While the focus this week on virtual communities has been on Second Life, with news of developer Electric Sheep's $7 million tie-up with CBS and others, here's news of one organization's plans for another virtual community. The UK children's charity NSPCC is to set up a presence for three months in Habbo Hotel, says a BBC News report, with a primary goal of reaching out to a new audience: [...] The charity will host events and activities on the website aimed at getting young people involved in … [Read more...] about Children’s charity checks in to Habbo Hotel
Archives for February 2007
Anything good to say about Windows Vista and Office 2007?
I haven't yet upgraded to Windows Vista or Microsoft Office 2007. Still running Windows XP and Office Pro 2003 with every patch and update that's been released. I do plan to upgrade. However, the negative experiences of some people give me a bit of a pause for thought. One experience that's being widely commented on is from Jason Busch talking about his nightmare: [...] Having spent approximately 25 of my last 40 waking hours trying to get Vista and Office 2007 to perform at the level of my … [Read more...] about Anything good to say about Windows Vista and Office 2007?
Creative Commons version 3 launched
Creative Commons, the non-profit organization devoted to expanding the range of creative work available for others legally to build upon and share, has launched version 3.0 of their copyright licenses. This updated version introduces a number of changes including spinning off the 'generic' license to be the US license and creating a new generic license, now known as the 'unported' license (detailed explanation here). I've taken the opportunity to update the CC license on this blog. It's not … [Read more...] about Creative Commons version 3 launched
Survey on corporate use of social media
Internal communication research and training firm Melcrum is conducting a survey on social media usage in large companies. A note I received today from MD Robin Crumby said: [...] We've so far sent the survey to over 20,000 subscribers to Melcrum's e-newsletters for corporate and employee communicators and got over 1200 responses in 48 hours. This is likely to be the largest global survey of its kind and we're keen to share the findings with your blog readers as soon as they're … [Read more...] about Survey on corporate use of social media
The Hobson & Holtz Report – Podcast #218: February 26, 2007
Content summary: A bad marketing stunt in Boston for Dr Pepper produces apologies from Cadbury-Schweppes; MP3 file format under threat if Microsoft pays Alcatel-Lucent in lawsuit; Steve Rubel's guide on how to turn Gmail into a personal nerve center; OpenID update; rent instant hot friends at FakeYourSpace; Bryan Person reports: TMP in Second Life, Twitter, Podcamp Toronto; memo to DreamHost: communicating in a crisis can be more about quantity not quality; listeners' comments discussion; come … [Read more...] about The Hobson & Holtz Report – Podcast #218: February 26, 2007
Does PR have a duty to tell the truth?
What a topic for a debate! This took place at the University of Westminster in London last Tuesday: Leading figures of the UK PR world are to hold a debate at the University of Westminster on whether ‘PR has a duty to tell the truth’. The result? According to Martin Moore who was there: PR does not have a duty to tell the truth...according to an audience of over 260 public relations executives (and me). 138 voted against the motion in last night's PR Week sponsored debate that 'PR has a duty … [Read more...] about Does PR have a duty to tell the truth?
Rats to KFC
I saw this video report on BBC World last night about a rat infestation in a KFC restaurant in New York. Yecch! Then I thought, I bet it's on YouTube. No prizes for that guess. Yes, there's a video on YouTube from a FoxTV report last week. KFC has this concise statement on their corporate website: KFC/Taco Bell responds to isolated Greenwich Village, NY pest control incidentThis is an isolated incident at a single restaurant at 331 6th Avenue in Greenwich Village, New York and it is totally … [Read more...] about Rats to KFC
Upgrading to latest WordPress
If you visit this site during the next few hours, you will encounter some odd things, both in appearance and functionality, as I upgrade the site to the latest WordPress version 2.1.1. At the same time, I'll be upgrading the K2 theme to the latest public build, 0.9.5 RC1. Or maybe not - if I encounter problems with K2 due to not being able to figure out how to make it do certain things (as I have in my experimentation), there might be a sudden new look-and-feel for a while. I'd planned to do … [Read more...] about Upgrading to latest WordPress