free chat

yeah i know, most mac heads have been using ichat for A/V chats for a long while now, as have yahoo IM supporters

and those of us who were on AIM in the early days, remember when we could chat for free - it was basically VOIP - but i haven't used AIM proper in so long, I have no idea what it's capable of anymore (though I hear you can blog from it and have access to a free email account)

but now Google has Google Talk - and this seems promising (considering this feature was announced about a month ago, it also shows that i pay absolutely no attention to added features in google mail, but it's not my fault, blame it on the safari browser that enables me to read my gmail through an RSS reader, and therefore bypass a lot of xtra info)

Though Google doesn't list it in it's other clients that support Google Talk document, I'm happy to know that I can access it through Fire, which I wouldn't trade in for any other IM — ever

I just hope it doesn't take me as long to test out google talk as it did google mail. Any recommendations for a good wireless headset?

i guess there is a lot of sense to calling this here ether the interweb

tags: Google | Google talk | VoIP | IM |

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online marketing and site production at Sony Urban

The position is for an online consultant who would work in the office 40 hours/week.

Below is a description of the responsibilities:

Work with Director of Online Marketing to…

· Create and execute online marketing plans for all Sony Urban Music releases including grassroots marketing for developing artists and large scale online campaigns with partners such as AOL, MSN, MTV.com, Launch, etc.
· Create exclusive promotions with digital music stores such as iTunes, Napster, Sony Connect, etc. to drive fans to purchase music online.
· Build artist email databases by aggressively setting up promotions and contests with 3rd parties
· Set up online press days for online album reviews and exclusive interviews
· Manage the production of Sony Urban artist websites and viral marketing tools including e-cards, media players, screensavers, and buddy icons.
· Maintain all artist sites keeping all content updated with the latest announcements and retail campaigns.
· Send out email campaigns to each artist list with various artist updates, tour info, and contest promotions.
· Work with artists to be involved with their site via message boards and audio messages.

Qualifications include:

1-3 years of online marketing experience
basic knowledge of html
be able to multi-task efficiently and effectively

Kathy Baker
Director, Online Marketing
Sony Urban Music
kathy.baker@sonybmg.com

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content is king - sort of

douglas rushkoff, author, teacher, and documentarian, never thought that content was king

investors kept pouring funds into web ventures in the late 90s and early 2G's believing that content was king and that perhaps, the web was going to be this super convergence of print, tv, radio

today, in some ways - the web has become that very thing - thanks to broadband

but in many ways it hasn't - so then, it's not really all about the content, now is it?

in jan. 2001, in Social Currency, Content as a Medium for Interaction, rushkoff said: "Those of you who think you are creating online content, take note: your success will be directly dependent on your ability to create excuses for people to talk to one another. For the real measure of content's quality is its ability to serve as a medium."

and then in 2003 he sort of said the same thing about mobile content in his social currency column: "It's time for the wireless industry to come to grips with the fact that no matter how sleek the phones or colorful the pictures on their little screens, nobody wants to have sex with either. They want to have sex with each other. Either help them, or get out of the way."

it's about the people

it's about the social interaction

blogs don't work b/c bloggers have the best content
blogs work b/c they connect people

...so perhaps that's why msn thinks that the search engine is king

just in case you're not up on your technology news, microsoft has decided to follow the google business model and focus on its MSN product and search

microsoft is reorganizing - MSN is the focus

Time Warner's focus is becoming AOL

and who knows - the two may one day meet in a standoff against the googles and yahoos of the world

but if you take some web strategists and analysts views to heart - you're more of the mind the believe that RSS and XML Web services are the next big (Web) thing

and web portals will not be effective w/out use of these tools and the ability to enable interaction

i guess that's what makes search so important

it helps people find the places where they can connect

maybe not people like me or you, but those 12-17 (and sometimes - 24) year olds who spend most of their time online and on their cell phones - for them, the web is more real than any other medium

that's why google is still so hot

it helps people find people - in the most popular places

it's true - google is good for finding the popular places and content, but some people feel google may not be the best search engine

at least not Mary Ellen Bates who wrote "You Still Google? That is So Last Week" for econtentmag last month

the most popular is not always the most relevant context for searching

search is big - so it's maybe high time some other provider pulled top rank

Bates comments on forward-thinking, out-the-box search tools: "MSN's Search Builder provides sliders for you to specify how important it is to have "popular" pages and whether you want exact matches for all your search terms or a more approximate match. Yahoo! just rolled out its Mindset tool, which lets you indicate whether your inquiry is more related to shopping or to research (http://mindset.research.yahoo.com), and its delightful SmartSort has been available to shoppers for two years now. In addition, data visualization tools like Inxight, i2's Anacubis, and KartOO let us see search results in new ways, and detect relationships we would not have discerned from a plain linear display of information."

is search content?

search finds content - and therefore, by default, it is content

but either way, it's back to the people that rushkoff talks about connecting. either way, it's back to providing interaction. either way, it's simply about the people.

but then -

this letter to Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft Corporation from iMedia Search Editor Kevin Ryan just puts the icing on the cake:

"The search world has grown faster than anyone could have imagined. Even the rinky-dink industry that is focused on what has been dubbed search engine marketing lacks genuine staying power. Search sites are missing the boat and they have yet to realize it. Text messaging, optimized content, toolbars, directive text ad profiling and ZIP code searching -- all desultory attempts at creating what you hold in your very hands.

It’s not about who won the battle.

Here’s how to win the war in search. Forget about the talent scalping, techno venery and our umbrageous societal cravings. Search (or any other development for that matter) has always been about the people using it: be the one to bring them something they simply can’t do without. "

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the girl is back

nah not me

i am talking about ya' girl angelique

that's right none other than saucydamedeluxe

Saucy =
a : impertinently bold and impudent
b : amusingly forward and flippant
c : having much flavor

Dame =
a : a woman of rank, station, or authority: also known as “That Chic”

Delux =
a : beyond average, notably luxurious

- I'm glad you stepped back into the arena ma. Somebody's got to show this newbeings how it's done.

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The Hoarse Whisperer: Decoding the Ying-Yang Twins

Well it's that CMJ Music Marathon time again and on Wednesday I found myself on another panel, The Hoarse Whisperer: Decoding the Ying-Yang Twins.

Panel Info: Have "Wait (The Whisper Song)" and "Pull My Hair" reached new depths of depravity and misogyny on the radio dial? Is it a secretly feminist ode to shared power-play? Or does any uproar just reveal the listener's failure to have a sense of humor? Our panel of critics discusses.

Moderator
Christopher Weingarten, Music Editor, CMJ New Music Report

Panelists
Julianne Shepherd
Lynne D. Johnson
Anthony Miccio
Jason King

Alyssa Rashbaum wrote on Vibe.com: The overtly sexual lyrics, throaty whisper and infectious beat of the radio hit were the topic of discussion at one of the first panels of the 2005 CMJ Music Festival on Wednesday, September 14, where five music writers debated on whether the song is misogynistic or empowering for females, unoriginal or intriguing, unimportant or part of a larger, growing problem in hip hop.

I say: Jason probably ended up providing the most feminist perspective about the Ying Yang Twins songs than any other person on the panel. Of course I've been conflicted about this song for quite some time. The beat, though simplistic and an imitation of "Drop It Like It's Hot," is, well — hot. And, I know that people, while having sex, talk like this all the time, and neither partner finds it to be wrong. Yet, the violence insinuated by the lyrics is a problem. Also, the fact that this song became so commercially popular, even with the radio edit, it's not exactly a candidate for most youth-friendly song of the year.

In speaking with Julianne after the panel, I realized she felt a little like I did — frustrated. There were points we both wanted to raise that got lost in our frustration, and in speaking for myself, I know I didn't want to come off as this angry black feminist, b/c it's oh so not the case.

The fact that Jason raised the minstrelsy of the song's performance, did incite me to bring up the historical racial issues wherein the connotation of the songs lyrics play into the stereotypes of the oversexualized black male and the sexual oppression of black women. But somehow that did not come out of my mouth. I wanted it to, and usually I say whatever the f*** I feel, but I don't know what happened.

Nonetheless, it was an interesting discourse, and I'm glad I was a part of it.

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dear summer ringtone?

If anybody knows where one can find a Jay-Z "Dear Summer" ringtone. Right now I'm only seeing them for Nextel phones. If you've seen it or heard it - holla'.

God bless - and good night.

(I know, such a trivial thing to be looking for when people have no homes and no food. But I'm doing my part - don't worry.)

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Jay-Z backs Kanye West's statements...

By Gail Mitchell
Billboard

As seen on MSNBC

Rap mogul Jay-Z is standing behind Kanye West, who went off-script to declare that “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” during his appearance in last Friday’s NBC telethon for Hurricane Katrina victims.

“I’m backing Kanye 100 percent,” Jay-Z told Billboard by phone from London. “This is America. You should be able to say what you want to say. We have freedom of speech.”

Jay-Z is also West’s boss in his capacity as president/CEO of Def Jam Recordings. West’s new album, “Late Registration,” opened at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Wednesday.

During his Friday appearance, West added that America was set up “to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off as slow as possible.”

Although Jay-Z said he hasn’t “spoken to anyone about doing a concert event” to benefit Katrina victims, he says he wants to speak with Sean “Diddy” Combs about starting a fund exclusively to help blacks in times of crisis. “Just in case anything like this happens in the future, we can do what the elder Bush and (former President Bill) Clinton are doing for our people specifically.”

*******
On the side:

Prometheus 6's Kanye West reverse boycott

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kanye west and rhymefest katrina real talk

Kanye West told the world: "George Bush doesn’t care about black people."

"[Kanye's] a hero 'cause he said something that we're too scared to say," Rhymefest said of West's words, which echoed around the world.

During a live telethon for hurricane relief on MSNBC, West and Mike Myers were set to speak for 90 seconds about the disaster. After Myers made his comments, West ignored the script on the TelePrompTer and instead looked into the cameras and stated: "I hate the way they portray us in the media. If you see a black family, it says they're looting. If you see a white family, they're looking for food."

Then he added, "George Bush doesn’t care about black people," and was immediately cut off.

See the clip for yourself here

.....

I've been sitting glued to the television the past few days, flipping back-and-forth (FOX News, MSNBC, CNN). Shit I just may need therapy after having all of those images transfixed in the cerebellum. My father's eldest daughter - who I haven't really spoken to over the years - lives in New Orleans. Is she OK?

Oprah and Geraldo are dramatic. The really know how to dramatize the event and get the human emotion pumping. They both cried on their shows. Both of them and their staffs, doing things above the call of duty.

Recovery and Relief? How will the people who experienced this recover - ever? There is some long-term PTSD going on here. Long term.

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