henrikharsbo.dk

Copy Protection For Bloggers

Copyright violations are pretty frequent on the Internet.

Especially in the blogosphere where people copy content from one website and post it onto their own like nothing happened. Some copy cats have the decency to give credit and link back to the original text. Some don't. And while copying might be accepted, not linking back is the definite faux pas of the web.

Now Jeremie Miller, founder of Jabber, is hoping to prevent the textual theft with what he calls MicroID, writes MyGlobalCity:

"His intent is that authors use MicroID each time they create a new web page. Web services like Google, Technorati, Yahoo, etc., would then use MicroID to determine the true owner of duplicate content. The idea is simplicity itself: create a unique hash code (alphanumeric string) using two authority codes such as your email address and the root URL of your website where you want to post something. The MicroID that is generated would then be included in a tag on the web page containing your new content. A similar MicroID string could be used for verifying user memberships or validating user feedback for comment moderation."

Copy protection for bloggers? It sounds very cool. But like most copy protection schemes I'm sure there are ways around it. And there is the risk that putting up stronger defenses only makes it more desirable to scale the barrier!

Technorati: Copyright|Blogs

Ads More Effective On Fast Forward

Wanna get value for money as an advertiser? Fast forward your TV ads!

Research has shown that ads are way more effective when fast forwarded at 30 times normal speed. Only limitation: The viewer has to have seen the ads (at a normal pace) before.

Researchers from British Sky Media and media agency Duckfoot presented these findings in London last week.

It makes sense. I myself often find that I don't have to see the whole ad the second time around. A little glimpse is enough and often I am actually relieved and thankful if the show I'm watching is recorded and I can fast forward past the commercial stuff. Maybe some of this thankfulness rubs off on my perception of the ads that are spurting by!

The question now is how well the ad industry gets the point? James Cherkoff who attended the presentation last week writes:
»It's a difficult one for the industry to digest.  For instance, one member of the audience asked if it meant Sky were about to launch ad breaks with 1 second long slots?« 

Technorati: Ads|Blink

Mashing Up Flickr

Webmonkey has assembled a list of ten interesting Flickr mashups.

A mashup is a web application that uses data from an outside source to fuel a web service. The trend among web front runners like Yahoo, Google, Amazon and Flickr is to offer easy access to their public databases through publicly available programming interfaces. Programmers can then use the APIs to gather data and stream them into their own applications. The result is a new breed of website — the mashup.

Mashups are a new wave in consumer culture that goes beyond the web. It exemplifies a consumer need not only to own products but also to re-purpose them. We've seen it in music where deejays combine two songs to create a new song. We've seen it in journalism where the Washington Post offers readers to reuse content of their site in what they call a Post Remix. Finally we've also seen users hack tech products like the Ipod changing it to meet their individual needs.

Eager to see Flickr mashed up? Check out the Webmonkey list. It not all play. Some of the creations are quite useful.

Technorati: Flickr|Mashup

Stupid Marketing

How many people have trusting relationships with burglars or partycrashers? The question comes from marketer Eric Weaver who thoroughly dumps the lid on spamming or -- as the industry itself calls it -- direct marketing.

»This craft [direct marketing] is appalling.You are in a battle with the prospective customers you so desperately want to acquire, and you actually believe that, if you "win" the battle against their desires, that you'll have a long, successful, "nurturing" relationship with them.« writes Weaver.

As a recipient of a ton of spam mail every day I wholeheartedly applaud Weaver's analysis of an industry that so needs to change its ways:

»It's time [...] to stop intruding and start attracting. Stop patting yourselves on the back that your unwanted communication got maybe a 5% clickthrough rate. FIVE PERCENT. And consider, just for a moment, the 95% that want you to go to hell.«

Via www.stagisblog.com

Paper On The Web

A comparative analysis of printed newspapers and their online editions in 16 European countries arrives at the following (rather sad) conclusion: There's is no real difference between the print edition and the Web Site!

The study was carried out by researchers in various countries and collected by two Dutch scientists who find that 70 percent of the important online news stories are identical to stories in the printed paper. They write:

»There is little, if any, new online reporting to be found in the main quality online newspapers in Europe; at least not on the front pages. There are, for example, very few hyperlinks inserted in news items -- which would have been an obvious way to improve traditional ways of reporting in an Internet fashion [...] The logic and culture of print publishing remain largely intact online,«

Kaboom! There you have it!

The report bases its findings on research carried out in 2003, which is kind of a long time ago. But I think that the findings are very much true of the situation today at least here in Denmark.

Via Danish Web Site: eJour.

Technorati: Newspaper|News

Blog Policies State The Obvious

There is a sense that more and more American bloggers get in trouble with their employer for what they write on their blogs. Although there are no statistics on how many people have actually been fired for something they wrote, the stories keep coming, writes Star-Telegram:

- A reporter in Delaware was fired in February for offensive postings on his personal blog.
- Washingtonienne, - an intern on Capitol Hill - was canned when she described her sexcapades with fellow staffers.
- QueenofSky - a Delta flight attendant - was fired after she posed provocatively (she meant for it to be funny) in her uniform.
- A Microsoft employee was sacked after he posted a picture that included Macs the company had purchased.
- Heather Armstrong was fired from her web design job for writing about work and colleagues.

This once again raises an important question. Should more companies have policies that state what their employees can and cannot say on the web? This is very much the opinion of David Weinberger who writes:

»A blogging policy can make clear what employees already understand: Give away company secrets and you'll be fired. Be a whiny, complaining jerk who continually slags off your boss in public and don't count on that big Christmas bonus.«

Like Weinberger I think most blog policies are merely stating the obvious. It ought to be pretty clear to the average employee what is and isn't acceptable to post. But if companies are holding back on letting their employees blog because they fear loosing communicative control, then by all means: employ a policy!

Only problem is that if a company is that regulative about communication it probably wont be able to really harvest the fruits of employee blogging anyway.

Technorati: Blog|Business