Content summary: Join the FIR Facebook community; FIR #250 is soon; a bunch of 'FIR Interview' podcasts coming; IABC ConferenceCasts get underway; the Media Monitoring Minute with CustomScoop; a social media job description; Bruce Willis joins the conversation; the FanLib.com kerfuffle; the Melcrum Communicators' Network debuts; it's that time again: more dissing of PR; Google Gears blurs online and offline; Dan York reports on Mashable, the Melcrum Communicators' Network, Facebook platform, … [Read more...] about The Hobson & Holtz Report – Podcast #245: May 31, 2007
Archives for May 2007
PHP 5.2.2 breaks XML-RPC in WordPress
If you use an offline blog editor like ecto or BlogJet, and the server hosting your WordPress blog uses PHP version 5.2.2, you might encounter the problem I have for the past 24 hours. What happened was that every time I wanted to publish a post to this WordPress blog from BlogJet, I'd get an error message with this text: Invalid payload received from xmlrpc server.Server said:"XML-RPC accepts POST requests only." Nothing has changed with any file in my WordPress installation nor with anything … [Read more...] about PHP 5.2.2 breaks XML-RPC in WordPress
Bruce Willis in conversation
Die Hard 4, the latest film in the Die Hard series of Bruce Willis action movies - known as 'Live Free or Die Hard' in the US - premieres in the US on June 27 (opens in the UK on July 4), and the movie studio mass communication machine is well on the road. In addition to traditional movie marketing, social media will play a role. For instance, Dan Light at PPC is behind the virtual Die Hard 4 expo and launch event in Second Life which takes place this Friday June 1. (Dan and I collaborated on … [Read more...] about Bruce Willis in conversation
Melcrum’s social network for communicators launched
Hard on the heels of MyRagan.com launched by Ragan Communications earlier this month comes the Melcrum Communicators' Network from London-based research and training firm Melcrum. Perhaps 'launched' isn't the right word as Melcrum don't plan any specific announcements, relying instead on word of mouth to drive up awareness of the new social network. I've been taking a look at the new offering during its beta development last week. Dan York, though, has written a first-looks review - far … [Read more...] about Melcrum’s social network for communicators launched
BBC broadcasts TV show within Second Life
The Money Programme will be the first BBC Television programme broadcast in virtual online world Second Life, according to a BBC press release last week: [...] Reporter Max Flint and his spiky-haired alter-ego, MP Masala, travel deep into cyberspace to meet its virtual entrepreneurs, and find out how real fortunes are made. The programme will explore two different examples of these virtual worlds. First, places such as Second Life, which attempts to recreate the real world, with real … [Read more...] about BBC broadcasts TV show within Second Life
FeedDemon 2.5 released
FeedDemon is the Windows desktop RSS application I've been using for the past few years. And for the past few months, I've been testing the various betas of the upcoming new version 2.5. The final product was quietly released last Friday. I've just noticed an announcement on the product page at NewsGator re version 2.5 availability, so it's time to mention it now! If you use FeedDemon, this is definitely an upgrade to have - see the release notes. If you don't, it's worth checking out - you can … [Read more...] about FeedDemon 2.5 released
When changing a post title is the right thing to do
Last December, I wrote a pretty scathing post about Dolphin Music in which I vented my anger at the company's poor customer service. I entitled that post "Recommendation: Don't buy from Dolphin Music." Today I added some new content at the beginning of the post and changed the title to "Update: Dolphin Music does care about its customers." This is the first time I've ever changed the title of a published blog post. I'm happy to make the change which is simply a fairer reflection of what I … [Read more...] about When changing a post title is the right thing to do
Speaking at upcoming events
I'm speaking at some terrific conferences in the first half of June that might interest you, whatever area of organizational communication you're involved with. On Tuesday June 5, Delivering The New PR 2.0 takes place in central London. This is the second in the latest series of one-day events from the University of Sunderland that started in 2005 (we did five conferences around the UK in 2005/2006: Philip Young has a nice history). For 2007, the all-new content will reflect the rapid … [Read more...] about Speaking at upcoming events