Video Continues to Grow
PR 2.0 have a good update on the state of video on the web. I have to admit I missed the point where you tube overtook yahoo as the seconds most popular search engine after parent company Google. Thats significant.
There is going to be impact here for all aspects of media and communications. Infrastructure, is going to have to deal with the surge and I cannot see a long lifespan for text only e-book readers, the iphone and related clones may be the future after all. Infrastructure permitting!
Liam
Maverick Launches as Marketing Outsource Company for the Publishing Industry
Publishers to benefit from Marketing Process Outsourcing model
New Chapter is delighted to be a participant in the launch of Maverick Marketing, a company delivering a range of marketing and market development outsource services aimed at supporting the publishing industry. With the mission of providing the most comprehensive, versatile and cost effective outsourced solutions available, the company specializes in strategic marketing, marketing communications and research, product development and partner management.
Designed to augment existing in-house capabilities, Maverick has the resources and knowledge to provide expert support to publishers as they adapt to rapidly evolving market conditions. Maverick uses Marketing Process Outsourcing (MPO) to complement their client’s existing infrastructure, reducing internal overhead while still providing the necessary strength and experience for these often resource or budget challenged areas.
The Maverick team also brings unique expertise in the field of digital publishing. Their associates have been in the electronic information industry since its very earliest days, launching, delivering and supporting a wide range of digital services including e-content aggregation platforms, cross format e-content retrieval systems and numerous online datasets and communities. They have worked for, or supported world-class industry leaders including Blackwells, Oxford University Press, Thomson, Reed Elsevier, Wolters Kluwer, ProQuest, Ingram Digital, Walter de Gruyter, Highwire and Atypon Systems and have experience spanning academic, professional and trade publishing.
For More information visit http://www.mav-marketing.com
The relationship between public libraries and Google: too much information
Really enjoyable article by Vivienne Waller that explores he implications of a shift from public to private provision of information through focusing on the relationship between Google and public libraries. This relationship has sparked controversy, with concerns expressed about the integrity of search results, the Google Book project, and Google the company. In this paper, these concerns are treated as symptoms of a deeper divide, the fundamentally different conceptions of information that underpin the stated aim of Google and libraries to provide access to information.
The paper concludes with some principles necessary for the survival of public libraries and their contribution to a robust democracy in a rapidly expanding Googleverse.
Full paper here: http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2477/2279</p>
startwithxml london
I didn’t get to attend this event, but all of the slides are here. http://www.slideshare.net/StartWithXMLLondon/presentations
Summary XML religion is taking hold but its finally getting down to the level of $ and 0.c that make all of the difference, for mass adoption, no longer an abstraction or simply a smart business idea.
HP – You were warned!
I wrote back in November about the problems I am having with my HP Pavillion TX 1000 and the numerous complaints on HP’s own forums. Well news at last, a class action suit is underway, via Shepherd, Finkelman, Miller & Shah details below.
HP Pavilion Notebooks
Summary of Pending Case: On January 6, 2009, Shepherd, Finkelman, Miller & Shah, LLP (“SFMS”), along with co-counsel filed a Class Action Complaint on behalf of Mr. Cass Wilson against Hewlett-Packard Company (“HP”) in the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara, Civil Action No. 1 09-CV-132004. The Complaint alleges that HP misrepresented and concealed material facts regarding certain laptops including a design defect, which causes the power jacks of the laptops to fail. Specifically, the defect affects the attachment of the power jacks to the motherboards of the laptops. As a result of the defect, the solder connection between the motherboard and the power jack is interrupted, which ultimately causes the laptops to fail. The HP Pavilion laptops at issue in Plaintiff’s case include laptops in the following series: dv, zd, ze, zt, zv and zx.
Plaintiff seeks to represent a class of all persons or entities in the United States who purchased, not for resale HP Pavilion Notebook model computers from the dv, zd, ze, zt, zv and zx series (with the exception of the excluded models mentioned above), directly from HP or from authorized resellers. Through his Complaint, Plaintiff alleges violations of the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act, the California Unfair Competition Law, and for breach of express warranty.
Status of Pending Case: A case management conference has been scheduled for June 2, 2009, where the Court may set a scheduling order with certain deadlines for the case. In the meantime, Plaintiff will continue to conduct discovery in this matter. If you have experienced one of the above problems with your HP Pavilion Notebook, click here
A french Solution to a global problem
President Sarkozy has pledged €600m in emergency aid for the french newspaper industry and declared that every french 18-year-old would get a year’s free subscription to the paper of their choice to boost reading habits.
Its a strange model but could work if the overall cost base of producing newspapers is tackled. The detail is vague as to discrimination between online and offline media, but it may provide a temporary boost. One wonders if it comes with strings attached, state sponsorship of the news has a patchy history and would in general appear to be a bad idea.
Big (e?)Books = Big Year
The NY Observer yesterday published an internal memo from Random House CEO Markus Dohle. Despite ongoing appeals for cost reductions and ongoing news of layoffs the memo maintains a upbeat suitably year end tone.
Perhaps of most interest is the fact that e-book sales for 2008 have grown by 400% over 2007 and that they expect to have some 15,000 titles in eBook format by mid 2009.
Also of interest is the name check for newly available content on the iPhone, indicating where growth may be focused in the coming year.
Library of congress flickr project deemed a success!
I blogged on the work being undertaken by the Library of Congress and flicker back in January 08.The results of the process have been published . In summary two collections of historical photographs were made public on a Library account on the Flickr photosharing site in January 2008. The response from Flickr members and observers of the pilot was overwhelmingly positive and beneficial. The following statistics attest to the popularity and impact of the pilot:
According to the final report “the project significantly increased the reach of Library content and demonstrated the many kinds of creative interactions that are possible when people can access collections within their own Web communities. The contribution of additional information to thousands of photographs was invaluable. The Flickr project increases awareness of the Library and its collections; sparks creative interaction with collections; provides LC staff with experience with social tagging and Web 2.0 community input; and provides leadership to cultural heritage and government communities”
It is interesting that of the 4548 photos tagged, only 500 made it into the online catalog, but its a start, I guess.
Online Information Conference 2008 – Keynote and Downloads
I didn’t make it to Olympia this year. But I did enjoy the previews of the Shirky keynote. Some good points about changing dynamics in publishing and information management, and evolution of business models, where every URL is a potential community.
Some of the papers are available to download too.
Just-in-time and content development
In these lean times just-in-time delivery methodologies come into their own. Now, more than ever, the focus turns to the cost-value curve and the optimization of resource use. Here the use of Kanban with its core pull rather than push concepts may be of value in the delivery of IT projects.
Clinton Keith has a good article on the application of Kanban in the games delivery cycle and how it can be used in conjunction with outsourced management for faster and more cost-effective performance.
While I don’t share all of his views (especially on documentation) there are distinct benefits in setting up projects this way that are of benefit to project teams. His examples form the world of games are relevant to learning or large content developement projects too.