Thursday, April 30, 2009

[Display Advertising] Yahoo Offers Content On Electronic Billboards http://ping.fm/gqLYF (it won't be long until NYC subways see same)
[Music] Tonight, beginning project to remix the Heaven 17 classic "Let Me Go"; should be fun (and challenging)
[Data Visualization] With this widget, you can make beautiful interactive timelines http://ping.fm/2xD27
[Publishing] http://ping.fm/eXKVC seeks to change the way people share and interact with news from the world around them
[Web Security] "Your password may only contain letters and numbers and it must contain at least one number." So, 11111111 is okay? Stupid!
[Social Media] At Century 21, Social Media Is the New TV http://ping.fm/ZdsM6
[Conferences] Great use of conference badge approach to event marketing at #twtrcon http://ping.fm/RAqsK
[Quote] Once business adopts social media fullon, the very nature of leadership & human engagement will change, says Mzinga CEO Barry Libert
[Quote] �GM never thought of themselves as being in biz of connecting people, which is why they�re going bankrupt� Mzinga CEO Barry Libert
[Content Management] Free: "A Guide to Evaluating, Implementing and Deploying Content Management Systems" http://ping.fm/gPf0i
[Social Media] TWTRCON San Francisco, May 31, 2009 http://twtrcon.com/ feat @Guykawasaki, @mchammer
[Social Media] Facebook's Kelly launches California Attorney General bid http://ping.fm/GVjvU
[Email] An Unofficial User's Guide to Gmail http://ping.fm/IfXyX
[Software as a Service] If there were an award for the longest running beta software product, GMail might win after 5 years in beta
[Publishing] As newspaper industry changes as a result of recent failures, so too will PR, marketing and advertising. I predict a shake-up!
[Marketing] Savvy marketers know how to "work" the social media landscape. Unfortunately, far too many don't understand this.
[Web-based Training] Learn to Make Live Online Training as Interactive & Collaborative as In-Person Training <a href="http://ping.fm/nguxh">http://ping.fm/nguxh</a>
[Data Integration] Blogger asks Gartner & Forrester how they confirmed assertions from users in recent research <a href="http://ping.fm/lCwUh">http://ping.fm/lCwUh</a>
[Content Management] SDL Trisoft says they now have enhanced authoring bridge connectivity to several popular authoring tools
[Collaboration] Take the business productivity survey: http://ping.fm/cwNaH (500 have so far!)
[iPhone] Okay, I can't resist any more. I'm going to become an iPhone app developer. You can, too: http://ping.fm/GbEjc
[TechComm] It's wasteful of STC to send out membership cards via US postal service. Members can print their own. This needs to change.
[TechComm] Free ticket to DocTrain DITA www.doctrain.com/dita for student/unemployed; travel/hotel not included - contact scottabel@mac.com
[TechComm] Case Study: Nuclear Power, DITA and Adobe FrameMaker - The Hows and Whys by Thom Aldous @ DocTrain DITA http://ping.fm/R1miD
[Language & Web Browsers] Firefox currently boasts 70 languages. IE8 currently supports 43, w/ 20 more coming soon <a href="http://ping.fm/AtwJS">http://ping.fm/AtwJS</a>
[XML Content Standards] W3C Publishes Eight Proposed Recommendations for XSLT, XPath, XQuery http://ping.fm/pYEIH
[Web Content] Cascading Style Sheets Level 2 Revision 1 Specification http://ping.fm/MApRt
[Open Document Format] Working with ODF in Word 2007 SP2 http://ping.fm/CFpHi
[XML Standards] Uncertainty Markup Language supports transport/storage of info about uncertain quantities http://ping.fm/myXHY
[Jobs] Technical Writer, Cupertino, CA or Austin, TX (either location), starts May 12, 3-6 months; Contact Biba Jain +1 713-589-6968
[Hardware] Kindle killer? Apple developing mid-sized mobile device - between MacBook and iPhone http://ping.fm/kazov
[Marketing] Brilliant marketing by Absolut Vodka targeting gay consumers; they get it! Emulate them! http://ping.fm/cFZca
[Quote] "I just pimped your product on Twitter," I wrote. "Thanks! I�ll leave the money on the nightstand," he replied. - customer quote
[Quote] �A crash is when your competitor's program dies. When your program dies, it is an 'idiosyncrasy'." - Guy Kawasaki
[Video] Stock video now available for websites, royalty-free w/$10-$50US per license; my vendor: http://ping.fm/B1YqP

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

[Social Media] "Soc Media is ultimate BS filter b/c if you don't got it no one's going to listen to you" Broadway Romero #oh09
[Content Management] It's unacceptable to be unable to locate a company's money, but it's okay to not know where its content is. Dumb.
[Content Management] Content is a business asset worthy of being managed efficiently and effectively
[Content Management] Managing documents is so 1999. Some vendors don't understand how documents are created and what's inside each one.
[Quote] "Nothing happens unless something moves" - Albert Einstein
[Marketing] Marketers, content and software: Take the survey! http://ping.fm/l6Jl2
[Content Management] Until "telepathic markup language" is a preferred content delivery method, there's no such thing as "end-to-end" ECM.
[Content Management] What "end-to-end" ECM solutions lack is DELIVERY methods people actually use (email). This is a major shortcoming.
[XML Content Standards] Universal Business Language(UBL) Guidelines for Customization Version 1.0 http://ping.fm/7MexR
[Web Content] Who invented the World Wide Web? http://ping.fm/66UJ7
[Bloggers] Bloggers needed to blog before, during, after Web Content 2009 Chicago, June 15-15, '09. Free ticket! Contact scottabel@mac.com
[Productivity] Help us understand how you use software in the workplace today. Take this short survey: http://ping.fm/FCXDO
[Collaboration] "Six Degrees of Collaboration" at Web Content 2009 Chicago w/ Stewart Mader http://ping.fm/NkTzV
[Web Content] A good list of web content-related conferences can be found here: http://ping.fm/bdXKA
[Open Source] Free software meets corporate needs, including Software as a Service http://ping.fm/u3SYN
[Web Development] Twitter Payments API contest - win a MacBook Air! http://ping.fm/O8ecL
[Twitter] A service that can help you run a fundraising event on Twitter: http://ping.fm/Pco8B
[Marketing] Amazing marketing targeting system; demo and free trial here: http://www.vdpweb.com/ - I can't say enough good things about this
[Social Media] Univ of Connecticut research shows conference attendees are most familiar w/Facebook, MySpace, Craig's List and Twitter
[Social Media] Univ of Connecticut research shows conference attendees surveyed have used Facebook (62%) and Linkedin (52%) for networking
[Conferences] Univ of Connecticut research shows 54% of conference attendees want a platform allowing them to arrange face-to-face meetings
[Conferences] Univ of Connecticut research shows 62% of conference attendees want organizers to provide social media tools for networking
[Conferences] Univ of Connecticut research shows 90% of conference attendees want to "meet new people...for business networking purposes"
[Marketing] Only Two Possible Outcomes of a Search. Just Two, says Brian McCay: http://ping.fm/SclPR
[Music] New social effort dedicated to expanding use of music as strategy to address civic/social goals http://ping.fm/fO1JY

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

[Funding Content] Venture Capital in Hollywood, panelists: Richard de Silva, David Cremin, Richard Wolpert @ #oh09
[Funding Content] Venture Capital in Hollywood, panel led by Craig Collar, Morgan Stanley @ #oh09
[Music] #oh09 http://www.mozes.com/ serves marketers pimping music stars and fans who are interested in getting mobile content from them
[Journalism] #oh09 @ariannahuff Can the web actually save journalism?" Looking forward to Arianna Huffington keynote and photo op!
[Music] #oh09 "The more direct content creators can go to their consumers the better off they'll be" - Quincy Jones III, QD3 Entertainment
[Music] #oh09 "The social web is really about self-expression" - Dave Yovanno, Gigya
[Music] #oh09 "It's about connecting with your community online" - Quincy Jones III, QD3 Entertainment
[Music] #oh09 "You have to create stories people can relate to/interact with; it's much more personal" - Quincy Jones III, QD3 Entertainment
[Music] #oh09 "Let's do integrated discovery; why can't our music collection come with us" - Billy Arvarado, Lala
[Music] #oh09 "It used to be that people would discover content based on some editor or writers recommendation" - Dave Yovanno, Gigya
[Music] #oh09 "We have to figure out how to scale this business; it's incredibly difficult challenge to overcome" - David Ring, Universal
[Music] #oh09 "Such a site (a remix website) would be the coolest thing" - David Ring, Universal
[Music] #oh09 "In the long run, we would be way better off if the remixes users are doing could be redistributed" - David Ring, Universal
[Music] #oh09 "It's counter-intuitive, but labels would benefit from putting content out there for users to engage with" - Quincy Jones III
[Music] #oh09 "Artists are looking at games now as a new revenue source" - Quincy Jones III
[Music] #oh09 "You'll see a lot more music being part of video games; I see a real opportunity for music labels" - Steve Hoffman, RocketOn
[Music] #oh09 "I love idea of hundreds of thousands of users starting their own internet radio shows" - David Ring, Universal Music Group
[Music] #oh09 "YouTube got consumers used to not seeing ads" - David Ring, Universal Music Group
[Video] #oh09 QD3 Entertainment aggregates/distributes original urban programming across media platforms http://ping.fm/ip954
[Widgets] #oh09 Gigya helps build and distribute content widgets http://gigya.com/
[Social Media] #oh09 Take your avatar with you wherever you go: http://ping.fm/pB244
[Video] #oh09 All the music you could ever want, playable in a web browser: http://www.lala.com/
[Video] #oh09 "Those of us to believe in independence have to double our efforts and make this work on the web" - Marshall Herskovitz
[Video] #oh09 "You'll in the next 2 or 3 or 4 years a subscription model take form for content on the web" - Marshall Herskovitz
[Video] #oh09 "We're still trying to figure out a way to allow independent content producers thrive" - Marshall Herskovitz
[Video] #oh09 "I believe that the branded entertainment model is going away soon; I don't think it's going to survive" - Marshall Herskovitz
[Video] #oh09 "The prevailing model on the internet right now is branded entertainment, single sponsor" - Marshall Herskovitz
[Video] #oh09 "The problem with the internet is that it's hard to make money there" - Marshall Herskovitz
[Video] #oh09 "You can't be entrepreneurial if you don't own your own content" - Marshall Herskovitz
[Video] #oh09 opening keynote address by Marshall Herskovitz, "Can independent content compete against big budget production and marketing?"
[Video] #oh09 "Marketers...in order to get their message out they need to create ads they feel like content" - Shishir Mehrotra, Google
[Video] #oh09 "Everyone is branding portals, instead of branding the content, which makes more sense" - audience member
[Video] #oh09 "Patterns from online video are migrating to TV; what users want in 1 medium they want in other" - Shishir Mehrotra, Google
[Video] #oh09 "49% prefer to pay to watch ad-less media" - David Wolf, Accenture
[Video] #oh09 "It's about creating a TV show that can reach consumers in different ways on mobile, on PC, on TV" - David Wolf, Accenture
[Video] #oh09 "The web is like 15 years old; what's taking so long for us to make this work?" - audience member
[Video] #oh09 "If you are big enough, like Google, you can invent things yourself (and reach your audience)" - Jonathan Heller, FreeWheel
[Video] #oh09 "We're going to see marketers shift into creating ads that are actually valuable content" - Shishir Mehrotra, Google
[Video] #oh09 "Marketers come to the internet and learn that it's very hard to force anyone to watch anything" - Shishir Mehrotra, Google
[Video] #oh09 "Selling ads on UGC is not as straightforward as buying on NBC.com or Hulu. How do we handle mashup?" - Yangbin Wang, Vobile
[Video] #oh09 "Other than search, there's not any segment ramping up their ad spend like they are on online content" - Bill Day, ScanScout
[Video] #oh09 "We're in the early days of video" - Adam Cahan, Auditude
[Video] #oh09 "What's so damn hard about selling 300,000 views a day?" - audience member to panel
[Video] #oh09 "User-pirated content: A challenge facing the whole industry" - Yangbin Wang, Vobile
[Video] #oh09 "For every piece of content there's an good advertiser waiting to sponsor" - Shishir Mehrotra, Google
[Video] #oh09 "The definition of media company is no longer as strict as it used to be" - Shishir Mehrotra, Google
[Email] "Virtual Mail, Anywhere, Anytime, Worldwide" - the tagline for http://vobile.com
[Video] In-stream video advertising network http://scanscout.com/ includes behavioral and contextual optimization http://ping.fm/InQ7V
[Video] http://www.auditude.com helps companies manage and monetize online video
[Media] Reporting from AlwaysOn OnHollywood (#oh09) today in LA; first up "Content is King - But How do You Monetize Online Video?"

Monday, April 27, 2009

[Instructional Design] "The Inner Life" - award-winning instructional material - engaging video http://ping.fm/98nuN
[Instructional Design] Excellent, simple tutorials teach users about DNA http://ping.fm/crNzT --> no Flash either - great work
[Bandwidth] Comcast to adopt "capacity management technique that is protocol-agnostic" -response to court decision http://ping.fm/88XDi
[Data Visualization] I wonder how much more useful our content will become as we begin using data visualization techniques
[Data Visualization] I'm amazed @ how much more I understand about my finances using Mint.com. Allows you to see things you never saw before
[Humor] Lo-Jack for Toddlers - this is too funny! http://ping.fm/Rugsj
[Human Memory] Strange but true: A Case of Unusual Autobiographical Remembering http://ping.fm/qW8Ot (amazing!)
[Telecommunication] Get all your phones (including virtual ones) ringing on one device: http://ping.fm/aFTMV
[Entertainment] Humorous waste of five minutes http://ping.fm/BPCK4
[Entertainment] In the future, TV will include social media functionality; you'll even be able to see what your friends are watching
[Entertainment] Boxee is an interesting alternative to Netflix and traditional cable tv; it's open source, too http://www.boxee.tv/
[User-Generated Content] Wired says The Huffington Post gets 35,000 comments a day; and that they employ 25 people to review them
[Online communities] Some online community moderators "disemvowel" (remove all vowels) nasty posts instead of deleting them.
[User-Generated Content] I'm looking to identify different types of user-generated content. Ratings, comments, votes .. others? Ideas?
[Music] The iPhone Philharmonic - the mobile orchestra (MoPhO) from Stanford University http://ping.fm/6dEzS
[Automation] Don't worry about overseas competition, robots are stealing jobs http://ping.fm/wf0B3
[iPhone] Clippy brings missing copy-and-paste feature to the iPhone (and invalidates your warranty) http://ping.fm/ewrC7
[Jargon] Spitterati: Celebrities who attend posh soirees organized to collect saliva for genetic sequencing
[Experience Design] Gesture-based computing is an entree to the third world, where languages don't map well to a standard keyboard (Wired)
[Touch Screen] 5% of phones have touch screens today; 90 million to be sold worldwide in 2009 http://tinyurl.com/d7nqzk
[Quote] "Now it is nothing but torture" - Sigmund Freud
[Helping Others] Sending donation in to help Theresa Putkey in her Ride to Conquer Cancer: http://ping.fm/IetLb (donate what you can)
[Web Marketing] Judging Web Awards again this year! http://ping.fm/XCUd9 Enter today, if you haven't already. 96 categories.
[TechComm] How do you plan to document this? Get ready for gesture-based computing http://oblong.com/
[Interaction Design] US Patent #7,479,949 covering touch screen commands for computing devices goes to Apple http://ping.fm/OXUmq
[TechComm] Hacking versus Elegance: Scriptorium on the DITA OpenTool Kit http://ping.fm/waaAh
[Presentations] Make sure the content you plan to deliver is relevant, organized, clear, to the point. Once you think it is, make it better.
[Quote] "If you think you've arrived, then your train has stopped well short of the station" - John Masse, Masse Graphics on web design
[Stock Photos] My favorite stock photo vendor: http://www.fotolia.com (use promo code: LBV7S2VV to get 10% more credits when you purchase)
[Web Design] An Event Apart: For people who make websites, May 4-5, 2009 Seattle, WA - http://ping.fm/54bIF
[Marketing] Need a fresh new logo idea? Check out http://ping.fm/Ma4JK for inspiration
[Web Design] A growing repository of high quality texture photos that are free for personal and professional use http://textureking.com/
[Web Design] Compare color palettes, submit news and comments, and read color related articles and interviews http://ping.fm/lWGYp
[TechComm] Show Us Your Stuff! Enter the Adobe Technical Communication Suite Contest
http://ping.fm/WFrf9
[Rich Media] Industry-wide effort aims to enable users to interact w/ rich media on any device, anywhere http://ping.fm/IEzpr
[Interaction Design] Adobe to publish Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP) specification http://ping.fm/8LxES
[TechComm] How content reuse works in Author-it http://ping.fm/knnho (video)
[Visual Design] A great place for tutorials for those using the Adobe Creative Suite http://ping.fm/y5kDv
[Experience Design] The Vertical Web: http://layers.com/ Create and display layers of information over top of existing web pages
[Language] New film covers the world of the linguist and captures the importance of local language (watch trailer) http://ping.fm/7y02u
[User Experience] We can learn how to build online communities from those who study interaction in physical spaces http://ping.fm/3TQQ8
[Statistical Literacy] Numbers may fool us, but more often than not, we don't understand the math. Quiz yourself http://ping.fm/NnkCm
[Interaction Design] Luminosity.com tracks your progress using brain games over six weeks; short 15 minute sessions are scored over time
[TechComm] Recent study suggests our ability to construct sentences may arise from procedural memory: http://ping.fm/kq7FW
[TechComm] Recommended Reading: Simulation and Its Discontents (MIT Press) http://ping.fm/NfSoC
[Hardware] I'm shopping for a handheld projector today http://ping.fm/nk19D
[Social Media] Shell using social media tactics to encourage conversation; not much going on yet, promising though http://ping.fm/HrkBI
[Jargon] Widget: a mini-application that can add functionality to a web page, blog, social media profile, etc.
[TechComm] I got a great email ad from Pro-Edit. Creative and interesting. Then I clicked, only to be disappointed http://ping.fm/EscFa
[Form Design] If you MUST split a telephone number into 3 fields, make it auto-advance as the user enters the number (same for soc sec #s)

Friday, April 24, 2009

[Video] YouTube and Universal Music Are Said to Discuss Deal http://ping.fm/7vGEi
[Social Media] What does your personality say about you? Ask http://ping.fm/ai1wI Results are silly and not very valuable
[XML Standards] CIM represents power system models; used to exchange models between transmission system operators http://ping.fm/xVWII
[Experience Design] User Experience Week - September 15-18, San Francisco http://www.uxweek.com/
[Experience Design] BIG D(esign) Conference - May 30 in Dallas http://ping.fm/zluXj
[Experience Design] Experimentation, Prototyping and Roombas Engaging in Gladiatorial Combat http://ping.fm/HtB0z
[Experience Design] Designing for Big Data, Bigger Data, Multi-touch, and more…http://ping.fm/ChOU3
[XML] Java-based XML modeling application written to make creating and editing XML files easier http://www.xerlin.org/
[Twitter] Coerced into Twitter http://ping.fm/ZDhuo
[Agile] The Seven Habits of Highly Effective SCRUM Masters http://ping.fm/EXUmJ
[Cloud Computing] vSphere,, dubbed OS of the cloud, helps transform data centers into private clouds http://ping.fm/0nNa5
[Web Development] HTML 5 - new features http://ping.fm/UPHds
[Security] Security hole in OAuth has led services like Twitter and Yahoo to temporarily pull their support http://ping.fm/ucSpM
[Quote] "The Atom Publishing Protocol is a failure" Joe Gregorio http://ping.fm/Dp7Si
[Twitter] Worm hacks into Twitter profiles, automatically sends Twitter status updates from hacked accounts http://ping.fm/LK9cm
[Hardware] Apple fixing cracks in white plastic MacBooks - even if warranty expired http://ping.fm/nyZT7 (no one wants a cracked Mac!)
[TechComm] A Different View on Fostering Career Longevity http://ping.fm/bulR5 (don't want to change, read this - you'll love it)
[Content Convergence] Convergence of content tools and the integration of content services is quickly changing the role of content creators
[TechComm] Heading to Wiesbaden this November for tcWorld conference! Look for special offer (and some free tickets) soon!
[Training] Free training games: 6 PowerPoint quiz show games you can incorporate into you training programs http://ping.fm/sAQ4s
[Entertainment Content Management] AlwaysOn OnHollywood: Where Innovation Meets Entertainment http://ping.fm/Orkqm - starts Monday!
[TechComm] Searching Help: Don’t Even Go There http://ping.fm/98No0 (great work by folks who understand user experience and techcomm)
[Communication] The next generation of students aren't like you; scroll down to "Reality Check" http://ping.fm/YQUlz It's amazing!
[TechComm] Research about ragged-right over justified alignment http://ping.fm/Xu7yy (requires registration)
[Wikis] Creating survey designed to measure need for wikis among content pros; Looking for wiki firm to sponsor - Contact scottabel@mac.com
[Social Media] SocialToo used to work, now it doesn't (for me); whatever the problem, finding the solution is challenging and shouldn't be.
[Jobs] San Diego, Sr. Sales Rep w/ promotional, e-marketing, high-tech printing industry experience. Contact Maureenkube@roadrunner.com

Thursday, April 23, 2009

[Jobs] Spanish language script writer needed for motion picture production aimed @ Latino audience. Interested? Contact scottabel@mac.com
[Content Management] RT @seanyodarouse: EMC To Cut Employee Salaries By 5%s -> how this affects employees outside US?
[Content Management] e-Spirit's FirstSpirit CMS is making it easier to integrate content from other systems http://ping.fm/pIcq2
[TechComm] Fantastic training workshop and presentation line-up @ DocTrain DITA http://ping.fm/OGWpD
[Quote] "Earn trust and new fans by becoming a hub for reliable information" - Andy Sernovitz http://ping.fm/mhbRg
[Error Message] From Microsoft: "An update to Microsoft SilverLight is available. This update includes bug fixes" - Could have guessed that
[Publishing] Newspapers are dying. Sites like http://www.mixx.com are what we want. Newspapers are needed, but need to adjust to web quickly
[Social Bookmarking] http://onlywire.com is confusing, forces users into payment plan or free service w/limits. DUMB! They don't get it.
[Social Networking] Top 4 Reasons Why Twitter Is The “Right” Choice - one good reason "you have fans" --> http://ping.fm/fLjnP
[Marketing] RT @brianjking @db http://onlywire.com. Submit content to all your social bookmarking sites at once (ping.fm is my favorite)
[Web Pros] RT @webaddict 10 Incredible Personalities You Can Find Only on the Internet http://bit.ly/13tSRW (funny and true - well, almost)
[Quote] "Twitter needs a video showing how messages are received, many people still think it's via email" - customer @ Koffi in Palm Springs
[Web Design] www.lenscrafters.com an interesting way to provide access to different customer-focused content; could be better, idea is good
[Quote] "Everyone should stop blogging and just Twitter. I love my Twitter." - customers @ Koffi in Palm Springs talking about microblogging
[Web Content Management] Survey of marketers - five minutes to complete http://ping.fm/VrU2C
[IT Humor] RT @steno Reasons why people with computers seem to have a lot of spare time - http://ping.fm/EqiTr ,-)
[Social Media] Are you a content professional? Writer? Marketer? User Experience Pro? Then join us today: http://ping.fm/2maRz

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

[Social Media] Utilizing Facebook for Small Business Lead Generation, April 23, 12ET http://ping.fm/lMete (free webinar)
[TechComm] Forced returns (to add white space) have no place in structured content. Structure matters. What content "looks like" doesn't.
[Marketing] Software marketers need a GREAT idea? See what Atlassian is doing: http://ping.fm/u8xeR Brilliant way to pimp brand
[Quote] "Holy s**t! Or as we say in Australia fan-fucking-tastic!" Mike Cannon-Brookes on RoomToRead.com fundraiser http://ping.fm/oiL6C
[Wikis] 5 licenses of JIRA/Confluence @ $5 each; all proceeds go to RoomtoRead.org; $60k raised so far. http://ping.fm/fMv99
[TechComm] Webinar: Embracing the Straightjacket - Learning to Love Structured Authoring - w/Emma Hamer, 04/29 http://ping.fm/oAq8K
[TechComm] FrameMaker: Apply Master Pages + Advanced Master Page Techniques, 04/23 (webinar) http://ping.fm/suwmB
[Chicago] Looking for technology blogger in Chicago to cover upcoming Web Content Conference. Contact scottabel@mac.com. Free ticket!
[TechComm] tcWorld magazine covers content quality, out-souring and more this month (PDF) http://ping.fm/C0iUh
[TechComm] tcworld conference 2009, November 4-6, Wiesbaden, Germany http://ping.fm/tI9Gy (2000+ attendees in 2008)
[Marketing] Take the web marketers survey http://ping.fm/jc8RR
[Web Browsers] Mozilla designers exploring complete redesign of FireFox (looks/feel) http://ping.fm/jMyxB
[Twitter] More Twitter Followers Don't Always Mean More Clicks http://ping.fm/GFAe5
[Non-profit Australia] Donated software/hardware to eligible Australian groups w/ Income Tax Exempt Status http://ping.fm/2ZR6d
[Social Media] Cloud Computing Intersects with Social Media by Rich Maggiani http://ping.fm/kHI9z (PDF)
[Interaction Design] List of useful interaction design bookmarks from DesignStamp (they do GREAT work) http://ping.fm/hUpZW
[TechComm] Design Pattern Library: Yahoo! Design Stencil Kit http://ping.fm/AJqcm
[TechComm] Used by designers/UX teams to rapidly produce design strategy, wireframes, style guides, specs in CS2 http://ping.fm/2w1V6
[Interaction Design] A complete set of deliverable templates, libraries, and basic bits of documentation (in XML!) http://ping.fm/qsgTB
[Interaction Design] A review of 16 design prototyping tools: http://ping.fm/cubsB
[Interaction Design] http://ping.fm/RQJPA another wire frame and website/service design prototyping tool w/ collaboration features
[Interaction Design] Balsamiq wire frame mock-up tool; desktop and web-based http://ping.fm/gBKZk
[Interaction Design] Sketching in Code: The Magic of Prototyping http://ping.fm/nat4F
[Interaction Design] David Verba - Adaptive Path: Sketching in Code: Using Prototypes to Visualize Interactions http://ping.fm/qfesJ
[Quote] "One of our biggest bottle-necks is getting from screen-shots to application code" Sean Brookes
[Conference] Excellent social media tools for conferences; recently featured at #sxsw http://ping.fm/JC8Xr
[TechComm] I still have 10 free tickets to DocTrain DITA available for documentation managers. Interested? Email me scottabel@mac.com
[Interaction Design] Another wire frame creation tool worth looking at: http://www.axure.com/
[3D] O3D to bring accelerated 3D graphics
to browsers, thanks to Google: http://ping.fm/ODf4T (now where did I put my 3D glasses?)
[Content Standards] Feedback wanted on revised Working Draft "rdf:text: A Datatype for Internationalized Text" http://ping.fm/TJoXE
[TechComm] Just had great call today w/ Nicky Bleiel of ComponentOne about how we might use social media in techcomm; more after #stc09
[Content Standards] ISO/IEC IS29500 (Office Open XML) is now an American National Standard http://ping.fm/9wS8G
[TechComm] Just spoke w/company whose tech writers screwed up unstructured to structured Frame project; desktop publishing tactics to blame
[Interaction Design] ID tool for rapidly creating application interfaces and interactive content without coding http://ping.fm/d8pQ7
[Music] CORRECTION! Ping.fm on Blip.fm: http://ping.fm/50cKU (It's dangerous to Tweet w/out eyeglasses!)
[Music] Ping.fm on Blig.fm: http://ping.fm/UwHBp
[Twitter] Anyone from @tweetmeme available to help folks make the javascript work on Expression Engine blogs? Email me scottabel@mac.com
[Web Browsing] RT @raj4126 View multiple web pages @ once w/various views; Create URL to share your view w/others http://www.viewista.com

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

[Twitter] HootSuite: Manage multiple Twitter profiles, pre-schedule tweets and measure success http://hootsuite.com/ (why limit to Twitter?)
[Social Media] Interviewing founder of Ping.fm, Sean McCullough, this Friday. Way cool!
[Government Content] WhiteHouse 2.0: How White House might work if it was run by thousands of folks over the web http://whitehouse2.org
[Government Content] Hello Congress http://ping.fm/VTTju - helps constituents keep track of Congress
[Government Content] You may not believe it; sometimes, stalking is a good thing: http://legistalker.org/ (stalking lawmakers since 2009)
[Government Content] You might think they’re heroes. Or jackasses. Either way, they’re worth keeping track of. http://filibusted.us/
[Government Content] Apps competition winner is Filibusted: Holding senators accountable for blocking legislation http://ping.fm/hENNX
[Content Management] EMC World, May 18-21, Orlando http://ping.fm/Ct6Ba
[Advertising] Digg dumps Microsoft as its ad inventory provider, now planning its own sales force, says ClickZ http://ping.fm/HS3WU
[TechComm] I've got a book in me somewhere. Trying to get it out of my brain! Hmmm.....
[Content Management] Line-up pf keynote/featured presenters @ MarkLogic user Conference is outstanding! http://ping.fm/li5GW
[Instructional Design] Best Practices for Delivering Virtual Classroom Training http://ping.fm/rJLX7 (PDF) - excellent tips!
[Quote] "Understanding cultural ways of working has a profound effect on your ability to manage global teams" - Joe Sokohl (@mojoguzzi)
[TechComm] Does anyone actually use Doc-To-Help? They advertise in mags, but I seldom hear brand name uttered aloud or see it in writing
[Crowd-Sourcing] ning social network software moves support to the crowd: http://ping.fm/OLNfO
[Customer Support] The Art of Fee-based Support: June 26, Boston http://ping.fm/DzUsZ
[Quote] "I think we screwed up. We can find documents now, but we can't reassemble pieces into new documents. How does that work?" - Lisa W.
[TechComm] Take honest look @ your content creation process. If you do, you'll find wasteful processes ($) and lots of personal preferences
[TechComm] New approaches scare old school tech writers who are used to the status quo and don't like it when we stir up winds of change.
[Wikis] Moving a website to a wiki (www.EditMe.com) - using the tool is easy, deciding on the best an information architecture, not so much
[PR] "Leading technology firms collaborate to deliver Web Content Integration and Content Management Solutions to US companies" - who cares?
[Identity Management] Video of Eve Maler discusses Kantara Initiative and need for I.D. management http://ping.fm/QdoPR
[Identity] New org to promote interoperability
between existing identity management schemes announced http://ping.fm/k4rfr
[translation] Language instruction firm Rosetta Stone went public; a bright spot in an otherwise dismal market http://ping.fm/m3XQl
[Content Visualization] Firefox can see thingsthe human eye can't, but a lot of it doesn't get used for anything: http://ping.fm/fTteD
[Jobs] Video content developer sought: Contact Ayesha Ambreen at ayesha.ambreen@ultralearn.com or +1 (703) 436 2120
[TechComm] We should stop promoting value of style guides. Until one can bitch-slap a writer for violating rules, it's not that valuable!
[Content Management] Advice from Scott Bass to CMS vendors: "Don’t get into the translation business!" http://ping.fm/Y7w27
[Translation] XLIFF…Where For Art Thou? by Scott Bass of Advanced Language Translation on The Content Wrangler http://ping.fm/u8FQ5
[Marketing] Received email promo w/8 registered trademark, copyright symbols in first para. Where is "symbol check" when you need it?
[PR] Finally got a URL from Amie @ Inergize Digital. Takes me to library of releases. Now, let's try for a URL to the article you want RT'ed
[Content Management] SmallBox introduces CMS http://ping.fm/z8XA2
[Twitter] RT @BreakingNews San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has announced on Twitter he is running for CA governor (move over Larry King)
[PR] After chastising PR folks for not including URLs, one rep just sent me a URL to content that requires password. Are you people new?
[PR] Amie Hoffner, Director, Marketing Communications for Inergize Digital just sent me a press release w/out a URL. I can't Tweet an email!
[Content Quality] Great article: "Toward Content Quality" from Colleen Jones, UX Matters http://ping.fm/00Nnj
[Publishing] Kindle formatting best practices from Jakob Nielsen http://ping.fm/r09wG
[Quote] Jakob Nielsen: "For Kindle, it's certainly unacceptable to simply repurpose print content" http://ping.fm/0VWeU
[XML] XML-in-Practice Conference, September 29-30 in Washington, DC http://ping.fm/0sLcB
[Security] RT @spaley Hackers Infiltrate Pentagon’s $300 Billion Fighter Jet Project http://tr.im/jkvm (via @DiscoverMag)
[Twitter] RT @dantejarabelo So far the BEST user interface or webUI for Twitter, http://tr.im/jkig (search.twitter.com is just as good)
[Twitter] Following limited to 1,000 per day, say Twitter blog http://ping.fm/ADhv4
RT @Time How not to be hated on Facebook | http://ow.ly/3rqp
[PR] In my inbox again today...3 press releases with no URLs! It's apparently going to take a while to educate PR folks to INCLUDE A URL
[Technology] We don't manage infrastructure of mobile devices, so why are we managing PC servers, software licenses, and security controls?
[Quote] "I don't even know where my Day-Timer is." - Timothy Tuohy, Strategy Magazine
[Marketing] Understanding HTML META Tags is a skill many marketers today lack: http://ping.fm/5xK5M
[Usability] 3 Clicks Rule states: No important info should ever be more than three clicks away from anywhere else on your website
[Content Standards] Basic primer will help you understand JavaScript and HTML http://ping.fm/qj64g
[Web 2.0] 2009 Semantic Technology Conference, June 14-18, 2009 in San Jose, CA www.semanticconference.com (looks interesting)
[Webinars] Presenters need to spend more time talking about topic of the webinar and less time talking about their qualifications to present
[Web Development] Iteration is unavoidable on the web; but it's no excuse for trying to get it right the first time around
[Content Marketing] Marketers need to be aware that websites are never "done"; Continual tweaking and improvements are needed
[Social Networks] Insurance companies get in on the action; New site aims to help Americans lose 50 million lbs http://ping.fm/CxBkD
[Publishing] "Indie Publishing: How to design and produce your own book" http://ping.fm/YosCx
[Before eCommerce] "The illustrated history of mail order shopping"; Book documents era of print-based shopping http://ping.fm/msH48
[Music] "For the love of vinyl: Album art of Hipgnosis"; Cover art from Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Yes and more http://ping.fm/sp1dy
[Political Imagery] Shepard Fairey, artist behind Barack Obama "Hope" poster donated the now famous artwork to the National Portrait Gallery
[Quote] "Clients need smart-thinking and new ideas more than ever before" Curtis Clarkson, Editor CMYK magazine
[Quote] "There's employment for those who are qualified and willing to work harder and smarter than before" Curtis Clarkson, Editor CMYK mag
[Digital Art] When you just can't drop the pen for the stylus or mouse, try one of these: www.pencollective.com
[Print] 2009 Adobe Design Achievement Awards for students in higher education - Submissions close: June 5 www.ADAAentry.com
[eCommerce] Looking for the best deals online? Try CouponCabin.com, FatWallet.com, Spoofee.com

Monday, April 20, 2009

[Marketing] Take the Web Content Marketing Survey --> Let's find out what marketers like you are really doing http://ping.fm/5rZGC
[TechComm] New DITA book coming from the folks at The Rockley Group. More details soon!
[Twitter] It's 4:15pm PT, do you know where your Tweeps are?
[Wikis] Join "Grow Your Wiki" on The Content Wrangler Community (free registration required); led by Stewart Mader http://ping.fm/4eiQs
[TechComm] Show Us Your Stuff! Enter the Adobe Technical Communication Suite Contest: http://ping.fm/xRCLu
[Content Management] Looking forward to James Surowiecki on "Wisdom of Crowds" at MarkLogic User Conference in SF http://ping.fm/rnDHH
[Entertainment] I'm live blogging from AlwaysOn OnHollywood in Los Angeles next week: http://ping.fm/T4mzs
[Bloggers!] Technology blogger needed to cover Mark Logic User Conference in San Francisco. Contact scottabel@mac.com. Free ticket!
[Truth in Labeling] Spotted on Northwest Airlines coffee non-dairy creamer package: "Warning: Contains Milk"
[Sales] Many sales in the service sector start w/ a quote. And, yet, most websites selling services don't have a "request a quote" button.
[Publishing] What's going on w/ Google patent on personalized newspapers? Update anyone? Here's the patent filing http://ping.fm/OXgEV
[Publishing] If your local newspaper shuts down, what will take the place of its coverage? http://ping.fm/AHRGi
[Localization and Translation] European Commission Study on language services industry http://ping.fm/Qfmsu
[The Next Generation] Wow! Outstanding video showing just how different the students of today are - reality check http://ping.fm/WHp7J
[PR] Still training PR people to include hypertext links to the content they want others to know about. Is it me, or are they just clueless?
[Blogs] Tech bloggers! Want to attend the MarkLogic User Conference, May 12-14, 09 in San Francisco at no charge? http://ping.fm/dkxuK
[TechComm] 6 Ways to be a Friendly Boss http://ping.fm/j5NTQ (just don't use the Scott Abel style of management --> LOL)

Sunday, April 19, 2009

[Music] The Cure closes Coachella tonite; no backstage pass for me this time ;( http://ping.fm/ISzPS
[Life Sciences] Center for Drug Evaluation and Research's Electronic Regulatory Submissions and Review website http://ping.fm/zPUJC
[Life Sciences] Big and small pharma alike are seeing the addition of Chief Marketing Officer role http://ping.fm/VzWLI (strategy role)
[Publishing] Men's Journal trying to empower subscribers to influence, discuss, attend and access info (and offers): accessmensjournal.com
[Social Networks] homerepairforum.com --> members helping members build, remodel, install, repair ... another example of the power of crowds
[Web Design] Why reinvent the wheel? Groups/associations should consider using social networks as their "platform"; saves $, increases reach
[Quote] "People aren't reading web pages; most tediously-crafted relics of desktop publishing...sit inactive" Razorfish feed.razorfish.com/
[Change] iPhone/iPod: Examples of how shattering long-held notions (about how things are supposed to work) made people want to change
[Social Networks] "Create lasting, valuable relationships; give them a voice, repond to desire to engage" - Razorfish feed.razorfish.com
[Social Networks] "Social networks excel at making users do something instead of just consume something" - Razorfish feed.razorfish.com
[Social Networks] "It's about making the entire web social instead of creating a ghetto of destinations" - Razorfish feed.razorfish.com
[Social Networks] The key is to make sure the spotlight is on the members, not on the organization - Razorfish feed.razorfish.com
[Mobile] U.S. is still a third-world nation when it comes to mobile communication usage, digital content services; that's changing quickly
[Marketing] Question: How can targeted campaigns be delivered efficiently? Answer: VDP http://ping.fm/zh2MX
[TechComm] Groups like STC should learn lesson from music industry; as physical sales fall, digital sales rose, new customers emerged online
[Marketing] "Content granularity enables delivery" of right info, to right folks, in right format, @ right time" http://ping.fm/Rntvm
[Marketing] IBM: "India has most people willing to provide personal info (72%); US lowest (45%) due to media coverage about privacy issues"
[Marketing] IBM: "Sizable # of consumers will provide personal info in exchange for content, discounts, points" http://ping.fm/dTO9d
[Marketing] IBM: "Mass marketing alone is no longer feasible" http://ping.fm/Yf9U6
[Marketing] IBM: "Gadgetiers (15% of population) are early adopters ...quick to adopt digital content" http://tinyurl.com/d29lgp
[Marketing] IBM: "Massive passives (65% of overall population) are interested in maintaining existing experiences" http://tinyurl.com/d29lgp
[Marketing] IBM: "Traditional boundaries are fading, creating new opportunities for innovation business models" http://ping.fm/EE8hz
[Marketing] IBM: "Being competitive will require fundamental change in capabilities ... old models don't work" http://ping.fm/f79cr
[Marketing] IBM: "The scenario of the future is consumer-centricity" (STCer Ann Rockley talks about this!) http://ping.fm/1lOmL
[Marketing] IBM: "Old ways can't meet challenges of today" (unsustainable, expensive, inefficient ...ring a bell?) http://ping.fm/d9ncv
[Music] On my iTunes right now: "New York, New York" - Nina Hagen
[Jobs] Trainer with Captivate/Storyboard experience, Philadelphia, PA - Contact Rao @ 303 532 4590 or yalapragada.rao@gavsin.com
[Jobs] Anaheim, CA Tech Writer w/ Mechanical Engineering/Marketing Experience; Brian Beigel bbeigel@claritytechwriters.com 508.720.9844
[Music] Photos from people brave enough to bring a camera to CoachellaFest http://ping.fm/peEg0 Great fun in the desert
[TechComm] My comments re: STC are aimed @ all trade/membership orgs; most of what they do is not needed, or can be easily replicated.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

[Music] Last night Sir Paul McCartney (and that cry-baby Morrisey); tonight The Killers, Chemical Bros, The Cure http://ping.fm/Ralw7
[Books] Search for books and compare prices http://isbn.nu
[TechComm] Anyone interested in why trade assn websites can't compete w/social networks read Clay Shirky's book http://ping.fm/nlvdx
[TechComm] Answering email from STCers pissed I suggested Facebook better alternative to STC.org. The truth seems to irritate some members.
[TechComm] STC chapters should have Facebook groups like Puget Sound's http://ping.fm/8YkJF there's increasingly no need for STC.org
[Service Design] Web 2.0 services are about helping users DO something, not just READ something (finding something to read is a service)
[Localization, e-Commerce] Wal-Mart creates stores specifically for US Hispanics, bilingual staff, merchandise targeted to Hispanics
[Social Media] Facebook worth $4 billion? It's an insult! http://ping.fm/k7bsl
[Humor] Help Matt Webb build a 100 head herd of plastic cattle (you read that right). Why? Why not? http://ping.fm/VTUHl

Friday, April 17, 2009

[Social Media] Ashton K is brilliant! His efforts have helped http://ping.fm/3hPAI raise awareness and needed funds. Donate today! Now!
[Twitter] Marketers need to understand that micro-interactions (like Tweets) are a new form of social influence marketing
[Widgets] 63% of consumers use Web widgets w/some frequency; 55% use desktop widgets w/ some frequency: Razorfish Consumer Experience Report
[Widgets] "Widgets are remaking the internet" Razorfish Consumer Experience Report
[Twitter] "Twitter is in the same phase as YouTube was before they were acquired by Google" - Ashton K on Larry King Live (CNN)
[Twitter] Larry King on CNN asked Jimmy Fallon "Why do you use Twitter?" "I need the attention," he replied.
[Twitter] "The majority of people still don't know what it is (Twitter). That's about to change" - Jimmy Fallon on Larry King (CNN)
[Interaction] Lipton Tea promotes their brand w/interactive BrainTrain site featuring mental alertness games http://ping.fm/xyIn5
[Music] On my iTunes right now: "Everytime" Paul Oakenfold Remix by Lustral
[Twitter] "It's (Twitter) is not about celebrities. It's about everyday people having a voice" Ashton K on Larry King (CNN)
[Twitter] "I (Twitter) calls you to put out a message" Sean Combs (on Larry King via CNN)
[Marketing] "Promote products by building advergames" says Razorfish http://ping.fm/p250R
[Marketing] "Use game-inspired techniques to create a better experience in non-game products" says Razorfish http://ping.fm/YgzCZ
[Twitter] Amazing, I heard word Twitter on 3 pre-recorded shows; Now Ashton K is w/Larry King CNN discussing 1 million followers campaign
[Interaction] Razorfish advises companies to "imagine your product as a game" and then build an experience w/game-like techniques
[Interaction Design] Engaging the user is what http://gettheglass.com Got Milk? site does by integrating a game into the mix. Brilliant!
[Quote] “Oprah on Twitter I’m fine with. When Donahue joins, I’m getting the hell out of here.” - @JephKelley http://ping.fm/w1a62
[Social Media] BrightKite needs a "edit" functionality: I can't believe such basic functionality is missing. http://brightkite.com/
[Travel] 3 travel insurance sites worth checking out before next trip: squaremouth.com. insuremytrip.com, and tripinsurancestore.com
RT @ SonnyCohen: Conversion of Illinois Humanities Council website to Drupal CMS enabled social media. Good start. http://www.prairie.org
[Nonsense] NY govt employee wants compensation for missing lunch hour during massacre http://ping.fm/WCyfC (it's sad because it's true)
[Twitter] Ashton Out-Twitters CNN http://ping.fm/Ceovh
[Video] Need to waste some time and have a few laughs (and perhaps shed a few tears), check out http://current.com/ (great site!)
[Chocolate] Hey @sarahokeefe! Le Whif: Mini-inhaler shoots calorie-free chocolate mist; $2 for 4 puffs http://ping.fm/D0CAl
[Better Late Than Never] Overdue library book returned after 110 years; $9000 fine waived http://ping.fm/VIodB
[Web Design] Anyone have favorite websites they'd like to share that are designed with social media functions built in?
[Social Media] RT @aaronseal The popularity of Twitter has some relationships in a twist http://ping.fm/yYygI
[Personal Finance] I may just get my finances organized w/help of http://www.mint.com. Wow! Can't say enough good things about this service.
[Alphabetical Order] Why can't developers of pull-down list get US States in right order? Indiana comes before Iowa.
[Personal Finance] Checking out www.mint.com; Monitors every swipe of credit/debit cards, alerts you to impact on goals, budget, net worth
[Quote] I'm tired of websites (that should know better) showing me things I don't care about. We need dynamic content personalization badly.
[Quote] "It' a small World Wide Web, but I wouldn't want to have to tag it" - Unknown
[Privacy] RT @pheadrick Google Maps Now Show Views from Webcams: http://is.gd/sZDL
[Social Media] Now you can talk to your Twitter followers http://blog.phweet.com/
[Open-Source] Google Summer of Code offers student developers stipends to write code for open-source projects http://ping.fm/lJL1D
[Text-to-Speech] GhostReader 1.6 (Mac OSX) allows multilingual text-to-speech reading of text docs http://ping.fm/nNepU
[Localization] Guide to Localization now available - free download http://ping.fm/fpU3t
[Localization] Registration open for Localization World Berlin, June 8-10; "Know-How for Global Success" http://ping.fm/u0tUw
[Localization] User asks for help deciphering issues with Spanish language characters in URLs http://ping.fm/B1ThH
[TechComm] DITA + Wiki = The Open-Source DITA2Wiki Project w/Lisa Dyer @ DocTrain DITA http://ping.fm/dfpca
[Content Strategy] NY-area Content Strategy Meet-up series, Tuesday 5/5 @ 7pm @ White Rabbit: http://ping.fm/ZGZzg
[Web Content Management] Two free tickets available to Web Content 2009 Chicago, June 15-16. Interested? Contact scottabel@mac.com
[TechComm] Hacking the DITA Open Toolkit (full day training session @ DocTrain DITA) w/Simon Bate, Scriptorium http://ping.fm/gWCBh
[Blog] Fixed the issue w/ http://ping.fm/9bBN2 An incorrectly formatted email addy was the culprit. Thanks everyone.
[Computer Cleanliness] New version of TidyUp! (for Mac) available today. Free demo version http://ping.fm/3YZGz
[Blogging] Any Expression Engine gurus available today? Got a challenge here: http://ping.fm/XtFIa Disappearing website!
[iPhone] Most popular Twitter app for iPhone http://ping.fm/o0zyD
[Twitter] Want to get a particular article or story noticed on Twitter, try posting to http://ping.fm/aNZ1A
[Twitter] The top 100 reTweeted URLs http://ping.fm/W7Rtw
[Twitter] Find trends in the mountains of information 'retweet'ed on Twitter http://ping.fm/6qNFX
[Peer-to-Peer] The court ruled that The Pirate Bay Four were guilty of 'severe' copyright infringements http://ping.fm/rex9q
[Twitter] For beginners, it’s not obvious what reTweets (RT) are, or what tools to use to make retweeting easier http://ping.fm/puG9K

Thursday, April 16, 2009

[Structured Content] What am I doing right now? Freebasing! http://www.freebase.com (this site would be better with DITA support)
[Twitter] Give it rest! The election is over and Twitter is still recommending I follow John McCain...and Trent Reznor (got one right - LOL)
[Music] Synching my iPod to prepare for download to new mp3 mixing board. Watch out Chaka Kahn, I feel a remix coming on!
[Social Media] Social scientists have work cut out for them determining why/how some people "reinterpret" Tweets. Interesting, I think
[Twitter] It's 6:20pm PT. Do you know where your Tweeps are?
[Web Design] Do you know of a website that is well designed, uses RSS, Twitter (Tweet this!) and widgets well? If so, share it here!
[Web Content Management] Personalization: A Multi-Dimensional Approach w/ Ann Rockley @ Web Content 2009 Chicago http://ping.fm/DAzWn
[Publishing] Creating the “Web First” Media Platform for the Christian Science Monitor @ Web Content 2009 Chicago http://ping.fm/MoN8C
[Music] On my iTunes right now: "Last Forever" (Vocal Mix) Norman Doray and Tristan Garner
[Wikis] Using Editme.com wiki software to create new website; Takes some getting used to, but far easier than most blogging tools
[Web Content] Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing and Employee Productivity http://ping.fm/2nrs8 (btw, this is beautiful site!)
[Content Management] A PR rep said her client had a CMS implementation w/no problems or lessons learned. Hogwash!
[TechComm] Incredible time-wasting tip for bored technical writers: Correct typos in listserv posts, Tweets already consumed by the masses.
[TechComm] Most common answer when I ask unemployed tech writers if they have a profile on Linkedin: "What's Linkedin?"
[eCommerce] If you hire someone because they claim to share same religion as you, you deserve to have the worst experience ever.
[Social Networks] There's nothing sexy about using your dating/hookup profile picture on a professional social network.
[TechComm] 04/23 - Wiki-fy Your Doc Set: A Writer’s Role in Web 2.0 w/ Anne Gentle; NY Metro STC via Live Meeting http://ping.fm/45mb4
[Intelligent Content] Why must we continue to input city and state info in online forms? Zip/postal codes can trigger automatic lookup!
[Twitter] When is best time to Tweet? That depends on whom you're targeting, where they are located, and where you are located. -->Ideas?
[Tech Comm] Ask yourself: "Why would a company only want to efficiently manage tech comm content?" The answer: They wouldn't.
[TechComm] DITA is important to tech comm. What's more important is for tech commers to understand their value outside of tech comm.
[Collaboration] File Genius --> New online file exchange tool offers free demo: http://ping.fm/w6zUj
[Marketers] Dumb marketers waste so much time doing things the old-school way; Data entry into Excel is how you gather metrics? Try again!
[Social Networks] Petition aimed at restoring group owner privileges removed recently by Linkedin; just signed it
[TechComm] Tech writers are frustrated because no one has ever taken time to create DITA learning materials that resonate with most writers
[Web .01] Video helps *newbies* understand how web works http://ping.fm/9LhKN See: Helping customers understand how web works
[Social Media] You're doing something right when your ISP takes your service offline for too much traffic http://ping.fm/UqmRW
[Translation, TechComm] Free trial download ABREVE guided authoring tool for documentation localization projects www.translations.com/ABREVE
[Video] Video blogger w/existing audience needed to cover Web Content Chicago - free admission. Contact scottabel@mac.com for info.
[New Metrics] "I can join a new Linkedin group in just over five seconds from receiving invite; up from 10 seconds last month. - Scott Abel
[Content Management] "Nothing went wrong, not even the slightest glitch?" I asked. "Nothing at all went wrong," she said. Give me a break!
[iPhone] Tip: When typing URL, hold down the .com button to get .net, .org shortcuts
[iPhone] Tip: To take screen shot of iPhone, while holding the Home button, press and release Sleep/Wake button http://ping.fm/VWHz8
[Blogging] 2 bloggers needed to pimp Web Content 09 Chicago, Delivering Dynamic Personalized Content. Free ticket. Email scottabel@mac.com
[TechComm] Collaboration tool for MS Office documents; don't see anything better than free GoogleDocs here though: http://ping.fm/pLzJb
[TechComm] 2 volunteers needed to work DocTrain DITA, June 2-5 in Indianapolis; free admission. Interested, contact Eileen info@doctrain.com
[TechComm] DocTrain DITA, June 2-5. $999 includes 2 days training, 2 days conference, 3 nights hotel http://ping.fm/AZm7V
[Content Reuse] Perfect case study on need for dynamic personalized content: Driver's License Handbooks (I'm writing about this example)
[Marketing] Social Media Success Summit 2009 (online event) this May --> http://ping.fm/lrbdv
[Social Media] Marketing Industry Report (March '09) How Marketers Are Using Social Media to Grow Their Businesses http://ping.fm/ACSke
[Social Reading Lists] Just discovered "Reading List" by Amazon.com on Linkedin - I'll have to add my favorites http://ping.fm/JtJiT
[Twitter] Overhead on morning radio today: "Sounds like you need a new acronym: UFMB!" (translation: unfollow me bitch)
[Video] See how Visible Measures tracks videos across the Internet http://ping.fm/bfP88
[Video] Video Engagement is measure of interaction w/video content, including rewinds, fast-forwards, abandonment http://ping.fm/HsSI6
[Video] True Reach is a measure of the total audience that has been exposed to a viral video campaign http://ping.fm/BGx74
[Video] Engaged Reach: A Viral Video Case Study http://ping.fm/gIbOZ (see Laker Kobe Bryant Jump over a speeding car!)
[Video] Video measurement provider Visible Measures is now the online video measurement platform for MySpace http://ping.fm/k8OUl

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

[Social Media] "233,000 people just Twittered. 26% of you have no idea what that means." - TV commercial for Palm http://tinyurl.com/cpl75v
[Social Media] How To Use Twitter for E-Commerce http://ping.fm/0JyRe
[Mash-ups] New CouponCabin (v2.0) is a great example of what's possible when mash-ups are designed to help users http://ping.fm/CW4C4
[Music] On my iTunes right now: "Nothing ever hurt like you" - James Morrison (sounds like old school Terrence Trent D'Arby)
[TechComm] First 5 technical communication managers to email me receive free ticket to DocTrain DITA scottabel@mac.com (not transferable)
[TechComm] Three free copies of "Practical DITA" by Julio Vazquez; send me mailing address and I'll send one out to you scottabel@mac.com
[TechComm] Pissing match between vendors in comments section of The Content Wrangler blog leads to embarrassing situation; story to follow

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

[Social Media and Pharma] 8 things pharma brands can do right now on Facebook http://ping.fm/F9X6P
[Social Media] Monitoring Pharma Social Media Use http://ping.fm/QQbEM
[Social Media] "How can we use social media in a highly-regulated pharma world where every word must be approved?" http://ping.fm/vGIpo
[Pharma Web Content] Next FDA Concern May be Use of "Redirect" URLs (bad user experience/potentially misleading) http://ping.fm/wIJ0r
[Pharma Content] When it Comes to Pharma Marketing on the Internet, be Careful of the Advice You Get from "Experts http://ping.fm/9rWmU
[Pharma Web Content] US FDA Sends Warning Letters to 14 Companies Regarding Internet Ads http://ping.fm/oC96h
[Quote] "Document-centric collaboration by itself just isn't enough. You need something people-oriented right along side it" - Oliver Young
[iPhone] Since it opened, the Apple App Store has sold more than 800 million apps raning from free to $10 in price; Apple keeps 30% of sale
[Social Networks] Hilary Transue, 17, sentenced to detention for creating MySpace page mocking assistant principal http://ping.fm/KdB7l
[Twitter] (50 Cent) "He doesn't actually use Twitter," said Chris Romero, ghost writer for the rap star http://ping.fm/nQ0Bl
[Twitter] These celebrities have ghost writers post their Tweets: Britney, Ron Paul, Kanye West, 50 Cent
[Jargon] "Sexting" - a fad in which teens take nude or semi-nude photos on cell phones and send to friends
[Television] The average American cable subscriber pays more than $700US a year on subscription fees - Popular Mechanics, May 09
[New School Hardware] Flexible computer screens; roll up and stick it in your pocket - coming from HP, Univ of AZ http://ping.fm/NKvTh
[New School Hardware] Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 scans stack of paper (different sizes) auto-adjusting size/resolution http://ping.fm/nZhgm
[Quote] "We're not building a social network; we're allowing users to issue a series of personal newswires, 140 chars or less" - Jack Dorsey
[Games] Font lovers rejoice! Type Trumps card game. Get the Helvetica card and beat your opponents hands-down http://ping.fm/eUV4B
[Music] Great steel headphones - not cheap, won't break easily http://ping.fm/apEoe
[Video] In 2008, 70+ motion pictures were made in Mexico, compared to 9 in 1997
[The Mexican Silicon Valley] Guadalajara is the high tech center of Mexico: 70+ computer firms, e.g. HP, IBM, Siemans, operate from there
[Mobile Communication] Mobile phones a key factor in Israel's strategy for controlling info coming out of Gaza as it bombed Hamas targets
[Emergency Preparedness] Most 911 centers in Canada cannot pinpoint the location of a caller on a mobile phone http://ping.fm/ptnwA
[US Government Content] White House staff banned from communication via IM and social networking sites http://ping.fm/FsOK3
[US Government Content] "We're a decade behind the campaign" - Obama staffer Ben LaBolt on technology situation @ White House
[User-Generated Fashion] RT @dbarefoot I'm a little excited by http://ping.fm/YyP7H via @mashable. --> Me, too!
[Compliance] RT @amvr2medwriter Open Text Gives Lionbridge a Taste of Compliance Medicine http://TwitPWR.com/c60/
[Porn] 36% of Internet users visit at least one adult-content website per month, says comScore
[Porn] 5.47: The number of subscriptions to adult-content sites per 1,000 households in Utah, the US state w/the highest rate of subscribers
[Security] 1,122,311: Number of trojans, worms, viruses and harmful code snippets identified by Symantec in recent report
[e-Commerce] $214.4Billion US: Total e-Commerce spending in US in 2008; up 7% over prior year, says comScore
[Business Content] Need help developing policies and procedures? Contact Raymond Urgo, the best in the biz: http://ping.fm/PklM5
[TechComm Managers] Free ticket to DocTrain DITA to first 5 technical communication managers who email scottabel@mac.com (not transferable)
[Quote] "Tweets are the new pull-quotes. 140 characters designed to draw you in and seduce you into reading further" - Scott Abel