• 7 tricks to Viral Web Marketing - Baekdal.com
  (tags: marketing viral)
• Micro Persuasion: Media Enter Second Life But Its Potential Still Untapped
  (tags: avatars secondlife)
• Web 2.0 and Tim O'Reilly as Marshal Tito | The Register
  Throught provoking... I thought this was pretty good... brings everyone down to earth a bit.
  (tags: web2.0 technology ajax fordhamclass)
• 10 Reasons to Go Short on Second Life
  (tags: secondlife virtualworlds marketing pr)
• Kaneva. The social entertainment network.
  (tags: socialsoftware virtualworlds socialnetworking secondlife)

Preface:   I think what Linden Labs has built is amazing...  its an interesting social experiment, an amazing business, an PR phenomenon...   and I give it kudos for making us all think differently about the way the digital world might move forward.   That being said, to anyone that has been involved with Second Life, please don't take this as a knock, but more as a healthy and perhaps, if I'm lucky, conversation provoking dose of skepticism not on the product itself, but on the approach to it by PR folks, marketers, brands, pundits, etc.  EDIT: (Based on comment #1... I'm not making any sort of direct comparison between SL and the avatars that Oddcast makes, because SL is an immersive world...  Oddcast makes talking avatars that live in the web... they're very different animals used for very different purposes.)

The PR buzz around SecondLife is amazing... (Nice job, Lewis PR...)  and I think it's causing a lot of businesses to wonder if they should be participating.    Consider the following list the "grain of salt" you might want to take Second Life with:

1. Second Life is not, and probably will never be, mobile.   From cellphones, to the iPod, portable gaming...   the consumer has clearly voted with their wallet that they want to pick up their digital life and take it with them, getting out from behind the PC and the laptop.  SL, because it needs to be online and it requires powerful and complex 3-D rendering, will not wind up on your cellphones anytime soon.  In a world where I can blog and read blogs, take and send pictures, play games, consume and even download music and videos wherever I am, how appealing is a technology going to be if it forces me to sit home behind my PC?
2. There are no microchunks of a virtual world.  CDs got broken up into tracks.  Movies and TV shows became YouTube clips.  Websites make sure everything has a permalink so that URLs can be tagged and passed along easily.  This is the viral fuel for a short attention span world...  small and bitesized.   SecondLife can't easily be consumed in small bits.  You can't link to an event that already happened, or tag a place, or share it with someone who doesn't have the software.  That also makes it hard to discover things in Second Life when you're not looking for them.  You can't stumble upon it through Google or by browsing social networking profiles.
3. Second Life is a benevolant dictatorship. If you were doing corporate business development in emerging markets, political stability would be a key factor in measuring the attractiveness of a potential new market.  I think, if given the choice, you'd rather invest in a place with a representative government that has proven to support smooth transition of power in the past.  To me, the fact that a very small group of people basically dictates what goes and what doesn't in this market... a group of people that is not beholden to the residents by law, is a political risk. 
4. Second Life is a business.  Linden Labs has taken venture capital investment and those firms are going to look for an "exit" at some point over the next four years or so.  Maybe Linden Labs will be profitable enough to go public.  In that case, the founders could remain at the helm, but they'd still have the pressure to grow revenues which may be at odds with the authenticity of the service.  Contrast that with Craigslist, which makes its team enough money to be comfortable and not feel pressure to do anything that it's users might not like... no quarterly numbers to meet and no pressure to grow the business. 
5.  Diminishing returns for brand participation.  Darren came up with this one and I thought it was very astute.  Right now, you can gain a lot of PR buzz by participating in Second Life... probably enough buzz to justify the investment in development for whatever you build to put in there.  But, how long will that last?  Will you get any buzz for being the 25th retailer in Second Life?   The 50th?  Plus, are you gaining buzz with the right crowd?   If I'm Major League Baseball and American Apparel, I think I'd be doing more in MySpace and Facebook right now because they represent a broader audience.
6. Requires 100% attention.   I think we all agree that attention is finite.  We just don't have the time to do everything we want to do.   With more and more content and services available to us on a regular basis, consumers are looking for things that either coexist well with other things they spend their time on, or save them time.  I'm generally short on anything that requires my full attention and a lot of time.  You can't casually browse Second Life... you're watching it.. it's full screen on your machine... your character needs to walk around to experience more.  It's very different than an IM window you can put away in the background when you're doing other things.
7. Lack of context.   The idea that you can be anyone you want and do anything is really cool... conceptually... but with no guidence, no schedule... no context, users find themselves lost over overwhelmed.  That's what happens with blogging sometimes.  A blog with no theme is difficult to keep up with.  When you're in a 3-D game, you have a goal...  the game has rules.  Hardcore SLers might find this constricting, but the more casual mainstream appreciate knowing what to do from the second the game starts.
8. Digital world with an analog business model.  In Second Life, people make stuff and sell it.  Goods are exchanged for digital items, but because of their digital nature, SL has experienced problems lately with users copying digital items that would otherwise be sold.  The music and movie industry has been fighting this kind of thing for years and still hasn't stamped it out... and that's with big entertainment money behind them.  When you have a world where all of the items are user created, I just can't imagine that the future will offer adequate protection against the free distribution of these items.  DRMing of user created digital goods just seems very counter to the nature of user created works anywhere else on the web.
9. Reach.   No matter how many registered users you have, getting less than 20K simultaneous users online really isn't very much.  By comparison, many of the online MMOGs get more users than this on a regular basis, with World of Warcraft peaking at half a million users online at the same time.   Yes, it's growing, but interestingly, the number of registration is far outpacing the active usage of the site.  A number of sites I found analyizing the usage on the site showed that online/active as a percent of the total is trending down, meaning that more people are coming to check it out, but they're not sticking around.
10. Escapism vs. Reality.   The promise of social networks is that you've got digital self expression going on in unprecidented volume.  That makes them interesting to both users and marketers alike...   because of their ability to connect you with real people based on real and authentic things about themselves.  Throw blogs in that category, too.   Second Life is more of a fantasy.  Even the name says it.  This is not your life... it's your other life.  You cannot be yourself.. .you have to change your name.  It's not me and it's not other really other people, either.  I thought the blog/Web 2.0/Cluetrain revolution was all about authenticity and living online the way I do in real life...  my digital world as a reflection of my real interests and real personality?  So far, that seems a lot more compelling for people than fantasy... otherwise, wouldn't most of the profiles on MySpace be roleplaying profiles... fake people created and maintained by real humans behind them?   If I'm a business, I want to make sure I'm connecting in a sincere way with real people as well.... not sponsoring a fantasy.  That's the way I personally want to live online as well.

This song has been featured on a Gears of War commercial and it's hard not to stop and listen.  I found the video for it on YouTube.

In case you didn't see Christian Bale and Wolverine... um...   Hugh Jackman in The Prestige yet, stop reading.    I am going to give away a major plotline here.   Don't blame me if you keep reading... you've been warned.

As far as I can tell there are only two scenarios that make sense with this movie.... two explanations that neither of which are entirely satisfying.

1)  Christian Bale has a natural twin that he has grown up with all his life.  He makes "Telsa" the key to his book because Telsa is attempting a cloning machine that doesn't work, sending Hugh Jackman on a wild goose chace.  (Because, if he was aware of it working, he would have essentially given his one advantage, being a twin, over to his arch rival.)   By sheer dumb luck, the machine actually turns out to work.  Now, actually, I believe Tesla was more likely trying to invent a transporting machine... and that happens to be the wackiest glitch in the world... that it doubles you.  But, either way, Bale could have never thought it to work.

2)  Telsa actually did make the machine work for Bale and he used it once, to clone himself a twin.  The second Bale doesn't seem to exist very early on in the movie, like when he's a stagehand.  Where was he all those years if they weren't doing the magic act routine?  Plus, it's just too random that the key to the diary is Tesla, a man that, in reality, has nothing to do with his trick, b/c Bale already has a twin and doesn't need a transporting or cloning machine...   of which Telsa actually winds up, ironically and accidently, creating a cloning machine that works.  Of course, this doesn't make sense either, b/c Telsa doesn't even know his machine works until Hugh Jackman comes to visit him.  If that was the case, though...  why would Bale have anything to do with Tesla?   

• Group chat on the page
  I think I'm going to try this out.
  (tags: chat)

• This is going to be BIG! - I'm Thankful For...
  (tags: thanksgivinglist)
• A VC: Things I Am Thankful For
  (tags: thanksgivinglist)

In my family, Thanksgiving is pretty much about eating...    but we're Italian, so that's to be expected.  Still, it's nice to actually stop stuffing your face for a second and think about what you're thankful for.   Here's my list.   If you blog a list of what you're thankful for, tag it "thanksgivinglist" on del.icio.us...    I'd love to see what everyone else appreciates...  and when you write the list, don't forget to tell others to tag it as well.

1. Most importantly, I'm thankful for my family...  My parents got through their new home purchase and renovation ok, my grandmothers are still going pretty strong at 88 (89 in February), and my brothers, who I know I need to call more often, are doing well, too.



2. I'm thankful for the opportunities that my job at Union Square Ventures afforded me, and the challenge that I know have at Oddcast.   It's been a really pivotal (and exciting) year for me professionally and next year looks to be even better!  *hopefully*
3. I'm thankful for great friends--some really special people in my life.  My schedule is always crazy, but a handful of people have managed to hold on for the ride...   some are new and some are old, and some are old friends that have become new in a way... coming back from college or grad school to continue and strengthen friendships from the past...     To Brian, Adrianna, Suzie,  Allison, Deirdre, Pastore, Tommy, Alicia, Kristin... thanks for sticking around.

 

4. I'm thankful for my health...  no major softball, kayaking, dodgeball, football, biking, skiing, or driving injuries quite yet...    *knocks on wood*.
5. I'm thankful for the Downtown Boathouse... not just the buildings or the activities, but for the community.  It's my second home five months out of the year and I've made some terriffic friends through it.  More importantly, it's given me a new appreciation for the conservation of nature in this city and a new perspective on New York.



6. I'm thankful for this city...   the only place I've ever really wanted to live and ever have.  There's no place like it anywhere else, and I couldn't ask for anything more than to always be able to put a roof over my head here and to be happy with my life here.



7. I'm thankful for the success of nextNY....  or rather...  I'm thankful that it's success has enabled me to meet so many fantastic people that I can relate to and who have a vested interested in developing the NYC technology community.  That's really what has been the most fun for me...    the people are great.   I can't wait to see what we do next year.
8. And lastly...  I'm thankful for this blog.  Seriously.  Blogging has led me to two jobs, a wonderful relationship, an adjunct gig, countless connections with really interesting people, on time furniture delivery and an elementary school reunion.  It's been a great sounding board for my ideas and a lightning rod for people with similar interests.  Thanks for reading... thanks for commenting, thanks for sharing on your own blogs and linking over...    Your attention is much appreciated.

• An API for Google Image Search - The Code Project - C# Libraries
  (tags: images search google api myoddcast)

We want to claim the nextNY blog, but we have numerous authors.  There doesn't appear to be a way to do this on the site...   what's the right protocall for this?  I don't want to claim it by myself and hog it... because others will certainly contribute more.   Ideas?

So I started using GotVoice, which checks my cellphone voicemail and sends the files to me in an MP3 files.  I love GotVoice because I really find it a pain to dial my voicemail and navigate menus to hear my voicemails.  Actually, I pretty much hate the phone in general.  Converting voicemail to MP3 can be a dangerous tool in the hands of anyone who works for a talking avatar company.  :)

Combine that with this really powerful free audio tool I just found, WavePad, and you have my mom the avatar... live on my blog.  Wavepad is like SoundRecorder on steroids.

Here she is.  Click the play button on the right side of the box to hear her speak.  I'm so going to get in trouble for this.  Love you mom!

Sony has yanked all of the Casino Royale  trailers from YouTube.

Huh?

We're not talking the whole movie here...  we're talking the advertsing trailer.

Aren't they incentivized to get this thing playing in as many places as possible??

I had this playing on my blog and my MySpace profile for months leading up to the opening. 

If you're in charge of movie trailers, no matter how big or small your movie is, and you don't have them uploaded to YouTube, you're an idiot.  That's it.  You're just an idiot. 

Am I the only one that doesn't get "click to call"?

Isn't one of the great promises of the web the fact that I don't have to deal with salespeople, customer service reps, plumbers, etc. over the phone?   When's the last time that was a good experience?

I just want "click to schedule an appointment" or "click to get my question answered promptly".   Click.  Click.   T-o-i-l-e-t... l-e-a-k-i-n-g...   3-4-5-6PM.   Today.  Click.   Why do I need to get on the phone?   Are phone directories that bad?  Plus, with some click to call systems, I click for "random plumber who outbids the other guy for my call".  Is that really the way I want to shop for those services. 

Hmm... who's the guy who paid the most to find me who also now has the highest overhead to pass on to me?

Plus, now I've got to give the interweb my phone number.  I'm sure a lot of people don't trust that either. 

I'm way short click to call as a service...  maybe I'm missing something?

• MMOGCHART.COM
  (tags: MMOG Gaming Online multiplayer)

I changed my avatar's look to something a little more...suave and sophisticated.  Click the play button to hear him introduce himself.  :)

Hey, if anyone else uses Last.fm, please feel free to add me as a friend.  I'm curious as to what everyone else is out there listening to.

Of course, I'm ceonyc on it.

I had only heard a little bit about the UCLA Tazer incident...   Student fails to produce ID, gets Tazed.

At first I was pretty ready to defend the police, b/c, as a former resident assistant in a dorm, I'm a big believer in strict security regulations on campuses concerning who should be there and who shouldn't.   I remember when Fordham students used to complain when security guards wouldn't let them into dorms they didn't belong in late at night, particularly after they were out drinking.  Some of the altercations definitely got pretty heated, but usually, the security guards stood pretty firm.

To the students, it was an annoyance... but I also saw the other side of it.  What if you let one someone slip by and someone gets beat up or raped?   Now you wish the security wasn't so lax.

But then I saw the video on YouTube...   it's pretty disturbing.

It made me stop and think.  Video is a powerful medium, but it's also a bit misleading.  We only see the Tazer incident.  We never saw the kid being asked to leave before the cops came or how he acted that made someone at the library call the cops.

It's hard not to have an emotional reaction to this.   The kid is yelling and screaming in agony and you immediately have a sympathetic reaction to him.

But then I thought about what he was screaming...  "Here's your Patriot Act..."    Lots of political messages....   I dunno... me personally, I think I'd just be crying my eyes out from the pain.  I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be making it into a political issue on the spot.  To me, here's a guy with a bone to pick with authority.

Ever got stopped by a cop?   Most of us are usually a little bit nervous.  I got stopped in September for allegedly doing (I hate to admit how lame this is, b/c I drive a Mustang with 300HP)... 49 in a 30.  (go ahead, giggle)    But yeah, I was nervous.  The LAST thing I was going to do would be to give the cop a hard time and not show my ID.  I listened carefully and complied.   I did not get Tazed.  That's the way most of us act.

Let's say this kid is there up to no good.  Let's say he's a kid with a history of violence who has been banned from campus who is there to mess with someone... if you're a cop... you just don't know without an ID.   When someone starts resisting, you get suspicious.  

So, I have to be honest, I think I'm ok with the initial Tazing.  If you are somewhere that requires ID, you don't show it, and you do not leave upon immediately being asked to, in today's world, I think you're really rolling the dice.  With all the school shootings and terrorism we have to live with, I think that's just common sense, really.  So, cops, if I'm somewhere I shouldn't be, and I don't listen to you when you ask for me ID, please Taze me. 

And yes, Tazing seems violent, but what are the alternatives?  Should the cops have hit him?  Pointed a gun?  How do you get someone who is resisting to leave?  Should they dress up in those goofy Sumo suits and belly bounce him out the door? 

That being said, I think the cops definitely got trigger happy.   Unless this kid was on steroids, I tend to think that one Taze should do it... and I'm not surprised he couldn't stand up.  That's like kicking them in the shins and threatening to kick them again if they won't stand up.  When you Taze someone, you should be able to yank them out right away and arrest them or kick them out of wherever they are or do what you need to do.  Threatening to Taze them again or threatening to Taze others isn't the right way to do it.  You Taze when you need to, not as part of a "negotiation". 

So, at the end of the day, I think this was a kid with an obvious bone to pick that acted in a way that got him on the wrong side of the law.  Add that to some Tazer happy cops who don't know the appropriate use of a dangerous weapon, mix in some YouTube, and you've got yourselves a mess.

The student should be suspended and so should the cops.  If I were this kid's parents, I'd be pissed at the police for not training their officers properly but also pissed at my kid for not listening to authorities from the start.

• Jaduka Virtual Host Powered by Oddcast
  Record your own story... fun stuff!
  (tags: funny jadukatv politics bush)

• appfrm.pdf (application/pdf Object)
  (tags: parkingticket appeal nyc)
• This is going to be BIG! - Please Don't Sell MyBlogLog
  (tags: mybloglog yahoo web2.0)

Dear Eric and Scott:

     Please do not sell MyBlogLog to Yahoo! or to anyone else at the moment, without taking at least one shot to build this into something bigger.   I don't want to tell anyone else how to live their life and it's easy for me to say this, because no one is offering me millions of dollars for anything, but I think if you sell now, we will have all collectively missed a big opportunity.

     Current social offerings fall way short.  They neither represent how I socialize in real life, nor do they come close to representing my network of connections on the web.  What I love about MyBlogLog is that it forms naturally...  organically...   and it follows me around in most of the places that I spend my time online.   It has connected me with my readers and has so much potential at this early stage.

     I really believe there is little chance at it reaching this potential within the confines of a company that is obviously internally conflicted.

      There are a lot of things in the Web 2.0 world that are features and not companies... that won't ever grow past 50, 000 users.   I believe MyBlogLog is different and I hope you do, too.   I can see a future where every place I visit on the web is socially enabled by MBL and that my network is a true representation of who I share interests with.  I want to go to ESPN and see who the other Bill Simmons readers are...   and see who else is checking out kayaking pages and the nextNY blog.   Most of the people on the web are lurking and MBL shines a light on the audience.  That is valuable to both to the publishers and to the audience.   There are so many ways to go here, it would just be a real shame for it to become a zombY!

Thanks,

Charlie

****

Readers:
If you believe that Web 2.0 companies driven by great ideas have the potential to be more than just misplaced or forgotten cogs in someone else's machine, tag this post, share it, blog about it, link to it, etc...   Send a supportive  message to the creators of the services you love that their community is behind their quest to make a bigger dent in the online world.