Technically Speaking

Early this week, I said I was going to try to just stay off of twitter entirely. See if I could do it. With business the way it currently is at Lookery and all the cool data that is being shown for free - it was simply impossible! Now many people don’t believe that twitter’s way of communicating is effective business, but we seem to thrive on it with a tweet or three a week.

As you look at my stats, you can clearly see who my audience is and where they are coming from. But since this blog doesn’t get a whole ton of traffic, you should really check out some cool high traffic sites in our network.

Anyone running a site can benefit from statistics like this, and it’s simply signing up and registering your site. Than another 10 seconds to copy and paste the code into your site(s) page(s). Pretty simple. Almost like Google Analytics code, yes, that simple! Not only that, if you are not running ads on your site but rather do that on your own - you now have compelling data to show potential advertisers of your site(s) demographics.

Enough about work, it’s time to hit the buffet! Not literally of course, too many pushy people that like to do the unthinkable - backing up in the buffet line. Actually though, I did hit the buffet for real this week.

Seriously now, one item of interest I saw this morning was about AOL buying SocialThing. Is this a good deal or bad deal? Considering I was reading recently of how AOL is hanging on to a thread of life. Or do they still call that reorganization? My thought was that AOL was going to be bought, but apparently it’s just a shuffle the deck move once again. At least the guys over at SocialThing have now confirmed the deal.

The other item of interest it seems is all the Olympic coverage or lack thereof. I have actually watched like 10 minutes of coverage, beach volleyball. You can get pretty good coverage of what is happening on the major sites such as SI.

I’m glad to see that it appears a cease fire has been signed between Russia and Georgia. I was actually keeping up with that news over any Olympic coverage this past week. It seems like no matter what, there is always someone at the games being accused of cheating, or better yet - a war breaks out somewhere that just shows how barbaric humans really are.

One item to keep watching is how Glam is surging almost quietly online. They seem to be the leader these days, and I have read stories in the past few weeks about how they are overtaking the marketplace. When I had other writers on this blog, I was more in tune with such sites as Geek Sugar. I even did some video back in the day. Quite funny that there are still links to the videos. Out of all of them, I think the banana episode was pretty funny.

Technically Speaking, it’s all about the data and wish I had the time to do more videos again! Unfortunately how do you think Lookery serves billions of ads monthly? Well it’s time for me to get to work, that’s how!!

Something I just thought of twitter peeps (the people that actually make twitter work). Maybe you should start putting up ads, you know from an ad network such as Lookery (full disclosure: Rex works for Lookery).

Charge like $20 for a pro account (kind of like what Pownce does), and put all the pro users on a separate server with more reliable uptime. The others that opt not to pay the $20 can be on the regular twitter servers, and if they go down, so be it. They also get the banner ads (a 728×90 and 300×250 above the fold is what I would suggest).

Technically Speaking, making a bit of money off of an ad network is better than making $0. Plus I’d like to see what kind of actual traffic twitter generates on a daily basis. This post is a bit on the selfish side I suppose, but hey - if I’m going to post something with a subject line of “twitter” - I may as well drop in my 2 cents!

It’s been going all day long, and I’m quite happy that Allen at CN kicked off the 2008 year in the right way. He is sitting on top of the Techmeme gauge, and has been for most of the day. Major players are all coming out and giving their 2 cents on the issue. Whether or not twitter has a business model in place, after today, they will have many free ideas.

If they already had one, they may decide to scrap it. There are a lot of good ideas on how to make twitter a very profitable business in 2008. I do have to agree with what Jason’s response to Allen, if you are connected - you get the money. Plain and simple as he noted on twitter earlier today that he has 5 years of funding for Mahalo and is playing the strategic build the business and grow it smartly leader.

Back to twitter. What is making this so more 2008 than 2007 now? It’s been around for a bit longer, and really didn’t grab mainstream tech adoption until last year’s SXSW conference. I’ll admit that I’m a follower as far as the twitter phenomenon goes. It took that event before I adopted and jumped on the twitter bandwagon.

What of the business model. I guess in this day and age, put the product out first and go with the flow. I agree that ideas that are not executed are doomed to stay on that ever winding road that leads you back to where you started. I call that “living in square one, round hole optional” syndrome. While popular business thought says to write a business plan, make a half dozen matrix’s, and crunch all those numbers; in today’s world - that just doesn’t work if you plan to succeed. Why? Because as Jason was saying in his post “We all live in Brooklyn (and need to get out) and need to get to the Valley.”

It’s almost like a band. Unless you get out there and just do it, it never gets done. Believe me, all the bands I was in didn’t have a business model. It never prevented us from reaching a level of success. The only thing that stopped us was the personnel factor or personal issues within the band. As far as a business, any of the bands I have been in could have survived and been a successful business. They were all the same, original music done the old fashioned way. Now would a business model have helped much? Yes and no.

Just in the case of twitter, the idea was the foremost item necessary. Just like a band, the players that wanted to play music and write new tunes were needed, so is twitter. An idea that was based on a basic need for instant communication, done in a Web 2.0 way. Nothing really scientific about it. Nothing really ground breaking on what they are doing. They kept it simple, just like rock n’ roll.

Back to twitter again - why do I like twitter? Well of course I use it to help promote my work, as well as keep in touch with people that I like to chat with. It’s almost like that big water cooler of the cubicle days. I think that twitter has a big future in 2008 as it grabs more mainstream recognition. I also believe that now there are local STL news sites on twitter, it has reached that level of acceptance. For me though, it is like the chatter of the cubicle environment where I use to have a job at.

Technically Speaking, that is why they call it the “Show Me State” (Missouri), as it always seems a bit slow on the technology uptake. I for one of course am not, just as there are also other groups here in the STL that are on the cutting edge. high risk life insurance

Just heard about it on Pownce and Snitter (twitter). San Francisco earthquake - a 5.6. I hope that everyone out there is ok! That proves that twitter and Pownce have a place in the world. Another event first heard on a social tool. Of course there has to be the blog based out of the UK that says it all.

Now here is some official information from the .gov site. Below, you can see some un-official but right on the scene information.

Technically Speaking, time for another beer here in the STL!

Pownce, which is Kevin Rose’s start up has one cool feature that I do like over twitter. That is the ability to upload music that you can share with your friends. As I hear old songs by my old band on my iPod, I have been sharing them via Pownce. Cool right?

Well it’s Friday, so I’ll share them here:

Too Late - Just shared this one today also; this one was a really weird one. The first time I heard it on my iPod, I was like “WTF were we thinking?” We spent a good deal of time re-writing this whole song, and it ended up being some close to 7 minute song.

In The Mix - Just shared this morning. This song actually made it on some compilation CD for the prevention of teenage suicide.

Forever - Shared yesterday. This was a fun song, and for awhile was our set opener.

The Fable - September 20th. Another fun song to play live.

None of those songs made it to the CD we released in 2001. These are demo songs we did, and this was before all the personnel changes a band usually goes through!

Another cool thing about Pownce is the ability to share YouTube videos right in the program. I shared this one out back on September 12th. Kind of funny.

Technically Speaking, I wish twitter would incorporate this feature into their program soon. Enjoy or despise the above music, and have a great weekend!

Telstra apparently sent shockwaves through their company. They cut off Facebook for their employees! The horror! The cruel and unusual punishment! Ok, now that my sarcasm is done, seriously Allen is correct - you sign something at any corporate company I have worked at about internet usage. Does that stop most, such as myself? Nope, you still surf when you can, and when you have nothing to work on. It’s better than talking to your cubicle person who may be busy working on some other project. Nevertheless, the company has the right to do whatever it wants.

twittercal is just another by-product of twitter. Now the thing that interests me is that with twitter receiving funding, how are they going to reign in all these freebie created by someone applications? There are dozens of them, all based off twitter. Kind of like the Google Map API I suppose; all the companies that use that mapping for their core. I guess it’s ok for now, but I just wonder where twitter will make the money.

twitter equals following. Plain and simple. The reason they were funded without a business plan is the same reason that some bands can go forever without a record contract. Following. You want a sound business plan? Build a freakin’ following. If you can do that, you don’t need one. twitter did that.

They built a HUGE following, and basically when you say twitter, people know what you are talking about; just like (for you music types) - say “Cowboy Mouth” - and there is a perfect example of building a following. There are other bands that did the same thing. None had a business plan (pretty sure about that, refute me if you are in a band with a business plan!), all reached a level of success without a record label.

Technically Speaking, it’s a Friday and I just did my Link Blog lock n’ load. Time to get back to work, my e-mail is whistling at me. bodystockings

It’s been quite a busy day for me. I just went through and updated my Link Blog for only the 2nd time today. What I’m doing these days is fun, exciting, and at the same time frustrating at times. You know that being said, I wouldn’t trade it for any day job that I’ve done. Even when I worked in the IT industry full time, I will have to say, this is still 120% more fun.

Well I just went through my Link Blog, as I stated above, and one of the articles that jumped out at me of course is from CenterNetworks. One thing about Allen, he has a great way at putting across the news of the moment. I saw a bunch of articles about the twitter money grab, but he put it across in an engaging and interesting manner. One that grabbed my attention, and made me want to read it. Any article that finishes with the line

I am sure the cats who handle the servers are eating some fine Kibbles ‘n Bits tonight!

deserves to be read.

I will however have to say, even though the article he posted the other day on a great blog that talks about VC funding, I am going to have to lean to what I have always stated. Any freakin’ idea will sell to any VC if you know the right people. If you know how to grab someone’s attention, and hold it for at least 7 minutes, you can sell them another social network. Don’t believe me? Look through any of the major sites to see how many social networks have received $millions in the past 30-45 days.

So where do I stand as far as executive summaries, biz plans, and all that tree killing stuff? Well as a traditionalist I would say “Yes, you should have all of that ready to roll.” As a person that hates to kill trees for any purpose but to burn wood over an open fire, I would say, if you can talk the talk and get in front of some people; show that your product just “works” (twitter), all that stuff can be reserved for an open bonfire on your camping trip.

Another interesting item that I have yet to see is Om’s new show. GigaOm TV. Nice. Now again, I did read Allen’s review of the show earlier today (see guys/gals, I may not be blogging as much, but I am reading and taking note when I get a second!) - and I will have to say, I am still intrigued at watching. That just proves that a bad review or middle of the road interview is not a show stopper.

I agree with what Om said, all that production stuff is hard to deal with. When I was doing the podcast thing last year, 4 nights a week, I will say that was the worst part of it all. I can walk in and plain lay it down. Perform. That’s me. When it comes to producing a show, now that is another story entirely. As many have seen, I forgo any production these days with my occasional video web cam casts. Why? Because I would rather be the talent, and let someone else do the producing stuff. OR, I’d rather just produce and let someone else be the talent. Either or, but not both.

When you have the crew of Revision3 behind you, anything can be cool looking. Unlike the videos that I was in earlier this year that I did produce. The Technically Speaking Live shows, and the Friggin’ Break Reports. Yup, Rev3 could have probably made those shows rock. Unfortunately, being the talent as well as the producer takes quite a bit of time. All of these shows I speak of, podcast or video can be found on my media page.

Finally a “just this in“, well not really. It’s been in for a bit now, but looks like Microsoft is going after anything that strengthens their stake in the world of online advertising. They just acquired this Santa Barbara startup called AdECN Inc. I’m not the first to say anything about it, as I saw the smattering of stories as I went through the Link Blog, and it’s quite interesting to see their focus now on the advertising world.

One that I posted earlier in the Link Blog, that everyone that is in a startup should look at. It’s called, when it’s time to move on from your startup idea. I agree with the 3 points it made. For those that are in a failed startup, maybe it’s time you read this article that pretty much lays the facts out there. What was that saying? Oh yeah, “Lie to yourself, Lie to your mother, but don’t Lie to Rex Dixon.”

Technically Speaking, yes, I can be a goof ball - but when you live like I do, you have to have a weird sense of humor to keep your sanity some times day to day. Oh, and why it’s almost a total full time job being a blogger - this just in for real - Alesis iMultiMixer - now this is just plain COOL! I think some Wilmington NC real estate might be the plan someday.

* In the right hand corner after you hit start - you will see “1/14″ - click the right arrow to get to Episode 14!

Episode 14 notes:

Universal Music and Apple in a negotiation breakdown

MUSIC DIVIDE The Universal Music Group of Vivendi told Apple that it would not renew its annual contract to sell music through iTunes, executives briefed on the matter said. Universal told Apple that it would provide music to Apple at will, giving itself the option to pull out of the service at any time.

The two companies have reached a standoff in negotiations. The music industry has been complaining for years about Apple’s influence on the online-music business, its power to set prices on music downloaded through iTunes and iTunes’ lack of compatibility with music players other than the iPod.

twitter and why Allen Stern hates it

Here is another good example of lack of conversation followthru. Here user “RexDixon” notes to user “marshallk” something about Gmail chat. In this example, I can click “in reply to marshallk” to view the initial status. But there is no threading so if another user was to reply, I would not be able to view it.

Pay For Pownce? Nah… get a CN autographed postcard instead…

I finally realized the possibilities of using eBay to promote your product so I am very excited to announce that this morning I placed a “Limited Edition Hand Signed Genuine Authentic” CenterNetworks PostCard auction on eBay. Close your eyes and imagine all of the possibilities that are possible when you own your own signed PostCard. Don’t be the dork at the next Facebook launch party without one of these PostCards.

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Rupert Murdoch is who we will, God willing, be one day. He is everything that keeps people young. If he would have stuck entirely with the newspaper business years ago, there is a good chance he would have faded away. News Corp has now become a huge empire under his direction.

He has his finger on the pulse of the new media generation. There is a lesson learned here. I know there are quite a few that have embraced the internet and everything digital. There are those that will not, and for that, I will say just look at Mr. Murdoch. Fearing what you don’t understand is natural. I say, “just dive right in“, the water is quite fine.

The man is 76 years young. The article is quite long, but it’s newspaper. A great Sunday read for anyone who think they are too old to accomplish something in the online universe. Anything for that matter. He could have easily retired years ago, sailed a boat in the south Pacific, traveled the world, done whatever he wanted. He could have easily faded away into obscurity.

Mr. Murdoch chose not to do any of the above. Why you ask? Because it’s better to be alive then to go off and just die. There is a real lesson learned here, and I hope you all take the time to read all 4 pages. Once you lose your grip on the pulse of the new generation, you lose on life.

By every measure, he appears to believe he has plenty of time to get exactly what he wants. As he wrapped up the conference in Monterey last Sunday, he looked out at his employees and said: “You all think I’m too old.” Pausing for a beat, he added: “I think you’re too old.”

No, Mr. Murdoch, Rex Dixon thinks you are living life to the fullest. You may or may not finalize a deal with Dow Jones & Company, but if that falls through, you probably will just smile and buy up the next MySpace. Maybe he will devour Obvious or twitter. That folks is why he is who he is.

If I had his money, or wanted to grab something now that will generate more useful things for his empire, it would be twitter. The time is now, before everyone (mainstream advertisers) figure out what a powerful tool twitter can be. I saw a quick blurb on the use of twitterment; people are finally catching up. Waking up is more like it.

Technically Speaking, you lose site on the youth, you end up withering away into obscurity. For my musician enabled readers, here is one that I know you all know, “If it’s too loud, you’re too old!”

monitwitter - This is nothing new, a web site monitoring tool. Just like Pingdom, but only you receive your up and down notifications via twitter. In other words, the power of twitter. More like the spreading globally of twitter.

How global is twitter? Well I read the article, and I like to see the comments on what people are saying. Funny enough, there was another web site (3rd article down) that already covered this and didn’t receive credit.

I had to check that out, as I don’t like it when sites do the same to me. I usually leave it alone, but it is frustrating knowing you were the first to break something, and then see all the usual players writing about it with no credit given.

I do understand the fact that everyone saw the article at the same time, but there are times when I go back in and give link backs to sites that wrote the same article. Case in point was the other day. I saw this and wrote, and then saw two other sites later after I wrote my piece so I gave credit where credit was due.

One problem here about this web site that wanted credit, the people at most of the web sites I frequent for news do not read Chinese (could be Kanji or Japanese; but I can’t read that either!). It does prove how global twitter is. How much power they hold now, and we will be seeing more mash up or twitter’mashes coming soon. The number of companies that can be formed on the twitter platform is quite astounding. You just have to think outside the box in order to come up with something.

Technically Speaking, twitter is a natural extension of blogging. Not only that, but it’s another way to capitalize on the internet. Create something twitter today, and I bet you are hit this week.