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Sunday, January 10, 2010
Facebook Fitness Drink [connect]
Vitaminwater
Day 89
Saturday, January 9, 2010
I marvel at some of life’s happy little coincidences: being introduced to someone who runs an affinity non-profit by a friend with whom I haven’t spoken in nearly half a year is pretty amazing
- Reposted survey summary information on CharityFocus’s Facebook page
- Recategorized blog categories
- Emailed Parth to find out that our lunch is canceled
- Edited the blog site: added links to Facebook, idealist and Linkedin on the navigation sidebar
- Finally figured out how to add blog stream to the Foundation’s Facebook page
- Musfikur (a researcher in Dhaka, Bangladesh) contacted me about work. I emailed him to set up a talk about volunteer positions
- Juliet (friend in London) emailed me about her friend, Mary Lin, who is looking for information about starting a non-profit. I exchanged emails with Mary Lin and it turned out that her non-profit and the Foundation are affinity organizations
- Saw the videos Mandar Apte (Art of Living Foundation) emailed me and read up on the Art of Living Foundation online
Saturday, January 9, 2010
The Deep Red Aunt and Schoolgirl Cruelty.
It is a great thing that the virtual straps showing onFacebook this week have generated more interest in breast cancer awareness, and, presumably, in donations to fight the disease. But the whole viral lingerie thing has raised the Crone’s awareness of something else that threatens the world’s female population: girls’ enduring tendency to form cliques and take a cruel joy in excluding others.
Ok, she admits it, the Crone was shocked and dismayed to discover that there was an in-joke she wasn’t in on earlier this week. She likes to be at the center of such enterprises, particularly when they involve wordplay. Posting a request for enlightenment in her Facebook status bar at 7pm on Thursday, she came home at 9pm to two cryptic counter-messages, one from a man in Thailand (even he was ahead of the Crone) and the other from Mistress Lube, an alleged friend for nearly 40 years. These messages had the giggling behind the hand tone of many high school encounters “She’s so lame, she has no clue, make sure nobody tells her”. No-one had shared the secret via the Crone’s inbox. In cyberspace, more than 200 of her so-called friends were keeping her in the dark and out in the cold. By the next morning the Mother Teresa of Takoma Park, had surreptitiously supplied all the details via an email. Thank you Lynn. But on the Facebook wall a cold message from the Cackler, the gist of which was ‘”Na Na De Na Na–I know and you don’t”. Sister turned against sister. It was an ugly thing. By this time, one of the Crone’s dear Aunts (not the wheaten bread aunt, nor the boiled cake aunt but the aunt who will henceforth be known as the deep red aunt) had posted a facebook message to the Crone the gist of which was that she was feeling left out too: if the Crone discovered what was going on, please would she fill in her? But did the Crone lift the phone, compose an email or otherwise extend a helping hand? She did not. Once she was in on the secret, she turned her back on even close relatives, joining the shunners, sniggerers and seclusionists. Shaming, but true. (It didn’t, of course, take long for her aunt to work it out–hence her new moniker)
Once the Crone had posted her own update (gold) the comments came back fast and furious. Siouxsie Sue (decadent beige) was among those who felt the Crone had made it up. ” Sure you don’t mean platinum?” she sneered ” That’s only the underwire” the Crone felt like retorting, and was tempted to add ” And don’t forget mine’s bigger than yours” Galling to learn this morning that Siouxsie’s undies made it into the Washington Post but then, as Trinny and Susannah always say, ” a good bra can take you anywhere”.
UK Christmas Day online sales up 29%
More people are choosing to do their online shopping on Christmas Day than ever before, with sales rising by 29% to reach £132m.
Boxing Day saw even higher sales of £281m, according to IMRG. These stats are backed up by an eDigitalResearch survey (PDF) of consumers’ online activity over Christmas.
More highlights from the survey:75% of the respondents said they were online on either Christmas Day or Boxing Day, with 15% and 23% respectively making purchases online.
Figures from John Lewis paint a similar picture, with shoppers making a purchase on its website every 10 seconds on Christmas Day, and a record number of visitors to the website between 11am and midday on Boxing Day.
Despite threats from the weather nearer Christmas, and the Royal Mail strike in November, the vast majority of deliveries arrived on time, and 97% said they intend to spend more or the same online next year.
Customer satisfaction with etailersAccording to the Christmas Customer Satisfaction Index from ForeSee Results, customers are happier with online retailers this year, with the average score up 6.5% to 71.
Pureplays Amazon and Play.com topped the list with scores of 83 and 79, while Ticketmaster and B&Q were bottom of the class with scores of 65.
ForeSee ran the same survey with US consumers, and US sites scored an average of 79, which suggest that they are outperforming UK websites by 9%.
Which retailers had a good Christmas online?Online sales at the John Lewis sale were up 23% in its first three days. The retailer experienced its busiest ever hour online when it launched the sale at 6pm on Christmas Eve.
The Hut, which runs Zavvi, as well as providing e-commerce services for Woolworths, Argos and others, said that orders rose by 188% in the six weeks to December 23.
Shop Direct Group reported that online sales over Christmas were up by 19% against 2008, while the internet accounted for 65% of all sales versus 56% last year.
Online sales at M&S were up by 32% in the 13 weeks up to December 27, compared with 2008.
Sales at Ocado rose by 49% in the week leading up to Christmas to £8.9m. Sales in the four weeks to Boxing Day were up 30% from 2008, reaching £40.8m.
http://econsultancy.com/blog/5194-christmas-day-online-sales-up-29?utm_medium=email&utm_source=topic
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Around the Block: Jan. 7, 2010
A look at some interesting recent articles and posts about law and technology:
New York case law on litigation holds is discussed by Attorney Mark Berman. From the article:
It is well established that the “utter failure to establish any form of litigation hold at the outset of litigation is grossly negligent.” A showing of gross negligence is “plainly enough to justify sanctions at least as serious as an adverse inference.”
BUT…
On the other hand, not every matter is ripe for e-discovery, and the decision in Kaiser v. Raoul’s Rest. Corp.,is illustrative of the fact that one still needs to sufficiently justify a request for e-discovery, and that overbroad demands will not be countenanced.
The Fulton County Daily Reporter posts the news that a Georgia Judge has voluntarily stepped down, apparently because of an investigation into his relationship with a defendant that began on Facebook. From the article:
Woods’ departure from the bench effectively ends inquiries being made in the circuit from the Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission, which investigates complaints against judges. The JQC, whose workings are confidential by law, has made no public statement of any investigation regarding Woods.
From Ryley, Carlock, and Applewhite:
In Vagenos v. LDG Financial Services, LLC, 2009 U.S. Dist. Lexis 121490 (E.D.N.Y. Dec. 31, 2009), District Court Judge Brian M. Cogan denied defendant’s in limine motion to preclude plaintiff from offering at trial an alleged duplicate recording of an electronically-stored telephone message, but ordered an adverse inference instruction for plaintiff and his counsel’s failure to preserve the message.
From Law Technology News, an article examining how to Mine Web 2.0 for Evidence:
On Oct. 17, 2009, an armed assailant robbed two men outside a housing project in Brooklyn, N.Y. Almost immediately, the police focused their investigation on Rodney Bradford, a 19-year-old resident of the housing project who had been indicted a year earlier for a similar robbery. After one of the victims positively identified Bradford in a police lineup, the police arrested him and charged him with first-degree robbery.
Open-and-shut case, right? Wrong. It turns out Bradford was innocent and he had an airtight alibi to prove it. At the time of the crime, he was 12 miles away at his father’s house in Harlem, updating his Facebook status. After the district attorney subpoenaed Facebook and received the exculpatory evidence, Bradford was cleared of all charges and released.
Computerworld contributor Richard Power discusses how the Information Age has transformed the world the of the Private Investigator, with a Q&A with former FBI Agent (and current PI) Ed Stroz:
Stroz had served for 16 distinguished years in the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), during which he established the New York City FBI computer crime squad, one of the first two in the country, and directed several significant FBI investigations, including the high-profile international case of Vladimir Levin, a Russian hacker who broke into Citibank. In 2000, Stroz founded a private investigation (PI) firm in 2000, and has assisted his corporate clients in responding to Internet-extortions, denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, hacks and unauthorized access, and theft of trade secrets. He has also pioneered the concept of incorporating behavioral science into the methodology for addressing computer crime and abuse.
Marica Coyle posts an article for the National Law Journal noting that the Supreme Court will hear a case to resolve a circuit split concerning the work-product doctrine.
Textron Inc. v. U.S. stems from a long-running legal battle between the corporation and the Internal Revenue Service over the government’s demand for Textron’s tax-accrual work papers. Those papers generally are prepared with the assistance of in-house and external counsel and relied upon by independent auditors to determine the accuracy of financial statements. They often contain legal analyses and evaluations of potential litigation risks associated with particular tax transactions.
Last August, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 3-2 en banc ruling, held that the papers were not protected by the work-product doctrine and had to be turned over to the IRS in a tax shelter investigation.
Everybody's Doing it!
So, I could have been there all night, yo. (The Status History application on Facebook.) And instead of doing some lame story of 2009 or even posting a cloud that just shows the words I commonly use (SHOCKER: It’s Ezra), I’ve only selected some memorable ones from this past summer of unabashed excitement – Montreal, Disneyland, Frenches, More Montreal – and dental floss (which was the first of September but it couldn’t be left out). Anyway, they aren’t chosen for any reason but that they made me smile or something when I read them. More later? Perhaps.
Wed June 3, 2009, 10:39 pm: had to put her foot down after Ezra – for the third day in a row – prayed for a little sister named Raptor Lightflash Morrow. Wasted prayer.
Fri June 5, 2009, 10:57 pm: listening to son pray: “Dear God, why did I not get a sister named Raptor?” !!! WHAT?!
Wed June 24, 2009, 11:52 am: loves how kids educational shows always include one functionally retarded character so your kid doesn’t feel foolish for being wrong. Fail.
Sat July 4, 2009, 10:21 am: is mixing songs. “Good Morning, Baltimore…the earth says hello?!” Rewinding. Starting over.
Thu July 9, 2009, 4:28 pm: ’s hubby just tackled her and then her son said, “Mama!! Fight the power!!!” O_O KWAT!?
Thu July 16, 2009, 12:54 pm: can’t live in a world where the Canadian dollar is equal to the American. Don’t go there, Jesus!
Mon July 20, 2009, 6:48 pm: is listening to almost-five-year-olds debate the seating arrangement of imaginary princesses. O_o.
Fri July 24, 2009, 10:43 am: ’s son just discovered that the reason he seemed to be ignoring my call was due to his ears being “too small”. Creative. Oh and time-out.
Sat July 25, 2009, 7:06 pm: ’s sons said: “Mommy, on PBS kids they said parents should give kids flight. Have you given me flight? NO!” O_O What’s all that phonix then!
Fri August 7, 2009, 3:08 pm: : Once Josh slaps some new tape on my glasses, I’m reh-to-go!
Wed August 19, 2009, 2:10 pm: ’s son just said: “When you eat while you’re fighting, it’s better fighting.” Can’t put that Disneyland sword down. Not even for sustenance.
Sun August 23, 2009, 7:17 pm: just got sprayed on the arm. BY A CAT. ON MY NAKED ARM. SWEET JESUS.
Mon August 24, 2009, 10:47 am: has mixed feelings about the road trip. Intimate and fun vs. omg why are we still in this truck and who’s bleeding and I’m holding a knife!
Mon August 31, 2009, 12:27 am: has crossed over. Oh Ontario. You didn’t have to pull out all the stops and have that woman laying face down on a bench with her pants down!
Tue September 1, 2009, 1:22 pm: is grossed. OUT. WHO FINDS FLOSS IN THEIR BRAN MUFFINS?!?! *violently dry-heaves*
Mmmm. That’s the stuff.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
What is Social Media and Why Should You Care?
Guest blogger: Simon Newing, Focus New Media
2009 has seen the proliferation of a whole range of words and phrases that may have left many business owners scratching their heads – and we now find ourselves needing to Twitter, to ‘poke’ and to ‘ LinkIn’.
All of these strange terms are generally thrown under the umbrella of “social media”, which can be thought of as the use of a series of (mainly) internet based applications to spread ‘word of mouth’. They allow the sharing of opinion, thought, comments and – this is where it can get interesting for businesses – recommendations, ratings and referrals. If you’re not using these applications to talk to your customers, it’s a fair bet they’re already using them to talk about you.
Here’s a quick overview of how some of the most fundamental elements of social media can be used by businesses to communicate with customers and colleagues:
- Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Facebook has over 300 million users and a business profile page can help some of them become “fans” of your organisation or your products. Nike currently has over 825,000 fans. Fans include links to your profile page as part of their profile, which can then spread to their friends, and their friends – and for very little effort you’ve hit upon an effective ‘viral’ method of spreading awareness of what you’re up to.
- Twitte r is a popular ‘micro-blogging’ service that essentially allows you to climb to the top of a big hill and yell things at those who have chosen to listen. Helped by celebrities such as Stephen Fry and Jonathan Ross, Twitter usage has risen dramatically this year and we at Focus New Media have just over 310 ‘followers’. Twitter also includes useful built-in tools that help you identify when your organisation is being talked about and by whom.
- Founded in 2003, LinkedIn has become a leading site for online networking – acting much like a Facebook for businesses. The site now has over 53 million users in 200 countries and it can be used for connecting with past and present colleagues, posting projects and business opportunities, finding industry experts and according to some reports has become a crucial resource for HR departments.
That’s just a very quick overview of some of the core blocks that make up this new world of social media and they form an important part of your organisation’s digital strategy.
Simon Newing, MD Focus New Media 0117 9498008
simon.newing@focusnewmedia.com
This is an edited version of the full article which can be seen at our web site: http://www.focusnewmedia.com/blogs/social-media-and-why-you-should-care-about-it
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