Friday, June 16, 2006

The Fight for Teheran. Amir Taheri argues in the NY Post that observers may be missing the real crisis in Iran. The power struggle within the Islamic state. [Pajamas Media] 9:27:37 PM    comment []

Justin's "passively multiplayer online game". Justin, the "founding father of personal blogging" turned interactive media student has turned is old site bud.com into a "A lightweight passively multiplayer online game where your data is your playfield." bud.com is an experiment to turn our personal data trails into a playfield for a web-based massively-multiplayer online game. Call it passively multiplayer - the reality of communication networks. Already, Web 2.0 and social networking sites keep track of our relationships and communications. bud.com proposes to make that web more engaging through surveillance with non-threatening stakes: browser-based multiplayer play [Smart Mobs] 9:26:57 PM    comment []

NY Times research says people don't want RSS. From David Weinberger's report on a panel at an Annenberg Center conference, I find Martin Nisenholtz of New York Times Digital making the following statement (I'm trusting David's report of the words, but they're notes, not a news article): "Our research says that a relatively small group of people want to aggregate RSS feeds." I don't doubt that the Times has such research, and that it is an accurate snapshot of current Net user desire. But it's a bad predictor, because when you ask most Net users, "Do you want to aggregate RSS feeds?" their likely answer is, "Huh? Aggregate what?" Imagine it's, say, 1995, when a lot of us early adopters were already spending tons of time online but much of the world barely knew the Web existed or how it worked. And imagine you did research then that asked people, "Do you want to access Web pages with HTTP?" Such research would have shown that a "relatively small group of people" wanted to surf the Web. And that research would have guided you in precisely the wrong direction. [Scott Rosenberg's Links & Comment] 9:26:53 PM    comment []

attrition.org had a plan to raise funds. Coca Cola had a plan to run a contest. The two were related. Then attrition.org investigated the contest more closely: . . . . If you can drink 74.5 cans of coke per day, every day, for the entire duration of the contest, then you have a chance of getting that prize. Does Coca-cola realize it has implemented a loyalty program that baits people into participating, but won't actually give out the rewards because it isn't possible as outlined in the rules? Is this a cheap gimmick or corporate oversight? I'd like to find out. I'm still aiming to get codes from the masses.. but now, instead of a nice TV as a generous reward for eight years of indentured servitude, it is likely going to be a chance to write a scathing article about corporate lies and the reality of such loyalty reward programs. If I get 20,000 points (which is only now possible if they carry through with the 'double point' days), will they actually part with said TV? Let's find out. 12:37:53 PM    comment []

Two from BNA News: NIELSEN TO GAUGE TV VIEWING ON WEB In a move with far-reaching implications for commercial television, Nielsen Media Research says it plans to integrate TV with Internet ratings and to measure viewership for such portable devices as cell phones and iPods. One of the most intriguing elements of Nielsen's plan is the integration of TV and online measurement, by tracking video programming delivered on the Web through its Nielsen/NetRatings unit, and adding the Internet to its own national People Meter sample to give the industry what could be its first comprehensive look at viewing on TV and broadband. [Washington Post] GOVERNMENT PAYS TO PEEK AT PRIVATE LIVES The Washington Post reports that several US agencies pay private companies to compile data on people. As federal agencies delve into the vast commercial market for consumer information, such as buying habits and financial records, they are tapping into data that would be difficult for the government to accumulate but that has become a booming business for private companies. [Washington Post] 11:37:46 AM    comment []

NBA Investigates Security Breach, by Tom D'Angelo, Palm Beach Post. NBA security continues to investigate a breach that allowed two women who were unauthorized to enter the Dallas Mavericks' locker room following Miami's Game 3 victory and wander into the showers. Dallas forward Josh Howard chased the women out of the showers. They then were escorted out of the building. No arrests were made. . . . Some Mavericks players believe the women took pictures with camera phones before the phones were confiscated. The NBA would not comment on the possibility that pictures were taken. "There have been situations in the NBA where things happen, but that might be the wildest situation that I have ever seen," Mavericks guard Darrell Armstrong said. "I have never seen that before." 11:37:42 AM    comment []