The Rosemont Loving

Peeps, I’ve updated my blogroll with my latest reading list. Plenty of gems in there for you all to read, and thanks to you new guys for gaining my interest.

1. BBC News - Microsoft walks away from Yahoo
Microsoft opts out of buying Yahoo!

2. EMarketer - Some Marketers Play Wait-and-See
The credit crunch and its effect on marketing agencies

3. BBC News - BBC News website wins Webby vote
The Webby awards are announced

4. Pingdom - Social network downtime Jan-Apr 2008
A look at social networks and their downtime

I have to say that this weekend for all purposes was perhaps the best I’ve had this year, and perhaps even for longer than that. I moved house to a great area, I went to a wedding of a close friend and his beautiful wife and, of course, Boris Johnson became London Mayor. Perhaps I’m silly, but for me it doesn’t really get much better than that.

Now comes the hard part for BoJo. He needs to reassure the people that voted for him and prove wrong the people that didn’t. I have faith and I have to say he’s already moved quickly and effectively.  The appointment of Ray Lewis seems a somewhat inspired move, and I’m sure (as is The Times) there other suitable appointments will follow. I’ve always thought Boris will do a good job, but it is really about having a good team around you if you are going to repay the trust.

I’m also in agreement with his no booze on the tube policy. After all, good things come to those that wait.

So what next for the Tories in general? Well, The Economist thinks that perhaps it is time to start focusing on that the party would be better than Labour at handling the economy. Perhaps this is true, but I actually think this falls with the Labour government and how successful it is at handling the situation in the coming months. Ultimately the ball is very much in their court so we need to see how they respond.

Some interesting research from ICM states that the UK is now a nation of strangers. The Conservatives should be focusing on such an issue, including crime, and I think that moves such as those already made by Boris in the last few days are simply vote winners.

No rest for the wicked.

Recent news has highlighted that Twitter now has over 1 million users globally. So it is great when a tool such as Twistori comes along, tracking what people are loving, hating, thinking, believing, feeling and wishing. This is more addictive visually than a lava lamp.

Hitwise has looked at the amount of traffic with regards to the three main candidates from the London Mayoral election. Does internet traffic equal votes?

Here are some funny office pranks, some are seriously funny.

1. Read/Write Web - How Best to Submit Our (Or Any) Stories to Digg
Tips on how to be successful on Digg

2. Techcrunch - Morgan Stanley’s March Internet Trends Report: Social Applications Dominating
Social applications are dominating the internet

3. BBC News - Does online video threaten the net?
Online video is a threat to the internet and its stability

4. BBC News - Web in infancy, says Berners-Lee
The internet is still very much in its infancy

This week is an important week for Londoners, and we should all be going to the ballot boxes on Thursday and voting in the London Mayoral Election. It is our democratic right to do so, and it would be a waste if we do not.

I hope to be tasting a Conservative victory on Thursday and I thought I’d outline my reasons for why I’m voting for the party’s candidate, Boris Johnson, for London Mayor. So here they are:

1. I’m a member of the Conservative Party, so I should be backing my man

2. I have conservative values…I feel he is the candidate that best understands my beliefs and best protects my interests

3. I think Boris really cares about the city and its people, and I honestly believe he thinks he can make a better London. I believe in his ability to do so

4. Ken has become autocratic in his leadership of London and thinks he can get away with not being held accountable. This shouldn’t be allowed to happen

5. In my humble opinion I believe that in the last 8 years under Ken’s leadership London has become a worse city and I’ve experienced its problems first hand. Do we really want another four years of more of the same or things getting even worse?

6. Ken has professional relationships with people of suspect values. These people potentially hold influence over him, so it is hugely risky to vote for him

7. Ken never wanted to be an executive mayor or serve more than two terms, so voting for him is going against what he stood for at the start. I believe in conviction politics and people doing what they say they are going to do

8. Boris’ policies show that he wants politicians to be more accountable to the public, where as Ken does things because he wants to do them. I believe Boris holds a less bureaucratic and ultimately more democratic position

9. Ken is willing to compromise democratic and liberal principles to get a vote, I don’t agree with this

10. London has a major crime problem, there is no doubt about that, and I believe Boris will bring fresh thinking. Being an ex-copper Paddick would do a good job, but he can’t win and voting for him will lead to a Livingston victory

11. Ken has failed to deliver on his manifestos of his last two campaigns, so why should he be allowed to have a 3rd go?

12. I believe that Boris isn’t racist or prejudice, despite what Ken and his campaigners say. Anyway Ken can’t exactly talk after his outrageous Nazi slur

13. London is a great city with so much character. It deserves a leader that reflects that personality trait and Boris fits it more than Ken

14. People don’t seem to like Ken, and no one has really outright endorsed him, and I wonder…is that good?

15. Boris is amusing , and I’ve always viewed humour as a bi product of superior intellect, a good thing if you want to run London. Boris is also an all round good egg, so surely that counts for something?

If you haven’t decided who to vote for thus far I hope you take on board some of my thoughts outlined above. Don’t look at the polls, just decided who’s policies you agree with, who do you think holds your and London’s best interests at heart and who you think will do the best job. It really is either Ken or Boris, so who do you prefer?

1. PR Week - Websites lacking for FTSE 100 firms
British companies need to invest in their web offerings

2. BBC News - The mobile future is calling
A look into mobile internet development

3. BusinessWeek - The Real Threat to Google
The mobile web offers a threat to Google

4. EMarketer - Microsites Still Have Marketers’ Attention
A look at the priorities of microsites

It is the weekend, so it’s time to party…

I came across this list of the movies to watch this Summer, looking good. I’ll also add this one.

I also came across some funny video about social networking, check it out.

Here is a cool video of some kittens too…

Today, like many of you, I had my first experience of Facebook chat and, probably like many of you, I was disappointed with it. IM/chat has been around for a number of years and Skype was bought by eBay for huge amounts of money, so the launch makes me ask the question - why didn’t the guys at Facebook look at existing offerings for best practice?

I love the fact that I can now chat endlessly to any friend logged into Facebook but what about the following other considerations?

- chat through voice
- availability status
- file transfer
- notifications when your friend has responded
- emoticons
- group chat
- webcam capability
- etc

I’m sure Facebook will iron out all these details, I have faith, but it would have been more impressive had they been sorted from the outset. So for me and for the meantime, Meebo and Skype are still safe.