Keeping up on the pace of the ever-evolving Internet is no small task, so I wanted to do my part by sharing a few new tagging sites that I’ve recently learned about. I’m sure most of you know about del.icio.us (bookmark URLs; write tags; other people can browse through your bookmarks) and Digg (bookmark URLs; other other people can browse through your bookmarks and ‘digg’ it too; bookmarks are sorted by topic). Here’s some others that are starting to get popular:
= Furl.net (not .com)- described as ‘An easier way to save and share your online discoveries’. It’s like another Digg or del.icio.us but the homepage is very bland, which puts me off some but the site is a part of Looksmart.com, so it’s understandable.

= Simpy.com – yet another site tagging/bookmarking app but looking through their customer reviews. It seems that they could be serious competition for del.icio.us because of the other features being offering.

= reddit.com – similar to Furl.net and others where you get to post what’s new and popular, but different in the way that, based on user votes, items get dropped or raised on the list of ‘cool’.

= MyWeb.Yahoo.com – Yahoo!’s beta version of site tagging. For me, not very interesting and isn’t at all different than what the other sites are doing. As a Yahoo! fan, I’m disappointed.

= Blogmemes.com – offering the Hispanic community a way to promote and share links, stories, videos and other ways to share culture. In other words, a Spanish version of site tagging which I think is an interesting spin on things.

= ma.gnolia.com – tries to differentiate itself but is really just another site tagging app – although it is prettier than some I’ve seen.

= Stumbleupon.com – keeps track of your preferences as you search the internet, recommending similar sites to the one that you’re on. In other words, they use the search display advertising algorithm for web browsing.

= Technorati.com – Scours the web for blog posts and entries about social media items. It’s like getting your water cooler gossip fix without leaving your desk.

= Newsvine.com – An instant reflection of what the world is talking about at any given moment. It is people actively submitting articles from online news sites about the things that they are reading/interested in/ talking about/etc. Like Technorati, but with real articles instead of blogs.

Now that you’ve been brought up to speed on tags, try out the services and tell us what you think!

I was reading the AdFreak blog (which always tickles me) and saw a post about a fun little quiz created by MindFloss. 

Certainly nobody reading this blog is unfamiliar with the many, many, many pharmaceutical commercials and their drugs many, many, many “possible” side effects.

Well … MindFloss wants to see how well you paid attention. Take the Quiz.

For almost every native New Yorker who was around when 9/11 occurred (and the aftermath) there is an unspoken bond of anguish and immense sorrow that never seems to diminish somehow as the years pass.

I’m one of those native New Yorkers. Every year I find myself tearing up when the TV specials come on and have the change the channel. I still can’t find the courage to see any of the films that have come out since because I don’t think I can sit and watch it happen all over again. The one thought that I keep coming back to is – there are thousands of people that I will never meet, never smile at and never get to know now, gone in the blink of an eye.

This year, I ran across an article about a Second Life event that commemorates that fateful day and was curious enough to overcome my aversions (at least for a little while) and check it out. According to the article, the sim opened at the time when the first plane struck. I logged in and teleported.

Names of those lost from each of the buildings and planes, as well as the service men and women who lost their lives, are etched on a wall, which is surrounded by water on three sides. Pictures of those lost (at least I’m hoping that’s what it is) are collaged and displayed in a separate area.

No buildings are shown, which I think makes it even more significant. People came in and out; some returning for a second or third visit. Flowers, signs of ‘We will not forget’ and more are scattered around the base. No one talked very much. And periodically, a soft rain would fall.

It was beautiful in the ways that only Second Life can be.

Remembering 9/11, we will never forget.

Since the beginning of the month, I’ve been reading up entranced by the bitter fight between NBC and iTunes, which had been well covered by Phill Ryu. This is an interesting case where someone at NBC sadly thought that this was a good idea but have clearly miscalculated.

Basics of What Happened

This case can be summed in 5 basic steps:

1. NBC’s sells shows on Apple’s iTunes Store at $1.99 per episode; contract comes up for renewal
2. NBC tries to re-negotiate with Apple asking $4.99 per episode; Apple refuses to budge on price
3. Negotiation goes public; NBC hoped “the people” would side with them, forcing Apple to concede
4. Negotiations goes nowhere; NBC switches to Amazon’s Unbox service for Tivo
5. Wheels fall off the bus!

So who’s the Biggest Loser?

I think that NBC will lose because:

Reason #1: People will buy the DVD

NBC is operating under the assumption that people are willing to pay $5 per episode. Considering that a typical television season has 21 - 23 episodes (according to Ryan Tuttle, who is an avid TV watcher), I’m calculating that viewers of shows like 30 Rock, which had 21 episodes, will shell out almost $105 based on the new price:

21 episodes/season * $4.99 per episode = $104.79

That’s a fair sum, considering that you can buy the 30 Rock Season 1 DVD for less than $50. If viewers paid $1.99 per episode, they would be shell out a more reasonable $41.79:

21 episodes/season * $1.99 per episode = $41.79

Reason #2: People will steal download shared episodes for free

In comparison to movie downloads, shared TV episodes are more popular. It seems that while only a small fraction of shared files, or torrents, are TV series, 50% of all download activity is focused on grabbing these shared files. And at $4.99 an episode, downloading these for free would be a steal.

Reason #3: iTunes is FREE while Tivo’s are not!

You can download iTunes for FREE but the barrier to entry for Amazon Unbox Service is a Tivo box. While there are potentially 1.5 million broadband-ready TiVo boxes that can take advantage of this service, it seems that Amazon is tight lipped about how many subscribers are currently purchasing movies through this service. Even if you estimate that 2% of subscribers, that’s only 30,000 potential customers, which will fetch about $150k per episode which seems a bit on the lighter side.

Reason #4: People will opt for cable/satellite TV

Many of the folks that I’ve known who buy episodes do not have cable. They buy episodes from iTunes because it is more cost effective. If you assume that a viewer watches three TV shows and there are 4 episodes a month (one per week), a typical viewer would pay much less than a regular cable bill:

3 shows * 4 episodes * $1.99 per episode = $23.88 per month

When you compare that to a normal cable/satellite bill (approximately $30 to $60 per month), viewers can save a ton of dough. But when you price an episode at $4.99, a viewer will now pay $59.88 per month and at that cost viewers will likely opt in to cable TV.

Reason #5: People will Tivo the episode

One of the reasons that people have Tivo’s is that they can digitally record shows. The benefit of having the Unbox service is that you can access movies, and that is worthwhile if you are a bare-bones cable subscriber. A typical Tivo subscriber would “Season Pass” the show and enjoy the show at their leisure.

Final Marketing Pressure

To makes matters worse, Apple is considering a more aggressive marketing strategy for the TV episodes, with rumors swirling of a price cut to $0.99 per episode. When you consider that NBC had a 30% market share of downloads on iTunes, I see NBC really taking it on the chin.

Oh well, hope that you don’t own any GE stock shares (GE is the parent company of NBC).

Over the Labor Day weekend I caught up on the TivoCast items I downloaded from Rocketboom, and saw this clip that featured an interview with Susan Crawford about OneWebDay (OWD). OWD is a yearly celebration of the Internet that takes place on September 22^nd. What a great idea! As I listened to Crawford’s passionate statements about the yearly global event, I decided to go ahead and check out OWD’s website.

As I perused the blog, I came across one post (“Have you thanked the web lately?”) that noted “OneWebDay gives us a chance to reflect about the ways in which the internet has changed the world, and to shed light on information-flow blockades around the globe.” and provided a list of suggested activities one could take part in to participate in the global celebration. Since there’s not an event in Atlanta this year, I thought I’d share the online activities for OneWebDay to help spread the word and maybe gain interest in a local event for next year.

Their main goal this year is to encourage people to make their own short videos and post them on blip.tv or YouTube tagged “onewebday2007″. Some of the suggested topics for user generated videos include:

• how the web has changed your life
• how you’d like the web to change the world in the future
• highlights of what you’ve seen online the day you make the video
• your favorite online event ever
• something you’ve done online with other people in other countries

I think these are great topics, and if I didn’t have this thing about posting video of myself on YouTube – I’d definitely submit one. I don’t mind writing though, so I thought I’d take a minute to talk about how the web has changed my life.

Through the years I’ve had access to the Internet, I have used it as a tool to meet other people and connect in a fashion that wouldn’t be possible without the use of the web. Growing up, many of my friends were people that I met online in IRC chat rooms. I wasn’t the coolest kid in school (which I know is hard for many of you to imagine now), so I didn’t have many friends and I had a hard time confiding in others. With the anonymity of the internet, I was able to discuss issues and obtain viewpoints from others. Along the way, I found ways to express myself and build confidence in the person I was. Since those awkward years, I’ve managed to make real life friends, but I’m still in contact with a few of my IRC buddies, which makes me very happy; they were a key part in my formative years and I won’t ever forget them.

Since then, the Internet has played an even bigger role in my life. Without the Internet I:

• Wouldn’t have my awesome job
• Wouldn’t have found my awesome apartment (yay for Craigslist!)
• Wouldn’t have an efficient way to communicate with a large group of people all at once (where would we be without email or social networking sites?)
• Wouldn’t have met one of my very best friends

But enough about me…I want to hear how the Internet has changed the lives of our blog readers. For those of you without a YouTube-phobia, I encourage you to submit video for OneWebDay and share the link on this blog post. If you’d rather not create a video, at least share your thoughts and feelings on the Internet in the comments below. I’m fascinated by the different stories I’ve heard so far, I’d really like to hear yours!

It was the best of times; it was the worst of hairstyles. It was the age of cornrows and bows; it was the age of perms and braces. It was the epoch of skater dudes; it was the epoch of tennis queens. It was, in fact, 1989 at Midlothian High School—go Trojans!

You see, Creative Director Wade Forst (proudly sporting the Bo Derek do in his senior tux) and I just discovered we share more than a perfect 10 employer. We also share the same home town—the village (yes, village) of Midlothian, VA. We even shared the same neighborhood for a few years…and the same street…and the same crib. (Well, I used it 3 years after he did).

The Disney ride is right. It’s a small world after all. And, thanks to the web, it’s all the smaller. With just a few searches and clicks, we discovered even Midlothian has quite the online presence:

• The Midlothian Alumni page on Facebook.com: More than 300 members.
• Midlothian High School website: Check out those pep rally pics—the Trojan spirit lives!
• Midlothian, VA on Wikipedia: Claims to fame include coal mining and Aimee Mann.
• Village of Midlothian: It really is a village!
• Ukrop’s: Hands-down the best grocery store in the universe.
• Crab Louie’s: Yummy seafood in a historic tavern.

Are you too good for Facebook? With your multi-million dollar homes, your Bugatti Veyron, and your fully-booked schedule of social gatherings … you can’t be expected to stay in touch with friends on Facebook, or - gasp - MySpace. That’s for “commoners.”

FINALLY, a social networking site for the rich and fabulous … aSmallWorld.com is a “private online community, which is designed for those who already have strong connections with one another.”

Before you get too excited, this is invitation-only from a “trusted member.” I mean, they can’t let just anyone in.

For the CSI fans out there – good news, now you can become a part of the CSI intrigue by gathering clues and solving mysteries, in Second Life that is! That’s right – the makers of CSI: New York will be developing a storyline, in the fall, where a murderer escapes into Second Life where you, the general public and obsessed fans can take part in the investigation and help to solve the mystery.

This is a great way, I think, for the show to use an emerging media to include their audience in an amazing interactive experience. It seems that ideas like this are one of many ways that marketers are creatively capturing the imagination and eyeballs.

Take for example the ingenious marketing of several TV shows (Heroes, Lost, etc.) where a trail of clues to random websites that lead to other websites, emails, and even text messages are left for the fans that are loyal and brilliant enough to figure them out. They uncover hidden storylines, plots and much more.

And the same is being done for movies, check out for instance this interesting post on mentalfloss.com that talks about the upcoming movie by J.J. Abrams that has no name – but yet is being advertised. This is the type of immersive marketing that I can see as the next wave of the future. It’s not just a combination of website, email, direct mail, and (does this even exist anymore?) telemarketing. It is a full on experience and I for one cannot wait to ride that wave.