a shel of my former self:- President-Elect Obama wants to know how the auto industry will reinvent itself. They should ask our help in coming up with an answer.

a shel of my former self:- FIR Cut: Perspectives on the BNP members list leak

a shel of my former self:- The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #399: November 20, 2008

a shel of my former self:- Concise packages of local coverage with local voices could make print newspapers viable again.

Silicon Valley Watcher - reporting on the business of technology and media:- Businessweek reports:

Phil's Blogservations:- Instructor's Notebook: Redefining "History" From the Edelman Digital blog: In my opinion, the invention of the integrated circuit is at least as groundbreaking as that of the radio or telegraph. However, I suspect that these names are passed up in communications history course because they are what many would call "technology history" not "communications history". More at the Edelman Digital blog, and in the PROpenMic Forums. (Members only.) Technorati Tags: pr,

Phil's Blogservations:- The Big Dow Drop Meets The Nanny Index I recently read David Harsanyi's excellent book Nanny State: How Food Fascists, Teetotaling Do-Gooders, Priggish Moralists, and other Boneheaded Bureaucrats are Turning America into a Nation of Children. It was a thoughtful birthday gift from my folks, who thoughtfully indulge my libertarian bent with such works. In this book, Harsanyi says that the five most frightening words than can be uttered by the typical U.S. government official are "Something needs to be done." Starting last Friday and cresting today thanks to the stalled mega-bailout, that devilish phrase is at a six-month all-time...

Phil's Blogservations:- PROpenMic's "Ask Phil" Group Reaches 100 Members Many thanks to the students, faculty, and practitioners who have made this experiment such a rewarding experience for me. Of course, a special thanks to Robert French for taking the initiative to get this all started. Technorati Tags: propenmic, pr,...

Phil's Blogservations:- Gone Fishin' No Internet. No cellphones. Smoke signals don't even make it to the altitude I'll be at. See you July 21.

a shel of my former self:- Most people don’t overload on real-world social activities. Why would the online world be any different?

a shel of my former self:- Reaching a new audience.

Silicon Valley Watcher - reporting on the business of technology and media:- There are no killer applications being developed by Microsoft's Robotics Developer Studio there are only "compelling applications," jokes Tandy Trower GM of Microsoft Robotics Group. The software giant today released a major new version of its toolkit that helps robotics researchers develop routines for controlling domestic robots.

a shel of my former self:- The book is out. Here’s a rundown.

Phil's Blogservations:- Priorities For more than just the very minor paternal reasons, I can tell you that it was a great NewComm Forum this year. (I'm a founding fellow of the nonprofit that puts on the forum, SNCR, though I only have a very small role in the conference itself.) This year's Forum was light-years ahead of the conference-sprawl that was 2007's event in Las Vegas. Smaller group, far greater impact, passion, and thoughtfulness. For me, it started on Tuesday with a great group of folks who attended my Tuesday workshop. Then I got to see the folks that

a shel of my former self:- The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #398: November 17, 2008

Silicon Valley Watcher - reporting on the business of technology and media:- On Monday, The Conversation Group set up a "Blogger Roundtable" for Microsoft's Online Services Group that invited leading bloggers to offer their advice on how to improve communications (please see end for who was there.)

a shel of my former self:- An epidemic of death has been predicted. Can it be true?

Silicon Valley Watcher - reporting on the business of technology and media:- Microsoft is launching new Online Services at an event Monday Morning at the St. Regis hotel in San Francisco (more details to come). I'll be part of a "Blogger Roundtable" at noon. I hope to see you there. Here is the line up:

a shel of my former self:- Remember the computer in “Minority Report?”

Phil's Blogservations:- Re-Exploring "The Uses Of Argument" (NB: This has been cross-posted to Authenticities, the Edelman Digital blog.) As many who know me have heard by now, I harbor a somewhat strong dislike for marketing books. This aversion started around 1995, when I was first exposed to the genre, and has only softened occasionally since. (The most recent concession: Matt Mason's excellent The Pirate's Dilemma, after enjoying a speech by the author at a client event.) That's not to say that I somehow believe such works don't have value. It's just that I prefer to obtain inspiration from other corners. Often, I hope that I can move forward by going back, "fishing where the fishermen ain't" as I've

Phil's Blogservations:- George Wright Of WillItBlend.Com Answers PROpenMic's Questions I offered the PROpenMic membership an exclusive opportunity to get questions in front of George Wright, the man behind BlendTec's successful "Will It Blend?" videos. The following was recorded (and edited in under an hour... buya!) at John Gerstner's "Executing Social Media" conference in Pasadena this week.

Phil's Blogservations:- Minor Linux Victory: Getting Amazon MP3 Client To Work in Kubuntu "Hardy Heron" 8.04 Hey... Gotta take these victories where I can get 'em, right? I'd been having problems getting the GDebi package installer to install AmazonMP3's download client for Ubuntu Linux. Doesn't sound like much, but it's the only way you can take advantage of the whole-album discounts that AmazonMP3 offers. Otherwise, you have to buy the tracks individually. The package has some dependencies, which the software helpfully tells you. However, it leads you to believe that the dependencies would be satisfied by the installation process. Wrong. So, I went to the command line using "dpkg -i". Proof-positive that, no, the dependencies weren't installed and,...

Silicon Valley Watcher - reporting on the business of technology and media:- DK Matai, chairman of the ATCA Open writes an interesting essay on how this financial crisis will play out in the following article titled: The Four Scenarios: Debt Deflation, Hyperinflation, Quadrillion Play and Muddle Through.

a shel of my former self:- FIR Cut: Random Twitter updates

a shel of my former self:- Friday, Nov. 14, 2008, Hotel Marlowe, Boston, MA

Phil's Blogservations:- 'Bout Damn Time Spent the last half of last week talking to financial communications and investor relations experts about the long-overdue admission from the SEC that, ya know, publication on a company Web site can in fact be "disclosure". Come on in, oh weary, creaky, rusty, seventy-four-year-old regulatory giant, too content for too long with wielding blunt instruments intended to restrain John D. Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan... The water is... Well... The water has been here for almost two decades or nearly a quarter of your lifespan. It always struck me as funny...

a shel of my former self:- I’m being interviewed live on terrestrial radio.

a shel of my former self:- The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #397: November 13, 2008

Silicon Valley Watcher - reporting on the business of technology and media:- Last night at the excellent Tech Museum's Tech Awards 2008 there was an incredible number of superb organizations making the world a better place. The ventures included solar lighting projects for remote villages, schoolrooms, inexpensive tests for controlling diseases, etc.

Silicon Valley Watcher - reporting on the business of technology and media:- I'm not washing my right hand for a while because I used it to shake the hand of Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize recipient and a person that I've held in the highest regard for many years.

Silicon Valley Watcher - reporting on the business of technology and media:- I'm looking forward to tonight's 2008 Tech Awards: Technology Benefiting Humanity in San Jose. The event is organized by The Tech Museum and it is one of my favorite events of the year.

Phil's Blogservations:- The Vanishing "Hero Inventor" It's always fascinated me that people know the names Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, but give blank stares at mention of Robert Noyce and Jack Kilby. The two men invented the integrated circuit "separately together" — Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor, Kilby at Texas Instruments — and are pretty much responsible for damn near everything you currently enjoy that has an antenna or wire coming out of it. It's a shame that we don't lionize inventors the way we used to decades ago. However, if pressed, I'll admit that interest in Dean Kamen's work comes...

a shel of my former self:- AIG’s current predicament should serve as a wake-up call to anybody delusional enough to still believe that opacity is a viable business strategy.

a shel of my former self:- FIR Interview: Martin Silman, AT&T, on Corporate Social Networking in Europe

a shel of my former self:- The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #396: November 10, 2008

Silicon Valley Watcher - reporting on the business of technology and media:- It's lonely at the top and that's why ExpertCEO was created, a place where CEOs can help each other succeed.

Phil's Blogservations:- How To Behave In An Internet Forum How To Behave On A Forum - video powered by Metacafe Technorati Tags: online, forums

a shel of my former self:- Let’s meet up in Boston the night before the SNCR Symposium and Gala

Silicon Valley Watcher - reporting on the business of technology and media:- There is a perception among some of my contacts that the financial crisis has stabilized and that the fallout from the sub-prime bubble has been contained. What is missing in that analysis is the fact that this financial crisis has still a long way to go because there are other bubbles bursting.

Phil's Blogservations:- Cass Asks: Cluetrain 10 Years On I'm convinced — convinced — that something's wrong with Technorati's indexing. I only just this week saw this post from John Cass, asking me and others to comment on The Cluetrain Manifesto. Unlike some folks who chide me for not making their every utterance my highest priority, I'm sure a true gentleman like John will find it in his heart to forgive me for taking a few weeks to get to this, the lovely chap that he is. Besides which... I'll see him next week at

Phil's Blogservations:- Birthday

a shel of my former self:- FIR Live Call-In Episode #9: November 7, 2008

Silicon Valley Watcher - reporting on the business of technology and media:- Yahoo says that the distractions of Microsoft's hostile bid are over and that it will resume making acquisitions especially in advertising related sectors.

Silicon Valley Watcher - reporting on the business of technology and media:- (Hat tip to Tara DeMoulin)

Phil's Blogservations:- Quick Update So, I spent some time here: Met this way-cool guy:

a shel of my former self:- The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #395: November 6, 2008

Phil's Blogservations:- I'm No Loren Feldman, But... And, really, who else is? In any case, occasionally I put videos up on PROpenMic. Usually the vids are responses to students and instructors in the "Ask Phil" section of the site. Today, something funny struck me about the Pope's visit to the U.S.

Phil's Blogservations:- STOP IT!! STOP IT!! I'M NOT LEAVING EDELMAN FOR SPILL.COM! I'm still catching people with my April Fool's joke. While I still think that Korey and his crew are doing great stuff in Austin with Spill.Com, I'm quite content to be a fan. Had a lot of fun with the gag, though. Technorati Tags:

Silicon Valley Watcher - reporting on the business of technology and media:- - Thursday morning I'll be on a Bulldog Reporter panel:

Silicon Valley Watcher - reporting on the business of technology and media:- John Roberts, the CEO of SugarCRM, seems to enjoy being a thorn in the side of his much larger competitor, Salesforce. He says Marc Benioff, the CEO of Salesforce wasn't too pleased when he found out SugarCRM was hosting its user conference at the Marriott, just a few yards from the Salesforce Dreamforce conference at the Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco.