Reminded my of Bruce Sterling’s 2006 ETech talk, which you can read here (I tried to find it on one of Bruce’s properties but couldn’t), and hear here.

“I no longer hunt anxiously for my missing shoes in the morning. I just Google them.”

Our data shows that 6% of US online adults use Twitter regularly. (from Being Peter Kim: “I just don’t get it.” [i.e. Twitter])

That is patently insane.  I suppose it depends on how you define “online adults,” but even with a very restrictive definition (like, say “adults between 20 and 30 who own a web-capable cell phone, pay for unlimited SMS messages, and have a broadband connection at home”) there is utterly no way you can convince me that 6% of online US adults use Twitter regularly.

To top it off, Kim refers us to statistics in a client-access only report to support his claims.  So essentially most of us are supposed to take that statement at face value.  I mean, what kind of stunt is that?  It makes Kim’s assertions basically completely unsubstantiated.  At least link to a pared-down version of the data and analysis so we can do a basic sanity check.

Useless.

Update:

Peter Kim, and Cynthia Pflaum pull back the curtains on the data Peter based his commentary on, and things make a lot more sense now.

As I see it, Peter got carried away and misinterptreted the data. It seem clear from what Cynthia says that 6% of a highly self-selecting population that’s interested in the technology sphere have “used” Twitter (which, given the openness of the question asked, per Peter, could be interpreted as “having viewed a blog with a Twitter widget on it”) in the last month. That’s a completely believable statistic. And one that can validly be used to support Peter’s real thesis: “If you want to reach an affluent, well educated, and early adopter audience, there might not be a better communication channel out there.” But as pointed out in the comments, Twitter is intended to be used frequently and as such in my view, “monthly” doesn’t mean “regularly.” Perhaps I was a bit strong in my language in my initial post, but I stand by my view that it was an outlandish claim made with no supporting data.

Interestingly, the corresponding post on Forrester’s Marketing Blog has not been updated.

a webcomic spoofing the Lord of the Rings plot as it would be if it were a D&D campaign.  It’s been a long time since I’ve played D&D (literally since 1st edition AD&D - never even player 2nd edition, though I did play a little Basic D&D as well), and this comic brought all the fun and headaches of playing SD&D from my youth back in a rush.  To top it off, it was almost uniformly hilarious.  In a strange bit of synchronicity, I finished the comic’s last panel on Friday (2007-09-07), which coincidentally enough was also the day the last panel was published.  My disappointment was short-lived, however, as I quickly discovered that DMotR’s author Shamus Young was joining forces with webcomic artist Shawn Gaston to produce Chainmail Bikini

Working on a drupal site, I activated the built in search module. Great. Go to the blocks admin screen and enable and position the Search block. Nothing. No block, no search form, no nothing.

Finally I realize that it’s controlled by the access settings and I have to enable it for users (including myself).

Harumph.

Didn’t have a camera until this morning, so I had to pull off and take a snapshot of it.

I don’t know what it means, really. Are they “delivering blogging” meaning content? Tools?

Searching their corporate news site I see the following links:

• SBC Companies Offer New Platform for Hip Blog Content with Project D.U.
  • I guess I’m not “hip” because I’m not on Project D.U., whatever that means.
• Internet ‘Blogging’ Becomes New Online Culture
  • links to the Project D.U. Blog Reader download
    

    “This isn’t a standard RSS reader. It’s preloaded with some of the best blogs on Music, Entertainment, Sports and Technology.

    It’s customizable so you can add your own channels and feeds. Did we mention it’s free?”

    Did I mention it looks lame?

• Seniors and the Internet
  • takeaway quote:
    

    “However, much like the senior population, the Internet application that is most often used by teens is e-mail.”

    I’ve actaully read that teens use email much less than other segments of the internet population do.

To be fair, it’s not surprising that ATT/SBC would be making moves to incorporate blogging in the offerings. And at least their making an effort in that direction. A similar search on my ISP’s site returns

Products and Services (0 items found)

News/Press Releases (0 items found)

Look like SBC is light years ahead of TDS here.

Having a hard time remembering the toll-free number for the US Capitol Switchboard? Forget no more…it’s 877-SOB-U-SOB.

Seriously funny.

More deatails here.