If you listen to live streaming Internet radio, you might not be able to do it today. In protest to a new ruling that will raise royalty rates for webcasters on July 15, retroactive to Jan 1, 2006, some Internet radio stations are participating in a Day of Silence. Some of the more noteable are Shoutcast, Yahoo Music and Live365.com. The rates will shift from a percent-of-revenue model to a flat fee read more...
Beware the Diggerati: You Have 6114 Messages
The bulls are running again, and today they see red. There is a new commenting system at Digg, and apparently, the Diggerati hate it! A post on the Digg Blog now has 6,114 Diggs, and none of them that I saw were accompanied by very kind comments. Digg is one of those living organisms that can propel you to greatness, or leave you bleeding read more...
Vatican PR: Driver’s 10 Commandments
I never thought I would call the Vatican "edgy," but it looks like they just might be increasing their outreach into areas that are very relevant for those that drive on busy highways every day. If I had received this via e-mail I would have never believed it actually came from the Vatican. But sure enough, it was on the Vatican press site today. The "Drivers' Ten Commandments": 1. You shall not kill. 2. The road shall be for you read more...
Interview: Red Cross Seeks Bloggers as Volunteers
Yesterday, I had a chance to sit down with Ike Pigott, who is the communications director for the American Red Cross’s Southeast region. He also is a blogger at Occam's RazR. Under Ike's direction, the Red Cross is starting to use blog engines to communicate critical information to the media and the general public in the midst of a disaster situation. And the volunteers don't have to be in the field to participate. Online Videos by Veoh.com Shel Holtz also interviewed Ike a few days ago, so if the 3 minute video isn't enough for you, you can listen to read more...
Command and Control: YouTube Puts Corporations on the Defensive
Ad Age carried a great article about the terror struck into the hearts of pharmaceutical companies that find themselves on the losing end of a battle with Michael Moore-style filmmakers who are using YouTube to criticize the industry. What really caught my eye was a quote from Dorothy Wetzel, former consumer-marketing chief at Pfizer and now senior VP-management supervisor at Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, where she works on AstraZeneca accounts. These budding Michael Moores are a worry to the industry "because there are no internal controls on YouTube, but you have to get used to read more...