Porter Novelli DigiMite Chris Nee, otherwise known as @twofootedtackle, talks about the ubiquity of iPhones, Tweeting in Klingon, Friendster’s new Asian focus, Pompei on Google Street View and Google Wave’s new open house policy.
This won’t come as a surprise to anyone but iPhones are absolutely everywhere. Last Tuesday night I was in the away end of Portsmouth FC’s Fratton Park, and upon the half time whistle I whipped my handset out to check the other half time scores.
So did my dad. And the two guys in front of us. And the one in front of him. And the one behind us. And someone near the front. Basically, I counted 12 phones being used within my view and every single one of them was an iPhone. And there was me thinking it was just a London thing.
I know this has all been said before but it’s worth repeating: the iPhone is now so commonly owned that the various media/marketing industries really need to get to grips with its possibilities sooner rather than later. That includes us, PR folk!
Tweet in tlhIngan Hol
A geek I may be, but I never did understand the fascination with Klingon. I mean, it’s a fictional language spoken by a fictional species in the most overrated television series of all time that isn’t Friends. It’s a little tragic, then, that one can now tweet in Klingon, according to Mashable.
Please don’t.
All change at Friendster?
Friendster, the social networking website founded by Jonathan Abrams in 2002, looks set for some big changes. There are loads of rumours knocking about that the company is to be sold to an Asian company before the end of 2009. According to ZDNet Asia, Friendster has chosen not to deny the rumours.
Friendster has apparently been pushing a “pro-Asia message” and a recent facelift included micro-transactions and ad-integration (monetisation, in other words), so the potential sale is not a surprise, reports ZDNet Asia. Asia accounts for a huge proportion of Friendster’s market.
To date, Friendster has been funded by venture capitalists, and turned down a bid from Google way back in 2003. Could these new developments put Friendster back on the map globally, or is a focus on Asia the best way forward?
Following the footsteps of Caecilius
If you’ve learned Latin in England, you’ll probably remember Lucius Caecilius Iucundus, the Roman banker chosen as the face of the Cambridge Latin Course’s language-through-storytelling account of life in the city of Pompeii. You’ll also know that Pompeii was completely destroyed when Mount Vesuvius erupted in the first century.
Pompeii, which sits in the shadow of the volcano along with Naples, has become a site of huge historical significance, and now Google Street View is in on the act. Again from Mashable, Street View now includes the ruins of the partially-buried ancient city of Pompeii.
This is a real attraction for history bods, and I’ve decided to link to a particularly surprising find: some ancient Roman metal barriers.
Wave opens to more users
Google Wave, the search giant’s realtime collaborative thingy come mucking-about-with-Pulp-Fiction tool, is expanding. The official blog has announced that the top feature request has been for more users to be invited, and Google has indulged that feedback by inviting everybody who asked for an invite through its online form. It’s also doled out additional invites to existing Wave users.
Many of us have been using Wave and gradually figuring out several uses for it, and it’s proving to be a remarkable tool. But it is true that we can’t fully get the best out of it until we can add all the right people as contacts. This is a huge step in the right direction and will ensure that any feedback Google receives from the current testing period will reflect its use by a realistic population.
Google Wave