Mereja
Brooks writes “Speaking at a cable broadcaster’s summit, Steve Burke, Comcast’s COO, said: “An entire generation is growing up, if we don’t figure out how to change that behavior so it respects copyright and subscription revenue on the part of distributors, we’re going to wake up and see cord cutting.” How’s that for cart before the horse?
His ultimate goal — to maintain or increase revenue for Comcast — makes perfect sense, and is positively what a cable COO should be focused on. From there on out, though, he’s off in the weeds. How about offering this new generation new and innovative services that are worth paying for? That’s challenging, of course… but how challenging will it be to change the next generation’s behavior “to respect subscription revenue.” Yikes.
How many consumers, in any market, are focused on “respecting” vendors’ revenue streams? How, exactly, does he propose to effect this sea change? And why not just develop products that consumers will willingly pay for, rather than trying to change consumer behavior in such a fundamental way?”
The quotes really are quite stunning. Burke basically seems to be saying the focus needs to be on figuring out ways to get consumers to change, rather than changing to match what customers want. A business model based on going against what consumers want doesn’t seem likely to last that long.
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In the whole grain baking series, we are going to experiment with barley this month. I request you all to extend your support you have given for the past 2 events, whole wheat and oats. Barley contains twice as much soluble fiber as oats and also is a high-protein whole grain. Whole (hulled) barley is the whole grain. Only the outer indigestible hull is removed, leaving the bran, germ and endosperm in tact. Pearled barley which is most commonly found in the supermarkets is nutritionally inferior to hulled barley because most if not all of the bran and germ layers are removed. So pearled barely is not classified as whole grain. Nevertheless, cooked peraled barley contains nearly twice the amount of fiber as the same size serving of cooked brown rice. So let us continue to include it in our diet regularly.
The next close thing to hulled barley is pot barley. Although it isn’t quite a whole grain, it undergoes minimal amount of refining that leave some of the bran and germ intact.
List of whole grain forms of Barley:
Baking with barley flour: Barley is high in protein but not as glutenous as whole wheat, so it is not suitable for building structure. So it’s better to pair it with either whole wheat flour or all purpose flour. Since cookies don’t rise much, substituting barley flour up to half the flour in a cookie recipe should not be a problem. For high-rising baked goods like muffins, quickbread and cake try substituting barley flour for one-fourth (1/4th) of the flour in the recipe. Yeasted breads too don’t rise higher if too much barley flour is used.
Sources for the above information: The Complete Whole Grains Cookbook by Judith Finlayson and King Arthur Flour’s Whole Grain Baking book.
Recipe Ideas:
1 Bake anything eggless using one or more of the whole grain forms of barley (hulled barley, hull-less barley, barley girts, barley flour, barley flakes, barley couscous). Even though pot barley and pearled barley is not whole grain, I will accept recipes using this because the listed whole grain forms of barley may not be accessible for everyone.
2 Post it in your blog between Nov 6th 2009 and Dec 5th 2009. The dish can be anything sweet, salty or spicy. The recipes must be either vegetarian and eggless or vegan. If the recipe is from books/blogs/websites, please link back /mention the original source.
3 Multiple entries are more than welcome. Recipes posted prior to the announcement of this event are also welcome provided it qualifies the above criteria and is linked back to this event. Reposting is not necessary. As always there is prize for this event too and old entries will also be considered.
4 Email me your name, blog URL, name of the recipe, recipe URL, photo in 150w x 120h size to wholegrains(at)egglesscooking.com with Barley as the subject.
5 Non-bloggers you can submit your entries in Eggless Cooking Forums under Share Egg Free Recipes. You have to register first and it’s free! Send me an email after updating there and I’ll include it in the round up.
If there is one characteristic that all of the best-selling portable GPS devices share, it is uniformity. In terms of shape and size, most GPS units look very, very similar, and as discussed in the first part of this two-part portable GPS buying guide, all of these portable GPS units offer very similar functionality.
The portable GPS industry is dominated by two companies: Garmin and TomTom. In fact, of the devices we examined, all but one were produced by Garmin. As such, we’ll analyze Garmin’s offerings first, arranged in descending order by price.
Garmin's top-of-the-line Nuvi 885
The top of the line Garmin GPS unit is the nüvi 885/885T. With a list price approaching $600.00, the 885 can more often be found selling for around $350.00 online.
One of the benefits of paying so much for a GPS device is the fact that the nüvi 885 can recognize speech commands – you can use your voice to move through its menus. It also includes 6 million pre-loaded destinations such as restaurants, movie theatres, national parks and other points of interest. It’s a solid unit, but it’s not our favorite…mostly because of the price.
Garmin's nuvi 755-765-775-785 family are all the same unit, with only minor differences between them.
The next Garmin we looked at is the nüvi 765/765T. Its street price is just under $300.00, and for that amount of money it offers similar features to the 885, minus the speech recognition. The device’s lane guidance feature helps you to more easily find highway exits, and like many Garmin devices it can be transformed into a hands-free speaker for a cell phone thanks to Bluetooth.
The 755-785 family also features multi-point routing, which means you can use your GPS to find the best route to visit more than one destination. Using a built-in FM transmitter, all the units in the 755-785 family can transmit directions through your vehicle’s speaker system. This feature is nice because, sometimes, the volume on the GPS is just a little too low.
If you like the 765 but don’t need Bluetooth connectivity, the nüvi 755 is a nice option that’s less than $250. Moving up from the 765, the nüvi 775 and nüvi 785 include more maps and a slightly upgraded traffic data system. Cool extras, but we think the 765 or 755 are the units to pick from this family.
Our top pick is the Garmin nuvi 260
Our favorite unit on this list is the nüvi 260W (about $140). It’s very basic, but it features a nice big screen, text-to-speech directions, an easy-to-use interface, and good battery life. The nüvi 260 doesn’t have the traffic finder feature (the 260 isn’t even compatible with the feature, but the 255 is compatible with an external adapter), so if you want traffic info then one of the higher-priced units on this list is a better option.
However, as far as “bang for the buck” is concerned, the nüvi 260W is a solid little device that does exactly what you need.
TomTom's GO 720 is a nice mid-range portable GPS with some nice custom mapping options.
The sole TomTom offering to crack this list is the GO 720. Priced at around $220.00, it compares favorably with the mid-range Garmin options in terms of features. It includes an MP3 player, traffic and weather updates through a Bluetooth cellular connection and of course spoken directions. The GO 720 can also connect to an online service called MapShare, which allows for special maps and directions created by other TomTom users to be uploaded into the device.
Bottom Line: If you’re into futuristic options like voice recognition and up-to-date traffic data, a high end unit might be the way to go. Are you a road warriors doing business on the road? The mid-range devices are probably the best option – they’re catered to a business type user with a little bit of tech savvy. Are you looking for a lot of the features of a good GPS without spending a lot? If so, the Garmin 260 is our recommendation.
Whichever GPS device you choose, it’s hard to go wrong choosing one of the units on this list. We found them all to be fun and easy to use, and in our limited “test drive” they all performed nicely.
FTC Disclosure – This was NOT a paid post. However, if you buy a product using one of our links, we get a small percentage of the sale. So if you want to help us out…cool. If not, that’s cool too. See our about page to learn more about how we make money.
Read user reviews of Tundra Accessories.
Robin Willer waits in line at an emergency dental clinic in Orange County, Calif. (Karen Tapia/KHN)
SANTA ANA, Calif. — Robin Willer slumps on the metal bench, her sweater drawn up over her swollen cheeks. “The cold hurts it,” she says, pointing gingerly to three broken teeth.
Willer, 56, a banquet waitress who lost her longtime job in June 2008, is waiting in a chilly back alley behind Orange County’s emergency dental clinic. It’s not yet dawn. More people are arriving, by bus, car and on foot. The race is on to win one of the few slots in a dentist’s chair today. Even though the clinic’s doors don’t open until 7:30 a.m., the rush began at 5:30.
“We were all running across the parking lot, trying to get here first,” says Willer, who missed out the day before because she was too far back in line. “At least I’m number two today.”
Just six months ago, Willer could have sought dental care at a wider variety of better-funded and better-staffed dental clinics. And many in line with her would have been at private dentists’ offices, their care covered under Medi-Cal, the state’s version of Medicaid. As of July 1, all that changed.
With a nip here and a slash there, California’s budget crisis is now affecting health care for millions of residents, from wealthy Orange County to the struggling city of Oakland. State officials have made tough cuts to health services once deemed vital. Funds for county and community dental clinics were slashed, just when those who lost Medi-Cal funds for private dental care began showing up at their doors. Foot and eye care are also out, along with hearing aids, mental health care and other services long covered under Medi-Cal, but now trimmed by state officials to save $130 million. More than two million people lost the services.
But that’s not all. State funds for such programs as HIV/AIDS testing and home care for the elderly have also been eliminated.
Fraying safety net ‘when it’s needed the most’
It could have been worse: legislators restored funds for nearly one million children in the “Healthy Families” program, after health insurers agreed to be taxed in exchange for continued, lucrative public contracts.
Facing a two-year, $60 billion budget gap, and federally obligated to enroll eligible Medi-Cal applicants, state officials said they had no choice but to trim benefits from the massive program and cut other services. With unemployment at 12.2 percent, a flood of newly impoverished Californians are applying for Medi-Cal, officials say. An additional 300,000 residents enrolled last year, and another 400,000 are expected to sign up this year, which would bring the total in the program to an all-time high of 7.2 million residents.
Some experts say the array of health care services that took decades to knit together is now being unraveled, at the worst possible time. “The fact is that we have a very high unemployment rate right now, we have health insurance provided by employers that wasn’t in great shape even before the recession, and we have people less able to afford their own insurance than ever before,” said Marian Mulkey, senior program officer at the California Health Care Foundation. “And when you take all those developments on the private side of the equation and you line that up against the significant cuts in public programs…you have a safety net is that is fraying just when it is needed most.”
Waiting at the emergency dental clinic. (Karen Tapia/KHN)
Kimberly Belshe, Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, said the state is enduring a “perfect storm” of converging problems and no easy solutions. “The bottom line is some very difficult reductions were included in the decisions that affect health care,” she said. “At the same time, funding for 7.2 million individuals is remaining in the budget. California continues to provide a fairly comprehensive package of benefits to support the Medi-Cal program.”
But not comprehensive enough for Francine Williams. The 54-year-old Oakland resident is a late-stage diabetic who also has kidney disease and requires dialysis treatment. She works part-time for the Red Cross when she can, earning, at most, $200 a week. Because of her disabilities and low income, she receives both Medi-Cal and Medicare benefits. Like others in the state program, as of July 1 she lost services that were previously covered. By refusing to fund less expensive care now, she argues, far more costly medical problems can develop.
“When you have diabetes, it affects every part of your body, from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet,” she said. Infections can easily develop in her gums, but bi-annual teeth cleanings designed to prevent such infections are no longer covered.
Diabetics are also advised to have their toenails trimmed by a medical professional, because they may not be able to feel a cut, which can lead to serious infection. But Medi-Cal no longer pays for that, either. That worries Williams, who had two toes amputated 10 years ago because of infection from a glass cut she couldn’t feel.
Costing the state money Health care advocates note that budget cuts cost the state huge amounts of federal funds. A prime example: The $130 million California saved by cutting dental care and other Medi-Cal optional services cost them another $130 million in federal matching funds. But state officials say that the federal government has in fact already provided an extra $4 billion, part of its economic stimulus money, and that they’ve asked for another $1 billion.
National health care overhaul legislation could help repair the safety net. Many uninsured Californians could obtain coverage through federal subsidies of private insurance and an expansion of Medi-Cal would include larger numbers of lower-income people. But there’s a potential downside: states may be required to kick in some matching funds for their Medicaid programs.
For now, Californians cope as best they can. The July cuts had immediate impact. During eight days in mid-August, nearly 10,000 people crowded the Inglewood Forum in Los Angeles County seeking free dental and other medical care from a nonprofit, mobile hospital clinic. More than 6,300 patients were seen by 3,800 volunteer dentists, gynecologists and other medical personnel. They extracted 2,274 teeth, filled 5,483 cavities, and performed nearly 1,000 mammograms, Pap smears and other vital exams. Thousands more prospective patients were turned away.
Robin Willer (Karen Tapia/KHN)
Robin Willer had lots of company the morning she stood outside the clinic in Orange County. Many were newly unemployed; others had two jobs, trying to make ends meet.
Graduate psychology student Brandon Greenhouse, 27, said he spent days waiting with hundreds of others in line at Long Beach clinics before hearing that Orange County lines might be shorter. He lost a good-paying job with health benefits last fall, and his dentist warned him to have his wisdom teeth removed before his benefits expired. But they weren’t hurting, “and to tell the truth, I’ve always been a little scared of going to the dentist.”
But a few weeks ago, pain began building in his lower jaw. “It’s like desperation at this point,” he said.
Living on a boat Willer listens quietly as many in line share their stories. Dressed in a turtleneck and neat jeans, she would fit in at the country clubs where she used to work. But she has lost her job and her home, and is now living in a few feet of space in the bow end of her ex-husband’s Newport Beach boat.
A few weeks ago, she cracked her teeth biting on hard cereal, and the pain has grown ever since. Living on $1,800-a-month unemployment checks leaves no margin for illness – and not enough money to pay the $1,050 that one dental chain wanted to yank all three teeth. This is her third attempt to see a dentist.
Puffy-faced and feverish from the pain, she says it is “humiliating” to be here. But she has no choice. “I don’t want to be vain, but I can’t afford dentures…How am I going to get a job with holes in my mouth? And employers want you to be up and perky. It’s hard to do when you’re in pain.”
When the door to the Orange County clinic opens at 7:30 a.m., Willer and the others push forward. She receives a clipboard to fill out her information and pays a $15 required fee. A shy smile fills her face. “I think I might make it in today,” she says.
Two hours later, Willer’s back at the boat. She’s nauseous from eating only yogurt and other soft food for days, on top of ibuprofen pills. Her teeth were so painfully infected that even a huge dose of Novocaine couldn’t numb the area. The dentist couldn’t pull her teeth, and gave her a prescription for antibiotics to clear up the infection first.
“The good news is I don’t have to wait in line, I have an appointment for next week,” she says wearily. “The bad news is it’s only for one tooth. They only do one tooth per visit.”
LONDON (Reuters) – European buyout house Permira has entered exclusive talks to buy survival equipment maker Survitec from rival Montagu Private Equity, a source familiar with the process said.
Permira beat off bids from Warburg Pincus and Carlyle Group to get exclusive access to Survitec’s books in the last few days, the source said.
Montagu had been hoping the sale of the Belfast-based manufacturer of life-jackets and life-rafts could fetch about 300 million pounds ($495.6 million).
In July, Reuters LPC reported banks were lining up 150 million pounds in financing for a potential buyer.
Investment bank NM Rothschild has been advising Montagu on options for the business.
Both Permira and Montagu declined to comment.
Montagu is also preparing the sale of second-hand car dealership British Car Auctions, which could net around 600 million pounds, banking sources have said.
The planned disposals come after the firm succeeded in selling sausage casing manufacter Kalle this summer in a 212.5 million euro ($315.6 million) deal that sparked confidence in a gradual return of the leveraged loans market.
Montagu, which also owns waste management firm Biffa [WSAQTB.UL] and electronics retailer Maplin [MPETN.UL], acquired Survitec for 146 million pounds in 2004 from Alchemy.
(Reporting by Simon Meads, Editing by Douwe Miedema and Hans Peters)
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We love a bit of creamy foam topping our morning coffee, but haven’t really wanted to invest the funds or the counterspace in an actual milk steamer. Here’s how we get around it with just a jar and a microwave!
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Goss will probably be the first to tell you that he’s not a superstar in the U.S. It says right on his official site that he comes to America an "unknown." But he is hoping to change that. He’s already been headlining shows at Palms in Vegas.
Goss is using social media to help build his career in the United States. He uses Twitter specifically to reach out to fans. He says he likes the immediacy of it. He likes that you can say something and get 100 responses back in 15 minutes. He likes that he can connect with his fans and get so many different perspectives. He’ll ask people about a song or a video, and what they would change about it. He clearly aims to be a crowd pleaser – the perfect type for Vegas.
He has even called upon fans to pick what song they wanted to see released as a single.
"People actually have a voice now," he says. "Propaganda is not as relevant as it was when all you had was propaganda and what you read, you had to believe almost. Now the individual and the common man can have a voice."
Goss believes there are times when "heavy" messages are appropriate with a tool like Twitter, but thinks it is also a way to escape and have some enjoyment. Either way, he likes that there is no middle man, and notes the importance of accountability. I guess Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson did not attend Matt’s session at BlogWorld.
Time will tell if Matt’s efforts in social media will transfer his stardom to the States, but either way, you can tell he’s enjoying trying. What do you think of his approach to Twitter? Share your thoughts.
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The METIER final conference, co-organised by the JRC and the Partnership for European Environmental Research (PEER), was held 4-6 November in Brussels. The event was attended by 89 young scientists and 30 lecturers from all over the world discussing their latest research results on how to tackle the complex challenges of climate change, water availability, biodiversity and sustainable land use. One of the main purposes of the event was to provide training in entering into dialogue with practitioners and policy makers, getting to know their needs and how to respond to them.
We knew Twitter lists were going to be big for Twitter. We knew they were going to greatly increase the usefulness of the service, and for many, even the enjoyment. What we didn’t know, however, was that right out of the box, we would see so many different uses for them, providing a window to the potential that they really do hold not only for Twitter itself, but for any business or individual who uses it. Let’s look at a few of those ways that Twitter lists are being used.
Tell us how you are using Twitter lists. 1. Organization and Noise Reduction
When Twitter first made the announcement that the Lists feature was coming, my first thoughts were about how great that would be to organize the Twitter stream. It has worked out as such. It’s a great way to separate the people you follow into groups.
For example, if I want to keep marketers, news organizations, sports stars, musicians, and my actual real-life friends all separate from one another, I can do that. It’s a great way to reduce the "noise" that has commonly been associated with Twitter. You can look at a custom-made list and simply get tweets related to a certain category. It’s very much like organizing a feed reader into different folders.
2. Changing the News
Mashable’s Pete Cashmore wrote a pretty interesting piece for CNN about how Twitter Lists are already transforming online journalism. Journalists are using friends to filter massive amounts of data through lists. Again, it’s about noise reduction.
Vadim Lavrusik also discusses ways news organizations are using Twitter lists. He looks at how different publishers are creating staff directories, recommending "tweeps" and specific information, using lists for curated real-time steams, and to follow events.
3. Directories
Mike Butcher points out that Simplezesty is creating lists of Twitter users in entire countries. This is a concept that could be taken by anybody to run wild with, particularly with regards to niches. Lists are essentially an organization tool, so anything can be broken down into categories.
Let’s say you are a restaurant critic. You could create separate lists for the best pizza places, the best burger joints, the best bars, the best Mexican restaurants, etc. This could be applied to virtually any industry.
Shameless plug: Of course our own Twellow.com has served a similar purpose and more for quite some time, and it’s already pretty well-established, so you if you’re looking for people to follow by industry, I suggest checking that out.
4. A New Way of Interaction
Look at what the NHL had done. Jennifer Van Grove points to a Tweet from the National Hockey league, which called upon fans to tweet @NHL their favorite team with a specific hashtag. The purpose was to create lists fans by team.
I can see a lot of potential for this type of thing too. I could see such a thing being turned into a game, or being used by businesses for promotions, contests, etc.
5. Popularity Contests and Paid List Spots?
I would have to imagine that people are going to covet spots on certain lists. It’s potentially going to be a great way to get new followers, so people are going to want to appear on the lists of influential Twitterers.
Could this lead to paying for spots on Twitter lists? I’d actually be shocked if this isn’t already going on to be honest. It’s not much different than the old-fashioned paying for a link. Only in this case, Google isn’t there to keep you out of search results, because here you’re trying to be found on Twitter, not Google.
That actually raises some more questions, however, as Google (and Bing) has recently made a deal with Twitter, which will see Tweets make their way to the search engine. We don’t know yet exactly how this will go, and whether or not lists will ever factor into the Google part of things. Could being on more lists be taken as a sign of authority? I’m only speculating.
6. Exploitation and Spam
Inevitably, Twitter Lists will also be exploited and used for spam purposes. It’s on the Internet and it’s a chance to gain exposure. It pretty much stands to reason than spam will follow. Why would this be any different than any other tool? Valleywag thinks Ellen DeGeneres is already engaging in such tactics. That’s an interesting read.
Are Twitter lists going to change how we get our news? How we find information? How we market our businesses? What do you think? Share your thoughts.
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Lincoln Braun writes “I play an online web game. BATracer which is designed to simulate a number of racing series including Formula 1, LeMans, A1 Grand Prix, Ferrari Challenge, and more. This week, however, the owner of the site received a legal notice from Ferrari, ordering a cease & desist from using Ferrari cars. BATracer has somewhere between 2000 and 3000 active users, most of whom arrived at the site because of Formula 1. The letter by Ferrari has really annoyed many of the most passionate fans and they have lost a lot of goodwill.”
It looks like BATracer shut down for a bit before opening up again without Ferraris. Now, Ferrari has a big licensing business, but at some point you have to wonder if legal actions like this make any sense or if there’s a reasonable fair use claim. In the case of team sports simulations, courts have ruled that name and stats are facts — and not covered by intellectual property, so couldn’t you say the same thing for car names and specifications? And while I could potentially see a trademark issue, it’s not as if BATracer is actually “competing” in the same space as Ferrari. I can already hear the excuses about how Ferrari needs to keep its brand special and being seen in such a game might cheapen it — but that’s not the purpose of intellectual property law. Either way, it seems pretty dumb to piss off so many people even if many of them probably can’t afford a Ferrari in real life (probably what the company is betting on). There may be some who can (or who will be able to someday), and pushing them away for no good reason can’t help matters.
Ford SHELBY vs CAMARO vs JEEP vs VAZ 2107 vs HELICOPTER
To be clear, I don’t consider myself an expert on Google Wave by any stretch of the imagination, but based on what I have learned about it, these are my responses to frequently asked Google Wave questions. These are just my opinions.
We’d love to hear your opinions about Google Wave. Share them here.
Will Google Wave replace email?
No. It may replace email in the same way that social networks already have. Social networks have not replaced email in general. They have, however replaced it in some cases for some people. For example, friends may send each other a quick note via Facebook message rather than email. However, chances are one of those friends was emailed by Facebook alerting them that they had a new message. For more reasons on why social media (and I include Wave in this) won’t replace email, read this article.
Will Google Wave catch on with the general public?
Obviously, it’s incredibly early to tell if Google Wave will catch on on a massive scale. For that matter, what does "catching on" really mean? Does it mean to the extent of email? To the extent of Facebook? Twitter? There are pretty wide gaps between these. Will it catch on to the extent of RSS? Who knows. If you want my honest opinion, I don’t think it will achieve Facebook-like status. I’m not sure that it will achieve Twitter-like status either, which is just a fraction of what Facebook has.
If Compete’s numbers for the US are any indication, Gmail doesn’t even come close to attracting the unique users that Twitter does anymore. I have a hard time accepting that Google Wave will be bigger than Gmail (though it’s certainly possible).
Will Google Wave catch on in the workplace?
If Google Wave catches on anywhere, I think it could catch on in the workplace. Lots of companies are using Google Apps, and now that Google is marketing that aggressively, that is likely going to increase big time. With the right promotion and integration, I could easily see Google Wave working its way into the mix there. The very collaborative nature of Google Wave caters to work-related use.
At this point, Google Wave is in its very early stages, and over the coming months and probably years, we are going to continue to see improvements and innovations made with it. Will that translate into widespread adoption? I’m not so sure.
I think people are going to have a hard time figuring out why they should be using it. I also think people are getting tired of having more accounts to keep up with (although this would be connected to your Google account).
If Wave brings all of their contacts and socializing into one central hub, it’s going to have some competition. Mozilla is already working on Raindrop, which sounds like a pretty useful tool. There will be others.
On the other hand, it could go the Twitter route, where people will struggle to "get it" for a long time, and slowly start finding uses that suit them. That "ah-ha moment" hasn’t come for everybody that’s used Twitter yet either, but there’s no denying that service has made its mark on popular culture.
I don’t want to sound anti-Wave here. It seems cool and potentially useful. Worst case scenario, it is just another tool that you can use if you want, which may or may not make your life (and work) easier. Best case (for Google at least), it becomes like email (or to a lesser extent Facebook) in the sense that it is practically unavoidable to use because everyone you know uses it and if you don’t you will be out of the loop. At this point, I’m just leaning toward the former. Do you think Google Wave is going to change the world or do you think it’s being over-hyped? Discuss here.
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Think of Halo 3: ODST as a centaur. Or as a gryphon. Or as a mermaid. Or as any other creature that is half an entity and half another. In the case of Halo 3: ODST, it is clearly half Master Chief and half human. Half classic firefights, pitched battles that never let you hold your breath and get the adrenalin pumping, and half quietly sneaking through a dark city, almost afraid to shoot the enemies. Half complex story delivered in interesting ways and half military stereotypes acted out in a flat manner. Half attempt at innovation from Bungie and half need for commercial success on the part of Microsoft. Half exciting experience and half disappointment. Think of Halo 3: ODST as being a game too ambitious to be an add on and too shy to be a full-fledged installment in the franchise.
Make no mistake, after getting into the action, this is a game you can actually play continuously until it is done, finished, complete. Bungie doesn’t make those kinds of mistakes that would render a fan put down the controller and say they’re done because of low quality. But after delivering better and better experiences over the years, the company needed to do something innovative. A quantitative improvement, like the one from Halo 2 to 3, would just not do, they needed to deliver something qualitative. Unfortunately, ODST is just a more contained, sometimes … (read more)
Kevin Pollak, who even if his name doesn’t ring a bell, you’ve likely seen before. He’s a comedian, as well as an actor. He’s played in movies alongside Denzel Washington, Bruce Willis, Kiefer Sutherland, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Jonn Candy, and others.
Not a moviegoer? He’s also played on his fair share of television shows. You may have seen him on The Drew Carey Show, Shark, Ed, or Entourage. Or maybe you’ve seen him in a comedy club.
Actually, there’s a good chance you’ve seen him on the web, and if not, you will (I guess you have now either way). Pollak has his own online show (Charlie Rose-style) called simply Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show in which he talks with some pretty big-name people. He’s had guests like Kevin Smith, Levar Burton, Eddie Izzard, Lisa Loeb, Kevin Nealon, Seth Macfarlane, Hank Azaria, and others. Are you familiar with Pollak’s work? Comment here.
Here’s a look at the intro from the first episode of Pollak’s show.
Pollak likes the online format for a variety of reasons. He likes that you can get stuff out all over the world instantly. He likes the lack of limitations. You can do a show uncensored, and you can let it run as long as you want. His shows are normally at least an hour long, and sometimes 2 hours or more.
The online format is ideal for inspiring audience participation with the show itself as well. Pollak says he’s had users contribute a theme song, questions for guests, and participate in a "Larry King game" (you’d have to watch the show to understand).
We’re seeing this audience participation with content thing more and more in the online video world. Look at what Paramount’s doing with Mountain Dew, Adobe Flash, and MySpace. They’re marketing with an interactive web series/game.
In another article I talked about using more than just the obvious communities to spread your message. Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show is a good example of how this can happen on its own, particularly with online video in the mix. His videos are not only on his site, but they’re on YouTube, Beet.tv, Blip.tv, Ustream, and other Video sites.
The natural shareability of online video combined with the communication power of social media opens up the doors for a whole lot of opportunity. Pollak has presences on Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. He’s even got one on Mahalo. Pollak’s show proves that you can find success online even if you don’t know that much about the Internet. As Kevin says in our interview with him, he’s learning as he goes. It certainly helps that he is already in show business, but if you can provide interesting enough content, people out there will watch it, and they will share it. Best of all, you can reach people all over the world.
How has being online expanded your opportunities? Discuss here. Related Articles:
> Why British Singer Matt Goss Likes Twittering with Fans
> Comedy and Alcohol at BlogWorld
> Paramount Follows Up "Paranormal" Marketing with More Social Fun
Searching online for used vehicles has become the primary way for consumers to locate used automobiles, according to new a report by J.D. Power and Associates.
The report found the percentage of used-vehicle buyers who rely on the Internet as a way for locating vehicles for sale has increased from 40 percent in 2008 to 46 percent in 2009, equal to the percentage of buyers who visit dealer lots as their main shopping method. In addition, 31 percent of buyers found the vehicle they eventually purchased on the Internet, compared with 28 percent of buyers who found their vehicle by visiting dealerships.
"Internet shopping provides prospective buyers with the opportunity to search through enormous amounts of specific vehicle information without ever leaving home, allowing for a more efficient medium of matching buyers with unique used vehicles in the market," said Arianne Walker, director of marketing and media research at J.D. Power and Associates. "In light of this, dealers should expect the Internet to continue to increase in importance among used-vehicle shoppers and adjust their online presence accordingly."
The report also found that awareness of certified pre-owned (CPO vehicle programs is strong, with more than 60 percent of used-vehicle buyers indicating they intend to purchase certified pre-owned vehicles at the start of their shopping process.
One-half of all buyers of CPO vehicles say they used the Internet to locate used vehicles, while a slightly lower percentage (45%) shopped primarily by driving to dealer lots. The percentage of buyers who visited dealer Web sites specifically for CPO vehicle information has increased considerably to 29 percent in 2009, compared with 19 percent in 2008.
Among used vehicle buyers who use the Internet in their shopping process, third party sites are visited during the shopping process more frequently than other types of sites, including dealer websites. The majority (91%) of buyers say they visited at least one third-party websites during the shopping process.
"Not only has visitation increased for third-party sites, but they also continue to be viewed as the most useful sites during the shopping process," said Walker. "Overall, users rate sites such as AutoTrader, Cars.com, and Edmunds highly for overall usefulness. In addition, certain third-party sites are also well regarded for usefulness in specific areas.
"For example, sites like AutoTrader and eBay Motors are perceived as particularly useful for inventory information, while buyers report that ConsumerReports.org and Edmunds are useful for vehicle appraisals and reviews. Sites such as Kelley Blue Book are perceived as being particularly useful for pricing information."
> Amazon and Wal-Mart Engage In Price War Over Holiday Book Shoppers
> Consumer Online Spending To Grow 24%
> PayPal Intros New Student Accounts
WebProNews recently covered a study from Chitika, which found that Facebook was the most valuable social media tool for driving repeat readers to content sites. The study was based on 33 million unique users across Chitika’s publisher network in September. It compared the number of visitors coming from major traffic sources Digg, Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Bing, and Twitter, to the number of times those visitors came back to the referred site. Visitors that went to a site four or more times in one week were considered loyal users. By a wide margin, Facebook led the pack in providing loyal traffic. 20% of all visitors from Facebook visited the site four or more times per week.
Where does your most loyal traffic come from? Facebook or somewhere else? Comment here.
"We’ve received the most clients from Facebook than any other social media website," a reader commented on the article. "Although we’ve received slightly more visitors from Digg and Stumbleupon, the viewers have not converted into customers the same way they had through Facebook."
There has certainly been plenty of talk about how Facebook can drive traffic, but clearly there are still a lot of people struggling with just how to go about doing so.
"Why am I not getting this?" another reader asked. "Blogs I’ve done are boosting my Google, Yahoo, and Bing ratings and getting traffic to my web site, but I’m not getting how Facebok can do this."
Comments like these are not uncommon, and to be fair, this one was made prior to Microsoft’s announcement of a deal with Facebook (Google has been rumored to be in talks with Facebook as well).
But not all traffic has to come from search, although Facebook exposure can certainly contribute to that as well, if nothing else, than simply through promotion leading to links.
When a Facebook user frequently checks for status updates, he/she is likely to see new posts made from Facebook Pages he/she is subscribed to. This means creating a Facebook page can have a great effect on page owners. Making readers aware of the page is key as well. Luckily Facebook has a widget called the Fan box, that you can put on your site, which can lead new visitors directly to your Facebook page.
Facebook has also just updated another important widget – the share button. Now it will provide a live count of shares, as well as analytical information. You can find out how people are sharing and engaging with your content, and gain further insight into how your stuff is doing with the Facebook community (and adjust your strategy accordingly).
Traffic is a common goal, but it is not the only one. Going back to the topic at the beginning of this article, brand loyalty is a big one.
A representative for Stuzo Group, one of Facebook’s exclusive development partners, shared some interesting case studies with us, looking at how they created branded applications and fan pages for brands like Doritos, Budweiser, Smashbox, and Purina.
"When Stuzo works with these brands, the goals that they have most often in creating these promotions is to increase brand loyalty and recognition, boost traffic to their website, and drive sales," the representative said. "These goals all go hand in hand, and explain why Chitika’s study was so valuable; hits to a website are great, but they don’t mean much unless they contribute to brand loyalty and positive recognition of the brand." (emphasis added)
A common theme among the case studies provided by Stuzo is that they all present clear objectives for what they want to accomplish with Facebook. For example, Budweiser’s were:
1. Create brand awareness through a strong fan base and social channel opt-ins
2. Incentivize users to engage with the brand on a regular basis
3. Convert new customers and drive increase in sales
Budweiser went the route of contests and competitions (which are viral by nature). According to the case study, this has resulted in:
– Hundreds of thousands of Unique Pageviews
– Sustained high level of brand engagement by all measurements
– Significant, continued growth in Budweiser’s Social CRM and social channel opt-ins
Budweiser is just one example of a big brand finding success through social media, and through the use of Facebook in particular. As I recently discussed, you can find new and interesting ways to integrate social media into your own plans by looking at some of the brands you use yourself and how they employ different tools. This helps you to put yourself in the customer’s shoes and determine the things that work and the things that don’t. What brands have you seen using social media in interesting ways? Discuss here.
> The Most Loyal Traffic Comes from Facebook
> Facebook/Twitter Use May Now Mean More for Google/Bing Rankings
> Some Brands Have Good Ideas For Social Media. Do You?
Microsoft is either taking the holiday marketing approach or the Twilight/Vampire trend approach with its latest commercial. The title is Bing: Vampire Decision Engine.
The company uploaded the new commercial to its (Google-owned) YouTube channel. Accompanying the video is a short description:
"When you’re looking for a restaurant that is family friendly, romantic, or maybe something with an otherworldly atmosphere, use Bing’s reviews to stop searching and start deciding."
You also may be seeing this ad on a television near you.
What do you think of the latest Bing commercial? Is it good or does it "suck"? Ah Ah. (That was supposed to be the Count). Share your thoughts here.
> Have You Seen Bing’s Commercials Yet?
> Bing Commercials Infringe on Patent?
> Microsoft Seinfeld Ad Not Exactly a Hit
The development of computers and the Internet not only deliver a variety of facilities in various fields, but also invite various acts of burglary system backed by a variety of motivations. As excerpted in the movie Hackers Outlaws & Angel. Hackers Outlaws & Angles who told about the ins and outs of the legendary hacker, Captain Zap (Ian Murphy). Many differences of opinion about the term pendifinisian hacker, someone said that people who break into and destroy someone else’s system can not be called a hacker, there are also different from that which defines a system capable of breaking into other people could be called a hacker. We do not need to argue things like that, which obviously a hacker is someone who wants to learn and keep learning to deepen their knowledge. Hackers could also be interpreted as the people who tried to break through the access control system by taking advantage of existing security gaps in the system. Activities become a serious threat of information system security.
Like other hackers who have a second name in cyberspace, Ian Murphy, Captain Zap name as its name taken from comic characters in the era of the 80s. Piercing done by changing the hours of AT & T to make the cost of phone bills will be cheaper and disrupt pewaktunya system. Ulahnya result, the system was busy at the time stated is not busy, and then sebaliknya.Ia captured 18 months later. According to Allan while the Brill (Head of Hi-Tech Investigations Kroll Associates) Ian was the first to know the bad things that can be done with a computer. Ian Murphy after undergoing his sentence he was then set up a security consulting firm IAM / Security Data Systems.
According to Wired magazine piracy at AT & T by Captain Zap was the best piracy ever. How not with minimal equipment at the time he was able to break into a big company. Salute to Captain Zap (The Legend of Hacker)
Source : Task MKSI courses Univ. Budi Luhur Salemba
As previously reported, Microsoft has made deals with both Facebook and Twitter, which will see Bing feature updates from both networks in real-time search efforts. To me, this says that social media just became an even bigger part of search engine marketing, particularly with Google also on board with Twitter and rumored to be talking to Facebook.
Bing has already made a beta version of its Twitter search available to users at bing.com/twitter. The most interesting aspect of Bing’s Twitter search is that it offers something plain old Twitter Search (formerly Summize) doesn’t. That is a relevancy factor (or at least an attempted relevancy factor).
Twitter Search only shows you results displayed chronologically, which has really always seemed to be the essence of real-time search to me anyway. But Bing has a "Best Match" option, which attempts to give certain tweets more weight than others.
How do you put relevancy on "real-time" results though? "Real-time" is based on time (obviously). The phrase even has the word "time" in it. A search for "WebProNews" on Bing’s Twitter Search gives me different results for "most recent" and for "best match". I can’t see that the "best match" results are any better than the "most recent" results, however.
The answer is: Bing weighs tweets by follower counts. "If someone has a lot of followers, his/her Tweet may get ranked higher," says Bing. "If a tweet is exactly the same as other Tweets, it will get ranked lower."
Sidenote: A commenter on this article made a point worth mentioning. What if a new Twitter user tweets about something highly relevant or important, but has not gotten many followers yet? That’s something to think about.
This is of course the earliest stage for any kind of algorithm Bing may have in place for its Twitter search feature. The feature is still in beta after all. It will be interesting to see if Microsoft makes more details available for how it ranks tweets moving forward. This could be a whole new nut to crack for SEOs. Consider that Bing results will be taking over for Yahoo if the Microsoft-Yahoo deal goes through (plus there is still Google’s Twitter results to worry about).
I’ll go out on a limb here either way, and suggest that providing good content will be the way to go moving forward. That will bring in followers, and probably do better for your relevancy rankings in the future. That said, defining good content may be considered a little harder at 140 characters or less.
> Social Media Will Not Replace Search
> Don’t Lose Yahoo Traffic By Not Optimizing for Bing
Is ranking in search engines for Twitter results going to be a priority for you? Discuss here.
Bad news people, the Samsung TL225 camera that was released this August? Yeah, it’s pretty much a pile of crap. The front screen is off center, so your pictures look like everyone is staring off to the side, the touchscreen response (the only way to control the camera’s settings) is oddly disconcerting, the shutter lag is excessive, and low light sensitivity is non-existent.
Samsung really wants you to like this camera, as evidenced by the massive media campaign that they’ve been running (smiling monkeys, anyone?) but it seems to have been for naught. Wired reviewed the camera today and they’ve rated this one a 4/10. In addition to the laundry list of problems listed above, the image quality is also poor, much less then you would expect from a 12.2 megapixel camera.
Robin Willer waits in line at an emergency dental clinic in Orange County, Calif. (Karen Tapia/KHN)
Waiting at the emergency dental clinic. (Karen Tapia/KHN)
Robin Willer (Karen Tapia/KHN)
