Inflight wi-fi expands

PC World: Japan Airlines (JAL) will start offering Boeing’s in-flight Internet service on flights between Tokyo and New York this week, the first time the service will be available for transpacific travel, the airline says. […] The service supports e-mail, Web browsing, and corporate network access via a VPN (virtual private network), among other features, […]

Interview: Mark Elbertse and Hans Mestrum, Tulip Computers – May 11, 2005

In this latest in our series of For Immediate Release podcast interviews – complimentary to our regular "Hobson & Holtz Report" bi-weekly shows – Shel and Neville enjoyed a 24-minute conversation with Mark Elbertse, Chief Executive Officer, and Hans Mestrum, Trendwatcher, of Tulip Computers NV headquartered in Amersfoort, The Netherlands. Our conversation centered on Hans […]

Podcasting: Adding the human and informal touch

Some say it’s a revolution that will change radio broadcasting and people’s listening habits for ever. Others say it’s a fad that’s of limited appeal and use beyond geeks and enthusiasts. Whatever anyone says, you’d have to admit that something that, in just eight months, has rocketed out of nowhere and today got big companies […]

The Hobson and Holtz Report – Podcast #32: May 12, 2005

Content summary: Listeners’ comments (on US radio stations switching formats; applying to be a host on FIR; driving a communications revolution; good idea to interview Tudor and Angela; how to get politicians on your podcast; on not being able to bookmark a podcast); podcasting much in the news this week; helping hands for PR agencies […]

Got the T-shirt!

A few weeks ago, I ordered one of Hugh McLeod’s bespoke Gapingvoid cartoon T-shirts. It arrived in the post yesterday. Hugh’s right – high quality, well made and very nice indeed. I chose the “Was it good for you?” cartoon: Heh! I bet we see a human T-shirt catalogue on parade at the London geek […]

Impersonal bloggers coming

This cartoon, included in an eWeek article, might raise a chuckle or two: (Speech balloon says: “And this is our crack team of impartial bloggers who are just wild about our products.”) Don’t chuckle too loudly, though – this is a portent of things to come. If you think impersonal call centers are bad, wait […]

An artful approach to blogging

Do you need special attributes to blog? Can you just do it? Are you cut out for it? All questions resulting from a nice experience piece in yesterday’s New York Times by David Greenberg, a journalism and media studies professor at Rutgers University in the US, who spent a week as a guest blogger on […]

IBM publishes guidelines for employee bloggers

The news last Friday that IBM is introducing a large-scale corporate blogging initiative has attracted plenty of attention, both in the blogosphere and by mainstream media. Today, IBM published on its employee intranet its draft guidelines for corporate blogging. James Snell, a member of IBM’s Software Standards Strategy Group, has posted those guidelines on his […]

The Hobson and Holtz Report – Podcast #33: May 16, 2005

Content summary: Solving recent audio problems; listeners’ comments (on improving audio quality; blocking employee access to blogs; tools to create RSS feeds; Nikon’s camera problems and the PR perspective; the media and podcasting; media training movie); readers write to Business Week about their blogging cover story; upcoming communication and blog events in Australia; search engine […]

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; […]

Blogging the IABC conference

Incoming IABC Chair Warren Bickford has issued a call to action for communicators attending IABC’s annual international conference in Washington, DC, next month to blog the conference sessions: […] Your mission, should you choose to accept it, will be to become a roving Café reporter and post “reviews” of the sessions you attend or comment […]

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 […]

Keeping tabs on TypePad

If you have a TypePad blog and were trying to publish posts on Saturday, you’ll have encountered some downtime TypePad experienced for some hours. It meant that you couldn’t log in to your blog account on the TypePad servers for about three hours. The live blogs themselves weren’t affected. Downtime isn’t unusual from time to […]