By Gareth McLean at May 11, 2008 11:07 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

Gareth McLean recommends The Duke: a Portrait of Prince Philip | Teen Mum High | Shrink Rap | Admin

By Paul Howlett at May 11, 2008 11:07 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

Paul Howlett on Flags of Our Fathers | Dogville | The Bourne Identity

By Phil Daoust at May 11, 2008 11:07 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

Phil Daoust on Book of the Week | Postcards from the White City

By Zoe Williams at May 11, 2008 11:07 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

Zoe Williams: The current issue of the New Yorker devotes one of their incredibly long profiles to Pascal Dangin, the retoucher's retoucher

By Siobhain Butterworth at May 11, 2008 11:05 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

Siobhain Butterworth: The readers' editor on ... how we might have gained Boris a few extra votes

By Jackie Ashley at May 11, 2008 11:05 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

Jackie Ashley: Britain can learn lessons from the scandal of how the Bush administration used spin to sell the Iraq war to Americans

By Owen Gibson at May 11, 2008 11:05 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

Analysts say channels' recruitment reveals a shortage of talent at the top of British broadcasting

By Katie Allen at May 11, 2008 11:05 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

Journalists vote unanimously to hold strike ballot over management's cost-saving drive

By Andrew Clark at May 11, 2008 11:05 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

Trial begins in New York supreme court to determine future of $27bn buyout of advertising and radio company

By Andrew Clark at May 11, 2008 11:04 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

Withdrawal of bid for the Long Island daily will relieve campaigners pressing for diversity in US media ownership

By John Plunkett at May 11, 2008 11:04 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

Piers Morgan gets editorial stint after winning auction in aid of Leukaemia Research

May 11, 2008 11:04 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

Are TV adverts too loud and what can be done about it?

By Lucy Barrett at May 11, 2008 11:04 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

With 42% of British marriages ending in divorce, images of traditional families are slowly disappearing from our ads. From soap powder to stock cubes, brands have used such images as a way to engage with consumers since the dawn of TV advertising. But, given the rise in the numbers of single parents and working mothers, it would be somewhat ridiculous if advertisers kept up the pretence that nothing has changed. Crucially, in some cases it could alienate the very audiences they are trying to appeal to.

By Media Monkey at May 11, 2008 11:04 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

This week's gossip from the media industry

By Jemima Kiss at May 11, 2008 11:04 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

New media, Jemima Kiss: We only have to look at one company to see the power of search: Google is valued at £43.5bn, at the time of writing

May 11, 2008 10:15 PM
eWeek - RSS Feeds | Subscribe to this Site

The companies aim to tackle enterprise telephony deals together....
Build IT Knowledge with Current & Trusted Content Helps Employees Develop & Hone New Technical Programming Skills. Sign Up & Get Full Access.

By stowe.boyd@gmail.com (Stowe Boyd) at May 11, 2008 08:43 PM
/Message | Subscribe to this Site

It's almost funny, but then again, are they serious or poking fun at the inanity of press releases? Another log on the fire of the PR Spam bruhaha come inadvertantly (?) from Stage Two consulting, which seems at face value, to be an actual recommendation about how to do it as best as they can figure it out. But by laying out the formulaic and bogus nature of the whole thing, they have created a satire of the whole system, even thought they consistently recommend avoiding cuteness and jargon:

[from Stage Two Consulting � Our Recommended Press Release Structure]

[...]

Quote
The simplest reason to have a quote is this: it will inevitably get copied-and-pasted into an article somewhere, and it saves the journalist from having to email you for a quote for their article. Your quote should sound like a human being said it, and not be jargony robot-English. Also, there’s no reason to deviate from the “standard quote” format of:

"I said something cool,” said FIRSTNAME LASTNAME, the TITLE of COMPANY. “I’m excited about that cool thing I said especially because it’s so cool.”

Focus on the business implications, and/or partnership details

This is a good time to explain why the story matters SOOO much. Either there’s a huge opportunity for the company to expand, or possibly a big deal with a big partner/customer is being announced (if so, make sure you’ve referenced this earlier!). Think about the business/industry implications of your announcement, and make them clearly comprehensible.

[optional] partner/3rd party Quote

IF you are working with a partner, give them their quote here. If not, but you have a *very well known* fan of the company, they can make a quote. It’s absolutely not necessary otherwise, and should fit very naturally - if not, don’t include something just to fill in space (shorter press releases are always better than longer ones).

And if the shorter the better, can we winnow it down to exclude the bogus quote from the CEO and the second quote from the famous fan of the company? Can we just drop this all? Can't we just cut to the most minimal?

Again, just as in the comments on my recent post on this topic, The Growing Backlash Against PR Spam, And The Rationale For MicroPR, PR professionals are approaching this discussion by justifying the way things are being done today in that 'industry', and suggesting minor tweaks. I have not yet seen anyone from the PR side of things actually address the greater issue: how should we be doing this, given everything we know today about communication on the web?

My recommendations about MicroPR are largely about conducting PR in an open fasion, in the context of systems like Twitter: Open public discourse, not one:one emails. Doesn't anyone in PR land see the difference? Let me spell it out:

1. I don't want PR people leveraging a personal relationship with me -- we met at some conference, and exchanged cards -- as a reason to pitch PR at me. I don't want my private social relationships filled with spam.
2. I suggest that open social engagement is fine, however. Pitch me in a public setting, where I can say 'your story blows' or 'sounds interesting, let's set up a demo'. Take the risk, earn the reward. Stuff sent to my inbox is private, but I am a public person. Let's do it in public.

Basically, I see it falling out into two camps: many PR people say, fine, let's twitpitch you, no problem. Others continue to argue for the old ways, which are, practically indistinguishable from spam.

But if the whole point is to generate public interest in the subject being discussed, why not go directly into the public sphere? Because PR people see themselves as these back room operators, moving around and doing their thing backstage. The 'audience' isn't supposed to know they are at work. Journalists haven't kicked off their stories by saying 'Joanna Wimplepuss of HyperPR sent me an email today, extolling the virtues of SuperSoftware 3.0., and asserting that John Fizzel said "This is so cool. It's way cool," although I never actually heard him say that.' Instead they have print the bogus quote, incorporate the bulleted lists and links from the press release. Everyone is acting in collusion to spread little teeny tiny white lies to the rest of us.

I am too gonzo for that. We need to be honest about who is trying to influence who to do what. And the simplest move is for the PR flacks to come out into the light of day and explicitly say "here's something I think is interesting from my client Blatz Software," and we'll evaluate it on it's own merits. The implication that I want the PR people to make it easier for me to crank out 700 words by midnight is old school, and worst of all, we are supposed to not talk about it, like the illegal aliens making lunch for us at the deli, or mowing our lawns. I want it all to be open and above board, and the PR pros to be just an additional voice in the conversation, instead of being treated like the deranged aunt that lives upstairs and that no one ever talks about. Come out into the light of day. We'll set up an amnesty program, and all the past misdeeds will be forgiven.

By sarah lacy at May 11, 2008 08:21 PM
SarahLacy.com | Subscribe to this Site

I usually try to write about sites I've used and, true confession, I've never used Classmates.com. Neither has my husband, Geoff. Nor has his friend Michelle. Maybe we should tell Classmates.com that.

For at least two years Geoff and Michelle have been getting weekly emails from Classmates.com addressed to "Gayle" and "Mary." (Both Gayle and Mary had the same respective last names of Geoff and Michelle.)  They assumed it was spam. But last week, in a fit of boredom at work Geoff decided to test it. So he went to the site, and sure enough it greeted "Gayle." He said he (or she?) had forgotten his (or her?) password. Classmates sent Gayle/Geoff the password. No security question. He went back to the site, logged in and could see all of Gayle's personal information. Same thing for Mary/Michelle. He forwarded me the link and I could pull it up on my computer-- without even entering her user name and password. The site and profile appeared to all of us to be legit.

This was sent to Geoff's Comcast email account, which he's had for about six years. So there's little chance Gayle had it first or anything like that. So what's the story? As far as I can tell it's one of two things:

- This is an incredibly sophisticated -- even if odd, misguided and deceptive-- marketing scheme to rope in new users. And one I can't imagine ever working.

- Classmates.com has horrific underlying technology that can't remember an accurate email address and has no security at all. Pretty shocking since 3 million users or so actually pay Classmates.com for premium messaging services.

And this post on TechCrunch details why their traffic and financials don't look so great either. Perhaps the most damning figure, other than slipping market share, is that only 12 million of their 50 million registered users actually use the site. Oh, and the FTC was investigating them for some sleazy auto-billing tactics. Last December, Classmates.com pulled its IPO, putting it at risk of repaying some $50 million in debt.

From an outsider's point of view this just appears to be a walking-dead company in a market where there are such better alternatives. If you use Classmates.com-- please tell me why you like it. Because allegedly there are 12 million people out there who do. And if Gayle is reading this, Geoff wants to know if you mind if he deletes your account.

May 11, 2008 06:50 PM
MacNN | The Macintosh News Network | Subscribe to this Site

Apple's latest iPhone 2 beta 5 firmware shows that the company will allow users to turn off access to the faster "3G" network to preserve battery life. The 3G network, while offering faster download speeds, consumes more power and will likely reduce battery life significantly. The screenshot surfaced on an independent blog, along with code referenc...

By sarah lacy at May 11, 2008 06:31 PM
SarahLacy.com | Subscribe to this Site

So I've spent a few days in New York dining and drinking with Valley friends, New York friends and friends who go back and forth between the two coasts. For whatever reason this visit a lot of cultural differences between the Valley and New York have just jumped out at me.

There are also some similarities. And one is that both people in the Valley and the New York tech scene tend to have the same reaction when someone wrongs them. They fire off a text or email that dramatically threatens: I WILL RUIN YOU! (or some close equivalent)

My friend Sophie, who is outside tech and the brilliant illustrator who did all of the little "sarah lacys" on this site, was the one who pointed this out after hearing several days of dramatic conversations. I guess it's so commonplace that it had never occurred to me. "What is with the constant reaction of 'I will ruin you'?" she asked, saying she'd expect something dramatic and ego-centric like that from Wall Street but not the supposedly more collegial Valley. As soon as she said it, I remembered a zillion examples of this happening. Truth be told, I did it once. (Then sadly remembered I don't actually have any real power...)

This begs a few questions.

1. How many people in the Valley actually have the power to ruin anyone? It's not a gate-keeper system the way some other economies are. There's not one single VC who controls success and because tech moves so fast, a total nobody can become a mogul in a very short time and without anyone's implicit permission. Then again, the Valley is more of a gate-keeper system than it would have you know. There are VCs who can exert so much power they can affect an entrepreneur's fate. And pissing off certain reporters, bloggers or industry commentators can affect an early stage startups buzz. I guess my takeaway is that: No one in the Valley can truly ruin you, but a couple dozen people could truly make your life miserable and your chance at success a lot harder.

2. Why is this always the go-to threat? This one I'm not totally sure about. Is it because power is the most important currency in the Valley? Or is it because entrepreneurs and their ecosystem so live and work and breathe and bleed over the industry that they automatically react violently and emotionally. Theory no. 3: People in the Valley tend to be socially awkward, so maybe they don't know how to react when someone wrongs them. Or just the most simple theory of all: We believe our own hype and just get mad with perceived power.

Probably a mix, but I lean towards no. 2 the most. The Valley is a pressure cooker and there's no separation between work and personal life. People put everything they have into what they are building. And their emotions and nerves are raw. When someone wrongs their business, they are wronging them and vice versa. And in that moment they want to attack. The best way: "RUINING" someone which implies taking them out professionally and personally all at once.

Interestingly, I've observed something else: Most people don't hold grudges. They react swiftly and violently, but can frequently swallow their pride and become friends-- or at least frenemies-- again.

Would love to hear any other theories/ observations in the comments!

By sarah lacy at May 11, 2008 05:27 PM
SarahLacy.com | Subscribe to this Site

So let's put this in perspective. In the last six weeks I've been in London, Cannes, Israel, San Francisco and New York and in each city I've been hustling on one of my four jobs whether it's pimping my book, filming for Yahoo at the crack of dawn, blogging or writing very late columns for BusinessWeek. Weekends? What are those? I almost got pneumonia and am now in New York with a nasty cold. I've been slightly off the grid for a day and a half and now have a mountain of direct Twitters, Facebook messages, emails etc to plow through. Tomorrow, I get up at 6 a.m. to shoot at the Nasdaq for Yahoo, then another day of book press and back to SF for three book signing events/ parties and the big book launch on THURSDAY!

Not trying to be a martyr. It's all very exciting. But amid all of it I have utterly neglected to send my mother flowers for Mothers Day. So since the Web has sort of gotten me into this mess. (Ok, a stretch, it's really my fault, but I have to blame something.) I am counting on the web to get me out of it. Specifically, my blog.

Here are the top five reasons my mom deserves better:

1. She reads my blog. And doesn't care at all about the things I write about. She also read (most of?) my book, despite the constant barrage of F-bombs. (There's even one in the table of contents!) As a result she knows far more about Web 2.0 than any other mom in Memphis, Tn. She even knows what Twitter is and that's more than Kara Swisher can say for people she goes to weddings with.

2. She's wicked smart, but chose her family over career a few times. And that makes her a better person than me, clearly since I'm blogging a Mothers Day note. She gave up a pre-paid Ph.D. program in literature so my dad could take his dream job, and was a stay-at-home mom to five kids until I (the youngest) was in kindergarten. Then, in order to have both, she started teaching literature at the girls school I went to for 13 years. She got to fulfill her dreams while still having loads of bonding time with her youngest to and from school. She accepted she couldn't have it all, and then sort of found a way, while never resenting anyone. That's class, ladies and gentelmen.

3. She made me way cooler in high school because she was the most popular teacher. And let's face it, I kinda needed the help.

4. Despite being a southern woman she never plays the game. No passive-aggressiveness. You always know how she stands on everything (whether you want to or not.)

5. Even though she was an English teacher, she holds back from sending back blog posts marked up with red ink. I can only imagine how many times she reads my stuff gritting her teeth and saying "It's ok. Calm down, Carol. English is a liivinggg language...."

So happy Mothers Day to her and any other neglected moms reading this!

May 11, 2008 04:31 PM
eWeek - RSS Feeds | Subscribe to this Site

Facebook announces Connect, and Google also prepares a data portability initiative....
Download a VMWare LAB MANAGER STARTER KIT, FREE! Virtualize the test lab while cutting costs. Get your Free Virtual Lab Starter Kit today.

By stowe.boyd@gmail.com (Stowe Boyd) at May 11, 2008 07:00 AM
/Message | Subscribe to this Site

By stowe.boyd@gmail.com (Stowe Boyd) at May 11, 2008 02:41 AM
/Message | Subscribe to this Site

UpTake helps u make better travel decisions, powered by 20 mm travel opinions/reviews of edglings from 1000+ sites.

Elliott Ng 01:38 PM May 07, 2008 from web in reply to stoweboyd

By stowe.boyd@gmail.com (Stowe Boyd) at May 11, 2008 02:19 AM
/Message | Subscribe to this Site

I had a minor headache with the Clear security folks tonight at IAD (Dulles, near DC). I arrived at about 8:45pm, checked in, and proceeded to the Clear security line -- where I have paid money, filled forms, done biometric profiling -- with the expectation that I would rapidly move through the security check of my carry on bag, and person. But... the signage said that it would be open to 9:15pm (which I had checked on my last trip), but they were closed at 9:05pm.

I went to the website to give feedback: no feedback option. I clicked on Help -- although it looks like they need help, not me -- and found an option for email. But they had this ambiguous heading:

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

What does that mean? Are they going to answer my question or not?

Still, I sent the following:

I arrived at IAD tonight at 8:45pm, checked in at Virgin Atlantic, and headed down to the Clear line, with posted hours of 9:15pm closing. Got there at 9:04. Closed. The people at the employee security line next to Clear said they closed at 9pm.

Totally unacceptable. If you are going to close at 9pm, post that. I would have arrived 10 mins earlier.

I expect a reimbursement for my fees, amortized relative to the number of times I use the service, if you are arbitrarily closed during operating hours.

I had to wait over 30 mins in the regular security line, plus the time going to and from the Clear line. Almost an hour more than I had expected.

Your response?

After sending that message, this appeared:

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

What does that mean?

Getting the sense that email was not the best way to talk to clear, I called. I spoke with someone for a few seconds, and was immediately put on hold so that she could 'check with a supervisor'. She came back and said that the posted hours on the website have a closing at 9:15pm on weekdays and 9:00pm on weekends. I pointed out that the sign doesn't make that distinction, and that others might have been confused, like I was from seeing the sign.

I looked, and yes, there is a 9pm posted closing on the website"

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

Apologies, So sorry. I suggested that instead of apologizing they should fix the sign. Yessir, so sorry sir.

We'll see. I will check what's on the sign when I return from Europe. But people should definitely ignore the signs, and look on the web, if this episode is any indicator.

May 11, 2008 12:33 AM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

Female fans of Sex And The City never hesitated when Carrie asked them to choose between man or Manolo. But what did male viewers think of the show's bedroom antics and explicit girl talk, and will they be queuing to see the film on 28 May?

May 10, 2008 11:40 PM
MacNN | The Macintosh News Network | Subscribe to this Site

Google's Mac Team has released Visigami, an image search application and screen-saver. The open-source application, available under Apache license, can search from three different image sources, including Google Images, Picasa, and Flickr. From within the application, users can specify any image search query and images matching the search will star...

By Vanessa Thorpe at May 10, 2008 11:10 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

Tributes paid to the Irish author and journalist Nuala O'Faolain, who died at the age of 68 following a battle with cancer

By Vanessa Thorpe at May 10, 2008 11:05 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

Academics at London and New York universities have found a way to commiserate the end of the series

By Kate Kellaway at May 10, 2008 11:05 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

Miranda Sawyer on Robbie Williams and Jon Ronson Journey to the Other Side | On the Ropes | Landscape

By John Naughton at May 10, 2008 11:05 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

John Naughton: If you've signed up for a new web service recently, you may have noticed that a final stage of the enrolment process presents you with an indistinct image of a number of letters and numbers

By Peter Preston at May 10, 2008 11:05 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

Peter Preston: The slogan of the week (if you listen to some of Ken Livingstone's sourer supporters) might well be 'Bitter and Twisted Standard'

May 10, 2008 11:05 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

Tom Teodorczuk talks to Peter Bart, the tireless 75-year-old editor-in-chief of the legendary Hollywood paper that speaks a language all its own

By Kathryn Flett at May 10, 2008 11:05 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

Kathryn Flett on Flood | Too Fat to Toddle | Midnight Man

May 10, 2008 11:05 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

A sporting chance | Healing power of Boris | Well, he can serve... | Mood is grim, up north | Turn of the Screws | A killer headline | One Moir for the Mail

By James Robinson at May 10, 2008 11:05 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

With the joint venture Mail Today, Associated is now one of many UK media firms targeting the subcontinent, but the new title has a very different world view from the British original, reports James Robinson from New Delhi

By stowe.boyd@gmail.com (Stowe Boyd) at May 10, 2008 09:16 PM
/Message | Subscribe to this Site

Gina Trapani, of Lifehacker, has created a prspammers wiki where she and others can publicly out PR firms that are spamming bloggers at their personal email addresses, or using other unsavory spammish practices. She announced the blacklist in a twitter message, here, inviting others to add to it.

Various practitioners (Todd Defren, Brian Solis, and so on) have written what I think are heartfelt apologies for the missteps that their firms and the industry as a whole has made. These are being collated at PR Openmic.

Personally, I feel that it is the whole system that is wrong, and piecemeal solutions like blacklists and filtering, and one:one agreements about how I, some specific blogger, should be approached by some specific firm won't work in the long run -- these are all stop gaps and band-aids.

The root cause here is the delusion on the part of the clients that this sort of PR carpet bombing works, that mass media messages embedded in a press release or press release-ish email work, and that we, the bloggers, actually react positively to this junk.

We, the bloggers and journalists, need to stand up and shout, 'Stop! This doesn't work! Shut up! Stop shouting! Stop screaming your bilge! Stop screaming and listen!' We need to shout them down, because they aren't taking our subtle little hints, like deleting the email and not responding. They aren't paying attention. There is no feedback loop, just a messianic faith in the power of PR blitz.

Despite the fact that some PR practitioners publicly state their allegiance to the Cluetrain Manifesto, real conversation is too time consuming for companies: their attention span is too short. Maybe someday, a decade from now, PR flacks will have evolved the new DNA needed to really change. An occasional mutant may pop up even today, but the corporate/pr firm hypocrisy is so general and contaminating to all it touches that even the most enlightened will find themselves turned, just like a well-meaning businessman will find him/herself involved in bribes after a few months in Russia or Pakistan: there is no option.

So, this is an additional argument for MicroPR: forcing PR firms to approach us in the open, on open social flow apps like Twitter, and in the small, where they have to jettison all the claptrap of the old press release model. In the open, that can't lie easily, or they will be caught on it. In the small, they have to junk the meaningless superlatives, the bogus quotes that no CEO ever mouthed, the run-on phrases, the disembodied third party mumbo jumbo, as if the press release were edited by God.

On Twitter, I will simply block people that abuse my willingness to have an open dialog about products with PR folks, or basically anyone else, for that matter. And I am implicitly inviting everyone in my Twitter sphere of influence to participate, too. I want it to be a shared space for investigation into new tools, so by all means, twitpitch me!

But please, please, get out of my inbox. I am using that for completely different things: communicating with people I know relatively well, about mutual concerns. PR folks pushing what they thinks is newsworthy information to me via email is so close to spam that there is no practical difference. So unless I have explicitly signed up to receive it on my email, don't send it. Twitpitch me, instead (the specific of how to do that are here: Twitpitch Is The Future).

Email I have asked to receive is considered 'Bacn' not 'Spam', to use Chris Brogan's term. Brian Solis attempts to make the case that PR folks sending things we might want -- based on their decisions -- should be considered 'Tofu' not 'Spam'. I am sorry Brian, but there is no Tofu, there is only Spam. Just because I personally know a PR person, and have chatted in the past, doesn't give them the right to send me some email about AdjectiveNoun's brand new Transfibrilator 2.0. It's like your a taxi driver proselytizing for a religious sect, or your GP trying to sell you tupperware. The personal social or business relationship is not an open invitation to selling other junk.

I also suggest to bloggers and journalists to do as I have done, and post a persistent link on your blog called 'How To Pitch Me' or the like, and state how others ought to -- and ought not to -- pitch you. I explicitly say 'don't use email, use twitter', but you should each state explicitly how they should do it. I also state that I have a three strikes and you're out rule, after which they are spam filtered.

I predict that we will see a huge shift toward open and small, toward MicroPR, and that the smartest PR professionals will adopt that with relief. They know the Emperor has not clothes, that this scattershot approach to getting the word out is dead. We have to point them in the right direction, and hope they will pick up on the new mode of interaction, but if they don't some other group will figure it out, and those marketing dollars will shift, like a river jumping it's banks.

[Update 6:23pm:

jtoeman directed my attention to this post, Hey Bloggers, Tell Us How To Pitch You, where he asks us to tell them what to do.

Meg Roberts makes some very naive statements in her post, A Young Pro’s Take: Media Relations and the New PR Blacklists, but asks several compelling questions: why don't colleges teach more about pitching the media, and -- even more compelllingly -- what are the training programs in place at the PR firms, if any. I bet it's all slapdash, with new hires expected to learn by watching or doing, with a sort of sink-or-swim philosophy behind it.]

May 10, 2008 09:15 PM
MacNN | The Macintosh News Network | Subscribe to this Site

Snarb.tk has released Cover Stream 2.0, an update to its iTunes controller that extends iTunes Cover Flow to the desktop. The upgrade features new graphics, a playlist and search filter, an integrated songs browser, Last FM and Apple Remote support, full screen mode, Apple-flavored bezels, desktop artwork, and much more. Cover Stream, a popular iTu...

May 10, 2008 08:40 PM
MacNN | The Macintosh News Network | Subscribe to this Site

Green Volcano has released Photon 1.1, the first major update to its high-performance digital photo workflow application for Mac OS X. Version 1.1 brings an enhanced caching engine and better filesystem support. Designed for both professional photographers and advanced photography enthusiasts, Photon enables users to review and organize large numbe...

May 10, 2008 04:30 PM
MacNN | The Macintosh News Network | Subscribe to this Site

Apple has quietly updated its online Apple Store in both the US and the UK to stop orders of the iPhone, marking the first time the company has ceased orders altogether since the iPhone's launch last year. Both 8GB and 16GB versions are listed as "currently unavailable" and are not given estimates for when they should return to the ordering system...

By sarah lacy at May 10, 2008 04:01 PM
SarahLacy.com | Subscribe to this Site

VentureBeat, BusinessWeek and TechCrunch all report Facebook has raised another $100 million in debt. I-bankers and Wall Street kids, come up with a new rumor of how Microsoft is going to spend that $40 billion burning a hole in its pocket. Facebook is playing for keeps.

By sarah lacy at May 10, 2008 03:44 PM
SarahLacy.com | Subscribe to this Site

Me on Happy Hour on Fox Business News. Despite the name you actually *don't* drink on the show! Enjoy!

By stowe.boyd@gmail.com (Stowe Boyd) at May 10, 2008 02:53 PM
/Message | Subscribe to this Site

Just got the new Nokia N82 (courtesy of the Nokia Bloggers program). I have been anticipating various new phones because of the new xenon flash, which is purported to be much better in low light situations than the older LED flash, like the one on my N95. I have also been waiting for new mapping and GPS navigation tools, but the flash thing has been a real pain in my use of the N95, so I decide to check that out first.

Here's a picture of a dark area under my desk with the N95:

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

And now, with the n82:

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

I know I can see a real difference. The N82 flash crushes the N95.

I am headed to Europe to meet all sorts of interesting folks, and I will be taking a lot of photos in the typical low-light demi-monde of restaurants and bars, I am sure. Expect to see a much higher quality than in the past, and, as a direct consequence, I bet I will be taking a lot more pictures of people at night.

I just hope that various apps I use on the n95 -- gmail, flixwagon, etc. -- will fly on the n82. Ditto on syncing with my calendar on the Mac.

May 10, 2008 02:44 PM
eWeek - RSS Feeds | Subscribe to this Site

Fujitsu integrates Metrologic Bluetooth scanning technology with its U-Scan Genesis self-checkout system....
Six Sigma Certification 100% Online-Six Sigma Certificate from Villanova - Find Out More Now.

By John Paczkowski at May 10, 2008 01:38 AM
Digital Daily | Subscribe to this Site

Was he inebriated? Do you even know anyone who owns a Zune?”

–-

By Aidan Jones at May 10, 2008 12:37 AM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

American actress claims French cosmetic firm used her image in ad campaign years after contract expired

May 10, 2008 12:15 AM
MacNN | The Macintosh News Network | Subscribe to this Site

Since switching over to Intel processors, the Mac is now capable of running practically any operating system. The simplest option is to use Boot Camp to create a dual-boot system that can run Mac OS X or Windows XP/Vista. A more flexible solution is to run Mac OS X and one or more additional operating systems at the same time. To run another operat...

By DealBook at May 09, 2008 11:26 PM
DealBook | Subscribe to this Site

Warren E. Buffett is no stranger to Pine Valley. In 1992, the billionaire investor first visited the town that is the setting for ABC’s “All My Children,” after striking up a friendship with the popular soap opera’s creator. And on Friday he returned to counsel Erica Kane, t

By Marina Hyde at May 09, 2008 11:13 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

Marina Hyde: ITV's revenue-generating ideas appear to revolve around persuading drunks and gamblers to bung them cash

By Leigh Holmwood at May 09, 2008 11:13 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

Trust asks director general, Mark Thompson, to look at disciplining 'handful' of staff

By Sam Wollaston at May 09, 2008 11:13 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

Sam Wollaston on Across the Andes: Beyond Boundaries

By Jack Schofield at May 09, 2008 11:12 PM
guardian.co.uk Media | Subscribe to this Site

The New York Times online has come a long way in the past few years, scooping several Webby Awards last week. And how many other newspapers have a page for pancakes?

May 09, 2008 10:40 PM
MacNN | The Macintosh News Network | Subscribe to this Site

The OpenOffice.org Community this week released a public beta release of OpenOffice.org 3.0, the open-source productivity suite for Mac OS X as well as Windows and Linux. The beta release will be the first to run on Mac OS X without X11, but is primarily designed to allow a broad user base to test and evaluate the next major version of OpenOffice.o...

By (Emil Protalinski) at May 09, 2008 10:30 PM
One Microsoft Way | Subscribe to this Site

The second edition of "Friday links" is here. What? You thought we couldn't keep it up past one post, didn't you? One Microsoft Way is growing; you better believe it!

Read More...

May 09, 2008 10:20 PM
MacNN | The Macintosh News Network | Subscribe to this Site

Nik Software this week released the Viveza plug-in for Aperture 2.1, Apple's photo editing and management software. The Viveza plug-in allows Aperture users to selectively control light and color in photographic images from within Aperture. Integrated seamlessly within Aperture's organizing and editing environment, users can simply place "U Point"-...

May 09, 2008 10:10 PM
MacNN | The Macintosh News Network | Subscribe to this Site

TapeDeck is an new audio recording application written exclusively for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard that is designed with a quick-capture workflow. New recordings called "tapes" can be started with a single mouse click (or keystroke); the software records directly to compressed MP4-AAC audio, making it useful for a variety of applications including simpl...

May 09, 2008 09:50 PM
MacNN | The Macintosh News Network | Subscribe to this Site

MCE Technologies on Friday said it will begin shipping a 1TB internal hard drive solution for the Apple's MacBook Pro 17-inch. The solution, which installs two half-terabyte drives and affects battery performance a bit, consists of the new MCE OptiBay SATA 500GB Optical Bay Hard Drive and an MCE MobileStor 500GB Internal SATA Hard Drive. The new M...

May 09, 2008 09:30 PM
eWeek - RSS Feeds | Subscribe to this Site

A second House bill emerges as the time for action slips away....
TAKE CONTROL OF REMOTE COMPUTERS Support, configure and install applications and updates remotely for greater efficiency.

May 09, 2008 08:50 PM
MacNN | The Macintosh News Network | Subscribe to this Site

Syncro Soft has released the v9.2 update to Oxygen XML Editor, a cross-platform, WYSIWYG XML toolset, which provides a variety of services including XQuery debugging. It is available solo, or as an Eclipse IDE plug-in. The new version of the software improves DITA support, with a new DITA maps manager, and a toolchain for generating DITA output i...

By John Paczkowski at May 09, 2008 08:45 PM
Digital Daily | Subscribe to this Site

Microsoft (MSFT) is appealing the $1.38 billion fine given it by the European Commission for failing to comply with a landmark antitrust ruling in what it describes as a “constructive effort to seek clarity from the court.”

By “clarity,” Microsoft means an annulment of the EC’s February decision imposing the fine–the highest ever meted out in an antitrust case. But it’s not likely to get it. At least according to the EC. Said an EC spokesperson: “The commission is confident that its decision to impose the fine is legally sound.”

Translation: No. How’s that for “clarity”?