# NevOn

> Archive 2002-2006


## Posts

- [The last post at NevOn](https://nevon.net/2006/02/22/the_last_post_a/): From today, I won’t be posting here at NevOn any longer. This blog now becomes an archive, the place of record, of my writings and conversations since July 2004. I’ve moved to a new home, a place where I hope we can continue those conversations. That place is http://www.nevillehobson.com If you subscribe to the NevOn FeedBurner RSS feed, your subscription should continue seamlessly for the new blog. If you subscibe via any other means, you’ll need to manually update your subscription. Here the link to the new feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Nevillehobsoncom So I’d like to welcome you to NevilleHobson.com, my new home […]
- [The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #113: February 20, 2006](https://nevon.net/2006/02/20/the_hobson_holt/): Content summary: Luke Armour’s PR paper download; New Communications Forum 2006; announcing IABC conference podcasts; what we’ve been up to this past week; the Techcrunch party; IABC Communication Commons launches; influential authorities on business blogging – survey; WELS goes to the next level; the Guinness UK marketing blog; Donald Rumsfeld’s call for better US government PR; Robert Scoble shoutout; Lee Hopkins report; listeners’ comments discussion; FIR community on Frappr; the music; and much more. Show notes for February 20, 2006 Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, an 86-minute podcast recorded live from Concord, California, USA, and […]
- [Switch to new blog imminent](https://nevon.net/2006/02/20/switch_to_new_b/): Regular readers of this blog will know that I’ve been experimenting with the Movable Type and WordPress blog platforms since last August, with a move to a new blog the planned conclusion of that experimenting. It’s taken longer than I originally planned, but I’m just about ready to make the switch to a new blog. So during this week, I will be starting afresh with a new domain and a new home – www.nevillehobson.com. The new blog (running on the latest WordPress release) is live now but I’m not yet writing there full-time. When I do make the switch, this […]
- [Imagine if Chevron had used a blog instead](https://nevon.net/2006/02/19/imagine_if_chev/): Listening this morning to a BBC World Service radio interview with Peter Robertson, vice-chairman of the Chevron oil company, I was struck in particular by his commentary about a website where the public can join Chevron in an online discussion about the future of energy. Overall, I found it a fascinating interview, with its discussion of wide-ranging topics including the future of energy, the evolving role of the energy industry (the oil companies) and corporate social responsibility. From a PR point of view, I think Robertson did a pretty good job for his company. Concerning the online discussion, Robertson was […]
- [New FeedDemon beta released](https://nevon.net/2006/02/18/new_feeddemon_b/): Beta 2 of FeedDemon 2, the RSS aggregator for Windows, was released this week. If you’ve been testing FD’s development versions since release 1.5, this latest beta is worth getting. I’ve just installed it and the first thing I notice is how much faster the application seems to be overall compared to beta 1. The release notes outline a long list of additions, changes and fixes since that first beta. Sweet.
- [Under the weather](https://nevon.net/2006/02/18/under_the_weath/): ‘Knocked for six’ could be another idiomatic way of describing my state of being this past two days. Since returning from the Manchester conference midweek, I’ve been out of action with a malaise that kept me firmly in bed until today. Burning the candle at both ends is unquestionably the reason. So after two days of catching up with sleep with just one break, to produce Thursday’s edition of FIR (the show must go on!), I should be back up to speed very soon. Quite a bit of catching up to do if my RSS feeds are any indicator. But […]
- [The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #112: February 16, 2006](https://nevon.net/2006/02/16/the_hobson_and__4/): Content summary: Steve Rubel and Micro Persuasion move to Edelman; approaching communication issues using new media; delivering the new PR in Manchester; has PR figured out podcasting yet?; Technorati and the Magic Middle; Dan York’s report; listeners’ comments discussion; the music; and more. Show notes for February 16, 2006 Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 77-minute podcast recorded live from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and almost live from Des Moines, Iowa, USA. Download the file here (MP3, 36MB), or sign up for the RSS feed to get it and future shows automatically. (For automatic synchronization with […]
- [Ridiculous wifi charges](https://nevon.net/2006/02/14/ridiculous_wifi/): Sitting in departure lounge 3 at Schiphol airport, waiting for my flight to Manchester. As is natural at times and places like this when you have a spare sixty minutes or so, I connect to the net to pick up email and to see what’s going on. I tell you, Schiphol’s wifi pricing is about the most ridiculous I’ve seen anywhere. Two payment choices – either 6 euro for 30 minutes or 10 euro for 24 hours. Wifi service at this airport is via Attingo, a Netherlands-based company I’ve not come across before. Six euro for 30 minutes! Daylight robbery! […]
- [The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #111: February 13, 2006](https://nevon.net/2006/02/13/the_hobson_and__3/): Content summary: Low ethics pay-for-placement PR; Luke Armour’s PR paper; RSS software converts content into spam blogs; Eric Schwartzman interviews The New Yorker Magazine’s Ken Auletta; Coca-Cola sends bloggers to Torino; NBC’s The Office character blog; Lee Hopkins report; are there libel concerns with using coComment?; listeners’ comments discussion; preview: potential new FIR intro music; the pros and cons of IABC and PRSA; the music and much more. Show notes for February 13, 2006 Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 91-minute podcast recorded live from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and almost live from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. […]
- [Daily Telegraph's new media expansion](https://nevon.net/2006/02/13/daily_telegraph/): Another indicator of how some mainstream media see podcasting as a big opportunity – The Daily Telegraph is advertising for two Podcast Reporters/Producers: […] We are looking for two individuals who are capable of creating high quality and engaging Podcasts that feature comment and opinion from both internal and external sources. The successful candidates will be expected to write, voice, edit and upload audio content. A proven track record in journalism is essential. Full training will be provided on the technical aspects of the role. The Telegraph launched its daily podcasts last November, and hired a podcast editor in December […]
- [The New PR in Manchester](https://nevon.net/2006/02/13/the_new_pr_in_m/): Just finalizing preparations for my participation in a terrific conference taking place in Manchester, England, this week, which sees the Angels of The North team reunited again – Philip Young, Chris Rushton, Tom Murphy, Elizabeth Albrycht, Stuart Bruce and me, Neville Hobson. Delivering The New PR – How Blogs, Podcasts and RSS Can Work For You (PDF) will take place on Wednesday 15 February at the Lancashire County Cricket Club at Old Trafford near Manchester. Participation costs £125 +VAT for CIPR members; £145 +VAT for everyone else. Over 90 communicators have already signed up for the event. There’s still space […]
- [Orchant insights continue at ZDNet](https://nevon.net/2006/02/13/orchant_insight/): If you’ve been a follower of Marc Orchant‘s insightful commentaries over at The Office Weblog about all things to do with office productivity, cool tools, gadgets and Microsoft Office, note that he’s moved house. From the beginning of February, Marc’s now blogging at ZDNet with the new Office Evolution blog. Sign up for the RSS feed here. (I had an email from Marc ahead of his move and I meant to post about this last week. Better late than never…)
- [WindowBlinds workaround for Windows Vista](https://nevon.net/2006/02/11/windowblinds_wo/): John Peddie’s TechWatch: […] Over 600 million PCs shipped in the last 3 years, and are still in service. These are the ones that are most logical to upgrade with the new Vista operating system. However, because of the low graphics performance of integrated graphics chips found in most of the PCs, they would not be able to take advantage of the richness and benefits of Vista’s new Aero Glass GUI and the graphics-based operating system would be unusable on most of them. I for one will definitely upgrade to Windows Vista when it appears later this year (I’m in […]
- [The richness of blogs](https://nevon.net/2006/02/11/the_richness_of/): One of the best articles about the value of blogs that I’ve read in a long time was posted by Robin Good yesterday. Information Overload: Blogs As Content Navigators, Information Filters, Trusted Niche Guides provides a good perspective on one of the curses of modern life, which isn’t how to find information – it’s how to find, interpret and trust the information that matters to you. The bottom line: […] Blogs stand to benefit in the present media landscape for a number of reasons: Because of the overload of information it is impossible for people to keep up with all […]
- [Factoring blogs into crisis communication planning](https://nevon.net/2006/02/11/factoring_blogs/): A feature on blogs in the current issue of The Economist hardly adds any value with a subject focus that’s been flogged to death by some sections of the mainstream media, notably Forbes magazine last October. Bloggers can be vicious but they can also help companies avert disaster, says the sub-title as The Economist devotes 10 paragraphs of its 14-paragraph article discussing the negative aspect of blogs and the potential reputation and other damage that a company can suffer at the hands of bloggers. One reality point, I suppose, is that the article positions blogs among other long-standing social media […]
- [Four things tag](https://nevon.net/2006/02/10/four_things_tag/): Ok, Phil, I saw your tag, so here goes… Four Jobs I’ve Had Barman (yeah, everyone’s done this one) TV ad voice-over provider (that was fun!) Yellow Pages ad salesman in the Middle East (which earned me enough to buy a TransAm) A typical corporate PR suit (note: definitely a previous life) Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over Star Wars III Star Wars IV Star Wars V Star Wars VI Four TV Shows I Love to Watch 24 CSI Miami Judge John Deed Charmed Four Places I’ve Been to on Holiday Costa Rica South Beach, Florida Padstow, Cornwall […]
- [QumanaXP public beta launched](https://nevon.net/2006/02/10/qumanaxp_public/): For the past few weeks, I’ve been trying out the closed beta versions of QumanaXP, an offline blog editing tool that is available in versions for Windows and Mac platforms. While I’ve not been using it for every post I’ve been writing to my blogs – I’ve been mixing and matching between ecto for Windows, my long-time offline editor, and RocketPost which I’m also trying out – QumanaXP is very impressive. The latest beta 3.0.0-b1 reflects some serious development work over previous betas – they do listen to the testers – and shows a strong commitment by Qumana to produce […]
- [Engage with bloggers, says the BBC](https://nevon.net/2006/02/10/engage_with_blo/): BBC  journalist Paul Reynolds regards the blogosphere as a source of criticism that must be listened to and as a source of information that can be used. In a lengthy article on the BBC News website, Reynolds presents a number of examples to back up his conclusions that mainstream media has to sit up, take notice and develop some policies to meet the challenges presented by an alternate news and information channel – an "army of irregulars," as he puts it. It’s a two-way street, in my view – bloggers need to reach out and build connections with the mainstream […]
- [Engaging podcasts from IBM](https://nevon.net/2006/02/10/engaging_podcas/): I’ve been subscribed to IBM’s investor relations podcast series "IBM and The Future of..." since IBM started this series last August. Eleven podcasts so far, each one providing a worthwhile learning experience on wide-ranging topics relating to society, business and technology. The latest one, IBM and The Future of Privacy, is a great example of how any organization can use this medium to address what might seem to be a pretty dry subject in a way that captures and holds a listener’s attention. Engages the listener, in other words. From the broad communication point of view, this series also demonstrates […]
- [Beta view of what start-ups look like](https://nevon.net/2006/02/09/beta_view_of_wh/): Click on the image to see the slightly larger (and better in-focus) original on Flickr. And take a look at the comments there to get a sense of who’s missing from this visual list. I love the creator’s response to some comments: “the logo map’s a beta, too.” A number of these logos are of names that are already getting quite well known among a broader and more mainstream audience beyond the tech evangelist arena. Names like Blogger, FeedBurner, NewsGator and Delicious. Which of the others will become as familiar, I wonder, and how soon. (Via CNET News.)
- [The Firefox upgrade and plugins dance](https://nevon.net/2006/02/09/the_firefox_upg/): Mozilla released an update to the Firefox browser earlier this month which, the release notes say, provides improved stability, improved support for Mac OS X, fixes for several memory leaks and several security enhancements among other things. Notwithstanding the security fixes, I’m not upgrading to this latest version 1.5.0.1 yet. The reason? If I do, some essential plugins (aka extensions) will stop working. Every couple of days, Firefox pops up a dialog (the image you see here) reminding me that the new version is available. Every time it does, I click on the ‘later’ button as the dialog tells me […]
- [The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #110: February 9, 2006](https://nevon.net/2006/02/09/the_hobson_and__2/): Content summary: Nvidia and its PR agency are accused of unethical viral marketing; follow-up to Google’s removal of BMW from its search; Gallup assesses the importance of blogs to web users; your value decreases the longer you’re unemployed; NPR opens the podcast floodgates; new services from Odeo; a report from Dan York; listeners’ comments discussion (time for effective communication in the EU; opening a window on culture; a report on the separation of PR and marketing); the music. Show notes for February 9, 2006 Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 73-minute podcast recorded live from […]
- [Biz-Tech-News: Headlines 09-Feb-06](https://nevon.net/2006/02/09/biztechnews_hea_1/): Apple unveils cut-price iPod nano BBC sees bright future with Orange Blog Buzz on High-Tech Start-Ups Causes Some Static Chinese man ‘jailed due to Yahoo’ Desktop Reloaded – Today we’re very pleased to announce … (Inside Google Desktop) Ebay sees Google, Yahoo, Amazon divergence EU hands Microsoft antitrust setback Google Desktop 3.0: Privacy is Dead(er) Google puts instant message service inside e-mail If the shoe fits, print it Intel and Skype Announce Collaboration Investing in “Science” Means the Humanities Too iTunes 6.0.2 Supports Exporting Podcast Subscriptions Length of unemployment decreases earning power by up to 33pc Looks like the WEF […]
- [Record audio at Odeo](https://nevon.net/2006/02/08/record_audio_at/): Odeo, the podcasting service and directory launched last July, now offers a recording capability where you can record a commentary about a podcast: […] There is now a “Reply” button under the audio player on Odeo pages. This way, when you record and share an Odeo with people, they will be able to record a response. (You’ll get email notifications of this activity so you can keep up with the conversation.) I definitely want to see how Shel and I can implement this feature for For Immediate Release. Our podcast is listed with Odeo so you can also subscribe to […]
- [More like Dot Com 2.0](https://nevon.net/2006/02/08/more_like_dot_c/): Second Chance Tuesday: The Web is back. Not that it actually went away, but you’d be forgiven for thinking so given the doom and gloom surrounding the dot.com industry over the last few years. […] We’re going to party like it’s 1999. Second Chance Tuesday? As The Times succintly explains, this is the next stage on from First Tuesday, the internet networking business that typified the dot-com boom. Can a dot-com collapse be far behind? asks The Times rhetorically, answering its own question with “Time will tell, but some think there are definite similarities between today and those heady times […]
- [Comments are integral parts of the conversation](https://nevon.net/2006/02/08/comments_are_in/): While I’m still having a bit of difficulty figuring out whether the 30Boxes calendaring service is worth spending any time with or not, I’m having no such difficulty in seeing the value of a service like coComment. The concept of this is brilliantly simple – provide a means through which any comment you make on any blog (anyone’s blog, including your own) are aggregated in a single place so that you can clearly see all those comments from different places and thus get the broad picture of all the online conversations you are taking part in, anywhere. Read more about […]
- [If I were an architect](https://nevon.net/2006/02/08/if_i_were_an_ar/): If I were an architect, I wonder what my critical eye might make of the design of Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, through which I travelled yesterday. It’s one of the ugliest airports I’ve ever been to, a sprawling mass of bare concrete that evokes an absolute air of coldness. As you ride the inter-terminal bus from the RER station to Terminal 2, you feel it’s the kind of place that seems to go out of its way to make you feel unwelcome, so oppressive-looking that you feel depressed just going there! It’s the kind of architectural design that […]
- [The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #109: February 6, 2006](https://nevon.net/2006/02/06/the_hobson_and__1/): Content summary: The latest state of the blogosphere according to Technorati; new media in the travel business; practicing safe surfing and the global blogathon; the Google internet; BMW gets kicked off Google; Lee Hopkins report; tracking conversations with the Conversational Index and coComments; the Superbowl and the Six Nations Championship; revitalizing the press release; Eric Schwartzman interviews Walt Mossberg; listeners’ comments discussion (Stanford on iTunes; PR gets a bad name; FIR goes viral; those cartoons); the music. Show notes for February 6, 2006 Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 76-minute podcast recorded live from Amsterdam, […]
- [30Boxes first look](https://nevon.net/2006/02/06/30boxes_first_l/): I’ve been following the growing blogosphere buzz during the past week about 30 Boxes, a new online calendar application that some are saying is the killer calendar application. So I signed up for the beta yesterday. Noodled around with it for thirty minutes or so, added some appointments to my new calendar, set my preferences for adding in some web content, etc. Reading all the excitement in recent days, perhaps my expectation was set far too high as I’m a bit underwhelmed by it so far. For me, I don’t see this replacing Eventful, an online calendar service where, like […]
- [Never mind the Superbowl, what about the 6 Nations Rugby!](https://nevon.net/2006/02/06/never_mind_the_/): What a tremendous weekend for contact sport! While every American I know was glued to the TV (or plugged in to the net) yesterday for the Superbowl – in case you didn’t know, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks 21-10 – there was some fantsatic rugby going on in Europe throughout the weekend. Three matches were played between all the participating nations in the Six Nations Championship – England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales – all of which were broadcast live throughout Europe on one TV station or another. I managed to watch some of the Scotland vs […]
- [Moving towards Google's EPIC](https://nevon.net/2006/02/04/moving_towards_/): Still thinking that the Google Grid and the Evolving Personalized Information Construct are pure fantasy, just a history lesson from 2015? From The Times yesterday: Google is working on a project to create its own global internet protocol (IP) network, a private alternative to the internet controlled by the search giant, according to sources who are in commercial negotiation with the company. […] A leading content provider, who did not wish to be named, told Times Online: “We are in discussions with Google to provide content for their alternative internet service, to be distributed through their Google Cube product. As […]
- [Good time to back up your TypePad blog](https://nevon.net/2006/02/04/good_time_to_ba/): If you’re a TypePad customer, be aware that the hosted blog service will be in maintenance mode this weekend. From a note on the Six Apart Status blog last night: We have a scheduled maintenance window on Saturday evening from 11:00 PM through Sunday morning at approximately 4:00 AM to upgrade our database server. Upgrading the database server will enable us to further scale our operations and deliver stronger, more reliable performance. Those times are equivalent to 8:00am to 1:00pm Central European Time (GMT +1) tomorrow Sunday. And here’s the most important news for customers: Weblogs will be accessible to […]
- [Pricey freedom of the press](https://nevon.net/2006/02/03/pricey_freedom_/): BBC News: Danish-Swedish dairy giant Arla Foods says the ongoing boycott of Danish products in the Middle East had so far cost it between £40m and £50m. As the Muslim world refuses to buy Danish goods in protest over cartoons published in a Danish newspaper, Arla is losing £1m a day. Arla has also had to send home 170 employees across Denmark due to the impact of the reduced sales. Ouch. I thought it was extraordinary for the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten to publish those cartoons (caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed) when it would have been apparent to anyone that they […]
- [SAP enters SaaS market](https://nevon.net/2006/02/03/sap_enters_saas/): Yesterday, the German enterprise software vendor SAP announced it is entering the hosted software-as-a-service (SaaS) market with the expansion of its mySAP CRM offering to include a hosted option. The first service SAP will offer as a subscription is its sales-on-demand solution, with pricing from $75/user a month, and with hosting services from IBM. In a Business Week article yesterday discussing SAP’s move, market researcher IDC estimates that, while on-demand sales made up only about 6 percent of the roughly $9 billion CRM market last year, that percentage could rise to as much as 25 percent in five years. A […]
- [Sound comfort for sailors](https://nevon.net/2006/02/03/sound_comfort_f/): It’s comforting to know that HMS Daring, the first of the Royal Navy’s latest Type 45 destroyers launched on Wednesday, is fitted with the most advanced state-of-the-art weapons and defence systems. For instance: […] The main armament for the new destroyers will be the world-beating Principal Anti Air Missile System (PAAMS) – a collaboration between the UK, France and Italy. This capability represents a major step forward for the Royal Navy, putting the UK at the cutting edge of area Anti Air Warfare and ensuring that the Type 45 can defend her consorts and allies for decades to come. The […]
- [The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #108: February 2, 2006](https://nevon.net/2006/02/02/the_hobson_and_/): Content summary: New Flash player in show notes; Google continued: China and earnings; Microsoft blog censorship in China; the press release padding trap; Edelman’s new podcast; new podcast magazine launches; what the EU needs is effective communication; is citizen journalism dead?; a job ad from the future; listeners’ comments discussion (moving to the Bay area, differing roles of PR and marketing, Montreal not Toronto); the music. Show notes for February 2, 2006 Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 78-minute podcast recorded live from Concord, California, USA, and Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Download the file here (MP3, […]
- [New magazine for podcasters launched](https://nevon.net/2006/02/02/new_magazine_fo/): In show #103 of our podcast last month, Shel and I talked about ID3 Podcast Magazine, a new print publication about podcasting launching in May. Well, you don’t have to wait until May if you want to get your hands on a brand new magazine about podcasting as the first edition of such a new magazine was launched online today. Published as a PDF, Podcast User magazine was conceived and produced in less than a month, according to Paul Nicholls, the magazine’s editor. It’s the brainchild of a group of a dozen mostly British podcasters – in addition to Paul, […]
- [The 2006 Forum: A milestone event for communicators](https://nevon.net/2006/02/02/the_2006_forum_/): I’ve just finalized setting up my trip to California at the end of this month to participate in the New Communications Forum which takes place in Palo Alto from 1-3 March. My podcasting partner Shel Holtz and I are running a workshop at the Forum, the Podcasting 101 pre-conference ‘boot camp.’ This is a half-day interactive session that will help you learn about podcasting, from the elements of a successful podcast, to strategizing content to support your communication objectives, to recording a podcast that sounds good. We intend Podcasting 101 to be really interactive – we’ll be producing a special […]
- [Biz-Tech-News: Headlines 01-Feb-06](https://nevon.net/2006/02/01/biztechnews_hea/): A job advertisement from the future . . . Complexity stifles Web services Digital downloads would benefit Amazon.com: analyst Google Earnings Disappoint; Shares Plunge (Michael Liedtke/Associated Press) Google set to fall on profit miss Hands On With Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7 Beta Is Google Going Commercial with VOIP? Japanese tech firms report strong Q3 earnings Microsoft Blog Policy to Address Country-Specific Issues Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 Preview for Windows XP SP2 Oracle Completes Siebel Merger Roundup of Reactions to Google’s Earnings (GOOG) Running Office 2003 or XP? You May Need to Upgrade Skype in big ringtones deal […]
- [Conferences are about frameworks and participation](https://nevon.net/2006/01/31/conferences_are/): Jeff Jarvis’ rant the other day about conferences strikes a chord for me as I’m involved in speaking at quite a few during the next few months (see the links in the left-hand column). I’m hoping they do not have some of the characteristics of what I saw at one or two events I participated in during 2005, my experiences of which I can sum up by paraphrasing Jeff: Too many conferences suck. They’re too expensive. They are filled with boring panels. They are all about speeches and not about conversation and argument and learning and meeting. They don’t capture […]
- [Podcasting choices: Audacity or Adobe Audition?](https://nevon.net/2006/01/31/podcasting_choi/): When I started podcasting, I used the free cross-platform audio editor Audacity as my application of choice for recording and editing audio. This is a common route that many people go when they start out podcasting. Audacity is very good and easy to use. Good enough, in fact, for many people to stick with it. Not just for podcasts, either – it’s good enough to be one’s primary audio editor. And a new version was announced last month with some fixes and new features. The main negative I had with Audacity, though, was that I found the learning curve quite […]
- [Forrester Research evaluating corporate blogging solutions](https://nevon.net/2006/01/31/forrester_resea/): Charlene Li: My definition of a blogging solution is a software or service that enables the online publication and management of a blog. At a minimum, the solution should allow the user to set up a Web page, write posts, and manage them. Blog support services like FeedBurner or aggregators like NewsGator don’t fall into this category. Forrester Research analyst Charlene is looking for comment, opinion and suggestions for an evaluation/review of blogging software and services specifically targeted at corporate solutions. She’d like to know what you have to say to these questions: What features and functionality are most important […]
- [The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #107: January 30, 2006](https://nevon.net/2006/01/30/the_hobson_and__7/): Content summary: Windows Live; Google in China; Weber Shandwick hires Jeremy Pepper; BluePulse apologizes and wins; US bloggers get an Amsterdam junket; Cirque du Soleil invites bloggers to Canadian debut; listeners’ comments discussion (paying attention to Technorati); the music. Show notes for January 30, 2006 Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 73-minute podcast recorded live from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Concord, California, USA. Download the file here (MP3, 29MB), or sign up for the RSS feed to get it and future shows automatically. (For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also […]
- [Microsoft's Windows Live power play](https://nevon.net/2006/01/30/microsofts_wind/): Participating in the first UK preview of Windows Live in London last Thursday evening was a worthwhile experience. This event was the first public (ie, to a private group) UK presentation of and discussion about the collection of new internet-based services from Microsoft that are currently in beta testing. I’ve not yet directly experienced any of the constituent parts of Windows Live (I’m on the beta sign-up waiting lists) other than pop in now and again to the website portal and play a bit with the Ajax-based customization features where you can add and subtract content that will appear in […]
- [Choice podcasts from Davos](https://nevon.net/2006/01/28/choice_podcasts/): I’ve spent a little time today listening to a few of the audio recordings from the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Interesting listening, many of them, even though they are recordings of speeches and sessions which you can read about in mainstream media reporting. The really interesting ones, though, are the informal and short podcast conversations (no, not interviews: chats, really) recorded by Loic le Meur which are not listed in the link page referenced above. To get those, go to the Forum blog. Loic’s first podcast last Wednesday was a conversation with Richard Edelman, CEO of Edelman […]
- [The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #106: January 26, 2006](https://nevon.net/2006/01/28/the_hobson_and__6/): Content summary: Search firms’ PR woes, a fake Wikipedia entry, dull Davos, the never-ending press release meme, reports from Eric Schartzman and Dan York, a conversation with Jen McClure, listener comments, the music. Show notes for January 26, 2006 Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 101-minute podcast recorded live in Concord, CA and nearly live from Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Download the file here (MP3, 40.5MB), or sign up for the RSS feed to get it and future shows automatically. (For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a podcatcher such […]
- [Discovering Windows Live](https://nevon.net/2006/01/26/discovering_win/): Light blogging until the weekend as I’ll be in London tonight for the first UK preview of Microsoft’s Windows Live. Windows Live is a set of personal internet services and software designed to bring together in one place all of the relationships, information and interests people care about most, with more safety and security features across their PC, devices and the web. While it has clear benefits from an individual consumer’s point of view, I’m especially interested in learning more about those benefits from the business point of view. More later. Meanwhile, if you want to learn a little about […]
- [TypePad captcha in action](https://nevon.net/2006/01/25/typepad_captcha/): I was adding a comment to a post on my own blog in reply to a previous commenter and hit the ‘submit’ button. What I got next was a pleasant surprise: This is a captcha, a technique that tests whether a human being is on the other end of the connection, so to speak, rather than a (spam) robot. TypePad has been testing this authentication procedure and this is the first time I’ve seen it in action on my own blog. Even though there are varying opinions about captcha, I think it’s good to have such a system in place […]
- [IABC launches News Centre](https://nevon.net/2006/01/25/iabc_launches_n/): It’s often a good idea to just click on things on a website as you might discover something new. That’s what happened this morning on the IABC website as I was reviewing information there about the 2006 International Conference which takes place in Vancouver in June (I’m speaking at that event; a post about it soon). In the Updates section on the home page, there’s a link to the new IABC News Centre, a media resource with the latest news and information about IABC’s programmes and leaders (it says). The new resource uses PR Newswire’s MediaRoom tool, providing a dedicated […]
- [The road to transparency at Davos](https://nevon.net/2006/01/25/the_road_to_tra/): The 2006 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum begins today in Davos, Switzerland. The organizers say there will be 2,340 participants from 89 countries including 15 heads of state or government, 13 union leaders and over 30 heads of non-governmental organizations. This year, 735 participants are at the CEO or Chairman level. What makes this year’s meeting especially interesting is that many of these movers-and-shakers will be blogging the event. This is not private or ad hoc blogging – the World Economic Forum Weblog is an integral part of the 2006 meeting. The blog doesn’t yet list who all […]
- [Weblogs for PR - plenty of opportunity awaiting](https://nevon.net/2006/01/24/weblogs_for_pr_/): The initial findings of the EuroBlog 2006 survey on weblogs and communication management were published today, offering some interesting analysis on the state of awareness and acceptance of blogs by the PR community across Europe. The survey was carried out online last November and December, and nearly 600 PR pros from over 33 European countries participated (I was one of those), according to the organizers. Some commentary has already begun appearing in PR blogs – especially an excellent overview analysis by Philip Young, one of the driving forces behind EuroBlog 2006 – which largely focuses on the divide between those […]
- [Edelman PR podcast coming](https://nevon.net/2006/01/24/edelman_pr_podc/): News via email today from Phil Gomes about earSHOT, a new podcast from Edelman PR, that he will be presenting. Phil wouldn’t say when the first edition will be out other than “soon” (and that it will be cool). If you sign up now to the RSS feed, you’ll get the teaser podcast, a 40-second MP3 in which Phil outlines what earSHOT will be about. Looking forward to hearing the show, Phil. I’m subscribed already!
- [Biz-Tech-News: Headlines 24-Jan-06](https://nevon.net/2006/01/24/biztechnews_hea_2/): Amazon to Broadcast Weekly Internet Show And now, News – We’re taking Google News out of beta! (Krishna Bharat/Official Google Blog) Apple iTunes users growing fast BlackBerry Gets Google Talk and Google Local Business communications: RSS vs. E-mail CNET News.com for Jan 23, 2006: Is Blackberry on the brink? Drug Companies’ Bad Case of PR Ebay beats estimates but fails to dispel gloom Good Publicity: The Economist takes a look at the public relations industry Harder-to-Detect Oracle Rootkit on the Way How to Foil Search Engine Snoops HP outlines long-term strategy Microsoft TechED Europe 2006 in Amsterdam cancelled, evolving to […]
- [The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #105: January 23, 2006](https://nevon.net/2006/01/23/the_hobson_and__5/): Content summary: The Bad Pitch Blog; blogging Gonzo the Whale; Washington Post comments brouhaha; science blogs as a vehicle for selling ads; thoughts, commentary and a question from The Copenhagen Bloggers; Lee Hopkins’ report; Shel’s and Neville’s podcast interviews; listeners’ comments discussion (stop talking about rewinding; adopting intelligent evaluation for PR; IABC, corporate blogs, CPRS); growing FIR Frappr community; links on The New PR Wiki; Windows Live; the music. Show notes for January 23, 2006 Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, an 86-minute conversation recorded live from Concord, California, USA, and Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Download the […]
- [Listen to your hard drive and weep](https://nevon.net/2006/01/23/listen_to_your_/): Weird noises from your hard drive and you’re not sure what they mean? Well, you know they mean something bad is undoubtedly about to happen, but how do you find out what, exactly? Go to this Hitachi page and check out the .wav recordings there of various noises you might hear that likely indicate a failing hard drive. Listen to them and weep. But at least you’ll know I’ve experienced the slow spindle motor death sound. The scariest sound – head damage #3! (Via Digg)
- [The podcasting opportunity for mainstream media](https://nevon.net/2006/01/23/the_podcasting_/): BBC News: Almost two million BBC radio podcasts were downloaded during December, with the corporation’s breakfast programmes the most popular with listeners. […] Simon Nelson, Controller of BBC Radio & Music Interactive, said: "It’s fantastic to see how the demand for radio downloads has grown since we first offered them in 2004. These figures underline the enduring relevance of radio in the digital world." I think he’s right about relevance. The BBC is a great example of a traditional mainstream medium which sees a new medium – podcasting – as an opportunity not a threat. The broadcaster has grasped it […]
- [Disintermediating the news](https://nevon.net/2006/01/23/disintermediati/): A thoughtful article on Friday by Richard Sambrook, director of global news at the BBC, on how the internet is disintermediating news: […] News organisations do not own the news any more. They can validate information, analyse it, explain it, and they can help the public find what they need to know. But they no longer control or decide what the public know. It is a major restructuring of the relationship between public and media. But it will affect politics and policy as well. People can now address politicians directly, and politicians can reach the public without going through the […]
- [Blog Spring cleaning and a fresh start](https://nevon.net/2006/01/23/blog_spring_cle/): Sitting around a table in Copenhagen on Saturday in informal conversation with an eclectic bunch of communicators who are also bloggers has produced an additional benefit for me – the catalyst for a decision on what to do about my still-planned move from this TypePad blog to WordPress. I’ve decided to start over with a brand new WordPress blog, leaving this one on TypePad as the record of my blogging experience (and existence), thoughts and conversations here since July 2004. The domain www.nevon.net will stay here, too, so that no links will break – the major show-stopper so far that’s […]
- [Podcast entertainment](https://nevon.net/2006/01/22/podcast_enterta/): Last week, Shel and I had a great conversation via Skype with Lee Hopkins. An accomplished business podcaster, Lee’s also a regular correspondent of For Immediate Release, the twice-weekly show Shel and I do. The recording is now online. What it’s about, in Lee’s words: […] We talk about beginnings, mistakes, successes, strategy versus tactics, the IABC, words of wisdom and guidance, beheading and public execution, and much, much more (including what job Shel was offered until a “proper job comes along”). You are guaranteed a laugh (at my interviewing style, if nothing else). At 59 minutes long — and […]
- [Eclectic Copenhagen](https://nevon.net/2006/01/22/eclectic_copenh/): What do you get when a group of opinionated communicators with blogs get together? A real mashup of opinion, commentary and very lively conversation, that’s what. So it was on Saturday in Copenhagen when I was fortunate to meet with The Copenhagen Bloggers, the cream of the Danish blogosphere who you see in this photo. From left: Jesper Bindslev, Jacob Bøtter, Allan Jenkins, Henriette Weber, Trine-Maria Kristensen and Jon Froda. We had a terrific few hours over brunch (excellent food in the Cafe Andre Citroen) exchanging thoughts, ideas and opinions – lots of ’em – about blogging, podcasting, communication, you […]
- [The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #104: January 19, 2006](https://nevon.net/2006/01/20/the_hobson_holt-2/): Content summary: An upgrade for Skylook, IABC opens a members-only place for “buzz,” IABC Belgium President Gerry Murray starts a podcast, Shel and Neville talk about corporate blogging (should the CEO blog?, ghostwriting, time-wasting, risks from employee blogging, using a blog in place of PR), listeners’ comments discussion (spam, online editors, PR as relationship management, job hunting, Flash and more, liking long FIRs, trackbacks), upcoming meeting with Danish bloggers, the music. Show notes for January 19, 2006 Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 95-minute conversation recorded live from Copenhagen, Denmark, and Concord, California, USA. Download […]
- [FeedDemon 2 beta is out](https://nevon.net/2006/01/19/feeddemon_2_bet/): If you use the FeedDemon RSS reader for Windows, you should definitely take a look at the first beta of the forthcoming version 2. As a long-time FD user and currently on the 1.6 beta (version 2 will repalce 1.6), I’ve installed it. Wow! Definitely worth having. More later. See developer Nick Bradbury’s post for details.
- [Copenhagen get-together](https://nevon.net/2006/01/19/copenhagen_gett/): Light blogging for the next few days as I’ll be in Copenhagen for a client meeting. Whilst there, I’m having a great opportunity to get together on Saturday with some of the leading social media lights in Denmark such as Allan Jenkins, Jacob Boetter, Hans Henrik Heming and Trine-Maria Kristensen. Should be fun. Trine-Maria’s posted (in Danish) about our get-together. If you’re interested in meeting up as well, leave a comment in Trine-Maria’s post or call me on Skype.
- [WordPerfect, Office 12 and a trip down software memory lane](https://nevon.net/2006/01/18/wordperfect_off/): CNET News: Corel on Tuesday announced an updated version of WordPerfect Office, its rival to Microsoft’s dominant Office suite. This news item triggered some synapses to take a short trip down software memory lane, so here goes. I’ve been using Microsoft Word for over twelve years now, from version 6 when it was called ‘Word 6 for Windows’ to differentiate it from the DOS version. I beta-tested Word for Windows 95 and have moved with the various versions in the ensuing years to today’s 2003 version as part of the latest Microsoft Office suite. Beta tested that, too, prior to […]
- [FIR Interview - Pete Blackshaw, Intelliseek - January 17, 2006](https://nevon.net/2006/01/17/fir_interview_p/): Following today’s joint announcement by Intelliseek and Buzzmetrics on the merger of those two firms into a new company backed by media group VNU, Shel and Neville spoke to Pete Blackshaw, Intelliseek’s Chief Marketing and Customer Satisfaction Officer. Conversation points: The joining together of Intelliseek and Buzzmetrics; VNU and being acquired; developments in tracking and analysis of consumer-generated media; continuing support and development for BlogPulse and other Intelliseek offerings; the growing impact of video on consumer-generated media; the future of podcasting; Pete’s observations about Naked Conversations. Download the 26-minute conversation here (MP3, 11MB), or sign up for the Interviews RSS […]
- [Filling the market gap for offline blog editors](https://nevon.net/2006/01/17/filling_the_mar/): Some readers of this blog have left some great comments to my post last week about offline blog editors. In that post, I talked about ecto for Windows, BlogJet and Qumana as examples of popular editors for Windows (and for the Mac, in some cases) which enable you to write your blog posts offline, on your own computer. I’m now looking closely at Anconia RocketPost, a suggestion from Netanel Jacobsson. On just a first quick look after install, I am impressed with this tool. It’s the closest I’ve seen yet to a solution to what I believe is a yawning […]
- [Intelliseek acquired, forms part of new VNU-backed company as VNU looks to be acquired](https://nevon.net/2006/01/17/intelliseek_acq/): Two of the leading companies in tracking and analysing what consumers are talking about online have joined forces to create, in the words of the formal press release, the new global standard for measuring and understanding word-of-mouth behavior and influence. Market intelligence firm Intelliseek has been acquired by word-of-mouth research and planning company Buzzmetrics. The new combination will be known as Buzzmetrics Inc and operate under the Neilsen Buzzmetrics brand, backed by Dutch media group VNU who will own a majority stake in the new company. Of additional interest to this deal is news today that VNU itself is in […]
- [The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #103: January 16, 2006](https://nevon.net/2006/01/16/the_hobson_and__4-2/): Content summary: Podcast print magazine to launch; Dutch publisher to publish newspaper with blog content; Power PR makes accountability "guarantee"; gaining first impressions about websites in the blink of an eye; Wikipedia reveals plagiarism by journalist; Lee Hopkins’ report; the pros and cons of offline blog editors; listeners’ comments discussion (the rescue of advertising; meeting up at the IABC conference); Eric Schwartzman’s views from CES and his Spinfluencer interview with Joe Hayashi of Yahoo! Podcasts; the music. Show notes for January 16, 2006 Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 62-minute conversation recorded live from Concord, […]
- [The Quaero oxymoron](https://nevon.net/2006/01/16/the_quaero_oxym/): If you’ve been following the story of the Franco-German Quaero project – a planned European multimedia search engine, the answer to Google and brainchild of the French government – you’ll know that European politics have contributed to the mire it’s been in for some months. The Quaero website used to be online and provided useful information on the project. No longer is it online. Or, rather, you now need a user ID and password to access the site. Try it and see: http://www.thomson.net/EN/Home/Quaero/ News yesterday in the Financial Times that things might get moving again with German media conglomerate Bertelsman […]
- [Book, blook and podcasts](https://nevon.net/2006/01/16/book_blook_and_/): Here’s a neat idea – post the chapters of your book to your blog (sound familiar?) and record each chapter as a podcast. The book in question is hackoff.com: An Historic Murder Mystery set in the Internet Bubble and Rubble, a novel by Tom Evslin, who started posting chapters last September under a Creative Commons license. Evslin started the podcasts last week and I’ve listened to a couple of episodes so far, from the first chapter. The sound quality’s not terrific (a bit echo-y) but they’re a great listen. I listened on my PC although I think I’d get a […]
- [Stupendous Il Divo](https://nevon.net/2006/01/16/stupendous_il_d/): I’m not an opera fan by any means (note: lower-case ‘o’ – I’m not talking about the browser), but after listening to Il Divo, I could easily be converted. At least, to this type of opera. On Saturday, my wife bought the DVD of Il Divo: Encore and to say I was blown away watching and listening to this really is an understatement. This is opera but not as you know it. This talented young quartet – an American, Frenchman, Spaniard and a Swiss – of classically-trained singers did a live performance filmed at the Teatro Romano de Mérida in […]
- [More choices with offline blog editors](https://nevon.net/2006/01/13/more_choices_wi/): I use an offline editor to write nearly all my blog posts. This means I’m not dependent on a network connection nor the vagaries of the internet between my PC and the hosting service (TypePad for this blog), or even my own server where I have my WordPress blog. Plus, I always have the original content on my local PC – peace-of-mind insurance if you can’t connect to your blog host for some reason (or, nightmare scenario, a problem on the remote server means you lose your stuff and you didn’t do a backup yourself). But offline editors aren’t perfect. […]
- [Biz-Tech-News: Headlines 13-Jan-06](https://nevon.net/2006/01/13/biztechnews_hea_1-2/): A JotSpot For Excel Apple’s New (Corporate) Tune Body scanner unveiled at station Disruption in mainstream media but where is the disruption in the mainstream PR industry? Europe’s ‘Google killer’ goes into hiding Google offers personal home page for mobile phones How Brands Evolve, Visually Invasion of the privacy snatchers New PR blogs (a bunch of them) Nikon to stop making most film cameras Not working can really ruin your retirement Posting from Word to MovableType Rolls Royces to come with lifetime Sirius subscription SixApart Launches Affiliates Program Sky launches first ever news video podcasting service Skype, The Bandwidth Hog […]
- [The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #102: January 12, 2006](https://nevon.net/2006/01/12/the_hobson_and__3-2/): Content summary: Annoying anonymous comments now illegal in the US; political podcasts in the UK by Prime Minister Tony Blair and Conservative leader David Cameron; US army hires Haas MS&L to pitch editorial content to bloggers; Dan York’s report; listeners’ comments discussion; the music. Show notes for January 12, 2006 Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 75-minute conversation recorded live from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Concord, California, USA. Download the file here (MP3, 30MB), or sign up for the RSS feed to get it and future shows automatically. (For automatic synchronization with your iPod or […]
- [Blair and Cameron podcast firsts](https://nevon.net/2006/01/12/blair_and_camer/): You know podcasting has now definitely entered the mainstream when two politicians – one a Prime Minister no less, and both leaders of their parties and members of the government – use the medium in conjunction with two national newspapers to convey particular messages to voters in the UK. Yesterday, Prime Minister Tony Blair was interviewed by The Sun newspaper in that paper’s first podcast. He uses the medium to talk about cleaning up anti-social behaviour in towns and cities (a hot political issue in the UK at the moment). On Tuesday, new Conservative Party leader David Cameron became the […]
- [Previewseek: New web search engine impresses](https://nevon.net/2006/01/12/previewseek_new/): In reviewing some recent visitor stats to my blog, I was curious about quite a few inbound links from a search engine I didn’t recognize – Previewseek. A quick look at it shows that this search engine (it’s in beta – what isn’t these days?) works in a different way to what you might be accustomed to with services like Google, MSN Search, Yahoo, etc. How different? From Previewseek’s about page: […] With our revolutionary artificial intelligence and adaptive behavioral technologies, you no longer have to visit multiple search engines to see what you may be missing. You no longer […]
- [FIR Interview - Gerald R. Baron, author, "Now is Too Late" - January 11, 2006](https://nevon.net/2006/01/11/fir_interview_g/): In this edition of For Immediate Release podcast interviews, Shel enjoyed a 55-minute conversation with Gerald Baron, author of the crisis communications book, "Now is Too Late: Survival in the Era of Instant News." Download the conversation here (MP3, 21MB), or sign up for the Interviews RSS feed to get it and our future interviews automatically. For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a podcatcher such as the free Juice, DopplerRadio, iTunes or Yahoo! Podcasts, or an RSS aggregator that supports podcasts such as FeedDemon. To receive all For Immediate Release podcasts including the […]
- [Keep cool with egoSurf](https://nevon.net/2006/01/11/keep_cool_with_/): Via Steve Rubel, news of egoSurf, a tool that searches Google and other engines against your name and blog or website, and calculates your ego ranking. Naturally, I gave it a go. it says my ego ranking is 11,845. Is that good? Can I exchange those points for a free flight to New York? That would be nice. So why would you need to egoSurf? From the website: […] egoSurf helps massage the web publishers ego, and thereby maintain the cool equilibrium of the net itself. Of course. ‘Nuff said. (Conceptually, it reminds me a bit of Preople which I […]
- [Clueless BrandWeek magazine](https://nevon.net/2006/01/11/clueless_brandw/): Are blogs a waste of your time and that of your business or clients? Indeed they are, according to BrandWeek magazine in the US: Blogs provide almost no new information. They’re frequently inaccurate. They contribute to the hysterical polarization of our nation’s political discourse. And they’re often written by people who can’t, you know, write. So naturally marketers have flocked to associate their brands with them. Seriously, it’s not entirely clear why so many marketers have rushed to get themselves name-dropped in one of the most unreliable media environments yet invented. What a credibility-sapping commentary in an otherwise entertaining and […]
- [GM videocasts new concept car](https://nevon.net/2006/01/10/gm_videocasts_n/): “What do you think of it?” asks General Motors vice chairman Bob Lutz in a post yesterday on the GM FastLane Blog. At the last count, over 225 customers and car enthusiasts have told Lutz precisely what they think of the Chevrolet Camaro concept car, the vast majority of comments overwhelmingly positive. “Build this and I’ll buy one!” would be a good summary of the informal feedback GM has received so far. Yesterday’s post was followed by a 10-minute videocast – a first from GM – with Lutz at the North American International Auto Show being interviewed by the Wall […]
- [The anatomy of HIV](https://nevon.net/2006/01/10/the_anatomy_of_/): Daily Telegraph: This is the first detailed glimpse of one of the most deadly organisms on the planet, one that has killed about 25 million people and now infects another 40 million people, of which about three million will die this year alone. Despite having known for more than two decades that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is responsible for Aids, clear images of the virus have been elusive. Many articles use a computer generated image, or direct images – fuzzy blobs and dots – taken by an electron microscope. The problem is that the virus is astonishingly variable in size […]
- [The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #101: January 9, 2006](https://nevon.net/2006/01/09/the_hobson_and__2-2/): Content summary: Wal-Mart and a blog crisis; relaunching The Observer and the role of the companion blog; banned words for 2006; is Google Pack for the enterprise?; ZenCast’s new definition of podcast; Lee Hopkins report; listeners’ comments discussions (competitive PR advantage, congrats on 100 and 101 shows, RSS and podcasts in job hunting, call to action to communicators); much more than ‘miscommunication’ in last week’s US mining tragedy; upcoming interview; the music. Show notes for January 9, 2006 Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 78-minute conversation recorded live from Concord, California, USA, and Amsterdam, The […]
- [So what's wrong with ghostwriting an executive blog?](https://nevon.net/2006/01/09/so_whats_wrong_/): I’ve been thinking about an item in a recent survey that says only 20 percent of senior business executives write their own blogs. The survey was conducted in October by PR veteran David Davis who published the results last week. Shel and I talked about it last Thursday in show #100 of our biweekly podcast. While I take this survey overall with a little pinch of salt as apart from geographical facts it doesn’t provide any detailed information breaking down the survey group, nor say how many actually sent back responses, the item in question about executive blogging is quite […]
- [How Google could be the world's most valuable company](https://nevon.net/2006/01/09/how_google_coul/): Google’s share price could rise to $2,000, says the Daily Telegraph. The Telegraph quotes Caris & Co, a US stockbroker, saying that Google shares had the potential to climb faster with the launch of digital services. Those shares closed at $465 on Friday after the company announced its online video library. More from the Telegraph: […] Google floated two years ago at $80 a share. If its stock does rise as Caris forecasts, it will be worth $400bn (£225bn) and overtake General Electric to become the most valuable company in the world. Mark Stahlman, an analyst at Caris & Co, […]
- [How to deal with too many choices](https://nevon.net/2006/01/07/how_to_deal_wit/): Whenever I travel to the US, I get apprehensive. Not about the travel or why I’m visiting the States. No, it’s all to do with breakfast choices. Here’s the scenario. It’s breakfast time in my hotel. I sit and the ever-so-friendly waitress asks me for my order. Apprehension starts if I request eggs. Before I first visited the US some 20 years ago, I never knew how many choices there were for eggs. Scrambled. Fried. Boiled. Poached. Sunny side up. That’s just to begin with. Then the sub-sets – easy, soft, medium, etc. And let’s not get started on the […]
- [Transforming corporate identities beyond the razzle dazzle](https://nevon.net/2006/01/07/transforming_co/): The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas certainly was the place this week for many companies to announce a dazzling array of new tech products, alliances and ventures. The best place I found to keep up with what was going on was the excellent Engadget CES blog which had a non-stop stream of posts. Another good resource – CES Blog 2006 from VNU. Certainly far better efforts than the CES’ rather lame blog. Amongst all the new products and cool things being talked about, I found two corporate announcements of particular interest, one from Eastman Kodak Company and the other […]
- [Test your geek quotient](https://nevon.net/2006/01/07/test_your_geek_/): How much of a geek are you? Take the geek test v 3.1 to find out. I scored 30.17751% which makes me a Total Geek, according to this test. About normal, then 😉 How do you rate? (Via Digg)
- [PR blogger says Clinton could be next Microsoft president](https://nevon.net/2006/01/06/pr_blogger_says/): This will be one heck of a scoop for citizen journalism if it turns out to be true: There are some rumors circulating that Steve Ballmer is about to step aside at Microsoft as its day to day operations head to make room for another president. Bill Clinton. From a post today by PR blogger Andy Abramson. No other comment about this anywhere I can see as I write this post. Watching my RSS feeds with keen interest. (Aside: Shel and I interviewed Andy last month in our For Immediate Release podcast interview series.)
- [Biz-Tech-News: Headlines 6-Jan-06](https://nevon.net/2006/01/06/biztechnews_hea-2/): Downloads overtake traditional single sales Dutch government has declared 2006 “Year of the e-Citizen Charter” Gates sees IBM not Google as top Microsoft rival IBM Takes the Cash out of Venture Capital Inquisitor Rocks my Socks Introducing Our New Gadget Blog Is this thing on? Microsoft Defends Censoring Blog in China Microsoft officially now released the WMF security patch early! New cat family tree revealed Our only serious competitor is IBM, says Gates Pfizer Uses ID Tags to Ship Viagra Podtech gets Intel’s CEO on podcast RIM legal woes jumpstart wireless e-mail alternatives Sony Reader targets book lovers The agonies […]
- [The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #100: January 5, 2006](https://nevon.net/2006/01/05/the_hobson_and__1-2/): Content summary: Top 10 sources; your CV as an RSS feed and podcast; World Economic Forum podcasting and blogging at upcoming event; CEOs’ biggest fears; Dan York’s report; listeners’ comments discussion; upcoming interview; the music. Show notes for January 5, 2005 Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 71-minute conversation recorded live from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Concord, California, USA. Download the file here (MP3, 29MB), or sign up for the RSS feed to get it and future shows automatically. (For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a podcatcher such […]
- [Skype 2.0 out of beta](https://nevon.net/2006/01/05/skype_20_out_of/): Lots of interesting news about Skype and some of the things they’re announcing at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. (Heads up for visiting the CES website: loud Flash intro page.) More interesting news – version 2.0 of Skype software for Windows is coming out of beta today and will be available for download from Skype’s site at 13:00 Eastern time (18:00 GMT), according to an overnight email from Skype’s PR agency SparkPR. I tried an early 2.0 beta last month and didn’t like it at all. But I’ve been running the latest beta build for the […]
- [The best predictions yet for 2006](https://nevon.net/2006/01/05/the_best_predic/): Unlike many in the PR blogosphere, I haven’t made any public predictions for 2006 (and don’t intend to). If you do a Technorati search you’ll find hundreds, if not thousands, of bloggers who have. Web 2.0 this, AJAX that, blogs the other… Even many of the PR-related predictions are focused mostly on the technology tools we’re using now and ones that are about to hit us. Those tools are key to everything, undoubtedly, but what about the uses to which you put them? What about the communication? While some of my fellow PR bloggers have talked about communication as part […]
- [Who do you pay attention to for advice on Windows vulnerability?](https://nevon.net/2006/01/04/who_do_you_pay_/): When news about the latest Windows vulnerability gets talked about in the news all over the place, you tend to pay close attention. If you haven’t been doing that, here’s what this latest issue is all about, involving a Trojan called Exploit-WMF which is spread via some instant messaging software and email. It’s actually hard to tell what to do with so much conflicting and downright wrong advice being bandied about. Microsoft’s advice yesterday is to wait until an official patch comes out on 10 January: […] Although the issue is serious and malicious attacks are being attempted, we have […]
- [Mine tragedy 'miscommunication'](https://nevon.net/2006/01/04/mine_tragedy_mi/): Today’s news of the tragedy at a coal mine in the US where a dozen miners were killed would, for most people, be just another terrible news story were it not for a truly awful element to it. According to news accounts, information emerged initially that one miner had been killed and one other injured, seriously at that, with the rest ok. Scenes of jubilation and relief everywhere. Then the awful truth – 12 had died in the mine explosion and there was just one survivor, the seriously injured miner. A BBC News report quotes relatives saying that information that […]
- [The rigmarole of Norton Internet Security](https://nevon.net/2006/01/03/the_rigmarole_o/): Notwithstanding the Dell Hell saga of last year, I love my Dell Dimension XPS Gen 5 which I bought in August. From a hardware point of view, it works perfectly. No issues whatsoever, so I’m a more than satisfied Dell customer. I wish I could say the same about some of the software running on it, especially Norton Internet Security 2006 (NIS) for Windows. I’ve been a user of Symantec’s Norton product line for at least six years (and from long before that, when Peter Norton first rolled out Norton Utilities for DOS in the early 80s). So Norton is […]
- [The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #99: January 2, 2006](https://nevon.net/2006/01/02/the_hobson_and_-2/): Content summary: Unveiling Intel’s new identity; Lincoln Group’s new pay for PR play in Iraq; trying out the Podlifter transcription service; MakeBot; intranet trends to watch in 2006; Lee Hopkins report; listeners’ comments discussion; the music. Show notes for January 2, 2006 Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 76-minute conversation recorded live from Concord, California, USA, and Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Download the file here (MP3, 31MB), or sign up for the RSS feed to get it and future shows automatically. (For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a podcatcher […]
- [The continuing rise of citizen journalism](https://nevon.net/2006/01/02/the_continuing_/): BBC News: 2005 was arguably the year citizens really started to do it for themselves. Raising mobiles aloft, they did not just talk and text, they snapped, shared and reported the world around them. Commentary by Jo Twist of the Institute for Public Policy Research think tank illustrates the far-reaching effects and changes in the reporting of events during the past year as a direct result of the power of new media communication channels like blogs and podcasting as well as tools like camera-equipped mobile phones that facilitate almost-instant publishing. Examples: The Asian tsunami disaster that began on 26 December […]
- [How to be an internet millionaire](https://nevon.net/2006/01/02/how_to_be_an_in/): Daily Telegraph: A student who hoped to graduate without debt by setting up a website offering internet advertising space has made £519,000 in only four months. Alex Tew, 21, a first-year business management student at Nottingham University, said he hoped to achieve his aim of making a million dollars – £578,000 – early in the New Year. “I thought I might make a few grand but I’ve made a fortune,” he said. “It’s been a crazy adventure.” This is the story of the MillionDollarHomePage, an internet site Tew set up where you can buy advertising space at $1 per pixel. […]
- [Pray the name isn't Kone](https://nevon.net/2006/01/01/pray_the_name_i/): If you ever get stuck in a lift, hope that it’s not a lift where the emergency help system is managed by Kone. I had a surreal experience last night, New Year’s Eve, involving a Kone lift, three gorgeous women and a bottle of champagne. We’d been celebrating the New Year Amsterdam-neighbourhood style, where you gather on the street corner just before midnight to toast in the New Year with your neighbours. Plenty of champagne and other beverages flowing freely to accompany the sound and light spectacle of fireworks going off everywhere. Very loud fireworks, especially the strings of Chinese […]
- [Twiddling thumbs](https://nevon.net/2005/12/31/twiddling_thumb/): Waiting for chkdsk to complete its diagnostics including a free space hard drive scan on a Windows XP computer is like watching paint dry. And about as thrilling. Continuing my housekeeping mode from yesterday, I’m now spending too much time this morning trying to nail down an irritating little issue that seems to revolve around Norton Internet Security (cathartic rantlet on my MT blog). So rather than just twiddle my thumbs while I wait, let’s have a quick look around the PR blogosphere to see what’s going on at the moment: Looks like a real hornet’s nest has been stirred […]

## Pages

- [About](https://nevon.net/about/): A little bit of history: When I first started blogging, in December 2002, I created a site called NevOn.net. It was hosted on Blogspot. In mid 2004 I moved the site to TypePad where it was my active primary blog until February 2006 when it became my archive, and I started a new site using WordPress at NevilleHobson.com where I am today. This website contains the full text archive of the 1,400+ articles I published on NevOn.net between 2002-2006. I consider this to be a snapshot of the changes and evolution that occurred in the first half-decade of this century […]


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