cybersoc.com

conference notes: the new media event, dubai

google buys youtube

As you've probably read just about everywhere, Google has bought Youtube for $1.65 Billion in stock. Murdoch spent $580 million on MySpace in July 2005. Hmmm...

I have to agree with Ian at CubicGarden who reckons the deal makes little, if any, difference to you and I.

But what is interesting is that Google recently signed a $900 million deal to serve up ads on myspace. YouTube recently overtook MySpace, according to the Guardian. So let's, just for fun, say that MySpace is worth $580 million (price at purchase) + it's google ads deal ($900 million) = 1.48 billion. That's less than the google + youtube deal where, it should be noted, google will now get all the revenue from ad spend rather than sharing it. Good deal for google so long as ad spend on youtube maintains it's current level or grows.

two big guys on "bikes" takeover bbc backstage

For those who aren't familiar with it, BBC Backstage is a service that gives developers the opportunity to build stuff with BBC feeds and content. Backstage has been pretty quiet for the past few months as a replacement was found for Ben Metcalfe who announced he was leaving back in May.

Some of us have known about it for a while, but those reinforcements are now in place and it's back to business as usual with a competition looking for the best widgets and gadgets made with content available on backstage. The two big guys now heading up backstage, Matt Cashmore who I've had the pleasure of working with in the past and who is forever too busy to sample my Sunday roast, and Ian Forrester of CubicGarden/BarCampLondon/LondonGeekDinners fame, appeared to be getting on just fine when I spotted them in the office on Thursday.

I just hope that Matt "do you know how much I f*cking hate scooters" Cashmore doesn't get too worked up when he realises that Ian quite likes his...

manchester police use youtube to make murder appeal

Greater Manchester Police have reportedly posted a video appeal on YouTube for information about a murder. 15 year old Jessie James was murdered on the 9th of September in Moss Side.

aol europe advertising for a social media intern

AOL Europe is advertising for a social media intern. This might be of interest to someone looking for a good starting point for a career in social media, social networking, online community, "web 2.0", etc.

teaching an old post new tricks: netvocates again

I always find it strange how a post that's several months old can suddenly get a link from a big site and go bonkers with traffic.

Remember a few months back when I started posting about Netvocates, the company that willfully uses B.I.A.S. ["Blog Intelligence and Advocacy Service" - I kid you not] as it's acronym. (I'll link to all the posts I've tagged with Netvocates but, as they're in the business of Astrotufing, I'm not going to link directly to them from this post.)

When I first blogged it, the post got some links from some busy blogs (Daily Kos, Pandagon and others), which were then linked to by lots of smaller sites, and then reblogged by lots of people on livejournal and by forum users. A couple months later, the whole thing was revived with a link from Feministe and traffic spiked up again.

Today it's round three with a link from Crooks and Liars sending upwards of a thousand visitors to that post about Netvocates from way back in May.

my bbc radio interview with howard rheingold

My interview with Howard Rheingold appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live's Pods and Blogs last night. You can listen to it online. The programme is here and the interview, which lasts about 10 minutes, starts at 26:30. (While listening, do check out the Pods and Blogs blog that's part of the BBC Blogs Trial I'm currently project managing.)

We talked about the common themes between his books, the differences between mobile phone and social software usage in the UK compared to the US, and participatory media.

Howard appears in photo with Ian Forrester who you'll find more of at CubicGarden. I've posted additional photos in my flickr stream.

some law related news

Regular readers will know that, for the past two years, I've been working on a part-time post-graduate law degree in law at the University of Hertfordshire. Word arrived today that I've now successfully completed the Common Practical Exam which is effectively the post-graduate equivalent of an undergraduate degree in law.

But that's not the end of my good, law related news. I've also recently been invited to be a non-residential fellow at Stanford University's Center for Internet and Society. I'll post more about the fellowship and my specific project, which is a participatory research project looking at citizen journalism, when I've got the details together.

I'll be celebrating with a few spoonfuls of cough syrup since I'm currently a bit under the weather...

flickr business cards and blogsitting

It's a rare morning when I come across not one but two interesting new websites / services that catch my interest enough to blog about them.

The first is moo.com where you can order business cards created from your flickr photostream.

It's a great idea and the execution, at least online, is really well done - which shouldn't be surprising since this is a venture with $5 million in venture capital backing.

The launch offer includes a free 10 card pack (each card can have a different photo) for flickr pro users and free international shipping "worth $4.99" on orders of 100. I've had a go myself and am really impressed with how easy it is: log in, select photos from your stream (or let it pick random ones), crop the photos, add some text and off your cards go to be printed and mailed to you. And yes, the free trial for flickr pro users INCLUDES free shipping :-)). Simple and fun - just like flickr. I wish I'd come up with this.

The second service I came across this morning is a lot less exciting but answers a question I posed a few weeks ago: what to do with my blog when I go on holiday? The post generated a few offers to blog sit but mostly comments from people who reckon I should just go and let the blog stay home on it's own. That's where this new service comes in - it matches blog sitters with blogs whose...ahem... parents have gone away. Will I trust them with cybersoc.com when I go on holiday at the end of the month? Are you kidding?!!

(link thanks to Tom Coates and Pods and Blogs)

links for monday

India's e-tutors give UK children homework help: Call centres charge £50 a month for unlimited individual help to pupils thousands of miles away

Fifth Circuit Affirms Lower Court Dismissal in Defamation Case; Lack of Personal Jurisdiction: In Ouazzani-Chahdi v. Greensboro News & Record, the plaintiff sued a Greensboro, North Carolina, newspaper claiming defamation. The lower court dismissed for lack for personal jurisdiction. The U. S. Fifth Circuit has affirmed.

DIY Media seminar on networked amateur cultural production: Howard Rhiengold and others at Annenburg

The Zidane smoking photo - a cautionary tale about ownership, copyright and licensing.

Can Digg be Democratic? From the Press Gazette...

'Blogosphere' spurs government oversight People go digging for Govt. info

What is the next target for spam? - Digg and Newsvine, the next target for spam?

Follow you, follow me: GPS tracking can be used to stay in touch with friends, or more sinister purposes such as spying on a spouse. Ronan Fitzgerald examines the potential for abuse

Law Professor on Possibility of Craigslist Attack Lawsuit: How liable, if at all, is Jason Fortuny for publishing graphic and personally revealing information sent by men responding to a fake Craigslist ad?

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