Selected by sheilas

• 
  American Hooch

• Old Forester

  Nathan

  23 Jan 2010 | 1:42 pm

  I’m a loyal fan to the Old Forester Birthday Bourbon series – every year I look forward to its release and each year it is surprising and interesting in a different way.  However, I’ve somehow never managed to try their main release.  Old Forester claims to be America’s first bottled bourbon, and if I remember my Cowdery correctly, this is a result of George Brown desiring to guarantee the quality of the ‘medicinal’ bourbon he sold.  By bottling only the spirit from barrels that met his standards, his customers/patients could be assured that they were…

• Cornelius Applejack

  Nathan

  13 Jan 2010 | 6:13 pm

  It’s been too long since my last post, but I’ve got something I’m excited about to kick off the new year: Cornelius Applejack.  Anyone who has read a few entries on this blog has no doubt encountered the fact that I am a big fan of American apple brandies and take every opportunity to try one.  So, seeing this new entry at Astor Wines a couple weeks ago made my day. Cornelius is made by Harvest Spirits – whose Pear Brandy I’ve written about before – located in upstate New York, which also happens to produce an incredible volume of apples every year making…

• Four Roses Yellow

  Nathan

  9 Dec 2009 | 7:23 pm

  Four Roses Small Batch was one of the earliest bourbons I tasted for American Hooch and now I’ve come back to try their entry-level offering here in the US, the so-called ‘Yellow’.  The Four Roses series is often described as a less aggressive, rounder bourbon in contrast to the the many big, oaky, charred offerings on the shelf.  The Small Batch definitely lived up to that, here’s hoping that the lower-priced Yellow doesn’t mean significantly reduced quality. Stats: - $20ish - 80 proof - Made by Four Roses Distillery (acquired a few years ago by Kirin)…

• Old Rip Van Winkle

  Nathan

  2 Dec 2009 | 8:07 pm

  The second of the Van Winkle line I’ve tried for this blog, Old Rip Van Winkle (107 proof variety) is one of the entry-level tiers of the esteemed line of bourbons that includes the famed Pappy Van Winkles.  All the Van Winkles are wheated bourbons, so I’m expecting that softer edge to come through, but the extra aging (ten years total) might complicate that a bit. Apologies for not providing my own photo here, the camera is having some battery trouble tonight. Stats: - $30ish - Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery - 107 proof Presentation: This is definitely a package that pushes its…

• Eagle Rare Single Barrel

  Nathan

  16 Nov 2009 | 7:12 pm

  Eagle Rare seems to have changed hands a few times in its history.  Starting off in the ’70s as a Seagram brand, the bourbon is now in the hands of Buffalo Trace Distillery – and that’s a good thing considering they produce some of my favorites like W.L. Weller and Buffalo Trace.  By all accounts this seems to be a classic bourbon aiming for a classy slot on the shelf yet comes in cheaper than I’d expected. Stats: - $25ish - Buffalo Trace Distillery - 90 proof Presentation: The first descriptor that comes to mind for the Eagle Rare line’s packaging is…

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  Penelope Trunk's Brazen Careerist

• Check-up for self-delusion

  Penelope Trunk

  7 Feb 2010 | 9:41 pm

  It’s unbelievable to me that everyone continues to watch football when we know that men are getting genuinely, permanently, brain damaged. The game is tantamount to cockfighting, only with people instead of animals. The NFL has finally admitted the problem, to the extent it is poised to be the largest funding source for research about trauma to the brain. But still, the game encourages brain trauma. And people cheer. I can understand if it’s like smoking. You’re addicted, you can’t stop. But what about bringing your kids to the game? What about all the people who make the Superbowl a…

• Chat with me tonight, live, via video.

  Penelope Trunk

  3 Feb 2010 | 7:43 am

  Is this even a good headline for a blog post? I don't know. Do you want to know what I'm like unedited? Read this blog post. I never post unedited, but my editor has a day job, and he has no time to deal with manufactured emergencies like this one, so I'm just posting this post as is. I'm supposed to be doing a web chat thing tonight. I had this idea that this would be a good format for me. And I had this idea that I could stick to a schedule. But look. It's the day of my video chat and I have not even announced it. Because I'm nervous. I'm nervous about a…

• Frugality is a career tool

  Penelope Trunk

  1 Feb 2010 | 11:02 am

  I have earned a lot of money in my life. But I have never had an extravagant life. I don’t own a house. I’ve never bought a new car. I’ve never bought a new piece of living room furniture, and I do not own a single piece of real jewelry. What I have spent money on was always intended to help me with my career. That was so I know that I can always earn money doing something I love. I leased a BMW when it was clear that that mattered when it came to making deals in LA. I hired a stylist when I realized my clothes were holding me back in NYC. In Madison I have tons of household help so my…

• Being an expert takes time, not talent

  Penelope Trunk

  28 Jan 2010 | 9:39 pm

  I've been walking around with the July/August 2007 issue of the Harvard Business Review constantly, for close to three years. Sometimes, if I’m getting on a plane, I’ll put it with the other heavy stuff into my luggage, and then get it out later. When my last car broke down in the middle of an intersection, I got the magazine out of the trunk before I abandoned the car. The article that I’m attached to is The Making of an Expert by Anders Ericsson, Michael Prietula and Edward Cokely. I would not normally bother to tell you all three authors for one article in my blog. This is not a…

• Workplace news you cannot use

  Penelope Trunk

  25 Jan 2010 | 8:23 pm

  I collect data points constantly, and I index them by topic, and I always hope that they will come together in an interesting, useful way. Lots of times, that doesn’t happen, and I  just have to throw ideas away, because I have a rule for myself that I have to be useful in every post. But today I’m trying something new. I’m doing a post that is useless to you. Here are four ideas I was just about to toss out as incurably useless, but instead, I bring them to you: 1. Law firms are making concessions for women. One of the top law firms in the world, Allen Overy, just announced they are…

• 
  Small Biz Survival

• Ways to deliver audio for tourism

  Becky McCray

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:08 am

  Imagine if your most enthusiastic and wonderful tour leader could guide every group of visitors. You know, that one person who tells the best stories, who makes it all come to life... what if that person guided every visitor? The next best thing might be to record them and share that audio with your visitors. The Shattuck, Oklahoma, Windmill Museum uses FM radio to broadcast "Windmill Willie's Story About Windmills." I think that is pretty cool. (I didn't tune in because I was headed to a meeting and just stopped long enough to snap this pic.) You've probably seen audio CDs used to promote a…

• Four ways to beat bigger competitors

  Becky McCray

  8 Feb 2010 | 6:02 am

  How can your small town business take on the bigger competitors? Whether you're facing the big boxes, the big city shopping, or the online big boys, you can try these four ways to beat them back. Tell your human story. Your business came from somewhere, was founded by someone, touches real people. When you tell your story, you build relationships. Your culture and place matter. You have a better connection with what your people want, how they like to be treated, and what touches their emotions than any big company can. When you have a competitive or better price, hammer on it. You have to…

• Mistakes: Missing menus

  Becky McCray

  7 Feb 2010 | 2:34 pm

  My friend Chaz French just emailed me from the road:  I'm at a take out falafel place that apparently does delivery but nowhere in here can we find a menu to take and they didn't come up in a web search for delivery in the area. If you aren't sharing your critical information with your customers, you're missing out on sales. Solutions: Take time for a quick information audit. How would a person new in town find your business? Are there basic info pieces, like menus, that you need to share? How is your online presence? Once you think it's in pretty good shape, be brave and ask a friend to…

• DARPA hard

  Becky McCray

  5 Feb 2010 | 6:04 pm

  DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, likes big challenges. They don't want to touch projects that are merely hard, or just really difficult. They only want to take on those that are so hard, so seemingly impossible, that no one else could solve them, no one else would ever invest in them. Challenges that big are called "DARPA hard." Bill Reichert, from Garage Technologies Ventures, told that story at the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds Conference in Oklahoma City. Look for your own "DARPA hard." Find the problems that are so hard, or so specialized, that you…

• The basket I forgot to put a title on

  Becky McCray

  5 Feb 2010 | 5:57 am

  Every week, I open a new Basket. I call it the Brag Basket, but it's not really about bragging. It's about sharing. I started this so you can introduce yourself, share some good news about yourself, or congratulate a friend.  Speak up and add yourself or another deserving soul in the comments. We all cheer, and everyone feels great. It lets you meet each other a bit. Reading each others' stories brings us a bit closer to being a community.  This particular basket is open from Feb. 5-7, 2010. How does it work? You write a comment on this post. You tell something great about your…

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  Freelance Switch

• 4 Ways to Kill Scope Creep

  FreelanceSwitch.com

  9 Feb 2010 | 4:30 am

  Some clients just keep asking for a little more: a four page website design can turn into a design plus copy or even a design plus copy plus marketing. It often happens just a little request at a time, as the scope of the project creeps ever larger. Scope creep isn’t always an entirely bad thing, of course. As long as your clients are willing to pay for the work that goes along with a bigger project, it can be beneficial. Depending on the situation, there are several responses you can offer to a client with a case of scope creep.1. Glad to help — here’s a new estimateIf you can…

• Freelance Freedom #142

  FreelanceSwitch.com

  8 Feb 2010 | 4:30 am

• From the Community: Advice for New Freelancers

  FreelanceSwitch.com

  5 Feb 2010 | 4:30 am

  Recently, the FreelanceSwitch community was asked what simple, one-line advice they would give newly minted freelancers. The result was a surprising and poignant mix of wisdom, humor, and insight on topics such as clients, money, marketing, and keeping one’s sanity. Read on for the best advice from the FreelanceSwitch community! It’s a not so well-kept secret that the FreelanceSwitch community forums are filled with experts and seasoned freelancers of every make and specialization. But everyone had to start somewhere! Being a new freelancer can be an exercise in hard lessons…

• Automate Your Bookkeeping

  FreelanceSwitch.com

  4 Feb 2010 | 4:30 am

  As a freelancer, it’s important to focus as much of your time as possible on the work you have or getting the work you need. And that means minimizing administrative tasks. Take bookkeeping, for example.Bookkeeping is critical for maximizing tax deductions and monitoring the overall health of your business, but it’s a royal pain. In this post I’ll show you how to automate bookkeeping tasks so you can stay focused on existing jobs while marketing your talents.Decide on a bookkeeping systemMany people still hand-write their income and expenses in a notebook or Excel…

• 7 Elements of a Successful Freelancer’s Website

  FreelanceSwitch.com

  3 Feb 2010 | 4:30 am

  “The shoemaker’s children go barefoot.”You’re not a shoemaker but the saying still fits. Between client projects, conferences, and social obligations (okay, okay, WOW clan meetings may count as social obligations), your site has been sorely neglected. A neglected website might not seem like a big deal if you’re flush with work. But what happens when, Zeus forbid, work slows? You’ll start pushing for new work, realize that your site is a mess, and spend time working on your site you should have spent landing new contracts.As a reminder for the veterans and a…

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  On the Job by Anita Bruzzese

• 6 Questions to Increase your Accountability Muscle

  1 Feb 2010 | 9:30 am

  Some days I feel like I can hardly keep up with all the public figures behaving badly. Behaving badly and then lying about it. Then, apologizing for behaving so badly. And lying.That's why I was interested in discussing the issue of personal responsibility. Are we capable, I wondered, of taking personal responsibility? What impact does that lack of accountability have on the workplace? It's a question I explored in my latest column for Gannett:When ex-baseball player Mark McGwire recently admitted taking performance-enhancing steroids during his career, critics charged that his a truthfulness…

• 3 Ways to Give the Best of Yourself

  26 Jan 2010 | 7:38 am

  Mute.I love that little button on my TV remote. I use it a lot. Commercial comes on?Mute.A program with talking heads yelling at each other?Mute.In today's workplace, I think a lot of people long for a "mute" button. Unfortunately, not only do we not have the option of tuning everything out, but the increasing stress levels have made it just a bit too loud -- in all kinds of ways.Recently, I looked into the issue of incivility and stress in the workplace, and what we can do about it. Here's the column I did for Gannett:As you check your e-mail, return phone calls, gather materials for a…

• How to Move from Temporary Work to a Full-Time Gig

  19 Jan 2010 | 7:53 am

  When I was in high school I landed my first holiday job working at a small J.C. Penney's. Most of the time I was scheduled to work after school until about 9 p.m. I soon dubbed it as "The Dead Zone."There usually weren't a lot of customers during those hours, and all the stocking had been done during the day. This left me with long hours to be bored spitless, staring at double-polyester peach pantsuits and trying to look busy while doing it.One night I started re-dressing all the mannequins in clothes I liked better. I re-arranged displays and started throwing away broken supplies.I did that…

• 6 tips for handling a pregnancy and a career

  12 Jan 2010 | 7:46 am

  When I was pregnant with my first child, I was determined to be professional and discreet about the issue at work. I didn't even plan on telling my boss until I was past my first trimester. I was determined nothing was going to change -- just because I was pregnant didn't mean I would do my job differently.Then came the day a co-worker entered my office smoking a cigarette (back in the days when such things were allowed). I took one whiff, and nearly knocked the guy off his feet as I ran for the bathroom, overwhelmed by nausea.My green complexion until noon every day, and the ongoing…

• Eat your salad first, and other career strategies

  4 Jan 2010 | 7:52 am

  Every year I get loads of candy over the holidays, and every year I feel compelled to eat it as fast as possible. This is because I always make a New Year's resolution to lose weight and eat healthier, so I figure the faster I consume the candy, the faster I can get on the road to being skinny and fit.Guess what? It never works. Because before you know it, Valentine's Day is rolling around and that means more candy. Which means I need to get busy scarfing it down so I can get back to losing weight and exercising.New Year's resolutions are tough. But unlike other people who think they're a…

• 
  WebWorkerDaily

• Have You Thanked Your Favorite Bloggers Today?

  Amber Singleton Riviere

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:00 am

  Today I sent a note to a popular blogger, and at the end of the message I thanked him for his passion and enthusiasm. After sending the message, I wondered if my note would be read, let alone matter to him, but that kind of thing does matter, even if in the smallest way. There are so many people who influence us in our businesses, from the bloggers who consistently provide us with helpful information to keep our businesses growing and thriving to the people in our spheres of influence who rave about us and keep clients and customers coming our way. They help us every day, and it is important…

• Work Hacks: How to Run Meetings Google-style

  Imran Ali

  9 Feb 2010 | 9:00 am

  For many of us, “meeting hell” is a perennial and ongoing problem, sapping both productivity and morale from our work days. So how does one of the world’s most innovative corporate cultures tackle the problem of badly managed meetings? What would Google do? Google has not only become synonymous with technological innovation, but also as a brand that employs innovative work practices, such as the famous 20 percent time for engineers and the playful Googleplex workplaces (read more about Google here). Google’s Marissa Mayer was recently interviewed by Business Week.

• ClientShow: Smoother Pitches

  Thursday Bram

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:00 am

  If you’re a creative professional, you’ve probably had to make a pitch to a new client. Unless you’re actually able to walk into your clients’ offices, managing those pitches remotely can be difficult. Email often can’t support the big files designers and other creatives work with, and other tools don’t provide real-time interactions at the level necessary for a pitch. Realizing there was a gap in the market, ClientShow built a platform for pitching and interacting with clients that just went into beta. The company offers creatives an Adobe AIR…

• 3 Apps For Collaborating on Scripts Online

  Doriano "Paisano" Carta

  8 Feb 2010 | 3:00 pm

  Here are some apps that provide useful ways to collaborate online on writing scripts for anything from short promotional corporate videos to full-length motion pictures. Sure, there are many ways to accomplish this task, such as sharing a document using Google Docs or Zoho Write, but these three apps focus specifically on the task of writing scripts, along with the formatting that requires. They each include the ability to invite other writers to join your project and maintain a centralized copy of the material for each contributor to view and update. Adobe Story Adobe Labs is currently…

• Minute Suites: Rest and Recharge, Airport Style

  Nancy Nally

  8 Feb 2010 | 1:00 pm

  Between security hassles and being charged fees for everything but the oxygen we breathe on board a plane, air travel has become something to be endured rather than enjoyed. But a new service that recently opened in Atlanta Hartsfield airport, called Minute Suites, wants to serve as travelers’ oasis from the stress of life traveling the unfriendly skies. Atlanta Hartsfield’s Minute Suites is located on Concourse B in a space that was formerly a business center, and bills itself as a “traveler’s retreat”. Minute Suites offered me the chance to give them a try during a layover on a…

• 
  Ask the Editor

• The Link Between Method Acting and Writing Believable Characters

  editorialconsultant

  1 Feb 2010 | 9:10 am

  In one particularly funny episode of the TV series, Monk, a production company is filming a movie based on one of Mr. Monk’s cases. The method actor (played by Stanley Tucci), cast to play the detective, studies him so intensely, he develops the same phobias, quirks, and crime-solving skills. We’ve all heard of method actors “inhabiting” [...]

• Yet another disappointing column by The New York Times’ public editor

  editorialconsultant

  18 Jan 2010 | 9:34 am

  Clark Hoyt, The New York Times’ public editor, has belatedly discovered that sources quoted by reporters may not always be disinterested observers of the issues on which they comment. Hoyt points to several people who were quoted by reporters who had business interests intertwined with the issues they were discussing. Included among these sources is Jonathan [...]

• The next big thing in e-readers isn’t an e-reader

  editorialconsultant

  7 Jan 2010 | 9:28 am

  Blio is e-reading software that reviewers say blows away the Kindle, Nook and other e-readers. And best of all, it's free.

• The New York Times and freelancers (A.K.A. filthy non-staff writer scum)

  editorialconsultant

  4 Jan 2010 | 8:22 am

  The New York Times' hypocrisy about freelancers and ethics is legend. The Times won't pay its reporters' expenses but cries foul when writers get expenses covered in other ways.

• More.com gets into the writer exploitation game

  editorialconsultant

  27 Oct 2009 | 5:28 pm

  On a writers listserv I subscribe to, a writer posted a message that she’d been asked to write for More.com — the online presence for More magazine. But… More.com wants her to write for free. And this writer wonders if it will be good exposure for her to do so. Here’s my take. You can expose yourself, night [...]

• 
  Small Business Trends

• 3 Reasons Contractors Should Register with Angie’s List and the Better Business Bureau

  Diane Helbig

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:00 am

  You may be asking yourself why both. Frankly, I wondered if these organizations competed with each other. So I set out to do some research and find out what the true value of each is to a contractor in today’s economy. Angie’s List is an online resource for consumers to find reputable contractors. Members rate their experiences with contractors and any contractor who wants to advertise on Angie’s List must have a rating of B. Angie’s List was and is set up from the consumer’s point of view. As stated in a US News and World Report article, Angie’s List is “an invaluable…

• Getting Bloggin’: Customers Trust Transparent Experts

  Lisa Barone

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

  Every year Edelman releases its Trust Barometer report (Executive Summary) to measure consumer confidence in business and, if we’re taking a cue from Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, identify the biggest ‘trust agents’ helping them to make their decisions. This year the findings are getting some people wondering about the overall impact on social media. Social media has always “worked” because people trusted the advice and recommendations of people ‘like them’ over the cold marketing they were accustomed to. They trusted that their friends and people who valued the same things…

• Win a Copy of “Build A Green Small Business” Book

  Staci Wood

  8 Feb 2010 | 7:15 pm

  Everyone loves getting something for free, right?  Of course you do. So we’ve decided to implement a new feature here at Small Business Trends.  Each month we plan to hold a drawing and give away stuff to you. There will be something different every month.  Whatever it is, it will be something of interest to entrepreneurs and small business leaders. This month, we have 8 copies of the book, “Build a Green Small Business: Profitable Ways to Become an Ecopreneur” by Scott Cooney.  We’ll hold a random drawing and choose 8 people.  Each will receive a book.  This…

• Small Business Cash Flow Problems Still Not Declining

  Scott Shane

  8 Feb 2010 | 6:29 am

  Many small businesses continue to experience cash flow problems – the majority, in fact, according to a survey by the Discover Small Business Watch. That cash flow is an issue right now for small businesses might sound obvious to most of you that run your own businesses, but a worsening trend might not be. So here’s a chart that shows what has been going on with small business cash flow over the past three years. The figure plots the percentage of respondents to the Discover Small Business Watch monthly survey of a random sample of 750 small business owners who answered “yes,”…

• Musician Makes over $18k in 5 Days with Social Media

  Janet Meiners Thaeler

  7 Feb 2010 | 11:27 am

  I’ve always loved jingles. I’ve always wanted one for my web site. I found one that I thought was perfect for Ancestry.com once. I sung it to myself every time I heard their name. So I was inspired by a small business that started over the holidays. People like case studies about how small businesses succeed with social media. Here is an example of a business that was started with social media. It was started, get this: over this Christmas and New Year’s, by a musician in Sweden who has never had a business online. His name is Love Harnell and he’s a musician I found out about Love…

• 
  Entrepreneur.com

• Dirty Jobs: the Secret to Success in 2010

  7 Feb 2010 | 4:00 pm

  If you're searching for a recession-proof franchise, consider getting into the business of 'dirty jobs.'

• Don't File for that Patent Yet

  7 Feb 2010 | 4:00 pm

  Instead of a utility patent, a provisional patent or a trademark could be a better first step.

• Focus on 'User Experience Optimization'

  4 Feb 2010 | 4:00 pm

  Driving traffic to your homepage is important, but making the destination worthwhile is vital.

• Which Features Should Your Website Have?

  4 Feb 2010 | 4:00 pm

  If you're taking things up a notch, consider these factors.

• Soup Up Your Social Sales Channels

  4 Feb 2010 | 4:00 pm

  If you make time for it and know your stuff, you can chat your way to more Web traffic.

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  Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

• 207 GG "Between" Versus "Among"

  QuickAndDirtyTips.com

  4 Feb 2010 | 8:48 pm

  You're among friends. The Grammar Girl print book is now available on Amazon.com! http://tinyurl.com/2pkej7

• 206 GG Is "I'm Loving It" Proper English?

  QuickAndDirtyTips.com

  28 Jan 2010 | 8:48 pm

  Stative verbs. The Grammar Girl print book is now available on Amazon.com! http://tinyurl.com/2pkej7

• 205 GG Readers' Stories of Funny Errors

  QuickAndDirtyTips.com

  21 Jan 2010 | 8:48 pm

  Does your worst typo top these? The Grammar Girl print book is now available on Amazon.com! http://tinyurl.com/2pkej7

• 204 GG Is "Got" Proper English?

  QuickAndDirtyTips.com

  14 Jan 2010 | 8:48 pm

  Let's get along. The Grammar Girl print book is now available on Amazon.com! http://tinyurl.com/2pkej7

• 203 GG How Do You Pronounce 2010?

  QuickAndDirtyTips.com

  7 Jan 2010 | 8:48 pm

  "Twenty ten," "two thousand ten," or "twenty-oh-ten"? The Grammar Girl print book is now available on Amazon.com! http://tinyurl.com/2pkej7

• 
  Copyblogger

• Does Writing for People Work for SEO?

  Brian Clark

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:16 am

  Hang around web writing circles for any length of time, and the inevitable “write for search engines or write for people” debate comes up. It’s a bit strange, really. Last time I checked, it’s people who use search engines, not some other life form. So you’re always writing for people. Obviously, the debate stems from the fact that search engines are powered by computer algorithms. But as search engines have gotten smarter, writing that pleases people and satisfies spiders is not that far apart, if at all. Let’s look at four factors that work well for SEO and see how well they…

• The Art of Shameless Self-Promotion

  Nathan Hangen

  8 Feb 2010 | 7:49 am

  I’ve found it just doesn’t pay to crow too much about what I’ve accomplished. Sure, I celebrate when things go well. But I’ve found that talking too much about my achievements leads not only to criticism, but to disappointment. There’s always going to be someone who’s done more or worked harder. And until they carve my name into the side of the moon, I see no reason in puffing myself up. The minute you get a big head is the same minute that reality smacks you and you realize that you aren’t as cool as you think you are. So self-adulation is something I try to stay…

• Five Areas to Focus On for Effective SEO Copywriting

  Brian Clark

  5 Feb 2010 | 8:51 am

  When I first started Copyblogger in 2006, I was almost militantly against on-page search optimization. Seems strange, since I’d been a successful student of SEO since 2000. It was because I saw all these people fretting over keywords like it’s 1999, and yet they had no links. Their content was weak. Their sites weren’t trusted. You can’t optimize something that’s dead in the water. So my initial goal was to get people to focus on content that attracted attention and links first. Only then do you have something you can make better (that’s what optimize means, naturally). Fours…

• Landing Page Makeovers 2007-2009: Where Are They Now?

  Roberta Rosenberg

  4 Feb 2010 | 6:46 am

  This is another addition to our ongoing series of tutorials and case studies on landing pages that work. It occurred to me late last year, as I was readying yet another Landing Page Makeover, that the end of one year and the beginning of the next was a good time to do a “Where are they now?” post. So first things first, I went back and contacted all makeover participants from the very beginning of the series. Of the more than 20 contacted, I learned that one is no longer in business, MagicPumpkinArt.com (Makeover #14) and two are in the midst of developing new products or revising…

• Does SEO Copywriting Still Matter?

  Brian Clark

  3 Feb 2010 | 8:28 am

  If there’s any one thing that can be said about SEO with certainty, it’s that it manages to cause a lot of confusion. For example, it seems like many people’s idea of SEO was formed 10 years ago, and hasn’t bothered to change with the times. Even an online veteran like Robert Scoble is completely clueless about modern best practices for search engine optimization. So, before we go any further, let me answer the question posed by the headline . . . Yes, SEO copywriting still matters. Here’s why. Search is still the biggest game in town “Pick your survey, search remains one of the…

• 
  The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss

• Random Episode 8 – 2010 Resolutions with Kevin Rose and Tim Ferriss

  Tim Ferriss

  17 Jan 2010 | 10:52 am

  This new, long overdue Random episode covers our personal resolutions–personal, business, physical, and otherwise–as well as favorite recent gifts (both given and received). The video is recorded on two cameras, including Glenn’s new experimental HD delight. Topics include: - Chocolate - Powerlifting - Filtering false friends - Funny hats - The art of the decline … and naked ladies. Best to give the video 10-20 minutes to buffer before watching. It’s a big ‘un. Please let us know in the comments what you’d like our next show topic to be! If you missed…

• The First Time Online – Enjoy While You Can

  Tim Ferriss

  8 Jan 2010 | 2:00 am

  Most of you have never seen this. I really hope you enjoy it. To download, just sign into Vimeo and you’re set. If you Final Cut it up, please set to a Crystal Method or Sevendust soundtrack :) In other breaking news: I need only 120 more Amazon reviews to beat The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, a dream I’ve had since 2007! Not because I dislike him, but precisely the opposite — he’s one of my writing role models and I long viewed his book as untouchable. If you’ve read the 4HWW but haven’t left a short review on Amazon, please take 30 seconds and help…

• Thank You, Facebook Bankruptcy, and Late Christmas Presents

  Tim Ferriss

  6 Jan 2010 | 3:08 am

  (Photo: source) Thank you… Thank you… Thank you! The last two blog posts have moved me more than any others, and the new expanded 4-Hour Workweek has hit #4 on The New York Times bestseller list and #3 on the USA Today Money list! In a future post, I will explain exactly what I did in PR and marketing (including recordings and screenshots) to help it happen, but the reality is: you made it happen. You all rock. For buying the book? No. For making this community what it is. For helping one another and sharing your stories and lessons learned. For teaching me more than I can ever…

• Cold Remedy: 18 Real-World Lifestyle Design Case Studies (Now It’s Your Turn)

  Tim Ferriss

  31 Dec 2009 | 2:18 am

  If not in 2010, then when? (Photo: jphilipson) The video case studies that I asked for in the last post really caught me unprepared. I…am…so happy that it’s hard to put it into words. From Denmark to India, from college students to retirees, from yoga instructors to engineers, the stories poured in. Narrowing them down to finalists, even with several people, was excruciating, but below you will find 15 of our favorites. Many more are worth watching (I watched them all) and can be found here, or by searching “4hww success” on YouTube. There are also 150 comments…

• Cold Remedy: Free Flights Anywhere in the World

  Tim Ferriss

  22 Dec 2009 | 8:38 am

  Where would you go if you had a free ticket anywhere? The island of Bohol in the Philippines? (source: WisDoc) Not long ago, I received the following comment — edited for length — from Ryan N.: I hate you Tim. I had a secure future ahead of me, and I left my job, my reasonably well paying professional career all because of your book. Best thing I’ve ever done!! I was wondering if you might be able to put up a blog post where people could post their ideas or muses as case studies. I’m sure there are a lot of people like me who would like to share their stories and listen to…

• 
  FastMachines.com

• Should NHRA Start Giving Away Tickets?

  There is no escaping the wide reaching effects of the economic recession we are currently in. Industries once thought to be "recession-proof" have been hit hard forcing layoffs or wage decreases. The NHRA was not immune to this and just two weeks ago issued pink slips to a number of ...

• The Petit Wrap Up Show - FastMachines.com Radio Episode #34

  It's the big (little) Petit Le Mans wrap up show with Chris and Declan Brennan of Midweek Motorsport on RadioLeMans.com. We also touch on the silly season in F1, the looming IndyCar championship, and the arrest of JC France! Let us know what you think by commenting on this posting, ...

• Podcast Revival! FastMachines.com Radio Episode #33

  After much searching, high and low....we found our motivation to podcast again! Bailey's baby girl has arrived and Josh and George uhh...I don't know what their excuse is....but they are back. We talk this week about the big news from F1...Flavio Briatore's life ban from the sport for race ...

• John Force Racing-What Would You Do

  I had a reader comment on my last article about Ashley Force Hood and the lack of respect she garners as a world class race car driver. The reader proceeded to provide his opinion on a number of topics including the events that took place at the recently completed U.S. ...

• Force Hood, Still Not Getting Her Props

  When will the sporting world wise up and realize that Danica Patrick is no more than a has-been that never was and start paying attention to the “real” number one female competitor in motorsports in the world, Ashley Force Hood. Is there any other woman on the planet that can ...

• 
  ESPN.com - College Basketball

• Forde Minutes: 40 names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college hoops

  Pat Forde

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:49 am

  From the best and worst college towns to running the league table, The Minutes clocks it all.

• More snow in forecast forces postponement of Virginia-Maryland

  Associated Press

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:12 am

  With more snow in the forecast for the Washington area, Maryland has postponed Wednesday's men's college basketball game against Virginia.

• Pierre Henderson-Niles' exit leaves Memphis Tigers in a bind

  Dana O'Neil

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:52 am

  Memphis coach Josh Pastner announced on Monday that, with just eight regular-season games left to play, senior forward Pierre Henderson-Niles has left the team.

• Top-ranked Kansas handles slumping Texas

  Associated Press

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:47 am

  Marcus Morris scored 18 points to lead No. 1 Kansas to an 80-68 victory over No. 14 Texas on Monday night.

• Kansas keeps grip on top spot in ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll

  ESPN.com

  9 Feb 2010 | 4:31 am

  Losses on the road sent Villanova and Michgan State tumbling in this week's ESPN/USA Today men's basketball poll -- which once again is led by Kansas.

• 
  Washington Post: Michael Wilbon

• Possible NFL lockout in 2011 is hot topic on eve of Super Bowl

  Michael Wilbon

  5 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  MIAMI No matter how nice the temperatures and gentle the breezes this Super Bowl week, no matter how much the television ratings for its games have jumped, no matter how high the NFL sits atop the world of sports and entertainment in America, it's impossible to ignore the menacing cloud just off the horizon. The league and its players appear headed for one of those 1980s-style showdowns, one that threatens to either shut down part of the 2011 season or put those dreaded replacement teams on the field.

• With Gregg Williams and the Saints defense, the pressure is on

  Michael Wilbon

  3 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  MIAMI

• Saints quarterback Drew Brees leads, and wins, by example

  Michael Wilbon

  2 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  MIAMI

• Suspension and suspense

  Michael Wilbon

  28 Jan 2010 | 9:00 pm

  Blog excerpt from views.washingtonpost.com/world-wide-wilbon

• Fans come out to see the Wizards, but more who the Wizards are playing

  Michael Wilbon

  26 Jan 2010 | 9:00 pm

  They've won 14 and lost 30 now. The Washington Wizards are next to last in the NBA's Eastern Conference, worse than the free-falling Detroit Pistons and hapless New York Knicks. Only New Jersey, on its way to becoming the worst team in the history of the game, is worse than the Wizards in the East. Only Golden State and Minnesota are worse in the West, which makes the Wizards the fourth-worst team in the NBA.

• 
  The Japan Times

• Tojo resisted surrender until end

  Wartime Prime Minister Gen. Hideki Tojo didn't want Japan to accept the Potsdam Declaration demanding unconditional surrender to the Allies, according to his private notes written immediately after the atomic bombings and found recently at the National Archives of Japan.

• Japan lists demands for North probe

  Japan presents its demands to North Korea for an acceptable reinvestigation of the abductions of Japanese, as they start two days of talks.

• Stimulus package outline unveiled

  The government unveils the outline for a stimulus package due by the end of the month to help the economy out of its downtrend.

• Man admits to bomb threat against Air China

  A Yokohama man turns himself in at a police station, saying he made a bomb threat against China Air that forced a flight to return to Japan.

• Cops can't get into Fukushima gas plant after leak injures 13

  A police inspection into a toxic phosgene gas leak at a Showa Denko plant in Fukushima Prefecture that injured 13 people has to be put on hold while the gas is neutralized.

• 
  AMPONTAN

• Love Boat on the Korea Strait

  ampontan

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:24 am

  WHAT IS IT with those folks in Fukuoka and Busan anyway? They keep confounding the people whose misconceptions masquerade as conventional wisdom and overturn every tired old cliche of Japanese-Korean relations. Now they’re at it again. The accompanying photo depicting a traditional Japanese wedding ceremony was taken during the filming of a television drama in the Kushida Shinto shrine in Fukuoka City. The filming, which occurred on the 6th, is for a program being produced by MBC-TV in South Korea. The name of that program translated into English from Japanese from Korean is The Korea…

• Trying to draw a foul in international relations

  ampontan

  8 Feb 2010 | 1:00 am

  LAST THURSDAY, many Japanese suspected the day would bring an end to the career of a well-known public figure. Their suspicions were justified—the career of a well-known public figure did end. It just wasn’t the one they expected. Karma has yet to have its way with scandal-plagued Democratic Party Secretary-General Ozawa Ichiro, but it did smite down with a heavy hand the preeminent sumo rikishi of his time, Asashoryu. Don't mess with Mr. D. The Mongolian-born superstar, whose real name is Dolgorsuren Dagvadorj, announced his retirement from the dohyo at a Thursday press conference in the…

• Dig yourself, baby

  ampontan

  7 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

  READER IKE sends in a link in the Comments section to some Australian blogger who claims the Japanese nation is racist and will never be able to handle immigration. His characterization of the Japanese nation is based on a single anecdote. The blogger said he was chased away from what he assumed was a brothel in “downtown Fukuoka” by a man shouting in “broken” English, “No foreigners allowed.” That blogger writes about financial matters, by the way, and is presumably well educated. Well, there might be brothels in “downtown Fukuoka”, though…

• Imagine Western culture with Chinese characteristics

  ampontan

  6 Feb 2010 | 8:59 pm

  THE CHINA DAILY website has an intriguing article that provides a glimpse of how the Chinese are dealing with cultural cross-fertilization now that the country is opening up to the West. One of the interesting aspects of the piece is that most of it could have been written about Japan at an earlier point in Japanese history. Just substitute Japan for China in this passage: While China remained closed off, few of its people, products or ideas could make their way into the rest of the world. When the country opened up, the rest of the world rushed in as quickly as Nature moves to correct any…

• Unintended consequences

  ampontan

  5 Feb 2010 | 8:34 am

  The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design. - Friedrich Hayek HERE’S AN INTRIGUING CONTRAST between the Japanese approach and the Chinese approach to the same problem. Or perhaps it’s a disturbing contrast, depending on your perspective. The problem in this case is the United States, and specifically, the American economy. Last quarter’s growth figures notwithstanding, conditions in the U.S. are still painful. Driving the growth was a slowdown in inventory depletion, which is unsustainable over the long run.

• 
  Family Travel Guide

• Travel, tourism and the social web on Blog Talk Radio

  Sheila

  8 Feb 2010 | 2:04 pm

  Last week I enjoyed spending 30 minutes on Blog Talk Radio with Australian entrepreneur and coach Des Walsh.  He has a regular program called Des Walsh and Friends, with a wide variety of guests all discussing some aspect of technology and business. The noteworthy advantage of Blog Talk Radio (or any “Internet radio” service) is that not only can you listen live, but the shows are usually archived if you can’t be there at broadcast time, plus they’re also downloadable for later listening on your iPod or other digital audio player. It gives radio/audio the worldwide…

• My top 3 family travel secrets

  Sheila

  1 Feb 2010 | 6:16 pm

  Which places in the world are not as well known (nothing is really a “secret”) for fun travel with kids? I was recently tagged to answer this question by the globe-trotting SoulTravelers3, in a blog post about her family’s travel secrets. The whole meme was started by Tribase in this post - I’m supposed to tag three more bloggers but sorry, don’t quite have the bandwidth these days to figure out who hasn’t already participated.   Still, I’m happy to play here…. You know how tough it is to pick just three? Sigh. And of course I feel compelled…

• My travel goal: one new local place or event per month

  Sheila

  25 Jan 2010 | 1:17 am

  I don’t know about you, but I’ve kinda run out of travel gas. Not for me (I’ll jump onto a plane or into a car anytime by my own crotchety self) but the idea of a family trip these days makes me want to lay down and take a nap. Squabbling siblings in the back seat. One kid who tends to carsickness. Flat wallet and no lottery wins in sight. Living in a huge state (Texas) that takes 3-4 hours to get OUT of by car. General post-holidays lassitude. Bleh. So, here’s my plan for getting some travel-ish action going with minimal mental effort on my part….I’m going…

• We have a new Facebook Fan Page

  Sheila

  24 Jan 2010 | 6:34 pm

  The Family Travel Guide has a new Facebook Fan Page; it’s one of the ways we’re working with the BootsnAll Travel Network to get the word out about this blog (which will celebrate its 4th bloggy birthday on February 10, 2010 - can you believe it?!) Right now the Page is mostly a feed of the blog posts, but I’m going to be adding more photos, videos and content there as time allows. If you like what we’re doing here, you are on Facebook and you’d like to help increase our readership, please do come by and become a Fan.  Thanks!

• Family travel in New Hampshire: the 50 state series

  Sheila

  16 Jan 2010 | 5:51 pm

  Every week or so until we run out of states, I’ll be posting about family-friendly vacation ideas, attractions and events in each one of the US states, taking input mostly from Twitter and Facebook. Yes, I know how to search for travel ideas on a destination or attraction Web site, but a tweet or a Facebook Wall recommendation is a much more engaging and public way to spread the word. Please don’t email suggestions to me; that’s nice but it is one-to-one communication. Tweet me and/or Facebook me, so that all of our networks can see what’s cool about your state. We’re going in…

• 
  Perceptive Travel Blog

• “Tis the Season for New Zealand’s Wine Festivals

  liz

  8 Feb 2010 | 3:45 pm

    While the North America struggles with unexpected snow storms and blizzards, New Zealand is soaking up the sun, dealing with the occasional heat wave, and enjoying wine festival season. From the top of the North Island to the bottom of the South Island, foodies and winos wine enthusiasts can find events and festivals guaranteed to please [...]

• This month in Perceptive Travel Webzine

  liz

  7 Feb 2010 | 4:55 pm

  Fans will be happy to discover that a new edition of the Perceptive Travel webzine in now online. Returning writers Luke Armstrong, Michael Buckley, and Beebe Bahrami share their adventures from around the world. Armchair travellers be warned – reading these articles will make you want to get up and go out into the world looking for similar [...]

• Perceptive Travel is Looking for a Blogger

  Tim

  5 Feb 2010 | 6:53 am

  We’re all sad to say goodbye to Antonia Malchik, who is backing off from here to spend time giving birth to a second child and work on some less timely writing pursuits. We can’t argue with that. See her sign-off note here. So that means we’ve got a spot open for a new blogger to join [...]

• 17 Thoughts on Travel Lists

  Alison Stein Wellner

  2 Feb 2010 | 7:21 am

  1. Lists are a common device in travel writing. I just browsed the travel magazines at Barnes and Noble, and among the many enumerated promises, I found 30 romantic dream trips, 7 delicious trips, 12 fun festivals around the world, 25 Ultimate Beaches, 10 Blissful Little French Islands, 30 Smart Tips and Tricks to Ski [...]

• What Travel Books Would You Take on a World Cruise?

  liz

  1 Feb 2010 | 3:09 pm

  In four months time I will be boarding the Dawn Princess in Sydney, Australia and sailing off into the sunset heading for Southampton, England. There are numerous port stops along the way in exotic and interesting places such as Darwin, Mumbi, Oman, Dubai, Egypt, Venice, Barcelona, etc but the majority of the fifty-five days will be [...]

• 
  Intelligent Travel: From National Geographic Traveler

• Photo Gallery: Who Dat Nation

  IT Blog

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:25 pm

  Former Traveler intern J.T. Blatty shares some scenes from New Orleans in the midst of football euphoria.4 . . 3 . . 2 . .1 . . 0: Mouths hang open and a look of shock plagues their faces. The Saints fans in New Orleans watch the final moments of the game in disbelief, and for ten seconds following the moment of victory, not a word is spoken. They're still trying to internalize what has just happened. For the first time in history, not only did the Saints make it to the Super Bowl--they won the Super Bowl. Tears begin to well up and roll down the cheeks of full-grown men. People from around…

• Great Backyard Bird Count

  Jeannette Kimmel

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:10 am

  Casual birders take note: This weekend is your chance to contribute to some serious scientific research. Alison Brick has the details. There are certain times when you realize that  the phrase "in your own backyard" really covers some ground, and this weekend is one of them. The 13th annual Great Backyard Bird Count will run from Friday, February 12 through Monday, February 15, and you're invited to join in. The project relies on us "citizen scientists" to count birds in our own neighborhoods for a comprehensive, real-time snapshot of bird populations across North America.The results…

• Bus2Antarctica: Bolivian Border Control

  IT Blog

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:45 am

  Andrew Evans provides a cinematic retelling of the story of his border crossing into Bolivia.Screenplay for a short film. All dialogue takes place in Spanish with English subtitles. The setting is the tumbledown Peru-Bolivia border town of Desaguadero, on the shores of breathtaking Lake Titicaca. Pan across the bright blue watery expanse and the brown Andes Mountains, then down to the fields of yellow flowers and rows of reed boats drawn up on the lakeshore. Camera sweeps through the muddy streets of the Peruvian village, past burros carrying colorful loads and into a colorful Latin American…

• Daily Radar: 02.09.10

  Jeannette Kimmel

  9 Feb 2010 | 5:00 am

  While living in New Zealand, I developed a love for Cadbury Moro bars (tip: try them deep-fried in Dunedin) but alas, I cannot taste their chocolatey goodness outside the Southern Hemisphere. For those of you who have a love for a certain foreign treat, check out Steve.Portigal's Musuem of Foreign Groceries on Flickr, and you might just find a photo of foreign food you've been looking for. [Gadling]More airports across Europe are joining the effort to reduce their carbon emissions. The Airport Carbon Accreditation has awarded four different levels (Mapping, Reduction, Optimization and…

• Bus2Antarctica: Bus 2 Bolivia

  IT Blog

  8 Feb 2010 | 12:00 pm

  Altitude sickness, dueling ventilation systems, popped tires and more awaited Andrew Evans as he boarded his bus to travel to Bolivia. Some buses are better than others. In South America, bus companies attract passengers based on levels of bus quality, comfort, security, entertainment, and sleeping space. When leaving Lima I chose the Peruvian bus company Ormeño because I had already taken them in Ecuador and liked their big buses and nice service. The bus line also holds a Guinness World Record for the longest single stage commercial bus route in the world (from Lima to Buenos Aires--72…

• 
  Amsterdam Travel Guide

• Perfect Time for a Quick Getaway to Amsterdam

  Jessica

  12 Jan 2010 | 5:35 pm

  The middle of January isn’t necessarily the time when most people think about a getaway trip to Amsterdam - the city isn’t exactly known for being warm in winter, after all. But as has been noted recently, winter trips to Amsterdam can be a really good idea. The weather isn’t usually as bad as you [...]

• Long-distance buses to or from Amsterdam on Eurolines

  Roger

  16 Dec 2009 | 3:42 pm

  If you are a skint backpacker or just a cheapskate in general and you want to get to or from Amsterdam in the absolute cheapest possible way that doesn’t involve car-jacking or hitchhiking, then the good news is that there is an excellent network of long distance buses ready for you. The company is actually [...]

• Amsterdam in winter: A surprisingly good time to visit

  Roger

  11 Dec 2009 | 2:30 pm

  If you are on the fence as to whether or not you should visit Amsterdam in the winter, the answer is almost certainly yes. To quickly sum things up, the winter weather is far milder than in, say, Berlin or Prague, and on top of that, prices and crowds are at their lowest levels of [...]

• Winter flights to Amsterdam aren’t great bargains just yet

  Roger

  3 Dec 2009 | 2:39 pm

  Every month or two I like to run down the best airfare prices I can find from each of 10 key cities in the US, Canada, and the UK. When I began this time I expected prices to be about as low as they’ve been in years, but that actually wasn’t the case. There is [...]

• Win an almost-free trip for 2 to Amsterdam by trading away something you like

  Roger

  19 Nov 2009 | 3:05 pm

  The excellent Netherlands Tourism Board is partnering with the uber-artsy Lloyd Hotel in Amsterdam for an interesting contest that will award one winner with a free trip for two to the Dutch Capital, including three nights at the Lloyd. The fun gimmick here is that to enter you have to offer to trade away something [...]

• 
  nerd's eye view

• Partial View: Flip Flops at Mardi Gras Bingo

  nerd's eye view

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:51 am

  Left to right in this imperfect yet perfect photo are: Carel N: Founder, director and agent Pat K: Reluctant drummer, court jester Pam M: Stage frightened vocalist, mad strummer That’s not the entire crew, there are four more: Gregg P: Actual musician and bass player Rod H: Cheerful guy who knows how to sing on key Dan S: Songwriter and lead uke Sid ?: Drop in accordion player and wearer of best hat

• On Writing: Ten Dollars Worth of Crazy

  nerd's eye view

  7 Feb 2010 | 10:25 pm

  I spent about an hour on Sunday morning trying to calculate what kind of travel experience I could have for ten dollars. I figured I could take the bus downtown, get a drip coffee and maybe a cookie, and then, take the bus back again. I could drive to Tacoma and back in my car on about ten bucks worth of gas, I might also be able to get a soda or a candy bar, but not both, from a 7-11. There’s some stuff I could do locally for free — walk over to the park or ride my bike down to the beach or hey, there’s the library, it’s a godsend, right? But travel, on ten dollars?

• Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

  nerd's eye view

  4 Feb 2010 | 5:17 pm

  I was saddened to read about the death of ‘Masa’ Murakami in yesterday’s Seattle Times. The Murakami family ran the Higo general store on Jackson Street in the neighborhood that used to be called Nihonmachi, or Japan Town. Before Higo became the design conscious place it is today, it was a complete hodge podge of a place, selling flip flops and kitchen ware — there were hat mannequins that looked to be from the 40s on high shelves on the west wall. We used to go in there to browse the chopstick rests and soup bowls and dish scrubbers and giant metal woks. I still drop…

• Review & Giveaway: Westport Weekend

  nerd's eye view

  3 Feb 2010 | 7:25 pm

  Disclaimer: Our stay at Vacations by the Sea and our dinner at the Half Moon Bay Bar & Grill were comped. I did not think that I was stressed out, but nothing will help a person unwind quite so fast as a view of the ocean. While I am very much a land creature — I get seasick — I love the ocean with my whole heart. I love the way it smells, I love watching the surf, I love it when a beach is covered in thick white fog and when the sand is so hot it bakes you completely when you stretch out on it. I’m crazy for the coast and think the Pacific the grandest of sights. As…

• Coconut Humu

  nerd's eye view

  2 Feb 2010 | 5:31 pm

  So, um, yeah, I’m in this ukulele group. And you could come see us play and help raise money for a Good Cause. Get your tickets here.

• 
  Rick Steves: Blog Gone Europe

• Door Number Three for Haiti

  5 Feb 2010 | 5:09 pm

  Last week we put up and took down the following article because USA Today agreed to run it as an editorial. (Newspapers understandably like to have exclusivity until they run something.) They ran it yesterday, so we've put it back up. I've also included the way it ran in USA Today to share the frustration writers have with word counts. My blog entry was 1,100 words, and the USA Today version about half that ' 580 words. I'm thankful USA Today ran my piece and think they did a fine job of making it fit both physically and stylistically. But you can see the toll cutting the article back takes…

• "Friend Me" — Bulgarian Style

  3 Feb 2010 | 6:00 pm

  A decade ago, while filming the "Surprising Bulgaria" show for my TV series, I met Lyuba Boyanin in Sofia. She was assigned to our crew by her country's tourist board. She and I clicked, and I knew we'd someday work together. (But back then, Bulgaria wasn't quite ready for prime time as a tour destination.) Now, for 2010, we've added Bulgaria to our tour program, with Lyuba as our guide. It'll be our worst seller ' and that's fine with me. I love Bulgaria, and it will be fun partnering with an enthusiastic local to introduce travelers to this southeast European enigma. As a follow-up to the…

• Rick Steves Drinking Game

  1 Feb 2010 | 1:50 pm

  My guidebook editor (Risa), TV producer (Simon), and radio producer (Tim) always nail me when I pop in one of my favorite and overused catchphrases. There are certain words Simon will let me use just once per script (like "proud," "boom times," "glory days," or "carbonate"). Then I get this on the Travelers Helpline section of the Graffiti Wall on our website: "The Rick Steves Drinking Game." I learned lots about my own brain patterns and limited vocabulary with this fun posting and thread. Here some of my no-no words (and quirky pronunciations) offered by attentive readers, viewers, and…

• Where's Haiti?

  26 Jan 2010 | 1:15 pm

  My "No Aid to Haiti" entry was on the blog, and then it was gone. Several people asked what happened to it. Some (those who don't know me very well) thought I removed it because I'm afraid of the controversy. No way. I love the discussion generated by these edgy topics. In fact, I was so impressed by the thoughtful dialogue this entry sparked, that I've decided to turn the Haiti piece into a newspaper op ed. (Newspapers don't want to run something that's already out there ' even in a blog.) So for now, I've removed it from my site. Stay tuned...it'll be back, and so will I. Thanks for your…

• Europe Invades Seattle

  21 Jan 2010 | 12:38 pm

  Europe Through the Back Door headquarters is finally quiet today after the busiest tour alumni party/tour guide summit we've ever hosted. For over twenty years, we've invited our guides and their tour members to town for a grand tour reunion. This year's "massing of the scrapbooks" was the best and busiest yet. Last Saturday, over 1,200 tour alums (of the 8,000 travelers who joined our tours in 2009) gathered here for four parties. They were joined by 80 or so of our guides (60 of whom we flew in from all corners of Europe). At each reunion party, I had the pleasure of introducing a…

• 
  THIS JUST IN (BUDGET TRAVEL)

• Finding the romantic side of Rome

  Katie Parla

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:18 am

  It's not hard! Chocolate truffles, a leisurely hilltop stroll, and an intimate meal are key ingredients for Valentine's Day in Rome, the hometown of martyr San Valentino. Couples who work up an appetite browsing museums and archaeological sites—offering 2-for-1 admisson on Valentine's—can break for an afternoon treat of fine handmade chocolates. [+] Enlarge photoBoxes from La Bottega del Cioccolato make beautiful, tasty gifts (Katie Parla)La Bottega del Cioccolato does a lovely rich and bitter ultra-dark chocolate as well as legendary marrons glacés, chestnuts candied in syrup.

• New travel stress: Facebook oversharing

  Sean O'Neill

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:52 am

  Facebook is a super way to connect with friends and family, but it can sometimes be tough on relationships. The main issue for travel lovers? When one person in a couple lives their life online while the other one doesn't. [+] Enlarge photo(Courtesy Anyaka/Flickr)For some, it's about safety. It may be deeply unnerving when your sweetheart posts on Facebook about upcoming vacations. A spouse might say, "I don't think it should be public knowledge about when we're out of town." Or, more sarcastically, "Why don't you post a giant sign advertising to robbers the best time to break in to our…

• Ask Trip Coach: Group gatherings

  Brad Tuttle

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:33 am

  (Illustration by Chris Gash)Most people love the idea of getting together with loads of family members and friends, especially if you're gathering in a fun location. But the more people you have, the harder it becomes to make everyone happy. How do you pick a destination that's convenient and in the price range of everyone invited? Who pays for what? Who decides who pays for what? How do you get organized, and keep everyone in the loop regarding decisions about food, activities, and accommodations? What are some ways to use your numbers to your advantage and get the best group discount? How…

• What happens when the Olympics move on?

  Kate Appleton

  8 Feb 2010 | 2:16 pm

  It was slightly eerie how they were playing the official Olympic theme songs, as well as playing fake sporting event noises from inside the Bird's Nest, wrote flickr user kalleboo, who posted this photo on January 18, 2010 (Courtesy kalleboo/Flickr) This Friday brings Vancouver's turn in the spotlight as the host of the Winter Olympics. But back in August 2008, all eyes were on Beijing for a dazzling opening ceremony that captured China's grand-scale ambitions—and that will be hard to top. We tracked the buildup to the Beijing games and published a slide show documenting the capital's…

• Hawaii: Answers to 5 common travel questions

  Sean O'Neill

  8 Feb 2010 | 9:17 am

  (Courtesy alohamorrison/myBudgetTravel)Upload your photos. We may feature them. Here's an interview with Rachel Klein, editor of Fodor's Hawaii 2010. Klein is also the Hawaii expert for Fodor's 80 degrees, a Web tool that lets you find a warm-weather escape best suited for your personality based on 20 criteria. 1. Which island should I go to? Oahu is sometimes referred to as "one stop Hawaii" because it offers visitors a sampling of experiences and activities that can be found on all the other islands. Those interested in history won't want to miss Pearl Harbor and the Bishop Museum. Maui is…

• 
  The Perrin Post

• How to Maximize Your Port Sightseeing During Your Mediterranean Cruise

  Conde Nast Traveler

  21 Jan 2010 | 7:12 am

  It's sometimes smartest to avoid the cruise line's pre-fab group shore tours and hire a private driver and/or English-speaking local guide to pick you up at the pier, take you to the sights you want to see, and then return you to the ship shortly before it sails.

• How to Get the Flights You Want with the Miles You Have

  Conde Nast Traveler

  14 Jan 2010 | 2:34 pm

  I hope everyone's having a happy new year. Mine's been a busy one so far. Since 2010 started I've skiied in Vermont, been to a wedding in Boston, and planned trips to Montreal, Mumbai, and Hawaii all within the next...

• How to Cope with Holiday Flight Cancellations, Overbooked Planes, and Other Airline Adversity

  Conde Nast Traveler

  22 Dec 2009 | 10:14 am

  If you're hitting an airport this holiday season, you should follow these steps to minimize the damage that flight delays and cancellations can do to your travel plans.

• How To Turn Your Hodge-Podge of Miles in Different Mileage Accounts Into a Free Ticket

  Conde Nast Traveler

  21 Dec 2009 | 9:36 am

  What to do when you've got a bunch of frequent-flier mileage accounts, yet not enough miles in any one of them? Here are the top ten ways to turn them into a free ticket.

• Tips for the Caribbean Island of St. Lucia

  Conde Nast Traveler

  8 Dec 2009 | 8:21 am

  A question has come in: "We are going to St. Lucia's Coconut Bay Resort on January 1st. Any tips for our week there?"

• 
  Traveling Mamas

• Those Plastic Beads Aren’t Cheap

  CajunMama

  5 Feb 2010 | 7:51 am

  Have you ever wondered just what is involved with planning a Mardi Gras parade? I know I have. We take our family to parades in Baton Rouge and New Orleans during Carnival Season. I’ve had friends ride on floats and I’ve even been inside the Rex Den, but I never actually thought about how much those plastic little beads really cost. Many months ago, I was invited to see what is involved in the planning of a Mardi Gras Parade. I was sworn in as a member of Baton Rouge’s all female krewe – The Krewe of Artemis. I was nervous as I went to my first meeting, held at Embassy…

• Luxury Watch Cures a Traveling Mama’s Jetlag

  CajunMama

  3 Feb 2010 | 3:16 am

  I get many press releases daily, but every once in a while I get one that strikes a chord with me. This morning, while feeling a bit tired and rundown from a recent trip to Canada, I checked my email to find this title: HEALING FOR THE CONSTANT JET SETTER COMES IN THE FORM OF A WATCH I went on to read the release, which mentions globe-trotting celebrities and socialites, but also mentions average Joes (or in my case, mamas). The crazy part of all this is that the release was for a product I’ve owned for five years – a Philip Stein watch. This timepiece is a pricey luxury item, but…

• Romantic Escape in Victoria, BC

  CajunMama

  1 Feb 2010 | 7:34 pm

  Located at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, Victoria offers a taste of how life used to be. This charming and intimate town offers the perfect location for a romantic getaway. Its strong British influence is all things romantic with its gardens, afternoon tea and antique shops. Victoria also offers golf for those in search of the greens, award winning restaurants and art galleries galore. Surprisingly, its nightlife is alive all year round. Many visitors know of The Fairmont Empress Hotel and its Tea Lobby. This is a well-known attraction, but since I didn’t actually experience…

• What is a Nordic Spa?

  CajunMama

  31 Jan 2010 | 5:29 am

  Have you ever heard of a Nordic Spa? I’ve found that they are very popular in Canada’s Quebec Province. Last year I checked out a Nordic spa near Quebec’s Ice Hotel and it was a screamer. This year, I found an indoor spa in downtown Montreal right around the corner from Le Petit Hotel on Rue Saint-Paul E. Nordic spas are also called thermal spas and treatment includes a series of visits at different areas. The first part opens the pores and starts with choice of a 10-15 minute visit to thermal bath, eucalyptus steam room, or Finnish sauna. The second step is the closing of…

• Interview with a Traveling Mama – Alice Griffin

  CajunMama

  26 Jan 2010 | 7:14 am

  Alice Griffin is the author of the informative and inspirational book Tales From a Travelling Mum: Navigating Europe with a Babe-in-Arms It is chock full of useful tips and advice on traveling with little ones. Alice was kind enought to answer a few questions for TravelingMamas.com readers. When did you first develop a love for travel? Growing up with parents who often spoke about travel and road trips they had taken with my siblings (I missed out there being the youngest!) I think my love of travel is deep-rooted. Really I have been dreaming of far-off places for absolutely as long as I can…

• 
  Happy Hotelier

• America’s Cup 33: Racing will start Februari 8, 2010

  Happy Hotelier

  6 Feb 2010 | 8:24 pm

  The Schooner (or Cutter) America The Auld Mug is named after I’ve not followed the intermediate legal battles in detail, although they are fascinating, but tomorrow, February 8, 2010, weather permitting the now three race only competition will start for the 33rd time at sea at Valencia, Spain. Since I attended part of the 150 year’s America’s Cup celebration in Cowes, UK, in 2001, I’m following it with more than usual interest and you can find me posting about it in my America’s Cup Category here. Off course the official site of the America’s Cup has been…

• #TweetUpTheHague: Why attend and how to boost TweetUp success

  Happy Hotelier

  3 Feb 2010 | 2:05 pm

  It’s an omission that I didn’t post earlier about a TweetUp, especially since I attended my first Tweetup, #TweetUpTheHague no 1 already back in August 2009. What is a TweetUp? I like this definition of Paul McFredies of WordSpy: A real world meeting between two or more people who know each other through the online Twitter service I’ts as simple as that. No more no less. My reasons to attend #TweetUpTheHague Even dogs do it :-) as you can see from the photo of Oppi, the dog of Eppo. On a more serious note: To satisfy my always present insatiable curiosity: who is behind that…

• Email Marketing Software for Newsletters for Bloggers

  Happy Hotelier

  1 Feb 2010 | 1:53 pm

  Some of my travelblogger friends send newsletters on a more or less frequent basis. Since I’m revamping my Haagsche Suites Sites, I would like to have a possibility to send newsletters that integrate blog posts. So I’ve been asking around and thus far came across the following possibilities which I will check: AWeber. Campaign Monitor. SendBlaster. Mailchimp My Newsletterbuilder Feedblitz Off course you can have your readers subscribe via Feedreader e-mail subscription, but I don’t like to get an email of every post somebody posts, and believe my readers here nor my future…

• Travel and The IPad – Some preliminary Thoughts

  Happy Hotelier

  28 Jan 2010 | 2:54 pm

  In an impressive presentation Steve Jobs introduced the world to the IPad. What influence will it have on travel? Some preliminary thoughts: In the preamble Steve explained that Apple is by now bigger than Nokia, Samsung and Sony profitability wise in mobile devices…It may be assumed that it will be rolled out big 60 or 90 days from now. My main question is: Will you be able to leave your laptop (or eee netbook) home for an Ipad? If so, it is a must have. You can e-mail, write, calculate and make key note presentations with it, browse the web, watch photos and videos with it and listen…

• What happened to the vintage Nested Suitcase Design?

  Happy Hotelier

  26 Jan 2010 | 7:18 am

  Via Cribcandy I came across this vintage nested suitcase installation. Cribcandy found it on Mocoloco and Mocoloco found it at Design*Sponge. It made me wonder what designers do nowady with this perfectly pratical idea. If you travel you can’t have enough suitcases, but at home those darn suitcases take a lot of space…what better than to nest them in storage? I did a quick image search on Nested Suitcases, but couldn’t find any eye candy design. Did I overlook something or is the idea obsolete and am I only nostalgic? What happened to the vintage Nested Suitcase Design? is a…

• 
  Dawn on the Amazon Captain's Blog

• An Interesting Email About Missionary Work In Iquitos Peru

  Captain Bill

  3 Feb 2010 | 4:17 pm

  I receive hundreds of emails. I still try to answer them all personally. Sunday I tried to get caught up. It takes a lot of my time. Last Sunday around midnight I was exhausted from working all day, but decided to check one more email. I’m glad I did. Sometimes the email exchange becomes the foundation of a good friendship. I wonder if this is one of those. I’m blogging them here but without the names, or hotel, (to protect the innocent, if there are any ). I am going to publish one of their web site URL’s to help bring some awareness to their cause. Here is part of our…

• The Dawn on the Amazon Café Opens February 1st

  Captain Bill

  31 Jan 2010 | 3:03 pm

  The Dawn on the Amazon Café opens at 7:30am, Monday, February 1st, 2010 Ok, this is exciting for us. The Dawn on the Amazon Café opens tomorrow morning, Monday, Feb. 1st, at 7:30am.  After months of planning, and three weeks of practicing and refining our recipes, we are ready to break into the restaurant scene in Iquitos. This advertisement for The Dawn on the Amazon Café will be in the Feb. edition of the Iquitos Times We occupy one of the best locations in Iquitos, on the quiet end of the boulevard with a beautiful view of the river. We have one of the best chefs in the upper Amazon to…

• I’m Not So Smart

  Captain Bill

  29 Jan 2010 | 5:20 am

  I’m not feeling so smart. I’m not feelin’ so smart tonight. I thought it would be a good day but it’s not. I’m feeling some pressure. Maybe I’m trying to do too much to soon? Maybe I’m trying to do too much…? I’m hungry. I’m sad. Why does it have to be this way? Bill Grimes doesn’t feel smart tonight. Bookmark This Post

• Andy Metcalfe Interviews Bill Grimes About The Dawn on the Amazon Café

  Captain Bill

  27 Jan 2010 | 3:28 pm

  The Andy Metcalfe interview with Bill Grimes about the new Dawn on the Amazon Café I was fortunate to be interviewed by Andy Metcalfe, founder of Holistic Local; Your Guide To Holistic Health, Green Living and Personal Growth. Below is part of the transcript from that interview. Hi Bill, thanks for taking the time to talk with me today. Hi Andy, Thanks for giving me this chance to chat about the new Dawn on the Amazon Café Bill,  you’re well known in Iquitos for running tours and cruises on the Amazon. What made you decide to open a cafe? Dawn on the Amazon is popular for serving…

• The Dawn on the Amazon Café and Menu

  Captain Bill

  26 Jan 2010 | 3:45 pm

  More excitement about the new Dawn on the Amazon Café and Menu You know me. I am a highly focused, type A, leader, Leo personality. As long as all this drive and determination is channeled in a positive direction it is not considered a disorder.  I’m positively focused on opening a new restaurant, and  juice, smoothie bar, that also serves beer and wine called The Dawn on the Amazon Café. That’s about all I think of. It’s most of what I work on. Maybe you will get tired of hearing about it. Maybe you are not interested in my new project to begin with. That’s  why…

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  Write to Travel

• Bloggers Meetup in Los Angeles

  KIWIWRITER

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:55 pm

  Travel bloggers in Los Angeles (or even just passing through) might want to check out this Blogger meet up co-hosted by The Vacation Gals and Uptake and television producer and freelance writer Kim Tracy Prince.Here's the details:Date: February 28, 2010 from 3.00 pm. Location: The Huntley Hotel in Santa MonicaWhat's on offer: Uptake, one of the fastest growing travel sites, is running the Blog Traffic Seminar from 3:00 to 4:00PM, with hors d’oeuvres, cocktails and networking to follow.If you think you can attend RSVP here.

• Perceptive Travel looking for a new travel blogger...

  KIWIWRITER

  7 Feb 2010 | 12:36 pm

  Looking for an outlet for your travel writing?Want to work with a great team of writers (Sheila Scarborough, Allison Stein Wellner and me)led by editor Tim Leffel?Then you might want to apply for the travel blogger posiiton over at Perceptive Travel BlogHere's the original post...Perceptive Travel is Looking for a BloggerWe’re all sad to say goodbye to Antonia Malchik, who is backing off from here to spend time giving birth to a second child and work on some less timely writing pursuits. We can’t argue with that. See her sign-off note here.So that means we’ve got a spot open for a new…

• Weekly Top 5 Blog Posts for Writers....

  KIWIWRITER

  27 Oct 2009 | 5:00 am

  1. Learn to Craft a Perfect Author Bio2. Why Writer’s Block is Your Secret Weapon3. 5 Questions To Ask Before You Write For Free4. How To Get Past The Blank Page By Creating Urgency5. How to Give Yourself to Whatever the Moment Brings, and Forget Stress

• Video: Travel Blogger Sherry Ott Talks to Dispatches 2.0...

  KIWIWRITER

  24 Oct 2009 | 5:00 am

  Need some inspiration? Look no further than Sherry Ott, who left the corporate world, took off around the world, and created the popular travel blog ottsworld.com

• Weekly Top 5 Blog Posts for Writers...

  KIWIWRITER

  23 Oct 2009 | 5:00 am

  1. Q&A With the Travel Photographer Robert Caplin2. 10 Reasons Why That Other Writer Always Seems to Get Ahead3. 10 Ways to make your editor love you4. Editing Help – Tips for Revising Articles, Essays, and Short Stories5. News you can use: 10 top takeaways from the 2009 ONA (Online News Association) conference

• 
  World Hum

• Facebook and America’s Social Geography

  The World Hum Editors (eva.jt.holland@gmail.com)

  9 Feb 2010 | 9:45 am

  Here’s a fascinating map put together by PeteSearch, showing the regional connections between America’s Facebook users. The data creates some unexpected clusters and movement patterns: For instance, users in the northeastern states—dubbed “Stayathomia”—tend to have more local and fewer long-range connections, while users in the “Nomadic West” generally have more far-flung friendship networks. (Via Kottke)

• 76-Second Travel Show: For the Love of Luge

  The World Hum Editors (eva.jt.holland@gmail.com)

  9 Feb 2010 | 9:03 am

  Just in time for the Vancouver Olympics, Robert Reid on places to try the "fastest sport on ice"

• Photo You Must See: Flocking to Geumgang Lake, South Korea

  The World Hum Editors (eva.jt.holland@gmail.com)

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:32 am

  A flock of teals fly over Geumgang Lake in Gunsan, about 168 miles south of Seoul.

• ‘Distance and Difference are the Secret Tonic of Creativity’

  The World Hum Editors (eva.jt.holland@gmail.com)

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:54 am

  Another welcome addition to the Why We Travel canon, this one from Jonah Lehrer. He recently wrote about the cognitive benefits of travel in the San Francisco Panorama: Travel, in other words, is a basic human desire. We’re a migratory species, even if our migrations are powered by jet fuel and Chicken McNuggets. But here’s my question: is this collective urge to travel—to put some distance between ourselves and everything we know—still a worthwhile compulsion? Or is it like the taste for saturated fat, one of those instincts we should have left behind in the…

• Haiti: Give Aid or Deal With the Roots of the Problem?

  The World Hum Editors (eva.jt.holland@gmail.com)

  8 Feb 2010 | 12:57 pm

  On the question few people are asking about Haiti after the earthquake

• 
  Guardian Travel

• Around the world in seven gestures

  5 Feb 2010 | 4:00 am

  Here is a sneak preview of our exclusive phrasebooks, in the form of a guide to common gestures from around the world

• The last horse fishermen of Belgium

  Alex Healey, Michael Tait

  4 Feb 2010 | 2:01 am

  Oostduinkerke is the only place in the world where you will still see the 500-year-old tradition of fishing with horsesAlex HealeyMichael Tait

• Alternative Seattle guide

  Benji Lanyado

  3 Feb 2010 | 7:35 am

  Explore our map of Seattle's best off-the-beaten-track destinations, from late-night tattoo parlours to red velvet gig venuesBenji Lanyado

• Getting a grip

  3 Feb 2010 | 2:00 am

  A new manmade wall of ice has opened in Wyoming, giving enthusiasts the chance to try rock climbing's winter sibling

• Full-body scanners already in use at Heathrow airport

  Dan Milmo

  2 Feb 2010 | 11:56 am

  Staff have been trained to spot passengers acting suspiciously and refer them to police or security guardsA new security regime is operational at Heathrow airport in which travellers are being taken for full-body scanning if they are judged to be acting in a suspicious manner, BAA said today.Britain's biggest airport operator said the system aimed to halt terrorist reconnaissance as well as attackers, and teamed new hi-tech equipment with traditional security measures such as sniffer dogs.Staff have been trained in behavioural profiling and terminal entrances could be closed for short periods…

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  WhyGo Italy: Italy Travel Guide

• How to Impress an Italian Girl

  Jessica

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:18 am

  Travel opens you up to all kinds of new experiences, so it’s only natural that travelers are more susceptible to falling head over heels in love with people they meet on the road. Sometimes it’s another traveler in the hostel common room, but when you’re traveling in Italy it’s almost impossible not to fall in [...]

• Things You Should Know About Florence

  Jessica

  8 Feb 2010 | 3:22 am

  When most people think of visiting Italy for the first time, their first “must-see” destinations are what I call Italy’s “Holy Trinity” - Rome, Venice, and Florence. Of those three cities, Rome and Venice require the most preparation (in my opinion) in order to get the most out of them. Florence, by comparison, is easy. With [...]

• Getting from Venice Marco Polo Airport to Venice (and Vice Versa)

  Jessica

  1 Feb 2010 | 12:20 am

  Since I’m always telling people - whenever they’ll listen - that flying into Venice to start your trip in Italy is a great idea, and since Venice is the entry point on my perfect 2-week Italy itinerary, it’s probably about time that I write up an article about how to get from Venice’s Marco Polo [...]

• Summer in Italy

  Jessica

  25 Jan 2010 | 12:24 am

  If there’s one thing you can count on, it’s that no matter how many times travel professionals will tell people to visit Italy in the off-season, the vast majority of tourists will still go in the summer. This is partly because the idea of a “summer vacation” is ingrained in our psyche, and partly because [...]

• Why I Like Being a Woman in Italy

  Jessica

  18 Jan 2010 | 12:40 am

  I will admit that there are things - some pretty big things - that make being a woman in Italy difficult (to say the least). I know women who have caused shock when they said they had a job outside the home (it was assumed they were a stay-at-home wife, if not a mom). I know [...]

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  Tim Leffel's Cheapest Destinations

• A Better Time Now to Travel With Dollars

  tim

  8 Feb 2010 | 6:31 am

  It’s been a topsy-turvy past 18 months for the world’s currencies and for the moment anyway, the U.S. dollar is back up again. If you’re up for a winter trip to Europe, your travel dollars will stretch a lot further than they would have at most times in the past five years. The official exchange rate [...] Related posts:Where Your Travel Dollars Are Still Worth Something Where the Travel Dollar Stays Stable How the Travel Dollar Fared Last Year

• Chuck Thompson’s To Hellholes and Back

  tim

  5 Feb 2010 | 9:53 am

  I’m currently buried in writing a book about travel writing in the digital age. As I scan existing books about how to be a travel writer, I realize just how much advice out there is hopelessly out-of-date and downright wrong. But Chuck Thompson’s great book Smile When You’re Lying follows the “show don’t tell” route [...] No related posts.

• Remarkable Travel Photos

  tim

  4 Feb 2010 | 7:42 am

  A few days ago we posted the winning photos in Perceptive Travel’s Remarkable Photo Contest. We do this each year but I was astounded by the overall quality of what we received this time. There were 40 or so photos that wouldn’t have looked out of place framed in a gallery. The three judges had [...] Related posts:Enter the Remarkable Photo Contest Last Call on Remarkable Photo Contest Posting Old Converted Travel Pictures

• A Burning Devil, the Spanish Inquisition, and Kayaking in Bangladesh

  tim

  2 Feb 2010 | 5:48 am

  A headline like that—which defies everything the search engine gurus teach you—can only mean one thing. It’s the beginning of the month and time for a new issue of Perceptive Travel. We’ve got a little hellfire and redemption going on in Guatemala, a little mixed-up Spanish history in Segovia, and a combination of cell phones and [...] Related posts:Autographed Copies Promotion Polar Bears, A Farmer’s Invisible Kite, and a Chain-smoking Deity Kabul Fashion, an Andean Shaman, and Biking on the World’s Most Dangerous Road

• Cheap Travel Destination Opportunity: Honduras

  tim

  1 Feb 2010 | 4:50 am

  I’ve talked a lot on this Cheapest Destinations blog about taking advantage of opportunities when they present themselves. Just as it is smart to buy a stock when it has been beaten down far below what logic would dictate, it makes a lot of sense to visit a travel destination when everyone else is staying [...] Related posts:Better Times Ahead in Honduras Cheap Destination Travel News The Main Travel Budget Factor: Your Destination

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  CN Reviews

• Acosta: The Desert Spring

  C. Custer

  31 Jan 2010 | 9:02 pm

  The following is a translation of this post by popular Chinese blogger acosta. While it isn’t explicitly about China, it does offer us some valuable insight into the way one of China’s most influential bloggers thinks about sacrifice and the way to achieve success. Given that acosta’s posts generally get read by tens of thousands of people and often attract thousands of comments, it’s fair to say that a number of netizens of his generation see things the same way. Translation In the film Infernal Affairs [a 2002 Hong Kong action film that was adapted into 2006's The…

• Hong Huang: Zhang Ziyi and “China’s Soft Power Army”

  C. Custer

  25 Jan 2010 | 8:06 pm

  Elliott:  This is the first post of a series of new translations by C. Custer of the now ubiquitous ChinaGeeks.  To paraphrase a famous leader, revolution is not a dinner party, not an essay, nor a painting, nor a piece of embroidery; it cannot be advanced softly, gradually, carefully, considerately, respectfully, politely, plainly and modestly…but only through incisive blogging, critical commentary, and sharp, selective translations of Chinese-language content. (OK, I added the last part, but that’s where Custer and we are fellow travelers). The following is a translation of…

• Google Leaving China Will Not Be A Revolution, Televised Or Not

  Kai Pan

  23 Jan 2010 | 10:20 pm

  Richard of The Peking Duck left a comment (and a blog post) responding to my previous post about the Google affair, “Google In China Is Better Than No Google In China“. In his blog post, Richard comforts me before ceremoniously declaring Uln the winner: Kudos to Kai Pan for all the work he did in laying out his argument. The winner, however, is Chinayouren. Bastard! *shakes fist* Richard also summarizes: “Freedom of choice” sounds wonderful. It sounds a little less wonderful when it’s “freedom of manipulated choice.” …except the thrust of my argument is that…

• Google In China Is Better Than No Google In China

  Kai Pan

  22 Jan 2010 | 4:07 am

  Uln of CHINAYOUREN has yet another well-written post surrounding the recent Google debacle. Richard of The Peking Duck praised it especially for doing a good job explaining why Chinese internet users in general don’t feel compelled to hop over the Great Firewall that controls what they can or cannot see on the internet. Richard also claims Uln “shatters – to his own satisfaction, at least – the widely held belief (shall we call it a “meme”?) of many English-language China bloggers that a censored google.cn was far better than no google.cn.” From Uln’s…

• Google China photos: because I’m without words

  Elliott Ng

  13 Jan 2010 | 7:23 am

  Honestly, I’m speechless in the face of the news that Google will likely abandon the Chinese market.  First some photos, and then a few thoughts from me below.  I feel such sadness and disappointment for the Chinese people.  They deserve to have access to the same resources and information that most people in the world have…so as to pursue their individual hopes and dreams. Set from Flickr user Junyu Wang (王俊煜): Flowers on the sign: Candlelight vigil: Photographers and people gathering around: Google headquarters at night: Aeriel view from the building earlier in the day:…

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  Imagethief

• Two posts you won't read

  will

  7 Feb 2010 | 1:02 am

  Imagethief spent the weekend writing two posts about current PR issues (well, one of them was only relatively current). However, after some reflection I've decided to kill them both. While they don't touch directly on work I or my firm is doing in China, they're both close enough to some areas we are involved in that I felt they risked violating my prohibition on writing about my firm's clients in this blog.So why mention this here, other than burnishing my halo and reassuring my boss that I still think about these things?Because I know I've been pretty scarce following the big Google post of…

• A bad case of giant sign gremlins

  will

  7 Feb 2010 | 12:57 am

  Honestly, sometimes I think this country is a giant juggernaut that simply can't be stopped, and other times, well, to keep things polite, I don't. Yesterday I moaned about the giant sign going up outside my apartment windows. Today, the fates have delivered me some manner of rough justice. After a displaying an obviously tortured attempt at "111" for most of the day, and then a series of random patterns, this is all that is left of the giant countdown display: Yes, there is still one tiny, little patch of red at the very lower left of the sign. Pardon the poor quality of the photo, it's…

• Imagine my joy at this...

  will

  6 Feb 2010 | 1:48 am

  A few days ago, on the construction site across the main boulevard from where I live, a set of huge characters went up, exhorting the workers to "close the gap, finish the building". OK, twenty-foot characters seemed a bit excessive, but exhortations hung on the side of construction sites are pretty common in this town.Then it turned out that the characters lit up at night. Great. Two rows of twenty foot, illuminated characters pointed more or less straight at our bedroom and living room windows.And then they hung an enormous screen in a conspicuous gap in the characters, and this is the…

• Clearing the fog around Google China reports

  will

  15 Jan 2010 | 2:49 am

  A quick pointer to an excellent post at the Wall Street Journal's China Real Time blog, which busts several myths concerning Google in China that have been widely repeated in the past few days, including those concerning the health of Google's business in China, whether or not they already uncensored search results here, and more. From Beijing-based correspondent Sky Canaves (@skycita), showing once again that, if you want to know what's going on in China, talk to someone who's here. 

• Google detonates the China corporate communications script

  will

  12 Jan 2010 | 6:31 pm

  Imagethief stumbled blearily to his computer this morning expecting a relaxed scan of the news but found the Chinese Twittersphere ablaze with the news of Google's bombshell blog post, which went up in the middle of the night early this morning our time. Titled "A new approach to China", the post, by Google's Senior Vice President for Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer, David Drummond, was essentially a public threat to withdraw from China. As such, it was as direct a challenge to the Chinese authorities as I have ever seen in a piece of public corporate communication. The first…

• 
  The Peking Duck

• Xinjiang Internet reforming and opening up?

  Richard

  7 Feb 2010 | 4:12 pm

  According to our usual source out west, it just might be: As of midnight last Friday, February 5th, it was announced that 27 more “outside Xinjiang” websites have been opened in addition to the four sites that were already accessible. After spending this past weekend searching over all these sites I can tell you that progress has been made, although each of them loads quite slowly. What’s more…one of them doesn’t load at all (the China Rail site received a “Connection Interrupted”)…. A Look at What’s New The sites can be divided into about 9 different categories…

• Han Han: Why China cannot be a “grand culture”

  Richard

  4 Feb 2010 | 3:23 pm

  Still busy, but wanted to get this on the record. When will this guy get a knock on the door in the middle of the night? You have to admire his chutzpah: Do you know why China cannot become a grand cultural nation? It is because most of the time when we speak, we say “Dear leaders” first and those leaders are uncultured. Not only that, for they are also afraid of culture, they censor culture and they control culture. So how can such a nation become a grand cultural nation? Dear leaders, what do you say? Actually, China has tremendous potential of becoming a grand cultural nation. Let me…

• Project

  Richard

  1 Feb 2010 | 8:31 pm

  Apologies, it’s deadline time and I can’t post. The pressure should lift in a day or two. For your amusement: Chinese brands.

• Confucius on SARFT

  Richard

  26 Jan 2010 | 8:51 pm

  We haven’t heard from this blogger for a long time. His new post reminds us what he’s been depriving us of. A taste: A number of Western media outlets — including many that should really know better – have speculated that the decision was motivated by “fears of unrest,” pointing to a few people online who have compared the plight of the furries in Avatar to that of Chinese being forcibly evicted from their homes. This is unlikely, if only because SARFT is just not all that clued-in: they approved District 9 last year even though it was obviously all about Kashgar, and it…

• How will local Chinese governments react to a decline in real asset price?

  Richard

  26 Jan 2010 | 2:19 pm

  This is a guest post from former commenter t-co - a name that in all likelihood only the earliest readers will remember. T-co is Chinese, has lived and worked in China and will be working for a strategy consulting firm later this fall. This post does not necessarily reflect the opinions of TPD. ——————– Both empirically and intuitively, rising bank credit in China causes rising real estate prices. The relationship is quite orderly and even somewhat predictable, with bank credit and real estate prices accelerating, stagnating, and accelerating again…

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  Dooce

• Going a bit more delicate

  dooce

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:02 am

  Kristen Robison of Minoux Jewelry sent me this handcrafted sterling silver necklace from her collection thinking it would compliment my new short hairdo. And I'm so glad that she did because I haven't been able to wear any of my old earrings because, well, with my hair this way it just screams EARRIIING!!! (Imagine that being sung by Oprah.) I love the delicate feeling of this necklace, and it's inspired me to look for and add more necklaces to my collection of jewelry. It's like a whole new world of accessorizing has been opened up. I expect a call from my mom any second going, how many…

• In order to leave a comment, you must take sides

  dooce

  8 Feb 2010 | 1:41 pm

  Internet, I need you to be my girlfriend right now, the one who invites me over on Friday night to have a glass of wine and talk about how, sometimes... not all the time... but occasionally... and at times frequently... husbands can be complete idiots. I really appreciate it. When I'm done I'll let you tell me about how awkward it is when your boss tries to say certain words that get muddled by the botox that has been freshly injected into her upper lip. Yesterday afternoon on the half-hour drive home from my mother's house Jon and I were talking about what our dream house would look like,…

• My ears are still ringing

  dooce

  8 Feb 2010 | 9:22 am

  We had a few party favors left over from Leta's birthday party, and yes, that right there is a kazoo. I included that specifically in the goodie bag because I am INHERENTLY EVIIIIIIILL! And hoo! Have I paid for it already. I'm gonna take that thing and run it over with the car if Leta even looks at it again. click image above to see the photo on dooce.comby dooce in Daily Chuck© Armstrong Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Originally published by Heather B. Armstrong for dooce.com as My ears are still ringing. This post cannot be republished without express written permission.

• Sunday tradition

  dooce

  8 Feb 2010 | 8:41 am

  Somewhere in the chaos of the last seven months Jon convinced Leta to try a cinnamon roll. We've tried in vain before, but this time I guess she was feeling more cooperative. Or, you know, LIKE A REGULAR SIX-YEAR-OLD. So we've made a family tradition of eating them on Sunday mornings, and she looks forward to it almost like it's Christmas. She brings it up all week long. I'm hoping this is one of the more positive things she brings up in therapy in twenty years. click image above to see the photo on dooce.comby dooce in Daily Photo© Armstrong Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Originally…

• Newsletter: Month Seventy-two

  dooce

  4 Feb 2010 | 8:17 am

  Dear Leta, Yesterday was your sixth birthday. That's 72 months if I had been keeping up with the monthly newsletters. Yeah, about that... your father and I severely underestimated the amount of chaos a second child would add to all of our lives. It didn't just double it, it multiplied it by a hundred and then tripled that number. We now consider it a good day if we can remember to get you out of the door with your shoes on. They don't always match what you're wearing, but hey, cut us some slack. We haven't ever forgotten to pick you up from school. Yet. So let's start there. School. AND SO IT…

• 
  Queen of Spain Blog

• Toyota Recall: I Don’t Want You To Die

  Queen of Spain

  3 Feb 2010 | 12:38 pm

  crossposted at BlogHer.com My husband removed the floor mat from his 2005 Toyota Prius today, because he’d rather not die. Correction: I informed my husband to immediately remove the floor mat from him 2005 Toyota Prius so it wouldn’t KILL HIM. Toyota is recalling millions of vehicles, and despite being an owner of one of said recalled vehicles, I found out via the news. Yes I tend to panic a bit, but when you hear stories about accelerators getting stuck and families dying, I think I am allowed to panic. From MNN.com: Lastrella: Our accelerator is stuck. We’re on 125.

• #keepyourpantson

  Queen of Spain

  2 Feb 2010 | 11:25 pm

• Trying to discuss boys, take 1 (and a half)

  Queen of Spain

  1 Feb 2010 | 12:44 pm

  This conversation started here.

• One Of These Things Is Not Like the Other…

  Queen of Spain

  29 Jan 2010 | 9:47 pm

  I must admit even I raised an eyebrow when I saw Queen of Spain blog was nominated for the 2010 Bloggie Award in Politics. I giggled a bit, grinned, and then puffed up my chest…just a tad. I’ve spent many years attempting to convince many people that politics = personal. I have nothing but respect for my fellow nominees. The Huffington Post is a powerhouse in aggregating political news and commentary. Wonkette makes me HOWL with their satire and DC smackdowns. Crooks and Liars is where I go when I want the dirt from the Hill and beyond, and Glenn Greenwald of Salon consistently…

• Follow My Commentary Live: State of the Union

  Queen of Spain

  27 Jan 2010 | 10:53 am

  I’ll be over here. Join us while my kids run amuck and I let them eat candy so I can hear what the President is saying! How to follow along with BlogHer Chatter and Twitter feeds: Jill Miller Zimon and on Twitter @Jillmz American Princess and on Twitter @EMZanotti Erin Kotecki Vest and on Twitter @QueenofSpain Hope to see you there.

• 
  Kimchi Mamas

• Research study on Korean adoptees

  Kimchi

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:08 am

  I recently received an email from my friend Saebom, who is a Korean adoptee doing a research study on the experiences of Korean adoptees. This is such an under-studied topic, and I think it's so important that Korea adoptees are...

• February Photo Share!

  Kimchi

  7 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

  As a photographer, I have to admit that words often fail me, and I've been wondering how to contribute to the Kimchi Mama community. So I've decided to do what I know and start a monthly Photo Share post where...

• Open Thread Thursday

  Kimchi

  3 Feb 2010 | 7:35 pm

  The Olympics. The San Antonio Rodeo. My birthday . . . It's Open Thread Thursday. What's on YOUR mind? --Angie in Texas loves being in her 30's . . . no really!

• My Favorite Korean Baby Words

  Kimchi

  1 Feb 2010 | 11:49 pm

  Although I speak Korean fairly OK, I don't speak it to my kids all that much. But there are a few words that I use consistently and I thought I'd share them here! gee gee 지지 (pronounced like the letter...

• Korean Enough

  Kimchi

  28 Jan 2010 | 11:16 am

  When I first started blogging on Kimchi Mamas, my main interest was learning about ways in which I could instill a sense of Korean-ness (identity, culture, history, connection) in my daughter, who is one-quarter Korean. Being hapa, myself, I wrote...

• 
  The Bloggess

• This is how my whole life goes

  Jenny the bloggess

  8 Feb 2010 | 2:53 pm

  This is why I shouldn’t be allowed to be on twitter: PS.  My friend MariaMelee is truly amazing and her roach spray review was like the Iliad of roach spray reviews.   She’s awesome.  I’m going to go to bed now.

• It’s been a very long week.

  Jenny the bloggess

  7 Feb 2010 | 11:41 am

  It’s Sunday which means it’s time for my weekly wrap-up: This week on Ask the Bloggess: Sexomnia:  No one’s falling for it, asshole. I was on a lot of drugs when I wrote this but it’s still vaguely valid. This week on my sex column (which is satirical and relatively safe for work if your boss isn’t a douche canoe): How Nina Hartley became my new best friend. This week on the internets: I was on twitter too much. This week on Good Mom/Bad Mom on the Houston Chronicle: My daughter, the scientist Buckle up, buttercup. This week…

• RIP, Aunt Ollene

  Jenny the bloggess

  5 Feb 2010 | 1:04 pm

  My sister, Lisa, just called to tell me that our great aunt Ollene just died and we decided to go in together on a flower arrangement and so I ordered it online from the florist across the street from the funeral home and it was very nice because their website basically pre-populates all the funeral home info since that’s where they do most of their business but then the end of the form left me a little baffled: Huh.  Do I want you to remind me of my dead aunt’s death again next year?  Well, of course I do. Why wouldn’t I want you to bring up this painful event with an…

• It’s like they’re just doing it on purpose now.

  Jenny the bloggess

  5 Feb 2010 | 7:23 am

  Remember a few weeks ago when I fell into a shitstorm because of Dr. Pepper and then the next week the questionable Dr. Pepper was missing and instead that shelf was covered in Bawls? I just got back from Target.  The bawls have been removed.  They’ve been replaced with nuts. I couldn't even make this shit up, y'all. Honestly, it’s like the magical shelf of things-to-make-Jenny-suspect-she’s-being-videotaped. And I actually went and looked for the Bawls since so many people said I should try them but I couldn’t find them anywhere and when the clerk asked me…

• Also, I invented gravity.

  Jenny the bloggess

  2 Feb 2010 | 11:16 am

  People that I’m suing this week: 1. My 10-year-old niece, Gabi 2. The creators of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” 3. Natalie Dee Why?  Remember back in January of 2009 when I invented kitten-mittens? Remember? And you said it was awesome? Fuck. Hang on. Here’s a snippet of the post to jog your memory: …I also came up with another idea to re-purpose used breast-pumps to suck dead kittens inside out because then…TA DA!…fur-lined mittens for homeless people. I told my friend Kregg about it and he was all “That’s…weird” and I’m all “It’s…

• 
  Mom to the Screaming Masses

• Bliss

  Carmen Staicer

  8 Feb 2010 | 8:45 pm

  Blissdom was everything I thought it would be and so, so much more than I ever dreamed. Seriously - this was INSIDE the hotel. It was, without a doubt, the best conference that I have ever attended. And that's saying a lot, as I adore each and every Blogher conference I attended. I think I rocked my talk. At one point, I blurted out, on the microphone, that I was so nervous I was about to pee my pants. That was recorded for everyone to listen to for all eternity. That's me, always classy and so, so authentic. Over and over again, women came to me to tell me how much they enjoyed what…

• My Inner High School Girl

  Carmen Staicer

  5 Feb 2010 | 1:16 pm

  Mad, MAD props to Mrs.Chicken for that one. It was the MOST appropriate label I could use for myself today.In a very short while, I'll be up on stage, spilling my guts. I'm starting to get a wee bit nervous. I'm at the Blissdom conference, and I've been invited to speak on the panel titled Balance. The description is as follows:The infinite possibilities available to creative women online gives us grand disappointments and crazy conflicts along with wild success. Just when you think you’ve figured out a balance that works for you day-to-day and long term, it seems like more…

• The Funniest Thing Happened at The Gym One Day

  Carmen Staicer

  5 Feb 2010 | 10:12 am

  On Tuesday, day four of the Great Snowpocalypse of 2010, I had had enough. Everyone was fighting, wet clothes were tossed everywhere, dishes piled to the ceiling. I had to get out of the house. Had to do it. I called my friend Kristin and we concocted a plan. See, we work out together Monday/Wednesday/Friday mornings, and we'd missed more than we were comfortable with - what with being in the house with the kids and husbands and the wet clothes and the piles of unmatched socks and gloves - and we bolted.We walked to the gym. It was 1/2 of a mile for me to get to her house and then it was…

• What the Heck is #Momspotting?

  Carmen Staicer

  4 Feb 2010 | 10:10 am

  I'm at Blissdom, in one of the most gorgeous hotels I've ever seen. Please enjoy this meme and I'll be ever so grateful. Blogging has been good to me. Very, very good. I've made some tremendous friendships and met many, MANY amazing people. I've been afforded many opportunities that I am so grateful for - speaking, writing, and twittering about my day to day life. For the past few months, I’ve been participating in BlogHer’s Family Connections citizen journalism project as a Momspotter. Basically that means I tweet a few times a day with the #momspotting hashtag about…

• Why We Will Never Be a Pioneer Family

  Carmen Staicer

  1 Feb 2010 | 4:42 pm

  This is a RIDICULOUSLY LONG POST. Seriously, as in insanely long.Snow was in the forecast for a week. I knew it was coming, but in Va Beach, snow is forecast a couple of times a year and shows up maybe twice a decade. I am a skeptic, and was certain that it wasn't going to snow. In fact, Saturday morning, I woke at 3 and looked outside - and saw nothing. Satisfied, I went back to bed. I forgot that I am blind and I wasn't wearing my glasses.SNOW LOG, DAY ONE - Saturday.OMG, there's actual SNOW on the ground. A lot of it. Crap. I can't believe this. Well, I guess that the kids…

• 
  Omar L. Gallaga: Digital Savant

• Clean your computer out already -- today

  8 Feb 2010 | 2:22 pm

  Yes, it’s a completely artificial “holiday” which had its origins with the Institute for Business Technology, but I can’t help but advise you to take heed of Feb. 8 as “Clean Out Your Computer Day.” Because, let’s face it, if your computer(s) are anything like mine, you are a disgusting digital slob. For more than a year now, I’ve been trying to wrangle my digital photos all into one collection, but the task is so daunting that I usually just curl into a ball and photograph THAT, creating one more photo that’s scattered on a hard drive…

• Google scores with Super Bowl ad; GoDaddy not so much

  8 Feb 2010 | 9:57 am

  Last night, after seeing Google’s Super Bowl ad (below), I tried to remember a better, more well-executed tech-related ad that has aired during the year’s biggest football game. All that came to mind was Apple’s “1984.” Sure, there were some creative ones during the dot-com boom (and some awful ones, too), but Google’s ad does so much in 30 seconds, that it became one of my favorite tech company ads of all time. It’s sweet, smart, conveys an amazing amount of information and gets to the heart of why Google’s important. I was asked this morning…

• 3-D is a giant question mark in our future

  5 Feb 2010 | 2:22 pm

  Over my long break, I had a little bit of time — in between diaper changes and trying to function without basic sleep needs — to think about the coming wave of 3-D products that will attempt to infiltrate our living rooms and, more importantly, to go see “Avatar” with my wife at a 3-D-equipped IMAX theater. Whatever you think of the movie itself (and I have mixed feelings that get more mixed the further away I get from my initial awed reaction), the damage is done: the movie had made so much money that it’s going to be the linchpin of the argument as to why we…

• Why digital media distribution needs to happen yesterday

  4 Feb 2010 | 10:01 am

  Or, “Come on, get your act together, Netflix.”

• Further ruminations on that iPad thing

  3 Feb 2010 | 12:18 pm

  We’ve had a week since Apple dropped knowledge of the iPad onto a far-too-suspecting world, a week to think about its implications, its form factor and most importantly, “Should I buy one?” Here are some lingering questions I still have about the iPad, ones that I don’t have any clear answers to share. Macworld recently did an excellent job recently rounding up almost everything we know about the iPad. My questions are the ones not answered in that piece. Can the iPad print documents and Web pages to a printer (via WiFi, I would imagine)? This is actually a dealbreaker…

• 
  Houston Chronicle: TechBlog

• Windows 7 and batteries: Shooting the messenger

  chron.com

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:09 am

  Windows 7 is a pretty cool operating system - I think it's the best version of Windows that Microsoft has released. But some notebook PC owners would beg to differ. Last week, reports arose that Microsoft was looking into...

• Linkpost | 2.9.2010

  chron.com

  9 Feb 2010 | 4:35 am

  • Data and Games Flow In, and Dollars Flow Out - Americans are expected to spend an average $1,000 this year on digital connectivity and entertainment. • Google Could Unveil Gmail's Social Features Tomorrow - Google's reportedly working on Twitter-like...

• Verizon blocking 4chan: Someone's doing it wrong [Updated]

  chron.com

  8 Feb 2010 | 5:53 am

    If you're at all aware of Internet culture, then you're under the influence of the Web image board 4chan, even if you've never been to the site. It's one of the sources of such popular memes as LOLcats and...

• Linkpost | 2.8.2010

  chron.com

  8 Feb 2010 | 4:35 am

  • Apple iPad Hoopla Fails to Convince Buyers - Apple's iPad launch hasn't convinced potential owners that this is a must-have device. Only 9 percent of responders said they'd like to buy one. • White House Makes Full Copyright Claim...

• Linkpost | 2.7.2010

  chron.com

  7 Feb 2010 | 7:46 am

  • Google Nexus One 3G Issues Still Lurking - Kevin C. Tofel discovers the update to the Nexus One may not have helped some users who were having problems getting and keeping a 3G data connection through T-Mobile. • Windows...

• 
  PBS: MediaShift

• How Digital Marketing Helped 'Avatar' Break the Box Office

  8 Feb 2010 | 3:03 pm

  Do you remember August 21, 2009? Moviegoers in more than 100 IMAX 3-D theaters worldwide watched 16 minutes of footage from a new James Cameron movie. That same day, Ubisoft debuted a trailer for a videogame based on the film, and Mattel unveiled action figures inspired by the film's characters. A day earlier, the teaser for the very same film broke a record on Apple.com after beng streamed more than four million times on its first day. August 21 was celebrated as "Avatar Day." Today, it should be remembered as the dawn of the most comprehensive digital marketing campaign ever developed to…

• Rent vs. Own: The Streaming Music Debate Continues

  5 Feb 2010 | 10:00 am

  The exponential growth of Internet bandwidth combined with the ability to significantly compress digital audio has impacted the music industry in numerous ways, for better and worse. Just as file trading created a massive network of pirated music, the ability to stream audio in real-time has allowed for a number of innovative content distribution and promotion methods. Digital music streaming services have been around for over a decade. Companies such as Rhapsody, Napster, MOG, and We7 have experimented with various business models and user experiences, with mixed results. The traditional…

• 4 Minute Roundup: Facebook as News Reader; Engadget Comments

  5 Feb 2010 | 7:35 am

  This episode of 4MR is brought to you by GoDaddy, helping you set up your own website in a snap with domain name registration, web hosting and 24/7 support. Visit GoDaddy to learn more. Here's the latest 4MR audio report from MediaShift. In this week's edition, I look at the rise of Facebook as a place to find news. Hitwise found that Facebook was the #4 referrer of traffic to news sites, after Google, Yahoo, and MSN -- and above Google News. Plus, the tech blog Engadget shut down comments after an influx of trolls, before relenting to open them again. And I ask Just One Question to Google…

• Google News to Publishers: Let's Make Love Not War

  4 Feb 2010 | 6:11 am

  In the view of some traditional media execs, Google is a digital vampire or a parasite or tech tapeworm using someone else's content to profit. As that rhetoric heated up in the past year, Google has responded not with equal amounts of invective but with entreaties to help publishers. Google launched Fast Flip to help bring old-style page flipping to the web, promoting higher forms of visual journalism and sharing ad revenues with publishers. Then came Living Stories, a new format for updating stories at one URL, designed in tight collaboration with the New York Times and Washington Post.

• Email is Far From Dead

  2 Feb 2010 | 12:24 pm

  For years, the digerati have been declaring the end of email as a useful tool. Back in 2003, experts said RSS feeds would spell the death of the inbox. In 2007, Wired and CNET said younger generations were using IM, Facebook and MySpace instead of email. More recently, PC Magazine's John Dvorak proclaimed "9 Reasons E-mail is Dead," and The Wall Street Journal told us "Why Email No Longer Rules." The prognosticators point to the annoyances of spam; the difficulties of getting mass messages through corporate firewalls (and of having them stripped of HTML or graphics); and the fact that…

• 
  Wired Journalists

• Pakistan reinventing microfinance

  Farhat Abbas Shah

  Reinventing microfinance in Pakistan Farhat Abbas Shah Poverty certainly emerged as the single most problem that lies at the heart of modern day crisis. It quite recently has assumed alarming proportions. Many efforts were made in the past but they could not wholly succeed. Among significant tools, the microfinance was also used for getting rid of poverty which quite recently plagued the whole world. There is always a room for innovation to be introduced to already existing structures. Though microfinance made some gains in alleviating it but with sufficient services the amount invested lie…

• Audio slideshows vs Video

  Daniel Sato

  This post was written for an internal blog that I have been keeping for my work and my own journalism blog: Multimedia is a relatively new endeavor for newspapers, and The Telegram is no exception. As an industry, we are still feeling our way around in the dark, trying to find what works and what does not work. In a few years time we have cycled through What was once the golden bullet can quickly turn in to a resource black hole. Here at The Telegram, there has been an emphasis on shooting video when possible, however, according to Richard Koci Hernandez, founder of Multimediashooter.com and…

• Facing media to empower microfinance a strong microfinance idialogy

  Farhat Abbas Shah

  Daily "The Post", January 21, 2010 Lhore An ambitious goal of fighting poverty Staff Reporter LAHORE: Farhat Abbas Shah emerged on the literary secne of Lahore about couple of year ago and immediately got the attention of the youth. He is a prolific writer who has already written about 67 books. Now he has ventured on a poverty alleviation drive by according to him a new coincept of micro financing which shuns interest and aims at profit loss sharing. Excerpts from his interview are being given below Q: Microfinance generally failed to alleviate poverty. What different you intend to do in…

• Somali Journalists launch Media for peace initiative

  Mustafa Haji Abdinur

  Somalis have elated a media for peace and development initiative officially launched by courageous local media professionals led by an award wining Somali journalists who recently returned from New York where he was honored for his commitment to free press in his country and throughout world. The idea of the initiative, Somali Media for Peace and Development (SOMEPED) which dates back early 2006 was founded by local journalists who tried to start working for peace through the local media, but for delayed researches on the issue, the initiative was finally announced officially on January 18,…

• Eco Journalists -- take note!

  Jeanette McDermott

  Six of the world's eight species of bears are perched on the brink of extinction and journalists are not writing about it. Why? 75% of a species nearing extinction is news. Why aren't stories being written about it? Why aren't journalists ferreting out important information like this and reporting on it? 2010 is International Year of Biodiveristy. If journalists don't write about issues like the plight of bears in 2010, then we are surely missing the boat! We burn and clear forests for personal gain. When bears search for food because they can no longer find it in destroyed habitat, we call…

• 
  Old Media, New Tricks

• New Tricks: 3 Ways News Organizations Can Leverage Location-Based Social Networks

  Daniel B. Honigman

  8 Feb 2010 | 5:08 am

  2010 really looks like the year of location-based social networks, and the news industry seems to agree. The Metro publishing group recently announced a partnership with Foursquare; once a site user says where they are (done via GPS), relevant articles from Metro’s Canadian papers will be pulled into the program, providing site users additional information about the neighborhoods, restaurants and stores near them. While this move may make some waves for Metro, and may drive some incremental traffic to the Metro group of sites, some may question the move’s overall value for the…

• New tricks: Journalists and SEO – searching for the right balance

  Robert Quigley

  2 Feb 2010 | 11:52 am

  This is from a social media newsletter that I send out to the American-Statesman newsroom. You can read previous newsletter entries about audience and responsiveness to the community. Searching for traffic Newspaper copy editors spend a lot of time crafting the best headlines for stories, with particular attention focused on the front-page headlines. The reason is obvious: to draw readers into our content. On the Web, writing a good headline is just as important. Thanks to detailed metrics, we can see exactly what draws people to our content, and we know that search engines bring in a sizable…

• New tricks: Know your audience - whether you’re on Twitter or in print

  Robert Quigley

  28 Jan 2010 | 11:38 am

  I recently started writing a social media newsletter for the Austin American-Statesman’s newsroom. I posted the first one, which was about responding to readers, here. Here’s the second one, edited slightly to make sense as a blog post. Got a great question last week from a staff member: “This may sound like trivia…. but, I’m wondering what posting on Facebook has received the most comments? People are always asking me…. what should they post to get a lot of responses?” It’s not trivial at all. The answer is a bit nuanced, though, so stay with…

• Will the Apple iPad save newspapers?

  Robert Quigley

  27 Jan 2010 | 12:51 pm

  It’s a little early to say any one gadget will save anything, but Apple’s new gadget, the iPad, at least makes that a serious question. The publishing industry has to be cautiously optimistic. Here’s why: It is built for displaying publishers’ content in an attractive way. The New York Times got a star demo at Steve Jobs’ big announcement, and the newspaper actually looks like an easy-to-read digital copy of a print newspaper. Based on the demo of the Times, it feels more like a print edition than any previous digital attempt at reproducing a newspaper. It has a…

• New Tricks: Create a successful news vertical

  Robert Quigley

  27 Jan 2010 | 6:26 am

  On a sunny, warm Wednesday afternoon in Newport Beach, Calif., surfers took in some waves in the cold Pacific Ocean waters, people shopped along the boardwalks and the lone content producer for Hookem.com was combing the beach for University of Texas Longhorn fans. Thousands of people decked out in the distinctive burnt orange clothing were in Southern California for the BCS championship game, and Hookem’s Dave Behr was on a mission to find, talk to, video and photograph as many of them as possible. He was to be the eyes and ears for the fans who couldn’t make the 1,400-mile trek…

• 
  Stars and Stripes

• Once a training mainstay, jungle warfare now a niche that Marines don’t want to forget

  10 Feb 2010 | 8:00 pm

  Lance Cpl. Dustin Fulton's newfound respect for the jungle comes dripping with sweat and garnished with the flavor of the bugs he learned to survive on Tuesday.

• Air Force mandates H1N1 shots for children in base care

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:00 pm

  The Air Force is requiring all children enrolled at base child development centers be vaccinated against the swine flu virus, even though the number of reported illnesses has fallen below the epidemic level.

• Verizon continues free calls to Haiti

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:00 pm

  MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan — Verizon will continue to waive all long-distance charges for calls made to Haiti through Sunday, according to a news release. That includes military base resident...

• Grateful children bring satisfaction to Haiti aid mission

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:00 pm

  Unlike in other locations where aid has been delivered in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, there was no mob scene when the soldiers arrived at the orphanages with rice and cooking oil.

• Continued care hard to find for Haitian patients discharged from USNS Comfort

  8 Feb 2010 | 8:00 pm

  Of the roughly 400 patients on the USNS Comfort, around 150 are ready to be discharged to a less sophisticated facility, if only they had some place to go.

• 
  Neptunus Lex

• Come out of Charity

  lex

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:23 am

  Sticking with today’s Euro theme our gaze turns to Ireland, the land of my mother’s people. It seems like only yesterday that the Irish punt gave way to the euro, but time has run on and now the hand of distant Brussels reaches over to Eire: THE EUROPEAN Court of Human Rights is considering a case that could lead to the end of the current system of jury trial, The Irish Times has learned. However, the Government has robustly defended the Irish jury system in a document submitted to the court. This follows a decision last year from the human rights court, in a case against Belgium,…

• Free Speech

  lex

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:59 am

  Citizens of the Netherlands have no enshrined, constitutional right of free speech, which has led to the travesty of a man being tried for speaking his mind. In the US, of course, people do have a nearly unlimited right to spout off in the face of government, a fact that the US media has often happily turned to advantage. So it’s a more than a little ironic that while the Geert Wilders trial unfolds in Holland, so little is being said over here, either about the cultural issues in play, or the underlying and dominating issue of the state’s smothering an inconvenient citizen. This…

• Evropa

  lex

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:34 am

  For many of us here in the colonies, the Old Europe became gradually less interesting after the Berlin Wall came down, except as a tourist destination. German reunification was an interesting blip, as was the experiment of the single monetary policy.  The apparent trend was of a peaceful, settled continent whose future would look much like its recent history did, with quaint local twists adding flavor to a genial, cradle to grave social democracy. Interesting things were now happening in more dynamic regions like the Pacific Rim, in South Asia and Brazil. But Europe may be getting…

• Bad Old Days

  lex

  8 Feb 2010 | 4:04 pm

  It was sometimes easy for veteran Cold Warriors to miss the old days, when at least we had a clear vision of who the enemy was, and that the enemy – although objectively on the wrong side of history – at least wore a uniform and was rational. Strategic deterrence was founded on a “MAD” principle, but we had the satisfaction of knowing that the adversary made cost-benefit analyses whose math you could follow, and potentially even influence. Farewell to all that in the GWOT, and worse yet, the Bear hasn’t tired of making himself a nuisance: As France finalizes deal…

• De Mortius

  lex

  8 Feb 2010 | 12:33 pm

  Nil nisi bonum. But sometimes it’s hard.

• 
  Thomas P.M. Barnett :: Weblog

• The South Africa/Mining Indaba trip

  Thomas P.M. Barnett

  9 Feb 2010 | 2:59 am

  This one was logistically grueling, but incredibly well set-up by Jenn. The locals were fabulous, as it was one well-run conference, and I performed about as well as ever, given the discombobulating distance (e.g., more word flubs than usual but overall a very strong performance). Mining Indaba (South African indigenous phrase meaning "meeting") is a huge (several thousand attendees) event held each year at Cape Town. It is THE gathering of mining companies regarding Africa (about one-third of world's mining resources), so every huge global mining company was there. For me, it was a…

• South Africa photos

  Thomas P.M. Barnett

  9 Feb 2010 | 2:58 am

• Everybody wants to rule the world

  Thomas P.M. Barnett

  9 Feb 2010 | 2:07 am

  OP-ED: We need a new capitalism to take on China, By Anatole Kaletsky, (London) Times, February 4, 2010 As analysis goes, a bit backasswards. Politics derives from underlying economics, not vice versa. So it's not a matter of choosing your politics to facilitate your economics, but maturing your politics in response to your economic trajectory. Two undeniable data points kill this guy's argument: 1) Once an economy matures (shifts from extensive to intensive growth), democracies consistently outperform authoritarian regimes on annual GDP growth; and 2) there are no rich, large-scale economies…

• Beatles infographics

  Thomas P.M. Barnett

  9 Feb 2010 | 1:22 am

  PROJECT: Charting the Beatles, By Michael Deal Interesting. The break point is roughly Epstein's death. Lotsa collaboration before, much less after.

• Taking the "east" out of Eastern Europe

  Thomas P.M. Barnett

  9 Feb 2010 | 1:20 am

  EUROPE: "'Eastern Europe': Wrongly labeled; The economic downturn has made it harder to speak sensibly of a region called 'eastern Europe,'" The Economist, 9 January 2010. Nice opening line: It was never a very coherent idea and it is becoming a damaging one. The notion basically refers to those states caught behind the Iron Curtain but not trapped within the USSR itself (although, now, the three Baltic states seem to be casually included while a Ukraine is not). Within that crew, as the article argues, we saw planned economies, the softer "goulash" version (Hungary) and the self-managed sort…

• 
  Broadside Blog

• Bob Bowl

  Bacon

  9 Feb 2010 | 3:00 am

  To clear the air, apparently I’m not allowed to use the actual title of the – you know – championship game for professional football. I’m not sure I can even say the official name of the league. You often hear advertisers use “The Big Game” as an analogous phrase, in an attempt to say it without really saying it. I’m tired of that. So I’ll call it Bob. I thought the Bob Bowl was a great game. The two teams deserving to be there were there: the Indianapolis “Rhymes-with-Golts” and the New Orleans “Rhymes-with-Zaints.”…

• Broadside of the Week – Feb 8, 2010

  Bacon

  8 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Visit the Broadside Archives! (click here)

• Chuck Norris Facts

  Bacon

  5 Feb 2010 | 3:00 am

  (USAF Photo) “Chuck Norris once roundhouse kicked someone so hard that his foot broke the speed of light, went back in time, and killed Amelia Earhart while she was flying over the Pacific Ocean.” (From “100 Chuck Norris Facts“) An article caught my eye the other day. It was titled, “Visiting Maj. Nidal Hasan’s Hospital.” The author? Chuck Norris. This intrigued me. It’s an excellent story about his visit to West Point and Brooke Army Medical Center (in San Antonio) after the tragic attack at Ft. Hood. As I did a little research, my interest…

• Forty years – Sergeant Major Leon Caffie

  Bacon

  4 Feb 2010 | 3:00 am

  Sgt. Maj. Leon Caffie Where were you in 1970? I was in junior high school. Sergeant Major Caffie was in Vietnam. When he first flew in, “It was 10 p.m. at night. You would see the tracers coming in, you could see the tracers going out. It makes you think ‘this is the real deal.” (From DefenseLink) He survived Vietnam. eventually left active duty and went to school on the G.I. Bill while staying on the rolls in the inactive reserves. But he soon discovered that he missed the camaraderie of military service and joined the active reserves – officially the U.S. Army Reserves…

• Greenside of the Week – Feb 3, 2010

  Bacon

  3 Feb 2010 | 3:00 am

  Visit the Greenside Archives! (click here)

• 
  NYT > Theater

• On the London Stage: First the Doldrums, Then Death

  By MATT WOLF

  9 Feb 2010 | 9:43 am

  Two plays — “Really Old, Like Forty Five” and a revival of Chekhov’s “Three Sisters” — have mixed success in relaying prickly problems of everyday life.

• Shakespeare Troupe Plans Residency in New York

  By PATRICK HEALY

  8 Feb 2010 | 9:41 pm

  The Royal Shakespeare Company will hold court in Manhattan for an unprecedented six-week, five-play residency inside the Park Avenue Armory.

• Identity Found: On West Side via West Bank

  By FELICIA R. LEE

  8 Feb 2010 | 7:49 pm

  Najla Said’s “Palestine,” a one-woman Off Broadway show, is a coming-of-age story about Ms. Said’s journey to become an Arab-American on her own terms.

• Music Review | Christine Ebersole: Between the Musical Gems, Suburbs-vs.-Hollywood Asides

  By STEPHEN HOLDEN

  7 Feb 2010 | 9:51 pm

  Christine Ebersole materialized like a goddess formed out of the ectoplasm in screwball heaven at her new show at the Café Carlyle.

• Theater Review | 'Duet for Solo Voice': Just Me and My (Murderous Soviet Agent) Shadow

  By DANIEL M. GOLD

  7 Feb 2010 | 9:48 pm

  Jonathan Slaff uses an appealing fervor and franticness to wring what comedy he can find out of this one-character play.

• 
  Stuck in the '80s

• Gary Coleman pleads guilty in Utah court

  Steve Spears

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:56 am

  Former '80s hero Gary Coleman pleaded guilty Monday to a misdemeanor criminal mischief charge related to a domestic violence incident last April. Added bonus: The court appearance fell on his 42nd birthday.Can I just say this with all due respect? It must suck to be Gary Coleman.The original charge of domestic violence assault was dropped and no details of the April 18 incident were detailed in court documents, reports the Associated Press. His attorney would only say  that Coleman and his wife Shannon Price had an argument which got out of hand.Judge Sharla Williams sentenced our…

• "Don't touch that dial": The Running Man comes to Blu-Ray

  Steve Spears

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:42 am

  The Arnold Schwarzenegger "dare I say classic" '80s flick The Running Man arrives this week on Blu-Ray. I just bought my first Blu-Ray DVD player last month and I'm slowly, SLOWLY considering what movies to replace with the newer format. (So far? None.) However, I mysteriously don't own this flick already, so maybe we have a contender.Where does The Running Man rank on your personal list of Schwarzenegger flicks? For me, I'd put it beneath Conan (the first one!) and Total Recall (sadly, a 1990 flick). But above the Terminator flicks (the second one was better…

• So Wicked: Another '80s TV star prospers on Broadway

  Steve Spears

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:34 am

  Look at the photo to your left. Does he look familiar? How about if I tell you his name: Richard Kline.Still drawing a blank? Okay, picture him 30 years younger, hitting on women at the Regal Beagle. YES! It's "Larry" from TV's Three Company. Kline's acting career continued long after Three's Company wrapped in 1984. He appeared in just about every '80s sit-com and drama series on TV including, St. Elsewhere, Hill Street Blues, Hotel, Matlock ... even Silver Spoons and Punky Brewster.  Still, when you see him, you can't help but think of Larry first.

• 80 must-own albums for '80s fans, part 4: Roxy Music to ZZ Top

  Steve Spears

  8 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  The official Stuck in the '80s list of 80 Albums Every '80s Fan Should Own concludes with the fourth and final today. (Click here to read part 1 and part 2 and part 3)As mentioned previously, I followed certain rules for the list:No band has more than a single album on the list. No soundtracks were considered. No live albums were considered. No greatest-hits CDs are included. Today's list: I own (or once owned) 11 of the 20 albums in today's list. The one that gets the most play? Probably the Violent Femmes. The one I'm not sure I ever need to hear again Steve Winwood's disc. Overzealous FM…

• 80 must-own albums for '80s fans, part 3: Metallica to The Replacements

  Steve Spears

  7 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  The official Stuck in the '80s list of 80 Albums Every '80s Fan Should Own continues with part 3 today. (Click here to read part 1 and part 2) As mentioned previously, I followed certain rules for the list:No band has more than a single album on the list. No soundtracks were considered. No live albums were considered. No greatest-hits CDs are included. Today's list: I own (or once owned) 13 of the 20 albums on list today. Most played? A tie between REO Speedwagon's Hi Infidelity and Peter Gabriel's So. Most overplayed on radio? Police's Synchronicity, of course.

• 
  Design*Sponge

• living in: bright star

  grace

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:00 am

  I basically held my hand in front of my mouth for the entire length of Bright Star. Sheer and utter, insane beauty. Desperately romantic. Hopelessly sweet and sad. Even now, days later, I’m still a little dizzy thinking about it. Fellow d*s editor Amy A. did me a huge favor by sitting me down to watch it- a favor I am now thrilled to bestow upon you, lovely readers. rose jacquard ribbon $39/yd, linen fabric, trumeau mirror $449, antique correspondence, antique paste & pearl ring $225, candlestick, book boxes $49, embroidery scissors $20, directoire chest $1300, intermission heels…

• past & present: billy baldwin shopping round-up!

  amya

  9 Feb 2010 | 9:00 am

  Billy Baldwin certainly loved his brown and his lacquer. Billy once said that every country house needs a dog so I couldn’t resist including a greyhound in homage to the painting in his own home. Billy abhorred leggy furniture saying it made the room feel restless, but I was just not into the box pleat slipper chairs – I hope he’ll forgive me. [from left: rare books, vintage 1950s tulu carpet $1800, JF Herring Sr print $15 slipper chair $950, mirrored side table $89.99, greyhound, pouf $109-299, brass candlestick $50-65, oxford style heels $80.06] For our goodbye to…

• past & present: billy baldwin (part 1)

  amya

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:00 am

  illustration by julia rothman I don’t have much of a fashion memory, but when I was looking at Billy Baldwin interiors all week, I kept thinking about Gwyneth Paltrow’s Oscar dress in 1996. I’ve always loved that dress – it was all white, and she just looked clean, casual and effortless. (She also had Brad Pitt on her arm so that helped). (This is the only good picture I can find of that dress.)  Baldwin’s style was crisp, elegant and a little slick, but it was above all simple and practical. (He always said that the best way to update a room was to simplify.)…

• biz ladies: getting it made

  Stephanie

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:00 am

  [i'm so thrilled to introduce stephanie todaro to our d*s team! stephanie was my right hand during the d*s book manuscript process so i promptly scooped her up to join our team as the editor of both the biz ladies and city guides columns. click here (and scroll down) to read more about her. welcome, steph!] design*sponge is happy to welcome megan auman to the biz ladies column today. megan is a jewelry and home accessories designer and also hosts a blog geared towards the crafting and design business. today, she  graciously shares with us some expert advice on how to go about outsourcing the…

• oklahoma city guide

  grace

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

  today’s city guide comes from caroline duke of greedy girl and kelly beall at design crush. kelly and caroline are walking us through their hometown of oklahoma city and sharing her insider picks for the best spots to shop, eat, and site-see (organized by neighborhood). i hope the next time you’re in town you’ll check out some of these great local spots! thanks to kelly and caroline for sharing their home city with us. CLICK HERE for the full city guide after the jump! This is a really exciting time to be living in Oklahoma City. (Wow, I never thought I’d type those…

• 
  New Urbanism Blog

• An Open Letter to President Obama and Congress

  admin

  4 Feb 2010 | 1:42 pm

  While the country staggers towards economic stability, the design professions are feeling their worst economic times since the Great Depression. Depending on the region of the country, the unemployment and underemployment rate for design professionals is anywhere from 20% to 50%. I feel this daily as President of the Kansas City chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and as an owner of a small architecture / planning firm.What I hope to convey to you in this note is not just the seriousness of our situation, but how you can help at the Federal level while achieving your stated goals…

• Free Downtown transit

  admin

  22 Jan 2010 | 12:04 pm

  Over on the Switchboard blog written by Kaid Benfield, he writes today about a free downtown circulator that Baltimore has recently put in place. (pasted below) This is a great heads-up to those cities that are cutting back on transit in tough times. I’ve thought for a while that we need an entirely new service model for transit in most American cities, and will write about this more in future posts. The reality is the current system in most cities is so completely unsupported by fares that we might as well have completely free zones in order to encourage denser, walkable development.

• Let it Snow, Let it Snow

  admin

  14 Jan 2010 | 11:03 am

  This one is especially for my readers in the Kansas City region (but hopefully for others of you in northern climates).I love the snow, and what it does to life in cities. So much of our lives gets consumed by activity and noise, it’s refreshing when we’re forced to have much of that go away. Mainly, it’s wonderful just how quiet the city gets when vehicles can’t travel very well. We forget just how much of the noise of life is vehicular, except when a snowstorm comes and takes most of that away. It’s so… peaceful. Which of course makes you think.You may…

• How walkable neighborhoods increase home values

  admin

  23 Dec 2009 | 2:29 pm

  Posted by: Kevin KlinkenbergIt’s often said that Americans love their cars above everything else, and many question the demand for walkable neighborhoods. And yet, as this and other studies have revealed, quality walkable places are highly valued. This shouldn’t be surprising – as human beings, we inherently like to interact with others, and we prefer to have options on how to experience life. Walking/biking, etc are all just examples of how to achieve what’s in our nature.  This is a blog post that I would like to share written by Kaid Benfield, who is the…

• Path to Prosperity: for retail spaces, think small (and cheap)

  admin

  18 Dec 2009 | 4:12 pm

  We’re obsessed with big: big houses, big churches, big cars, big stores, big food portions. It’s in our nature I suppose to be impressed with size.When planning for our communities, though, it’s often best to think small. Not small as in small goals or dreams; but small as in the kinds of spaces that fill up our neighborhoods. This is especially true when it comes to spaces that sell things – shops, restaurants, etc.What are the benefits of small spaces? For one, they are cheap to rent – very important to mom & pop operations and start-ups. If you want to…

• 
  McGuinn's Folk Den

• Randy Dandy Oh

  McGuinn

  1 Feb 2010 | 6:55 am

  How do I download this Mp3? Mp3: Randy Dandy Oh “Randy Dandy Oh” is a wonderful old sea chantey that I just heard for the first time while walking on Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. For some reason this song has eluded me all these years. Camilla and I heard it coming from a [...]

• Take This Hammer

  McGuinn

  1 Jan 2010 | 6:06 am

  How do I download this Mp3? Mp3: Take This Hammer (Left Click To Play) I recorded this on the Crystal Serenity ocean liner on the way to Lisbon Portugal last June. Kompoz.com contacted me asking for a song to use in their contest. I provided 7 tracks for contestants to download. This was [...]

• Christmas Is Coming

  McGuinn

  1 Dec 2009 | 3:02 am

  How do I download this Mp3? Mp3: Christmas Is Coming (Left Click To Play) The lyrics of Christmas Is Coming stem from the traditional English Christmas feast at which geese were eaten. Children learned that this festive period is a time when each person is encouraged to give to charity, even if all [...]

• Frozen Logger

  McGuinn

  1 Nov 2009 | 7:10 am

  How do I download this Mp3? Mp3: Frozen Logger Frank Hamilton played banjo on this at the Old Town School of Folk Music in 1957. It’s a funny song written by James Stevens, the man who made Paul Bunyan famous. Loggers are a tough bunch according to this song and it’s probably true given [...]

• I’ll Fly Away

  McGuinn

  1 Oct 2009 | 5:52 am

  How do I download this Mp3? Mp3: I’ll Fly Away This grand old gospel song has been sung for generations in the southern United States. I married a southern woman in 1978 and soon learned to pronounce words that I had always thought should have one syllable with the proper two syllables. Lyrics: I’ll Fly [...]

• 
  ProBlogger Blog Tips

• Blog Like a Cartoonist – Six Stunning Secrets to Help You Break Through Bloggers Block

  Darren Rowse

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:24 am

  And now for a guest post with a difference from Cartoonist Mark Anderson from Andertoons.com who created this comic to illustrate the writing techniques he uses to create his cartoons, and how they can help bloggers push through writer’s block. Post from: Blog Tips at ProBlogger. Blog Like a Cartoonist – Six Stunning Secrets to Help You Break Through Bloggers Block Share This

• Have a 37 Minute Coffee Break with Me [Audio Interview]

  Darren Rowse

  9 Feb 2010 | 5:43 am

  If you have a spare 37 minutes today to grab a coffee with me (or at least are doing something that will allow you to listen to something for 37 minutes in the background) check out this interview I did with Robb Sutton late last week. Robb’s also transcribed it for those who prefer to read. In the interview Rob asks me about a whole range of stuff including: my background in blogging my philosophy on lots of sites vs focusing upon a single (or just a few) sites the process of going full time (and my wife’s six month ultimatum) my shift in focus to e-books and membership sites a…

• What Is Your Blogging Goal for February?

  Darren Rowse

  8 Feb 2010 | 6:22 am

  A few days back I asked readers a question: What Have You Been Putting Off and What’s Holding You Back? Some of the responses to the question in comments (and via email and Twitter) revealed a lot of bloggers really wanting to step things up and get what they’ve been putting off done. So – lets set some goals – what do you want to achieve by the end of February? I’m not going to be calling you up to check up to see if you’re meeting your goals – but hopefully in putting them down publicly you’ll find yourself a little more spurred on to reach…

• 9 Tricks I Used To Triple My AdSense Earnings In 30 Days

  Daniel Scocco

  7 Feb 2010 | 6:34 am

  Guest post by Daniel Scocco from Daily Blog Tips. I have been using Google AdSense to monetize my blogs and websites for as long as I remember. In fact it was the first method I ever tried (I made a whooping $15 on my first month… back in 2005). Over the years I migrated to other methods (e.g., direct sponsors and affiliate marketing), which made AdSense become merely an inventory filler. I was still making around $1,000 monthly from it, but whenever I could I would use other methods over it. Then some months ago I started noticing an upward trend on the CPC of my sites, and I figured that…

• How I Got Some Paying Sponsors Without Really Meaning To

  Darren Rowse

  6 Feb 2010 | 6:21 am

  A guest post by Josh Hanagarne. World’s Strongest Librarian was about four months old when I got interested in sponsors. I’d read the articles about how to do it, and none of them sounded that plausible for me and my situation. For one, my traffic wasn’t impressive, certainly not to the point where sponsors were approaching me. And, while my blog has become slightly more focused in its first ten months, it wasn’t targeted at any group of readers in particular, so I wasn’t sure how confident niche advertisers would be. It’s a little more focused now, but I can’t really think of a…

• 
  Geek Sugar

• Daily Tech: Your Choice of Search Engine Says a Lot

  GeekSugar

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:15 pm

  Your choice of search engine says a lot about you - Switched Was Apple considering a 3D virtual Apple Store? - Gizmodo Aperture 3 released with some iPhoto integration - Dvice Check out this totally cute TicToc mini MP3 player - Oh Gizmo!

• Google Introduces Google Buzz to the World

  GeekSugar

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:00 am

  During a press conference held today in Mountain View, CA, Google announced its latest innovation: Google Buzz. Google Buzz allows you to share and communicate inside Gmail like a social network. Taking on other social networks like Facebook and Twitter, Google Buzz and your Google Profile can bring you content from people you email and chat with most, as well as from people worldwide. Google Buzz has a few key features: Auto-following: Buzz automatically follows the people you email and chat with the most. Rich, fast sharing experience: Media, videos, photos, and links to websites are…

• Enter Our Oscar Ballot and Win the Ultimate Oscar DVD Collection and Prizes From Four Nominated Films!

  BuzzSugar

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:58 am

  Award season is about to culminate in the granddaddy of them all with the 2010 Oscars! Before the statues get handed out, I'm giving you a chance to win your own reward with my annual ballot contest! The grand prize includes limited-edition items from four Oscar nominated films: Up in the Air, Star Trek, The Lovely Bones, and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, courtesy of our friends at Paramount Pictures! That's not all – the winner will also receive the ultimate Oscar movie collection: a 30-plus DVD package from Paramount of past Academy Award-winning films including such favorites as…

• Find Your Celebrity Twin With These Apps and Sites

  GeekSugar

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:00 am

  Finding out who your celebrity doppelganger isn't just fun for Facebook theme weeks. There are a few apps and websites out there that can show you who your look-alike is any time of year. Find out what they are in this slideshow! View Slideshow ›

• Website of the Day: Binary Encoder

  GeekSugar

  9 Feb 2010 | 9:30 am

  If you can't get enough of the binary goods, create your own binary secret messages with this website that allows you to encode and decode binary messages on the fly. Just type in your message, and encode to get your equivalent in ones and zeroes. Alternatively, if you find some binary code you want to translate into words, just click on "decode" to get your answer. Do you have a cool website you want to share? Tell us about it in our Website of the Day group! Just log in with your PopSugar Network account and get to blogging. It may end up being featured on GeekSugar! Need some help getting…

• 
  Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

• Why Businesses Still Aren’t Engaging Online With Their Customers

  ME Liz Strauss

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:54 am

  A Guest Post by Frank Angelone Are you a business? Whether you are a large corporation or a small business, you should be engaging with your customers. As many already know, the best way to engage with your customers is through social media. There are so many sites available at your disposal to be an active participant, yet many businesses still aren’t using social media to its full potential. Why is this? Well, I believe it can be answered in 5 bullet points… Laziness. It’s as simple as that. If you don’t engage in social media, your sales for your business…

• 3 Simple Steps to Add Irresistible Influence to Your Brand

  ME Liz Strauss

  8 Feb 2010 | 7:20 am

  Magnetic from the Very First Minute! What makes a person or a company unforgettable from the second you interact? Why do some folks motivate and energize us? What is it about some folks that attracts people so powerfully? What makes a magnetic personality? Is it possible for a company or a brand to have those qualities? Can we carry them online and off? 3 Simple Steps to Add Irresistible Influence to Your Brand The brands and the businesses we love don’t just deliver on a promise. They make us feel good about working with them and feel good about being part of what they’re doing.

• Beach Notes: What Goes into Effortless?

  ME Liz Strauss

  7 Feb 2010 | 7:25 am

  by Guest Writers Suzie Cheel and Des Walsh A couple of times recently we have seen this man at our local beach, Rainbow Bay, with a didgeridoo ( or yidaki), the traditional Australian Aboriginal musical intrument. This day we saw and heard him playing with the end of the “didge” submerged at the water’s edge. My thought was that there might be some spiritual explanation, connecting with the spirits of the sea, etc. A bit of a web search suggests something more mundane. Evidently the exercise of playing the instrument in this way trains the diaphragm and builds the player’s…

• Thanks to Week 224 SOBs

  ME Liz Strauss

  6 Feb 2010 | 8:56 am

  Successful and Outstanding Bloggers Let me introduce the bloggers who have earned this official badge of achievement, and the right to call themselves Successful Blog SOBs. I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs. They take the conversation to their readers, contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger. I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on. Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community. Should anyone question this SOB button’s validity, send him or her to me. Thie award…

• SOB Business Cafe 02-05-10

  ME Liz Strauss

  5 Feb 2010 | 7:03 am

  Welcome to the SOB Cafe We offer the best in thinking — articles, books, podcasts, and videos about business online written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the titles to enjoy each selection. The Specials this Week are Doc Searls Weblog What you have to appreciate, even admire, is how well Apple plays the vertical game. It’s really amazing. What you also have to appreciate is how much we also need the horizontal one. The iPad needs an open alternative, soon. There should be for the iPad what Google’s Nexus One is for the iPhone. Up the creek…

• 
  Social Media Explorer

• Viralheat Plants Stake As Affordable Social Media Monitoring Solution

  Jason Falls

  9 Feb 2010 | 3:00 am

  The landscape of social media monitoring solutions has always had about four tiers. There’s the mostly manual but free, the entry-level business pricing (around $100 per month), the standard (about $500 per month to start) and the expensive (“research” approaches that go into the thousands per month.) While Scout Labs made a big splash a year ago with their $99 per month price point while still offering much of the same features and functionality of the more expensive options, there has still been a gap in the market. For the small (or frugal) business that wants less manual…

• Corporate Blog Success Starts And Ends With Business Metrics

  Jason Falls

  8 Feb 2010 | 3:00 am

  The social media purists will tell you that a corporate blog serves as a community hub for your brand. They say it gives your customers a connection point to your company and engenders a sense of community. In some cases that’s true, but you’re going to see me exploring corporate blogging a lot more this year to follow up on a theory that your “community” or “audience” for your blog isn’t what you think it is. That, and the ultimate judge of a corporate blogging effort must be more closely tied to success metrics than making everyone feel good. As you…

• Wanna Neat Job In Public Relations?

  Jason Falls

  5 Feb 2010 | 3:00 am

  Waggener Edstrom Worldwide is hiring a public relations account director in their Seattle office. They reached out to me with an offer to post an ad for it over there in the sidebar. As we’ve discussed before, I only accept advertising from companies whose product or service is relevant to many of you and I insist those advertisers provide me with some subject for editorial content to accompany the ad as well. The requirements gave them pause since the folks helping them with the advertising offer weren’t used to this editorial-advertising hybrid, so I decided to help them a bit…

• What Every Company Should Know About Social Media Policy

  Jason Falls

  3 Feb 2010 | 3:00 am

  A social media policy is a company’s first line of defense against risk in social media marketing. Shockingly, only one in three companies has a social media policy in place. While I’m sure that the majority of marketing managers and decision-makers who read Social Media Explorer are ahead of the curve, there’s a good chance your company doesn’t have a written policy. *UPDATE* – eMarketer published a story and research on companies without social networking policies just hours after we went live with this post. 69% of American companies do not have social networking policies for…

• What Inbound Marketing Is And Why You Should Have It

  Jason Falls

  1 Feb 2010 | 3:00 am

  I spend zero dollars marketing my business. “Marketing” in its traditional sense includes advertising, baiting media outlets with press releases and, to paraphrase David Meerman Scott, buy, beg and borrow for leads and attention. The way people find out about my business is through two primary mechanisms: Word-of-Mouth recommendations and finding me through search engine results. Word-of-Mouth, in this instance, is inclusive of people passing recommendations online. If an account manager at a public relations firm is looking for a social media consultant and asks his or her…

• 
  Robert Scoble

• Why Google won’t give Twitter or Facebook a buzz cut tomorrow

  Robert Scoble

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:19 pm

  OK, I’ve given you the reasons why Google will be successful this time, but why won’t what they announce tomorrow give Twitter or Facebook a buzz cut? Funny aside, I found this photo of Matt Mullenweg (the entrepreneur behind Wordpress) getting a buzz cut by using Google’s Social Circles search. Some things that will keep Google from giving either Twitter or Facebook a buzz cut tomorrow (yes, I’ve been leaked some info about what’s coming tomorrow, so you gotta read in between the lines here): 1. Facebook has a defensible position in identity. Visit Huffington…

• The social failings of Google

  Robert Scoble

  8 Feb 2010 | 9:07 pm

  Orkut. Used it? I did back in 2002, but since then? No one I know uses it. Jaiku. Used it? I did back in 2006, but since then? No one I know uses it. Dodgeball. Used it? I did back in 2006, but since then? No one I know uses it. These are just a few of the failures Google has had trying to figure out the social space. Tomorrow they’ve invited a ton of journalists to see a new social effort. The headline on top of Techmeme screams “Twitter killer.” Um, I’ve learned in life that past behavior is the best predictor of future results. So, why is Google going to succeed…

• A TED responsibility

  Robert Scoble

  7 Feb 2010 | 11:09 pm

  The TED conference has given me a huge responsibility. They’ve handed me one of a small handful of press badges (as I understand it fewer than 10 are handed out every year). Regular tickets are $6,000 each and the conference was sold out more than a year ago (next year’s TED is already sold out). They do put a major restraint on the press covering the event: no filming, or recording of sessions. Another restraint? No computers in the main session unless you want to sit in the back row. OK, I can live with that. So I doubt you’ll see a view of TED like I got of Chris…

• Why if you miss Siri you’ll miss the future of the Web

  Robert Scoble

  7 Feb 2010 | 10:42 pm

  Siri is the most useful thing I’ve seen so far this year. But after playing with it, getting an interview with its CEO (video here on building43) it’s even more important for you to pay attention to. It is the best example of what the web will be. Let’s go back. Web 1994 was the “get me a domain and a page” era. Web 2000 was the “make my page(s) interactive and put people on it” era. Web 2010 is the “get rid of pages and glue APIs and people together” era. Siri is the best example. First, it’s not a website. It’s an application…

• Google’s two-front war with Apple and Facebook; who are the winners and the losers?

  Robert Scoble

  2 Feb 2010 | 12:53 am

  I’ve now heard from three separate Google employees that Google will release a news feed that will compete with Facebook and Twitter. I expect to see a demo at Google’s IO conference in April. For hints at what’s coming you MUST look at two foundation-level services: 1. Google Profiles. Google is asking you to voluntarily add all sorts of information about yourself. So far I’ve told it more than I’ve told Facebook or Twitter, here’s my Google Profile. Why? Because it’s available to all of you and this data gets added all sorts of places in the Google…

• 
  Mashable!

• 5 Ways Airlines and Hotels Can Drive Revenue with Social Media

  Shashank Nigam

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:18 pm

  Shashank Nigam is the CEO of SimpliFlying.com, an award-winning blog on airline branding. He tweets at @simpliflying.Social media is no longer the “new” thing, especially for airlines. JetBlue has over one an a half million followers on Twitter. Lufthansa allows passengers to update their Twitter or Facebook status about where they are in the sky. AirAsia drives buzz about its new destinations through custom micro-sites. However, most airlines (and airports and hotels) are still struggling to earn direct revenue from their social media efforts.Yet if Dell can make $6.5 million from…

• Google Buzz: The Official Demo [VIDEO]

  Adam Ostrow

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:08 am

  Google has just unveiled its latest attempt to become more relevant in the social media space: Google Buzz. The product is integrated within Gmail and will be rolled out gradually to all of the webmail service’s users over the next few days.We’re still digesting all of the implications of Buzz (and will have more coverage throughout the day), but in the meantime, here’s the two-minute demo of the product in action both on the Web and via mobile that Google showed off during today’s press conference:This video from Google looks specifically at the mobile features of Buzz:What are your…

• BREAKING: Google Goes Social with Google Buzz

  Ben Parr

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:21 am

  It’s official: Google has just announced Google Buzz, its newest push into the social media foray. This confirms earlier reports of Gmail integrating a social status feature.On stage revealing the new product was Bradley Horowitz, Google’s vice president for product management. While introducing the product, Mr. Horowitz focused on the human penchant for sharing experiences and the social media phenomenon of wanting to share it in real time. These two key themes were core philosophies behind Google Buzz.“It’s becoming harder and harder to find signal in the…

• Facebook Kills Lexicon, Focuses on Analytics for Page Admins

  Samuel Axon

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:20 am

  Facebook has removed its Lexicon analytics app, blogger Steve Rubel noticed last night.Don’t know what Lexicon was? That’s OK, a lot of people didn’t; it was announced very quietly, but it was a neat tool. You could use Lexicon to see how frequently, and when, certain terms were trending in status updates, just like you can use Google Trends to do the same with search terms.For example, our own Stan Schroeder was a bit perplexed a couple years back when the word “sex” had a massive spike in usage on May 30, 2008. It was the launch day of the Sex and the City…

• 7 Ways to Promote Your Offline Event Using Social Media

  Susan Payton

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:10 am

  Susan Payton is the President of Egg Marketing & Public Relations, an internet marketing firm. She blogs at The Marketing Eggspert Blog, and teaches marketing courses at Marketing EggSchool. Follow her on Twitter @eggmarketing.We all know about Tweetups and online events, but what about events that you didn’t specifically invite the Twitterati to attend? Conferences, meetings and parties are all events that might not have started online, but which can definitely benefit from online promotion and mention.Leverage your offline event with some smart social media marketing. Here are…

• 
  chrisbrogan.com

• Earn Your GED- Find Success Tomorrow

  chrisbrogan

  9 Feb 2010 | 1:30 am

  No, not your General Equivalent Degree. The GED to which I refer is “guest experience design.” What the heck am I talking about? I’ll tell you. Old words: customer service. New words: guest experience. Disney, where I am this week, has a concept called a Moment of Truth. A moment of truth is “any time a guest comes into contact with any aspect of a business, however remote, is an opportunity to form an impression.” Note that it’s “an impression.” It can be good; it can be bad. Why “guest?” Because guest is much more hospitable than…

• Pursue the Goal Not the Method

  chrisbrogan

  8 Feb 2010 | 1:30 am

  In the back of a town car hired to take me to the Kansas City International airport, talking to Jeff, a driver with two kids, self-proclaimed ADD, and a history of quitting rote sales jobs every few months, I realized something of importance to the story of what’s brought me to this place: I am a seeker of the goal, not the method. Now, to unpack. The Method Is What We’re Taught to Pursue We learn our times tables. We learn the 50 states (in the US, at least). We are taught all these rules, these patterns, these systems, these methods. Musicians learn their scales. Painters copy…

• Your Blog From the Prospect’s Point of View

  chrisbrogan

  7 Feb 2010 | 7:34 am

  When you use your blog to complain or report sideways about the industry at large, what message is that sending to your potential new clients? If you’re spending your time analyzing what other people in your space are doing, citing why they’re wrong, and providing your commentary about all the things they’re doing, what does your next potential customer come away thinking? Is your negative commentary helping them make a buying decision? I’ve rarely seen the tactic work in traditional advertising. You can graze them a little bit. For instance, I’m a bit fond of…

• Just Lucky I Guess – Kitchen Table Talks

  chrisbrogan

  6 Feb 2010 | 1:46 pm

  In this Kitchen Table Talks video, I just want to address all the nice folks who call me lucky, or who think I’m just sitting around being handed my lot in life. Can’t see the video? Click here. Direct link to the video “Lucky” is absolutely what I am. Here’s what I do to earn my luck: Write a blog post or two a day. Write a newsletter every week. Comment and connect with others daily. Answer and send hundreds of emails daily. Read voraciously. Work with the best clients I can find. Reach into new markets weekly. Travel extensively. Seems lucky to me. People…

• Some Of The Third Tribe Conversations

  chrisbrogan

  6 Feb 2010 | 1:02 pm

  I’m really enjoying participating in the forums at the Third Tribe site. I was just adding my two cents to a handful of forum postings, and thought that I’d show you what some of the topics we’re talking about are, so you’d have a sense of what’s going on. We don’t really share the contents, because the people participating there like having the chance to speak openly/candidly about their marketing challenges, but I don’t see the harm in sharing a few of the topic titles. Here they are: Favorite copywriting and marketing books? Third Tribe Blogroll? 2…

• 
  B.L. Ochman

• Hey Old Spice and Time Warner! You were the laughing stock of social media week new york

  BL Ochman

  7 Feb 2010 | 8:05 pm

  Old Spice was the laughing stock of Social Media Week New York when I showed this horrific photo from their lameass Residue is Evil campaign. Time Warner was close behind on the lousy campaign laugh meter. As I noted back in August 2009: "Ok, I'm not a 18 to 25 year-old man, so I'm not the demographic for the Old Spice Deodorant's Swagger contest. Nonetheless, I've never seen a more confused, obtuse, badly designed contest than the one that starts on this annoying page and gets weirder and harder to use from there. They've included their slickly produced commercials as examples, which rather,…

• Toyota: Way too little, way too late & what they should have done

  BL Ochman

  7 Feb 2010 | 9:26 am

  The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c

• #socialmedia Tweet Chat #45 - The fear factor: Shift Happens

  BL Ochman

  2 Feb 2010 | 8:05 pm

  I am immersed in Social Media Week New York, and wanted to share some of the highlights of my travels today. The theme of the day: Shift happens. Tweet Chatting with Borders Free WiFi Since there was no wifi at the new media conference I was covering today, (!?) I ended up at Borders, where the coffee was great, and the wifi was free, (thank you Borders!) so I could host the 45th edition of the hour-long weekly Twitter Social Media chat, produced by hashtagsocialmedia.com's Marc Meyer and Jason Breed. Just about everyone who's anyone in emerging media has hosted and/or participated in the…

• Thistle Farms: Marketing With Hope, Love & Social Media

  BL Ochman

  31 Jan 2010 | 7:31 pm

  Sometimes, the use of social media is a rather frivolous afterthought in marketing campaigns. In the case of Magdelene House and Thistle Farms, hope, love, and social media sell redemption. Let them show you what social media really can do. Last week, I went to a house party for Thistle Farms, a non-profit business operated by the women of Magdalene House, a two-year residential program for women who are recovering from sexual abuse, violence, and life on the streets, and who have paid dearly for their past. The party was held to celebrate the start of Magdelene's 10-city tour of prisons,…

• 2010 Social Media Week NYC: My Schedule & Recommended Events

  BL Ochman

  31 Jan 2010 | 6:27 pm

  Social Media Week NYC kicks off Monday and scores of events - almost all aimed at newbies - are planned. I'm speaking at three events this week - one online and two at the Roger Smith Hotel. Details are below along with several other events that look interesting. Where I'm speaking 1- Social Media Tweet Chat Tuesday, Feb 2 noon-1pm EST on Twitter I'll moderate a conversation on Twitter about the business of social media. These Twitter chats have been moderated by a stellar array of social media luminaries including my friends Scott Monty, Ann Handley, Shel Israel, Charlene Li, Brian Solis,…

• 
  NYT: David Pogue

• Why We Make Home Videos

  3 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  As you may be aware, we’re about to enter a whole new era of data rot, one of the biggest and most personal of all: consumer videotape is going away.

• Best Cameras for $300 or Less

  3 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  An experiment begun in 2001 continues: Which camera offers the most bang for relatively few bucks?

• Packing a Series of Pluses

  20 Jan 2010 | 9:00 pm

  New versions of the Pre and Pixi can become personal Wi-Fi hot spots, at a price, of course.

• Want It or Not, TV Goes 3-D

  13 Jan 2010 | 9:00 pm

  At the Consumer Electronics Show, some companies proclaim the coming of 3-D television whether you want it or not.

• Google Shakes but Doesn’t Upend the Cellphone Market

  5 Jan 2010 | 9:00 pm

  The Nexus One has cool features and clunky ones, but in the end, we should root for the success of the Google Store.

• 
  SXSW: Interactive Festival News

• Welcome to Atlanta: SXSW Interactive Makes Its First Visit

  andrew

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:53 am

  We made our first SXSW trip to Atlanta on Monday night, and we weren't disappointed. SXSW Interactive held its latest networking party at the Cypress Street Pint and Plate in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia. The local beer was delicious and the ideas were aplenty as there were no evident signs of Super Bowl hangover present. We'd like to thank everyone at the Pint and Plate, including the owners Bill and Jenn, and the rest of the staff including Michelle, Meghan, Gordon and Bret. Of course, we couldn't have done it without help from our public relations partner, Porter Novelli and their local…

• Download the SXSW Play iPhone App Now

  melissa

  9 Feb 2010 | 9:39 am

  SXSW Play, the official new media discovery app for the SXSW 2010 Music, Film, and Interactive conferences is now available for download in the iTunes store. Brought to you by PepsiCo, this app includes a wealth of rich media from musicians, films, and interactive panels which will be featured at the SXSW 2010 Music Festival. With this app at your fingertips, you'll never be bored again! As you play, take a look back at SXSW ’09 brought to you by the PepsiCo Zeitgeist, a twitter application which presented live visualizations of themes around the conference. Features: Listen to Mp3s of…

• NYC Media Establishment Takes on Twitter

  hugh

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:57 am

  Check out the contentious back-and-forth about the value of Twitter between two of the nation's most prominent media elites. The opening volley was fired by George Packer in his "Stop the World" column in the January 29 edition of The New Yorker. "Every time I hear about Twitter I want to yell Stop," Packer wrote. "The notion of sending and getting brief updates to and from dozens or thousands of people every few minutes is an image from information hell." Responding to this throw-down, Nick Bilton of The New York Times launched a counter-attack on February 3: "Unfortunately, Mr. Packer’s…

• PopTech Opens Nominations for 2010 Social Innovation Fellows

  sarah

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:04 am

  PopTech, the social innovation and thought leadership network, has just opened nominations for 2010 PopTech Social Innovation Fellows. This year, nominations are particularly encouraged in the fields of health care, energy, water, and the arts, as well as green materials, the environment, and education. In addition, the experience of participating in the program is complemented by participation in PopTech 2010, the cutting-edge annual ideas conferences attended by prominent thought leaders, influencers, and policy-makers. If you feel someone you know is the ideal candidate for the program,…

• When the Geeks Go Marching In: New Orleans and SXSW Interactive

  hugh

  8 Feb 2010 | 8:16 am

  Congrats to the World Champion New Orleans Saints after their thrilling 31-17 Super Bowl win over the Indianapolis Colts. And, speaking of the Crescent City, be sure to check out the "Uprising Tide: Inciting Online Communities Into Offline Movements" panel, scheduled for Saturday, March 13, at 3:30 pm. This session will explore how some unlikely instigators from New Orleans put their tech community on the map with little more than passion, a bus, T-shirts, and some duct tape. This panel promises to teach you how to create an organic net-roots movement that upends traditional power structures…

• 
  NYT: Thomas L. Friedman

• Postcard From Yemen

  6 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  Sana is not Kabul, and Yemen is not Afghanistan not yet. Yemenis have the resources to save themselves, but they need to be mobilized by better governance.

• When Economics Meets Politics

  2 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  The world needs 2010 to be a quiet year, but that will require our global problems to be defused with win-win compromises rather than win-lose confrontations.

• Never Heard That Before

  30 Jan 2010 | 9:00 pm

  The two parties must work together to remove the pall of uncertainty the international community is feeling about our country’s political stability.

• Adults Only, Please

  26 Jan 2010 | 9:00 pm

  Are we home alone? If our elites do not behave with a greater sense of the common good, we could find our economy doing a double dip with a back flip.

• More (Steve) Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

  23 Jan 2010 | 9:00 pm

  We need to start an Innovation Movement to create good jobs by spawning more Steve Jobs entrepreneurs who will invent new products and services.

• 
  O Say Can You See?

• What would you like to do at the museum?

  Matthew MacArthur

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:47 am

  In the past, readers have told us that they view the National Museum of American History as a trusted source of information and that they value accuracy in the information we present about our collections. But there are many ways to deliver information to people who visit the museum beyond just posting labels on a wall. In the recent book Life Stages of the Museum Visitor, authors Susie Wilkening and James Chung present useful data about museum audiences from a marketing-research perspective. One part that especially caught my attention reported the results of a survey about how…

• Is this on the test? Integrating American history into language arts

  Jenny Wei

  4 Feb 2010 | 7:29 am

  There are only so many hours in the classroom day, and high-stakes testing is encouraging teachers to adapt their classroom practices to support their students on the examinations. If you’re a teacher trying to integrate more history into your language arts classroom, here are some tips from creative teachers I’ve met: Writing historical fiction: One member of our 2008 Teacher Advisory Group, a local middle-school teacher, likes to use historical artifacts as the starting points for writing exercises. She introduces a bit of history and a historical artifact, then asks her students to…

• We need each other

  Shannon Perich

  3 Feb 2010 | 8:53 am

  The recording, discovering, and sharing of history is a collaboration that takes place over time with many hands involved. Museums are one part of the equation, and sometimes genealogists are another.Here’s what I mean: In 2003, the museum collected an 1860 college yearbook from Rutgers University. We selected this album over several others, because it was in excellent condition, the photographer was included in the album, and it also contained interesting text alongside the photographs. Our primary interest was in the photographer, George K. Warren. He was a Boston area photographer who…

• Secrets of the stores

  Kathy Sklar

  2 Feb 2010 | 12:31 pm

  For many of our visitors, a trip to the museum is not complete without a souvenir purchased at our stores. We have three at the museum, and they’re full of merchandise that will appeal to families, our youngest visitor, our most intellectual—even the students on the tightest budget. Mary Todd Lincoln was determined to show her high style despite the turmoil of the Civil War. She selected the Lincoln White House china shortly after her husband's inauguration. But what really catches our visitors’ attention and moves them to buy something? Is it our beautiful Star-Spangled…

• Of avatars and inventors

  NMAH

  28 Jan 2010 | 7:21 am

  James Cameron’s Avatar was the box office smash to beat over the holiday season. The director of the Alien and Terminator franchises, Cameron has made CGI (computer-generated imagery) and other cutting-edge special effects his cinematic bread and butter. But, despite his reputation as today’s special effects master par excellence, I was not surprised to see this headline in a recent issue of Newsweek: “It’s The Story, Stupid: Directors James Cameron and Peter Jackson are the kings of new film technology. But they insist they aren’t slaves to it.” The 1979 movie Alien is a…

• 
  NYT: Maureen Dowd

• A Scrubbed Toe in the Race

  6 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  Harold Ford Jr., the transplant with the Tennessee driver’s license who was raised in Washington, D.C., professes that he loves, loves, loves, loves New York.

• Defending the Long Gay Line

  2 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  How many pragmatists does it take to change a law that asks soldiers who live by a code of honor to lie about who they are?

• Camus Fired Up

  30 Jan 2010 | 9:00 pm

  For a moment in time, at the Q. and A. with the president at the annual retreat of House Republicans, each side realized that the other had something to say.

• Bringing Sexy Back

  26 Jan 2010 | 9:00 pm

  President Obama’s Oneness has been one-upped. Everyone in Washington now wants to touch the hem of President-elect Scott Brown.

• The Naked and the Dead

  23 Jan 2010 | 9:00 pm

  Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has a new understanding of the rhythm of American politics and why leaders have struggled in their attempts at big changes.

• 
  HAWAII SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL

• Hawaii State Science and Engineering Fair (HSSEF)

  Hawaii State Science and Engineering Fair (HSSEF)

  4 Apr 2010 | 5:00 pm

  Hawaii State Science & Engineering Fair (HSSEF) http://www.hawaii.edu/acadsci/statefair.html April 5—7, 2010 The Hawaii State Science and Engineering Fair (HSSEF) is an enrichment program which stimulates interest in science and encourages entry into a science related career. Excellence of student achievement is recognized and rewarded. Students have the opportunity to interact with professional scientists and engineers in the program. Exhibits at school, district and state levels serve to educate the public about science and engineering. HSSEF is the oldest and largest science…

• Newsmorphosis 2.0

  Newsmorphosis 2.0

  17 Mar 2010 | 5:00 pm

  Newsmorphosis 2.0 How the Transformation of our News Media is Transforming our Society World class Journalists and Technology Leaders explore the future of our News Media. What are the risks and challenges, and what technologies and business models will prevail. The Plaza Club, 900 Fort Street Mall 8:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, March 18, 2010 SEE THE FLYER REGISTER HERE    

• Hawaii Venture Capital Summit

  Hawaii Venture Capital Summit

  10 Mar 2010 | 4:00 pm

  Enterprise Honolulu, HTDC, invencor and GKM Newport invite you to:   THE HAWAII VENTURE CAPITAL SUMMIT ~ How to Raise Follow-on Funding in Regional Markets ~ March 11, 2010 Hilton Hawaiian Village       Company Presentations     Applications are now being accepted for Hawaii-based company management teams who would like to present at the conference.   Who Should apply:  To be considered, your company should have strong management, prior investment from angels or other sources, proprietary technology or a product with strong barriers to entry, and a…

• HPU Business and Technology Career Fair

  HPU Business and Technology Career Fair

  1 Mar 2010 | 4:00 pm

    Hawai‘i Pacific University’s Business and Technology Career Fair is scheduled for Tuesday, March 2, 2010, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.  The event will be held at our Downtown Campus at 1132 Bishop Street, Honolulu, HI  96813.  HPU has many highly qualified, motivated students and graduates who are eagerly seeking employment and internship opportunities, as well as information regarding your company and future career opportunities.    To reserve your table, please complete our on-line registration form at https://secure.hpu.edu/B_T/ by Friday,…

• HISciTech Rally at the Capitol

  HISciTech Rally at the Capitol

  25 Feb 2010 | 4:00 pm

  Join us at the State Capitol to show your support for the innovation and tech industry!  Tech professionals, students, parents and all those who want to contribute to "Build a Future We Can Live In" should attend.    

• 
  A Maui Blog

• Run For The Whales 2010

  admin

  7 Feb 2010 | 8:27 am

  The Run For The Whales 2010 was a success!  It was well organized and well attended.  The photo above shows many of the people there but there are more!  My friend Ron said he read that there are about 700+ people who registered to run and or walk. It was a fun day for me.  For me, it was challenging but good. About a month Ron asked me if I wanted to join the pod they are forming for Run For The Whales 2010.  It’s the first time this year that the Pacific Whale Foundation included such category in the 5K Run.  For those of you who have not heard about it, a POD is when 3 to 5…

• Wailuku First Friday Today Feb 5, 2010

  admin

  5 Feb 2010 | 5:55 am

  Wailuku First Friday kicks off the 2010 new decade with music, food, fun and dancing in the streets.  Friday February 5, 2010 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm Market Street, from Main to Vineyard will be closed for the monthly First Friday festivities in Wailuku Town.  There is no admission and the community is welcomed to a street party! Participating merchants will show their support to men and women in uniform with hearts in their retail windows.  Show your uniform or identification to receive special discounts or surprises! At the corner of Main and Market, the event presents the Air Force Band…

• On My Way To Hotel Hana Maui

  admin

  30 Jan 2010 | 10:41 pm

  These are some of the photos I took on my way to Hotel Hana Maui. I would be sharing more later but for now, please enjoy these “weekly winners”.  For more Weekly Winner photos, please to to Lotus’s blog and visit some participants.  I will be uploading more photos of Hotel Hana Maui later … in the meantime, please enjoy your Sunday.  Aloha!

• Aloha Friday: Mobile Connection

  admin

  21 Jan 2010 | 11:50 pm

  As I shared on an earlier post here, I attended the launching of the 4G technology Road Runner Mobile on (in) Maui.  Now I am curious what percentage of bloggers uses a mobile device like this.  So for Aloha Friday, my question is “Do you own an internet mobile device? If yes, who is the provider? If  not, would you like to?” OK, I promise this is not a catch.  I will not be calling you to sell. I am just curious, so please leave a comment and let me know.   And don’t forget to visit An Island Life for more “aloha Friday: interaction!

• RoadRunner Mobile 4G Works For Me

  admin

  20 Jan 2010 | 7:15 am

  I have been blogging since 2006 and most of the time I do my blogging at home.  This past year, I had felt the need to be more mobile and to be able to blog in other places aside from my house where I can hook my laptop with our wireless connection.  I thought if trying out some of the Hot Spots – coffee shops and restaurants that give out free Wifi.  Problem is there is a catch to that.  It’s just polite to buy something from them when I use their Wifi and it’s polite to not use up the table for hours and hours if I only bought a cup of coffee.  So I still did not get…

• 
  ParkRat's Playground

• Six dollar lunch. Million dollar view.

  admin

  3 Feb 2010 | 3:35 pm

  Posted via email from ParkRat’s Playground

• What happens at a #FOIE Tweetup with @docrock and @carmillelim?

  admin

  3 Feb 2010 | 10:20 am

  Dancing of course! Only @carmillelim came appropriately dressed for the ballet dancing though. Posted via email from ParkRat’s Playground

• Cloudy Diamond Head from Outrigger Waikiki

  admin

  2 Feb 2010 | 8:01 pm

  What a gloomy morning, but it is still the BEACH! See and download the full gallery on posterous Posted via email from ParkRat’s Playground

• Dinner from The BBQ Stick Man (Kapahulu, Hawaii)

  admin

  31 Jan 2010 | 12:14 am

  A little hole in the wall lunch wagon on the corner of Campbell Ave and Castle Street in Kapahulu. Posted via email from ParkRat’s Playground

• Lunch from Gulick Deli

  admin

  30 Jan 2010 | 2:20 pm

  Posted via email from ParkRat’s Playground

• 
  From the Mind of NEENZ

• A Challenge to my Facebook friends and Twitter followers #HART

  NEENZ

  17 Jan 2010 | 3:16 pm

  Today at 4:00 p.m. Hawaii time, 6:00 p.m. PST, my friend, Jim Turner, Founder of One by One Media, will be hosting the Haitian Assistance Relief Telethon (#HART) for 24-hours courtesy of WSRadio.com. I am asking that each of my 1,553 friends on Facebook and 10,411 followers on Twitter donate whatever amount you can afford, but [...]

• Tis the Season of Ohana

  NEENZ

  23 Dec 2009 | 7:00 pm

  Over on the Outrigger Hawaii blog, I did a guest post about how Christmas is celebrated in Hawaii.   I share about the changes of seasons that occur on the islands, yes we have them you just need to know how to recognize them.   Head on over and read the Season of Ohana.

• Ala Moana Beach Park Memories

  NEENZ

  13 Nov 2009 | 1:45 am

  What are some of your favorite childhood memories that you continue with your own children today? Over on the So Much More Hawaii blog, I shared mine about Ala Moana Beach Park.  Take a look at one of the most beautiful views on Oahu.

• Hawaiian Culture: Hula

  NEENZ

  13 Nov 2009 | 1:40 am

  If you know me, you know that I was raised around the art of hula.  I am only now, through the interest of my children, returning to the art that I love so dearly.  I shared from my heart, over on the So Much More Hawaii blog a brief history of the origins of hula [...]

• GEW Hawaii: Young and Hip Entrepreneurs

  NEENZ

  13 Nov 2009 | 1:30 am

  Global Entrepeneurship Week: November 16 – 22, 2009 For one week, millions of young people around the world will join a growing movement of entrepreneurial people, to generate new ideas and seek better ways of doing things. Countries across six continents are coming together to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week, an initiative to inspire young people to [...]

• 
  Damon Tucker

• Outdoor Concert Remembers Former Palace Resident… Sunday, 2/21/10

  Damon

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:47 am

  Media Release: The Daughters of Hawai‘i and the Calabash Cousins present a free concert 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21 at Hulihe‘e Palace to remember the late Princess Ruth Ke‘elikolani. Enjoy the voices of the Merrie Monarchs and performing arts by Kumu Hula Etua Lopes and his Halau Na Pua U‘i O Hawai‘i.  Kindly bring a beach [...]

• Helene Hale to Receive Zonta Rose Award

  Damon

  8 Feb 2010 | 7:30 pm

  Media Release: In recognition of United Nations International Woman’s Day, the Zonta Club of Hilo will present its Rose Award to Helene Hale for her lifetime of service as an elected official representing Hawaii County. Ms. Hale, 91, will receive the award at a dinner sponsored by the Zontians March 8 at 5:30 p.m. in the Naniloa [...]

• Waimea HIHS Bark Park Yard Sale… Saturday 2/20/10

  Damon

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:42 am

  Got stuff? Want stuff? Either way, mark your calendar for Saturday, February 20 from 8:00 a.m. to noon for the Hawaii Island Humane Society’s Yard Sale to be held in Waimea at the shelter’s Bark Park. Donations are being accepted so it’s an excellent time for some early spring cleaning. And for bargain hunters, we can guarantee [...]

• The Saints by 3!!!

  Damon

  7 Feb 2010 | 9:24 am

  My Superbowl prediction… Saints 27 Colts 24 Filed under: Announcements, Sports Tagged: Superbowl Prediction

• The Submarine Trip I Missed Out On!!!

  Damon

  6 Feb 2010 | 8:19 pm

  I was invited to go on the following Submarine Trip: http://urbanmixplate.honadvblogs.com/2010/01/30/embarking-on-the-uss-santa-fe-part-1/ http://urbanmixplate.honadvblogs.com/2010/01/31/a-day-on-the-uss-santa-fe-part-2/ http://urbanmixplate.honadvblogs.com/2010/02/01/a-day-on-the-uss-santa-fe-part-3/ And Nathan Kam’s Blog Posting: http://kamfamily.wordpress.com/2010/01/31/video-on-the-sail-of-the-uss-santa-fe/ Unfortunately, as most of you know… I was hired as the Big Island East Hawaii Census Supervisor and I was doing training when this happened the other week. However… I…

• 
  Free Money Finance

• Anyone Buy Physical Assets?

  NA

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:45 am

  I was at breakfast the other day when my friend (a financial advisor) said that he was buying lots of silver. He had it in both bars and coins and was getting it from a contact he had in Texas. No, he wasn't trying to sell it to me, it just came up in casual conversation. He said he was buying it as a hedge against inflation as well as in case of an economic meltdown. (FYI, he was storing it in his home.) He said he preferred silver because it had both investment value as well as utility uses (in manufacturing) and he felt it would hold its value no matter what happened with the economy. A…

• How to Get a Raise in the Worst of Times

  NA

  9 Feb 2010 | 2:29 am

  Here's an email I recently received from a reader: I greatly enjoy your blog which inspired me to manage my career actively. I’m an engineer with Master's degree and MBA. I’m a very hardworking professional, always do more than my usual responsibilities and do my work with utmost clarity. I show great leadership at my work, and often give money saving and revenue generation ideas to management.  Due to economic reasons, there are no salary raises at our company. I promised myself to get a raise to prove that a bad economy is not a hindrance for career/salary growth. Last year, using my…

• The One Thing You Can Do to Make Your Resume Stand Out

  NA

  8 Feb 2010 | 1:45 pm

  The Wall Street Journal tells us how the hiring process really works. But the part I really noticed were their comments on the one thing you can do to get your resume out of the slush pile. The summary: What's more, recruiters will only review applications that show a person meets a job's basic qualifications, based on screening questions, she says. One common exception many firms make: A job hunter who is referred by an employee or other trusted source. A referred candidate may be given immediate attention, potentially speeding them to the interview stage. Michelle Vasquez, 43, says she…

• Office Depot's Strange Way of Applying Coupons

  NA

  8 Feb 2010 | 8:45 am

  A week or so before Christmas I had a bit of personal and stocking-stuffer shopping left to do. So I headed to Office Depot armed with my "$10 off a purchase of $50 or more" coupon. My purchases looked something like this (I'm approximating prices and leaving out tax to make this example simple -- but how the discount was applied is 100% true): Plastic chair mat: $25Desk accessories: $15Stocking stuffer #1: $5Stocking stuffer #2: $3Laptop table: $20 Total: $68 Most stores would ring this up as $68 less the $10 coupon equals $58. Not Office Depot (at least not mine.) They took the $10 savings…

• BOM Carnival #37

  NA

  8 Feb 2010 | 7:29 am

  The latest Best of Money Carnival is up now with the winning post being Should Married Couples Have Joint or Separate Bank Accounts? Enjoy!

• 
  Manage By Walking Around

• Most Popular Blogs

  Jonathan

  7 Feb 2010 | 3:26 pm

  “Which blogs are the most popular?” It’s a question I’ve started hearing again lately, especially as many of my work colleagues have begun experimenting with social media.  This is an unanswerable measurement question, just like for analyst relations or marine terminal gates.   To try to answer the question, many people cite Technorati’s Top Blogs as a ranking of blog traffic.    Only it’s not. Technorati’s top 5 ranked blogs as of Feb 1, 2010 are as follows: The Huffington Post Engadget Gizmodo Mashable! TechCrunch The Technorati Authority metric is based on the number of…

• Speedlinking, Jan 2010

  Jonathan

  25 Jan 2010 | 10:23 pm

  Speedlinking on management styles and 2010 predictions: New research from The Work Foundation suggests that outstanding performance comes from people-centric leadership rather than target-driven, micro-management.  The authors observe that “outstanding leaders are focused on performance but they see people as the means of achieving great performance and themselves as enablers. They don’t seek out the limelight for themselves but challenge, stretch and champion others, giving them the space and support to excel.” An excerpt from The Contract, a poem by William Ayot:  And…

• 2010 New Year’s Resolutions

  Jonathan

  3 Jan 2010 | 8:41 pm

  I’ve never been a big fan of New Year’s resolutions as the once-per-year goal settings usually come with unrealistic targets.  Without reasonable goals, resolutions take a back seat to day-to-day realities.  In fact, a recent Marist poll shows that, while nearly 50% of Americans are likely to make resolutions, 35% of them don’t keep them for longer than a few days.  Despite this, in the spirit of the resolution season, here are my own top 10: Less BlackBerry reading; more blackberry eating Avoid 2010 meaning that I traveled to 20 cities on 10 airlines Leverage twitter without…

• First Mover Advantage

  Jonathan

  27 Dec 2009 | 9:14 pm

  During the holidays, I had the chance to re-read one of my favorite marketing books: The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Ries and Trout.  While many people seem to think that the book is no longer relevant, I was more than a little surprised by how of much of the book I remembered and how much it still applies 15 years later. Over the years, I’ve frequently cited the Law of the Category: “if you can’t be first in a category, set up a new category that you can be first in.”  The classic example comes from the early solo flights across the Atlantic.  While many people remember that…

• Are Non-Cash Rewards Better Than Cash?

  Jonathan

  20 Dec 2009 | 10:58 pm

  It’s the holiday season and I’m faced with my annual dilemma: How do I thank a small number of employees who have disproportionately supported the company’s and my own success over the last year?  For most of my career, I’ve believed that non-cash rewards were better than cash.  After all, cash gets used for next months’ car payment, to pay down a credit card balance, or for a night on the town. Cash disappears. I’ve noticed this behavior regardless of whether the cash is included in their pay checks, provided as a separate incentive, or given as a spot bonus. Maritz, a sales…

• 
  Wise Bread

• Ask the Readers: Is Valentine's Day Too Commercial? (Chance to win $20!)

  Linsey Knerl

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:00 am

  By Linsey Knerl Regardless of whether you're madly in love, or bitter about the past, Valentine's Day has gotten to be a big deal -- especially for the companies that sell little chocolates and heart-shaped jewelry. While most people rejoice in the opportunity to get some special attention on the holiday (especially after married life and kids has started to take toll), others are burnt out by the consumer message of "buy this" and feel like it's just another excuse to buy, buy, buy. Where do you stand on the V-day debate? Are you just happy to finally get a chance to do something…

• Buy-and-Hold Investing: 4 Ways to Make It More Effective

  WC Porter

  9 Feb 2010 | 9:00 am

  By WC Porter The buy-and-hold investing strategy is kind of like my dad's 1981 Toyota pickup truck: dependable, reliable, old, and a little raggedy looking. It's been around forever and everyone always takes it for granted. But every time it breaks down, people tell him to dump it already. Enough with the 29-year old car already, they say. Buy and hold investing just had a break down and everyone is rushing to claim it's no longer a valid investing strategy. If you read the news about investing, you'd think buy-and-hold was outdated, antiquated, and broken. I do believe it needs a fresh coat…

• Best Deals for Tuesday 02/09/2010

  Linsey Knerl

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:17 am

  96 bags of Traditional Medicinals Tea at Amazon.com for $19 + free shipping IKEA : Up to 50% off select in-store items, kids eat for free Michael Buble "Special Delivery" MP3 album download only $1 Bruno Magli Footwear 75% off , Styles from $70 + $7 Shipping! Free $25 Visa GC when you Test Drive a Kia Sorento

• I Hate My Job -- Now What?

  Amy Lu

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:00 am

  By Amy Lu You hate your job, but what can you do about it? First, assess your situation to determine what your next step should be. Learn how to survive at a job you hate, how to get out without hurting your career, and what you can do to not hate your next job. Use these links to jump ahead to any section. Assessing Your Situation Making Changes at Work Getting Out of the Job Finding a Job that Makes You Happy If you recently lost your job, take a look at Wise Bread's collection of tips and resources for the recently laid off. Assessing Your Situation 10 Important Signs Your Job Might Be…

• Frugal Gluten-Free Living: Gluten-Free Desserts

  Sonja Stewart

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

  By Sonja Stewart Being gluten-free sometimes feels like you have a rich person disease. Trouble is, I don't know many rich people these days, but I know quite a few gluten intolerant folks. So what are us paupers to do? Rejoice! You don't need to sacrifice your wallet to satisfy your sweet tooth. I've compiled a gluten-free desert list for those watching their spending. Chex Muddy Buddies (These were my first venture out into the world of gluten-free desserts. My goodness. They are incredible. Highly addicting, so baker beware!) 9 cups Chex cereal 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips ½ cup…

• 
  Don't Mess With Taxes

• Stick it to the tax man

  skbell1

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:21 am

  Folks tend to get creative at tax time. Usually, though, the innovation involves entries on Form 1040 and associated schedules. But one crafty woman has come up with another way we can stick it to the tax man. Erin, who's known as sewsewsuckurtoe on Etsy, has created the Tax Man pin cushion you see there to the right. She says that the idea came to her "at tax time when I was busy sewing voodoo doll pin cushions and took a break to write those wonderful checks that needed to be mailed in before April 15th." Now while the inspiration for the tax man sewing accessory arrived…

• The week's first giveaway goes to ...

  skbell1

  8 Feb 2010 | 4:31 pm

  Ashok! Congratulations on being our 11th winner of a CCH CompleteTax online tax software access code Sorry for being so late today. It's been a Monday all over! We're heading into the homestretch of this first round of tax-related contests. Four more CCH access codes will be handed out this week. If you want a chance to get one of them, all you have to do is enter. Details on how to do so are in Tax software giveaway time! Full disclosure:Just so everyone knows, I'm not getting anything from CCH except 15 tax preparation online access codes that I'll pass along over the…

• Taking taxes directly from bank accounts

  skbell1

  8 Feb 2010 | 12:35 pm

  Tax departments are somewhat analogous to Blanche Dubois. But rather than kindness, they depend upon the compliance of strangers taxpayers. Missouri's governor, however, thinks it's time for his state to rethink its policy of waiting for voluntary payments. Gov. Jay Nixon wants state revenue officials to be able to seize delinquent taxes directly from people's bank accounts. Whoa there cowboy. You are definitely going to have to show me that this is a good idea. OK, Nixon isn't talking about Missouri tax collectors diving into every taxpayer's bank account. Rather,…

• Talking taxes: Adjusting your withholding

  skbell1

  8 Feb 2010 | 6:32 am

  Every year I swear I'm going to do some podcasts here on the ol' blog. Then tax season arrives and I get swamped. Thank goodness for Flexo and Tom. In addition to being podcasters extraordinaire at Consumerism Commentary, this tax season they're recording spots for TurboTax's blog Tax Break. So I was jazzed when Flexo and Tom invited me to be part of the program. It's always fun to literally talk taxes. Even better, they edited our conversation so that I sound really cool discussing why and how to adjust your payroll withholding. Thanks guys!Related posts: New year,…

• Were you a Super Bowl bet winner?

  skbell1

  7 Feb 2010 | 7:02 pm

  Congratulations to the Saints for their win in Super Bowl XLIV. Now to the big tax question. Were you also a winner when it came to a bet on who would take home the Lombardi Trophy?If you did pocket a few (or more) extra bucks thanks to the efforts of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and teammates, be sure to share with Uncle Sam. Remember, gambling winnings are taxable income.I'm sure, however, that all those ecstatic New Orleans fans who put their hearts and money on their team won't be complaining too much.Prop bet P.S.: Well, I would have lost big on the Kim Kardashian TV shots prop bet…

• 
  Internet Marketing for Tourism

• How to Invest in Video: Shooting Video (Part 1 of 3)

  Todd Lucier

  7 Feb 2010 | 7:16 pm

  Online Video viewership continues to grow, making production and distribution of video a must for any tourism business serious about marketing on the Web. ComScore reports the average viewer watches 187 videos per month in the U.S.  In the month of December 178 million people watched 33.2 billion videos. How to Invest in Video: There are three essential ingredients to getting started with video: shooting video editing and producing video posting and sharing video This first of a three part series on investing in video focuses on 14 Keys to think about in Shooting Video. Prepare an informed…

• What if Google SideWiki was in everyone’s browser?

  Todd Lucier

  20 Jan 2010 | 3:47 pm

  Google SideWiki is a plugin for Google Chrome that allows people to add comments to existing Web pages.  The comments are viewable by others using Google SideWiki in a Chrome browser.  Oh, and you need to have a Google account too! At present, less than 10,000 users have SideWiki installed, so its usefulness is extremely limited.  But it might be useful to tourism businesses now or in the future. Current uses could include gathering usability suggestions for shared Web sites or helping clients or staff find and correct errors or omissions. In the future, such tools could enable…

• Facebook Innovation: improving on Twitter’s ideas

  Todd Lucier

  18 Jan 2010 | 6:42 am

  Facebook becomes more like Twitter It’s clear that Facebook has size and growth that easily diminishes that of Twitter.  However Facebook has been watching twitter steal quite a bit of the media limelight for it’s instantaneous distribution of news! Facebook’s improvements on Twitter innovations have been many including: changing of  Facebook privacy settings and terms of service to encourage much wider distribution of status updates, photos and more.   Better than Twitter which by default makes all posts public; distribution can be customized for each Facebook status…

• Creating a Killer app for your DMO (podcast)

  Todd Lucier

  17 Jan 2010 | 4:06 pm

  My conversation with David Janes @dpjanes (Discover Anywhere Mobile) asks the question: Are a you Destination Marketing Organization or a Destination Make-them-spend-more-money-in-your-region Organization? Download Podcast In this 40 minute conversation, David and I cover a number of interesting content ideas for destination apps including: underestimating the growth of mobile understanding the needs of digital traveler the importance of finding the right partners marketing Web apps in a destination the importance of GPS location relevant data for the traveler the irrelevance of regional…

• How to Add a Facebook FanBox to your Blog or Web page (updated)

  Todd Lucier

  14 Jan 2010 | 3:29 pm

  How to add a Facebook Fan Box to your blog or Web page. From your Fan Page, Click Edit Page Bottom right click Promote with a Fan Box Choose the details you want to share on your page and choose where to add Widget Paste the html code into your blog or website If you want your Web page to be fresh, include stream of updates. Then copy the html code that appears in the box below and paste into your blog or Web site. Tweet This

• 
  Travel & Tourism Technology Trends

• Should You Accept Credit Cards for Your Tours & Activities

  Stephen Joyce

  1 Feb 2010 | 7:53 pm

  Prerequisites: You’re looking at various ways your customers could pay you. Estimated Time for Completion: 20 min reading time Details: There is no doubt that credit cards are a major part of e-commerce.  The question is whether or not you should or need to accept credit cards with your tourism related business.  There are a number of pros and cons to accepting payment by credit card, whether or not you choose to accept payment by credit card will depend on your comfort level with the terms of accepting credit card payments.  Here are some pros and cons of accepting credit cards:…

• Creating Videos that Inspire & Sell

  Stephen Joyce

  29 Jan 2010 | 7:35 pm

  Prerequisites: You have decided to make video part of your tourism business, you’ve learned the basics of shooting video for the web, and now you’re ready to make better videos. Estimated Time for Completion: 20 min reading time Details: So now that you’ve got the basic video requirements down, you’ve got a place to host your sites, and you understand the basics of shooting video for the web, the next question is… how do you make your videos more compelling and actually generate revenue from them.  To be clear however, we are not referring to making money from…

• Best Sites to Host Your Tour & Activity Videos

  Stephen Joyce

  28 Jan 2010 | 7:05 pm

  Prerequisites: You should have a few videos ready for uploading to a video sharing and hosting site. Estimated Time for Completion: 20 min reading time, 15 min. execution Details: There are a number of video hosting and sharing sites on the Internet.  Which one, though, is the best for hosting your tour and activity videos?  That depends on how you want to share your videos and how much control you want over where your potential customers see your video.  Here are my top five recommended video hosting sites: Youtube Youtube is by far the 10,000 lb. gorilla of video hosting sites.  Videos…

• When travelling means one last chance to live

  danielebeccari

  28 Jan 2010 | 2:35 pm

  For the last week or so I have been communicating with my friend Daniele Beccari from isango! He and his family are going through a terrible medical ordeal and he has reached out to his friends and colleagues for help in spreading the word and raising money to help cover the immense costs.  I cannot imagine the hardship Daniele and his family are going through, but anything I can do as a friend and colleague to help I will.  Please take a moment and consider the distances you would travel to save a loved one. Guest Author, Daniele Beccari – I never thought that travel would one day be…

• Online Video & Podcasting Secrets for Destinations

  ryanbifulco

  28 Jan 2010 | 1:44 pm

  Guest Author, Ryan Bifulco, TravelSpike.com – Destinations are always looking for ways to market and promote themselves. Every Destination offers something unique to visitors and locals alike, and a short video is one of the best ways to showcase what you have to the world. Many DMOs still seem to think that online video and podcasts are for kids, but times have changed and the stats below back that up. According to PhoCusWright, 90% of U.S. online travelers have been influenced by fellow travelers posting blogs, online videos, travel podcasts and reviews. 80% of Baby Boomers are ONLINE…

• 
  Travel Industry

• NFL Conned by Vegas Sock Puppets

  P. Ling

  8 Feb 2010 | 8:56 pm

  A Super Bowl ad by KIA Motors with sock puppets in Vegas is drawing heavy fire from the NFL for violating its ban on Vegas casinos. The NFL must be very peeved, because the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) got to have the outlawed cake and eat it too, since they didn’t pay for an ad this year. KIA Super Bowl ad Titled Joyride Dream, the 60-second third quarter KIA spot follows a colorful cast of life-size children’s characters – including Muno, Sock Monkey, MR. X, Robot and Teddy Bear – who take a Sorento CUV for a spin through a series of…

• UK Tourism Hoping for Year-Round Daylight Saving Time

  P. Ling

  7 Feb 2010 | 8:39 pm

  Comments made by Prime Minister Gordon Brown regarding the adoption of year-round daylight saving time aka Single Double Summer Time (SDST) have stirred UK tourism’s hopes of gaining an extra hour of leisure activity and an additional £3.5 billion a year in economic benefits. Daylight Saving If the plan is approved, clocks would be put forward by an hour, so winter time would be GMT+1 and summer would be GMT+2. In addition to the £3.5 billion boost, SDST would also add 80,000 jobs to the tourism industry, reduce accidents and the associated expenses, and produce possible energy…

• RV Pushing the Road Trip Dream Yet?

  P. Ling

  5 Feb 2010 | 11:48 pm

  The Recreational Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) forecasts 8.5 million RV owning households in the United States as of 2010, serviced by more than 12,000 RV-related businesses with combined annual revenues of $37.5 billion and a payroll of $4.9 billion. Phil and Carol White That’s impressive enough, but look beyond the numbers and dollars and the RV industry holds the key to something far more important – Inspiration. They produce travel junkies willing and able to hit the road at the drop of a hat. Over 1 million Americans now live a completely nomadic life, and the number…

• DHS Might Create Office of Travel

  P. Ling

  5 Feb 2010 | 4:18 am

  In response to allegations of waste in travel spending levelled at the Department of Homeland Security by its own Inspector General, the DHS could be forced to create an ‘Office of Travel’ to handle and oversee all its travel and maintain records. Janet Napolitano visits FEMA HQ To look into the allegations made in the report, a congressional hearing was called by the House Subcommittee on Management, Investigations, and Oversight on Feb 4, 2010. After the hearing titled “Furthering the Mission or Having Fun: Lax Travel Policies Cost DHS Millions,” the…

• California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Disses Florida, Iowa Tourism

  P. Ling

  3 Feb 2010 | 8:23 pm

  First it was Pres. Obama with his comments about Vegas, and now it’s California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s turn. He says Florida is ‘for the old people’ and that no one wants to take a vacation in Iowa. CA Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger In his appearance at the Next American Economy conference in San Jose, CA hosted by The Brookings Institution, the Governor noted that California has a reputation as a destination. He then said that people all over the world want to visit California, but there’s no one screaming “I can’t wait to get to…

• 
  Sheila's Guide To The Good Stuff

• Talking travel, tourism and social media with Des Walsh

  Sheila Scarborough

  8 Feb 2010 | 1:59 pm

  Last week I enjoyed spending 30 minutes on Blog Talk Radio with Australian entrepreneur and coach Des Walsh.  He has a regular program called Des Walsh and Friends, with a wide variety of guests all discussing some aspect of technology and business. The noteworthy advantage of Blog Talk Radio (or any “Internet radio” service) is that not only can you listen live, but the shows are usually archived if you can’t be there at broadcast time, plus they’re also downloadable for later listening on your iPod or other digital audio player. It gives radio/audio the worldwide…

• Can you see this? Let’s talk Web accessibility

  Sheila Scarborough

  31 Jan 2010 | 12:21 pm

  You won’t find a more powerful advocate for making the Web accessible to everyone than Glenda Watson Hyatt.  She has cerebral palsy but is able to control her left thumb, so that is how she does all of her typing and work on her terrific Do It Myself blog. All of it. With her left thumb. It was particularly mind-blowing when she used a variety of technologies (including an electronic voice named Kate to sync to her slides) to give a presentation last year at the Chicago SOBCon social Web conference about how to make one’s blog accessible to those with disabilities.  (Here is a…

• Un-fry your brain with blog burnout remedies

  Sheila Scarborough

  26 Jan 2010 | 7:04 pm

  This past Sunday evening’s #blogchat discussion on Twitter caught my eye – the topic was dealing with and avoiding blogger burnout. You can get the full transcript of the tweets here (great for giving people a sense of how an hour-long hashtagged topic-specific “talk” on Twitter can work) but here are a few of my favorite ideas from host @MackCollier’s very helpful summary blog post about the chat: **  Switch things up and try doing a podcast or video post - @mtlb **  Bring in new bloggers or have others do guest posts - @eric_urbane **  Try using an…

• A new twist on destination marketing with radio

  Sheila Scarborough

  22 Jan 2010 | 7:07 am

  While checking Twitter the other day I saw a tweet from the Beaumont (TX) CVB that they were live on a local AM radio station in town, and they invited their Twitter followers to listen in. Since I went to high school in Beaumont, I clicked the link in their tweet out of curiosity. I’m not a big talk radio person (don’t have a commute and prefer music while working at home) and like many people today I rarely listen to AM radio. But this was AM radio for geeks, because AM 1300 KSET also live-streams shows to the Web. That means that not only can people in Beaumont and a few…

• Ideas for a travel and tourism Web site overhaul

  Sheila Scarborough

  9 Jan 2010 | 7:06 am

  There’s a lot of action going on right now in my Travel 2.0 LinkedIn Group. One of the members (Mike Huber, working with a commercial Arizona travel company not affiliated with the Arizona Office of Tourism ) asked this question titled Revamping a Website to include Web 2.0 features: “We are in the process of totally overhauling http://www.arizonatourism.com.  Before we get too far down the road, I’d love some advice on what you think we need to include in the initial overhaul. Are there any travel sites you’d recommend we should emulate or any ‘must have’…

• 
  ruraltourismmarketing.com

• Small Town Chambers of Commerce, Mobilize Your Businesses and Showcase Your Town For Free On Google Place Pages

  Joanne Steele

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:36 pm

  I’m trying to stick to a consistent strategy of writing about issues for towns on Tuesday. For rural communities, individual local business listings with the Google Local Business Center is a small town-wide issue. Free Google Local Business Listings If someone is driving by, for instance, Clinton, Indiana, and uses their mobile phone to look for a [...]

• Are You Taking Your Most Loyal Customers For Granted?

  Joanne Steele

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:01 am

  Rural tourism businesses aren’t the only ones who spend buckets of money and untold hours trying to attract new customers while taking their loyal customers for granted. Think about it. How much time in the last several weeks of planning your 2010 marketing have you thought about those special people who book trips with you almost every [...]

• Time Management Tip for Small Town Tourism Businesses – Handling All That Paper Clutter.

  Joanne Steele

  5 Feb 2010 | 1:03 pm

  I am old enough to remember the first promise of the Internet – that is was going to save so much paper. Are you laughing as you wade through yesterday’s junque mail and all that stuff you printed from your email this week? Paper is causing us three problems: What to save. When to handle the stuff [...]

• Small Town Local Marketing Using Post Cards Works

  Joanne Steele

  4 Feb 2010 | 10:33 am

  Yesterday I sorted through the pile of literature I brought home from last week’s conference keeping some and recycling most. My “keep” pile included business cards, of course, and it also included a significant number of post cards. Then I looked at the front of my refrigerator. It’s decorated with post cards I’ve picked up from a [...]

• How to Encourage Good Customer Service in Small Tourism Towns.

  Joanne Steele

  2 Feb 2010 | 1:12 pm

  Towns looking for a way to improve customer service and delivery of accurate visitor information, take note of what Klamath Falls, Oregon is doing. For the past 16 years the Klamath Falls, Oregon region has had an organization devoted to supporting and recognizing excellent customer service and to providing accurate area information to visitors. The organization is [...]

• 
  Deep Dish Creative

• Foursquare for Tourism

  DeepDish

  8 Feb 2010 | 12:30 am

  Chances are you’ve heard of location-based smart phone applications like Foursquare, Yelp, GoWalla, and MyTown, etc. Even if you don’t use a smart phone, know that your visitors are. Haven’t heard of it? Foursquare is a smart phone application that defines itself as: Foursquare aims to encourage people to explore their neighborhoods and then reward people [...]

• Why I love working with biz’s that GET social media

  DeepDish

  5 Feb 2010 | 8:38 am

  Most of my design clientele, like restaurants, hotels, event marketer-types, have been very slow to get on the Social Media bandwagon. Not for lack of interest (mostly) but for lack of time and inclination. After all, its just one more thing they’ve got to manage in their busy schedules. As far as they are concerned, the [...]

• Getting on the Location-based App bandwagon

  DeepDish

  1 Feb 2010 | 12:30 am

  Chances are you’ve heard of location-based smart phone applications like Foursquare, Yelp, Twitter, etc. Even if you don’t use a smart phone, know that your tourists, day-trippers, and convention attendees are. Considering the popularity and constant improved technology of mobile devices, it makes sense that a CVB should adopt these tools. After all, you do [...]

• A brief rendevous with employment

  DeepDish

  1 Feb 2010 | 12:15 am

  Last month I wandered back into the world of cubicles and corporate design – but only temporarily. I was filling in as a “freelance on-site” designer at a small toy manufacturer here in New England. I say small only because they produce a rather exclusive line of products. Upon being asked to work on-site I [...]

• Twitter for Restaurants eBook reviewed!

  DeepDish

  6 Jan 2010 | 4:30 am

  A fellow tweep, Zachary Cohen (@ZacharyCohen) posted a really nice review of the official Twitter for Restaurants guide. Zac is a social media strategist specializing in the restaurant and hospitality industries, so I like to think he knows what he’s talking about! Check out the article here >>. How did we connect? Through Twitter of course. [...]

• 
  Travel Online Partners (TOP)

• TOP Radio: State of Tourism and Technology in 2010

  Andy Hayes

  8 Feb 2010 | 8:00 am

  We’re very excited to present the first edition of TOP Radio, our new podcast series.  Every month we’ll feature guests and discussions on relevant industry topics and technology news.  We thought it would be fitting to start off the first radio podcast of the year talking about The State of Tourisman hour of frank discussion about the big picture on travel and technology. Why is it called TOP Radio? Well, the reason we call it a radio show is to illustrate the fact that while the delivery means and mechanisms have changed entirely, the principles are the same, just like in…

• Automating Your Tweets and An Update on Twitter Lists

  Andy Hayes

  3 Feb 2010 | 8:00 am

  So, you’ve downloaded and read Twitter is Just a Personality Contest.  You get the lingo, you’ve got in and started playing around.  You linked your blog up to Twitter with Twitterfeed and you’re making some great conversations with your followers.  But you want a shortcut to save you some time, because you’re having a hard time updating Twitter while on the road our out with your paying customers. Introducing HootSuite Mari Smith and I actually mentioned Hootsuite last week in our Facebook for Travel and Tourism call.  That’s because this tool actually…

• 3 Ways to Annoy Your Customers Via Email

  Andy Hayes

  1 Feb 2010 | 8:00 am

  Savvy entrepreneurs know that email is a very powerful marketing tool.  It is a low cost way to establish a top-of-mind presence with your customers.  But a lot of companies take advantage of email, to their own detriment, and instead of making a connection with that customer, they just end up annoying them.  So, with that, let me tell you a story. My Story Last year, I attended a presentation at a conference by a large travel technology consulting firm (who will remain nameless to protect the guilty).  At the end of the presentation, the speaker offered to send the slide pack to anyone…

• Remarkable Tourism Makes the World A Better Place

  Andy Hayes

  29 Jan 2010 | 8:00 am

  As you may or may not know, this month we’ve been talking about how remarkable is the new tourism marketing.  Lame products and services aren’t good enough any more.  The businesses in tourism that will do well in the future are transforming themselves to be amazing and remarkable.   I’d like to highlight a small tourism group that is doing far more than their fare share of being remarkable.  It’s the team behind the Authentic Seacoast Brand in Nova Scotia. I actually know their VP of Marketing & Communications, Doug, via their very active and…

• Steal this Marketing Idea and Think Like Think Sicily

  Andy Hayes

  27 Jan 2010 | 8:00 am

  Struggling for a way to present your product or service online in a creative way?  Don’t think it is possible?  Think again – and start thinking like The Thinking Traveller’s Think Sicily brand. Think Sicily is an information portal behind the brand offering luxury and exclusive villas.    It’s a well-branded and easy to navigate site to learn more about both the company’s product as well as information about Sicily.  It’s well worth having a look because they’re doing a lot of things right. Why Their Site is Better Than the Rest You can choose a…

• 
  Tnooz

• In cunning move, Tripwolf adopts freemium model for iPhone

  Dennis Schaal

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:57 am

  Tripwolf, the Vienna-based online travel-guide provider, introduced a new version of its iPhone app, which provides some free content, but offers mobile users certain premium destination content for $5.99 or € 4,99.

• HolidayAutos driving forward with full-scale redesign

  Kevin May

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:18 am

  Lastminute.com-owned car hire brand HolidayAutos is rolling out a new website this week ahead of other changes expected to take place in the coming weeks.

• Rolling bitesize job news – latest appointments, moves, restructures

  Kevin May

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:55 am

  The most recent job briefs, including appointments, recruitment initiatives, moves and restructures published here. Latest: TripAdvisor.

• WorldMate battles TripIt for LinkedIn hearts and minds

  Dennis Schaal

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

  WorldMate, which keys in on business travelers with its itinerary management service, claims it has trumped competitor TripIt's LinkedIn capabilities with the launch of a WorldMate Blackberry app that enables users to find nearby LinkedIn connections or those in other cities.

• Sabre’s GetThere, BCD Travel in distribution agreement

  Dennis Schaal

  9 Feb 2010 | 5:48 am

  BCD Travel, the global travel management company, signed a global distribution agreement with Sabre's GetThere, making BCD Travel a reseller of the corporate self-booking tool.