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Order Radically Transparent NOW & Save 39% 34%

posted on February 21, 2008

(UPDATE: Amazon is no longer listing the book as a pre-order. You can still save 34% (the largest discount) by ordering from Amazon.)

OK, I’m not sure how many book authors do this, but I’m going to share with you a secret that will help you save a whopping 39% off my new book Radically Transparent: Monitoring and Managing Reputations Online.

After months of writing and editing, the book started shipping from the warehouse this week. I’m in England right now, but my wife tells me that I have copies waiting for me at home. As you might guess, I’m giddy with excitement.

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Google Wifi Balloons? Is it April Fools 2008 Already?

posted on February 21, 2008

UPDATE: Looking for Google’s official April Fools joke for 2008? It’s here.

If I hadn’t read it in the Wall Street Journal I’d be as skeptical as Techdirt, but it appears Google might be interested in a company that deploys wifi-equipped balloons.

OK, let that sink in.

Yes, a company that attaches $1500 of wireless technology to $50 balloons, uses farmers to release them, watches them burst after 24 hours then, get this, little parachutes bring the transmitters safely back to earth!

Say it with me…”Are You Kidding Me?”

It sounds so absurd that I really don’t know where to start. Seriously, I’m lost for words. Is it April Fools already?

Go and read the WSJ piece then come back and let me know what you think about it.

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Worried About Google Health’s Privacy? Don’t Sign-up Then!

posted on February 21, 2008

Following-up a story we first discussed in October, Google has announced the first patients to start testing Google Health.

The pilot project to be announced Thursday will involve 1,500 to 10,000 patients at the Cleveland Clinic who volunteered to an electronic transfer of their personal health records so they can be retrieved through Google’s new service, which won’t be open to the general public.

Each health profile, including information about prescriptions, allergies and medical histories, will be protected by a password that’s also required to use other Google services such as e-mail and personalized search tools.

And with the announcement, we have all kinds of scary stories about lack of privacy and security that comes with Google taking hold of your health records.

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Video Publishers Get Access to Google AdSense for Video

posted on February 21, 2008

Google will today announce the beta launch of AdSense for Video–allowing video publishers to run graphical and text ads alongside their video content.

ClickZ has the details:

The beta program is an extension of Google’s In-Stream Video Ads, in operation since last May, but will center on the different ad formats now being made available. Graphical overlay ads, similar to what the company offers with certain YouTube videos, temporarily cover 20 percent of a video, and will be priced on a CPM basis. Text overlay ads, which appear as semi-transparent layers over the video or as a logo, will be cost-per-click, according to the company. The beta program will not place pre-roll, post-roll or interstitial video ads with video content.

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Linky Goodness, February 20

posted on February 20, 2008

Today, instead of brownies, these linky, gooey goodnesses are like fresh, homemade “Amish” friendship bread.

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Why You Should Ignore Most Link Requests

posted on February 20, 2008

We all get these emails: the link requests. Even if you’re all for paid links, you have to admit that most of the the generic link request emails floating around are a pretty poor investment—permanent links on interior pages with a low, one-time payment. I’ve gotten offers as low as $10 or $20. Rather than reply with “No, thanks, I’ll just keep my eyes open for loose change,” I usually ignore them.

Darren Rowse of ProBlogger gets his fair share of these proposals. He actually takes the time to reply that he’s not interested. Today (tomorrow, actually, but it’s just that whole international date line thing) he posted not just the initial email but a long conversation from a would-be link seller. Over the course of more than two weeks, the seller insistently emails Darren more than ten times. Darren’s consistent reply: “Sorry, not interested.” From the exchange (these are the 9th and 10th emails in the conversation):

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Disney Creates Magic Online

posted on February 20, 2008

Following record traffic to their site in January, Walt Disney‘s Internet Group (WDIG), has created a new team called Disney Online Studios. The team will focus on expanding Disney’s popular games, virtual worlds, and social networks aimed at kids.

This follows success they’ve had building virtual worlds and communities around their brands. Examples are the award-winning Disney.com XD, Pirates of the Caribbean Online, and Toontown Online. The newest virtual world they have announced is called Pixie Hollow, which is a take on DisneyFairies.com. It will launch later this year.

Disney.com recently reported that Disney.com gets over 27 million unique visitors a month. Most of their visitors come for games and entertainment.

I wonder how many other big brands would benefit from creating rather than advertising in virtual communities.