The news today from Nick Bradbury, the developer of the FeedDemon desktop RSS aggregator for Windows, that his company Bradsoft has been acquired by NewsGator is a significant move in the market for tools and applications that enable you to more easily and effectively retrieve, manage and use information. NewsGator enables you to subscribe to […]
Category: Web/Tech
Learning more about podcasting
In late March, Shel and I were interviewed about podcasting by Steve Lubetkin for a column he was writing for the Spring 2005 issue of Attitudes, the quarterly magazine of the Jewish Community Voice of Southern New Jersey in the US. Steve writes the regular tech column for the Attitudes print magazine. His article that […]
In-flight live TV coming
First, there was the expansion of in-flight wi-fi so that you could remain connected to the net on your flight across the Atlantic or Pacific. Do your email, surf the net, write your blog. Even use Skype. Here’s what’s coming next, according to a PC World report: The Connexion by Boeing in-flight Internet service is […]
RSS as the self-contained information experience
Following my post a few days ago on getting more from your RSS feed, in particular on using Feedburner’s new Total Stats Pro service, I read a very interesting report on ClickZ about RSS advertising. In the report, ClickZ managing editor Pamela Parker interviews Feedburner CEO Dick Costolo to discuss his company’s experimentation with advertising […]
The Hobson and Holtz Report – Podcast #34: May 19, 2005
Content summary: Listeners’ comments (on IBM’s blogging guidelines; on a great podcast for marketers and PRs who want a tech twist with their communication); the case of the computer lock and the toilet roll; communicators in government and layers of bureaucracy; blogs and creating consumer trust; in communication, as always, the audience is in charge; […]
Cool video promotes podcasting feature
Here’s a great example of AIDA – a short video about a feature on podcasting in the latest edition of MAKE: magazine. When you view the video, you can see that this looks like a terrific feature article. Terrific enough to go out and buy the magazine. That’s the only way you’ll get to the […]
Interview: Mike Wing, IBM – May 20, 2005
For anyone with an opinion about corporate blogging, the big news this week was IBM’s dynamic step into the blogosphere with their initiative to enable employee blogging and making publicly available their detailed employee blogging guidelines. In this special edition of For Immediate Release podcast interviews, Shel and Neville enjoyed a 53-minute conversation with Mike […]
Skype blogs to create community
Skype has started a blog – and it looks very good indeed. This could be a great example of how a blog can play a key role in building and cementing positive relationships with customers. One of the ongoing criticisms of Skype has been the way in which the company really hasn’t engaged well with […]
Upcoming geek extravaganza in London
The last time I looked at the sign-up wiki for the London geek dinner next month, there were some 80 names. I looked again just now – and it’s 127. Wow! It would be an easy conclusion to jump to in saying that the big attraction is probably the opportunity to share a margarita or […]
A business model for podcasting
Software veteran Dan Bricklin (remember VisiCalc?) started podcasting last week: I’ve finally started my own podcast, "Dan Bricklin’s Software Licensing Podcast". It will be a series of interviews and perhaps other material that should be of interest to people who care about the legal and managerial aspects of software licensing in general, Open Source licenses […]
Podcasting is almost mainstream
Is podcasting really starting to move as a serious business communication tool, never mind it’s entertainment appeal? Yet more signs: 1. iTunes to directly support podcasts Engadget via Charlene Li: Steve Jobs just revealed at the D: All Things Digital Conference that iTunes 4.9 will add support for podcasts. With one click you’ll be able […]
The Hobson and Holtz Report – Podcast #35: May 23, 2005
Content summary: Listeners’ comments (on Rush Limbaugh podcasting, building trust for a blog, tech issues with podcasts and iPods, guest hosting FIR, creating an RSS feed for blog comments); Kensington lock hack follow up; a savage view of Naked Conversations; favourite podcasts and how to produce them; Flash-ing round workplace restrictions on browsers and aggregators; […]
Manage your iPod with Winamp
News earlier this week that the next version of iTunes will enable you to sync your podcasts directly with your iPod, without needing separate podcatching software, has been eclipsed by this news in Wired News about Winamp: iPod users are raving about a plug-in that makes the Winamp digital jukebox a better way to manage […]
Hot Recorder is hot for podcasters!
If you’re a podcaster, and you don’t have any kind of professional-type hardware (a mixer, for instance), and you’re looking for almost the perfect way to record interviews via Skype relying just on software, then this is the solution for you. Purely by chance, I discovered HotRecorder this afternoon. And let me tell you straightaway […]
The Hobson and Holtz Report – Podcast #36: May 26, 2005
Content summary: Listeners’ comments (on Autodesk’s blog and podcast combo; which non-tech companies use blogs; how to structure Desert Island Discs); podcasting in the news: going mainstream; Blogebrity and reality or not; looking for writers via blog posts; the virtues of print; RSS comes to Microsoft’s Knowledge base; the London geek mega-dinner next month. Show […]
Solving PDF irritations in Firefox
Don’t you find it really irritating when you click on a link on a website or blog and then discover that the link is to a PDF file? That usually happens after you’ve clicked the link. The PDF starts loading and takes forever because it’s a big file, or has loads of graphics, it’s a […]
The Hobson and Holtz Report – Podcast #37: May 30, 2005
Content summary: Listeners’ comments (on podcast vertigo and rich media search; full-content RSS feeds are the way to go; garbled ID3 tags); getting on an email blacklist – and getting off it; more Naked Conversations; tips on presentations; Flash-based RSS aggregator; good and bad business podcast listening; Flash-based media players and MP3 files; Desert Island […]
The consequences of email blacklisting
During last weekend, Shel and I learned that the domain of For Immediate Release, our podcast blog, was included in a couple of email blacklists. These are databases that include the addresses of domains known to be the source for spam email. And on Monday, I learned that my domain, the domain of this blog, […]
Mainstream media knows more than you think
BBC News: Newspapers are far from dead, despite the challenge from online news and blogs, media executives have been told. […] The challenge now for established newspaper groups is not just to respond to changes in the consumption of electronic media, but to start profiting from the new ways that audiences access their media. I’ve […]
TypePad blogs to get spam-fighting features
If you have a TypePad blog, here’s some good news on what Six Apart is planning to implement as part of major improvements in everyone’s efforts to combat comment and trackback spam. An announcement yesterday on the Everything TypePad support site includes this news about enhancements Six Apart is working on: First, we’ll provide support […]