mahatma gandhi never looked cuter

"School children dressed as Mahatma Gandhi take part in a cultural programme on the eve of Gandhi's 140th birth anniversary, in the central Indian city of Bhopal October 1, 2009."

This picture makes me smile.

The kid, second from the left, looks like he may not embrace non-violence as much as the man he honors would have liked.

geek for machines

Here are some of the photos I took while on my recent trip to Amsterdam.

If you haven't been to Amsterdam before, the most remarkable thing about the city are all the bikes. (Forget the pot smoking and prostitutes; what's so remarkable about that?)

These bikes were those locked up on the south side of the city's central train station.

I'm a geek for machines.

I have a horrible sense of direction, so I started using the canals to help me to figure out where I was on the map. Apparently this is better for me than a GPS screaming "YOU ARE HERE!!!" in my hand.

When I took this photo, I was thinking about how green the water looked, even against (or because of) the green of the boat.

I should have gotten closer, because what caught my eye were the letters on the sides of the buildings on the other side of the bikes.

As I walked away, I also wanted to take photos of the guys in the coffee shop on the left side of the frame, but I am too shy to take photos of strangers. You know what they sell in coffee shops, right? Well, this one wasn't filled with white guys with dreadlocks and stupid looks on their faces who look like they have been wandering ever since Phish stopped touring. These guys were the old guys you see hanging out at the local barber shop in Queens.

Lines and corners and big beautiful windows. I coveted those apartments with floor level windows overlooking the canals.

There were some buildings that jutted forward, either because their foundations had shifted or because of the shifting of the buildings around them. Or, likely, both.

It's like a movie set, isn't it?

My pictures are about shapes and textures and lines. I would love to take photos of the textures and lines of people's faces, but I tend to travel alone (primarily for business) and, like I said, I'm too shy to take photos of strangers. I need to invest in a good telephoto lens so I can do it without them seeing me.

Okay, that sounded creepy.

shop

del.icio.us tags: tools

Kurt at Random Knowledge has pulled together an amazing list of sites to check out when you're hunting down images (like when you're trying to make a Power Point less lame). I head to Flickr myself, so I'm grateful to have more options.

Cause Caller helps to organize callers to petition policy makers or others. However, I'm not sure what they do with the phone numbers you give them. There's nothing in the FAQ to answer that question.

wonder of me x 100

Kristen knows she can get me to post when she tags me on a meme, although this time around she acknowledged that she might be pushing my aversion to "wonder of me" posts a bit too far.

Boy, did she ever.

I started this one the other night and needed to abandon it because it was just too gross. And, well, it's still pretty gross.

100 Amazing Things I've Already Done

This list is meant to be in response to those lists that are often generated about the things you want to do before you die to justify your time on the planet; the kind of list that will inevitably make you feel like sh*t as you look at your watch and realize that time is ticking and the top of Mount Everest isn't getting any closer to sea level.

So, yeah, this is a list of 100 thing that I have already done. Some are more impressive than others, some are about what has shaped me as a person, but all are things that I can pull out as story fodder ("Did I ever tell you about that time . . . ?"). There is a bit of starf*cking going on in here, so excuse me.

Enjoy. I tag everyone who feels the need for a little self affirmation. You can write the list in your notebook if you feel like it.

I have . . .

1. Surfed in Oregon
2. Won the gold medal in the National Latin Exam
3. Climbed the Acropolis in four-inch red heels
4. Salsa danced with Joan Baez and Desmond Tutu — at the same time
5. Been given ride home by Jackson Browne — from his concert
   
6. Talked to Maura Tierney in the bathroom at a movie premiere
7. Earned my master degree from Harvard
8. Driven cross-country — three times
9. Run Rock the Vote
10. Published a zine
11. Published a blog — for more than three years
12. Been a Salzburg Seminar faculty member
13. Traveled to South Africa – twice
14. Visited Nelson Mandela’s cell on Robben Island
15. Dipped my toes in the Indian Ocean
16. Met Al Gore
17. Met Ted Kennedy
18. Taken a class from Michael Ignatieff
19. Done an independent study with Samantha Power
20. Developed the strategy for the first-ever Cabinet member blog
21. Kissed a Heartbreaker
22. Met two members of Nirvana — and kissed one of them
23. Seen a woman take her clothes off in front of the presidential palace in Prague
24. Maintained a friendship with Chris for 20 years
25. Survived and overcome
26. Been a guest on Loveline
    
27. Avoided financial ruin after a medical emergency that occurred when I did not have insurance
28. Celebrated New Year’s Eve in Edinburgh
29. Moved to London with no job and no place to live when I was 24
30. Visited the Lower 9th Ward post-Katrina
31. Written and read an original essay on NPR
32. Walked through Sherwood Forest
33. Trained young political leaders in Cambodia
34. Sat in a green room with Ted Nugent
35. Appeared on CNN as a regular political commentator
36. Contributed to fighting the global health crisis
37. Created a career out of doing “good”
38. Visited Bonnie Raitt back stage
39. Seen Badlands in a movie theater
40. Managed to avoid ever going bowling
41. Dropped out of college for a year and a half — and gone back to school
42. Moved to San Francisco (from Connecticut) on a Greyhound bus when I was 20
43. Met Bill Clinton
44. Trained youth organizers in Mexico
45. Been on the merry-go-round near the Eiffel Tower
46. Been John Hughes’ pen pal
47. Stayed in David O. Russell's guest room
    
48. Gone from growing up on AFDC/welfare to now earning more than xx percent of the population (too tacky to actually write)
49. Been offered a job by Mary Robinson
50. Spoken at my grandmother’s funeral
51. Had an essay published by the Carnegie Corporation of New York
52. Attended a presidential debate
53. Met Bono
54. Met — and been quoted by in a speech by — Sting
55. Seen Wilco in concert (at least) 10 times
56. Climbed the Wicklow mountains in Ireland
57. Gone on a road trip to the Clinton Library
58. Talked on the phone with Katherine Hepburn
59. Shaken hands with John Edwards
60. Stood outside the Cambridge City Hall at 12:01 am on May 17, 2004 to congratulate the first-ever same sex couples to be married in Massachusetts
61. Voted in every local and national election since I turned 18
62. Attended the International AIDS Conference — in Barcelona and in Toronto
63. Maintained a database of everyone I have met for 10 years
64. Watched Taylor give birth to Victoria
65. Called John McCain a “wuss” on CNN
66. Received flowers from Martin Sheen
67. Managed to convince foundations and companies to give projects I am working on tens of millions of dollars
68. Been linked to by Jeff Jarvis
69. Had one of my ads used as set dressing (Zoey's dorm room) on The West Wing
70. Had another one of my ads used as an example of ad agency star Helen Hunt’s work in What Women Want
71. Overcome my fear of cockroaches
72. Had an essay published in How to Get Stupid White Men out of Office
73. Seen Edward Norton and Catherine Keener off-Broadway
74. Seen John C. Reilly and Philip Seymour Hoffman on Broadway
75. Gone to an Ozzy Osborne concert — minus adult supervision — when I was 10
76. Seen Nation of Ulysses in concert
    
77. Seen Circus Lupus in concert
78. Seen Lungfish in concert
79. Seen Beat Happening in concert
80. Advised three presidential campaigns on young voter outreach
81. Managed to have the most perfectly 80’s iconic first make out session ever: behind the Space Invaders game; at the roller skating rink; wearing sneaker skates, designer jeans, a velour Izod pullover and a turtleneck with a whale on the collar; while Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” played in the background
82. Interviewed Heather Armstrong and Robert Scoble
83. Saw Jawbox in concert in London
    
84. Worked on a diversity project that was cited by President Clinton's Initiative on Race as a “Promising Practice”
85. Had Carrie Fisher/Princess Leia ask me who she needed to f*ck to get into the VIP section
86. Exchanged emails with Pierre Omidyar
87. Met Walter Mondale
88. Gone to a rave in Southampton, England
89. Visited Angkor Wat
90. Shared "guest" status with Billy Baldwin on an ABCNews.com web chat
91. Served as an adviser on UNAIDS project
92. Attended four of five True False Film Festivals
93. Become a connoisseur of single malt scotch
    
94. Eaten dinner at a table next to Donald Rumsfeld
95. Served as a BBC political commentator on that fateful 2000 election eve
96. Worked on a documentary film project with Frances Reid
97. Organized a mayoral debate for young people in Kansas City
98. Driven the 101 from Los Angeles to San Francisco
99. Stayed at the oldest hotel in Savannah, Georgia
100. Attended one of two Dismemberment Plan reunion shows
     

del.icio.us tags: cool (?) stuff

You Think Big of Yourself, Don't Ya? — Hillary sent me a link and Tony asked me what I thought of it. Big Think? I'm a sucker for smart people (Really. Me + remote small island + smart people = good.). Nevertheless, there's something rather antithetical to everything social media stands for when a site says, on its "about" page, "The Web has no shortage of self-anointed experts, and the Expert Network is our way of reclaiming a little nook of cyberspace where depth of knowledge and expertise still reign."

I DO like the fact that they're using the Errol Morris "technique" (Is it the actual Interrotron?), although no one comes across as quite so simultaneously intimidating and sad as Robert McNamara in The Fog of War.

What do YOU think?

Home Sweet Home — I have always been too obsessive compulsive -- and, alas, not punque roque enough (as Alejandro once said -- with love) -- to adopt the aesthetic, but the homes in Punk House: Interiors in Anarchy are pretty damn familiar to me (I can smell the odor of non-leather footwear and tempeh stir fry wafting through the air . . .) and, therefore, like home after all.

The Beat Goes On — 100 people, ages 1 to 100, playing the drums. Any further explanation required? (via the Portable Film Festival)

del.icio.us tags 12.23.07

The British Royal Family has launched their own YouTube channel. Tune in on Christmas Day for the Queen's annual Christmas broadcast. In the meantime, the thrilling (and three part) A Day in the Life of the Prince of Wales is riveting.

The League of Conservation Voters thinks that the Sunday morning news show hosts are neglecting the climate change issue when interviewing the presidential candidates. Head over to What Are They Waiting For? if you think 3 of 2275 questions just isn't enough. Sign the petition. Tell a friend about the site. Get more information. Donate. Keep the media accountable.


Finally, the Pew Internet and American Life Project released their latest report on teens and their use of social media. Lots of good data (as always), but few surprises. The number of teens who are online and creating content is on the rise. Social network use is on the rise, as is blogging, with the latter particularly on the rise among teens from lower income and single parent families. Teens are posting more photos and video than adult internet users. And, whatever you may think, teens who are heavy Internet users are also active offline. And those who are most plugged in are the most communicative and social of all.

tales from the road

I think I am heading out of New Orleans tomorrow, but today I am going to venture to the French Quarter in the afternoon (after lunch with Chris and a phone call for the new gig) and then tomorrow morning I am heading to the Lower 9th Ward to see the Pink Project.

Then I hit the trail. Savannah, GA is my next destination. I'll probably get there some time on Friday and I just booked a room for a couple of nights at The Marshall House, which was apparently featured on the Travel Channel's Great Hotels. I got a balcony room and apparently it will be in the 70's over the weekend, so I'm looking forward to it.

Samantha Brown from the Travel Channel gets the veranda at The Marshall Hotel ready for me.

So, before I leave New Orleans (okay, I still have more than 24 hours), let me tell you about some of the places where I have eaten or gone shopping while I've been here.

On Saturday night, Chris and I went to Jacques-Imo's Cafe and shared shrimp and alligator sausage cheesecake, fried green tomatos and fried grits. I had the Carpter Bagger Steak and Chris had the Blackened Redfish . . . and then we died of a coronary on the way to the car. Well, not quite, but we barely touched our entrees we were so full . . . All of it was tasty and RICH and hanging out in the bar for an hour before being seated was less of a drag than it has ever been. Of course, it had to do with being there with Chris, but the Mark Hoppus/Travis Morrison love child bartender and festive mood made the time pass quickly.

On Sunday night, we went to Juan's Flying Burrito. I had a pretty disappointing margarita (did not taste any tequila) and, despite the fact that Chris was crushing on the waitress, the service was insanely slow. But the Flying Enchiladas ("steak, chicken and shrimp grilled together, then stuffed inside our cheese enchiladas served with all three sauces, topped with sour cream and guacamole") was tasty and the servings weren't huge, so I left sated, not stuffed.

On Monday, as I reported before, I spent the day at rue de la course and had a pretty unremarkable sandwich that I won't bore you with. Drink coffee and use their wifi. Don't order a sandwich. The setting is beautiful and low key and there are only a few annoying hippie/punk hybrids who make you want to cut yourself.

Monday night I ate alone at Bistro Italia because Chris started his bar class. I drank too much Pinot Noir, had the Gorgonzola Balsamic Salad (the pistachios were a nice touch, but I always forget how much I hate sun dried tomatos) and the Pesto Pasta ("penne pasta sauteed with mushrooms, garlic and basil, tossed in an alfredo and pesto sauce atop marinara"). I ate at the bar and was kept company by Matt (or Mark?), the bartender, who was trying to come up with a play list of mellow music and to whom I introduced Boz Scaggs (not literally, but in song.)

Yesterday, I ate one meal, which often happens when I am on the road because I am either being lazy or unadventurous. But it was a good meal -- with great and charming service from my Australian waitress -- at Slim Goodies Diner. (I don't know, I really like waitresses that use terms of endearment. I'm a sucker for that sh*t.) I chose the Slimcherros, their signature version of Huevos Rancheros. Sure, it's hard to screw up beans, cheese, tortillas and eggs (and salsa and avocado and sour cream) but it was yummy and, like Juan's, the serving size was small enough that it hit the spot just right.

(You know how they tell you to keep a journal of what you eat when you are going on a diet? Yeah, reading this list of my meals over the past few days makes me want to go on a 30 day fast; or at least put down the sour cream and walk away slowly.)

I showed you my new shoes (which I got at Giggle Berries, which sounds too much like dingle berries for me). Yesterday I bought a new jacket at Hemline, but I haven't taken a photo of it (and I'm not sure I will).

These are from Slim Goodies. I need to become more comfortable taking pictures of people I don't know. Like the friendly Australian waitress.

del.icio.us tags 12.02.07

Lots of good advice that you probably won't follow. A little bit of geek porn in the form of campaign promises. An experiment that needs some attention. Stories that need to be told. Great pictures, great video, great shopping and a bag that I want to buy.

Search - Aaron and Giovanna Wall published "The Blogger's Guide to Search Engine Optimization." Great stuff. I'm not doing any of it. I don't do most things that I should do. It's a problem.

Viral Video - Kevin Nalts shares his "Ten Lessons for Marketers Using Viral Videos." The list essentially hammers home the point that it's basically a crap shoot when you are trying to figure out what is going to capture consumers' attention and, even then, you still may not manage to actually turn those eyeballs into sales.

Photos - Square America is a collection of vintage snapshots, all of which tell a great story, even if you need to fill in the blanks. The photos remind me of a the "American Snapshot" show I saw recently at the National Gallery. Great stuff. Don't use the photos without an attribute. Give this guy credit (I think his name is Martin Johnson) for what he has put together.

I took this picture outside the Gallery when I went to see the American Snapshot show.

But I like this picture that I took at the National Archives better.

More Photos - Polanoid is working on building the largest collection of Polaroid photos on the planet. Send your pictures!

Storytelling - Polanoid and Square America are telling stories about everyday people, as is StoryCorps. I recently heard the nonprofit's founder, Dave Isay, on NPR talking about the publication of the StoryCorps book with a couple of the project's participants and cried like a baby. I'm a sucker for listening to people tell their stories, both because of the artistry of a good tale and the empowerment of believing that your story is worth being told. Don't tell anyone, but I think a few of you might be getting the StoryCorps book for Hanukkah or Christmas.

Content - WGBH (Boston's public television station and home of Sesame Street) has opened its vaults, providing users with "online access to unique and historically important content," through Open Vault. I wish the search tool was a little more revealing as far as what was possible. It is a great site when you know what you are looking for, but sometimes it's just fun to browse, and it's not friendly to browsers.

The Media - Beat Blogging is an experiment. Thirteen news organizations, along with NewAssignment.net, are trying to understand how journalists can better use social networks to improve beat reporting. There have been no posts since November 20, so the first lesson they should learn is that consistent content is the way to maintain people's attention and engage them in your efforts. Hello, are you out there?

Politics - Barack Obama's campaign has released their "technology and innovation plan." Jon Stokes at Ars Technica doesn't think the document is close to perfect, but he's still pleased that Obama's campaign appears to be paying attention to what the technology geeks are saying, and that's a huge step forward from conversation about clogged tubes and "the Google."

Shopping - If you don't hear from me for a while, I'm probably sitting in my own filth in my apartment, buying things from Supermarket, where they sell fabulous stuff (clothes, bags, household stuff, and paper products) brought to you straight from the designer. Add the site to my list of reasons why the Internet is a fabulous thing.

More Shopping - I want a Carga bag.

status? grumpier than sh*t

(from dao hodac on flickr)

• My neck and back hurt. Still. Since Friday morning. The pain was seemingly brought on by an annoying email from Steve. I grimaced. I felt pain.

• If one more person tells me what to do about my neck pain, I will stab them. I know that it comes from a good place, but I hate things that come from good places, particularly when I hurt. Shut up. No. Seriously. Shut up.
  

• I am bored with my blog feeds. I added a new one recently that I like -- Ladies and Gentlemen We are Sitting Here Listening to this Recording -- but, in general, I am bored to tears.

• I have not felt compelled to blog. This blog post is not a good sign that this stage is coming to an end anytime soon.

• I made the mistake of actually completing a profile on Facebook this morning after reading another boring blog post about how we all need to invest time in our online profile/brand.

• Shut up.

• I wanted to go see Interview with Steve Buscemi and Sienna Miller (actually, I wanted to go with my friend Alyson, but Mr. Buscemi and Ms. Miller are in the film), but then I read in the Post that it sucked and it made me grumpy because it looked smart and kinda sexy.

• On Friday at work we did an exercise in which we had to name something that we are a fan of and I said Wayne Coyne because he seems to be compelled to do what he does by the joy that it brings to him. (Have you seen Fearless Freaks? If you have, you know what I mean.) I also read, on Friday, a post from Geno at Brains on Fire, about the evolution of fandom and, while I thought it was a great in the same way I love Dave Armano's stuff (simple illustration of a seemingly simple idea that actually helps to pull out its complexities), I felt like a bad fan because I just don't think I have gone through each stage on behalf of Wayne. I don't think that was Geno's intention, but I am grumpy and even if Geno had come to my house with a bouquet of flowers and a t-shirt that read "Wayne Coyne's Biggest Fan," I am still likely to have had this response.

• YES, I recognize the irony in the fact that I admire Wayne because of the fact that he is motivated by his pursuit of joy.

• Shut up.
  

• My mother left a phone message asking me to call her and I wonder if she really thinks that saying that she REALLY wants to talk to me compels me to call her faster. Oh, REALLY?

del.icio.us tags 07.08.07

The Myth of the MySpace Generation - Research from Synovate suggests that young people (18-24) in Europe are not all that "techno-savvy" after all: 76 percent have never used MySpace, 90 percent have never blogged, 94 percent have never downloaded a ring tone for their cell phone.

But There's Hope - Facebook use is on the rise -- 89 percent in the past year -- and the new users are in the 12-17 and the 25-34 year old age group. So says ComScore, via TechCrunch.

Doing the Right Thing - Fast Company reported on the recent Geneva gathering for the UN Global Compact, including the release of three new studies that all suggest that corporate social responsibility is good for the bottom line. This may repulse those of you who think we should all do good because it's the right thing to do have my sympathy. I wish the world was ruled by justice, but, alas, it isn't. By the way, my former advisor at the Kennedy School, John Ruggie, designed and oversaw the Global Compact as Assistant Secretary General and chief adviser to former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan for strategic planning.

A Higher Power - Speaking of the good ol' days in Cambridge, I found this Men's Vogue article about another one of my Kennedy School profs, Samantha Power via sk*rt (a site that I mentioned in passing recently, but which I have grown to love). I'd like to say that I would like to be Power when I grow up, but I think it's too late. I enjoyed the article, but I am feeling devastatingly mediocre right about now -- and it's not because she gets to play basketball with George Clooney, I assure you.

Google (Rules the) Earth - Mashable documents Google's efforts -- some successful, some not so successful -- to take over the world (or the market) for search, advertising, video, blogging, mobile, start pages, communications, social networking, photo sharing and office suites.

del.icio.us tags 05.25.07

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.

Whoever is Reading This. Remember those notes that your roommate posted on the refrigerator door, asking you not to eat their food, which they have now labeled with masking tape and a Sharpie? Yeah, there are more like it on the Passive Aggressive Notes from Roommates, Neighbors, Co-Workers and Strangers blog. Good stuff.

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.

del.icio.us tags 04.08.07

I took the day off on Friday and spent most of the three day weekend trying to catch up on life: taxes, laundry, newspapers, Target runs -- and not a lick of work.

It was punctuated by the best hour and a half I've spent in a long time, walking through the Sackler Gallery with an old friend: the most rewarding "catching up" I did all weekend.

In the spirit of catching up, here are way too many del.icio.us tags and an empty promise to try to stay on top of things around here.

Twitter Will Save the World - Andy Carvin wants to put Twitter to good use and is thinking creatively about new features that could take the service from "what am I doing right now" to "what do I need right now to save someone's life".

Stop Your Whining - The folks at Business Week shouldn't be so terrified of the venomous mobs attacking brands left and right. Even the folks at Chevy managed to make it out alive, guys. In fact, despite your suggestion otherwise, opening up their brand to be "attacked" was a big success for Chevy. The campaign micro site brought in nearly 650,000 visitors who spent an average of nine minutes on the site. Two-thirds went on to visit Chevy.com, driving more traffic to the site than Google and Yahoo! during that same period. And, yes, sales increased.

Pay Attention - I sent John a del.icio.us link to Compete's announcement of their new measurement for engagement, which they call "Attention". John got around to posting about it before I did because he has less work to do than I do ("I'm sorry too, Dmitri . . . I'm very sorry . . . Alright, you're sorrier than I am, but I am sorry as well . . . I am as sorry as you are, Dmitri!"). Good stuff from John, who thinks the measurement for engagement needs to go further and gives his recommendations for what needs to be measured.

Have Fun, Wonder Why - I spent an insane amount of time creating something that looked like a book cover circa 1983 (except that my teen idol was Jeff Tweedy) after discovering ScrapBlog. But, in the end, I didn't know what the h*ll to do with it. It's easy and fun and has loads of features. If you figure out how I can use it, tell me.

The State of Things - Dave Sifry posted on the State of the Web on Thursday, expanding on his regular State of the Blogosphere feature (can we retire that term once and for all?). It's interesting to see Sifry assert, in his explanation of the expansion, that Technorati is not only the "leading blog search engine*," (until someone else actually manages to do it right, without excluding content and using a more complex measurement of authority) it is also "the main aggregation point for all forms of social media on the Web". (Well, la-di-f*cking-da.)

What's new? Here's what perked up my ears/eyes:

• We're now at 70 million blogs.
  
• Spam blogs continue to be a pain in the ass that make me hope that they will be the only reading material in h*ll for those who have created them.
  
• The number of blogs ranked in the Top 100 most popular sites has grown from 12 to 22 in the past quarter and users are becoming less likely to distinguish between the two.
  
• Farsi is now in the 10 of blogging languages.

*Okay, okay, Compete backs up Sify's claim that Technorati is the leading blog search engine. But there has to be something better out there!

Sorting out South African Blogs - Amatomu, from South Africa's Mail and Guardian, is the go-to blog search engine if you're looking for content from South Africa. Fascinating stuff, as they're tracking trends. I'd be interested to know a little bit more about the people behind the blogs.

Flickr Fun - FlickrSpy tracks photos as they are uploaded, which is cool, but also occasionally a less than flattering portrait of user-generated content. I'm not quite as in love as I am with Flickr Related Tag Browser, but it's still fabulous -- just don't dawdle if you want to click on a photo, it'll be gone in a blink of an eye.

Searching in China - Read/Write Web says that 87 percent of the 105 million Internet users in China use search (more than 91 million people) and the majority of them are using Baidu, with Google coming in second and making "significant progress" in the past couple of years.

even better than psychotropics

I don't think I can contain my joy. My geeky joy.

The Flickr Related Tag Browser is pure ecstasy. (Thank you, Josh Spear.)

Type in your tag, watch your photos (click on them to enlarge or to visit the Flickr page).

Need more ecstasy?

Click on the related tags around the photo.

Endless hours of fun.

del.icio.us tags 03.25.07

Google Blog Rank — Muhammad Saleem outlined the top 10 things that are impacting your blog's ranking on Google Blog Search, improving 901am's ranking in the process. (Nothing like a top 10 list about how to improve your status to suck in hordes of bloggers.)

Search in Ireland — I had the pleasure of conducting a training with my colleagues from some of the agency's European offices, including our Dublin office. I'll send along this link from Mashable to tell them something they already know: the social network Bebo is now the number one site in the country, with 31 million users. (And now for my dumb American moment, I didn't know 31 million people lived in Ireland.)

Shorpy's Pictures — Shorpy was a young coal miner living in Alabama in 1910 and, today, he is the namesake for a photo blog dedicated to depicting life 100 years ago. The photos are amazing, so I've added the blog to my blog roll and the RSS feed to my Google Reader.

Shorpy and his pals.

Niche Social Networks — I have been saying this to anyone who will listen: the trend is toward smaller, niche social networks and this is going to be the most effective way for marketers, politicians and advocacy groups to reach the people they want to reach in a deep and meaningful way (yes, ENGAGE them). Communispace has a self interest in saying so, but their research apparently backs them up.

The Big Guys (Social Networks) — Despite the need to pay attention to the niche networks, SmokeDelux.com lists the social networks that you need to be able to name drop at your next geek cocktail party

Viral Video — The Viral Video Chart tracks "today's top 20 viral videos": those videos that have that magic ingredient that leads them to be remarkable enough to live beyond YouTube.

Getting Attention — Andre recently shared a link to AttentionMeter (which, I agree with him, is a bad name), which enables you to compare traffic stats listed on Alexa, Compete and Quantcast (we are a distrustful lot). It looks like, despite all the hullabaloo about Twitter, it's hardly in the position to overcome MySpace any time soon.