Amid the Noise and Haste

New Function for Sifting Through the Noise and Haste

I just installed a nice little tool on this site called Snap Shots that enhances links with visual previews of the destination site, interactive excerpts of Wikipedia articles, MySpace profiles, IMDb profiles and Amazon products, display inline videos, RSS, MP3s, photos, stock charts and more.

Sometimes Snap Shots bring you the information you need, without your having to leave the site, while other times it lets you "look ahead," before deciding if you want to follow a link or not.

Should you decide this is not for you, just click the Options icon in the upper right corner of the Snap Shot and opt-out.

Bloggers and the Law - What you Should Know

If you blog, like I do, then you should be aware of certain laws about blogging.  For instance, do you disclose whether or not a post is a paid post?  Well, by way of the ALM Research Blog we get a post from Aviva Directory which helps answer this question and more with a comprehensive list providing simple and practical information.

Wikis in Plain English

The folks over at Common Craft have done it again.  I wrote a little while back about their video for RSS in plain English.  Now, they have created a new video to explain wikis.  Here it is:

Click To Play

In their own words, they created this video "because wiki web sites are easy to use, but hard to describe."

User Generated Content and the C Generation

I was reading E-Content's latest issue (the paper version! I still like to read on the train to work) and there was an interesting article entitled "Meet the C Generation.  Creatively Connecting Through Content," by Jessica Dye (subscription only).  Who is the Generation C?  A quick description from the author:

Generation C is the "You" in YouTube, the "My" in MySpace, and the "i" in iPod. They're you (and me), and they're shaking up the way people make, think about, and use digital content. Get to know them, and get to know how to connect with their content expectations.

So how is Generation C changing the face of the internet?  They are generating content at lightning speed: uploading photos and music, blogging, joining social networks and more.  The article goes on to delve into the business side of the sites where Generation C is hanging out - advertising.  How does a company target their ads to Generation C?

The latest trend is letting Generation C contribute to the creation of the ads.  Who saw the Super Bowl ads for the NFL, or all of the hype leading up to it?  This method could be win-win for ad agencies creating buzz about the ads as well as with the ads.  According to Jessica, other companies are hopping on the bandwagon with products like Doritos, Snickers, and Alka-Seltzer.  The next step in this evolution is that companies are creating "content-based networks around their products." 

"The web is a great place for users and creators to come together and find a common vision," states Jessica.  I agree.  And I find it interesting watching the developments unfold.

Weekend Relaxing - Social Wine

Michael Duffy of The Winery Web Site Report introduces us to Cork'd, a "service for reviewing, sharing and discovering wine."  Have you tried a wine recently and wanted to share it with the world?  Or, are you looking for suggestions for a wine for an upcoming dinner?  Check out Cork'd to see what others have to say, recommend, and more.  You can also keep a journal of your favorite wines to share with your community.

Social Bookmarking to Generate Traffic for Your Blog

There is a great 3-article series on Bloggst, a community for bloggers, about using social bookmarking to generate traffic for your blog published by Lars-Christian.  Here are the links to the each part:

1. Part 1: Social Bookmarking as a Traffic Source - Part 1: Digg
2. Part 2: Social Bookmarking as a Traffic Source - Part 2: StumbleUpon
3. Part 3: Social Bookmarking as a Traffic Source - Part 3: Technorati's Where's the Fire?

In each article, Lars-Christian takes us through what each service is and how to make each work for you to drive traffic and grow readership.  These are smart and written in plain English making them easy to understand and follow.

Finding Your News Amid the Noise and Haste

There is a video going around the blogoshpere from Common Craft called RSS in Plain English.  It was made by them "for our friends (and yours) that haven't yet felt the power of our friend the RSS reader."  It's definitely worth a watch, especially if you are someone who goes to each blog or website individually, round em' up with RSS and save lots of time.

Click To Play

There are two types of Internet users, those that use RSS and those that don't. This video is for the people who could save time using RSS, but don't know where to start.

Source:  ALM Research Blog

The Mind of the Blogosphere

Want to know what people are searching for in the blogosphere?   Steve Tibbett has an experiment site chasing the "long tail" and on it he has a page called the Mind of the Blogosphere where he lists nouns parsed out of blog items posted.  It is updated every 30 seconds so keep checking it!  Very interesting.

Food for Thought at Barfblog

Kevin O'Keefe at Real Lawyers Have Blogs points us to the International Food Safety Network's new endeavor: the Barfblog.  Clever name...and an even more clever concept.  This blog talks about everything concerning food safety issues, including the recent E. Coli scare with Johnny Depp's daughter.  But celebrity food scares are not their main milieu.  Check out some of the other categories including the Yuck Factor (I won't describe this page), Culture of Food Safety, and Food Safety Communication.

Smart - social networking about food safety...a great way to spread this info.