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Just in time for the start of a new school year, the popular Google search service is making available thousands of classic books free.
August 2006 Archives
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Video games have become a common tool for simulation training exercises in fields such as emergency response and military combat.
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Films have long been used as propaganda. But the use of films as weapons in the political and ideological battles in Washington is a relatively new development aided by advances in digital technology, which makes editing and distribution cheap and easy.
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You've heard of Web 2.0. Now, a secretive Bellingham Internet company dubbed YapTA! is touting itself as "Web 3.0."
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A month ago and found there were 5.1 million videos. By Sunday that number had grown by about 20% to 6.1 million. Because we know how many videos have been uploaded to the site, the length of each, and how many times it has been watched (total views were
The New York Times reports this morning that Wal-Mart has launched a political-style advertising campaign.
In a local experiment that is eventually to be seen across the country, the giant discount retailer began broadcasting two television spots that, in unusually detailed terms, trumpet its health care plans, charitable contributions and positive impact on the American economy.
The ads do not attack Wal-Mart critics but introduce its merits, much as a candidate would. "Our low prices save the average working family $2,300 a year," says the narrator of one ad. "Which buys a lot of things — and a whole lot of freedom."
The article explains that the ads "represent a significant departure from its practice of rebutting critics in the media but presenting itself, at least in consumer television marketing, as untroubled by its image problems."
I actually think the Wal-Mart folks are doing something more meaningful with this ad campaign... or at least are on their way. Americans are fed up with angry politics. The average person wants to be represented by individuals and organizations who stand for something, or who genuinely seem interested in helping make their life better. They want to know someone is on their side.
Sure, Wal-Mart is an easy target for a political candidate. And this campaign is probably more CYA than anything at this point. But millions of families across our country depend on Wal-Mart. Do you think those people who shop at Wal-Mart, or who are employed by Wal-Mart, see Wal-Mart as a bad thing? Maybe they can't afford to shop anywhere else on a regular basis. Maybe Wal-Mart is the only store who has located in their community and brought real jobs when other companies closed down. Whatever the reason, beating up on Wal-Mart to score political points is a cheap score. Politicians should be working with Wal-Mart to make our communities stronger and support American families, just as Wal-Mart can be doing more to look beyond profit as a motive for its actions. Trust me, there is profit/benefit for everyone in this kind of model.
Wal-Mart still has more work to do in order to truly engage American consumers and build their trust. A couple of commercials aren't going to do it. Wal-Mart has an obligation to launch a real conversation about the important issues facing our country. As the leading retailer in virtually every consumer brand category in the world, Wal-Mart is in a unique position to impact how people think, how they shop, and how they live, and they should use that power to show people how to improve their lives. They are already made strides on clean energy by committing to use environmentally friendly light bulbs in their stores. Well, we have an obesity problem in this country and Wal-Mart can help to address it by encouraging (and facilitating) the sale of low-fat foods to families who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford them. We have a health-care crisis in this country, and Wal-Mart can do its part (not only by providing better health care to employees, but also) by training employees, even communities, on how to live healthier lives. And on, and on.
I applaud Wal-Mart for talking about serious issues in ther advertising and I hope that this campaign is the first step towards a real commitment to engaging the American public in a thoughtful dialogue about how we can all grow stronger as a nation.
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The local and national bloggers were only one of several forces that propelled Lamont to his historic Democratic primary victory over incumbent U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman. But their contribution - framing issues, drawing thousands of volunteers and don
I visited Alaska for the first time last week. It was the 50th state I have visited. Woo hoo! A complete set!
Karen and I posted lots of pictures, including some up close and personal shots with a group of Grizzly Bears we went to visit in the wilds of Katmai National Park near Homer.
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Online volunteering is growing as Internet access improves worldwide, particularly among African and Latin American organizations needing assistance.
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The $4 billion-a-year textbook business is being remade - with weighty printed books and newspapers being replaced by weightless electronic versions. But that kind of change cannot happen overnight; the shift will take years. In the meantime, a small pub
Its US Open Time, and that means lots of creative tennis themed TV commercials. I was watching the USA Network (don't ask) and saw one for American Express featuring Andy Roddick vs. Pong in a tennis match. In a related ad, viewers are invited to see if they could beat Pong in a tennis match. Log on to http://www.stoppong.com/ and see how good you are.
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How do you create an online encyclopedia when few native speakers have access to the Internet? What use is an encyclopedia when literacy rates among a language's speakers can approach zero? And who should control the content of an encyclopedia in a loca
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ndie bands dig them. Major labels shun them. Copyright issues vex them, while music fans flock to them: for free downloads, concert data, idiosyncratic musings, and impassioned chatter about acts and tracks. What are they? Audioblogs.
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PBS will resume selling advertisements on its popular PBS Kids Web site, angering parents, children's advocates and consumer watchdog groups concerned that the plan would pollute one of the last commercial-free bastions for kids on the Internet.
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Senator Joe Lieberman is searching for a firm to manage his campaign's Web site for the upcoming election — and coming up short.
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Cellphones and text messaging are changing the way political mobilizations are conducted around the world. From Manila to Riyadh and Kathmandu protests once publicized on coffeehouse bulletin boards are now organized entirely through text-messaging networ
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Although the Internet is blamed for debasing public discourse with anonymous and poorly punctuated tirades, the amateur reviews posted on Yelp.com may be helping restore gentility and customer service to businesses all over town.
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Traditional media brands like newspapers and television are far more trusted by the public than Web sites and blogs, according to a survey this week by British interactive marketing company Telecom Express. [Via Steve Rubel at Micropersuasion]
