One such hard to reach group are those aged between 16 and 24 years. I well remember that when my children were that age that the sort of cultural experiences provided by R&H were not on their agenda.

Staff often suggest to me that we should have more blogs or Facebook pages online in order to attract young people to our website and consequently our services as if it's a magic bullet that will suddenly make us interesting to a teenage audience.

I get told that 'people like videos' so if we put Youtube videos on our websites we'll get more visitors. This misses the point that the web and it's social networking sites are no more than the medium... they are not the message. A video or a blog which doesn't relate to you is not going to be of interest.

A long time ago in web years Bill Gates said 'content is king' so whether it's the web or our sites, museums, galleries etc unless there are things that interest the hard to reach they will remain that way.

This then poses the question whether we should therefore be doing the things that the hard to reach want instead, but that's another debate altogether...

Mayor Opens Virtual Berlin - whilst Twinity becomes open beta

Metaversum GmbH, developer and operator of the 3D online world Twinity, today entered its public beta phase. At the press conference in Berlin, Berlin's mayor Klaus Wowereit opened the virtual counterpart of Germany's capital city in Twinity. Singapore, London, and many other international metropolises are set to follow in the near future.

Singapore, 07 September 2008 – At a press conference in Berlin Metaversum GmbH gave the starting signal for the public beta phase of its virtual world Twinity. During this test phase, internet users can venture out and explore virtual Berlin from anywhere in the world. Singapore, London, and many other international metropolises are set to follow in the near future.

During the launch event, Berlin's mayor Klaus Wowereit was presented with the symbolic key to the virtual city. "Innovative projects from Berlin like Twinity enable people from all around the world to experience the creative metropolis of Berlin on the internet. This opens up a whole new dimension to Berlin. We're especially happy to see how many new international visitors and inhabitants virtual Berlin has already gained in the last few days," commented Wowereit.

Germany's capital is the first city to be rendered in the virtual world. Twinity members can now experience virtual Berlin first hand. From the Brandenburg Gate to Alexanderplatz and Hackescher Markt, members can visit virtual galleries, bars, and clubs, go shopping, meet new people, and even move in and furnish their own virtual apartments. During the public beta phase, Twinity will be constantly tested and updated, new content will be added, and the platform will be optimized with the help of member feedback.

"Our vision is clear," said Jochen Hummel, CEO of Metaversum GmbH. "This is a trusted environment within a virtual world, lifelike, and based on real metropolises. People can live, work, and have fun here. They can also beam themselves straight into the world's most attractive cities with a single click. With the launch of our public beta phase, we have laid the foundation for Twinity's international rollout."

All those interested in visiting Twinity can now register for the public beta at www.twinity.com.

වෙබ් 2.0 සංකල්ප වන ෆෝරම්, බ්ලොග්ස් හිදී සිදුවන (හරේශ්ගේ) 'ප්‍රකාශන හරහා පොර වීම' සමගම දක්නට ලබෙන අනෙක් කාලකන්නි ක්‍රියාව වන්නෙ, නිර්මාන කොල්ලයයි. මෙහිදී වරදකාර පාර්ශ්යවය ලෙස ඇඟිල්ල දික් කල යුත්තේ කාටදැයි යන්න තවමත් ගැටලුවකි.

බ්ලොග් අඩවියකදි නම් එලිපිටම වරදකරුවා වන්නේ එහි අයිතිකරුවායි.

එනමුදු, social network (ෆෝරම්) හෙවත් සමාජ සාමාජිකත්ව ජාලයකදී නිර්මාන කොල්ලය (plagiarism) ක වරද පැටවිය යුතු වන්නේ එහි අයිතිකරුටද නැතහොත් එහි සාමාජිකයින් හටද? මන්දයත්, එහිදී අන්තර්ගතය (content) පබ්ලිශ් කරන්නේ සාමාජිකයින් විසිනි. ඔව්... ඒත් අයිතිකරුවා හට එය පාලනය කිරීමේ යුතුකම සහ වගකීම සතුවෙයි.

මාගේ පෞද්ගලීක මතය වන්නේ, යම් කිසිවෙක්, යමක්, එක් ස්ථානයකින් ගෙන, තවත් ස්ථානයක පළ කරන්නේ නම්, එහි පූර්ණ ගෞරවය අදාල නිසි පුද්ගලයාට දිය යුතු බවයි. - සුදුස්සාට සුදුසු තැන දීමයි!

කෙසේ හෝ වේවා, තාක්ෂණික ලෝකය තුළ තවමත් මෙම මාතෘකාව සජීවී සංවාදයක් පමණි.

While I have used the internet since the early 90's I've pretty much stayed with email and more tradition web usage. I didn't see the purpose or necessity behind many of the emergent social media environments. That all changed in early 08 when I started researching for a paper entitled “the Internet a Terrorist Force Multiplier” while admittedly not the cheeriest topic, it did lead me into the use of social networks and “new” media. I joined a bunch of different social media sites started a couple of blogs and tried out microblogging. While the paper has long since been written, marked and forgotten, my experiments with social media have continued, taking on a life of their own. I've come away with a greater understanding of internet culture, social media and the hype that accompanies it.

I've watched a beta be hijacked and environment poisoned by a few early adopters who refused to change and allow new users to offer criticism. I watched he birth of a opensource microblogging service at Identi.ca, driven by the energy and passion of Evan Prodromou. Evan's energy and enthusiasm was infectious enough to prompt me (an old jaded guy) to offer my limited skill and time to help out with his project. I've played with what might be the next big thing, the raw in your face video shorts of 12seconds.tv.

I think the energy and conciseness that goes into a 140 character or 12 second post is one of things that drives my continued interest in some forms of social media. I don't believe social media will save your business or help you find the meaning of the universe, no matter what the social media guru's tell you. But with care and the right chemistry these sites evolve and form communities of people who begin to network with other social media communities.

The use of proprietary software stops this interaction, builds walls around the communities, stifling growth. Just like email, you should to be able to share content across all social media platforms regardless if it is voice, video, location or text based. It is this openness, the ability to span all media and platforms that will be the enabler that will drive the evolution of social media to the next level.

But to return to my Eee PC, the reason that it has become my social media machine is it simplicity, portability and speed at which I can get on line and make a post. It becomes almost transparent to the process, it allows spontaneity and still leaves room on the cafe table for my coffee.

And it's a lot like Facebook.

Not to be left out of the social networking action, the FBI, CIA and the other 14 U.S. intelligence agencies are getting a new site called A-Space designed specifically for spying, CNN reported.

Multiply.com is a famous social network website in the Philippines. It is where entrepreneurs and buyers meet to discuss the products they sell and the product they want to buy respectively. Although, this is not purely a shopping social network, the population of shoppers and sellers are vast here rather than any other categories such as travel, work from home, etc.

Another website is the zebo.com. It is also a social network for buyers and sellers.  It's a perfect partner of online sellers. It has many benefits which include free set-up, no commission charged for the first year of registration,  customizable product listings and shop information, logo, and banners. Also, it has an easy to manage inventory and  provide you with your own URL to manage and promote online. You can also sell new and old items which is great for all types of merchandise. The best is they'll help you advertise your zebo shop that drive you more sales.

Millions of people use internet and many business people and consumers are depending via online because both save them time and money.

Wow, Barack... I never thought I'd say this but I need some space.  I mean, it was cool when you were all over Facebook, I was there with you.  You were hip!  You understood the Internet!  I joined your Facebook group way back in like, maybe January, and I even joined the DC for Obama group too. Seriously though, you've gotten a little clingy lately and I really need some space.

I mean, it probably isn't you it is probably me.  I made the mistake of joining your Facebook groups and signing up on your website.  We got too involved too soon.  There were days when I'd get two Facebook messages, two e-mails, and a Facebook "update."  Yeah, too much.  Don't sweat it though, I'm still going to vote for you and I'm still going to let everyone know what a great record you have on choice issues (and how g*d awful McCain's record is).  Might not mention that whole FISA thing though...

Wow, as I'm writing this blog entry I just got off the phone with a DC for Obama organizer.  SERIOUSLY JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!

This week I left your Facebook group(s), removed myself from your e-mail list, and sent Planned Parenthood the $30 I was going to donate to the Obama '08 campaign.  You know why?  Planned Parenthood gave me some dang space!  I don't need you in my inbox every freaking day.  I don't need Joe effing Biden filling up my Facebook notices.  Once a week Barack, once a week is enough. What's that?  You say it is hard to send out too many messages on Facebook?  Guess what, don't care!  It felt like a hassle and I started to resent you so back off.  Yeah?

Please don't make me feel bad about this.  I know you need me now more than ever, that we're only 8 weeks out from the election, that every dollar I send you is important, and that you're "galvanizing your supporters."  I'm going to stay in the Students for Barack Obama group since they haven't abused the privlage sending messages to the entire membership...  They're on watch too though.

The story goes like this...

We needed a way to get our sales information and updates out to new visitors. Our oh-so-savvy web master is under the impression that "newsletter signups" are a thing of the past - "old hat" as it is called. He thinks he is so cool with his wild hair and t-shirts of places and things nobody has ever heard of.

Come to find out people are more and more getting used to social networking. Therefore, we are going to try a new way of advertising. OH NO, not advertising!!! This isn't your, shove it in your face, fill your email full of junk, kind of advertising. This is a completely optional (aka "opt in") way of finding the lowest prices and best deals for things you NEED....right? Like kids furniture. But hey, maybe you have 5 kids and they constantly trash their stuff because you never taught them the value of a dollar.

Let us explain...

RSS is basically a way to receive news and headlines. Not necessarily about the last thing Paris Hilton is endorsing, but a simple way to get the information you need and want.

Have you seen these images?

If you ever see them on a website, that means that they are feeding headlines. If you go to any of our pages, you should see this symbol at the top right of your browser. Just click on it to subscribe to our posts. Then, next time your child pretends to be A-Rod and bashes the supporting leg of his bunk bed that has been held up by its last bolt, you know right where to look for a good buy on the next bunk bed. Not to mention, now that your boy is bigger now (at least HE thinks he is), you can get that bunk bed in a full size.

So, next time you see an RSS feed, even if it isn't our site, click on it and see what all is going on there. You may just stumble upon a great find.

Happy RSSing....submit that to Funk & Wagnalls.

Chow.

I found the way that Rheingold traced the development of modern social networks to Japan (i-mode) and Finland ("tekstata" or SMS) very enlightening in "Shibuya Epiphany".  It makes sense that early adoption of the new technologies occurred in young adults as they were trying to define their own identities outside of their families.  Rheingold quotes Finnish researchers: "Text messaging is a way to share relationships".  It seems that it was-and arguably still is-less about content with certain types of social networks and certain demographis and more about the act of communicating (sending messages like "whatchya doing", "i'm bored").  It allowed, and still allows, teenagers (and even children) the ability to develop individual identities by expressing themselves, and, as equally important, attaching themselves to a social group through this unmonitored, 24/7-accessible "private" social network outside the direct family group.

I believe this has really affected the way we communicate.  Usage of SMS in the U.S. has certainly caught on since then across many demographics, not only for teenagers.  I think that this has also led to or influenced the evolution of communication... leading to the eventual creation of "Status Updates" in Facebook and "twittering".  Although these features still are preferred by the younger demographic, I certainly think that many adults see the benefit of communicating using these newer methods that have enriched their lives and in some way have allowed for 'closer' relationships with some of their friends.  For full disclosure, I am 31 and have only recently started using facebook.  I can't say for sure that it has dramatically changed my friendships, but I do think it has added something new to a few of my friendships already.  I will have to see what happens over time.  A NYT Magazine article that will be in tomorrow's paper reflects on digital intimacy and talks about the introduction of the now two-year old "News Feed" feature on facebook.  It touches on many of the topics that we are discussing this week.

One of the other effects of prevalent mobile communication (SMS/Blackberry/iPhone, etc.) is that some individuals can be looser with time.  I read this example really in one of the readings or NYT article that holds true for me and my friends specifically, while you are getting ready to go to a party or on your way, you may be texting with other friends that are also on their way or already there, so there is this feeling of being together even though you are not in the same place.  Don't know if this is a good thing if it encourages people to always be late though.  Haha.

Another issue that these readings made me think about is the idea of us interacting with others in our physical environment, and also in a "converstation" with someone else via facebook updates, email, or SMS at the same time.  Now, no one likes the loud cell phone talker on a bus or in another public space, so I think that typing is a dramatic improvement.  You cannot necessarily communicate at the exact same time with someone face-to-face and someone farther away, but are we more distracted because we are worried about texting someone?  I don't think that this will have an effect on the level of intimacy in face-to-face communication.  What do you think?

I would also be interested in any thoughts regarding the usage of features such as "status updates" and "news feed" in facebook as well as the usage of twitter in the larger population.  What do you think is the greatest benefit or unintended side product of using these tools?

NyTimes' Clive Thompson gives a sociology and psychology CliffsNotes on theories like "ambient awareness", the "Dumbar number", and "parasocial relationships" to try to understand the whole social networking "microblogging" phenomenon and focuses most of the time on web trends like Facebook's Newsfeed and Twitter. I don't agree completely with the idea it's trying to sell that ephemeral relationships and exchanges mean more than they actually do, but I do agree that not every relationship has to be intimate to be meaningful or to have some value.

Daydream Achiever

We have discouraged daydreaming because we have switched to valuing more the idea of focus. "Letting your mind wander is not productive" you read and hear. It is true that when you're focused, your chances of resolving problems increases, but daydreaming leads to more problem-solving breakthroughs that people may be are aware of. It warns though, that not every daydreamer is a creative genius:

"The point is that it's not enough to just daydream," Schooler says. "Letting your mind drift off is the easy part. The hard part is maintaining enough awareness so that even when you start to daydream you can interrupt yourself and notice a creative insight."

Remember the Staples back to school commercial that poked fun at how happy dad is in September?  With the holiday track "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" playing in the background, dad is joyously buying supplies at his local Staples while the kids follow grudgingly behind.  I love that commercial but definitely share its sentiment.  September is the most wonderful time of the year!

So what would I do in September with a classroom full of eager bright eyed learners?  For the 2008-2009 school year, I would kick the year off by moving into some web2.0 technologies that we can use all year long.  Now is the perfect time to set up that classroom social network, create Google Doc accounts for all your students, and set up shop in these virtual powerhouses.

Social Network: Ning

Using a social network is a natural progression for anyone who likes the idea of a tool that brings all the good stuff of the web together in a safe, protected environment.  What good stuff you ask?  How about blogs, discussion forums, student pages, online collaboration and grouping, and e-portfolios all neatly wrapped in the social networking synergy which enables students to share the learning experience with each other in student inspired groups.

Why is it safe? When you create a social network with Ning, you control the membership.  You control who joins, what members can do, and who can even view the network.  I'd experiment with inviting parents to view the network and do a my family project where they can contribute to the learning experience and see for themselves how social networking is being used to enhance learning for their children.

Blogs: The blog is similar to the discussion forum except you are the author.  I'd use the blog to communicate class news and homework assignments.

Calendar: The online event calendar would be perfect to list assignment due dates, upcoming exams, trips, and other events I'd like my students to be aware of.

Discussion Forums: The discussion forum is similar to the blog except that students can start new topics and create their own discussion threads.  The discussion forum has many great potential uses.  I'd have students reflect on reading or something we learned in class as a homework assignment in lieu of answering questions on a sheet of paper and submitting it the next day.  To make it meaningful, I'd require students to answer the question and reflect on someone else's answer (which means my questions need to be good).  Another way forums can be used is as a place for students to ask questions and get answers from each other.  I'd give bonus points to students who actively assisted their classmates in this forum.

Student pages: In a social network, each members gets a page of their own that they can customize with blogs, videos, music, and just about anything that snaps into a social networking site.  I'd have the students design an e-portfolio with their page that has samples of their best work in text, image, and video formats.  The good thing is that the kids probably already know how to do this from making a page on MySpace or Facebook so they'll feel right at home creating a page that serves as their e-portfolio.

Online collaboration and grouping: Of course the power of social networking is in its ability to connect people.  You can create groups where students can have a shared space to collaborate and share work.

Online Collaboration: Google Docs

Google Docs has become the dream tool for educators because it serves so many functions in style:  assignment drop box, collaboration enabler, peer review mechanism, and publishing system.

Each document that a student will create can be shared with the teacher.  When the document is done, you can see it and add comments for revisions without having to exchange a paper, a file, or an email!  Besides removing logistical obstacles, Google Docs has a revision history that can give the teacher more insight into the thinking process that the student followed.  This really gives the living document idea some new oomph as review-revise can happen invisibly until the final document is published.

By sharing the document with peers, students can get comments and suggestions from each other to further guide the revisions and give an opportunity to think deeply about their work in comparison to their peers.  On top of that, students can collaborate on a group project seamlessly at any time from any where.  This has got to be my favorite use of any of these technologies.  I envision students creating a presentation where each student is responsible to create a number of slides but can edit, suggest, and contribute to each others sections.  Before Google Docs, managing group projects was a nightmare as I spent most of my time showing them how to port documents from several computers to merge into one final project.  This usually involved several thumb drives and a few tylenols as inevitably, work would be lost.

So while I love the smell of new notebooks and relish the new pencil sharpening ritual, the part about September that I most enjoy is implementing new technologies from square one so they become a natural part of what we do throughout the whole school year.  I hope you've had a great summer and are refreshed and ready to harvest the learning opportunities of the 21st century.

While watching the coverage of the DNC and the RNC, I again found myself infront of the TV with my laptop simultaneously following my friends on the social networks, and again, I found I was getting more insight and information from the Internet. It have to say that it was a lot more fun, too. The night that Sarah Palin spoke, FriendFeed, Twitter, and even my friends' FaceBook updates lit up in response. The following night when McCain delievered his acceptance speech, my friend Stacy in Ohio and I were IMing eachother our observations.

There were people Twittering during both conventions. There were alternative news sources tweeting about all of the protests and the police activity around the RNC. I heard nothing about the police raids from CNN or PBS about Amy Goodman's arrest or the raids on private homes in St. Paul. I learned this from the UpTake's webcast and Twitter feed.

I am continually inspired by citizen journalism and the movement to reform media. The Chicago New Media Summit is coming up next week, and though I won't be there, I am eager to learn about the outcome of that event. I'm hoping to learn about more alternative news services as the election approaches. Meanwhile, I'm planning on watching the election returns on The Daily Show's Indecision 2008, as well as continuing to get information from my Twitter feed.

While I am discouraged by the political discourse that is reflected on mainstream television, I look to my social networks to be reminded that there is a majority of people in this world who, like me, want to get information out there about what is really going on in American politics, and raise the level of political discourse above the drivel that the conservative media is feeding us.

CNN interviewed Michael Wertheimer, assistant deputy director of national intelligence for analysis. "In the past," said Wertheimer, "whoever captured ... video or captured information about the video kept it in-house." The trick is to get it out of the house and circulating so that everybody's up to date.

The service uses the same "friend network" philosophy that Facebook and MySpace support. That Web 2.0 can be so powerful as to jumpstart reform within the intelligence community says a good deal.

With any luck, other countries will seek to emulate the U.S.'s model, perhaps someday even helping to devlop a worldwide A-Space where everybody is on the same network. Then Ethan Hunt would be able to chat up James Bond anytime.

Does that mean that blogging is dead or dying? That we need a lesson in blogger ethics? No.

But as I thought about this more and looked at some of my posts and my comments on other blogs. I make a concerted effort to engage others. I'm not sure what the requisite amount of replies or back and forths are required between writer and reader, but I personally think that there is an expected return on the comment expected. Maybe. A requisite expectation if you will. But what I'm starting to see is smuggness and a "I started it, contributed some, and thats sufficient, attitude" starting to permeate some really good blogs. I'm also seeing really nice blogs, with some decent content, and some history, tailing off with posts, and an otherwise obvious downtick in effort.

What this tells me is that, perhaps that blog strategy or the author, have gone in another direction. What this tells me is that you can't finish what you started. It tells me you are not practicing what you preach. It tells me that if you are a PR or a marketing person, no way in hell am i going to work with you. You started the race and you can't finish it. You built the frame but you can't put up the walls, the roof and anything else. You've done a half fast job and it shows.

Or maybe just maybe, Twitter is now cutting into our desire to comment?

Or... You've written a good blog post but you can't comment or respond to the people who have made the effort and done the same to your post. I know you can comment via email, or Twitter, and maybe you have, but if we're to extend the conversations beyond a micro-blogging platform and bring them back to blogs, we need to see that you have a vested interest in your blog post and you're not posting just for attention or link juice, or extending the conversation privately.

The bottom line is you started it, now finish it with transparency and efficacy. We're still watching we're still reading.

"How have technologies like sms/text messaging, youtube, and myspace changed the way that we interact?"

The social networking age has dropped on me like a pile of bricks recently; within the last two years I am sms-ing at breakneck speed, facebooking everyday, a myspace page i never look at, you-tubing more than watching TV and the ever-present, nerve-wrecking expectation that I should already be blogging about my band, or have an itunes page, or at least a video on you-tube nags at my conscience constantly. You see I'm trying to lead a band of 20-somethings, who already know about most of this but aren't willing to do the PR, and at 35 I'm still kinda impressed with the notion of a cell phone. It is overwhelming and intimidating to me, yet the possibilities of marketing to so many without the need for money or connections is exhilerating. I am intrigued.

I am also living in Norway and have needed to stay in touch with family and friends in the US while having to create a social network here in Trondheim quickly and efficiently. I couldn't have accomplished these tasks with speed and efficiency if I had moved in 2000 (at least I couldn't), yet today I have been able to use e-mail chatting and Skype to speak with family across an ocean without any delays or cost. And I have been able to meet and stay in touch with over 80 people in Trondheim, Norway by utilizing Facebook.  It is exciting to be living in what Henry Jenkin's describes as a "Renaissance culture". And I think our interactions with each other and expectations of one another have been radically transformed by our recent ability to inform one another about every aspect of our lives in real-time.

"I have developed these concepts of media and cultural convergence to describe the present moment as a kind of Renaissance culture, one being transformed -- for both better and worse -- as the social, cultural, political, and legal institutions respond to the destabilization created by media change" (Jenkins, Henry. "Media Convergence.")

One of the main objectives of writing SEO articles is to accumulate the number of links pointing to your site. The whole idea is to improve your Google PR (Page Rank) which will in turn send you higher up the search engine results for popular keyword phrases. Naturally this will end up bringing you a lot more traffic.

What all this means is that the linking strategy for your SEO articles is very important, in fact more important than the quality of your writing in terms of drawing traffic to your site from leading search engines.

Start with a clear main target for your SEO article writing linking strategy

To create an effective linking strategy that will get you traffic, you will have to start with a clear target page or article that you want to point all your most visible links to. Your choice will depend on a lot of factors. For instance if your site is still very new and has not received any Google PR yet, then it may be a much better strategy to create a detailed article in a leading article directory or at some social networking site and then point most of your seo article links to it.

Because the article directory will tend to have a high page rank, it will be much easier for your article to end up very high in search engine results for popular keywords. You will still partially benefit and there is a good chance that about 5% to 10% of the traffic that your article at the article directory receives will click on the links there and finally get to your site. This may sound a little unfair but it is much better than nothing, is it not?

But remember that even as you do this, you will still be gradually accumulating links pointing to your site. This is because it is standard practice that one article posted at an article directory can comfortably have up to 3 links. Two will be in the resource box at the bottom and one can be placed within the body of the article, towards the end. One of these many links in each seo article (the least prominent at this stage-that is the last one on the resource box) can point to your site.

The other important point to note at this juncture is that whatever main SEO article (whether on your site or elsewhere) you decide to point most of your links to had better be good and as detailed as possible. You don't want to waste your SEO article writing by annoying your readers who after taking the trouble to click on a link end up at some brief and vaguely relevant or even irrelevant article.

Many people think internet marketing is just Search Engine Optimization, but on a larger scale. Even though internet marketing encompasses SEO there are many more factors involved. SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a practice as much as it is a fast growing technology. The basics of SEO begin with website design and the way the HTML code is structured. Optimizing a website for high search engine rankings usually entails a long list of factors that must be calculated for the optimization to take full effect. SEO is still one of the best forms of marketing due to the characteristic of placing what the searcher is looking for
directly in front of them.

Other extremely important aspects of internet marketing work along with SEO including; blogging, social networking, forums, domain management, journalism and article writing, press releases, news media, interactive advertising, affiliate marketing, email marketing, viral marketing, and of course search engine marketing.

Each of these factors offer a large spectrum of tools to anyone who wants to practice internet
marketing. One of the first and most important factors of internet marketing would be SEM or search engine marketing. SEM basically encompasses ad delivery on large ad networks such as Google AdWords and AdSense. AdWords is a service offered by Google that allows you to create a small text advertisement and then submit it to Google on a pay per click rate. Google then inserts these ads into the websites on the Google AdSense network. When someone clicks any of these ads, the publisher or website on the AdSense network makes a profit. Also when someone clicks on the ad, the advertiser or owner of the original ad pays a small amount to Google and to the AdSense network partner. This method of advertising allows businesses and websites to advertise across a very wide platform and receive maximum coverage for their ads.

Blogging is also a very important factor for internet marketing and is sometimes known as the hub of internet marketing. Blogs allow internet marketers to discuss ideas, facts, topics, news, products, services and businesses directly on their website. A blogger posts an article to their blog, and visitors can comment on the post. The reason blogs work so well for internet marketing is because in SEO "content is king". Blogs allow a site owner to post new content to their website easily, quickly, and effectively. Most blogs are structured to handle changes frequently much like the blogging platform of WordPress. Blogs are a great way for an author to discuss a topic at length and create an interest in the topic while simultaneously increasing their rankings for the key terms they discuss.

The other facets of internet marketing lend a hand to building a buzz about any given topic. The growth of internet marketing is truly astounding as new methods and means of communication become available every year. Internet marketers have to struggle to keep up with the frequent updates that are made to search engine algorithms daily. As long as information retrieval is a serious need, internet marketing will have a place to call home.

A Google chrome comment - summarises the prospects of Chrome from an enterprise perspective as a

browser, a platform for Google Apps, omni-client platform strategy and a replacement for the Windows environment for desktop and mobile applications

The state of enterprise software skills in the US - AMR now believes only 2 ERP vendors, SAP and Oracle, are the main players in the US. I wonder what Microsoft thinks of that?

I find the Gartner site to be pretty poor in terms of getting quick news analysis, but one of their analysts was on ClassicFM last night (again) discussing some discontinuities that are coming from the Internet. At least he was aware of SA's local issues around the Internet, e.g., why Software as a Service (SaaS) is not taking off here due to our Internet bandwidth problems. Also discussed was the future impact of social software - very much aimed at the big corporates rather than SMB market - which makes it sound unimportant to the majority of SA companies.