Everybody loves "Family Guy" - but do they love watching ads online?

Google in LA is experimenting with a new method of distributing original material on the web, which involves a plan to syndicate a new program by the creator of "Family Guy", Seth MacFarlane, called "Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy", using its AdSense advertising system to thousands of websites that are predetirmined to be gathering spots for Mr MacFarlane's target audience. 

Instead of placing a static ad on a Web page, Google will place a "Cavalcade" video clip. Advertising will then be incorporated into the clips in various ways.

I don't know about you, but the clips would have to be pretty freakin' hilarious for me to sit through the ads just to watch a two min clip online.

Thanks to the NY Times for this post. To read more, visit:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/30/business/30google.html?_r=1&th=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&emc=th&adxnnlx=1214874203-XpPyo0ZQXLn5mY3x5XVnjw

10 Commandments of Web Design

The Internet is constantly changing. BusinessWeek.com spoke to a bevy of experts and distilled the must-follow rules top online designers live by in 2008 [by Matt Vella]. 

Content found in full at: http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/jun2008/id20080623_750025.htm

1. Thou shalt not abuse flash
2. Thou shalt not hide content
3. Thou shalt not clutter
4. Thou shalt not overuse glassy reflections
5. Thou shalt not name your Web 2.0 company with an unnecessary surplus or dearth of vowels.
6. Thou shalt worship at the altar of typography
7. Thou shalt create immersive experiences
8. Thou shalt be social
9. Thou shalt embrace proven technologies
10. Thou shalt make content king

And for something a little more fresh, check out this rap found by the lovely Spence:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0qMe7Z3EYg

The digital influencer

Thanks Elizabeth Ball for forwarding this study from Fleishmann- Hillard: "Understanding the role of the Internet in the lives of consumers in the UK, Germany and France"

http://www.fhdigital.net/InfluenceIndex/The-Digital-Influence-Index-2008.pdf

Some good insights ans figures around the role of digital in decision making

Obama as the First “Wiki-Candidate”

Thanks next great thing for this run down on how Obama understood and utilised social media and technology in his campaign.June 25th, 2008 by David

During the primary election, Barack Obama rocked his own shortcode, Twittered to supporters and even created his own social network. Major publications are crediting Obama’s embrace of digital innovation and social networking as key to his success this election season. Here, we recap the highlights:

• The New York Times’ Noam Cohen suggests that Obama’s approach to politics mirrors the ethos of social media and the structure of the Internet itself. In a roundup of media coverage on the topic, he cites Obama’s success in mastering “Facebook MySpace, Twitter and YouTube. politics;” the parallels between his rapid success and that of a “classic Internet startup;” and how his highly successful online fund-raising has leveraged the social networking potential of sites like
• Andrew Sullivan, writing for London’s Sunday Times, says social networking was fundamental to Obama’s win over Clinton: “She was still AOL; Obama was Facebook. Clinton was the PC; Obama was a Mac.” Sullivan notes that Obama’s use of the Internet to attract smaller donations and from more contributors than his Democratic rival helped him build an unstoppable fundraising base.
• Rolling Stone magazine cites the Obama campaign for having “shattered the top-down, command-and-control, broadcast-TV model” in favor of a grassroots strategy aimed at leveraging online social networks to generate campaigning by the masses offline. Obama’s social network, known as “MyBo” and available at my.barackobama.com, claims more than half a million members and more than 8,000 affinity groups, and lets users organize by state, profession, or hobbies to find and create events, organize caucusing, and download phone lists of potential voters.
• Joshua Green of The Atlantic Monthly magazine recognizes the Obama social network —as well as Obama ringtones, text-message updates, and regular e-mails from Obama staff —as successful examples of tools that encourage voters to “give money, volunteer time, bring in new friends, and generally reorient [their lives] in ways that were made to seem hip and fun.” Green points to Obama’s courting of successful Silicon Valley upstarts who are creating new technology and fundraising tools that have helped Obama raise nearly $200 million online.
• Marc Ambinder, in his The Atlantic Monthly magazine article “HisSpace,” says that “online fireside chats,” Google-like databases detailing federal spending, and blogs enabling citizens to comment on legislation will likely be the norm in an Obama presidency.
• New York Times columnist Frank Rich opines, “You could learn a ton about the Clinton campaign’s cultural tone-deafness from its stodgy generic Web site. A similar torpor afflicts JohnMcCain.com, which last week gave its graphics a face-lift that unabashedly mimics BarackObama.com and devoted prime home page real estate to hawking ‘McCain Golf Gear.’ (No joke.) The blogs, video and social networking are static and sparse, the apt reflection of a candidate who repeatedly invokes ‘I’ as he boasts of his humility.”

Teens use Google Earth to host illegal pool parties

Thanks to Melissa for this post - very clever stuff

By Guy Dixon
20 June 2008 07:59AM

Tech-savvy teenagers are using Google Earth to pinpoint private swimming pools for illegal summer parties..
Once a suitable venue has been chosen, partygoers conduct the final arrangements over social networking sites such as Facebook and Bebo.

Sixteen revellers are thought to have gatecrashed two pools near Bournemouth in an overnight party earlier this week, prompting police fears of copy-cat incidents over the summer months.

According to police, pool-owning residents have returned from work to find their swimming pool full of beer cans.
Wealthy householders have also awoken to the sound of trespassing swimmers enjoying an illicit dip.
Google Earth pool party rules typically include fancy dress and a bike to ensure a quick escape if the party is disturbed.
"We are advising owners of swimming pools to be on their guard and extra vigilant," said a spokesperson for Devon and Cornwall Police.
"We would also warn prospective swimmers that using someone else's pool is trespassing and therefore illegal."

Mobile Pop?

What do we all think of this? Can mobile phones really pop popcorn?

http://www.koreus.com/video/telephone-portable-mais-popcorn.html

Thanks to my friend Mollie for sharing this.

Cloud computing

Here's a few links to some of the recent articles about his hotly debated topic.
For many it's a potential hard/software replacement model that could promise free computing power for all, but what really excites me about it all is the idea of a content cloud coupled with open social and data portability.

This would create an environment in which people take their digital identities (in the form of universal profiles) with them wherever they go, access a whatever site, service or application they feel like instantly have their entire social graph at their disposal, as well as all the content and tools they were using in previous environments.

Power to the little guy!

Anyway, have a read and make your own predictions:
http://www.itnews.com.au/News/76953,gartner-google-discuss-future-of-cloud-computing.aspx
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_52/b4064048925836.htm
http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/04/07/15FE-cloud-computing-reality_1.html