Saw this on Mediawatch last week... and posting it here for international friends who can't watch it on Australia's ABC iView (plus it gets deleted after 14 days or so...)
Does your country have a Mediawatch type program?
November 2, 2009
Kevin Rudd - your marketing man
I find it fascinating in this day and age where Presidents and Prime Ministers can be used for marketing purposes.
Already this year, Kevin Rudd was used for a TV ad:
And now for a radio ad on rebates - with an Aussie injection at the end. "Fair dinkum!"
Already this year, Kevin Rudd was used for a TV ad:
And now for a radio ad on rebates - with an Aussie injection at the end. "Fair dinkum!"
September 28, 2009
NewZealand.com targets Australian market again
I love seeing Tourism NZ ads like this appearing on Australian websites. Nice show guys!
If you're in NZ, you probably won't see this banner ad, thanks largely to geo-coding, but i've saved the flash ad, so you can see it here. Take a look - interact with it!
Is this the New Zealand you want Australia to see?
If you're in NZ, you probably won't see this banner ad, thanks largely to geo-coding, but i've saved the flash ad, so you can see it here. Take a look - interact with it!
Is this the New Zealand you want Australia to see?
September 11, 2009
The 2009 iPod Nano 5G
Its very interesting to read how people are recieving the news, that Apple have included an FM tuner in their latest iPod Nano (the 5G).
Here's my take.
While it appears to be doing radio a favour, Apple has actually turned the FM dial into a cash cow for iTunes.
People can 'tag' songs they hear on the radio. And guess what happens when they next sync their iPod? You'll get prompted to download those songs from iTunes.
How does this benefit radio?
Does the radio station get a slice of the purchase price? No.
PCMag made light that Apple didn't make too much of a fuss about the addition of the FM tuner at their 09/09/09 presentation. Apple made a big deal about the camera, built-in speaker, Voice Over and pedometer. Oh, and iTunes 9. But FM tuner - yes, how nice. Moving on. It's like they were obligated to include it, like having to hand in overdue homework from 3 years ago.
iPod Nano vs Digital Radio
The features of the iPod Nano FM tuner poses problems for the New Zealand and Australian radio industries. We are launching digital radio - and Apple has stolen the thunder of these "new" features: live pause, rewind and artist tagging. When the radio industry is forking out billions to introduce this new (and very expensive) technology, its a fierce marketing ploy by Apple to get consumers to buy new iPod Nanos instead of digital radios.
Radio should HATE Apple, but its obvious we need Apple considering the impact of iPods, and the sheer marketshare Apple has. So its an understandably bitter start to perhaps the most unsavoury of partnerships.
Some of the comments made at the PCMag site include:
Meanwhile at Facebook:
Mark Ramsey: Once the glow wears off I fear Broadcasters will feel radio has been "saved" by the iPod Nano.
Me: Apple is using radio to make more money for themselves. how does this help radio?
Mark Ramsey: Richard, it helps only in that it makes radio a tad cooler to people who consider us (correctly) uncool. Yes, Apple's motivation is clear, but so what? Everything about the trends in radio - including and especially PPM - argue for more music and less of everything else. In the long run, we are working our hardest to be Apple's bitch.
Here's my take.
- It's a long overdue addition.
- It's a great addition.
- At first glance, it looks to help keep radio relevant in the ever fragmenting media pie.
While it appears to be doing radio a favour, Apple has actually turned the FM dial into a cash cow for iTunes.People can 'tag' songs they hear on the radio. And guess what happens when they next sync their iPod? You'll get prompted to download those songs from iTunes.
How does this benefit radio?
Does the radio station get a slice of the purchase price? No.
PCMag made light that Apple didn't make too much of a fuss about the addition of the FM tuner at their 09/09/09 presentation. Apple made a big deal about the camera, built-in speaker, Voice Over and pedometer. Oh, and iTunes 9. But FM tuner - yes, how nice. Moving on. It's like they were obligated to include it, like having to hand in overdue homework from 3 years ago.
iPod Nano vs Digital Radio
The features of the iPod Nano FM tuner poses problems for the New Zealand and Australian radio industries. We are launching digital radio - and Apple has stolen the thunder of these "new" features: live pause, rewind and artist tagging. When the radio industry is forking out billions to introduce this new (and very expensive) technology, its a fierce marketing ploy by Apple to get consumers to buy new iPod Nanos instead of digital radios.
Radio should HATE Apple, but its obvious we need Apple considering the impact of iPods, and the sheer marketshare Apple has. So its an understandably bitter start to perhaps the most unsavoury of partnerships.
Some of the comments made at the PCMag site include:
It actually made me angry that that apple chose not to include it for so long. It smacked of arrogance that they chose to ignore how many people felt it to be important because the feature didn't fit into their own framework of how a music player 'should' be used...I couldn't help but retort.
I don't the absence of an FM tuner smacked of arrogance as much as it smacked of "who listens to the radio any more?" I used to listen to the radio all the time, but with advances in portable audio I now almost never do. Personally I think an AM radio would be more useful on an iPod...
Remember this - In the US, the FM dial might be predominantly littered with MUSIC based radio stations, in many other countries (Apples biggest market), half the FM dial is filled with talk, sport, commentary, access, public and ethnic language broadcasters who play little music, if at all.Apple can't achieve world domination by being arrogant now, can they?
Apple was arrogant to ignore FM for so long. They still show this arrogance, as there is no AM radio support. Despite the low quality sound, the AM band is very valuable when it comes to 'content' and the supposed issue around 'quality' is overshadowed by the fact that AM offers unique content - much of it talk/commentary - where sound quality is a redundant argument.
So what's in it for Apple? Plenty. There's no music to tag, but you could tag the station if they offer podcasts for example. If its not blatantly obvious to you yet on why this is value - I'll spell it out. People will use THEIR product for media consumption. If it's downloading music, listening to podcasts, live radio, playing games, reading news online, watching/recording video - Apple want you to use THEIR product to do it.
Meanwhile at Facebook:
Mark Ramsey: Once the glow wears off I fear Broadcasters will feel radio has been "saved" by the iPod Nano.
Me: Apple is using radio to make more money for themselves. how does this help radio?
Mark Ramsey: Richard, it helps only in that it makes radio a tad cooler to people who consider us (correctly) uncool. Yes, Apple's motivation is clear, but so what? Everything about the trends in radio - including and especially PPM - argue for more music and less of everything else. In the long run, we are working our hardest to be Apple's bitch.
September 9, 2009
Do you use Internet Explorer?
Can I politely ask you to upgrade?
Could you please download, install and start using Firefox 3 or Google Chrome? Please?
Why am I asking? What has sparked this?
Well, the spark has been a blazing inferno for quite some time, and this post has been well overdue, but today really is the day I need to publish my thoughts on this.
Here's an email I've just sent to a client, explaining why they couldn't view some rich content on their website. This will explain why.
One other main reason for upgrading - is internet security. If your browser is not the latest version, you are at risk of a computer attack, or worse, personal attack. That's the truth.
UPGRADE LINKS - in order of preference
Could you please download, install and start using Firefox 3 or Google Chrome? Please?
Why am I asking? What has sparked this?
Well, the spark has been a blazing inferno for quite some time, and this post has been well overdue, but today really is the day I need to publish my thoughts on this.
Here's an email I've just sent to a client, explaining why they couldn't view some rich content on their website. This will explain why.
Hi XXXXX - I have made a compromise to make sure the site loads.
Here's where the problem ultimately lies - and it's well known and documented:
Your version of Internet Explorer had trouble loading flash video (Youtube). I had a Youtube video in the XXXXXX article, but alas its caused you problems loading the site, so I had to take it out. I've just put a link there instead. A shame, really. But this is not YOUR fault.
Your website displays perfectly in EVERY other web browser, including the display of Flash video (like Youtube), widgets and other great modern web features. The most dominant browser is Internet Explorer 6 (just over 40% of all PC users use it) and is the only browser that has issues with modern web features. Problem is, that most computer users either don't know they should upgrade, or can't because their IT dept prevent them. Not surprisingly this puts a stranglehold on moving forward. So much so, that a lot of website developers and software companies now do NOT support Internet Explorer 6 or earlier versions when they develop their code. Its a movement designed to push Microsoft to fix their browser, or be left behind.
Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) was developed in 2001, with an update (IE7) in 2006. Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) was released this year, and still has issues with basic things like website dropdown menus, or flash video, but does work a damn sight better than IE6. History of Internet Explorer [link]
And this is why its a shame I had to take the video off the XXXXXX article. Your website *could* be more content rich, but with Microsoft letting you down, you, me and every other Internet Explorer user misses out. There are workarounds, but these are time consuming, and generally slow the web browsing experience, which is never a good tradeoff. I loaded our site on my Internet Explorer here at home and I saw the same issue.
I'm happy to say that 25% of your website visitors use Firefox 3, and another 10% use Safari (on Mac) - both display the site (and rich content) perfectly. At the office, I use 5 different web browsers to check compatibility - Firefox 3, Safari (for Windows), Google Chrome, Opera and Internet Explorer 8.
The quicker people upgrade, the better their experience will be. For example, we are trying to push people who visit XXXXXXX website to upgrade their browser if it detects they are using a browser older than 5 years. The site doesn't display rich content features if its an old browser - and they miss out. It's a fair call.v>
Anyway, I will leave it there - but I feel its important you know that when I am developing new web things - even publishing a simple article, THESE are the issues faced and considered every time. The problems often aren't found until pointed out through a bad user experience. Hopefully each is fixed early enough to avoid further frustration, but every day there's always the uncertainty of something else not working correctly, simply because of a badly built browser.
One other main reason for upgrading - is internet security. If your browser is not the latest version, you are at risk of a computer attack, or worse, personal attack. That's the truth.
UPGRADE LINKS - in order of preference
July 24, 2009
Go on, dull your senses
from BestAds.com:
The aim of this Grey Melbourne spot is to disabuse drivers of the notion that it's OK to drive after smoking a joint. It's a simple story, simply told by Sean Meehan of Soma Films.
The aim of this Grey Melbourne spot is to disabuse drivers of the notion that it's OK to drive after smoking a joint. It's a simple story, simply told by Sean Meehan of Soma Films.
July 21, 2009
Weird Al uses Twitter for audience research
A clever man - and not just for his accordian skills!Weird Al Yankovic is seeking suggestions from his Twitter followers, for submissions for an upcoming "Essential" double CD which is slated to be released in October. I don't know if he will use the actual data, but boy - nothing beats the feeling like you are actually contributing!
Perhaps in addition, he could see which of his singles have been most favourited at Last.fm? See the images below for full results, but here is the Top 10 as of publishing:
- White & Nerdy
- Eat It
- Smells Like Nirvana
- Angry White Boy Polka
- Hardware Store
- Amish Paradise
- White & Nerdy (again)
- Fat
- A Complicated Song
- Yoda
July 16, 2009
Twitter doesn't do impressions
If you are in charge of a website with advertising on it, you should know that cost per impression is dead and you really need to find a new way of creating value to your content.
Referrals.
It's the new skool word of mouth, and what better way to break news or spread something useful/cool/silly/controversial than by using Twitter.
And Twitter doesn't do impressions. It does response - and it SHOWS me the value of what I share.
How does what I put on Twitter become valuable?
If you follow me on Twitter (twitter.com/richardphelps) and I share a link that you feel compelled to click, then that link just became valuable.
The more people who follow me that click that link, makes the link more valuable. If you like it so much, you feel you need to "re-tweet" my post, then the people who follow you also get it. Then their followers... and so on. Simulate the "Pyramid effect" and before you know it, the value of my link goes through the roof.
The value is created by response - NOT impression (or billboarding)
Nifty huh.
I'm now investigating ways to generate cash from valuable links - after all, I am 'advertising' or hey, lets even say 'promoting' something. Hell, lets even call it 'direct marketing' - and therein lies the rub.
So lets go back to the start of this post - if you are in charge of a website and you KNOW that impressions are dead - what kind of marketing/advertising/promotion should you be engaging in?
An Experiment
By the way, if you do follow me - and you got to this blog post via my Twitter post, the link you clicked to get here was tracked! So thanks for clicking. You will see a bar at the top of this window. Please help this experiment by clicking Tweet (if you have a Twitter account) or Share (if you don't and got here from Facebook, or somewhere else).
By the way, if you don't see a bar at the top and wondering what i'm talking about, click HERE and you can participate as well - coz you're very special indeed :)
UPDATE - 31 July 2009
30 clicks in 15 days. Not a bad effort. It does make it clear that every Tweet has a fairly short life expectancy/shelf life (or Tweet Life):
You can see the interest at the start then a tailoff toward the end. The reason it falls off over time, is that beyond the initial 'tweet' on the 15th, the only other place this tweet went, was to my friends on Facebook, then vanished into the bog of eternal dead tweets.
Increasing the life of a Tweet link
Re-tweeting by your followers/friends is the virtual 'wind' that keeps the numbers up, over time. So, the more it's re-tweeted, the further its blown around the web. It also gets you more followers.
A valuable Tweet is definitely something topical and rides the wave. My July 2 tweet linking a very unique Transformers review (by Topless Robot) had a longer Tweet life than my experiment above, but achieved half the result:
It got me 32 clicks over a month - most over the first 3 days. This (compared to 30 tweets over 15 days for my experiment) shows that while this tweet achieved its intention, it was competing against many other Tweeters on the same topic.
The little 'pickup' on July 14th you can see, is probably from a Twitter Search result from the words 'Transformers Review'.
What about "Hash Tags". These look like this: #transformers #iranelection etc. (Click them to see how these work). Hash tags will definitely gain you and I a wider yield of exposure on the topic, and is another way to get more followers, but I'm more interested in making the life of your Tweet longer, not bigger.
One other way to increase the life of a Tweet link, is to keep re-sending the same Tweet over and over again. Of course, doing this will lose you followers - so yeah, not productive.
One company (so far) has come up with an answer to increasing the life of your Tweet. I'll post my thoughts on their idea in an upcoming blog post - or follow me on Twitter as I am likely to plug them in the next few days.
Referrals.
It's the new skool word of mouth, and what better way to break news or spread something useful/cool/silly/controversial than by using Twitter.
And Twitter doesn't do impressions. It does response - and it SHOWS me the value of what I share.
How does what I put on Twitter become valuable?
If you follow me on Twitter (twitter.com/richardphelps) and I share a link that you feel compelled to click, then that link just became valuable.
The more people who follow me that click that link, makes the link more valuable. If you like it so much, you feel you need to "re-tweet" my post, then the people who follow you also get it. Then their followers... and so on. Simulate the "Pyramid effect" and before you know it, the value of my link goes through the roof.
The value is created by response - NOT impression (or billboarding)
Nifty huh.
I'm now investigating ways to generate cash from valuable links - after all, I am 'advertising' or hey, lets even say 'promoting' something. Hell, lets even call it 'direct marketing' - and therein lies the rub.
So lets go back to the start of this post - if you are in charge of a website and you KNOW that impressions are dead - what kind of marketing/advertising/promotion should you be engaging in?
An Experiment
By the way, if you do follow me - and you got to this blog post via my Twitter post, the link you clicked to get here was tracked! So thanks for clicking. You will see a bar at the top of this window. Please help this experiment by clicking Tweet (if you have a Twitter account) or Share (if you don't and got here from Facebook, or somewhere else).
By the way, if you don't see a bar at the top and wondering what i'm talking about, click HERE and you can participate as well - coz you're very special indeed :)
UPDATE - 31 July 2009
30 clicks in 15 days. Not a bad effort. It does make it clear that every Tweet has a fairly short life expectancy/shelf life (or Tweet Life):
You can see the interest at the start then a tailoff toward the end. The reason it falls off over time, is that beyond the initial 'tweet' on the 15th, the only other place this tweet went, was to my friends on Facebook, then vanished into the bog of eternal dead tweets.Increasing the life of a Tweet link
Re-tweeting by your followers/friends is the virtual 'wind' that keeps the numbers up, over time. So, the more it's re-tweeted, the further its blown around the web. It also gets you more followers.
A valuable Tweet is definitely something topical and rides the wave. My July 2 tweet linking a very unique Transformers review (by Topless Robot) had a longer Tweet life than my experiment above, but achieved half the result:
It got me 32 clicks over a month - most over the first 3 days. This (compared to 30 tweets over 15 days for my experiment) shows that while this tweet achieved its intention, it was competing against many other Tweeters on the same topic.
The little 'pickup' on July 14th you can see, is probably from a Twitter Search result from the words 'Transformers Review'.
What about "Hash Tags". These look like this: #transformers #iranelection etc. (Click them to see how these work). Hash tags will definitely gain you and I a wider yield of exposure on the topic, and is another way to get more followers, but I'm more interested in making the life of your Tweet longer, not bigger.
One other way to increase the life of a Tweet link, is to keep re-sending the same Tweet over and over again. Of course, doing this will lose you followers - so yeah, not productive.
One company (so far) has come up with an answer to increasing the life of your Tweet. I'll post my thoughts on their idea in an upcoming blog post - or follow me on Twitter as I am likely to plug them in the next few days.
July 10, 2009
Newspapers - the source of AGED news
Obama's successful presidency campaign, the Iraq Election, Michael Jacksons death - are the three biggest examples of how Twitter and the internet has broken news - and continued unveiling details on each of these stories freely, without editorial - just the facts.
The Daily Show took note and put the following together. Note - I've used this video so much in the last month, to show people how the internet, and moreso, Twitter - has been instrumental in bringing immediacy to news stories, it's mind blowing.
Before you watch the video - let me ask you... what is NOT in a newspaper?
I hope you don't have to watch this video to answer that question.. but here goes...
The Daily Show took note and put the following together. Note - I've used this video so much in the last month, to show people how the internet, and moreso, Twitter - has been instrumental in bringing immediacy to news stories, it's mind blowing.
Before you watch the video - let me ask you... what is NOT in a newspaper?
I hope you don't have to watch this video to answer that question.. but here goes...
June 27, 2009
Yes Man
I saw it in cinemas. Last night when I saw the DVD in the shop, I just HAD to watch it again!
There are some great scenes with Jim Carrey, and credit to a stellar performance by kiwi Rhys Darby. Definitely Jim's best flick since Fun with Dick & Jane. Here are some of his great faces in Yes Man...
and below, the scene from the above still...
There are some great scenes with Jim Carrey, and credit to a stellar performance by kiwi Rhys Darby. Definitely Jim's best flick since Fun with Dick & Jane. Here are some of his great faces in Yes Man...
and below, the scene from the above still...June 26, 2009
Michael Jackson, dead at 50
I don't think there will be any Memorial Children's Kindergartens named after Michael Jackson, but the pop icon has rocked me less than I expected.
A remarkable news day - Farah Fawcett dies from her long cancer battle, then Michael Jackson of a heart failure. We know this, because a credible source confirmed it.
Twitter has a lot to answer for when it comes to "a source". 19 minutes after it happened, reports of his death was on the air thanks to word spreading through Twitter. Yes, even Tweets of disbelief or jokes about recycling him.
Then... TweetTabs exploded with unconfirmed reports of the death of Jeff Goldblum. Citing the New Zealand Police as a source, trying to access their website was impossible - as you'd expect people are trying to confirm with this "source". I eventually got this from NZ Police.
I found on Google News another opinion piece by a UK journalist about today's explosion of deaths - but trying to click on it, his server was down, which is likely due to the massive amount of traffic across the world trying to look for a source.
It's probably due to the fact that his article was riddled with these key words: michael jackson, jeff goulblum, twitter, and death.
A remarkable news day - Farah Fawcett dies from her long cancer battle, then Michael Jackson of a heart failure. We know this, because a credible source confirmed it.
Twitter has a lot to answer for when it comes to "a source". 19 minutes after it happened, reports of his death was on the air thanks to word spreading through Twitter. Yes, even Tweets of disbelief or jokes about recycling him.
Then... TweetTabs exploded with unconfirmed reports of the death of Jeff Goldblum. Citing the New Zealand Police as a source, trying to access their website was impossible - as you'd expect people are trying to confirm with this "source". I eventually got this from NZ Police.
I found on Google News another opinion piece by a UK journalist about today's explosion of deaths - but trying to click on it, his server was down, which is likely due to the massive amount of traffic across the world trying to look for a source.
It's probably due to the fact that his article was riddled with these key words: michael jackson, jeff goulblum, twitter, and death.
June 20, 2009
Tweet Tabs
Okay, so I've been using Twitter for a few months now.
It hasn't been too difficult to use, or remember to update. Reason being, there has been one program I've used that's been easy (until now) for me to use Twitter.
It's a Firefox plugin called Twitterfox. Now, it's a great tool to have but the more you use Twitter, it makes the browser sluggish - coz it's constantly pulling tweets from Twitter. This means its downloading.. all... the... time...
So I removed it and went searching for another solution.
I could just go to my default Twitter homepage: twitter.com/richardphelps ...however its a slow process to find new people, and use Twitter effectively - such as follow them, re-tweet their messages, shorten URLs to send... that's why I use Hoot Suite!
Anyway, today - lucky I jumped online, coz one company I follow on Twitter (@killerstartups) informed me of Tweet Tabs.
The moment I saw it, I "got it". I'm not even going to explain how it works, coz its very simple. You only need to be a Twitter user, understand what a hashtag is (and pick a few to follow), and you're set.
All TV and Newspaper newsrooms, journalists, media commentators, talk format radio, and anyone who wants to follow hot hopics, but also watch trending topics - needs Tweet Tabs.
My Tweet about Tweet Tabs is top left in the pic. Click image for larger view :)
It hasn't been too difficult to use, or remember to update. Reason being, there has been one program I've used that's been easy (until now) for me to use Twitter.
It's a Firefox plugin called Twitterfox. Now, it's a great tool to have but the more you use Twitter, it makes the browser sluggish - coz it's constantly pulling tweets from Twitter. This means its downloading.. all... the... time...
So I removed it and went searching for another solution.
I could just go to my default Twitter homepage: twitter.com/richardphelps ...however its a slow process to find new people, and use Twitter effectively - such as follow them, re-tweet their messages, shorten URLs to send... that's why I use Hoot Suite!
Anyway, today - lucky I jumped online, coz one company I follow on Twitter (@killerstartups) informed me of Tweet Tabs.
The moment I saw it, I "got it". I'm not even going to explain how it works, coz its very simple. You only need to be a Twitter user, understand what a hashtag is (and pick a few to follow), and you're set.
All TV and Newspaper newsrooms, journalists, media commentators, talk format radio, and anyone who wants to follow hot hopics, but also watch trending topics - needs Tweet Tabs.
My Tweet about Tweet Tabs is top left in the pic. Click image for larger view :)
June 18, 2009
Gifts Dad will love, but no-one else will
Fathers Day is coming up, so I thought I'd give you a bit of help to think outside the square a bit, when considering a gift.
Guys like customisation. Especially when it comes to gadgets, but more broadly, anything that is funtional and slapped with a bit of humour that matches their personality will ALWAYS be a winner!
Click the image for more information... Have fun!
Why settle for a robotic voice offering you turn by turn directions when you can have a well known American father figure.
He may not be the world’s best dad, but you have to love his antics and who could resist some of his fatherly advise in the from of “Take the third right. We might find an ice cream truck! Mmm…ice cream.”
Guys like customisation. Especially when it comes to gadgets, but more broadly, anything that is funtional and slapped with a bit of humour that matches their personality will ALWAYS be a winner!
Click the image for more information... Have fun!
For the executive who has everything. Practice your drumming chops in those 'quiet' office moments with this groovy desktop mini drum kit.
If he cannot live without pizza, this crazy pizza cutter can become your favorite invention.
Titled Pizza Pro 3000, this pizza slicer looks like a circular saw is a new kitchen gadget for those who a kitchen tools obsession
What more can I say? If he has Rockband, then this is a must have to the collection.
Beatles Rockband might cost a pretty penny, but there's set to be a lot of fun with these creaky old hits!
This BBQ device promises to end all of those portable nightmares that you can think of! First is portability.
The folding design minimizes space and folding the BBQ creates a chimney effect that blast heats the coal ready for cooking in just 7-10 minutes.
It’s a full-size pool table which uses a Sixties camper as its base. The shortened and narrowed car has had all of its mechanicals removed, while lifting the engine cover reveals storage for the balls.
However, the lights still work, and it’s classed as a trailer, so is actually road legal!Hang his favourite suit, or shirt on one of these Superman Coathangers, designed by a young Slovakian company!
He'll feel pretty special everytime he wears these clothes, knowing he possesses secret powers that only you and he knows about.
A simple and effective gift - but not an 'only' gift!
And the winner is...
Why settle for a robotic voice offering you turn by turn directions when you can have a well known American father figure.He may not be the world’s best dad, but you have to love his antics and who could resist some of his fatherly advise in the from of “Take the third right. We might find an ice cream truck! Mmm…ice cream.”
May 26, 2009
Bloody Boy Racers
So this article has me all riled up on this topic again. John Key wants to crush boy racer cars.
Let me put this on the web one more time:
The culture that surrounds these morons is incomprehensible. They are bogans who do not obey road rules, challenge unanimous laws, and more importantly, they kill and injure innocent people with their vehicles, through reckless driving on public roads. One death, even one injury is completely unacceptable.
When I spotted a link on Facebook from the Christchurch group, I had to comment:
Speed Racers are nothing new. Today's "Classic Car Clubs" were once road hogs, they are now elitist collectors with well organised (and generally interesting) events. CTP would instantly take un-insurable vehicles off the road, and I would hope the price tag, and paperwork involved will help boy racers understand the true meaning of "car enthusiast". Classic Car Clubs understand that if a car is not roadworthy, or not WORTH being on the road for fear of damage (and now crushing as a last resort of penalty), then it's common sense to keep it off the road. You wouldn't accidentally kill anyone should the steering fail down the main street, or going past a school.
If it's about respect and status, boy-racers are deluded.
Mowing down and killing people at parties, killing innocent people in head-on collisions at over 160kph, juvenile attitudes toward the police, and disturbing the peace are not the kind of things that earn respect.
There is a difference between having a passion for your car (a car enthusiast), and being a complete idiot (out of control driver).
Let me put this on the web one more time:
BOY RACERS are IDIOTS.
The culture that surrounds these morons is incomprehensible. They are bogans who do not obey road rules, challenge unanimous laws, and more importantly, they kill and injure innocent people with their vehicles, through reckless driving on public roads. One death, even one injury is completely unacceptable.
When I spotted a link on Facebook from the Christchurch group, I had to comment:
Sorry, but if you are a car enthusiast, you wouldn't be driving around in it like an idiot disrupting communities, drinking while driving/running people over, or doing anything that would remotely attract the attention of the police!The introduction of CTP (Compulsory Third-Party Car Insurance) would be a good start, New Zealand. Why the hell is this not law already? Aunty Helen - did you see a proposal of this very nature in your 8 years as Prime Minister? Now John Key has the chance to do this, but instead he strikes a vendetta on boy racers, by threatening to crush their cars as a last resort ("if the message doesn't get through, then this should").
Respected car enthusiasts recognise the benefits of well organised eventing as there are speedways you can hire to put your car to the test - Meremere and Pukekohe are perfect examples.
Public roads are NOT the place for "boy racers" or any form of drag racing IMO. If they do, the idiots definitely deserve to be stripped of the vehicle. As for crushing, well John Key might be shitting in his own electorates of favour, but at least the roads will be safer, because IMO, this issue is about preventing death - not a road toll, but deaths caused by anarchic drivers.
Speed Racers are nothing new. Today's "Classic Car Clubs" were once road hogs, they are now elitist collectors with well organised (and generally interesting) events. CTP would instantly take un-insurable vehicles off the road, and I would hope the price tag, and paperwork involved will help boy racers understand the true meaning of "car enthusiast". Classic Car Clubs understand that if a car is not roadworthy, or not WORTH being on the road for fear of damage (and now crushing as a last resort of penalty), then it's common sense to keep it off the road. You wouldn't accidentally kill anyone should the steering fail down the main street, or going past a school.
If it's about respect and status, boy-racers are deluded.
Mowing down and killing people at parties, killing innocent people in head-on collisions at over 160kph, juvenile attitudes toward the police, and disturbing the peace are not the kind of things that earn respect.
There is a difference between having a passion for your car (a car enthusiast), and being a complete idiot (out of control driver).
May 5, 2009
Twitter for Business
We are putting our feet in the sand, to see how Twitter will work for business.I'm hoping that by giving this a fair shot, it will help strengthen our relationship with the online visitors, but also increase brand loyalty in an ever-expanding cloud of options.
More important than anything though, it's evolving a well known brand toward a new audience, who are increasingly engaging with social networking and new technologies, who are also realising, or already know "all the potentials" that exists within.
I am currently looking at the following options;
- Who should be allowed to update it
- How we are able to link multiple accounts to our brand account
- Developing a company policy, specifically focussed on Twitter use/abuse
- What kind of content do we tweet
- Understanding how to monetise Twitter, and possibly generate a revenue stream
I did find a great article by Chris Brogan - and since he has allowed me to, I can repost the guts of his article here on my blog.
Perhaps you can extract these valid points, and use as part of a presentation should you find that Twitter could be valuable to your business (or the opposite effect), especially if you need to convince the powers-that-be, either way.
repost:
50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business
First Steps
1. Build an account and immediate start using Twitter Search to listen for your name, your competitor’s names, words that relate to your space. (Listening always comes first.)
2. Add a picture. ( Shel reminds us of this.) We want to see you.
3. Talk to people about THEIR interests, too. I know this doesn’t sell more widgets, but it shows us you’re human.
4. Point out interesting things in your space, not just about you.
5. Share links to neat things in your community. ( @wholefoods does this well).
6. Don’t get stuck in the apology loop. Be helpful instead. ( @jetblue gives travel tips.)
7. Be wary of always pimping your stuff. Your fans will love it. Others will tune out.
8. Promote your employees’ outside-of-work stories. ( @TheHomeDepot does it well.)
9. Throw in a few humans, like RichardAtDELL, LionelAtDELL, etc.
10. Talk about non-business, too, like @astrout and @jstorerj from Mzinga.
Ideas About WHAT to Tweet
11. Instead of answering the question, “What are you doing?”, answer the question, “What has your attention?”
12. Have more than one twitterer at the company. People can quit. People take vacations. It’s nice to have a variety.
13. When promoting a blog post, ask a question or explain what’s coming next, instead of just dumping a link.
14. Ask questions. Twitter is GREAT for getting opinions.
15. Follow interesting people. If you find someone who tweets interesting things, see who she follows, and follow her.
16. Tweet about other people’s stuff. Again, doesn’t directly impact your business, but makes us feel like you’re not “that guy.”
17. When you DO talk about your stuff, make it useful. Give advice, blog posts, pictures, etc.
18. Share the human side of your company. If you’re bothering to tweet, it means you believe social media has value for human connections. Point us to pictures and other human things.
19. Don’t toot your own horn too much. (Man, I can’t believe I’m saying this. I do it all the time. - Side note: I’ve gotta stop tooting my own horn).
20. Or, if you do, try to balance it out by promoting the heck out of others, too.
Some Sanity For You
21. You don’t have to read every tweet.
22. You don’t have to reply to every @ tweet directed to you (try to reply to some, but don’t feel guilty).
23. Use direct messages for 1-to-1 conversations if you feel there’s no value to Twitter at large to hear the conversation ( got this from @pistachio).
24. Use services like Twitter Search to make sure you see if someone’s talking about you. Try to participate where it makes sense.
25. 3rd party clients like Tweetdeck and Twhirl make it a lot easier to manage Twitter.
26. If you tweet all day while your coworkers are busy, you’re going to hear about it.
27. If you’re representing clients and billing hours, and tweeting all the time, you might hear about it.
28. Learn quickly to use the URL shortening tools like TinyURL and all the variants. It helps tidy up your tweets.
29. If someone says you’re using twitter wrong, forget it. It’s an opt out society. They can unfollow if they don’t like how you use it.
30. Commenting on others’ tweets, and retweeting what others have posted is a great way to build community.
The Negatives People Will Throw At You
31. Twitter takes up time.
32. Twitter takes you away from other productive work.
33. Without a strategy, it’s just typing.
34. There are other ways to do this.
35. As Frank hears often, Twitter doesn’t replace customer service (Frank is @comcastcares and is a superhero for what he’s started.)
36. Twitter is buggy and not enterprise-ready.
37. Twitter is just for technonerds.
38. Twitter’s only a few million people. (only)
39. Twitter doesn’t replace direct email marketing.
40. Twitter opens the company up to more criticism and griping.
Some Positives to Throw Back
41. Twitter helps one organize great, instant meetups (tweetups).
42. Twitter works swell as an opinion poll.
43. Twitter can help direct people’s attention to good things.
44. Twitter at events helps people build an instant “backchannel.”
45. Twitter breaks news faster than other sources, often (especially if the news impacts online denizens).
46. Twitter gives businesses a glimpse at what status messaging can do for an organization. Remember presence in the 1990s?
47. Twitter brings great minds together, and gives you daily opportunities to learn (if you look for it, and/or if you follow the right folks).
48. Twitter gives your critics a forum, but that means you can study them.
49. Twitter helps with business development, if your prospects are online (mine are).
50. Twitter can augment customer service. (but see above)
What's up with the NZ dollar?
How the heck does foreign currency work in a recession?
Look at the NZ dollar vs the US dollar in the last few days. I see no change to what its usually like before the recession: NZ$1 = US$0.577280 (May 5, 2009)
It could be worse I guess. I'm thinking that since the US market is so big, it can recover from a large fall very quickly. As the NZ market is tiny in comparison, the US dollar has a magnetic effect, affecting the overall threshold between the countries - even if NZ's economy weakens.
Would I be right?
The effect of the recession (from a naive casual observer's point of view), looks like it's hammering most major countries, but not crippling it. Perhaps this is because of the sheer volume of people finding alternative ways to generate income... by the way, did you know the internet is 40 years old?
Australia is of interest in all this, as only now it's approaching two consecutive quarters of negative growth, it's taken a while to be "officially" in recession. Australia really has kept itself buoyant so far, and the grip of recession may not be as severe as other big players in the long term. I suppose it's a good time for Kiwi's to live in Australia. The 2009 Australian Budget is revealed next week. We will watch (and learn) with interest, the true shape of the Australian Economy, coz in New Zealand, it's stuffed right now.
Meanwhile, folk are enjoying themselves in luxurious swimming pools on skyscraper roofs in wealthy Dubai, living it up.
Look at the NZ dollar vs the US dollar in the last few days. I see no change to what its usually like before the recession: NZ$1 = US$0.577280 (May 5, 2009)
It could be worse I guess. I'm thinking that since the US market is so big, it can recover from a large fall very quickly. As the NZ market is tiny in comparison, the US dollar has a magnetic effect, affecting the overall threshold between the countries - even if NZ's economy weakens.Would I be right?
The effect of the recession (from a naive casual observer's point of view), looks like it's hammering most major countries, but not crippling it. Perhaps this is because of the sheer volume of people finding alternative ways to generate income... by the way, did you know the internet is 40 years old?
Australia is of interest in all this, as only now it's approaching two consecutive quarters of negative growth, it's taken a while to be "officially" in recession. Australia really has kept itself buoyant so far, and the grip of recession may not be as severe as other big players in the long term. I suppose it's a good time for Kiwi's to live in Australia. The 2009 Australian Budget is revealed next week. We will watch (and learn) with interest, the true shape of the Australian Economy, coz in New Zealand, it's stuffed right now.
Meanwhile, folk are enjoying themselves in luxurious swimming pools on skyscraper roofs in wealthy Dubai, living it up.
April 29, 2009
FW: renaming the islands - opinion
Lets see if I get a response to this!
RESPONSE:
From: Richard Phelps
Sent: Wednesday, 29 April 2009 12:10 PM
To: 'info@linz.govt.nz'
Subject: renaming the islands - opinion
Both islands are part of NEW ZEALAND.
They are not independent as states, so shouldn't be treated or viewed as anything but WHOLE... they are a part of each other.
Think of the origins of an "Island". Banks Peninsula was originally thought to be an Island and Stewart Island was originally thought to be part of the mainland (reference: http://www.linz.govt.nz/placenames/about-geographic-board/nzgb-news-notices/2009/0421-historic-maps-and-charts-examples/nz-cook-1770.jpg), yet both of these errors were fixed. Waiheke is an Island, Great Barrier and the Chathams are all islands. They are islands OF New Zealand (the mainland).
IMHO, this proposal is effectively splitting New Zealand into two, when it is actually one.
Richard
RESPONSE:
From: Customer SupportI ain't waiting until 2010 (next year) for the opportunity to express my opinion. I've already posted my comment at Stuff.co.nz (comment #47).
Sent: Wednesday, 29 April 2009 1:21 PM
To: Richard Phelps
Subject: RE: renaming the islands - opinion
Hi Richard
Thank you for your email in regards to the recent announcement about the New Zealand Geographic Board’s consideration of North and South Island names, which has been noted.
This matter is not currently at the public consultation stage.
The Board is an external independent statutory body of government and is responsible for managing the process.
For further information on place naming, please view the following link http://www.linz.govt.nz/placenames/index.aspx
Regards
Andrew
Customer Support
March 6, 2009
Virgin Radio Vancouver
A lot of reasons I post this - but I will keep it simple.
On January 8 2009, Vancouver Radio Station 95 Crave relaunched as Virgin Radio Vancouver.
I was really impressed with the lead-in to this launch. There was an open tease on air, the 95 Crave website was even blogging about it - and not just the webmaster, but from the programme director Ronnie Stanton (yes, the Australian).
Particularly active, is drive host Buzz Bishop. His blog was on fire with regular updates, and inside information - even an interview with Richard Branson! Listening from the other side of the world, I felt like he was my local drive host.
And it goes to say, that if they can have that effect on the other side of the world, then Vancouver has one dream team running a fantastic radio brand. Love the website with Flash aacPlus stream, and the Facebook page.
I'd call this a very very successful launch, in a time when radio is clawing for new listeners, no matter where in the world you are.
Audio: 60 minutes of the relaunch audio (55Mb)
Audio: just the relaunch imaging (8.7Mb)
On January 8 2009, Vancouver Radio Station 95 Crave relaunched as Virgin Radio Vancouver.
I was really impressed with the lead-in to this launch. There was an open tease on air, the 95 Crave website was even blogging about it - and not just the webmaster, but from the programme director Ronnie Stanton (yes, the Australian).Particularly active, is drive host Buzz Bishop. His blog was on fire with regular updates, and inside information - even an interview with Richard Branson! Listening from the other side of the world, I felt like he was my local drive host.
And it goes to say, that if they can have that effect on the other side of the world, then Vancouver has one dream team running a fantastic radio brand. Love the website with Flash aacPlus stream, and the Facebook page.
I'd call this a very very successful launch, in a time when radio is clawing for new listeners, no matter where in the world you are.
Audio: 60 minutes of the relaunch audio (55Mb)
Audio: just the relaunch imaging (8.7Mb)
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