The Rosemont Loving

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.

Via Steve Clayton, I came across this gem. Personally I’ve always been a bit old school

I’m moving out of the hood I’ve called home ever since I graduated, due to wanting a fresh start after two burglaries and one mugging all within one year. The BBC has done a report all about my new pad, I’m very much looking forward to living there.

Last night I went to a fascinating debate hosted by The Telegraph and the right-of-centre think tank, the Centre for Policy Studies, it was all about the Internet and its effect on politics and policy.

One of the key takeouts from the night was around how the UK political scene hasn’t fully exploited the web to its full potential, and how it needs to catch up on the US scene but also with business. I’m not so sure about this, and would have to say that it is very work-in-progress and trial-and-error for everyone and different opportunities present themselves for different situations. Ultimately, the web is evolving and we are evolving with it and it is only when you experiment intelligently with the medium can you reap the benefits that it might bring, which the Conservative Party is doing pretty well.

Rosa Prince at The Telegraph has also blogged about the event, focusing specifically on the point that George Osborne raised about utilising the web to have a more democratic process towards policy making. I have a few ideas on this subject so please get in touch if interested.

BT Vision is going to be available on Xbox 360, that’s good because I have one. My gamer tag is AFCjonny5, if anyone cares. Gladiators might be back on our screens too, if anyone cares.

Whether you respect him as an actor or not, Silvester Stallone is a legend. The trailer for Rambo IV is out, so watch it here. Personally I think it looks very similar to previous efforts…but whoever said that was a bad thing?!

I played the Wii for the first time this weekend, it is great fun but I can’t help but think the novelty would wear off. I’m more of a traditionalist when it comes to gaming, so the news that Xbox 360 users are going to be treated to both Sensible Soccer and Golden Axe is music to my ears. Microsoft have also just announced that its video marketplace offering is going to be available in the UK shortly. Awesome news, let’s just hope the catalogue is sufficient.

Iain Dale has just launched his Politicians’ Performance Index, which does exactly what is says on the tin. There are no real surprises there after the poor month that Labour has had, but moving forward I’m sure it’s going to be a really interesting take on who is doing well and others that are doing less so. Cheers Iain.

I’m pissed off today. Having read Mike Butcher’s fascinating Techcrunch UK this morning I decided to register for the UK’s fastest growing social network site, Perfspot, to see what the fuss was about. It is the fastest growing site because it decided to send emails to all my gmail contacts without my permission. Shit name, shit site, next please.

I also saw that the Evening Standard has relaunched its online version. Frustration has set in because it doesn’t have RSS for the news and commentary content. In today’s media landscape this is simply unacceptable, a sackable offence.

The only thing to bring happiness back into my life is Halo 3, things of dreams do come true every once in a while!

…a new web tool comes out that kicks arse. Mobicious might be it. It is a converter that changes audio files into ringtones for your mobile. A great new way to piss people off then. That and own an expensive iPhone while doing it.

Here is a little fun for your Friday afternoon. Turn yourself into a Simpsons character.

Edelman has done some major work into how we should rate online influencers such as bloggers…here is some initial discussion…

David Brain
Jonny Bentwood
Steve Rubel
Neville Hobson
PSFK

David and Jonny have asked for debate so here are my views…

As they have said, this is by no means a finished product and I’m afraid I have to agree with them. Personally I think the weighted ranking of blogs, Facebook, Twitter etc is barking up the wrong tree even if most prolific online ‘influencers’ happen to use some of these services. The online space is massive, there is a whole range of sites and different avenues for people and looking to analyse just a small number of these, will not lead to the complete picture and we’ll pull our hair out in the process.

Analysis, in my opinion, is at its best when it is simplified (even if the web is massive). I think we can learn a great deal about online by looking at how conventional media is looked at…in other words we need to look at how many people read something, whether they are likely to come back again and whether they rate the content. Types of audience should also be looked at…demographics are they indeed dead?

Popularity and influence online should be judged by the same means. Bloggers and online publishers should publish their stats in the public domain (such as unique visitors and the percentage of those who are returning visitors). Visitors should be able to rate content, and we should also look at how these people are using the content (are they writing about it? Or linking?).

Now I know that my argument is flawed because:

a) I haven’t looked into cross platform popularity - although I would assume a lot of people that read my blog would also be friends with me on Facebook etc. We could look at something there

b) Ultimately the bulk of the online community isn’t going to share its viewing figures, and currently there is no mass adoption of rating of sites or content. So until we have a standard we are ultimately stuck.

I think it is good that my argument is flawed because ultimately I don’t think we should put a rating on these things, and I’m sure many would agree. I read some things because I like them and I don’t read others because I think they are rubbish. Some media is applicable to some of my clients and others aren’t. The fact is that content is king…that is what drives influence anywhere and you can’t put a value on it because each person and situation is different.

So to sum up, I think the rating of online influence is a complex project and one in which we are currently not in a great position to sort out. If the trend moves towards more transparency of audience figures and greater rating mechanisms I will follow suit but until that day I will read the media I currently read…including those blogs listed in my blogroll. And my mum alone will continue to read my contribution.

I absolutely love this, from Jonathan Weinberg at Tech Digest. He interviews loads of porn stars and asks them the question…what do you prefer HD-DVD or Blu-ray? Great viewing.

I am fascinated by corporations and their quests for global domination…my obsession with the evil overlord (Tesco) is a prime example. Google has been getting quite a lot of slack recently about its privacy issues and its constant acquisition of other companies. I’ve just today come across a great article that looks at Google’s corporate structure and it predicts that Google’s successes will actually lead to its downfall. I’m, personally, not 100% in agreement with this argument but it does give you a great understanding of the company’s culture. Definitely worth a read.

On a second note I’d be interested to find out what is going to happen to the new giant on the scene, Facebook. Microsoft, Yahoo and Google are all rumoured to be interested in buying the company however there are also rumours that an IPO is down the road. It would be absolutely fascinating if Facebook tried to compete with the big boys at their own game.

Hi guys, I’m now on Pownce. If anyone wants an invite let me know! Also please let me know if you are already on it. What does everyone think of it? Do you think it will take off?