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Jul31
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Am I the only one in the Universe who seems to think that Windows Vista was only launched last week? No, didn't think so. After all, isn't the sole purpose of the Microsoft juggernaut to launch new and expensive versions of stuff that works perfectly well right now? Then to run massive, moronic ad campaigns created by McCann, San Francisco, one of the worst ad agencies in America, persuading you to upgrade. Which is why I wasn't jumping up and down with excitement on hearing the news that Microsoft is already working on the next version of Windows, code named "Vienna" - Does that mean every time it crashes it plays a rendition of "Goodnight Vienna?" Although, if it crashed, it wouldn't be able to play anything, would it? However, you'll be reassured by these words from a Microsoft representative... "In the meantime, Microsoft is dedicated to helping customers deploy and get the most business value from their PCs using Windows Vista and related technologies like the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack, and we’re encouraged by the response and adoption of these products so far." Well, yes. Couldn't have put it in better Corporate Double Speak myself. 
. Not quite what Microsoft had in mind!
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Jul31
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It seems funny to me that after reading how Facebook is rapidly catching up to MySpace in the UK, more than 70% of businesses in Britain are now threatening to sack employees found accessing the site. That's despite a recent survey...
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Jul30
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Remember the Democrat's YouTube-fueled debate last week that featured talking snowmen, marriage-minded lesbians, and a guy who cradled an automatic weapon in his arms and called it "my baby?" Seems like the Republican version may not be quite as interesting. As of now, John McCain, Ron Paul,...
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The saga of the "Wizened of Oz's" pursuit of the Wall Street Journal continues. Members of the Bancroft family, which has controlled Dow Jones for a century, had a 5 p.m. deadline today to tell the family's lead trustee how...
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Jul29
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After my post of July 25th expressing my opinion (backed up by many reports in the press) that many of the companies and corporations who had opened up "virtual" offices on Second Life, where now seemingly abandoning them... Boy, did...
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Jul28
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Mark Cuban has been shooting his mouth off again. In a speech last week he claimed that the Web is dead. He went on to say the real growth medium is the "intranet," otherwise defined as the on-demand and digital video-recording...
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Jul27
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Seems like Vice President Dick Cheney's brand new iPhone battery has already run out. Unlike the millions of people who have already shelled out $600 dollars for an iPhone chest implant, which when the battery runs out will require them...
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Jul26
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You have to hand it to Apple. On a day when the New York Stock Exchange is doing a "Das Boot, and sinking faster than Bush's approval ratings, and Wall Street analysts are starting to wonder whether buying that Lamborgini...
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Jul25
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It's official, Second Life is dead as a Dodo. The virtual world which a lot of people hyped as the Holy Grail of online advertising as consumers increasingly adopted massively multiplayer online gaming, is rapidly going down the tubes. Fascinated by...
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Jul24
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In common with all the other politicos on the election trail, presidential hopeful "Mitt" Romney goes for one of the knee jerk issues by taking aim at video games with the avowed purpose of keeping America's kids safe. Topping the Republican candidate's...
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Jul23
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Dontcha just love the news out today that 17% of senior marketers say their organizations have bought advertising in return for a news story? This according to the results of the fifth annual PRWeek/Manning Selvage & Lee (MS&L) Marketing Management...
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Jul22
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You have to love the piece in yesterday's Washington Post about the speed reading reviewers of the final Harry Potter book... "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." Because the book was released at one minute past midnight on Saturday in...
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Jul21
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I love to read the reviews on Amazon, particularly for my book, "MadScam," 'cos they are all 5 star (he said modestly) But the reviews for the latest Harry Potter book, "Deathly Hallows" are the funniest I've read in years....
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Jul20
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Does any one else find it amazing that with the release tonight of what is without question the most hyped and enthusiastically expected book on the face of the planet, virtually none of the retailers selling it are going to...
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Jul19
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I've never understood the obsession most athletic shoe companies have with their "Star Player" endorsement deals. For every Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan, it seems there's an ever increasing number of thugs, hoodlums and sex maniacs who seem to think...
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As advertising is becoming ubiquitous, to the point where you just cannot escape it, while at the same time its effectiveness is going down. The news today that NBC Universal has steadily been expanding into the out-of-home market, partnering with...
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Jul18
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The world's biggest brewer of beer, Anheuser-Busch is getting into the bottled water game. Which smacks of redundancy to me, as most of the beer it brews tastes like water anyway. The brewer of some of the most pathetic beers...
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Jul17
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One of the first things you should learn when you blog, is that your sins will find you out. Which is why I'm not surprised to read that John Mackey, the weirdly eccentric chief executive of the worlds most expensive...
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Jul15
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Interesting to read that Japan's choice to restrain political speech in the 21st century includes banning the use of Internet sites to solicit voters in its upper house elections. Based on election laws drawn up in the 50s, candidates are...
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Jul14
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There's been some great banter going on over at MediaDailyNews in response to a recent article designating the pecking order of the TV Networks. As would be expected, they put Fox in first place... But as one reader points out......
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Jul13
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In case you haven't read it recently, China is home to about 137 million Internet users, and that number will grow to surpass the number in the U.S. in just a few years. But until things change, there really needs to...
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Jul12
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You have to love the piece on BBC America today, talking about how Tony Blair has been into getting to grips with life after getting his arse kicked out of Downing St., by finally learning to text on his mobile...
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Jul11
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Living in the land of Hummers, giant trucks and SUV's as big as Yankee Stadium, I had to chuckle with the news that DaimlerChrysler is looking to launch their miniscule two-seat Smart car onto the US market. All I can say...
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Jul10
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If you're thinking of getting yourself a brand new monitor or two, don't get swayed by the advertising for Samsung. It would seem that one of their LCD monitors advertised as having optional integrated speakers actually has no such capability. And...
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Jul 9
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Once again the never ending battle between commerce and prudery has reared its ugly head... Or in this case, bottom! It would seem that a bidet company's advertising campaign in Times Square is a tad too cheeky (wait for it!) for...
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Jul 8
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There's a guy in Birmingham, Alabama who's counting to one million live on the net to raise funds for the Push America disabilities charity. Jeremy Harper, 31, reckons it will take a total of three to four months to work his...
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Jul 7
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With all the fuss about the impending sale of The Wall Street Journal to "The Wizened of Oz," and its probable disastrous effect on the quality of that newspaper, no one has considered what will happen to it when it's...
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Jul 6
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Reuters reports today that a deal is expected to be announced next week between Dow Jones & Co. and News Corporation Empire of "The Wizened of Oz" (Rupert Murdoch) Apparently, the two sides have completed talks and have agreed to Murdoch's original...
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Jul 5
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Seems like all the telecom's in Europe are literally frothing at the mouth to get the iPhone contract for their country. The word is being whispered around of an announcement that O2, owned by Spain's Telefonica has all but locked up a...
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There's a piece in today's MediaWeek about the expected growth of User Generated Content (UGC) sites over the next few years... Very enthusiastic and very positive... Not sure if I go along with most of that. Yes, it will grow,...
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Jul 4
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Today is the Fourth of July, Independence Day, which as you all know is a big deal for Americans, 'cos it's when you celebrate kicking us Brit's out a couple of hundred years ago before you got on with chopping...
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Jul 3
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Interesting to read about Nokia naming Wieden & Kennedy as the lead agency for its estimated $300 million mobile phones account. Particularly as Wieden will handle the account through its London office for all global campaigns. Wieden's first executions are expected to...
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Jul 2
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As the presidential races are now fully underway, merely for the nominations, and months before the primaries... Why am I not surprised to read that the onslaught of political advertising has already begun? Through June 10, more than 8,500 political...
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Jul 1
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If Wall Street Journal staffers were worried about the "Wizened of Oz's" impending take over of their paper, the news last week that his young wife, Wendy Deng, has been appointed Chief of Strategy for MySpace's China Operation, should be...
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In the "How is that possible?" realm, yesterday's New York Times had an article pointing out that new rules being considered by the Mayor's Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting would require any group of two or more people who...
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