Just took a look at the Amazon page for Blog Marketing a few minutes ago and found out the cover for the book’s been released!
Here she be:
So, what do you think?
Jul 30 2005
Skype: The New Email?
Is Skype the new email?
It’s an odd thought, I know, but I find myself sending and receiving Skype messages as if they’re email. What I mean is that I’ve started sending and receiving messages, using Skype’s Instant Message features, where I don’t expect a response right away (if at all).
In fact, I’ve started sending messages to people who are Offline, because I know they’ll get them when they come on!
Whenever I log on, I find these types of messages as well. Many are responses to blog posts, some are little “hey, can you send x file” and a handful are just “hey, haven’t talked in a while, wanted to know I was thinking about you” type messages.
I think this is very cool. Anyone else experiencing this? What do people think about the practice?
I know I wouldn’t want to get hundreds of these every morning, but it’s certainly an interesting new use of the medium.
Jul 30 2005
IE7 to Support Standards
The IE team has finally decided to let out some more details on their standards plans.
Among the list of issues already dealt with on internal builds:
Peekaboo bug
Guillotine bug
Duplicate Character bug
Border Chaos
No Scroll bug
3 Pixel Text Jog
Magic Creeping Text bug
Bottom Margin bug on Hover
Losing the ability to highlight text under the top border
IE/Win Line-height bug
Double Float Margin Bug
Quirky Percentages in IE
Duplicate indent
Moving viewport scrollbar outside HTML borders
1 px border style
Disappearing List-background
Fix width:auto
Other items they’re supporting:
HTML 4.01 ABBR tag
Improved (though not yet perfect)
They now have complete CSS1 support, and are working their way towards support that’s “just as good as FireFox”.
Catching up? You betcha. But, these are moves in the right direction, and the team doesn’t plan to rest on it’s laurels following the release of IE7. Expect an update to the rendering engine in the 6 months following which will likely push other browsers to catch up.
Jul 28 2005
Windows Vista In-Depth Information
This post is basically a categorization of the best information I can find related to Windows Vista. If you have better info, feel free to drop me a comment.
First off, Vista Beta 1 is currently out. As David Coursey notes, this beta isn’t for everybody:
In the Windows world right now there are two types of people: Beta Ones and Beta Twos. Each group will have a different reaction to the Wednesday beta release of Microsoft’s next-generation operating system, formerly known as Longhorn.
Developers and need-to-know IT professionals are the B1’s. All they require is for the guts of the operating system to be in place so they can begin their work. Everyone else, including myself, are Beta Two people, who want even a first beta operating system to do exciting things right now. ADVERTISEMENT
I mention this because, if you’re a B2, using this first beta release is a really frustrating experience. Windows Vista shows tremendous promise, but at this stage in its development it’s not ready to be used in any significant way.
His article sums up well why this beta is important, how we got to where we’re at and what some of the changes actually mean.
The accompanying slideshow is interesting for a number of reasons, mainly that it highlights some important parts of Vista which will be of interest to a wide range of folk.
But, how did we get here? And what is Vista really?
Paul Thurrott has a few interesting articles, including a very in-depth review which is generally positive. There are some glitches, there are some odd decisions Microsoft’s made, but Paul’s generally positive. Paul has also updated the Windows Vista FAQ with even more information. Both are well worth reading if this is your first foray into looking deeply into what Windows Vista actually is and actually means.
In terms of getting inside Microsoft’s head on Windows Vista, you could certainly do worse than this half-hour Channel 9 video. In it, Chris Jones, one of the guys in charge of Vista, talks quite a bit about what excites him, at least from a developer perspective.
John Montgomery has a nice follow-up to this video, which goes even more in-depth on Vista.
And, of course, there’s all kinds of screenshots, reviews and whatnot being released today, including:
NS.org’s review and screenshots
WinVista.net has loads
As does JCXP
Of course, if you’re looking for news, there’s all kinds of things going on at Google News. Hell, Vista is one of Technorati’s top tags right now as well.
Someone noted that the Windows Vista site has also been updated.
Which is good, since Windows Vista is now in the hands of roughly 10,000 people, and should be in the hands of another 40,000 by the end of August. This is a big beta, which is available to Vista beta testers, Technet and MSDN Subscribers.
Big beta.
As part of that, Microsoft has, of course, provided all kinds of information. From the 5 minute overview to the half hour overview, Microsoft is beginning to tell tech enthusiasts what matters… At least from a technology perspective. Actual “what does this mean to me” changes are still scarce.
But, the Technet page is adding stuff pretty quickly, so keep your eyes peeled there if you’re an IT Professional wondering about Vista. The MSDN page is also very cool and full of info.
In closing, here’s a neat little review by PC Mag.
What’s my opinion? My opinion is that it’s still too early to tell. This is obviously more than “XP SP3″. Vista isn’t revolutionary, it’s evolutionary. In the same way that the last 5 years has of OS X, Linux and every other OS has been evolutionary. Windows XP to Windows Vista will be like going from the first version of OS X to the current one in terms of features. It’ll be like going from Windows 95 to Windows XP in terms of core OS stuff.
I’m pretty sure that classes it as a new OS, but whether users will care is something else entirely. Right now, Microsoft is shipping 120 million copies of XP every year. They’re expecting to ship 100 million of Vista next year, topping out at an installed base of 1 BILLION computers sometime before 2010.
That blows my mind.
Does an OS need to be revolutionary if it’s the most widely installed one ever, or does it simply need to fit the bill: secure, fast, reliable, easy to use and friendly.
If Vista can do those 5 things, I think it’ll be a success.
Let me know if you have other links I should be adding or other info you’re seeking that I can shed some light on.
Jul 28 2005
My Biggest Fear is Myself
Following on from my earlier post, here is me reposting a thought I had at the start of the year. I think it’s appropriate.
My biggest fear isn’t that I won’t be a success, that I won’t be taken seriously or that I’ll go unnoticed. It isn’t that I won’t be the best husband or father in the world, that my children won’t live up to their potential or that I won’t fulfill my potential.
My biggest fear is that I am a powerful person. That I have potential. That I am an inspiration. My biggest fear is that people will watch me and, in watching me, will make me not want to outshine them. My biggest fear is that I will hide who I am for fear that it will offend someone else, that it will cause someone shame or that I will in fact be better than someone else.
But hiding who I am, being falsely humble and standing back when I should be stepping up does everyone a disservice. If I show who I am to the world, it will cause others to show who they are. And the world will be better for it.
My New Year’s Resolution isn’t to be anything more than who I am. And it’s to not allow myself to be any less.
Feel free to call me on this if you see me standing back when I should be at the front, being quiet when I should be speaking up or ever saying “it’s nothing” when I’ve done something worth being thanked for. And, hopefully, I’ll call you on it if you do it too.
Jul 28 2005
Jumping on the Bandwagon?
A few people have assumed that because I’m looking for a few good bloggers in a number of consumer-oriented areas that I’m starting a new blogging network. Countless emails, comments and blog posts have noted this.
Which is fair enough.
Are there opportunities in blogging networks? Definitely. None has actually hit mainstream acceptance in any way. WIN is as close as it gets, and I’m sure Jason would tell you that even though they have some impressive numbers and are definitely the biggest (financially, traffic and awareness-wise), that doesn’t mean they’re mainstream.
The question of what would make a blogging network mainstream is a difficult one, and one I’ve been wrestling with.
I will be taking a foray into blogging networks at some point. I’ve had offers from several people starting up new networks in the last few months, including a targetted Canadian blogging network (which I nearly jumped at), and one in the UK which was looking to start 200-250 blogs by the end of the year. I’ve also talked to some folks in Australia and even a group in Singapore who wanted to start a massive Asian blogging network and needed someone to manage and promote it.
There are lot of interesting opportunities with blogging networks, but most of them aren’t actually about blogging at all. After all, blogging is really about creating content. Once you have thousands of pages of current content being produced on a weekly basis, the sky really is the limit. You could launch a magazine. You could launch a major news portal. You could begin doing all kinds of cool things to get the data that consumers want into their hands.
Or, you could treat the blogging network as an ad network which already has content, and create blogs purely based on cash or sponsorship opportunity. Or, you could create a network which is built around the concept of trust: bloggers trust the network and the public trusts the network.
I see a huge amount of opportunities in content creation, aggregation and media delivery, specifically centered around blogs.
But, I am not creating a brand new network from scratch.
Obviously if I’m putting this much thought into blogging and blogging networks, something’s happening. I’ll admit that. But if I really wanted to start a brand new blogging network, I would have gone with some of the networks I mentioned earlier. Two of them had capital behind them, and it would have been a lot of fun.
Ultimately, at this stage in my life, anything I do I typically do because it’s fun, it’s challenging, I learn something, and I love the people involved.
The people are key.
So, to the people involved in this secret project: sorry that I felt the need to chat a little about this openly, but hopefully we’ll be able to answer the questions soon enough, yeah? 
ps: I’m also working on 2 other new projects alongside this one, so please don’t assume any “new news” is all about this little puppy. Hope that clears up any confusion, while also making things sufficiently vague, heh.
Jul 27 2005
Project Gotham Racing 3 Video
Well, if nothing else, PGR3 looks {insert swearing like a drunken sailor} amazing!
Jul 26 2005
Blogger Positions Filled
Well, that was quick.
50 applications received. We’ve shortlisted it to half a dozen, and don’t need anymore at this point in time.
Thanks to everyone for the interest!
Jul 25 2005
Bloggers Needed
Edit: These positions are now filled. Thanks to everyone for the interest!
For an as-yet unannounced project, I need A Few Good Bloggers, for topics such as Gaming (preferrably a girl, to be honest), Aviation (hobbyist, including the VATSim stuff, Flight Simulator, gliding, etc), as well as a “well rounded blogger” who can do some sports, some humour, some techy gadgety stuff, some movies, etc.
If you’re interested, email me a quick note with your experience, and include 3 sample posts. 1 should be an “announcement”, one should be your opinion on something (the more controversial and witty the better) and one should be a longer free-form post on something (ie: longer being 250-500 words).
Please note: experienced bloggers only. The platform here is Wordpress. Familiarity with it is useful, but not essential.
Jul 25 2005
“Do I Do Interviews”?
Duncan asks, and answers, this question (for himself, not of me).
My answer? Yep. I used to do 2-4 a week, and I’m down to doing maybe 1 a week.
Topics I typically cover include blogging, podcasting, new media, communications, online marketing, “web 2.0″, business communications, time management, enterpreneuring, starting your own business, how to promote and market yourself, how to land your dream job, etc.
I do a lot of print interviews, a handful of radio ones and I’ve only done a few television ones. I’m expecting that with the upcoming release of the Blog Marketing book I’ll see an increase in interviews, though.
As an aside, I also do conference speaking and corporate training on almost all of these subjects.
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