downtown area, but this one was the one that was hopping and seemed to be filled with locals.
When I returned to the hotel (after a phone chat with David about high brow liberal media coverage of Jamie Lynn Spears ), I had a couple of glasses of 21 year old Balvenie in the lobby bar, along with some fine conversation with two drunk men (John and James) in from Hilton Head and the bartenders (James and some guy who reminded me of my friend Chad).
Whatever. I need to post my year end meme and then I think I will be done with this long string of "wonder of me" posts. They're boring the sh*t out of me.
Josh Catone at Read/Write Web has put together a list of the "top" 35 environmental blogs as part of his participation in Blog Action Day. "Top," in this case, means nothing more than Catone likes them, which is cool with me. Add your favorite to his comments if you don't see it on the list.
By the way, the tag line for Blog Action Day was, "What would happen if every blog published posts discussing the same issue, on the same day?" Umm . . . nothing? It's a nice idea, but I think we're past the point of awareness of environmental issues. The "action" element seemed somewhat limited, but I presume the leaders were leaving it up to the participants to determine what they would do on their individual blogs. What if they had made the decision to do a collective action instead -- versus awareness raising?
Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize (yaaaaayyyyyyyy!!!) and now folks are asking if he will run for President. Screw that. He gets to be a beloved elder statesman whose legacy will based on both what he did for the planet and the fantasy of what he COULD HAVE done for this country.
Pretty Pictures.Flickrvision is like Twittervision (also from David Troy) except that, instead of inane comments that say absolutely nothing about what people who have too much time on their hands are doing, photos pop up. Still not as hot as the Flickr Related Tag Browser -- which is desperately in need of a better name.
Caught on Film. It's like Alberto Gonzales getting pissed at the Democrats for posting CSPAN videos of him testifying in front of Congress on YouTube. Except that Gonzales is the Croatian Interior Minister and the Democrats are the primary opposition party in Croatia. Read Boing Boing. Mrak will explain everything.
Truth is More Convenient. Mashable lists 10 social environmental sites, some of which have been listed here before. At least a couple of the sites are walking the talk and hosted on servers that are powered by renewable energy. Green is everywhere, folks.
I Meant to Do That. Andrea Learned posts — at Marketing Profs Daily — about new research from Packaged Facts about what it means to be single in 2007. We're older than you think and, yes, some of us actually choose to be this way. And, oh yeah, marketers might want to think about the fact that we have more money to spend than our younger singles and our married and parenting peers.
Fancy Name for Democracy. Business Week has launched a new blog — Next — about trends in innovation. One of the bloggers, Jessi Hempel, is looking for ideas from the crowd, coincidentally, on crowdsourcing. He wants to know which web sites are using crowdsourcing strategies in the most "promising" way. Help him out.
Come All Ye Faithful. MSNBC reported this past week on the new trend of religious social networks, including Xianz (Christian), Shmooze (Jewish) and Naseeb (Muslim).
Small Favors. Marketing Vox reports that China is not going to require bloggers to register with the government. A victory for free speech!
Not So Much. GM's Vice Chairman, Bob Lutz, wants to assure you that, no, he is not bored with blogging. He just has a day job, folks.
Everyone Loves MySpace. Facebook is growing faster these days, but MySpace still rules the roost, with nearly 80 percent of visits to social networks being to MySpace. It's also responsible for 25 percent of the traffic heading to other social networks (via Mashable).
Not YourSpace. Now MySpace has landed in China, bringing with it concern that it will provide an opportunity for censorship and human rights abuses. The admin functions on the site prevent the discussion of controversial topics and discussion forums on religion and politics -- popular in the U.S. -- do not exist (via Taipei Times).
I'm Engaged. David Armano at Logic + Emotion has yet another fabulous infographic, this one illustrating three types of Internet users: the Navigator, the Explorer and the Engaged Participant. Folks, I'm an Engaged Participant. And you?
When Your Care Enough. Someecards are for people with an inappropriate sense of humor. Like me. And Steve.
He's Not Nutty. FixingthePlanet is Ed Begley Jr.'s new sustainable living web site launched recently. Begley has a great deal of credibility in this space, as he's been walking the talk for a long time now. This isn't just someone trying to make a buck off of a new trend. In fact, last Sunday's New York Times Magazine had a great profile of Begley in which he acknowledges that 15 years ago, people thought he was "nutty."
Be Green/Earn Green. Green Mountain Energy, "the nation's leading provider of cleaner energy and carbon offset solutions," has launched Be Green Now to provide consumers with the opportunity to offset their "carbon footprint." Sure, the company's making a profit off of people's growing interest in sustainable living, but they've create an engaging site and they offer up solutions that don't necessarily include signing up as one of their customers.
Guy in a Cage.The Harvard Business Review thinks companies that are using "adversarial value-extracting strategies" to keep their customers need to rethink that plan. What's an adversarial value-extracting strategy? It's the equivalent of thinking that the guy you have in a cage next to your bed is sticking around because he loves you. Okay, that was a weird metaphor, but hopefully you get what I mean. Plus, you can check out what The Consumerist had to say about it, because that's where I found it.
She Tells the Boss What to Do. Debbie Weil is an expert on corporate blogging. Check out the About page on her blog, BlogWrite for CEOs, for a list of "Top CEO and Exec Blogs."
It's Good to Be Green. ZeroFootPrint is trying to help individuals, organizations and corporations to reduce their carbon footprint. They have a partnership with Toronto to work with the city to reduce its overall footprint and Toronto Mayor David Miller is challenging other cities to join him in the effort.
Treehugging. Hugg is Digg for environmentalists. Everything is going green. So, if you like something you find on ZeroFootPrint . . . So Del.icio.us. Web Worker Daily has 8 tips for how to get the most from del.icio.us (and we all know how much I LOVE del.icio.us). I'm adding the capability to add links to del.icio.us via Google Reader and to add to multiple del.icio.us accounts (I contribute to a few work accounts).
British Broads Rule the Internet. According to Nielsen/NetRatings, women Internet users outnumber men in the UK. Sites for parents dominate the top 10 sites visited by women, while social network sites and fashion sites are the most popular with younger women.
Catching up on good stuff since the beginning of the month . . .
Politics
Gisele Toueg at EchoDitto points out the need to really get into the mind of those you want to visit your site -- including those who are crap spellers -- when you are developing your list of search terms. Did you hear that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton?
Barack Obama is kicking some serious YouTube a** over on YouChoose '08. Or is the Obama-lovin' media that's racking up all those views? If only we could differentiate who's watching what.
Think Progress is maintaining an ongoing tally of what the presidential candidates are doing online via NetTrends '08. Let them know if they're missing anything.
The problem with advocacy groups using maps to demonstrate support for a cause is that it always looks entirely unimpressive. NRDC (Natural Resource Defense Council) has launched Beat the Heat to generate support for anti-global warming efforts, but we all really need to get better at finding a way to mobilize our supporters to take action and have an impact because this isn't as far as we can go.
Joshua is documenting political activism in Second Life and through his blog, A Better World in Second Life. Comes via Nedra at Spare Change.
Tools
Placeblogger is a great tool for hunting down local blogs. Considering the fact that I think most social media search tools suck, this is an enormous compliment.
Customer's Voice
Genevieve McCaw started Jet Blue Hostage after being delayed on a Jet Blue flight for 11 hours back on Valentine's Day. According to Steve Rubel at Micropersuasion, McCaw's blog got her some attention from the company, which led to a meeting with CEO David Neeleman. Rubel thinks it was a smart move and I'm in full agreement. We have been advising on the role of social media in crisis/issue management and I've been a huge cheerleader for getting the client out there to participate in the conversation and, if necessary, apologize. Not only has the relationship between the customer and the company changed, but the strength of search in defining brands has made sharing the client's side of the story imperative.
Research
According to Jupiter Research (via Media Post), people who make $100,000 or more spend 17 hours per week online, in contrast to the national average of 14 hours. They're spending more time than the average bear on conducting business (banking, stock purchases, etc.) and on doing work-related research. Interesting take away?
"If you're marketing to affluents, it should be about search advertising and giving people resources so they can find information online rather than banner ads and pop-up ads."
I like the interviews (do you?), but I still feel like I have been cheating and not writing much of my own stuff this week.
Time to catch up on del.icio.us. Digital Influence
eMarketer released research this past week on global Internet penetration. China is gaining fast on the U.S. in terms of numbers, but still well behind in terms of percentages. I'd be interested in seeing a comparable chart on mobile penetration (does anyone want to point me in the direction?) considering the fact that North America, Europe and Asia dominate and Africa is nowhere to be seen (falling into the "rest of the world" category).
We Media and Zogby teamed up to release a poll this past week on the rise of citizen journalism. According to the poll, the majority of Americans are dissatisfied with the current state of mainstream media and believe that the Internet is having a positive impact on journalism overall. The greatest level of dissatisfaction is among older Americans and conservatives.
Digital Advocacy
Global Cool is trying to make taking a stand against global warming cool -- as if Al Gore isn't doing just fine on his own. I like the Be Cool page because I'm a fan of making it simple for people to do the right thing. But the site might benefit from a little less cool (aka vapid celebrity interviews) and little more confidence in our ability to grasp that, if we don't get our act together, the sh*t is going to hit the fan.
The Kids
I was putting together research recently on the online habits among communities of color and was appalled by the lack of material out there on Asian Americans. (If you know of any good stuff, please share.) Anastasia at YPulse covers some new focus group research from SnapDragon which, while not quantitative and not focused on Internet use, still helps to begin to fill the void. My only question is, who doesn't like Lite FM?
Via threebillion, The Korea Heraldsays that 1/3 of young people in Korea self-identify as Internet addicts. "Withdrawal symptoms" include blowing off school to spend time online and fighting with parents. Drama.
2008 Election
Via my friends over at EchoDitto, Personal Democracy Forum has launched techPresident to cover how the presidential candidates are using the Internet to make their way to the White House. The easy to read charts about who's doing what and where are great -- particularly because they make it clear that Dems are making better use of social media. By the way, I want to go to the PDF conference in May . . .
John Bell is still in Asia and has been posting throughout his trip if you want to check out his posts at Digital Influence Mapping Projector John Bell's Other Blog, although he reports today that random acts of Chinese censorship are preventing him from posting to the latter of the two (the first is TypePad and the second is Vox -- you explain the logic). I particularly liked his post from yesterday about the inadequacy of tools being used to assess influence among bloggers in Asia, in part because of my frustration with the open source tools available here in the U.S.
I'm posting a picture of JB from his trip that I swiped from his blog because I miss him. Plus, he's got the Great Wall behind him.
Last Monday, The New York Times had a profile of "China's hottest Internet company" and its president, Pony Ma. The company is making the government nervous because, with its access to 100 million users, they have the capacity to start a political or economic revolution.
Elsewhere in Asia, on Thursday the BBC had a piece about young people in India using the Internet for worship.
Web Metrics
Movers 2.0 tracks the popularity of Web 2.0 sites, using Alexa rankings. The Compete snapshot shouldn't be so many layers down, nor should the blog search, but I'm still a fan of the one stop shop style.
Politics
With his announcement yesterday that he was officially joining the race, Barack Obama ("Barry" is what the Post says he went by back in high school) also launched his campaign web site. It looks like it has most of the features featured on Edwards' site, with a better presentation (less chaotic). I don't know why, but I actually feel a little depressed that the use of social media has become so run of the mill. I mean, you can use the toys, but do you know the rules of the game? Pete Cashmore at Mashable says the folks at the campaign might, in fact, not know. The opportunity to mark your own territory -- for self expression -- just aren't there. "In other words," says Cashmore, "it's Obama's space, not yours."
From the February 19 issue of Newsweek, Jonathan Darman wonders if the real John Edwards has finally stood up.
Research
Jupiter says that 22 percent of teens are watching online video once a week or more. And these kids are more active online overall -- and more socially influential.
comScore breaks the generations down according to their views on cell phones. It's official. I'm old. Give me a phone that rings and takes messages and leave me alone.
Digital Advocacy
Change.org launched on Wednesday as a social network for "social causes". Global warming is the most popular "change" people want to see right now (as it is for Richard Branson) although Amnesty International is the most popular nonprofit, demonstrating how important good branding is. As with all social networks, Change.org will be judged by who joins up and, without a critical mass just yet, that's hard to determine.
Is Memory Miner "a key transformative moment in the evolution of photography" or just really f*cking cool? (Thanks to Josh Spear for giving me something new to drool over.)
Instant messaging provides about as much appeal to me as chewing tinfoil -- but Meebo makes it easier for those people who apparently have an urge to be instantly accessible to their friends, family, co-workers and ladies who want to show you a good time.
Online Education Database has a post from this past Tuesday about the Top 25 Web 2.0 search engines. I don't really know what I am going to use it for, but retrievr, which allows you to search by "sketch" or uploaded image, could be hours of fun. This is one of the results from me using that picture of John from up there.
John Bell in a remake of "Big".
Other Stuff
I don't need your stinkin' money, but these people do. Take a gamble on folks with ideas and no credit via Prosper.
Mommy bloggers are bringing down Matt and Meredith's and Diane's numbers.
You'd think there was recently a major sporting event or something, with all of this sports coverage around here -- and elsewhere. In case you're wondering, the Center for Media Research runs down the top sports web sites for January, with (shocker) ESPN coming out on top. By the way, I watched theBeauty and the Geek marathon last night because my Sunday night shows weren't on (60 Minutes, Desperate Housewivesand Brothers and Sisters.)
901am -- one of my new favorite blogs -- might just be as frustrated with Technorati as I am. Their beef is that the blog search engine severely underrepresents MySpace blogs, currently tracking less than 5 percent of them.
I signed up for Doxory after seeing it on Fimoculous. I am prepared to hand my life decisions over to the masses.
Fimoculous also pointed me in the direction of Deep Linking, which has now been added to my Google Reader. Sean Flannagan is the blogger behind Deep Linking and, in addition to liking his banner, his gig as the associate web director of the 92nd Street Y makes me think he might have good taste as well. We'll see. Fimoculous linked to him because Sean compiled a list of "bookish social networks," and we know I love social networks. And books. And boys who like books. And lists. And boys. I really like boys (despite what you have been led to believe).
And because everything sucks more when you're poor, the new UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon points out that, despite the fact that they didn't contribute to it, the world's poor will be the most dramatically impacted by global warming. Let's get our act together, folks.
Last Friday, I grabbed a copy of Foreign Policy to read on the 5:30 shuttle back to DC from NY and came across a sidebar with a list of web sites dedicated to climate change: marklynas.org (which is "about to be a solar-powered website thanks to ecologicalhosting.com), Real Climate, Grist (which obviously addresses a serious issue, but still manages to have a sense of humor) and Climate Wire (a climate change newswire).
iJigg is Digg for musicians. Post your stuff and let the masses tell the world what they think.
Matt Stoller at MyDD is gaga for North Carolina political bloggers and for the fact that the Democratic Party in the state is so damn blogger-friendly. As far as he is concerned, they get it. They know "it's not just another broadcast medium, it's a public space for activists to congregate and do the work of politics. It's not the only place for that to happen, but it's the most public, visible and open place." The post includes links to the political bloggers with whom he had the chance to meet on a recent trip to Raleigh.
According to CNN, cell phones are a "basic means of communication" in the developing world. They're driving economic growth and providing an invaluable tool to entrepreneurs.
I heard about Takkle, a social network for high school sports, from the guys at The Happy Corp.
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