Business Mindhacks » Twitter Digests

Twitter Updates for 2008-09-17

Alex — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 04:59:59 +0000

Rich Schefren is streaming live for the next 24 hours from his office for the launch of his latest report, The Uncertainty Syndrome.. [View]
.. watch at http://www.strategicprofits.com/blog/ – I’m listening in the background while skimming the report, will Twittercast any goodies. [View]
cont’d: Rich’s little daughter is apparently modeling for Downy, jokes that she may make more money than a lot of internet marketers. [View]
Rich is referencing his Dr. Cialdini interview on the issue of Social Bookmarking buttons not getting pressed and social proof: Don’t.. [View]
..make the mistake to tell people that no one is clicking the buttons, as they’ll see it as permission to not click either! Tell them: Even.. [View]

..one more click might make the difference in everyone seeing the information (blog post, etc.) vs. no one seeing it. [View]
Just finished skimming Rich Schefren’s new report "The Uncertainty Syndrome" & it doesn’t contain the term "uncertainty" but TWICE. Hunh? [View]
I’m confused. Rich promised a ground-breaking report, & most of this is a rehash of ideas from his (admittedly excellent) prior reports. [View]
Don’t get me wrong, there are a few valuable nuggets & useful reminders, but nothing that blew me away. Theory of Constraints has been.. [View]
..discussed before. Biggest take aways: 1) Find the true constraint(s)/root cause. 2) Do things wrong fast, as action creates clarity. Rich Schefren.. [View]
..leaves a lot of things unanswered, esp. about the "Uncertainty" factor. I thought he was going to go into how uncertainty can paralyze. [View]
From "Made to Stick", chapter 1: "… even irrelevant uncertainty — can paralyze us." Thought Rich Schefren’s report would expand on this. [View]

Twitter Updates for 2008-09-09

Alex — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 04:59:59 +0000

Back from a well-deserved hiatus..and who wants to compete with the Olympics & the Conventions for attention anyway..but now things are.. [View]
..rolling in fast & furious: 1) Apple today demoed new iPod Nanos, iTunes, iPodTouch, & firmware update for Touch/iPhone – http://is.gd/2pp9 [View]
.. the iPhone firmware fixes are significant, addressing dropped calls, battery life, etc. when was the last time u saw a tech company.. [View]
.. jump on user complaints within TWO months?!? Steve Jobs did the familiar “Wizard of Oz” archetype branding spiel, set up by suspense &.. [View]
.. mystery surrounding what the novelties were going to be this time. Works like a charm – http://is.gd/2pqT & requires almost no paid ads. [View]

2) Speaking of ads, the new Seinfeld & Bill Gates commercial, presumably the 1st in a $300M ad campaign launched to soften MSFT’s image.. [View]
.. has been widely panned – http://is.gd/2pr6 – 1 could say predictably so, 1 goofy ad does not erase years of horror of screens o’ death.. [View]
.. Vista frustrations, and MSFT bullying of all and sundry.. MSFT has solidly occupied “The Powerbroker” archetype for all these years.. [View]
.. and all attempts to move it to Buddy brand, “Little Trickster”, etc. have failed because of it. Once the imprint is burned in deep.. [View]
.. you’ll have a heck of a time getting it changed. Case in point, today’s Apple demo announced that the Zune had 2.4% market share.. [View]
.. even SanDisk has 8.6% !!! Proving that all the money in the world (which MSFT undoubtably has) can’t move the mountain in people’s minds. [View]
MSFT’s “Mojave Experiment” ad experiment, meant to put Vista in a new light before the new Seinfeld experiment, prompted this hilarious.. [View]
..retort from a commenter somewhere: “Vista de Mojave”..I said somewhere a month+ ago that Vista sounded like a real estate development. [View]
Now someone else closed the circle to Seinfeld’s “Boca Vista” episode: “What’s with Vista, it sounds like a retirement condo development..” [View]
3) OK, on to YHOO’s abysmal stock performance since the MSFT take-over was officially abandoned (for now..), & now that GOOG is facing.. [View]
.. a stiffer regulatory head-wind than ever before, just in time for it’s 10th Birthday. Attacks on the YHOO-GOOG outsourcing deal are.. [View]
.. putting the extra revenue that YHOO had hoped for in jeopardy, but that can only partially explain the languishing stock price, they.. [View]
..have not recovered from the MSFT onslaught, just as I predicted (even though I have argued strongly against the deal in its proposed form) [View]
..$31/share must look awfully good now, regardless of whether MSFT could have done any better at running an Internet biz than YHOO, which.. [View]
.. history PROVES isn’t likely. YHOO has abandoned their social network attempt Mash, and this CNET article argues that they are missing.. [View]
..the boat on remaking all of YHOO into a social network from the inside out – http://is.gd/2pvr I argued much the same thing a while back.. [View]
..nut really ANYTHING is better than the frozen-with-fear, stagnation that has beset them. Then again MSFT isn’t far behind in terms of.. [View]
..stasis, other than a reorg and some happy talk by Ballmer: “best and brightest.. user experiences.. YHOO was just a tactic”. In reality.. [View]
..other than the Seinfeld ad, one hasn’t heard a peep out of MSFT in months. So the YHOO gamble may have cost them as much as YHOO in lost.. [View]
..productivity & focus. Henry Blodget has rightly pointed out that MSFT could simply choose to focus on the enterprise market & be done.. [View]
..with it, rather than always trying to be in the consumer space that they’ve never been any good at. Nothing necessitates them competing.. [View]
..with GOOG in search, other than a bruised “we use to be the premier tech company on the planet” ego. Not a good place to start from. [View]
4) Having already mentioned Google’s newly found regulatory head-winds, their new browser offering Chrome (a mostly functioning beta) has.. [View]
..drawn privacy concerns from many quarters & rightly so in some instances. They had to adjust the typical GOOG EULA (for search from use).. [View]
..to allow you to retain all copyrights in your work processed through the browser, & some argue that Chrome will give GOOG even more user.. [View]
..data insight than before (even though Chrome specifically features an anonymous browsing mode). Newsflash: If you thought you had much.. [View]
..privacy on the Web from ANYONE, you were sorely mistaken. Starting with your ISP, to your OS & software providers, they all have degrees.. [View]
..of insight into how you use your computer. GOOG is no different. Question is, who do you trust, what counter-measures (proxies, etc.).. [View]
..do you use, & should you care at all in the end. In the words of a WSJ op-ed: Privacy? We got over it – http://is.gd/2pze [View]
A more interesting angle to the Google Chrome story is that it prepares for a world in which devices will be able to run without an OS.. [View]
..& just running the browser for everything (really to have a way stripped down OS only). TechCrunch’s Arrington has been working on just.. [View]
..such a device for a few months, check out his inet-tablet (“the Crunchlet”) ideas – http://is.gd/Zu7 & current state – http://is.gd/25nP [View]
5) Speaking of Arrington, his TechCrunch50 start-up launch showcase is going on right now, along with a rival & simultaneous event called.. [View]
..Demo. There has been much hand-wringing & mudslinging in the blogosphere over the pros & cons of these two “launch week” events, Robert.. [View]
..Scoble firing the 1st salvo, attacking the 70 Demo “attendees” (they all paid $18k+ to present) for their lack of marketing savvy.. [View]
..especially in regard to their Web-site building skills – http://is.gd/2imb – prompting much hate-mail in return by spurned entrepreneurs. [View]
While his tone may have been over the top, I must largely agree with Scoble on the merits. Most of these start-ups are in dire need of.. [View]
..a lesson in Marketing/Branding 101. So really he was doing them a favor. I would add to his critique the issue of 90% horrifically bad.. [View]
..brand names chosen by these fine folks, mistakes that nearly guarantee their companies demises long before the question of their product.. [View]
..& its usefulness is ever raised. It is difficult enough to get attention & mental real estate from anyone for anything these days, why.. [View]
..hamstring yourself with a name that is “too cute by half”, often with associations that only worked (barely) in the mind of the founder. [View]
Look over the “Demo” list – http://is.gd/2iVC & shake your head, then go over to TechCrunch50 – http://is.gd/2lXT & do the same, in.. [View]
..increasing order of intensity. Nothing against these good folks & some have truly useful ideas,but names like “exchangeP” will never work. [View]
It’s useful 2 follow the TechCrunch50 proceedings as a livestream or on their blog for a while to get ideas about what does & doesn’t work.. [View]
..especially the judges immediate feedback afterward is worth gold, much to learn here. Catch the live stream at http://techcrunch.com [View]
Addendum to the Google Chrome thread: Just saw an interesting article that said that Chrome is basically a race to make JavaScript fast.. [View]
..enough to keep it PLUS browser the standard over light-weight client languages Adobe Air, Flash, and MSFT Silverlight – http://is.gd/2iLb [View]
@Scobleizer Unfortunately they left the price point for those at $149. I thought they might go to $99 in this economy, & given $199 iPhones. [View]

Twitter Updates for 2008-07-29

Alex — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 04:59:59 +0000

Cornell study links toddler TV watching to autism – http://www.slate.com/id/2151538/ – absolute must-read. [View]

iPocalypse Rant – Twitter Updates for 2008-07-11

Alex — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:59:59 +0000

First off, it’s great to see Twitter being up on an iPhone launch day, especially one where all hell has apparently broken loose… [View]
… Gizmodo has already coined a new term for it: The iPocalypse. Cute. So all those 1st gen iPhone owners upgrading the firmware are… [View]
… crashing the servers and are thereby preventing the iPhone 3G activations… while "bricking" their own existing iPhones in hanging… [View]
… upgrade loops. & new 3G owners have to escape the store with their own "iBricks", hoping that they’ll be able to activate later 2day… [View]
Frankly, anyone paying attention should have known to 1) not step in the way of the stampeding iPhone 3G crowd with their firmware upgrade.. [View]
… (the annual Pamplona "Running of the Bulls" is going on right now as well, hehe. How appropriate)… and 2) not to risk their phone… [View]

… & communication abilities in such a reckless way during what was clearly going to be a massive launch with massive PENT-UP demand… [View]
…being unleashed. You almost have to feel for those poor servers slaving away in the iPhone activation salt mines…wait, they’re machines [View]
… anyway, in the end, I expect all of this to sort itself out despite all the hand-wringing & sniping from competitors/detractors… [View]
…having to deal with outages caused by customer stampedes is not the worst problem to have, in fact, … [View]
… Microsoft (and others) might kill to have this problem. :) The social proof of your servers melting from the demand is quite powerful… [View]
… years ago in direct response mktg on late-late-night-TV, they came up with the idea to say: "If the lines are busy, please call again." [View]
This great example BTW courtesy of Dr. Cialdini’s new: "50 Scientifically Proven Ways To Be Persuasive" – recommended by my buddy Ben Mack. [View]
BTW, sales skyrocketed from that small change (from "Operators are waiting, please call now." to "If operators are busy, please call again.") [View]
@BenMack – good luck buddy, can’t wait to hear your reports on the Bandler seminar when you get back (or if? :) – seriously, I think… [View]
@BenMack … you’ll have a great and eye-opening time. There is so much to learn. [View]
If there are people that are Apple "fanboys", then surely CNET must be a MSFT "fangrandpa": Check this little nugget of FUD http://is.gd/RtJ [View]
BTW: Word to the wise – look at my comment on that CNET article’s page with your "Search Status" highlighter turned on… u’ll like what u c [View]
… hand-coded HTML DoFollow [View]

Twitter Updates for 2008-06-16

Alex — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:59:59 +0000

MSFT just got the bag handed to them with the Goo-hoo outsourcing deal, now their left holding it… no clear strategy foward, nada… [View]
…get the details of the conference call over at TechCrunch or SAI – http://is.gd/wfO Y! may well have just hardened itself in this crisis. [View]
Now the unknown variable is whether Jerry can tighten up the ship enough to do something useful/innovative with the newfound $. Here is an.. [View]

… idea: Buy Twitter. Before MSFT does and ruins it/makes it uncool for everyone. Turn Yahoo into a social network from the inside out. [View]
The Micro-hoo deal was never a good idea. As I said previously, it would have been the equivalent of two large battleships colliding at a… [View]
..45 degr. angle & expecting them to weld themselves into an aircraft carrier… not going to happen. Yahoo is better off, GOOG is as well.. [View]
… did MSFT really just waste 4 months in this outcome?!?! How un-machiavellian of them. It’s downright puzzling. Maybe now they’ll buy… [View]
… Facebook. [View]

Twitter Updates for 2008-06-12

Alex — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 04:59:59 +0000

Twittercasting from Ben Mack/Dr. Cialdini interview call… Ben is grilling him pretty good already, that was a brief "interview honeymoon". [View]
1st thing they started with (during the easy part) was that Charlie Munger, Warren Buffet’s right hand man, appt’ly has been recommending.. [View]
… Dr. Cialdini’s work. Dr. C describes how there has been scientific, incontrovertible proof regarding the persuasiveness of requests. [View]

They are going in2 the power of rhyming: If people can grasp a message more quickly & remember it more easily, they assume it 2 b more true. [View]
More pronounceable companies on the stock exchanges did better over time on average. Simplicity, fluidity, etc. can have a massive impact. [View]
Dr. C recommends "Made To Stick". Hopefully you’ve already read that… Ben can’t resist also plugging his own "Poker without cards" as… [View]
… more in depth. Typical Ben. :) Dr. C is closing with an emphasis on resonance, rapport, and "liking" to lower people’s barriers. [View]
Earlier, we had Ben attack the issue of whether the people that Dr. C had researched were the equivalent of the "lesser criminals" that… [View]
..criminology has as their subject. But Dr. C was quite adept at dispelling this notion, b/c controls for the veracity of the "persuaders".. [View]
… were in place. Nice try though Ben… :) [View]
Blair Warren is talking about reciprocity in the Q&A segment. Asked himself why so many people fail when trying to apply it. It can fail… [View]
… due to misunderstandings about the transaction. [View]

Twitter Updates for 2008-05-31

Alex — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:59:59 +0000

For anyone interested in cloud computing & why Twitter needs to grow up – fast, this is a must-read on Google architecture http://is.gd/oJ4 [View]
BTW, the results are in as to how much of a gimmick Microsoft’s "new" Live Search Cashback program really is: Out of 4 featured items, 2 … [View]
…were cheaper on Google without the phony LSCB "discounts" (which MSFT is nice enough to hold in escrow for you for 1-2 months no less)… [View]

..1 was a virtual tie, & 1 was cheaper on LSCB by a lot, though it looked like a regular blow-out sale by the merchant. I’d say case closed. [View]
It is kind of sad when you compare this kind of MSFT gimmick to the real innovation work that Google has been doing in its architecture… [View]
…as referenced a few min’s ago, 2 make their global search possible. Imagine if MSFT were this committed to e.g. making Windows secure… [View]
Working on a major post re: the entire Live Search Cashback mess, many incl. Arrington r getting this wrong & r drinking the MSFT kool-aid. [View]

Twitter Updates for 2008-05-21

Alex — Thu, 22 May 2008 04:59:59 +0000

A slightly hobbled TechCrunch live-cast from MSFT conference underscores how little Bill Gates has learned about the internet in 13 years… [View]
… he goes on and on about how "search is a good thing… information at your finger tips"… Gee, ya think? Todays Live Search Cashback… [View]
… announcement is simply pathetic from a tech competitiveness perspective: It’s like waving a big white flag at Google: We give up… [View]

…someone in a comment over on Techcrunch said it best: "Paying incentives to drive usage is the last refuge of the incompetent." … [View]
… Live Search Cashback’s multiple steps making organic adoption less, and system gaming more likely. They also announced a new travel… [View]
…"Live Search Farecast"..gee, how came up with that zinger of a brand?!? They just released a memo that they were going to fix branding… [View]
…and now this? Misses the "What’s a __?"-Test by a mile. MSFT can make even relatively cool things… uncool. They should call themselves [View]
…"Virtual Ice" :) Seriously though… what is up with this? This is what we get from people who say things like "deliver new experiences". [View]
"Years from now you may look back on this and say- this is when search got more competitive" – Bill Gates. Are you kidding me? I think I… [View]
… am about to have a Lewis Black moment here… well, the applause was quite mild/polite, no wonder given this drivel. Anyone playing… [View]
… "corp-speak" Bingo should be yelling "Bingo" every few sentences. Sheeesh. [View]

Twitter Updates for 2008-05-06

Alex — Wed, 07 May 2008 04:59:59 +0000

there is so much unqualified commentary out on Yahoo-MSFT 2day, it’s hard to think straight: most don’t get search, SEO, PPC, monetization [View]
cont’d: almost no one understands the per-search monetization gap & falsely mixes it up with scale. If they were right, Y! wouldn’t b able 2 [View]
cont’d: profitably (like 60-80%+) outsource ad serves to GOOG, as just tested/proposed. Heck, most of the commentators don’t get ad serves. [View]

cont’d: sorry for the rant, my head is spinning a little. Back to basics: Ries & Trout – Immutable Laws of Marketing/Positioning/Brading. [View]
cont’d: It’s all in there. All of it. GOOG has "the verb" tip-of-mind awareness 4 crying out loud. "To google something." Market leadership. [View]
cont’d: MSFT and Y! have just been spinning their wheels trying to chase, instead of seriously innovating… mee-tooism won’t do. [View]
cont’d: If I can edit down my current Micro-hoo "post-mortem post" draft from like 10 pages, I might actually post it tomorrow… :) [View]
Good news, the Wordpress 2.3.3 security "retro-fit" with 2.5.x code appears to be working so far.. I’ll write a short post about it 2morrow. [View]
Wow, Wordpress’ Matt Mullenweg personally closed a discussion thread on "2.5 backend annoying" that I was participating on- http://is.gd/cy4 [View]
cont’d: Booo? Go check it out, I was 3rd to last post in..this kind of thing doesn’t happen everyday, no? I feel indirectly star-struck.. :) [View]

Twitter Updates for 2008-05-03

Alex — Sun, 04 May 2008 04:59:59 +0000

just got some major insights into security issues with Wordpress..working on porting over key fixes that came with 2.5 into 2.3.3 [View]
cont’d: so’s to avoid upgrading (maybe I’ll never upgrade and run a renegade 2.3.3 "i" branch).. yeah, I’m evil like that.. [View]
cont’d: in case you didn’t know it, there’s plenty wrong with Wordpress 2.5.x – check out the fall-out here: http://is.gd/bMn [View]

cont’d: there’s a reason y there’s dozens, even 100s of replies on those 2.5 "annoyance" threads. 2 bad that WP doesn’t seem to b listening. [View]
cont’d: next op: get the 1 thing that’s actually useful in 2.5, the multi uploader (images, etc.), hacked into 2.3.3 – can’t be too hard [View]

Twitter Updates for 2008-04-30

Alex — Thu, 01 May 2008 04:59:59 +0000

Did Arrington just miss the biggest key point out of his own (excellent) interview with Citi Analyst Mahaney re: Micro-hoo? [View]
cont’d: It wasn’t mentioned as a highlight in the post itself (the summary),but some1 alerted me 2 it in a comment over at the Alley Insider [View]
cont’d: "[vs.] Google – that the [..] monetization gap was 60-70%. That’s the 1st time we’d heard [..] Yahoo sign off on this specific gap." [View]

cont’d: wowza… I had come close to this same conclusion a few days ago from Google Q1 surprise numbers – http://tinyurl.com/5wfldq [View]
cont’d: … but this admission straight from Yahoo is BIG… the reason why Y! would has been considering the outsource move to Google [View]
cont’d: they can instantly make about 50-80% more per search!! Real $. Here’s the interview – search on "gap" – http://tinyurl.com/62c6uo [View]
cont’d: to be fair, Arrington did mention the cashflow windfall (+25%), but the other number is much more significant in my book.. details.. [View]
Comment over at Alley Insider: "Yahoo’s boats don’t float. Microsoft’s boats don’t float. Google is the only builder of boats that float." [View]

Twitter Updates for 2008-04-28

Alex — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 04:59:59 +0000

@Scobleizer this is great, proves both the 80/20 Principle, as well as Check Move Theory as evangelized by @Ed_Dale [View]
@Scobleizer cont’d: threw the data from that page in2 a spreadsheet, proves 80/20 – 64/4 – 51/1 recursion: [View]
@Scobleizer cont’d: the 6 top people out of 520 have 1/3 of total "tweets x followers" connections, 22 have 55%, 110 have 87%. Always works. [View]

@dewaldp pretty good… in case you hadn’t seen it yet, here is another "juicy" one – http://tinyurl.com/2xhhpc [View]
If you are a Wordpress user, you may be interested in this "Two Line Avatar Hack for Wordpress Comments" – http://tinyurl.com/6zqqx4 [View]
cont’d: BTW did I mention that my blog was *DoFollow*… comment on my Wordpress Avatar Hack post – http://tinyurl.com/6zqqx4 [View]
Good "State of Twitter" overview post from a CNET blog – http://tinyurl.com/5wrkws – note the new round of funding & infrastructure issue [View]